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Dec 27, 2023
I honestly forgot about this show after Summer, probably in no small effort of the delay that only ended until a few days ago.
While I do think the delays the show suffered from hindered it's popularity, I won't be using those delays as a con for the inherent qualities of the show, as it doesn't really hold any inherent reason for the quality of the show.
Being honest though, even if I were to count it as a con it would hardly matter because this is one of the best seasonals to date.
If there is one word, one theme, that defines this show, it's Freedom. Not
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the kind that's preached about by Attack on Titan, but pure, unadulterated freedom to do what you want, when you want.
The 1st episode is by far the best indicator of that. The episode spends most of the time badgering and destroying Akira through the toxic corpo environment of Japan, shackling him and imprisoning him through the hellish work ethics and quotas, his habits and supportive crutches slowly being stripped away to the point where he's just a cog in a machine fueled by blood, sweat, and tears, a common thing in the country. By the time the zombie pandemic hits, Akira finds the strength to unshackle every chain that held him down to the mundane and menial life he in order to experience the freedom to do whatever he wants and enjoy life to the fullest, starting small, and getting ever higher with his ambitions.
The visuals, animation and sound at the first episode more than the serve that purpose too. The vivid focus of color, the bombastic and frantic animation through multiple camera perspectives and how dynamic it all feels, all while supported with a high energy score alongside the catharsis of not having to go through the hell that was his job anymore. It's an immensely satisfactory first impression and thankfully it carries that same energy throughout the rest of the season. While the animation hasn't technically reached the same heights in later episodes, it still holds extremely well and it's hardly a con to be against the show.
The characters and story are fairly great too, Akira himself is super endearing, and you can see how infectious his personality and will to live life with no regrets not just with Kencho and Shizuka, but with every character he comes across. While he's not perfect, his qualities stand in contrast to the general mood a zombie apocalypse typically brings and it shows. He's an optimist in a world full of pessimists, and through his personality, he helps people change their perspective of the world, and help them pursue what they truly want in life. Beatrix is a bit of an outlier, given she joined a bit too late in the season, but from what limited screetime she had, she too has somewhat the same development as the others.
It's not as though there isn't any antagonistic force however, Akira finds himself subjugated by past demons, and through the friends and support he nourished along the way, he was able to overcome then, just like how he supported his friends and helped them overcome their troubles to live life to the fullest.
Then, we move on to the final episodes, where the main characters not only fight off the seemingly thematic parallel versions of themselves, but in the sides, a battle of Freedoms, specifically, Positive vs Negative Freedom, is being waged. And it makes a lot of sense, especially once the main characters entered the village. Through the characters sense of community and support, they were able to deter Higurashi, his cronies, and the zombies that came to ravage the village.
Kencho won against the worst husband of the year because unlike him, he knows how to treat people correctly, and not expect anything in return, as seen in his cabaret days and now with the girl he tried to save. Shizuka won against the fatty because he wasn't willing to work with others, or even commit to learning anything about his work, while she had devoted herself to working with the community, and in turn the community helped her. Beatrix won against Toko because she respects the people and their differing ways of doing things, unlike her, who tried to project her perfect way of doing everything.
And finally, Akira won against Higurashi, because unlike Higurashi, Akira had the support of his family and community to support him and his dreams. Higurashi was the embodiment of negative freedom, acting in a way that harmed others, serving only himself, while Akira was the embodiment of positive freedom, acting in a limited manner, but never harming others, and serving himself and the people he cares about. In the end, he is defeated because he's alone, and his self-serving actions amounted to nothing, and it never satisfied him. While the show does do the annoying thing like Demon Slayer where they do give him a sob story in an effort to sympathize with him, they never explicitly treat him like a person that was wronged. All of it was his fault, and he recognized it all too late.
Beyond that, I don't think I have any major gripes with the show. Besides the fact Kana-Boon sung the op (I don't like them, blame Silhouette for that), lorebuilding regarding other survivors make it seem like that outside the main characters, antagonists, and the village characters, the people in the city are deemed like idiots in an apocalypse, and maybe you can be a bit pissy to the fact they pulled a bait and switch regarding Akira's dad, then honestly, it's a near perfect show.
I don't think zombie shows will ever outheal the damage Hollywood caused on the genre back in the early 2000s-2010s, as it stands it's still a really bloated genre with too many awful picks overshadowing any genuinely good stuff. But Zom 100 is one of those good ones. It takes the ironic memes about how weebs and gamers would survive the zombie apocalypse and revels in it, wrapped tightly in a neat bow about how your personal freedoms are the most important thing, and you shouldn't let trivialities like society or a zombie apocalypse stop you from doing the things you want to do.
It's an amazingly fun piece, and I hope despite the delays it had, it gets picked up to get another season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 25, 2023
Hot take: This show became uhhh pretty mid and boring, not gonna lie. Why? Well, let me present you with a hypothetical.
You get offered cake, alright? And at first you accept it, and it's good, and then you get offered more cake, and it's fine, then you get offered more, and at that point, you get sick of it, but that's what you only get offered.
Spy x Family Season 2 is basically that. An overabundance of one thing and not really much else.
Granted, for what it does, it does really well. I think the slice of life moments are well executed, displaying the characters in
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entertaining moments, and it really helps you show that Family feel of the show. And the sound, visual, and animation department is top notch as always, and it's never going to be an object of criticism for me because from the start it's proven to be really great
But...that's basically the only thing that's in abundance. While most people deem it fine with the show just being a montage of the Forger family engaging in shenanigans, or the other side characters going about the stuff, to me personally it feels like the story has taken a back seat for the sake of filler or episodic structures where it's just characters placed in different situations without so much as a process of development or changes in the current situation in the plot.
Yes, I know Yor's arc on the boat was technically Yor getting development, but to me it feels lacking because for one, it still suffers from the issues I mentioned, feeling like filler, not adding anything to the story, and the development itself feels lacking, like there's no inherent change beyond just motivational changes. Yes, it is well animated action, but the action itself doesn't feel emotionally engaging, because the show has shown time and time again, either for the sake of a gag or just a display of coolness, how strong Yor is. While she did struggle, I never thought for a second she would lose because I knew for one reason or another that she would win, how else would the status quo of the Forger family be maintained after all, if by the end of the fight, Yor doesn't return to her family with them being none the wiser to her job?
And that realization I feel displays the writing limitations of the show. The Forger family has to keep their double lives a secret, so no matter what situation befalls on them, they'll go back to being this happy family that doesn't seem suspicious of their own lives, otherwise, there'll be a change in the dynamic, and they'll not be able to do this happy, slice of life fluff the show is known for. But having an overabundance of said SOL fluff leads to stagnancy, an element that's already shown given the lack of progression to Operation Strix, Loid's reason for starting a family in the first place. You can have the fluff, that's not my issue, but you need to have some progression, otherwise you'll tire out people from the lack of progress.
Perhaps it'll change with the upcoming movie, but as the second season stands in a vacuum, the show fails to pick up where the first season left off properly, opting to just settle with letting the characters just go through the motions of a narrative without much change in the status quo.
It's been often said, but mostly ignored, that the mangaka/writer of the show doesn't really enjoy or like Spy x Family. That he deemed it as rehab work, or a side project that he would not commit much work into. And I gotta say, with how the second season went about, it shows. Which makes this all the more depressing when his rehab work basically became his most famous IP thus far, as opposed to his previous works.
After all, if you're probably not having any fun with your work, it's gonna show, and others probably won't have any fun going through it.
Also Yor is overrated. That's it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 23, 2023
God, this feels like the most disappointing seasonal of Fall to be honest.
I thought the first season was pretty fun, not perfect, nor anything to grant it a stay in the minds of weebs after it was over, but an entertaining piece with a very interesting idea that executed it perfectly with decent animation and a very exciting DOOM-esque soundtrack.
The most stay it had on people, mostly Twitter, was the "controversy" of the first episode that displayed the depravity and violence of the goblins, ignorant of the fact that that was the point, and what made the first appearance of the Slayer memorable and important,
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which allowed the show build on a proper foundation and premise. It was a scene made to make you demonize goblins and sympathize with the Slayer. It didn't matter though, because that was the kind of publicity a relatively unknown show like Goblin Slayer needed, after all, there's no bad publicity, as long as you say the name right.
That said, it came as a shock to me that at the start of the first episode, and every episode following afterwards until the end...came a warning about the violent themes and scenes that might trigger people.
This to me, while at first may seem fairly harmless, is one of the first signs of how the show got sterilized. For what reason, I do not know, it still has a 17+ rating, and from what I know of other shows of that rating, they didn't need a blatant warning like this. The other reason, comes from the animation.
White Fox did a good job animating the first season, all things considered. The combination of hand-drawn animation and CG, combined with the immaculate sound design, and context given by the Slayer and first-hand experience of the Priestess, led to perfectly delivering the cathartic violence and horror the show got known for. It makes sense why they were good at delivering that violence, as they had experience with other shows of similar rating, like Akame Ga Kill.
Liden Films however...has none of that experience. While they have animated some lesser known shows that have explicit violence, it's clear that they're more comfortable with lighthearted shows or shounen shows that aren't as explicit or gorey like Goblin Slayer. It's clear that the animation and visual design has taken a drop in quality evidently by just looking at the character designs, but beyond that, the action scenes lack the dynamic energy that the first season has. The action feels more hollow, less gorey, less viscera, and less energy, with even sound design taking a nosedive in quality as the main theme is overused without any good execution. As a result, this diminishes the quality of the show, and turns it from a R18+ show to something akin to a 12+ show, something it clearly isn't, but clearly masquerades as.
Thankfully, the story is fine...ish. I think the first half of the story was fine (a bit lacking though), but the second half fell flat on it's face when it picked up the pace. I think it did a good job in trying to expand Goblin Slayer as a character. The first season concluded by finally getting to know the man behind the mask, his backstory, why he does what he does. The second season starts by getting to know the man personally, with all the nuances, his ambitions, his life, his regrets, and how he improves socially. Where before he was socially outcast among adventurers, here he has talks with fellow, more experienced members, and his own teammates. He gets included more with guild activities, and he helps new adventurers personally, and by the end, he is left happy, a clear, coherent sign of character development that I enjoy.
By the second half however, it decides to pick up the pace, or at least it tries to, until it's too late. The elven kingdom arc feels half-baked, with a climax that has a lot of potential for development for the Priestess, but never goes anywhere. It seemed like a filler arc without any substance or development, sure, it helps with the worldbuilding, and we have a touching moment where a survivor interacts with the Slayer (it was executed pretty poorly, however), but it could've been omitted without any loss of meaningfulness, and it's clear that a lot of stuff was cut from this arc to save time, if the terrible animation and combat scenes didn't make that evident enough for people. Time that doesn't even feel like it amounted to anything, because the final arc of the season is over and done by two episodes, without any emotional impact, or any proper conclusions, as if it was another enemy of the week Slayer and crew had to deal with. It even omits characters that were thought to be of some importance, like the Swordsman who had the same glow in his eyes like the Slayer, which I found ridiculous to say the least, why would you tease a character and then give him only a cold open's worth of screentime? It just doesn't make sense.
Overall, Season 2 of Goblin Slayer was a disappointing mess, and an example of how not to handle a sequel properly by an animation studio, either by indifference or inexperience. I believe it has some qualities of the first season still in there, but they're more or less muddled by the drop of quality everywhere.
Ironic, the scene that gave the show a chance in the spotlight is what ultimately doomed the sequel, whether it liked it or not. Sterilization, a fate many a shows mired with people that can't conform to disturbing themes have fallen into, and many that can't recover from.
If there will ever be a third season, let's hope they won't fall prey to the same mistake twice.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 19, 2023
I wanna preface this by saying I have no clue as to what constitutes for a good BL/GL show. I usually don't watch those kinds of shows unless under recommendation by a friend, and even then, chances are it'll stay stuck on my never ending pit of planned shows to watch.
That said, this show has other tropes on top of being an Isekai-GL show, and I feel at least qualified to judge the show based on those tropes, and other general stuff that is included in the contents of this show.
And these contents are...pretty half-baked.
The setting, while good in theory, feels pretty sloppy
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in practice. It's not inherently bad, but everything it does is placed under the context that it's an ikemen dating game, and presumably, a visual novel one. That in itself is fine, but then it does worldbuilding and...I kinda feel like it gets too bloated in the details? Like the amount of exposition to explain this kinda stuff makes it feel like I'm not in a game but in a general fantasy setting. It almost makes me question the validity of the game's contents with what's being explained. Is it a dating sim? Or an RPG? Or a puzzle game? Or hell, is it an MMO? It just feels all over the place without adding as much to the worldbuilding, only being there to progress the narrative. Not even Nasu's Fate series felt this needlessly deep in the lore.
The story itself feels bloated as well, and a bit confused in whether or not it wants to be driven by a narrative or by it's characters. By the half-way point I was left confused as to what the show wanted to BE. Was it a GL show? A SOL show focusing on this magic school? An action show? It focuses a lot on it's magic and has a lot of action scenes. A romance show that focuses both on hetero and gay relationships? A political show that focuses on the disparity between classes and how it might affect people in this age of magic? I don't know, and I'm not sure the show knows either, as I don't think it makes any effort to connect these things together in a cohesive enough narrative.
Example: In episode 3-4 (I don't remember specifically but it's early on.) the characters talk about the Rae's sexuality, but it doesn't particularly lead anywhere, and the arguments regarding that scene were divisive and led to nothing but shouting wars. It doesn't make mention nor expand on how Rae's advances to Claire could be deemed as annoying, nor the implications of prejudice against homosexual relationships, especially between commoner and high class, nor how Claire's prejudices could be deemed as bad (it is implied, but in a terrible manner like Claire is gaslit into thinking it's bad, even though Claire has been hounded against her own will by Rae.). It just kinda ends in a segue in how Rae will sacrifice her own chances of a relationship with Claire just so she can make her happy, showing her selflessness, a topic that would come back in the end of the season.
The thing is though, even if the show made the scene's message that homosexuality in this setting is frowned upon and that Rae should be careful, it would make no sense under the context that it wasn't implied upon in earlier episodes. Nor would it make sense that Claire has prejudices against a homosexual relationship because for one, the show made it clear she's in love with a boy, two, Claire has been hounded time and time again by Rae, and three, she herself hasn't shown any prejudice towards Rae whatsoever, just discomfort. So this leaves this seemingly divisive scene...with absolutely nothing. It's just a disjointed, non-cohesive scene that adds nothing, because it can't, and unfortunately, that's something that's going to repeat itself.
Speaking of characters, unfortunately it doesn't get better here folks. The side characters, while inherently without fault, lack substance. Given the setting is an otome game...the show does absolutely everything in it's path to not make you interested, given the subversion of it's setting focusing on GL. To it's credit, the caricatures/personalities of the characters aren't bad, but they never feel anything more than that. They just feel like reactive sort of characters that are reactive only for the sake of the narrative and that's...frankly disappointing because it has shown that it can make side characters with depth, but doesn't expand on it.
Rae herself feels stale as a protagonist as well. While I find her back and forth behavior with Claire cute, and her love is full of compassion, she herself doesn't feel compelling as a character. Her encyclopedic knowledge and unnatural competency in problem solving and as a fighter (despite she herself having no experience in combat in her past life) make her feel like a Mary Sue, and she herself doesn't face any conflict that affects her heavily, until the final few episodes, which I find especially hilarious, given the Mary Sue feels heavily inadequate...against another newly introduced (and pretty terribly written) Mary Sue.
Claire herself doesn't feel like much a character aside from her trope as an ojou-sama. While yes, she does develop somewhat as a character, her development at times doesn't feel natural, especially in the halfway mark. Her romance subplot at the end is pretty much forgotten because the show reminded itself that it's a GL show, and therefore needed to focus on that. And it's so weird at the end for Claire, because she feels so static for no reason. She has no individual agency whatsoever while two of her closest friends are fighting against one another, and it just comes off as weird and terribly executed. It's character assassination, and it sucks because it really feels like it invalidates any development for Claire, and by extension, Rae too.
Overall, I think this show would've greatly benefitted from having 24 episodes instead of 12. Perhaps it gets better as it goes along,but with how the show is structured, it doesn't allow itself to show how it gets better, and that's shown with how sloppily the show ended. There is of course sequel bait in an after credits scene, but I feel like it's a band-aid solution rather a true conclusion.
I can't say much besides that. If you turn off your brain, you might enjoy it for what it is, I know I certainly did, since I found myself enjoying the back-and-forth dynamic Rae and Claire have.
But if you're like me where your brain can't help but think, you'll find a disjointed mess from a show that's trying to be too many things, but never one thing that it's really good at. Which is a shame.
People often refer to a "Jack of all trades, master of none" to something or someone that isn't focused on one specialty, but they often forget the rest of the quote, omitting what follows after.
A jack of all trades, master of none, is better than a master of one.
Unfortunately, this show isn't better in this case.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Dec 18, 2023
Frankly my favorite seasonal of Fall 2023, by a mile. And that's saying something considering how great a show like Frieren is in Fall.
I feel like prefacing this by saying this completely clear, yet somehow still ignored, fact.
Overtake is NOT Initial D/MF Ghost, nor is it trying to be, and thus, it's not fair to compare them with each other, as both shows are completely different.
How, you ask? Well, here are some examples I can list off of the top of my head:
-Overtake's story is character driven, Initial D/MF Ghost's story is narrative driven, a very poor narrative, but a narrative nonetheless.
-Characters in Overtake have
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nuance and a dynamic relationship between others, as well as inhibiting well written themes that are relevant to the story. Initial D/MF Ghost...has none of that, all the characters are static, and they only form relationships to satisfy the plot. Hell, it might not even satisfy that.
-Overtake is focused on open wheel circuit racing. Initial D/MF Ghost is mountain road street racing.
-Overtake is realistic, Initial D/MF Ghost isn't.
-Overtake is sponsored by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the governing body for all European motorsports, F1 included), Initial D/MF Ghost is the machinations of someone who thinks what racing is.
-Overtake's artstyle is well drawn. Initial D/MF Ghost has an artstyle that is stuck in the 80s and modern animators have to work hard to make it not ugly.
-And lastly Initial D/MF Ghost has Eurobeat, and Overtake doesn't. So I suppose that's the dealbreaker for why they prefer those two shows compared to Overtake.
I'd honestly go far as to say Overtake is what a proper racing anime should be. A narrative driven and executed by characters with their own personal motivations, goals, fears, troubles and developments. With some good old racing on the side, which I think is great, even if somewhat limited in the CG animation and music.
But more than that, it's the first modern anime to depict not only realistic racing, but how racing works outside the track. The protagonists and their cast of side characters constantly have to struggle with the financial side of motorsports and how the sport itself is a bottomless money pit that can only be filled if: A) You git gud enough to win. B) Get sponsors to help you fill that pit enough to support yourself for an entire season. Contrast that to the team of the antagonists, Belsorisso, who have enough money to run in other racing categories, fully equipped and trained teams to keep the cars running and maintained, as well as a driver's program, and you can see clearly in the first few episodes how the odds are stacked against the protagonists. It has moments that are realistic in racing, and for that, I applaud it for.
I also applaud it for how it doesn't indulge in the racing unlike other contemporaries. It takes the risk of letting us know the characters and their own motivations, beliefs, and goals and I think it does that pretty well. It's genuinely thrilling and relatable stuff, and it makes all the moments that they do race hit that much harder. Haruka isn't a generational prodigy that drove to deliver tofu. He's a kid motivated to see what his father saw in racing with friends that knew him. And all the other characters have that kind of level of nuance and depth added that makes it compelling to watch even further.
Along with themes I mentioned previously about how hard it is to get to motorsports without good financial backing, you deal with themes like loss, trauma and how it affects someone's passion/profession, the pressure added by others, and the need to prove yourself of greatness. It's all rather compelling and it's pretty amazing on how it manages to be on a well paced story of 12 episodes.
Would I recommend this to someone though? For a fan of racing and a good story, of course. But to your average weeb who might not/won't be interested in racing? I don't know, it's a hard sell.
To it's credit, the show does an amazing job of conveying racing lingo and knowledge to someone who doesn't know it. Hell, one of the two protagonists is basically that, an absolute clueless guy who doesn't know the first thing about racing. But it's honestly hard still to recommend it, especially when it's not something like Initial D. And it's a seasonal, so if it's not popular like Frieren, Bocchi The Rock, or Dress Up Darling, it'll get forgotten, as is the nature of most seasonals.
Still though. For me, this is the best seasonal for Fall 2023, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This won my heart from the moment it was teased, and if this somehow opens the door for more racing anime, fictional or grounded in realism, I'll be more than happy to say I was there when it first started.
I just hope the animation teams come packing with money because I'm sure having all these sponsors and licenses cost a pretty penny, and that's not including the FIA's official sanctioning, which I'm sure put a hole in their budget.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 18, 2023
MF Ghost is the most garbage seasonal anime of Fall 2023 and a disservice to not only the anime that came before it, but racing in general. Here's why:
The worldbuilding is as shallow as it gets. If the narrator didn't tell you that the automotive industry went fully electric and self-driving at episode 1 you wouldn't have guessed it. The author makes no conscious effort to remind you of that fact, and it gets forgotten the moment that it is mentioned. You might as well consider the setting as basically mid-late 2010s Japan because that's basically all there is to it. I find it
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completely hilarious how the MFG race is one of the last bastions of fossil powered racing, but motorsports like Rally and open wheel series like F3 are mentioned and the author makes no conscious effort to say that they are electric powered, hell, you can even see in a flashback that there is in fact an F4 car still powered by a combustion engine, it's a joke.
The MFG race, where most of the racing will come from, is nothing but glorification of a 12 year old inner thoughts of Fast and Furious or the author's glorification of his shitbox 86 taken to the extremes. Rules that are just inane for no reason, all to ham up the MC car against what are essentially supercars, ban against electric and the crippling handicap for hybrid cars, and the fetishization of grid girls with the Angels, and you essentially have what the author thinks is the "good of ol days of racing", and what I can only assume is a hatred for the modern innovations of the automotive industry, a notion all too shared by car enthusiasts with a single braincell. But that's no surprise, given the author hasn't learned a single thing about racing, or how cars work from his time making Initial D, and that he has no one to advise him about it this time.
The characters are the worst offenders, along with the story, if you can hardly call it one. The MC is a total joke and a complete mary sue, but that's to be expected, the author couldn't write a compelling MC to save his life in Initial D (an MC he crippled off-screen, btw), and he couldn't write one now. His main motivations of finding his parents in Japan are instantly forgotten in favor of just getting him to race and wipe the floor off of other drivers in cars that far exceed his in performance. But it's okay because he can drift and therefore he's the fastest driver in the track. Yeah, it's that kind of show. Oh yeah, how could I forget the other colorful cast of characters like:
-Forgettable racers with one personality trait
-Haughty racer with superiority complex meant to be an antagonist but is quickly forgotten by the first race
-Side character that falls in love with the MC for no other reason other than to fall in love with him
-Supportive cast of characters meant to help the MC and nothing else, might be creeps on the side too.
-A racer with a creepy obsession over a grid girl that is a high schooler, while said racer is at his 30s.
-Cameo characters from Initial D that serve nothing to the plot but make the audience go "YOOOOO IS THAT HIM? THAT'S HIM, HE'S THAT ONE GUY!"
-And last, but not least: The rival character that dates underage girls (or as he likes to correct others, dating girls that are age 17)...and then dumps them once they become of age because they become "unlucky" for him.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Credit where it's due though. There are two characters that are siblings that co-ordinate each other's driving, but they're quickly forgotten the moment the MC beats them. This caveat doesn't save the fact from the main takeaway that the author can't write characters at all. They are merely there as either obstacles for the MC, or to help him, and nothing more. They're not compelling, they're not even likeable, and they don't serve any purpose to the story.
I don't wanna lambast the show that much though. The animation and sound department did a good job trying to salvage this broken mess. The CG is phenomenal and as always one of the best when it comes to CG animation as a whole, I'll always praise them for it, and while Eurobeat is an overrated genre of music, it serves the purpose of making the races watchable- I mean, entertaining, well. Does it save the anime? Hell no. But at least it salvages the part where most people who come to watch this show are interested in, even if the races themselves are unrealistic.
The only reason why I think the show got a second season (supposedly releasing some time next year), is the same reason why Morbius got re-released to theaters due to supposedly "high acclaim from viewers", it got memed to hell and high heaven. The community has memed the show and Initial D so much that they deemed this garbage fire of a show applicable enough for a second season.
Never mind the fact that this show is a poorly written excuse of a sequel to an already decent to turned bad (imo) show. Never mind the fact that the author is a hack that copies scenic shots of Japan's mountain roads from Google Street Views and pastes them to his manga panels with no changes whatsoever. And never mind the fact that characters are written to be uncompelling or just downright creepy. No, this show will live and die by the community's meme attitude and poorly conceived notions of drifting.
And to that I say to the racing anime community, however small it may be:
My brother in Christ, why are your standards so low that you'd praise a show like this?
I get it, the racing anime scene is frankly non-existent. Initial D, despite how bad it is, is the only one that managed to hit the mainstream viewership. But for the love of god, don't let MF Ghost turn into that too. Anime like Overtake and Wangan Midnight deserve that attention much more, they're shows that actually care about racing or cars, not this, not this sorry excuse of a sequel of an author trying to cash his last few bucks as he slowly gets to retirement.
We need to have better standards, because we deserve better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 19, 2017
Alright,my first review and or therapeutic anger removal plan,what should i do first,why ARC-V of course,the anime that really didn't grab my attention due to how childishly boring it looked,but went and took a light Zexal II phase that made my attention span go "Ooh,that's nice, watch it!".
And oh boy was that mistake I ever regretted.
(Keep in mind that i will be spoiling very much of the story here,so,you are free to scroll really fast through this story section,and jump right into the other sections I'll put so you can learn more about ARC-V,and not about the story.)
Le Story Section.
The story is arguably the worst
...
out of ALL the Yu-gi-oh series',even being worse than TDSOD (that's The Dark Side of Dimensions,for those who don't get it).How bad do you ask? It's bad enough that I gave it a ONE!! O N E!
But before I cover my spirit in anger,let's take a look on why it's bad.
As i said,I will spoil the story before the events of ARC-V,which are explained in the final arc (heh,get it,arc?) of the series,so this is the final warning for you to avoid it.
The story,or at least what starts the story,starts with the man named Z-ARC (HAH,I GET IT) who's an Entertainer Duelist (kinda like a gladiator in the roman times) in the Original Dimension (we'll call it OG dimension,because we all about that hood bruv Xd Xd *insert shit laughing emoji*) who's a top duelist in the newly made ARC system (no,I did it one time,and a second one,not a third one),which is basically an advanced version of Augmented Reality from Zexal. Z-ARC claims that he can speak with the monsters in his deck,specifically,his 4 dragons,Odd-Eyes,Dark Rebellion,Clear Wing,and Starve Venom Dragon. After he accidentally injured a duelist,he was shocked and horrified,but fuck it,the audience liked it,so he kept doing them.So his personality changed to be a more violent one,to make the audience cheer,and that way, he became World Champion,but it was unsatisfying for him. SO HE JUST DECIDED TO DESTROY EVERYTHING AND THEN UNITE WITH HIS 4 DRAGONS WITH THE HELP OF A CARD CALLED ASTROGRAPH SORCERER TO MAKE HIMSELF MORE POWER,BECAUSE FUCK ME IF IT'S NOT A GOOD KIND OF VILLAIN,IT'S A POWER HUNGRY SHIT VILLAIN!! Military (oh hey someone finally had the rationality to use military to stop a world-ending threat,finally) proved useless against Z-ARC,duelists,being of the same thread (Looks like someone wasn't using Tier 0 decks...).But,Akaba Ray stepped in,and used 4 specific cards,to counter Z-ARC and his deck,killing him,and making him vow revenge against her.Shitty Deus-Ex Machina aside,it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows,because the OG Dimension got separated to 4 dimensions,being the counterparts of the 4 extra deck mechanic in Yu-Gi-Oh,(not counting the Links,because fuck Links),Fusion,Xyz,Synchro,and the undiscovered Pendulum,with the same case being for Zarc and Ray.
Anyyyyyyways,after 15 years passed and a boy named Yuuya Sakaki with his ace monster being Odd-Eyes Dragon,discovers Pendulum Summoning,which wins him the match and the tournament,apparently.After that,Akaba Reiji takes interest in Yuuya and Blah blah blah the story is so uninteresting and boring at this part I'd rather skip it to the interesting parts,plus i already spite the story enough,i don't wanna talk about it more,see it for yourself,you'd only find the Synchro arc interesting,because that's the only good thing the guy who created ARC-V's story is good at,that and making badass looking dragons (yes,I'm talking about the 5D's story director man.).
The Art section of this series,is...meh in my honest opinion. It's okay I guess,for being an art style that's been consistent for years,nothing new,nothing interesting. HOWEVER,the CGI truly outshines the most here, I don't know why the final episodes didn't even wanted to use CGI on some characters' final boss monsters (looking at you,Gogenzaka,Reiji,and Shun),perhaps insufficient funds? Whatever,it's a 5.
The sound gets a 7 because GOOD LORD THE TRACKS HERE ARE GOOD! Steadfast Duel,Swing Pendulum of Souls,DDD,they're all so good! And openings 3 and 4 are great too,though the final one...no.
Characters get a 3 because good god are they most poorly developed,I'd say that Yuuya gets the most development out of them all,you know,because of story and MC bias. Same can be said about the MC's love interest,Yuzu,and the two guys from the Xyz Dimension,Shun and Yuuto. BUT DON'T WORRY GUYS CHARACTERS FROM THE OLD SERIES EXCEPT DM ARE RETURNING,I'M SURE THEY WI-nope,they're as bad as the original characters,with little to no development,with Jack getting the better of it,and Kaito,Edo,and Asuka,the worst of it. Anyways,i like Yuuri because of his personality,Reiji because he plays like any guy playing Yu-Gi-Oh in real life would,and Jack because...he's King.
Enjoyment,yeah it's a 5,it could've been a 7-8,but due to the bullshit called "Action Cards" it made "Action Duels" more boring,because we would expect the outcome much easier,while in the previous series' it made for more tension. If only they hadn't forgotten about Action Traps...
Overall,i gave it a 3,it had a lot of wasted potential for this to be the shows 20th anniversary (is it?) show,i wish the dragons could have more depth,AKABA LEO AND Z-ARC HAVING BEEN BETTER VILLAINS,AND THE ENDING TO BE MORE SATISFYING.
But i guess it ended,so we won't see that end...
At least it's over no-Oh no.
NOT THE VRAINS NOT THE VRAINS OH GOD!
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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