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Jul 13, 2020
For context, I have loved Trigger for years. Ever since I saw Imaishi, Nakashima, and Yoshinari work together to create the stunning Gurren Lagann, I have been a huge fan of their work, and so once Trigger was created, I was all aboard. I have followed Trigger and tried my hardest to watch every work they are part of, even if sometimes it's not really my thing like FranXX or Kiznaiver. It's hard for me to say their track record is perfect with the releases that I have had problems with, but this is the first time I really have to say that I am
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disappointed in Trigger. With FranXX it was easy for me to wave my hand and say that all the problems of that show stemmed from the fact that A1 Pictures was part of it as well, but this is Trigger, disappointing me all on their own. And it's painful to have to say that.
STORY - 3/10
BNA is a very mixed bag of ideas, concepts, and theories that are sat on and not really divulged for a large amount of the story, only to be thrown at you haphazardly near the end. I had problems with it in the first half, but I enjoyed it the way I enjoyed Little Witch Academia - I was more accepting of the problems that I had with it because it was made up for by at least enjoyable characters and awesome animation. The idea of spending the runtime of the show focusing less on a plot and more about the social, societal, and basic repercussions of the existence of Beastmen sounds like a good idea to me. Each episode could study the sort of ways that different forms of beastmen could be effected by the existence of Anima-City, the problems it has, the issues that effects it, the benefits it has brought, and coming to see how it can improve and how we can all improve our societies.
But that's not really what happens. What happens is that during the second half of the anime, there's exposition coming out of everyone's ears. This isn't irregular for a Trigger story - several Trigger works have done it before, but those works reveled in their crazy concepts and ludicrous plot threads. BNA plays this all straight, and with half the runtime of most other Trigger anime, which means that the plot is even further condensed. The story becomes a real headache to endure, especially near the end.
ART - 8/10
I love Trigger's animation. The character designs are all very stylish, very interesting, really varied, and it's very fun. The animation for a majority of the anime is ridiculously smooth - Yoshinari is an absolute beast when it comes to animation, so it's not a surprise to me. I knew I would visually enjoy this series quite a lot. I can't really say much more than that.
SOUND - 8/10
I can't complain about anything related to the sound. Characters all have very fitting voices that are well performed. Yes, we do get a character voiced by Murase, as we do in all of Trigger's works, and she is great in her character. The music was really good too!
CHARACTER - 4/10
This is another big problem I have with BNA. The protagonist, for a large amount of the story, feels like she has little to no control over anything that is happening in her life. Things happen to her, and around her, and her ally, the big strong Wolf Boi, saves her time and time again. Most of the things the protagonist herself does to change the story or fight for herself feels practically pointless, and if anything she can actually be detriment to the story.
Then we have the Wolf character, Ogami. For a large amount of the series, Ogami feels like the one we should actually be following - he has a plot that he is following, he has more of a grip on the plot, it feels like he is much more of a focus. However, he's also pretty milquetoast. He has little to no charisma and just hates humans.
I'm going to be honest, I wanted more Itami. I adored her character - the smug aura around her, the fact that she frequently felt in control in the underbelly of Anima-City, I would have loved to follow a story where our protagonist may frequently have to get help from her to find out about the reason why she has become a beastman, avoiding the roadblocks that Anima-City has implemented either through their societal structure or through their government's hands. A story analyzing the society, the problems that come with the exclusionary viewpoint of the society in Anima-City, it could have been really interesting to me. But we don't get that. The best character is sidelined.
There's a character who appears later on who I actually thought was pretty interesting, though I can't go into her appearance due to spoilers. So while there are one or two enjoyable characters, the ones we focus on for the most part are kind of annoying or boring.
ENJOYMENT - 5
The plot and characters weren't any fun to watch, but the animation kept me interested. I'll be honest, if this wasn't Trigger, I'd have dropped it.
OVERALL - 5
Marred with problems, especially in its second half, BNA had a high concept, but fell very short. It's hard for me to say that it's legitimately bad, because Trigger is a company I hold very dear to my heart, but I have to say I would only really recommend BNA to fans of Trigger so that they can take in more Trigger animation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 5, 2020
Mazinger is an incredibly well-known mecha series by legendary creator Go Nagai. His uniquely gritty storytelling was very popular, and so Mazinger Z was one of the many Go Nagai stories to enter the annals of anime icons. This is a reboot of the series, and I personally feel that while it has moments of being enjoyable, it has a lot of problems that need to be discussed. That being said, let's begin the review.
STORY --- 6/10
Shin Mazinger Z's form of storytelling can be confusing at times, especially at the beginning. The first episode of Shin Mazinger Z is one that reveals a lot of
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things about the story and its climax, but then we return to the second episode to restart the series anew, and there's many moments of flashbacks and even a segment where the main characters are living inside of one big flashback, which could further confuse people. It's strange and confusing at times, and not a style I much prefer.
Also, Mazinger Z has moments of classic Go Nagai darkness that we never really see brought up again. In the first few episodes, we have our protagonist screaming in despair over something that we don't really see people react to in most mecha shows, and it really shows a unique perspective. However, once that moment passes, we never really see it brought up again, which can be somewhat disappointing when we see these characters in scenarios that brought them to that original scenario happening again.
That being said, the story is tonally very unique. It has that Go Nagai brand of dark tones mixed with comedic moments, and it can be quite compelling at times. However, near the end it felt to me like they were trying so very hard to throw all kinds of exciting twists and turns at you when, in all honesty, the sudden changes and confusing character alliances can just make you feel lost and disillusioned to the plot.
ART --- 6/10
The animation is nothing special, unfortunately. Movements can be pretty choppy, and there's not really many shots that I would see as things that could inspire awe in a viewer, or get them excited. Many things are presented pretty plainly, which sort of lowers the excitement of the viewer during the combat scenes. That being said, I will give it a point above average for being Go Nagai's art style - I love the use of exaggerated proportions and cartoony designs to explore mature themes, enter dark stories, and star in large-scale action stories. It's a unique and interesting dynamic that keeps the show's look fun and enjoyable, even if the animation can drop the ball.
SOUND --- 7/10
Every seiyuu seems to care about their work, here. Akabane Kenji's intensity as the protagonist, Kabuto Koji, is pretty great. If the animation were of better quality, I'd feel like I'd want to say "ROCKET PUUUUNCH" or "BREAST FIIIIRE" alongside him just because of how good his voice acting can be sometimes. It also has a decent soundtrack, with two great OPs and passable EDs. However, one problem it has is sometimes the songs picked for certain scenes can have very unfitting backing tracks. One song in particular has a very intense tone to it, but it also has a relatively goofy segment in it, so when it's being played in the last episode during a fight against (who would have guessed) a giant robot, it sorta sucks away some of the tension when a goofy bit of music begins playing during a serious scene.
CHARACTER --- 7/10
I adore the character designs of Go Nagai, but what can also be fun is their personalities. Kabuto Koji is one of, if not the first ever, mecha protagonist. However, instead of being some goody two-shoes or caring about everyone around him, Koji has moments of him honestly being mean, rude, or violent. Koji is a street punk who will beat up anyone who makes fun of his grandpa. He'll push people around to get his way. It's very interesting, especially watching him grow into a more sensitive and mature person as the story goes on. However, during the last few episodes, something happens that really drops the ball in terms of Koji's character growth and it's quite a pain.
On the opposite side of Koji, Baron Ashura is another standout character. Ashura has a lot of great moments that I really enjoy - they've got an interesting dynamic, a dark backstory that reveals their loyalty, and some interesting personal conflicts that happen during the course of the series. However, besides those two, I don't really like any of the other characters. They can be generic at best and annoying at worst.
ENJOYMENT --- 6/10
I have problems with the pacing, animation, and some of the characters of Shin Mazinger Z. It really sucked me out of the setting every once in a while when five or six twists are piled up on top of each other in span of ten minutes, or when Koji is shown to fight and defeat giant robots without any introduction or fanfare while having intense fights with other giant robots just an episode before, or an episode later. However, the characters can be fun to watch and the robots at least look cool. The soundtrack also has quite a few good tracks, so I'm willing to sit through some of the more dull moments for the great swelling moments like that, even if their animation can be lackluster.
OVERALL --- 6/10
While not exactly fun to watch for the most part, Shin Mazinger Z is a new take on a Go Nagai classic that really hammers home the sort of dark tones that works like Devilman are famous for, which can make it interesting at times. However, it has a lot of problems and can be somewhat confusing to follow. I wouldn't tell you to go running to any service to watch Shin Mazinger Z, but if you're a huge mecha fan, this series in particular is something that you will have to tackle eventually.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 29, 2019
Aachi wa Ssipak is something I wasn't quite sure about when initially deciding to watch it. I figured that while it had a ridiculous premise when analyzed, I shouldn't put that up for scrutiny - after all, it's not like some of the stuff I like is high art in and of itself. Unfortunately, while Aachi wa Ssipak (which I will from now on be calling AWS) has some things I really had fun with, the majority of it was rather disheartening and had some problems that prevented it from being something that I would highly recommend.
As I watched it - I couldn't help but
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make parallels between it and one of my favorite works - Hiroyuki Imaishi's Dead Leaves. They're both ridiculous, over-the-top action stories about criminals who solve problems with hyper violence with a unique art style to them, after all. So, in this review, I'm going to be talking not only about AWS itself, but comparing it to a work that does what it attempts to do in a way that I would think is better, and why I think AWS falls short of that.
STORY - 5/10
AWS has a rather interesting concept to it - in a world where defecation can be used as a source of energy, how would you gain a reliable source of energy? That's simple - by creating a reward. In this world, that reward is Juicy Bars, which a group called the Diaper Gang has become addicted to, as well as the many people on Earth. This creates a sustainable source of energy in their society, but also causes a ridiculous amount of addiction, which makes the world fall into chaos and disorder as people try to get their hands on this addictive substance.
However, this is only the backstory of the true plot. The plot itself is rather generic, and the biggest problem with it is that the two main characters - Aachi and Ssipak, of course - have no ability to act on their own in the grand scale of the plot. It feels like everything in this world is happening TO them or AROUND them. Neither Aachi or Ssipak themselves are the ones who impact the plot in a way that is relevant or memorable. This causes the story to feel aimless at times, and annoyingly contrived at others, with things just so happening to work out in a way that benefits Aachi and Ssipak without they themselves doing anything to create this sort of impact on the world.
To top it all off, this is a full-length movie - an hour and a half long. The silliness of the scenario and the loud and bombastic stupidity of the world that they live in gets sort of grating after a while, and due to the fact that Aachi and Ssipak don't really do much themselves, it leads to an hour and a half of contrivances and random happenings that just so happen to benefit our protagonists. This also leads to there being, surprisingly, big problems with pacing. For some reason, the movie felt it was a good idea to put what felt like an entire music video into the movie at one point, which really felt odd when compared to some moments where we suddenly cut to big climactic areas or cut back to plot points that feel out of place during the finale.
To compare this to Dead Leaves, the latter is half of AWS' runtime. While it's similarly batshit insane when it comes to the choreography of combat, the ridiculousness of the plot points, and the strangeness of the world, the 45 minute runtime makes it so that it doesn't get annoying like AWS does. In return, Dead Leaves has a much less developed plot than AWS does, but in return for this the main characters themselves are the driving force of the story. The characters in Dead Leaves always felt like they had a purpose, a goal, a destination, or a strength, while the convenience-filled plot of AWS makes it feel like the characters have none.
ART - 7/10
Definitely the most striking part of AWS is its art style, and it's what I enjoy the most about it. The strange proportions, street aesthetic, ridiculous moments of squash and stretch animation during intense combat scenes, and bright neon characters against dingy greys and browns of a dystopian world make this movie pop. It makes the movie quite fun to watch even if it has some plot problems, but unfortunately it doesn't really have a 10/10 look to it.
The biggest problem is that, in the latter half of the film, there were a LOT of uses of 3D. This 3D is poor. Really poor. My immersion got sucked out of the movie as I saw set piece after set piece of 3D backdrops that were obviously CG, and looked too generic and ordinary behind the interesting and stylish look of everything else. There's also notably poor animation in moments that aren't combat scenes - they obviously blew their load in this department, because outside of the action scenes AWS has a lot of moments that feel stuff or uninteresting visually.
I don't even think I need to bring up Dead Leaves in this topic - Imaishi's art style is too striking, beautiful, and enjoyable to watch to even compare to AWS.
SOUND - 4/10
I will say right now that I watched the English Dub of AWS because it was the easiest thing for me to get my hands on, and let me just say if I were to put that as a point here on my score it would probably be closer to a 2 or 3. The dub is notably poor - even if there are moments where a joke or two may make you laugh in the dub, that doesn't excuse the absolutely terrible attempts at lip sync in the movie, and the majority of the jokes in the dub fall flat. There's a lot of puns about poop and crap and butts, and that's about it.
The OST is also pretty boring as well. While the first 10 minutes or so get you hooked with an intense action scene and a banging dubstep song to bring you into the insane dystopia of this setting, the problem comes when you watch further into the movie. AWS' soundtrack feels like it's only one or two songs. If there are multiple dubstep songs in the movie, they all sound practically the same, and it gets kind of boring, especially when two tracks begin back to back - at this point I am literally giving the movie credit that they were multiple songs, because they all sounded the same to me.
In Dead Leaves, there's a slew of multiple different types of music that back it during it's half of a run time. While it is mainly electronic, the OST can be somber, quiet, or even a short and chill rendition of an opera track! This gives the movie itself more of a pop as it continues to change and introduce new songs as the movie plays, unlike AWS which plays a slew of songs that all sound the exact damn same song.
CHARACTER - 1/10
These characters are the worst. There's nothing enjoyable at all about the ridiculously unfunny, annoying, and irredeemable characters in AWS. They start the movie bickering and they bicker throughout the whole movie. I never felt a sense of camaraderie between them. These characters were absolutely annoying to follow because they never seemed to give a shit about anything but themselves. While the side characters may seem to have interesting quirks, they quite frequently are brushed aside or turned into one-note jokes that get old the first time they happen.
Comparing this to Dead Leaves, while the characters are similarly irredeemable criminals in jail for a nonsensical crime spree, what's important is how these characters interact. They grow closer, get feelings for each other, fight to save a group that's behind them, and most importantly they feel like they can do things themselves. It's not like in AWS where the protagonists are strung along by conveniences for an hour and a half.
ENJOYMENT - 5/10
There were some issues I had with the editing and some times it felt a bit nonsensical and poorly focused at times, I did really, REALLY enjoy the animation during fight scenes. That, and there were some times when visual gags or jokes were legitimately funny to me, so it wasn't all bad. It just had a problem with pacing, escalation, and character urgency that I couldn't shake.
Dead Leaves is one of my favorite works of all time. Again, why would I need to even talk about it in this section?
OVERALL - 5/10
It isn't a total crap-chute. There are times when it can be funny, and the animation is really enjoyable in the action scenes. The world that has been built is interesting and fun as well. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, though. It has a lot of problems with pacing, its tone gets grating after too much run time, the characters are annoying and lack agency, and the soundtrack is pretty repetitive. If you think you can enjoy an hour of crude jokes for 20 minutes of cool animation, you should probably go watch Dead Leaves instead because it's way more enjoyable than this for a multitude of reasons. However, if you're really starving for hyper-crude and hyper-violent animation, you MIGHT want to look into this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 28, 2019
Nyaruko is a show I came into with a strange mindset. I initially had absolutely no desire to see such a series, but I figured I might as well watch something with as outlandish of a premise as this for one of the entries for my Anime Watching Challenge of 2019. After episode 1, I was intrigued. By episode 12, those moments of intrigue were struck and destroyed. Let me explain by talking about what initially caught my interest... The story.
STORY - 6/10
The story provided at Episode 1 of Nyaruko was one of the most baffling and convoluted setups I had seen in a long
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time, and this just made me want to watch it more. It turns out that the deities written about by H. P. Lovecraft are alive, and not only that, the main girl - Nyarthathotep - is a huge fan of anime and manga. The idea that the series was going to star a girl version of a Lovecraftian deity who loved the media of the planet was ridiculous to me, but in a good way. It almost felt like a serpent eating its own tail; a being that was made from media who saves the world in this media because she likes the world's media. It sounded like it could be a setup for something interesting, something that could explore the concepts of humanity's obsession with media, with outlandish concepts like Anime Girl Lovecraft, and the like.
However, by Episode 12, those hopes that the series could explore something with its tongue-in-cheek tone and meta subtext was thrown out of the window, as it becomes something jarringly generic and basic for a majority of its run time. While we still have moments of outlandish Outword out-of-body experiences, the majority of the series focuses on the same jokes being repeated ad nauseum in a typical high school harem setting. If this were the point - to use this outlandish concept to do something generic - as a form of meta storytelling itself about how these dime-a-dozen stories themselves have practically become indescribable and horrific beasts of the art form could have been funny; but if this is what they were going for then it failed miserably.
Nyaruko never changes. It never explores anything it has the potential to. Nyaruko stays as one of the most generic stories I have seen in a long time. Every character has their joke, they are forced to say it once every two minutes or so, ad infinitum. What had potential to explore the ways we have seemingly started grabbing at straws for story concepts, or how media itself is a shapeless beast that seeps its way into our mind like a Lovecraftian beast itself, or even make a tongue-in-cheek homage to the ridiculous anime concepts that come before it, it does the most unfortunate thing and does nothing. The references it makes are incredibly basic - Jojo, Fist of the North Star, Gundam, Dragon Quest. It's nothing that would be unique or interesting to it as a series. The only times Nyaruko brings up media isn't to explore it, or to gleam any meaning from it or even the show itself, it's just to reference it. References make up a large majority of this show's humor, and while that makes sense, seeing as how the show itself is almost like one big reference to Lovecraft itself, that does make it a good or enjoyable show.
ART - 4/10
The art is incredibly generic. There's no semblance of a unique art style here or a unique vision from a director. It... Exists. It isn't ugly, but it isn't interesting. There's nothing to say, as it itself says nothing. Asking me to comment on the visuals of Nyaruko would be like telling me to describe the taste of water.
SOUND - 5/10
While I appreciate the attempts that the musicians take in attempting to make the OP an earworm that goes into your head, almost like the whispers of an Old God itself, besides that there's nothing to mention. The ED isn't interesting, the OST has nothing going for it, the voices are generic and don't come close to resonating with me. It exists and doesn't sound terrible, so I can give it that.
CHARACTER - 1/10
These are not characters. These characters are sheets of paper with a single character trait written on them and nothing else. Nyaruko likes anime and the protagonist. The protagonist doesn't like Nyaruko. Kuuko likes Nyaruko. Hasuta likes the protagonist. This is the entirety of the personalities of these characters. It becomes increasingly annoying as you watch the show and continue to see the exact same jokes repeated over and over for 20 minutes at a time for about 12 episodes - I'll be generous and say 10 because the first and last episodes may not have had AS MANY of these bog standard jokes.
And the characters that we have the pleasure of hearing repeat the same jokes over and over for 20 minutes a pop are some of the most annoying pieces of trash I have ever seen. They are unchanging from their original personality trait, and that personality trait is annoying and boring. Characters have to always be loud and annoying and yelling all the time in an annoying manner. It's absolutely some of the worst writing I have seen when it comes to giving characters personalities and unique thoughts and moments. Hasuta, for example, only has the personality trait of wanting to have intercourse with our main character. At least Nyaruko also enjoyed media on top of wanting to lay with our main character, and at least Kuuko liked games as well as liking Nyaruko (though sexualizing Nyaruko is her defining trait and becomes the line she must contractually say every 30 seconds), Hasuta is the worst written of them all as he has no defining traits outside of wanting to "have babies" with our protagonist. It's just awful. They're all awful.
ENJOYMENT - 3/10
Again, while I enjoyed the concepts the first episode had the potential to bring up, I was enjoying the first episode or two, but the show fell into a trap of annoyance and repetition that caused me to despise watching it as I continued. However, as much as I hate to say it, there was a joke or two I chuckled at later on, mainly because those jokes were escapes from the generic repetitive jokes of the past 4 episodes.
OVERALL - 3/10
It has a generic look, generic sounds, some of the least developed and most annoying characters I have ever had the displeasure to watch, and has the substance of watching a single episode 12 times in a row rather than watching all 12 unique episodes. It's like watching a series comprised of nothing but Endless Eight, except turning up the volume so loud it makes your ears bleed and shoving a bunch of references into it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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May 26, 2019
Kabukibu is a story I went into with high expectations. One of my favorite anime stories of all time is Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, and while I didn't expect this to rival that work, the concept of another anime whose main focus is an archaic form of Japanese theatrical storytelling was something that greatly interested me. This may have been a bit of a mistake, because at the beginning of this story I felt that my expectations were far too high. However, as the story progresses, we do manage to get some things that I find very interesting that gives the work its own reason
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to exist. Let me explain.
STORY -------------- 7/10
The story itself is rather generic. It is about a group of classmates interested in an activity, and their struggles and attempts to do said activity. This can be easily compared to other works of this genre, or even idol shows, or as I tended to think of it, a sports series. Sports stories have lots of training before bigger events, giving the characters a chance to grow and evolve as they attempt to improve. Kabukibu does something similar in that characters have their progression and conflicts in between these moments of Kabuki, but herein lies one of the problems with the story.
The Kabuki sections themselves are rather short when they appear. The longest performance happens near the end of the series itself, and this may cause a problem when it comes to getting viewers interested in the art of kabuki. We have a performance that may get people interested about halfway through the show, but that is also rather short for the buildup the show gives it. Personally, I think the show could have used more long-form kabuki performances, like the one that happens in the last episode.
Outside of the Kabuki performances, later on in the series the story brings up some interesting questions about the act of kabuki theater itself, and this was honestly one of the most interesting parts of the series. I don't really want to bring up spoilers, but there are some interesting questions that are brought up by the kinds of people who are interested in a 400-year old art form.
ART ------------- 5/10
Kabukibu is pretty generic in its art style, and there's not a huge amount of good animation moments. In fact, I can more frequently remember moments of poor or reused animation than good moments of animation. I would forgive this if we had more kabuki moments, but sadly the fact that there aren't a great amount of kabuki performances means that it feels like a show on a budget. I will say the final episode has to have some of the best animation in the show with its final kabuki performance, but I wish that this happened more in the series itself rather than only giving us this good animation in the end.
SOUND ------ 6/10
I don't have much to say in this department. Voices were decent, and the OST frequently used a leitmotif that gave the story a nice sort of theme to it. The sounds of the tsuke and the shamisen during the kabuki sections were great, and it also has a good opening, but nothing related to the sound in this series will really stick with me.
CHARACTER --------- 7/10
Characters start out pretty boring and generic, but later on they are given interesting and enjoyable interactions. Tonbo in particular is a character I really enjoy. The characters really follow the main sorts of archetypes you would expect from a show about a club, but again their interactions and development are given unique and fun touches.
ENJOYMENT ------------- 7/10
While I didn't really like it coming into the series and it felt boring to sit through, once I hit around Episode 5 I was finally more interested, and the last episode was exactly what I wanted from this show. It asked questions I didn't really expect it to and gave realistic answers that also continue to raise questions about the art form itself. It's pretty interesting by the end. I was hoping it would be better animated, especially during the kabuki sections, but I did like one or two of the cast by the end.
OVERALL ---------- 6/10
There were some problems, especially going into it. I don't think this series is going to convince people that aren't already at least mildly interested in Kabuki to look into Kabuki. I don't think I will be doing so, and I wouldn't blame others for feeling the same. It's slow-paced and feels oddly focused at times, but by the end manages to deliver something I was really looking forward to, and on the way brought up some concepts and ideas that were really fun.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 28, 2018
Pop Team Epic is an incredibly dividing series. People either write joke reviews about how it's "saving anime" and is "absolutely perfect", and some claim it to be nothing more than poorly executed jokes and bad shitposting. There doesn't seem to be a center view of this series. I, personally, actually really respect Pop Team Epic and think it's pretty good, but only to the right people. Let me explain.
STORY: 3
Let's not beat around the bush here - it's' vignettes. It has no semblance of a story. There's not really a continuity. There are parts of the episode that are longer than the rest that
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do have plots, but they're not connected and don't really service each other at all.
ART: 10
Look, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "You're actually giving Art such a high score for a vignette series of shitposts"? And the answer is absolutely yes. The main reason why I respect Pop Team Epic and what it does so much is because of how much it throws things at the wall and does surreal things. Art is absolutely no exception to this rule. Throughout the series, Pop Team Epic does an absolute shitload of different art styles and animation styles. There's 2D animation in several art styles, 3D animation, Stop-Motion Animation, Puppetry, Sand Art, Live-Action Skits, and I think a lot more if I were to give myself more time to think. Hell, the episode "Hellshake Yano" has a long, creatively animated scene where well-cut and layered pages in notebooks are the animation for the segment, and it's unironically incredible to watch due to just how well-executed it is. Similarly to The Amazing World of Gumball, a show airing in the West, I hold it very close to my heart and find it incredibly cool to see so many different forms of animation and art in one show. It shows that the creators are having a lot of fun, and I really like that.
SOUND: 10
Juuuust like my Art section, the main reason why I put this on here is due to just how much they do with sound in this series. Pipimi and Popuko each have at least 10 different Seiyuus in both the male and female voice acting camp. And these aren't just interns looking for their big shot in the world - these are voice acting veterans who have worked on big shows like One Piece or Dragon Ball. It makes me cackle with delight when I recognize a voice actor as they say some stupid shit coming out of the mouth of a schoolgirl. Not to mention, they also throw in things like music videos and even French, spoken by actual French voice actors. Another part of the show I really like is when they throw in flubbed lines or voice actor laughs - You hear it a lot from the male seiyuus in transitions between vignettes. These vignettes can also have different lines, jokes, or comedic delivery depending on the male or female versions, giving them more surprising comedic moments as well. It also has a suuuper good OP and a cute ED, and the great thing is that it also throws in remixes of the Opening, Sound-Versions like a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Opening, even alternate songs for openings like in episodes 1 and 11. There's a lot done on the sound and visual front alike, so I believe they deserve the same score.
CHARACTER: 5
Okay, so there's no real character writing here. Characters are here solely to set up jokes. While Pipimi TENDS to be the more stoic, voice of reason character over the bombastic and crude Popuko, it's not exactly consistent.
ENJOYMENT: 9
While not all the jokes landed, I had an absolute blast watching this series. I was watching one episode with a friend who claimed he had never heard me laugh that loud before after, like, 3 years of friendship or so. (By the way, that was episode 2. Episode 2 is absolutely a riot.) I also do understand a tad bit of Japanese, so maybe I could catch something in a Japanese pun that most people wouldn't get, but not consistently. It's a grab bag of comedy that, in my opinion, hits far more than it misses.
OVERALL: 8
Pop Team Epic is a mixed bag of comedy that has a lot of love poured into it, and you can tell the team behind it is having a ridiculous amount of fun. While its fast-paced, surrealist, vignette-style comedic scenes may not be funny to some people, I had a lot of fun while watching this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 10, 2016
Dead Leaves is the pinnacle of Hiroyuki Imaishi's untamed insanity, given full bore like a rich man in a brothel with a raging boner. Many people would be surprised to learn that, besides FLCL, all of the work that Imaishi is known for such as Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, and the spiritual successor Panty & Stocking were after Dead Leaves, making this absolutely insane, asisine joyride the grandpappy of the anime-saving works of our lord and savior Imaishi. But is such a short burst of Imaishi's ridiculous insanity worth your time? Let's see.
STORY - 7
Dead Leaves cares very little about its backstory. It claims
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to, by having moments of exposition or mystery, but these moments are for the most part talked over or interrupted by moments of cacophony and insanity. Nevertheless, it does have a story. It's not a bad story by any means, but obviously this part of Dead Leaves was not what was intended to be interesting, which makes moments of exposition within this explosive hour-long OVA a tad boring and the attempt at some sort of message seem rather out of character for the tone of the OVA. I was also a little peeved at how quickly it ended.
ART - 10
Is this really a question? Imaishi's trademark, unique style is as brain-melting and adrenaline-inducing as it always has been and always will be, but the genius in Imaishi's work on Dead Leaves does not stop there. Dead Leaves has something interesting or fun to look at on every single frame. It is an artistic marvel that always has something unique to look at, from the fun fight scenes to the uniquely portrayed sound effects to the silly and weird characters within chaotic crowds splayed across the screen. The character designs are as fun, wacky, interesting and cartoonishly over-the-top as possible, making them all a joy to look at.
SOUND - 8
The soundtrack is pretty good, with lots of songs that keep the pace adrenaline-pumping and extremely interesting. There are a lot of genres pumped within such a short little OVA that it keeps the music fresh and interesting, along with a few little gems that make the OST worth listening to in its own right, especially the catchy and ridiculously fun to listen to song titled "Mamu Saibou Mamu Saibou". I also have to commend this OVA for having a dub that isn't godawful, which I was surprised about.
CHARACTER - 8
For a short Imaishi work that cares not about logic or character development, it is imperative that the characters we follow are at least fun, and they are in spades. Whether they have one hilarious quirk, such as the man with a Giga Drill Dick, to the thuggish and fun protagonists Pandy and Retro who give about as few fucks as the people on this website do about my reviews. The characters may not be deep or exactly interesting, but they're fun as hell.
ENJOYMENT - 10
There is so much to adore about Dead Leaves that I couldn't possibly rate my enjoyment as anything lower. Whether it's the bustling, insane animation that gives you no time at all to rest, the ridiculous plot that moves like a shuttle train to the Docking Bay, or the hilarious banter between the inmates and the protagonists, there was never a moment during this movie when my mouth was at anything but a goofy, crooked grin. It's a joyride from beginning to end.
OVERALL - 9
While not exactly deep and sometimes a little misguided, Dead Leaves is fun, fantastic, depraved, and hyperviolent. Besides the few little dips when things get slow, every frame of Dead Leaves is absolutely ridiculous and fun. Whether you watch it in Dub or Sub, Dead Leaves is sure to keep you interested.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 5, 2015
I have just recently finished Casshern Sins, so I figured I may as well do a review of it before it leaves my mind and makes my review somewhat shoddy. Starring one of Tatsunoko's more obscured and less popular protagonists, the titular Casshern, this bleak and depressing story of death and despair spans 24 slow-paced and heavy episodes.
STORY: 8/10
Casshern, an immortal robot, awakens to windswept scenery and only flashes of his past memories. His name is legendary and infamous due to his apparent bringing about of a worldly calamity known as "The Ruin", which is rusting away and killing robots who once knew eternal life.
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He wanders the desolate, ruined world, searching only for The Sun Named Moon and a reason for his existence. Along the way he meets those affected by The Ruin, those affected by people from his past and even some who have no relation to him at all.
While amnesia stories are something I usually dislike for their overuse, I found Casshern Sins to use it decently well. During the beginning of every episode, you get hints of the past, whether it be his own or of those around him. Sometimes the short, second-long memory shown relates to the episode in one way or another and it's pretty nicely executed. There are unexpected and interesting twists and surprises around every corner.
ART: 7/10
During the final few episodes, the quality dips just a tad. There are several animations reused several times, so much so it becomes a little obvious and distracting. I also found eyes on characters to be somewhat uncomfortable to look at, especially one of the child characters known as Ringo.
Despite these flaws, however, I love the art. Even if the backdrop is depressing, bleak, and lifeless, there's a beauty to them. They're beautiful to look at, no matter how desolate they are. Shading is beautiful and definitely adds to the atmosphere of any scene. When fight scene animations aren't being overused, they're very cool to look at.
SOUND: 8/10
The songs that this soundtrack does have are very beautiful, but I found them reusing specific songs, especially for the sad moments, too many times to leave as much of an impact as the first time they played. The OP for this show is fantastic, with lyrics that relate to the show for once. The EDs are somewhat boring, but they're not bad, per se.
CHARACTER: 8/10
At the beginning of the show, when characters are first introduced, I felt that they were mostly pretty bland and generic. However, as the show went on they all built upon who they were to become memorable characters I found myself quite attached to. For spoiler reasons I can't dive too deep into this, but the development and introductions of some characters are expertly executed. It takes a few episodes for development to start due to the show's slow pace, but it's very well done once it happens. There's also a LOT of angst from the protagonist, sometimes a little too much. He's still likable and relateable, though.
ENJOYMENT: 9/10
For about half of the show, I would watch it occasionally, maybe an episode or two before viewing something else. However, once it got going, I found myself marathoning the rest of the series in one sitting. I loved the setting, I love robots, I loved the symbolism, the questions, and the statements the show brought up. I was attached to the characters, I wanted to know how they ended up or what happened to them. The twists were great and don't even get me started on the emotional roller coaster...
OVERALL: 8/10
The combination of a slow start and a slow pace overall could turn off those expecting a high-octane and fast-paced action show. If you're looking for something dark, something gritty and depressing, with interesting characters and questions, you should think about picking this one up. It's got depressed robots, a robot dog, robot armies, robot gore... Pretty much a lot of things involving robots. Robots and angst.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 5, 2015
PLEASE NOTE: This review was written before any episode past episode 11 a.k.a. episode 12 a.k.a. "Paint It Black". If this has more episodes past this one, I won't be updating this review.
Kekkai Sensen, otherwise known as "Blood Blockade Battlefront", is an action comedy with lots of supernatural themes and elements. The show's stylish and fast-paced artwork and comedy lead you through scenes between intense supernatural fights involving anything from a man-eating car to vampires.
STORY: 6/10
The story involves our protagonist, young impersonator of Pokemon's Brock, named Leonardo Watch. He was born with special eyes that have superpowers of some sort and is accidentally thrown into
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the world of the underground organization known as Libra, who fight to protect the citizens of the city they live in from disaster and ruin.
Only one problem: The city's bonkers. There's so many different strange creatures, no two seem alike, and a lot of them are hostile. This leads to the city being hectic, dangerous, and crime-filled. When I said that Libra is a group of people who fight evil, they're more like a secret police squad. If it doesn't involve illegal activity, they don't bat an eye at the actions of the townsfolk.
The story claims to have an overarching plot, but for the most part it is one or two-part episodes while the main villains in the background have a giggle at the goings on. That's not to say all the episodes are like this, but for the most part the episode involves the group having to do something totally unrelated in order to gain a tiny bit of information which may or may not take any part in what's going on in the next episode.
ART: 7/10
When not in combat or making a joke, the animation and art style can be quite generic. Action scenes have lots of flair, lots of flash, and a lot of personality. Comedic moments reminded me of One Piece, in the way that faces could simplify, become jagged, or distort in order to further the comedy of the show. The alien beings can be very unique and strange, bringing lots of personality to the background characters or the rare side character for a one-off episode or two.
SOUND: 6/10
The soundtrack is somewhat generic, with a tad bit of flair, but to be honest it didn't really stick with me. The OP is good and the ED is decent, though I prefer to watch it more for the visuals than the song itself.
CHARACTER: 6/10
Here's where the show, to me, feels bloated and highly flawed. The show's current episodes, up to "Paint It Black", are filled to the brim with character introductions. We also don't get much development from our protagonist besides the backstory that is repeated a few times within the show. I wouldn't have a problem with a show with this many characters, but to be honest it felt like I would rather have had development of our current characters instead of constant introductions to new ones just so that they don't appear again, or if they do, appear once.
ENJOYMENT: 4/10
I hated "Paint it Black", which is as far as we have so far. To refer to this as a "finale", it is one of the worst I've ever seen. Along with constant character introductions that made me wish for more protagonist or main character building or plot development, and the plot itself being decent to boring, it became a bit of a chore to sit through, even though it had a decent beginning.
OVERALL: 6/10
A fairly average show with several things bogging it down, but occasionally nice-looking fight scenes. Once this gets more episodes, I would recommend you check it out because it will most likely continue with what we have now that all the characters are introduced, but until then you should probably avoid it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 1, 2015
School Days is most likely the worst anime I have ever seen. Randomly given to me by Crunchyroll, my friend on Skype told me to marathon the series in one night and tell him how I was feeling throughout it. What followed was a hilarious, rage-inducing, tiring, slog of a 12 episode series that felt so painful and tortuous I felt that I could have caught up on One Piece, when it was actually only about 6 to 8 hours of time spent watching anime.
STORY: 3/10
The story revolves around a clueless bloke who apparently lives in an alternate universe where clueless, spineless freaks can get
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so many women they could make every harem anime crap their britches in fear and jealousy. He chooses a girl to be his love, but during this time with her he begins to grow apart from her, and other girls begin to find him attractive. Drama ensues when he cannot decide who to be with.
The cowardly protagonist's spineless inability to tell any of them whether or not he wants to leave them causes you to hate him more and more as the series goes by. This is an animated version of a visual novel by the same name's worst route, which is made all the more apparent as you watch the protagonist make mistake after mistake after awful mistake, strung together by scenes that obviously are the same within all routes of the series, adding jarring mood swings within the show's writing that make the viewing all the more uncomfortable.
Surprisingly, however, it ends on a very good note.
ART: 3/10
I've always disliked anime with the art style that School Days goes for. Movement, backgrounds, and objects all look fairly average, and what doesn't look average looks terrible. Eyes on characters are horribly oversized and faces (especially the bridge of the nose) look terribly angular. At some points, what I was meant to see as a head looked like a distorted Dorito chip with terribly plastered on hair. Background characters are sometimes not even given a face and are instead human-shaped blobs of grey, which I wouldn't mind if they were too far away from the protagonist, but instead these are characters seen mere feet away from the protagonist. Again, it all adds to a general unease when you watch the series.
SOUND: 2/10
I literally cannot remember a single thing when it comes to the OST of the show. None of the songs were memorable, all of it being generic, milquetoast, corny piano songs that fail to add any feeling to what was happening on screen. The OP is harmless and the ED is generic. It's all that. It's all generic. It's all boring. Nothing is unique when it comes to sound design within this show. None of the voices are interesting or even memorable enough to be mentioned and I think that's the real kicker. I'd give this thing anything above a 2 out of 10 if it even tried, but it didn't. It's all boring, generic, simple, and safe. Nothing is new, nothing is different, which is why it was rated as low as it is. You'd probably tell me "Oh, if it's average, it could be a 5/10!" but to that I say no. You shut your mouth. There's a huge difference between a soundtrack being "generic" and a soundtrack being "average". At least a generic show would have more than one mood to their music other than "unemotional dramatic piano". The only reason this drivel is anything above a 1 out of 10 is because there's more than one song in the OST.
CHARACTER: 1/10
Hoo boy. Here's where we get to the worst part. If I could rate this anything past 1, it would get a -10. Every character is an unlikable, heaping, despicable pile of lies and idiocy. Love interests are all incredibly bland and none of them are worth remembering. They're generic tropes who, if they aren't getting fondled by out despicable protagonist, are just talking about the innate desire to wrap their arms around Blandy and show him what happens during School Nights, if you catch my drift.
The protagonist is the worst. Literally, the worst. I cannot think of a single good thing about this character's personality. He's despicable, you cannot relate to him, he's selfish, he's rude, he's ignorant, he's a lightning rod for women in the show and hatred in reality. His very presence on my screen caused me to be filled with vitriol. The only time he shows any backbone is when he finds a new girl he wants to make his, before becoming a pusillanimous hooplehead who shows no interest in anything to do with them. I don't even know how to word the sheer amount of hatred I find for this man. He's awful. He's just awful.
ENJOYMENT: 2/10
The only reason my enjoyment isn't 1/10 is because I had a friend who would laugh at my rage and encourage me to keep going through this garbage. If I had watched this anime alone, I would have had no way to vent my rage, only letting it stew inside me and forcing me to drop this dreck with a 1/10 enjoyment rating.
OVERALL: 2/10
The fact that this exists, means that we've already lost. The only reason this virulent trash of an abomination I would call an anime is anything other than a Pathetic 1/10 is the satisfying ending. Do not watch this show. Do not. Please. For the love of all that is holy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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