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Sep 29, 2023
Minor Spoilers
The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again was quite the surprise of the season. The obvious pull is big cat takes care of owner and what a fantastic use of the concept it is. Anime can burn you with a good hook but mediocre execution but this one thankfully delivers a stellar slice of life experience.
Saku Fukuzawa experiences the cat distribution system finding a black cat she names Yukichi under a snowy bench. After Yukichi is saved he grows way bigger than any cat and does things like cook and clean for Saku. Though the premise is simple, the exploration of Saku and Yukichi's relationship
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is a fun ride. They care about each other in a realistic cat and their owner/guy takes care of the girl dynamic. Yukichi has his own motivations as to why he wants to take care of Saku as seen in the back half of the series. Yukichi also does daily human things in public like shopping which is always great. Saku has her own conflicts like needing to keep up with her boss shot for shot while at an office gathering or feeling imposter syndrome because her cat makes her lunches with her coworkers being amazed at her cooking skills. While things like that could be played as a one off joke, Saku will take it upon herself to be more competent whether she's successful or not. The story of Saku adopting Yukichi and Yukichi growing to care for Saku is super adorable, too. The somewhat episodic yet having overall plot progression was not what I expected and came as a pleasant surprise.
Saku and Yukichi really are the heavy hitters in terms of characters, but the side characters are still welcome additions. Both Saku and Yukichi are three dimensional though if Yukichi was a human the series wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. The humor is often based on the fact that Yukichi is a cat adding the extra level of charm instead of writing something simple where the guy is the home keeper with the girl as the breadwinner. The side characters have different amounts of attention depending on the person, but almost every person comes back around a couple times (obviously, it's a slice of life). I was happy to see how casually some of the characters were queer. A couple ladies had a crush on Saku who was of course oblivious but I won't spoil anything. Even the most minor of characters like the grocery store manager who loves Yukichi as a customer were great. From Saku's boss to the kitten every side character brought something different to the episodic adventures. If a second season happens, I likely won't remember any of the side characters, but it will be difficult to forget Yukichi and he'll forever be stuck in my head.
The animation was movie quality at times and never fell below great. The opening episode was very clearly given a large budget to draw people's attention and it certainly worked on me. Despite being a slice of life, the fluidity of frames at times threw me off guard reminding me if those Simpsons clips where the animation suddely becomes amazing. I assumed it wouldn't get much attention because it's a relatively low key show, but the animators certainly made the most of this practice. The shading and lighting would also add another layer to it during important moments like Saku finding Yukichi. The style of the characters was very soft and comforting. This anime really is just nice to look at.
The sound is the weakest portion of the anime. The opening is really good but I don't particularly care for the closing. The music during the episodes was fine but nothing of note. Voice acting was pretty good but not spectacular. Saku could be whiny at times though still good enough to carry the bulk of the dialogue. Yukichi has a surprising amount of lines and a distinctly deep voice. He really sounds like if a big cat could talk. The sound and music was good, just not great.
I loved my time watching this week to week. Every episode I was enthralled with what was going on, laughing at or with Saku and Yukichi. My favorite joke from early on is when Saku's coworker makes a bed for Yukichi and he sleeps with his head in it but his entire body outside because he's way too big. This show is just good fun that any slice of life fan should watch. My rating of 9 does feel a little generous, I'm ok with rounding it that far up.
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8.5/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound/Music: 7/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 27, 2023
Kengen Ashura has returned with the first part of its second season and is exactly what you'd expect. Some good fights with way too many characters to actually follow what's going on.
I must admit, going into this season I did not remember what had happened in the slightest from the first season and needed to watch a recap. I say this because this likely influences my opinion of the overall plot so take it with a relative grain of salt. That being said, Kengen Ashura is definitely a show that benefits from the binge watching model of Netflix. The large number or characters from fighters
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to CEOs each with their own goals makes for an overcomplicated plot. When it comes to a tournament arc there are already problems with having to introduce so many characters over a short span of time while trying to flesh out everybody's motivations for fighting. When the entire show has been released its storytelling would be able to shine, but as is I have no idea why I should care about the thirty fighters outside of their fights. The CEOs have even less attention given to them despite being the main antagonistic forces within the plot. Kengen Ashura is bloating itself with continuing to follow many of these fighters despite already being out of the tournament. This distracts from Ohma and Yamashita's conflicts and only leaves a couple episodes to actually explore what's going on. Theoretically this is great, plenty of characters to watch even after they're out of the tournament, but in reality they don't do anything. They're just present to commentate on matches as they're happening. Even the climax of this episode batch was lame outside of learning more about Ohma's Niko Style. The best part of the show is the fights and some of the character's backstories. I particularly enjoyed the blind monk vs professional wrestler match. Otherwise, the story is a good enough excuse to write a tournament arc. Nothing more.
With there being so many characters, at least some of them have to be good. Unfortunately there's only a few of note from this batch. The professional wrestler was the best written side character by a mile and the climax of his fight was perfect for his story. The only other fight of any particular note was Kaolan vs the Fang of Metsudo. Two of the best fighters in the series clashing was bound to have good results and the outcome of the fight led to some nice character depth for the Fang. Ohma and Yamashita do not matter whatsoever in these twelve episodes. They do basically nothing except sit in the hospital after the first season's finale and make a choice whether or not Ohma will continue to fight. We do learn more about what Ohma went through during his Niko Style training but it doesn't add much to the character himself. Niko is a relatively shallow good guy right now but we may get some more depth to him by the end of the season so my opinion on him will remain neutral. Some of the characters I thought would be important to the narrative lost in the second round. I'm not sure of what their importance will be but it certainly seemed like they'd be shoe ins for the third round. The characters were ok and I doubt I'll remember any of them by the next episode drop.
The animation is the worst part of the show bar none. Netflix continues to 3D animate the shows they license and it still looks cheap. Most backstories are 2D animated and look way better than the 3D but were likely more expensive to produce. In fights, animations are reused to add length to the episodes which are already 25 minutes long. The best looking thing is the opening because it's been stylized well to fit with the song and vibe of the show. All of the characters are just an eyesore to look at when they're fighting but it almost adds to the roughness of the story. I just can't get over how ugly the 3D looks.
The music was great the entire time. The opening and closing were spectacular and perfect for setting the tone going into the episode. The music during action scenes was great for building up hype, especially during the introductions. Moving onto voice acting, the announcer girl was the best and it's not even close. Her hype building skills is comparable to Record of Ragnarok's. The other person of note is the gay guy who sees Ohma as his god. His performance is unhinged and makes his character low key terrifying. Everybody else is pretty average.
I enjoyed Kengen Ashura despite all that I said about its overcomplicated plot. It's still serviceable as a tournament arc and I'm a slut for a good tournament arc. The fights continue to be pretty good despite how unrealistic they are and really carry the entertainment value of the show. If you love Baki or Record of Ragnarok you'll certainly enjoy Kengen Ashura.
Plot: 6/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Animation: 4/10
Sound: 8.5/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 6.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 21, 2023
Just looking at the name of the anime you should know what you're getting into. I thought, "Murder Princess is one of the most on the nose and cheesiest names for any anime I've ever seen and it's only six episodes, so it can't be THAT bad. There should at least some entertainment value here." This has to be some of the most boring and soulless 2 hours of my life. This anime was so boring that I couldn't even watch it all in one sitting which is really saying something for the minimal content present.
The anime starts with a bounty hunter searching for her
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mark while the Forlund Kingdom is undergoing a coup from the scholar, Dr. Onion (not his real name), and his two robot lolis. The princess who escaped before they arrived in the keep runs into the bounty hunter causing them to fall off a cliff together and somehow switch bodies?? Yeah, I have no idea either, but ok. Don't expect this to get explained well or rectified in any way. Milano (the name the princess in bounty hunter's body eventually goes with) makes Alita (bounty hunter in the princess's body claiming the princess's original name) promise to protect the kingdom seeing as Alita is much stronger than Milano could ever be. The remaining five episodes follow the two as they adapt to their new lives and thwart the plot which runs deeper than they originally thought. While unoriginal there was still potential for the plot to be interesting despite the anime's short length. However, nothing really happens. There's the coup plot sure, but we have basically no motivations for anybody involved. They're just doing things either because they're being forced to or are good/evil. The big episode four plot twist was stupid, made zero sense, wnd was never fully explained. In one episode Dr. Onion and lolis attended a ball "undercover" without any disguises. Who is just letting these terrorists in? To top it off the world building was stuffed into three minutes of episode five. It felt like we got the first and last three episodes of a show but are completely missing the middle 5-6.
The characters are completely lifeless. I've already said how nobody has any real motivations and how people are just doing things. There are no real personalities for anybody, they're all two dimensional. Milano is shy and cowardly but stands up for what she believes in only if it's in front of Alita. Alita is strong and kills people with a somewhat good moral compass. Pete and Franky (not his real name, just voiced by Franky from One Piece) are the friends of Alita when she was a bounty hunter and want to protect bother her and Milano. The lolis kill people and love their creator Dr. Onion. The main antagonists are evil just because. The only somewhat interesting character dynamic was between Milano and Alita who were a little gay for each other which is shown a few times without being explored deeper. I can confidently say I'm not going to remember a single character name a week after writing this review.
The animation was cheap. It looked acceptable but was clearly the bare minimum for what they needed to do. There's errors in layering from time to time. The battles were especially boring which is terrible for a show called "Murder Princess." It was slow with minimal choreography other than a few punches and slashes before its over. Very dissappinting.
The music sounds like it was chosen from a library of action shows and movies from the 2000s. It was fine but sounded like every other action sequence you've heard in your life. The opening was good but the ending was a snooze. The voice actors were clearly in it for the check with only the main female leads putting forth any effort. I love Kazuki Yao, but he was really phoning it in with this one and giving his vocal cords a rest.
If you couldn't tell, I really didn't enjoy Murder Princess. I don't get why they needed a body swap plot line if they were never going to do anything with it. These types of plots only work when we have a sense for the characters and their dynamics. One Piece and Futurama have terrific body swap episodes and actually do something with the concept. Just make the show called "Murder Princess" about a Princess who goes to battle or something. You don't need to overcomplicate it with this much nothing. I believe the reason this is six episodes and not just a movie is because the studio wanted to spend as little money on this property as possible and try to turn a quick buck. If you really want to watch it, go ahead. It's not like I can stop you. But don't say I didn't warn you about this boring turd.
Plot: 3/10
Characters: 4/10
Animation: 4/10
Sound/Music: 5/10
Enjoyment: 3/10
Overall: 3.8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 19, 2023
Major Spoilers
TW: SA
Historical dramas have never been so interesting. Rose of Versailles is the first shoujo anime I have ever watched and was quite impressed but also disappointed by it. It follows Oscar François de Jarjeyes, a noble woman raised as a man, through her trials as Marie Antoinette's head guard as well as embracing her own femininity.
The main plot is the buildup to the revolution with the pretense of one big love web. Marie and Oscar have romantic tension but both are also in love with Hans Axel von Fersen. Andre, the De Jarjeyes stableboy and Oscar's childhood best friend, is deeply in love
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with Oscar who doesn't notice at first in part because of their differences in social class. A peasant named Rosalie is taken in by Oscar after her mother was run over by a noble and falls madly in love with Oscar who somewhat reciprocated the feelings. Every character her age or younger is in love with Oscar in one way or another with varying levels of success in their portrayal. The love triangle with Marie, Fersen, and Oscar is extremely well executed along with the homosexual tension Oscar had with Rosalie. However, the biggest problem on the romance side of the plot comes from who Oscar ends up with: Andre. Those two had the potential to be an iconic anime pairing as the tension of Andre's one sided feelings build up in the first half until he finally gets the girl by the end. However, this was made impossible by a single scene. Andre forces himself on Oscar and rips her shirt off in an attempt to convince her to embrace her femininity instead of masculinity. It goes no further than this, but what makes it truly unforgivable from a plot perspective is that Oscar just forgives him without any consequences. From her being terrified and vulnerable to accepting it within a single episode was insane and completely unrealistic. I could have still accepted the Andre and Oscar pairing if there had been some kind of consequences for Andre's actions, but without any it makes their eventual romance feel forced. The historical drama is where the show really thrives. It loosely follows real historical events and adds in the melodrama of palace politics especially from the women's perspective. The entire time you know the show is building up to the revolution which is portrayed better than I thought it'd be. While not all factors are throughly explored just about every reason for the revolution is presented in some way. Financial struggles, a starving populace, weak leaders, the high taxes on peasants despite nobility's lavish living, all of these things are explored in one way or another. The main focus was the peasantry blaming Marie Antoinette for their hardships as they did in real life. Most of the romance and especially the historical drama was done fantastically and I'm starting to understand why this anime is considered to be so influential.
I liked every character until Oscar and Andre fell for each other. Oscar carries the series as a strong female lead. Her struggles with her gender identity are done well enough. By the end she is really able to embrace both sides of her which I enjoyed. Andre was your typical boy next door type of character. I liked him well enough but never could recover from his actions against Oscar. Marie Antoinette was portrayed realistically. She was shown to be both naive yet hard headed. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody found her annoying as the show focuses on her quite a bit in the first 25 episodes. Fersen was quite average. Rosalie was my favorite character. I liked her being taken under Oscar's wing and growing her confidence; she's a good person whose had terrible things happen to her at the hands if nobles so it only made sense that she'd join the revolution. Almost every antagonist added something unique to the show. I especially liked Madame DuBarry, Madame Polignac, and Jeanne as antagonists though Madame Polignac was handled quite poorly. Her waning power over the queen was never really explained despite there being a historical reason for it and she seemed unaffected when her daughter tragically died. Robespierre and the Duke of Orleans were mirrors of each other despite having completely different goals. Everybody added something unique to the anime and was all-round a pretty good cast of characters.
The animation was rather mediocre. Obviously I can't really compare it to something from the modern day, so my only real comparison from the time period is Ashita no Joe 2. Possibly due to the website I used, Rose of Versailles didn't have very clean looking animation. It wasn't quite as smooth as Ashita no Joe 2 which came out only a year later. The style from the manga wasn't really carried over to the anime either. From the images I have seen, the manga has very soft and delicate character designs. The anime makes them generic to the style of anime at this time with the only artistic liberties being some camera shots and sparkles when there's a bit of romantic tension.
The sound is where Rose of Versailles really shines. The opening is absolutely iconic with an amazing animation to go with it. The ending is meh but the song is still ok. The music perfectly places you in the 18th century being elegant, mostly string and piano driven. Every backing track has a certain classyness to it. The voice acting is also well done. Everyone gives killer performances.
I wanted to enjoy Rose of Versailles more than I did. Everything changed with the single scene between Andre and Oscar making be hate their final pairing together when it could have been fine if the scene had either been cut or handled better in the aftermath. I also didn't like how people would just be written out of the story seemingly out of nowhere like Madame Polignac or Rosalie. However, the historical drama is where this show really excells. If you are interested in the French Revolution and a little romance, give the series a try.
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8.5/10
Animation: 7.5/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 8.7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 11, 2023
Hungry? How about some pasta.
This is an OVA where Tanya is shipped way too many boxes of pasta in the desert and needs to find a way to make it edible for her men. It's entertaining enough and fans of Tanya the Evil will likely find enjoyment in it. I personally found it a little boring but not bad by any means. Everyone is back and has at least a single line. Serebryakov has a moment to shine though I've never particularly cared for her character. The performance for Tanya isn't as good as usual, likely because this is just a 15 minute OVA. I
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only watched it to clear the series off of my Crunchyroll watch list. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody unless they absolutely love the original series or want to get an idea of it without the commitment.
Plot: 5/10
Characters: 5/10
Animation: 7/10
Sound/Music: 6/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: 5.6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 10, 2023
Spoilers for Season One and the Movie itself
I actually enjoyed this movie a little more than the series despite giving them the same rating. The main reason why is because it's making me consider whether or not Saga of Tanya the Evil is supposed to be a satire or not.
This movie is canon and starts to improve the overall plot of Tanya the Evil. Tanya is beginning to be challenged in a meaningful way though its unfortunately done through Mary Sue (literally). Mary Sue is the daughter of the main antagonist of season one and seeking revenge for her father's death. Being X is now
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using her to enact dire straits but still doesn't manage to effect Tanya in any emotional way. She's more concerned about the increased responsibilities she receives at the end of the movie and how her getting what she wanted came with an unexpected twist. Mary Sue being the name of the antagonist really lives up to the trope (not that it's necessarily a bad thing). So we have Mary Sue in name vs. the Mary Sue protagonist whose a bloodthirsty loli. It's just so ridiculous there's no way it's taking itself seriously, but I can appreciate that. Does this satirical element make it better? A little bit. It helps me justify the fake deep strategic analysis that Tanya does.
The characters don't really improve that much, but I know what I'm getting with this series. Tanya remains a good protagonist, continuing to hold the narrative and other characters on her shoulders. The one thing I didn't really like about her is that she suddenly detests communists even more than God. It comes out of nowhere and adds to the theory that this series is satire otherwise it's just propaganda with no basis or internal justification. I somewhat like Mary Sue but wish there was a little more to her character. I look forward to her return if I watch season 2 upon release.
The animation is still great. It follows the trail blazed by the first season but doesn't really improve much like other series do upon cinematic releases (looking at the Black Clover movie). However, this is understandable since the standard was already high from the first season.
The music continues to be good. There aren't any tracks that stand out but the closing returns which I enjoyed. The war sound effects were much louder in the movie, peaking my speakers upon most explosions. Voice acting continues to shine with Tanya's voice continuing to mature. Aoi Yuki is quite amazing and has added another iconic voice under her belt after Tsuru.
I enjoyed this movie a bit more than the original series, though not enough to increase my score from a six to a seven. My favorite part of the movie was the random propaganda movie being filmed during a battle by Tanya's battalion. That scene has to be one of the funniest and out of left field things I've seen all year. If you watched the first season, you might as well watch this movie since it progresses the plot. There's the same charm to it.
Plot: 5/10
Characters: 5/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound/Music: 7/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Overall: 6.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 10, 2023
Minor spoilers
A bloodthirsty 10 year old girl during an alternate dimensions WW1. But surprise!- she's not just a 10 year old, but was actually a middle aged Japanese salaryman who manages to piss off God by saying he doesn't believe in him to God's face. Yep, the isekai tag doesn't lie but if you were like me and didn't know anything about the series going in it was quite the shock to say the least (and not in a good way). The series itself only manages to disappoint. While not terrible, Saga of Tanya the Evil manages to be incredibly mediocre and plays into just
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about everything that makes Japanese media so wild to your average non-anime viewer.
Let me start with the plot. It's not very good. Even though I don't particularly like the isekai twist I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and remain as.objective as possible while watching. The conflict between Tanya and Being X (God) is an interesting one. The man who became Tanya told Being X humanity didn't need to believe in any sort of God when all of their basic needs are being met and not in dire straits. This pisses God off as having your basic needs met isn't a substitute for spirituality so they reincarnate the man as Tanya. Tanya was born at the beginning of what would soon develop into a world war. Born with a strong magical affinity, she believes that joining the military now (age 9) is better than being inevitably conscripted later and thus enlists. This reflects how the Japanese man lived, following orders and doing as instructed to live a straightforward life. This is the reason he becomes so "evil" as Tanya. She follows instructions and becomes incredibly deadly on the battlefield in an attempt to be placed into a comfortable spot on the back lines. Obviously she proves herself too much and is instead put on the front lines. She's pretty ok with this however and continues to follow orders and kill more people. The majority of the run time is devoted to a boring war. We see a lot of strategic HQ planning battles, but it's all boring and surface level stuff. No political intrigue, complex character dynamics, clashing personalities, etc. Tanya is this genius (apparently) and is quickly promoted. The only conflict outside of the minimal Being X scenes is in the battles. She has no internal struggle with anything, continuing to deny God and moat of the time not even concerned with the overarching plot. Sure, the brutality of war is shown in full, but there is no interesting commentary besides "we need to completely crush the opposition to ensure the war doesn't prolong itself, thus minimizing casualties." You can argue all day about this sort of thing, but it really isn't even that good. Finishing the war with a war crime may fully end the war, but does it really justify the war crime? Anyways, the commentary is shoved in your face in the final episode and doesn't manage to be very subtle. The plot is rather generic and doesn't even necessitate magic which is the main combat method the audience sees. An unjustified isekai plus a mediocre plot bored me to no end.
Character wise, the only person who matters is Tanya. She's executed extremely well and is extremely unique, but it feels like the entire show hinges on her existence. What I mean is, I believe the original author had the idea of Tanya, an evil loli who basks in war, but didn't know what do outside of it. Besides simply being the main character; the military just allows a 9 year old to join, strategic HQ uses her decision making and strategies during many battles without any pushback, people do mention her age and how they remind them of their daughters but never say anything outside of the first two episodes, etc. Tanya is just this brilliant perfect soldier who can do no wrong. Obviously she still has the other side if her which is bloodthirsty and kinda insane which makes her such a good main character, but no supporting cast plays off her well. I can't even remember anybody else's name besides Being X and he's barely in it. There's the second in command, a female soldier with distractingly large eyes who does absolutely nothing of note the entire series. There's also a lieutenant colonel who seems to be the only person concerned about who Tanya is but does nothing about it. There's another guy who uses basically every plan Tanya comes up with. None of these people are memorable in the slightest. The only other character besides Tanya who I was interested in was the main villain of the season. He'd fought Tanya a couple of times and lost every time. He's the main person Being X is testing Tanya through so of course their dynamic has to be interesting. I liked in the last episode how his resolution is leading to the next season. So yeah, there's only 3 interesting characters but only 2 who I can remember the name of and that should say a lot.
The animation is the best part of the anime. It's beautiful throughout and if this really is Nut's (lol) first release then the animators should be proud of their work. The battles are cinematic and extremely fluid despite mostly being gunfire and explosions. I really don't have any complaints besides there were some weird camera angles from time to time making the characters look weird (especially the final shot of the season).
The music was also quite good. The opening and ending were bangers and never took away from what was going on. If the tone of the opening wasn't right for the episode, it simply wouldn't be there. The voice acting was also good. Tanya's VA was great. Dynamic and shifting as Tanya grows older over the course of the season. The sounds of war weren't overdone and too loud like in many movies and shows. It was balanced nicely and tasteful.
I thought the show overall was pretty mediocre. The bloodthirsty loli is one of the most Japanese concepts I can think of and something you would never see in Western shows. This would certainly be a either a barrier to entry to those who don't want to get into anime because of how weird it can be, or it would attract those who see Tanya and are compelled to see what this could possibly be. Saga of Tanya the Evil while terribly mediocre is perfectly representative of Japanese media. I'd only recommend this to people who want to watch a weird concept. Don't expect it to knock your socks off.
Plot: 4/10
Characters: 4/10
Animation: 9/10
Sound/Music: 7/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: 5.8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 7, 2023
Spoilers for the main series
TL:DR/comments about the OVA- This is just a recap episode of the first half of season 1. You don't need to watch it unless you want to. 5/10
So this "review" is mostly going to be me talking about the things I don't like about the main series so far.
Saga of Tanya the Evil feels pointless. The isekai twist in episode 2 does nothing for the series as a whole besides provide it with an actual plot to follow. It feels almost as if the author didn't have any real plan for a narrative after having the idea of a little
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girl loving war so decided to make it an isekai about some random dude pissing of God in his final moments. There is potential for a story within the world they have set up but do absolutely nothing with it. This could easily follow the same isekai structure but slightly altering Tanya's motivations. Instead of her being straight evil, corrupt her by subjecting her to war thus turning her into the Devil of the Rhine. She is a 10 year old on the front lines of alternate timeline WW1 because she has magical abilities. There was even potential for an interesting narrative about WW1 itself covering how the actions of countries can effect even the seemingly smallest of people. You can even say God is still the reason for this. Instead, we get Tanya building the air force but with mages instead of planes.
There are things I like about the series like the animation and the execution of Tanya's character as she is, but the overarching plot so far isn't doing anything for me. I have hopes it will get better. This recap episode is perfectly representative of the narrative as its been told so far, but my problems with the plot itself remain (not like a simple recap could sway my opinion).
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 6, 2023
Drifting Dragons had the potential to be amazing but blows it thanks to the problems with 3D animation and a lackluster (arguable nonexistant) plot.
The plot is mostly slice of life as it follows the Quin Zaza in their daily duties as Drakers (Dragon hunters). From hunting to selling the parts in port, Drifting Dragons covers it all. However, the concept of the show is what does the majority of the heavy lifting. Action and cooking sequences supplement the narrative, they alone aren't enough to make up for an unexplored plot that was set up from episode 1. Within the first few minutes it's mentioned that
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the Quin Zaza are one of the last few draker crews. Never throughout the 12 episode run time are we given an explanation as to why this might be. We do see the superstitions surrounding drakers lead to ostracization from those on land, but we are never offered any explanations as to why there are so few crews in the sky. We do the perils that come from being a draker and a single other crew, but this interesting plot point is never revisited. It's possible this will be explored in a second season, but as of this review it's been 3 years since the show came out with no mention of a second season. Instead, the first half of the anime is episodic with the back half following a bit more of a plot. What we do get is fine, but painfully average considering the concept and potential it holds.
The characters interactions are one of the best parts of Drifing Dragons. The crew is fleshed out just enough to feel like a real crew whose been working alongside each other for a long time. Takita (our main character) is the newest member of the crew. She's a bubbly girl excited to be a draker and doesn't undergo any development, but she is usually the person inspiring change in those around her which makes up for it. However, she is not given any motivation as to why she joined the crew in the first place. One of the episodes starts out by saying "everyone joins the crew for their own reasons" then doesn't even bother to give a reason outside of two side characters. Takita left me wanting more out of her since she is a great character. Mika is the deuteragonist and the main source of action. He lives to hunt and eat dragons. No more, no less. This kind of character can work, but to me felt like there was an overemphasized importance. Giraud and Vannie round out the main cast and neither of them did much for me. Giraud got some good development but became distracted by a mediocre love interest and fell into irrelevance. Vannie is the tsundere of the group and undergoes the most subtle changes becoming less cold and distant by the end of the season. The interactions between the crew at large is what carries the character score as its one of the best aspects if the series. They're able to naturally riff off of each other and feel like they've been living this way for years.
The 3D animation is one of the biggest problems with the series. Besides not adding anything that 2D wouldn't have had, it adds a certain slowness to the series that becomes really distracting. Simple things like blinking or head movements take a half second longer than they should to fee natural. There's a certain stiffness there that's hard to explain other than seeing it for yourself. The character designs also have something weirdly consistent with them. Everybody has thunder thighs. I thought maybe it was the draker suits, but just about every character has giant triangle thighs when they're wearing pants. The best part about the animation is how spectacular the scenery and Dragon designs are. Thankfully, they were given the most focus and knocked my socks off every time we would see something new.
While the character interactions and scenery are some of the best parts, the music is what really makes the show. The opening is amazing to the point where I wanted to watch it almost every episode (and I'm a serial opening skipper). The tracks during the episodes really add the the whimsical and epic nature of the concept. It's perfect for the concept of the series and I really can't find the proper words to describe why it works so well. There's a certain airyness that plays well with the action in the sky and underscores how amazing what we're seeing really is. The music adds this extra layer of wonder and awe missing from the other parts of the show.
Overall, I rather enjoyed the series. It was a good 12 episodes and didn't overstay its welcome. I wanted more out of the series but was satisfies with what was provided. I hope there's a second season at some point so that maybe I can retroactively increase my score, but as of now the anime is only good, not great.
Plot: 5/10
Characters: 7/10
Animation: 6.5/10
Sound: 9/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 6.9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 4, 2023
Minor Spoilers
While rather generic in concept, Psychic Studies has heartfelt themes it successfully portrays to the audience through well written characters.
For the first half of the series there is no real overarching plot but rather individual story arcs. It's not until the halfway point that a longer story is explored with the dragon's powers. The first arc is great and gets you hooked with Chankyu (the main character) attempting to go back in time and fix a deadly mistake. It does well to introduce the different kinds of powers and how they're going to work. Chankyu's hypnosis is good at subverting expectations and adding a
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nice layer of comedy. After this first arc, they are rather hit or miss in quality however, the characters are the backbone of the story and are able to carry it. By the second half the characterization takes a step back to focus on the Dragon's powers which I won't speak in depth about to avoid spoilers. This shift in focus made me wonder if switching from the (practically) slice of life genre to a plot focused narrative. Personally, I preferred the characters and their interactions over any of the plot.
If you couldn't tell, I think the characters are easily the best part of Psychic Studies. Chankyu proves from the first arc that while he's clearly flawed he's a good person at the end of the day who owns up and fixes his mistakes. Euijoo (the lead woman) also goes through a great arc. She can read people's minds and gets herself involved in things to her own and others detriment. She has a complex relationship with Chankyu with thankfully doesn't rely on them being in love with each other. Mijung, who is Chankyu's love interest, doesn't fall back on common tropes of the genre. The relationship is natural and takes time to build before they do anything together. Woochan is a comedic relief character for the most part as Chankyu's friend but never gets in the way or becomes annoying. There are no two dimensional characters in Psychic Studies other than the ones who obviously have nothing to do with the plot.
The art was rather average. It certainly gets better over time as the artist grows more comfortable with the characters, but it's never spectacular. I do appreciate the detail in the dragons, but otherwise I have nothing notable to say about it. Character designs don't really stick out from one another and fall in line with other manhwa that follow highschoolers.
I enjoyed my time with Psychic Studies. It doesn't stand out from other stories but it's still worth the read for those who want something more in line with the early chapters of Lookism or Viral Hit.
Plot: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Enjoyment: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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