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Berserk, Vagabond, and Vinland Saga have long been known in the manga community for existing in the world of the tsukuyomi where time stands still and its readers suffer for what seems like an eternity. When a Vinland Saga adaptation was announced after the fiasco of Berserk 2016, many fans were expectant but not without reservations. It doesn't help that Wit Studio expressed their desire to be experimental with CGI for this show. Fortunately, Vinland Saga turned out to be a great adaptation and if not for some very strong contenders and some of its own flaws, could have been anime of the year 2019. ...

Vinland saga takes place in a historical backdrop during the 11th century. But if you are looking for a hardcore historically accurate series about Vikings other than the setting it plays around with, then this is not what you are looking for. This is, in fact, one of the flaws of Vinland Saga that does exist in the original manga as well being that it at times are overly stylized in an "anime" fashion. What I am specifically talking about are feats taken by certain characters that defy reality such as gravity defying jumps, splitting people apart through armour and the strength to weight ratio of ants. These imperfections do break the suspension of disbelief and take the audience out of the state of immersion. What these action scenes did prove, however, is that the use of CGI was not a bad decision and everything does look good.

What Vinland Saga does make up for is its outstanding portrayal of the protagonist Askeladd. The reason why I make this argument is due to the fact that Askeladd is a proactive character who has been driving the story forward through his actions and decisions and they are what affects the other characters and determines their interactions and places in the story. It's through Askeladd's complexity and realism that takes us back into the story and make it believable after those so called "anime" elements do happen.

The music in the show are solid and fitting. But what truly impressed me are the first opening and ending themes. The first opening and ending seems as if it was written specifically for Thorfinn though as a manga reader I felt that the first ending would have been a better match for the next season if it does happen. The second opening and ending were quite disappointing though.

2019 overall has been a great year for anime and Vinland Saga being in the fall season was great way to end the year. I have no doubt that we will look back upon the 2010s in the future and see Vinland Saga as one of the best shows of the decade.

Cheap isekai anime has ravaged the industry for a number of years now. Without a working vaccine, the disease continues to kill the brain cells of viewers everywhere. The Sasuga Skeletor Sama Series is just another symptom of this plague.

The story has been done thousands of times. It's the generic MC self insert type of story. I can literally predict the outcome of every episode after about two minutes since nothing will ever stump Skeletor Sama. He will always achieve victory no matter what. He would conquer the world in 7 days but apparently the author thinks resisting the urge of dicking around in ... his harem should be the main obstacle Skeletor Sama needs to overcome throughout the series. After three seasons I still have no idea where this show is going. Then the realization dawned on me. The point of the show is not to actually tell a good story, but for the author to mentally masturbate onto a piece of paper so the target audience will lap up the discharge like a bunch of coco addicts trying to snort a bag of baking soda.

Skeletor Sama is the character equivalent of play-doh. He will change and do whatever seems the edgiest and coolest in the moment. Side characters are irrelevant since the series is focusing on Skeletor Sama himself. They will either circlejerk how they want to bone him or get killed and have only one or two episodes of screen time.

One thing I think studio Madhouse did brilliantly is saving a ton of money not animating Skeletor Sama. If not for the sound and subtitles changing on the bottom of the screen I would have thought that my internet went out whenever Skeletor Sama is on screen. I was wondering why this show looks Master of Ragnarok tier despite it being popular and lucrative enough to have three seasons until I realized that both shows takes place in Yggdrasil where things look cheap and lacking in pixels.

I totally get it. We all occasionally want to just turn off our brain and watch a show like this when we are bored. Sometimes we do have no other choice but to pull over at that really dirty KFC on the side of the road at 3 in the morning. But why would I do that when Popeyes and Church's are just next door, are cheaper, and doesn't taste like diarrhea? There are 40-50 shows airing every single season and are you seriously telling me that you cannot find a single other show on that list that will be a better time spent than watching this?

In conclusion I would just like to say thank mr skeltal for the good bones and calcium to heal my head after slamming it on my desk thinking about the possibility of this getting a fourth season.

Batman:Japan is a relaunch of the classic superhero movie but with a Japanese Bruce Wayne joining the world of crime instead of fighting it in order to find his father's killer. All jokes aside, as someone who loved the 2010 version I just had to pick this up. Although a lot of the episodes are the same with some extremely minor details changed, it does include contents from a couple of the Kaitou Kid specials from the Conan anime which is nice because it gives Kaito fans a way to enjoy a comprehensive collection of all of our favourite phantom thief's adventures without having to ... sift through 700 episodes of Conan.

From an aesthetic perspective, the show looks quite good. The characters look more crisp than the OVA version and the colours are more vibrant. However, it's hard to say if 1412 is strictly better than the OVA version in terms of art because the OVA had a bit of an old school charm to it. Also some of the CGI looks really out of place in 1412. The soundtrack of this show is honestly amazing. All of the opening and ending these can be contenders for the top 5 opening and endings themes of the season. The BGM ranges from some sappy jazz to quick beat rhythm that makes you want to move along with the action.

Now the problem with Kaito is that the story is quite repetitive. It's akin to the monster of the week shounen but with thefts. Though some of the ways Kaito solves his problems can be considered as bigger asspulls than No Game No Life, a lot of the more thought out ones, especially the ones involving Conan, are quite intriguing and will make you go "aha" afterwards. To me, the most important aspect of the show are the characters. Honestly speaking, the main characters Kaito and Aoko are quite stagnant and set in their tropes. However, there's no rule stating that stagnant characters cannot be loveable characters. Though Kaito can sometimes make you cringe with his white knighting neckbeard fedora M'lady act, he and Aoko both have a sort of charisma that makes you love them. They are especially adorable during the romance episodes albeit being a bit cheesy.

I would definitely recommend this anime to people looking to watch something lighthearted and have some fun. And I would definitely recommend it to Conan fans who haven't checked out the OVA version yet as this is the ultimate fanservice.

Terra Formars was one of the series that received a lot of conflicting opinions during the fall 2014 season. Some loved it for the Linkin Park grimdark edginess while a majority of people hated on it purely due to the censorship. But let's face it, censorship is not a valid reason to give this series a one out of ten. If anything, there are much bigger problems than a giant black circle in the middle of the screen when it comes to this show.

Terra Formars is one of those series where it could have possibly been decent. You start watching this show and the amazing ... hot blooded opening music comes on and you get all pumped up. Then as you go through it you just wonder to yourself if time was better spent studying for that final instead. The experience was akin to being teased by a really hot girl but suddenly experiencing erectile dysfunction when she tells you she has syphilis halfway through the makeout session. The premise was pretty interesting and I really liked the idea of how the tables have turned and the bug overlords are now hunting down the humans. You shouldn't expect anything more from the story other than to set up action. That's perfectly fine because that's what this show is meant to be. Unfortunately, it's those small details that really pisses you off and drove this show straight into the dumpster. The biggest offender of this is the narration. I'm an advocate of showing and not telling because it does not ruin the immersion experience. In this show however, you constantly have this out of place infodump either in the middle of action scenes or just before a big reveal and it completely destroys the atmosphere. Not only that, it treats the viewers as if they are 75 IQ retards just because the studio is too lazy to incorporate these information through character interactions.

Character designs is one of the things that went well for this show. Unfortunately the same cannot really be said of a lot of the characters themselves. Personally I think the main problem is that 13 episodes is not nearly enough to develop such a large cast. While dynamics between the main characters were done decently, you just can't give a damn about the rest of the cast. And when they get killed off it seemed like they are randomly killed just for the sake of being a tear jerker or to induce shock through all the gore because you do not feel a connection to them.

Speaking of shock and gore, oh boy, we now come to the censorship. Remember when you thought Tokyo Ghoul was pretty heavily censored? Well that was pretty tame compared to this. Sometimes the screens would just be half black and other times they would have random black circles. To speak the truth, I actually loved the censored version because I just find it absolutely hilarious and it also spawned lots of dank memes with that one particular head grab scene.

At the end of the day you should treat this show like one of those B movies from the 1950s about vampire Nazi sunflowers from Venus or some shit like that. Watch the censored version and enjoy it while making fun of the hilarious expressions of the cockroaches, the absurd fights and some QUALITY animation with your friends.

Widely known as "Shingeki no Shitstorm" before it even aired, Free! was a show that made a huge splash on the anime community during the summer of 2013. It sparked a lot of controversy over whether or not the show was a juicy bait waiting for rabid fujoshi to pounce on. Thus, this show has isolated itself from a significant portion of the male anime viewers who just happens to be people who are not confident enough in their masculinity.

Do not be deceived.

Free! is by no means an anime for homos. If one could simply look past the amazingly proportioned as well as scantily clad ... exterior and dig into the actual content of the anime, they would realize that Free! is a heartwarming story about the pure friendship between members of the same sex. Another recurring element in the story is the sense of fulfillment one gets from doing things they life, no matter the results; which I personally feel like is lacking amongst young people these days.

Unfortunately, though the overall message of the series is sent, the execution is lacking. So much emphasis is focused on Haruka and Rin, the rest of the characters are overshadowed and feel flat. Various episodes could also be cut down and lose some irrelevant content such as the moments of obvious sexual tension between characters that leads to misconceptions about this show.

Overall, Free! Iwatobi Swim Club was a delightful treat to the eyes and soul and I would definitely recommend it to people who need a break from the Linkin Park pseudo darkness shows plaguing the industry nowadays.

Remember back in July I said that seeing the hype, this would probably become the next Guilty Crown? Well, reflecting on that now…I would like to sincerely apologize…to the Guilty Crown fans because Sword Art Online is nowhere near Guilty Crown’s level in terms of visuals and soundtrack.

As we all know, studio A-1 is not known for action based anime. Most of their signature works are slice of life romantic comedies. The character designs are reminiscent of those in Working!! despite the fact that this show markets itself as a serious action fantasy series. Action scenes heavily utilized flash frames in order to cut ... corners. Most of the time, the viewers are just shown the expressions of the characters instead of what is actually happening to the scene as a whole. In some instances, frames from previous episodes were even reused. Saying that the visuals were underwhelming is an understatement.

The music department is one of the few redeeming qualities of this show although this is perhaps Kajiura’s most lackluster work in recent years. Some parts of soundtracks seem recycled right out of her recent works. Not to mention that sometimes, the music does not fit that particular scene. To put it simply, the music was nice, but lacks soul.

Up until now, we’ve covered the visuals and the music. Both aspects are mediocre at worst and are not bad enough to garner the negativity towards this show. So what went wrong? Well, obviously the leftover parts: the plot and the characters.

Truth be told, the premise of the story had potential. However, that raw potential was untouched and on top of that, was marred by absolutely horrid execution in terms of storytelling and progression. An easy phrase to apply here is “show, not tell”. Several backstory filler episodes were carelessly dumped into the beginning of the series giving the impression that the writers didn’t care enough to put in the effort in order to integrate those side stories nicely into the series. To add insult to injury, those episodes were rushed. It’s pretty ridiculous how the progression would have seemed smoother and more acceptable if the content was cut. And as the viewer continue watching, the story becomes a mass of plotholes rampant with tasteless fanservice that are randomly thrown in; In particular, the breaking of game mechanics written in cold, hard code at the convenience of the main characters which will be covered in the next section. Again, this is just very contradictory considering the fact that this show is trying to get viewers to take it seriously. You really have to wonder if the writers have forgotten that this is supposed to be a story about an MMORPG.

Now we come to the last nail in the coffin: characters. Overpowered main characters are not uncommon and there are generally no problems if they are done well. Sword Art Online, unfortunately, did not handle this trope with expertise and fell into the trap where the main character bends plot more than gravity stretches time. Kirito is a walking deus ex machina. He can do and experience things that are impossible according to previously shown game mechanics. His personality and traits also changes according to the situation such as being a fumbling idiot one moment yet two minutes later he is soloing mobs while spitting out cheesy phrases from some Clint Eastwood movie. He simply does not leave a lasting impression other than his role and abilities in the story. Take away his dual wielding abilities and what do you remember him for? Nothing. On top of that, the story gives no sense of excitement due to his overpowering presence. The viewer does not feel pressured to known what’s going to happen next since it’s a given that Kirito will resolve the situation with no problems. Asuna, on the other hand, was introduced as a strong capable female but turned into a damsel in distress under the influence of Kirito’s plot wielding; eventually becoming a fap fodder waifu character. What’s also not helping the cast is that there are no significant characters other than the main characters. Side characters are pretty much irrelevant given their almost nonexistent character development. It’s almost as if they are taking on an episodic approach to the characters despite the fact that this story is supposedly linear with a clear objective or ending in mind.

The final verdict? A three out of ten. This is taken into account the fact that I've changed into a masochist and this show has given me enjoyment and gratification with it's absolutely tortuous delivery. You really have to wonder if fans of this show love the premise of the series or the series itself. Perhaps this show would have done better if it chose a simply fantasy setting instead since it obviously wasn’t adeptly incorporating elements of an MMORPG. In the end, Sword Art Online is a show that can present the who, what, when, and where with efficiency but fails completely to explain how and why I should bother giving a tiny rat’s ass.

This is perhaps the best fanservice anime I've seen to date. You may think...Fanservice? But how can it be fanservice if there are no well endowed, scantily clad female characters in there? Well lets just say that's the beauty of this show. Carnival Phantasm is literally servicing the loyal Type-Moon fans that have been following their works over the last 12 years. With that being said, this show is not for everyone. If you do not have an extensive knowledge of Nasuverse from playing Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night(The anime for these two sucked therefore you have to play the games), Fate/Hollow Ataraxia (Fate/Zero novels optional with ... the anime as a worthy substitute) and Melty Blood, you will not get even a fraction of enjoyment out of this show as opposed to the viewers who have played through all these games.

Carnival Phantasm utilizes a ton of inside jokes that, like I mentioned before, will not make sense if you have not played the games listed above. The show also assumes that you are familiar with all the characters and takes on a rather slice of life approach with little connections between episodes. The animation may seem ordinary but it is certainly refreshing to see the Tsukihime cast no longer suffering from the "male face syndrome" and the Fate cast being relieved from the "same face disorder".

Even though this anime is niche, it serves its purpose well and does exactly what it was intended to do: satisfying Type-Moon fans. For that reason, Carnival Phantasm definitely deserves a nine out of ten from me.

When I saw Guilty Crown on the preview list with the synopsis and the production team, I thought this was it. I thought that this would be an anime that would save the industry. Guess what? I was right. After all if you cannot be a good example, then you will just have to be a terrible warning.

Lets get to the good points. Art. It is Production I.G we are talking about here. Even the haters have to agree that the art is amazing. The animations were fluid and detailed. The character designs are appealing as well. The only problem ... is the uninteresting mecha designs though lets be honest, there are only a few ways that you can draw a giant robot. It is obvious that they spent a large part of their budget in this department. The music is beautiful too except for some engrish and the fact that sometimes the music does not really match the mood of a particular scene.

Oh boy, it is time for the bad stuff; namely the plot. Now I am not going to say that the premises is a copy of Code Geass or anything like that because there is no problem exploring a concept that has been done before. It does become a problem, however, when a previously explored concept is horribly executed. The writers wants you to take the show seriously but it is especially hard to do that when hardly anything follows logic along with the lack of consistency and cohesion of the story. To me it just seemed like the authors all got together and wrote 50 plot progressions and added them into a box. Before every episode they draw one out of the box and say "this is what today's episode is going to be about". This sort of progression leaves little to no explanation nor even any information for the viewer to infer what is happening. Surprisingly the producers think they have enough time to produce a beach episode which again makes me unable to take this show seriously.

The character is another aspect of this anime that made it not enjoyable for me. None of the protagonists' nor the antagonists' motives are explored other than the generic good guys versus the bad guys black and white conflict. The bad guys kill people and the good guys are the heroes of justice oppressed and hunted down by the bad guys. With the inconsistencies of personalities and sudden illogical character "development", it is hard to even give a damn about the characters. The special ability of the protagonist is basically a Deus ex machina used for plot convenience. Coupled with several layers of plot armour that protects the protagonists just makes the characters that much more uninteresting.

With the huge budget, superb production team, and the so called golden time slot given to this show, it pains me physically to see it become the train wreck that is Guilty Crown. Perhaps through a modicum of sadism that exists in every human being, I decided to savor every aspect of its shortcoming by finishing the show; despite all the crap that was thrown at me since episode 3. All in all it seemed to me that 80% of the budget was spent on art and music and a janitor was hired to write the plot. The flashy action scenes and music basically carried this show. At the end of the day I just cannot decide whether or not this is an anime or just a new form of advertisement for promoting Supercell's songs.