Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha II (Part 2) - Silver Link, just stop. Nothing that you do will ever restore the series to its former glory.
Let's not sugarcoat this show, shall we? Novelist Shu's Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha is actually a decent series. However, the anime enters in a literal exercise in frustration in trying to flesh out the bigger sum of the picture: the Selection Judgement, in its many arcs, being a larger-than-life story than the easy-going Season 1, which was very straightforward and simple to digest. Make no mistake, it's not the anime's fault for going into a rather complicated plot with Season 2,
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Jul 25, 2024
Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha II: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e Kayou Part 2
(Anime)
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Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Jul 2, 2024
Boukyaku Battery (TV)
(Anime)
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Oblivion Battery - It's a game of baseball...with more attitude to offer?
If there's one genre in the AniManga space that proves a hard task to nail, it would be the sports genre, regardless of its source origin. And believe me, I've tried a fair few sports shows over the past few years, from the likes of soccer/football (i.e. Ao Ashi, Blue Lock) to niche ones like Spring 2021's Shakunetsu Kabaddi, and I definitely have mixed feelings so far. It's less often than most that studios are given a once-in-a-blue-moon rein to produce something out of their ballpark, and this season, it would have to be ... the infamous studio MAPPA being assigned to yet another sports show, the last being Masafumi Nishida's Summer 2021 show of Re-Main that focuses on water polo (which was mediocre to fine). 3 years later, the studio is back with yet another sports show. The difference this time, is the adaptation of mangaka Eko Mikawa's Boukyaku Battery a.k.a Oblivion Battery, which offers more than just its main baseball theme...with an injection of humour here and there? "Nipple hair!!!" - Kei Kaname, VAed by Mamoru Miyano The TL;DR of such a story or plot as Boukyaku Battery would be: a group of misfits and quitters who compensate for the morale of the baseball team in their own quirks and features, so much so that they're all connected by the white whisps of a thrown baseball at a rather fast speed, with the sport being the circumstance that connects their humanity together in a weird, but cohesive way to break out of their life-stagnating rut. You literally have an unbeatable power duo, an ordinary young man, as well as a pair of frenemies, all of whom joined a public school with little to no recognition, much less an active baseball club to begin with. And with some tenacity, through the POV of the Average Joe, circumstances begin to unravel and bond the misfits together in one form or another, despite everyone being fearful of the Oblivion Battery duo's name being a reference to what to expect in the series. The love of baseball, and a make-and-break decision. Both Kei Kaname and Haruka Kiyomine are the feared Battery duo, being a fearsome catcher-pitcher tour de force to be reckoned with...when they get all serious. In retrospect, the Oblivion part refers to Kei suffering from amnesia, acting all joker-like with his cringey "Nipple Hair" repeated gag comedy, and Haruka just not giving a damn care about him, which only matters when they're on the pitch. Enter Taro Yamada, the Average Joe, who's the 1st-year newbie in their public school, Kotesashi High School. As you would expect, all 1st-years are coerced to join a club to make full use of their years in school, and Taro, chancing upon the famed battery duo, opts them together to form a new baseball club to reignite the fun of baseball. Little did he know that he would have to deal with Kei's relentless gags and the amnesiac forgetfulness of how to play the sport, alongside Haruka who only gives the silent treatment and talks when it matters. The baseball club only gets going once Shunpei Chihaya and Aoi Todo, once-baseball regulars who are not only morally defeated by the Oblivion Battery duo, but their own circumstances as well, join the rag-tag club, and as they say: "Once all struggle is grasped, miracles are possible." The characters easily steal the show for the series. It's not just the incapability of people to excel at their greatest, but it's all learning about how to overcome the high walls, even if help is and isn't existent, for it is all in the psychological mind if they choose to believe that they can do it to begin with. More often than not, I can understand if Kei's comedy gag of jokes gets old and repetitive easily, but surprisingly enough, that same amnesiac personality also serves as a great facade between his serious and not-so-serious moments. Like I've said, it's all in the mind, and if you choose to believe that you can do it despite the circumstances, you will go far, alongside Kotesashi High's baseball club members, where struggles are part-and-parcel of life. It's why "Opposites Attract", and it's how a psychologically challenged team like Kei, Haruka, Taro, Shunpei, and Aoi, can still go the distance if they try their damnest. It would not be surprising to see a studio like MAPPA take on the mantle of yet another sports show after Re-Main, considering that they actually produced the ONA special for Weekly Shonen Jump's Anime Festa back in 2020. Little did we know, that this was the sequence of events to come when the anime was greenlit in August 2023, even though the series is directed by MAPPA's B-tier team of debut director Masato Nakazono alongside Tsuyoshi Iida for assistance. Still, even with the lesser-known shows, the studio does give its all to the show's production through stellar animation to give it some flex, even if it feels rather stiff at times. The music, I would say, is pretty excellent, given its composition by both Tomoki Kikuya and Hiroko Yamasaki. Especially for the former, who also composed the music sensation that was Fall 2022's Bocchi the Rock!, as well as his 2017 hits of Spring's Eromanga-sensei, as well as Fall's Blend S alongside Imouto sae Ireba Ii. a.k.a A Sister's All You Need, to name a few. Tomoki Kikuya is a very talented musician who knows how to string all the show's moments with his musical craftsmanship. As for the theme songs, it's a killer combination with Mrs. Green Apple's OP and Macaroni Empitsu's ED, though I prefer much of the stylized childlike drawing of the latter in the visuals, as well as the solid ED song that's one of my favourites this season. If you're going to watch Boukyaku Battery a.k.a Oblivion Battery, let me give you some advice: don't think of it as a grand stage of a show, like Blue Lock. It's actually more reminiscent of MAPPA's other work, Re-Main, where its characters will lead the show in its own narrative of character growth and overcoming all obstacles, though the execution can be hit or miss. Still, you can't go wrong with this series, and it wouldn't actually hurt to try watching it at least once through for a decent time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 30, 2024 Recommended
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S2P2 - We're finally at Part 2 of Season 2, but don't EVER think that you've just scratched the surface of what's to come, in a similar manner to Part 2 of its former season.
As a newly rekindled Mushoku Tensei fan praising Studio Bind's overwhelmingly outstanding production from time to time, I would still say this: Not everything is a bed of roses, and the result of what we got was a downgrade of a sequel with critical core staff leaving the project (heck, even Season 1 director Manabu Okamoto left in droves to helm other projects). But what remains, and ... is still the most important thing, is the "grandfather of Isekai" novelist Rifujin na Maganote's impeccable, genre-defining works of all time. The sole sobering effect that his story, while only getting better with the passage of time, will also continue to wreck the hearts of many following its titular MC Rudeus Greyrat's second chance at making life better, not just for him, but for the people around him, is a great life-changing deal. But as they say, "the grass is greener on the other side", "life is not always a bed of roses, for the thorns come with it". With Part 2 of Season 2 covering the latter half of the Adolescence stage of Rudeus's life with Volumes 10 to 13 of the WN, similarly Volumes 10 to 12 of the LN (forget about the rather inferior manga adaptation, the anime has far surpassed it), we have finally come to the mid-way point of Mushoku Tensei as a whole with the end journey of finding Rudeus's biological mother Zenith, as well as, like Pokemon with the starter trio combo, finally settling down with the girl that he reunites with first. The latter, which I can spoil for being Part 2's re-introduction, is starting a family with Sylphiette a.k.a Sylphie, who's grown to become Rudeus's fundamental sexual arousal caretaker (I shall not say anything more about that). But when it comes to Zenith, it's a whiplash of emotions that, as Michael J. Fox quotes: “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”, Rudeus needs all the help he could get: learning from Shizuka Nanahoshi's research on how to get back to Japan, friends and enemies accmulated from the Magic University of Ranoa, and even his own biological family, where Paul Greyrat is also searching in tandem for the whereabouts of his lost wife. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: there's a reason why Mushoku Tensei IS the gold (or even platinum) standard for all Isekai works in Syosetu a.k.a Narou, because Rifujin na Maganote does a lot of things right that so many authors just don't understand how to concept and fully develop the imitations that come from it, and that source is a flawed, but unblemished deep dive into character growth and development. As a growing young man ready to embrace adult life, Rudeus Greyrat (to some eyes) may still look like a douchebag or someone irredeemable for a second chance at life, but to the eyes of many (including myself), if you can take a second chance to redeem what you've lost, you WILL take that opportunity to rewrite your legacy. And that's exactly what we see in Rudeus as he matures from a young boy to a young man, growing out of his immaturity into a wholly mature man who doesn't run away from his issues and faces them head-on. With the thematic of both latter parts of Seasons 1 and 2, Rudeus is forced to mature fast because of the similar parallels in its storyline, with Season 1 facing the Dragon God Orsted, and Season 2 facing the endgame of Zenith when all is said and done. It truly is the make-and-break of all Turning Points in the anime thus far...most especially for this season, because it's VERY intentionally crafted with a sense of purpose, though that purpose can be rather twisted in certain ways, for both good and bad. Still, after 2 seasons of 2-cours worth, Mushoku Tensei is one of the rare cases where its relevancy (even after the LN and WN have long since wrapped up) is still felt as a modern Isekai classic masterpiece, 10 plus years since its inception. And as the years pass on, I certainly don't doubt that we're witnessing one of the grandest stories and works of all time— not just one singular man's approach to a renewed second chance at life, but a story that's centered around him and his forthcoming new legacy of a life well lived, even with the roses and thorns smacked all around his life. Onto the production side, there is once again yet another directorial change from Part 1's Hiroki Hirano to the latter part of Ryousuke Shibuya (I kind of suspect that the former did not do well to shake off threats from his handling of Part 1 being underwhelming), who at one point was the chief director for one of Summer 2021's most underrated shows: Uramichi Oniisan a.k.a Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan. If you've watched that unassuming gag humour of a dark comedy show where adulthood hits you hard (I know I felt it), Mushoku Tensei will hit you EVEN harder given its adapted content, which at one point, speaks back about the importance of family bonding, to then proceed and smash it into a million pieces that's coupled with Rifujin na Maganote's impeccable and unforgiving writing that will send you instantly back to reality. Despite having only been an episode director for Season 2 Part 1, Ryousuke Shibuya nailed his presentation and got the series back to its groove, which is great to see Mushoku Tensei return to its unparalleled masterpiece territory. The songs, however, have gotten a lot worse, being all too generic in their presentation, and with effect from Part 1 of Season 2, it's clear that some of the original vision from Season 1 has totally been lost to cut back on spending more on resources where it's needed the most. I can vibe with Hitorie's Shonen-ish OP, but while it's on par with Longman's OP for Part 1, it can never reach the heights of the music artist mainstay of the series with Yuiko Oohara, whose ED songs still hold up well to this very day. Still, for 3.5 years now, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, as far as its current duality of seasons is concerned, may have had stumbles in the past, however, it never lost sight of its grand story and characters. While you can judge them for yourself, they're very relatable, and I promise that it'll tug at your heartstrings watching Rudeus's growth from weakness to strength. And to think that we're only halfway through the entirety of Mushoku Tensei, PEAK is still waiting for us on its eventual arrival in Season 3 to continue this journey of time and growth.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 30, 2024
Sentai Daishikkaku
(Anime)
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Go! Go! Loser Ranger! - It's Japan's version of Go! Go! Power Rangers!, but in a different POV that's WAY more interesting than you might think.
To go from a Super Sentai of a harem rom-com, to a Super Sentai of an actual depiction of the usual Weekend Morning Cartoon style, I highly question mangaka Negi Haruba's thought process. But it really is in his ballpark to go from one extreme to another, and not feel like he's wasting any of his past experiences for the long run. And that's the result of Sentai Daishikkaku a.k.a Go! Go! Loser Ranger! (stupid localization name...should've gone for Ranger ... Reject, but the nod to Power Rangers is the sole reason why), an evolution from the last famous work of Gotoubun no Hanayome a.k.a The Quintessential Quintuplets, being Negi Haruba's newest work, this time starring a majority of men as opposed to all girls. To the people in the West, you might've seen a series called The Boys, and instantly thought that it was a great reference to the whole superhero schtick being a comedic satire of sorts. And for you people outside who don't know about this show (even me included), it is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and as revered as gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It's the powerless against the superpowerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about "The Seven" and their formidable Vought backing. And that's what Sentai Daishikkaku truly is: it may look like your typical half-hour-long Saturday/Sunday Morning Cartoon where the quote-unquote Power Rangers figures in their iconic colours, face off against the evildoers, be it their minions or their bosses. But deep down, there's an even bigger price to pay for the behind-the-scenes connotations, and this one critical, yet important role, lies in the hands of Fighter D: a Duster under the Villainous Army of Evil organization, playing the part of the evildoer whilst keeping its audience and the Power Rangers equivalent of the Super Sentai squadron, the Divine Dragon Rangers a.k.a Dragon Keepers, armed with their weapons, the Divine Tools, company. Fighter D, like many of his fellow footsoldiers, are slaves to the Saturday/Sunday Morning Cartoon "show" where they're subjected to playing out the obvious heroes vs. villains' script where their transformative and regeneration abilities prove useful to the Dragon Keepers to keep on killing them for God knows how long. Since they also wiped all of their boss Executives in the process, leaving only the easy minions like D to their bidding to re-enact the same old Sunday showdown defeat, to the same old so-called Heroes and their target audience. And it's with this mindset that Fighter D wants to "reject all humanity" and decide to go against the stagnant flow, by infiltrating the Dragon Keepers from within and exacting the same circumstances as do their Executive bosses were dealt with. Are you tired of seeing the old Power Rangers schtick, and want to see a scenario where evil actually has a way to triumph over the good? If so, then Fighter D is your best representative to uncover what lies behind the Dragon Keepers, because the hero organization is not what you think it is. On the outset, the five iconic colours of the Keepers are the face of justice and its people, brandishing their sense of righteousness for all to see, but when the masks are removed, they're all but (in)sane people who don't hesitate to make their stances known to their subordinates in their own individual ways. And that is the pride and ego of the Dragon Keepers: serving the good externally, but not following up on that same guise from within. And this attracts the attention of two people: Yumeko Suzukiri and Hibiki Sakurama, who, like Fighter D, realize that the Dragon Keepers are not what they think they are and attempt to rebel and turn the organization back to good. Together, the trio does their own respective work with the positions that they have been given, with Yumeko being in the best seat possible thanks to her affiliation as a Junior 1st Rank Ranger of the Yellow Battalion; the Ranger Cadet-in-Training of Hibiki, who aspires to be a hero himself; and Fighter D...doing what his calling already deems him to do. Do not be fooled by the rather huge character cast here. Everybody is multi-layered, and with so much action going on, the suspense actually holds up well thanks to unexpected plot twists left and right. It makes sure that even when you know what's going on in the grand scheme of things, plot twists come and go, adding more layers to an already insane storyline of the ongoing fight against good and evil. For sure, this is not just your typical Power Rangers parody of a satire comedy where evil seeks to overthrow the good, but diving deep into the rabbit hole to witness a reality that's Darker Than Black, this show is a bona-fide classic for Super Sentai/Power Rangers fans who want to see not just the side that is shown to aspiring kids who want to be superheroes themselves, but also to the adults that getting there, is not a mere simple affair at all. For a show that touches on the outside base of its fundamental work, I would have to say that Yostar Pictures really has the prowess and ability to venture out of their comfort zone and produce more unique shows in the anime space. The same studio that brought you its own company's gacha anime adaptations like this season's Blue Archive, as well as both the Arknights and Azur Lane franchises, Sentai Daishikkaku has a sort of fluidity given its rather unique animation, and regardless of it being a blend of 2D and 3DCG, it still looks and feels good, and never has the sense where the production skimmed out on details and the like. I'm definitely looking forward to next year's original CGDCT golf show of Sorairo Utility if Yostar Pictures can keep its pristine quality to a good degree. Even better, is the music, and it's specially tailored for it. Once again, rising mega star Tatsuya Kitani just DOES NOT MISS, and "Jikai Yokoku" is the crowning example of a Super Sentai-inspired OP song that is a legit banger (along with the children singing segments), alongside one of the most unique OP visuals I've seen in quite some time, showing off the disparities of Fighter D running against the controlled reality of the Dragon Keepers in their iconic colours. And as impressive as Akari Nanawo's visuals are as a dancing showdown between good and evil, her ED song is just alright, though it's still very catchy. If you have one person to thank for Sentai Daishikkaku a.k.a Go! Go! Loser Ranger!'s adaptation, let it be Keiichi Sato, the director who brought you classic works like 2011's Tiger & Bunny, the Rage of Bahamut series with Fall 2014's Genesis and 2017's Virgin Soul, plus his very last work before a long hiatus: Fall 2017's Inuyashiki: Last Hero (that show is still awesome as heck even after all these years). This style of "loving all things nostalgic" is what makes the show such a delight to watch, being a paradox of all things righteous, questioning what truly justice and worth is fighting for, more than just a homage to the Power Rangers formula. For sure, it's a gosh darn entertaining show with a fresh and unique take on the Super Sentai genre, and even if you have or don't have the nostalgia for classic superhero shows, you ought not to miss out Sentai Daishikkaku, for its Ranger Reject feature, is what truly makes it special.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 29, 2024
Tonari no Youkai-san
(Anime)
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Tonari no Youkai-san - Humans and mythical beings living in harmony...what could go so wrong?
In the era of never-ending wash, rinse, and repeat of fantasy shows (well, most of them being Isekai in their premise), pure fantasy works get lost in the lurch being categorized in the same bunch as their no-life Isekai works, and it's really a shame that we now rarely get these shows that embody a unique sense of originality that you just can't find anywhere within AniManga. Such is the fate of series like the famed female mangaka Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume Yuujinchou a.k.a Natsume's Book of Friends, in which both the ... manga and the anime series are still going strong to this very day after 2 decades. But what if I tell you that there is a work that is just like it, similar but not so much to a degree? Yes, it does exist, and it's one of the underrated hidden gems of the Spring 2024 season: mangaka noho's Tonari no Yokai-san, with the anime being the complete package of the manga's rather short 4-volume long story that's serialized between July 2018 and January 2022. This seemingly simple story/plot is told through the POV of Buchio, a 20-year-old human evolving into a nekomata a.k.a cat Yokai, residing in the rural village of Fuchigamori, where a small community of humans and Youkai live their daily lives interacting with one another, it's all about finding one's purpose as a new Yokai fledgling and trying to make sense of what he can do so as to not lapse into an existential crisis. At the same time, the human side of the equation, seen through the eyes of Mutsumi "Mu-chan" Sugimoto, apart from witnessing Buchio's evolution into a nekomata, gets interested in Yokai in general, and one such party would be the Fuchibiyama family of the son-grandfather duo of crow (Karasu) Tengu Jirobo a.k.a Jiro and human (Hanataka) Tengu Tazenbo a.k.a Occhan, whom she interacts with a lot. On the outset, this rather particular community of humans and Yokai seems to be alive and well on the outside. I mean, you have Mutsumi's family that opens their arms to Buchio, letting him understand and develop the peculiarities of Youkai with the people around him, as he attempts to re-learn how to live life in a Youkai state, and yet, still has a human heart within him that feels emotions the same as any other human. On the other hand, Jiro and Tazenbo being Fuchigamori's literate inter-generational Tengu guardians to protect the peace within the village from external factors, the place itself may be the "grass that's greener on the other side," but make no mistake that it's still susceptible to affecting just about anyone not in the know. The kids are the most vulnerable of the group, especially Mutsumi, who, despite feeling right at home with her family, feels that her TRUE identification of a family feels like love so unexplainable that, as jarring as it is, the attachment is there despite the rather unkempt execution that still makes you feel so emotionally raw, and in a harmfully good way. I shall not go into spoilers (since there's just so much that this show does right, even when you least expect it), but it's better if you go into this show VERY blind, because it is a literate wreck to the heartstrings, teaching about stories of connecting bonds; Yokai trying to learn how to assimilate and acclimate themselves into a very new being of nature; and the most important of all: love and affection that may be the Power of Friendship, but plays out so differently that you don't know what to anticipate. It's a chronicle of many tales, but these tales exist to help and support each other, connecting the physical to the mythical with expressions that are not tropes at all, just the daily vibe of ordinary humanely works that keeps everyone on tabs at all times. You can't ask for a close, well-knitted community like this, it's almost rare to even see one so intimately related. Of all the Liden Films shows over the past few years, Tonari no Yokai-san is a luscious treat for the eyes. It's just gorgeous and beautiful, and at the same time, not too complicated since the series doesn't have any fancy of the usual genre tropes and the like. Even compared to recent shows like last Summer's Ryza no Atelier a.k.a Atelier Ryza, and especially last Spring's Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia a.k.a Insomniacs After School, it shows that, as a studio, Liden Films could benefit more from the slice-of-life aspect showing off what they're capable of, apart from the countless Shonen works produced over the same period of time. And despite a rather B-team of sorts with Ryman's Club director-cum-series composer Ami Yamauchi (with this show being her 2nd directorial work) together with series composer Tomoko Konparu, this is a ladies'-helmed team that doesn't need to be the most exquisite, but it shows that they could flex too, even if by a teeny-weeny bit. I just love the OST here, it's so calming and slow-moving to a degree that perfectly hits a series like this, though it does have its hard-hitting moments as well. Pii's OP may be all green with the rosy feeling of rejuvenation, but once you get to Aoi Kubo's ED, just when you think the show couldn't hit you hard enough, it just delivers more with a lovely and calming, yet depressing song that shows the vignettes of a very unforgiving yet thematically unapologetic show in its approach. In hindsight, you would think that a slice-of-life story involving humans and mythical beings has nothing going for it, but believe me, you'd be only scratching the surface at how deep this series has going for it with its very unique, yet unheard of, approach to storytelling. So much so, that despite this being a manga adaptation and not an original show, this sparks so much originality and creativity that I'm left with a lot of feelings and emotions that just leave me speechless at how good (or great even) the author takes tropes and turns them into a wholly original take to teach the frailties of life and death. You don't get works like Tonari no Yokai-san quite a lot, and to the producers, whoever found this manga and want it to be adapted into an anime, I sincerely thank you for green-lighting this project, because it rocked me to the very core of what it means to be human, Yokai or otherwise. I can't tell you how many times this show made me cry, and for a VERY GOOD reason, because it's just emotionally heartbreaking. Give Tonari no Yokai-san a try, you'll never find something as unique as this show does. An absolute hidden gem of a dark horse, this show is one certified homewrecker.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 29, 2024
The New Gate
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
The New Gate — I know what you're thinking: a show ripping off both SAO and Overlord? Hear me out first.
Harp here, harp there...the Spring 2024 season is quite the incentive for a wide variety of shows that bring the past into the present. Other than the obvious great case being the remake of the classic Spice and Wolf, the unfortunate reality for Syosetu a.k.a Narou works adapted this season, and 3 VERY OLD classics at that (Re:Monster, Unnamed Memory, and this series), are all objectively stinkers at best. Be it from a slow and boring storybook-style telling, to rushed pacing that destroys any good ... out of the original source material, The New Gate suffers exponentially from being a combination of the two, having to be released as an anime a decade plus too late for the source work to catch any steam for possible newcomer fans, and having LN readers clamoring that the anime is the far inferior version compared to the source material, both in word (LN) and visuals (manga). And honestly, I don't doubt that. Written by novelist Shinogi Kazanami, The New Gate would end up being his only long-running work, as the debut on Syosetu came out after Re:Monster and before Unnamed Memory in early 2012, making it a decade plus of a long run for the novel. Remind me, when did the anime adaptation of SAO come out again? Summer 2012, when the LN was released the next year thereafter, the Isekai genre has already garnered overwhelming popularity for producers and studios alike to cash in on the craze, and we are still suffering from this phenomenon to adapt EACH AND EVERY Isekai/fantasy work until there's none left, to this very day. Also, keep in mind that Reki Kawahara's SAO LN started much earlier in 2009, and Kugane Maruyama's Overlord LN started much later in 2012, which leaves Shinogi Kazanami's 2013 LN series in a state where, if you didn't know better, you would've thought that you were experiencing something special. In actuality, it is the same popularized (and now overused) Isekai tropes that fans from the classic ages of anime in the early 2010s to the new ones who've watched both series, can tell you that The New Gate is just nothing special at all, aside from its plot twist of a premise that doesn't sound as grand as it could've been. Also, I'd mentioned in Re:Monster's review that if the anime adaptations for these early Narou works came out right at the height of the Isekai craze, they'd've done decently, even if they're forgotten in the passage of time. But nope, it took 12 very long years just to see 3 of Syosetu's classic pre-Mushoku Tensei era novels be adapted into anime, and I may not know what the circumstances are behind finding early works THIS late, but it certainly would not have helped to add more numbers into the Isekai/fantasy garbage trash, which, as a bona-fide trash connoisseur, even I too have a breaking point to find these works cringeworthy. But hey, getting anime adaptations is good, because trash can come and be thrown away quickly, so that helps! So, what then is The New Gate all about? The simplest spoiler-non-spoilery TL;DR way is this: have the MC be in a situation where he's a bona fide Kirito, and then have the twist that like Overlord, he's now trapped inside the game, playing as the protagonist of his own story like Ainz Ooal Gown, but having a rather weird charisma of his own. That sums up Shinya "Shin" Kiritani to a T, where he is just your stereotypical Mary Sue of an MC who has the smarts like both Kirito and Ainz, but acts like DekiSoko's Allen being said, "The Banished Former Hero (who) Lives as He Pleases," who retains his memories after finding himself awakened 500 years into the game. Thus, Shin's unaccounted future journey continues as he unfolds his own chapter, in the life of an unsurpassed legendary player. If you know your SAO and Overlord stuff well, Shin is a combination of the two, by just the premise alone. When it comes to the hard stuff, though, he's just exactly like Allen: living life and letting go, reunite with the party members that he once fought with (who also survived the same 500 years), and fight any enemies that he encounters along the way. Literally, Shin has no aim, or sense of purpose, and just does what he wants when the situations call for it. It's just a lot of plot convenience that Shin, alongside his former close aide Schnee Raizar, and Tiera Lucent (which she helps build their home alongside the both of them), but also being dense from their advancements to him as well. Shallow MCs force authors to think about what situations will be useful, and Shin is easily written on the cheap for the countless plot devices to lead him on, which sets the tone for the growing story (if you ever see it as one to begin with). Nevertheless, you won't be gouging your eyeballs just to see Shin do his OP work, because he's cool, calm, and collected, and the adoration of all with his gag comedy-infused smiling facial expression amidst his romantic over-denseness (that Rentaro from 100 Girlfriends will NOT accept). Hoo boy, the production is a total meltdown right from the get-go. The affiliated studios of Yokohama Animation Laboratory and Cloud Hearts are essentially one company together, but they're clearly not ready to have to juggle two shows in the same season together, not to mention both this show and Sasayaku You ni Koi o Utau a.k.a Whisper Me a Love Song, airing on the EXACT same day and time on different TV stations. Even with SasaKoi's production hamperings, it's clear that both studios are stretched VERY thinly of manpower and resources, resulting in inferior and/or bad adaptations that are a major disservice to the original source material. Still, I'm not going to discount that The New Gate started off decently, but the writing was clearly on the wall not just in quantity, but in quality as well, and not just for a lack of refinement that constitutes consistency. The music does not do the show justice either...though it just made its own statement that it's rather bland as heck. Sou's OP and Miho Okasaki's ED are just white noise, not great songs at all. If the title says it all, please know that you're not watching the TRUE GATE show (which would be the "Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri" series, which is actually really good), not this "New" (Old) Gate one that is as boring, bland, and devoid of any ideas as compared to other Isekai works. The New Gate is truly laziness to the extreme, unwilling to take risks and go the safe route that it's supposed to take. And for the fact that the LN is still ongoing 10 plus years later, it's unlikely that Shinogi Kazanami will have anything interesting in the series after the anime. If you just so respite DekiSoko but want better, The New Gate is for you, which is as generically average as it can come, and offers some entertainment on the go. Otherwise, just don't care, you're not missing much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 28, 2024
Ooi! Tonbo
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Tonbo! - Conventional meets unconventional to spark inspiration for fledglings. But is it enough to satiate the watch?
In every given season, there's always a few shows that stand out for their peculiarities, and that's especially true in the Spring 2024 season, where there's a chunk of variety for just about anyone. But one genre in particular that always gets mixed receptions is the sports genre. Sport-centric shows can be easy to tell their story and character growth for the fundamental long-term change, but their drama can also make or break the series in its direction. Enter mangaka Ken Kawasaki with Oi! Tonbo, a series that ... has been ongoing for a decade since August 2014 with a whopping total of 50 volumes (as of May 2024), and a story about the familiar meeting the unfamiliar, proving that the assumptions of the outcast can still make something interesting out of the mundane. In with the mundane skills, and out of Lady Luck, sums up ex-pro golfer Kazuyoshi Igarashi as a whole. An embarrassed swindler that cost both his certificate and reputation, Igarashi hangs his head low, and leaves his family behind to reside at Hinoshima Island in the Tokara Islands (which is based on Nakanoshima), where the near-deserted island has a job offer awaiting him that will determine his new life going forward and not having to touch an ounce of golf again in all senses of the word. Little does he know that the island does have an actual (but unattended) golf course that, as he learns, is occasionally played by the island's residents, but more importantly, for a girl whose golf skills are bizarre at best that Igarashi homes in immediately on her, a budding relationship is born between the two to rediscover the joys of playing golf. Where there's sports, there's always drama involved, and Tonbo! is fundamentally no different in that regard. I just love the interaction between the two main leads: the adult, who's clearly had life sucked out of his innermost being, and the child, who's really childlike, and sees the world as her oyster, not thinking too much about the outside world in general. Igarashi, as Tonbo would nickname him "Igaiga" for speakeasy terms, is a very critical man who thinks that people should play the ordinary style, but as he's soon about to learn, Tonbo has two things going for her: her trusty 3-iron, and the unorthodox measures of blazing through the golf course like a mofo. And it's that clash of personalities that makes the both of them click. For Igarashi to unwind his expectations and see that someone like Tonbo, as weird as her playing style can be, still defies expectations, that's time in the training of golf knowledge. From the stance of standing aloft to the specific hitting areas of the precious 3-iron golf club hitting the golf balls to putt where it's needed to go (with some luck on the side), the relationship of Igarashi and Tonbo is akin to that of a master-student tutelage that often has the roles constantly reversed back and forth to teach one important lesson: Expect the Unexpected, while keeping in traditional play. The other supporting islander characters do play a part in helping the sole middle-schooler when Igarashi tries long and hard to convince Tonbo that there's an outside world that demands her style of golf, even when her circumstances force her to take steps back rather than push forward. It's a community affair after all, since Tonbo is well recognized by everyone, and everyone helps one another out as a collective group together. Where the anime sadly falters is in its production, which, given its Saturday Morning Cartoon-ish timeslot in Japan, is meant to be a show for kids, so there's no need to go all out on pristine animation. Helmed by OLM's Team Hikita (credited as OLM Division 2) alongside Shogakukan's Music & Digital Entertainment (the same CG animation production house as Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid a.k.a The Duke of Death and His Maid) for the CG segments, Tonbo! does look nice, I'll give it that, but its mature nature is hampered down by simplistic production, which at least gets the job done...and that's honestly all that matters. The kids' thematics continue onto the music, which, like its production counterpart, does its fine job as well. Sacra e sole's OP and Tokyo Groove Jyoshi's ED are perfectly decent for what they are, and even by a monocle that I like the ED more than the OP, I wouldn't hedge a swing to remember both songs, unfortunately. As much wrong as I can find with Tonbo!, some others will find this a hidden gem of a show where the characters and their developments steal the show for a semi-serious nature, not just involving the complexity of the sport, but also the people involved with it. Still, I reckon you should give Tonbo! a try if what you see in the show does enough convincing to deliver hard hitting moments in a lighthearted tone, especially since Season 2 is continuing this Fall. It's a kids' show after all, and there's learning points to capture too, golf and/or otherwise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 28, 2024
Girls Band Cry
(Anime)
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Girls Band Cry - Toei, why are you making us care about a 2D and 3DCG mesh of an anime that is the definition of a cult classic modern masterpiece in the making!? I'm equally as puzzled myself, but I'm glad that the 3 of you who managed to watch this, you got a blessing of a treat right out of the gate.
Girls Band Cry is great, it's just that you can't watch it...at least not legally, no thanks to Toei Animation's stringent licensing standards that is their version of gatekeeping against the behest of the audience, or are the big players of streaming platforms ... like Crunchyroll failing to get the license, leaving the smaller players like France's Animation Digital Network a.k.a ADN and South Korea's Aniplus that are successful in their rein? Regardless, while I don't have an answer to the nitpick of why people will still sail the high seas for just about everything (I know I do), what I DO know is what you're missing out on one of Spring 2024's biggest fanbase outcries of a show that is Girls Band Cry, a show that may lean on the CGDCT aspect, but teaches us one very important lesson in life: Discover what you're made out of, and harness that to the fullest degree. I've already talked in length in my YoruKura a.k.a Jellyfish review of how both that show and Girls Band Cry are very similar in their approach, yet are also semi-consciously in competition with each other in execution: being original shows about outcast girls wanting to stand out in their own way. Though if we were to compare the two, I would say that Girls Band Cry stood out even more with the compliments of strong storywriting and the "same but different" visual approach to its subject matter. Let's not fumble around any further and get this show on the road! Act 1: The Girls Finding a sense of identity in your growing-up years is one of the most important marks of life, and this marks the starting point for a rather unremarkable girl by the name of Nina Iseri. Having run away from home, this rather potent high school girl is in search of something new: an avenue where she can rant out her raw emotions, for someone who's done living the controlled life and wants to burst into freedom doing what she likes to do. And just like YoruKura, one character coincidentally meets another through music, it's where Nina finds Momoka Kawaragi, and that's where their story of rebellion begins, teaming up with other girls who found themselves in similar predicaments of life's struggles and their series of unfortunate incidents, with the embroidered vision of a band where they can "Throw in All the Anger, Joy, and Sadness". Act 2: The Band It's hard picking a fitting name for an amateur band, and even more forming one, that is a collaboration with the effort of Toei, music production house Agehasprings, and Universal Music Japan back in 2021, focusing on the combination of animation with real band activity, which would form the all-female band serving as the core for the project and releasing singles since July last year. And it's no wonder that Japan captured the hype for the show to come this season with said band's songs, fit with the 5 females of Rina (Nina Iseri), Yuri (Momoka Kawaragi), Mirei (Subaru Awa), Natsu (Tomo Ebizuka), and Syuri (Rupa), not only are they newcomers to the music scene (and also rookie VAs at that, performing for the very first time), they're essentially the "Girl's Rock Audition" group of which they'll be recognized as the anime's central band: Togenashi Togeari (lit. Spiny Ant). Act 3: The Cry You know a show is hyped based on the songs that are being spilled out of the project, which shows the fact that they're a force to be reckoned with. The band's vision being the slogan "Throw in All the Anger, Joy, and Sadness.", the constant flow of songs that have and are still being released on both its official YouTube and Spotify channels may be few and far in between, but make no mistake that they're all great songs with the same illusive message of "being in the world, but not part of the world," being a rock band who's unafraid of using their entire being to cry from the depths of their hearts and sing songs of declaration against normalcy. The original anime, spearheaded by Love Live! Sunshine!! series director Kazuo Sakai, alongside the legendary veteran of scriptwriter-cum-series composer Jukki Hanada (who's done countless shows like Hibike! Euphonium a.k.a Sound! Euphonium series, Winter 2018's Sora yori mo Tooi Basho a.k.a A Place Further Than the Universe, and more recently on Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu a.k.a The Dangers of My Heart), you hardly have any reason to doubt that both prominent people can do nothing wrong (especially Jukki Hanada), and by the sum of all efforts, it really is a showcase of all of the things that should look wrong, turned right. More than the band itself, Girls Band Cry really is a study on character development, sticking as close and relatable as possible to the humanly failings of each member of Togenashi Togeari, from the likes of Nina being a "homewrecker" against formality, to Momoka being just like YoruKura's Kano Yamanouchi, where she dropped out of her former band due to creative differences. And to have all of their failures turned into songs as their only source of venting frustrations on a "Wrong World" that doesn't accept them as they are, they transform from being "I'm Nobody" to somebody that each other can support through thick and thin. The biggest surprise would have to be the implementation of 3DCG for a show like this, which, if you ask me, Toei Animation need NOT go this hard, but they ABSOLUTELY COOKED. You'd already know how 3DCG anime has gotten a bad reputation outside the likes of studio Orange (which still remains the gold standard of how 3DCG anime production should be done), but a 3DCG show where everything feels buttery-smooth at a constant 50 to 60fps, while leaving everything else in traditional 2D fashion? That is praise that I don't always shower very often, especially for an almost close 2D-3DCG mesh of a presentation like this that the likes of Bushiroad's BanG Dream! franchise could ever hope to be given that exact same treatment of unapologetic and free-spirited expressions. This is truly Toei Animation going all experimental for shows that warrant not just attention, but profitability through songs as well, and I really have to think that the veteran studio has once again earned a name for themselves doing what was imagined to be near impossible. After all, they're the studio that produced the endless One Piece, and I'd have to say that Girls Band Cry is their newest One Piece of a runaway success. Of course, how can I properly score Girls Band Cry without the music. The show is everything I wanted YoruKura a.k.a Jellyfish to be: a fully integrated show-stopping piece of work where the main band helms all of the series' music, even if it meant having rivals like Momoka's former group of idol rock band Diamond Dust breathing down their necks in complete competition of standing out and being the best. Of course, Togenashi Togeari's OP and ED theme songs of "Wrong World" and "I'm Nobody" are absolute, unskippable fast-paced rock-a-thon bangers in their own right. That said, while not every song is great, you should REALLY go and hear the songs for yourself, they're still at least enjoyable in one way or another. It's an anomaly for me to say that Girls Band Cry is not just a journey of creating music, but it's also a journey of discovering one's true calling, all interspersed into a medium of the bizarre but pristine kind, that really resonates with the faulty human that I am, as well as many others, who deeply wanted to express all the raw emotions to an insane degree. I've praised Bocchi the Rock!'s outstanding out-of-pocket anime adaptation to no end back in Fall 2022, but to have Girls Band Cry come this season to bring me back to those moments, and in ACTUAL GOOD and incredible 3DCG camerawork to exhibit even more feels, it truly is an experience like no other. Sure, nothing can top the likes of Bocchi the Rock!, but Girls Band Cry is easily on par with some of the best music-centric shows in the AniManga industry, and you'd do yourself a disservice to not watch this passion project of a show in any fashion that you can muster, because it DESERVES a watch, SO SO BADLY. If you're looking for a show that'll deeply inspire you, Girls Band Cry is one, and it's the definition of Girls Band PEAK.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 27, 2024
Wind Breaker
(Anime)
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Wind Breaker - It's Tokyo Revengers, but good, and even better? Some, and many others, will debate about that.
Ever since the adaptation of famed mangaka Ken Wakui's Tokyo Revengers dropped onto the anime scene back in Spring 2021, we're still memeing the hell out of that series even after a good 3 years, when it comes to delinquent-centric shows. It's especially the case for what could be a great series, that slowly and eventually crawled to such oblivion that it left a bad taste in the majority of the audience's mouths. So then, we're left questioning: What IS the next wave of delinquent-type shows that ... can outdo and/or outgun the still-ongoing anime craze of Tokyo Revengers. And boy, do I have the perfect show for you: mangaka Satoru Nii's Wind Breaker (not the Webtoon series of the same name), which sounds cliché on the surface, but boy, is it a very good Yanki a.k.a delinquent show. A tale of the high road from hell to redemption, and this sums up Wind Breaker's rather antagonistic protagonist, MC of Haruka Sakura (that's a tongue twister) in a nutshell. The young man who knows nothing but violence in his growing up years was a repertoire on and off, he was labeled as an outcast for his unconventional appearance and lack of social skills, but his punches and kicks made him a skilled fighter, which is the only thing in life that he wants to do: to stand aloft at the top of the fighting scene wherever he goes. And like his unconventional status, coming into what seems to be the typical street brawls within a town where groups of gangsters go head-to-head against each other, this town of Makochi is rather different: its centered school, Furin High School, where strength is valued over academics, everyone wants to be strong to become the best. But there's a catch: you grow to become a gangster...to become righteous heroes to be the authority of justice in the town — hence why the students at Furin High call themselves "Bofurin", with a sign and a pledge to protect the peace and harmony within. And Haruka Sakura has to learn the literate quote of "the grass is greener on the other side," where things like kindness and reciprocating are very foreign to him, its this state that he grows to fight not just to become the best, but to fight for the sake of others and learn what he is truly fighting for. It's actually interesting how a newbie mangaka like Satoru Nii conceived the idea for his series, though it's not as typical as it sounds. Being inspired to draw manga while reading Shonen Jump during his childhood, his first work was the Kodansha-published serialization of the 5-volume long gender-bender sports manga Danshi Badminton-bu ni Joshi ga Magireteru: Secret Badminton Club back in 2016 and 2017. But when developments around that stalled, with the advice of a fellow editor, he gravitated towards stories about male characters being "cool," which served as the basis for Wind Breaker, with inspirations coming from similar works, and also iconic manga from the likes of Hiro Mashima's Rave Master and Akimine Kamijyo's Samurai Deeper Kyo. In fact, Haruka Sakura was close to not being the MC at all (that would be Furin High's representative Hajime Umemiya), but it was only because of Satoru Nii's expression to embody the "cool" character factor that he was chosen to be the lead who can lend to the story and its plot from an outsider's perspective. From the outset, if you think that Haruka Sakura was designed to be this kid where he only has two expressions: get all heated when fights come his way, and being a branded Tsundere when he gets angry or flustered that the trope becomes old very quick, you'd be right...but it's intentional. Being the face of the series, Satoru Nii wants Haruka's story to be "cool", and being the favourite character of all, he purposely designed said MC to be as striking as possible: from the heterochromatic eyes and hair to add visual complexity to make him distinguishable that's likened him to a stray cat in his design, stating his light movements and lack of body thickness were unlike those of normal humans. And because Haruka doesn't have much going for him as a personalized MC in the first place, the Tsundere trait is pretty much embossed on him when he receives goodwill. You can't really miss it. Still, as cliché as Haruka sounds and looks, this is his story of character development and change, not just as a delinquent, but as an able-bodied and growing young man to see that violence is not the answer to everything (though that is assessed on a case-by-case basis). Helping Haruka out are the fellow students of Bofurin, represented by their team colour of green, which represents plants. The quote "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going" is apt for Bofurin, as the people that Haruka will meet along the way, all have their various backstories that fill them with conviction, leading them to the reason why they're using their feet and their fists to do the talking for them. It's also a tale of friendships, regardless of rivals and the like, in that Haruka is progressively shaped from the inside out by fellow rivals-turned-comrades who're just as eccentric as him. Needless to say, for being only his 2nd work, Satoru Nii got that formula just right with great characters that you just want to root for (both frenemies alike), even if it does feel tropey to the degree that you can't unsee it. Being a martial arts-centric show, the action is just as important, and this is where the anime upstages the manga by delivering on par against what is already very elaborate panels of drawing. Under the direction of director Toshifumi Akai, CloverWorks may only have the recent memories of the Spy x Family franchise to go for in the action department (the other one being Fall 2019's Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia a.k.a Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia), but boy is this a Sakuga-fest of non-stop action. With the help of acclaimed sound director Jin Aketagawa, every punch and kick has weight to it, not to mention the stakes involved in the brawls, which, when you add that to the complexity of the characters as a whole, is a fit-and-finish of the immaculate kind. If that doesn't sound like conviction, then there's no way to convince someone. The only miss that I would have to say is in terms of the music. The OST is great, don't get me wrong, it's just the OP/ED theme songs from Natori and Young Kee that were a bit of a miss, though they fit the thematics of the series to a T. Wind Breaker is a series of clichés done right, even when they're flawed at best. At the end of the day, I'll admit that it'll take time to get used to how Haruka's personalities play out since we always see things from his POV, but don't be mistaken that as much as it's a hilarity to see blushes coming out from an insecure and under-developed panda-haired Tsundere of an MC, this is ultimately his story of growing up and learning what it truly means to be a man, alongside the Power of Friendship of friends and neighbours alike that is willing to accept him for who he is, without any prejudice, and fight with strength like brothers in a team. What can I already say? Wind Breaker is Tokyo Revengers done right, without any of the goofiness of the latter. And this fight isn't all over just yet, for Season 2 is coming next year to deliver more of the delinquent awesomeness.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 26, 2024
Kenka Dokugaku
(Anime)
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Viral Hit - Making money on YouTube by engaging in fights in an alternate universe? Now that's the way on How to Fight...so like, share, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more videos and learn how to get stronger!
In the history of anime, no overseas author has managed to get their work featured on the Japanese AniManga stage...not at least with different series under his/her belt. Enter Pak Taejun, the sole South Korean author being the first to have 2 of his manhwa works turned into anime: Oemojisangjuui a.k.a Lookism (which turned into Netflix's very first ONA WebToon series), and hailing from this season, ... Kenka Dokugaku a.k.a Viral Hit (lit. How to Fight), which is the manhwa-ga's 2nd most recognized series, and also the most recent work (in terms of popularity) that has recently wrapped up early this year. Being bullied is not a good sight, and people want to express their dominance over others in all ways possible, even when they have to resort to violence to do so. And that's the life of the unremarkable Yoo Hobin: being a wiener in a class where the YouTube-derivative streaming NewTubu has taken his school by storm, with everyone doing what they know best, from beauty to pranks, and even picking fights on people just for the green $ monetization, gaining fame and recognition as they go. And he just has to be the target of humiliation and abuse by one of its famous streamers, Pakgo. The relentless big-sized bully who has a rather bigger-sized ego picking on the small fry, Hobin, is one of them, and he spends the daily grind being the play tool of Pakgo. On top of that, with his only family of a bedridden mother and having to take up a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant just to make ends meet, Hobin isn't having life easy. If being a target isn't good enough, his cameraman of Woo "Jiksae" Jihyeok a.k.a Snapper, is an addition to Hobin's woes, trespassing his house to stream his own gaming content, thus using up the former's electricity, which does not bode well with Hobin. An embarrassing Kimchi vegetable brawl of a fist fight ensued between the two...which was mistakenly uploaded, earning them both the accumulation of a viral hit, and the two boys had a brilliant idea going: use their newfound fanbase to initiate fights with everyone around them, no matter how strong their opponents can be, and test the limits of the video social medium to earn them lots of greenhorns in the process. If you think that the characters are a literate joke, remember that this is the same author as Lookism, so Pak Taejun definitely knew what he wanted to incorporate his ugly-ass characters and fit them into a universe that's like a version of Rocky Balboa, but intentionally made in both funny and serious ways. If we are to compare character archetypes, Hobin would be the stereotypical lame MC who's made to be the sapling and the butt of all jokes against his detractors, but yet like a growing tree, he wants to always get stronger against people that he challenges, from the outwardly amateur to the realism of pros in martial arts like Takewondo, taking his lessons from a rather ubiquitous, but mystery person wearing a chicken head who's only known as Samdak with his How to Fight series and analyzing against the types of people that the beansprout will encounter to help him overcome and achieve victory. It's not easy for Hobin to rise up the ranks of being a fighter alongside Snapper (who switched positions to become his cameraman), but as long as the money keeps rolling, nothing is impossible for both weaklings to face the world of the strong, and that's all that matters. Of course, what's the world of the weak without the strong people, and what's the incentive that Hobin and Snapper are willing to go the distance to become the viral hits that they've become? The strong fighters, from the likes of MMA fighter Kim Munseong to Takewondo ace Seong Taehun, are no joke when it comes to their martial art prowess, and you'd think that Hobin would be wise to steer clear of the strong fighters, but nope. The streaming demand for their NewTubu channel is always there, and thanks to Snapper's know-how of how to lead an audience, Hobin is always unceremoniously lured into the fights that everyone wants to watch, especially for a skinny weakling like him being watched by the eyes of many to defy expectations and more. That is what makes How to Fight, the (small) Viral Hit that it is, being both a manhwa and now an anime that you want to watch just to see the end results. And I'm not gonna lie, this is exactly the kind of perfect clickbait show that, like our obsession with social media, is the triggering synapse for all things possible, being so engrossing to watch that you don't want to put the source work down. When it comes to Webtoon adaptations, I would say that this show is one of the most faithful adaptations that you'll ever get to watch the manhwa come to life on the small screen. And despite studio Okuruto Noboru's production being rather bare bones and lacking, I'd think that it's close to the feeling of reading the manhwa in its entirety, thanks to Sokushi Cheat director Masakazu Hishida understanding how to pace the original source material rather nicely. And considering that manhwa, like LNs, are likewise hard to adapt to, pacing is important, and this show has the substance to back up its long-paced content. The music is rather noticeable, given that it's an action series that's all about fighting, and while its effect is rather distant, I'd wish that it had more kick to add to the substance of a series like this one. That said, MA55IVE THE RAMPAGE's OP is such a fit-and-finish banger of a song that has caliber, though the same can't be said for Crab KANI Crab's ED. As usual, some people will whine why the names have been changed from Korean to Japanese-sounding ones, and if you don't understand the word "localization," then I don't know how to convince you. Still though, I thought that Kenka Dokugaku a.k.a Viral Hit was a nice change from Lookism, that at least not just looked better, but sounded better in a lot of ways, though it can't hold a candle when compared to the original source material, and just did decent enough to warrant its own thing at best. It's worth trying for a pickle of its theme, which we don't see often...for someone who gets famous for picking up fights, not just for the streaming counterpart.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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