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Grand Blue: the Strip Rock-Paper-Scissors and Alcoholism show.

It is a show about diving, in the same way School Days is a romance. The diving element takes second place to the show’s main genres: slice of life and comedy. Which, in itself, isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Slice of life shows can be great. They can be relaxing, heart-warming, and funny. They can make you laugh or cry. Or, they can make you cringe.

This show falls most definitely into the latter category. And a perfect example of this lies in its characters, an aspect that normally makes or breaks slice-of-life shows.

First off: Two bodybuilder lookalikes ... who do very little in the show besides encourage the MCs to drink themselves silly, get naked at every opportunity, and all around just be negative influences. I think they’re meant to be ‘manly’ characters but the only – and I mean the only time we ever see them getting serious is when they talk about diving. The rest of the time they consume massive quantities of mixed drinks (as well as encouraging/forcing others to do the same) and show very little respect for anyone. They think nothing of humiliating someone if it’s to raise money for their precious diving club (which must have been shown at least ONCE in the anime by now).

I’m trying to think of more to say about them and I can’t. They’re good at tennis? They’re essentially the musclebound, brain-dead stereotypical college guys we’re all embarrassed to be around unless we’re wasted. Maybe some people watching this will be reminded (fondly, or not so fondly) of their own college/uni days. Either way, although I found watching them enjoyable, it was only because sometimes I just need to watch something ridiculously cringey.

Take away majority of the nudity, decrease the drinking (yes, there still needs to be drinking but not 3 drinking sessions per ep), and add a few more scenes where they show off their diving expertise. Then these two would have actually gone from being comic characters to being decent, slightly fleshed-out characters.

Iori, the MC…where do I begin?
Spineless? He’ll back down when confronted with anyone angry but it’s not quite what I’m looking for. Reckless? He’s definitely that but without the confidence needed to be properly reckless. Pathetic? Well, he grovels on the floor often enough, gives in when confronted with any sort of peer pressure, and frequently embarrasses himself by making offensive remarks to others.

The only time he’s ‘confident’ is when he’s been egged on by his ‘friends’, or when making objectifying comments to his cousin (who, by the way, he seems to fancy) - and that might just be mistaking idiocy for confidence.

The sad part is that when he’s by himself he actually seems to be quite a decent human being. He’s the type of person that is ruined by bad friends, and his ruin is shown clearly in the anime. He literally goes from being the new guy to being the creepy laughingstock of the university in one episode, after his ‘friends’ deliver him to the entrance passed out drunk and wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

The only real thing, the only thing that makes him partway relatable is his struggle when it comes to swimming and diving. He starts off by being afraid of the water, but actually faces his fears and becomes a better person for it.

This is in no small part due to Nanaka and Chisa, two of the female leads of the show. Nanaka can be disposed of easily as she is completely one-dimensional from the beginning. Iori’s sweet, kind cousin who’s also in love with her sister (to the extent of acting like a yandere over her). She appears randomly, makes some nice comments, helps people out with things and then disappears again. Exploring her background a little, or even her relationship with her sister would have helped give her more depth, but no. Maybe next season.

Chisa is a far more interesting character. She’s just as kind in her own way, but will not suffer fools gladly. At some points she feels like the only sane character in the series. She despises some of the guys’ more vulgar actions, and has no patience for Iori’s ill-timed and ill-humoured comments. But somehow, even miraculously, she realises that he’s not intrinsically a bad person. Immature yes, but a person with his own struggles and fears. She helps him a lot, both when he’s looking and when he isn’t. Plus, she’s adorable.

Iori’s best friend is…pitiful. Yep, that’s probably the best way to describe him. He’s almost exactly a carbon copy of Iori but with an added anime obsession. Perhaps he does have slightly more sense, but no matter how much he protests he always ends up joining in with Iori’s idiotic schemes and mistakes. The two of them argue frequently, which is fun to watch initially, but soon becomes as boring as it is repetitive. He doesn’t seem to have any character development either, besides learning how to drink an entire bucket of vodka in one. It’s development…of a sort.

Aina, or ‘cakey’ is the unusual one of the cast, and actually fairly likeable. She has some character development too, which I’m not going to go into as that would spoil at least one ep. I will say though, the eps with her in were the ones I enjoyed the most. Plus, she’s kind of relatable, in that ‘weird but not downright loony’ way. Someone needs to give her a make-up tutorial though.

Purple haired girl is a fun character to watch. There has to be at least one girl who’s as crazy as all the boys, right? To prove that strong, independent, alcoholic women with no inhibitions do exist. Oh, and she’s loud. Raucous laughter echoes wherever she goes. But despite all that, she’s a kind, loyal friend, the type you don’t want to hang with all the time but you’re glad for when push comes to shove, because you know she’s got your back. You can also tell her all the stuff you can’t share with anyone else. And she won’t spill it (unless it’s for a laugh, then you’re on your own). She brings a lot of life to the cast (which is basically a good thing), and does provide the setup for a fair few awkward situations.

So there you have the cast. There’s not much to say about the rest.

Art? I’m no judge. Lots of incredibly creepy facial expressions though – they border on caricatures a lot of the time.

Music? I really enjoyed the music, and found myself singing along to the op more than once. Thumbs up for that. “Be passionate, my friends,” and all.

Plot? See above. Oh and there’s a bit of diving thrown in.

Overall: Now, of course lots of people will enjoy this show. I did myself, in parts. But will anyone enjoy it because it’s a deep meaningful show? Of course not. It’s the type of show people come to laugh at. It’s the type of immature humour that can be completely hit or miss.

It is not a good show. But it’s a funny show, in its own way.

As I mentioned earlier, sometimes you just need to watch something ridiculous for the fun of it. If brainless fun, with a high dose of cringe, is what you’re looking for, you’ll enjoy this one.

‘My little swimmer: friendship is magic’ - The anime. I love it as much as anyone, but you have to admit the title fits. More now than ever.

One of the best parts about watching anime is seeing a series you loved get another season. The characters you spent so many hours getting to know, the scenery you spent admiring *cough*, the thrilling parts that made you sit up in bed to get a better look, and the emotional parts that made you cry.

Free! Dive to the future is a great example of that.

I’m not saying it’s perfect, because it’s not. Heavens knows there were far ... too many characters this season to fit in any real screen-time for most of them. The show ends on a heart-warming but annoying cliff-hanger as usual. Nagisa’s voice is still far too high to ever be believable for a 17 year old guy. And Gou is still just there to harp on about how fabulous muscles are. I will be amazed if someone finds me a line where she doesn’t mention either Rin or muscles.

But watching everyone get back together again was just fantastic. The world of competitive swimming is a small world, and most people seem to know each other. Heck, most people are friends, and have to struggle to cheer for each other and strive to beat each other at the same time.

Despite not having much screen-time, most of the cast have grown a lot. Most are in Uni or older, and it shows. They can be more honest with each other. They support each other’s way of life. They’re patching up broken friendships, maintaining relationships, and focussing on their careers more and more.

Rin, Nagisa, and Rei had their main development in S1. Sousuke and Nitori had theirs in S2. Makoto’s and Haru’s are spread out all over the place – both get featured a fair bit in S3. But the main source of development, at least in the first half, is Ikuya.

[Note: Here’s where you’re gonna want to have watched the movie, because it provides some very useful background information. If you’ve watched ‘Starting Days’, you’ll know who Ikuya, Asahi, and Natsuya are. You’ll be able to compare their kiddie selves to their adult selves. And these three are quite important in S3, because of how they interact with each other and the rest of the group.]

Ikuya, along with Asahi, is a member of Haru and Makoto’s old swimming team (no, not the one with Rin in). His story is surprisingly similar to Rin’s, but his personality is more similar to Haru’s. Add in a loyal but rather possessive best friend (who himself is quite well-developed and stops being irritating after a while), a concerned older brother, and a ‘chance’ encounter with the former team, and you’ll get some pretty gripping drama. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before in Free!, but you don’t need to fix what’s not broken. I was eagerly waiting for the next ep every week.

Finally, the swimming tournaments are still exciting to watch, but in a different way to before. It’s less a question of ‘will they qualify or won’t they?’ and more a question of ‘who will be first?’ Because we all know by now that the mains qualify in at least one race each.

Watching them swim just means watching them spend some quality time together, training hard and having fun. This is a slice of life, after all. Relationships are what we’re here for.
(Well, that and the swimsuits 😉)

Let’s put it this way. If you liked the first two seasons at all, you’ll love this one.

Do you like cool and quirky characters, complex and multi-layered plots, and awesome knife fights?

If so, you came to the right place. This anime has all that and more.
We’ve got Lin, the straight crossdresser who looks irritated almost all the time but’s a lot brighter than you give him credit for. We’ve got Banba, the easy-going, enigmatic and downright cool guy who’s totally reminiscent of Spike Spiegel. We’ve got Enokida, the obligatory hacker who’s actually pretty interesting by himself, the perpetually unlucky Saitou who really is just not cut out to be an assassin, and the ‘Submarine Ninja’ who, despite the goofy name, ... is a short-tempered lone wolf.

That’s just to mention a few. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens has a massive and extremely diverse cast, and all the characters are important in one way or the other. It’s a lot like Durarara!! In that regard, lots of minor events in the city have ripple effects that can alter the entire course of the story. You never know if that one guy you bump into whilst shopping will be the assassin that tries to kill you later, or the pitcher for your baseball team. It’s part of what keeps the anime exciting, and seriously there is rarely a dull moment.

Sure, not everyone gets a load of screen-time, and that’s to be expected in a mere 12 episodes, but you get to know their personalities nonetheless. Lin, as the MC, is well developed – we get to see past his shell and into his backstory. The others are mainly developed through their interactions with each other. The characters are sort of like a family, but not like the Fairy Tail type. They tend to look out for themselves first and foremost, but will show up if someone’s in real trouble. They don’t show affection often, but it is somewhere under the surface. It’s less cheesy and melodramatic that way – plus all their snippy banter is quite amusing to listen to.

Instead of a story revealed straight from the beginning, there’s a set of seemingly random episodes that introduce you to the city of Hakata and the weird bunch that inhabit it. There are some relatively heavy topics dealt with – murder, torture, human trafficking – but the anime doesn’t go all philosophical on you. Everything except killing is bad, and even then you should only try and kill those who deserve it (mainly organisations dealing with the aforementioned activities). It’s a show about various groups of hitmen after all, and an action series at that, so you would expect it to take a somewhat lighter approach to the killing aspect. Besides, we get to see a lot more fights that way.

Which brings me on to the art and animation. Both are good – nothing outstanding, but the city is well drawn, the fights are animated nicely and the characters’ faces show their emotions properly.

The sound is really great. The op theme felt really nostalgic for some reason, and the jazzy ed is also worth a mention. Distinct Cowboy Bebop vibes there.

To conclude, I did enjoy this anime a lot. It was fast-paced and entertaining. Some parts were downright clever, and the mysteries and fights were thrilling. I got taken in by a fair few of the twists, and I was always eager for the next episode. I’d definitely watch another season of this.

I’d recommend if you like anime like Durarara!!, Cowboy Bebop, or just anything fast-paced, fun, and action-packed. XD

BTW, the baseball aspect did catch me a bit off guard, but it ends up being more than just a distraction from all the killings. It’s used both to show the neighbourhood dynamic, and as a shared activity that helps to foster teamwork and trust. It’s also part of what makes the anime unique; instead of a cult or secret society they have a baseball team. And the best part? Watching them play baseball is made even more fun by just how absurd it actually is. 😊

IT IS IN NO WAY as bad as everyone makes out. It has flaws, sure, but find me an anime that doesn’t! It was part entertaining, part relaxing, and part awkward, but overall mostly enjoyable.

It’s a lot less plot-heavy than your normal Isekai anime. Most of the season is just Satou wandering around the new world he finds himself in, getting to grips with how things work and making friends along the way. He doesn’t automatically stumble upon the main villain’s giant plot to destroy the world as we know it. He gets into a few fights helping people, but mostly he just takes things ... as they come, day by day. That’s why this is probably known as a slice-of-life Isekai. Which is nice for a change.

You might ask, if Satou is so overpowered why doesn’t he act differently in like…the majority of the situations? Why does he even bother trying to help people or getting into fights when he could easily kill any bad guy with a single strike, and make enough money to get absolutely anything he wants?

It’s a fair question, and I think the answer is: he’s simply enjoying himself as he is now. He’s still figuring out this new world, and basically just taking a break from his exhausting previous life. As he is now, he’s free, and revealing his strength would automatically diminish his freedom. He also doesn’t realise just quite how OP he is, but it’s unlikely much would change even if he did realise that he’s miles above the strongest bosses.

The world building, while not exactly original, is well-presented. There’s a lot of exposition, and great details of time can be spent on single meals or learning a new type of magic. There’re plenty of inner monologues too, but they tend to be on interesting topics or areas that prove necessary for the plot.

I thought the art was amazing, but then again I’m just partial to that type of style. The animation was great, and the music was light-hearted and fit the series well.

The harem. This is where the problem starts. So here’s the thing, Satou is actually a 30 year old guy in a 15 year old body. He has the mind and tastes of a 30-year-old, and he’s not interested in little kids or lolis. He picks up a lot (A LOT) of girls during his wanderings – saves their lives, rescues them from slaver or kidnappers, defeats them after being challenged to a fight, you name it – but he views himself as their guardian and is not interested in any of them sexually. That isn’t to say he’s celibate; he just goes elsewhere when he wants to party. A few of the girls (not the younger ones) seem to be in love with him, but it’s unlikely that will ever get anywhere. There is an awkward scene shortly after he rescues two of the girls from a slaver (which is understandable considering how they must have been previously treated), and another one near the end, but he sorts it out both times and moves on.

That’s why it’s different to your normal harem. It’s not that Satou’s merely incredibly dense and doesn’t figure out their feelings, simply that he doesn’t return them. (I’m not sure if this applies in relation to the oldest of them – who at least is an adult - but it still seems unlikely.) He’s kind and gentle to everyone, teaches them how to read and fight, and basically just views them as his new family.

There is a caveat; it feels like this takes a turn for the worse in the final episode. It’s almost like the creators realised that they had no weird moments in most of the anime, so tried to cram them all in at the end. I’d actually advise against watching the final half of the last ep, it’s a lot more cringey than the others and adds nothing to the story anyway.

The other problem (and this is the result of having so many characters) is that none of the cast really gets much development. The only character who even gets a proper backstory is Arisa, and even that doesn’t have much time spent on it. As for Satou, I had no idea he actually died in his sleep until someone pointed it out to me – even though it happens in the first episode and is in the actual name of the blasted anime. I’d just thought until then that it was like Log Horizon where everyone just disappeared in front of their computers one day. That being said though, making him a game dev was a good idea. It makes his natural understanding of the game mechanics much more realistic, because it’s the sort of thing he himself created in his job. His OPness also made better sense that way too. So well done on that part.

All in all, it’s just an anime to watch when you want to kill some time. It’s not deep, and not generally fast-paced, but it is quite light-hearted and relaxing. It has none of the heaviness of Grimgar or the horror/mystery of Re:Zero. It’s more like watching Konosuba but without all the crude and over-the-top humour. If that sort of light-hearted atmosphere is the type of thing you like, then this might be worth a watch. XD

Gakuen Babysitters
AKA: I think I just felt a little tug on my heartstrings

This is one of those ‘healing’ anime that helps you see the goodness in the world. It’s pure, it’s uplifting, it’s adorable. It’s not what you would call a masterpiece – it’s similar to watching a baby giraffe try to walk for the first time. Its clumsiness is part of what makes it so endearing.

Even people who don’t tend to like little kids much – me, for instance – will find that this show appeals on a level you wouldn’t think possible. It’s hard to describe just how many times this series ... made me smile, go ‘awww’ or dance around in sheer unrestrained joy at their adorableness. (In my head of course, I didn’t actually go dancing round.)
But there’s more to the anime than just kiddy antics. It’s the reason Ryuji puts up with the kids, and the reason they love him.

He sees them as people. He doesn’t like cleaning up messes, changing diapers, or trying to stop a tantrum any more than the average person. He doesn’t enjoy not being able to spend as much time with his friends as he would otherwise, and he definitely doesn’t enjoy having his stuff ruined. But he loves the kids. He sees each tot as a human being with his/her own distinct personality, struggles, and likes and dislikes. They’re almost like family to him (Kotaro is actually family of course). Just being with them, seeing how they warm to him and come to trust and love him in return is one of the most purely satisfying parts of this show, and the reason I loved it so much. Ryuji is exactly the type of person that shines best when taking care of others, because of his gentle, patient and selfless nature. It’s also the reason he’s so good at it. His only fault is that he can be a bit too soft on the kids, but Kamitani and the others are there to balance that out.

Usaida, on the other hand, has got to be one of the most irresponsible babysitters out there. Seriously, leaving a kid that small outside by themselves, what was he thinking? Sure, he didn’t realise they were gone, but that only makes it worse. It’s not like it was a one-off either. I know it’s meant to be a gag primarily used to highlight Ryuji’s heroism, but he should have been made out as a bit more responsible all the same.

He’s not the only character who’s a bit unrealistic. There’s the crybaby father, the child-loving deviant (as he’s so called in the anime), the weary older brother and the tsundere who thinks the kids hate her. Whilst none of them were integral to the story (except maybe Inomata, who got some decent development), they were rather funny to watch at times. I suppose they did provide a bit of a distraction from the kids every now and again by injecting a bit of drama, which was refreshing. The love triangle scenario was unnecessary, but that didn’t mean it was bad in this case. I did think it was rather sweet, and the innocent way it was shown was consistent with the innocence of the anime on the whole.

The real gem, though, was watching Ryuji and Kotaro’s interactions. It’s incredibly rare to see the loss of parents in anime handled so maturely, normally it’s just a ‘let’s ignore the fact that the parents are dead until it’s time for a tragic backstory arc!’. Here it was realistically done. Ryuji loved his parents very much, and truly misses them. He treasures Kotaro in their absence, and Kotaro in return thinks Ryuji exemplifies everything good in the world. Parental death in this case brought Ryuji and Kotaro all the closer as the only surviving members of the family, and the way they cherish each other is heart-wrenching. Watching Ryu try and raise his brother in place of their parents, and watching Kotaro try and help Ryu as much as his tiny little body is able, was beautiful. It’s love in its purest form, and I’m glad I got to see it.

The other members of their new family, the Chairwoman and butler Saikawa, are also great characters. The Chairwoman is a good person, even though you wouldn’t guess it at first glance. She looks like a crotchety old lady, doesn’t mince words and makes Ryuji and Kotaro earn their keep, but watch her long enough and you’ll see a little smile creep over her face as she watches them bring life back into the too empty house. She has the ability of giving over lessons that seem harsh, until you reflect on what she said and realise how much care and wisdom was behind it. Saikawa, too, has a lot more to him than meets the eye. He appears enigmatic, but is hiding a wicked sense of humour and a heart of gold. He helps them a lot more than they even realise. Both play a big part in Ryuji and Kotaro’s respective developments.

What can I say about the rest of the aspects, like the sound and art? The sound is very tender and warms your heart. The voice actors, especially those that play the kids, are brilliant and really make you believe actual tiny humans are speaking. The art is mellow and has a lot of pastel tones and soft designs. The kids are ridiculously chibi, but that’s done on purpose to make them seem cuter. It works, too.

Altogether I’m unreasonably glad I watched this. I’ll probably go to bed with a fuller heart for the next week than I have done in a while. And I think I might even like little kids more on the whole after this. If you want a pure, adorable and heart-warming slice of life about a day-care, this is the one for you. XD

Well, it’s the beginning of the end. The real end, the one we never expected after all the hoaxes and fakes but knew nonetheless would have to come eventually.

12 episodes of pure awesomeness. You can tell that watching all 350+ episodes has really paid off when even the appearance of minor characters is enough to make you smile or shout joyfully at the screen. (Or groan loudly as you hope that this is the arc they’ll finally be killed off.)

Gintama seems determined to bring back every single character who’s ever been featured. You’ll see people who you’ve almost completely forgotten about back to help ... save Edo, make dramatic speeches about friendship, discover Elizabeth’s real identity (…again), and get more screen-time while they’re at it! (but they don’t waste flashbacks on the minor characters, don’t worry 😉)

It has a more serious undertone than the slip arc, but not quite the same level as the Shogun assassination and farewell Shinsengumi arcs. There’s this whole ‘the entire universe is against us and we literally have no hope of winning but let’s try anyway’ emotional and touching tone, and then there’s the ‘here’s an entire episode based around a poop joke’ type of humour. (Which, by the way, was brilliantly executed and downright hilarious.) The level of contrast is one of the most famous things about Gintama. It’s probably the reason you loved Gintama in the first place, and the reason you’ve stuck with it so long.

Fair warning though: The baka prince episode was painful to watch, even by Gintama standards. Far too many *antenna* jokes that although would normally be funny just seemed immature this time. It’s almost like an extension of the Excalibur arc - but then again, it’s only one episode. I wouldn’t skip it or anything, just…prepare your mind.

The op is good (as most of them are), but it’s the ending you really need to watch this time. It’s basically a montage of all the brightest and saddest moments throughout the anime, a tribute to all those who were with us at the beginning and didn’t make it this far. Plus the song is awesome. It really gives a ‘final arc’ feel.

I am looking forward to the conclusion, and really excited to see everything come to a climax, but at the same time…I don’t want it to be over. At least we have part 2 before that fateful moment. XD

P.S. Unless this does end up being another troll after all. Who ever really knows with Sorachi?

Have you ever felt that there’s something missing in your life? That you don’t have any real complaints, but everything just feels meh? Like you want to go far, far away and leave civilization behind, to a place where you can just be free?

No? Me neither.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t relate to Kimari and the others on some level.
Kimari is a girl who wants to stop aimlessly meandering through life. She makes the intial decision to go to Antarctica on a whim – a spur of the moment thing – but after that the determined face comes on and she tries her ... hardest to turn the decision into a reality. She’s a bit of an airhead, carefree, and clumsy with words, but also deeply caring and forgiving. She injects life into the party and when she laughs it’s for real.

Shirase is Kimari’s opposite in a lot of ways. Seemingly stubborn, aloof, brusque, and an intellectual to boot, at some times she’ll be the most immature of the group but at other times show a maturity far beyond her years. Her reason for going to Antarctica is to do with her mother, whose footsteps she’s trying to follow in. That’s already a very different reason to the others. They came to escape, she came to discover. Which she does. On the journey, the wall she’s put up around herself begins to crack, and a sensitive and fiercely loyal person emerges. Shirase’s development is in my opinion hands down the best in the anime.

Hinata is essentially the mother of the group. She supervises the others, knows what to say in most awkward situations, tempers Shirase’s stubbornness, and acts as a buffer between Shiraishi’s stick in the mud attitude and Kimari’s carefree one. This isn’t to say she never makes mistakes (which she does), but she’s the kind of character who is very hard to dislike. As with most perpetually cheerful characters, there’s a lot more to her than meets the eye, and seeing her open up to the others and finally move on as a person is one of the most sweet and satisfying scenes in the anime.

Shiraishi, the last member of the party, is a little different. Barring the ridiculous circumstances in which she meets the others, she seems the most unnecessary of the four. All the girls are insecure on some level – which is fine because in life most people are, and that’s what the journey’s for – but Shiraishi’s insecurity goes beyond theirs. It is understandable, given her background, and she does have quite a lot of screen-time devoted to her development, but there’s no closure in the same way there is for the others; no real sense of moving on. Or maybe that’s just how I felt about it. Either way, she’s a business-like, shy and sweet but lonely girl who just wants friends.

A lot of the drama does feel more like melodrama, especially when Shiraishi is involved. There are some maturely handled moments (in relation to Shirase’s mother, for example - those scenes were brilliant) but it does seem to switch between heavy and lighter topics less than gracefully in some cases. There are a few heavily dramatic parts that are immediately followed by comic relief parts, but rather than serving to lighten the mood they lessen the impact of the drama and make it look silly rather than deep.
All the technical stuff in relation to Antarctica – the voyage, the equipment, the techniques used by explorers – seem pretty good. I don’t know enough about it to say whether it’s accurate or not, but I understood it well enough all the same. It does feel like the creators have researched at least.

Most of the storyline consists of switching between focussing on the journey itself and focussing on the drama in the quartet. It’s mostly well thought-out and well-paced but does include one completely unrealistic plot point compared to most of the story. I get that they needed to find a way to bring Shiraishi along, but surely there could have been some other way to bring the girls together? I mean this here was a MMO Junkie level coincidence. I won’t spoil exactly how it’s done, and after all it is only a means to cause them to meet, but I will say I watched that part in sheer disbelief and with a large amount of cynicism.

The art and animation are fantastic, and the music changes in all the right places to match the mood shifts. The Op is really catchy and feels like the prelude to an adventure.

My one caveat is that, despite the many good aspects of the anime, I could never really get that into it. I liked the characters, but in a more detached way – I didn’t generally laugh or cry with them. I think that’s partly because of the major tone shifts (drama to comedy and back), partly because I found some of the technical stuff a bit boring after a while, and partly because I’m just not that into travelling. No guarantees that you’ll feel the same though, for all I know one of these aspects could be the best part of the show for you. 😊

To sum up: if you like series about self-discovery through adventure, complete with a lot of drama and an actual end goal in sight, try watching this. The cute girls are just a bonus. XD

She teases him; he blushes and resolves not to let her tease him again.

Rinse and repeat every single episode. The anime is divided into a series of shorts each a few minutes long; there are normally about 4 or 5 per episode. Each is a small self-contained story about Takagi’s and Nishikata’s daily lives in and out of the classroom. This isn’t a plot-heavy series and it’s not meant to be. What it is meant to be, however, is a character-oriented series, and so that shall be my main focus.

Just to get the art and music out of the way: the art style is ... really cute. Huge heads, massive eyes (even by anime standards), high foreheads and relatively simple drawings altogether. It suits the characters and show style nicely without being too extravagant. The animation is done well, even if not much is being animated besides the characters. The music is good, nothing spectacular but again, just nice. No complaints on these areas.

So now to the characters. There are the two main characters, Nishikata and Takagi, who take up the majority of the shorts, and then there are a few supporting characters (a trio of girls in the same class) who feature every now and again. Nishikata and Takagi engage in a variety of activities, from making bets with each other to tandem riding to doing homework or going shopping. All basic daily activities, and nothing really happens in any of them event-wise, but they provide a lot of opportunities for exchanges between the two.

Nishikata seems to take these exchanges as mental matches between the two of them - constant sparring to see who comes out on top verbally. He reads deeply into every single thing Takagi says, wondering if she’s trying to tease him and then trying to play bluff and double bluff. Whilst it’s true that Takagi does slyly tease him a fair amount of the time, watching him thoroughly analyse every single little sentence of hers becomes irritating after a while. It’s obvious to the viewer (although not to Nishikata) that her teasing is well-intentioned and that she actually likes him, perhaps even has feelings for him. (The latter’s shown more subtly until the last couple of episodes.) Nishikata does seem to like her (hence the blushing) but the feelings seem to be pretty pure and innocent. In any case, her teasing is always incredibly mild. If she wins a bet and gets the opportunity to order Nishikata to do anything she wants, she’ll just choose something like going shopping together or another harmless activity.

Nishikata, however, sees every single tease as a personal failure, and a blow to his pride. He never seems to be able to best her in anything, and to be fair to him this is probably incredibly frustrating. But it never ends! He never actually tries to talk to her properly about anything! He never tells her unequivocally to stop teasing him, because it would be a ‘loss’ to let her know that she’s gotten to him. He just makes every exchange, no matter how harmless, into a mental sparring match and thus causes his own inferiority complex to worsen, because she always ‘beats’ him. (Even when there’s nothing to ‘beat’ him on – sometimes she just asks him a simple question that is literally only an attempt to make small talk.)

There is almost no character development whatsoever. If you look at the beginning episodes, and compare them to the later ones, you’ll notice barely any change. She still talks to him and teases him in the same way she’s always done, and he still tries and fails to best her the same way he always has. This was the main flaw of the anime, as a character-driven series. The characters just become boring after a while, you can predict almost exactly what will happen and how it will happen. Even Takagi’s initially adorable laugh becomes grating after hearing it every few minutes, episode after episode.

The show does try to add a few more characters into the mix, but they suffer from the same problem of one-dimensionalitis. Their exchanges are also cute, sometimes funny and sometimes boring, but I think the only reason I liked these three girls was that they were a break from the endless cute monotony that was Takagi and Nishikata’s exchanges. They were nothing special in and of themselves.

In conclusion, I wouldn’t say that I dislike Skilled Teaser Takagi-san. Whilst I didn’t exactly look forward to it every week, it has a lot of sweet moments, and it does have a few funny parts. I just can’t binge watch it.

If you want to try it, I wouldn’t recommend watching more than one or two episodes at a time, with a large break in between sessions. That should keep it from getting too tedious, and instead just be a cute and mildly comedic series. XD

Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? Evidently not, because our MC sure picks up a lot of them there and everyone thinks he’s a total saint.

I can’t really blame them though; it’s hard not to love Bell despite his denseness. He’s a pure and real kind MC done well, and his struggles in the Labyrinth feel real. He isn’t immediately OP and fails a lot initially. He acts consistently kindly and it feels natural.
Hestia is an awesome character, and just plain adorable. She does become a lot more yandere-like later in the series, but always puts her family first regardless. ... And it’s not the idea of Bell she likes, she actually knows and likes him as a person and a friend. You can tell he cares for her deeply too. Their Familia relationship is sweet and at the beginning brings a warm fuzzy feeling to your stomach just watching it.

Out of the supporting characters: Lili has some decent development in just a short couple of episodes. A sweet kid on the whole, but toughened up by a hard life. She just wants someone to show her a bit of kindness, and really Bell’s the perfect character for that. Aiz doesn’t seem to have much to her besides her power, although she does get a bit more screen-time after a while. Quite a monotone and boring character nonetheless. Stalker Freya is just plain cringey and totally unnecessary for the plot – a lousy character who adds absolutely nothing to the anime. Syr also seems unnecessary – I can’t really find anything to say about her one way or the other. Eina is quite a nice character but there’s not much to her either. Hephaestus is good, but not in much. Welf is fine but still pretty generic.

Let’s face it, we’re only here for Hestia and Bell, although Welf, Lili, and Aiz are all necessary as plot devices. There’s a fair amount of fan-service but it fits with this type of anime.

World building: not much seen besides the dungeon, in fact not much is even explained. We’re just thrown into Bell’s life, and at this point we don’t actually need much exposition to understand the story. Less is more.

Op is typical, not great and not terrible. The brushing the teeth scene is fantastic – such strong family vibes. Makes me grin every time I see it. Rest of music and ed are fine too.

The ending felt a bit rushed – all of a sudden everyone’s using these phenomenal powers? It just felt like they were trying to show off how cool everyone is, but wait! They couldn’t be as cool as Bell! So let’s make them all op and then make him even more op. That will show everyone.

Well, Hermes’ speech at the ending is a good set up for a season 2. It will be interesting to see how the backstory impacts the future. It is a bit unoriginal and the story would have been fine without it, but I still didn’t expect it.

It’s a fun watch, but nothing beyond that. If you liked Magi but wish it had a less focussed plot and added a harem, then you’ll probably like this too. Another classic adventure series. XD

I’d call Mahoutsukai no Yome a very wholesome anime. It contains loads of different genres that are normally incompatible, but here are all beautifully melded together to create a work of art. There are aspects of drama, horror, comedy, slice-of-life, adventure, and even romance. And of course, it’s set in a fantasy world.

It has a unique pace; sometimes large amounts of screen-time are dedicated to small details and sometimes the anime will almost disjointedly jump from one scene to another. This can be quite disconcerting and takes some getting used to. However it is resolved several episodes in, and the anime begins to feel much ... more like a proper story. Or maybe you do just get used to it after a while. In any case, the second half of the series reveals the actual plot, and from there on the anime changes and becomes more focussed story-wise instead of staying events and environment based. I do also think the quality of the anime improves enormously from this point on.

The majority of the first cour is essentially what I’d call standalone episodes, you don’t generally need to have seen the previous one to understand. Chise is introduced to various characters and magical creatures, and helps them out of difficulties whilst simultaneously bonding with Elias. The fantasy world is explored minimally; information is provided on a need-to-know basis and exposition is scarce. Rather than being a source of frustration, this actually adds to the sense of mystery. It’s a bit like the Harry Potter Universe, so much remained unexplained even at the end but that just made it more intriguing.

The second half deals much more with the main antagonist. The anime delves into backstories in depth, explores the meaning of relationships and dependency, and brings a lot of the seemingly unconnected elements in the first half together. There are a lot more emotional moments and a lot more action scenes, leading up to a thrilling climax that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Not exactly what you’d expect given the tranquillity of the first half.

The art and animation are breath-taking. The scenery is stunning, the character’s faces show their emotions brilliantly (except for Elias, obviously), and the chibi moments are quite cute and add a sense of light-heartedness.

The music is absolutely phenomenal. All of it. The openings, endings, OSTs were all literally music to my ears. The first opening theme (as well as being one of the best I’ve ever heard), perfectly encapsulates the tone of the series.

But the characters are where it really gets interesting. Both the MCs actually grow massively throughout the series. Chise changes from a listless, withdrawn individual into a person who’s not afraid to speak her mind and will go to any lengths to help a friend. Elias develops from a stone-hearted and lonely individual into a being who starts to realise what kindness, friendship and selflessness actually are. Both of them still have a long way to go – Elias has only just begun to understand emotions after all – but watching such brilliant character development is immensely satisfying.

It’s done realistically too. Neither of them change overnight, they clearly grow as a result of the challenges they struggle through. Painful backstories, dependency, loss and betrayal; each of these things leaves an impact. Chise, in particular, agonises over some aspects of her life but eventually makes the decision to either accept them or change them. Others help show her the way, but she ultimately decides for herself.
The majority of the supporting characters are memorable and a fair amount of them also have a good level of development. Insights into Lindel’s, Silky’s and of course Ruth’s pasts bring a lot more depth to them. Cartaphilus’ backstory and subsequent actions after it was revealed managed to completely alter my opinion of him (and secured him a place in my list of famed villains), and characters like Oberon and Titania were just enjoyable to watch. I couldn’t help feeling excited every time I saw them pop up (whether they were bringing bad news or good).

Now to open up the can of worms.

As for the complaints that this glorifies human trafficking – I guess I can see why people think that way, even if I personally don’t. But if all human trafficking worked like this – ‘victim’ gets taken by their own choice, given good food, a warm place to stay with their own room and their own space when they need it, a loyal companion who cares about them, the opportunity to study and practice medicine and magic from a brilliant teacher, and the ability to leave and go off by themselves if they actually wanted to badly enough, I think the world would be a much better place. This is nothing like actual human trafficking, it’s an anime about magic and MCs almost always have tragic pasts. Yes, both of them are far too dependent on each other, but this anime isn’t going for a model relationship. It’s about emotionally damaged people slowly bonding.

And as for becoming his bride, it’s hard to talk about age gaps and glorifying paedophilia when one of the love interests is immortal and the other is doomed to die young. Besides, everyone has their own view on what a competent adult is anyway. Chise isn’t portrayed as a child; she’s more mature than most of the actual adults in the anime. I’m not going to discuss this in any more detail, at the end of the day there will always be people who interpret things differently. (It’s one of the things that makes life so interesting, after all.)

So what did I think of this anime? I liked it tremendously, but took a while to get there. I thought it was good from the beginning, but only really got invested in it about halfway through. I’d definitely say it was a worthwhile watch though.

It’s probably one to go for if you’re in the mood for something that’s serene, quiet, and emotional, but does show a sense of adventure from time to time. XD

To sum it up:
• First half an 8
• Second half a 10
Overall a 9