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Jan 28, 2024
First and foremost I want to say that due to there being only three types of reviews - 1. Recommended, 2. Mixed Feelings and 3. Not Recommended, I was forced to set my review as "Recommended", when in fact it's sitting between "Recommended" and "Mixed Feelings".
I will get straight to the point, the characters are interesting and well developed, the story is also interesting, but the problem is the pacing and the cadence of events. What I've noticed about more popular and mainstream animes is that they get you involved into it from the start, whereas, the exposé in Heat Guy J literally takes about
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20 episodes before the plotlines start connecting and things begin to get interesting.
The anime is by no means bad, but if you aren't very patient or don't have a lot of free time, like I am, you will feel bored and not getting that urge to keep playing the next episode. The story is good, the world it takes place is actually very interesting, I only wish they explored it more than they did, for example, what is outside the city of Judoh. If this series was 12 episodes instead of 26, it would have been even better. If it had a 2nd or 3rd season that addresses further events, it might have been even better.
I guess the series didn't get enough traction so it never got the chance for further seasons. I'd say watch it, just arm yourself with some patience, the good things come at the end, and in the end you will feel like you wish there was more of this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 31, 2023
STORY: The story takes place in an elite school where students who graduate are promised being accepted in equally elite universities and a successful career. The protagonist is one such student who attends the school for the first year and is placed in class D. In the school there are classes ranging from A to D, with A being the "most successful students" and D being "the least successful students". This is in essence what sets the scene for the series - the main character is depicted with "underdog circumstances" and along with another character, they resolve to rise the ranks and seize being class
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D and move up in the hierarchy.
CHARACTERS: In the first episode, the protagonist wasn't portrayed as "OP", but that is evidenced later on through the anime on numerous occasions. So at first it was hard to determine what course the anime will take. But as the story went on, it was obvious that many characters are just living epitomes of tropes - (granted, I don't know the names of all the anime archetypes, so I will use some and explain others in my own words) the protagonist gives off the impression of an absent minded, nihilistic, apathetic, just doing things for the sake of it, not really putting much effort in some aspects and yet things keep happening for him, then there is this girl who is a tsundere and acts all distant, with the classic line of "It's not like I care about you, I'm just using you" or something along those lines, there is another girl who is a yandere and acts all nice with everyone, but it's just a facade, then there is one who is a dandere and is too shy to interact with anyone. The other characters are more minor, but they are all built on tropes - one is a jock who can't keep his mouth shut and gets angry really fast, a few are perverted loners, there is one bald guy who looks like the epitome of stoicism, one guy guy who I can best describe as a "dandy", one who acts like a Yakuza boss and so forth. What I dislike about this is that characters are mostly one-dimensional and don't expand beyond their archetype, which makes many things in the story too predictable and repetitive. When you've seen 10-20-30 animes like this, you just start identifying templates and it greatly diminishes the fun that can be had with it.
ENJOYMENT: While I enjoyed the premise of underdogs trying to fight against odds, the whole school or academic competition, which can literally be replaced with the Shounen tournament trope and it still fits nicely, for the most part, there have been many and often moments where things felt forced or plot armor was at play. For example, when all the odds look like the situation will end quite badly for the main characters, there is an unexpected turnaround and things end not only well, but almost perfect for them. Some of the things I did not enjoy one bit was the two-tone hair of every character and their two-tone eyes, it made them look like they are way too special, I found it to be distracting and unnecessary. Another thing I severely disliked was the obscene amount of fanservice - there were so many shots of panties, asses, tits, arms or hands pressing on tits and so forth, for me it was unnecessary and annoying, because it brings nothing to the plot.
OVERALL: For me the anime can be best described as "mainstream and generic AF". Basically, the anime tries to tick as many checkboxes for as many things as possible - romance, romantic triangles (and probably other geometric shapes), threats of blackmailing, drama, slice-of-life, combat, tournament/competition events, lying and deceiving, plotting, secret past with possible trauma. If this was my first anime or one of my first 10-20, I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more, but having seen hundreds, it felt like Deja Vu - something I've seen numerous times before. As I was watching, I found out, it has a second season and a third one on the way, so I was mentally preparing for the first season to end in some amazing, mind-wrenching cliffhanger, but it didn't, it just finished with the protagonist and his class having an epic victory when they were slated for an epic defeat. It would have been more believable if they finished second from last at least. Then the season ends with the character's monologue about how other people are just means to an end and how he was using everyone as a tool, painting him in a sociopathic light. Maybe the people who enjoy watching only mainstream things or are 15 years old will find this very cool and badass, but for me it was very anticlimactic. I admit I had some enjoyment watching this anime, but I feel zero urge to watch the subsequent seasons. So if you want to watch it, you will have more fun if you are new to animes in general, if you've seen over 100-200, chances are you will be feeling a similar Deja Vu as I did.
RATING: 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 22, 2023
I finally did a review for this after watching both Eat-Man 97 and Eat-Man 98 and I think this is the best way to experience this. You have to watch both in order to appreciate them despite their shortcomings.
For EM97, my biggest gripe was it being an anthology, lacking continuity and in my personal opinion being hardly coherent whatsoever. At times, I was scratching my head thinking what's going on, because despite the animation and action theme, it felt like some art house production instead - lots of metaphors, symbolism, etc. In other words, stuff I don't take too kindly to, I prefer more direct
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and straightforward approach.
EM98 doesn't have those problems - the story is about 3-4 segments, or 3-4 different stories with one recurring character from the middle episodes to the last episodes. The story being more coherent also makes it easier to watch and invest yourself in it better. But when you look at it from a distance, it's still similar to EM97 - Bolt Crank travelling the world, accepting jobs and then moving on and you are introduced to an entirely new scene and entirely new characters.
The only difference is there is definitely more action and Bolt Crank's powers and how his ability works are put on a greater display with more depth to it.
I think overall this sequel is also not too fantastic, but a definite improvement over the first one, again, if you decide to watch the series, make sure you watch both in order so you can appreciate them better. Just know you're not setting yourself up for a spectacle of epic proportions, it's niche, it's modest, but it's not horrible, so it's a plus.
I also have a review for EM97 (Eat-Man 97) so if you are interested check it out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 22, 2023
I'm writing this review after watching both Eat-Man 97 (this) and Eat-Man 98. When I began watching it, I had different expectations, but I soon learned that this series was not made after the manga, but instead it was random stories by a different person who uses Bolt Crank as a centerpiece of his stories.
So this is an anthology series loosely based around Eat-Man's character Bolt Crank. Each episode is its own story and they aren't necessarily very engaging, at least not for me. The personality of Bolt Crank is more or less in line with what the original character is - silent, stoic, enigmatic,
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mysterious, hard to read and hard to predict. On a few occasions he is shown smiling or making weird faces, which, I learned is not canon for his personality.
As for the stories, I found them to be rather boring for the most part, but Bolt Crank is an interesting character and somehow he kept the plot going. I ended up watching the better portion of the series on x1.5 speed, if it wasn't for the protagonist, I would have probably dropped it.
I decided to write this review after seeing the sequel, because I thought it will give me a better idea on the character and the universe and I was not wrong. If you decide to watch this series, definitely watch the sequel right after and form an opinion only then.
Overall, I think the series is not horrible, but the lack of continuity between episodes really made it hard for me to stay interested, it's not a bad series, just difficult for me to watch, you may feel differently. I kind of recommend it, but with a grain of salt, beware.
If you are interested, see my review for Eat-Man 98.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 1, 2023
I give it 6 for being pretty grounded in reality in terms of events, science and almost everything, but the plot felt somehow lacking.
It could easily have been laid out in about 6-7 episodes instead and it wouldn't have been any worse.
The characters are interesting and relatable, it was interesting when one detective sent the other to buy him hard to find cigarettes so as to protect him from learning dangerous information, it was a cool little detail.
Overall, the plot in general is a bit far-fetched, but for animes where even more outrageous things have happened, it's not that far-fetched, just looking at from the
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perspective of a story and not specifically an anime is where the plot feels far-fetched.
It's definitely not a waste to watch it, because it has a lot of good qualities - visuals, characters, scientifically realistic aspects, just at the end I felt somehow lacking, as if I was being pitched for some deep and entangling mystery, but it wasn't actually that in the end. At least not for me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 27, 2023
I initially decided to watch it after reading both positive, mixed and negative reviews making my mind to watch it and find out for myself if it's really as bad as the majority says it is and it being only 12 episodes made it quite easy.
After watching several episodes, I can understand some of the complaints of the negative reviews that they expected more, because it can feel lacking at times. But in defense of the anime, I will say that those who were expecting more, most likely are used to everything they watch to be of epic proportions and their senses are so dulled
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from "epicness" that they can't appreciate smaller and humbler things. What comes to mind is Mushishi - largely regarded as a very good Iyashikei about feeling good, healing, etc. I liked Mushihi, but can I explain why it was received better than Mayoiga? I can't. To me they both feel more or less the same thing, just depicted differently.
At times, I also had doubts if the story was good and interesting and while I got bored here and there, I had an urge to see what happens regardless and conclude it. Which I think it makes the anime a good one - if you are motivated to see it through to the end. If you can't, then it's clear sign of a bad anime.
I think the anime is a decent depiction of people dealing with the scars of their soul or others who want to avoid dealing with them. I've read multiple reviews and comments and and the ones that are negative or complaining come off as if their authors are cringy edgelord kids or cringy emotionally stunted adults displaying the characteristics of cringy edgelord kids who expect everything to be some fantastic experience of epic proportions that made them feel like, for example, the first time they watched One Piece or Naruto or something else that left a great impact on them and they've been chasing the dragon since then. In other words, I think the people who rated in negatively can't relate to the message, because it's foreign to them.
I read complaints like "I was not made to care about the characters" or "why didn't everyone choose to get saved?" or "the characters aren't acting realistically". I think that's pretty realistic - we don't care about everyone around us and not everyone around us cares about us, we don't like or care about all of our coworkers or classmates or all of the people on social gatherings we attend. Not everyone chose to get saved, because this is a common happening in life - not everyone can or is willing to face their problems and solve them, some will choose to run away from them until the end and you can't help them or convince them otherwise. Characters were acting unrealistically, because that's how some people act in real life, you can call them awkward little siblings or the weird kid with the 8th Grader Syndrome or just some adult who's just weird or not 100% sane, there are people like this all around us.
IN CONCLUSION: I think the anime is serviceable enough, complaints can be found about the depictions of things, the pacing of the story, the personal traumas of the different characters, because after all we can't put ourselves in everyone's shoes and that's OK, but it's a good allegory about facing up your problems, accepting them and learning to go on with them while trying to not them hold you back anymore. Don't expect some masterpiece, it's a simple message conveyed into figurative signs. It's very similar to the anime Sonny Boy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 9, 2023
I will keep it as short and as simple as possible.
I never care about animation or quality, I've seen countless animes where people in chorus complain how terrible the animations were, yet I never saw anything wrong at all. But Gensoumaden Saiyuki is the first anime where the animation is so lacking and rudimentary that I can't help but call it "BAD", because it is. Most visible in fighting scenes that look so poorly animated it's almost painful to look at.
What I mean is there is barely any animation whatsoever. Just static images moving around the screen with some flashy background. One example is
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when the characters were riding the truck and fell into a river. You would imagine this is depicted, but it's not - you see them driving towards the river bank and shouting, next thing you see is the sky and a splash animation coming from the bottom of the screen.
Now imagine this is the level of animation for 50 episodes. How do I know it keeps going for 50 episodes when I dropped it on episodes 5? Well, I skimmed through the last 3 episodes and it's the same thing. When I began watching it, I was hoping the animation will get better later on, assuming the anime became more popular, but alas.
The second problem is the story - overall it seems like an interesting plot, but each episode feels like an anthology and as if they aren't interconnected. The pacing is so slow and boring that for 5 episodes I could not get intrigued, I found myself pausing and doing other things all the time. I had to watch the episodes on x1.25 speed too. All signs of really a boring presentation.
In comparison when I began watching things like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach or something else, they became interesting in the first 2-3 minutes of the first episode and after that I just couldn't stop watching them until I realized hours have passed.
For me it just isn't worth it wasting time watching it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Nov 1, 2023
I will keep it as short as possible. If you are looking for a short version, read the last paragraph.
Looking at the cover image and reading the short resume, I was given the impression that the series would be somewhat different than what it really is. Sakon on the cover image, and even Ukon with a bit of a dumb expression both look mysterious in a way like they have their own shocking secrets and the series would be more like xxxHolic where there's one big overarching story arc and mini arcs in between that will feel like some intense, thrilling mystery, but instead it
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felt like I was watching a slightly better version of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, which I gave up on after 40 episodes due to sheer boredom.
I will do a lot of comparison between both series, because at this point, these two are the only ones of this "genre" that I've seen and I don't have a larger base for comparison.
Karakuri Zoushi Ayatsuri Sakon is actually better, at least in creating a somewhat solid and consistent character for Sakon and Ukon (in a way). Another good thing about the characters is they are more human and there is something like an aftermath after the case is solved, both of which are missing in Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, where a case ends and "everyone lived happily ever after" and then we switch to the next case. Characters here have feelings, they feel flawed, like real human beings who have hopes, dreams, fears, imperfections. In Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, they feel more plain than NPCs in an MMORPG that aren't even quest-related - they only serve to drive the plot of the arc.
The cases seem more interesting (at least to me) compared to Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, where every case feels more boring and predictable than the last and at some point it feels like there are a handful of "case templates" and the author was shuffling them and picking at random, which made the series feel old and boring in the first 10 episodes. In comparsion, Karakuri Zoushi Ayatsuri Sakon has cases that are related to the protagonist in a deeper and more significant way and it makes you care what will happen.
The relationship between Sakon and Ukon is also explored, although as I stated in the first paragraph, I had completely different expectations for this series and the relationship between the characters. My expectations were that it would not be 100% attached in reality, but I was wrong.
Overall, for me it's not as bad and boring as Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, especially the last arc is very important to understanding the whole situation better and I don't regret watching it, but I must admit around halfway through, I started watching it at x1.25 speed, because I wanted to get it over with. If you like murder mysteries, you will probably enjoy this a lot, if you are like me and just like mysteries in general, which are real headscratchers and not necessarily murders and there is a lot of intrigue and tension involved, you will be disappointed, because cases span 3 episodes each and none of them are something extraordinary.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 30, 2023
To summarize the anime, it would be like this:
A 11-13 year old trying to create his first anime story and took heavy inspiration from Star Wars, Pokemon and Bleach.
I will explain in detail in segments.
-->> Why is it like Bleach? Because Bleach had one of the most random, non-sensical and incoherent stories in anime I've ever had the misfortune of seeing, especially a 200+ episode Shounen at that. In Bleach Rukia and Orihime would get randomly kidnapped 10-20 different times and the band would go and rescue them only for the same to repeat all over with nobody learning anything from it. The second was
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Ichigo fighting some bad guy and to defeat him, he loses his powers, then becomes an emo and after a while gets his powers back. There was also a lot of pointless going back and forth between the Human world, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo... Everything in Bleach was a mess. Kiba is literally the same - the characters travel between the lands - Tempura(Templar), Jimoto(Zymot) or Neotopia back and forth for no reason. Characters come and go at complete random, no character leaves an impression or a mark, all the characters are one-dimensional and serve almost zero purpose. This whole going back and forth and events happening at crazy speeds and having no impact feels like the kid who is creating the story is excitedly explaining it to some adult he looks up to going "And then they went there... and then they fought those guys... and then... and then... and then..." thus all the events in the overarching story feeling completely rushed, absolutely random, non-sensical, incoherent and most importantly - lacking and impact on the viewer and not being exciting at all.
-->> Why is it like Star Wars? Mostly because everyone's weapons are like lightsabers and to top it off in different colors, although they don't seem to follow any specific pattern where Jedi use Green/Blue whereas Sith use Red. It's just very hard to overlook weapons like this, where even the blade part disappears when it's turned off and only the hilt remains, it's lazily inspired by Star Wars. Also around the end, one character dies and turns into a Force Ghost to give some guidance to the protagonist.
-->> Why is it like Pokemon? Because the spirits kind of function like Pokemon - their owners summoning them and the spirits appearing like balls. I really don't know what else to add - just so unimaginative and lazy.
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Overall, the anime started somewhat OK, in the first 7-8 episodes, I was willing to give it a 7/10, as the story went on around episodes 15+, my score dropped to 6/10, around episodes 25-35, my score dropped to 5/10, during the last 10 episodes, my score dropped to 4/10. During the last 3-4 episodes, I watched them on x1.25 speed, because I wanted to get it over with ASAP, and on the last two episodes, it could not catch my attention at all, I was pausing every 2-3 minutes and doing something else, I literally had to put the speed to x1.5 and almost glue myself on the desk to force myself to finish them, it was so boring and uneventful at the end and the last few moments after the credits, it didn't really bring any closure to anything, it just felt as random as the rest.
Characters don't leave any impact, even the main protagonists feel so one-dimensional... Actually, if I'm to be honest, calling them "one-dimensional" is like a compliment, in reality, they don't even have one-dimensional qualities, because they don't even have goals or any personality at all, as if the creator of the anime was having a very difficult time even creating basic personality and goals for those 3-4 characters. The rest, who juts come and go, they are even worse - just plot devices that appear and disappear when needed, some die when needed and you never feel the slightest bit bad about it.
At the end, the characters start changing so drastically, it starts to feel like a parody of the whole anime genre, except the anime doesn't even realize and is actually keeps taking itself seriously.
I researched on Wikipedia about this anime and I think it was made to promote a TCG game, which is OK and I can understand, but even the original Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon, which existed for the same purpose had almost masterpiece characters and story arcs compared to Kiba. I remember being super invested, especially in YGO! and the Pegasus arc, it was so awesome.
I don't know how I was able to finish it, it's not completely horrible, it just feels so devoid of any emotion or feeling, it's so fake and plastic, I haven't seen one so strange like this before.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 9, 2023
Story is about a high schooler who's the grandson of a famous detective and he and his friend always end up at the epicenter of some crime with a murder or multiple murders and the protagonist solves them.
At first I thought it was really good and interesting, but later on it became a real drag to watch. For the 40 episodes I've watched, I took two breaks from the show because I had zero desire to watch it. In the end I gave up because I realized I was forcing myself to watch it and not having much fun.
Reason why I felt like this is
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because there doesn't seem to be an overarching plot or anything, the only way you can tell the show has progressed is that the main characters and some recurring characters are using new information based on events that took place in past episodes. Other than that, nothing really changes. Every case takes about 3-5 episodes and then the next one starts, I find it amazing that this has 148 episodes when at around 40 I thought I've seen all there is to see.
I find it very unrealistic how the two main characters who are 17 (but look like 14) are so calm and composed when they encounter death so often and seeing dead people literally every other day. It gets to the point where they don't pay any mind to them, aside from the first reaction of shock or screaming, after that they are totally fine, even the other characters that are just for the case are also calm and composed. It looks so fake and it destroys any immersion the show might have had.
It's not just Kindaichi, it's Miyuki as well. She can't have seen so much death in her life, yet she doesn't flinch after the first few seconds. And she is not even a persistent character, she is just a supporting deuteragonist to Kindaichi. She doesn't appear in other series, only this one and is then replaced by another girl.
The same goes for every other character, even the ones that are just for the specific case. It happens in every case and in every episode without exception.
People find a corpse, then some woman/girl screams, the rest gather around, look shocked for 1 second and then everyone is completely fine and OK. Since every case is a recycled copy/paste of every other case, it's always the murderer being among them all, and it's known to all and yet nobody seems at all nervous to be among the others, especially in situations where Kindaichi gathers them around to have some meeting with them or to try and trick the murderer of slipping up.
This is just a minor issue among the pile of issues with Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, at least this is the only Kindaichi anime I've seen (up to episode 40) and after that I have no desire to see the other. Every case becomes predictable after you've seen a few cases, very scarcely the crime committed has been really elaborate and well thought out, usually it's something very simplistic and even idiotic. In some occasions it even defies the laws of physics and nature, like showing someone traveling between rooms on the outside of a building walking on a ledge and then disappearing or something like that.
The author tried really hard to make everything look elaborate and milk it for as long as possible, but it just keeps getting more and more boring as there is no overarching plot, in 40 episodes I did not see anything happen that can be considered a main plot material. There was this case/arc where Kindaichi got framed for a murder he did not commit, at that point, I thought it might mean something, but this is quickly forgotten and never touched upon ever again. I even went through the trouble to watch the last episode, 148 I believe, just to see if something happens, well it doesn't. It ends like just another case and ends in some forced comedic manner like 90s/00s anime where Kindaichi is running chasing after a car where his friends are in the car laughing at him while he has a dumb face and is shouting something incomprehensible. Which is just insulting to me, because it means for 148 episodes nothing really happened. Maybe if people like this simplistic type of murder mystery that goes on and on and on until even the author gets bored and puts an end to it, it may be fine, for me it was a waste of time, the first 5-10 episodes were promising, but when I realized nothing else happens, I saw no reason to waste my time with it anymore.
The cases themselves quickly get old, some are predictable, others have really stupid solutions, there was one where the murderer was jumping from door to door so that he doesn't leave any footprints in the mud because it was rainy, the stupid thing was that each door had a concrete platform in front of it and they were close enough that anyone can jump from one platform to the other and the door thing is absolutely idiotic and pointless. It made me feel like the author is trying really hard to make everything look elaborate when it's in fact pretty stupid.
There is an anime called Tantei Gakuen Q, which was a bit more interesting and some cases were real head scratchers. I would advise anyone to watch that instead of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, it's a bit cliche, mostly the main character stereotypes, but the cases themselves are more interesting.
I think Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo can be best enjoyed if you are in the age group 7 - 14, after that it's hard to enjoy something so cheap and predictable that basically doesn't go anywhere. Another way I can describe it is "watch it only if you absolutely need to watch something and for some reason there isn't anything else to watch". It's not horrible, but it's not that good either, just mediocre and boring. The show is overrated and most of its praise is fake.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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