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Attack on Titan is a modern masterpiece. It’s not just a piece of fiction which has thrown quality season after season, it’s also one of the very few anime to have broken into the mainstream, so much so that people who do not watch anime at all have experienced and loved it. The emergence of the first season of Attack on Titan drove the series’ popularity to levels rarely seen before in the medium. The long wait before the release of season 2 was a major reason (along with certain pacing issues with the manga at the time) for the dying interest in the series at the time. By the time S2 aired, Attack on Titan wasn’t the global phenomenon anymore. One Punch Man had broken the mold in a similar vein to AoT S1 and become the new big anime amongst casuals and non anime watchers.

Then came Season 3, and the series was roaring back. The interest in the series had never been higher, and fans flocked back in droves to have their questions answered. Many began viewing the first two seasons in new light once the revelations showcased the intricate planning and immense foreshadowing that had gone under their noses when they’d watched it first. For me, Attack on Titan was always great. Never has an anime made me feel so hopeless if I viewed the world from the perspective of the characters. The absolute mystery surrounding the titans for most of the first season along with stunning animation for fights, memorable OST for almost any scene and emotional dialogue delivered by passionate voice actors made for an unforgettable experience. Season 2 and 3 bring in more revelations, slowly unfolding the mysteries of the world and the titans and shifting the themes of the series. Season 4 has another tonal shift - much greater than previous ones - and it handles it with aplomb.

A change in studios has often led anime series to ruin. The aforementioned OPM was one of the recent big victims of it, but other popular series like Seven Deadly Sins have also suffered due to it and never recovered.

Fortunately, MAPPA have handled the transition well. They haven’t been perfect (more on that later), but all in all, they’ve done a good job producing a new season of what is probably the most popular anime of the last decade.

The start of S4 might have left some people wondering where the original cast went. There’s not just a change of cast in the first few episodes, but also a switch in perspectives. We’re no longer seeing things from the side of Paradis and the Scouts. Instead, we now see it from the view of Marley’s warriors, who’re training to inherit the titans from their predecessors once their time runs out. Gabi and Falco want to inherit the armor but Reiner, i.e. the plot armored titan (Sorry, had to use this once I saw it on Reddit) can’t catch a break. Someone, grant him his wish to die.

Eren’s growth as a character is one of the highlights of Attack on Titan as a series. He wasn’t always a fan favorite because of his hotheaded nature, but as time went on, his perspective of the things around him changed, most noticeably multiple times throughout season 3. Come season 4, his character undergoes a paradigm shift; calm and sympathetic, yet ruthless. As his famous quote goes, “I won’t stop moving forward until all my enemies are destroyed.” He’s a lot more distant, not just to everyone else in the show but also to the viewers. Unlike previous seasons, his thoughts are a mystery and the season clearly displays the divide between him and the other old Scouts.

The handling of his growth as a person and a titan shifter is outstanding, firstly in the manga and then in the anime. Yuki Kaji, the voice actor, supported this exponential growth by exceeding expectations on character delivery. I especially love how well he’s transitioned seamlessly along with Eren as a character and nailed almost every line. There’s hardly a line Eren has spoken in season 4 that isn’t extremely significant to the story.

Oh Gabi! Where do I even begin? She’s supposed to be the female parallel to pre timeskip Eren, but apart from some core traits like being stubborn, she isn’t really that similar to him. Gabi hates the Eldians from Paradis for no other reason other than that she thinks they’re devils and should suffer for the crimes of their ancestors. Eren was stubborn, headed into almost unwinnable battles without a second thought. However, his reasons to hate the titans were justified. His mother was eaten in front of him by a titan, his home destroyed and tens upon hundreds of his comrades butchered by titans in cold blood. He fought for his freedom, and humanity’s.

Gabi, on the other hand, hates Eldians without having seen any of them. She kills people for glory, just for some useless praise. And without spoiling anything, I’ll also add that she’s a hypocrite with her iconic line that’s become prevalent in memes now “But did you see it happen?”.

In her defence, she’s a twelve-year-old girl who’s been brainwashed so it’s hard to not give her some benefit of the doubt. But boy, is she annoying! She’s actually portrayed a lot better at the start of the Marley arc in the anime than in the manga, so I didn’t dislike her as much. She’s neither a bad character nor a great one, but she serves her purpose.

Onto Falco, then. My cute, lovable boy, are you sure you had the same upbringing as Gabi? He’s her polar opposite, able to empathize with his enemies and an antithesis for every one of Gabi’s morals. He views things from a wider angle, often showing maturity way beyond his years. He might not be as naturally gifted as Gabi but he’s a whole lot more likeable. From posting letters for injured people to helping his enemies who shun him instead, this good boy has it all covered. He’s one of the beautiful things in this cruel world.

Pieck is the new waifu that every fan seems to be simping over; Reiner and Zeke share the title of best character amongst the Marleyans for me. Their internal struggles and motives, some of which are only seen by viewers, make a significant contrast to their outer persona, and this holds especially true for Zeke.

Jean remains the character who makes the viewers question their morals because he questions his own and that’s what I love about him. He’s another one who’s come a long way since the cadet days.

Did you think I’d have forgotten Floch? He might’ve been a forgettable side character who didn’t even have a distinct design before S3 P2 (Isayama has himself admitted as much), but he’s one of the stars of season 4, running the show like the chad that he is. He’s an extremist and his actions are brutal; at times, it seems as if he’s doing it to sate his own ego and hate towards those who’ve imprisoned him and his race behind the walls. But despite all this, he’s one of the most entertaining characters post time skip. He’s unpredictable, spunky and has the audacity to pull off stunts that might’ve had your jaws slacking on the floor more times than one. And who can forget the “shh?” King Floch has unquestionably engraved his name as an Attack on Titan legend.

There are so many excellent characters in Attack on Titan that the review would be too long if I talked about all of them, so I’ll stop here.

The character designs in Season 4 see a distinct change, and that’s not all to do with the timeskip or the change in the studio. It’s a mixture of both. To anyone who’s read the earlier chapters of the Attack on Titan manga, it’s no secret that the art at the start was mediocre. Wit Studio did a great job of enhancing the character designs and the art in general, especially in S1.

MAPPA on the other hand have stuck closer to the manga art style for characters (apart from beautifying Armin as compared to the manga, their reasons for which I’d like to know). So there’s a slight change in the art style because they’re following Isayama’s art a lot more closely.

The animation of S4 has been the most talked about point, and for good reason. I’ll mince no words: some of the CGI was downright terrible. There was some genuinely impressive CGI like the Jaw titan, but some very important scenes involving the Attack Titan and Beast Titan were horrendous. It’s not the animators who’re to blame for this but the greed of the production committee and the manga publishers who wanted to have S4 airing before the end of the manga to boost sales.

For almost any other anime, I would’ve let even the terrible CGI scenes slide, but this is Attack on Titan, one of the most popular and highly acclaimed anime ever, and surely it deserved the best treatment possible. Unfortunately, it didn’t get that. Does it make the season bad? Of course not since the season covers one of the best arcs in the manga and the adaptation itself was faithful with top tier voice acting. Could better animation elevate S4 of Attack on Titan to higher levels? Greatly.

My biggest problem with the titan CGI was that it just broke immersion. One moment we had fluid 2D animation, the other we had some janky CGI lacking weight, which made me pause and check if I was still watching Attack on Titan. I’ve re-watched these scenes multiple times and every time, I came to the same conclusion: Attack on Titan deserves better. Remember the marvelous scenes with ODM gear we got in the first three seasons or the titan fights or Levi vs the Beast Titan? Unfortunately, we don’t get that level of animation in season 4, and while understandable given the time constraints, it’s disappointing nevertheless.

The CGI wasn’t always as bad, but had enough prevalence in the most important moments (Eg: Attack Titan vs Warhammer Titan) to be a stain on an otherwise stellar season.

We have some new and honestly breathtaking tracks added to the already great OST from S1 - S3. One of the highlights in the sound composition this season is that there were different composers depending on whose perspective a scene is shown from. For Paradis, we have Hiroyuki Sawano back with all our favorites from previous seasons while Kohta Yamomoto handled the Marleyan side, giving us bangers including Ashes on the Fire. I missed the old OST in the first few episodes because I was worried they’d underuse S1-S3 OST, but they did not. It wasn’t used much because the initial episodes take place from the perspective of the Marleyans. Honestly, having different composers for either side of the conflict seems like a superb choice and helps immersion.

The only real criticism I have about the sound was the OST choice in some scenes in the latter part of the season. And no, I’m not talking about the basement scene here. I thought the basement scene OST choice was great.

Similar to the OST, it took a while for me to warm up to the OP, but looking back now, it’s great and suits the themes of S4. This was a common opinion amongst the community; the majority seemed to have disliked My War for the first couple episodes, then it just grew on people and now it sets the tone for the rest of the episode.

Now that Attack on Titan’s final season (Part 1) has ended, it’ll be intriguing to see what route MAPPA takes for the rest of the adaptation. There’s anywhere between 13-16 episodes of content left to cover, depending on the pacing. Will the production committee see Attack on Titan as a chance to make hundreds of millions of dollars in a movie format or will we have Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 (lol), only time will tell. I’m not against either, as long as they take enough time and pour passion into making it. I don’t mind waiting longer if it means getting the best production values. Hopefully, that’s the case.

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Mushoku Tensei might well be the most controversial anime I’ve come across in a long time. Interspecies Reviewers generated a lot of discussion recently, but that was mostly due to a moronic Youtuber flexing his popularity and trying to mess with MAL.

Mushoku Tensei, on the other hand, divides opinion by simply existing, caused by the character traits and story it follows. Some people, a lot of these LN fans, believe that whatever Mushoku Tensei has done in the anime is just a realistic portrayal of medieval times. Some think that pedophilia and libido for every character is not a good representation. While I knew what I was getting into when I first started Mushoku Tensei, my problems begin when the characters get away with rape, pedophilia and sexual harassment and instead, the show plays all of these very sensitive topics in a comedic sense, almost as if they were no big deal. Rape is played off as a joke, pedophilia as a character quirk that has nothing wrong with it, and sexual harassment like flirting.

I don’t argue against the fact that these things can be represented well in anime, but I am not supportive of how easily it’s played off as a humorous copout. I’ve never read the novels, so I speak of what I watched in the first 11 episodes of Mushoku Tensei. LN fans insist these issues will dwindle and Rudues will change for the better as the story progresses, which is fine.

Hell, it’s not Rudeus or the characters I have a problem with. There were, and are scumbags in the world and there always will be, and I don’t mind their portrayal in anime. In fact, I think some anime have too many characters without flaws. My problem is with the presentation. If you’re going to touch on such delicate matters, there’s a fine line that needs to be tread. They can’t be played off as a joke by the show itself and, sometimes, I certainly felt Mushoku Tensei explicitly did that with its portrayal of those scenes. Also, almost everyone in the show thought with their dicks and tits 24/7, and no, that’s not a realistic representation of the world. If you think it is, you need to get out of your bubble and know more people.

The story starts off like any other isekai. A useless otaku meets an accident, dies and is transported to a new world. In MT, the MC gets a completely new start as he’s born into the alternate world instead of having his old body transported. And the first thing that the reincarnated protagonist, newly named Rudeus or Rudy for short, does is ogle at his mother’s breasts and tries to fondle them. Even after realizing that she’s his new mother, he still says “Sucking on a hottie’s tits for free rules”. Already, this left an appalling first impression. It was just awkward? I’ve seen my fair share of ecchi anime with perverted characters, but this was already having me have second thoughts about continuing a few minutes into episode 1. The first episode pulls no punches in showing how much of a trash Rudeus is, as he scrounges for panties of women in his house even before he turns one.

What follows are several time skips within a few episodes until Rudeus turns seven. The start is pretty generic, but I’ll be honest, it’s kinda interesting. If you get rid of the problems many people, including me, have with the portrayal of some issues, then the first season of Mushoku Tensei becomes a polished version of what a lot of other isekai try and fail over and over again. Some do it with some success, but those are few amongst the can of worms that the isekai genre is. So Mushoku Tensei undeniably falls on the better side of the isekai scale, lopsided as that scale may be.

Mushoku Tensei fans like to call it the “Grandfather/Mother of isekai”, but I doubt the validity of these claims because several other popular isekai novels had already come out before it, and SAO (talking about the anime here) might not be an isekai, depending on what your definition of isekai is, but that’s the one that started off the boom of what has basically become a genre now.

Talking about fans, some fans even claim that the people who have issues with pedophilia, rape, etc and how the anime portrays these in good light, are soft snowflakes. According to them, anyone who thinks these things are actually a problem shouldn’t use their own morals on a show.

As a protagonist, Rudues is agonizing to watch. This holds especially true for the first half of the season, as he seemed to not even care about how creepy some of his actions were. He’s a degenerate in the truest sense of the word, with very little to redeem his character. I understand he has trauma because of the bullying he was victim to in his first life, but that doesn’t justify his actions. Of the few flashbacks we got of his previous life, he was shown to have been fapping to child porn at the time of his parents’ funeral. Then, in his new life, he still retains the mind of a middle-aged, useless pedophile, who, even in his new chance at life hasn’t changed after spending five years as he’s fantasizing about turning a five-year-old girl he saved from bullying into his ideal woman. Oh, there’s a change this time though, he’s gifted with abilities far surpassing almost anyone in the world. One of the things that I always find funny about isekai is how the protagonist who is usually pretty useless in real life becomes a genius; not just physically gifted but mentally having over 9000 IQ.

Having said all of this about Rudues, he becomes better in the latter part of the season, although still having bouts of his lecherous habits. My biggest gripe with Rudeus as a character is that his filthy actions are not driven by physical attraction; if they were, he wouldn’t be stealing panties or trying to grope women before he turned one. It’s his mind that’s corrupt.

Eris, the main heroine for season 1, is a typical tsundere who starts off as a hotheaded, spoiled brat before the MC wins her over. I wouldn’t say she’s that interesting so far, but I kinda like her.

Roxie is another character who got some attention through the run of the season. She’s a Migurd woman and actually is 30+ but the show never tries to make this known until much later. Looking like a 13-year-old instead, we see a young Rudues, maybe 5 or something, trying to sneak peeks when she’s bathing, changing or even masturbating. And of course, stealing her panties is a given, right?

Paul(o), Rudeus’ new papa, is a bastard. He cheats on his wife, assaults girls and rapes them, gets away with it, apologizes to his wife for cheating, then writes a letter to his seven-year-old son saying how he’s gonna cheat on his wife again while bragging about it. Again, my key concern is the show playing these things off as a joke. Considering there are people who've experienced these traumatic events, the author and studio had no empathy from conception to creation. A few of these things might have been fine if the show was a comedy, but it’s not. It can’t claim to be a serious redemption story and still play most of this shit off for shits and giggles.

Other characters don’t really have much to talk about; not yet anyway.

The visuals in Mushoku Tensei are fantastic; the attention to detail evinces the care and work that Studio Bind put in while crafting the world. It’s got some stunning backgrounds, gorgeous colors and ambience to paint the world and characters. The art is the strongest aspect of the show. My only real critique is the grainy art style which I’m not too fond of, but that’s just one minor complaint I have about the visuals. The animation is pretty fluent most of the time, and more importantly, the animators knew which moments to highlight and which they could put less work toward.

The OP playing while showing the ambience is one of the biggest props for Mushoku Tensei. It sets up the episode by giving us a feel of the area that most of the episode is going to be in.

Speaking of the OP, it’s pleasant to hear in itself. I know plenty of people skip anime OPs, but Mushoku Tensei gives you a reason not to because it’s part of the episode. Apart from the OP though, the OST is bland and lacking. Nothing else made me pause and repeat a scene so that I could hear the sound again, and I didn’t even notice too much of it. That’s not that big of a deal as this is the case with most anime anyway.

Overall, the production values were top notch and you can see that Studio Bind views this a long-term project, considering the studio was created especially for Mushoku Tensei.

Although I’m interested to find out where the story goes after this, I’m not totally sold on Mushoku Tensei yet. Most of it is due to the aforementioned problems in its portrayal of serious issues as jokes. The latter part of the season wasn’t as riddled with those concerns though, so it’s getting better, at least.

According to novel readers, it only gets better and better from here, so we’ll see where it goes, but that’s pretty much all source readers, right? The second cour is scheduled to be back after a season break, and I’m interested to see how it turns out.

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If someone shits on Kaguya-sama in front of me, I have only one reply for them. “Urusai, baaka!”

Kaguya-sama: Love is War was a great show and one of my favorites of the year 2019. It had an entertaining cast of main characters, a group of just as amusing side characters that made an appearance every now and then, and to freshen things up, a simple yet compelling tale about two geniuses trying to outwit each other in a totally contrasting way to Light and L from Death Note, with top tier comedy to top it all off. It had certain elements that we’d previously seen but the overall product of everything it offered was something very unique.

Now, take everything I said above and add a progressive plot, some more characters who’re just as delightful as the ones introduced last season and the previous cast getting development as well as becoming even more charming. All this executed so spectacularly that even the first season that I liked so much pales in comparison. Oh, and also, add sick animation, a captivating OP and OST, and you’ve got what Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 offers.

In short, this season has all of what made the first season great and does it better. To me, Kaguya-sama S2 is almost a perfect Slice of Life/romcom. This season has taken Kaguya-sama to the top echelon of romcom or heck, even SOL anime in general, in my list.

The first season was an introduction to the characters, focusing more on telling the tale in an episodic fashion without a lot of story progression. This season instead, focuses on the plot moving forward. Instead of hilarious episodic stories, we get hysterical episodes with the plot progression every inch of the way. The academic year is about to end so tensions rise during the student council president election as a new foe appears, Shirogane’s family is explored more and Ishigami’s character is fleshed out in the latter half of the season. The anime is not about just making you laugh now. It’s about trying to make you cry before having you burst out laughing, rolling on your couch.

One of the (many) reasons why Kaguya-sama shines over other romcoms is because it’s not afraid of doing where most of them would falter. You want the main protagonist being called a manwhore for multiple episodes? It’s got you covered. You want a Monogatari scene reprised? Gotcha. You want a guy’s father saying how his high school son is still a kid and his hair down there hasn’t even sprouted yet to a girl’s father? Sure, it’s there. You want the female lead to think about all the intricacies of the male’s underpants? Oh, you’ll get that. Point to remember, Kaguya-sama is still rated as PG-13.

Misunderstandings are the source of a lot of comedy and that’s one thing that you’ll find in a lot of romcoms. Kaguya-sama though managed to create amusing moments not in spite of them, but because of them. I could watch entire episodes on the same jokes and still wouldn’t get bored. But no, we don’t get the same joke used over and over. You’ll have tens of new ones every episode.

In this season too, Kaguya continues in her quest to make Miyuki Shirogane confess his love to her. Same goal but the approach has changed. Or rather, evolved. She’s a lot bolder in this season using tricks as well as other people, to be put Shirogane into difficult situations. And sometimes, this puts her in situations that she loves yet fears. This is when, the best girl of the season for me, at least for the first few episodes, Hayasaka Ai comes to her aid. Oh, how I’ve loved every moment of watching her. She shows us a side of her personality that I didn’t think she had. And then turns into another character who’s almost unrecognizable. Frightening!

Now, let’s talk about Miyuki Shirogane. Out of all of the main characters in the series, he’s the least talked about and the most underrated. Ishigami-kun is everyone’s best boy while all the girls are contenders for best girl. But our protagonist just doesn’t get enough love from the fans. To me, he was the hero in this season. And he was the hero to the characters as well. He goes out of his way to help people; people whom he doesn’t know that well, and helping them in a way that wouldn’t really benefit him. When, in the biggest moment of her high school life, Iino Miko faces a problem that’s haunted her all her life, Miyuki comes to the rescue, disregarding the fact that it puts his own reputation and image on the line. When Ishigami can’t deal with his problems, current and past, Miyuki gives him a shoulder to lean on. And of course, he’s always there for Kaguya. His acts of selfless heroism made him the character I most enjoyed watching this season. Of course, the others had their arcs and moments but in all of those, Miyuki was the focal point at the most prominent moments. He’s the hero this world needs but doesn’t deserve. Truly a chad!

The character who got the most development was undoubtedly Ishigami Yu. As I said above, he’s best boy for a ton of fans and for good reason. The Ishigami arc in S2 had been hyped up by the manga readers and although I personally wouldn’t put it on a pedestal over the other arcs in S2 (to me, the entire season was top notch and I can’t put one arc over the other), delving into his past and exploring his character was fantastically handled. We not only get to see why he’s become so afraid of associating with people, but also him overcoming that and recognizing that the people around him are not as awful as he’d thought they’d be. There’s so much room for growth with him and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the same in the future.

The best aspect of the show? I was in quite a conundrum when I asked myself this question. The season is so well rounded that neither could I think of a real weakness, nor could I find something that I could put over the other aspects that easily. The clean and smooth animation, a deep dive into the characters’ past and personalities, the use of a pretty good OST, Daddy Daddy Doo and everything I’ve mentioned earlier were all so brilliantly executed. Even so, I can’t help but applaud one thing over all of these: the voice acting. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the other facets lacked in comparison. No, no. It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever come across an anime or a show in general, in which I could so easily make out that the level of voice acting I was experiencing was exemplary.

The Japanese voice acting industry is brimming with talent and we see extraordinary performances from these guys all the time. But the level of voice acting from all of the people involved in Kaguya-sama S2 and the range that they exhibited just made me appreciate that what I was experiencing was the makings of something truly special. I feel that most voice actors are able to show their true talent in a show in which they’re able to convey a multitude of emotions and SOL/romcom have the most freedom in that regard. Some of my other favorite comedy shows have had superb voice acting like Saiki Kusuo, Grand Blue, Great Teacher Onizuka but I felt that the voice acting in Kaguya-sama S2 surpassed all of those. Could it be recency bias? Possible but I still can’t find any that I’ve watched that I can say has an undeniably better voice acting performance than this. The cast for Kaguya-sama is very young. For most of them, Kaguya-sama is like a breakthrough anime through which could take that leap which makes them one of the top names in the industry. And I honestly believe they’ve done that. The ones who impressed me most were Yumiri Hanamori and of course, Aoi Koga, the VAs for Hayasaka and Kaguya respectively. The range of tonal shifts that they displayed is fascinating and a treat to listen to. Just watch a video of them voicing Kaguya and Hayasaka and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

Kaguya-sama is easily my Anime of the year thus far. And right now, I can only see two anime, both sequels that could potentially take that title this year, for me at least. Oregaieru S3 and Attack on Titan S4, if it does indeed air this year, are the two. And if they manage to surpass or even equal what Kaguya-sama S2 did, then we’re in for something epic. I’ll miss watching Kaguya-sama every week until Season 3 comes out. It was an anime that truly enhanced the source material and turned it into something very, very special.

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The anime adaption of Tower of God was met with a lot of hype, both from the fans of the webtoon as well as a good portion of the anime community in general. It was the first real adaption of a Korean manhwa (disregarding the couple OVAs Noblesse got. It’s getting a proper anime adaption later this year too) and its success could likely open the floodgates to a world of new content that’s ready to be adapted from manhwa.

So, did the adaption of Tower of God live up to the hype? I would honestly say it did not. In fact, it falls way short. It’s nowhere near how good it could’ve and should’ve been considering the content that was to be adapted. Most of the reception to the anime as a whole has been fairly positive over the internet, but for someone who’s been a fan of the webtoon, it turned out to be a massive disappointment. When I first read the webtoon, I was sucked in by the dark environment, intriguing character motives, the ruthlessness of the world and the massive and unexplored world that was the tower. One of the selling points of the webtoon is the mystery surrounding everything and the fact that details and lore are revealed bit by bit in a complex manner without any sort of spoonfeeding to the audience.

The anime lost most of this and more.

Even after complaining so much, why have I given it a rating of 7? Well, even though I am extremely let down by the adaption, it still is a pretty decent anime. Yes, it’s not nearly as good as it could’ve been but it still entertains for the most part, and if I look at it from the eyes of someone who hadn’t read the manhwa beforehand, it’d be a very enjoyable show.

The story starts off with Rachel wanting to go up the tower to see the stars that she’d always dreamed about and Bam following her like a dog follows his master. But I can understand why Bam does this. Rachel is such an amazing person: tender, selfless, compassionate, kind and to top it off, she’s pretty cute in the anime too. Why wouldn’t anyone not want to follow this Goddess?

On a more serious note though, she’s the only person Bam has known his entire life so when she enters the tower wanting to fulfil her dreams, he follows after her. Simp is a word that’s been associated a lot with Bam these past 3 months. Tell me, do you call a child who’s crying for her mother and only smiles when he sees her close by, a simp? If you do, then I think you have more important things that you need to get sorted first. Anyways, Bam is that child whose mother has left him, and he’s trying to go after her. An understandable objective I believe.

Once Bam enters the tower in pursuit of Rachel, we’re introduced to the rules and workings of the tower along with Bam. The floors, the tests that are supposed to be passed in order to climb them, the hierarchy of the tower and the motivations of the characters wanting to climb this dangerous tower are revealed little by little. As Bam learns more and more about the tower, so does the audience. But this is also where one of the major problems with the anime begins to surface. Some of the explanations about the concepts and functionality of the tower are either cut-short or in some cases, completely omitted. This leaves a viewer who hasn’t read the webtoon and doesn’t have a clear idea about these things, confused. The webtoon explained these things in a much more comprehensible manner. Oh, and I’m not talking about the mysterious lore here. I’ve heard a few complaints about people saying answers are not provided immediately. Well, those are important mystery elements that are answered bit by bit as we move further along in the story and something that I consider one of the charms of the series. So, don’t expect every secret of the tower to be just told to you right then and there.

Even though the anime does sacrifice the dark atmosphere of the first season of the webtoon, I felt that they still did a fairly good job of creating tense situations, especially in the first half of the season. They retained the ruthless vibe of the tower during the first few tests and even though there were elements that were left open to criticism, they did a good job of it by and large, for the first half, bar the first episode of course. The first episode was a mess. The pacing was all over the place and the less I talk about the directing, the better. After the first 6 episodes, I was feeling hopeful that this would turn out to be a pretty good adaption because episodes 2-6 had been pretty good and almost every episode was turning out to be an improvement over the last. However, this all changed in the following episodes. There were some very important character interactions that were left out, some that were replaced by anime-only scenes which served no purpose but to enrage the source readers, and one of the most hyped and compelling tests in the webtoon to date, was but a mere shadow of what was expected and what it should’ve been. It was plagued with all the issues that I have with the anime all at once: bad pacing, important dialogues being cut and changes made to some of the best parts of the test that were uncalled for.

When it was first announced that the first season was only going to be 13 episodes, doubts had already begun to surface in the minds of most of the readers. The first season of the webtoon had 78 chapters and there was no other stopping point except the end of the season. So, everyone knew that there was going to be content that was going to be removed. And that would’ve been acceptable. Not many would’ve complained if they only cut some of the less relevant content and dialogues, but they didn’t only do this, they also removed some of the best and most important scenes that play a major part in the development/decisions of the characters, not only in the first season itself, but also later in the further seasons. To add to this, they put in some anime only things that enhance nothing in the anime at all. If anything, some of the anime only scenes contradict the personalities of the characters. This is purely bad directing and there’s no excuse for this. Cutting some parts in order to fit the season in the limited number of episodes? Absolutely understandable. Removing important moments while adding in some irrelevant and stupid scenes? I’m sorry, Telecom Animation, but that’s not gonna cut it.

Yeah, the anime as a whole suffers from pacing issues, but I genuinely feel that there was a much better way of handling it. Some things being sacrificed was inevitable given that they were adapting 78 full length chapters into 13 episodes, but this is where intelligent directing was required. Alas, good directing was asking for too much, I guess.

Yes, Bam is a blank-slate MC and he doesn’t really have a personality. I won’t even argue if you say that he’s bland to begin with. But then again, what do you expect from someone who’s only known a single person his entire life and has been living in a cave which has nothing. His personality is shaped with the experiences he has in the tower, and it changes over time into something that turns out to be relatable. Yes, his naivety is annoying at times, but it’s very understandable why he acts the way he does. He’s just a genuinely nice guy who doesn’t know any of the evil in the world. He doesn’t even understand his own actions. He’s seen as the odd one because of how kind-hearted he is, and is the source of self-reflection for some of the people around him. That innocence is what leads to him being so pivotal in shaping the characters and influencing their decisions.

And the first person with whom that happens is Khun Aguero Agnis: the star of the first season of Tower of God. The genius from one of the most prominent families in the tower who was abandoned because of an incident in which he betrayed someone close to him, only to be betrayed by the person whom he gave up everything for. His backstory reveal in the anime is honestly one of the very few things that I thought that the anime actually enhanced from the webtoon. It’s what’s eats up at him and what influences a lot of his early season decisions. He’s the most interesting character in the season. His intellectual brilliance paired with unshakeable confidence (apart from a couple moments) and the change in his mental state from lacking trust in others to having faith in certain individuals around him, make him a delight to watch.

“What? Is it his mating season? Bring him here! I’ll pull out his banana!”

Who else could say this but Rak Wrathraiser or Alligator/Crocodile as Khun likes to call him. A ruthless, proud hunter who picks Bam as his ultimate prey. But on the inside, he’s a big softie and is likely the second most “innocent” character in the season next to Bam. His eyes see everyone as a turtle and his love for chocobars has no end. He’s one of the primary sources of humour in the first season and while they changed some of his gags in the anime, it still didn’t stop him from being hilariously entertaining. I will say though, some of his most humorous moments were cut short or changed. Unfortunately, that quote I’ve mentioned above is from the webtoon and was removed from the anime.

Shibisu, the other comedian, Hatz the chivalric swordsman, stupidly powerful lizard girl Anak, the cold-hearted yet beautiful Endorsi, round off the rest of the main cast. They all have goals that they wish to achieve by climbing the top of the tower and some of them are prepared to do so no matter what kind of cruel or underhanded tactics they might need to use. All of them had their characters explored through the season. To an extent, at least. But for Endorsi, some of the defining scenes that fleshed out her character even more in the webtoon, were once again, cut. I will never understand why because they play such a major part in season 2. Another thing that I disliked later in the season was some friendship crap that was pulled. The webtoon is mostly devoid of the power of friendship shit. Though it can be a good addition at times in anime, the use of it towards the fag end of the show was not just pointless, it actually contrasted the personalities of those characters, in the anime season as well as what we have in the source. It was pulled out of nowhere and I imagine it was done to appeal to the younger audience more. And they couldn’t have handled it any worse if they’d tried.

I hated the changes in character interactions that they made and that’s one thing that happened mostly throughout the season. I was more forgiving and willing to overlook these in the beginning, but as the season went on, the changes became more and more apparent, and a lot of them were absolutely cringeworthy.

The artstyle at the beginning of the season had mixed reception, with some people loving the different feel as compared to other anime while some just couldn’t get used to the change. I, for one, liked that they stuck with the original artstyle of the webtoon. It could have been more polished at times but it wasn’t too bad. The animation doesn’t leave much to speak of. It was solid without being spectacular. If I was to put in on a level, it would be on a higher level than most anime that come out every season yet wasn’t at the level of things that I’d call had great animation.

One thing that stood out all through the season regardless of how the other things were handled, was the OST. Kevin Penkin just keeps enhancing his reputation. Whether it be during the intense fight sequences or the emotional moments, the soundtrack simply kept delivering without fail. If I was to be critical though, it would be about the use of the OST. Sometimes, the tracks used didn’t fit the scenes, but that’s more to do with the sound directing. And the overall directing of the anime was subpar. As for the OP and ED, both of them are fabulous to listen to. Helps that one of the best K-pop bands, Stray Kids, provided them. At first, I wasn’t a big fan of the ED “Slump” but it kept growing on me until I began to dig it.

I’ve tried to be as unbiased as possible while writing this review. Because if I compare the anime to the first season of the webtoon, I can’t help but wince at how badly they’ve adapted it. Make no mistake, as an adaption, Tower of God is a failure. The oversimplification of some of the concepts and character interactions as well as motivations makes it a watered-down version of the source. While the changes they made might not always look like a problem when looked at individually, the amalgamation of all of them deviate from what made Tower of God great in the first place. Minute details like the addition of single line or scene which contradict what a character is about can make a huge difference to the overall experience.

That’s the reason that I said that the anime as a standalone isn’t bad for someone who hasn’t read the source and isn’t aware of what the changes mean. In fact, I’d say the anime would be a pretty good watch. Most of the people that watched it for the first time are of the opinion that it’s a good anime. But that says more about the quality of the source than the adaption itself. That even an adaption as weak as this one can be called good should be a compliment to the webtoon.

Anyways, I hope that the staff take note of the criticisms people have had of the anime and improve in the second season. Because if they adapt it well, it’s gonna be a banger! I will say though that if they continue to do it in the same way as they did with season 1, I don't have much hope left as a source reader.

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Sword Art Online finally delivered. After years of mediocrity that’s polarized opinions: one faction in support of the apparently “different take” of Sword Art Online while the other pointing out the definite flaws in the series, one of the most popular anime franchises has lived up to the hype. I was a part of the latter faction for much of the time since the series blasted its way to popularity in 2012. And there were reasons for this: the series started off okay in the first half of Sword Art Online, but then fell off as it used sexualization to evoke tension and rushed through stuff quicker than its viewers could comprehend, in the second half of the season. The second season didn’t improve much on any of these aspects. In fact, it may have gotten worse.

Sword Art Online: Alicization did start off promisingly, building up characters and the new world that Kirito was thrown into, but the same old issues plagued this season towards its end as well. There goes another season, and there goes another opportunity for Sword Art Online to improve itself. I was on the verge of giving up on the series as whole, but decided to give Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld a try.

And to my pleasant surprise, this season did not disappoint. From start to finish, it had me excited for each episode, and finally there was some polished character development. It added on to the world that SAO Alicization had developed and enhanced the existing elements in supreme fashion. The issues afflicting the series as a whole were minimized, if not totally eliminated in case of some.

The story continues where Alicization left off with Kirito being paralyzed following the events that had occurred. Tripped by guilt and inspired by Kirito, Alice makes it her duty to protect him and find every way possible to restore him to a conscious state. To this end, she’s abandoned her post as an integrity knight, and started living in a remote place with Kirito. On the other side of the world though, things begin to get heated up as an unknown organization is targeting Rath’s ship in order to gain access to Project Alicization.

Because Kirito has been paralyzed, he’s not an active presence in the season. The main character of this season is most definitely Alice, and she carries the mantle of being the central character quite exceptionally. She’s developed a soft side, which we didn’t see too much of in the last season. And what lets her change is the fact that she’d been able to defeat the seal of the left eye. That’s the same thing that prevents Integrity Knights from going against the Pontifex.

But with the Pontifex defeated, the other Integrity Knights too, have elements added to their characters. They aren’t the stale fighting robots that they were in the last season, and it’s been shown how circumstances have changed them. Having to fight the Dark Territory as a whole, they show different sides to their characters. The great thing about the way the characters have been handled this season is that all of their development is done in a realistic manner which makes their development actually believable and not just a switch in personality.

The art quality is superb as is the animation. The fights have a lot of flair to them, and the effects have been done to perfection. As always, another new season of Sword Art Online brings more great soundtracks. One thing that’s always been good and never a cause for complaint throughout the many seasons and movies of Sword Art Online has been the soundtrack. Well, I guess the composer is Yuki Kajiura after all, and anything other than the best OST would be a disappointment when there’s her name involved.

Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld just felt right. Finally, everything clicked for SAO this time, from story to characters to execution. Sword Art Online never had production issues, but managed to astonishingly fail in all of the other facets. This season just shows the immense amount of potential the idea has. There’s so much freedom in the way the story can be handled, and at times in the earlier seasons, Sword Art Online took this liberty to the extremes, never finding that sweet spot. War of the Underworld, though, found it and showed us the heights it can achieve. Let’s just hope this was a turning point, and the numerous following seasons maintain, or even exceed this quality. Because they definitely can.

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In the recent past, there have been an influx of media portraying stories in which the characters tackle social issues, some successful, some unsuccessful. Most of them do invoke some sort of emotion from the viewers because at least some of the scenarios in them do have a realistic aspect which people can relate to.

Hoshiai no Sora is more of a drama than a sports anime. The sports aspect of the shows is more of a background theme while the core of it portrays how our characters manage the problems they face in their daily lives. I started watching this anime after 3 episodes had already aired, and watching those 3 at once had me excited and anticipating a very, very good sports drama anime that had a fair bit of realism.

And it didn’t disappoint. Well, for the most part of the show at least. The problems with Hoshiai no Sora began to surface once it was revealed that each and every one on the main and supporting cast had problems with their parents in one way or another. It was intriguing to watch the two main leads face their problems and develop in the first few episodes, but as the show went on, the backgrounds of the other characters surfaced, and that was when the show began to go downhill for me.

The soft tennis club of the Shijo Minami Middle School is underperforming and on the verge of being disbanded even though their captain, Toma Shinjou, is an extremely dedicated and gifted player. As Maki Katsuragi transfers to their school, Toma, sees that he might be the one to change the fortunes of the club, and not just save it from being disbanded, but also make it good enough for them to compete in tournaments. Much to Toma’s dismay, Maki has no interest in soft tennis at all, and neither does he have the time. Toma eventually managed to “buy” the services of Maki by promising him money to play, and he agrees. This might seem desperate from Toma, but the boys’ team seriously sucked. Their team is so bad that they constantly get thrashed by their girls’ team, granted the girls’ team are national champions. Thus, begins their quest to get the boys’ soft tennis club revitalized and competing in tournament while facing their own personal issues.

The plot had me fascinated instantly because it was a breath of fresh air and miles away from “unsuited for a particular sport main character has certain good skills that he uses to compete against better suited (usually taller) players” narrative. The drama just added an extra layer of intrigue to it. We had a duo of competent main characters who each had their own reasons for playing soft tennis, faced problems that actually did make sense and had brains, not just skill in the sport.

But after 6 or so episodes, I realized where the anime was heading. By then, it was revealed how most of the cast faced various problem at home. A few characters having some problems with their parents? Interesting and believable. All the characters having problems at home? Unrealistic with too much drama that wasn’t required in an anime that had so much going for it already.

Let’s start off with the main lead, Maki Katsuragi. He’s recently moved into a new apartment with his mom and transfers into the school. From the very beginning, he’s shown to have unbelievable reflexes, managing to adapt to soft tennis like fish to water. He’s an all-round guy who’s not just great at physical activities, but also has a shrewd mind. The only problem he has is that his father is a good for nothing bastard who only comes home once in a while to get money. He’s very close to a Gary Stu but he does have a couple things even he has issues with. I enjoyed watching him to be honest simply for the reason that most sports anime protagonist are the same: dense, thick, stupid, and have something they’re great at while being short.

Then, the deuteragonist, Toma Shinjou, the captain of the soft tennis club. He’s talented at the sport but he struggles because soft tennis is a pair sport and the soft tennis club doesn’t have the perfect pair for him. He too, has problems at home, although this time, it’s with his mother. He doesn’t have too much else worth mentioning but he does form an interesting dynamic with Maki.

Kanako Mitsue is a girl in Toma and Maki’s class who also stays in the same building as Maki. She’s an unsociable girl who spends most of her time observing people and calling the boys’ soft tennis club for putting in effort and failing. She develops a nice chemistry with Maki, and it’s nice to watch her grow closer to the club, and put in some effort for them.

We’ve then got the rest of the soft tennis club in the cast, and all of them have issues with their family. One has a mother who had traumatized him in his childhood, one finds out he lives with foster parents who had adopted him, one is non binary and this isn’t accepted by his mother, one has an overprotective mother while the father only knows how to work and didn’t take his parenting classes in school, another has a father who doesn’t accept him playing soft tennis, one has parents who’re so deluded that they tell him that if he loses, it won’t be through no fault of his own but because he had a shitty partner, and lastly one has a step mother who doesn’t like him.

This is the problem with the show. I was loving Hoshiai no Sora until most of this was revealed. Even then, I still liked the show as a whole but come on, you can’t expect me to take anything like this seriously. The drama was nice when 3-4 characters were shown to have problems while the others seemed to be helping them overcome those. But when everyone in a sports club has problems with their parents, then it starts to become a problem for the show.

The art is very neat and I loved the style but the animation left a lot of holes. The sports scenes in matches are very poorly animated. I say this because none of the matches in the entire show had a continuous animation scene. It was all broken down into one side then the other. You’ll understand what I mean if you watch a full match. Sports anime do require good animation and this was an area that definitely failed to impress. The OST and OP/ED are good without leaving an impression on me. Overall, I think the production could have been better but I don’t like to complain too much about it. As I’ve said, Hoshiai no Sora is more a drama/Slice of Life than it is a sports anime and maybe the studio produced it keeping that in mind?

Hoshiai na Sora is a story of wasted potential. The plot was very unique and had me excited for the most part of the season, but the unrealistic drama really killed it. It tried too hard to be realistic and this was the product of that. Would I recommend this? Yes, and no. If you want to watch a sports drama with a slightly different setup, give this a try. If you can't stand overdramatic shit, you should probably stay away from this.

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Every season, it’s become a necessity now for us to have that one anime that just hits all the wrong nerves. It’s the one anime which frustrates you so much that you cannot drop it because you want to see where the trainwreck is going to halt. We had Arifureta last season, Kenja no Mago the season before that, and now in Fall 2019, there’s Assassin’s Pride. Admittedly, Assassin’s Pride isn’t as bad as either of those two. It had its fair share of moments where it made me feel that the anime might take a turn for the better. But for every forward step that it took, there were another five steps back.

To start off, Assassin’s Pride had a terrible first episode. The premise was somewhat interesting but the execution in the first episode itself made it obvious where this show was headed. The main character already saved the main female, who’s somewhere around 13 years of age, multiple times in the first episode. Then, at the end of the episode, they had a kiss to transfer some powers to her because she was a useless little crybaby. Doesn’t the plot already sound shoddy? Well, the following episodes are not too different and although, it did evoke some hope in between episode 5-8, the following episodes turned out even worse than the initial ones.

Melida Angel, the main female lead of the show, can’t manifest any mana even though she’s supposedly of noble bloodline and has to become Paladin, the class of fighters that’s supposed to be extremely strong and only people who have “right kind of shitty noble blood” can achieve. To help her awaken to her powers, the Angel family appoints Kufa Vampir, our perfect male lead, as her tutor. But unbeknownst to most, Kufa is actually an assassin and is sent to kill Melida instead.

But of course, Kufa sees something in her and decides to let her live. His reasons are never revealed, and all he says is I feel like letting you live and see where this goes. For a character as rigid as Kufa, this is totally out of the blue. Even before establishing his character, it was already destroyed in the first two episodes. Apart from supporting and helping Melida, everything Kufa does is for a reason. She’s a pretty weak character and the only thing she’s good at is whining. So why help Melida? I’ll tell you why. For plot.

Melida is such a little bitch. I really don’t like her. If Kufa was a bad character, Melida is ten times worse. She’s unlikeable, whingy and a total loser. And I don’t say that because she’s weak, but because of her approach to trying to be strong. I tried to give her chances so that I could find any redeeming qualities in her character but there are really none. All she knows is to suck up to Kufa and pull shit out of her ass.

First off, it’s never really explained what exactly a Paladin is. The word is thrown around from start to end, but the meaning never given to us in a satisfactory manner. Heck, none of the so-called classes in the hierarchy are not described in the season at all.

Assassin’s Pride tries to put a match of a weak and a strong character but manages to fluff it up worse than you can imagine. Melida achieves things too easily and Kufa is pretty much invincible. Everything turns out in favor of the two even though most of the world seems to be against them for some reason. Things happen randomly and so many instances contradict each other. They simply don’t make any sense at all.

Oh, the animation. It’s crap. It really is. One of the scenes in an episode is totally scrapped because the studio probably didn’t want to animate it. The encounter just starts between two characters but suddenly in the next moment, it’s over and one’s defeated. We don’t see an attack, no fight and they’re in a totally different place than where they were a second ago. And no, there was no power or such used. The studio just messed it up and didn’t want to correct it. I guess they’d just given up by that time. The action sequences are a pain to watch because so many scenes are simply… skipped. We see two characters charging with their swords and then we’re seeing one hitting the wall the next second. The overall animation isn’t as bad as something like Arifureta, but it’s not too far off from that. There’s nothing too noteworthy about the audio either. The opening song was pretty “girly” and I felt that it didn’t suit the theme of the show even though Kufa seems to be the only male character who appears in consecutive episodes for most of the season.

The show goes from an average start, to a somewhat decent middle part, and then absolutely shit towards the end. The show was a pain to watch towards the end. I definitely don’t recommend this show because it’s not got anything going for it. From generic story to plain plot and characters, everything it has to offer is disappointing.

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In the wild, the food chain dictates that carnivores are at the top. No matter what the herbivores do, they cannot match up to the strength of these creatures meant to feast upon them.

However, if there was a civilized world for animals, would carnivores and herbivores be able to live peacefully? Would a carnivore be able to resist its natural instincts and the temptation of tasting the flesh of others, especially that of a herbivore while being in the same room? Does a lion or a wolf let a deer or a zebra go without tearing it apart?

Well, in the world of Beastars, this happens. To an extent. We’re thrown into the story with the murder of an alpaca named Tem in Cherryton Academy. This gives rise to a level of tension between herbivores and carnivores, and of course, because it’s a developed society with certain “laws”, the carnivores are at the receiving end. The herbivores don’t say it but doubts begin to surface. And then, we have our main character, Legosi, a gray wolf, who’s a very gentle and calm carnivore otherwise suddenly awaken to his carnivorous instincts on a creepy night and almost eat a drawf white rabbit.

Beastars successfully manages to take animals and turn them into characters that we can relate to. This is one of the highlights of the show as we see more and more of the characters’ inner sides. They’re given the human aspect of having emotions, feelings and the ability to think while retaining their feral instincts. What if animals had a society? What if they lived in cities and town, having mayors and presidents? What if all of the different kinds of animals and birds, from lions to deer, wolves to rabbit and mice, all went to one school and studied in the same classroom? Wouldn’t that make an interesting story?

Beastars is a story that shows how these different creatures fight for love, social status and above all, their own beastly natures. The innocuous first few episodes portray some high school drama between these animals while giving us a glimpse of the dark side that exist outside. However, we’re truly thrown into the open in the second half of the season and that is when I feel the main story begins.

Not only does Beastars manage to create an interesting world that makes you want to know more about it, it also generates tension as more and more of the world is revealed to us along with the characters. Most of the main and supporting cast consists of Cherryton Academy students, and we learn the dark mysteries of this apparently peaceful society through their eyes.

The portrayal of Legosi and the inner fight with his bestial nature is the central theme of the show. For some reason, he’s made himself believe that the best thing for him and others around him is that he acts like a quiet, weak being. However, his involvement with the world outside his school and certain experiences reveal the dark secrets. His confusion regarding his feelings for Haru – true love or just lust for her carnivorous flesh – is what drives his initial development. He does things that he’d never done before, fights beasts bigger than himself in order to protect the girl he thinks he loves. But does he truly love her? Does he? Neither him nor us have an answer for that.

Haru is a third-year rabbit who sleeps with just about anyone. She’s got a bad reputation for it, and you’d think she would be a scheming little bitch, or bunny, from these actions of hers. But, she’s just a nice and helpful rabbit to characters who are friendly to her. Out of the three main characters in the show, I thought she was the least fleshed out of anyone of the main cast or even in comparison to some important supporting characters. The author tried to enact sympathy for her from the viewers but I feel that this attempt fell on its face because there was nothing I could sympathize with her for. Why should I feel bad about her when she's sleeping with guys just to make herself feel better? Yes, the animals who bully her are in the wrong, but I can somewhat relate to them, more than I could with Haru. She's easily the worst written character in the show for me, and I hope that'll improve, especially if she is to remain one of the central figures in the story. The only thing we learned was some of her backstory and the reason for why she used to do what she used to do later in the show.

Rounding out the main cast, we have Louis, the third year and the model student, destined to become a Beastar. He is the total opposite of Legosi in many ways, and the two have superb character dynamic. They both drive each other to extremes, one knowingly and another unknowingly. They aren’t rivals in the conventional way, but as Legosi starts to come out of his shell, they develop a rivalry which is intriguing to watch.

I’ll first start off by pointing out that the use of CGI during fights and more fervent characters movements was obvious and that’s never a great thing. And CGI hasn’t yet been mastered by most anime studios so the output was obviously disappointing. On the other hand, though, the art was very unique and the visual representation of these beasts was superbly executed. Another commendable aspect in the art department was the distinctive features of the various animals. The opening actually took me by surprise, both visually and audibly. In this scenario, I felt that the CGI worked well and it created a nice tone for the show.

Beastars is a show that isn’t afraid of doing things that most other shounen would rather not do, simply to please the fans. That, in itself, is a plus point and makes Beastars worth a shot for anyone wondering if they should watch this or not. It has a very unique premise, and for once, the portrayal of animals in a human-like society isn’t simply for the purpose of comedy. It takes risks and manages to come out on top. I will admit though, that in the last 3 episodes, it did lean towards the more typical shounen tropes, which is probably one of the only negatives I can point out. Overall, Beastars was a solid seasonal anime which I’ll definitely continue and recommend.

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For the first half of the first episode, Oresuki (Are you the only one who loves me) seemed like a very generic romcom. We’ve got a timid guy whose childhood friend seems to have a crush on him, then enters the Student Council President who asks the main character out on a date. The date seemed to be moving in very predictable manner; homemade lunch by the prez, some close moments and eventually, their faces inched closer and closer as the girl seemed to be confessing her love.

Yes, everything points towards this being yet another harem with cliché characters and repetitive story. But by the time the first episode had ended, this had already become the anime whose second episode I awaited most. So, what had changed in just about 10 minutes?

There was a confession of love. But the confession was aimed towards the best friend of the main character. All the build-up, all the hints, and the president didn’t have a thing for the protagonist. Fast forward four minutes, and we’re in an identical situation. This time with the childhood friend. And we’ve got the same result. I tell you I haven’t had more of a surprise in the opening episode of an anime for a long, long time.

And the surprises don’t end there. There are some which you might be able to predict but some’ll stun you. A lot.

For once, we finally have a protagonist in a romcom-harem who isn’t the timid, dense guy who doesn’t take hints. And for once, we have a guy who won’t take being friendzoned the same way those pathetically boring characters do. That doesn’t mean that Amatsuyu Kisaragi, also called Joro by his close friends, is not a kind guy. He’s more helpful and kinder than most are in the real world, but what makes him great are his inner monologues with himself when he feels like he’s being played by the girls. He’ll call them bitch or vixen, show his lack of trust in them on the inside while acting calm with a gentle smile on the outside, or look at their advances with lechery eyes.

And that’s why he’s relatable. He won’t take the abuses of girls lying down nor will he act like an idiot to their advances. He knows everything while acting like an innocent and dense harem protagonist.

And with this attitude, he fools most of the characters. Apart from one: Sumireko Sanshokuin, the main heroine of the story. Also known as Pansy, she’s the only one who knows everything about Joro. So much so that she probably knows Joro and his habits better than he himself does. And that’s saying something. No matter what Joro does, she’s always one step ahead of him. And Pansy is where this anime gets its name from. It’s a question by Joro after he’s put in situations like the ones I mentioned above by the girls, only to later confess their feelings for his best friend, Sun-chan. Is Pansy the only one that loves him? And Joro’s none too happy about that fact because he’d rather have the Student council President, Sakura Akino, or his childhood friend, Aoi Hinata than this girl who he considers ugly (for whatever reason that I cannot understand).

One of the reasons Oresuki is amazing is because the characters that at first may seem generic, have added layers of depth to them, just not in the most conventional way. Their hilarious interactions never cease to make you laugh while the innumerable twists and turns never let the story get dull.

Produced by a host of studios lead by Aniplex, the production quality remains top notch. It’s got beautiful art and the animation never really caught my eye. And to be honest, for a romcom, that isn’t a bad thing. That just means that it was consistent throughout without dropping off. The use of different background shades for the scenes which showed the dark, inner monologues of Joro were superbly directed. There were some nice tracks inserted at the right time to create great sync with the scenes depicted, and the voice acting, especially for Joro, was great.

At the end of the day, entertainment is why most of us watch anime and this gets a 10/10 from me as far as that aspect goes. There was not an episode in which this show didn’t make me laugh, and neither was there an episode for which I wasn’t excited for. The deceptive nature of the characters, some realistic reactions, hilarious character interactions plus the various twists and turns in the plot make for a crazy ride of 12 episodes. I honestly feel like this is the dark horse of the season. Worse romcoms have been made popular by the hype while anime like this one, suffer when the season has sequels to already established shows like Boku no Hero Academia, Sword Art Online, Shokugeki no Soma, etc. Oresuki deserved a lot more attention and I’m certain it would have captured tons of heart if it did. Alas though, it looks like this will remain one of the underrated gems that not everyone will have the pleasure of encountering.

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When I first watched the trailer of Hataage: Kemono Michi, I didn’t have too many expectations of it. In fact, I thought it would continue in the vein of the loathsome isekai from previous seasons which did nothing but frustrate me. But how wrong I was?! It seemed like a very generic story of a hero summoned to a magical world to defeat the demon lord, make a harem, just with some animal love added in. To be honest, Kemono Michi is very much that. Just that it’s a ton of fun to watch.

What would a hero do when he’s faced with a three-headed demon dog? What would he do when he comes across aggressive dragons? Well, in this show, Genzo would rather tickle the hell out of the demon beasts to tame them than use his fists to kill them. He loves all beasts, whether they be demi-humans, orcs, or demon beasts, equally and unconditionally. Major warning that it can get kinda gross when he’s sniffing the beasts, as well as when he does the German suplex on some of the female characters, exposing their undies to the world.

Written by Natsume Akatsuki, the author or the hugely popular isekai, Konosuba, Kemono Michi follows in the footsteps of its predecessor and attempts to entertain by making fun of itself rather than attempting to have a serious tone and failing pathetically at it. I’ll admit that the gags got old after a few episodes but as a whole, the show still remained entertaining enough for me to have a positive view of it. The plot becomes interesting just at the right time before I start feeling the overuse of certain comic elements, which is what allowed me to retain my interest instead of getting bored of it.

The plot is the same as a lot of isekai anime: Genzou, a pro wrestler is summoned to another world in order to defeat the Demon Lord, kill all the demon beasts and become a demon beast killer. But don’t call him by the name “demon beast killer”. The consequences are best understood by asking the princess who summoned him as well as the multiple people who call him by that name in the show. Throughout the season, Kemono Michi manages to keep the plot just about interesting enough while throwing in its bouts of comedy whether that be through the pro wrestling antics of Genzo or his unending love for all beasts.

The main cast of characters apart from Genzo includes the wolf girl Shigure, who’s the first to join Genzo’s “party”, and she’s the one who takes care of most of Genzo’s financial affairs. Hanako is a dragon in the form of a girl is a food maniac who’d like to eat all the beasts she can find. Her servant, Carmilla wants to be acknowledged by Hanaka while wanting to do everything that’s best for her. That’s all there is to them. But the show makes it work such that all of them contribute to the comedy one way or another. Some of their mannerisms do wear out towards the later part of the show though, so that’s a small negative.

There’s not much to say about the production aspects. Produced by a new studio named ENGI, the art, animation, and sound were unremarkable but fared reasonably enough to not become an eyesore. The opening is somewhat catchy but not something that I’d listen to over and over again, and the OST isn’t too memorable either. However, being a new studio, I’d say that they did a fairly decent job.

Overall, Hataage: Kemono Michi was a great improvement over the isekai that we had last season. I think It managed to accomplish what it wanted, that was to make people laugh even if it got somewhat repetitive towards the end. I was a bit confused whether to give this a 7 or an 8. It was entertaining enough that 7 as a review score would be too low but 8 is considered really good anime category. In the end, it's in the middle ground between 7 and 8 for me.

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