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Sep 19, 2019
I’m going to start this review off with a warning; if you’re going to watch this anime, do NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, read the light novel or look up spoilers for said light novel before or while you’re watching. If you do, it will probably ruin the experience. I found out about the anime I’m talking about before it started airing, and I was interested in watching it because of how cute and wholesome it seemed. However, the light novel spoilers got to me, but I still wanted to watch this anime, no matter what. With that, I made a deal with myself;
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if the anime doesn’t get that far or has an original ending, I will completely skip the light novels. Thus, I went ahead and watched it, and while the aforementioned light novel spoilers hindered my enjoyment, I’m kind of glad I did.
Lads, ladies, and non-binaries, here is my review of “Uchi no Ko no Tame Naraba, Ore wa Moshikashitara Maou mo Taoseru kamo Shirenai.”, known in English as “If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat A Demon Lord”.
Uchi no Ko (as it shall henceforth be called) follows Dale, a skilled adventurer who one day encounters a little devil girl while on a job in the forest. It’s clear that things have been rough for the girl named Latina; her father and companion has died and left her alone, she is dressed in rags, and she has a broken horn, which, for devils, is the mark of a criminal. Dale, being the kindhearted guy he is, is unable to just leave her to die, so he takes her home and ends up becoming her adoptive father. It’s not long before Dale falls in love with being Latina’s parent, and he goes through the trials and tribulations of raising a child as well as constant heartbreak when his job tears the two apart. Meanwhile, as Latina grows up, she learns about the world around her, as well as herself.
Take Daikichi and Rin from “Usagi Drop”, age Daikichi down, and throw them into a fantasy setting; if you do that, you’d get Uchi no Ko in a nutshell. Just like that anime, it has a really simple slice-of-life story with little conflict. With that said, though, there is an arc in this series that I feel like goes on for too long. Sure, what is shown in this arc is most likely in the light novel (don’t quote me on that), and it captures the process of going to a faraway place accurately; still, I feel like the story arc could have wrapped up in an episode less than how long it went on for. Some of the content of this arc just felt like filler.
As for the characters.... Latina. Okay, moving on! No, seriously, Latina’s the star of the show here. One may think she’s too perfect, but there’s no denying how adorable she is, both inside and out; she also grew as a character, no matter how small her growth was, and I enjoyed seeing that. I also enjoyed Dale’s character; even though he doesn’t really visibly grow as much as a character, he has gotten quite a good number of laughs out of me. As for the other characters.... well, there’s really not much I can say about them. There are quite a few supporting characters who interested me but didn’t get that much screen time, and there were others that I just did not know how to feel about. *coughMayacough* I swear, though, if the supporting characters get most of their development in the light novels that go beyond the anime, I’m going to get mad!
Okay, so the characters aren’t this anime’s strong point, so what is? I’d say the voice acting and music. While the opening and ending themes, which are respectively “I’m with you” and “This is Yuusha, but Zannen?!” (which are each sung by Latina and Dale’s voice actors, Kanon Takao and Nobuhiko Okamoto), aren’t songs I’d replay over and over, they’re both catchy songs that fit the tone of the anime quite well. The voice acting was also pretty good, with a standout performance from Kanon Takao, the voice of Latina; she hasn’t had many roles yet, but with how adorable her voice is and how much it fit Latina, I’d say she has a bright future as a voice actress. I want to say that the animation studio behind this anime, Maho Film, has a bright future, as well; after all, as far as I can tell, this is their first project. Unfortunately, while the art is nice to look at, the animation is not always consistent; still, there’s always room for improvement!
Overall, Uchi no Ko has a number of noticeable flaws, but it’s hard to say that it’s not enjoyable. If you’re in the mood for some father-daughter bonding in a fantasy setting, this may be the anime for you. Yes, it’s all just some very wholesome father-daughter bonding, and nothing more than that.... DON’T LOOK UP THE LIGHT NOVEL SPOILERS.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 16, 2019
You have got to love it when there is a possibility to go the incest route, but that’s just it; it’s only a possibility. After all, when there are other girls around you who would make a good lover, what could possibly make you want to bang your sister instead? Well, I guess there are some people who would have an answer to that question; there are people who are fans of incest anime, after all. One such incest anime was one that I’ve known about for years; however, mostly because of how sexual I had heard it was, I held off on watching it
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up until now. When I finally watched it, however, I didn’t expect it to be any good; somehow, it managed to meet my expectations and pleasantly surprise me at the same time.
Lads, ladies, and non-binaries, here is my review of “Yosuga no Sora: In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone”.
Yosuga no Sora starts off like quite a decent number of other visual novels. Haruka and Sora Kasugano are a pair of twins who move into their grandparents’ house in the countryside after losing their parents in a car accident. This place is somewhere where they’ve spent summers before, and when they arrive, they end up reuniting with childhood friends Akira Amatsume and Nao Yorimichi, as well as making new friends in Kazuha Migiwa and Ryouhei Nagazato. From there, the story splits into four different routes, where Haruka romances one of each of the four leading ladies, with memories of his past playing a part in most of them.
First of all, I need to make this fact perfectly clear; while they don’t show everything, this anime DOES have sex scenes. If you are uncomfortable with that, I suggest you stop reading this review now, because this is one anime that you will not want to watch, regardless of my own verdict of it. With that said, however, for once, I didn’t feel uncomfortable when watching most of those sex scenes; either all of the other borderline-hentai anime I have watched have desensitized me, or it really had more to do with how the sex scenes I was comfortable with contained consensual sex and really felt like love consummation. Most of them could have been taken out, though, and it would not have affected the story much.
Speaking of the story, as I mentioned before, the story is divided into four different routes, which each focus of Kazuha, Akira, Nao, and Sora, in that order. This kind of set-up would remind one of anime like Amagami SS and Photo Kano, but to me, each route felt more like they branched from certain parts of the story. The first nine episodes - which covered the first three routes - were all at least decent; they gave a good amount of character development to those involved. Out of the three, I liked Akira’s route the best; Akira is a fun character to begin with, and I enjoyed seeing her story and the development of her relationship with Haruka.
Then, for the last three episodes, we get.... *sigh*.... Sora’s route. Now, I’ll give it credit where credit is due; I did find it to be a good portrayal of how incest is viewed by society. However, THAT DOES NOT MAKE THIS ROUTE GOOD. We are treated to at least one sexual scene per episode of this route, whether it’s Sora masturbating to Haruka or the siblings just plain engaging in sexual activity; add in the simple fact that they’re siblings (and blood-related ones, at that), and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a very awkward and uncomfortable experience. Further damaging my opinion of this route, however, is Sora Kasugano herself; she is a completely selfish brat, and I saw little to no chemistry between her and her brother. Finally, the way this route ended just left a bad taste in my mouth.
At least the end of the entire anime didn’t make me keep that sour taste, however, and do you know what I have to thank? The answer to that question is the comedic specials that air at the end of every episode, including the last one. These specials star Motoka Nogisaka, a maid who works for Kazuha’s family; apparently, she had a route in the original visual novel, so I’m assuming that these specials were added to make up for her route not being able to fit into the main series. No matter what the reason why these specials exist, however, there’s no denying that they’re quite entertaining; while I wouldn’t say that these specials were my favorite part of the series as a whole, I did enjoy Motoka as a character, as well as her relationship with Haruka, which blossomed throughout these specials. These specials even have their own ending theme - “Pinky Jones” by Momoiro Clover Z - which is not only catchy, but it also fits in with the comedic nature of these specials.
Since I talked about the ending theme for the specials, I guess I should talk about the theme songs for the main series, huh? Well, I do like eufonius’s music, and while “Hiyoku no Hane” - which serves as this anime’s opening theme - isn’t my favorite out of their songs, it fits in with the anime’s overall atmosphere and is worthy of a few re-listens; the same can be said about “Tsunagukizuna” by Nekocan featuring Junca Amaoto - the ending theme - although probably to a lesser extent. The voice acting is also pretty good; each of the characters’ voices fit the characters themselves well, and many convincing performances were given. Finally, the animation, done by feel, is very well-done; I wouldn’t say it’s perfect all of the way through, but it’s definitely pretty-looking.
Overall, Yosuga no Sora is a decent anime....if you can get over the last three episodes. I do suggest watching it if you are in the mood for something similar to Amagami SS and are comfortable with sex scenes. To those of you who are uncomfortable with incest, though, here’s today’s quote: “Don’t like, don’t watch!” (At least, don’t watch the last three episodes.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 3, 2019
It can be a pain when you’re distracted from something you’ve been trying to put all of your focus on, but it’s even more of a pain when it’s your own thoughts that are distracting you. Trust me; I know from experience. I’m sure there is a certain anime girl who can vouch for me, with her sexual thoughts about a certain guy in her life, among other things, causing a distraction for her. I first became aware of the anime that this girl is in when it was still just a manga; I randomly read a few chapters of it and didn’t really think
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much of it, not expecting that this completely random manga would one day get an anime adaptation, even if it was a short one. Since it did, however, I decided to give it a try.
Lads, ladies, and non-binaries, I give you my review for the anime that shows us why Ao-chan Can’t Study! (No, really, that’s what the anime is called. It’s “Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai” in Japanese, though.)
Ao-chan Can’t Study follows Ao Horie, a high school girl who hates her name and the fact that her father is an erotic fiction author. (“Make an AO face!” is what is referred to when it comes to why her father chose her name, although it is true that “ao” is actually Japanese for “blue”.) Desperate to go to a good university and get away from her father, she throws herself into her studies and avoids pretty much everything else, including boys. Enter Takumi Kijima, Ao’s classmate who just so happens to have a crush on her. Ao is unable to shake him off and finds herself constantly interpreting Kijima’s intentions as perverted. I guess her father’s influence really got to her, huh? Anyway, this anime follows the misunderstandings and awkward situations that Ao and Kijima get involved in.
I’m just going to say it right now; do NOT watch this anime if you’re not into raunchy anime at all. Although it’s not as bad as anime like Shimoneta, there’s no question that this anime is cock-full - er, I mean chock-full - of dirty jokes. That said, though, the comedy is rather hit-or-miss; sometimes, it can make me at least close to laughing, and other times, it can just make me want to slap my forehead out of pure frustration. Comedy aside, the story can be quite predictable; if you’ve seen enough romantic comedies, raunchy or not, there is a chance that you’ll be able to predict what is going to happen.
As for the characters....well, my thoughts on them are kind of complicated, especially when it comes to our leading lady, Ao Horie. On one hand, even if it has a tendency to waver, I admire her determination to get into a good university and achieve independence, but on the other hand, the fact that she always sees Kijima’s intentions in a perverted light, especially when they’re actually really pure, just makes me want to slap her. Her father is also someone I sometimes want to slap; he can be quite annoying, and it’s understandable that Ao doesn’t want to live under the same roof as him for any longer than she needs to. At the same time, however, there are times where it’s clear that he genuinely cares about Ao and wants the best for her, which is why I can’t really hate him. Oh, I haven’t mentioned Kijima yet, have I? I like seeing how much Kijima really cares about Ao, but other than that, nothing about his character really stands out that much. The side characters aren’t really that interesting, either.
Now, Silver Link has done some excellent animation work over the years, and Ao-chan Can’t Study is no exception. No, it’s not the best animation I’ve ever seen, but the bright colors and character designs can be quite appealing. The voice acting is rather good, too; this is my first time hearing Azumi Waki’s voice acting, but if the way she conveyed Ao’s emotions is any kind of reflection of how she normally does as a voice actress, I look forward to watching other anime she voice acted in and hearing her voice. The first few seconds of the opening theme, “WONDERFUL WONDER” by EDOGA-SULLIVAN, is something that I swear reminds me of another song, but I can’t really think of what that song is; that aside, it’s a good song, although not one that I’d listen to on repeat. I feel the same way about the ending theme, “Koi wa Miracle” by Spira Spica, except without the “reminds me of another song” part.
After Ao-chan Can’t Study came out, I happened to find many people who loved it and many people who hated it; as for me, I’d say that I’m in the middle. This wouldn’t be my first recommendation if you asked me to recommend a raunchy anime, but no one’s going to kill you for watching it. That is, if you don’t have any studying that you should be doing instead....
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 16, 2019
You know what has kind of been getting on my nerves lately? The recent trend of borderline-hentai short TV anime, or the “seasonal smut”, as I like to call it. Ever since Souryo to Majiwaru (insert the rest of the long title here) came out in the spring of 2017, there would always be that one anime every season that is quite perverted and comes in two or three versions, with one being basically full-blown hentai and the non-hentai version(s) censoring the sexy scenes in rather awkward ways; all the while, little care is put into the other parts of the anime that could possibly
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make it enjoyable. Take the anime I’m about to review - the “seasonal smut” from back in the fall of 2018 - for instance. What we have here is the perfect example of a generic anime from the “seasonal smut” genre that encapsulates (no pun intended) exactly what that genre has to offer.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re ready for my review of an anime with a name that’s probably longer than its runtime, “Shuudengo, Capsule Hotel de, Joushi ni Binetsu Tsutawaru Yoru.”, known in English as “The Night When Me and My Boss Spent the Night at the Capsule Hotel After the Last Train and He Passed His Fever to Me”.
Shuudengo Capsule Hotel (as it will henceforth be called) follows Minori Aizawa, an office lady who constantly argues with her boss, Akihiko Hadano. One night, after a company drinking party, Minori happens to miss the last train of the night; thus, Hadano takes her to a capsule hotel, which is basically a hotel with small rooms that the beds make up. Unfortunately, Minori’s room happens to be taken, so she ends up rooming with Hadano for the night. (I’m sure you can guess where this is going....) That night plants the seed for Minori and Hadano’s growing relationship....
First of all, I might as well admit my cowardice and say that I watched the censored version (which I was SOMEHOW able to find with English subtitles); thus, I can’t evaluate the sex scenes. With that said, though, the way that the sex scenes were completely cut out was awkward, to say the least, and it made each episode’s already-short runtime even shorter. I cannot believe I am saying this, but anyone who wants to watch this (although I will say right now that you are better off not watching it at all) is probably better off watching the uncensored version as long as they are comfortable with watching the sex scenes. At least a good chunk of each episode isn’t cut out in that version!
Sex scenes or no sex scenes, though, the short runtime of this anime still hurts the story and characters. The story of Shuudengo Capsule Hotel is as generic of a love story as they come, and at some points, it was all over the place; to be frank, it wasn’t entertaining at all. The characters in this story weren’t much better. A noticeable trend in the “seasonal smut” genre - at least, the ones aimed at a female demographic - is that the man tends to come off as a rapist; while Hadano wasn’t really as much of a creep as characters like Aki Myojin from “Amai Choubatsu” - or at least, he didn’t come off like that to me - he still has creepy tendencies that show when he forces himself on Minori. Minori herself is the perfect example of how to write a perfectly bland character; other than maybe her looks, she really doesn’t have much going on for her, and even when she says “we can’t do this” or stuff like this in response to Hadano’s advances, you sure don’t see her struggling! Because of the runtime of this anime, Minori and Hadano’s relationship doesn’t get a good enough amount of development, but let’s be honest; no matter how much you try to develop a relationship like this, can you really consider it a healthy relationship that everyone who sees the series they are in will support?
Okay, the story and characters are an obvious bust, but what about the animation, voice acting, and music? Surely, they will be good enough, right? WRONG, especially if you are talking about the animation. The character designs are fine, but throughout the entire series, I kept spotting animation error after animation error, whether it came from the characters’ movements or the setting that they were in; the studio working on this, Suiseisha, really could have done a better job animating it. Maybe the sex scenes are better-animated? I don’t know for sure, but if that is the case, it really goes to show that they care more about the quality of the sex scenes than the quality of literally anything else. Well, at least there is the voice acting. It was alright; the voice actors didn’t give groundbreaking performances, but they did their best. The ending theme was also okay, but it’s ultimately forgettable.
I have spent all of this time bashing on Shuudengo Capsule Hotel, but is it the worst “seasonal smut” anime I have ever seen? No, but it is certainly not the best I have seen, either. Whether it is the worst or the best, however, I can say for sure that I do not recommend watching this anime, regardless of whether or not you’re watching it for the sexy times. I believe the same can be said for any of the “seasonal smut” anime there are; if you’re really watching for the “plot” and not the plot, you might as well watch hentai instead!
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 27, 2018
Have you ever questioned every decision you’ve ever made in your life? I sure have had those moments, and I have a feeling that the people who made this anime had one after it was all over, too. “Just what were we thinking?” they probably asked themselves. “For what purpose did we create this thing?” Believe me; my question is very similar to this one, and I’m determined to get it answered. Before I do so, however, I must state what that question is.
What purpose does the ONA known as “Iya na Kao sare nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai” serve? Ladies and gentlemen, wish me luck
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in my investigation.
Let’s see.... I guess from stating what it’s about, it should give me a clue. It should be easy enough; after all, the only thing that really happens is that the Anime Girl of the Week makes a disgusted face and shows you - the audience - her underwear. Wait, no.... I can’t really put it that way, since the title literally translates to “I Want You To Make A Disgusted Face and Show Me Your Underwear”.... You know what? Just look at the title, and you’ll be able to discern the “plot” of this anime. (Oh, and it’s also in a first-person point of view.)
The reason why I put “plot” in quotation marks is precisely because there is no actual plot and only “plot”. Even when a story is attempting to be told up until the “plot” kicks in, it’s incredibly tedious and boring, to the point where even I couldn’t help but think, “Can we just throw in the panty shot and get it over with?” Needless to say, I’m disgusted at myself for having such a thought, but I’m sure that there are others who could think such a thought with pride. Maybe this anime’s purpose is to give “plot” to those who desire only it? No.... if they wanted “plot”, those people could easily watch High School DxD or Rosario + Vampire or any ecchi anime like those....
Okay, so it’s not the plot, nor is it the “plot”. Moving on.
Could it be the artwork? I mean, the girls look cute, so it’s a small possibility. However, the animation is just....meh. It’s not God-awful, but it’s not all that good, either. What about the sound, though? No, that can’t be it, either. The voice acting is pretty average, and the ending theme is so forgettable that even if it somehow gets stuck inside of your head, it won’t take much to get it out. The lack of background music isn’t doing it any favors, either.
This investigation is going nowhere.... I guess if I’m going to figure it out, I’d have to talk about the characters. First, let’s talk about the protagonist, who is - as you can probably guess from what I had said earlier in this review - YOU. You’re someone who is acquainted with these six girls - a maid, an idol, a nun, a shrine maiden, a nurse, and a high school girl gamer - and you’re also a pervert. Yeah, that’s all “you” are, no matter how many variations of “you” there are in this anime. All of the girls are pretty one-note, too; originally, their opinions of “you” are positive or neutral, but by the end of the episode, they see “you” as the sicko you are. Even so, they still show “you” their panties every time, calling your masochistic self “gross” or “pervert” the entire time.
Masochistic....? Oh my! I think I’ve got it!
Iya na Kao sare nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai’s purpose is to satisfy the masochistic perverts with panty fetishes, nothing more and nothing less. Anyone who doesn’t fit into this category, please don’t watch it; I know that I fit into that category, and I didn’t find it too enjoyable. Anyone who DOES fit into that category, however, may be looking forward to season two right now.... WAIT, SEASON TWO?!?
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Aug 19, 2018
I will admit that there have been times where I’m unable to express how I truly feel. I’m sure everyone has those moments, though; they know that they feel a certain way, yet they can’t put those feelings into words. However, I will try today; I will try as hard as I can to put my feelings for this particular anime into words. After all, I’ve waited so long to watch this anime, from the moment it was announced to the day (after) it was released on Netflix (because I wanted to watch it legally). Even so.... despite the facts being that this anime was
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animated by Kyoto Animation and the light novel it was based off of was the first to win the grand prize in any of their contests, was the wait worth it? Was this anime able to meet the expectations of me and everyone else who eagerly awaited it?
From the looks of it, yes. At the very least, I can speak for myself when I say that Violet Evergarden was worth the wait.
Violet Evergarden follows a girl named.... well, Violet Evergarden, who was raised to be a “weapon” for the military in a war. Gilbert Bougainvillea, a major in the military, did not treat her as a weapon, however; he treated her with kindness and treasured her....right up until he told her he loved her right before the war ended. Having lost her arms in the war, Violet is left with only those words that her beloved major told her and no understanding of what they mean. In order to understand, she ends up getting a job as an Auto Memories Doll, who write letters for people who are unable to do so or have trouble expressing their feelings. From there, Violet’s encounters with her clients not only change their lives for the better, but they also help her grow and understand emotions better.
See, that last sentence alone capitalizes the second best thing about this anime (and I’ll get to the first best thing later), and that is the character development. All of the characters get a great amount of development, from the main characters to the supporting characters and even those who only appear in one episode. Even the characters I initially found annoying for one reason or the other, I ended up sympathizing with them; if an anime can do something like that, it’s doing a good job. In the center, however, is the titular character, Violet Evergarden, who gets the best character development of all. As fascinating as it is to see how she affects the lives of those around her, it’s simply quite amazing to see how it all affects her, as well.
The character development helps the overall story, as well. There were moments where I was admittedly not too invested in what was going on, but those moments were few and far between; for a large majority, there was quite an amount of emotional investment. Take episode 10, for example; given the situation that was going on in that episode, I will just say that by the end, I was in tears. (It’s kind of funny, actually; Violet is starting to understand emotions throughout the course of this anime, and I was starting to get emotional as I watched!) With all of that said, some people may say that each of the stories told in this anime aren’t really connected to each other, but I can confidently say that whoever would say that doesn’t know what they’re talking about. All of them are connected in that we see how Violet grows through all of these experiences; thus, even if these stories aren’t connected, they are.
“Sincerely” by TRUE and “Michishirube” by Minori Chihara, which respectively serve as the opening and ending themes, are truly music to my ears; both are beautifully composed and wonderfully sung, and I could listen to them many times! (In fact, I already have, in the opening theme’s case.) On another music-related note, “Violet Snow” by Aira Yuuki is very beautiful, too; I can remember it being played when one of the first PVs of this anime came out, and it was pleasing to hear it again in the last episode. While I can’t really say much about the Japanese voice acting because I watched the English dub, I can say that the English voice acting was superb, with every voice actor, especially Erika Harlacher as Violet, doing much more than just fitting the roles they were given. The best part about this anime, however, is the animation, and I really mean it when I say this; it is breathtakingly gorgeous, even by Kyoto Animation’s usual standards. The backgrounds, the character designs, the colors, the animation.... It was clear to see that on an artistic scale, this was KyoAni at their finest.
Overall, Violet Evergarden was truly a great anime. Looking for an emotional rollercoaster with gorgeous animation? Watch this one! It’ll probably leave you experiencing pretty powerful emotions.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 3, 2018
And today's romance tip of the day is, "Don't rush into things!" I mean, if you're going to fall in love with someone, you should at least take the time to get to know them before deciding that you want to be with them for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, some people don't even seem to realize this simple fact, as a specific one-shot manga demonstrates. To be perfectly honest, I only read this one-shot in the first place because of how low of a score it has on MAL; it's the second-lowest-rated manga on MAL, as a matter of fact, right above the
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manga adaptation of "High School Musical"! It felt like the obvious choice was to read it and see how bad it was (also demonstrating how much I tend to make bad decisions)....and holy crud, do I have some things to say about it now that I have!
Ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention as I explain how "Zannen nagara Chigaimasu" teaches us about the pacing of relationships.
One day, while going up an escalator, a girl has a "chance encounter" with a guy who tells her to meet him at the top of the escalator. (I honestly can't remember either of their names, which is actually kind of funny for reasons that I will explain later.) When they do meet up, it turns out that the girl is still in high school while the guy is 29, meaning that they're over a decade apart in age; however, from this encounter alone, the two come to the conclusion that they can't be without each other. Thus, they fill out a marriage application, but get this; they don't even know each other's names before they decide to get married! (Now you know why it's funny that I can't remember their names. Haha.) Then, they kiss, and it's implied that they have sex. The end.
I'm sorry, but it's really hard to take a plot like this seriously. I mean, they literally just met each other and took no time to get to know each other, and then, bada-bing bada-boom, they're getting married? These two skipped so many crucial steps in making a relationship work that it's kind of hard NOT to make fun of it! Because of this, I don't hate the story as much as I could be hating it, but there's no excusing how rushed this one-shot is, whether it's the story or the relationship. I know that the manga artist only had a few pages to tell a one-chapter story, but couldn't a FEW of those pages been used to allow them to get to know each other better instead of the whole "I have to be with you forever even though I literally just met you" crap?
Ironically, not only does the couple not take the time to get to know each other, we, the readers, barely get to know either of the two characters other than their ages and their feelings for each other; heck, we barely get to know their names! As a result of this lack of characterization, I found myself not caring about either character. What's worse, however, is their chemistry; I feel no sparks between them, and they don't look like their "marriage" is going to work out in the long run. Speaking of looks, although the artwork is the best part of the whole manga, it's not by much; although it's mostly just standard shoujo manga artwork, there are some moments, the escalator scene in particular, where the proportions and angles look kind of off. Really, Kotomi Aoki? You've worked on plenty of shoujo manga before this one; shouldn't your art have improved from all of that experience?
If Houkago no Shokuinshitsu is the short anime you should watch only if you're in the mood for making fun of something, then Zannen nagara Chigaimasu is the short manga you should read for that same purpose; one may be yaoi while the other is hetero, but both of them are "love stories" you can't take seriously about couples with zero chemistry. With that being said, go ahead and read Zannen nagara Chigaimasu if that's your agenda, but otherwise, stay as far away from it as possible. After all, if you're going to expect a manga about a couple getting married without even knowing each other's names to actually be good, not only will you be disappointed, but you will be questioning everything you have ever known about the pacing of relationships.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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May 12, 2018
At some point in their lives, everyone has needed to ask for advice from someone they find trustworthy, but it's questionable as to whether or not their advice is actually credible. I'm not sure how credible MY advice is, per se, but here's some that I'll give to you right now; you're probably better off watching something other than the anime I'm reviewing today. It was an anime from the Summer 2014 season that caught my attention for rather odd reasons; despite its license from Funimation and the fact that the final episode aired in Japan on schedule, subtitled versions of each episode were taking
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their sweet time being released, especially for the last few episodes. I ended up watching the first episode and putting it on hold for years, but now that I've finally finished it, I have to ask myself this question.
Can I really give solid advice to other anime fans about whether or not watching "Jinsei", or "Life" in English, is a good decision? Well, only one way to find out!
To start, Jinsei revolves around Yuuki Akamatsu, who is roped by his cousin, Ayaka Nikaidou, into the Second Newspaper Club. In this club, the members - at least, those in charge of the life advice section - read over the problems of the students of their school, discuss potential solutions to those problems, and then publish their answers in the school's newspaper. Through this club, Akamatsu ends up acquainted with three girls: Rino Endou, a smart girl with glasses and a disbelief in the occult, Fumi Kujou, a sweet, big-busted girl from a wealthy family, and Ikumi Suzuki, an energetic girl with sport smarts but not so much brain smarts. Get these four together with a question from a student seeking advice, and hilarity is abound....or maybe not.
Believe me when I say that I'm pretty sure you've seen all of this before; you may not believe me, but it's true. A guy joining a school club and finding himself in many awkward situations with the female members, who, by the way, are the only other members of the club? A plot like that has been recycled time and time again, and some further anime will succumb to that fate with that one thing to distinguish them apart from the others; Jinsei has the whole "life advice" thing, but that's pretty much all. It doesn't really try to do a lot of new things, and I found that aspect of the series rather boring.
The characters aren't much different, either; every last one of them are walking, talking cliches. In all honesty, Akamatsu is the worst of them all; he has his moments, but overall, he's just a generic copy-and-paste protagonist that you can find in many other anime. The girls aren't much better, as they're the kinds of girls you can find in any harem anime; I found Ikumi and Emi rather amusing, but I know that even they aren't particularly unique. However, I will give credit where credit is due; while I never really laughed or even giggled at these points, their chemistry is undeniable in their clashes over the advice to give. Their conflict with the Student Council President wasn't really as interesting, however; in fact, was it really needed?
The art and animation aren't anything too groundbreaking; I've seen better from Feel's other anime, such as Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru, which is also a slice-of-life anime. However, it goes to show you that they're capable of a better animation quality than that in Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete, which is sad considering the fact that it aired the season after this one and even had a better story! The voice acting isn't terrible, either; the voice actors for the main characters may not have had a lot of voice work at the time that this anime came out, but they did a good job. The opening and ending themes were rather catchy; however, they don't really stand out from other songs, and it's not like I want to listen to them on loops.
Hopefully, the question I asked earlier has been answered; after all, I've given my reasons why Jinsei isn't that great of an anime to the best of my ability. Now, I might as well give my advice to those interested in it; you're probably better off watching something else. I mean, no one's going to kill you for watching it, but if you decide not to take my advice and come out unsatisfied because of all of the cliches, don't say I didn't warn you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 20, 2018
Sometimes, you may watch an anime and think, "This could be better." It could even be an anime you quite enjoy, but you know that if there was less of one thing and/or more of another, it could be even better. The proof is that you've read the manga for it, and you enjoyed it enough for you to watch the anime before you realize what the thing holding it back was. Such is the case for Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (Kare Kano for short), or His and Her Circumstances in English; I couldn't praise the manga enough for its deep story and character development,
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but although it's also there in the anime, I found myself complimenting the shortness of the budget (in a sarcastic way, of course) more than that.
In case you don't know what Kare Kano is, it follows a girl named Yukino Miyazawa, who is seen by her classmates as a perfect model student but is actually a "queen of vanity", desperate for the praise of her peers. However, upon starting high school, she gets one-upped by a classmate named Souichirou Arima....and needless to say, she does NOT take this well at all. As if that's not bad enough, however, Yukino's secret gets discovered....by Souichirou, of all people! As it turns out, Souichirou isn't as perfect as he seems to be, and from here, the two of them end up becoming friends. Eventually, they fall in love and begin a relationship, and this series then follows them in their lives as a couple, where they strive to remove their respective masks.
The story of Kare Kano was very good. Of course, some of the comedic scenes were stretched out for longer than necessary, the recaps were slightly annoying, and the anime doesn't pick a good spot in the manga to end at; however, the anime kept a lot of important plot points, and I enjoyed seeing them. I also enjoyed seeing the characters again; although I feel that their actions and interactions with other characters had more of a comedic feel to it, they still felt like actual human beings rather than just tools for getting laughter out of us, and they got a decent amount of development. I still found myself liking Yukino and Souichirou's relationship; it's still a very ideal relationship, with the two of them genuinely caring for each other and making each other better people. Accompanying the good story and great characters is a rather impressive musical score; the opening and ending themes ("Tenshi no Yubikiri" by Mai Fukuda and "Yume no Naka e" by Atsuko Enomoto and Chihiro Yuzuki) were songs that I really wouldn't mind listening to again and again. Finally, the voice acting was surprisingly good; Veronica Taylor did a good job at portraying Yukino's character, among others with other roles in the anime.
Okay, now, time to get the one thing holding this anime back out of the way: the animation. At first, it seems like despite this anime's age, Gainax and J.C.Staff's animation work is very well done; however, as time goes on and the tight budget runs even lower, the animation quality suffers. Surreal animation, still images, and recaps ended up being relied on more and more as time went on, and it got quite annoying. Sure, the surrealism works in some areas, such as scenes that show Souichirou's inner turmoil, but other times, it's rather distracting from the plot. I mean, come on, people! We're here to watch a romantic comedy anime about a couple letting their true selves show, not to stare at pictures of the setting of said romantic comedy anime! You won't be able to believe how many times during the second half that I said, "I think they're running out of budget."
Despite all of that, however, Kare Kano is a good anime, and I'd recommend it to people looking for a good romantic comedy. However, if the budget problems become too much, read the manga instead. Either way, the circumstances of these two young lovers are those that can't be avoided.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 6, 2017
If we're going to be honest here, Pokémon needs no introduction, especially when it comes to the anime; a boy named Ash Ketchum gets a Pikachu - a yellow mouse - as a partner, leaves his hometown of Pallet Town, and travels the world while catching new Pokémon along the way, all while he remains ten years old. Well, what if we went all the way back to the beginning and started all over? Perhaps I'm the worst person to talk about Pokémon; I was 10 myself when I ended up being pulled along in the Pokémon craze, and by not looking back, I have
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made some Pokémon-related memories that I will never regret, whether it's from the game, trading cards, or anime. When I found out about this franchise's twentieth movie, however, I was skeptical, thinking that Pokémon had just caught the "recap movie disease"; however, with each new trailer came a promise of a new experience born from something old instead, and I got more hyped (even though Misty and Brock were still missing). At last, I watched the movie in the theatres with all intent on tackling (heh, get it?) it in a review; I tried to watch it from a critic's point of view instead of a fangirl's....but man, was it hard!
Ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon Trainers all over, here is my review of "Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!"
Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You starts the same way the Pokémon anime series did; Ash Ketchum wakes up late, all of the starter Pokémon are taken, he ends up getting a Pikachu, they don't get along well at first, they accidentally tick off a group of Spearow, Ash tries to protect Pikachu, Pikachu knocks all of the Spearow out with a Thunderbolt, Ash and Pikachu finally become friends, and they see a legendary bird Pokémon fly through the sky. Your childhood memories know the drill here....but here's where the story starts to diverge. As this legendary bird Pokémon - Ho-oh - flies away, it leaves Ash and Pikachu a rainbow-colored wing; the two then make a promise to each other to one day meet this Pokémon. After that, Ash travels through the Kanto region, collects Gym badges, and follows his dream to be a Pokémon Master, like he originally had been doing; however, an encounter with another legendary Pokémon, Entei, reminds him of his promise. Together with new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel, Ash and Pikachu embark on a quest to reach Rainbow Mountain and encounter Ho-oh.
Okay, time to try to not fangirl.
May I first say that the story was masterfully executed? I personally would have liked to see some of Ash's Gym battles, as part of one was actually shown and it was differently executed from the series; however, with a limited amount of screen time and a different story to tell, I fully understand this decision. In regards to this "different story", it shared some key story elements with the series, but even with those integrated, the film stays on its own two legs through and through. Although it does start back when Ash is at square one in regards to being a Pokémon Trainer, the different direction the story took didn't affect his character development. In fact, I dare to say that this film dug deeper into his and Pikachu's characters than the series did and gave both of them great amounts of character development as a result.
Some of the other characters were likable, too, but they come with the one flaw I'd say this film has; they don't get fleshed out enough. Perhaps the biggest offenders of this are Ash's new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel; while they are interesting characters with their own respective backstories, these backstories aren't fleshed out enough for the audience to really get to know them, and they are sadly left as mostly supporting characters. The infamous Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth return, but they are also reduced to supporting characters and don't get as much screen time as they did in the series; however, the scenes of them that we DID get were amusing and retained each of their personalities. Another new character, Cross, is the exact opposite of the ones I have mentioned; he does get enough screen time for his character to be fleshed out, but that doesn't mean he came off as likable. As a rival, he is definitely a powerful adversary who actually affected Ash emotionally, but at the same time, the various problems he ends up causing and the things he says just made me want to throw my bucket of popcorn at the screen.
What this Pokémon movie lacks in fleshing out most of its characters, however, is redeemed in its art. Instead of conforming to the new style of the Pokémon Sun and Moon series, the art style stays close to what the series was before then, which was a wise decision cinematically; with what kind of story it was trying to tell, using that rather goofy style would have made it look pretty ridiculous. However, even with that in mind, this is definitely the best-looking Pokémon movie I have ever seen; the animation was smooth and solid, the backgrounds were drawn in a beautiful fashion, and some shots were masterfully executed. Now, I don't care what other people say about Sarah Natochenny voicing Ash; all of the voice actors did a stellar job at their roles, and there was pure emotion in their performances, too. While I'm not always one to pay attention to background music, I definitely have to give this film's background music credit; the music always blended in perfectly with what was going on. Finally, the opening theme was an excellent remix of the first Pokémon theme song, and the ending theme.... OH, THE ENDING SONG. I wanted to stay at the theatre just to finish listening to it; it was that good!
Overall, Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You is definitely an excellent movie and a challenging one for a longtime Pokémon fan like myself to critique. I wouldn't recommend it to those who can't handle different stories and the fact that Misty and Brock are missing (although I do admit, it was slightly disheartening not to see them), but other than that, I'd recommend it to any Pokémon fan out there, even the ones who haven't watched the anime in forever. With this movie being watched and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon being eagerly awaited, I can tell that it'll be harder to critique anything Pokémon-related from here on out, but with that being the case, maybe I should just let my inner fangirl out!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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