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Sep 26, 2018
If you feel overwhelmed and partially let down by a certain mecha series last season then rest assured because Planet With won't fail to meet the audience expectation of a good show.
Yes I am talking about you, Darling in the Franxx. it doesn't matter how good your premise and the story as the beginning, it also doesn't matter if you wrap up with a happy ending and call it a day. The end cannot justify the mean if the mean itself is full of plot hole and tangling mess. On the other hand, we have Planet With, which is a properly executed mecha anime comparing
...
to the former. The two stories share a lot in common, the premise of defending the earth from certain enemy, the plot of certain 'third-party' enemy appears halfway through, to name a few. However, Planet With knows what need to be focused instead of getting a bit of everything half-cooked.
Story: 7/10
To be fair, the story of Planet With is not anything outstanding but I don't blame them for that, in the end, it is just another mecha show in the sea of shows belonged to the genre. At the very least, I like the message they want to deliver. It is not a show about old fashion good vs evil, you don't even know who are your allies and enemies during most of the screen time. Every force has their own idealogy, motives, and objectives that does make some senses. You just follow what you think is right and your today ally might become enemy tomorrow. That is way more interesting than having certain good guys for the entire show for no better reason than just because they are good. The only downside is the beginning is quite shaky since we can easily feel confused about where the anime want to progress and what we should and should not pay attention. Still they clear the confusion soon enough and maintain a proper pacing through out the rest of the show, nothing seems rushed.
Art: 9/10
I am not a fan of mecha show so I can't compare much to some classics. However, I think the design of the mechs are pretty well done. The CGI effects feel so damn "real" and lively, even to the point that I think the design of the characters are a bit underwhelming comparing to the mechs.
Sound: 9/10
I don't think the OP and ED are on par with some of the top this season, but they are not bad either. However, what makes me grade so high for the sound is the soundtrack and the sound effect especially during the battle. Just put your headphone on, turn the volume up a bit and we can hardly know if the sound comes from some Hollywood movies or just a mech anime. It sounds just damn good, the explosion, charging is rich and fulfilling. The impact sound is also brilliantly created.
Character: 6/10
Character is actually the biggest weak points of this anime considering a promising story. Our MC is, Soya, just undoubtedly a straight flat boring typical MC one can found in many anime. At least it doesn't pathetically employed ecchi to attract more audience than necessary (if any), which is a good thing. Sensei, how to say it, there is not much to say about this "cat", it just said Meow almost the entire show, at least it is funny to translate that word in a 3 paragraph full of words. But the point is, you won't be able to know much about many important characters of the show. The only one I can clearly see a strong characteristic is the Dragon.
Still the show is entertaining and enjoyable. If you are a fan of mecha show then definitely check it out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 3, 2018
Do you know what is ironic? An anime where the main female character doesn't spit a word during the entire show can express clear and genuine "characteristic" than countless anime with seem-to-be complex girl but turnout flat. High Score Girl nail that part brilliantly right off the start.
Differentiate itself from the "recent" trended anime, this one give viewer a detour to gaming life during the 1990s, the time in which arcade is everything. Obviously, it is out-dated to most of the young 2000s generation and I don't blame you guys if this show doesn't ring a bell. However, it gives a nostalgia feeling to those
...
who live in the era when happiness is getting a few coins for the arcade. On top of that, the show also paint vividly what it mean to live in the 1990s, how people think and behave (in general), which make it a refresh taste after a swam of isekai and surreal comedy anime this season.
Story: 10/10
This will be the most controversial part and as I said before, for those who this anime offer little to non meaning to you, feel free to criticize it. However, apart from that, the story is captivating and make us feel related. So far the romance part is good if not amazing, the main couple is cute. The reactions are captured realistically. I am not a fan of love quarrel especially since they are middle schoolers. But the love seems adequate without exaggeration as well as typical trope, simply put, it is what it is, feelings develop gradually from small moment, gaming together, etc rather than the typical awkward situation often seen in anime.
Art: 8/10
Just like the story, the artstyle is simple yet very effective. At a glance, it doesn't look a bit fancy like 2018 anime but it get it job done impressively. What I especially like about this anime is the facial expression. They show clearly and correctly the emotion, feeling of the characters at that moment even with simple artstyle, what a lot of recent anime fails to deliver. Just for example, I am impressed that I can clearly understand what Ono is feeling just by looking at her face even though she doesn't say a word at all.
Sound: 8/10
Nothing much to say here. The sound effect of the games, the use of the arcade machine are correctly delivered. I especially enjoy the hatred, trashtalking when gamers lose (that is so typical). The OP and ED are nice but nothing really special.
Character: 9/10
I don't have much to talk about Harou, he is as typical a gamer as he could be, simple minded, gaming freak, carefree, but easily irritated when losing a game. That is about to wrap up everything one need to know about gamers. The way he interact with other characters are also great. It doesn't get awkward just because some one is opposite gender (I wonder why recent anime make it feel so sensitve about that). Instead, if you are gaming then we are fighting buddy, simple as that.
For Ono, the only way we learn about her is through her facial expression and how other ppl talk about her since she is silent almost the entire show (except for some roaring moment). But damn, they does not fail to amaze me with how deep Ono can be. She genuinely express what she like and what she hate (that moment when she play the horror game is so cute), and if she doesn't like something, she make sure she doesn't give a damn about it. Just by watching how she interact with Harou, it make me feels a bit sad because it is so relatable even if one doesn't have a rich family.
Koharu, on the other hand, is portrait as a typical game watching person, surprisingly good with game but have doubt about themselves and rather enjoy watching other playing. She doesnt have much screen time yet for us to know more about her but she is definitely not an annoying third person in many love triangle.
Overall: 9/10
If you like something more tangible, something more direct in every aspect, slide of life, gamer, romance, then this show is not for you. But if you like something light for a relaxing evening, maybe be able to recall some good old time gaming with a gameboy or arcade machine then I highly recommend this anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 19, 2018
Probably one of the most controversial anime this season, Darling in the Franxx could be seen as a jack of all trade wrapped in a mecha fighting vessel with a little bit of everything from drama, romance to scifi, action. Before I get to any detail, I want to give my honest impression about this series. It has a lot of interesting ideas, potential to be one of the best but the execution keep it from becoming great.
Story: 6/10
Precisely, it is a combination of an 8 for idea, moral story and a 4 for execution, coherence, ordering. Let start with the compliment first. The story
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is successful in delivering many layers of meaning to the audience, from pure satisfaction of action cinematic, romance and character development in romance, slide of life, to various questions about humanity, the role of each being as an individual as well as a part of a society, the realistic what-if scenario of immortality. The setup did a great job in mingling all those ideas together. Without spoiling to much, the shows follow a group of young boys (Hiro, Goro, Zorome, Mitsuru, Futoshi) and girls (Ichigo, Kokoro, Miku, Kokoro, Ikuno) piloting robots called 'Franxx' ordered by "Papa" to fight against klaxosaur - some weird shaping monster-mecha hybrid (they are unknown at the beginning) which are threatening the "adults" living in something so called "Plantation". 'Coincidentally', different from other squad, they are subjects to certain experiment to learn more about "children", which explain why they live seperatedly in a human-like environment, which is a perfect place for any teenager development as one can see in any school anime. The interesting part start with the appearance of Zero Two, a demon-like girl who are obviously not human (you will know more about her while going through the story). A different 'race' is without doubt a perfect factor for interesting interaction among the group, from trust, friendship to love. With some plot twisted, the anime not only introduce different elements like the mysterious APE, Papa, the Klauxosaur Queen, Dr.Franxx but also the different ideas I mention at the beginning.
The setup promise a good show which probably can satisfy fans from different genres. However, the first annoyance comes from the roller coaster of inconsistent quality from each episodes, the show start very weak with very few information for audience to understand what is going on. It later pick up the pace when the focus shift to the human factor of the show - the development we are looking for. After raising our expectation to an abnormal level, all of the sudden, it jams a bunch of "random" "plot twist" near the end of the shows, rocketing the drama level to the sky. I will slow down a bit and explain what I mean. The way the story develop is by revealing the plot bit by bit each episode. For a typical show, this would be an interesting approach even if the "random" "plot" are expected from events occurring during the shows. However, in this case, the information is so lacking to the level of confusing at the beginning. To be worse, the key selling points of the anime is the character development but sufficient personal background requires for me to be empathy with them are revealed way to LATE. It is so extreme that I have an impression at the beginning that we don't even follow a group of people, they behave strangely in a way that I couldn't understand (without knowing they are isolated from other people, their belief are "monitored and adjusted", in a futuristic society with different political system imposing different set of value and ideology - you will see). The other point is the plot depart from the main story too much in my opinion. To see why, for those who have already watched, you can imagine that the show starts with episode 19 or even 21 and it will still feel FINE (with necessary cut to hide the characters, of course). I actually prefer to have some information from episode 19 at the beginning like those experiment as well as the resulted society to understand more about the characters. The third point I don't like about this show is the fact that it try to cover a bit of everything, which may not be a good idea in term of time necessary to understand side characters. It is not that I don't like Ikuno but her story is so pointless to the main show that I think it is better to cut it out completely to have more time for Kokoro and her relationship for example. Or some part of the backstory of Dr.Franxx doesn't justify much about what he is actually doing so what is the point of showing them. Those are the reason why I feel the execution of this show is not on par with the idea it start with.
Art: 7/10
I enjoy the fighting scene quite a bit, there are flashy moments but they are not exceptional from other mecha type anime. The same for the romance part, the show is good but nothing iconic in my opinion.
Sound: 7/10
Nothing really special. While the OP is just fine, I like the ED.
Character: 6/10
This is where the anime shows it weakness the most. To be fair, the show try very hard to give depth to its characters. We can see some sweet moment when Zorome showing his caring, considerating side mixing with his arrogant, self-center, rebelious trait. Or a Kokoro with a very "mature" point of view while having a sweet, gentle impression at the beginning. However, the downfall I mention earlier about trying to do a bit of everything, the lack of background information to understand the character, as well as insufficient screen time makes it extremely difficult to give dimensions and developments to the characters. Even for Hiro, the only thing I could see from him is his developing love but not anything else about his character worth mention. The only one I could realize the most development is Zero Two and Ichigo. The really do change for the better, their point of view enlarge.
Enjoyment: 6/10
Seperatedly, I enjoy the show by each component. But putting everything together, it is such a mess that I could't say more.
Overall: 6/10
To be fair, I still enjoy the anime for its idea. But if you are looking for an anime with consistent story telling, Darling in the Franxx might not be the one for your taste.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 26, 2018
As LENN said herself, "this isn't Sword Art Online", comparing the spin-off with the original SAO is just like comparing apple with orange. As a result, while we cannot let the personal enjoyment blinds our evaluation, it would be unfair to review this series with the mentality of the original stories.
SAOA tells a story about Karen, a girl who is ... Well, I don't want to spoil too much and you guys probably read the descriptions somewhere already so I will skip the summary and start with the review.
Story: 6/10
As I said, we just cannot compare SAOA with SAO especially about the story. While
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both happens in a same universe, the latter focus on a story-telling based anime. Anyway, it is just part of a bigger story so what else we could expect. Whether the original version is good or bad is up to your taste. On the other hand, SAOA focus on a world where gun-enthusiasts could live. Everything is about guns, strategy, battle tactics, etc. Regarding that aspect, the anime did a great job describing every single gun showed along the story, proper tactic for their users as well as how people create synergy within the squad. That being said, the story itself is a disappointment. There are many holes in the story that you even need a mentally ill character to help it works out. Our main character is obviously inexperience with the game so she has been buffed with just a little bit of speed to the point that it is impossible to shoot her while she is running, otherwise she could have been killed from the very beginning. To be fair, the story follow the spin off so the story has already been written long before. Other than that, the story is fine enough to follow, to give a comparison, the plot is just as typical as some popular FPS like Call of Duty.
Art: 9/10
I won't discuss anything about technical part of art since I don't know anything about it. However, I would like to comment on the design of the guns, shooting scenes. The guns detail is great.
Sound: 7/10
The OP and ED songs are great. Not even a surprise from Eir Aoi. However, the sound effect during the episodes are just normal, normally they can help intensify your emotions during the scene, but in this case, I don't feel that much from them. The sounds effect during battle scene are not on par with the design of the scene themselves. At least, it doesn't make me feel unpleasant or disturbed.
Character: 7/10
The main characters are well built, we can clearly see the motivation of Karen - LENN, why she did what she did. Her obsessed with height is also well established in the show. Her friend Miyu doesn't have much screen time during the first 6 episodes so I cant say much about her. Goushi - M is also fine but there is not much to say about him. The one I want to mention the most is Pitohui. As first glance, she seems to be an interesting character. She is mysterious, her motivation is unknown, she makes me feel want to know more about her. However, the plot drive her to the point of a wicked woman who despise life and always try to find a way to put her life on the line. It is a big gap between what she used to be in the first 4 episodes and what she is said to be now. At least, some details about her past could be useful to let the audience understand her obsesses. On a side note, I don't understand M thought about her as well. There could be plenty of things to do for Pitohou in the position of M but he choose to follow her to the end. Even worst, he can't himself help her but go to LENN for her help. That is enough to raise some questions about him. Should one call him a coward or is his action based on his love?
Enjoyment: 9/10
Still, with all the high and low, as a game freak, I enjoy the series a lot. There are many potential for game based anime that could has been done like SAOA where the realistic feature of the game is aesthetically shown. While there are hole which is somewhat a pity, they are not much of a problem to ignore and focus on the main selling point of the show.
Overall: 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 28, 2018
tl;dr
This review is based on the anime only since I haven't read the LN. I will try to spoil as few as possible, however, some points cannot be given without specific "example". In addition, I hope my review will give a different perspective toward this anime inspire of what people have already said about it.
Story: 8/10
To be honest, I could not believe myself that I will give this an 8 out of 10 especially when I was about to drop it half way. At first glance, (specifically the first 6 episodes), it is at best a mediocre product which cannot even be compared with similar
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anime within the genre. We are talking about a typical setting with abunch of student joining a magic academy specialized in magical-knight (well, to be fair, it is hard to come up with genuine idea given how saturated the genre has become). A typical harem rom-com setup with a blatant nonchalant MC, a tsundere crimson-hair protagonist, a brother-complexed loli sister, etc. A typical goal of winning some 'random' tournament (this time is to graduate from the academy - things cannot make
any less sense at this point, let alone the originality of idea).
However, I have to say that, the tides have been turned from episode 6 thereafter. Which makes me confused about the true message of the anime. In fact, I could not help but choose to think that the anime is simply badly delivered and expressed. To be specific, what change my opinion can be summary in this quote from episode 12 ( you heard it correctly, the damn episode 12 of all 12)
"let's not get our kids involved in adults' schemes"
This should be categorized as a mature anime (I aware of the PG17 but it seems not sufficient in my opinion). What I am trying to tell? The climax - aka episode 11 tells everything. The story is not about some stupid plot where the MC meaninglessly fights to serve some selfishness reason he could think of. It is actually a reflection of real life, of how the ultimate goal and the struggle to achieve it is. Of how we realize the "black and white" color shaped by perception and social norm, the very system that shape the society as it is. This is genuinely shown during the imprisonment of the MC. A It reflects the unfairness treatment rooting on some long lasting tradition, rules that noone even bother to think of. And worst, people are consumed by that thought too deeply that they don't even think on their own and follow the crowd to feed the confusion, rumor on something they don't even know about. (it is based on how people react to the news represented to them in the anime, you will understand what I said if you watch it till the end)
I am so disappointed by how the story proceed yet being impressed by how deep it is especially during the last 3 episodes. It could have been a good shows overall should the focus be made clearer. It doesn't need to be a harem ecchi kind of story (I found this part completely irrelevant to the anime) when you want to deliver such a message to the audience. Heck, we can clearly see a difference in concept between the first half (full of fan service and awkward situation just like in a typical ecchi anime) with the second half (where we see the anime in its "true" color most of the time). This leads me to an overall score of 8/10. It could have been a masterpiece original idea which I cannot find somewhere else.
Art: 7/10
Unlike the story part, I wont mention much this time since art is never my things to say about. To me, it is good enough. I especially like the color concept of the anime (in the second half part of course). It is brilliantly black and white in a way that we rarely see.
Sound: 3/10
I am a diehard fan of anime when it comes to sound effect and songs. In my opinion, the sound is just bad. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about this anime. The OP and ED songs are not good at all, I cannot get the feeling the author want to express.
Character: 5/10
How can I start with this part.
It is both a big let down and top selling point at the same time.
From the previous review, you can clearly tell how I enjoy the way Akaza has been sketched. He is cruel, vicious, merciless to the core that we cannot help but hate him about how terrible he is. We can also see the arrogant, pride, disdainful behavior of Kuraudo. Yet he stills respect the truth, the real strength of his opponents. Simply put, the antagonists are amazingly created in my opinion. Their motivation, purpose, are complete. Even though the anime hide them carefully, I got excited to find out why Ikki's father act like that. What does it means by the quote I show you before. It seems strange but it really is realistic to a certain extent (for the most part, it is a magical world anyway so we dont need to be very critical about how close it is to the reality). The way the anime reveals those character also hit the sweet spot of delivering sufficient hint to follow up yet not to spoil too much about them.
However, the MC and his harem is the biggest let down. He lacks personal development. We knows his intention, his will. But we don't know why he could exceed his limit when he fought another "mini boss". To be fair, it is hand down a purely romance setting rather than a harem as I said, but I cannot accept such a fabricated relationship development between our MCs. The girls are also too "typical" to the point that I cannot say why should they even exist except for Shizuku. Korogane family circumstance could be a good reason to rationalize her behavior. However, the same cannot be said to others such as Nagi. I dont even know why s/he appear in this anime. There is absolutely no hint at all about his/her background to guess a point or two.
Stella is also a problem. She is so tsundere (dont take me wrong, I love tsundere) to the point that it feels so superficial about her relationship with Ikki. It is just that the relationship is there and it develop just in a way that suppose to be for a tsundere. (are we even talking about the protagonist?)
Enjoyment: 6/10
This is something purely personal so I won't say much. I simply looks for a romance anime with some ecchi and possibly harem to begin with but it ends up something I enjoy in the most unexpected way. Heck, the part which I initially look for is just average to be generous so I cannot give anything more than a "fair" rating.
This leads to the overall rating of 6/10. However, the story really stands out for me personally. I wish there could be more "mature" content anime just like this to reflect our thought on how the society currently is.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 23, 2018
tl; dr
This is my very first anime review so it might not be good for other people to read, in that case, you have my apology. This review is based only on the anime since I haven't read the light novel. As a result, I will not discuss any point regarding the completeness as well as consistency between different media.
Story: 6/10
At first glance, the story development is no different than other anime from the same genre. You have a bunch of elementalers (some sorts of wizards, witch but with fighting skills like swords, spear, bows, you name it) attending a magic academy and aiming
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to win a tournament for certain goal (since I dont want to spoil anything, I will not say the detail specificly) While that is not anything bad, the anime itself has little to offer in terms of its own characteristic. The setting can be found in various anime. Part of the reason is the first season didn't explain well the idea, story behind the MC. Yes the motives of the anime is justifiable but anyone who watch can agree that it is there not be be questioned, because there is little to non original idea or development relating to the "goal" of the MC (it is simply there, it is not like you have different plots with overcoming one opening the others). Overall, I feel dissatisfied in the way the story developed. That being said, the anime still offer a solid "average" story to consider acceptable.
Art: 8/10
First of all, it is an ecchi genre, so you got what I want to tell. The fanservice is there for good reason even though it might not have anything to do with the story. Besides that, in my opinion, the art has been executed well. Not the best, scintillating anime I have ever seen, but definitely not any where considered bad. the color is bright, the scenery is very good. Not only does it suit the anime theme and story but the details are pretty great as well. For example the food, the weapons, the blushes, the ecchi scenes. Since I am not any art expert, that is all I can tell.
Sound: 6/10
music, soundtrack ratings are purely personal opinions. That being said, you know they are good when you experience your mood change. For this anime, I can only say that the music did its job just fine with no annoyance. But there is hardly any scene I feel compassionate with the overall scene+music effect. As a result, I can only give 6/10.
Character: 3/10
This is where the anime fails to deliver the most. I would never say tsundere is a bad type, in fact, I am a tsundere fan. However, 3 tsundere girls are too much. Did I enjoy those tsundere? Yes, I did. But it doesn't mean we need 3 of them to make the anime good. I feel there exists lack of variation in characteristics. It makes all the awkward situations feel the same. Moreover, we understand little to nothing the reason why those characters act like that, interestingly with an admittedly not bad back story of each one of them, I expect more "personality" from each character than it is shown. That is to say nothing of the character development.
Enjoyment: 7/10
I give it 7/10 even with the previous criticism simply because I enjoy this genre. Rom-com ecchi mixing with action, and supernatural is what I am looking for (didn't I say I am a tsundere fan already) At the very least, the anime is among the average of what the genre can offer.
Overall: 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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