Here's all (or rather, most of the shows) that came out in the Spring season, with reviews attached for your reading pleasure.
Do support the 'Helpful' votes too :)
Aharen-san wa Hakarenai / Aharen is Indecipherable
*Kan sits down with the male lead to talk about this show*
Me: OK, So Raido, tell me what your show is all about.
Raido: Domo (Hello), I'm Raido Matsuboshi, and this is the rom-com story (well, mostly SoL chill comedy) about me and my aloof classmate that is Reina Aharen. The things she does can set me overthinking about 1001 scenarios, from something as simple as sleep to even animals, in the most extreme of ways. Examples like: Why is she sleeping in class, did she get a scuffle with the Yakuza at night, only to reach home so late that she couldn't get a wink? Or why is she always ordering her pet dog around, did she develop personalities overnight so that she can be like a blatant master torturing her own servant?
Also Raido: Oh, Aharen has a big family to take care of, so much so that she couldn't sleep at home. And she's teaching her pet dog to obey simple commands. I see.
Me: Ooh, I see. *Showing the Resting Bitch Face*
It's this blatant, unassuming comedy and humour that makes mangaka Asato Mizu's 2nd anime adaptation through Aharen-san wa Hakarenai a.k.a Aharen Is Indecipherable (or Unfathomable, rather) really enjoyable, and for a very good reason. Asato Mizu is not just your typical author as he/she has no less than 15 series to the name, albeit only some that are worth mentioning like the 2014's Doujinshi ●Rec and 2011's manga Denki-gai no Honya-san (which already had an anime adaptation in 2014). If anything, Asato Mizu is the epitome of this quote: "Don't judge a book by its cover", something which've been refined since ●Rec, and it has worked well for this prolific author enough to use this quote as the core workaround of this manga, especially between the characters since this is a character-driven show.
Communication Disorder: It's a condition where a person has problems communicating with other people. This person is an example of someone with such a condition. An important thing to remember is: just because the person has problems communicating, doesn't mean that person doesn't want to communicate with others.
Wait, wait, wait, CHOTTO MATTE KUDASAI, why in the hell is Komi-san's driven dialogue here in Aharen-san wa Hakarenai??? The reality is very simple: Raido is like Tadano, starting off his first year in high school, but unlike the latter with his averageness that doesn't concern anyone, Raido possesses a naturally unfriendly face (or as the modern day culture calls it: RBF or Resting Bitch Face, which this unironically cracks me up, no shit xD), so much so that its hard to get to know him as a fellow classmate. Reina Aharen, on the other hand, she is similarly like Komi to the fact that she doesn't know how to communicate (initially), but at least she is aware of her surroundings to help Raido understand her intentions, which as I've already mentioned at the beginning of the review: tell Raido 1001 things and he'll still be overthinking about the possible scenarios which frame Aharen as anything and everything but herself. I sometimes wonder if this ongoing gag will get old pretty fast, but nope, Raido is always adapting to the situations that he is in every step of the way with Aharen, that this gag evolved to actual jokes and plays that are just plain ridiculous to watch, sometimes evolving to hilarious scenarios with things that have cemented themselves in pop culture a.k.a the fidget spinner (clearly shown in the ED) and Pokemon GO! (which is period accurate to the manga's release in early 2017). And this redonculous premise is what actually helps Aharen to propel the fact that while "comedy is subjective", it can be fun too, and this show embraced all of that and more, AND I LOVE IT. Shirorin!
Not to be outdone, what's the main cast of characters without the supporting characters. And let's start off with Aharen's childhood friend, the inadvertently huge-sized Mitsuki Oshiro who's tall, nervous, a crybaby and has androphobia (fear of men). Despite her nervous nature and with the stalker obsession of protecting Aharen from Raido for fear of contaminating her pure soul (like many other childhood friends do...in anime, that is), Mitsuki's a warm-loving and trustful friend that is able to confide in Aharen when she is down. But I'd say that she works really well on the basis that when Raido and Aharen are doing things together, her stalker senses are up to 100. Yet another childhood friends duo of Ishikawa and Hanako Sato, they haven't been around with the main character cast much, but one could speculate that they would be a couple, or at best a ship anyways. On the topic of Aharen's family however, everyone looked exactly the same as her, so much that the genetics are truly one-of-a-kind. The eldest in the family that is Reina, the youngest brother Ren and the middle sister Eru, everyone in the Aharen family is such a delight, but the one thing in common is not to infuriate the sisters when they have a knife in their hands, they can do harmful things out of jealousy (at least on Eru's case). But, BUT, if there's one set of characters I WOULD LOVE to have more of them, it's gotta be the homeroom teachers, mainly Aharen and Reina's teacher Toubaru "Momo"-sensei and Miyahira-sensei. These pair of teachers can be a subvert comedy gag on their very own, as Tobaru-sensei is even more wilder than Raido by fantasizing countless lovey-dovey delusions between Raido and Aharen in the most esteemed fashion possible, and losing countless heaps of blood from the resistance to wholesomeness. Also, Tobaru-sensei voiced by HanaKana just puts the icing on the cake much more worthwhile to display Death by Esteem. ESTEEMED, ESTEEMDER, ESTEEMDEST! Shirorin!
The relatively new director Tomoe Makino only has Spring 2020's Kitsutsuki Tanteidokoro and this year's Netflix ONA Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi a.k.a Kotaro Lives Alone to his name. So, being an inexperienced director, they had to call someone for help, and that person is chief director Yasutaka Yamamoto (famous for 2013's Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?). He is a very versatile director who's been directing lots of shows that showcased different degrees of genres, and it definitely ain't a surprise that he directed the anime adaptation of the infamous adult visual novel Nekopara at studio Felix Film (which only started producing Nekopara content to begin with years before the 2020 anime). And I'd suppose that if not for Yasutaka Yamamoto, Aharen wouldn't be adapted as great as Asato Mizu's manga made it out to be, and it's an enjoyable feat through and through that's a blast to watch with the chill vibes. Really bright and colourful visuals with soft animation that still punches to the gut, also in a chill way that's easy on the eyes that makes Felix Film's production values really well done, considering that the main producer is the Chinese anime conglomerate licensor Bilibili, which means that this is a Chinese-Japanese production mix. Shirorin!
The chill vibes don't stop there, as the music is thoroughly the same as well. TrySail and HaKoniwalily's OP/ED OST is also enjoyable to listen to, as do the peppy BGM that makes Aharen sound like a jokester syndrome prank of a show that's playing with the audience of its gag contraptions. It's lighthearted and doesn't grate on your ears much, while maintaining the subtlety that this is SoL at its best and most calm. Shirorin!
It's safe to say that while Aharen-san wa Hakarenai is marketed as a rom-com of all things, it also isn't really one per se, as the comedy is more straight-laced and the SoL vibes are pretty much strewn all over the place to make this a cute and wholesome show. And no doubt that Aharen soothes the soul as you start the weekend to a relaxing gaze, just wanting to watch more seasonal mainstream anime that anyone and everyone can just pick up and watch, and not have anything to complain about. There has been too much action lately, why not try something more chill instead? To that I say: Aharen has got you covered, and this is comedy at its finest. Shirorin!
It’s iyashikei greatness. This isn’t your normal run of the mill rom-com, it’s more a slice of life of two classmates, and then it gets a little romantic. Raido’s vivid imagination and Toubaru-Sensei nose bleeding just makes me smile, and I don’t know why. Maybe I’m just a sucker for deadpan humour, but this was better than some other big rom-coms this season. Yes, I’ll say it, I think it was better than Shikimori and Komi this season. Also, a comedy where the romance actually kinda gets somewhere? Who knew that was possible? This was a joy to watch throughout for sure, not because it became more romantic in the second half, but just how consistently funny it was for me.
There’s really not a whole lot going on in each episode, since it’s pretty episodic for the most part, and there’s not a whole lot to talk about in the plot department. Glad that the characters had some development and the comedy was pretty decent throughout though.
ART: 8.2/10
It’s pretty basic, but it is colourful and vibrant, and fits the atmosphere welL.
MUSIC: 8.7/10
Big fan of both the opening and ending. TrySail and Hakoniwa Lily did a great job. The soundtrack itself isn’t too noticeable but from what I heard of it, it fit the vibe of the show well.
CHARACTERS: 17.2/20
This show benefits from having a good main duo, but also a bunch of very fun side characters, which not every show has. Obviously Reina and Raido are fun to watch. Reina is a very small girl who doesn’t really know social boundaries and talks very quietly, but quickly this theme became obsolete as the show progressed. Raido is someone who is also pretty deadpan and doesn’t show much emotion, but has very vivid imagination about Reina’s antics, ranging from thinking she was a killer, even making a Kill Bill reference along the way, to thinking she was a sumo wrestler when Reina ate too much and got fat. The imagination was pretty enjoyable to watch, since it was very different each time.
Now, the side characters. My favourite side character has to be Toubaru-Sensei, since she’s all about esteem, and when Reina and Raido do something cute, or weird, she reacts in the form of nose bleeds, and the sub plots about her and Miyahira-Sensei being together was just honestly hilarious.
And what’s a rom-com without a little side romance? Futaba and Atsushi’s little thing together was so fun to watch too, and how Atsushi regards Raido as “king” was so funny to me too.
Finally, we got Reina’s siblings. They all look like her. That’s basically the gist of it.
ENJOYMENT: 14.5/15
Even though it’s pretty bare bones in terms of production, I still really enjoyed this show, and it gave me a lot of laughs along the way.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 17/20
The comedic themes were handled great, really loved the deadpan comedy they went for, and it works. The romance themes were a bit sudden, felt like the source material, which I haven’t read, was probably slower paced in terms of romantic developments, but that’s just a guess. Overall, just very enjoyable.
OVERALL: 82.6/100
It’s not the prettiest out there, it’s not a “loud” or “fast-paced” show, it’s iyashikei done very well. The comedy definitely intrigued me more than the romance side of things, but all things considered, there’s not much to complain about. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it was definitely fun to watch every single week.
Oh, one more thing, fidget spinners in 2022? That, I did not expect.
This show was either going to go two ways. It was either going to be charming or it was going to be boring. Thankfully, it landed in the former. This was a charming if repetitive series that was in the vain of Komi Can’t Communicate but being more grounded. It keeps to it’s own strengths through light hearted character interactions, a very cute romance and being a gag anime. It doesn’t really offer anything new though and the show’s repetitive nature left my attention waning but it was harmless enjoyment that didn’t really do anything bad. Give this a shot if your a fan of these light hearted romance anime.
Story: 7/10
Characters: 7.5/10
Animation: 6.5/10
Sound: 7/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall Score: 7.0/10
Recommendation: Watch It
8.5/10. Imagine the directing of jokes from the most funny show you’ve seen. Now degenerate the main character’s thought process into ludicrous absurdity, and sprinkle in bits of caring affection. Bam, I present you, Aharen-san wa Hakarenai.
The art style is simple yet minimalistically attractive, and the cgi was not too intrusive - only having a few bits in the background. We’ve all seen the high school setting a hundred times, and we will continue to see them a hundred times, but this show stands out in that despite the premise of the female mc being physically close enough to the male mc - enough to make Issei blow a vessel in his nose - there are only wholesome and innocent vibes.
There’s no time wasting in romance, as there’s a heavier focus on unpredictable, crazy comedy. Of which the two deadpan mc’s only help accentuate when they’re doing or thinking something maddening. This show genuinely made me laugh out loud, and the soundtrack boosted this experience by at least 3 times. I can only describe it as comedically mind-degenerating or melting in mental chaos, namely the atypical melody played by an out of tune flute(?). And do expect a slight charge of pace around halfway through the show, no spoilers but it will develop in a decently unexpected way from its origin. Overall a ball of ridiculous fun and a heartwarming experience.
Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story
A golf show? About the story of complete opposite spectrums of stories of golf girls? Not to mention that the strokes will result in birdies and soaring on wings like eagles? Hell yeah, sign me up because I'm about to experience some wack-shit plot that doesn't take itself seriously, yet is self-aware enough to try to be at the very least fun! Okay okay, in all honesty, Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story is a fine lil' show that is a fairly niche original show that does have a fair few surprise elements if you actually take the time to appreciate what it's trying to exhibit in its entirety.
The way that Birdie Wing tells its unorthodox-yet-unequivocal story of golf girls is IMO, nothing short of decent, but thanks to veteran scriptwriter and series composer Yousuke Kuroda, has some ingenious storytelling that showcases the setting of the sport that is golf (that I believe this is the first full-fledged show to showcase the sport) in both being the usual and unusual premises of life and thrill. The golf girls' stories of Eve and Aoi Amawashi, two girls growing up in two very different lifestyles, yet have one common interest, and that is to play golf the way of their own know-how.
Let's cover Eve's side of the story first: the proud and unabashed girl with an exhorting personality, playing golf with a bullish style, because she lives in an environment identical and similar to that of poor habitual slums and immigrants whom don't get as much coverage and care from their own government, where money is hard to find, and the only way to earn more is to participate in underground games of unusual golf courses, where the sport is all they have to put their bets on the line. The adage of "Finders (winners) keepers, Losers weepers" is honestly the best way to sum the type of game that Eve plays her golf with, whether is it with fellow punters or even against the Mafia with even more skillful players that more often than not, have a trick up their sleeve. But this all pales in comparison to the corny "special attack" names that Aoi dubs her power of "Rainbow Bullets", where it's just power for show, but it has a purpose for being outlandish that is the centerpiece of Eve's character to eke out wins, even at the expense of miracles.
And then there's Aoi Amawashi, or should I say: the Juliet to the female Romeo (just to show off that Yuri feel) that always presents a formidable challenge to even the most skillful players. Unlike Eve, Aoi doesn't have any kind of "superpower" that can match Eve's level of idiosyncracy, but she has a simple "superpower": her wistful smiles that are like silent draws of blades to cut at her opponents. The kind of girl with a sass personality that has people taken notice of her because of her connections to the rich men's world and being part of the golf club at her school of Raiho Girls' Academy, but it's not until she shows off her capabilities, that she's like a lioness or a tigress awaiting to prance on her prey and eat away at their advances, the amicable kind of person where her unkempt psychology will make or break people. These two are honestly the kind of Yuri-pandering couple that I didn't know I needed, and yet manage to balance the Wild West of story elements with the all-too-usual modern setting, which keeps this show fresh from the tried-and-true "wash, rinse, repeat" predictable formula. And yes, this show does get predictable, but at least it keeps you on your toes to anticipate what are the next strokes around the course.
This ain't a golf show of just the golfers alone, and this is where the caddies come in to help spur both Aoi and Eve into their ever-growing "red thread of fate" of coincidence and camaraderie in distinct ways. For Eve, this comes at the support of her friend Lily Lipman and her sister Klein Clara who's the owner of an illegal bar, and living with 3 orphaned immigrant children in the Nafres slums, an area that's controlled by the Mafia under the go-between head Rose Aleon. This is also further cemented by Lily being the energetic, cheerful good-hearted goofball that serves has her caddy being able to pinpoint the accuracy of stroke shot to lead Eve to victory, though Eve proclaims that she isn't needed most of the time, being very reliant on her Rainbow Bullets for power strokes. And it is with absolutely no doubt that the underground world can seem messy with many connections that could result in the bet of one's life taken away, but it's the same environment that allows Eve to thrive being at her very best. This is the same for Aoi being your stereotypical golfer participating in high-profile golf tournaments and exerting her status as one of the premier young-age skillful golfers ever to grace the heated competition and leaving everyone behind in the dust with her perfect strokes. And for that, Amane Shinjo as Aoi's caddy, she's the analyst character that is a professor of intel at detailing on her rivals and courses to give her best friend the unrivalled advantage, and for the most part, she's the type that you would most certainly expect to act that maintains an upright serious fervor. Seriously, relax, dear Amane, have fun and be in the moment with your best friend who's also having fun golfing. I'll admit that the supporting cast feels like there's too much, but contrary to the usual, this is also akin to the usual golf settings to help push both Aoi and Eve into the best version of themselves, and that is playing golf in total exhilaration. That's a resounding notion if you ask me.
BN Pictures (that stands for Bandai Namco Pictures) hasn't really had a ton of experience producing anime, from the safe likes of many childrens' shows to taking on the final phases of Gintama's adaptations, to the most recently the studio's flagship series: Mairimashita! Iruma-kun a.k.a Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, and the golf course outing here is just decent with a lot of repeating frames that only add to the insanity of the show that's par for its course. And under the direction of the somewhat wonky director Takayuki Inagaki who's only done less noteworthy shows (I still hate the anime adaptation of 2008's Rosario to Vampire, that shit lingers in my mouth even 15 years later), the more recent of which is Summer 2018's Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro a.k.a Chio's School Road (which is undoubtedly his best effort so far), and it's safe to say that his directorial inputs in this show does cock up some wavering storytelling that at times, don't make sense, or even worse, rushing the process to get from point A to B. Regardless, this show doesn't need an outlandish director just to make things work, and for all the effort that Takayuki Inagaki did here, it was just enough for a self-contained experience. Also, since this is Bandai Namco at it, there're references if you look hard enough: from the Gunpla mechs that serves as Eve's gifts to Lily, to Aoi's "Pak-kun" Pac-Man golf ball.
But what I believe makes or breaks the show is in the music department, which easily surprises the hell outta me to declare it in its goodness. For one, Kohmi Hirose is a well-established J-pop singer that easily stood out in her primetime of the late 90s being one of the most vocal and multi-million seller singers of her time, the people of Japan affectionately calling her the "Winter Queen" because of her record-breaking single in 1993 and also tying to that, the sponsorship with the skiing goods company Alpen. And since this is yet another sport of golf, you need not lean too far to know that the Winter Queen is back for another song, but to put it in the best summing way possible: Birdie Wing doesn't deserve Kohmi Hirose. All I can say is that "Venus Line" is a mind-boggingly incredible, amazing and catchy OP song that perfectly fits the show's thematics, and after the first few listens or so, raises up to be one of the sleeper banger songs of the season. Tsukiyomi's ED is just fine, and Hajime Takakuwa once again did one hell of a very good job showcasing why he's one of the top sound directors with works like Black Clover and Kono Oto Tomare! credited to his name.
All in all, to say that Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story "is a mood", you're definitely right it is, but I can understand if some people don't vibe the show the way that it represents itself as it is, and this is completely fine. While I for one, can just see this as some mind-numbling decency that strikes the fun strokes when it can, everything else around it are just for show and serve no purpose other that over-the-top drama to add to the plot. Whatever it is, you'll just have to accept the give or take that this golf show just isn't for everyone. It's a niche show for certain people whom are looking for pure entertainment more than anything else, and I respect Birdie Wing for what it encompasses to give its allure, and that's just more than enough.
If you like it, there's Season 2 coming next Winter, so there's more enjoyment to behold! Until then, this is what we have, and I'm hoping that it will be a lot better than the set-up season here turned out to be.
"Swan Lake is the most difficult thing to portray for a female ballet dancer; it really requires such specific qualities of articulation, agility, strength, and the arm work is something that takes a lot of training." — Benjamin Millepied
And this. thus, says the same for such a high-regarded mangaka like George Asakura, whom has penned many of her works (mainly Shoujo manga) that has acclaimed awards for her unique, edgy style and storytelling by crossing over between the everyday and the fantastic, the hilarious and bittersweet. Of her currently serializing works, Dance Dance Danseur is the one that we'll be looking at, courtesy of MAPPA and in-house director Munehisa Sakai, famous for Zombieland Saga.
Surprisingly enough, ballet has popped up in AniManga so much, but in anime form, there only exists to be one and the definite until today: Princess Tutu, which dates all the way back in 2002. That's 2 freaking decades apart from this and Dance Dance Danseur (when you count the anime adaptation), while maintaining the central core theme which is ballet and fairy tales, the case use in Danseur being Swan Lake, and others like the topic of masculinity. The reason for that, you'd have to read on.
Dance Dance Danseur's story starts with Junpei Murao, a 14-year-old boy who took a liking to ballet from a young age, but familial circumstances forced him to take up the only supporting cornerstone of the family: Jeet Kune Do, an electic martial art that's heavily influenced and adapted by the personal philosophy and experiences of well-famed martial artist Bruce Lee, as the only male in the family and advised by his uncle to be the moral support in order to be "masculine". In truth, Jeet Kune Do was just a way for Junpei to exercise his love for ballet more, while not showing the similarities that it would be judged as such. It's only when he encounters the same-aged Miyako Godai which demonstrated her ballet skills to challenge his perception, is when his fixation for ballet increased to rediscover himself, and adding onto that with Luou Mori as a near-perfect dancer to define his meaning of what it means to be a man, performing in a mostly feminine and exquisite form of art. It's the Freudian belief that masculinity is society-conformed, otherwise it can turn toxic quick.
Junpei at first glance, can come off as the typical boy whom has no façade to bear all of his emotions and feelings towards people in his life, and partly because his VA Daiki Yamashita (HeroAca's Izuku Midoriya) gave his character so much life that he comes alive just at the effervescence of things and situations where he can just be himself to be whom he wants to be. His only negative point is that although he can dance well enough, he wasn't trained in the art of ballet as he lacked fundamental basics, not to mention that he will gloss over proper technique to prioritize expunging his emotions. Through the trials and tribulations, Junpei learns characteristically of how a ballet dancer should act, while growing to be more mature as a person and dancer.
That's supported when Miyako Godai comes into the picture as Chizuru Godai's daughter, part of the myriad of dancers whom used to be under the Ayako Oikawa brand of professional ballet that has an international influence from Japan to even Russia, that Chizuru couldn't see eye to eye with Ayako to branch off on her own self. Chizuru has a keen eye on ballet skills the same that Ayako once taught her, now used in her own teaching classes at the Godai Ballet Studio, teaching kids ballet the way that she knows how. Miyako is lovable, has a kind and polite nature, and that's to say it's on top of her own ballet skills that due to her personality, isn't suitable for large roles. Instead, what Miyako does is to help Junpei find his footing and help lean on his strengths while fixing his weaknesses with her much stricter mother.
But there's one more person, and he is Luou Mori. Both Miyako and Luou are same-aged cousins, but while Miyako's life is one that's of a typical bred child, Luou's however is a much darker and sinister story. George Asakura likes her stories to be weaved with the bittersweet mix, and Luou's story of mental trauma and physical abuse is just that, that's more than enough for a perfectly sane person to choke with spiteful comments about his abusers, mainly his ballet-obssessed grandmother. For a start, Luou isn't your average typical kid: he's the illegitimate son of a mother whom was embroiled in a high-profile scandal, whom afterwards ran away and never to be seen again, leaving his grandmother to take care of him. And his growing up days were a barrage of constant nightmares and tortures of the ballet-obssessed grandmother forcing him to be like his abandoned mother: a behaviour that's not of conformity to society. And ultimately it's through the torture that he has become the skilled dancer that he is today, though he still suffers from social segregation and reclusion when people know and begin to make fun of his history. It's legal to marry cousins in Japan, and this is the same for both Luou and Miyako, whom the former has always seen the latter as his sole light, a source of encouragement to step out to the outside world and breaking out of his reclused shell, other than just plainly falling in love with her, the same way that Miyako does for Junpei, creating a love triangle that does not actually inch into it, but more of a necessity for each other to break out of their own shells.
Truth be told (and going back to the top), while Princess Tutu is shapen to be from the POV of kids (since this nostalgic memorabilia and the manga's age feels that way), George Asakura's version is characterfully driven in a raw, powerful, imaginative and shell-shocking way, all combined into one package that sells ballet in both its good and bad light, with the influence and affluence that comes to signify that this isn't your average child-like ballet fanatic, thrust into an adult world. Not to mention that there's symbolisms in Swan Lake from the characters to the emotions, everything has a purpose and reason of the act, and I think that Junpei, Miyako and Luou perfectly fit that mold in matching Swan Lake with the much-resembled "Romeo and Juliet" style of a tragic expressivo play.
MAPPA has always been known for high-quality action, and sometimes taking a radical direction while not losing its ooze, and just like "Yuri!!! On Ice" 5+ years before, Munehisa Sakai and his staff team have done it again in Dance Dance Danseur. There're many core staff in Danseur's production, and they're nothing to scoff at: series composer Yoshimi Narita (helming 3 shows this season: this one, HoneyWorks Heroine and Shikimori), chief animation director and character designer Hitomi Hasegawa (Shingeki no Kyojin), to name a few. And for a ballet show, how can you not have ballet directors to ensure that this show imitates ballet the same as in real life, and the supervision goes to Sayako Abe for doing a great job on this to envision sparkles like Junpei's POV during his ballet dancing stint.
It's been a long while since YUKI has performed an Anisong, given that her last stint was with 3-gatsu no Lion a.k.a March Comes in Like a Lion all the way back in 2017, and her OP once again marks a triumphant return to form, that with the stylized OP of Junpei's POV dancing around in school and within the lead of Miyako, is easily one of the most impressive and creatively made OPs of the season. The same can be said for Hitorie's ED, which to go for a theme about crafts, notes, paper cut outs, and biblically accurate ballerinas, it's a near-perfect representation of the life of a ballerina or a Danseur in a traditional "feminine" art of ballet. Great songs across the board, plus their impressive visuals, it's style, but also with form and function.
All in all, this does not give me the sense that MAPPA, other than being underpaid and overworked for newer and hyped shows like Jigokuraku: Hell's Paradise or the much acclaimed Chainsaw Man coming soon, couldn't manage other seasonal shows under their belt, but damn, did Dance Dance Danseur proved me otherwise. It's definitely a "sport" category that isn't a sport, but a tapestry of the combination themes of tragedy and ambition on display. It's a visual treat and a sense of humanity to find yourself, and you need not conform to society if what you see and believe is very real, that no one else sees the way like you do.
Date A Live IV (Season 4)
4 years, 4 seasons, 4 studios, 1 spin-off series, 1 honorable decade's anniversary to live by, and hundred and thousands of people's lives changed.
It's pretty much said that out of all the series that has managed to survive the endless years of growing popularity and reputation despite the good and the bad, it's gotta be novelist Koushi Tachibana with his acclaimed LN series Date A Live that has now in this year (2022), reached its 10th Anniversary milestone. That, which is already a damn remarkable achievement in and of itself with the LN having spanned from 2011 to 2020, a full 9 years of what was at the time, a ground-breaking rom-com harem series that's disguised with the sci-fi elements and the cast of Spirit girls which have now become an instant classic amongst fans of both the LN and the anime.
Sure, what DAL has to offer in Seasons 1 and 2, truly showed off the best portions of the franchise with the classic mid-2010s production (that wasn't pretty) with great pacing that still held its value, then the horrible Season 3 which began the "source material rushing" game with the worst abominable animation to date. And with the 3+ years gap from Winter 2019 to this season, the newest season of Date A Live has finally come out, but I need you to acknowledge that everything is the same same, but different this time.
Season 4 continues in the rushed pacing edge of Season 3 that's now become the norm, covering Volumes 13 to 17 of the LN that features the new Spirits Nia, Mukuro and refocusing on the dangerous but best girl Kurumi (she's literally the poster girl for DAL since the series started). It should not be a surprise to see Shido Itsuka and the saved Spirit girls face off against the wishes of D.E.M. with Isaac Westcott and his nefarious plan to exploit the Spirits powers for his own agenda, but even more so, is more of the repetitiveness of saving more Spirits, getting them to acknowledge their own difficulties being damsels in distress, and the final outcome of Shido sealing their powers with a kiss to eventually become allies in his mission together with his sister Kotori and Ratatoskr to free Spirits being threats to mankind. This is a staple of the series that to question Koushi Tachibana of how he managed to think of an intricate plot that has many loopholes that all come together to reach one conclusive answer, either he's a wanker, a genius or a madlad. But to find out how all of that wraps up in its final touches, we would need to watch the remainder season (or 2) to find out if the ending sticks its landing. Until then, this is only up until the most recent adapted volume.
For Shido to save the new Spirits plus a familiar face this time, he has grown immensely but still needs help from Kotori's now experienced Ratatoskr team and the Spirit girls that he has saved thus far from the previous 3 seasons. The playful manga illustator-cum-hardcore Otaku Nia Honjo with her Angel Ratziel taking the shape of a tome/bible that can read people's histories; the emotionless Mukuro Hoshimiya who's confined in space and sealing her own heart away from all the hurt gathered in her growing up years, with her Angel Michael taking the shape of a large key that can either lock or unlock abilities; and last but not least, the ever-so-lovable dangerous-cum-seducting girl Kurumi Tokisaki with her Angel Zaphkiel that for the first time since her introduction all the way back in Season 1, finally showcases her reasons of how she was affected by the main poltergeist that turned her into who she is today. It's not a problem following how the source material has been rushed to oblivion, given that Season 3 was where the issue that started which culminated in a drastic change, and Season 4 here just follows the groundwork that the previous season has laid thus far, and ultimately, whether you like it or not, this is the new standard of DAL, no reasons required. And ultimately, at the behest of the general audience whom still has a hope for DAL to be properly paced, there is no more turning back from what the staff team has decided to do and go forth with the decisions made.
Speaking of the staff team, you might've realized that the team hails from the Date A Live Judgment: Date A Bullet spin-off anime, and for good reason: when Season 3 was announced on Twitter by Koushi Tachibana himself, and thus when it aired and finished its run, I'd presume that the author didn't really liked what became of that season with the horrendous pacing and palpitable J.C. Staff production values that didn't quite measure up to AIC Plus+ and Production IMS's levels, and this is with a 5 year time-gap to button things up that could've been so much better. I know I lamented back when Season 3 finished its run, saying that it is the black sheep of the adaptation to date back in 2019. Within the same year, when the Date A Bullet spin-off 2-part anime film was announced with an entirely new staff team and produced by Geek Toys (which at the time, made high-profile mediocre anime such as RErideD), I was genuinely worried that they would not deliver, and to my surprise, they did. And while it was certainly jarring that the inclusion of 3DCG harms the experience of watching the series in wholly 2D, the overall production was certainly the best out of the 3 seasons out at the time. And although this season was set back from a delay from its original release season of last Fall (when COVID struck like mad), the same staff team are back to helm Season 4 with the help of famed series composer-cum-scriptwriter Fumihiko Shimo, and even with a limited budget to boot, Geek Toys's production values are a step up in the right direction, and just like the Date A Bullet spin-off, certainly is a substantial improvement, the best that I have seen DAL to date. It wouldn't be a surprise if the same staff team reprised their roles for the remainder season or 2 going forward along with Geek Toys, but it'd be a hilarious joke if it was the case to switch to other studios just to keep the tradition alive.
DAL's music has always been very memorable, and IMO this is a hallmark to tell if you're a DAL fanatic who's been keeping up with the anime adaptation for years till today. But for some reason, I felt that out of all the OSTs in the 4 seasons thus released, this season is easily the worst of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, Miyu Tomita's OP is decent (that in all honesty, sounds average at best), but whose mad idea was it to break the decade-long tradition to replace the legendary girl group sweet ARMS whom has been pumping out classic and memorable DAL OPs? As a result, their ED song just sounds weird and not in a good way either, easily the worst song out of the entire franchise. Why, WHY??? Can someone tell me WHY this has to happen? If sweet ARMS isn't reinstated for the OP for the remainder season(s) going forward, I'm sorry to say that "old is gold, new is loads of BS".
Overall, Geek Toys under newbie director Jun Nakagawa has solely kept the DAL tradition of a decent part-and-parcel of the series alive, though keeping confined to the standards of Season 3's pacing, it felt like he has no choice but to continue the mess that the previous director Keitaro Monotonaga has already established behind due to his lack of experience. But you can't also fault him for having to know and work with what is best since he is just a replacement for the ousted director which shat the franchise in the most horrendous of ways, leading to the overhaul effect of the staff team. But still, I can be confident to finally say that DAL is back to its recognizable form of years past (not counting Season 3), and that's all I am asking for is more greatness.
Just one or two more seasons to go for adapting the remainder of DAL's content, and we can finally wrap up a remarkable and great LN series to put it to rest. When will they come, I'm praying that it will be soon enough.
After season three was a big step backwards in both story and production, it’s nice to see the series bounce back. Date A Live IV felt like it recaptured the fun aspect of the series while still being able to progress the story forward and this season really made forward strides in its story progression. This is probably the most I’ve been into Date A Live's story as we are finally getting some much needed answers and getting some interesting plot elements to go along with it. The cast as well is still likeable and definitely is one of the better harems out there. That being said there are two big gripes with this season and one I can see being carried forward. First, the pacing felt rushed in this season as we juggled three spirits for Shido to win their hearts, but unlike season one when we were being introduced to the whole concept, this season felt like it wanted to get them over with so we can focus on Kurumi again, which is a shame because these arcs are what I believe we are going to get significant time with these girls. And that’s the other thing, this harem has started to become watered down as it gets bigger and some of the characters are struggling to get their own time to shine. They get one moment each for them to shine and then it’s just using their existing characteristics to make it look like their contributing. This is a problem I see continuing if the harem continues to expand. As for the animation, It is an improvement over J.C Staff and the animation is solid with most of the characters designs translating well into this season. Some did not (most notably Kurumi). So while the season takes a steps forward, it also takes steps back and with a season five already announced it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next in the series. It’s amazing that through the series’ ups and downs, it still has enough support to continue.
Story: 6.5/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Animation: 6.5/10
Sound: 7/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 7.5/10
Overall Score: 6.8/10
Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness
Of all the comfy, slice-of-life shows this season, mangaka Rin Asano's story about a family-found situation, meshed with the delicacies of wagashi a.k.a Japanese confectionery sweets, is the ultimate combination of "comfort within your own home" and the genuine loving kindness of a well-knitted family-oriented relationship that's a charm to watch. And despite this manga being out since 2016, I'm surprised that even a few years onwards until today, this has not received an English translation, and even if you do find one, it's hard to come by. Despite this, Deaimon is really a hidden gem that I felt was and is now still underrated and underappreciated quite a fair bit, for a show that honestly didn't garner the reputation that it truly deserves.
As the title suggests, Deaimon is loosely translated as the Recipe for Happiness (I already liked the metaphor from Day 1), which is exactly what the show is going for, despite it being the kind of understated and lowkey introduction phases that foreshadows to us the audience that this is not gonna be something noteworthy. But you would be a buffoon if you'd thought of this in the most shallowest of notions, because the beholder of Deaimon lies in its simplicity to deliver a solid show that is consistent, predictable-yet-unpredictable, and a Hanasaku Iroha-cum-Barakamon mix of feel-good feeling on top of its many obtuse layers that you might be calling out the predictable angle of this, and I promise you that this won't be the case.
Deaimon: Recipe of Happiness's story rests on the never-ending tradition of a "family-found" story, where this girl by the name of Itsuka Yukihira gets abandoned by her lone father and is left towards the kind elderly folk of Ryokushou to be taken in and taken care of. Itsuka's biological father, whom seemingly from first glance, has undergone a divorce within the Yukihira family (though it's never stated), so much that it tormented the only daughter to question about her parents' origins for years while growing up in Ryokushou. Around the same time, the protagonist Nagomu Irino, who's been on a voyage of his own by running away from home to pursue his dream of becoming a musician in Tokyo, this went on for 10 years until word comes back that Heigo Irino, his father-cum-owner of Ryokushou was hospitalized, and the same word demanded that Nagomu pack his bags to immediately come home and help out in the family's wagashi business, and in the process, be the successor to Ryokushou. This is where the similarity to Spring 2011's Hanasaku Iroha comes about with the same ordeals of certain familial traits (like family legacy, succession and intergenerational bonds) where purpose is the premise's core forefront symbolism, and Summer 2014's Barakamon in the vein where both Nagomu and Itsuka meet that kickstarts the tumultuous relationship and thus begins the succession story of who's going to be the next heir to Ryokushou.
One thing that you must definitely understand to experience all that Deaimon is worth in its greatness, is in characterization, because this is a character-driven story after all. At first, it's a given that both Nagomu and Itsuka will be at loggerheads with one another, simply because their tolerance for each other is grinded only on the surface level. It's with the understanding of how the characters work that slowly intertwines the story plot, and makes the watching experience get better with every baby step in the way. Nagomu may look like a carefree idiot who minds his own business, a wishy-washy absent-minded person whom doesn't know how to make decisions, and someone whom plays to the tune of his own gags, but deep down, he's a mature and caring young adult that's learned the hard way after graduating from college and pursuing his failed musician stint dream in Tokyo for 10 years, earning nothing but a girlfriend (Kanoko Matsukaze) in the process, and then again only to dump her without any word heard for a period this long. In all essence, I felt an inkling that some of us are like Nagomu Irino: someone whom prioritizes his own life, makes decisions without thinking of the consequences, but yet can hold our head high and do things the way that is already glued to our character, and still make it through a dark period of our young adult lives experimenting and settling down when things feel right. And all in all, this is what makes Nagomu Irino likable, such that he has a lot of women in his life (not the harem type), from the elderly folk working in Ryokushou, his direct family, his girlfriend Kanoko, the part-timer Mitsuru Horikawa, and much less the central female MC Itsuka herself becoming her foster father figure in the process, to interact with while going through life's daily struggles and learning the different types of wagashi sweets with their symbolisms. I really like that.
On the basis for Itsuka Yukihara, being abandoned at a tender young age does not bode well, especially for children whom parents think that when they do not get their life together, all they can do is to "spare the rod and spoil the child", creating the nightmarish dreams that Itsuka would never see her real parents again. And in the years since she was raised in Ryokushou, she's learned to have both a mature mindset and a strong, but kind heart to serve those in need, just like a waitress in a restaurant. But don't try to trigger Itsuka, for her sharp tongue can sound nasty at times, and most of those times, it's Nagomu whom gets the bulk of the criticism that slowly with time, becomes one of calmness and understanding. That's not to say that Itsuka still harbours hatred for her parents, which when her mother Shinri eventually manages to locate her in Ryokushou, the nightmares come back like darkness looming within a person's being, and Nagomu has to play his part to ensure that the daughter-parent relationship is amended by hook or crook, but all done with heart to ensure that the prolonged years of hatred doesn't amplify out of spite. It's Nagomu's heart of sincerity that slowly transforms Itsuka's character from being a cold to a heartwarming person that's just like him, under his care. To that effect, I really have to give a shoutout to the total newbie VA Kozue Yuuki, for this is actually her very first character casting gig, and what absurdity to land a main character role from the get-go. How she depicted the 10-year-old Itsuka is nothing short of ingenious, the perfect casting voice for how a 10-year-old kid should sound.
The other characters, well mostly folks and friends of Nagomu and Itsuka, whether be it family or kin, are nice and work around carving both MC's lives in kindness and fervour. It's just a literate wagashi (sweet) feeling all around that touches the warmest depths of the heart to make this a show that absolutely needs no filters nor some wishy-washy, over-the-top drama just to spite the audience. It's just a very good show that displays as its warranted, with the family treatment being centrifugal to the overall enjoyment. Plus, it's a guarantee if you have a very talented series composer like Reiko Yoshida, this woman has done decades worth of scriptwriting and storyboarding, so much so that Deaimon adds to the blimp as a +1 to her versatile CV that's an amazing job well done.
I know I give a lot of flak to Encouragement Films for being a low-budget studio, producing existing projects that have been made by other studios (i.e. Symphogear's premiere season which has been since eclipsed by Satelight, or GochiUsa switching studios every season Date A Live style), shows that don't require lots of production prowess (i.e. Fall 2018's Merc Storia) and that one show which absolutely sucked in all aspects (i.e. Isekai Cheat Magician). But for Deaimon's case, it was different: it felt fresh with the watercolour visuals, the change of seasons and the light-heartedness of the character designs which I think blends well with the overall tone of the series, it's just beautiful to look at. And Deaimon to me, just looks like the studio has finally found its Encouraging stride producing light content (that's been done with Merc Storia), and I pray that it stays that way to make anime "Films" with a light coat of paint.
That in and of itself, trickles down to the OST, which I feel is one of the best low-key compositions of the season, and I say that with heart. For the longest while, I felt like Maaya Sakamoto was just gleaming along doing more anime VA roles than actual song compositions for Anisongs, and it's a stark comparison when you compare her VA role to her actual theme song compositions (which aren't many to begin with). The last song that I liked was Spring 2020's Arte's OP, and that in and of itself, almost seems like an exclusivity deal that she'd only be brought back for her songs in the Spring season because she fits the rhythms well. And this is exactly the case here with her OP "Sumire", which the music style hearkens back to her founding years in the late 90s being a growing Seiyuu to the juggernaut that she is today. The song sounds absolutely beautiful with the inner touches of warmth, that I am constantly always anticipating with eagerness with each passing episode. This song is definitely at the top 5 of my best OPs of the season. ayaho and Junichi Soga's ED sounds good as well, though not as immersive as the OP. But overall, it's really well done for its immersion with the anime in totality.
Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness is a show that's worth a recipe meant to invoke happiness from all of the unstable walks of life from people all around. And while this continues to stay underrated, I hope that we can continue talking about this fine little hidden gem that is truly the magnitude of fun and wholesome, in a way that is uplifting the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" in its AniManga form. It's sweetness in a way that you both can and can't explain, and it's certainly an enjoyable series if you give this show the chance that it deserves.
Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness
Deaimon is a harmless, easygoing Slice of Life series with some nice character moments here and there and interesting storylines to keep you interested. It is also however, a series that can lull you into boredom at times and those storylines can lead to nowhere. While I don’t think my time was wasted with series, It was probably the anime I least enjoyed from the ones I watched this season. Still though, if you like your Slice of Life shows, I can see you latching on to this.
Story: 5/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Animation: 5.5/10
Sound: 6.5/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall Score: 5.7/10
Recommendation: Consider it
(This is only preliminary because MAL made a mistake on the data for this. Oh well.)
The closemindedness of not watching something because it's CGI is childish and immature. I enjoyed the so bad it's good content of Tesla Note, and the charm of Rusted Armors. Sure, websites like MAL score this a 5, but who would take MAL scores seriously? Relying on MAL scores is like relying on waves of underage Shonen anime viewers to tell you what to like. Still, no one watched Estab Life. At least, that's what it felt like to me. Though the CGI is choppy and makes some characters look like they are made out of plastic, this series does have some elements that make it shine, and it managed to connect and be memorable to me. This promotes a gacha game, which worried me, as this did have some issues in the end.
The biggest talent of this series is it's absurd and very hilarious comedy. It's over the top, and ridiculous in execution, though it worked wonderfully, and I was laughing nonstop. The last few episodes do get serious, and even though it worked, they didn't come close to the quality of the fun and funny episodic ones. There isn't much plot here anyways.
The story is about a cast of loveable characters who help people from different clusters escape their miserable lives. An anime that is actually blatantly about escapism without really trying to give a hopeful message in the end. These clusters are connected by an underground train system and are experiments to see what type of societies work, and which don't. A failed cluster will be completely erased if the population declines. You can expect anthropomorphic dogs, communist penguins, slave laboring prisons, old men wanting to become magical girls, religions were wearing underwear is considered a heresy, and other creative and outrageous ideas such as the cast at some point trying to assassinate a prison ward.
Equa is the central member of the cast who was given amazing powers that let her see the future. She is usually in such a good mood it's a bit creepy at times. Martese is a perverted pile of goo that took the shape of a little girl and is completely obsessed with Equa. These are the only two that are ever given development. Other than that, there's Ulla, an anthropomorphic dog that was hilarious given the voice talent of Miki Shinichirou, even though all he does is bark in the series. Alga is a small robot that is cruelly honest and extreme in his ways to the point he's an accidental comedian. Last there is Ferres, a sharp shooter who is often insecure, moody, and shy about it all. A problem with this series is that most of these characters do not get developed at all or explained where they came from or how they came to be. The music is overall forgettable, and the series doesn't do much for me when it deviates from it's clever and outstanding comedy. When the stakes run high, those action packed scenes are often laughable as the cast gets sprayed by bullets that never seem to hit.
As a mostly episodic series, there wasn't a single one of those plotless episodes I didn't enjoy because the comedy is that well done. Ironically, it's the plot focused episodes I didn't enjoy too much. There is still a film for this that will come out some day that will be directed and written by Goro Taniguchi of Code Geass fame for those that want more. Until then, I'll have fond memories of how much this series made me laugh.
Gaikotsu Kishi-sama, Tadaima Isekai e Odekakechuu /
Skeleton Knight in Another World
First impression that I got from the trailer and the opening is that this could be the One Punch Man of isekai due to the nature of the show being uniquely grandiose compared to other isekai series.
Spoiler alert, this show is extremely disappointing mainly because of the story itself. The story is just about freeing slaves. If you are into that kind of stuff, you are welcome to watch it. Furthermore, the pacing of the anime is really slow to the point it can be considered as a torture to finish it.
Other than that, in terms of the animation. It is simply okay, nothing more. The CGI in this anime is not too intrusive and it can be considered as good because it is not too obvious and capable of blending in with the world itself.
After that, the art of this anime is really nice. The lake scenery is visually nice and the character design is also good.
In conclusion, this anime is generally ok except for the story and I think that there is potential to this anime as long as the story improves and has more character drama in it if possible.
Looks like I have to play the Devil's Advocate in this one since everyone HATES this to oblivion.
AYEEE BONE ISEKAI DADDY IS BACK...yet again, not like so, that many people are hating this the way that Goblin Slayer is much maligned from the get-go. And yes, I will admit that Overlord (that has Season 4 coming up next season) plays a huge part in novelist Enki Hakari's only derivative work that is this show, while actually playing the "goblin rape game" much earlier than Goblin Slayer, and the plot to Gaikotsu Kishi-sama a.k.a Skeleton Knight is simply just that. And you thought that Goblin Slayer was the first to do this (well, technically it is through anime).
It must be said that there're two camps in this one:
- The overt haters whom feel that everything done in this show gets a free pass, from the unnecessary and over-the-top rape to the simple-minded run-of-the-mill standard OP MC that doesn't question his very own existence of why he's literally Isekai-ed to begin with, only to know that this is his starting point and so thus says the story of his adventures in another world.
- The minority (like myself) that likes this show for all of its flaws, yet somehow "choose to believe" that we would get an alternate Ainz Ooal Gown-like skeletal character that displays similar themes to the former and being self-aware that everything "falls into place" quite nicely for his progression like a typical RPG character in a world so vast that he's able to do things on his own.
Givem by the source material's title, one would've led to believe that this is also the influence derivative of Kei Azumi's Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu a.k.a Tsukimichi (focusing on the "Isekai e Odekakechuu" portion) since that source material also came out on Syosetu much earlier than this series (2012, as compared to Gaikotsu Kishi-sama in 2014), so it's very clear that Enri Hakari had clearly thought this through for his lone work to be a copy-paste of similar works like those mentioned, but that's where the similarities end for nothing more than just a passing resemblance. And this is where lots of people have many issues with this show, and let me address these issues in distinct detail.
Arc for a OP MC, he's just like Ainz when comparing against his true skeletal nature in the fantasy-like world, but yet doesn't have enough personality to plan and think of his journey in the fantasy world he's been Isekai-ed to, and this has to work in a two-fold way: purpose and motivation. Normally in an Isekai series like Tsukimichi or even Overlord for that matter, the MC has a purpose of why he/she's been transported to another world because of reasons unexplanable that they have to find the answers for themselves, while gaining allies and crushing enemies along the way to get to the desired answers that they've been looking for. Enri Hakari however, plays this game differently with Arc being the stereotypical Isekai-ed player whom is like your stereotypical simple background NPC in an RPG with no backstory or whatever, and only serving as a guide to progress the story that he's been in, thus letting the story weave itself with actions done. The context of my understanding is that we've seen too many Isekai stories do this the same time over, but depending on the series' stature, they can either pass or fail to contravene back to the origin story of why they're here in the first place. Thus, giving Arc a character that's without a backstory of his own (just the simple Isekai formula over and over) can feel empty and purposeless, but that I believe is also the charm for motivation for Arc to do the things he likes to do: to roam around towns and cities, get in trouble by saving helpless folk (which I have to agree that the rape aspect happens too much for nonchalant drama), and ultimately help people serve their purpose with his moral behaviour and massive magic. Arc is just a character that feels shallow no doubt, but the extent of his reach is with reasons justifiable, and IMO I don't mind an predictable-yet-exaggerated MC that knows what's he doing to provide his own source of entertainment mixing comedy and seriousness for motivation, and that I feel, is just about enough.
And what says tropey more else than having elves as the central root cause of the problem in this story, which after watching both SAO and Goblin Slayer, it's already known to be a mindless trope that's used for nothing more than edgy story plots just for hype. And Arc's companion character Ariane Glenys Maple is simply just that: an elf warrior whom has knowledge of the world's wicked doctrines of slavery and extortion against elves since they make for easy targets of manipulation and prostitution (which this debacle doesn't seem to end in many stories like it), and saving her kin from the horrid oppression of their treatment. The whole elves scale has nothing wrong with it, though I feel that its use is only justified because of the standards of what Goblin Slayer has put as through to ensure that if you watch a story involving elves, you can't help but hearken back to it for the never-forgotten treatment that is a nightmare then, and still is now. As usual, with female characters, the appeal is always in the physique, and Ariane has the unmistakable woman appeal that would be a love-potion kind of nauseating effect to those looking for some fun with her. But Ariane is headstrong and an elf woman of honour, and seeing her position as the two commit together in saving the elves, you can't help but like her character a teeny bit, although being weak to liquor is often the easiest way to identify the cutesy side of her.
For one, pet characters like the cotton-tailed fox Ponta don't get enough love, which the world refers them to as "spirit characters". If there is one character you can't help but to gleam it, it would certainly be Ponta for being this massive beast that has gone out of control, only for Arc to encounter and heal it, thereby signaling its attachment with him and being a character to signify his goodwill, something that's rare since spirit creatures are never meant to form attachments with humans and even beastkin. Ponta is easily the highlight of the show, and what's there not to love about pet companions that can help the characters out to smell and alert danger? Just put it as the poster pet, and there you go.
Skeleton Knight's world is very evil, wicked and filled with disillusion of a stereotypical kingdom that places no regard for people other than their very own, and that's not just to say that the royal family has infighting as well to rid even their own kin if the objectives don't align. It's the usual selfish behaviour which justifies the work that's needed to be done through many backdoor deals like betrayals and assassinations, just to prove a point that the world that the "heroes" (Arc, Ariane, plus others like ninja girl Chiyome) are in for a sinister plot that needs to be dealt with. Yet again, you can bet that this storyline serves no favours to the overarching plot that's shrouded by the shallowness of the character writing, that somehow in its entirety, comes together to concoct a show that knows what it wants to be, and acts out accordingly to Keikaku. It's not wrong, but to the many, it'll feel like Skeleton Knight is a mish-mash of many storylines and genres done together, that the result is one inconsistent mess of a show that doesn't know what it's trying to be, and all for a make-believe sham.
However, I have to give credit where credit is due, and that's with the production values of Skeleton Knight. Starting with the acclaimed director that is Katsumi Ono, he's heralded the storyboarding for the original Yu☆Gi☆Oh! and 5Ds, directed the entirety of the Symphogear series (except the first) and most recently, the Hypnosis Mic rap battle anime, so you know that he's a perfect fit for over-the-top good or bad story and plot that doesn't care about anything else than making it stand out in the most magnifying way possible, and he most certainly has done that. Despite being a 2D-3DCG mix studio, Studio Kai's production is generally good for the most part, and I've pretty much gotten used to the 3DCG from the studio's days of starting out anime production majority in 3DCG with Netflix's Mushikago no Cagaster a.k.a Cagaster of an Insect Cage. And being a co-production with HORNETS (which has assisted in Satelight's Winter 2020 show Somali to Mori no Kamisama a.k.a Somali and the Forest Spirit), honestly I can't tell the difference of an alliance work that still manages to pop its production, though it's probably safe to say that it got the job done as intended.
And where else to give credit than the music, and being exuberant in the most ear-piercing way ever. A few of you would heard of PelleK before, but if like myself that you're new to who he is, PelleK is a very popular YouTuber who's done many notable and popular song covers since 2011, ranging from Anisongs to even world-renowned mainstream songs, and Skeleton Knight is his first ever big break in being officially recognized as an Indie singer, the likes of MindaRyn and such. I can tell you that his OP is just as over-the-top as it comes, packed with SFX because why not, and contrary to popular belief that having sound effects in an OP breaks the flow of the titled song, but in Skeleton Knight's case, it is an ABSOLUTE BANGER with PelleK's high-vocalized insanity that's a perfect marriage with the SFX for that intended bombastic effect, and it is honestly cool to hear another YouTuber having a debut with an official Anisong that doesn't disregard the reputation he's built for all his life. One of my favourite girl idol groups are back, and DIALOGUE+ didn't spare their vocals with the ED, which has been composed and produced by kz of livetune Vocaloid fame, who's been in composing song collaborations for high-profile artistes like ClariS and Maon Kurosaki. Honestly though, this OST is definitely a link by being over-the-top superlicious, and if you have to highlight what's great about Skeleton Knight, the music aspect would be it.
When all is said and done, while I can agree with the general press that Gaikotsu Kishi-sama a.k.a Skeleton Knight has nothing new to offer to change the perception of the Isekai genre in its entirety with edginess being its prime that reeks of mediocrity and burning flame dumpster fire, it does the one thing that it knows best. And that's to be a fun and adventurous Isekai that doesn't question origins, yet leaves behind the possibility that one can carve out his/her own adventure filled with surprises and wonders, saving the world, dismembering enemies with insane power, and above all, experience what it means to be an otherworlder in a free-roaming world akin to an RPG.
This is generally not a pleasant watch, but if you can stomach this, it's honestly low-key decent.
I’m catching up to Overlord as I write this review, and yup, this show is indeed a Walmart Overlord. Arc is basically Ainz but nicer, and Arc is overpowered as well. The cast isn’t too big, as it’s only Arc, Ariane, Chiyome, and Ponta basically, the other characters are so insignificant they might as well be specks in the wind. I enjoyed this series at first, but then it got rather repetitive as it’s mostly just saving various groups of people, usually elves, and that got dry rather quickly.
Another typical isekai where the protagonist is overpowered and there is little to no reference to the person in the real world. Just your typical protagonist that goes around saving various people, and of course there are some companions like Ariane and Chiyome that also don’t have much of a distinct personality. The story is quite repetitive in that Arc gets hired by people to rescue their tribes, or to help them with a “quest”.
The politics… I did not care one bit about the politics because it was all dialogue and little to no action. In fact, I barely remember what the politics are since the world building was so minimal.
ART: 6.5/10
The fight scenes are cool sometimes, and the animation is ok, but there are too many still frames in fights, and that’s too bad. Guess the budget wasn’t that big.
MUSIC: 8.3/10
The music is solid, and what I really liked was the ending theme but DIALOGUE+, one of my favourite endings of the season.
CHARACTERS: 10/20
The characters are fun to watch, as the interactions are enjoyable, but they don’t have enough personality to keep me completely invested. Arc is kind of like Ainz from Overlord as he has his “knight voice”, and his inner voice that is more like a normal person. Ariane is fun to watch but also has little to no personality. The other characters have the same issues, as they’re just not memorable, and because they aren’t memorable, I barely have anything to say. They’re just fine, there’s nothing wrong with them, they’re just boring at times to watch.
The villains are your typical clueless villains that aren’t that smart, and aren’t very engaging to watch. Arc, Ariane, and Chiyome usually finish them off in a matter of minutes.
ENJOYMENT: 9.7/15
It was exciting enough at the beginning, but fell off as it got repetitive.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 11/20
The world building wasn’t too good, so all the political themes weren’t executed very well. The comedic themes are solid, and they make the series somewhat fun, the fight sequences are a bit unfocused as it just seems like the characters are having fun, rather than committing to fighting the enemy, it just seems quite casual.
OVERALL: 56.5/100
A rather repetitive plot with a lot of rescuing, mixed with comedy, and a more “nice” Ainz. The start of the show was promising, but the repetitive and uninspiring plot lines, it became somewhat dull near the end. Yet another average isekai, with its ups and downs.
Skeleton Knight in Another World
As I impatiently waited for Overlord season 4, I had to settle with diet Momon instead as a warm-up and that can be taken as a literal sense. While this show is a refined isekai about an overpowered skeleton hiding his identity as a skeleton and go on adventures with a busty Dark Elf, it does not do anything to make it stand out in the slightest. It uses so many Isekai clichés and tropes that it doesn’t do anything to make it stand out. The power fantasy, the lack of an overarching plot and being an adventurer are the main highlights when it comes to the clichés it uses. And yet somehow I still enjoyed it. Like I said, it’s a refinement of sorts that uses the Isekai tropes to tell an alright if unimaginative story. It is the Momon bits from Overlord but with none of the world building or great cast of characters that show provides. While this cast of characters are likeable, they aren’t as fun or engaging as other shows in its genre. This show isn’t bad and you can have fun with it but it lacks the originality to make it stand out. Still, at least the OP and ED were fun to watch.
Story: 4.5/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Animation: 6.5/10
Sound: 7/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Overall Score: 6.2/10
Recommendation: Consider it
Gunjou no Fanfare / Fanfare of Adolescence
We had our fair share of horses in anime, the most prominent being` the likes of Cygames's popular franchise that is Uma Musume: Pretty Derby that features anthropomorphic girls with legendary names taken straight out of Japanese horse derby races for spokes-animals. But ask someone what would he/she do in a horse race, and the first instinct is to deal some horse betting for the most popular horse that would score you wins or losses, and also the journey of horse jockeying which takes into accounts of its intense practices and potential dangers, which is what Gunjou no Fanfare a.k.a Fanfare of Adolescence attempts to do. And this is brought to you by the same director that did the wonderful LGBTQ+ Yuri show that is Yagate Kimi ni Naru a.k.a Bloom Into You.
Ahh, it's the same combination of things that always marks a bad anime, and it NEVER gets old. And so does the rife when it comes to this show, which bears all the hallmarks of a show that is literally D.O.A from the start:
- The production committee writing the story for this show (which I've mentioned before in a review that this "creative" clash of ideas is always bound to turn up bad) that went nowhere and breaking into "arcs" just because they can easily timeskip the process;
- The sole specified idol studio Lay-duce to produce beautiful looking and young Ikemen (with the exception of the sole female since a single-gender only show would do only do favours to turn it into an idol-fest of sorts);
- The cast of characters that for the most part, only serve to contradict one another in their own personalities and habits, all while being unmemorable, obtuse and even to the point of being annoying to watch (save for some that resonate, but even then not by much);
- The music, which give or take that SawanoHiroyuki is doing the composition for this, and adding the new trend of more "J-Pop and K-Pop" fusion bands, which isn't bad (see Black Clover with Snow Man) but can get repetitive, not to mention boring if you're not a K-Pop song repertoire stan.
It's a shame that Gunjou no Fanfare, even with director Makoto Katou's efforts, is only able to shine in the visual department that borrows many of Yagate Kimi ni Naru's assets to make the show visually appealing, there's no doubt in my mind that Lay-duce did a very good job emanating that feeling of freedom while galloping a horse from the footsteps of being a trainee jockey all the way to becoming professional jockeys, ready to take on the local stage.
But everything wrong with this show is just the same tried-and-true efforts that have been done before but to inducing nauseating effect:
- The popular idol Yu Arimura whom wants out of his idol life to pursue the horse racing dream, with his entire entertainment agency being ready to welcome him back with arms open wide if he misses the mark. being an angsty boy that doesn't want to stay in one place and keep on moving forward;
- The only Ikemen that's worth a shot being likable: the horse "whisperer" Shun Kazanami with his happy-go-lucky personality and one whom often descalates any potential argument to cool it off;
- The foreigner that's a full-on American Grace Amane (which I'm impressed and not that Hanae Natsuki is able to sound like a Gaijin) which can grate on people's nerves for standing out and being outlandlsh.
- Also, I'm kinda glad that the only female Eri Shimotsuki is here, and supposedly because that the "Bloom Into You" director isn't so keen on just having Ikemen that couldn't stand out much, so they had to have her tag along. The most important aspect of her character is that she is not being sexualized and wears the same jockey uniforms as the other boys, even if she is there to break the mold and provide some entertainment that's evident of her lesser-than-usual screentime got.
It would be an understatement to say that this show was fun, and indeed it has moments like that of destress and communion when things hit the fan and everyone bonding to solve problems together for a spirit of camaraderie, that is perfectly fine by me. But there's something about this show that just rubs me the wrong way, and I can only say that I half-appreciated the show for its haphazard story/plot elements with some of the most egregious character development I've seen in a low-key show like this.
Unless you have a reason to watch this show based on the director's influences, then I suggest that you stay far away from this show because there's just nothing interesting about it, other than the fine-line intricacies of raising horses for betting races, and then wash, rinse and repeat.
"Kind-hearted, powerful songs heal the world. These are beautiful miracles sung by humanity."
And thus, the marriage of musicals and humanity exist to help heal people, an absurd idea that just surprisingly works wonders all on its own to create its own masterpiece niche, directed by the same person whom brought you Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I can hear you say: "That almost sounds like an overkill."
This is the core tagline of this show, and truthfully, I have a head-aching dilemma when it comes to shows like these. You see, it's easy to watch seasonal anime with the usual predictable Isekai shticks and some other genre copy-paste shenanigans, so much so that it's easy as balls to write reviews for it like a robot from start to finish. But when it comes to unique shows like Healer Girl...I find that I have to reverse-engineer the entire process, stop and think things through to concoct one well and comprehensive article that everyone certainly will agree to (NGL, also a cheap way to be the show's definitive top review). Not just because this is my personal AOTS that's already a masterpiece right from the start, but just like Extreme's song: "More than words to show you feel, that your love for me is real", Healer Girl has taken the special place in my heart for a multitude of reasons.
It's a well-known fact that Mondays are unanimously the worst day of the week, giving rise to the infamous term "Monday Blues". And in this packed Spring season, Studio 3Hz is back with yet another original anime, and Healer Girl is the one that has consistently surprised me the most and above all, even more so that's done by people whom had few hits and many misses. Plus, it's only made more perfect as the only lone show airing on a Monday (in Japan) to literally "heal" the Monday Blues away. So for that, this show gets a plus for standing out in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Music has actually been proven to provide a multitude of health benefits in the form of music therapy, and what better to marry music through the one word that resonates with what has been meta-trending in the anime scene recently: Healer, healing. And there're many moments of soothing voices and musicals in Healer Girl that truly makes the show stand apart and embody what makes this so special with immaculate, palpable love for music. And what a joyful little series Healer Girl was, I even have to think that this easily puts Disney's High School Musical to shme. And of all the "Spy × Family" and "Ya Boy! Kongming" roaming around being the general AOTS and dark horse of the season, there're bound to be hidden gems if you look hard enough. Nevertheless, I'm still very floored and baffled at how this show is under-appreciated for cultivating a niche audience so much that it's a literate hidden gem all on its own, and I certainly don't mind if it was intentionally made that way, because it is just that.
So then, what is Healer Girl all about, for the few of you that actually cares about this hoopla of a show that peaks of surprises galore from start to finish? Well, as the title proclaims, literally girls training at the Karasuma Vocal Medical Insitute to be healers through music, where the healing of illness and injuries via songs is a special technique that improves the mental health of both patients and doctors. And it's in this premise that such "Healers" strive to sing when called upon to respond to the health and anxiety of patients and doctors alike. It's everything else that are just "more than words can say" to even explain what's going on in this show. The best way that I can put this is through the words of PhenomSage: "a pretty silly, absurd and childish premise, but...BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT, that's where you'll be led astray because the premise is indeed all of this, but this is EXACTLY what gives Healer Girl it's whimsical and fun charm." And if you're the type who's a fanatic of Disney IPs like High School Musical, I can certainly promise you that Healer Girl delivers the shenanigan-filled musical feels that embraces all of that silliness through love and music in a way that's infectiously joyful and worth sing-a-long sessions for days on end.
And what makes Healer Girl so wonderfully made in the musical expressivo way are through its characters, done by Princess Principal's character designer Yukie Akiya:
The literate Healer Girls:
- Kana Fujii (VA Karin Isobe, Just Because!'s Mio Natsume);
- Reimi Itsushiro (VA Marina "HoriMari" Horiuchi, relatively new Seiyuu);
- Hibiki Morishima (VA Akane Kumada, TenSura's Eren);
- Sonia Yanagi (VA Chihaya Yoshitake, relatively new Seiyuu);
- Shinobu Honosaka (VA Miyu Takagi, Wake Up! Girls's Miyu Okamoto);
Their Healer teacher and friends:
- Ria Karasuma (VA Ayahi Takagaki, Symphogear's Chris Yukine)
- Shoko Nagisa (VA Hisako Tojo, Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki's Toshika Jin)
And just because there's been a resurgence of new Seiyuus lately, doesn't mean that quality can't be compromised, because it can feel rough for some whom aren't used to a main or supporting role. However in Healer Girl's case, I would like to beckon this as more of an experimentation for especially the 5 main girls whom vary in experience that pales in comparison to the only well-known Seiyuu here that is Ayahi Takagaki. Despite that, their VA performances here are truly nothing short of stellar, that really compliments well with the show's themes being a full-blown musical series that sounds just as nice and heartwarming.
To say that I'm very blown away by a Studio 3Hz original series yet again since the days of 2017's Princess Principal, and the marketing for Healer Girl being "a bold, new form of musical healing animation", it certainly has eclipsed every embodiment of showcasing limited animation, but letting its visuals do the work, which I'd tell you, Healer Girl has ACTUAL SAKUGA of unlimited potential that goes beyond the quote of "a picture paints a thousand words". And director Yasuhiro Irie definitely understood that assignment, because his directing is just outstanding, for real. Even with the widely-hated scriptwriter-cum-series composer Noboru Kimura's script on this (which does feel cheap at times), thankfully this show is saved within the cusps of the FMA: Brotherhood director whom knows how to make something good out of the bad.
Easily the most impressive aspect of Healer Girl has gotta be the music itself, since this is what drives the show's thematics, supported by Ryo Takahashi of Void_Chords fame. Every episode has its own insert song, which can range from the usual impromptu healing when people are in danger, or something like mere dialogue, which I have definitely NOT seen music mixed in with dialogue that hearkens the High School Musical feel done in anime before. It can sound serious, but in certain episodes like the sports festival where the main healer girls conduct their participation in running and song, that is where I feel the potential really hits its stride by being fun and interconnected that it almost feels funny, yet surprising how this could've worked so brilliantly well.
The high point for me, is gotta be the OP and ED. The ED first out of the way, it sounds good and as what you would typically expect of an ending song. But the OP, HOLY GOD THE OP...HOLY WOWSERS it is the most MAJESTICIALLY-sounding opening song ever, that I instantly fell in love with it the first one I've listened to it, and subsequently on repeat like I was on 7th Heaven! Because it does not just look beautiful with musical tapestry all around, but the vocals are just outstanding that just strikes a chord to my heart, not to mention that the "Healer Girls" group is just basically the character VAs altogether. If only Ya Boy! Kongming's OP didn't exist this season, then this would've been my No. 1 OP of the season (2nd place is already better than never) bar none, but maybe that's just me since it instantaneously healed me from the get-go.
Mark it when I say that Healer Girl is SERIOUSLY, criminally underrated for a show that's not for everyone, but for those whom can appreciate this anime, musically-inclined or not, may it bless your heart being a personal great-to-near-masterpiece of a work that you'll never forget. As for myself, I know I'll never, EVER, forget this spectacular show that came out of nowhere to make my Mondays better alleviating the Blues, and I pray that it does the same to you too.
Heroine Tarumono! Kiraware Heroine to Naisho no Oshigoto /
Heroines Run the Show /
To Become a Real Heroine! The Unpopular Girl and the Secret Task
In the AniManga scene, there have been many musical labels and groups that have built their reputation on the musical repertoires which hardcore fans in Japan have crazed for them: popular franchises like Love Live!, BanG Dream! and the like. But if there's one group that stands out for the endless features that they can expand to that makes their repertoire so versatile, it's the Vocaloid music group HoneyWorks that has their famed song project that puts them on the worldwide map: the Kokuhaku Jikkou Iinkai: Ren'ai a.k.a Confession Executive Committee: Love Series that spans films, songs and now anime adaptations like this show.
So first, to give you an idea of how this show came about: this is based off of the song of the same name (Heroine Tarumono! / 1% no Koibito) that was released on August 26, 2020 as a single from Inori Minase (which also is the VA for the central Heroine in this show: Hiyori Suzumi) and Toshiyuki Toyonaga (which his character is also friends with the central male idol group duo LIP×LIP), that tells the story of the New First Year student group that's separate from the 2 anime films produced by Qualia Animation in 2016 that features the Third Year students (Zutto Mae Kara Suki Deshita a.k.a I've Always Liked You and Suki ni Naru Sono Shunkan o a.k.a The Moment You Fall in Love), and the TV series produced by Lay-duce in 2017 featuring the First Year students in Itsu Datte Bokura no Koi wa 10 Senchi Datta. a.k.a Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart. The whole HoneyWorks ordeal is that everything and everyone is linked in one way or another, yet can be taken in its own universe altogether. Looks and sounds confusing? Because it is meant to be taken that way as part of an eclipsed project.
However, if you're just talking about Heroine Tarumono! alone, this is much easier to digest and understand it as its very own source material (just as is with any other HoneyWorks project), with the only thing linking to it being the main song and the songs released on YouTube that come in at certain points thereafter explaining the background details portrayed in the once again Lay-duce produced anime. And as someone whom have watched the entire series (and yes, that includes the 2020 project film Kono Sekai no Tanoshimikata: Secret Story Film that features LIP×LIP's Yujiro Someya (VA Koki Uchiyama) and Aizo Shibasaki (VA Nobunaga Shimazaki) that's made to commemorate HoneyWorks's 10th Anniversary), I can safely say that the HoneyWorks's "Love Confession" series is still going strong with its new generation of the character cast being able to make its own splash to appeal to existing fans and some whom are new to the large universe.
In Heroine Tarumono!, it's the case with the central Heroine Hiyori "Hiyoko" Suzumi who's a countryside girl, who then moves to Tokyo to pursue her dream of being an athlete in track and field despite her lackluster familial circumstances of being a well-knitted but poor family. And just to survive another day by taking odd jobs that would help her family to live better days ahead, one offer came up as the most lucrative: a manager-in-training job that pays handsomely, but the role is dealing with up-and-coming male idol duo LIP×LIP. So being a nobody in school that's surrounded by the idol duo Yujiro and Aizo to the extent of hatred for their nonchalant behaviour and not knowing anything about the life of idols, what's there to lose for Hiyori while supporting her athletic dream? And so, together with her friends of Juri Hattori and Chizuru Nakamura, picking up this apprentice manager will start to change Hiyori's life of her perception of idols, what it means to be one and how far the extent will she go to be treated like an actual Heroine in their lives.
If you know anything about the life of idols, they're not a smooth-sailing bed of roses, harbingering from concerts to private lives (say, in school) that even their presence will cause hype-levels of commotion just by being physically "close" to them. And especially for the staff of people managing these high-profile idols, they have it bad when there's bad press ranging from publicity issues to the worst of the bunch: extreme cases of stalking. And being a manager-in-training, Hiyori has to master all of these while keeping this work as a secret, lest that people find out and start to publish propaganda about her converging with popular idols and make this the stereotypical overblown drama that is so prevalent in Japan. The steadfast Hiyori being frenemies with the LIP×LIP duo Yujiro and Aizo, while juggling between the athletic dream she's been chasing, and being the unpopular girl running the secret task, it's a great fit for Hiyori's character being the Heroine of this story that Runs the Show all by herself, that no matter the endless melodrama adversaries beating her down like strong currents of rain and thunder, she would always find a way to press on through and turn the situations around, even when it seems tough. A hardcore girl that can be air-headed and clumsy, but protects her friends and does her best what she can do, that to me, is the mark of a Heroine.
Having staff members like producer Shunsuke Saito, scriptwriter-cum-series composer Yoshimi Narita and music composer Moe Hyuuga on this since they have the expertise on the HoneyWorks song project franchise is almost a given if the source needs to stay true to its origins, and for the most part, Heroine Tarumono! did what it was advertised to be: the HoneyWorks song project tie-in series that in all honesty, was not great, but good as the adaptations come in delivering the romantic youth aspect of things. And it should be said that Lay-duce is often the representative studio that most idol-related shows nowadays reside in to get produced by, that the presentation is certainly as good as it looks for being an idol show that focuses on the glitz and glamour of its premise. Even the songs ranging from the OST, insert and special ED songs are what you would expect of a HoneyWorks Vocaloid project that's good and memorable for the most hardcore of fans.
It's this aspect that helps keep HoneyWorks relevant to the masses, no matter what it may come up in this huge musical project in the future. Sure enough, I'd doubt that this show would be the last of the HoneyWorks universe, but if it is, it definitely went out with a good bang.
Heroines Run the Show: The Unpopular Girl and the Secret Task
Kind of weird that this is only the second idol anime I’ve watched alongside Zombieland Saga and for what it’s worth, it was pretty good. I thought the character development and chemistry with one another was nice to see progress throughout the show and the idol elements were used well to tell a story about about overcoming your selfish wants and be more open. Some of the story beats near the end felt off but still kept in tone with the rest of the show and the production was consistent. It was a show I didn’t think much of but looking back, it actually was a consistent and steady show that is worth a look.
Story: 7/10
Characters: 7/10
Animation: 6/10
Sound: 7/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Overall Score: 6.7/10
Recommendation: Consider It
Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen /
Ascendance of a Bookworm (Season 3)
Novelist Miya Kazuki's Isekai Bookworm is one of those hidden gems in the now oversaturated Isekai reincarnation sub-genre which has withstood the test of time, now 2 seasons (or rather parts thereof) circa. 2019 that was pretty enjoyable for a refreshing take on the whole reincarnation phase and leaning on neither demon lords nor power, but on books instead to rebirth time past with a modern twist. Now, come Season 3 a.k.a. Part 3 a.k.a Part 2's 2nd split-cour exactly 2 years later, and Isekai Bookworm has largely stayed the same...except for one thing: there's basically nothing left worth predicting out of the unexpected to reinvigorate life into the series.
Obviously, Season 3 is a continuation of Season 2 where both seasons cover the light novel's Part 2: Apprentice Shrine Maiden arc, equalizing with Volumes 4 and 5 (Part 2's Volumes 1 and 2) for Season 2, and Volumes 6 and 7 (Part 2's Volumes 3 and 4) for this season, albeit at a shorter 10 episodes. Focusing on Main and the gang in the pursuit of making books with the foundation of ink, the winter/spring passover, more abandoned orphans with one infant being just like Main, and the perverse "Church is bad" plotline to round things up and finish one of Main's most maligned "beginner" arcs towards the view of the world.
Main is still the same happy-go-lucky but naive girl whom has to be watched by everyone else alongside her (including the High Priest Ferdinand which constantly supervises her in the cathedral) being at a young age with a childlike mentality, which at this stage, doesn't discount that her presence is pretty much a liability towards the other nobles looking to use her as a bargain tool from the Ink Guild to the cathedral's Head Priest for both her wonderous skills and power respectively. Main is truly in danger in this section of the light novel, and it was a case of "knowledge is power" warped within the wrong hands. Given that Main is pretty much at the age where for her Devouring to be coarsely controlled, her adoption to a noble is a much-needed necessity to alleviate the insanity of OP-bound magic power that could stand in anyone's way. Everyone and everything else from the visuals to the music is just the same as they have been if you've kept up to Isekai Bookworm up until Season 2, and still loved, lived and breathed the immense beauty and dynamics that this series has to offer.
And thus says the narrative for Main's character shift that's leaning onto the remainder part of the light novel, which is great in the original source, but this part of the adaptation just somehow couldn't match the same feelings of what I felt when watching the prior seasons of the similar Disney-like magic and wonder. I'd guess the sentiment is that Season 2 a.k.a Part 2 ended in such an amicable way that there wouldn't be another season in the run coming in the future, and for a time, it sure felt that way too that anyone (including myself). But alas, at some point in the future (which is now that) it is renewed for another season, and it was such a stark comparison to see that the adaptation felt like it had to wedge into our throats instead of doing what the series used to do: trade the same exact beauty to push content at a lower episode count. As a result, Ajia-Do's visuals felt somewhat lackluster, and the OST is dare I say, probably the worst of the 3 seasons (yes, even with Nao Touyama and Maaya Sakamoto's decent OP/ED songs), to the point of being very forgettable.
Overall, Isekai Bookworm could've continued in the vast enjoyment legacy of the prior seasons it came before with the same staff team helming the anime adaptation, but there's bound to be a black sheep somewhere, and this season has to earn that title. Such a bummer to end on a somewhat notable change in the series to date. It's good, but decent at best IMO.
Our beloved bookworm is back for yet another season, and it’s a little different what I had remembered from the excellent Season 2. The story went a bit away from the slice of life elements in creating new inventions and reading books, and we actually see a bit of stakes in this season, with dangers of Myne being kidnapped, and even some action sequences.
The reason why I loved this series was the slice of life elements which even felt a bit educational at times, and while those themes still exist in this season, it felt more action and politically oriented, which isn’t what I had known this series to be, but I understand the change of pace.
It’s some of the same elements from the first two seasons, but the stakes seem a bit higher this time around. Myne has to be careful as many people from the nobility are targeting her, and it could even affect her family. In all these events, there are new characters, including Myne’s new younger brother Kamil, Dirk, an abandoned child with the Devouring, and Sylvester, a notable noble with a rather interesting personality. Each have their own quirks and contributions to the story.
In the most high stakes situations, the thing I found issue with was the execution of them. Things get solved rather easily at times, and the villains aren’t doing a whole lot of stuff in the fight scenes either, heck, sometimes the protagonists are just talking to each other while the fight is happening, and the villains are just off screen, standing there. It’s supposed to be tense, but the overall feel of the story or even the tense moments don’t present themselves in the most suspenseful way. With all the build up, it didn’t feel like an effective climax was executed.
ART: 7.9/10
The animation is fine, but the action sequences aren’t all that flashy, which was unfortunate, but I can’t fault it, since action isn’t the main focus of the series. Still colourful and vibrant, fitting of the world.
MUSIC: 6.5/10
Opening and ending are mediocre songs this time around, and the soundtrack sometimes takes away from the immersion in tense sequences. Not always fitting of the atmosphere.
CHARACTERS: 14.8/20
The overall characterization wasn’t as great as the last two series in my opinion because there are just a lot of side characters that don’t play much of a role at all. I would have loved to see more Benno and Lutz screen time, since they had a solid role in the story before. Felt like a two person show between Myne and Ferdinand, and while those two are still as incredible as can be, there are just too many underdeveloped characters.
ENJOYMENT: 12/15
Some parts were boring, but there were still many intriguing moments.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 15/20
The themes have a more complex feel to them this season, and I appreciate the plot progression and further world building. The action sequences were handled a bit awkwardly, but overall, still the Bookworm series that I enjoy.
OVERALL: 73.7/100
Notably a bit more bland than previous seasons in terms of emotional impact, but it’s still a well done show overall in its slice of life elements, it’s just a bit unfocused in its tense situations, and if the technical aspects were handled just a bit better, I’m sure the overall atmosphere of the show can shine much brighter!
If you are reading a review for an anime's 3rd season, I am sure you already know what is Ascendance of Bookworm is about. So I will leave out the introductory part of the review. Let's jump straight into this review.
Let's start with the positive part of the review.
As expected, the story is fantastic. Miya Kazuki did a fantastic job writing the story. The characters are the same lovable characters we love from Season 2. Myne still has a crippling addiction to reading. Ferdinand and Benno have a Myne-induced headache every single episode. Lutz desperately tries to keep Myne not working herself to death. The OP and ED are a banger, as always. The VAs does an amazing to make these characters alive.
So now, the negative part of the review.
This season's adaptation isn't as good as the previous season. It is still decently good, but not good enough for a series like Ascendance of a Bookworm. The Light Novel is infamous to be insanely well written and extremely detailed. With this season leaving a lot of details and content out, watching this season after reading its LN leaves me unsatisfied. I do not want to be that reviewer who demands this adaption to have the same standard as Mushoku Tensei, but I want it to have a similar standard as the previous season. In short, I feel the quality of the adaptation does not do the Light Novel justice.
With the negative part out of the way...
The Ascendance of a Bookworm is one of my favorite isekai out there, It is not your typical copy and pastes isekai. It uses the isekai genre well, whereas Myne often references technology and advances from our world to aid her in achieving her ultimate goal.
Even though I strongly criticize this season's adaptation, I still love this series. I still enjoy every single minute of this season. As a bookworm fan, I am happy that these series get a season 3.
I will ultimately give this season a 9. It is not as strong of a 9 as Season 2 or a 10 for season 1, but this is still the bookworm that I love so much. The identity and the soul of the series are still there. This is why I decided to give it a 9, despite my strongly criticizing the quality of the adaptation.
In summary, I am happy that we get a 3rd season. However, I am disappointed with the standard of this adaptation. I am giving this season a borderline 9.
If you can't get enough of Myne and her crippling addiction to books. I will strongly recommend you to check out its Light Novel. I will also recommend you to start reading from the very beginning instead of where the anime stops. Light Novel is written in Myne's POV instead of the anime's 3rd person POV. Extra stories from other characters' POVs will help you further understand Myne and her surrounding. If you want to experience the full The Ascendance of a Bookworm experience, read its Light Novel. You will not regret it, I promise you.
Will I recommend you to watch this series? Yes and no. If you love anime that is the slow pace with its focus on world-building and character-building? Then I will highly recommend you to watch this series. However, if you prefer action-filled anime. Then this is not the anime for you.
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Ultra Romantic /
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - Ultra Romantic (Season 3)
Ultra Romantic.
Just seeing that in the title does not give me much thought at first but now it really did stir something up in me after I finished watching this show because it is really the perfect word to describe what I am feeling at the moment while writing this review. Because I am not a big fan of the show and I did not have high expectation before finishing this show, it really did surprise me to see this show actually being ranked as number 1 because I was unable to catch up with the latest weekly episodes to understand the context that led to such ranking and I am glad since it really was thrilling to binge the rest of the show at once. After finishing this show, it is truly understandable for it to be ranked number 1 even if for a short moment.
Story :
As usual, it is just another mind game to make the other confess first but the way the story develops by placing time limit and the extra scenarios like Ishigami with Tsubame actually gives more life to the story making losing is an option where you still win at the end. I know that is quite generic for everyone since this is rom com but for me this is rom com at its finest. After that, the comedy for this season alone is really plus ultra;) because of how enjoyable and somehow relatable it is compared to the last few seasons. Furthermore, the way the story slowly foretells a little bit of the grand plan is a really nice detail. Thus, the word ultra romantic is perfect to describe this season.
Animation :
I really like the directing and the cinematography for the last few episodes since it truly emphasizes the dual confession arc. Well, it is from A-1 Pictures so it is okay to have high expectations.
Character :
The character development is truly shown in this season and that is what matters. Kaguya and Shirogane really tried their best just to make a confession and yes, it is the same for any other rom com. For me, it stands out even more because the effort is definitely extra and we can see how the show emphasize that effort. Plus, we got extra screentime on Hayasaka and Ishigami so that is also a nice detail on this season.
Conclusion :
It was really nice to see how everything played out because I enjoyed every episode and that is what matters to me. For some of you, it might not be the thing you like and what can be considered as masterpiece but it is still entertaining nonetheless. I hope that the anime industry can continue producing more and more great anime so that there is something that everyone can hold dear.
*Potential spoilers below
Love is complicated, scary, fleeting, but certainly not war. For Kaguya and Miyuki, though, it is. For months upon months, they have played this game where whoever confesses first loses, having lots of fun along the way, but when faced with a time constraint, was all this “war” a waste of time? Love doesn’t always wait for us, people come and go, and that’s why people must take advantage of every opportunity to be with those they love.
Watching this third season of Kaguya-sama was like watching the last act of a play, or listening to the last verse of a song. It felt like at the end of this cour, something momentous would happen, and the characters would step away from the status quo, starting potentially a new journey in their lives.
I have to credit mangaka Aka Akasaka’s brilliant storytelling and hysterical comedy in the original work, but I can’t give enough credit to the wonderful work of A-1 Pictures, the animators, and all the staff working on this passion project. The anime brings the manga to life so well, with adaptations shattering all expectations. For example, that rap sequence in Episode 5 this season was one of the best single anime episodes I have ever witnessed, with references that made me shocked. Throughout the series, we’ve seen so many different references, such as the Monogatari series, Dragon Ball, and even Western culture references like A-Ha’s “Take On Me”, and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Once again, I cannot give enough credit to the staff for coming up with this type of modern masterpiece. What I find most impressive is director Shinichi Omata’s grasp of modern society. He has done his research on what kind of comedy works in this day and age, and it’s not always situational comedy, it’s comedy that harnesses works from other mediums other than anime, which is such a creative spin that borders on comedic genius. Comedy is subjective, and it’s possible that not everyone enjoys this comedy, but for me, it couldn’t have been much better and funnier.
The continuation of the antics of the student council. The continuation of Kaguya and Miyuki’s relationship. Similarly to previous seasons, each episode is divided into skits, but this season is a bit less episodic than the rest, because the meat of the season lies in last few episodes focusing on the cultural festival.
I never can get too much of Kaguya and Miyuki’s mind games, and there is no shortage of that this season. It’s not all the same as the previous seasons though, because there are some important developments, and near the end of the school year, Miyuki gets accepted into Stanford University, a renowned school in the United States. That would mean he would be separated from the student council earlier than expected.
The underlying reasons of these mind games and why they never confessed is simple. One, it is scary. Two, they thought they had all the time in the world. When we are in a good place in our lives, with little time constraint, it’s hard to leave the status quo. In fact, it’s scary leaving a comfortable place in our lives. For Kaguya and Miyuki, it would have been comfortable and fun to play their mind games forever, but each person has their own lives and ambitions, and when there is a time constraint, they had to act upon their feelings and get it all out there. It’s really a tale that depicts the different sides of every person, the playful side, the childish side, but also the mature side. It’s a pretty relatable story of one’s growth in high school.
A side story, and one I was very invested in watching, was Ishigami’s story with Tsubame. Ishigami has been one of my favourite characters since the first season, and he has a very intriguing personality, delivering cynical lines now for fantastic comedic relief. Tsubame is the leader of the Cheer club and the organizer for the cultural festival, so naturally, she was pretty popular amongst the students. Ishigami doesn’t come off as a very confident person, so a relationship with him and Tsubame didn’t seem very possible at first, but Ishigami, with some help from Kaguya, was able to take action in search of a date with her. The funny thing about all this, is that this is hypocrisy to the highest degree, in that she’s telling Ishigami to go forward with his ambitions, but she doesn’t want to confess to Miyuki herself. It was honestly very entertaining to watch the twists and turns of this relationship play out.
Overall, there was a lot of development this season for a few characters, not just the main couple, which was a good take on the romcom genre, allowing many characters to shine.
ART: 9.6/10
As I mentioned, this is a passion project made with a lot of love. The animation is vibrant, and always adds to the comedy. It’s a visual feast always, with chaotic animation every episode. I would also love to shout out Vercreek, an 18 year old animator who was the key animator for the Episode 5 ED “My Nonfiction”, which was such eye candy. The regular ED was also very good and colourful, with yet more references, this time, to Kaguya-Hime, and Starship Troopers! Sasuga A-1 Pictures!
MUSIC: 9.5/10
Masayuki Suzuki had yet another wonderful opening in “Giri Giri”, though I do prefer the previous two openings. You can’t have Kaguya-sama without Suzuki though. The two endings were wonderful musically as well, especially “My Nonfiction”, which took rap elements and k-pop elements in a visually appealing ending. The OST is also great, as always.
CHARACTERS: 19.5/20
The main cast of characters bounce off each other very well, for great comedy. The voice actors do a great job, and I bet they had a lot of fun while doing the lines. Aoi Koga is such a great voice actor for Kaguya, killing it yet again, with her excellent range, balancing her dark side and shy side so well! I’ve talked about the characters a lot already, and it’s no surprise that I like every single one of them. I’ll just go over some of the characters I found interesting, besides Kaguya, Miyuki, and Ishigami.
Let’s start with everyone’s favourite comedic character, Chika! I noticed her somewhat lack of screen time in the cultural festival arc, and that made sense, since she’s more of a comedic character. Her running gag this season, similarly to previous seasons, is her being Miyuki’s teacher for many things, and getting PTSD from those experiences. Every time, that type of comedic bit is great, though I think they overly used it this season. Her bubbly personality was still a joy to see.
Next, we have a new character, Maki Shijo. I admit, I found her kind of annoying at first, but her friendship with Ishigami was why I ended up liking her. She has her problems with romance, but she’s able to use that to help Ishigami in his pursuit of romance. She was a wholesome character to watch, and had some great moments.
Lastly, let’s talk about Iino. Her “healing music” made for one of the funniest comedic moments of the season, as it was just so weird, but in a funny way. Her sensitivity to indecency made for an obstacle at times, so maybe she’s the “fan-service police”? Because of her, the fan-service in the show was limited? That’s how I like to see her as.
Great cast of characters that made for awesome comedic moments, while having their own character development in the process.
ENJOYMENT: 15/15
Had so much fun with this series, as I usually do with Kaguya-sama. Always was invested, so I was frustrated with the cliffhangers, but that’s a sign the show made me excited.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 19.7/20
Basically, all the excellent animation and musical themes helped coalesce the production, and establish drama and suspense. Director Omata’s cinematography and grasp of modern culture and the human condition made for excellent comedy. The romance felt as well paced as ever, never forced.
OVERALL: 95.8/100
Kaguya-sama has been a work of pure love, and it has always been made with great passion. I love works of art like this show that doesn’t rely or flashiness or fight scenes to create suspense, but just relatable romance tales that keep me engaged and excited all the way through. I found that when there was a great episode, I always smiled throughout the end credits, and honestly, this show made my day sometimes. It’s one of the most fun I’ve had with an anime ever, and if anyone ever wants a funny romcom to watch, or even if they’ve never watched anime, this would be near the top of the list for me to recommend. I haven’t poured my heart out this much writing a review, and that’s a testimony to how good this show is. I feel blessed to have been part of this 12 week journey, and to be able to share all my thoughts to you. If you’ve read everything, I truly appreciate it.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic
Season three felt like the culmination of everything we loved about season one and two of Kaguya-sama and put into an experience that was simply fantastic from start to finish. It took the best bits of the shows comedy aspects from season one and the more heartfelt moments from season two. The character growth, the references, the writing, the direction, the comedy, the animation and Masayuki Suzuki putting his voice into another top tier opening. We even have a new special ED rivalling the Chika dance. All culminating in a season finale that what was just so superb. Kaguya-sama is now one of the poster children for the term, “modern classic” because with three superb seasons that I have given my highest recommendation to, it has felt like the next comedy anime to inherit Gintama as that top comedy series. Without a doubt, this is the best Rom-com of all time, one of the best anime series of all time and is highly, HIGHLY recommended that you watch this if you haven’t already. Now how are they going to follow up this?
Story: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall score: 9.8/10
Recommendation: ABSOLUTELY GO F**KING WATCH IT
Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san / Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie
The final show to end the supposedly high-key season that is Spring 2022, and this one...really gets a major bad rep about how mangaka Keigo Maki's insanely popular series has managed to last this long for 3 years plus (like come on, at least it ain't Reiji Miyajima's work that is nothing but a cuck wasteland of padding torture at this point). And since I'm seeing that the majority of the community sees Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san a.k.a Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie as a target of objectification worth its massive hate (and to be unbias, it's warranted), so let me be the Devil's Advocate to tell you the other side of the story why this rom-com works, is overall very good (but not great) for the most part, and most certainly, doesn't deserve its maligned status of being overhated to hell and back.
Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san a.k.a Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie is a show, that like many anime and sources of the same kind (the similarities draw close to works like this Winter's Sono Bisque Doll, Nanashi's Nagatoro, HERO's Horimiya, and most certainly very striking to Kenjirou Hata's Tonikaku Kawaii), already establishes the main couple's status from the get-go: the unlucky boyfriend that is Yuu Izumi, facing mishap one after another no matter how good or bad the situation is, and the "ultimate heart-throb" of a girlfriend that is "Micchon" Shikimori exuding in her coolness that makes people's heart beat. It's your stereotypical standard of a rom-com that does its job of whatever gears towards the author's train thoughts of view (in this case, it's Keigo Maki). Together with friends, both Izumi and Shikimori's typical lovey-dovey high school couple life takes its chances to jab how perfect of a girlfriend Shikimori can be, why she is ultimately Izumi's saving grace to his accident-proneness life, and with friends, create the recipe for an intentional, unintended, mitigating disaster henceforth that builds up the frustration, but can be wholesome as well.
As I've already mentioned, Shikimori-san shares a lot of similarities to Tonikaku Kawaii (which is a rom-com that's better in every way and definitely recommended), and given Kenjiro Hata's status as one of the best well-known authors back in the heyday for Hayate no Gotoku! a.k.a Hayate the Combat Butler, it's fair to assume that eventually someone else will do an imitation of it, and that's what mangaka Keigo Maki did to pen this series a full year after Tonikaku Kawaii's release around the same time period in February 2019. And boy, it blew up like wildfire, that is still wildly popular and successful to this day. This, you can't discount that although Japan's reception was lukewarm (even though it was advertised quite a lot), over in the West, this was some hot stuff.
With that said, let's start with the comparisons: Yuu Izumi for one, he is very similar to Nasa Yuzaki in the case that while they both have blue hair, the latter is ridiculed for his bizarre name (that's literally named after NASA, but that also meaning the starry sky (hoshizora)) while the former has been leading an accident-proneness life, from breaking things to getting hurt over minor scuffles, so much so that even his parents have gotten used to their only child that's a DNA inheritance from his mother Motoko, who's also just as accident-prone. Despite the constant issues that arose from his non-accident-negating personality trait which contributes to his terrible luck (which is where all the hate comes from the community), Izumi is a good-natured, upbeat and friendly boy whom knows how to cook, but he is rather unassertive (or as the term is now coined "herbivore men", young men whom lost their "manliness"), but through Shikimori, he intends to become bolder (which is still a work in progress), and overtime we see that he can overcome his tumultuous bad luck by not consigning himself to the cliche "red thread of fate" of succumbing to the predictability of his ways, and pushing forward even if the adverse hits him hard. Character development on Izumi may feel blasé, but that's to be expected of the girl who's been standing by his side, the fercious and jealous Shikimori.
And this is a good segue to talk about Shikimori, which like Tsukasa Yuzaki/Tsukuyomi, she turns up as the cool and assertive girlfriend that garners everybody's admiration, for any potential guy that would come to date her, will be the best boyfriend to offer. Also, if that ain't enough, both Shikimori and Tsukasa have light pink hair, and is adored by everyone around her as the precious gem (in Shikimori's case, it's her nicknames: getting called Mi-chan at home and Micchon from her friends). But in hindsight, Shikimori is not the same Shikimori we know of now, as she was raised like a tomboy whom is proficient in martial arts, and despite being a girl, doesn't know what girls do to be cute. And this is where her older brother Fuji comes in to change her perspective to try to be more like a girl, arising the "Not Just a Cutie" tagline of the manga, that everything is also built from scratch: learning what and how it feels like to be a girl in love. And that is the story of "How I Met Your Mother", like geddit? Izumi and Shikimori noticing each other in school, thus, laying the groundwork for the relationship to prosper in both the good and bad.
So, obvious comparisons that are nothing more than just a passing resemblance for similarities, literally a copy-paste tactic that's more or less the same.
But what's the main couple without their gang of friends, and they fill the missing void that surrounds the couple's life, whether is it in school or outside and hanging out. Izumi has a Best Boy friend around him: Shu Inuzuka. Izumi describes him as "being true to himself", while being the absolute goofball that doesn't like to slack off, and this is evident throughout the anime. Also, if you'd noticed that he sounds and looks a lot like My HeroAca's Bakugo, you're right as VA Nobuhiko Okamoto also voiced both characters. Shu's essentially the kinder version of Bakugo, if you would imply. For Shikimori's side, there's 2 characters: Kyo Nekozaki and Yui Hachimitsu. I'll start with the latter, as Yui is pretty much like Shu being a very goofball character, but a lifeless version of it. But what she makes up for is her skill of observation, being a very petite and gentle girl, and like Izumi, prefers the indoors rather than going outside. I feel for Yui, because she is a person of few words, but what she can appreciate having, she wears it with a smile. With the former, Kyo is a very outlandish and supportive character of Shikimori's (almost to the point of being her right-hand woman), being the sportier and outgoing person. But it's here that Shikimori would face a rival: Kamiya, because you see, both her and Nekozaki are from the volleyball club, and contrasting with Shikimori, Kamiya's like the school idol that is instantly likable by everyone. But when it comes to romance, the level-headed girl becomes more meek (and some like me will say: cutesy kawaii), and that is the result when she finds that the kind-hearted Izumi is someone she'll pursue that's just your standard "like and love" affair. I understand the pain when someone you like and/or love has been requited to somebody else, as it releases another side of you that the one you love would appreciate. But nevertheless, it wasn't meant to be, and one can only think that Kamiya's love for Izumi exists only as a footnote in the know-how of the actual girlfriend that rather than bringing her down, actually lifts her up by acknowledging that love and becoming friends. That's something that's IMO, it's pretty tough to execute in the real world.
For the most part, romance adaptations are also Doga Kobo's bread-and-butter (other than the usual CGDCT-expected works), and for the most part, it presents itself nicely...if not for the fact that 2 episodes were delayed due to COVID (it's still a thing, and not funny to make a fun out of it). Regardless, it is valiant to look at the beautiful backgrounds, much less Shikimori's panned facial gestures when she decides to get serious, that's some quality commitment there amidst the usual soft palette colours that I have long expected of the studio to produce when the source work ain't all CGDCT-like.
The OST is also nice for such a rom-com series like this. Nasuo☆'s OP "Honey Jet Coaster" has so much personality in both music and visuals, that amidst the nice song, lies an "in your face" OP visual that pops with flavour, and it's a job well done with the musically-timed scenes. It's the same story with Yuki Nakashima's ED "Route Blue", that showcases the couple of Izumi and Shikimori walking side-by-side, and the cool girlfriend just trying to protect the bad luck boyfriend from all sorts of calamity in a frenetic order, only to have Izumi protect Shikimori from something as simple as a lone ball hit that shows his side of assertiveness. Both visually creative OP/ED set and nice songs that's in complementation by sound director Takeshi Takadera (Fumetsu no Anata e a.k.a To Your Eternity) and music composer Hiroaki Tsutsumi (Takagi-san franchise, Jujutsu Kaisen etc.).
You can love or hate a series that's entitled to your opinion, and Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san is no different in that aspect. Sure, what both the anime and source material has to blame for in Yuu Izumi's accident-prone constant repetition that is always shoved in your face so much that we've gotten so used to it, but the flipside is that if there is no action taken, nothing will bear fruit, and Izumi for all his problems, even acknowledges his faults and does things to soften that impact. And for that, I'm willing to see eye-to-eye with Izumi's shortcomings for Shikimori to smoulder all of her strong love and affection for him, that makes this show look good for what it tries to do.
I may be the minority part of those whom likes this show, but I can most certainly understand the majority's hate, and while Shikimori is by no means perfect, it's at the very least, acceptable for all to watch a few.
Well… this show’s actually pretty good… wait, everyone hates it? I guess I’ll just have to play a bit of devil’s advocate here then…
This show presents to us a bit of a different take on the romance genre, a clumsy but lovable main character, with an alpha, and very cool female main character. This show gets people into huge debates about gender roles and the dynamic between the main characters, but for me, the problems lie not necessarily on the dynamic of the main couple, but more on the repetitiveness of certain tropes presented. There are a lot of good aspects about this show as well, especially some of the supporting cast, which was surprisingly strong and intriguing to watch, and I’ll highlight all of that in my review below.
The story isn’t this show’s strong point, and that’s to be expected as this is a slice of life romance anime. In a nutshell, Izumi is a “cursed” kid, who’s very clumsy, and needs to be protected. His protector, and girlfriend is Shikimori, a very cool and badass character, who can be cute at the same time. Its overall premise is unique in the sense that the relationship starts from episode one, and it’s not one of those romcoms where a romance is developed, which is a welcome change for sure. I would have liked the backstories of the main characters a bit earlier in the series, but at least we got one.
What this show does super well is its handling of side characters. There are other people potentially interested in our main characters, and I’m glad that didn’t draw anything out in terms of romantic development, or create any unnecessary trashiness or love triangles, harems or anything of the sort. That’s why I liked Kamiya so much. It shades away from fan service as well, and didn’t need to rely on that to make the show more intriguing for the viewer, rather, it just used normal romcom slice of life elements to create a more organic path for our main couple.
It’s not perfect though, because the jokes are repetitive for sure. Izumi’s constant “bad luck” moments get a bit over the top and unrealistic, like the guy almost got isekai’d by Truck-kun, and that’s a main reason why people don’t like the show probably. I do think it’s repetitive, but that’s the premise of the show, and it’s just a minor drawback for me. Shikimori’s moments are also a bit repetitive, in that her thing is saving Izumi, and getting jealous. I’m glad that the characters had a little bit more depth, as shown in the backstories, or else the characters would have seemed a bit dry.
ART: 8.3/10
It’s a decent style, and I’m glad Doga Kobo was able to handle the production issues due to the studio getting closed down in April. Didn’t see any quality issues in later episodes.
MUSIC: 8.5/10
The opening and ending were pretty top-notch and one of my favourites of the season, as they were decently creative. The soundtrack was pretty solid throughout.
CHARACTERS: 14.8/20
This show shines a little brighter than the romcoms due to the greatness of the side characters, but first I’ll talk a bit more about Izumi and Shikimori.
Izumi, probably the character that gets the most hate. He’s clumsy, but kind, and needs to be taken care of. I know that a lot of stuff that happens to him is quite unrealistic, but we got to remember that this is fiction, and this stuff isn’t reality. His constant mess-ups do make for good comedic moments at times, and when he’s able to be, he can have his good, wholesome moments as well.
Shikimori is an interesting character, in that she protects Izumi, and also loves him, most likely because he’s kind and tries his best to take care of her too. She has her moments, but honestly, she felt a bit of a boring character to me, even though she was very cool, and showed off her skills. Basically, she’s the OP character you’d normally see in an isekai series, maybe she could be a solid isekai protagonist.
Now to the side characters, and in my opinion, one of the best parts about this show. Inuzuka and Nekozaki don’t contribute a whole lot to the overall story, but they have quite a few comedic moments that were very fun. Hachimitsu was one of my favourite characters, because what can I say, I’m a sucker for deadpan humour. She’s a good friend to everyone, and she kind of feels like Izumi, in that she tries her best at things she struggles at, and was the pinnacle of comedic relief. Personally, the character I was most impressed with was Kamiya. The way she was written to prevent any love triangles from forming was awesome, and just saying, if this series went that route and got trashy, INSTANT 2 OR 3/10. Luckily that didn’t happen.
ENJOYMENT: 13.5/15
I was very impressed with the handling of Kamiya’s character, and the backstories too. Good that there were some good comedic moments.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 15.8/20
I enjoyed how the romance was handled, and the depth that some characters had as well. The development felt well paced, and all the characters had their time to shine. Some jokes were repetitive, but overall, the show worked for me.
OVERALL: 78.1/100
A pretty solid show for me. Sure, some of it was boring, but I don’t really get the hate it gets. Perhaps people were wanting a new waifu at the same level as Marin, and a show like My Dress Up Darling, but a show with little to no fan service, and a good, and different romance was just as good and funny for me. Remember, Izumi and Shikimori are a fictional couple, and while this type of dynamic isn’t seen a lot in real life, it is a heck of a lot of fun to watch their interactions.
Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie is not an anime. No, Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie is a weapon. A weapon designed to supplant all mass produced Waifus. A weapon designed to be a sleeper agent on all Otaku’s shelves of figurines. A weapon that can even surpass Metal Gear in its lethality. Yeah, this show feels like it was designed to house the perfect Waifu. By looking at the show before it aired, Shikmori looked liked the prime candidate to be best girl this season and potentially challenge Marin for the crown of best girl this year. While that is fine and dandy, you still need to have an anime to go along with it and this is where I think the show falters.
Sit back, relax and grab your popcorn for the annual “Best Waifu” debate as I present to you the anime review for Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie. Let’s begin
Story: 3/10
Our lead protagonist, Yuu Izumi has a case of bad luck syndrome as anything he does, bad luck will sure to follow and entering his second year in high school, he hopes his luck will change because of his girlfriend, Shikimori, being able to protect any harm coming his way. Along with the rest of their friend group, Kyou Nekozaki, Shuu Inuzaka and, Yui Hachimitsu, they enjoy the school life and with Shikimori around, Izumi hopes his bad fortune will change.
That sets the basis for the show and how far the show goes plotwise. Yeah, there isn’t really much of an overarching plot here or any plot for that matter. We are dropped in the middle of Izumi’s and Shikimori’s relationship that is going swimmingly and they have a great group of friends. From there, it’s just going from one event to the next with nothing really getting added. There is nothing that makes the show feel different from the start to the show to when the show finishes. Izumi and Shikimori still love each other and they still have a great group of friends. All there is in between is how they get along. There isn’t really that moment that can make you believe that the state of their relationship is going to change. It stays the same throughout and that leads to the show feeling stale by the end. There is one part of the show that presents a possible love triangle but that doesn’t really go anywhere because that would go against the status quo that the show presents.
That’s another problem with the show’s story, the status quo. It follows a lot of tropes you would expect from School Rom-Coms and seems to use many of the cliché episodes like the school festival and the sports festival. The main thing it doesn’t have is the beach episode but proceeds to have a substitute. While it does do these things right and with good execution, it just doesn’t try anything new. It just does everything we’ve come to expect and that’s a problem when they are trying to present Shikimori as this cute girlfriend who is also a badass and yet they don’t do anything exciting with it. They use what we expect them to use but tries to put Shikimori front and centre and make her the star of the show. Like I said, this anime feels designed to make Shikimori a standout character and maker her best girl of the year, let alone the season. They could’ve used her to make something feel more original, but it feels like we’re watching something we have seen before countless times in the rom-com genre. It seems like it wouldn’t matter if Shikimori ended up being best girl this season...so how do we break it to them?
Characters: 3/10
So we should start with Shikimori first since that’s the character this show wants to display first and foremost. She is presented as this girl who is cute but is also really cool as well and give us the best of both worlds. While She isn’t an absolute perfect girl since she can’t cook and is very competitive, they want to show that she can overcome any challenge thrown in her way, even with a bad luck magnet like Izumi. While that does make for good waifu material, as a character, it doesn’t look like she grows as a character. She remains near perfect from start to finish which itself is a problem because it never feels like she is trying to overcome something. They do show her beackstory where you could say she is overcoming something but since that is set in the past, we already know the outcome. Again, it feels like this character is designed to be best girl and the ironic thing is that I don’t think she is close to best girl this season. You’ve got the other best girl candidates from previous years, Chika, Kaguya, Hayasaka, Raphtalia (quality of season two not withstanding), Komi and Kurumi. But this season, you have Anya and Yor Forger from Spy x Family, Ushio from Summertime Render, Desumi from Love after World Domination and others like Aharen and Eiko. She is among the candidates but I don’t think she is a serious contender because the majority of these characters here have something to overcome whereas we know she can always overcome anything thrown at her. Her only obstacle would be combating Izumi’s bad luck. Speaking of which, let’s talk about him and their relationship.
I would consider Izumi to be a wet blanket of a protagonist. Just a sweet, nice guy with no naughty intentions and wants to just be a great boyfriend for Shikimori. But he is a bit of a fumbler and just too sweet of a guy. He just doesn’t have any characteristics that make him interesting as it feels like he is a one note character with one defining aspect to his character, his constant bad luck and how it affects his day to day life. Without this aspect, he is basically like every other nice guy school protagonist but lacks a thing called a spine to be a bit more tough instead of being, like I said earlier, a wet blanket. His bad luck is mainly used as a plot device though for two reasons. One, the comedy and two, to make Shikimori look cooler when she protects him. While it is quite amusing to start with, over time, it just becomes tedious. It’s like how you expect Shikimori to overcome every obstacle, you expect Izumi’s bad luck to strike whenever he tries to do something. Both become very predictable and your interest starts to dissipate and you know that these will counteract each other so it will make them less significant than the show wants it to be.
Then there is their relationship with one another which honestly feels artificial. There just doesn’t seem to be any chemistry between these two and while we are told why Shikimori likes Izumi, it doesn’t change the fact that what we have on screen is not working. It just only gives context to their relationship. We start the show in the middle of their relationship but it fails to make us invest into their relationship. It doesn’t feel like a relationship where they are equals. It feels like a relationship between a mother protecting her son. They don’t grow from being with one another, they still act the same and their feelings haven’t changed for one another. There’s barely anything to challenge their relationship in this show. Izumi just feels like a plot device in this relationship to make Shikimori look cooler, so they stuck these two together in a relationship but with none of the setup or natural chemistry to make these characters want to be together.
As for the rest of the cast, there isn’t really much to say as they act like one note supporting characters you’ve come to expect and much like our two main leads, they don’t grow as characters. The main group of friends are just there to fill the friendship group quota. They can add some different dynamic to the situation and they do get their own time in the spotlight, but they are so underdeveloped that giving them their own time to shine doesn’t work. There chemistry with one another though is ironically better than Izumi and Shikimori’s chemistry and does do a solid job of making this friendship between these people feel believable.
Animation: 8/10
Well that was a lot of negativity, let’s talk about something positive. The animation for this series is actually good, particularly with the show’s photography. The show does a good job of capturing the right moment to showcase how cool Shikimori is. If you are going to illustrate how cool she is, you need to make sure that you nail how you display it and in that aspect, the show does it well with the animation itself being able to capitalise on it effectively. In terms of character designs, they do an alright job of making sure that the important characters stand out, despite that they have a stereotypical look to them. So they do their best to spice it up a bit to make them look more unique from their rather stereotypical designs.
Sound: 5.5/10
The soundtrack for this series is okay but I didn’t really pay much attention to it due to it sounding simple and standard. It mainly uses a combination of traditional and electronic pianos (played separately from one another) as well as violins. The usual instruments in romance shows. Compared to other shows, it just doesn’t have the same pull, especially when it is trying to ramp up the emotion but it fails to leave an impact. There were only a couple of times I felt it succeeded but not by much. Ironically, it felt doing the trope thing when it came to the show’s music as well when you think about it. They do the standard thing that they know works but don’t put effort in to make it feel original.
The opening is the main bright spot in the sound department. "Honey Jet Coaster” by Nasuo☆ feels colourful, vibrant and has more energy put into making it feel creative than the entire show. It wants to showcase the relationship between Izumi and Shikimori by doing these different things to hammer the message home. Disregarding the problems with their relationship, I think the opening does it well. I main critique is that it can feel like the opening is going too fast and not giving it the visuals to breathe. But other than that, it’s a good opening.
The ED as well is fun to watch with the art style and video game-esque aesthetic. Titled, "Route BLUE" by Yuki Nakashima, is even more colourful than the OP but less vibrant. Through it’s video game vibes, it showcases the lengths Shikimori will go to to protect Izumi from any bad things that get in his way. The visuals are the best thing about this ED and unlike following the status quo where it would probably be a slide show, they put a lot of effort in. Like the OP, it’s also good.
Conclusion
Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie is not a show I hated nor was it a show that I got tired of watching, it’s just a show that felt like it didn’t try to do anything new. It’s a show that felt designed to showcase the best girl of the season and it didn’t feel like they succeeded. Most of the time, you are only as good as the show itself and with the tropy as hell story, underdeveloped characters, a relationship that doesn’t feel believable and a forgettable soundtrack, it just leaves the series feeling bare and uninspiring. The only bright spots were the animation and the OP and ED, that’s it really. Sure Shikimori is a nice character but forcing us to go vote for her being best girl and being so blatantly obvious about it though when compared to everything else about this show makes it less convincing. Very few characters are able to rise above how poor their shows are and Shikimori is a character that really tries to but can’t succeed.
Again, its not a show I hated and not a show I got bored with. It’s just a show that felt like it needed something more than the standard. Instead, Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie is a waifu bait of show that does the bare minimum to make it passable not not enough to make me recommend it. Especially in a Spring and Summer season that had no shortage of Rom-coms, many which have more interesting premises, which makes this show feel worse by comparison. Watch it if you wish, just don’t expect anything that will make you wish for more.
Koi wa Sekai Seifuku no Ato de / Love After World Domination
To anyone whom has read or seen William Shakespeare's Romeo X Juliet, it's arguably one of the most instantaneously recognizable plays ever to exist in the English playwright-cum poet and actor's life. And it's so famous that even centuries later, many forms of media exist taken as an inspiration (an ode or form of emanation to be precise) to create something original out of it. This happens a lot especially when it comes to mediums like anime, the most recent being mangaka Yousuke Kaneda's ever-so-popular Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet a.k.a Boarding School Juliet which wrapped up in 2019 (the anime adaptation is flawless in my book, and that's saying a lot even 2.5 years later).
It's then to my surprise to hear that the next successor to continue this tradition happens in the exact same Romeo X Juliet form, except that it adds the references from both the Tokusatsu-inspired Super Sentai and last season's monster-inspired Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san a.k.a Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department, and this is exactly what the mangaka Noda Hiroshi is going for in his rom-com series that is Koi wa Sekai Seifuku no Ato de a.k.a Love After World Domination, and it's arguably his best work to date. Also, I don't know why they didn't just go ahead and call this: "Love Is War" (whoops, sorry Kaguya-sama...)
Koi wa Sekai Seifuku no Ato de, or as the translated title goes "Love After World Domination", is exactly what it sounds like: the battle of good and evil, where love triumphs all at the end of the day. And this is the setting to give both our heroes and villains the context: the Tokusatsu, Super Sentai (whatever you want to call it) inspired group Freezing Sentai Gelato 5 with the usual Power Ranger-type colours vs. the Kuroitsu-san evil organization inspired group Secret Society Gekko with Supreme Leader Bosslar and its Generals which are the Princess Series (which I'll get into) and monsters of different quirks and features. But what you just need to know in this show, is that the Romeo X Juliet plotline plays the same here between the main characters: the bufflord and dense-but-honest Red Gelato Fudo Aikawa and the superhuman strength and perceived sadism Reaper Princess Desumi Magihara, as they attempt their relationship stints in secret while being new into the romance game and hiding the fact from their respective organizations. And just like Boarding School Juliet, both Desumi and Fudo would do everything in their power not to get noticed, for if they're found out, then all hell would break loose. It's your typical simple rom-com setting that does its service well as intended.
But what's your typical rom-com without the supporting character cast, and I think that they did an admirable job despite Fudo and Desumi having most of the screentime to one another. Kicking things off with Freezing Sentai Gelato 5, the ones that really stood out (in order of the anime adaptation as opposed to the manga) are the kid sister role of Pink Gelato Haru Arisugawa and the ladies' man role of Blue Gelato Hayato Ojino. That's not to say that there wasn't a reason for the big sister character of Yellow Gelato Misaki Jinguuji, the altruistic and protective Green Gelato Daigo Todoroki, and Professor Big Gelato (which definitely has that Astro Boy Professor Atom feel) to exist, they're merely team players supporting their team leader Fudo since he is the face of the Super Sentai group after all.
Same goes with the Secret Society Gekko, where Supreme Leader Bosslar somehow looks similar to the General from the Mega Man X4 game, and the various Princess Series characters and monsters which all look up to the Reaper Princess. From the likes of the frenzy Beast Princess Kiki Majima and silent Steel Princess Kyoko Kuroyuki (whom has an internal office relationship with the beary Culverin Bear) to the Komi-san's Ren Yamai-yandere inspired Anna Hojo, you have lots of characters overall that lend their own quirky personalities to make the show better, that's not just a duo couple show between Fudo and Desumi alone, and for that, it gets a pass. Also, a shoutout to veteran VA Fumihiko Tachiki for lending his voice as the narrator, I don't ever think that background vocals get enough love as they should, and for someone whom's also the narrator for Golden Kamuy, that is really saying volumes of how great his vocals are.
For such a manga that's easy to adapt, it falls into the staff team's hands at doing the best they could, and for newbie Project No. 9 in-house director Kazuya Iwata, that's what he did with his production team, and made it a heck ton of fun and enjoyment to be had. Personally, I find that this is one of the better shows that the studio has produced in recent years, and it's quite noticeable from the action to even the romance segments where punches and kicks are playfully done that still shows the extent of power. It's striking for a show that presumes to have limited budget, yet the sakuga in this doesn't make me feel it's unkempt enough. Overall, pretty good work.
When it comes to music, I always anticipate what would come next of Masayoshi Oishi since most of his song repertoire have been nothing but bangers across the board, and this show's OP "Koi wa Explosion" featuring famed Anisong-cum-VA Yukari Tamura, is once again a no-brainer for me to say that it absolutely bangs the way that's a style similar-but-different to Kaguya-sama's OPs with Japan's King of Love Songs Masayuki Suzuki with whoever he's paired up with. The ED with the well-established girl group DIALOGUE+, do I really need to say that it's also good as well? It's another plus point from the same goddamn aspect I've churned out for so long that would "save anime", or rather save the world first through love, after dominating the world, HA HA, geddit?
This show being a Romeo X Juliet Tokusatsu twist has no right to be this good given its inspirations, but it's definitely one of the better shows of the season that has a decent following and ample amounts of romantic comedy that would have you be Steven He slapping slippers on the floor and saying "EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!" that true than most, does inflict some emotional damage of the good kind. It's entertainment-worthy fun and doesn't take itself seriously, for the relationship works wonders and navigates like lovebirds wandering onto a treacherous path and carefully treading it to reach Paradise. Defo a show worthy of being under the TGIF banner of pre-weekend amusement.
Welcome to part two of taking the p**s out of super sentai shows. In part one, we delved into corporate life of the villain workplace in Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department (which was probably the most underrated show of last season). In part two, we now tell a classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, but with Power Rangers and hey, I’m all for it. It was one of the show before the season aired that grabbed my interest. Was worth my attention? Yes, yes it was and here’s why.
Sit back, relax and go go power on your kettle to make yourself a cup of coffee as I present to you
the anime review for Love After World Domination. Let’s begin
Story: 7/10
Good and evil clash in battles as the heroes, “Gelato 5” fight the evil organisation, “Gekko” to prevent them from taking over the world. While the battle rages on, our two main leads, Fudo Aikawa and Desumi Magahara go about on a date while keeping it a secret from everyone else. For you see, Fudo is the “Red Gelato” of Gelato 5 and Desumi is the “Reaper Princess” of Gekko. Two people who are supposed to be sworn enemies are now in a romantic relationship. Despite that though, Fudo and Desumi are determined to make this relationship work and avoid suspicion of those around them.
What follows is a slow but steady growth of the relationship between Fudo and Desumi. Over the course of the anime, Fudo and Desumi try to find different ways to go on dates by coming up of contrived ways to go places like an amusement park or the beach (because what rom-com would it be without a beach episode, am I right?), but they are able to convince them because they have such sway within their respective organisations. It works though because of the light hearted tone this series sets. It just wants to have fun with itself and this reflects with the shows comedy and story. Here is how each episode is set up, so just go and enjoy yourself with how you go about it.
With the story itself, there isn’t really much there. The whole Power Rangers setting is mainly played in the background as it is mainly just that, the setting for the show. It’s used as that Romeo and Juliet style setup to establish the main hook that Fudo and Desumi are on opposite sides despite their affection for one another. Fudo and Desumi are already in their relationship when the show starts but are inexperienced when it comes to romance. But what I think this show does subtly well is how comfortable Fudo and Desumi slowly become with each other throughout the course of the show. You see it throughout the show from when they start being embarrassed of how to do this right to by episode 10, you can see how they have become a great duo and are able to be themselves more and more. They do throw a few curveballs in there to test their relationship but I’ll save that for the characters section because it does do good for character development.
Characters: 8.5/10
The best part of this show is its characters. Both the main cast and the supporting cast are delightful and give this show life. Fudo and Desumi really make a good couple together despite their obvious differences. Fudo is a workout-holic but with a heart of gold and is not the type of person to back down. Full of determination and only needs slight encouragement from the people around him to get him motivated. Desumi is a sweet and cute girl who is mindful of others, but is super strong and is only really working for Gekko because of her parents. On paper, it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of depth to them, but when they get tested, it does bring the best of them and it does make you legit believe that these two care for each other and wants to find ways to make this relationship work. What results is one of the best couples this season and just seeing them get more and more comfortable with each other as the season goes on makes it that much better.
But it’s not just them that makes this section of the anime great, the supporting cast as well makes it great and they each get their moment to shine. Both members of Gelato 5 and Gekko have characters that are both likeable and entertaining. The members of Gelato 5 and Gekko may fall into archetypes you would expect with a Power Rangers setup but they at honour their role to an entertaining degree. The best part about it however is their chemistry and how they gel well with one another. You do get a good sense of comradely and friendship between one another and some of their interactions can be funny. For example, the brief yet entertaining interactions between Gelato 2, Hayato Oujino and Beast Princess, Kiki Majima. These little moments are scattered throughout the show and help make this more entertaining than it should be.
Animation: 6/10
I definitely like the art style and the aesthetics. They nailed the look of a super sentai Power Rangers show with the shows looks as well as the character designs making them stand out from one another and help correlate with their personalities and if the objective was to make Desumi as cute as hell, then I think they did that despite her skimpy looking design. That aspect the show nails down well, it’s just when it comes to animating where it we get some issues. It doesn’t feel like they cheap out to a ridiculous degree but there multiple times in this show where they clearly didn’t put much effort in to animate it and use sliding images or shaky camera to give that appearance. It’s a shame because they’ve proven in this series that they can do it, look at the fight between Desumi and Haru in episode four and you can see that they can do it, it’s just that they don’t do it consistent enough.
Sound: 6.5/10
Very thematic with the tone of the show. Like the art style, I think it does a good job of capturing the spirit of super sentai Power Rangers during the shows fights. When it comes to down time, it does carry it’s own varied tracks to match the tone but it doesn’t stand out as much when compared to the energy filled tracks the show provides. Even then, that’s if they play something in the background. Half the time, it’s silence; which usually happens in between the shows more important scenes. Obviously, you aren’t going to hear the ost throughout the entire episode but it feels like it stands out more in this show than other shows. It is a solid soundtrack overall even if most of it is something I will quickly forget.
The OP sound like a combination of a light-hearted, romantic show and a super sentai opening. Titled, Koi wa Explosion" by Masayoshi Ooish, it does a good job of capturing the tone and the theme of the show of romantic Power Rangers using a song that captures the spirit of both type of shows. The visuals do lean to being more of a super sentai show but there are scenes to show off the romantic angle and the song does more than enough to carry the weight. Overall, a solid opening.
In my opinion, the ED, "Koi wa Sekai Teiri to Tomoni" by DIALOGUE+, had one objective, to make Desumi as cute as we can possibly make her. Did they succeed? Yes, yes they did. While there isn’t much there in the animation department, the art still does a good job of making Desumi cuter than she already is with the song helping for the ED to move at a nice pace. It’s just a sweet ED to make Desumi cuter.
Conclusion
Love After World Domination is a fun show that uses it’s gimmicks to create an experience that was worth sitting down and watching. It’s fun and likeable cast of characters combined with the shows themes and aesthetics makes for an anime that can be loved, even if your not familiar with super sentai types of shows. Because unlike Miss Kuroitsu from last season where the genre was so ingrained into that show, this type of show treats it like you don’t need to be a fan to enjoy it. It’s used as a theme to tell a sweet Romeo and Juliet type story about two people on opposite sides falling in love with one another. Could we have had more in the story department and better production values? Sure, but what we got was good enough to be recommend for anyone looking for a fun rom-com and in a season full of them, this one is worth it.
It's a given when a source material this popular like mangaka Tomohito Oda won awards so prominent enough to warrant the inevitable anime adaptation, Komi-san's adaptation would skyrocket the anime scene once again for the immensely popular girl in school whom has a communication disorder, and someone wants to befriend 100 friends that starts from the average boy that slowly and surely, they grow together more closely and intimately. Also, as a footnote, this show certainly was one of the first anime to be now infamously dubbed the "Netflix Jail" (because you could ONLY watch this on Netflix, and then again the subbing is quite bad), and the reason why piracy still exists today.
Come Season 2 not long after Season 1 aired last Fall to huge fanfare, and Komi is back with the same clique of found friends plus some new ones that continue to reach the 100 friends goal. The new additions this season (and onwards if they decide to do more) are just as fantastic as they come, mainly the more notable ones:
- The huge and bulge-sized boy that is Katai Makoto whom has a heart of kindness and is just like Komi herself with the communication problems, to the point where he saw her as his master that constantly freaks both the class and Tadano out.
- The "handsome narcissist" and his narrator that is Naruse Shisuto and Kometani Chushaku, being so delusional in his own world that Kometani has to interpret to the audience being a talking parrot, and I certainly wouldn't mind someone like Kometani to do his one and only job well and yet still be a comedic pointer.
And of course, how could I miss out on Tadano and Komi's growing relationship, that as the year's festivities like Christmas (which coincidentally is Komi's birthday), New Year's and Valentine's all gloss by, save for Najimi and Co. that are always hindering them both (with the usual suspect offender being the yandere Yamai), they're getting along with more private and even some closed-door moments that...let's just say, didn't quite materialize yet of their love for one another. That is a story left better said when THE ONE prominent character comes by in future seasons.
OLM's production values...have sadly taken a hit this time. Being in the same season where the Disney+ exclusive that is Summertime Render also started airing, having 2 concurrent shows at the same time will undoubtedly share resources within the same team (and that's Team Kojima for you), and this is stretching the limits to input more work into the latter show than Komi-san, leaving for some rudimentary stylistic choices that just couldn't quite match the quality that Season 1 was known for. Not a big hit, but it's definitely noticeable.
The music...also has sadly taken a hit, a huge one in fact. Miku Itou's OP is nice, and the visual canvas also looks nice, but it's no Cider Girl "Cinderella" type of quality, and honestly it's fine by me since the music industry is also moving on to newer songs, so this works out nicely. What doesn't is FantasticYouth's ED, which is just a collage of Class 1-1's activities that seem almost washed out by its watercolour visuals, and then again the song is just average-to-decent (just like Arifureta's Season 2 ED).
Picking up where Season 1 ended, I'd say that Komi-san has had a relatively healthy production phase so far, and I wouldn't mind just a few seasons down the road to get to where manga readers like myself truly have a revival of a Reconnaissance with the eventual shake-up from a lone gyaru which elevates Tomohito Oda's manga to insane degrees. Until then, have yourself a pleasant Komi-san for your aftertastes.
Much like the first season, the biggest question I reflected on was “Did I find that funny?”. Yes, it’s still pretty hilarious, but these students really need to put on some kind of watch list, like seriously, this is quite the messed up school. The romance between Komi and Tadano continues, at a snail’s pace, but even so, it’s still quite enjoyable to watch.
Mostly still very episodic, with your typical school rom-com tropes. The romance is still very slow, but cute when romantic moments occur. Not a whole lot to say about the story, as it’s mostly comedic moments and a character based show.
ART: 8.4/10
A definite step down from last season, as some elements are inconsistent, such as character expressions, and the overall flow of the animation. Didn’t look as cinematic as last season, but the animation is still overall very solid.
MUSIC: 8.3/10
Mostly the same type of comedic music and sound effects, but the opening from Season 1 was much better. I will say I appreciate the higher effort on the ending this season.
CHARACTERS: 11/20
The characters just make me go “???” at times because they are just SO WEIRD that it takes away from the immersion. If we removed Yamai from the show, I bet it’d be much better, and not so weird, creepy, and out of place. I’m not gonna lie though, some Yamai moments are pretty funny, but most of them are just outright off-putting. The other characters like Nakanaka, Najimi, Onemine are about the same as last season, and they don’t have any extra developments this season.
I did not enjoy watching Tadano’s character this season compared to the last, because he just seemed way more uncomfortable towards Komi. I get that the romance is in the air, but it just wasn’t as enjoyable to watch if Tadano and Komi are both just blushing all the time, and not talking as much as they did before.
Now, the new characters, and I’m only going to talk about Katai and Naruse Shisuto (a play on narcissist obviously). Katai is a very solid addition to the cast, and he’s probably one of my favourites in the cast. On the outside he looks like a delinquent, and talks like one, but on the inside he has a heart of gold, and just wants to make friends. Loved the interactions between Katai and the rest of the cast. For Shisuto, his comedic gag revolves around him thinking he has the attention of everyone around him, when he actually doesn’t. He even has a narrator that commentates on his every action. Seriously, just stop pulling your shirt down though.
Overall, the characters are still the biggest problem of this show, because they just aren’t very interesting to watch, and for the ones that are interesting, it’s usually in a negative way, or if they’re fun to watch, they’re merely side characters with not enough screen time.
ENJOYMENT: 13.2/15
Still very funny, and I admit, the comedy is still decent.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 16.6/20
The comedy is obviously a subjective thing to judge, and I will say the comedy is still pretty good, though a bit cringe at times. The romance is slow, but there are big pay-offs occasionally with the cute moments.
OVERALL: 74/100
A decent sequel to the first season, but arguably a little worse. It’s mostly the same type of comedy, and the romance is still moving slowly. I expected a bit more from Season 2 for sure.
Komi Can't Communicate Season 2
This season is basically doing what worked with season one and going, “here’s some more.” By all accounts, season two continues with what made season one so good. Great characters with great chemistry with one another, great animation to make this show vibrant and full of life and a story that can be both funny and touching when it wants to. The new characters they added into this season have been great additions with each of them standing out in their own way with their designs and personalities. There is one gripe though and how much is this show going to stretch the romantic relationship between Komi and Tadano because it feels agonisingly slow. Despite that though, this season is a great follow up and I’ll look forward to if and when they do a season three.
Story: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 9.5/10
Overall Score: 8.3/10
Recommendation: Watch It
Last season, I worried that this series would burn itself out soon with repetition, as any time I look up the long manga series for this, there's usually frustration found with where it is going. I haven't read the manga. As a result, I can't personally comment on it, though I can tell this early on with season 2, that the story is annoyingly dragging itself as a romance, and falling apart. The progression in this 2nd season, plot wise, is like a spider trying to crawl out of a bathtub. The anime staff, for all they are, is the little kid that is trying to help it get out, but lets it slip back down each time.
The comedy, when it works, is all that can somewhat salvage this. The early episodes were very funny, and made this at least entertaining and funny at times. Towards the end, I stopped laughing almost completely. The songs got old since they keep recycling them in a way that it was noticeable to me. The anime ran out of steam with it's humor by the end. Early on, I felt the 100 friends journey for Komi was going to be a character development disaster, and it turned that way. Trying to rush at the end by manifesting people who were never there, and giving them flat personalities only hurt this. The author seriously trying to go with this goal for Komi was a mistake. Look at all the wasted potential for Tadano and Komi. Important events, like those holiday events, when they'd get nervous and look into each others eyes, and Valentine's Day, were all wasted as they are still nowhere romantically. The repetitive formula that they are going to get somewhere but don't, got stale and old since last season. Neither are willing to take that step forward, and it's drags to the extent it's irritating. If you are looking for romance, this is not the series to look for that in.
The staff looked as if they had a lot of fun making this. They tried what felt like everything to try and boost the source material. From wasting the budget on eraser flicking battles and exaggerated details to mundane things the character do, to it's episodic and multiple skits like approach, it felt mostly hit or miss. There might be a skit that wasn't as good, which makes it feel like it wasted half the episode. Sometimes, none of the skits felt entertaining enough, and they tried to make up at the end with a Komi and Tadano moment that of course goes nowhere. Even Najimi, who I felt was among the more entertaining characters, started to get annoying partly in constantly getting in between Tadano and Komi.
The only characters that I came to enjoy by the end were Katai and Yamai. Katai, because his friendship with Tadano that gets often accidentally played out as a gay relationship is absurdly funny in how they executed it. Yamai, because her sickly obsession with Komi is amusing to watch just how far she'll go to get noticed and have her way.
Komi is still frozen in character development, and the constant bug eyed shrieking got old long ago. She's become the bojji of her genre. If this series wanted to use her as someone with a communication disorder, it would help to get her to overcome that as soon as possible to inspire the viewers who can only somewhat relate, as she is often portrayed as the perfect woman; impossible to reality. Still, they won't, as this has to reach 100 friends total, and it's only a quarter of the way there as of now. Tadano is still nothing more than a nice guy who doesn't realize how good he has it, and what he can have if he'd have the manhood to reach out for it.
This didn't motivate me enough to want to read the manga. If there is no season 3, I'm done with for the most part. Season 3 feels like it will just continue to drag, and force the staff to come up with as many more production techniques to try and act like a defibrillator for the dragging plot.
Kono Healer, Mendokusai / Don't Hurt Me, My Healer!
"I love being an enigma. Every time I'm tempted to respond to someone who tries to put me in a box, politically - you know, someone who gets on the Internet and says, you're pro-gun, or you're anti-gun - I stop and say to myself, 'This is great; this is what I wanted. I wanted to be the guy you can't figure out.'" - Brad Paisley
Kono Healer, Mendokusai a.k.a Don't Hurt Me, My Healer! by the relatively unknown mangaka Tannen ni Hakkou is an adventure series. It's set in the fantasy world. It's also a comedy. But what this show is in one summarized package...well, it's high-class, expensive humour on a page-ly basis that when turned into anime thanks to low-budget studio Jumondo's production under wonky director Nobuaki Nakanishi's spotty track record, it's comedy in an episode basis that depending on your tolerance for humour, will easily make or break your experience in the amalgamation of how the jokes land in this show. It's definitely an enigma of a comedy show that a few will like, and many others will naturally hate.
Kono Healer, Mendokusai only features 2 main characters: the dark elf healer Karla and the no-face (or eyeless) MC adventurer Alvin. Both seemingly misfits with the former being a sarcastic girl with her own sense of peculiar humour and insults for days, while the latter may be at level 100, but can also be a total beginner whose adventurer life has just begun like any other adventurer in an RPG would by accepting low-level quests from the guild, defeat monsters, and then wash, rinse and repeat. Oh, did I forget to mention that in this fantasy world of theirs, apart from the absurd request that Alvin MUST stick by Karla at all times due to this "curse" that restricts his distance with her that results in death, all monsters act like monsters but have an actual brain for comedy-induced humour to gladly wait until both Karla and Alvin have finished bickering (because they won't ever finish)? Honestly, I'd sign up as an adventurer if there was this kind of fantasy world where humans and monsters can co-exist, and the only thing to get away with is just counterarguments with a healer that heals AND curses, and call it a day. It's flawed, but it also knows what it's doing to derive its own charm for that obnoxious feeling that you'd take or leave it for what it is. There is no story in this, so the characters drive their very own story (and thus the show), and this is the biggest selling point of the manga and the anime.
Karla is a dislike/hate-worth character for her implied catechisms meant to mock Alvin, while he is the butt of the joke, so it's playing on an even field, matching a healer that only opens her mouth and talks batshit about other people with an adventurer that most seasoned veterans will dismiss for his lackluster use. So you can technically say that they're actually meant for each other, intertwined not by the cliche red thread of fate, but by crass jokes and the supposed companionship in Alvin's adventurer journey, and this is important as the base foundation for the source material and its adaptation counterpart.
For someone like Aguri Oonishi to act as the titular dark elf whom never once shuts her mouth at hurling insults, I felt somewhat eased to say that she fits Karla's character to the T, being all that inquisitive and tomfoolery with all the mocking that has both hits and misses. And for Takuya Satou whom recently has VA-ed for Yuukoku no Moriarty a.k.a Moriarty the Patriot's Albert James Moriarty, his performance to sound the irritated and frustrated beginner adventurer, also works. And together, they make for a VA performance that so cringe at times, yet cultivate its own charm that's truly one-of-a-kind. This same effect trickles down to the OST, and I thought that it's interesting to show literal spoilers for the entire show, yeah that sounds great...NOT. I mean, for a no-name studio like Jumondo, this cost-cutting measure is just as predictable as it comes, and it wasn't surprising that budget is not the only limiting factor here.
What makes this show a saving grace, is that it's parody insults all the way, and it's very clear that is what Tannen ni Hakkou has penned for his very unusual manga that is like the "Spiderman Pointing" meme where both MCs can be quite powerful, or so much as they proclaim what they're made out to be: the unintentional clown vs. the straight man comedy routine that can get old pretty fast, and the tension and wordings between the sarcastic healer and the total amateur adventurer being a mixed bag of intentional comedy, kinda makes you think that it's such a waste of time trying to be popular when all you have is absurdity at your disposal. Yet, the adage of "beauty lies in the beholder" sums up this show in the most perfect of ways, and I really can't help to think that I'm experiencing something "unique", when in fact the majority writes off as being uninspired and unoriginal.
The crux is that even bad shows like this one have something good in them, and that's literally if you take this with a grain of salt for the nonsense humour that somehow clicks and tickles your fancy at times. And I have to say this show ironically works, it's just that you have to turn off your brain to experience crude comedy of the finest kind it's unironically good. Take it or leave it, Kono Healer, Mendokusai is an unique one in the bunch.
Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi / In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki
If there is an author that has his/her name thrown around quite a lot, it would be Souichirou Yamamoto. If you know any inkling of the works that this prolific author has ever done, you might have heard of it before since it was (and still is) the talk of the town: Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san a.k.a Teasing Master Takagi-san, which has already spawned 3 seasons plus a movie that recently just released. It's no doubt one of many of Japan's most successful series in both AniManga forms, and towards the god of foreheads, he is absolutely raking in all the attention from Season 3 of the main series the past Winter season, its movie and this show this season, and the Shogi rom-com Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru a.k.a When Will Ayumu Make His Move? in the upcoming Summer season. That's 3 seasons in a row that's chock full of big-ball-wide foreheads that you're gonna see for 9 months straight, and that's a blessing to an already recognizable author whose works have generated a cult fan favourite for the die-hards, me included.
But to be frank, let's backtrack on the one series that I felt that was a miss on the mark, the black sheep of the author's many works, and that is this show right here: Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi a.k.a In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki. This is the only series that Souichirou Yamamoto has deviated from the classic school-based rom-com that Takagi-san (and even the upcoming Soredemo Ayumu) is known for, and trades it with an all-female clan of kunoichi (a.k.a female ninjas) living in a village where there is a strict code that everyone must adhere to: women are not allowed to have contact with men, for like the enemy, they are dangerous and not wholly to be trusted should they win the females over to their side. Both AniManga forms have a huge character cast, but a female MC that guides the story along: Tsubaki of Team Dog, who's at that age where she is curious about men, and presumably, wants to know more about them because of her unequivocal heart-pounding and beating feeling, and the more she knows information about men, the more she gets flustered easily. Yeah, this is the adage of "curiosity kills the cat".
If there is an area where credit must be given where its due, is in its naming conventions that hides deeper meanings. I will admit that the kunoichi of the female-only Akane Class clan that ranges from mere young children to teens, they have some of the skimpiest clothing that can be easily mistaken for the sexualization of minors (say Team Dog's Sazanka and Team Sheep's Benisumomo) that's a bit unsightful to see. But, this leads to the next point that if you haven't already figured it out yet, the Akane Class is made up of teams that are representative of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac, with each team having 3 students (or kunoichi, rather) being either fully Senpais, Kouhais, or a mix of both (Teams Dog and Snake are the exception with 4 and 2 students respectively) with everybody's own unique Jutsu. And this is a crucial one that will be glanced over: each and every character's single-name-only given names have a symbolic floral theming that translates to different flowers, plants or both. Take for example: the central Team Dog's Tsubaki, Asagao, Sazanka and Rindou. While Asagao and Rindou both represent their main flower family respectively (morning glory and gentian), Tsubaki and Sazanka are in a close sisterly relationship because their names stem from the Camellia flower family (of the common Japanese camellia and Sasanqua camellia). So rather than just pick out rando names, Souichirou Yamamoto going the distance to literally pluck out flower names and adapt them to his work (this is a huge lot of characters spanning 30 to 40 names), this is what I feel separates him from many authors due to the creativity of his talents, and this talent is IMO simply unrivalled.
The female-only Akane Class clan is taken care of by two teachers: the head of the clan Hana and her No. 2 counterpart Konoha. Both are stern teachers taking care of Tsubaki and the many kunoichi students, raising their lives to rise to the conduct of not having a fear of men. But, this is an abstract lie, and Hana-sensei knows it, because the truth is that both the women (Akane Class) and the men (Aoi Class) were once learning together in tandem, when this thing called "love" breaks all fear for potential kunoichi and shinobu to be in relationships together, to the extreme case of eloping altogether from their clans, forcing the hand of the clan's extinction so much that they blocked all interaction amongst one another, only to isolate themselves and never to interact again lest this hard-and-fast rule is either broken or violated by one of the students, which can bring consequences.
For a large character cast like this show, it can be hard to follow who's what and how, so this is the full breakdown of the Akane Class:
- Teachers Hana and Konoha (literally meaning 'flower' and 'leaves'), stern teachers whom cherish their students in a stoic manner, that by themselves, removes their acting facades of a base foundation towards tutoring the students in a proer manner.
- Team Dog: team leader Tsubaki, with members Sazanka, Asagao and Rindou. Tsubaki's the star character of the Akane Class with skills unparalleled; Sazanka is the short-tempered and short-statured girl whom was a recluse until Tsubaki came to brighten up her life (and the only person calling her "Nee-sama"); Asagao is the food-crazed glutton; and Rindou is the Aoi Class's transfer student, but as a girl being raised by men before they raised her as a girl to be transferred out to the Akane Class.
- Team Sheep: team leader Benisumomo, with members Mizubashou and Touwata. Benisumomo's the next equal when it came to comparing her brains and brawn against Tsubaki; Mizubashou being the team's bookworm and trap master; and Touwata being a hard-working girl, sometimes too hardworking for her own good.
- Team Horse: team leader Hinagiku, with members Kibushi and Oniyuri. Hinagiku's the self-proclaimed beauty of the Akane Class, the prideful and egosticial girl of the bunch. Kibushi is the member to help lift her spirits up, while Oniyuri acts more like a bodyguard due to her stature.
- Team Monkey: team leader Mokuren, with members Housenka and Tsuwabuki. Mokuren is easily the kindest and sweetest girl of the clan, the Akane Class's go-to medic nurse. Housenka, like Team Dog's Sazanka, is the team's prankster, and Tsuwabuki...don't call her 'stupid' or 'dumb', or otherwise you will piss her off, she's the brawn-over-brain person.
- Team Rat: team leader Tachiaoi, with members Higuruma and Hagi. Tachiaoi is a bit of a clumsy girl, and even if she sees how others (like Tsubaki) lead their own team, it's better to keep it at one's breadth. Higuruma is the yellow-haired optimist while Hagi is the grayish-blue-haired pessimist.
- Team Ox: team leader Shion, with members Suzuran and Ajisai. Shion is the big sister character to Ajisai, while Suzuran is the same but being the mother character. Also, Ajisai is about the closest to a Takagi-san character cop-out (that's similar to Chi from the spin-off) as you can see.
- Team Tiger: team leader Fuki, with members Itadori and Ume. Fuki is the nice girl that's a stark comparison to the manga counterpart when she is a no-nonsense individual, making her more adult-like than her team members Itadori and Ume whom are both childish and mischievous.
- Team Snake: no team leader, but members-only. Uikyou and Kikyou may look like splitting images of one another, but in they are essentially the same person, sharing a tight-knit, almost sisterly dynamic, complete with having the same exact abilities. However, they actually aren't related, but rather simply best friends.
- Team Dragon: team leader Higiri, with members Suzushiro and Hasu. Higiri is the reserved girl that isn't known much; Suzushiro is the direct opposite being boisterous and more open; and while Hasu may just be like Higiri, her deception Jutsu is quite useful.
- Team Rabbit: team leader Kagetsu, with members Mukuge and Hototogisu. This team is essentially the idol group of Akane Class, with Kagetsu backing vocals as the lead singer and song composer, Mukuge supporting in instrumentals (drummer) and Hototogisu supporting on percussion (flute).
- Team Rooster: team leader Sumire, with members Azami and Tanpopo. Sumire can be seen as a wilful leader going along with both members' tactics, but also tends to interpret things too seriously that spirals down to detriments. On the other hand, Azami and Tanpopo are the free-spirited girls, one that many can refer to that of the gyaru a.k.a gal culture.
- Team Boar: team leader Dokudami, with members Aogiri and Shakuyaku. If you thought that Team Monkey's Tsuwabuki was bad enough, wait till you see Dokudami rip people to shreds. This is the same for Aogiri and Shakuyaku, whom also blindly follows their team leader into endless ways to reach to their destination.
Whew, never thought that this would be a huge chunk. I also noticed that while the members make the teams, the team dynamic of which they're called, also plays into the particular animal's properties as well, so that's something.
I can never fault anything when it comes to the production side of things. This is storyboarder-cum-episode director Takudai Kakuchi's directorial debut, though for a show of a calibre such as this, really doesn't seem like much more than a small and notable side gig. As for CloverWorks, the A-1 Pictures' sister studio definitely has seen better days not rushing and taking things slowly, and the overall production does look nice, as we should expect it to be.
The music though, is another selling point of the show. Although the peggies' OP is just decent and sounds fine (nothing like the sort of "Centimeter" for the KanoKari dumpster fire show), the ED is where it'll have a small surprise. For the entire show in a row, each respective team performs the same ED theme, but in their own versions that in all, provides 12 different iterations of the same song. Honestly, the show doesn't honestly need to go far in this, but also, you have to give credit where credit is due that this is intentional effort that might be just a Souichirou Yamamoto thing, but the same rhetoric that Takagi-san has actually done in its anime adaptations. As for my favourite ED version, Team Dog (Episode 1) is the best IMO, though Team Tiger (Episode 6) is a close 2nd being the Rock n' Roll equivalent of that.
All in all, you can take Kunoichi Tsubaki as a CGDCT show of sorts (since it's an entirely all-female cast), but it prides mostly in its Iyashikei, slice-of-life setting of the playful and comedic interactions despite the romantic subtext. Either way, I can see why nobody ever talks about this series that's a complete deviation to Souichirou Yamamoto's tried-and-true school-based rom-com formula that has always worked for the general audience. This is more like a 'if you have ample time on your hands, watch this instead" kind of show that has its audience, but nothing more. A decent series, but nowhere near the acclaimed mangaka's magnum opuses of works that are more appealing.
Kyoukai Senki / AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline (2nd Split-Cour)
So, not long after Part 1's airing and release 6 months back in Fall, we're back again with Part 2 a.k.a the 2nd Split-Cour of Sunrise Beyond's new mecha series that I mentioned in my Part 1 review, was to continue being a cash-cow for more Bandai Gunpla merchandise amidst an overly-convoluted story that has too many elements working against each other. So with Part 2 being the continuation of the set-up that was for Part 1, how is the entire series in general of its complete 25-episode run? In a word: so-so.
All I can say about Part 2, is that you should've been caught up with last Fall's 13-episode run that shows a futuristic post-war Japan being split and divided into different military factions, and this terrorist group Yatagarasu fighting for a liberated Japan that is back to its harmonious routes with this 16 year old boy Amou Shiiba finding an autonomous AI leading the charge. This is the understanding so far with Part 1, and Part 2 makes good on that premise by honouring the United Nations-like premise of the military finally having brains to converge together for an alliance, knowing intentions and aligning with enemies to forge a new Japan together, where only one large enemy remains in the way while still giving much more emphasis to the yet-untold behind-the-scenes story that adds more lore into the series as a whole. Mainly the creation of the AMAIM program, its creators and how they're side-swiped by the only big force (the NAC: North American Coalition) enough to plan ahead before progress got far, and that being reason enough for the smaller military forces to join hands with Yatagarasu and work together to once and for all, free Japan in a puppet state in disorientation. At least this feels like a much better and decent resolution for the build-up in Part 1 that was at times, unremarkable and un-noteworthy at best.
I've also complained about Amou's character development in Part 1 as a young adult whom has no backbone, and as you would expect, Part 2 vindicates his character growth through the explanation into his whole PTSD episode of reasoning. That, and which Amou has seemingly and dramatically "come back from the dead" in a solid fashion, is also telling of his once, cowardly behaviour that is also much improved. At most certainly, his character transformation is only done through plot, but since this is the 2nd part of the story, there needs to be a closure to his personal story that at the start, feels maligned to the point of a gone-case nut. The other characters do get significant improvements from their ambitions to everything surrounding their circumstances, but the sad case is that this is a self-contained story, and thus, also needs a resolution somehow. And although this isn't the best outcome, it's the best that they could've done, and for that I respect the improvements made in aiding more character development, but that's just about the extent of a larger-than-life story that's meant to showcase much more.
Reluctantly, it's clear that the split-part/cour format is the new trend going around in anime production to better weigh people against time, and making anime isn't as easy as you'd think. It's obvious that the studio was given another 3 months to work things out to refine of what's left with the show before the Spring release, and that I'd say was just the same as Part 1, so it's fine. I'd think that Part 2's OST was a step down from Part 1, I'd appreciate Yu-Na Fukinbara's Part 1 ED more than Part 2's OP for a decent song, all things considered. For the ED, Natumi.'s ED song "pARTs" is nothing special, but some will identify that the music feels somewhat different, and that's because the song is composed by none other than SawanoHiroyuki, whom if you watched shows like 86, his background music is very telling of similar beats.
All in all, Kyoukai Senki a.k.a AMAIM: Warrior at the Borderline as a series, my opinion still stands from the very beginning that it's the parent company Sunrise's efforts at branching off the Gundam franchise to find new ways to market more Gunpla, because of the company's strong connections to Bandai Spirits, and unfortunately there's no way around it. The entire show itself, you can take it or leave it, but in the end, it's just a farce of a marketing ploy that takes precedence over the show's quantity and quality to hide the fact that it's one BIG advertisement, and a mediocre attempt at that overall. Definitely not a good series and would be easily forgotten as when it first came.
Part 1 of Kyoukai Senki was agonizing to get through, and moved slower than a turtle in pacing. None of the characters seemed very likeable or properly developed, and the limited production values ruined it's commitment to 2D animation. The constant slideshows, and long dragging still frames that zoomed in and out during conversations felt very disappointing. The fights were not given any justice in how brutal they were supposed to look, and the lack of detail is frustrating. Between this starting and finishing, I also watched many of Tomino's Gundam series, from the original, Zeta, ZZ, and Char's Counterattack, to Victory Gundam. Kyoukai Senki is a droplet of water compared to the ocean that any of those Gundam entries are in comparison to it. Gundam ruined it even more for me by giving me higher standards for a series of this genre. Even now with modern mecha, Megaton-kyuu Musashi, that rarely anyone bothered to watch, is significantly better, and is a series that I would recommend (second season is coming in Fall 2022).
Kyoukai Senki felt like a severely watered down war story where the staff couldn't kill off any of it's main cast. Maybe it was an issue with risking being too dark. When a side character dies, the main cast get depressed each time and it's annoying. They could of at least done something such as in Victory Gundam where the feelings of loss are effectively and horrifyingly expressed, instead here it's constantly seeing Amou, Shion, and Gashin sit by a tree together looking as if someone stole their lunch money. Amou is the frustratingly emotional, delicate flower protagonist that I despise to see in anime like this. He would get killed immediately if he was in any Gundam series I've seen. Anything this series tries to do fails in comparison to how Gundam did it. The music is forgettable.
One of the biggest mistakes this series makes is that it reveals many of the characters motivations at the very end, and leaves them undeveloped and sort of behind the scenes throughout almost the entire series. This biggest fault here is their management of Brad's character. He rarely does anything, and is constantly smiling behind the scenes and acting as if he is two steps ahead of everyone else. I kept wondering, "why is he like this?" "When is he going to actually do something instead of just smiling at monitors and people every episode?" At the very end, they do explain what he was up to. The pay off felt great, but for all the wrong reasons.
The story and politics are mostly elementary and not very interesting to talk about. The cast is fighting to restore Japan. That's it. As they go to war and try to win a revolution to gain it back, there's a lot of dirty politics going on between the factions. Ghost, who was the most interesting and amusing part of Part 1, is reduced to a toy for Brad, and doesn't go anywhere for almost the entirety of the second part. I would have liked to see if he was an AI like the ones the trio have. Their last ditch effort to have Ghost do anything at the end felt hollow. I much preferred how in Part 1, Ghost was this fearsome force with an AI that was constantly analyzing and countering it's enemies with it's high intelligence. They built up it's new form in this second season as something even more wicked, though the way Amou deals with it during their disappointingly anti-climactic final fight is just laughable.
It's tragic that the episode that left the biggest impression on me is the plotless one where they had a birthday party for the AI. Up until that episode, the Pokémon rejects were annoying to me. It took me a long while to come to appreciate Gai. He felt like a convenient plot device and hack for Amou to help him win his battles.
Of what I did enjoy, were mostly 4 characters. Brad, as pathetic as his execution as a character was for most of it, always remained the most interesting character because of what he was really up to in the war. Misuzu, their engineer, is the one who created the AI, and constantly struggles to come up with upgrades for their weapons. She's mostly glued to a computer and spends the rest of her time explaining. She still seemed likeable as the one who is in the lead of determining the overall technological advancement of the war. Lastly, the only dynamic and characters that I felt were the best ones for me came to be Shion and her AI, Nayuta. They have a fun dynamic where Nayuta is in love with her, and treats her as he is a servant and her a princess. Shion was nearly abandoned in part 1, and didn't really go anywhere in Part 2 besides being a supportive force to help Amou in battle. There's still a charm to her, as she is the only main character I could tolerate from the trio. Gashin is too annoyingly bitter, and felt like even more of a background character in Part 2.
At least, the last 2 episodes bring some kind of redemption. Despite that they still overtly show it's problems as a series, they were intense and finally bring answers and closure to my headaches from all the previous episodes. Overall, this series was doomed from the start, and the ending was anti-climactic and as generic as they come. The slide show epilogue was very disappointing to see. As I said before, if you want to watch a modern mecha series that is out right now that is worth your time, go to Megaton-kyuu Musashi instead.
Machikado Mazoku: 2-choume / The Demon Girl Next Door (Season 2)
"Don't think this means you've won!" - Yuko a.k.a Shamiko
To this day, it's easily surprising how a show like Machikado Mazoku a.k.a The Demon Girl Next Door could even earn the sequel effect, I thought that J.C. Staff's Summer 2019 anime adaptation was a one-and-done deal that was the epitome of a TGIF comedy SoL that was just essentially "The Daily Lives of Highschool Boys" but turned on the affluent Mahou Shoujo a.k.a Magical Girl themes that mangaka Izumo Ito has managed to do well that's enough to stand out on its own, much less being a Houbunsha Manga Time Kirara property (which means that this is also a CGDCT-themed series). And that's what exactly happened 2.5 years later with Season 2, which is more or less the same as you'd expect of Season 1's (which you should've watched that before this, obviously) overall quality.
The concept (or shtick) of Magical Girls is absolutely nothing new, except how Izumi Ito managed to fill his series with a brush of a plot truly makes it stand out more than just your typical CGDCT series, and back in 2019 it definitely felt so for a refreshing change in the always stereotypical nonsense plot that so many CGDCT series just attempt to make a quick buck with characterization being the strongest suit given the theme, that it ends up being mediocre or decent at best. At least back then when shows like Doga Kobo's Winter 2017 anime Gabriel DropOut were the hot new trend and epitome of CGDCT series done right IMO, this show came in at just about the time to continue capitalizing on that trend (which was 2 years old at this point), and it definitely made waves, just not with a huge fanbase that demanded attention.
It's easy to see that the series was largely forgotten as a "here-nor-there" show, and with the good reason that it's a fairly niche show in its own right, that if you were a fan of 4-koma (panel) manga adaptations in general, this would naturally fall in the radar among so many others in the same crowded space that it's hard to pick and choose which one is the "best" amongst them all. And this is certainly the case with Machikado Mazoku with the Shadow Mistress Yuuko Yoshida, her immediate family with Ancestor Lilith, and the Magical Girls Momo Chiyoda and Mikan Hinatsuki, continuing on their corporate journey together. The sequel season adapts Volumes 3 and 4 of the manga, and the only new characters to grace Season 2 are the co-workers at Yuuko's workplace at the Asura cafe: the waitress, huli jing fox Lico, and her manager, the demon tapir Shirosawa. NGL, I actually like Lico's unkempt pervasiveness at being shameless about her cooking that is different trying than mentioning about food. Like, the food sounds dangerous, disgusting and lethal until you actually try it and let those mixed results seep in like the garbage that you're feeling, and whether it turns out good or bad, you're the fool, the guinea pig to actually try out her claims, because she's the wackiest character ever displayed so far. The tapir manager Shirosawa is a nice and kind demi-human no doubt, but it's his health that gets in the way of having a weak backbone that shows his age, making it his repetitive comedic act. Both characters add the splash of comedy into an already bare-bones comedy-cum-plot show, and for what it helps to add to Season 2, I'd think that it's decent enough, if not getting to the point of repetitious boredom.
At the end of the day, as already mentioned in the beginning, if you liked Season 1, then you'll definitely like Season 2 here as well as everything is kept the same as before with the "just enough" J.C. Staff quality and a somewhat meh OST this time. Don't get me wrong, Season 2 is decent, but the prequel had a much better offering that's musically more inclining and fitting of the series (a la Season 1's OP still being the best of the bunch that's still memorable to this day).
Still though, the only thing that I feel that Machikado Mazoku is strong in, is the character dynamics and wistful storytelling that's comforting comedy and makes you feel inclusive and in tune with the plot's movements. Make no mistake that Season 2 is just as enjoyable as the prequel, if not a tad less enjoyable being more of the same thing that honestly, doesn't add much for a sequel season that IMO honestly is not needed at all. But here it is, and I hope that it provided you with more Shamiko × Momo moments of fun.
"Don't give up, Shamiko! There's some fun to be had as your Shadow mistress journey prolongs a bit more!"
Mahoutsukai Reimeiki / The Dawn of the Witch
This show in a summary: when your original work is presented much better than the one that came after it.
There have been cases of authors already well-versed in their own series to try something new, and that is always appreciated in a sea of many other works to try what works and what doesn't work. This is exactly the case for author Kakeru Kobashiri and her famed work that is the Grimoire of Zero, already having won the Grand Prize in the 20th Dengeki Novel Awards held in 2013 (alongside novelist Chiaki Kisaki for Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, which spawned Satelight's Winter 2018 anime), and then White Fox's anime adaptation that came and went back in Spring 2017. Since then, it has been exactly half a decade since that show came out, and the sequel spin-off that is Mahoutsukai Reimeiki a.k.a The Dawn of the Witch has some digging into since it's a direct canon of the original series that it stems from, mostly for nostalgia reasons. Although, I would say that while you need not watch Grimoire of Zero to understand this show since this is a spin-off that borrows its context, the respite is that Mahoutsukai Reimeiki isn't a good sequel, or anything remotely close to the original series, at all.
So first off, I understand if you didn't get that whole "sequel spin-off" rhetoric. By itself, you would definitely understand what's a sequel or a spin-off that's relative to many series that does the same thing. However, in Mahoutsukai Reimeiki's case, it's a mish-mesh of existing and new properties that coincides to make this series work: the setting and world-building that is the Kingdom of Wenias, the witch-hunt war between the humans (or rather, the Anti-Witch Church) and the witches with the witch-hunting group Dia Ignis all but disbanded when the war ended, and the recurring cast of characters in Grimoire of Zero, all make a comeback while giving updates on their perils. All of these make up the "sequel" effect, while the "spin-off" effect is just mainly on the new cast of characters on their own canon story that's the same, yet different from the original to stand out on its own.
Let's cover the things that are new to the series: the rag-tag new quartet group that Royal Academy of Magic students and their teacher: Saybil, Holt, Kudo and Professor Loux Krystas. This series covers their tracks and refining them to be trained magic wielders in their own right, that are still in their infancies. Most particularly for Saybil, he's the main protagonist of this new sequel spin-off, his character being one that of boring, monotone aloofness, but with reason: he is a child of unknown origin, an amnesiac boy whom only knows of a silver-haired woman that bore the same eyes as him. To sum Saybil's magic up, he's just a magic vessel (or in the modern context of a powerbank) made within the premise that connects to the original characters and their intentions of his creation as such, but using it has a devastating caveat, in which his magic would spiral out of control. Holt on the other hand, she is a deer Beastfallen training to be a witch, the unequivocal top scorer of the Academy. Her origin story is that of a forced hand, her character growth being hampered by the whole witch-hunt war to then be forcibly and ostensibly chosen on a side that favours her while sub-consciously being part of the recurring war that's since ended in the original series that has seen former Dia Ignis Arbiter remnants continue the tradition because they wouldn't give up too easily. She can be a bit dull, while most times just being an on-and-off relationship-driven fodder that can be attributed to her overly concern for others, and in regards to the plot progression, I would say that she gets a decent pass for overcoming her childhood nightmares of torture to finally being alleviated of her past sin of being a Beastfallen. This is the same story for Kudo the lizard Beastfallen training to be a sorcerer, he has a brusque demeanor and can seem like the joker's tool at times, though beneath his condescending nature reveals his kind-heartedness for friends, and one whom always strives to be stronger. Kudo is someone whom like Holt, has undergone rough times when he was very young, being sold as a child slave at the behest of humans whom don't take a liking to Beastfallen, only to get saved by his rescuer that he wishes to thank one day for giving him a new life to live by. Kudo can be a bit hard to be a likable character, but he's low-key one of the good new characters to make a mark in this spin-off. The biggest detractor however is Professor Loux Krystas, also known as the Dawn Witch, a 300-year-old witch that despite her "fountain of youth" age, acts like a child loli character being obnoxious at times with her whininess. Her only strong point is her semi-sentient magic Staff of Ludens that can take on different forms and consume other witches' magic to the verge of death, and the similarities to Zero after hearing of the Grimoire of Zero spellbook to set on a journey to find the book, and/or even maybe meet the girl in question. Also, there seems to be too much sexual provocation of the unkempt focus from showing her panties to focusing on her crotch at times, that is quite the bizarre pandering angles seen in this anime, and you're gonna see it a lot. The only antagonists are the Dia Ignis anti-witch remnants which only sought more trouble, and for the most part, it's through Tyrant that underwent a transformation from killing to helping witches, and I can already hear you say that it's the kind of plot that is easily predictable.
Speaking of Zero, it's such a delight to have the recurring cast back: the legendary witch spellcaster herself, Youhei a.k.a. Mercenary, the headmaster Albus (which she is actually the Mooncaller Clan's representative witch Sorena's late granddaughter) with her servitude servant wolf Beastfallen Holdem, the blind priest and his servant Lily the Mouse Beastfallen. Most would speculate that there's a huge timeskip within the events of the anime to this show, and if there's one thing certain for sure, is that puberty has hit them hard since that much time has passed. For anyone not in the know, both Zero and Youhei are married to one another, and the latter finally having fulfilled his dream of owning a tavern for beastfallen, witches and humans alike. And that definitely shows in their relationship towards one another, which is exactly the same as in the original series (that was growing at the time), and now both of them being affectionate...well, mostly Zero that is, that her character model change is quite significant as is Youhei's, they're not the same girl and young adult Beastfallen that you remember back in Grimoire of Zero, but grown to a fine and captivating woman and adult-aged Beastfallen. But going back to Saybil's history, remember that silver-haired woman whose eyes matched his? Well, Zero is that woman, revealing herself to be his paternal aunt, the younger sister of the much maligned elder brother Thirteen whom only sought retribution of the world. But Zero's life hasn't been easy since the events of the anime, to the point of suffering from a lack of mana to revive Youhei in the original series. And this is where Saybil makes himself useful as the illegitimate child that's birthed out of a necessity for his limitless and powerful magic that's transferred through weird sexual innuendos from holding hands to literal kisses. I admit I cringed at Saybil's only purpose to be an unadulterated harem maker with his paternal aunt, Professor Loux and Holt, I definitely felt the weird tingles of this decision at this juncture.
The rest of the anime however, I would like to point out certain facts. First, you can't blame Tezuka Productions' in-house director Satoshi Kuwahara for the mess that is this show, he's mainly done shows that are assigned by the production committees when the studio is chosen, and he can only follow what's given of the scriptwriting, which he is also handling this aspect as well. More rather, if you have to have an entity to blame, it would be that the studio itself really isn't up to the task of producing action-heavy series. The reason why I know this is because, take a look at Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu a.k.a How Not to Summon a Demon Lord's Season 2 which inexplicably changed studios mid-way from Ajia-Do to Tezuka Productions, and I proclaimed that the production looked shoddy at best with lots of animation cuts that are a disservice to the prequel. This is no different here in Mahoutsukai Reimeiki, which falls back to the blatant copy-and-paste tactic that's found in yet another of the studio's show Kanojo mo Kanojo a.k.a Girlfriend, Girlfriend. Word of advice: don't ever assign things to studios that shows their inept and incompetent track record at features which feels too much for them to handle. It's just as bad as Isekai Maou's sequel season, and for yet another action-heavy show, that's saying something.
The music...sounds mediocre and forgettable as hell. fripSide has been a very notable J-Pop and trance group made up of music composer Satoshi Yaginuma and the modern famed music artist Yoshino Nanjo, which explains why the duo's rise to fame throughout the 2010s to now has made the group a household name to expect of infinitely both memorable and decent songs across the board which defined the anime industry's music scene for years (i.e. A Certain Scientific Railgun). That was fripSide Phase 2, and thus with lead singer Yoshino Nanjo's departure and the two new members Mao Uesugi and Hisayo Abe, begins fripSide Phase 3. Their debut song "dawn of infinity", which also serves as the show's OP theme song, is just decent and definitely needs some time to get used to the new Seiyuus' vocals. I know I will miss Yoshino Nanjo's memorable vocals that defined the new age for the group. But the ED, it's kinda a meh song that's just easy to pass on.
I felt on the tip of my mouth to say that I wished that we would've gotten Season 2 of Grimoire of Zero, instead of this barren wasteland of a sequel spin-off that's not as enjoyable as the original series. Indeed, Kakeru Kobashiri's writing and her lore suffers from an existential crisis of knowing what it wants to be, yet feels like it has to take many steps to reach to the next waypoints in the story plot, so much so that it drags on and on, beckoning the audience to lament of when could we see the story develop faster. If you need any advice on watching this, please just go and watch Grimoire of Zero instead which is better in everything and above all, a good time-waster than this boring mind-numbingness of a canon.
Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu /
Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
As usual, we are introduced with another isekai just like every other season. Definitely did not get my hopes up when the anime adaptation was announced even though the manga is quite decent.
Story :
Since we can more or less figure out the entire plot of the story based on the title, it is definitely a surprise because the expectation is different compared to what we got. Instead of story about a guy building a harem in a shoujo otome game environment, we actually got a story about a supposed side character living in a world with worldbuilding that actually has different fantasy feels to it compared to other isekais and we get the extra bonus of mecha fights and airships making it a little more enjoyable.
Animation :
It is praiseworthy the fact that the mechas are mostly 2d animated and not cgi. However, the directing for the fight scenes are not exactly the best but worth watching (I will explain later in the manga vs anime comparison) especially the final episode where the mc fought the black knight even though it was a short fight.
Art :
The character designs are not exactly my cup of tea for me since the characters look like they are being glazed more than they need to causing certain scenes to be lacking because they stand out too much compared to the rest of the crowd. However, the good thing is that some of the backgrounds art are vibrant enough making such characters blend in naturally with the world.
Manga vs Anime :
First of all, the anime did a better job at fight scenes since the choice of panelling and the art in manga lacked movement so the readers like me cannot really make out what is going on in certain scenes. As for the other scenes, the manga did a better job since they give more impact towards the readers compared to the anime. Another thing I want to add is that character art in the manga looks more natural compared to the anime.
Conclusion :
The anime is worth watching but if you want to enjoy the story to the fullest, I recommend reading the manga instead or the light novel if you want and watch the episode that contains the fight scenes or watch clips of it.
You gotta be kidding me...another studio ENGI ugly-ass production values with an all-too-familiar setting and a crude story that works? What kind of world are we living in that we can pass bad production for good stories?
More often than not, reality hits harder than expectations, and novelist Yomu Mishima's Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu a.k.a MobuSeka is just exactly that: a HameFura rip-off, but replace the female villainness lead with someone who's not even the main character, who's literally: Trapped in a Dating Sim, with the world of the Otome Game being tough for mobs a.k.a background characters. And since this is a novel that started in Syosetu that lasted from 2017 to 2019, that expanded into the LN and manga versions of the novel, it's safe to say that what came out of there has a lot of wacky ideas during the period accurate to 2017 that only a few things are common within each other: Isekai, characters being OP, and Demon Lord reincarnation. The anime adaptation covers the first 4 volumes of the LN, though you can just read the manga anyways because the anime follows that version very closely, and to the point where I'd say that it's to the T, though LN readers will probably know that how MobuSeka progressed after the anime's content is a hit-or-miss sadly, but that's outside the scope of this review.
In MobuSeka's case, it's reinventing the settings that HameFura is known for with the known caste system nobility, interesting MC, love interests, magic, and above all: the "reincarnated as a villainness" shtick where the MC, LITERALLY is a jerk that acts like an actual villain with a logic for trash that only warrants if he does feel like they earn the karma. And this is what Leon Fou Bartfort's character is like: starting off being forced by his sister to help complete a rather punishing Otome Game, where the usual shenanigans of the game are as you would expect to be played out, to only lament at the difficulty of the game to pass out not by Truck-kun, but at the stairs leading to his house. Fast forward to the reincarnation phase, and he finds himself right inside that same exact Otome Game world where women reign supreme, and mobs like Leon are easy to manipulate that makes the setting tough for 'mobs'. Of course, like Katarina Claes, Leon also knows how the game works inside out, but one thing stands out amongst the two: a simple cheat code, because Leon is a mob character, and aside from wanting to live a normal life, unless he works to the death, he's gonna stand out amongst the nobility to forever be their plaything. So it's to that extent that the world ain't all nobility, but also with a mixed sci-fi theme with the "old world" featuring technology that only "Old Humans" can understand and mechas that add more lore to the series's worldbuilding, even if Leon is a "New Human" with technically "Old Human" knowledge. Also, Luxion for an AI downsized from its real body of a giant black spaceship-like airship is quite the hilarious joker as it hates "New Humans" and isn't abashed to trash-talk towards Leon when it feels like doing so. And that's more than its programming allowable to also help Leon in "cheating" his way through the Otome Game since his knowledge is unrivalled, and his personality being one similar to that of a rebel: not caring about how others look and opinionate about him, even to the point of criticizing and chastising others in the pursuit of being realistic, while throwing all logic off to the point whom are closest to him to act like the ever-so-predictable friendship clique setting, even showcasing compassion at times in his most dirty and disgusting behaviour the way he knows how to deal against. And true to honest, it doesn't get better than Leon being the 'mob' that tries to "change/alter history" by doing things that are to be expected of a background character. For such a character like Leon, unpredictability is the name of his game, and he's fun to watch as a trash-thrashing person.
There's heaps of other characters here too in MobuSeka, but I'll just go by the order in which they're introduced in the anime, there's a lot of ground to cover here. Starting off with the nobility's side of the caste system antics, it's the annoying Chibi-like character of Marie Fou Lafan, the daughter of a Viscount family. She, like Leon, also sucks as a character, but damn is she worse off than Leon himself by being oh-so-glamourous in vying for the attention to disrupt the Otome Game's natural progression of the female protagonist Olivia (whom again, like Katarina Claes) is a commoner through and through. And that's exactly Marie's position in the Otome Game: to meddle with the game dynamics and the placement of the characterization between the supposed commoner Olivia and antagonist villainness Angelica, so much so that Angelica took Olivia's place as the victim to be ripped apart from the princes of the kingdom: the crown prince Julius Rapha Holfort and his 4 idiotic aides of Jilk Fia Marmoria, Brad Fou Field, Chris Fia Arclight and Greg Fou Seberg, muscular and popular, but only in name (if Leon's in the overall picture). For the most part, it's utter broad daylight bullying at its worst as the kind and modest protagonist Olivia lacks a consistent amount of self-confidence, ensuring that she would always be the target of all nobles. On Angelica's side, instead of the usual crown prince shielding her, he's been bought to Marie's malicious intent, and it would be weird for his 4 aides to not side with him enough for Leon to backfire their karma on them.
Furthermore, with Leon's inclusion in the overall story, it can seem and look cumbersome that there're too many actors in a now-convoluted storyline where the mob characters take charge of altering it into a realistic un-fairy tale like scenario. But I promise you that it's not, as Leon weaves his own way into the circumstances and makes his own path so that everyone can get pissed off for making insignificant splashes from a two-faced character, pinning all the blame on him while both Olivia and Angelica can see through the gaps of their own situations. You simply can't get a better wingman than Leon Fou Bartfort, the insignificant mob character that turned from the hatred of all to a valuable player that despite his noble status (which he doesn't want any of that shit at all), he's the perfect player to guise and guide through the intricacies of unjust treatment within a much-maligned societal standing. And to earn the respect of the wayward-sided Olivia and Angelica whom Leon has constantly risked his life for to save them from their own traumas, that's saying something that background characters may one day be protagonists of their own choosing. This is the reason why as much hate as Leon gets, he's a pretty likable character, and one whom doesn't await shooting for the stars to earn the recognition that he deserves as a literate snake-snively person that acts according to what he feels is right. As some would say: A cliche overpowered protagonist done right, and for VA Takeo Ootsuka whom also acts as Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru a.k.a Run With the Wind's Kakeru Kurahara, it makes Leon stand out more than he actually would have been, and that I'd say a job well done.
It must be said that studio ENGI's production values have gotten a lot worse overtime. While its starting shows look fine with decency (and that was 2.5 years ago with Hataage! Kemono Michi), it didn't took until last Spring's Full Dive that the overall feel just looks bad, and I mean REAL BAD. Often at times, the art style just looks drab and lifeless, and let's not go into the character design which I feel that it was way too overdone with shades and contours so strikingly deep that literally everything looked razor-sharp and unnatural. To this effect, you can blame character designer Masahiko Suzuki who's done more character design in the creature department (i.e. Overlord, Kami no Tou, Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?) than actual human characters. It's like someone trying to diversify his CV that when trying something new, it's a given that he'll earn rude comments, but I for one can't understand how someone so bad at creature models earn the culmination that is featured in this show. It's abominable, and the only negative about MobuSeka. And for a Kadokawa-backed company, this is just...ugly. Like come on, wouldn't spending money on resources and more training help out to make your company look much better in the eyes of the watching public?
The OST on the other hand, it's good. Kashitaro Ito is such a talented Anisong singer, and his vocal talents display the promixity here of an OP that features strong vocals and dynamic musical range, something that's a staple of if you listen to his songs. Riko Azuna's ED...actually fits for a much more playful aesthetic in rounding up the heavy bombardiness of the episodes, though the song is decent that's patched together with the visual play. It's peppy and kooky.
I wouldn't be wrong if I said that there are WAY TOO MUCH Isekai anime these days, and standing out is even more difficult if the formula has been done better, or if it concerns when the adaptations of source materials comes out faster to be the first one to set a precedent on how future shows will be like to determine greatness or mediocrity. MobuSeka won't be a show that tries to break the bank by being mostly the same borrowed aesthetics from other shows that have come and gone before it, but if I can guarantee something, it's one hell of a good time watching a jerk carve out a path for himself and trashing the world behind him.
Truly, the world is tough for mobs, but the real world is just as hard for Otaku (if this ain't an WotaKoi reference enough).
Paripi Koumei / Ya Boy Kongming!
*** Note that the review will be somewhat long-winded and contain a few minor spoilers. It's been a while since a show has managed to fascinate this much, so I went pretty much all out on this one. Hopefully you will bear with me. ***
P.A. Works creating a good manga adaptation? The world must be ending!
No seriously, this show is fucking amazing.
Paripi Koumei is without doubt a little absurd, insane, and chaotic – and it is entertaining as fuck. Unlike what it appears on the surface, it is not just a brainless comedy that solely intends to make its audience laugh at its ridiculousness; as satirical as this may sound, there is legitimate quality and substance to be found behind all the seemingly pointless madness and irrationality.
Paripi Koumei radiates promise from one of the very first scenes, showing a decrepit Zhuge Liang Kongming on his deathbed. It is then that Kongming makes his one final wish: to reincarnate in an era without any war and conflict, one where he could live peacefully. Fast forward two millenniums, and we suddenly see Kongming in a nightclub of Shibuya, supposedly reborn in his younger body. Initially bewildered, he is soon mesmerized by the voice of a young singer, later introduced as Eiko Tsukimi. Eiko has problems of her own, struggling to find success in the world of music despite her firm, yet slightly wavering determination. She is startled when the oddly dressed Kongming proclaims his love for her voice, but nonetheless delighted that someone has finally taken notice of her music.
The next morning, Eiko stumbles upon an intoxicated Kongming on the street, and brings him home out of sympathy. There, Kongming learns about the modern world and its technology from Eiko, and subsequently becomes interested in contemporary music. In spite of the odd circumstances, the two quickly develop an intimate relationship, and Kongming decides to become Eiko's music manager aka "tactician", with the immovable resolve to make the world recognize her name and singing prowess.
It goes without saying that Kongming himself is what makes Paripi Koumei; you definitely won't enjoy the show if you aren't fond of his crazy antics, because that's pretty much the driving force of the story. As Kongming devises grand strategies for Eiko to help her accomplish her dream, the plot simultaneously expands in scope and moves forward in a surprisingly steady pace and manner, with almost no stumbles or hiccups along the way. And in case you are wondering what's a Chinese military strategist doing in what seems like a wacky music anime (told you this show was absurd), it's... hard to explain.
The thing is, there's admittedly zero rationale to how certain things play out at the beginning, and the series is completely honest about it. Why Kongming is reincarnated in Japan, can read and talk in perfectly fluent Japanese – is just because the plot demands it, and there's no other reason. This rarely holds back the show however, since the author luckily utilizes the most of Kongming's inclusion in the story. Paripi Koumei also never tries to indulge in monotonous self-parody to replace actual comedy; though there are clever self-jabs from time to time, the show fully understands that dull and repetitive self-parody is far from any proper entertainment. As a result, what we have here is an anime with genuinely a lot of thought put into the material.
Stated briefly, the idea sounds and is ridiculous, but the execution is anything but that.
Kongming is most certainly a weirdo, but at the same time, there are few who can even dream to be nearly as charismatic as him. There's a certain charm to him that I have yet to find in any other anime character, and that charm isn't merely limited to him being "a Chinese historical character in a Japanese anime, lol". Kongming's charm in fact comes from his whole character: his intelligent yet amusingly quirky nature, witty and playful remarks, clever and intriguing tactics, flashy appearance, and spectacular voice acting. Suffice to say, Kongming isn't simply a stereotypical male Mary Sue programmed to do "all according to keikaku" stuff; there is far more to him than meets the eye.
With that being said, if you came to the show looking for cleverly constructed strategies, you surely wouldn't be disappointed, because it does have plenty of that to offer.
Kongming's so-called stratagems are always a delight to watch, even if one or two can be considered as blatant ass-pull(s). The second episode, in particular, almost entirely detaches itself from any kind of realism –
instead relying on plot contrivances and semi-convoluted logic to progress the story. On the flip side however, there are many more occasions where the tactics Kongming comes up with are surprisingly really clever and creative. Although they seem irrational and "totally batshit crazy" at first, in hindsight, you realize that they are actually brilliantly thought-out, albeit still totally batshit crazy.
The stratagems Kongming uses in the show reference historical events, and excluding a few errors and glorification here and there, the depictions are consistently precise. The original stratagems and Kongming's own versions of them are obviously vastly different, but they are always built on the same fundamental concepts. At the start of a new episode, a short recap is played of what happened prior; but unlike the sleep-inducing recaps you see in most shounen, a narrator aptly connects the referenced events with the previous episode and provides historical context. While this seems comparatively insignificant, it does, as a matter of fact, add more depth to the story and makes the stratagems even more interesting.
Back to our boy Kongming though, remember that I said his charm comes from his whole character? Although that holds true, it's specifically his demeanor and inner personality which makes him so loveable in my opinion. As cunning and eccentric as he is, Kongming is also incredibly soft, affectionate, knowledgeable, and unassuming. He is equal parts wise and hilarious; there will never be a time his words will fail to move you, and his jests and idiosyncrasies fail to make you smile. Even just him appearing on the screen will be enough to keep you entertained. In internet lingo, Kongming is a certified gigachad, one who belongs in a category of his own. I know I sound like an overly obsessive fan idealizing his favorite idol, and I probably *am* obsessive, but I mean it when I say Kongming is wonderful, because he is.
Kongming's personality naturally shines the most when he is with Eiko, who helps bring out his most intimate sides. Eiko herself is an extraordinarily engaging and well-written character. It's easy to dismiss her as waifu-bait at first glimpse, but if you actually watch the anime, it should be obvious that she isn't. The show dedicates much time to focus on her growth both as a singer and a person, so it feels extremely gratifying whenever she succeeds in her goals. Keep in mind that while Kongming may be the mastermind behind her success, it is actually Eiko's own singing, her own efforts to improve herself, that ultimately makes everything work, or "does the magic" if you will.
Additionally, though only explored in brief sequences, Eiko's suicidal past adds a substantial layer of depth to her character. What's noteworthy is that suicide is tackled with a lot of subtlety and not oversensationalized at all, which makes the backstory all the more effective. Of course, the anime doesn't solely rely on this to flesh Eiko out; her relationship with Kongming is what plays the most important role in her characterization. Similar to how Eiko eased Kongming's heart, Kongming also helped Eiko regain confidence in herself, giving her the push to continuously do better – which brings me to the prime reason why I find their relationship to be so profound.
Almost any fan would attribute mainly Eiko and Kongming's interactions to why they enjoy the show, and I'm no exception. The arrangement is strange for sure, but their relationship is at heart incredibly wholesome and uplifting. Why? One of the key things to consider here is the wish that Kongming made before dying, which was to be reborn in a more peaceful era. But even though his wish was fulfilled, Kongming remained dejected since there was no familar face around, and later, it was Eiko who brightened him up and enchanted him with her music. Similarly, Kongming was the first person to genuinely praise Eiko's singing, someone she could call "a true fan", and that motivated her to strive for greater lengths.
These simple aspects pave the way for a dynamic, heartwarming relationship, what would have been regarded as utterly stupid and nonsensical otherwise.
Despite Eiko's name being a direct reference to Kongming's allegedly real wife, there's not any implication of romance between the two. Their feelings toward each other is portrayed as platonic more than anything, which is evident through the obvious parallels to Kongming and Liu Bei's relationship – and I would be lying if I said I wasn't relieved thanks to that. I believe the primary reason why their bond doesn't feel forced is because it is platonic, and any attempts at romance would make their relationship overly awkward and unnatural. The later chapters of the manga presumably don't contain any romance either, and I hope it stays that way until the end.
While I could never see this being even a remote possibility, if you think the anime will become stale and formulaic with only those two in spotlight – don't worry, the viewers are quickly introduced to more compelling characters: Kabetaijin, an average Joe with no remarkable qualities except his knack and devotion for rap, and Nanami, the vocalist of a girls' band stripped of their passion and ingenuity. As cliched as their origin stories might sound, they are nevertheless inspiring and should strike a chord with the audience, particularly those who have been in the music industry themselves. Kabe and Nanami's individual character arcs peak respectively in episodes 6 and 9, which solidify the two as staple characters of the series.
Most of the supporting characters are equally or almost equally endearing. "Owner" Kobayashi sort of serves as a loving father figure to Eiko, and his penchant for Three Kingdoms has never failed to at least put a smile on my face. Sekitoba is a worthy rival of Kabe and a rather compelling character even on his own, and the same goes for all the members of Jet Jacket and the other two girls of Azalea. In spite of his short appearance, Tsuyoshi Kendo immediately left a vivid impression with his unconventional accent, and so did Steve Kiddo with his unhealthy pudding obsession. Karasawa is a decent antagonist, albeit not very complex, but more than believable and interesting enough to get invested into.
Music has always played a vital role for me when it comes to the enjoyment of any piece of media, and Paripi Koumei has honestly been astounding in that regard. The music production of the anime is spectacular; I'm not using the word lightly at all. In fact, what really got me invested in the show was not the randomness, but the short guitar song Eiko plays for Kongming in the first episode – which unironically stole my heart immediately. 96neko's voice is mesmerizingly beautiful, even though she mostly sings in English, which is notable because Japan is notorious for producing awful Engrish songs. Lezel's singing is also excellent, and Shouya's rapping is more than up to the mark (for the most part). Other relatively "minor" artists aren't negligible either, and the background music is superb as well, especially the tracks that play during the emotional scenes.
Some people have complained about the fact that certain songs are frequently repeated throughout the anime, which didn't particularly irk me to be honest, because there's a fairly solid reason behind why this decision was taken. One of the major themes of the story revolves around growth, whether musical or inherently personal, and I think the continuous repetition of a song to highlight that growth has been executed very well. This would have been an entirely different case if the songs themselves had been subpar or ordinary, but when the performances at display are remarkably better than most of the stuff that come out these days, I don't really see much room for concern here.
Regardless of what you think about their writing quality, it's difficult to deny that P.A. Works' productions have always looked visually impressive, and I feel like they have even stepped their game up a notch with Paripi Koumei. The animation in the show is strikingly good, boasting completely fluid character movement and vivid background art. The concerts in particular are splendidly animated, and the atmosphere is exceptionally unique. In a period where lifeless and mediocre anime are commonplace, this show feels and looks incredibly refreshing. Without any hint of exaggeration, it legitimately seems like the staff handled the series with immense care and love, with the genuine intent to make something of actual value – which I have yet to see in any of P.A. Works' other works besides Shirobako.
When you compare the anime to the manga, this intent becomes even more palpable. The manga of Paripi Koumei is not bad by any measure; it's actually amazing, but it doesn't exactly equal the anime. Music is obviously a big factor in this (manga doesn't have any sound, duh), especially when the level of quality is this outstanding, but to merely pass it off as that will be a great disservice to all the people who contributed to the project. You see, the art of the manga is frankly uninspiring; most of the panels are rather colorless and generic, and several are completely barren of any proper background. The characters are drawn very simplistically, with little emphasis on accentuating their expressions, for which they somewhat lack the emotional impact of the anime.
The writing of the anime also differs from the manga in many directions, which may seem trivial at a cursory glance, but are much more significant if you sit down and compare the two. I think one of the most prominent examples of this is how Eiko tends to subconsciously belittle herself by saying "watashi nanka" (translated to little ol' me), something Kongming notes immediately and tells her to stop using. This is a subtle way to add nuance to the characters, hinting at Eiko's modest persona and Kongming's thoughtful nature concerning her. A lot of their conversations are also expanded upon, consisting of more heartfelt and substantial dialogues, amplifying the effectiveness of the said scenes.
To further emphasize my point, there's an additional 3-minutes-long sequence in episode 9 of the anime, which presents a flashback of Azalea in their high school years, discussing what name they should pick for their band. The following scene shows Azalea performing in their debut concert, and subsequently, the three girls promise to keep making music together. What's merely touched upon in a single panel in the manga, has been expounded substantially and turned into an immensely meaningful backstory. Modifications like this have been made throughout the entire storyboard to enhance the experience, including the dramatic sequences as well as the comedic bits.
One of the few minor drawbacks of the show in my opinion is the unnecessary fanservice, which – despite just being few and far between – does leave a little bit of a bad taste. This occasional fanservice includes showing relatively risque scenes of Eiko taking a shower, changing her clothes, bathing with Nanami, etc. The anime is slightly less guilty of this compared to the manga though, which generally contains more lewder shots of Eiko doing the aforementioned things. However, this is simply an insignificant issue I personally found with the series and shouldn't affect your enjoyment that much, if at all; these scenes only appear occasionally after all.
Although everyone already knows about it, I just have to talk about the opening of the show, which I can't stress enough about how groovy it is. Fun fact, the original version of the opening is a Hungarian pop song released 9 years ago, and while it's not bad, the Japanese version completely overshadows it. The ending is also a cover of an old Japanese song called "Kibun Joujou", and again, the newer version is exceptionally better. I actually think the opening and the endings are more or less equally good, and the ending played in episodes 5 to 7 is probably the catchiest, particularly because of 96neko and Shouya's solo performances.
To say Paripi Koumei has a bit of something for everyone is misleading, because it clearly has elements that not everyone will enjoy. Does that mean I'm gonna stop anyone from watching the show? No, of course not. There's a reason why this is irrefutably the dark horse of this season, and I will go as far as to say it is easily the best anime of the year so far – and potentially even more. Well, the third season of Kaguya-sama *could* be better, but I haven't started watching that yet, so yeah. The point is, do certainly give Paripi Koumei a try, even if it doesn't seem like something that's up your alley. I was thoroughly surprised myself, and chances are you will be too.
Although I ended up using over two thousand words to write this review, I still don't feel like I have done Paripi Koumei any justice. I may never be able to fully convey how much I actually love the show; I think it is simply that good. This is all the more impressive when you consider the clusterfuck of ideas this anime works with, which should have been an easy recipe for a disastrous failure, not something as extraordinary as this. To reiterate myself, even if it sounds overly cliched, all this has been possible because of the tremendous effort put in by the creators – starting from the manga's author to everyone involved with the series' production. Paripi Koumei is in a word P.A. Works' newest passion project, and I can't wait to see more of it in the future.
It would be a gross understatement to say I will just miss this show, as it is not often you come across something truly special, and Paripi Koumei absolutely is special.
Chan x Chan, Ai!! Chiki Chiki Ban Ban…
Oh hey there, I was just listening to “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” for the 1000th time and I forgot I was writing a review!
It’s a hidden gem, unearthed! That’s what a banger opening can do for a show with a plot as ridiculous as Paripi Koumei, and that’s what got me into this show, even though I started the show in its third week of airing, because the opening was too good for me to pass up on this anime, and boy do I not regret it.
Having grown up in a Chinese family and neighbourhood, naturally, I learned a bit about the Three Kingdoms lore, and even watched some tv shows that focused on that era. When I saw the synopsis of this series, I thought to myself, Kongming got isekai’ed into Shibuya City? No way this is gonna be good! Well… I was wrong, it was actually great, and very unique.
The story itself is quite unique. In a nutshell, it’s about the almighty Zhuge Liang, also called Kongming, the well-known military strategist from the Three Kingdoms period of Ancient China, who led the state of Shu Han through countless battles. He gets reincarnated into Shibuya City, Tokyo on Halloween night, which is obviously a huge change of scenery. You have the classic “getting used to modern technology” trope, but when our other protagonist, Eiko, broke out into song, that’s when I knew we were in for a treat. The main gist of the show is that Kongming uses his military strategies from the Three Kingdoms era and executes them to help Eiko become the next superstar, because he was so inspired by her singing. Along the way, Eiko and Kongming meet a rapper, some people in the music industry, and an aspiring idol band with a brilliant singer, and it’s really a lot of fun watching Eiko climb the ranks to be the next star.
I’m not gonna lie though, the plot is very predictable overall, but hearing the music is still very enjoyable, even if it is a bit repetitive. The other enjoyable part of the story is the references to the Three Kingdoms era, most notably the “borrowing arrows with straw boats strategy”. If you didn’t get some of the references, I really do encourage you to look up some of Kongming’s endeavours and stories, which boosts the entertainment value for sure.
ART: 8.8/10
It’s animated quite nicely, great to look at, though it’s not anything ground-breaking in terms of animation.
MUSIC: 9.3/10
Excellent music overall, and while the insert songs are used very repetitively, they’re still good to listen to. Obviously, the opening steals the show, and is one of the main reasons I got into this show in the first place, and I’m sure that a lot of you found this show through the opening as well!
CHARACTERS: 17.6/20
The characters were mostly a joy to watch, with Kongming acting as wise as he was in the Three Kingdoms era, while adapting to modern society, and Eiko being an aspiring singer, having great developments throughout the story, while finding her own voice.
The other characters were also great, Kabetaijin, the rapper, had a pretty solid backstory, and while his story wasn’t really the deepest, it seemed realistic. His rap sequences were pretty solid as well.
The three girls from Azalea, Nanami, Ichika, and Futaba really further developed the sense of realism in the music industry. Nanami’s backstory and her wish to be the next superstar alongside her band, Azalea, is a lofty goal, and sometimes, you got to make a deal with the devil to achieve that goal. In this case, the devil presents himself in the form of Karasuma, Key Time’s producer. He turned a once cheerful high school band into a company-manufactured idol group devoid of all of the original personalities of the members. We also saw some fan-service, but it felt much different from regular fan-service because we feel for the band and how they were being treated. Goes to show you how difficult trying to make it big truly is.
ENJOYMENT: 14.2/15
Really enjoyed it throughout. Felt like a breath of fresh air.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 17.8/20
There are some happy go lucky themes sometimes with the comedy, but the realistic side of the music industry was definitely great to see, with all the confidence issues, finding your own voice, and selling your soul sometimes to meet your goals. The themes went great together, and made for a very enjoyable show.
OVERALL: 86.7/100
Something different was shown, and it felt unique and enjoyable. Music was fun to listen to, the comedy was good, and being somewhat familiar with the Three Kingdoms lore made this even more enjoyable for me. Really hope we get another season of this for sure!
Now… back to listening to “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” I go…
Ya Boy Kongming
How does a show with this bizarre of a premise ended up being this good? And how did it fly under my radar? Well you take great story structure and writing, have likeable and fleshed out characters, provide brilliant songs and you put it together do deliver amusement and heart through comedy and music. The shows execution was spot on throughout the board to make this plot work and deliver one of the most entertaining anime this year so far and the most slept on anime this year. I thankfully caught wind of it early on so I can be part of the people who looks forward to every Thursday to watch the next episode. This is a very high recommendation and is easily one of the best shows this year. Oh, the opening as well just slaps and is easy contention for OP of the year.
Story: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 7.5/10
Sound: 10/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall Score: 8.9/10
Recommendation: Go F**king Watch It
I'll be a bit biased about this anime. It is the most relatable series to me. I felt close to Eiko as we both are nobodies trying to be somebody. I've gone through so many hardships and victories with what I am trying to do, and can understand where she is coming from. Sure, her character development did not go the way I wanted it to, because they developed her singing more than her character, though I still appreciate what she stands for. I got pulled into this series because the opening exploded on the internet. Yes, it's great. Though to say it's the best, means one would have to explore anime openings, as there are many that I feel are significantly better (Texhnolyze and Steins;Gate comes to mind). It's a really catchy song. I would say that this anime had a strong beginning, weak middle, and strong end.
The beginning of Kongming and his stratagems seemed really unique. You have an ancient Chinese tactician that gets thrown into the underground clubs of modern Japan. He finds an aspiring singer, and uses his art of war to try and help her rise as a star. One would think this makes no sense, and yet this story makes sense of it. Previously, I had been disappointed with P.A. Works with The Aquatope On White Sand, though they really pulled through with this one.
With every fail, I felt that. Eiko really tried her best, and as I said, it was all too relatable to me. Kongming is a character too likeable to not like. Graceful, humble, intelligent, and so supportive, there isn't anything not to like about him. Sure, it seems odd he just clicked with everything. Still, it's because he mastered the skill of adaptation. Even the opening felt like one of his stratagems and a breaking of the fourth wall, as it pulled lots of viewers in.
In the middle, the series sort of betrays what it promised. The focus shifts to Kabe. I noticed that this really divided the viewers, though it's mostly because some people are too biased about rap to try to enjoy it. Looking closer, I did find Kabe's focus the weakest part of the series. Looking at his rap, trying to rhyme with "yeah," and nonsensical sounds put me off. He didn't feel like a strong enough character and arc to make up for the absence of Eiko and Kongming. There was a lot of outcry that Kongming was being pushed into the background, and that his stratagems that made the series where pushed away. The middle is the weakest part. Also, the animation is inconsistent, and often resorts to slideshows. Other times, the series skips important moments, and it's painfully overt when it does that.
The last 2 episodes had me in a rollercoaster of emotions. There is the rivalry between Eiko and the other singer. I think the way it was executed, fleshed out, and made to come full circle was really inspiring and touching. It's about being yourself as an artist. To not be so hollow and fake to just do what sells. Don't go by the book, write your own. As an aspiring content creator, Eiko really moved me. As cliche as "be yourself is," hardly anyone follows that advise. It will always bear repeating. The so called antagonists do take a while to appear. Still, I was in tears by the end.
The beauty of progress and success floored me. I won't lie I was cheering Eiko on. Her singing "Be Crazy For Me" in a small club to a small audience made me think. Someone with so much passion and talent can't be held down like this forever. Being sincere and daring to push forward has it's benefits. If someone has a gift in what they do, the potential is great, though don't let the corporate world of whatever you do take you over. This is her story.
I feel sad for authors trying to make a mark where people have already established their names like stans on sub-genres that have well defined their premise and such. And one such prominent sub-genre will always be the CGDCT theme: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, where this season, mangaka Chiyo Kenmotsu's latest Manga Time Kirara work has become an anime, after a fair few works to her (I assume it's a female) name. If you're a fan of Iyashikei / CGDCT themes, then RPG Fudousan a.k.a RPG Real Estate will certainly please you like Sweetness and Lightning, but I can understand why the score here doesn't reflect so well because of its shallowness. This is directed by Tomoaki Koshida, who's also the director for Spring 2019's Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san, so if you've been looking forward to watching a spiritual successor to Senko-san, please watch "Shachiku-san wa Youjo Yuurei ni Iyasaretai." instead.
So first off, RPG Fudousan is on the contrary, not the first anime to have done the whole real estate shenanigan. That award goes to last Spring's Dragon, Ie wo Kau. a.k.a Dragon Goes House-Hunting, which is a show that even exactly after a year since it was released, while the majority still shrugged it off like the typical love-hate game, I still remember loving this show immensely and haven't quite forgotten that feeling. That is, until RPG Fudousan appeared this season for those memories to come back, and frankly, I can't envision this show being as enjoyable as the former. But, make no mistake that the latter is still good in spots, it's just that the show itself is what you would expect of a 4-koma a.k.a 4-panel manga adaptation.
RPG Fudousan is just exactly as what the source lingers: a Manga Time Kirara SoL premise with no overarching plot and endearing characters to make up the charm of the series, and thankfully it does what it's intended to be done. The RPG (that stands for Rent, Plan, Guide) real estate small business firm that's run by its employees: the happy-go-lucky mage Kotone Kazairo, pragmatic priest Rufuria, the tomboyish warrior Rakira, and the adorable dragon demihuman Fa, selling houses to their patrons, one house at a time. And these houses can come in all sorts of settings and fashions that are always unique to the patrons that the 4 girls accompany throughout their business, it's a fun time of exploring both the outside world and its canonical themes that at times are nice to watch, that as highlighted, can feel shallow at times.
The brilliant shining moments are always in characterization, something that themes like CGDCT will always tend to leverage, and I think that RPG Fudousan did a nice job giving the 4 girls each of their unique quirks and features of their personalities. I can always think of Rufuria and Rakira being like the Yuri couple where the clique needs a man-like figure to stand out, and the warrior Rakira fits the bill of being a cutesy stronghold that can go blush at times, while Rufuria is the mother figure of the business. Kotone is the typical employee that does her job as she was told to do, and Fa is the dragon demihuman that's the gel bond of the group, understanding creature language and even going as far as to do literal translations of it, which I feel adds to the strong points of the show for small comedic punches.
When it comes to CGDCT, you can always trust that Doga Kobo will be tasked to produce it, and where it seems like a requirement to have at least one CGDCT show per season, it's a good chance that it will be done to the T, just as good as it looks. The Chibi/moe style is definitely a plus in portraying the light-hearted aspect of the show, and it is certainly enjoyable depending on the beholder of the person watching. Really though, no problems here at all. This also trickles down to the OST, which again, is what I have come to expect of a cheerful OP and ED, and of similar themes as the rest of the show as well.
RPG Fudousan is a comfy show, where at the behest of many shows featuring heavy action and fantasy, a guilt trip like this is much needed for a stress reliever of sorts. While I admit that this show isn't for me, if you're looking for a show that isn't much to swallow for entertainment, I'd think this show would do a great service to you. And even against yet another similar cusps of a feel-good show this season (Shachiku-san wa Youjo Yuurei ni Iyasaretai.), it just screams a good time, so ride those good times away for a comfortable watch.
With many CGDCT (Cute Girl Doing Cute Things) flooding the over-saturated market lately. Making a unique yet enjoyable CGDCT grows more difficult by the season. So studios and authors alike try out new concepts in an effort of standing out among others. For example, a Cute girl doing fishing (Slow Loop). Cute girl managing a cafe (GochiUsa). Cute girl camping (Yuru Camp), and many more. I am a huge fan of CGDCT, so when I heard there is a new CGDCT on Real Estate, by my favorite studio Dogo Kobo, I instantly got hyped and can't wait to watch it.
Dogo Kobo is well-known for making good CGDCT anime, and this anime is no exception. The art in this anime is way too good for a CGDCT anime. They managed to capture the theme of a medieval town wall, even though the scenery is beautifully drawn. Dogo Kobo has outdone itself in this department, and I am extremely grateful for it.
The OP and ED are decent. I like it, but not enough to add it to my Spotify Playlist. The VA did a good job acting out each character's personality. Fa's VA did an exceptional job, successfully acting out Fa's child-like innocence in a very natural way while without sounding too over high pitched and fake.
For plot-wise, at the start of the season, it seems like your typical CGDCT anime (not much ongoing plot, everyone seems to be enjoying their time, etc.). However, in the 2nd half of the season, the show takes an unexpectedly dark turn. (I will not spoil it, watch the show if you want to know what is about.) They capture the dire atmosphere very well, which pushes this anime to an 8.
TLDR:
RPG Real Estate is a CGDCT anime that focus on cute girls doing real estate. It is an above-average CGDCT anime. Please note that there is excessive fan service this season. I will give this anime a borderline 8.
Shachiku-san wa Youjo Yuurei ni Iyasaretai. /
Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost
When you call a show a spiritual successor, it is for good reason just like the recommendations board: if you liked this, then you'll like that. But for the same reason that while I felt that Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san had portrayed its themes of humans overworking and the entities like fox spirits a bit lacking because there is no overarching story or plot for a stress-reliving cute SoL that for some reason I can't click to, it's the same here for Shachiku-san wa Youjo Yuurei ni Iyasaretai. a.k.a Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost, but a wee bit better.
This is a pretty self-explanatory premise where the usual stance of overworked people truly work overtime till super late until their bodies give way, and entities coming in to improve their lives for the better. Where Senko-san has Senko the fox spirit, Shachiku-san replaces it with baby loli spirit ghosts whom haunt the office of Fushihara, the overworked "Miss Shachiku-san" office worker, tempting them to leave for a nightmare-induced feeling where the nightmare hits harder than work. It's just as simple as that to create the cutesy healing vibes, and I'll give it that for how mangaka Imari Arita wants the series to be.
The talking point will always go to the central characters of Fushihara and Yuurei-chan, since this is where the relationship is first established. For one, I'd thought that the VAs did a good job for personating their characters: Fushihara's VA Hisoko Kanemoto being the usual "old-but-young woman" kind of vibe and Yuurei-chan's VA Rina Hidaka being the kid-like figure, whom if you have caught how she sounds by ear, yes, she is the same person that voiced Shield Hero's Filo. The others that follow (cat spirit Myako, Kuruhashi with her maid loli Lily, and the Oni spirit Miko) are all the same, and exhibit the cutest degrees of comfyness, depending on your degree on how you can take cuteness and put it on a radarscope like Fushihara's attachment. Honestly though, having the baby spirit ghosts does improve somebody's life, especially if they're living alone, and Fushihara definitely reaped the benefits by having a companion character that is her ultimate goal of getting enough rest from all that overwork and raising the ghosts like they're part of the family. And this is why I think that for an Iyashikei, moe SoL series like this, the family dynamic raises the bar to be a better version of the sole 1-to-1 caretaker format.
Project No. 9's light visuals don't look the best, but one might say that it's decent, just enough to gloss the fact that this show doesn't really need intricate detail to produce, and just focusing on the bigger picture that delivers exactly like how the staff team wants it to portray, and for this it's a pass. Same with the decent OST, it's just exists and is soul-lifting for those who need it.
To get a Senko-san copy a few years later, my guess is that if you liked it, then there's no reason why would you hate Shachiku-san, and vice versa. This show serves the Iyashikei niche that many will like and some will hate, and that's OK. For myself, this is just the same as how I remembered Senko-san the few years back, and I can only find this as a decent watch. Maybe you have a better experience than me, so go in and be healed by loli ghost spirits whom can really take care of you and make your life better.
This is one of the cutest anime I have watched. It is so cute that the narrator can't help but comment on how cute this is.
There isn't much plot for this anime. It can be summarized like this. The baby ghost repeatedly begs Fushihara-San to go home early so she won't end up like Azusa, who worked herself to death and end up reincarnating to another world and spending the next 300 years killing Rimuru's siblings.
Wait... I'm getting sidetracked here...
It is very similar to The Helpful Fox Senko-San. Where a supernatural being enters the life of an overworked office. Aiding them in their housework helps them to relax and relieve their stress. But instead of a magical fox, it is a baby ghost! The interaction between Fushihara-San and the baby ghost is cute and wholesome. The ED and OP fit the anime very well. The only small complaint I have is that Yuurei-chan's voice is slightly too high for my liking. Other than that, no complaints!
The anime knows what it wants to achieve and it delivers. If you wish to watch something relaxing, or something that will heal you from your stressful day of work/school. Then I will strongly recommend this anime to you. This anime will receive a very comfortable 9 from me.
If you wish to watch similar anime to this: The Helpful Fox Senko-San (Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-San) and Taisho Otome Fairy Tale (Taishou Otome Otogibanashi) is a good choices.
Shijou Saikyou no Daimaou, Murabito A ni Tensei suru /
The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody
Another isekai of Sping 2022, there is really nothing much to talk about this show because this show is a bit lacking including the cheap thrills that usual isekai gives you.
The objective for the story is for the reincarnated demon lord to find friends and that alone does not really attract anyone since the show itself does not give enough impression to truly emphasize the importance of having friends.
Another thing to add, the story does indulge the audience to a backstory of the main character which is supposed to be a good thing but the balance of the story kind of ruined since the interaction of each character does not really connect with each other causing more harm to the show.
In conclusion, I keep downrate the show while making this review because I cannot find anything to truly justify the good things of this anime.
I am just SO baffled at why shit-shows like these continue to exist. It felt like within 2 years, we went from the pinnacle of greatness that is Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha (I'm still eagerly awaiting Season 2's arrival!), to the bad that was last season's Shikkakumon no Saikyou Kenja, and finally to the worse that is this show, nicknamed Murabito A that's written by an author that knows enough jackshit about these types of premises, to directly cut, copy and paste settings which were already done in earlier works for his first ever work that I don't know why was greenlit for an anime. And you know what surprises me the most? The fact that all 3 works appeared in Syosetu around the same time period (2017-2018), though by some eminence that this was a ruse of a 3-way battle to see which Demon Lord Reincarnation story would sound better to get the anime adaptation treatment faster, and for that, I'm sure you can already see the result of all that.
Let me just give you a crass summary of Murabito A a.k.a The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody:
The MC OP Ard Meteor a.k.a the Demon Lord Vavartos is equals to Shikakkumon's Matthias "Gaius" Hildesheimer, except that both insanely strong Demon Lords are absolutely NO MATCH for the giga chad that's Maou Gakuin's Anos Voldigoad (or VoldiGOAT if you will) with a headstrong personality and sass attitude. Both Ard and Matthias are wimps in comparison, meant to be played around with the harem of girls and fingered around in plans reaching as far and wide as the fantasy seas and Demon Lords lore galore.
The supporting duo of harem girls: the elf Ireena Litz de Olhyde and succubus Ginny Fin de Salvan are worse off than Shikakkumon's Lurie Abendroth and Alma Lepucius, the pair of duos obviously playing the left-right harem side of the MC that are just as unbearable (God I miss Iris already, the fun factor of Shikkakumon). To that effect, Maou Gakuin's Necron twin sisters Misha and Sasha, like Anos, developed the same type of nonchalant behaviour of both light and dark-themed characters, and even on their own, their chemistry is much more compelling and enjoyable than whatever Shikkakumon and Murabito A tried to show for a direct similar-to-close clone that just diminishes the experience the more you watch it. The other characters...let's just say that they're write-offs, nothing of relevance to even add to the series at all.
Also, it should be said that Silver Link has become the "new" house for mindless shit-tier "Isekai plus many sub-genres" adaptations that both the studio and the anime isn't to blame for getting the bulk of the blame, because they're just entities in the stymied anime production committee to just produce shows the way they are according to their source material. As a result, in-house directors like Mirai Minato are the only ones who are left to delegate this work, even if they knew that Isekai is shit, and shit sells, so that makes for the never-ending business proposal. Just be sure that Japan doesn't think like everywhere in the world, and this is the bubble that we'll forever not understand why money and resources are spent on shit works like these.
Even the OST is quite bland and bad. Ayaka Ohashi and ChouCho are by no means bad, their song repertoires are actually quite good in spots, but the OP/ED choices here just makes me wanna skip them thoroughly like your usual Netflix-programmed "Skip Intro" and "Next Episode" when the OP and ED plays. It's the same song dynamics matching that of the Demon Lords kind to bewitch you into thinking that it's good, when it's not.
Stop it. Get some help. Wash your eyes away from awful works like these. Never touch them again for they will convert your mind into a low-life NEET thinking that you're OP as hell, have women by your side and live the new reincarnated life like nobody else cares. Stay away from this show, you're not missing much, and please for the love of God, watch Maou Gakuin instead.
This anime is a dumpster fire.
It has a solid start before derailing into a train wreck. The starting plot is rather unique which makes me have a reasonably high expectation for this anime. Which cause me to be disappointed at the end of the season
The downfall of this anime starts with the introduction of Ginny. Ireena was downgraded from a loveable character to an extremely annoying one. The only significant thing Ginny did is the one attempt to seduce Ard. Any character introduced after Ginny is forgettable at best.
There is almost no character development at all, other than Ard I guess. It becomes extremely frustrating to watch because now the plot is all over the place. Basically, the show tries to do everything at once and loses its focus.
If you like trashy power fantasy anime, then maybe give this a try? Otherwise, don't waste your time on this.
Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road / The Executioner and Her Way of Life
Etheric Connect: Scripture, 19:6 Invoke - Pure Concept of Knowledge [SB Creative's GA Bunko Awards Grand Prix winner, a.k.a this shit is great.]
If you have ever heard of SoftBank Creative's GA Bunko light novel label before, you would have known it for the one sole source material: DanMachi, which has already spawned 3 seasons and going for a 4th in the upcoming Summer 2022 season, all which've been adapted by J.C. Staff. Novelist Fujino Oomori's DanMachi is the label's acclaimed GA Bunko Grand Prix winner, the most recent up until today since its serialization in 2013. But that comes to a stop, for novelist Mato Sato, together with illustrator Nilitsu, have created the next step of that evolution by creating this work that has earned its place as the proceeding GA Bunko Grand Prix winner in 2019, A FULL 6 YEARS where DanMachi has been claiming that title ever since its inception. And if you know anything about awards like these in Japan, they tend to be held in very high regard, and an anime adaptation is almost guaranteed when there's enough source material to go around. Come this season, courtesy of J.C. Staff (which doesn't miss when it comes to highly-prized works like these), Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road a.k.a The Executioner and Her Way of Life has finally bared its fangs towards the small screen, and to say that the experience was mind-blowing is just cutting it short of the overall feel of the source material.
Isekai stories are a plentiful these days, so much so that this genre has already been awashed of the creativeness of many new authors trying to directly copy-paste other works that have been well established over the years, I'd say more than a decade and a half since SAO's inception that truly gave Isekai the much maligned and cursed genre that its known today that's backed by immense, growing popularity with each passing year. But have you ever heard of an Isekai where the entire setting is basically a reverse-Isekai, plus themes and nuances added for effect? I know I have not, and Virgin Road basically opened my eyes to your stereotypical Isekai trope that's subverted in a much more deep and impactful way that's not just mere simple background glitches of illusion for shock value, and the magic itself is utilized in such a way that is a total breath of fresh air.
The unimaginable power of Pure Concepts, and Isekai otherworlders called "Lost Ones" whom came from an alternate world known as Japan. These 2 ingredients make up the core premise of Virgin Road, where these Lost Ones would get Isekai-ed and build a new advanced civilization that brought forth Japanese influences into the fantasy world that prospered greatly. However, these Pure Concepts have a negating effect: with prolonged usage, the user will lose control of his/her powers, bringing disaster and calamity to the world, and this eventually gave rise to the fantasy world's legendary disasters, dubbed the Four Major Human Errors that resulted in the effect of these calamities: the Sword of Salt, which turned the whole Western continent into salt that is gradually melting into the sea; the Pandæmonium, a fog-like dead zone in the Southern archipelago where monsters regularly emerge from; the Mechanical Society, which controls the wild frontier in the East; and the Starhusk, which carved out the centre of the Northern continent and set it afloat. To prevent the disasters from raging another situation like these again, this causal effect has become the strictly forbidden taboo that's managed by the Faust (essentially the Church of the fantasy world), spawning Executioners that wield magical powers known as Ether and setting out to assassinate any Isekai otherworlders "Lost Ones" are still being summoned to this very day for fear of their uncontrolled powers. This is essentially Virgin Road's logical extension-cum-exaggerated approach to the Isekai genre, which other than coming off as a one-off shitpost, it's worldbuilding at its best and most finest.
And the story goes of one such Executioner by the name of Menou: a young priestess who specializes in hunting down and assassinating Lost Ones before they can become liable threats, being fully aware that they are innocents who have done nothing wrong, but her Executioner training dictating that they cannot be allowed to live, as their Pure Concepts will ultimately corrupt them if they're kept alive for long periods of time. And her task has led to this otherworlder by the name of Akari Tokito: a Lost One with the Pure Concept of Time, summoned by the Grisarika Kingdom's King Grisarika of the noble class, Noblesse. Just like other people who've been summoned from Japan, Akari is dumbfounded of her newly-known power, but isn't given enough time to experiment on her power because of Executioners like Menou having been trained to kill them within the first sighting of getting to know them, then to slowly invoke the assassination with none the wiser, no words questioned. But when Akari's Pure Concept of Time essentially reverses the ability to be physically assassinated, Menou fears for the worst, and has to find another way in order to be able to kill her, which Akari gladly agreed to, and thus, the duos's journey starts leaping through places and people to find an ideal place to commit the assassination, with both parties (Menou indefinitely, Akari definitely) conceding to the act.
Viewing this entire scenario through Menou at first glance, nothing seems out of the ordinary: a knife-wielding magecraft with full mastery of her ether. That's until you get to see the nuance of how she thinks and acts through every situation: she's groomed from young to be an Executioner because of what she has faced in her past. Remember the Sword of Salt incident that arose from the Lost Ones' Pure Concept powers bellowing out of control? Menou is a survivor of the harrowing incident, which left her soul "bleached" birthed that became the trauma to form the emotionless husk of a child ridden of her family, with no dream left to live by for a suicidal life. This trauma was relieved by none other than the legendary priestess by the name of Flare, known for her incredible skill in magecraft, as well as being the well-known top Executioner responsible for the assassinations of Lost Ones. Having seen the devastation of a lone child wandering across the vast space of a situation that Menou herself could've not overcome, Flare took her in as her apprentice, and Menou even called herself as Flare's "Flarette", her successor in the current day and age where Flare is nowhere to be found. So think of Menou as like Nana Hiiragi from Talentless Nana, though pulling this gambit off is what essentially kicks off the show proper.
The other question now raises to the Yuri aspect of the show, since Mato Sato's work is basically labelled as a Yuri (a.k.a girls' love) work through and through. Raising the bar first to the Lost One Akari Tokito, it's pretty much self-explanatory of her power with the Pure Concept of Time, and if you stripping the power aspect away, Akari is initially portrayed as rather clumsy and air-headed, but also kind and trusting, that lead her to easily trust Menou upon their first meeting as she believed that their encounter was fate. In retrospect, Akari has already used her power to invoke the Regression of Time, saving Menou from countless death instances, which circumstances that their meeting in the fantasy world purely comes down to fate and not the first as we're initially led to believe on the surface level. But remember when I said that the more that the user uses his/her own Pure Concept, he/she will lose control of their powers? This is exactly what happened to Akari, and in this case, resulted in the loss of her memories every time she regresses and leaving traces of deja vu for nothing more than just a passing resemblance for mystery. But, you can't mistake that other than fate, and to even anticipate the killing moment, it may sound insane from Akari's POV, but her character shows that her love and attachment to Menou is genuine, and this may be the first time that I'm hearing this that's similar to the ever-so-popular Christian jargon of "dying to self" for others' gain.
The next literate pink-haired Nana Hiiragi feel-alike is Momo, another Executioner priestess and Menou's personal aide to assist on missions ranging from reconnaissance to providing support in battles, wielding a wire saw as her weapon. Many may question the significance of the Yuri-ness from Momo to Menou, and this is supported by the fact that both were childhood friends, and the crush that sparked out of it from the hair ribbons that Menou gave to her. Yes, it may sound insignificant that something like a hair ribbon is all it takes for a hot-bodied love affection, but to Momo, this is all that she had of her memories with Menou, and I can definitely understand that this connection creates the reassurance that Menou will always be with her, even when they're physically apart. That, with Akari's inclusion in Menou's life, Momo's jealousy reaches far beyond the levels of the earth so much so to always grumble with Menou, that the latter always appreciates her presence, knowing fully well of the awfully close attachment. But just like a well-hidden enclosure of a yandere, Momo is a force to be reckoned with if she is unleashed of her powers, that love translates to a massive power draw that's equivalent to death unhinged, and you DO NOT want to anger this well-endowed girl, but pet her like an overly attached pet to calm her tits down.
The other characters do make their appearances and create their own diversions based on their characteristics, from the likes of the Grisarika Kingdom's warrior princess Ashuna Grisarika whom disregards her position as a princess to look for worthy opponents for battle, to yet another Lost One: Manon Libelle leading a liberated social class all in the disguise that in private, she is but only one of the four main antagonists in the overall story (that's covered in the anime so far). Adding the Church aspect of the Faust and Noblesse being at loggerheads with one another, and you have character and worldbuilding that's larger than life as the series grows to expose more infodump that is cohesive and doesn't feel like it's a waste of time. It's very good and worthy of the Grand Prix position that it won by its inherent strength of making everything connected, that not one single instance is a throwaway feature just for show.
Unsurprisingly, for such a valuable work like this, I'd thought that J.C. Staff would penchant the DanMachi staff team to work on this since this unironically links to a high-quality production given its stature, but since we already know at this point that DanMachi would come back next season, an entirely new staff team must be helmed for this stop-gap show of sorts. And for the notables, bringing in Isekai Bookworm assistant director Yoshiki Kawasaki for his directorial debut, veteran series composer Shougo Yasukawa, Hataraku Saibou a.k.a Cells at Work! chief animation director and character designer Keiko Tamaki, it already sounds like there is a seasoned crew of people whom regardless if they knew the extent of the LN's status, would still produce the finest quality that matches the exuberance of the source material in its grandiose. Some nice scenes, especially the high-octane action battles that are a sight to behold, while making this a wholly J.C. Staff work that's definitely the quality that we've come to know of the studio in shows (especially DanMachi), and this doesn't feel like the cheapness of other average shows that has recently been produced to mixed fanfare.
On the musical side, Mili's "Paper Bouquet" for the OP, other than the fact that it is sung entirely in English (which you can easily find the lyrics in Spotify), it is an excellent OP that embraces its visual spectacle, but I can't help that feeling that it doesn't sound as good as say, Goblin Slayer's ridonclous gore-rape fest of an OP that I still remember to this very day. It has the Mili "Seal of Quality" that's for sure that some people can appreciate, but I just find the song to be decent at best. On the other hand, I freaking love ChouCho's songs with the rawness of her vocal range that is precedent in 2017's "Imouto sae Ireba Ii." and 2020's "Majo no Tabitabi", and of the 2 ending songs sung this season (this one and the Maou Gakuin-inspired shitfest that is Murabito A), "Touka Serenade" is the next acclimation of ChouCho's angelic voice, paired with the dignified visuals that are just shades of artistic symbolisms placed between Menou and Akari's relationship. No doubt that in my mind, this ED is low-key certainly one of the best of the season in both music and visuals combined.
We should come to a consensus: since Japan has countless manga and novel awards like the Dengeki Novel Prize and GA Bunko Grand Prix, these works MUST be adapted into anime, and we SHOULD watch more of them to know of their individual acclaims in the Land of the Rising Sun. The only problem is that people like to profit off of no-name, average people pumping out average works just for quick bucks of cash cows, and this is the rare instance of getting works that have already won prestigious awards that's so great, in the same rhetoric that anime will spike up more sales of the source material. Hopefully this proves to be so, and if there is a Season 2 of this, I will gladly watch more of Virgin Road, because this is the lost art of creative and bold storytelling that so many new wannabe authors nowadays just miss the mark, or barely hung on to tried-and-true methods to try being different, when in actuality, they're one and the same.
Watch Virgin Road, it's a show where your virginity will not be lost in this journey for a compelling experience.
This show had a lot of promise with its cool premise of a secret organisation made to kill people who have been Isekaid. Unfortunately, it lost a lot of momentum early on as it felt like it played some of its cards too early and left the series feeling like a standard adventure that had twists that felt too obvious. I wished it expanded on it premise to be one of the more unique Isekai stories we’ve ever had. It’s a show of missed potential can be engaging and still uses that unique premise but it does feel like a show that should have been better than it actually was.
Story: 4/10
Characters: 5/10
Animation: 7/10
Sound: 7.5/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Overall Score: 6.0/10
Recommendation: Consider it
Spy × Family (1st Split-Cour)
"Waku Waku"
Quote by Anya.
Story :
It is nice, wholesome and quite enganging for the viewers since it is light hearted and I know not many people can really enjoy this story since the setting of the story is that they are in imminent war which is a heavy topic. Objectively speaking, you need to create a goal for a story which in this case is the operation STRIX so that way the story can not only attract the viewers but can also engage them to see the process and the end results of the show. Yes, there are some episodes that seems like a filler and there has to be a better way for the story to be executed to reach the objective but that is the good thing about this show. Since the story is light hearted, even filler episodes or something that does not really make any sense (for example, Yor just casually accepts marriage offer without proper consideration) can be enjoyable and somehow has relation to the main story.
Character :
Each of the characters has their own quirks and that gives more life to the story. Every interactions between characters does make story progressive and does encourage character development even if just by a little and sometimes people take those interactions seriously even without the creator realizing it. Personally, I do not have to mention how people ships Loid and Yor or Anya and Damian but it still works.
Animation :
Like come on, its Wit and CloverWorks. They have a history of producing great animations and this could be one of them.
Conclusion :
It is really nice having Spy x Family getting animated because just like how morning Saturday cartoon helps you forget about homework, Spy x Family helps you forget or alleviate your stress and depression even if by a little. Personally, you do not have to read the manga if you have watched the anime since you are not missing out on a lot things as far as I concern but you can read it if you are interested in it.
It’s no masterpiece, but you know why this show is so good? Because it gives me nostalgia towards my childhood. It makes me remember the Saturdays when I was a kid, and just plopped on the couch when I woke up to watch my favourite cartoons. Spy X Family is like a Saturday morning cartoon to me, in that it’s as ridiculous like a kid’s show, but ends up feeling a bit of mature than them. Another reason is that it’s so meme-worthy, since Anya expressions are like a memer’s best friend. I was impressed with the solid animation and groovy OST as well. As an anime-only watcher, I expected a bit more from this cour, but we’re just getting started, because you and I all know, there’s way more to come.
The thing that stands out is obviously how unique it is compared to other anime. They managed to make a spy show about a “pretend family”, they make it cute and childish looking, but also make it really refreshing to watch. It doesn’t try to have depth, and be very thought-provoking, but what it does is charm the audience through sheer ridiculousness, with the grenade pin proposal being the pinnacle of its absurdity. This show doesn’t need depth to be honest, it’s fun even with it being a simple story. Though, some things would benefit from further explanation, like how Anya can do her mind reading, and the backstory of all the characters. Of course, I’d love to see some more plot development next cour.
ART: 9.4/10
WIT Studio and Cloverworks did a solid job of animating this series for sure. Props to director Kazuhiro Furuhashi for a solid job at creating fun cinematography and over the top scenes, like the dodgeball scene.
MUSIC: 9.6/10
The OST really evokes a sense of a spy atmosphere, while being fun and bubbly at the same time. Opening is solid, but the ending “Kigeki” by Gen Hoshino was by far my favourite ED this season, with the vibes fitting perfectly to the show, and the lyrics were really wholesome, for example, the lyrics of the chorus of the ending in English started with “Shall we hold hands and head home? What should we eat tonight? Here’s what happened today”, which feels like such a wholesome family dynamic.
CHARACTERS: 17.5/20
The characters are straight up lovable, and they each have their developments too. Loid used to be a cold-hearted spy, but after being with Yor and Anya for a while, he became a solid dad, that learned to take care of his family, and learned to trust others a bit more, even though he’s a spy. Yor is a clumsy character, yet she’s an assassin, which is as ridiculous as the plot of the show. She becomes a wonderful mother figure to Anya, and keeps Loid in check too, teaching him how to treat Anya in a nice way. Now, everyone’s favourite walking meme, Anya, is obviously cute, and gives me nostalgia of being a kid. She’s curious about things, and always wants to help the people she likes. On top of that, she can read minds, which makes for excellent comedy at times.
The side characters are also fun to watch. Franky is a ridiculous helper to Loid, and pulls off some fun costumes. Yuri has a bit of a sister complex, but it almost made for a kiss between Loid and Yor, and who doesn’t want that? Damian is a tsundere to the highest degree, but I love the dynamic between him and Anya, and of course, we all love Anya’s smug face!
ENJOYMENT: 14.3/15
Great for Saturday mornings, and I really enjoyed it. I admit, I lost a little interest in the middle of the series, but the over the top comedy and character interactions was fun.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 17.3/20
The spy theme was executed pretty well, with solid world building. The comedic elements are a bit repetitive at times, a lot of times with the comedy focusing on Anya’s “shock” faces. There hasn’t been a lot of action yet, but we’ve some engaging action scenes, and I’d love to see more of those next cour.
OVERALL: 87.6/100
A wholesome family show that everyone should watch, and will likely enjoy. It doesn’t try to be overly ambitious, and that’s fine. It’s just pure fun, and while it’s not a masterpiece, it’s just gives me such nostalgia to those Saturday morning cartoons, and this is a prime Saturday morning cartoon indeed. Looking forward the next cour two in the Fall!
Of the newest shows this season Spy x Family was the one with the biggest hype surrounding it. Now with the conclusion of the first cour, the hype and excitement has only grown. However, this hype is well-deserved as Spy x Family is an enjoyable and funny Slice of Life, Comedy with a likeable cast of characters and an interesting world. Spy x Family looks at three different people--a Spy, an Assassin, and an Esper--as they become part of a makeshift family with each of them hiding their identity from each other. This interesting premise along with the great production job of Wit and Cloverworks makes Spy x Family one of the most enjoyable and entertaining shows to watch.
The first couple of episodes of Spy x Family do a great job introducing the watcher to a country filled with much political unrest in which spies and assassins are prevalent part of maintain world peace. This is shown as the infamous spy Twilight is introduced to us as he is given a top-secret mission which is key to maintain this peace. Required to have a family for this mission Twilight adopts the young esper Anya and marries the innocent yet sisnister assassin, Yor thus beginning the story of this makeshift family. These first couple of episodes drew me into the show and made me begin to like the characters and the world because of how well they were introduced. While the story does feel a bit lacking in areas and could use a more antagonistic character, it was fun and engaging enough to keep me interesting throughout the show.
The characters are the stronger part of the show. Loid, Yor and Anya all have a great dynamic with each other and a interesting past that draws you into their character and motives. Anya is certainly the most popular character as her funny lines, silly faces, and cute personality make her so likeable. She is biggest source of comedy for the series by far. Loid and Yor are also likeable and interesting characters. Their selfish reasons for becoming a family are something I hope will continue to be explore as it opens the potential for something amazing. As for side characters I cannot say that I care to much about them. Most notably there is Yor’s younger brother Yuri who looks to be an interesting character and I hope he adds some antagonistic elements to the shows story. Overall, the characters are my favorite part about this show so far and I am excited to see where the story will go with them.
As for production Wit and Cloverworks did and an amazing job animating and direction Spy x Family. The art is well drawn, the animation is smooth and lively, and the soundtracks make you feel like you are watching a spy show. The quality remains consistent throughout the show’s runtime. The opening theme and ending theme were also very great especially the opening as it just fit the show so well. The great production quality is just another great part of Spy x Family.
I had a great time watching Spy x Family. It was an entertaining an and enjoyable part of my Saturdays. While I have my problems with the show, I can be too critical as the show is just beginning its journey. With this solid start, I am optimistic that Spy x Family will only continue to get better and use the potential of its characters, world, and story the best way it possibly can.
The second most hyped new show this year behind Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family definitely had a lot of expectations before it aired. After watching it, I would say it lived up to the hype. It produced what I expected would happen. Fun comedy, heartfelt family moments, cool action scenes, a cast of characters that can’t be anything but loveable and memes that will be ingrained into the DNA of the Twitterverse. This was a fun series that lightened up my Saturdays through its touching moments and balls to the walls silly moments. It’s a weird mash-up of things that’s genius in its execution. Backed up by great animation by Cloverworks AND Wit and having (K)NoW_NAME help with the music left with an anime that’s just so easy to recommend. Watch it and look forward to season two.
Story: 8.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation: 8.5/10
Sound: 10/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Recommendation: Go F**king Watch It
With only twelve episodes, Spy x Family's plot and characters feel almost too premature to review at the moment. Despite that Twilight's mission consists of political corruption and spy missions, and is the most interesting part of this series for me, it disappointingly waters it down to the point there doesn't feel as if there is anything really interesting to say. And this is considering everything else, such as Anya's moments that reduces this to a kids show many times. Even anime like K'On! can give me more depth and motivation than Anya making funny faces all the time, which constantly left me with my eyes half open at how repetitive and not funny it became for me. If Anya being cute and making funny faces makes this a masterpiece, I just can't comprehend, and am confused about the type of yardstick that is being used to rate this series. Her constantly explaining what the characters are thinking could add to the development of Twilight and the hollow husk of character that is Yor, though it sometimes felt like constantly vomiting useless information.
Even Damien feels like a character that has more depth than Yor. Despite that he is a young stuck up rich kid, he has enough sense to respect Anya when she helps him, which is admirable. I actually felt very excited to see where Yor was going to go. She's voiced by the only thing I liked out of Demon Slayer (Shinobu, who has been disappointingly left out of the anime), and her being an assassin, hiding under an already fake family, and having to struggle to hide it, made me wonder all the possibilities in how they can make this interesting and fold out. I was dreaming too idealistically, however, as Yor mostly stood in the background, and constantly made me question her intelligence. At least they somewhat tried to show her assassin side. They should have tried to develop her character more, and shown more of her missions. Even the studios didn't try to do anything with her with some meaningful anime only content. It's a missed opportunity to salvage her character. There are some anime, like Legend of the Galactic Heroes, that can take characters like Dusty and Poplan, who have a small presence in the novels, and bring them to life, rich in character, by enhancing them with lots anime only content, in a way that it doesn't ruin the source material. Yor should have had this treatment.
The simplistic and episodic approach this has leaves me with little to say about it, plot wise. The finale was just another cute moment, which did nothing to end this on a better note from where it was before. Despite that Wit Studio and Cloverworks were involved here, there are hardly any moments that really excelled in animation. Not only that, they get drowned out by the amount of slide shows, CGI crowds, and zoom ins into doors, while characters explain to me, again, something I've already heard several times, or that is obvious. The animation feels stiff; Yor looks like an insect sometimes, as if she was secretly an ant queen experiment gone wrong that escaped.
Like Komi Can't Communicate, the comedy is what salvaged this for me. Unlike Komi's anime, which burned itself out eventually, Spy x Family remained consistently and cleverly funny. Twilights very serious mission is absurdly approached, as the master spy can barely hold a fake family together, and though he can pull all sorts of incredible talents as a spy, is faced with his greatest challenge of being a father and husband, that puts him often at wits end. Anya can be adorable, and funny, though I look for something more meaningful in anime besides funny faces and cute moments with toys. It's clear she took over the anime as the most popular part of it. I can't comprehend it. Everyone looks for different things in anime, I suppose, and that's fine.
I understand that this is very popular, and that's a bad thing. I understand that anyone saying something negative about this will get outcasted. Nothing is perfect; even one's favorites. Still, all these nearly perfect consensus scores on multiple anime websites are all irrelevant to what the individual thinks. Don't depend or rely on them as if they are the bible, because letting people with different tastes rate, manipulate scores, and allowing to tell you what to like and not like is absurd. The only way you'll know if you are going to like something is by watching it yourself. Relying on them makes you miss out on potentially good shows. I have to face the fact that plenty of my recent favorite seasonal anime will be buried and forgotten. It doesn't mean that I am wrong, and that I have a questionable taste. Everyone is different and not one person has the objective taste; it doesn't exist.
The second part of Spy x Family coming up has great potential, in my opinion, to be significantly better. Maybe they will fix Yor's character, maybe they will stop trying to be dependent on cute Anya moments to make the series, maybe they can add more depth to Twilights' mission, and some real danger. Or maybe this is just another funny goofy show that I just can't relate to.
Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari / The Rising of the Shield Hero (Season 2)
After watching this season, I can safely say, Malty is the reason why I even finished Season 1. The biggest problem with Shield Hero is that it just isn’t as satisfying to watch anymore, because the revenge plot is done, and now it’s just a generic isekai. I’m sure the studio and animators realized that, so what did they do? They proceeded to milk the living heck out of Raphtalia and create some fan service, because they know there are many people watching this show just for her. I had low expectations coming into this season, because I didn’t think Season 1 was that good to begin with, especially in the second half. Somehow this season still ended up being disappointing. This season of Shield Hero was paced poorly, was uninteresting, the characters got even worse, but it did have one saving grace, and I’ll highlight that down below.
An awkward mess would be an understatement. Granted, I didn’t expect a whole lot from this season, but this was not good. I’ll talk briefly about the two main arcs of this season:
The spirit tortoise arc. Absolutely atrocious, and I’m sure most of you agree. I started the arc and the first thing I wondered was who Éclair was. I looked back at the previous season, skimmed through wikis, and I found nothing about her. So, you’re telling me she just showed up? YUP! That was the first sign that this was getting extremely rushed, even though I’ve never read the light novel. I don’t blame them for rushing this though, because it’s just a boring arc, and I can see why this rushed it, but you can’t introduce an important character without letting us know who she was beforehand. The biggest problem to me was how they deviated from the plot of season 1, which was fighting the waves, and seeing the video game mechanics in play. This time, there’s just this random tortoise thing that’s supposedly a danger to the world, which felt so random.
After a few episodes of meandering about doing a whole lot of nothing, Naofumi and company face off against Kyo Ethnina, who is officially one of my least favourite villains of all time. The way he just shouts so annoyingly, but honestly has the same intelligence as people in Team Rocket from Pokemon is just near unbearable. All he does is shout arrogantly, and when he gets defeated, WHOOP-DEE-DOO, he has yet another trick up his sleeve. Very poor character writing, and one of the lamest villains I’ve laid my eyes on, Malty was actually frustrating to watch, in a somewhat good way, and vastly superior to Kyo.
Next, we have the New World arc, which started off decently, but once Kyo came back on the screen, I realized that it’s still horrible. The first few episodes of this arc were the best of the entire season, and those were the episodes where virtually nothing happened, and they were exploring the Infinite Labyrinth. Obviously, the writers knew that the series was struggling at this point, so how should we save the story? SMOL RAPHTALIA IS DEFINITELY THE ANSWER TO ALL OUR PROBLEMS!!! Yikes. Though, the reason for my increased enjoyment to start this arc was the addition of the Cardinal Hunting Hero Kizuna, who was a fun and bubbly character with at least a little personality. Another reason is that Shield Hero finally got back to its roots and focused on levelling up and gaining items, which was the best part about Shield Hero in Season 1. Twists and turns happen, the gang eventually reunites again after episode after episode of absolute nonsense and Raphtalia not leaving the screen for more than two seconds. The villains were uninteresting, and the ending of the arc was rushed heavily as well.
Overall, just hugely rushed. The development of the characters was poor, the villains were lame, and the amount of plot holes was crazy.
ART: 4.2/10
Huge step down from Season 1, and it became abundantly clear that Kinema Citrus was already setting their sights on working on Made In Abyss Season 2. Character expressions were awkward, fight scenes took place in stills, and the Spirit Tortoise looked like a huge, heavy pile of CG. Yikes.
MUSIC: 8.4/10
I will say, Kevin Penkin is still the saving grace of this show, and the music is pretty good in important scenes. Looking forward to his work in Made In Abyss Season 2. The opening was not as good as the first two, and the ending was alright.
CHARACTERS: 5.5/20
Uninspiring, boring, and just stock characters. Maybe they’re kinda cool in fight scenes, but what could you tell me about any type of reasonable character development? Let’s go over some of the characters.
Everyone’s favourite character, Raphtalia! I’m convinced she’s just here since the fans love her. She can fight, and keep Naofumi level-headed, but that’s no different from Season 1. The romance is just there because you just gotta have some kind of a harem in an isekai for the fans to be happy. When the story gets bad, they just show some smol Raphtalia, and expect the fans to be satisfied.
Let’s talk about Filo and Rishia now. Filo barely got any screen time, and there was no development for her, she’s just there. Rishia got my character development this time, by being more brave I suppose, and building up her skills. Her plot armour is crazy though, as not even Kyo’s gravity attack can oppose her. The question though is, why was Rishia wearing that Filo outfit in the tortoise arc???
I mentioned Kyo earlier, and how bad he is, so let’s talk about our saving grace, Kizuna. Definitely the best character in the series, because she’s strong, and has a pretty fun personality. Still a very bare-bones character that would benefit from some development. Would love to see more of her.
Finally, let’s talk about our protagonist, Naofumi. He seems like a smart guy right? To be honest, he’s just an average protagonist, but he looks smart because everyone around him have very low intelligence, and rely on him to do the heavy lifting, though we do see this theme quite a lot in other shows as well, it just seems more noticeable here. He’s a solid character, but his only intriguing aspect is when he gets angry and the wrath shield tries to take over. I still don’t understand how he can attack when he’s supposed to be a defensively oriented hero.
ENJOYMENT: 2.5/15
I found myself completely checked out at times, and there was little to no elements that had me enjoying this season.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 4/20
What this show does, is fix bad thematic execution, with what the writer and director thinks is good themes. For example, if a fight was underwhelming, or if the story was convoluted, they’d try to fix it with some fan service. If the plot was boring, they’d try to spice things up with a hint of romance. It just doesn’t work. No themes were executed well, as a lot of things felt forced and rushed.
OVERALL: 30.1/100
Definitely the worst show I watched in the spring season. The story was massively rushed, the characters were uninspiring and bland, the villains were lame, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. I even heard that they didn’t follow the light novel very well from the readers. It’s a shame, though I kind of expected this, since the second half of the first season gave me signs that the story would go downhill, but I didn’t expect that this would be this appalling. The production and animation overall was very janky as well. The saving grace for this series was definitely Kizuna and Kevin Penkin’s composing. I believe that Season 3 might be a bit better than this season, but I’m not going to be expecting much at all.
Thanks for your feedback!
Well the pacing got better after its dreadful start but the fundamental flaws still remains. Without the whole, getting revenge and then rising above it, the story still feels like a standard adventure story with the characters still being standard versions of themselves. It does able to provide a different perspective on things moving forward but the fact is that this season has made me think that this whole series feels shallow. The added revenge element helped make the first season that enjoyable and without it, Shield Hero feels like a bog standard Isekai. Season two of Shield Hero is a downgrade from season one and is definitely one of, if not, the most disappointing show from this year so far. It says something when Arifur-f**king-eta has a better season two than Shield Hero. The real question moving forward however is how season three will go down? Remember this was a confirmed season at the same time as season two. If this is more of the same, then this series will just be another Isekai swathed with the rest of the mediocre ones or worse.
Story: 3/10
Characters: 5/10
Animation: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 4/10
Overall Score: 5.2/10
Recommendation: Don’t Bother
Tomodachi Game
Before I start, personally, I haven’t watched a single death game anime, or even Squid Game actually, so I will not be making any comparisons to them. This is a strictly non-Squid Game comparison review. Ok, before you start saying “Who cares”, or “Who asked?”, let’s get into the review.
For a series that is supposedly about friendship, the friendship concepts were tackled a bit superficially, and it became more of a series about Katagiri Yuuichi’s wit and him being a scumbag to solve problems. I expected a bit more characterization overall, and it really does feel we’re just scratching the surface of this series. However, the plot twists and Yuuichi’s character were definitely fun to watch, and one of the more enjoyable series of this anime season, but a bit edgy for sure.
The story is about five friends that get into a game called the Tomodachi Game, or Friends Game, after one of the five incurred a twenty million yen debt, and to pay off that amount, the group must clear a variety of games that test their friendships, and reveal their true colours.
The first game, Kokkuri-san, is a game where the participants place a finger on a coin in the middle of a board. Then, a question is asked, and the participants place their fingers on the coin and push it towards the answer they think is correct. The questions are simple, but as expected, someone sabotages the game. This was by far the most boring and basic premise of the show, and very predictable.
The next game, Bad-Mouth Sugoroku is a game where people bad mouth each other and submit the cards privately. The revelations, such as someone participating in compensated dating, and someone doing plastic surgery, are made to pit them against each other. This game was drawn out pretty long, and felt pretty shallow. It made the group of friends seem like they weren’t very close in the first place, since something pretty trivial, like doing plastic surgery, could cause a rift between the characters. A lot of these revelations create shock value, which in my opinion, is not a very good way to advance the plot.
The third game was a simple hide and seek game, except the hider can’t move, so they can’t get any food. It felt like a battle of wits between the two teams, but in the end, it was a pretty anticlimactic conclusion, with violence just being the answer to everything. Expected a bit more from this.
There are other backstories that I won’t go into here, but even though I have said a few negative things about each game, there are still positives, in that the suspense factor is handled pretty well, even if it relies heavily on shock value. Yuuichi’s struggles are always fun to see, and his ways to get through each game are enjoyable as well.
ART: 6.2/10
The animation is fine, but a bit lacking. The expressions could have been handled even better to evoke that sense of “evil” from Yuuichi, and all the other emotions from the other characters.
MUSIC: 8.9/10
Huge fan of both the opening and ending from this series. Nana Mizuki and Saji do a great job, and I never skipped them. The two themes were definitely a highlight of the show.
CHARACTERS: 11.5/20
The characters were introduced very poorly, and the developments for most of them seem to just be scratching the surface of their characterization and backstories, but I have to say Yuuichi carries the cast, and I’m sure you agree. He has the most distinct personality overall, as he creates most of the shock value. He is a scumbag, but he’s not completely heartless, as we saw in the third game. He does some crazy things, and he’s fun to watch, but it gets a bit repetitive.
The other characters each have their distinct personalities, but they just aren’t the most intriguing to watch. Tenji is arguably the more interesting one out of the remaining four friends, but as I said, we’d need Season 2 to see more of their backstories and developments.
ENJOYMENT: 12.3/15
I did enjoy this series despite its flaws, it’s what I call “popcorn entertainment”, just watching chaos unfold every episode.
THEMATIC EXECUTION: 10/20
This show really struggles at executing the theme of friendship well. If they are such good friends, they shouldn’t be fighting this easily. They know they are being tested in a game, and rifts in friendships is what the management want, so why play into their hands?
The romance theme is just there to be another chaos creator. Of course everyone likes someone in the friend group, it just makes everyone lose their minds, and that is pretty realistic for sure.
The world building, pretty atrocious. Rules need to be explained better, and there can't be that many convolutions that feel shallow.
OVERALL: 66.1/100
A decent show which had good plot twists and a good main character in Yuuichi, but falls short on some story elements that I think could have been paced better to create a better plot. If you are a fan of mind games and plot twists, this is a solid one to watch, and if there is a continuation in the future, I’ll definitely watch it.
We all carry secrets that we prefer not to share. We rather not use those secrets to ruin the relationship with the people around us. In order to keep close to someone, we tuck it away to be forgotten and to make sure it does not harm you or other people. Sometimes though, those secrets bubble up onto the surface to the point you can no longer hide them. Through slipping up or it being revealed by someone else, a secret we rather not share could affect you and/or the people around you. But only then, will this be a true test to see if these people actually care about you.
We find ourselves in this kind of scenario today. About a group of friends being trapped together to test the bonds between each other and revealing their true nature at their most desperate of circumstances.
Sit back, relax as you get yourself out of debt by ruining your friendships as I present to you the anime review for Tomodachi Game. Let’s begin shall we?
Story: 7.5/10
The story follows a group of friends, Katagiri Yuuichi, Shiho Sawaragi, Tenji Mikasa, Yutori Kokorogi and Makoto Shibe as they enjoy their harmless school lives and look forward to a field trip. However, the funds for the field trip are stolen and they begin to be wary of each other about it. When they are arranged to meet up outside the school, they are attacked by unknown assailants and wake up in a Euphoria type room (don’t worry, it doesn’t go there). From there, we meet Manabu-kun who tells them that they are all have a debt 20 million yen and must play games to test their friendship and clear their debt.
It’s sort of like an involuntary version of Squid Game but instead of it being life or death, it’s meant to break you mentally and shatter any relationship you have with other people. The first couple of episodes do a good job of reeling you in through unresolved hooks and psychological warfare to get you hooked (well, for me at least). Seeing as we know little about these characters other than their personalties, you wander what kind of things these characters are hiding that they don’t want to reveal. It slowly becomes a game of trust and mind games to rat each other out. For example we get revealed early on that there is a traitor within the group (because come on, of course there is), but we don’t know who it is and what the show does really well is make you guess who this traitor is. Could it be the quiet yet adorable Yutori. Could it be our main protagonist Yuuichi who could be fooling everyone, even the viewer that he was the cause of all this happening. This is something I wished the show would hold it cards on for longer to give that psychological edge but blew it too early and kind of affected the overall psychological enjoyment of the show but it does have some good mind games to make up for it later on to counteract this reveal.
Something I want to criticize the story for though is its stop and start pacing. Some parts of the show for example, just stop and give backstories to these characters. While that is perfectly fine, the backstories can feel like they have been going on for too long at times. When you are trying to develop a mind game between the characters, you don’t want to be out of it for too long, otherwise, your attention starts slipping. It’s annoying because what we get with the psychological warfare is really good but can struggle at times to find that balance to keep the pacing consistent. It’s kind of annoying because when it clicks, it just gets so engrossing and you have to keep watching. The story also has the, “I’ve always known, I just waited for you to fall into my trap” cliche that it uses quite a bit but thankfully, the execution was on point for this show.
Characters: 6.5/10
I wouldn’t say the characters are likeable because it felt like throughout this series they weren’t meant to be. They are flawed individuals that carry some baggage that they don’t want to reveal and as the show goes on, we start to see their true nature when in a desperate situation. It’s all meant to be entertaining when these characters are tested about their friendship and if it is actually stable. Yuuichi, for example, is not a good person considering how he uses everyone as his pawns to achieve it ends. But, he is an entertaining character as he has a sort of Light Yagami vibe to him because he has villainous tendencies despite having some good intentions. It makes him probably the most entertaining protagonist this season because you don’t know what his true agendas are.
The personalties however, fall into the generic stereotypes that is common with this kind of friend group. You have Yuuichi, the middle man. Shiho, the straight person and member of the student council. Tenji, the smart, logical one with glasses. Yutori, the cute, innocent one. And then Makoto, the laid back, jokester of the group. They all carry these standard personality traits and only a couple of them actually break out of this and expand. Yuuichi obviously but also Tenji who actually expand on their stereotype and Kogorogi at literally, the very end of the show. I do see why they did this. These characters have a stereotypical personality and here is how they are going to be broken down when they have their backs to the wall, but they were only really able to execute well with two, arguably three, of the characters and rest it felt like they did the minimum to say that the y did it.
As for the rest of the cast, there isn’t really a lot to say. They also fall into stereotypes that don’t really expand. You have the members of management, overseeing the Tomodachi game who act as vessels to elaborate the scenario we see on screen and don’t offer much else besides the occasional shock when they are surprised as to how the main cast would act. They can be useful and they have solid personalities but there isn’t much else. Then there is Manabu-kun who merely acts as our main cast’s overseer, explaining and elaborating the rules and watching over them. The only thing is that keeps him slightly entertaining is his multiple personalities, depending on the game they are playing. The characters are carried by the main cast and while they absolutely shine in most scenes, sometimes, what they are trying to do doesn’t work. Does it mean I hate these characters? No, because they are really entertaining when push comes to shove and their stereotypes start to break down
Animation: 5.5/10
Overall the animation is fine. For shows like this, you don’t expect too much in the animation department since your focus would be on the dialogue and the characters. Still though, you don’t want to be bad, otherwise it would be an unnecessary distraction; which it wasn’t thankfully. The focus was clearly on the character expressions to give the fear, the shock and the massive grins on these character faces. In terms of effect, it ranges from little effect to “oh s**t, here we go” and it’s usually when the characters have those grins that make it towards the latter because you know s**ts going to go down when it happens. It gets me excited when it happens because it leads to the best moments.
Mind you though, that does make up for the fact because these designs are so bloody generic. They look like how you would think these characters would look like with these personalities and that goes for all of the characters minus Manabu-kun as he is able to rock different looks well despite the CG. They are the basic 101 for how these characters should look like and they did nothing to slightly change them to make them look less generic. It really is the worst thing when it comes to the animation.
Sound: 7/10
A lot of the show’s soundtrack plays in the background and is mainly used to add to the atmosphere. The main focus is always what’s on screen so the soundtrack doesn’t really stand out. It is varied though, depending on the mood so it does at least match well with whatever is on screen.
The OP and the ED though, are much more noticeable as I really do like both. The OP, "Double Shuffle” by Nana Mizuki, is an OP that really helps sets the tone at the beginning of the show with it playing coy. It uses imagery to get us to think about who is truly wicked and use the symbolism of money as the reason why. You got one image of hands reaching out for money, showing the greed of people that money can bring out. You got another scene with our characters faces constantly changing behind a fence with Yuuichi grabbing it at the end as to represent who Yuuichi could trust and who is just playing a good poker face. There is just a lot of good imagery used in this opening that is backed up by song with a great and catchy rhythm to make it one of the best OPs this season.
The ED as well is arguably just as good. "Tomoshibi" by saji gives us a hint into the secrets that our characters are hiding. Some more blatantly obvious than others but they do like to play coy as well just to make sure it gives you something to guess. I also like the very last image, it just a nice way of confirming to us that this friendship will not go unscathed. But it really is the song that carries this ED just working in time with the visuals and just generally being a good song to listen to.
Conclusion
Despite my criticisms, I REALLY enjoyed watching Tomodachi Game. The psychological mind games this show provides with its entertaining characters really makes this show a good watch. It nails one of the crucial aspects of an anime, it’s enjoyable to watch. Even if this show had way more flaws, I would have still enjoyed it because it has that entertainment factor to make it a fun watch. That doesn’t mean it’s free of flaws. The inconsistent pacing, the stereotypes and cliches and their unoriginal designs are legit criticisms but what we have is a show that’s meant to put these stereotypes and put it in a situation that pushes them to the limit. That part makes up for the fact.
If you’re into shows with mind games and trying to play 4D chess in a high stakes like anime, then this show is worth a watch. It is a fun, engaging and gripping psychological anime that really does pull you in and leaves you wanting more and finding out what happens next.
My Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall Score: 7.1/10 Recommendation: Watch It
Yuusha, Yamemasu / I'm Quitting Heroing
Hello? Realist Hero? Is this you again? What is the shtick this time round?
You've heard of stories where the Hero comes to help a fledgling friend or enemy in need, a setting and story that only now, has become its own sub-genre of all things. The oldies like myself will know of novelist Mamare Touno's Maoyuu Maou Yuusha which saw the LN ran from 2010 and 2012 and studio Arms' anime adaptation the year after the LN ended (damn, now I feel so old that this source is more than a decade old). The more recent mainstream ones are of course, novelist Dojyomaru's Realist Hero and Toru Toba's Tensai Ouji. And in this packed Spring season, there's one more to add to the mix: novelist Quantum's only work that is Yuusha, Yamemasu a.k.a I'm Quitting Heroing, a short 3-volume LN fantasy series that ran from December 2017 to October 2018. Its overall themes are very similar to Maoyuu, but I feel that the context of Realist Hero is also important as well for creating the reverse "the grass is greener on the other side" derivative of "How a Failed Hero Rebuilt the Demon Lord's Army". The result from all of this are answers that'll surprise you if you understand the context well to fully appreciate what this show is about.
Without further ado, here we go again...the story of the clashing between humanity and demons seems to have no end, it's a guaranteed must-have for any work that wants to create the fantasy vibe. And honestly, I'm getting tired of watching lots of ideas copy-pasted to be one's own that even with its "special touches", it's nothing that ever breaks the bank for trying to subvert expectations, and "Yuusha, Yamemasu" starts out just being like that of humanity sending out heroes just to defeat demons so that one or the other exists. But, this premise does not stay for long, for after the world's strongest Hero has defeated the Demon Queen and her Four Great Generals, and people celebrated the hell outta it, peace prospered, and there wasn't a need of a Hero anymore. Soon after, people despise the Hero enough to label him an outcast of society for fear and mongering that his insanity of an OP power would be the next candidate for the Demon King, so they ousted the Hero in exile, leaving him the only path that he can turn to: back to the Demon Queen's quarters, and fervently requesting to be of aid to his enemy to rebuild their forces. The Demon Queen rejected his offer, but the Hero would keep trying in order to find out what is truly his calling and purpose in this undertaking.
**Spoilers for the Hero MC**
This Hero is Leo Demonhart, and although he looks and feels like a human being, he's in fact something much more gratifying: a bioweapon, made from an experiment that involved constellations for names and the mass production of robot-like humans to only be programmed with one purpose: "protect humanity by destroying enemies (demons)." And it's a well-known fact that robots do not display emotions a.k.a emotionless, and Leo for once was where his and this story started it all: saving humanity by destroying Demon Queen Echidna's forces, to only reverse that decision when humanity turned on him, beckoning to be his enemies' ally with the pitfall end goal to inflict karma against the very ones whom they commissioned him and his allies to do. Leo is an enigma, a mover of words where his experience as a Hero speaks for himself in its effectiveness and OP power that's not just for show, his character being so poignant and down-to-earth when you see that his life from the get-go has been nothing but like a slave shackled by chains of commands that he cannot escape unless someone ends his life to relieve him of that macabre of a burden. And I think this is what makes Leo such a juxtaposition of a character: being a programmed robot-human being, yet can converse and feel emotions just like a human being. Between knowing what's best for the Demon Lord's army that he decimated before humanity turned his back on him, and being in disguise from Echidna's sight, it's a delicate balance of playing the ruse while slowly revealing his real self towards her, putting expectations into reality. A thought-provoking OP MC that's not like your usual cut-copy-paste Hero.
The Demon Lord's side is just as what you'd expect: a leader with his/her underlings and the forces beneath. And in this story that the Hero supposedly wants to quit his "profession" of Hearing, the Demon Queen Echidna, along with her Four Great Generals: the "Red Roar" Dragon General Edvard, the "Unseen Blade" Shadowless General Mernes, the "Ruthless Fang" Beast General Lily, and the "Almighty Mage" Sorcerer General Shutina. Each of the Generals serve within a cluster of demonfolk whom are similar to of or in kind, such as the animalistic servant Lili commanding the beastly creatures in the Demon Lord's army, and have your typical and sometimes weird traditions like Mernes being inflicted by humanity to be sold to child slavery, only to join Echidna's ranks to take revenge on them, or Lili's weird tradition of closeness leading to marriage. Either way, everyone works out for the betterment of the Demon Lord's army the way that is managed...or rather, MIS-managed like the way that Shutina is Echidna's clerk whose simultaneously a magic-wielding succubus. It's definitely in a state of disarray that Leo would've destroyed most of Echidna's forces, to only give his hand back to them in return, because his programmed ideology of humanity, for better or for worse, will be saved or decimated given the Demonhart series that people are blessed with to take for granted. It's a lot of soul searching for what feels right within one's eyes.
Being a EMT Squared production, expect the same low budget visuals to product-place itself everywhere within the show, it does not look pretty nor interesting at all, save for the somewhat awful-looking fights. This show one of few instances where a captivating story such as this holds up against the mediocre production values, enough to retain audience viewership. If there was a plus point about this, it just had to be that the production was just barely well-enough to get the story idea to the small screen, and in this circumstance, IMO it worked.
Also, some might complain that the music feels lackluster, and you'll probably be right. Despite not having heard her voice for quite sometime, Minori Suzuki still has that conviction through her vocal lengths to deliver a nice OP, while for Nao Touyama, her 2 ED songs here IMO were certainly on par with yet another of her OP song for Isekai Bookworm Season 3, but better as the halves go along contrasting light and darkness. Still a decent OST overall.
Do I think that Yuusha, Yamemasu a.k.a I'm Quitting Heroing is a bad show? Yes, if you only care for the typical Hero vs. Demon Lord shenanigan that's been repeated countless times over. But where this work stood out, is being able to make me look at a different angle and gives me a train of thought, of how it would look like when roles are literally reversed, and that's where the charm of this small show feels the best: to feel human, to feel sympathy, and most importantly, to have a sense of belonging, because everyone belongs somewhere. And this is a case of the Hero, Leo Demonhart, finding a place where he truly belonged and fit into his ideal group: the Demon Lord's Army, and to officially proclaim that "I'm Quitting Heroing".
This ain't great, but it isn't all bad either. A decent-to-good watch that keeps your mind thinking for being everything similar but with a difference that makes the charm.
When the first few episodes aired, I thought nothing special about it as I thought we would get another version Realist Hero and it was starting to lose me around the middle. But then something happened, a tone shift, a change of pace and suddenly, it started getting good, like, really good. The final few episodes of this show really made up for the rather uninspiring start and changed my outlook on the series as a whole. Leo became a much more interesting protagonist as time went on. The daemon generals and queen were much more interesting as we got to know them. The world building got a lot more interesting. This show was a case of a slow start to a great finish and I ended up liking the show at the end. Funny that, it usually is the other way around.
Story: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Animation: 6/10
Sound: 6/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 7.5/10
Overall Score: 6.9/10
Recommendation: Watch It
We’ve all heard of the Wars of the Roses. Despite occurring more than half a millennium ago across the ocean with no modern consequence, every high school curriculum gets in your face about it with Shakespeare’s eight-part work depicting two different Richards and three different Henrys. Requiem of the Rose King cuts to the chase and adapts Henry VI Part 3 and Richard III.
One of the biggest changes from Shakespeare’s version is that Richard is now intersex, which I think is awesome. Anime has always been diverse (kind of), and that diversity has improved these past several years. There are plenty of non-straight characters but far fewer non-cis ones, and Richard adds to the growing representation for the LGBT+ community. Born with both male and female parts but identifying exclusively as male, Richard has to deal with politics, war, and discrimination even from his own mother. I also like the touch with Joan of Arc’s ghost haunting Richard, adding more complexity to his mental state and implying that the famous knight is also non-cis.
Beyond historical fiction, this anime doesn’t have a clear genre, which can make it hard for viewers to be interested. Don’t expect shonen like Attack on Titan, as the focus is more on Richard’s psyche than on the war or action; and don’t expect shojo or fluffy BL, as the setting puts Richard in a difficult position to find love. If you know anything about history or Shakespeare’s thing with titles, you’ll know it won’t end well for Richard unless the anime takes serious liberties. But I enjoy it for what it is—drama, internal conflict, and gorgeous art.
The art emphasizes backgrounds and still frames instead of animation. Thick brush strokes emphasize Richard and the war while Gankutsuou-style cutouts are used for Joan’s ghost. I like how the splattered backgrounds make it feel like I’m watching animated paintings from the past. Overall, I love how Requiem of the Rose King makes me feel like I’m watching history play out from a different lens.
Of all the historical events in notable history, the War of the Roses happening in the mid-to-late 15th Century (22 May 1455 - 16 June 1487) that's also known as the Civil War, was a very notable harbinger series of tumultuous wars where people fought over control of the English throne, supporting for the rival cadet branchrd of the royal House of Plantagenet in one of two camps: the House of Lancaster (birthed when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster that was named for his 2nd son Edmund Crouchback in 1267) or the House of York (descending from the male line of Edmund of Langlet, 1st Duke of York and the 4th surviving son of Edward III).
It's this basis that sets up mangaka Aya Kanno's manga-centric plays into stardom (though her first work of 2001's short manga Soul Rescue didn't really set the world on fire), starting with Otomen from 2006-2012, which once licensed by VIZ Media, became one of the best-selling Shoujo manga of the late 2000s in both Japan and the West. What happens thereafter is the longest work that she has ever done: the historical dark fantasy series Baraou no Souretsu a.k.a Requiem of the Rose King, that is loosely based on the William Shakespearean medieval plays of Henry VI, Part 3 (1591) and Richard III (1592-1594). If you'd ask me of what I'll remember Aya Kanno by, it's this tragedy series that cements her status as someone with a historical lore, yet doesn't fail to showcase the hallmarks of disturbing imagery and complex notions that's just as ever alluring to see as it is to read the entirety of the manga's 78 chapters in 17 volumes run that started from October 2013 to its recent finish in January 2022.
However, I'm just gonna say that please, PLEASE, read the manga instead as J.C.Staff's complete and finished adaptation and interpretation of this magnificent historical tragedy series is severely underwhelming in all aspects, and is a very stark comparison against the original source material which had so much depth and cognizant feelings. And this is all coming off from director Suzuki Kentarou which directed Summer 2018's Satsuriku no Tenshi (which had a very similar dark premise), which almost seems like a slap in the face to the psychological, horror and suspense genres, and now adding the historical, action, drama and supernatural themes altogether to make one more extra bad and awful rap.
As the show's title suggests, Baraou no Souretsu a.k.a Requiem of the Rose King takes place in the trying times known as the War of the Roses (or the Civil War), and being heavily inspired off of the Shakespearean plays should give you an idea of what to expect. THe only difference in this show, is by following the main character: the House of York's Richard III, deviated into an intersex version of himself that's fighting his own "questionable" descent, where hateful despise from his mother, extreme adoration from his father, alienation from the surrounding people, grappling with the haunting and taunting of frightful spirits, unsteady and unintentional alliances with frenemies, above all, this is his story of own passion fighting for a throne, that is the throne of the King of England.
So first off, I have to clear the misconceptions that some of you may not understand what the somewhat derogatory term means. These are individuals that are birthed with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". Nowadays, intersex people are most representated as part of the LGBTQ+ community, whereas in the past they're referred to as "hermaphrodites" or "congenital eunuchs", facing discrimination from birth, or following the discovery of intersex traits at stages of development such as puberty, which would ultimately result in infanticide (infant homicide), abandonment, and the stigmatization of their families.
The 3rd son of Richard Plantagenet of the Duke of York, alongside older brothers Edward IV of York and George of the Duke of Clarence, Richard seems like your typical kind of birthed son and sibling of the family, that according to its claims of being superior to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture (a male-preference succession to a female member of the House taking over the throne only if there weren't any male offspring) but inferior according to agnatic/patrilineal primogeniture (where inheritance is given according to the seniority of birth among kin, mainly sons before brothers and with both females and matrilineal (tracing through female kinship) males), would result that he would eventually rise to the throne, but not after both of his brothers Edward IV and George get their succession phase before he does. The problem (as is inferred) is Richard's intersex or hermaphrodite (son of the Greek god Hermes and the goddess Aphrodite) nature, whom looks like a male but has both sexes' reproductive organs where he can act as either the male or the female, and the closest of people interpret him in both ways, which his mother Cecily Neville of the Duchess of York (Richard Plantagenet's wife and the mother of the Yorkist sons) dubbed him as a demon of the worst kind. Day and night, Cecily would protest her hatred in Richard's face and memories, reminding him of his needless existence, that's only supplemented by the French warrior woman Joan of Arc's inclusions appearing in his visions to torment him, based on the belief by the English that she is a witch.
It definitely is sad seeing Richard's character be brushed and glanced by people from whom he has earned the trust to many of his detractors that's mainly the House of Lancaster with everybody else except Henry VI, the King of England, whom he has an inept connection with of both the sexual and purpose kind, because you see that Richard longs for someone whom he can be himself with, someone that will accept him for who he is despite being intersex, and certainly that someone whom will make him shine and receive happiness unbound. But alas, this was never meant to be, as the War of the Roses mounts between the Houses of York and Lancaster into in-fighting, backstabbing, betrayals, and all that is within the confines of murder and rebellion just to obtain personal objectives as their own vendettas. The closest people to Richard III (aside from his immediate family of his brothers Edward IV and George) are his loyal servant Catesby, Henry Stafford of the Duke of Buckingham (which is King Henry VI's replacement for sexual affection), Anne Neville of Richard Neville's family (also known as Warwick the Kingmaker of York that then defected to Lancaster) whom eventually becomes his wife after the in-fighting rumours of Prince Edward of Lancaster, the only son of Henry VI and Queen Margaret, and thus, leading to the Head of the Lancaster family himself. Anyone whom has very inept with history would already surmise that times like these are rudimentary complexities to deal with, ranging from family issues to allies that become frenemies in the process, begrudgingly often using them for their own self gain, and this War of the Roses is no exception.
Take the House of Lancaster for example, where Henry VI feels like a bird in a cage that he cannot get out of, and his wife Margaret being the shrewd queen that she is to help ascert his dominance of the throne by reinforcing to the Lancaster subjects that he is the king, where Henry himself just wants out of the oppression of his own mother, running away from the throne like it's sin and punishment. This does not get any better after Henry VI and Richard III's secret meet-ups that only show that both of them had a semblance for one another that the world would never understand, and more characters ranging from Richard Neville's family's politically-driven marriage into both the House of York and Lancaster's families to their sons (Edward iV, George, Richard III, Prince Edward of Lancaster) and outsiders of the likes of John Grey's descendants, the witch Jane Shore assisting the Yorkist older brother, the murderer James Tyrell, and eventually the Earl of Richmond Henry Tudor (whom is the stepson of Thomas Stanley and ally to Queen Elizabeth) to reclaim England. These are the group of people that interwine for the King of England's throne position, and this is attesting to the disorderly fashion that results in the War of the Roses that starts from a simple war of rivalry to turn into a bloody mess that culminates in the unification of England.
It's such a noteworthy historical centerpiece of a work that Aya Kanno has ever done, and I'd say that this is probably her best work that has been the current mainstay of her work biography, yet for some reason, how J.C. Staff managed to butcher this wonderful manga into a lifeless, PowerPoint-like production and presentation, the likes of Tokyo Ghoul and The Promised Neverland's sequel seasons is beyond me. So first off, the rushed pacing that attributes to the major cutting of content that explains most of the series' lore in the very beginning, that as the episodes went by, was severely cut out and provided no context for the audience, because this is a series that exclusively demands the 5W1Hs of storytelling to make it much more compelling and a deep dive of a read that drives the manga into pure insanity. This is a 2-cour show that's 24 episodes long, and if there was a choice to re-adapt this manga, I would have put it in a maximum of 26 episodes just that ALL of the manga can be adapted 1-to-1 with the anime for sizable pacing that loses none of the source material's flare, despite Japanese TV broadcast timing schedule issues. Also, it doesn't help that scriptwriter and series composer Hiroki Uchida is essentially the wrong person to do this job, giving by the fact that he did the screenplay for Date A Live Season 3 (when it was produced under J.C. Staff) and most recently, the series composition for Shikkakumon (though Gamers! was the first under his belt, it almost seems now that this is a one-off good out of the many bad). To note, thsi is newbie character designer Tsutomu Hashizume's first gig, so as much as the symbolisms were done decently, I hope that he continues to get more works and broaden his CV. But as a whole, J.C. Staff's work here was abominable, from incomplete background work (literally people have no faces at all) to the drab art style that you can argue, either reinforces greatly or badly to the whole show's mood swings to reflect the solemn and dark vibe.
Ultimately, the saving grace for such a palpitable series like this has to be the music, and then again, it's a mixed bag of feelings. Music composer Kow Otani is a well-known composer that can stand amongst the likes of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu and Metal Gear Solid's Hideo Kojima, and no doubt that his primetime was in the anime scene in the 1980s and 1990s, that continues to grow today with classic shows like 2002's Haibane Renmei and the entirety of the Shakugan no Shana series of the mid to late 2000s. This guy is a god amongst the few that creates iconic OSTs, but I'm sad to say that while this show's OST is good, it's nowhere near the levels of his past works. In regards to the sound direction however, Yoshikazu Iwanami may have done a lot of work as of recently, but the clear-cut adage of "quantity never equals quality" shows here, and at times, feels like a chore that the work was half-assed and not done proper. If there was a plus point of the show, I'd say that the 1st Cour's OP/ED set was pretty much perfection from Makoto Furukawa and ZAQ's pairing to showcase the amount of discourse that was to set for the series to come with some good visuals and great songs. The 2nd Cour's OP/ED set however, felt like everyone was already giving up even before the halfway mark to show the same amount of quality input, that there was no difference as a whole from visuals to even the songs that were a step down. Started off great, but clearly ran out of gas halfway through.
Is it REALLY that hard to follow a plan such as this just to vindicate manga readers of their reasons to watch the adaptations of their favourite series? I guess not, because anime production is so expensive, and hiring good talent to help out almost seems like it has to be dealt with back-door exclusivity deals, so much that what you're left is with the rag-tag people that have hit-and-miss works to their name, And this is what I can surmise that truly happened to this show: originally supposing to release last Fall but couldn't due to production issues, then taking a really good-to-great existing property and adapting it at the very bare minimum just to pass off as a by-product of the most inferior kind, which honestly, disgusts me to no end. I'd rather watch a PROPER adaptation than to have one that downgrades the source material (especially if it's a really good one), and Baraou no Souretsu literally has a black sheep now: the anime adaptation done by J.C. Staff (that literally, the studio now has no creativeness to their name anymore).
Just heed my (and many others) word to read the manga and forget that the anime ever existed, I promise that you'll spend your time better in a word-reading and art-gratifying premise that is this dark fantasy and historical drama of a compelling Shoujo manga. What a disappointment and an utter disgrace of an adaptation.
equiem of the Rose King
By all accounts, this should have been an anime that I should’ve dropped with the rest of the crap from the Winter Season, but it was oddly interesting. I found the story to be quite engaging and the Yaoi/Yuri relationship Richard seems to have with the people he cared for to be oddly fascinating. Plus the great water painting art style combined with the soundtrack made it give a more stand out style than other anime airing at the time That being said, it’s not like this show was good. The pacing of this show was all over the place with time skips happening seemingly at random. Most of the characters were unlikeable due to having one note personalities and while the art style was great, the animation itself is god-awful with the usual sloppy animation techniques to make it seem better than it actually is and most characters just being poorly drawn when they are in the background. Most of the time, if you are not talking, you don’t have a face as they don’t bother to animate one. This is a show I wouldn’t really recommend but it is one you can check out if you are really curious. Just don’t expect much and for a 24 episode series, it’s much harder than usual.
Story: 4.5/10
Characters: 3/10
Animation: 4/10
Sound: 8/10
My Personal Enjoyment: 5.5/10
Overall Score: 5.0/10
Recommendation: Consider it (Barely)
Cue!
If there is one entertainment label that tries its damn hardest to market its IPs, it's gotta be Liber Entertainment and the company's never-ending constant streams of games that are like finished, half-finished, and shutting down. It's such an irony that it's almost as if there are execs knowing that the anime adaptations of their IPs would help boost their brand, so they purposely rushed their mobage games to be the less stellar versions even before the anime medium was even considered, only suddenly to realize that they too serve a very niche audience that people aren't buying into their mobile games, and then announcing that the games would officially be discontinued.
A3! had some decent success that ranged from mediums like stage plays to the 2020 Studio 3Hz × P.A. Works collab anime that ultimately resulted in the closing down of the global versions of the mobage just recently and the Japanese game still going as good. i★Chu, while being the very first game in the company's line-up, was horribly bad and overstretched, and never got any attention in the West, not like Lay-duce's Winter 2021 produced anime could ever hope to win over new fans to the mobage in an oversaturated Idol Otome Game franchise market to inevitably shut the doors to its game after the anime ended.
The reason why I am saying of A3! and i★Chu, is because that this show, titled Cue!, is Liber Entertainment's latest mobile game that's released in 2019, and simultaneously the company's 3rd attempt into the anime market, only this time being all about the female CV (Seiyuu a.k.a voice-acting) training stimulation game. And you wanna know why this is significant? Because once again, the mobage company decided to "temporarily end service" on April 30, 2021 so that the staff can "put forth every effort to improve the game" and cannot state when it will be active again! Yeah right, more like pre-empting to stop and then deciding either to restart or fully stop game service because of the anime adaptation this year! If you know the adage phrase of "a leopard never changes its spots", it's a sign that a wishy-washy and stagnating company like Liber Entertainment is "trying hard" to segment the now BOTH oversaturated male and female idol mobage scene, and IMO, it has failed once again with Cue!. Also, I'm just gonna say this first: the Yumeta Company × Graphinica collab produced anime stands in-between A3! and i★Chu, because it's between the good and bad to be average at best.
So, as I was saying, Cue! is Liber Entertainment's 3rd cash-cow that is a simulation game where players can train up-and-coming voice actors, and this is a change in the target market towards the Seinen a.k.a young adult men audience compared to the usual fangirls of A3! and i★Chu. And the characters are based off of the various teams that they are in, doing their own thing that is still within the confines of voice-acting in general:
Team Flower: Focusing on primarily anime VOs (voiceovers)...maybe TOO MUCH of this aspect
- Haruna Mutsuishi (team leader), voiced by Yurina Uchiyama (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, newbie Seiyuu)
- Maika Takatori, voiced by Nene Hieda (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, this season's Gaikotsu Kishi-sama's Ponta)
- Shiho Kano, voiced by Kyoka Moriya (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, Ochikobore Fruit Tart's Hemo Midori)
- Honoka Tsukii, voiced by Yuna Ogata (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, newbie Seiyuu)
Team Bird: Focusing on primarily idol group events
- Yuki Tendo (team leader), voiced by Ayaka Takamura (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, newbie Seiyuu)
- Chisa Akagawa, voiced by: Satsuki Miyahara (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, newbie Seiyuu)
- Airi Eniwa, voiced by Mayu Iizuka (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, Tamayura's Suzune Maekawa)
- Yuzuha Kujo, voiced by Manatsu Murakami (member of girl group DIALOGUE+, Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku's Akebi Komichi, Odd Taxi's Sakura Wadagaki)
Team Wind: Focusing on primarily radio shows, and a big break in doing in-game VOs
- Miharu Yomine (team leader), voiced by Yukari Anzai (Release the Spyce's Momo Minamoto, Lapis Re:LiGHTs's Tiara)
- Aya Kamuro, voiced by Saki Matsuda (newbie Seiyuu)
- Mahoro Miyaji, voiced by Megumi Yamaguchi (New Game!'s Hifumi Takimoto)
- Riko Hinakura, voiced by Arisa Tsuruno (newbie Seiyuu)
Team Moon: Mostly a floating group carved out of necessity choosing to perform things of desire (i.e. small stage plays)
- Rie Maruyama (team leader), voiced by Hina Tachibana (Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu's Maina Ichii)
- Satori Utsugi, voiced by Ami Komine (newbie Seiyuu)
- Rinne Myojin, voiced by Mai Sato (newbie Seiyuu)
- Mei Tomi, voiced by Rio Tsuchiya (newbie Seiyuu)
Together with president Masaki Ootori and manager Rio Isuzu (both VAs Youko Hikasa and Aya Suzaki are very well-known and have a lot of experience under their belt), these 4 teams × 4 girls form the basis for the newly formed voice-acting agency AiRBLUE, which manages all 16 girls in regards to honing their techniques from scratch, making something out from the nothingness with their inexperience. Notice how just like the real world, most of the VAs here are already in the popular girl group band DIALOGUE+, or have either acted main/support roles in anime, as opposed to those whom are entirely new and raw to the anime scene, so it's a fair game chance for everyone to improve their skills using this anime as a stepping stone. And I see no problem with that as everyone must start somewhere.
But sadly, a premise like this I can already foreshadow that it's not gonna work the same to have the recorded impact, much less being a 2-cour, 24 episode series to flesh out each and everyone of the characters. Which again, I have no nitpicks since there's more than enough time and space to allot for all characters to have their own character development. Some of them are decent-to-good, but others can come off as quite shallow and bland, like it's all just for motivational purposes that serve little to nothing to the entirety of the show in general (and this is even with or without the music kind). I understand that everyone needs baby steps to get to the position of their dreams, but this is literally slogging through a total combined near-10 hours series that in all honestly, it's just money spent that went down the drain (if given by the lackluster reputation here shown in MAL). And coming off un-fresh from the more-deserved Summer 2019's Re:Stage! Dream Days♪, director Shin Katagai would try this formula once again in Cue!, only this time to see it almost completely bomb. Even with capable series composer Tatsuhiko Urahata's work on this, nothing could ever salvage work like a director's orders, and Cue! ended up being a haphazard of his directorial by-product.
Yumeta Company and Graphinica's collab production just looks average, I don't have anything else than to say that it just gets the job done. But if there is one thing that Cue! does right, it's literally the music promotion thanks in part to major music label Pony Canyon to promote new songs, and AiRBLUE's songs are well...decent to say the least. The 1st Cour's OP/ED set with "Start Line" and "Hajimari no Kanenone ga Narihibiku Sora" is a relatively great start to the series that sets the mood for the anime to follow thereafter, and this is a set that I'm glad to say that I've enjoyed both songs (I'd prefer the ED more). The 2nd Cour's OP/ED set with "Tomorrow's Diary" and "Yume Dayori" certainly was a lot more mellow, forgiving, and also decent at the same time. I guess when you have music composer Ryousuke Nakanishi who's churned out famous works like the High School DxD series, you expect Cue! to have a better-than-average OST, and it delivered as expected from someone of a great caliber.
Music is the only plus point I can give to this show, everything else...can take it or leave it. Either way, I'd hope that this is the VERY LAST time we'll be seeing of Liber Entertainment and the company's scrubby record of using other mediums to their advantage to bring in new fans, because Cue! very clearly has nothing that really stands out, and this is a tough one to recommend unless the company gets its act together to re-release the mobage. As for the anime, it's not necessarily idol-like, but it's quirks and features would allow your assumption to be. Either way, you're not missing out much.
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Gekitotsu /
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These - Collision
This new adaptation will forever be cursed by it's superior 80s version. What the staff wanted to do here is to give Die Neue These a life of it's own. As a result, the immense amounts of anime only content in the 80s adaptation, and the changes they made, are absent here. That's why it feels so empty to me, who hails the 80s adaptation of Legend of the Galactic Heroes as one of the greatest political wonders in anime, and second in my own taste, only to Ashita no Joe. And this is not a bad thing about Die Neue These's approach. It's just much more faithful to the novels.
Take the 80s OVA series. You can see the obvious Kai influence from Mobile Suit Gundam in their own version of Poplan. It's even the same voice actor. There's Noburo Ishiguro's comedic style from Macross's influence. The love triangle between Jean Robert Lap, Jessica Edwards, and Yang Wen-li was given immense amounts of extra content from the same people that worked on romances also from Macross and Orgus. Their depictions of war are brutal from their influence from Mobile Suit Gundam, Ideon, Macross, and Space Battleship Yamato. Many of the staff even worked on some of those. As a result, the 80s version of Legend of the Galactic Heroes was blessed with staff who had made the classic space operas. It's a culmination of all this talent from the 70s and 80s; a product of it's time. They tried to improve the novels as much as they could, and even boosted Dusty with a much more heavier presence than in the novels. The character designs, though suffers from it's original animation, are still beautiful and tell you a lot about the characters. It was a passion project that didn't even air on television.
Die Neue These abandons most of this. It had a rough start. The earlier episodes before Collision were rough. They watered down the politics, the music was laughable, the character designs an insult to the characters and 80s version viewers, the battles lost their fangs and brutality in execution, they cheapened out on the melee battles, the CGI looks like it has no heart put into the ship designs, and it felt like slideshows to my absolute frustration and disappointment. Even as a stand alone, it was doing nothing for me.
With Collision, the improvements have been major. This adaptation is getting better and better as it goes. I actually have hope for it now. I'll always be mentally scarred from the character designs, but I have to say that Collision was very enjoyable and made me stop cursing at the staff.
Seeing all these characters again has been an emotional journey. Watching Reinhard burn with his ambitions, Oberstein's Machiavellian brilliance and truth that no one can debate, Kirchei's struggle to be a strong moral force, and Yang Wen-Li's humble political analysis and leadership as a talented tactician, is inspiring to see. There are so many wonderfully written characters that I could go on and on about all of them. I don't want to waste too much of your time, however.
With Collision, Ruenthal and Mittermeyer's friendship gets fleshed out. For me, it was the inquiry episode I was anticipating, and it didn't disappoint me. I'll never get tired of Yang Wen-Li bravely putting parasitical politicians, like the ones in our world that claim to be leading us, in their place. Rupert's cunning was introduced, and Rubinsky playing space chess with the Empire and Alliance is always amusing to watch. What I do appreciate about Collision are the new things it's doing. For example, Oberstein's humane side is shown more by putting more focus on his dog, and how he gathers intelligence behinds the scenes.
It feels surreal to be alive during a new adaptation of this series. Even though it's mostly ignored where I live, even by seasonal addicts, it's still special to me because it's a strong story. The series goes on to critique democracy and defend the Empire's autocracy. Democracy can be led by corruption, and an autocracy can find hope in a just ruler. The politics are always wonderful to think about and discuss. It's really still just the beginning.
Lately I've been watching old anime I had forgotten about. I would encourage the same for you. I think that, sometimes, one can't really appreciate a series or film when they are too young, and that they could always see it in a different and hopefully better light years later. It took me several years to really appreciate Paranoia Agent, and now it's Madoka Magica's turn. It feels as if I was no longer the person I was when I first watched this. Age is a hard thing to think about. Even now I feel I should have started doing anime analysis so much sooner. Still, I think I started at the best time; I would have known even less what I was doing back then, and I have finally reached the most productive point in my life now. Despite this, I confess I still get distracted too easily many times.
With every rewatch, Madoka Magica got closer to my heart, and I saw something new about the pain of the characters each time. I found this peculiar, though wonderful. Because as dark as Madoka Magica is, it shows you hope in the end, even if you lose your very best friend.
With Sayaka, I felt a connection with the emptiness and frustration of her emotions. To let loose and get carried away to the point you lose yourself. To lose the one you love despite having a chance, because you've become crushed by what you have become. In the end, I sympathized with her because she managed to realize the error in her ways, and show some redemption in eventually coming to accept her misfortunes before parting ways.
As I tried to look critically at Homura, I thought I had her figured out and was right mostly because there were more than enough hints to make it obvious. Once it is revealed about her past, it makes all the little pieces of hints I saw from the earlier episodes fit together. Her pain became understandable, and all more tragic. It felt so much more painful on the rewatch, because now the viewers know for certain where her oddness and mysterious pain is coming from.
Mami, of course, is involved with what shocked the viewers back in the day. I looked at the archives on the day that episode aired, and the reactions were explosive, as one would imagine. The staff, however, were not finished yet, and showed her later in the series, just to the horror of the viewers that she'd mentally break down and become homicidal, at least because she probably felt it was for the better of the girls then to live on as these hollow shells they call magical girls.
I don't know too much about the magical girl genre. As a result, I thought this was what they were all like. Sure, this isn't the only dark type of magical girl series, though this one is really known for getting darker and darker, as it famously drove this hard into the viewers.
As the episodes brutalized me, I wondered where Madoka, and her wish would fit into all this. I thought it was clear that she'd be the positive, and optimistic message to pull Homura and the viewers out of their misery, and she was the one to do that. I feel hopeful despite what happened, and will be immediately watching Rebellion after finishing this video.
I was considering watching Rebellion and including that content into this video. On the other hand, I have to try to not burn myself out. An artist I know told us that he tried too do too many things as a musician and revolutionary. As a result, they were putting out a lot of material, but never excelled in any of it because it was too much. I don't want to make that mistake.
If this series taught my one thing at first, it was that I would not want to be a magical girl, if given the choice, as in Estab Life, as an example. If it brought me another thought, it's that even while knowing all this, individuals, such as those, as Kyuubey said, would sometimes, and rarely, still use these powers to become revolutionaries, and to change humanity by advancing civilization with their powers before their unfortunate end as this magical girl. On the contrary, I don't want to be a coward. To also help inspire me, Madoka would come to exist. She used her powers not just for the betterment of humanity, but for the betterment of magical girls. As dark, brutal, and hopeless as something like this series may seem, it shows that there will always be someone who has hope, and passion for us, that will find a way to subvert what was thought to be impossible, and find a way to help advance us to the next level. Impossible is a word that at most just holds us back. To Madoka, she knows the true meaning of being a revolutionary, to not leave anybody behind, and that it is the most honorable way to be live. She knows well, that we can't live on our own. We are all fish of the same pond. If the pond goes, we go. We can't pretend we can escape and live our own lives in peace, because this peace will run out, it always does. Looking at it this way, the way the staff tried communicating this hope, I would instead decide to not be a coward, and would now pick up the wand, if I had the choice to. Such as in Texhnolyze, this is a dark series, that at the end, and at best, inspires.
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Movie 3: Hangyaku no Monogatari /
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion
This is a very complex anime. Watch it before looking anything up about it or reading any reviews. If you have seen it or don't care for spoilers, do continue.
Going into Rebellion blind, I felt anticipation and excitement to see the continuation of Homura's struggle. That's because I wanted to see the best for her and Madoka. Then I remembered what exactly it is that I am watching, the reputation it has, and decided that as much as I would like a happy ending, there is a really good chance that this is not going to give me that. I at least felt hope by the end of the television series with Madoka, but this film crushed it. It gave me what I wanted, though it twisted it into something so evil that I no longer desired it. This film destroyed everything I found beautiful about Madoka Magica, and that was the point. In the end, I don't mean that in a bad way.
I gave up during this film. I decided that to really appreciate this, I have to embrace the approach of the staff. I decided to be open minded about the bleakness of Madoka Magica, and accepted it, that this is going to terrify me, and it did.
I already thought Sayaka suffered enough, and this film decided to push the harshness even more. Seeing Mami again was great, though through a misunderstanding, she had to get involved in needless conflict that frustrated me. Homura's character became so horrifying that I was shocked just how far the writing pushed it. Yes, she loves Madoka, though with this, I almost wished she didn't by the end.
Understandably, not everything needs a happy ending.
I wanted to give this a perfect score, and I made a mistake rating this right after watching it. I have to let the high of the first time experience wear off first, in order to look at this more rationally. I did have some issues with this. This film does not reward you for thinking; it punishes you. I made many faces, paused several times, and felt my sanity slipping away in trying to understand what was happening. Still, you don't need all the answers in a story. That's what makes our interpretations, such as fan theories possible, and fun to read, as it nurtures our imaginations. Regardless, the plot in this film is so convoluted, that I can barely explain it. I can feel what it wants to tell me at times, I just can't explain it properly at this time.
As I watched this, it just felt too happy at first. I kept wondering what Urobuchi is going to do to torment me this time.
The production value of this film is amazing, as I thought it would be. There's a full cast character transformation scene that left me breathless, bizarre scenes that looked very good, and the charm of it's beautiful background art and surreal artwork throughout. The music once again did wonders for me, and took me to places I didn't necessarily want to go to during the absurd moments.
There was a point I wanted this film to stop. The feelings of hope I had were irreversibly destroyed. The precious moments all felt fake now. After the credits, My jaw dropped one more time because the damage to my psyche was still not finished. Even now, hours later, I feel empty. And yet, this is fine. I can appreciate a story like this; it's bold. It's hard to explain, but the feeling this film left me with reminds me of how the magical girls here learn to want the darker side of emotions. I don't like how this film made me feel, but I felt a sense of satisfaction overall from the execution of it.
With the new movie coming. I know I'll have to brace myself. The hopeful me that found inspiration in the TV series is gone, and we will all be at the mercy of the new movie, once it's finally out, to intensify our already barely bearable trauma.
Mobile Suit V (Victory) Gundam
After watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Ideon, Zeta, ZZ, and Char’s Counterattack, next came Victory Gundam. I wondered how Tomino and the staff would approach this, seeing as though they’d have to bring something new to the table. I was not disappointed, and impressed with the amount of fresh ideas that were poured in. This is the culmination of his work up to this point, as it follows a similar story behind a prodigy pilot, and is a critique of war as in the original, has some comedic moments that reminded me of ZZ, and mystery as in Ideon.
Taking place several decades after Char’s Counterattack, the Earth Federation is now under attack by the newly emerging Zanscare Empire. They use old execution methods, such as the guillotine, to send a message of fear into the public, and want to take over space. Their religious leader is not a bad person, though others in the upper crust of leadership have different intentions and use for her. Also leading them among the ace pilots if Chronicle Asher, who despises the corruption of the Earth, and though he is part of this wicked Empire, his motivations are for the best of mankind.
Uso Ewin is the young protagonist, who finds himself in the beginning forced into the war, and becomes Chronicle’s rival as a result. Uso himself stands out on his own compared to previous Tomino protagonists, such as Amuro, Cosmo, Kamille, and Judau. As the others, he is critical of war, and also critical of himself. The war in Uso’s head feels more brutal than the war on the battlefield at times. One of Uso’s greatest strengths, is his improvisational and unorthodox style of combat. It is amusing and fascinating to see how creative he gets with the Victory Gundam, and resorts to many brilliant strategies that often perplex his opponents. It’s a breath of fresh air that deviated from keeping the fighting repetitive and predictable when compared to the earlier works.
The large cast of characters grow to love each other, and struggle together to defeat the empire. One by one, many begin to take up the Gundam. Shakti is Uso’s childhood friend, and often worries not just about the war, but about Uso as well. She sees the effect war has on him, and worries that he will be consumed by it and lose himself.
Uso becomes the hope against the empire. The adults, as shameless and useless as they are, are self aware that mere child is fighting the strong fight for them. As Uso struggles, the war continues to expand with all sorts of wonderful new ideas, that make Victory great and unique on its own. By the end, I placed it in my current top 5. There is also something else that Victory Gundam does that makes it it’s own. It’s what I have not mentioned yet. It’s own unique interpretation of something Tomino is known for doing in his work.
Victory Gundam Deeply and emotionally breaks it’s own characters. Uso painfully learns what loss means, as he sees his precious friends obliterated, often in needless ways. There are times you’d think he’s had enough and is ready to check out, but he keeps going. There are many episodes that focus on his tragic feeling of loss. Characters don’t just appear for the sake of it and die, there is meaning and value behind their circumstances and choices that leaves an impact on the viewers. The effect on the viewers can invoke bleak feelings of depression at times from how morbid Victory Gundam can be.
As Uso fights, he shows what I love about Tomino protagonists. Too many times, main characters are cowards that rarely ever grow or go anywhere. I can understand why. Instead of being a pathetic excuse of a main character for people to relate to, Uso is a character to aspire to be. Uso carries the fire of the protagonists before him, and fights in such a brave manner that it’s inspiring to watch. I always appreciate the short, passionate, and blunt comments Tomino protagonists make as they fight, and their analysis and realizations of war that give the viewers much to think about. Uso is also on the search for his parents. This leads to an interesting connection between him and his Gundam, that is very similar to the connection between Shinji and his Eva-01 unit from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
As the war rages on, there is an interesting focus on love on the battlefield, all too tragic to the reality that many times our significant others don’t make it. Victory Gundam interprets this as painful as it will come to show.
As Uso fights, and tries his best to overcome the reality of war, he becomes the new Newtype prodigy. As he fights on, the other characters grow with him. Some for better, and some for worse. Some characters, such as Katejina, fascinate me with some of the most interesting writing and twists.
Uso has the same curse that Yang Wen-li has from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. They are both outright critics who despise war, and yet, they appear to be as if they are the best suited for it because of their skills. Uso, however, gets put in situations where he could almost be genocidal, and the most kill hungry protagonist I’ve seen in Gundam thus far. There are times he loses control. Times he gets ahead of himself. Times where he kills, and starts enjoying it too much.
Despite this, You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. Besides, it took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. Uso is one of these madmen. To the extent that he resists his enslavement is the extent to which he is free.
As much as the soldiers try to arrest the people on Uso’s side, and try to blame them, it’s clear that Individuals do not create rebellions; conditions do.
The new mobile suit designs in this add to how unsettling this series can get, and it can get very unsettling. Many of the enemy mobile suits look like insects, in such a way, that they look intimidating; almost as if they were organic. At one point there is a centipede type mobile armor, and a giant serpent type. It feels as if this had to inspire the maverick designs in Rockman x3. Still, I appreciate the demonic like presentation in the designs of many of the mobile suits in Victory Gundam.
The animation does have some problems. There are a few odd slideshows that remind me of the production issues in Super Dimension Fortress Macross. There is reused animation that was very noticeable to me during the re-watch. Because of the lack of shading, some of the characters’ noses can look strange. Overall, however, the art and animation is very enjoyable, satisfyingly expressive, and horrifying when it needs to be.
The soundtrack is fantastic. The usual tracks played during battles and build ups are iconic, and can really help in setting the tone. The insert songs help make some of the best moments in Victory Gundam. If you are looking for a great finale, the last 2 episodes of this series ascend it to a different level.
Something about Victory Gundam that is interesting is it’s approach with Newtypes. Yes, you should watch the previous Gundam entries before this. If you don’t you’ll miss the history, context, and breakdown of what the Newtypes are. That is because this series never explains what they are. As a result, those viewers not familiar with the older entries may get confused on what a Newtype is. For viewers like me that did the homework and learned the history with the older Gundam entries, I felt a lot of appreciation for what this series does with Newtypes. Towards the end, it becomes even more important to know the context, as Newtypes start emerging everywhere.
To me, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam is a dark, yet beautiful story that is surprisingly hopeful despite the reputation this has with some viewers. It's tragic to see Western anime websites and viewers hold almost no regard to it. To me, this shows that Tomino, and the staff, were able to take Gundam and take it somewhere new in a wonderful way. At this point in Gundam history, and as much as he may not agree with it, to me, Victory Gundam is Tomino’s victory.
Sword Art Online the Movie: Progressive - Hoshi Naki Yoru no Aria (Aria of a Starless Night)
Almost a decade since the original release of SAO, we have a remake of the original story from the perspective of 2010 emo boy's favourite waifu, Asuna. Just like the original series, it is not necessary for us to follow the trend of bashing SAO just because the story is bad, the characters are cringy or just because it is one of the pioneers of trash isekai despite not being an isekai ¯\_( ツ )_/¯. If you like it, then you like it. If you hate it, I do not blame you for it.
Lets be honest, despite all the hate SAO received, SAO is also one of pioneers that helped anime became mainstream so that those edgelord wannabes do not have to worry about being the only person getting bullied for absolutely god knows what reason.
Now to actually talking about the movie itself, it does feel nostalgic since it brings back memories of your early days of being an anime fan for certain people and it is quite common for SAO being everyone's first official anime for the past decade. However, the movie itself is more of a fan service rather than being an independent series of the franchise and I will give my reasons below.
Reason one, the worldbuilding of SAO is definitely one of the main reasons that attracted people into being an anime fan and this movie definitely nailed it. We get more depth into the first floor of Aincrad and that alone is great. It reminds you of a time back then of how fantasy world plays around with your imagination and how wonderful it is to experience it even if its only in your mind. Somehow, SAO happened to exist at the right time and it managed to give you that experience. With this movie, is is surprising to know how big the first floor of Aincrad and how beautiful it is despite being in a death game.
Reason two, the story itself is not best thing one sought after this movie despite the change of the perspective and more depth of the original story. Many anime fans bash the story of SAO for being terrible and not properly elaborated.
The question is, does the movie delivered the justice to the main story of SAO.
In some ways, yes.
The movie did elaborate more on the original story for the first few episodes but the pacing became a little slow and because of that, it lost the sense of cheap thrills the original story gave.
Reason three, we are introduced with a new character, Tozawa Misumi. Yet, the interaction between Misumi and Asuna is limited or else it will ruin the original story so I cannot really see the relevance of adding her into the main cast at the moment other than being disposed of later in the story. Misumi did encourage character development for Asuna in this movie but it is a little annoying that she is just a simple stepping stone for Asuna in order to keep the original story from changing too much.
Reason four, the animation and OST are just simply great. I do not really have to say much but A-1 Pictures deserves the respect for such production back then and now. Swordland still hits hard even after a while and first floor boss fight is also nice. I do not know what will happen in the future story but I hope to see Kirito vs The Gleam Eyes again.
In conclusion, I rather have this movie being an independent series by remaking the entire story to give the audience more content from SAO. Again, I do not know what will happen in the future story whether it could be a different story or just the same story with extra scenes. Finally, I just hope the best for the future success for the entire franchise and the studio.