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(SPOILER FREE REVIEW)

Story (9): As someone who's seen quite a few shonen, and sports shonen in particular, Baby Steps stands out from the pack in ways that I feel make it a worthwhile series for almost any viewer. The story, unlike most sports anime that follow prodigies building their legends, follows a complete novice who takes up the sport as a hobby and slowly becomes dedicated to it, eventually deciding to pursue it as a life passion. The story follows him building up simple skills through hard work and by utilizing his few natural strong suits, making his gameplay entirely unique, leading to all the ... matches throughout the series having variety and strategy as their main appeals over very hyped up, loud action sequences. The focus on self improvement and character growth through effort (as stated at the beginning of every episode even with the phrase "Believe in yourself!") is appealing, cute, and very well done here, despite a somewhat slow start in the first couple episodes.

Animation and Style (7): I feel this will be the main deterrent for most viewers in watching Baby Steps, given the streak of most sports anime focusing on high budget action sequences that carry the energy of the show. The visuals of this show are effective and somewhat mundane, with simple life-like palettes and a look that screams more 'slice of life' than 'epic sport shonen' -- but the simple visuals here are effective and homely, very nicely explaining the somewhat heavy complexity of ball bounces, strokes, and other intricacies of the sport's mechanics.

Music/Sound (8): The show's music is quiet and doesn't overstate its welcome, only popping in when needed, which is something I can admire especially in a sports anime. Mirroring the concentration of the protagonist's concentration during matches, the less is more approach lets the character narratives and strategy shine. Not to mention solid voice acting from the entire cast and a great OP and ED to boot, the sound design is very solid, if at times a tad lackluster.

Characters (7): The characters here are a bit generic and generally underdeveloped with exception to the protagonist, Maruo. Despite this, I rather enjoyed the whole cast, they're simple and less defined than I'd prefer, falling into tropes rather easily, but I found they each had their own charm and performed their plot function well. Maruo and his love interest/rival in particular ring to me as a great pair of characters, with her story and character being much more grounded than 95% of female shonen characters, which is always an appreciated and pleasant surprise.

Enjoyment (10): I really loved this show. I can say with certainty if you asked me which shows move me emotionally the most, Baby Steps would be near the top of that list. The show's endearing main theme being to believe in yourself even when you stumble is something so many similar shows lack, and it's so earnest in its cast and characters that I genuinely wanted them to succeed every step of the way. Every game feels like an achievement whether our main cast wins or loses, and I have gone on to pursue the story of the manga beyond the anime's abrupt stop after season 2.

Overall (8): Baby Steps isn't for everyone, its a simple, cute, and effective story focuses on believing in yourself and character growth more so than even other very similar sports anime, such as Haikyuu!! and comes across for more similar to typical slice of life and character driven narratives. While not filled with the groundbreaking visuals that fuel other titles of the sports shonen genre, it has a special appeal and very rewarding payoff if you enjoy the characters. I would recommend it to shonen and slice of life fans alike.

(SPOILER FREE REVIEW)

Story (5): As someone who's seen a fair amount of shonen, the narrative of BNHA doesn't do anything particularly new for the genre, nor even among the subtype of hero-based anime. The initial idea that one day people suddenly started getting powers and choose to become 'heros' and 'villains' isn't the focus and isn't explored further, leading the plot to focus almost entirely on the high school life of its cast with few external villain appearances intermixed. Needless to say, if you're looking for a more inventive shonen story world the pickings are plentiful elsewhere, and the character tropes here are so generic ... to the point that any experienced shonen/anime viewer has likely seen them done better and many times before elsewhere, and in a far less predictable and formulaic manner.

Animation and Style (10): The art of BNHA is by far its best element, with a crisp, consistent, and clean style accompanied by a huge and well implemented budget. Action scenes are the highlight of the show, with punchy loud and effective visuals, my hat goes off to the effects artists on this project and to the original magaka for such a visually pleasing animated series.

Music/Sound (9): The music of this show is effective and generally above average, working to build hype during tense or active scenes, with a banger first OP and solid ED to boot. The voice acting is also on point, capturing each character very well, the protagonist Deku and his rival Bakugou both standing out as amazing performances, Bakugou's VA in specific really carrying his scenes with his performance. Very little to dislike here from an audio standpoint.

Characters (6): I'll be frank, the fandom around this show is quite vocal about which characters they like and dislike, etc., so giving an objective opinion can be difficult without an uproar. What I will say is that upon completing season 1, I didn't like any characters particularly, though I rather aggressively disliked Deku, due to his generic and boring personality that lacks any uniqueness among his shonen peers. The characters in this show improve a lot and grow as the series progresses, but that isn't super apparent until late season two and beyond, so for the first season in specific here, don't go in expecting anything that breaks the mold for a shonen cast.

Enjoyment (7): I generally enjoyed this show, despite a notable element I will place here [skip the Enjoyment section to avoid a minor ep2 spoiler]. Deku being introduced as one of the few characters with no super power initially in a world surrounded by heroes made me quite hopeful this show would be unique, giving me a sense that lacking powers could be a metaphor for disability or other inherent obstacles that make your life and ambitions harder -- I was very excited to see a protagonist who was specialized in collecting information and strategy surrounded by more typically physically powerful peers/heroes. However, instead of Deku using his inherent skills to find a clever or unique work around, the show opts to break its own pre-established rules that you either have a power or do not, and has a hero coincidentally have one of the only powers you can give to another person. The power he receives is the most powerful we're aware of at this point, and turns him from a promising and genuine underdog into a normal overpowered protagonist, with his only obstacle being his own incompetence/inexperience in utilizing his new near limitless powers.

Overall (7): This shonen is generally rather bland from the characters to the plot itself, not doing too much interesting outside of that. The main things that really pull me in are highlights in later seasons, the voice acting, and the visuals -- if the animation and action visuals aren't to your taste, however, I doubt there's much else here to carry your experience or to provide something new in the current saturated shonen genre.

(SPOILER FREE REVIEW)

Story (7): The premise of this show comes across as rather contrived and stupid to be honest, my first time reading the plot summary I recall uttering out loud, "wow, they really will come up with any reason at all the make a story take place in high school". And while this still stands somewhat true, given the story could have taken place in college or basically any other setting while maintaining all the positive elements, I think it works well enough and has solid pacing given the slice of life focus. The elements regarding the ReLife program the plot revolved around are ... sluggish at times, and as a premise feels unrealistic and a bit silly, but adds a lot of comedic moments and to the overall drive of the plot, especially given the rules it puts in place.

Animation and Style (7): The animation and stylization here is rather stock, lacking in any offensive flaws or moments that jumped out to me as jarring or ugly/under worked, but while good, lacks many moments that made me amazed visually either. It was not underwhelming and did its job well enough with an enjoyable and consistent style.

Music/Sound (6): Similarly to the art of this show, the music and sound design were adequate and did their job but lacked many standout moments or elements, the music in particular being minimal to the point where muted some scenes would read the same. The VAs did their jobs and expressed things quite well, though none really struck me as particularly impressive. The OP/EDs also didn't do much, being slow paced and dull, so I opted to skip them the majority of the time.

Characters (10): THIS is the element you'd want to watch ReLife for, the characters. Avoiding spoilers, the protagonist, Kaizaki, is lovable and relatable, and makes the premise, and frankly whole show, function. He's a kind person with reasonable skills and a good head on his shoulders, complete with reasonable human flaws and a history to give him a really solid and fleshed out personality, unlike most slice of life protagonists. He also directs the story proactively due to his ambitions and the ambitions of those around him, as opposed to the usual romantic harem clouds that clog most similar shows. The main thing that matters in ReLife is character growth and the lessons learned from living, often some of the simplest yet most difficult to define, this is something the Kaizaki along with the many side characters such as Hishiro, Yoake, Oga, etc. all work towards wonderfully. I've grown to appreciate most all the character moments here and have since sought out other works by the mangaka behind this work, its really stunning character work.

Enjoyment (10): This show hit me in a place many don't, prompting me to rewatch it twice since my initial viewing. It might not be as impactful for everyone, given the narrative and trials speak to an older audience (generally people of late high school or college age and up) more so than a younger one, but for me its heartwarming and one of my favorite shows of the genre.

Overall (8): Despite the singular elements of this show being relatively unimpressive, I think its far greater than the sum of its parts, providing a homely and relatable narrative about personal growth. Even if you dislike slice of life, as I tend to, give this one a shot, you might find you learn a thing or two, or at least come out feeling a bit more mature.

(SPOILER FREE REVIEW)

Story (7): Honestly, I really rarely care much for the typical trope of 'high school boy gets whisked away on a fantastical adventure (usually accompanied by a myriad of cute girls)', and generally go into such plot lines with low expectations. This anime, while technically about a high school age student, avoids pretty much all the problems associated with that type of story line, and focuses more on building and paying off suspense and tension. Avoiding a general summary about this show's premise, what you'll get with Death Note is a captivating view into a dynamic mind battle between two immensely intelligent individuals ... with complex morals that make it a thrilling ride, regardless of who you want to see win. The involvement of supernatural elements and detectives/police spice up the mind games and greatly add to the stakes. The reason this section gets a 7 is because the main plot ends on ep25, if the show had ended there, this section would be getting a 9 borderline 10 from me -- the additional episodes past this point were added on against the author's original wishes, extending a wonderfully completed story into a section where new characters introduced to the current dynamic shatter the balance and fun suspense to pieces, the additional content beyond ep25 I'd consider to be quite wretched, and really just drags everything this plot had going for it through the mud. The show's ending, while contrived because of the elements from ep26-37, is still relatively satisfying, given the circumstances.

Animation and Style (10): Not much to say here, the style is very appealing with a 90's era attention to detail in multiple layers of shade and and tendency towards more realistic and consistent anatomy and proportion, with a large budget that comes through masterfully whenever needed. I found the expressions and general look of the show to mirror the mood and content it wanted to express wonderfully, with no notable moments to my mind where the animation, budget, or stylization felt out of place or jarring.

Music/Sound (10): The music of Death Note is another feature that really worked for me, the soundtrack works wonders for building the mood, and both sets of OPs and EDs being some of the best in the business, even with their distinctly different volumes and moods (be warned, your first time seeing the second OP packs a big punch to those accustomed to the first, haha). The original Japanese voice actors hit their roles on the money, Light's VA in particular won an award for this performance, and justly so, its quite immaculate! I personally dislike the English dub in this instance simply because the original has a more mature and accurate portrayal of the characters that really adds to the atmosphere, though the English dub isn't horrid by any means, and is adequately watchable.

Characters (7): Light and L (the two protagonists) along with Ryuk and other various side characters all get top marks from me, they fulfill their roles and present fun and diverse dynamics. Had it not been for the introduction of Mello and Near (some of the most jarring additions in the tacked on plot line after ep25) who frankly disrupt the narrative, and proactively weaken other character arcs and stories by retconning past elements, this section would get a solid 10 from me.

Enjoyment (9): I really enjoyed watching this show, up to ep25 it would get a perfect 10 from me for being thrilling, fun, and genuinely engaging in a way few shows are. However, the section beyond the resolution of the main plot is so jarring and frustrating by comparison that it took me a long time after watching the show to calm my nerves, this later section probably getting a 2-3 in terms of enjoyment given the sudden drop in quality.

Overall (9): Death Note is a show that I'd honestly recommend to any type of viewer, big anime fan or noobie to the community alike, its exciting, fun, and enthralling all without relying too heavily on shonen tropes or other niche focuses. I give this show a 9-9.5 rating because I really do feel ep1-25 is one of the best pieces of anime I've had the pleasure of viewing, and have revisited multiple times since my completion of the series. Though, if you really do want to enjoy your whole experience, go into the deeps of ep26 and beyond with a grain of salt, or just skip it entirely.