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It's 1 a.m. and I find myself delving into absolutely wonderfully depraved pseudo-hentai manga for reasons beyond my own comprehension.

I end up reading a handful of chapters of this, thinking "yo this really looks like some Kobayashi's Dragon Maid shit".

It is.

The author and artist of this is listed as an "original creator" for all the Dragon Maid seasons and specials.

This is literally just an R18 full-fledged manga very similar to the relationship between Quetzalcoatl and Shouta, with all the goodies of incest, rape, and hypnosis between a shota and busty mommies added in.

... God bless Japan. Thank you KyoAni for hiring such talented creators.

8/10; Very mediocre manga, very satisfying hentai that scratches an otherwise unscratchable itch (mental illness?) in my brain.

To merely call Little Witch Academia a "Japanese Harry Potter", I believe, is a great disservice. While true, the settings are similar; a school teaching magic arts - that is where the similarities end. The Little Witch Academia TV series is a result of incredible dedication and talent from everyone involved. I love everything about the short film, movie, and series all together, but for this review, I must retain it only to the TV series.

Little Witch Academia (now on referred as LWA) has the charms of an absolutely banger original story, despite anything the creators may or may not have taken inspiration from, purposefully ... or otherwise. From the beginning of the first episode, I was entranced by a wondrous fantastical world, brimming with lore and everything beyond imagination. Every episode feels like its own unique chapter in a greater overall story, and they absolutely are. Now, granted, I've came across a patch of free time to allow me to do this, but LWA is the only anime I've felt compelled to binge-watch over the course of two days, despite me knowing it'd be much better to separate my watching into more sessions. The story and the characters were all just too gripping.

Artistically, the LWA TV series is above par, but for understandable budget and time restraints, the original LWA short film is still far superior. But this really isn't to trash the TV series' art. From the unique design of every individual character, to the very talented animation of complex scenery (not to forget all things silly as well), the LWA TV series is a modern, moving Mona Lisa.

The music should almost be included in the art category because of its quality. I believe in anime, quality of music cannot always be judged by the raw, upfront quality of the music, but also by how well it suits any given scene, and how often that music is recycled. LWA's music feels like a suit custom-made by some fancy yuppie tailor in 1980 Paris who charges more than you make in a year for one suit. There are some cases of recycled tracks, but not nearly as many as most anime, and it's only briefly used, so the overall charm of the music is never lost.

On the category of characters; this is a tricky one. The topic of character writing in regards to LWA is something I feel is deserving of an in-depth analysis many pages long written by someone far more talented than I. Though I'll try to put my emotion and beliefs into words the best I can here.
Overall, I must say, the character writing is LWA's strongest feature. As mentioned previously, every character feels unique in their own ways, from their appearance, down to their emotions, actions, and motivations.
Kagari Atsuko, the main character, is written in such a way to be relatable to many viewers, specifically younger adults and teenagers who might find themselves lost in the modern society that constantly tells them what to do, resulting in an individual unable to pursue their true passion for a fear of failure or embarrassment. The role of Atsuko is to assure those viewers that anything they desire is possible as long as you truly want something. Sometimes you fall down, sometimes you fall down a hundred times, perhaps you even feel like you ONLY fall down, but as long as you keep picking yourself up, you still have a chance to make your dreams a reality.
With the gushy gushy aside, the character writing in LWA does have its downfalls (mostly due to time/budget restraints, which are understandable for such an expansive story, even a well-funded one). Particularly with introduced characters who don't get much of a spotlight, even though they clearly had effort into their development at one point. Specifically with Frank and Jasminka. I do not wish to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't watched the show yet, but for those who have, I urge you to consider how much screentime they got and what that screentime was for.

Overall, Little Witch Academia was an emotional roller coaster that never slowed down at any one point, and genuinely touched me passionately. From the lessons we can learn from some of the characters, to the immense amount of dedication put behind the creation of this story - short film, movie, and all - there are a lot of good lessons even older adults can still learn from Little Witch Academia. I give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to the inception of such a gem.

Remember, a believing heart is magic :)

Sounan Desu ka? takes the very unoriginal general concept of "what if you got stranded on a deserted island?" and applies it to anime, where it's actually something original (if there's more survival anime that came out before this, let me know and I'll eat my hat). However, as original of a concept as it may be, it still falls short as an anime.

The story is the only decent category, followed by the music. It's not something every anime does, and I have to give it some credit for that. It's a concept that's been done worse, but it's also been done far better. Adding ... school girls to the mix will only get you so far.

The art is lackluster and even bad at some points. Maybe I've been spoiled by KyoAni and other big-budget studios, but a lot of animation feels lifeless, robotic, and choppy. Character designs are about as bland as unflavored gelatin and the background scenery isn't anything to write home about.

As I said previously, the music is alright. It's more memorable than most anime, but not anything I'd go out of my way to listen to outside the anime.

The characters are stupid and fall victim to almost every stereotype in anime. There was a moment about six episodes in where it felt like one character was about to have some character development, and then there was nothing to follow through afterwards. There's really not much to see here besides "girls are the cutest when they're almost retarded".

Overall, Sounan Desu ka? was just barely on the border between being bad enough to drop, and decent enough to keep watching. The first couple of episodes really made me want to drop it, but I decided to keep watching and was not really rewarded for my time. The first one or two episodes are a very good indicator as to if you'll like the rest of this.

*****MINOR SPOILERS, THE STORY IS NONEXISTENT ANYWAYS, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'D REALLY CARE ABOUT SPOILERS*****

There really is no ending. Two girls spit bird poop water into each other's asses and then there's a ten second very ambiguous clip that solves nothing and gives no solid ending. You are not missing anything by dropping this show if you do not enjoy it at any point.

Shinryaku! Ika Musume is a lesser known gem that excels in a genre that did not become popular until many years later.

Shinryaku! Ika Musume is a lighthearted, comedic slice of life in which many traits of modern anime within the same vein can be traced back to earlier titles like this. I loved things like Gabriel DropOut and Dragon Maid, but Shinryaku! Ika Musume seems to have done many of the things those more modern anime prior even to their conceptualization. The comedy is of good quality, and the characters are funny. The art is moderately above-average for its time, and the music is catchy ... with a lot of uniqueness and character to it. Sadly, the second season drops this for a much more generic and unrelated opening theme.

Overall, I really liked this. With a new job, I hardly have time after work to do anything but drink and sleep, so it's difficult for me to watch more complicated anime and write an in-depth and meaningful review for them. Shinryaku! Ika Musume is something I found myself easily watching an episode or two before bed to unwind and relax with some good laughs.

I don't know why this review is listed as preliminary, I've watched this series in its entirety, read the manga, and am currently rewatching the anime.
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This is a drunk review, and I've drank enough to have drunk purchased multiple patches and stickers related to this show off etsy, so maybe take this with a grain of salt, but I feel I am being honest right now.

Girl's Last Tour is an impeccable anime that is the very definition of unique. Everything in this anime has never been done before and is the epitome of a new and fresh experience. The animation is unique, the story is ... unique, the characters are unique, and the enjoyment of watching it is unique. This one of the two anime I've enjoyed enough to want to read the manga it originated from, and neither of the genres disappointed.

The story of Girls' Last Tour is a unique take on post-apocalyptic media. The original author of the manga, "Tkimz" (at least I think that's right, I'm too drunk to be sure and I'm heavily using the backspace to correct my spelling" is a wonderfully talented and depressing individual who manages to create completely unique and highly captivating post apocalyptic media. There's no zombies, there's no disease, there's no action; it's just a completely unique and captivating story for reasons other than solely being post-society. The anime finishes prior to the ending of the manga, so if you liked the anime, the manga is a must-read for you, and finishes up the story perfectly. Afterwards, "Shimeji Simulation" by the same author, is yet another amazing piece of media that somehow ties into the story of Girls' Last Tour.

The art is unique as well. The characters are cutesy and simplified, but are very expressive, unique, and lovable. The scenery is realistic, also being unique, and feels just as important and the character designs themselves, whereas background scenery is a secondhand thought 99.9% throughout the anime industry. This results in an extremely unique experience that can be found nowhere else. The art is honestly one of my favorite aspects of Girls' Last Tour, and I'd give it an 11 if I could.

Sound is yet another category deserving of a perfect 10 score. It's one of the few series' OSTs I found myself consistently listening to on a casual basis. It's a wonderful mix of cheerful, depressing, and atmospheric music, so original that no other series has managed to match its level, in my opinion. I urge you to listen to the music as you watch the series, and come back to the OST after you finish it.

Characters? You got two lovable sweet potatoes. These girls are the cutest motherfuckers you'll ever meet. Fantastically written, amazing dialogue, superbly fitting and contrasting with the story. There's a lot to be said here, but I am far too drunk for philosophical conversation. Just believe me when I say these characters are some of the best I've ever seen. Tkimz is a fantastically gifted author.

Girls' Last Tour is just such a fantastic anime in general. It's a completely new experience you won't even find plagiarizers mimicking (yet). Everything feels distinct, purposeful, and enjoyable. I don't know how this review may look to a sober reader, but please know I genuinely mean all of this and I hope everyone manages to find the time in their wonderful lives to watch and enjoy Girls' Last Tour.

Liz to Aoi Tori is a masterpiece of filmwork with an immense amount of effort dedicated to its creation and refinery.

The story is much deeper than what it appears as on the surface. I'm not one for "whoa dude this is soooo deep" sorts of media, but it doesn't feel anything like the creators of Liz to Aoi Tori were stretching themselves beyond their realistic capabilities as writers to seem "deep". I think watching this halfheartedly out of mere boredom lends oneself to really not appreciating what Liz to Aoi Tori has to offer in its entirety. The storyline is not captivating or entertaining in ... a traditional sense, instead, it is very human and emotional. Due to this, I really don't think a solid storyline is possible to attribute to this film. The focus for the entire film is the relationship between two friends that feels as fragile and unpredictable as a feather in a hurricane. Liz to Aoi Tori is an unrelenting torrent of many grittily realistic emotions that easily ensnares its viewers into feeling. The writers saw an untapped reserve of potential between two supporting characters in the Hibike! Euphonium series, and they squeezed every last drop out of that potential. The story of Liz to Aoi Tori and the overall relationship of Mizore and Nozomi transcends traditional storytelling to flourish as an admirable masterpiece of anime and film.

Of course, such a beautiful story could not go unsupported by equally beautiful art and sound design. Artistically, there's so much to be said about Liz to Aoi Tori that I'm simply just not qualified to talk about. Symbolism and artstyle were focused on to a pinpoint by the absolute masters working at Kyoto Animation. Certain aspects were modified from Hibike! Euphonium such as the linework to fit in line with the more mature and emotionally weighted themes of Liz to Aoi Tori. After recently viewing some very poorly animated anime, I truly appreciate the effort put into seemingly simple scenes on paper such as walking animations and the immense amount of effort and soul poured into animating realistic and emotional facial expressions, especially when the majority of the film relies solely on emotional expression. The setting for the film is split only between the Kitauji high school and the world within a watercolor storybook. The contrast in artstyle and setting between these two worlds is very deliberate and impactful to the mood of the film. One would think that such a limited setting for media of this length would be boring to a viewer, but the overall design, mood, and constant movement throughout the film always kept the scenery from appearing stale. Beyond these few topics I've covered, there is much more symbolism and impressive feats of artwork to be appreciated by those with more understanding of artwork and how much effort goes into the production of such a film.

Sound design is equally as lovingly crafted as the story itself and the impressive artwork that made the wonderful writing of Liz to Aoi Tori a reality. One thing that particularly stood out to me, and is present in both Liz to Aoi Tori and Hibike! Euphonium, is that most every sound and line of dialogue does not feel like it was recorded in a soundproof recording studio centimeters away from a ridiculously expensive ASMR microphone. If someone is talking on the opposite end of a large room, their voice echoes in such a manner that you would expect in real life from a similar room. The reason this is so, is because the absolutely dedicated individuals at Kyoto Animation often use 1:1 replicas of actual buildings in their work. This was the case with K-On!, as it is with Hibike! Euphonium. Many sounds ranging from footsteps, to dialogue, to orchestral music is all recorded in the actual real counterpart to the building in the animation. It adds so much depth and life to an otherwise unrealistic genre of media, and this amount of dedication to the product is truly impressive. Beyond that, all of the music is recorded with a live orchestra, resulting in every breath, every mechanical sound of a room full of instruments, and every minute flaw coming through into the final production. On top of the extremely detailed closeup animations of musical instruments being played, this amount of attention to detail truly makes the sound design of Liz to Aoi Tori and the Hibike! Euphonium series in general a masterpiece to be remembered. I highly recommend viewing some of the "making of" videos for Liz to Aoi Tori and Hibike! Euphonium. Seeing the painstakingly detailed recording and the unique production of original background music is very interesting and made me appreciate the effort so much more.

Character building is rather restricted when a film is only focusing on two characters and their relationship between one another, but Kyoto Animation uses this restriction to really focus themselves on making very emotionally interesting characters that constantly keeps viewers captivated for the entire duration of the film. The character development in Liz to Aoi Tori is quite satisfying, and significant progression is made by the end of the film for two characters that were otherwise lacking characters in the main series of Hibike! Euphonium that constantly felt like they could be so much more. This satisfying and plentiful character progression makes Liz to Aoi Tori a refreshing take on side stories, something that is so easily spoiled that many studios will just never attempt to make anything of the sort, outside of hollow, unsubstantial, and easy-to-make OVAs for their anime.

Liz to Aoi Tori, while not being the absolute most enjoying film or anime I've ever watched, has so much effort poured into its production that I would consider it an insult to the creators to NOT to call this film a masterpiece. The writing is certainly not half-assed, and yet so much precision and creativity was put into its creation, Liz to Aoi Tori still very much feels human and manages to closely touch our emotions.

Konohana Kitan has the premise to be a decent slice of life, but falls pathetically short. I really wanted to stick with it longer, but this anime is just awful in so many aspects.

Konohana Kitan suffers from some of the worst pacing in anime I've ever seen. The writing feels like a high school student wrote the script for every episode in under a couple hours with a mandatory so-many-hundred word goal. From the very first episode, no effort is put towards building a halfway decent foundation for the rest of the show. The main character becomes attached to other characters absurdly fast, and just ... makes every interaction onward feel hollow and forced. There's also fanservice FOUR MINUTES INTO THE FIRST EPISODE, those four minutes include the opening theme. Fanservice is fine to an extent, but so soon in the FIRST episode??? Really???

The art is dreadful and lacks any soul. Oh my god, where to start? Backgrounds look like they are public domain art and do not have much detail to them, even if they are focused on heavily in a scene. The animation is literally THE worst I've witnessed in anime yet. So many corners were cut that it really makes this anime feel like it was made in a sweatshop with a strict time limit, and the employees were paid a few cents per frame without any supervisor to approve the frames beforehand. Walking animations are often nonexistent, replaced with torso shots of characters bobbing perfectly vertically up and down. Conversations between characters will sometimes be nothing but extremely zoomed in shots of character's faces, so zoomed in that you can't even see their hair or shoulders. Sometimes characters won't even have ANY animation, and will just be a JPEG sliding around. Sometimes there won't even be a character! You can only do the "hahaha simplified scribble girl" bit so many times every episode until it's obvious you just didn't have the budget to make an anime. Often this is done in the moments it would be most disorienting to the viewer. Eyes and heads rarely track movements, if you're lucky enough to be treated to a scene where a character would have something to track.

The sound is also pretty shit. Bland background music, overly-lengthy and uninteresting opening theme. Nothing really stood out to me besides the music being very lackluster. The audio effects themselves aside from music are just as bad. Moments where characters would obviously have audible footsteps have no footstep sounds whatsoever and it's very disorienting.

I think the creators were heavily restricted by budget and did not have any passion to create something besides "HAHA KAWAII FOX GIRLS AND THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME :)". This is the only anime that's legitimately angered me to watch, as I really expected it to be something halfway decent, but all I got was a waste of ~40 minutes plus the time it took to write this review. It does NOTHING remotely well, and I could never see myself watching this without considering it wasted time I could've spent watching something better.

The second season of Hibike! Euphonium, in my opinion, is better than the first. This season feels like a more refined and concentrated version of what Hibike! Euphonium is, and that improvement alone turns a good anime into a great anime.

The story isn't any different on paper. The Kitauji high school orchestra continues working hard to achieve their goal of playing at the nationals. However, this second season shifts the main focus from playing in a respectable competition to the individual characters behind the music, their personal struggles, and giving some insight to the history that made them who they are today, and how it ... sets them on a path for the future. I think this is a fantastic direction to take this series. As great as the music is in Hibike! Euphonium, the characters all have so much potential to flourish and tell very captivating and emotional stories. Without spoiling anything, the ending for this season is well-written and satisfying, and the meat of the season consisting of character building also makes for a great watch.

The art is still consistent with modern Kyoto Animation quality, which doesn't need an introduction assuming you've already watched the first season or other Kyoto Animation works. However, I noticed this season had many more scenic views, which I personally loved. Seriously, some of the scenes in this season are so crisp and high-quality with an immense amount of attention to detail, resulting in gorgeous and lifelike shots of suburban scenery and city night views. The animation and character design is still fantastic, resulting in an all-around 10/10 from me in the art department.

The music in this season, though it did not feel like the main focus for me, was still great. The band performances have a tsunami of emotion behind them, and the background music for other scenes is beautiful. There's some fantastic cello pieces that really make me miss playing the cello and even evoked regret for not sticking with it longer. Emotional and impactful music like this can really add depth to anime, and is refreshing to see when most everyone else in the industry considers music an afterthought.

As stated previously, character development really feels like the spotlight of this season. Though it's still not perfect, it's much better than the first season and it's still very much enjoyable to watch. There's still plenty of drama to be had, enough to make you feel like a single middle-aged wine cat mom getting invested into her favorite soap opera. However, Hibike! Euphonium's drama, unlike most soap operas, is very high quality. The drama between characters this season, mostly relating to character backstory, feels emotional and realistic. Maybe it was just because I could deeply relate to some moments, but Hibike! Euphonium definitely feels like it's a few steps above the typical high school anime "character A loves character B but character C likes character B as well" character interactions. Romance, while still not a main focus of the series, feels much more substantial and less forced than it was in the first season. It's still not perfect, nor is it what I keep watching the series for, but it definitely adds more than it takes away from the series.

Overall, this season was a considerable improvement to an already good anime. The ending was well-written and interesting, and set what feels like a good foundation for future content to the series. I will definitely continue to watch what this series has to offer beyond the second season, and I hope that Kyoto Animation recovers soon to continue doing what they love and making great anime like this.

This is one of, if not the #1 favorite side special episodes for any anime I've watched yet. The two episodes are wildly different from one another as well as from the main episodes. One isn't that great, but the other completely makes up for it.

For special #1, there's nothing special. It's an extremely fanservice-y and lewd episode where all the main characters are nude for practically half the episode. On top of that, there's some weird slime tentacle softcore hentai shit going on. God bless Japan. Not my thing, but if it's your's, it's there if you want to see it. If this was ... the only special or all the special episodes kept this formula, I'd rate this special a 4, maybe even a 3. There really wasn't even that much comedy going on, and the non-fanservice time was just typical "main characters take a train to hot spring" special.

Special #2 is what I give this such a high rating for and even went out of my way to write a review for. The focus is shifted from comedy to telling a dramatic story. Comedy is maybe 5% of this episode, if that. The world and characters of Gabriel Dropout was fantastically set up for telling a story like the one in this special episode. It's very out of place compared to the main series, but it really works well. It's one thing for an anime to get me to cry, it's a completely different story when an anime gets me to cry for a character that has only been shown for 10 minutes - if that. I really don't want to say too much about this episode, and I would urge you to avoid any reviews that might describe it in more detail, but it really was a treat, especially after lowering my expectations heavily from the first special episode.

I would really like to see more anime specials like this. It's wonderfully unique and absolutely deserving of having its own branch separate from the main episodes.

Edit (11/26/19): Rewatched the second episode and it made me cry just as easily.

Another spectacular slice of life comedy from Doga Kobo. This anime feels like a twin sibling to Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, but one of the siblings is emo and just different enough to be considered a separate personality.

As much as I'm a sucker for comfy slice of life anime with cute girls, I find it increasingly difficult to review them in a way that doesn't make them sound bland as ever. I really do like the genre as a way to wind down and relax at the end of the day, maybe get a few smiles before going to bed, but I understand why some people ... may consider it boring. It's not something I particularly find myself watching in the middle of the day when I'm bored. There's rarely any story and it can be very mindless entertainment at times. All that said, I'll still attempt to review this gem sprouted from the moe slice of life mines.

Slice of life, as I stated, rarely has a story. It's easier to re-class story in slice of life reviews more as a premise. The premise of Gabriel Dropout is unique, and not overly fantasized, something I don't really care for in anime, especially when it's been done to death since anime was ever a thing. The setting allows for many laughs to consistently be had in every episode, so Gabriel Dropout succeeds in being comedic. Between the unique dynamics of character interactions and the tongue-in-cheek fanservice that just gets comedically strange at times, there's never a stale moment in this anime.

I'm a fan of Doga Kobo's style. It's clean, the animations are lively, and the setting/background art isn't half bad. It's obviously no Kyoto Animation Koe no Katachi tier of artwork, but it's definitely above average when compared to many anime of the same era. Doga Kobo was not responsible for this, but the character design is very nice as well. Distinct family traits and unique appearances with minimal reliance on stereotypical neon pink anime girl hair designs and whatnot.

Sound isn't terribly important for comedy, but I'm giving Gabriel Dropout a good rating for a nice OP/ED.

Aside from the physical artistic design of the characters, they're written uniquely and lively. Every character is extremely distinct from one another, even within their own families. Obviously they rarely act realistic and human-like, as this is a comedic anime. Plenty of wacky shit happens that just makes this a fantastic comedy. As I mentioned earlier, the synergy between any given character really works well and makes every character likable in their own ways.

Overall, this was one of the anime I reserved for watching before bed to just relax at the end of the day and have a few laughs. There's not a whole lot to say about Gabriel Dropout besides it being funny and having a relatively good production value. I might even look into reading the manga, as I could see myself craving more of these hilarious characters in the near future. I'm not really a manga person, but this was definitely an enjoyable watch that caught my interest and kept me interested through every episode. A good watch if you enjoy comedy or slice of life.