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Dec 30, 2019
Date A Live is a series that probably should not have run as long as it has given its simple and very gimmicky premise, but here we are anyway. S1 of Date A Live was actually surprisingly good given what was going against it initially. Good visual presentation, a memorable character cast, and a pretty decent story. S2 follow up on that a year later to very lackluster results, thanks in no part to the much weaker plot lines and annoying additions to the character cast. There was a movie in-between the wait but S3 of the series finally got announced. And when the key
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visual was showcased.....
Yeah I'll just talk about the elephant in the room here: the animation and general visual quality here is, to put it lightly, extremely spotty. Witness the awe and wonder of character faces that go off-model when they aren't completely still, mediocre fight scenes, and sheer lack of polish. Honestly though I feel more sorry about this show than anything given that the studio producing it had several other projects running at the same time and managing them must of been like hell. Regardless, this show suffered because of that. The audio department doesn't fare too much better, but the OP and ED are decent, albeit kinda forgettable, tracks, and there are some good tunes here and there.
This show mainly focuses on the capture of a new Spirit named Natsumi and the out of nowhere spirit who is one of Shido's friends. Natsumi's arc had kinda of a mystery vibe at the beginning, and some touching moments near its end, with a lot of tension and stakes, plus Natsumi is quite an endearing and spunky little character. I felt the writing here to be surprisingly solid, and some twists I honestly never saw coming before hand. Most other characters in the show generally feel the same as they usually do. Aside from Natsumi none of them really experience any permanent changes, which sucks in my opinion. Although this season does explore some interesting angles to certain characters which is neat. Speaking of which....
Later on the show then retouches upon Origami's desire to massacre spirits. We get a backstory detailing why she loathes spirits with her every being, and then, an episode or two later, she's approached by some crystal which turns her into a spirit to make her stronger. The crystal's existence to me is one of the weakest parts of the season, seeing as its something that literally comes out of nowhere with no foreshadowing and feels like it was thrown in just to spice up the plot. So of course, this means that Shido has to rescue a spirit-hater-turned-spirit. This is where Kotori finally shows up, and now, time travel. I mean, it was inevitable given that Kotori's powers are clock-themed, not having it there would make less sense. Regardless, Shido has to go back in time to prevent Origami's parents from dying, while acting like an idiot ball was handed to him. His stupidity made this section of the arc frustrating but thankfully it doesn't last too long. The whole arc comes to a close in a few episodes that are decent but aside from the final episode of the arc not that great.
The episode the series ends on is a whole volume in the LNs, but aside from the ending it surprisingly didn't feel too rushed. Regardless, it was nice to see a new light of Shido, and the homage to olden-day musicals did put a smile on my face if only slightly. The season is two solid arcs mashed in-between a rather spotty arc, which actually makes this miles better than S2, which didn't really have any good arcs in my opinion, but not as good as S1. Still, its really poor production quality brings down the show a lot and makes it hard to really recommend. It's not one of the ugliest anime of all time or anything, but it sets a poor impression on the whole thing. Date A Live season 3 is a decent offering but one which probably should've stayed in the cooker for a bit longer.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 29, 2019
Girls' Frontline, along with Azur Lane, is the most popular Chinese-made gatcha out there. Naturally, with this success, comes the inevitable jump to animation. How well did it turn out? Well this series is the story of two halves.
Healing Chapter comprised the first half of the series. Something that stuck out was the sheer amount of great character interactions and heartwarming scenarios. For example, in one episode, M4 SOPMOD II creates a miniature replica of herself via the flesh of her enemies. The bond between this replica and M4A1 is surprisingly genuine for a short-form anime, and this replica ended up making a cameo later
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on. The humor is relatively simple but quite well done, with a charming artstyle and surprisingly good voice acting.
The second half, known as Madness Chapter, is a bit of different tale. Based on 4koma comics that were released as fun little stories, these segments are far more fast-paced and humor-focused. And there are more of them. But naturally, the platitude of "quality > quantity" comes into play. The shorts are far too hit or miss for me. Some, such as the one with the plant fairy, are charming little snippets. Others devolve into "geddit dakimakuras" or "OOPS the cats ate the food", or just have zero build-up. It comes off a bit too childish for me at points. The animation here also wildly ranges, quite a few times stuff barely moves and in other times there are weirdly fluid motions of cat people. Character interactions are present but barely explored in favor of the previously mentioned quick gags. The voice acting is still pretty solid though.
The characters themselves are in general likable but fairly one-note. I can sum up some of them as "cat", "lazy", "drunk", and "crazy". That's unfortunately the problem you get when you focus on too many characters. Healing Chapter made up for this with bouncy dynamics, but as mentioned before Madness Chapter half-assed that part.
Perhaps I'd get this more if I liked the game enough, but I don't gamble on jpgs and as a secondary to the franchise, this unfortunately couldn't get me on board. If you want absurdly short, silly cartoons I could cautiously recommend it, but just know you won't be getting the most consistent experience.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 17, 2016
During the first half of 2016, we've seen a sort of resurgence of Studio DEEN, a studio that previously was only really known for working on trash for the most part. Winter brought KonoSuba and Rakugo Shinjuu to the table, both of which are shows that surprised a great deal of people, and are even getting sequels in 2017. Spring brought us Sakamoto desu ga, which, if anything, was probably the best way to execute a single joke throughout 12 episodes. But then in Summer 2016, we get the show that I'm reviewing today. Hatsukoi Monster was something I picked up on a whim, not
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even aware of what it was really going to be, but in the end, it wasn't worth it in the slightest.
The premise to Hatsukoi Monster is one that is sure to turn off many, as it involves bishounens dating a dense girl. The catch? The bishounens are all elementary school kids. This leads to very unfortunate implications, but whatever, its just an anime. But its execution is where it lacks. A lot of the humor is very sophomoric, and while it occasionally can bring a laugh out of me, the majority of the time it doesn't.
But why may this be? Perhaps it might be the characters. All of them are very loud and annoying. The main girl, Kaho, is simply just a gender-swapped version of your typical LN harem, in that she's so dense it actually hurts to watch sometimes. The guys apart of the "harem" of sorts generally have a single trait that defines them, and while that's not a bad thing for this kind of show, the fact that they're all unlikable and unrelatable really hurts the series. As for the side characters, they're no different. One of them is the brother to Kaho, and he has almost incestuous feelings for his sister because of course he does. Another one of them has the gimmick of eating underwear. That's not funny, just disgusting.
The worst part of the characters, however, is the dumb drama they get into. Having drama in a comedy/slice of life is not an inherently bad thing, but its not even well executed drama. I couldn't relate to the characters due to how annoying they were, and as a result, never cared over who was dating who. It was just really cringe-worthy all things considered and felt like it dragged on for longer than it should.
The animation, while not particularly great, isn't that bad eiher. The designs are pretty decent, and there are certain little touches here and there that I like, such as the cute little faces Kaho makes. It suffers from awkward looking faces, but they weren't common enough for me to be bothered by them. The soundtrack is nothing to write home about. The OP and ED are pretty bland tracks, but some of the OST is decently fun to listen to. Though overall the production values are surprisingly good for this type of show.
Once you get past the shock factor of having bishounen 10-year olds and incest, Hatsukoi Monster provides nearly nothing to the table. The comedy is rarely funny, the characters are irritating, and the drama just feels tacked-on. If you want a show similar to this, I'd suggest checking out either Shimoneta or Osomatsu-san instead. You'll be much better off for it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 18, 2016
Unless you've been living under a rock in recent years, you've at least heard of the 2011 anime Mirai Nikki, known as Future Diary in English. Its one of the most popular anime of the last few years, though its reception is very mixed, with some people loving it and others flat-out despising it. A few years after it finished, another series by that series' mangaka was announced to get an anime adaptation for the Spring 2016 season. That series, of course, being Big Order. While opinions on Mirai Nikki are rather split, most can agree with something about Big Order. Its trash.
The series revolves
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around the concept of the aptly named "Orders", which are powers that originate via one's own wishes. Our story primarily focuses on Hoshimiya Eiji, a boy who supposedly caused an apocalypse that wiped out most of the population. As a result of this, he's despised by pretty much everyone, even so far as to get an assassin hired solely for killing him and him alone. Eiji now is on the run and has to save his sister, who is suffering from an illness likely to kill her in a few months. Well, that's what the story SUPPOSEDLY is. In actuality, the plot of Big Order is a huge pile of nonsense. The series can't decide on if it wants to be serious or silly. One of the biggest examples of this is when Eiji makes a miko pregnant but touching her bunny ears of all things during a major chase sequence (just roll with it), causing her belly to instantly swell up. Now, that may SEEM like a big plot point, but they decide to pretty much throw the idea away immediately in the next episode, pretty much making the supposed pregnancy subplot a complete waste of time. This is also one of those shows that thinks that shoving tits and ass into your story automatically redeems it, which it really doesn't. Some plot elements also feel like they're made up on the spot (and not even foreshadowed) solely to create Deus Ex Machinas. Most of the few things in this show that AREN'T incomprehensible are overall dull and feel like they were lazily copied from other manga/anime. (Such as how the Orders have an uncanny resemblance to the Stands from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) Lastly, the pacing is so ridiculously fast that you have no idea on what's even going on. This is not helped by the atrocious world-building, or lack there of. In addition to having nothing in this world explained, there are some major inconsistencies. For instance, this is apparently a post-apocalyptic setting, but somehow, news buildings and schools survive because plot convenience. How lovely.
Big Order's characters suffer from being both bland and unlikable. Eiji is the stereotypical edgy and obnoxiously loud shounen protagonist with some siscon thrown in for good measure (but its not incest cause they're not blood-related hurr durr (and yes, this IS something in the actual show)). Rin I guess is supposed to be a Yandere, but she lacks the charm of other characters of her type, and only acts according to the plot regardless of whether it fits her character, resulting in a blank slate basically. Sena is Eiji's blood-unrelated sister, and who we are supposed to sympathize for because she's cute and nothing more; even getting asspats by her brother even when she turns out to be a part of one of the major conflicts. The rest of the cast is so forgettable that I don't even remember their names. And considering that there's a lot of them, that's pretty bad. We're just introduced to them suddenly and the audience can't even feel to have a grasp of who they are (their actions make them come off as unmemorable at best); and at most they just serve as plot devices. They attempt to build romantic relationships, but the characters have no chemistry whatsoever so you can't feel invested in any of the romances present.
Production wise I suppose it looks decent. There are several neat-looking effects used within each episode, though at times they feel sloppily done (particularly in the last episode). The OST, on the other hand, is generally cheesy 80's pop and doesn't even remotely fit in with the designated scenes, and as such, it kills any tension those scenes might've had.
The only thing big about Big Order is that it's a big mess. With a shoddily put together story, a dull cast of characters, and sheer laziness through out, Big Order offers nothing to the table, and as such, I suggest avoiding it like the plague. Now, there is something that may make Big Order somewhat recommendable. Its a great show to laugh at. Even then, its outclassed in that aspect even within its own season. Take Mayoiga, a series that provides the same unintentional hilarity, but at least it's made by staff who want to have fun first and foremost, even if it's not to everyone's liking. Not saying that Mayoiga's even remotely a good show unironically, but at least it's not this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Jun 18, 2016
- This review contains my thoughts on both seasons of this series. It contains no story-important information from the series (though minor details may be discussed), so you can read this without feeling spoiled about the show itself -
Superheroes, Kaijuu, Super Sentai (or Power Rangers for more western viewers). All 3 have been long cherished by comic book guys and nerds alike around the world. But what if they were real? What if they existed at the same time? That's the world Concrete Revolutio brings to us. Produced by Studio Bones, it was split between the Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 seasons, running for a
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total of 24 episodes. Initially when I picked up the first half, Concrete didn't exactly impress me. It wasn't awful, but the early episodes were not exactly a great first impression for what was to come. And what did come is probably one of the most underappreciated anime of the past few years.
The story primarily focuses on Jiro Hitoyoshi, a man whose most defining traits are his scarf and bright pink hair. He decides to join a group that is stated to protect beings known as Superhumans, which are basically the term used in-universe to describe fictional beings such as aliens, witches, ghosts, youkai, and the list goes on and on. However, as time goes by, he realizes that something is a bit fishy with the group, known officially as the Superhuman Bureau, and the world in general.
Now, Concrete Revolutio's most (in)famous for the way it arranges its story. See, most anime generally tend to have a straight storyline, with occasional flashbacks to past events in-between. However, Concrete Revolutio has its story intentionally scrambled. This allows it to fully express the bizarre nature of its world via episodic adventures or even multi-episode arcs. However, in addition to the rather fast pacing, it comes at the cost of confusing newer viewers. This is a show best watched in a marathon setting, as such a viewing can make it easier for viewers to remember past events. The story has many underlying themes, discussing many topics, mainly morality, in a way that easily parallels the modern world. The tone is generally serious, but does bring in a bit of silliness. However, it doesn't put these lighter moments in places where it doesn't belong, which I appreciate. The show also utilizes grey morality to its finest. Both the government and its opposition do both admirable and despicable actions, which not only is decently realistic, but plays with your brain a bit.
Concrete's cast of characters is rather typical in terms of personality, but they are handled extremely well with enough characterization and depth to make them stand out. Jiro is the voice of reason, and an advocate for justice, which in this universe, is basically an alternative way of saying ethics. He starts as a rather optimistic being, but slowly loses it once he realizes that superhumans are being used for government purposes (primarily slavery and use as weapons), thus reducing their freedom as individuals. He has the ability to attack with fire (even being able to summon to a dragon), and is able to drive a part-vehicle and part-mecha robot named Equus. He was the character that was the most focused on, and it was very interesting to see him change as a person over the course of several years, as it felt very relatable to me due to similar circumstances with my own past. Along with him is a witch known as Kikko. She is a rather shy love interest, and she uses magic to battle, particularly "Meteorterre", which not only allows her to transform, but allows her to transport objects or change their form entirely. She has a crush on Jiro, and stays with him even when the two of them are enemies at the moment, which I feel is actually quite neat. The only other major character I want to discuss is Emi, a youkai who can control other youkai, and has been with Jiro since his childhood. She is the mature "Ojou-sama" esque character, but gets easily pissed off, resulting is some rather badass moments. Her role starts out small, but gradually she gains more of a focus on in the story. Other notable characters include Fuurouta, a ghost who can shapeshift into basically everything and often serves as comic relief, and Hyouma Yoshimura (also known as "Jaguar"), a man who can shapeshift into a cat-like being and can also control time, which the latter was the focus of one of my personal favorite episodes of the 1st half. There are many other characters, but the cast is vast and varied, but each of them is memorable in their own way, whether it be by their abilities or actions. For a show like this, that's impressive to say the least.
But perhaps the biggest accomplishment of Concrete Revolutio is its art-style and animation, which not only are able to bring both the cartoony and serious elements of the show to life, but also create some visually stunning fight sequences. The soundtrack fits the show well, with a big mention going the opening for the first season, showcasing bright visuals to engage the viewer, and a killer tune by ZAQ.
So overall, while Concrete Revolutio may take a while to get the ball rolling, it tells a very competent story using a bright and colorful world and a surprisingly good cast of characters. The first few episodes may be off-putting to some (myself included), but I'd suggest giving it a chance past that. Who knows, you may find something interesting.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 2, 2016
Ranpo Kitan is often considered to be one of the worst anime of 2015, though being a completionist I nevertheless decided to give it a shot. Did it lead up to it's infamy? You bet. But why is that the case? Well, that's what this review is for.
The series is based off the novels of historical mystery writer Ranpo Edogawa, and this series was dedicated to him. Needless to say it wasn't EXACTLY the best dedication in the world, but enough jibber-jabber.
The show follows Kobayashi, a kid who pairs up with a classmate from his school and a famous detective named Akechi. Now, Ranpo's
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story line is messy to say the least. The show starts out episodic, but then dwells on the mystery of a figure named 20 Faces. The problem with the 20 Faces plot is that its pretty predictable. Once you see a certain theory that appears in the show, the culprit of the 20 Faces crimes is pretty easy to figure out. The other major problem with this show is that it relies too much on shock factor to get chills out of the viewers. We got a pedophile who turns disobeying children into wall paper art, a school teacher who turns people into chairs, a masochist who tortures people and pees herself constantly etc. These are too over the top to be taken seriously yet too disgusting to be taken comedically. It just fails to add up. One thing Ranpo IS good at though is info dumping. Some of the stronger episodes were those that dwelled on the backstories of certain characters. Too bad a lot of these are pretty damn clichéd and melodramatic. And a lot of the time the show isn't even good at being a mystery due to lack of any intrigue whatsoever and some episodes can barely be classed a mysterious in nature. The ending is pretty poor as well, leaving a sour note on a show that was already sour to begin with.
Onto the characters. Well, the characters are mostly one-note and not even enjoyable to watch. There's Kobayashi, a bishounen who thinks everything is fun and is constantly confused for a girl. Doesn't help when they try and lure in the pedophile by making Kobayashi crossdress. My main beef with him is that his overly happy persona gets grating after a while and he solves pretty much all the cases even though he's basically the Watson of this story. Hashiba is pretty much pointless and is only there as either sub-par comic relief or to serve as yaoi bait, there's not much too him. Then there's Akechi. Now, I normally am fine with characters like him (cold-hearted and emotionless), but the problem is that he's so freaking lazy. He can never get a case solved on his own, and for someone who's a professional detective that's pretty pathetic. The rest of the characters aren't too notable. They either only serve as shock factor or have good ideas but very poor execution, though there were some I actually kind of liked (in particular, the nekomimi school teacher actually made me laugh intentionally).
To end things out on a lighter note, Ranpo actually looks pretty solid. Its dark and grim settings along with the way the flashback and info dumping scenes change in style is handled wonderfully. The soundtrack is good too. The OP and ED songs are great listens on their own, and while the songs in the show aren't too memorable, they fit the mood. There's this one English song that plays in nearly every episode that does get a bit grating after a while, but the song it self isn't that bad. However, good production values don't equal a good show, and Ranpo is a big example of that.
Overall, Ranpo Kitan is a show that fails both as a mystery and as a horror anime, due to its ludicrously over the top situations, uninteresting characters, and predictable mysteries in general. Something I do give Ranpo credit for is that its presented pretty well and that it at least never failed to amuse me. But that doesn't mean its a good show. Far from it. Several anime does its elements a lot better, and Ranpo doesn't really have much to set it apart other than human chairs and urinating masochists. I don't recommend it what so ever unless you purposefully want to watch a sloppily written show. That or you just like blood and guts with nothing much else to it. Either way works.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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