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Dec 1, 2023
“Suzume” is what happens when You have an awesome premise and are not sure what to do with it.
One day a young girl gives directions to a wandering stranger. Enchanted by him, she decides to see his destination for herself. She stumbles upon a lone door, surrounded by water, in the middle of ruins of an old town. Driven by curiosity she opens the door to witness a different place - a beautiful plane with a night sky. Without the means to step into that plane she unwillingly becomes the catalyst for events that could kill thousands of people. Now, with the help of the
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stranger she met earlier she embarks on a journey to make things right again.
I’m going to say it at the start. This movie has some serious writing problems. Both with pacing and motivations of the characters. Not saying anything about the nonsense that goes on between the main duo. It feels like it was written by a film student and not someone who has a lot of experience in the business.
As for the main cast
Suzume - our titular heroine and a girl that should have had a talk about not falling in love with men that get turned into chairs. In all seriousness she’s a high school student that acts before thinking. She’s brave but emotional (at least to a point). She lost her mother at an early age and was taken in by her aunt, who treated her as her own child. Despite that she has little to no problems abandoning her only mother figure for a man she just met and an adventure that could end her life. She doesn’t really try to explain anything to her guardian, she just goes and then has the nerve to tell her aunt that she’s suffocating. Not really a great role model.
Souta - A young man, studying to be a teacher, who travels Japan in search of doors that could bring calamity and closes them. He encounters Suzume on one such mission and is pretty quickly turned into a chair thanks to her actions. Despite that he’s a competent source of knowledge for Suzume and an occasional comic relief. He is horribly underutilised in this story, working mostly as a dumb motivation for Suzume. He does get a pretty big role towards the end but it gets wasted.
The rest of the cast is forgettable, well maybe except the aunt but she doesn’t have a big role in the overall plot so I’m not wasting time on her.
The main problem with this movie is the fact that it wants to do too much in too little time. Thanks to that the whole thing feels like a draft more than a thought out script.
Starting with the main girl herself. She has a motivation but it’s a very selfish motivation. Normally I wouldn't mind that but in this case there is a problem - her motivation is love. She fell in love with Souta almost immediately. He didn’t even do anything special to start her fascination. He just asked for directions. I know there is this whole, bullshit plot excuse for this that we get served at the end, but it’s still stupid. The girl knows him longer as a talking chair than a human and is still down for it. She even kisses him while in his chair form. She also sits and stands on him but I’m chalking it up to writer fetishes.
The second thing that is really infuriating, is that whatever trouble she gets into there is ALWAYS someone, or something, to get her out of it. People just help her out the moment she needs it. Needs transport? She meets a girl with a bicycle and later a student with a car. Needs shelter? A mother of two just picks her up. The world just bends over backwards for her. Now granted it’s not totally free and she does repays the kindness but it’s still lazy writing. Let me see her regret this journey, let me see her determination in the face of challenges (yes we do get ONE example of that at the end but that’s not enough). For eff’s sake, she’s the reason a young man was turned into a chair and yet she doesn’t seem to be sorry for that in any way, shape or form. If anything she uses that as an excuse to go on an adventure. I’m not saying she should cry over it every 5 minutes but at least give me a scene when she and Souta have a heart to heart about her fault in this mess. Give me anything that would make me think of her as something more than a spoiled brat that always gets her way.
When it comes to Souta his main problem is that he’s barely in the movie. We do get a pretty solid scene of him benign on the edge, just one step away from becoming just a normal inanimate object and that Suzume is the only thing keeping him on this side but it’s over so fast and done so lazily that it barely matters. We get a lot more of his fear at the end but because of the situation we get it at, it means close to nothing. Also why the hell a student at a university, close to becoming a teacher, even entertains the thought of a relationship with a highschool girl. Seriously. WTF? At least give me a good reason for that.
Now for the themes… I honestly don’t know what to tell You about it. This movie wants to do so much in such little time that it loses its message. Except maybe one, but I’ll get to that. It tries to be a coming of age story about a girl that’s searching for her own path. It tries, and fails miserably, to be a romance. It tries to be a drama. It even tries to be a fantasy story. Fails on most accounts. The fantasy elements are used as an excuse for the last scene. I don’t mind it. It is actually pretty solid. If the movie would get rid of the bullshit worm aspect of it and replace it with something more personal I think I would really like it. As it stands it uses the fantasy and drama elements for cheap laughs and… nothing really more. The drama parts are so badly set up that I truly didn’t care about the implications (which were none by the way) of the big argument between Suzume and her aunt. The only good message I got from the movie is that sometimes You do get to choose Your family. It’s not a bad message but the movie doesn’t focus on it enough to make it stick the landing.
When it comes down to it I really don't have much good to say about the writing. It’s full of cheap tricks to make You think You care and uses a shit load of plot armor and deus ex machinas to push the plot forward.
That said it does use those cheap tricks pretty well. Well enough for me not to quick at the 20 minute mark at least. Despite being lazy and lacking anything that could pretend to be logic, the movie is a pretty entertaining watch. As long as You don’t think about the plot too much.
If anything I think You can enjoy it for it’s visual and audio qualities
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 18, 2023
“4 Cut Hero” is what happens when You want to speedrun ¾ of a normal fantasy anime.
Imagine a world that is a wacky amalgamation of a standard, medieval fantasy setting and today’s world. Now imagine a hero that is a similar amalgamation, a OP AF powerhouse with NEET lifestyle and little to no aspirations. You got it. That’s the setup for this show.
One day a Young hero defeats the Dark Lord. Driven not by altruism, not by a higher calling but by… greed. Our hero - Zeed wanted to be rich and to marry a princess after a drunk sage filled with head with
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some “peek of your life” nonsense. So he did. Now he’s out of the job and lives his life like a proper NEET. Playing games and visiting maid cafes. That is until shit hits the fan and he’s dragged into a series of weird events.
There is little to say about the characters. Except Zeed all have very little screen time so we don’t get full backstories. My OCD hates it’s not as annoying as I was expecting it to be.
The whole parody vibe of the show is pretty solid. Not great but I’ll give them a B+ in the subverting expectations department. A lot of tropes You find in a fantasy anime are turned upside down just for a cheap laugh and I liked it. I’m honestly not sure if the show is self aware or the satire is a fluke and I don’t care. It got a laugh out of me a few times. Something that most “comedy” shows aren’t capable of.
So yeah. If You want to see Your favourite fantasy trope gutted and laugh about it. Watch this. Totally worth it, even if the episodes are very, very short.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 17, 2023
“Reborn as a Vending Machine” is what happens when You think too much about whether magic equipment in D&D has a mind of its own.
One night, as the young man with a passion for vending machines woke up, he discovered that he had been changed into the object of his devotion. He stood, in his new sturdy but immobile body, on a grass field near a lake in a place not known to him. As he considered his situation he remembered that he had died in a rather silly accident featuring a vending machine. After getting accustomed to his new situation and assessing his new
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found skills and abilities, he makes another discovery. He has been transported into another world.
While losing hope he meets a young, energetic and incredibly strong girl. She decides to take him to the nearest town. From that moment they form an unlikely team and go on adventures together.
Yes, the premise is a bit twisted but at the same time pretty interesting. The main cast is pretty soli, even if a little cliche. Speaking of the main cast.
Boxxo - the isekaied, reborn as a vending machine in a fantasy world, titular hero of the story. The name Boxxo was given to him by Lammis because she rightfully came to the conclusion that calling him “You” all the time would be a pain. He has very limited ability to verbally communicate with the outside world, given he can only speak a few lines straight from a vending machine.
When it comes to his powers… yes… despite being a vending machine he’s still OP as most isekai protagonists. At first his abilities consist of selling his goods (it seems that he can sell anything that was in a vending machine that he had contact in his previous life), changing the assortment which he has unlimited stock as long as he has the points for it, changing into different kinds of machines and… oh yes… creating an impenetrable, magical barrier that can protect from virtually anything. You know… the standard vending machine stuff that we have in the real world. Nothing too fancy. As the show goes on he gains more and more abilities and forms. To the point that he is able to defeat a powerful monster that nearly offed his whole team, just by changing forms and using basic chemistry and physics. Near the end he becomes not only a source of nourishment for his companions but also weapons, plans and even healing. OP AF but in a way that’s not totally annoying. Except the bullshit in the last episode, that was garbage.
Lammis - an energetic, positive (most of the time) young girl with a classical for anime allergy for clothes, as depicted by what she’s wearing all the time. She finds Boxxo near the lake after losing all her supplies. Driven by hunger she purchases some drinks as food from the vending machine and decides to take him with her. Of course she first asks for his permission. Despite acting like an air head she does have some analytical skills and can even think on the fly. She deduces that Boxxo isn’t an ordinary magic tool and even thinks of a way that he can, to a limited extent, communicate with others. She does have a personal goal but it’s not stated clearly in the show, but it is stated that she would like to have a proper conversation with Boxxo and maybe even for him to taste her cooking.
Apart from that there isn’t much to tell about her apart from that she gets scared easily, doesn’t like ghost stories or anything horror related, can tell Boxxo’s state of mind… somehow, and is probably too attached to him. Seriously it’s bordering on obsession. Someone get her some help.
Hulemy - she joins the main cast after being saved from the “geniuses” who kidnapped her and Boxxo. Truly the big brain move on the part of the villains. She’s a childhood friend of Lammis and a skilled magic-item engineer. She’s competent as an engineer and intelligent, she’s the first person to deduce that a human soul resides inside Boxxo. Unlike Lammis she’s more thoughtful with her actions but still gets involved with her friends shenanigans. When it comes to the main trio she’s the most mature but still loves to tease Lammis. She showed compassion to the victim when she witnessed the abuse of magic-item engineering. Showing that she has more respect both for the craft itself and its uses than some of her colleagues. The thing that’s strange to me is that an engineer didn’t want to disassemble Boxxo to see what makes him tick. I guess that after she found out about the human soul in him she might have started to see him in a different light but I would still like an explanation. She’s probably the most interesting character in the show and is criminally underutilised. I would love for her to take centre stage more often than just in two episodes.
There are more recurring characters in the show but they don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. They are just there to show how important Boxxo is to the adventurers or just make Lammis look like she’s more than just Boxxo’s transport.
When it comes to the plot… yeah… there isn’t any overarching one. It’s just things that happen to Boxxo and ways that he deals with them. Thanks to the premise itself I don’t really mind that we have a passive protagonist. Something that I usually despise in any kind of medium. This time? I don’t mind it because having a vending machine with a grand goal would be even more insane than the story already is. So yeah. Congratulations show, You made me not mind something I usually hate. Gold star.
Apart from that… it’s ok. Don’t get me wrong, I did have fun watching the show but it’s nothing too original when it comes to the plot itself. The originality comes from the uniqueness of the MC but that’s it. Because he’s passive, he usually just protects people with his barrier in the beginning from situations that You saw a million times in millions of other anime. But, because he’s mostly defensive there is still a little bit of drama. Not much but enough to not get bored watching. When he gets even more OP the show loses most of its tension. Even the last episode that had the most drama by far, was brought down to mediocrity level thanks to the bullshit that Boxxo pulled out of his… I want to say ass but do vending machines have those?
I did find some things a bit repetitive and annoying. The amount of times Boxxo gets separated from Lammis is pretty ridiculous. I think only one of those times felt organic, when they were fighting the boss of the level. The other times it was just a pretext for the story to introduce new characters. I don’t want to say it’s lazy but it’s repetitive af and gets old after the second time. Another thing is Lemmis' obsession with our cuboid MC. I get that some people are avoiding her because of her blessing that makes her a bit clumsy and a hindrance to an adventure party but come on. There are times when the show frames her attachment as almost (I’m gonna use that word even if it’s not needed) romantic.. And Boxxo likes it! Granted from his perspective it’s more understandable, he was a young man with urges and she is an attractive lass, but what reasons she has to treat him like a potential partner are beyond me. Like “The Doors” sang: “People are strange”.
All in all this is not a terrible show, it’s not great either but it is enjoyable. The comedy is a hit or miss, it did miss for me most of the time but there are episodes (interestingly enough all of them are without Lemmis much in them) that are pretty well written and prove that the show had potencial bo much more than just a silly comedy.
I think it’s still worth a watch if You like anime that let You just relax and give Your brain cells a rest.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 4, 2023
“Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero!” is what happens when You dial up a bromance up to 11.
The Hero Max and his companions are able to defeat the Demon Lord. Ten years later the fiend reawakens. In the body of a small androgynous child. Eager to fight his adversary again he quickly tracks down Max. Unfortunately the last decade wasn’t kind to the former hero. He became a lazy slacker neet. After the initial shock the Demon Lord decides to move in with Max and get him in shape both physically and mentally so they can have their rematch.
Not gonna lie, the premise
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is the reason why I watched this. It sounded awesome. The reality… isn’t as interesting.
For starters let’s have a look at the characters that matter for the plot:
Max - The Hero who led the team, then defeated the Demon Lord a decade prior. Today he’s washed-up, lives in a small one room apartment, and has plenty of scandals under his belt. He acts like he doesn’t really care but he still holds on to his old, holy sword and even talks to kids about his adventures proving he is, at least to some degree living in the past. He tries to avoid trouble but he gets dragged in anyway.
Maou - The reborn Demon Lord. Despite being quite masculine in his previous incarnation he now has a body of an androgynous but still rather feminine child. He has the ability to transform into a young woman and doesn’t seem to want or can change into other human forms. He has an unhealthy obsession with Max. Like really unhealthy. Instead of taking care of his domain, maybe preparing for the reawakening of the demon king, he decides to take care of Max. Not in a Hitman: Code 47 kind of way but more like a mother or wife way. He cooks, cleans and tries to get the former hero on his feet. He even gets flustered when Max says something nice about his cooking or is looking at his adult female form stunned.
Zenia - officially a secretary of the Demon Lord. She’s the reason why he’s wearing a sailor’s uniform with a skirt. Unofficially practically everything that the demon lord needs. She’s proficient at gathering information doing that for the last ten years so that the Demon Lord would be up to date. She can’t really hold her liquor. She got drunk and caused a commotion and trouble for Max after just one beer. Let’s be honest, she’s in the show as eye candy and little more. Despite that I think she’s the most underutilised character in the show.
Fred - no, not the barber Fred from “Courage the Cowardly Dog”, this time we have a cleric Fred. He’s one of the members of the Hero team that kicked the Demon’s Lord ass. Friend to Maou and Leo even though he has a strange way of showing it at times. He serves as Chief Secretary at the Royal Bureau of Magic aka a government slave. He’s competent, skilled, confident and likes to have an upper hand when “negotiating”. He cares for his friends but shows it in a very tsundere way.
Leo - Another member of the heroes party. Leo was the tank of the team. Strong, loyal and always having a positive attitude with sometimes infuriated Fred. After the Kingdom tried to swindle his people out of natural resources on their land he was forced to declare independence and with that started a civil war. He did that but made sure to not kill any soldier on the opposite side. He’s strong, like to fight and is loyal to his friends. Of course that doesn’t mean he’s not more than willing to get into a fight with them.
The cast is pretty strong with most characters having some pretty good motivation to their actions. If I have to be honest, the worst one is Max. He’s the only one without any true motivation or goal. It seems like everyone is doing something except the hero. Well… that’s not entirely true. He does reject both his friends when they try to involve him in their conflict. He’s as passive as passive can be. A reborn Demon Lord moves in with him? Cool. He’s practically kidnaped and forced into a “field trip” to another nation? No problem. I get he’s supposed to be a washed-up loser but come on. That’s overkill. He does bare minimum, just to keep himself alive. It takes a war for him to stop being pathetic and even then it’s pretty much a stretch to call him a hero again.
When it comes to the plot itself it’s a weird mix. The show starts off as a comedy but as the show progresses it begins to show a bit of political thriller and at the end it’s almost a full on political action thriller. I don’t really mind that. I have a soft spot for well written political thrillers. This one.. Is not it. The problem is mixing comedy and politics. The comedy doesn’t really hit with all the conniving and manipulations and the politics isn’t a good match for the type of characters Max and Maou are. Despite Maou sometimes acting like a proper demon lord and trying to recruit the hero and other characters to his side, he mostly acts like a wife or girlfriend. It kills the drama for me. Especially that some of those moments are played completely straight.
World building has some problems as well. The part that I truly don’t get is why the war with the demons even happens. There is a point when we see the Demon Lord instruct his minions to not kill humans mindlessly as they do not reincarnate. That shows that Maou cherishes life. So why the war? Why would someone who doesn’t want to kill humans go to war with them? The only reason I could think of is that it’s the result of humans benign humans and feeding people some bullshit to get the riled up and forcing demons to defend themselves. It’s a huge hole in both world and character building.
Apart from that the writing isn’t anything special. It’s just a middle of the road comedy that plays with some romcom tropes. To be honest it did get me to chuckle now and then and the relationship between Max and Maou is a pretty interesting one. Threading the line between a bromance and a full on romance at times. I liked it. It took cliche tropes that got old a decade or two ago and put a nice twist on them.
All in all it’s not a bad show but it’s not great either. The potential is there and the show ends in a way that promises more things to come and those things could be more political in nature. I wouldn't mind that to be honest. If the writers would do a better job at balancing the politics and type of comedy this could be a really solid show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 30, 2023
“High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!” is what happens when You play too much Civilization with cheats on.
One day a plane carrying seven highschoolers that are the best in their fields crashes. After regaining consciousness they discover they got transported to a fantasy world seemingly without any rhyme or reason. In that world they start helping people that showed them kindness only to end up leading a social and industrial revolution.
Our main cast consists of:
Tsukasa - head of the Japanese government. Seriously, who in the right mind votes a kid for the job. He is the leader of the coterie and…
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it seems that being a politician means that You are skilled in negotiations, non verbal communication and oh yeah… freaking military tactics. I don’t think the writers met a politician in their lives. He has a semi tragic backstory. Zero personality.
Ringo - A genius inventor who travels with a damn mini nuclear reactor in her backpack. She’s timid, shy and has a crush on Tsukasa. She has a semi tragic, but really dumb, backstory. Otherwise she doesn’t have much screen time and I’m actually thankful for that because she’s easily the most annoying member of the team.
Aoi - a… samurai? I have no idea what her deal is but it seems she travels the world to fight in wars with her sword. She’s able to dodge bullets and run as fast as a missile. No personality whatsoever.
Shinobu - a dual class journalist - ninja. Seriously, it's as bad as You think it is. She acts as a spy for Tsukasa, is cheerful, has big boobs and terrible acting skills. Little personality.
Akatsuki - in theory an illusionist but even before being transported to a fantasy world he seems to have some supernatural powers. Absolutely zero personality.
Keine - every anime needs a big titted medic. It’s a golden standard. Just look at “Highschool of the Dead”. Apparently being a doctor means she can diagnose patients, perform operations, produce medicine and poisons. A bit of a mad-scientist type, is a bit fun but only for one moment in the whole show so I’m not counting that. No personality.
Masato - Yeah… the only one I actually like. He’s a capitalist and an entrepreneur. He makes cash, he likes making cash and even got himself a disciple. Also… no personality.
Did You notice a theme there?
Yes. No one has anything remotely resembling a personality. They are just their function or title, dialled up to 11 and written in a way that it fakes a personality. Not one member of the coterie could be mistaken for a real human. They are just problem solvers with nothing going on except their tasks… well… maybe a bit of terrible “romance” with Ringo but it’s so bad I wouldn’t really count it.
When it comes to isekai writing I think this one is one of the most lazy, nonsensical and just plain dumb. There is little logic to anything really. From the decision the coterie makes, to the reaction of people to the loose rules of what everyone can do, it’s just lazy writing. Do you have a problem? Fear not. Some will pull out a solution out of his or her ass without any build up, set up or any kind of Chekhov's gun. To be honest I think the writers don’t even know what a Chekhov's gun is.
I think one of the most pathetic moments in writing is when Aoi runs along with a goddamn missile through a burning part of the city, keeps up with it and even is able to steer it once she mounts it. It’s so dumb it’s not even entertaining.
The nonsense doesn’t stop there. Despite having shitty, primitive technology they are able to produce modern weapons and not the makeshift kind, we are talking about fully operational, grade A quality guns. Not only guns, drones, AA missiles and other modern technology including factories.
The greatest mystery for me is… who flew the plane? Were there no pilots? If they were what happened to them? I need answers!
This show also has the honour of having some of the most pathetically written villains I have seen in a while. They are lazily written and use cliches to establish the fact they are evil. We have a rapist and a fight junkie with no regards to anyone or anything that isn’t the emperor. Yes. It’s as boring as it sounds.
All in all it’s really hard to get invested in the show. There are no real stakes because it’s obvious from episode 2 that everyone has plot armour thicker than a neutron star and there are no real negative consequences to their decisions. It’s just boring and predictable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 29, 2023
“Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody” is what happens when You have a generic boring premise and equally boring and cliche execution.
A 29 year old programmer has to work late to make changes to a game his company is developing. Exhausted he finally is able to go to sleep after a crunch. He wakes up in a world similar to the one in the game he helped develop. He even uses his nickname as his new name. Because of an unfortunate event and the fact that his idea, he wanted to implement in the game happened to be his new reality, he goes from
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lvl 1 to max lvl in one evening. Now, being overpowered, over equipped and having more cash he knows what to do with, he begins his new life.
Despite having a few characters there really is only one that matters and that’s our MC - Satuu. A 29 year old programmer that woke up in the body of a 15 year old in a fantasy world running on game logic, with inventory, stats and levels. As most isekai MC’s he’s OP AF. This time with an ability that basically makes him a god. The ability to learn anything and thanks to his get max lvl quick escapade he can level those skills up to the max in a blink of an eye. On top of that he pulls a lot of skill out of his ass. Some of them he learns without a real good reason.
When it comes to his personality… yeah… he has none. He’s just a pure hearted, kind, helpful fool. That said, he’s at least not a complete moron and is aware of his situation and predicament of having a harem of slave (for some reason most isekais have slavery legal) girls, some of which are basically kids. Good thing they are not attracted to him in “that way”.
Other characters are just there for no real reason. Most of them contribute little to nothing to advance the plot or even world building.
Seriously, this anime uses almost every trick in the cliche book to build its word and play with its tone. It even uses the characters of young, small, demihuman slaves to make the MC seem like a paragon of virtue. Even when he’s doing not so virtuous things (like visiting a brothel) it’s always played like it’s not entirely his fault. Same with kissing characters that look too young or squeezing the breast of one of his companions. Basically he’s living a self indulgent dream without any fault of his own. It’s extremely boring and gets old really fast.
I would like to say that the best written parts are his interactions with his companions… and unfortunately that’s true. He acts like a father figure to some, brother to others but in all cases he’s just kind, patient and doesn’t show anything that would suggest he’s not an NPC.
The show tries to portray him as clever, intelligent and resolute but that doesn’t really work in a setting when the whole world bends over backwards for him. Every dilemma he’s in is resolved with one of his OP skills and often those that aren’t even set up. He has a problem? He just pulls out another skill out of his ass to save the day.
All in all it’s not a bad shot. It’s not good either. It’s just bland and lacks anything that could be considered a creative though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 18, 2023
“Peach Boy Riverside” is what happens when You have a cool premise and still manage to turn it into a boring slog of a show.
One day a princess meets a feminine boy travelling through the land. Being confined to her own kingdom she yearns to hear stories about the outside world. Before that could happen she witnesses as the delicate boy slaughters, with visible pleasure a squad of oni - powerful creatures bent on killing humans.
“Inspired”, if You can really call it that, by the encounter she decides to go on a journey to learn about the outside world. In the beginning her journey doesn’t
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really have a goal but during it she finds companions and the goal for her travels. All while fighting monsters and learning more and more about the outside world, it’s people and herself.
Yeah… it’s a basic fantasy story. Nothing really original and the worst part is that the main cast is forgettable and boring. There are only three characters I really gave a damn about and only one of them is labelled as “main” on MAL. Those are:
Mikoto Kibitsu - a young boy that gets mistaken for a girl a lot thanks to his slim build, long hair and delicate face. Most of the time he acts calm and kind but when it comes to killing oni he becomes a real sociopath, taking pleasure with each kill. He runs into Sally (the princess on her journey) a lot Like… A LOT. Almost like the world is smaller than it looks or the writer doesn’t have an idea for him. He has a tragic backstory because… of course he does. It’s like a damn standard for a character like him and that honestly makes him more boring than he could be.
Carrot aka Meki - an oni that lost the source of her horn. She travels with Sally and her coterie. She’s full of anger and hate towards humans, like all oni, but is forced to journey with one (well technically two but that’s not important). During her travels she’s confronted with both the vile and good sides of humanity. The problem is the “good” mostly comes from her companions which makes “lessons” she learns rather pathetic and flat. Shame because out of all the cast her pov would be the most interesting. Unfortunately the writers were lazy and just made her an instrument of stupid “lessons”.
Sumeragi - a man with a plan. What that plan is? Who knows. At least he’s a bit more intriguing than most of the characters in the show. He has his own goal and uses both oni and humans to achieve it. I can respect that.
Those are the only 3 characters that have anything interesting about them.
The problem is that they are profoundly underutilized. Apart from Mikoto they act as background 90% of the time.
So much for the cast. Let’s get to the story.
This show has a chronology problem.
Not in an awesome, thoughtful and meaningful way like “Memento” has. No. Watching this show is like watching 12 episodes arranged almost randomly.
It tries to have a message about prejudice but it’s so damn heavy handed that a facepalm is the only reaction it got out of me. There is no subtlety to it and very little nuance. It’s all literally spelled out for You by exposition dialog. Lazy writing 101 - tell don’t show and that’s exactly what this show does. Shame because it has a world that would be perfect for showing more than just open hostility.
At some point there is a pretty pathetic attempt by the show to portrait some oni as sympathetic. The problem with that is that it really doesn’t work. The show plays it as just because You did one good thing or just because You fell in love, You are absolved from the monstrous things You did before. Rather pathetic but it is a standard for most anime and it annoys me to no end anytime a writed does that.
When it comes to fight choreography the show is… yeah… it’s bad. Like really bad. It’s just the same boring shit You see everywhere now. A few starting frames and then just straight cut to the end result. I can forgive this when it comes to non essential fights but it’s the same even in fights that should be emotional and meaningful.
The show also doesn’t give a damn about its own continuity. Especially when it comes to Carrot / Meki and her eye.
Would I recommend this show?
No. Even if You were to watch the episodes in an order that makes it more linear it would still be boring, lazily written and dragging.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 9, 2023
“Ikoku Meiro no Croisée The Animation” is what happens when you make a show with an interesting premise but simplify it to the most bare bones, feel good and naive things You can.
A young japanese girl named Yune arrives in Paris. Brought in by Oscar, she is to become a live-in maid for a small blacksmith / metal craft shop that is run mainly by his grandson - Claude. From that day she discovers new things in an unknown place and makes Claude’s life a little more “interesting”.
Yeah, that’s it.It’s a slice of life show so don’t expect an overarching plot or even a main
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goal for the characters. They are just living their lives in a seemingly peaceful way. There is a little bit of drama in all this but it’s resolved pretty fast.
As for the main cast:
Yune - 15 year old Japanese girl who came to France with Oscar. Why? Don’t know, that’s not really revealed even in the later episodes. She’s the main source of fluff and the reason why You should check Your sugar level after each episode. She adapts rather quickly to her new surroundings and even gets something that could almost be called a friend… if You’re naive enough.
Claude Claudel - A young man working at the metal crafting shop and takes care of Yune. He creates signs and other things made from metal. He is the third generation working in this shop. Despite benign 17 he can be pretty cold and dry to Yune and other people. Especially those who he doesn’t trust. At the end of the day he cares about Yune and even when he’s harsh to her he mostly does it out of care and not malice.
Oscar - Caude’s grandfather with a pretty huge wanderlust. It is on one of his travels that he meets Yune and takes her back with him. He’s mostly easy going, has terrible luck with women and seemingly doesn’t like to work.
Alice Blanche - the most annoying character in the show by far. She’s obsessed with Japan and Yune. To be honest I thought the show would make her redeemable but no. From start to finish she’s just an obnoxious cunt that treats Yune more like a fascinating plaything than a person. She’s not malicious in it, she’s written in a way that suggests she doesn't even notice that and thinks she’s just friends with Yune. Unlikable as hell.
Now that we know the cast I want to say something.
Despite being in a foreign land Yune’s culture shock is mostly used in the most generic and lazy way possible. Yes she learns about differences in food, that people in Paris are colder than in japan (according to her anyway) she doesn’t really adapt or fight it. It’s just there. There is only one moment when she actually listens to Caude’s warning and that’s the only moment when she actually doesn’t have to. It’s a bit of a wasted potential to show how someone from a totally different background adapts to her new life but I guess there were more important things for the authors.
What really disappointed me was the fact that the show sets up pretty good dramas between characters and then either totally forgets about them or resolves them in a two minute monologue. Not even a conversation. I would love to see a proper development and resolution to some of the Claude-Yune frictions and even more the Calude-Camille one. I get it, it’s an episodic slice of life / Iyashikei show. But then why set those up?
What the show does rather freely is make Yune act like a little kid. Seriously she’s 15 but mostly acts like a 5 year old. She smiles, laughs, cries and the show uses all those to make her as sweet as possible. She can’t even be afraid without looking like something that should make You take insulin. The show doesn’t hide the fact that most of the things that happen, happen because Yune needs something to do and not because of any kind of logic. It’s not bad per se, but some of the situations are so dumb and naive that I had problems suspending my disbelief.
I think the saddest part of all this is that despite Yune having some pretty interesting interactions and adventures she doesn’t really grow through the show. Apart from maybe benign more forward to people she doesn’t change her attitude or behaviour in any way.
All in all it’s not a bad show. If You’re a fan of Iyashikei You can actually find it entertaining. There are some sombre tones but most of the show is pretty calm and peaceful, even if Alice can turn Yune’s day into a rollercoaster.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 7, 2023
“Drug Store in Another World” is what happens when You have a fever dream from watching too much isekai topped with a (un)healthy dose of “Humanity Has Declined”.
The show doesn’t have an overarching plot, it’s episodic in nature, every episode is divided into 2-3 short stories in which our main hero pulls out a “medicine” (or a biological weapon in at least one case) out of his ass and solves someone's problem. That’s it. That’s the plot. Not one of them has any real sense of tension or drama. They are all structured the same and even rely heavily on the same type of humour:
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loud, obnoxious slapstick.
Normally I would go over the main cast but… I can’t here. All of them are one trick ponies that have one trait written as if it was personality.
Reiji - a plot device for creating “medicine”... seriously those are just magical macguffins that solve problems.
Mina - the most mature of the cast… still a moron in many ways.
Noëla - loud, energetic, grade A calamity in loli form.
That’s it. There is absolutely nothing to those characters. Mina has a semi-tragic backstory but it’s nothing special.
To be fair I have no idea on what the show wants to rely on, on its comedy, simple plots or the relationships between characters because all of them (ok… the relationships between the main cast a little less) are written so poorly that it makes “Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter '' look competent. I guess that is a sort of achievement. There is very, VERY little original thought in all 12 episodes. It’s like watching someone play an RPG and only do meaningless side quests. The comedy get stale very fast and the overall “problems” that Reiji solves are mostly boring. I would get it at least his method of solving them was entertaining, I don’t know… some kind of Rube Goldberg shenanigans. But no, he just pulls out a perfect “medicine” out of his ass every, damn time. After the fourth episode I wanted to quit but my OCD kept me going.
To be fair not everything is rock bottom. Some of the side characters and their interactions with Reiji are solid. Mediocre but solid.
Would I recommend this?
Sure, if I wanted to prank You after You pissed me off.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 2, 2023
“The Sacred Blacksmith” is what happens when You create something that should be mentioned in the Britannica Dictionary under “subpar”.
If there ever was an anime that has little to no originality, uses cheat tricks to force an emotional reaction in a viewer and has barely any logical sense plot wise… this is it.
Apart from very few exceptions we witness the plot from the perspective of Cecily Cambell - a young, a bit naive, idealistic and energetic knight. Despite having the heart to protect people of the city she lacks the skills and mental fortitude (at least in the beginning) to make difficult decisions. After losing
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her father’s sword in a fight and witnessing the power of a katana he pesters Luke Ainsworth - a skilled blacksmith with an attitude problem, to forge her one. After being trusted with one of the demon swords her life takes a pretty wild turn.
The main cast consists of 4 forgettable cardboard cut-outs that have one trait each that was turned to a pseudo-personality. Luke is a cold, reserved prick, Lisa is a mascot with a pretty poorly hidden secret, Aria is a sword with a life crisis and Cecily is an annoying, energetic, loud mouth with deficiency in the brain department.
There is a silver lining. Despite the character themselves being pretty boring and subpar their interactions, especially Luke and Lisa, and Luke and Cecily, are rather well written. Not good but passable. At least there was effort put into writing it and the clash of personalities. Shame they didn’t extend that effort into showing how the characters grow on each other. One episode they have a pretty nice banter but still keep their distance and in the next Luke is spilling his guts to Cecily about his past. I call that lazy. I get that exposition dumps are a standard in anime and organically showing growth and development is hard but damn… this is taking laziness to a whole new level I thought was reserved only for the likes of Sword Art Online.
I will give the writers this: There is visible growth in Cecily. During the 12 episodes she grows as a person and as a knight. Yes, it’s not much but it is still progress. Something a lot of anime protagonists don’t really get. This shows the writers weren’t total hacks and given enough time they probably could create something worthwhile.
But that’s about it. The rest of the writing is mediocre at best. The dialogs are lazy and full of cheap tricks to make viewers care, the fight choreography is practically non-existent and a pretty interesting aspect with demons, demon weapons and pacts is treated as an afterthought for most of the show.
The show feels more like a fantasy slice of life with a little bit of action than anything else. Despite being called “The Sacred Blacksmith '' the whole blacksmith thing and Luke himself are pushed to the background up until the last 3 episodes.
I truly don’t recommend this show. It’s boring, predictable and lacks anything original. Everything in it was done in other shows and far better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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