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Oct 4, 2019
First of all it’s a picture drama. Still images with only a detail (facial expression) changing every X frames + voice acting. It seems many people, me included, expected it to be full animation and ended up disappointed.
Content-wise there is not much. Each girl gets a short “realistic” scene, followed by even shorter “unrealistic” dream scene, followed by wake up dialogue. That’s it. It’s cute, somewhat funny and slightly ecchi. Nice to relax and enjoy Kantoku’s art with cute voices.
The duration seems to be about right, maybe even slightly too long, as I started to wish for next scene to come already at one point.
Considering
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it’s a special and anybody reading this review should already have watched both seasons of anime, I won’t bother with more detailed analysis of “depth” of this story and characters. You know what it is and why it exists. Now just go and let your brain melt a little.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 23, 2019
Having watched more harems than some people have anime in total, I won’t lie, HenSuki’s MAL score makes me sad. As a fan of the genre, really feel it’s one of the better positions and hope this review can convince at least one person to give it a try.
One thing I should point out straight away is very comedic and light atmosphere of this story. Unlike battle harems that try to have some serious plot at some point or VN adaptations that usually have a drama arc in each route, this is, at least as far as anime goes, pure comedy. And because of
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that I absolutely disagree with any kind of arguments about lack of depth or predictability, be it in story or characters. It’s simple, fanservicey comedy and, in my opinion, does very well in that department.
Now, let’s get to why I rate it over hundreds of other harems… first and foremost all girls have some value. While it’s not nearly-perfect balance like BokuBen, it’s still considerably above average. Add to that rather nice protagonist with some great remarks and reactions, and we are already at the route to very solid harem. Another thing that stands out is art. It seemed like earlier episodes tried to be overly ambitious with camera positioning, but it get better. Character design, on the other hand, is perfect. Their looks and well fitting voice actors automatically made them more memorable and enjoyable to watch.
Last but not the least, is the comedy. It might not be the best out there, far from it. But it’s still above average, even if rather basic and crude. Depends on the taste I guess.
Overall, as I said in the beginning, I find HenSuki to be one of the better harem and wrote this short review as my way of showing appreciation for this show in response to quite negative opinions it got.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 30, 2019
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai is without a doubt one of the best harems I’ve seen. And I watched a lot of those. Part of its strength is that it wasn’t carried by single strong point, but rather was solid all around:
The most important part of harem are, obviously, waifus. It’s pretty normal to have one main girls and “fodder” that is meant to lose. Or even if that’s not the case, harems rarely offer more than 1 or 2 interesting picks. BokuBen wins at both of those. Not only all girls get more or less equal development and chances to win, they also all
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have top tier waifu potential. Yes, to my surprise, every single of them is great, to the point that I can’t decide which one I’d call “best girl” or pick myself. On top of it, Yuiga himself is not a bad character too.
Being a rom-com, this anime doesn’t offer much in terms of story. At the same time it’s still executed nicely. All the comedic moments, developments, fanservice etc scenes are rather reasonable and don’t feel forced. Pacing is good and comedy level above average. What more could I ask for?
What really helps with everything else is art. It’s awesome. No, it’s not some crazy quality, high budget stuff. On that front it’s rather average. What makes it special is style that fits sooo well with the characters and lighthearted atmosphere of story. The way girls are drawn is both cute and pretty and their emotions are shown in really captivating way.
Overall it is, as I said, very solid harem. Some might find it forgettable and doesn't bring anything new to the table ("generic" lol), but I believe any fan of the genre will appreciate what it has to offer.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 30, 2019
Jitsu wa Watashi wa was truly a great and unexpected ride. Its main focus is ridiculous comedy, which relies a lot on funny reaction faces and creepy smiles. Every chapter gives reader meme-worthy material and many scenes made me facepalm while grinning due to their sheer absurdity. At the same time it actually tells a really interesting story with nicely integrated romance, some feels and even some plot twists that had proper foreshadowing. Thanks to its length it also offers tons of progression and development, although, because of comedic focus, those can be hard to notice until some more important points in story. This manga
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includes some haremish elements, but doesn’t fall into cliches and doesn’t drag it out by annoyingly dense characters - their stupidity is natural and purely comedic.
Speaking about characters: yes, pretty much everyone in this story is an idiot. Still, you can’t help but love those idiots. Whether it’s because they are such amazing characters or just because I got used to them through so many chapters, I really liked every single weirdo from this, rather big, cast. Despite the number of characters, there was good focus on people outside of main couple, including some pairings and meaningful development.
One more thing worth mentioning here is that, Jitsu wa Watashi wa has proper ending. It wasn’t rushed or axed, last arc and epilogue are long and satisfying. All the questions get answered, all the loose ends tied. After reading it, even if I felt sad that it ended, I didn’t wish it continued. It’s a perfectly ended story - something I don’t see often.
Art in this manga changed a lot during its course. In the early chapters it looked… pretty bad. Characters had weird faces and as anime watcher I wasn’t happy with it. Luckily, It quickly picked up, characters started looking “softer” and more funny, so don’t get discouraged by that. In the later chapters art is very good and there are a lot of beautiful scenes and effects.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a big focus on characters’ faces. Their reactions, smirks, stares etc. are really well drawn and extremely funny. While most of those rely on rather “ugly” style that’s meant to be creepy, author also proved to be able to draw more cute expressions, which can be seen e.g. during romantic scenes.
What this art doesn’t work with, are sexy scenes. I assume author just never wanted to go into ecchi territory - the result is that even in panels dedicated to a pervert doing perverted stuff we see comedy first and foremost, with characters being barely erotic. Despite being a fan of ecchi myself, it didn’t really bother me. Calling this manga wholesome would feel weird, but it sure isn’t something you need to hide from others.
Overall, reading Jitsu wa Watashi wa was really worth the time I spent on it. It was funny, it was crazy and it was beautiful. It’s way too long to read it all at once, but as long as you don’t try doing that, I’m sure this manga can be enjoyed by most readers. I honestly recommend it to anyone who enjoys random and absurd comedy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 25, 2019
Kuro-chan Chi no Oshiire ga Tsukaenai Wake is a quite short manga. With 24 chapters, 10 pages each, don't expect much development or progression.
Story is centered around Kuro-chan and aliens coming out of her closed. There is continuity between chapters, but no real main plot. It’s just a Slice of Life manga without any real drama. The comedy and references are on ok-ish level - nice but nothing special. Same can be said about characters, as they are very simple archetypes that nonetheless fulfill their roles and, more importantly, are cute.
Cute… now that is what this manga is about. Characters not only have cute
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behaviour, but art and especially character design is very cute too. I have to admit the way those characters are drawn made me instantly check for other works of Tsubomi Hanabana. On the other hand, rest of art isn’t really worth mentioning; outside of characters, I’d say it’s pretty average looking manga.
One last thing worth mentioning is that, despite not being an ecchi manga, it does offer plenty of fanservice. Personally, I’m quite happy with that.
To sum it up: short SoL/comedy with cute characters and not much else. Great way to kill time or bring a smile on worse day. If you just want to relax for ~1 hour, this manga is a good thing to pick.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 4, 2018
It’s not the first case of anthropomorphization of our insides and using human body as a setting for story. While the idea is interesting, Hataraku Saibou got much more popularity than I expected. After watching it, I still don’t fully understand reason behind it. No, it’s not bad anime, but it absolutely failed at what I expected from a title using such setting due to two things:
1. We got a lot of info dumps that should’ve been better integrated into actions instead of having narrator explain everything - I feel that part got better later.
2. Way too much action. For the most part
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this anime felt like Monster of the Week kids show.
Despite those major flaws, I consider it a pretty fun anime, mostly thanks to characters. They are very one-dimensional and simple, but I enjoyed seeing their actions and interactions, even if they were a bit cheesy at times. Their personalities made them very easy to get attached to. And while majority of villains were boring, maniacally cackling nobodies, there still were some nice surprises among them.
Cute characters design, colourful art and casual use of blood splatters helped a lot with comedy and gave Hataraku Saibou a light and relaxed feeling. I really appreciate that even in serious moments this series newer got too dark or edgy, keeping the overall nice atmosphere.
I’d also like to praise music in this anime - and to be exact, good usage of background music to add to some scenes. Many series fail at it, or don’t even attempt, which automatically puts Hataraku Saibou at “above average” level.
One more thing I need to mention is educational value: there is pretty much none. Please stop. The only thing I learned from this anime are english and japanese names of things I knew from middle school biology. I’m all for learning while having fun, but people try to sell it as something very educative, which is an overstatement.
In the end, I’m a bit disappointed, but I don’t regret watching it. It was a fun anime despite its flaws and I’m sure everybody will be happy with a change of pace Hataraku Saibou offers among all the usual settings.
I just wish we got more platelets.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 20, 2018
"Isekai harem done right”
With rising number of isekai shows in recent years and the negativity towards genre accompanying it, it's really nice to see Isekai Maou turning out so well. I'm sure many people got turned off by premise itself - even as a fan of ecchi, harems and isekais with OP protagonists I had some distance towards it. Luckily, to my surprise it’s actually a really competent story, despite looking rather cheap and cliche.
In a way you get exactly what you see on the cover, but it’s actually better than you expected.
Characters are basic, but at the same time it’s easy to
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like them, they don’t annoy you with stupid decisions and actually have a reason to be a part of Diablo’s harem.
Our self proclaimed Demon Lord is one of the most entertaining main characters I’ve seen in some time. On one side we have the generally-disliked and overused loser shut-in stereotype, and on the other his roleplay of demon lord. Resulting inner monologues and attempts to keep his facade up are great comedy fuel, and at the same time his double character makes scenes of his OPness far less cringy yet still cool.
While art and sound aren’t anything exceptional, it’s the story that I consider weakest point of this anime. There is pretty much no world building. Comparisons to the game made by Diablo are really nice, but not enough to make world feel alive and interesting. Villains and all the developments are as predictable as it gets and give this feeling of "obligatory roadblock" that just has to be there to don't make it SoL anime.
On the bright side, our time isn’t wasted by dragged out fights - author made good work cutting such artificial tension in pretty satisfying way, and instead most of challenge for protagonist comes from re-adjusting from his solo playstyle.
Another strong point of this title is ecchi. Personally, I don’t like boob-fests and all the cheap fanservice one can usually find in random 12-episodes anime. Isekai Maou doesn’t shy away from tits, but not only does it go way further than just skimpy clothes or pantyshots, it also does great job at making those scenes actually eroitc. And, again, Diablo is perfect character for role of male main in those situations.
On the other hand, I’d say that harem aspect could be better. Sure, all girls are nice, but they aren’t special enough to start waifu wars or be used in avatars/signatures (other than few men of culture, that is). It’s hard for me to pinpoint what exactly they lacked.
Overall, I think Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu is a really enjoyable anime that won’t get recognition it deserves due to isekai hate.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 9, 2018
Looks like Gurren Lagann, smells like Evangelion and at times reminds me of FLCL, but in the end Darling in the FranXX managed to be its own thing.
Without going into lengthy opener about how I didn’t plan to review it and just want to vent my opinion somewhere due to forums being down, I’d just like to warn any reader that this review might be a bit more personal and messy than what I usually aim for.
I’m not a fan of Trigger style and I generally avoid mecha anime. But I like waifus and Zero Two produced so many fanarts and doujins that I just
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couldn’t skip this title. To my surprise I found so much more than a waifu. Whole cast, even if too simple, was interesting. They didn’t make annoying decisions that usually make me cringe when watching this type of anime. But most importantly, they fit their role in story.
Speaking about story… it’s so pretty but also so damn all over the place. I absolutely loved direct and nonchalant innuendos and references to puberty and adolescence. The story didn’t try to be subtle like similar titles, it was pretty clear what is the motive and where it’s going. What I’m talking about here isn’t just “butt piloting”, but rather whole plot of children learning about being a human and about love. The downside is that I’m still not satisfied. This topic could be explored even more.
Another strong point for DITF’s story is that it’s first time this medium managed to make me doubt logic and cold calculation. It’s one of those rare cases where I actually saw the beauty of living in the moment, it made me appreciate all the problems and worries of daily life and how precious those memories are.
In the end I guess it's just matter of "feeling" it, as stupid as it sounds. Darling in the FranXX simply happened to touch upon topics that caught my interest and feelings.
And while the “insides” of story were awesome, the “outside” part wasn’t that great. Twists without any foreshadowing, friendship power (not that much luckily) and space magic were a serious blow to this anime. There also were tons of little things that got mentioned and never explored or not explained, making the show feel incomplete in some parts.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m not fan of Trigger. But even I can appreciate quality of their work. This anime does look good, and even though it’s not in my taste, I can admit it. I also haven’t noticed any fluctuations in drawing or animation quality.
Another thing to note is very solid music. As always, I really appreciate when anime uses music at the right times in story, and while DITF could do it more, I’m not disappointed. Opening and all endings were also above average.
Now for the most messy and personal part. It can be seen as a rant so feel free to skip it. It also might contain very minor SPOILERS.
There was a big shitstorm about Ichigo in ep. 14. I don’t get it. She didn’t deserve any hate at all. I expected something drastic but was left scratching my head over fandom’s stupidity.
People complain a lot about teens drama and romance in this anime. In my understanding that was the whole point of story. I also didn’t find those forced or in any way obnoxious. What I mean, those parts were exactly why I watched this anime and I feel their intensity was just right.
Ending, even if a bit forced, was great. Most importantly for me it was conclusive, even if they pulled a bit of Angel Beats there.
Some moments felt a bit too close to other anime and at times I totally expected to see situation develop in same way as in those, but in the end I don’t really think DITF crossed the line that much. A bit yeah, but not as much as you’d expect reading some forums.
This anime got too much hype and popularity and now is suffering for it. Many people make good points about it flaws, but too many jump on the hate bandwagon.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 26, 2018
Vast majority of anime has children as main characters. There are also a lot of titles that try to make them cute. But kids that actually behave like real kids are a rare sight, which makes Mitsuboshi Colors pretty unique.
Even as a person with no patience to kids I couldn’t resist charm of those girls. To my surprise even moments with more bratty and irresponsible behaviour didn’t bother me. Whether it’s because of realism that reminded me of my own childhood, relaxing music or just cute smiling girls, this anime made me appreciate kids being kids, with all the noise and naivety coming with it.
Mitsuboshi
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Colors doesn’t go too far with “moefying” characters. Their designs are cute, but actual sugar overdose comes from their actions, which also aren’t forcefully cute and feel very natural. I’ll even go as far as to say that characters are realistic.
When praising characters, I should mention that adults are also very nice (both as a personality and as in “well written”) and their interactions with kids melt your heart. They are rather one-dimensional, but considering it’s very light-hearted anime I wouldn’t consider it an important flaw.
While heartwarming part is top-notch, comedy aspect of Mitsuboshi Colors was a bit lacking. Some jokes hit the mark and made me genuinely laugh, but some other not only fell flat, but were also overused.
One thing you will quickly notice when watching this anime are backgrounds. They are simply awesome and add a lot to immersion. Background art is very detailed and there is also a good variety, despite action taking place mostly around the same locations.
Music is quite good too, although it wasn’t used as often as I think it should.
One thing Mitsuboshi Colors failed for me, is keeping my attention. Despite absolutely loving it while watching an episode, I didn’t really have motivation to get back to it if I took a break. Naturally, episodic nature of show and lack of any drama are known to cause such things, but I haven’t experienced it with other similar titles.
One one hand it’s not anime one should marathon. On the other it’s hard to get back to it once you stop.
I’d sure recommend Mitsuboshi Colors to any fan of CGDCT anime. Iyashikei fans might have some problems with “loud” nature of girls, but I believe this audience should be satisfied too.
Other than that, I believe anybody who enjoys slower and heartwarming anime should like this one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 25, 2018
After enjoyable first season that ended with sequel teaser, I had pretty high hopes for this one. And while it kept the “freshness” resulting (probably) from being chinese anime, I’m generally disappointed.
I felt like this season was considerably weaker than previous one. Without going into overly detailed comparison, I’ll just focus on the most noticeable points, both good and bad:
Bad drama. Too much and too over the top. Villains were just cheap and cheesy. I actually liked how girls problems were shown and solved in first season, but here it wasn’t fun to watch.
Useless and forgotten elements in story. Without spoiling too much, I mean
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things like Hayoi’s arm being broken at the very beginning just to be perfectly healthy a scene later, or two new characters introduced and doing some stuff that never led to any consequences. While the latter might be a setup for sequel, it doesn’t excuse the way it was executed.
Good harem members interactions. What I mean here is that, the dynamics between girls change and they notice others and their feelings. Too many harems (especially visible in VN adaptations that mix routes) fail at this and reduce girls’ interactions only to comedic bickering.
Characters’ main selling points were ignored for the most part, wasting a lot of their screen time. Old cast (Zitong being main offender) got too much focus, despite not getting any real development.
Overall anime kept some of the things I liked, but general quality of story feels much lower.
When it comes to art/music, it also doesn’t look that great. Or rather it “looks” pretty bad.
Animation had a lot of bad moments. Characters walking as a static element just jumping up and down and moving through screen. Hentai-level movement details. Reused scenes. Yeah, it looked cheap.
Overuse of special effects to hide flaws in art. Sparkles, leaves flying through whole screen and such. They sure are pretty, but sometimes it just got too sparkly.
And what’s up with their clothes? I understand character design, but seeing them having same outfit in every situation, especially considering how unusual they are, looks really out of place.
Music used during some scenes worked really well. I love when anime changes BGM to fit tone of a scene.
What music is missing, is variety. We got a singer heroine, but all her singing is just “la la la” and when she finally gets to sing it’s… opening song. Pretty disappointing. And why all of them have the same ringtone?
It might look like I’m just complaining and throw in some positives here and there. Don’t misunderstand. It’s still a fun anime and absolutely worth watching if you liked first season. The above are just my observations as a fan of harem anime who also happened to have soft spot for this specific title.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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