Back to Eoussama's Profile Eoussama's Profile

“He Wei Dao x Guan Yu Wo Zhuan Sheng Bian Cheng Shi Lai Mu Zhe Dang Shi“ is certainly a mouthful of a title, that surely lives up to the lengthy commercial itself, having outlasted its welcome in terms of length.

To be honest, I'm not sure why MAL made me watch this. Sure, it's a nice addition to the Slime franchise, but as a standalone commercial, it falls short. The animation is nothing to write home about and the commercial is far too long for something that is essentially just an advertisement. I've seen far more impressive wooden planks in my backyard.

I suppose seeing Rimuru ... is nice enough for hardcore fans tho.

I remember way back, during the quarantine, I had this very bad toothache in one of my wisdom teeth. You all know how going outside was not as simple as it is now, so I had to endure it for days long until I got an appointment and surgically remove the wisdom teeth once and for all. And then one of my buddies hit me up while hyping this “Manhwa” called Solo Leveling. I, of course, could not give a bull for it as my mind was fully occupied with the pain at the time. But little did I know, a Korean comic would have ... been the greatest coping mechanism that would generously distract me away from the pain that I would eventually forget I had any dental issues and end up almost missing the surgery.

Solo Leveling to me was a companion during a hard time, I had almost blitzed through it during a couple of days for how good and engaging it was. And then, the question occurred. When an Anime adaptation is issued, how would it play? Especially after the other Manhwa Anime adaptations (Tower of God, The God of High School, and Noblesse) fell flat on their faces. It was a genuine fear that the Anime adaptation is better off not existing at all.

We were afraid for nothing.

The Anime adaptation of Solo Leveling was a banger. The animation was done justice, which was the biggest fear, to be honest (the Manhwa remains to have some of the best illustrations in all of comics), the OSTs were fantastic, and the directing … well, it was not everyone’s cup of tea. But still, it was decent. Different but definitely above average.

Any avid Manhwa or Light Novel reader would tell you that this entire season was nothing but a prologue, it was all set up for what’s coming, although, I would sit down my expectations and wait for the drop.

Overall: 8.3/10.

I still remember last year when I decided to watch this show on a whim after postponing the Manga for many years and it was such a surprise how much entertainment the first season led to. But there was always something missing, something of substance that would make the show from a gag-fest to an engaging narrative with a firm gag facade. This was what this season did.

While the first season introduced the many characters we love and like today, this season really secured the main cast as one of the best groups of main characters in modern shounen. They are blend together very well; ... the gags are in-verse organic. The power scaling is just as goofy and playful and the villains, well, let’s say the add to the comedy lmao.

One surprising element this season had over the last is the fantastic animation and production quality overall, and you know the first season drew numbers when you see the astronomical jump in quality and not just the animation, but the audio department went HARD. From simply dropping the hardest opening theme song of the year to the ever-lasting whacky rap OSTs that creep by every now and then.

This is truly a show made for chills, either alone or with company, many laughs to be made, and one can’t simply pass that off, especially these days.

Overall: 7.7/10.

The clocks take every tick into account, but different people will always have a biased sense of time, relative to their own perspective on the world. Maybe it’s stress, maybe it’s carefreeness. Or maybe it’s just not valuing time itself. But then again, life is slow, temporal, and sometimes horrendously mundane.

Out of every possible aspect of reality or fantasy, Frieren: Journey’s End, despite being set on a plane of fantasy, chose to tackle the very mundane life we so chose to escape from, making the passage of time as criminal as it can be, almost a character on its own.

There is a profound and interesting ... human condition case of study that the core theme of this show touches upon, but there is barely enough ink in my pen to write home about. However, it does not hurt to point a finger at how marvelously and magically the show makes the simple things matter, simple mundane everyday life tidbits that eventually add up across several years of companionship that make the strongest relationships shine in face of what seems like eternal slumber.

This show has a way with its narrative. On one hand, you’re thrown into a fantasy realm with magic, dragons, tales, and demons, but on the other hand, you’re just along for the ride of a slice of life, following the shenanigans of a very non-talkative elf that knows more about magic than formulating a sound sentence. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. That is until you learn that the fantasy does not matter as much as the slow-paced day-to-day ordeals that are not strange to even us.

One of the most surprising things regarding this show is that the production does not joke around, stuff of theatrical releases. I talking animation the likes of which you’d see in movies, the pacing and direction leave a strong and lasting impression. The voice acting is stellar, emotional, believable, and engaging. The OSTs kick in at the right moments, the ambiance and SFX are just “chef kiss”. All in all, this show was an example of what a perfect Anime adaptation should look, sound, and feel like.

Whenever there is a mention of “slice of life”, the same question is reiterated. “But what about the characters”.

Frieren: Journey’s End places its characters at the forefront, it does not shy away from placing all of the spotlights right on them, it shows both the bad and good sides for all of them and dismantles the black-and-white facade that most people catalog different characters under. Rather than a gray bird view outlook, it’s a mumbo-jumbo rainbow spectrum that mazes you around into guessing which is which until it laughs at you when you give up at the end because stereotyping is an outdated concept of character writing in this show, making it closer to reality that what you might think on a first look.

It’s really hard to talk about this show without letting too much out, so I’ll say this.

Set your expectations aside, for this is an experience that changes lives, depending on how deeply you look at it. It teaches real-life lessons and expands profoundly on the complex, but beautiful concept of legacy and companionship.

Overall: 8.8

Having survived the horrors that are the endlessly horrible Code Geass picture drama shorts, I thought I was scarred for life. I would always consume the latter with a dissatisfied expression and a hardened core. But alas, this cute and bite-sized series of shorts came by me. And it was such a great breeze of air.

If you, like me, loved and enjoyed Friere: Journey's End, then I've got some good news for you. However, if not, then I have so many questions for you starting from what even got you on this page to begin with.

Countless popular shows come with this type of special like ... some late wave of marketing and keeping the hype alive for more potential profit later, they all pass off as generic, filler that's just plain boring and slow. However, once a red moon, (or is it a blue moon? Pick your color) comes a special drop of shorts that really do sell a unique vibe, and this one is one of the best ones I've seen in recent memory.

Cute Chibi animation, hilarious dialog, and short delivery made the watch feel like such a breeze that it wouldn't have hurt to have a dozen more episodes. And that's rare.

Anime is great in the sense that more often than not, being a fan of throws you at a interconnected tangle of hundreds if not thousands of connected works of different types. One of which is music, and great music at that.

Frieren has us spoiled in this regard, not only has it graced us with a classic YOASOBI hit, but also an n-buna masterpiece.

The song albeit trippy, felt like a weird fever dream that is very familiar and very strange all at the same time. The vocals feel like pleading for one’s innocence while the visual style of blending 2D and 3D did contribute the ... most for the trippy feel.

Certainly, the visuals, being 3D, were the furthest from being considered good or “appetizing” to look at, but I felt as thought the reason for that was more intentional than not because it really does sell the nostalgic aspect for a distant memory that’s growing rusting and faint by the day. The one that will creep you up as a fever dream and wake you up with a warm tear on you cheek and a muddy mood for the rest of the day.

It’s an acquired taste.

Much like the saying; “What is your favorite Disney era?”, being part of the Anime community will surely have you acquainted with how every “generation” is associated with a big music hit, or artist, that made a name after dropping the hardest opening/ending theme song for an Anime, You have your LiSA, TK, Linked Horizon, The Pillows, and so many more great and well established names that are some times the face of the Anime they were involved in one way or another, but certainly, and especially in recent year, a name has been very well present, the kind of presence that managed to overshadow ... even those legendary names. YOASOBI, the talented, very charming artist duo responsible for many generational grade Anime songs. And I’m sure it is there by, no coincidence that whatever show they are involved with turns out to be just as great and grand with many fans backing it and a reputation that seems to escape even the Anime sphere.

With all of that said, it is a shocker to no one that Yuusha, yet another banger, turns out to be just as great and well defined YOASOBI classic that excelled both visually and audibly. The beat is heart racing, emotional and “alive”, the visuals are just as gripping, grim, and bittersweet. Just like every other YOASOBI songs, it feels like an abstract piece of art waiting to be admired and boast about, but too little ink is there to satisfy the deed.

It feels kind of weird sometimes when it’s too difficult if not impossible it is to separate a piece of art from its artist, a very familiar thing with most of YOASOBI’s hits, and it is very apparent here. It is clear that Frieren and YOASOBI are very separate and independent entities but the song feels like it’s part of the YOASOBI universe if that makes sense, it feels home to their work whilst at the same time complementing the bittersweet and slow nature of the Frieren story.

As controversial as recap episodes tend to be, especially in the context of currently airing seasonal shows, this one in particular does not escape the former allegations. Yes, it’s a time stall for the production of future episode, but for the consumers, it is hell on earth.

I originally read the Manhwa a long time ago and I’ve been keeping up with the Anime version ever since its debut, it has surely been an interesting outlook on the series especially for how different both versions are but I gotta say, this recap slid in right into place, being a run down through the first seven episodes, ... it really fits in well in the chronological placement as many would argue, this is when the true story begins, all of the past episodes were simple set up of what eventually becomes a more complex and intertwined plot.

I've been scratching my head over how to put this whole experience in a simple sentence even since I first watched this seemingly lovely adaptation. But I guess the head scratch tells you more than a sentence ever could.

I feel bad because, on the one hand, you have this very charming, nostalgic (by the looks of it) mini-web series that tells you the makers poured a lot of love into shape and finalization, even when it is lacking any semblance of world-class production you see very often nowadays in mainstream shows, but then again, especially back in the day when this came out, the series ... was NOT the semi-giant it is today, and the fandom was much, MUCH smaller I comparison which excuses the low-quality production that might bother some.

Not gonna lie, some episodes of this I preferred over the modern adaptation ones, but maybe not starting from this was my sin, to begin with. It also helps that the episode are bit sized and fly you by in an instance.

Anime sequels have a daunting task: to not only meet the high expectations set by their predecessors but to surpass them. "Hanma Baki: Son of Ogre 2nd Season" takes up this challenge with ferocity and precision, delivering a jaw-dropping continuation that is nothing short of phenomenal.

Spanning two cours and featuring three gripping arcs, this season has fans raving for all the right reasons. It's a testament to the creators' dedication that they managed to maintain the intensity throughout, with the first cour delving into the prehistoric man arc, followed by the concurrent father-son and Retsu's boxing arcs in the second.

One of the standout features of ... this season is the relentless and exhilarating combat scenes. "Son of Ogre" is renowned for its pugilistic prowess, and the second season serves up a smorgasbord of epic battles. The visceral and skillfully animated fights will leave viewers on the edge of their seats, cheering for their favorite characters as they clash in a no-holds-barred brawl.

One can't help but wish that the notorious prisoners would make a comeback, as they were an integral part of what made "Baki" iconic. Nonetheless, the return of beloved characters, each with their unique fighting styles, more than makes up for it. The series leverages its vast roster brilliantly, demonstrating the creators' ability to craft well-choreographed showdowns.

The season's culmination is nothing short of epic, setting the stage for the showdown fans have been eagerly anticipating: the long-awaited battle between Baki and Yujiro. It's a bout that feels like destiny, the culmination of years of storytelling and character development.

In the world of anime sequels, "Hanma Baki: Son of Ogre 2nd Season" stands tall as an exemplar of how to do it right. It doesn't just meet expectations; it shatters them. With a narrative that thrills and battles that astonish, this season is a triumphant addition to the "Baki" franchise.

Overall: 8.4/10