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Title: The fast ball that went awry

I’m not really good at sports when I was a kid. In fact, I suck at it. However, there was one sports anime that influenced me to take the baseball bat and swing like crazy even though I had no idea what the heck I was doing. And because of that, baseball had been my all time favorite sport even though I played it very briefly when I was kid. As time passed, my preferences changed. I like cute anime girls. And I like baseball. I wan’t both. Can’t I have the best of both worlds? Oh, there is ... something like that? Fantastic! In all honesty, I’m more weaned on sports anime where its action packed where I can feel the surge of adrenaline increasing in my body just by watching it, and baseball is not an exception to that rule. Baseball anime is mostly dominated by males playing the game to which there are only a handful of shows where girls are the primary cast so maybe I’m just overly excited on how this will turn out. However, Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine (or HCN for short) threw me in a loop with a different kind of ball game it tried to present to me.

HCN‘s plot centers around Tsubasa Arihara who wants to form a girl’s baseball team after becoming a freshman in her high school. The first few episodes of the anime follows a story driven character formula where Tsubasa is trying to recruit that girl in her team. From there, we learn more about the character and her back story until to the point that she will finally join the team thanks to Tsubasa’s friendliness and warm personality. The slow pacing of the show about recruitment is a tedious process to watch because, let’s face it, nobody likes to see something as repetitive like that for the first few episodes of the anime, but we need to understand that their school does not have any female baseball players to begin with and the main character is trying to build the team from scratch which actually makes sense and also adds realism to her whole endeavor.

However, the flaw about this kind of narrative is that they spent too much time doing this, a lot. They could have at least fast-forwarded the entire struggle of the recruitment process like a time skip but still manage to explain properly how those members joined their team since this anime only has 12 episodes in its disposal. Some of the cast are quick on deciding to sign up based on their own personal motives or agenda, which is kind of nice but some of the other characters to join the team consume 1-2 episodes before they finally make up their mind, and the last two to complete their full roster joined in late in the middle of the series.

Because they went with this kind of format, HCN heavily invests on the drama surrounding the girls and their development in the story, which is actually this anime’s biggest asset. Some of the episodes put the girls in a struggle where they try to overcome issues like having low morale after losing a practice game in which their resolve is tested if they will still continue playing baseball , falling out between friends due to how the other is treated, and also problems at home affecting one of their member’s behavior in school. Those that I mentioned are very common in real life in which the viewers can actually relate to since they also had experienced this at least once in one point in their lives in which it is simple yet effective as a plot device.

The only things that I can give about this anime in reference to the actual baseball is that since they are a very weak team to begin with, they are spent most of the time practicing in which they somehow manage to become a bit stronger, especially the other members whose attributes are sorely lacking. The other thing that I also noticed is that unlike most sports anime, HCN does not explain to you the rules of the game, nor does it dive in a lot of details about how to play the sport, maybe save for the history of women’s baseball in Japan, in which it the show assumes you already have knowledge on how to play the sport. For the aesthetics and animation of HCN, all I can say is that it ranges from mediocre to so-so. The animation needs work, with one scene where the characters are drawn properly but it switches to something different on the next one giving it a level inconsistency for most of the part. Also, the animation on how the characters move feel stiff in which I’m expecting something better in that department since this show was aired last year and not the beginning of 2000’s.

Conclusion
Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine, in my honest opinion, is just pale compared with the other baseball anime that have already been released in which they concentrated more with the characters’ story rather than to balance it out with girls actually playing baseball. I would highly recommend watching other baseball anime first before giving this a try but if you have the patience for watching slow dramas like HCN, then this might be the show for you. Would I like a second season of HCN? Hmm… sure, but they better improve a lot of things before going with another one.

First posted in https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/ last 04/26/2020. For more anime reviews and crazy s***, please visit https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/.

Title: His Imouto is GARBAGE

Oreimo (short for Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai which translates to My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute) was one of those shows last 2010 that caught my interest due to its peculiar plot. The show is like saying to me “hey, let’s make a show about a person who is garbage who also has a brother complex and let’s see how it goes from there.” And that is actually what I got, after watching the show, unfortunately.

Oreimo’s plot features Kirino, a middle schooler beauty and model and her ever patient older brother Kyosuke, whom she ... has not been on good terms for as long as Kyosuke can remember. After Kyousuke learning about his sister’s secret of being an otaku, he took it to himself on protecting his sibling from all sorts of predicaments caused by her hobby. Perhaps the author of the original material was already tired of seeing the usual traits found on most heroines that’s why the concept of this slice of life story was born when he decided to mess with the traditional formula on what kind of person should take the lead which for me, is a welcome breath of fresh air but my stars, this is already beyond my good expectations.

I admit the show amused me to some extent like seeing some slapstick humor or Kyosuke eating his own pride in order to safeguard that bratty girl who is a horrible excuse for a human being which results to humorous moments but what I don’t get is the abuse the older brother is willing to endure just for her sake. I suppose that is how he shows his concern to his sibling but it is still painful to see that kind of self sacrifice, especially how his sister treats still treats him with little or no change at all. Season 1 is all about Kirino’s otaku hobbies and how his ever willing brother is there to lend a helping hand in order to get her out of sticky situations although that kind of formula is like a recurring theme for most of the episodes which is kind of predictable to know what will happen in the end. AND you get to see that a lot which is kind of tiring to view.

But to my astonishment and joy, the “source” of all the chaos was actually removed for a couple of episodes near the end of the first season and her role was taken by Kuroneko, her other otaku friend whose personality is much better compared to our garbage heroine. Because of this another story took place which is kind of nice because we get to see the relationship of Kyosuke and Kuroneko somehow blossom a bit, although not moving forward aside from where they currently are. Season 2 unlike its predecessor brought in new stories which are funny but it feels more like fillers in order to make up numbers for the episodes needed for this sequel. The real meat and potatoes of the first half of this season is the part where garbage girl pulled a stunt pretending she has a boyfriend which not only threw her friends in disarray, but also shook the Kousaka household’s foundation causing his old man to go on a drunken frenzy and for older brother to do his “all time low” act just in order to put an end to their relationship. This finally made me realize that bratty girl will do anything in her power in order to claim her brother for her own no matter what. I can only hope it will never come into fruition.

The other half of what I liked about this season is where Kyosuke and Kuroneko finally ended up being a couple which is kind of nice since he deserves to have his own happiness after all the things he had been through with his sister. That is where the story shifted to although briefly, it was memorable since it was time for this pair to shine in which it was portrayed with the things they did like a couple would do, although in an otaku way in some areas. However, trouble was brewing like a terrible storm seen from a mile away. Like all unfortunate relationships, theirs would end not because of things that would conflict with one another, but because of logic that Kuroneko dished out in which I never saw it coming- she broke up with that guy. Please here me out here… the reason she broke up with Kyosuke is because she wants confirm what Kirino really feels toward his older brother. I find this one of the dumbest things in order to figure out what is happening but also cruel at the same time since older brother becomes the guinea pig for this terrible experiment that involves someone’s heart. Isn’t love what drove Kuroneko to confess her feelings to Kyosuke? Couldn’t Kuroneko have used a different way other than breaking up in order to confirm her suspicions about Kirino’s feelings for her older brother?? Now I think everything Kuroneko did was just a hoax and all they’ve done for the short time when they were still a couple were just for naught.

Because of this turn of events I sensed that garbage girl will get the upper hand and will triumph in the end but I kept ignoring the warnings that a tragedy of a sister-brother-lover relationship will not happen in the end. I was a presumptuous fool since imouto won the battle with Kyosuke delivering the worst heartbreak for poor Kuroneko near the end of the season. In a to little to late last resort, childhood friend Manami finally stepped in for a last ditch effort to bring the siblings back to reality since their relationship will not be seen normal by society and consequences will follow. And you know, She is right about everything she said albeit her motivation on doing so was purely selfish since we all know she also wants Kyosuke to herself but at least someone who is right on the head finally pointed that out right in the siblings’ faces. However, Kyosuke still persists he will still love her sister like a lover even if they will be cast aside by the same people which finds their connection abnormal which cemented his status to me as someone who has been morally corrupted by his dominating and aggressive sister.

Conclusion
Oreimo to this day still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because of that terrible ending which resembles the 4th story arc of the Yosuga no Sora anime (minus the sexual act) that it’s perfectly fine to go and have a romantic relationship with your siblings. But in reality, the picture what the series is trying to paint is very obvious because what is wrong in reality will still be the same thing no matter what kind of whitewashing you use, even in anime.

First posted in https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/ last 03/13/2018. For more anime reviews and weird shenanigans, please visit https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/.

Title: Racing for Love

There are many factors that motivate people to achieve their dreams; power, fame, money, recognition, and also, love. Okay, maybe love may not be the best motivation but I guess you would do anything to impress the person that you have feelings for right? Introducing a show called Two Car, an anime set in a volcanic island of Miyakejima where main characters Yuri Miyata and Megumi Meguro compete in the world of sidecar racing in order to get the affection of the same guy they have have fallen in love with. What intrigued me about Two Car is the fact that ... there hasn’t been a side car racing anime to date and also because it would involve cute high school girls (and I have a fatal weakness to that as I have revealed it several times in my previous posts) so I decided to watch this throughout its run.

Like Magical Girl Racing Project, Two Car has a huge cast of characters from all walks of life with their own agenda on why they went with sidecar racing, complete with a two episode arc plus back-story for almost all the racers competing in the tournament. This is a great distraction since the focus will shift to the other racers and not always with the main heroines giving them some screen time for character development so the viewers will understand each team and grow attached to them. I also like the fact that the girls will help one another in times of need which is shown when one of the team’s racing vehicle got badly damaged and they all worked together to repair it to pristine condition in which the show teaches us the importance of sportsmanship, friendship, and camaraderie.

I also like the animation, which is great, especially for the racing scenes in which it is always heart pounding and action packed every time the sidecars would accelerate and turn in every angle in the race course. I think they used a combination of 2d and cg for the characters during the races and it blended smoothly without any concerns on the quality. But of course, Two Car is not without its flaws and let me elaborate them as detailed as possible. The races are only regulated to one course in Miyakejima, and I was hoping to see more than just one track that they will use for the tournament for variety. Also, there’s ample supply of practice races which is nice to see and I know it is important in order for the teams to tune up their vehicles in top shape but it gets boring on seeing the same thing after a couple of episodes.

Some of the teams are there just for the sake of comic relief or to make up for the number competitors for the tournament not to mention one team whose back story is just a plain case of tsundere complex syndrome due to being jealous and overly possessive of her team mate which is as interesting as a rock to watch. And because the teams are overly polite and nice to one another, there’s hardly any room for a real rivalry to blossom among the female racers which I would like to say that this is the major flaw of the show: no real antagonist. But guess what? You don’t need any rivals anymore because the show actually has two, and they are the maidens in love.

Because of that, the real problem the main characters Yuri and Megumi are facing, is the internal conflict they have been duking it out since the start of the show; they may have the same goals but their rivalry at one another gets in the way although surprisingly with minimal damage. This internal conflict escalated to a crisis after losing to someone far greater to them which now made them question themselves if it is still worth trying to pursue their dream which is good because this gave the girls time to reflect on their motives. In the end, they still managed to pull through and settle their differences though briefly.

Conclusion
Overall, Two Car is not a good show nor a bad one, but the plot of having two girls caught in a love triangle made me feel I’m watching more of a soap opera instead of watching a racing anime which left a bland taste in my mouth because it robbed most of the focus on the race course. If there will be season 2 for this road wreck, they better go full throttle without hesitation, and I mean it.

First posted in https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/ last 03/30/2018. Visit https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/ for more anime review and crazy s***.

For fulfilling its goal of satisfying your lust, I suppose this hentai anime does the job done but seeing how the female protagonist offers little resistance in the course of this 2-part disaster which turns her into a sex junkie makes you wonder if the main lead is actually enjoying being raped continuously. I suppose anything goes in hentai eh? However, one thing I'd like to point out is how the girl is abused and mind tortured makes me want to question the sanity of the author who came up with these ideas if he is still sane and human since this is one level ... of filth I've seen for the longest time. Overall, this is s***.

Tittle: Witches and War

Magic is an element that has always been the cornerstone to many countless fantasy themed anime of the past and is still being utilized even as of today. If it weren’t for magic then we may not have witnessed the birth of witches, mages, and magical girls in both manga and in anime and their exploits from a grand scale of saving the world from devastation to a grimmer plot of defeating the forces of evil that is bent on world domination and enslaving the human population. Izetta: the last witch is an interesting anime where it combines fantasy set on a ... real world in a battle of epic proportions.

Set in an alternate World War 2, the story revolves around Izetta, a witch who is caught in the cross fire between the Germanian Empire who is trying to pursuit world conquest and the tiny Alpine state of Eylstadt who is trying to protect their nation from the overwhelming threat. The series had a good strong start with the heart pumping action scenes with the focus on Fińe trying to escape being captured by her enemies and all the while trying to get support from other countries in order to win the war which demonstrates the princess’s strong character and dedication to her people. After a tearful reunion which involves saving Princess Fińe from her captors, Izetta, who is a witch, then took the role of heroine and decided to fight to defend Eylstadt using her magic from being destroyed by Germania.

I think it is an interesting idea to see a witch in the 20th century obliterating tanks and planes created by science so it was an amusing sight for me to see our red haired witch fly and fight while causing confusion to both sides during her later appearance in the series. But after seeing all of the same scenes repeatedly, it feels it’s more like eye candy for most of the unfair battles between Germania versus Izetta.

In my opinion, it’s cruel to have a little girl fight a war brought upon adults because of their conflicting ideas. And little girls, even though they are magically imbued with the power to wreck countless armies, should not stain her hands and be involved in a battle fought by men since she is still young and innocent (which troubles me). But I suppose the show is trying to convey to us that if left without any alternatives then, we need to fight, even if it costs us our lives, in order for us to protect those who are dear to us. Although Izetta was doing this voluntarily, I still feel she was forced to fight out of her friendship and loyalty to Fińe.

One of the things I liked is the revelation of Izetta’s powers in which it was told too early to the viewers, which I think is odd since most secrets held by the main character ought to be kept fiercely at all costs. I think having Izetta a handicap is a good idea because this may rob the show all the fun and excitement if she were too powerful and could have just finished Germania in a single episode. Also because of this handicap, there was room for strategy and tactics for Izetta and her allies to come up with in order handle her shortcomings as shown in episode 5, but it feels very brief since it was only limited on that same episode. There were some episodes where the focus was on the other characters, which is great, but it was very brief and a bit forgettable since the only thing it contributed to the show was just some additions to the plot.

I also like the idea that her enemies are well aware about her powers and are closely monitoring her in order to launch an effective plan to counter her powers. This actually paid off after they were able to extract the secrets to her powers and which turned the tides of war to Germania’s favor. In awful twist of fate they introduced Sophie in the fray who was the original white witch in the legend. Unfortunately, she has an ax to grind because of the betrayal she suffered before, and things got a lot more complicated in the story.

For me, she was just an unnecessary addition to this war with a shallow motive of destroying Eylstadt and its people because of what had happened in the past but I guess this gives Izetta a challenge to defeat until the very end of the series. I was hoping the Germanian Empire was going to either to hunt down Izetta using some sort of machine or an elaborate scheme of capturing her alive and using her to do their bidding but looks like they just resorted with “fight fire with fire” and use the same powers to get the upper hand after resurrecting Sophie.

I also like the part where Izetta experienced a powerful blow which crippled both her legs after fighting Sophie since this created more drama for the story and the only way for her to get back on her feet was to get the other half of the magic stone which Sophie used before in order for her to be on equal footing. That would had been a great plot line where someone else in Izetta’s group would find clues and search for it but all the excitement for the hunt for that stone was killed after Sieg revealed that he had the other half of the magic stone which provided an anti-climax for that matter.

Another thing I would like to point out is that this series feels very rushed since they concluded everything at episode 12; the two witches who represent good and evil fought to the end, Germania was defeated like what happened to real life Nazi-Germany, and Izetta lost all her powers with the neutralization of the ley lines. I was actually hoping for more episodes of Izetta since this anime has a lot of potential for more stories but sadly, 12 episodes is not enough to justify if this anime was really great or not. Since the focus is more on Izetta, we were able to witness her development which strengthened her character through the whole ordeal she faced even if it will cost her life.

Conclusion
Over all, Izetta is a good show to watch with a great beginning but falls short near the end due to some unnecessary distractors. Like the many fans of the show like me, I was expecting this anime to end good but was greatly disappointed with it’s conclusion.

First posted on 12/16/2016 at https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/. Please visit https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/ for more anime reviews and anything otaku.

Title: Rent-A-Girlfriend is a lie-fest

Kanojo, Okarishimasu aka Rent-A-Girlfriend is one those shows I’ve watched last 2020 in which it was also the year Covid-19 was running rampant in the entire world like a Japanese drunken salary man indiscriminately attacking anyone within arms’ reach. Like getting slugged by the drunken Japanese salary man, I did not enjoy watching this anime. A word to those people who haven’t seen the anime yet: some spoilers coming your way on this review. Let’s begin!

The story is about Kazuya Kinoshita, a college student who got dumped by his girlfriend who he had just been with for a month. He then ... decided to get a rental girl friend named Chizuru to perhaps ease his pain after the current heartbreak due to his loneliness. The intercourse with this pretend girlfriend was not to last long but due to a barrage of misunderstandings from Kazuya’s family and friends, Chizuru went along with the ruse that she is indeed the new bona fide lover of our male MC which eventually became the start of how I went to detest this show due to the never-ending lies it can procure.

If you will let me summarize the characters, it will go as follows: Kazuya is a wishy-washy and dishonest person who just could not tell the truth about the whole shabang to his grandma which caused a chain reaction of repetitive events that won’t just stop; Chizuru, also playing along with MC’s shenanigans since she felt very sorry to that freaking-@$$ b@$t@rd and also having a case of indecisiveness whether to reciprocate his love; Mami, the freaking-@$$ house wrecker whose only pleasure in life is to wreck the MCs life by desperately exposing Chizuru’s true identity; and Sumi… what the hell is her purpose in this freaking train wreck of a story centering on falsehoods, again? The only character that I like in this show is Ruka since her feelings to Kazuya are very genuine and is literally offering herself to him but unfortunately, she will play the tragic heroine in this drama because even though she tried very hard to win the heart of the MC, the plot dictates that our main boy still chose Chizuru who is like playing a lukewarm game of fickle hard-to-get.

Because of this predictive pattern, the story just keeps on dragging and dragging to no end; one thing you may think they’ll finally have some development for the unlikely pair, then it just thrashes it and throws everything out the window. I understand this is a method to keep the viewers to get hooked to the show in order for us to invest time to know what will happen next, but this slow pacing is just frustrating to endure and not my cup of tea. In regards to Kazuya getting a rental girlfriend, in all honesty, I think the best way to get over his break-up would be to take the time off and do something else to get his mind off while his heart heals, and then try again to get a significant other when he is ready for another round at a relationship.

I think the things that I liked about this show are 1) it made me aware of the rental business in Japan in which you can rent not only girlfriends, but also family members, as well as total strangers for a fee and 2) the protagonist of the show being human. That reason I stated this is due to the video essay I watched in YouTube how Rumiko Takahashi (creator of hits like Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha) in which how she crafted characters that we can relate to by making MCs filled with flaws that are common traits seen in humans in which you can relate to Kazuya and his behavior because you in some point in your life, had also done something similar to what he had experienced. You want to sort of cheer for him in order for this guy to do better, but just ends up not improving a whole lot… like his character development is in perpetual purgatory.

Conclusion
Honestly, like I said, I do not like Rent-a-Girlfriend, but I hope I have provided sufficient justification for me to be against this anime. Give it a try if you’d like to and perhaps you may enjoy this in contrast to how I felt about this show. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

-DarkdaemonPK2

First posted on 07/24/2022 at https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/. Please visit the site for more anime reviews and crazy s***.

Title: This Show Just Ain’t Healing Me

I watched Flying Witch expecting that it will be a fantasy anime filled with plenty of magic spells, witchcraft, and people on flying broomsticks just like what they did with the Harry Potter films. Unfortunately, Flying Witch proved to be the lesser sorcerer between the two since the anime established itself to be plagued with boring pointless plot-lines which made me wonder why they even decided to animate this train wreck.

The story starts with Makoto, the protagonist of the show, moving in to her cousin’s house in the countryside. After that she goes on all sorts of adventures while ... encountering different people while training to be a witch. Each episode is episodic so you can watch it on any way you like though some characters will leave you in the dark since you haven’t watched the episode they were first introduced. My personal favorite among the characters is Akane since she is the de-facto witch in the surrounding place and some of the events that happened prior the story would not happen if it weren’t for her involvement which creates the plot for some of the episodes. However, it would have been better if the show introduced a goal other than Makoto training to be a witch for variation but looks like they just want to have a show were the protagonist will encounter every day, real life events and how she will handle on how to resolve it.

Well, at least Chinatsu who wants to become a witch is a good distractor instead of just the story focusing solely on Makoto. Because of this most of the episodes in Flying Witch are either uninteresting, lacks zest in its delivery, or just completely unnecessary and has nothing to do with magic. Some of the episodes are fine and funny like the part where Chinatsu was shocked to see Makoto flew for the first time using a broom or where Nao freaked out when Makoto handed her with a live mandrake as a present which I understand it is related to witchcraft. But, how about an episode where it they just picked and cooked butterburs? Has Flying Witch turned into “Cooking Witch” instead? How about the episode where Chinatsu followed Makoto’s cat for half a day while our protagonist just arranged her stuff in her room while the older sister just napped the whole day? Was that exciting or what? And even if they showed witchcraft, it is in a very old fashioned method which takes time to prepare and is an agony to watch. I was hoping witchcraft evolved like time itself in this anime but looks like its still the same stuff they were doing like in the stone-age.

Don’t get me wrong about hating Flying Witch altogether; I like the show’s graphics with its clean animation and character designs which is a bit life-like and not the standard big-eyed format seen in most shows, I like the soundtracks though I don’t have any aptitude for music, I like the concept of having witches in a slice of life genre but I guess no matter how good these elements are, boring plots would really kill a show for its worth.

Conclusion
Overall, Flying Witch may be best enjoyed by a younger demographic whose parents will feel at ease that their kids are watching a show that is not prone to graphic violence. Other than that, then you may want to look for a different show to watch.

-DarkdaemonPK2

First published on 08/16/2022 at https://myanimeroom.wordpress.com/. Please visit the site for more anime reviews and other bizarre stuff.