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Reborn to master the blade, but becomes Vegeta instead.

This is more like what I’m looking for in a isekai power fantasy than most of the shows that came out this season, but there were enough annoying things about it that ultimately I soured on it by the end.

The premise behind this one is that of a kind, beloved king, ruler of a prosperous fantasy empire, being reincarnated into another fantasy world, or maybe the same one, just in a different time (honestly I can’t remember which it is because it’s kind of passed over quickly in the early episodes and never comes up as a ... plot element later on); the king is reborn as a girl, which he adapts to pretty quickly. That plot hook is wasted for the most part and not really played off of at all, though the reincarnated king, in the body of a little girl reminded me of Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei, maybe that’s just me. Since the King isn’t nearly the same level of perv, it doesn’t really feel gross.

The first of the BIG issues I had with this series was its broken promise. The king is reborn to master the blade. The blade!! So, WHY? Does the MC mostly go around punching the crap out of monsters and shooting lasers from her fingers??? What the hell? Did it turn out drawing sword fights was too hard? I simply don’t understand. When she’s a child, there’s ONE really, really good sword fight, which really sucked me in. I thought this series was likely to be really good based on that episode, but after that, the MC barely ever uses a sword again.

The other issues I had with this were mostly just niggles. The plot seemed overly complex. I’m still not entirely sure what exactly a Hieral Menace is, but I think it lets (forces? Curses?) people to turn into powerful weapons??? (wasn’t clear if it’s permanent… or? Idk). Last of my issues was the incomplete plot hooks which are all left dangling. The series ends, but nothing is resolved, ensuring that if we want to see any of this reach its conclusion we either need to buy the source material, or hope that a season 2 gets made.
I’ll probably wait for a season 2 if there is one, but I doubt I’ll be picking up the manga/ln’s.

Wait… hold on, this doesn’t sound like I’m very positive about this anime, but I’m giving it a 6?
Should I reevaluate??
Nah, there was actually quite a bit to like here.

The villains are bad, but there’s a few who are sympathetic and multi-dimensional. The good guys are good, but some are complex and have several facets. The series is never loses its light-heartedness even in the most serious battles, so it’s not dragged into the dreary, meaning even if there’s conflicts they don’t feel depressing. The action scenes are well-done; the animation is crisp, even if the art looks like everything else that’s coming out in this genre these days. Ultimately I felt the personality in this series was strong enough that it’s likable on those merits alone.

So, this one is just barely a 6 for me. Maybe a 6.1.

On a conceptual level I think this brought enough new ideas to the isekai genre that it was worth watching just for the freshness. Being able to come and go between this world and a fantasy world + having a character predominantly motivated by money + the mc’s super power is a glock = a formula for a good time; sadly the execution here wasn’t great, with some episodes having borderline awful animation. The story had enough bad plot/story developments that it sadly outweighed whatever positive base the premise had going for it. And the worst offender is this series REPEATS. REPEATS EVERYTHING. The MC ... makes friends with not ONE, but THREE different little girls. The villains in this are almost ALWAYS some random, annoying, greedy old man (literally every single villain except for the monsters is an ugly b@$tard). I lost count, but I feel like there was at least 5 of them....

I just got so tired of watching the same plot play out over and over that ultimately this series bored the pants off me.

This series was hot garbage. It was mildly fun garbage, kinda like finding a really messed up sofa thrown out by the curb, but at the end of the day, still garbage. The best compliment I can give this series is that I didn’t actively hate it by the end, just felt kinda indifferent to it. Not memorable, but I wouldn’t say it was boring enough to forget. I will remember Malika (Marika?) at least.

Tomokazu Sugita [Gintama’s Gintoki], the voice of the main character Dariel was fighting for his life trying to carry this series, but his voice acting alone couldn’t pull it off. I ... did enjoy his performance though I wouldn’t say it’s his best, or one he’ll probably remember five years from now. Felt a bit like a paycheck show.

The title for this series is total BS. There is virtually nothing “Chill” about this series. Dude goes from one conflict to another and gets absolutely no rest, because the girl of his dreams hits like a truck every time she runs in for a glomp. And glomp she does. So even in his down time, he’s dealing with broken ribs every times he catches a hug.

The BETTER title for this series would be “Nobody will let me chill, even in my 30’s”. Dariel gets expelled from the Demon King’s army’s only to end up busy as hell even in his early forced retirement. The characters here were all pretty standard; same tropes we’ve seen a million times before. Demon King, Four Heavenly Kings, overenthusiastically-here-to-train hero, big-boobie oneesan waifu (that would be the aforementioned Malika). Etc. Etc.

In the end, I found it pretty boring and repetitive, but not in a way that made me fast forward, or skip episodes. Not entirely sure why I stuck it out with until the end, but I think it had something to do with Malika. I just can’t quite put my finger on which part.

A year from now, I doubt I’ll remember this series, just like Sugita won’t, but, that’s ok. Not every anime can be Mushoku Tensei, even if Tomokazu Sugita is in it. (Have I mentioned how much I like Tomokazu Sugita? Is that coming across?) We need 1’s in order to really appreciate the 8’s and 9’s. They make the 10’s feel even more incredible. This show wasn’t THAT bad though. The art-style and animation were cookie-cutter and manufactured, but they weren’t dreadful, or copy-pasted, like an ExArm or TanMoshi. I did get a couple laughs out of it; plus… Malika. So, thank you, “chillin in my 30’s” for at least not making me hate you. With that in mind. 30 / 10 equals 3, so you’ll be getting a 3 stars.

I'd say this is well above average in terms of quality isekai series. I generally dislike it when an isekai with a ridiculous premise, such as this one, gets serious, but somehow, I wasn't overly bothered by it here. The plot of this show is pretty much right there in the title. A handyman, named Saitou, ends up being transported to a fantasy world; he joins a party of adventurers who’re exploring a dungeon. He’s good at picking locks, disarming traps, kinda fulfills the role of a rogue in general ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ terms, but without the stealthy backstabbing. I bring up D&D because I ... could definitely see this entire series being played out on a table-top. It felt like a really whacky campaign, designed by the world’s weebiest DM. For example, one of the biggest, plot-centric turn of events involves a Roomba. So, even when the anime is at its most serious, those bits were balanced out well with laughs and general silliness. It gets precarious, but not bogged down in a dark, depressing way. I really liked the cast of characters too. Saito’s party of adventurers includes a bad-mouthed fairy, a blushing maiden of a fighter, and a lecherous old wizard who can’t remember his own spells. Definitely reminds me of a D&D group generated with quirkiness in mind. Each of them gets a great backstory, some even having entire arcs dedicated to resolving their past conflicts (I cried during the wizard’s). Outside the main party, there’s also a really diverse group of side characters who add their own unique flavor to the show, and here is where I think the series really shines because they’re all so vastly non-standard, that you’re always in for something special when someone new shows up. Even the villains are given their own time to shine. This series was a delightful little piece of isekai popcorn, and I’m glad I stuck with it, even though the start was a bit rocky.

Viva the Yuri Revolution!!

Or that’s what I’d say if this series left me feeling excited about it. Sadly I didn’t really enjoy it as a whole.

I enjoyed PARTS of this show, but way, way too much of it was bogged down in seriousness and depression. Why can’t I just have a cute little yuri isekai slice of life series???? I dislike series that can’t pick a tone, and this series definitely had that issue. It started off with the hilarious antics of this bloody, wild princess, who steals away her brother’s fiancé to take for herself. It’s very comedic. I was legitimately laughing at how ... the princess shows up the first time. I need a good laugh these days. Life’s too serious to be serious all the time.

But, the problem comes after this, because all of the important obstacles in the story are TOO big, and TOO serious. Really killed the mood.

The titular ‘reincarnated princess’ is from our world, by the way, which is never really used as much more than a B-side subplot device to give her a reason to come up with various magical inventions that look like stuff from our world. Not that that’s a bad thing, but this series definitely puts me into the frame of mind where I’m questioning what the point of this series being an ‘isekai’ is in the first place. The origin world stuff really doesn’t come up that much whatsoever. Could have been default fantasy without a problem.

This is a problem because on the one hand, we have a ridiculous princess who makes flying brooms and magic swords, and there’s vampires and dragons, etc. and on the other hand we have a very serious plot with characters being worried about rites of succession and having to bear offspring that will carry the royal bloodline. There’s a serious divide here. Ultimately it led to me feeling pretty bad about the series in general.

In the end, this series became one I completed mostly for the sake of not leaving something unfinished, but I couldn’t really bring myself to care very much about it. The visuals were stunning, so it certainly wasn’t a drag to watch, but I don’t think I’ll think about anything aside from it having a cute little yuri couple. I ended up buying the manga after the first episode, and with the dramatic tone shift, I actually felt pretty baited. Not likely to continue to buy volumes of this, or watch a season 2 if they make one.

This was a very nice little romance anime. The two main characters were really cute and had a fun dynamic. It’s not often you get a series where the male lead is a soft blushing fellow always getting embarrassed and freaking out over his love interest. And the way it’s expressed using his “Yuki-onna” heritage was super fun (especially the snowmen). In fact, the whole ‘fantastical creatures’ aspect of the series, with many of the characters being descendants of famous Japanese mythical monsters (?) was a cool premise. The only problem I really had with this series is focus; I would have loved it if ... we could have seen much, much more of the main pair, and less of the side characters. The side characters had their own charm, but they weren’t nearly as interesting to me as the main guy and gal. Adult, office romances, are few and far between, and having screen time divided up among all the various office-people caused me to kind of lose interest. Needed them to spend more time on the title folks. All in all, a fun read. I believe the manga for this has recently been licensed; I may check it out, but not sure yet. Will definitely peep a season 2 if they make one though.

Season 2 improved the Nagatoro formula in a big way IMO. Senpai grew a spine and became much less of a wimp. Nagatoro’s bullying got more flirty and endearing. As a whole, Season 2 was really, really cute.

As far as the things I think make up an anime adaptation:

Voice acting was still just as on point as it was in season 1, with the addition of a new member to the cast in Sayumi Suzushiro, who was also excellent. I think they actually improved the music too for this season. I ended up downloading the OP for a mix tape. The animation was also just ... as good as season 1, with amplified wiggle-taro.

Now, why do I rate this season higher than season 1? I think for me it mostly comes down to the stories in this arc. They’re much, much more fun than the stuff that happens in season 1. When there’s teasing, its way more playful and flirty and less mean/bullying. I think maybe season 2 is really where the author got into their groove with plotting, jokes, etc. The payoffs are really great too – for me the ‘caught a cold’ episodes were fantastic.

The episodes in season 2 also really accelerate bringing out the best in all of the characters. Both senpai and Nagatoro receive a good amount of character development. I especially liked the whole training arc because we get to see both of them getting serious about improving themselves in their own respective ways.

If and when they make a season 3 I’ll definitely be there for that.

I’m finishing Nagatoro season 2 right now and realizing I haven’t reviewed season 1 yet, so here we go.

Adaptation rating. Very Good.

Voice acting was great. Sumire Uesaka (Nagatoro) does a fantastic job with all of her characters and she’s certainly a great Nagatoro. Daiki Yamashita plays Senpai a little too weak for my tastes, ends up channeling early My Hero Deku… I’m not sure I had senpai pegged as being quite that soft, but I suppose it works.

The music was good. OP ED were fine, but not really the kind of songs I’d buy to play in the car.

The animation of the cute, wiggly ... bits, certainly worked great.

That being said, there’s a couple reasons why I score this one pretty low as a series (low for me at least cus rom-com is usually an easy 10/10 for me). Though I eventually turned into a Nagatoro fan after buying the manga, the first season of the anime didn’t really help me with that. I think this series as a whole gets better as things go and season 2 was definitely an improvement.

I found the male MC to be excessively wimpy in the beginning. In this season his wimpy-factor gets played up even more than in the manga, which is… *ugh*. In contrast, Nagatoro starts off as too much of a sadist. I understand in the original prototype for this series Nagatoro was MUCH more sadistic, even going so far as to torture senpai with not a single hint of flirting. The first stages of the series still had too much of this essence and it took too long for it to go away.

But, things do get better, much better in fact.

Nagatoro’s friends are pretty hilarious and drive her to be more territorial protecting Senpai so that only she can tease him. Then you throw in the senpai of senpai from the art club and now you’ve got a force pushing them together on the romantic front too.
For me the highlight of this season was the last few episodes. Nekotaro arc and the school festival art contest were pretty incredible.

This was the first fully CGI series that I think looked better in CGI than I could have imagined it looking with traditional animation. ‘Duke of Death’ came close for me, but this really did it. Honestly, the only way I think the animation could have been done better would have been to take an entirely different approach to it, with a different director and studio – maybe gone the way of Masaaki Yuasa turning it into more of an artsy production. That said, I adored what studio Orange pulled off here. The music, voice acting, cinematography, action, animation – all of the things that ... make an anime adaptation were perfectly well done. The only problem I have with it is that it was so damn incomplete. You ended it there??? 12 episodes??? Season 2 when????? (I actually wonder now how much of the manga had been completed when this came out… perhaps I’ll need to compare publication and air dates.

When all is said and done. 10/10.

Wait… do I actually have to elaborate on what makes the series itself special? I can’t just assume everyone who’s seen this anime already read the manga? I waited to watch this series forever because I felt nothing could live up to the source material. I honestly figure a lot of people probably did the same. I kind of started reviewing this anime from the perspective of someone who’s already up to date on the manga, hanging on for dear life waiting for the next chapter release. Hiatus after hiatus, but I guess that’s not going to be the case for everyone.

Hmmm…. I suppose I can reuse this in my manga review later, so here it goes.

The setting for this is totally unique. Unique to the extreme. I’ve never experienced anything like this piece of fiction in my entire life. “Land of the Lustrous” is about a bunch of rock-people living on an island with a priest-looking-fellow; they’re constantly being attacked by aliens who try to kidnap them. Why??? It’s a mystery. [It’s a feeling I can understand. If given the opportunity I’d like to kidnap a couple of these gemstone girls to keep for myself, because they’re so damn cute and full of personality and they desperately are in need of protection. Like truly some of the best created characters in all of anime and manga. And they’re rocks.] There’s a lot of mystery to this series. I’d put mystery at the top of the genre tags list if it were up to me, but my guess is those get taken up by non-descript things like Fantasy, Drama, or Comedy.

Sorry – getting side tracked. It’s really hard to explain this series, and why I think it’s special. The manga is in my top 3, firmly entrenched, never to leave. Taking a step back to describe what I love about it is proving difficult.

The story, at least in the anime, is episodic, but things take a drastic turn, in the manga, right about where the anime ends – so to say that the story of Land of the Lustrous is excellent is a bit tricky. I think the story in the first half has its charm, but it’s certainly not as good as it gets (because it gets AMAZING).

I mentioned above how I’d like to kidnap the rock people. That was mostly a joke, but I want to again say, the Lustrous are some of the best characters ever created. One, the main one, Phos, specifically, should be in the list of greatest protagonists in any media. Ever. I’m not sure why I’ve not listed her in my personal favorites list; it’s an oversite I’m about to correct after writing this review. I became so invested in Phos’s journey through this series. It’s one hell of a ride.

I guess more than anything, this series made me feel things. Emotions. I felt genuine sadness for the Lustrous when they suffered (and there’s enough suffering in this to keep several therapists in business indefinitely). I felt joy when there was comedy. I empathized. That’s not something that happens to me very often because I’m about as jaded as jade is.
Anyway, if you watch this, I hope you find something special in it too. It’s beautiful, but bleak. There’s a lot there to digest (even more if you get into the source material). I don’t think it’s for everyone, since it seems like a pretty difficult nut to crack, but it’s worth it if you do.

This was a great adaptation of the source material. No complaints. Very faithful.
The only problem I've got comes down to figuring out which season of Attack on Titan this is, but sadly, it's gotten fairly complicated, transcending the very nature of seasonal anime. So I'll break it down into parts.
I had to open up all the MAL tabs for each of the different AoT entries to see which "Part" this actually is, given how complicated it is, but I'll omit any side-story entries for sake of my own personal sanity.
Shingeki no Kyojin - Season 1 would of course be part 1, but with it ... being seperated into 2 cours, would we also count this as part 1 and 2?? I'm going to say that s1 was actually p.1 & p.2 because of the two-cour nature.
Hm...
Season 2 was just a single cour, so no confusion there. Let's call this p.3.
Season 3, was actually 22 episodes long, and broken up into two parts as well, despite MAL listing it with only 12 episodes. So let's call that p.4 & p.5
Now, onto "The Final Season" (which of course we know isn't actually the final season at all). At this point MAPPA took over, so I suppose it's understandable that there'd be differences in how things get numbered.
The final season, which is actually "The Final Season part 1 of 4" is actually p.6 and consists of 16 episodes
The final season part 2, which was 12 episodes, is p.7.
Now, this entry, which is the penultimate in the series, as far as we know, is Part 8. Of 9 total (as of this moment).