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Humans and vampires, stories of folklores that bend and twist the mind in an never-ending sea of timeless fictional pieces of war. And Wit Studio's next venture into the Netflix anime catalogue with Vampire in the Garden, much to say that it was less hyped than the "Bubble" movie that came out last month (which honestly was very mid), I have to say that I felt awfully cathartic and incapacitated with feelings and emotions that are truly deserving of the NC16 rating that this has. And as much as the whole series felt depressing, it was very depressingly good to say the least.

Vampire in the Garden tells the story of 2 girls: the regular Momo Warm working in an industrial military city whose passion riles up from saving a young vampire whom has a music box of a tune that sounds its resonance, and that young vampire Fine whom other than being the queen of the vampires, desires a life led with humans to be loved, one that's once relived from her past memories, only to see it birth a war between mankind and vampires to the stage it was today. Both girls want out of their oppressive lifestyle and desire to find a paradise of their own where human and vampire can peacefully coexist, otherwise seen as betrayers of their own kind to find an "Eden" that doesn't exist. It's of no surprise to cast Megumi Han and Yuu Kobayashi as both Momo and Fine as the centerpiece of this series, and for all intensive purposes, their performances lend great aid to reflecting the series as a whole: the two outliers whom just want peace out of seclusion, fighting through every situation and not giving up on each other when the going gets tough, even at death's row.

Unsurprisingly, this is what I would expect of Wit Studio's production, this being produced by Wit Studio and Production I.G. co-founder-cum-producer Tetsuya Nakatake, director Ryoutarou Makihara (whom hasn't directed anything since Shisha no Teikoku, a movie released in 2015) with assistant Hiroyuki Tanaka (who used to help direct Attack on Titan when it was produced at Wit Studio), music director Yoshihiro Ike (of Takt Op. Destiny and Dororo fame) and Tetsuya Nishio in both character design and being the chief animation director. Speaking of the character design, there is one person whom looks almost like Jiraiya from Naruto, and that's because Tetsuya Nishio is the original character designer of the TV series, so you know that this man is a god amongst men. This series being mostly centered in around arctic and industrial areas, gives me a mix of Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga vibes, to which if you've ever watched those series, you'll know what I mean.

It's genuine that I say that after the somewhat failure of the movie Bubble, Vampire in the Garden is what I truly hope that ONA stories like this capped within 2 hours plus can become: an engaging story that does not feel too short nor too long, characters that we can be engaged with to tell their stories of circumstances and the much-needed resolution, a nice production and some good music. Everything must be balanced together, and this is what I got to truly experience a well-rounded original story that leaves me wanting for more.

This is some impressive stuff.

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For the uninitiated, Shenmue might just be another series that people are willing to take a back seat on binging all at one time, but for the true diehards, Shenmue is a masterpiece of a franchise that's like no other: it's arguably one of Sega's most beloved IPs with a heavy cult following with the first two games released on Sega's once-beloved but short-lived final game console, the Sega Dreamcast in 1999 and 2000, and Shenmue III making a revival in 2019. And fans might've wondered what an anime adaptation of Shenmue would look like if it was made modern, and courtesy of series creator Yu Suzuki and One Punch Man S2 director Chikara Sakurai, we finally got it thanks to Crunchyroll and Adult Swim's Toonami collab (that's thankfully no longer under their once-maligned Crunchyroll Originals banner).

Let's get this out of the way for the true diehards: According to producer Yu Kiyozono, the anime was in development for around two to three years during the time Shenmue III was produced and released, but it wasn't released until after the game came out. Kiyozono also stated that the production crew went to Yokosuka to get an accurate feel of the city's streets and atmosphere, while the anime will see most of the core Japanese voice actors return from the video games (i.e. Masaya Matsukaze with Ryo Hazuki and Takahiro Sakurai with Lan Di), although some of the cast will include new voice actors to appeal to the game's younger fanbase. Producer Joseph Chou of Sola Entertainment mentions that Yu Suzuki was heavily involved in the production to plan out the narrative with backstory information that was never implemented in the games, while director Chikara Sakurai added that some free roaming aspects were included with Ryo talking to people in the streets. So take in all of these, and you can see the care and passion of the staff team in bringing the Shenmue dream alive to the small screen, and they've largely succeeded.

For the newcomers who don't largely know what Shenmue is all about (largely because time is lost to this beloved IP), Shenmue the Animation adapts the overarching story from the Dreamcast games into one package. The premise is that Ryo Hazuki is the son of a family dojo, and so sets the story that his father was murdered by this clan called the Chi You Men through Lan Di, and that Ryo Hazuki is bent on getting revenge, crossing paths with people and learning the way of martial arts until he reaches his goal to defeat Lan Di. Sounds way too simple for modern-day standards, but I'd tell you that back in 1999/2000 this was something very different than your typical RPG that defies genres and even causes polarizing opinions till to this day.

The core characters are back with Ryo Hazuki and Lan Di (their VAs are the same as the Japanese version of Shenmue), while some others like Shenhua and Nozomi Harasaki get some new VAs in order to make the anime sound fresh to newcomers. That's why diehard fans have craved for a Shenmue revival after the Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001, and Shenmue III was released to fanfare in 2019 to feature more of the same, but yet still having the same polarizing opinions. And this is where the new younger fanbase comes in to experience what would the first 2 original games would've felt like, without getting too flashy on its character appeal that's all the same if you've played both games before (and not the overzelaous English version which were some of the worst but hilarious dialogue VOs).

Being a subsidiary of TMS Entertainment, Telecom Animation Film did decent on the visuals and action overall, it just did enough to service the plot with a tight budget. But I've gotta say that it's such a treat to finally watch Shenmue summed into 13 episodes which I feel is the perfect duration to flesh out both games in general without losing too much of its mostly side-quest appeal and the alluring story that was so far ahead of its time back in the day. But I miss the Lucky Hit segment, wish there was more of it. Music was decent-to-good as well with Kashitaro Ito churning out another banger song of an opening with Narudora's calm ending that also fits within Shenmue's draw of musical proportions that while is not close to famed composer Yuzo Koshiro's stellar composition in the games, it's just good enough to glide over the series in the most general way.

Fans of Shenmue, DO NOT MISS this adaptation. It's a faithful replication of the Dreamcast games, and I can reassure you that you won't be disappointed at all. As for the newcomers, please don't take the somewhat maligned score for what it is, try it out for yourself and experience the Shenmue franchise the way that it's supposed to be in its own greatness.

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The latest movie to get released from Netflix in a nutshell:
Imagine Makoto Shinkai's somewhat lackluster Tenki no Ko a.k.a Weathering With You, except there's bubbles and parkour to create a decent movie.

No doubt that this insanely high-profile Netflix-exclusive movie is the work of acclaimed people (most of them being from Shingeki no Kyojin a.k.a Attack on Titan since this is Wit Studio with producer Tetsuya Nakatake, director Araki Tetsuro, sound director Masafumi Mima), along with writers Gen Urobochi and others, plus the musical genius of HiroyukiSawano. With a high-calibre staff team like this, this Netflix release must look and feel the part of accomplished veterans, and just feels incredible...music and production-wise only.

In a very simple storytelling way (because it really ain't much), Bubble showcases a post-apocalyptic Japan where people can parkour to their liking, so much that it created a competition-like feeling to the young-uns living there. And in comes the supposed "The Little Mermaid" twist character Uta, birthed out from saving this somewhat closed-hearted Hibiki from drowning, only to land at his familial ship Reiyo of Team Blue Blaze, became human and lead Hibiki to be a better parkour player. While it showcases that, it also does is focus on the romance aspect of both Hibiki and Uta in terms of "noise", showing that hearts can resonate together when they hear the same vocality. Case in point, this feels like a combination of 2 other movies: Belle and Cider no You ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru a.k.a Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop on both music and romance aspects but with the classic Attack on Titan twist. The other characters weren't so memorable, and as mentioned, they're only there to service for numbers and progress the plot.

Honestly, when you take the entire package as a whole, it feels half-fulfilled, half-empty at the same time as well. Both Wit Studio (and their core staff) and HiroyukiSawano absolutely delivered in their craft, as are the theme songs from Eve and Riria that shouldn't come as a surprise for fans of either entity and people behind this movie. But the structure of the movie being like this just wasn't a good one, and for a movie that's very highly anticipated (or if you're one that got spoiled by reading the pre-review in the forums that was posted months before the Netflix release), it just felt disappointing and underwhelming.

I don't really want to say this, but Bubble is one recent anime movie that I felt can be labelled as "mid". I usually take everything into consideration, especially when it comes to movies, but sad to say that even with the talents of Wit Studio and HiroyukiSawano, it's the scenario and character writing in this that suffers tremendously. This is a movie that's all about the musical and graphical showcase (since it has a higher budget than regular TV anime no matter the source which is Netflix or otherwise), not one that's too focused on story, though it would help if the story was written better for a more immersive experience.

Can someone PLEASE make a movie that's not so heavily inspired by Makoto Shinkai for a change? Because the anime movie landscape is getting stale at this point if most movies now are created and attempting to imitate the success of the prolific author-cum-filmmaker.

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What do you think of when you put badminton and animation together? Do you get bad-ass badminton with fast-paced action and pristine quality at its best? If this is what you're thinking, then welcome onboard, because studio Liden Films is back at the badminton animation game once again with Ryman's Club a.k.a Salaryman's Club, a portmanteau of the corporate work life and the actual sports club that actually exists in Japanese culture. Combined with the impressive work of Liden Films that badminton is the ONLY sport that this studio does produce right.

But in order to understand Ryman's Club, you have to first understand how it works. The Island of the Rising Sun is no short of unique things like these, and this is integrated in Japanese culture as the so-called "Club Badminton" that is in the same way, most of the club players are also employees (or salarymen in Japan's context) at the company they represent, so they'll be guaranteed lifetime employment after they retire from badminton. They would still be able to work for the club's sponsor company which is usually major companies (NTT East, Tonami, Nihon Unisys to name a few), they receive monthly salary just like all other employees in the company, which makes it different from pros in other parts of the world who mostly earn from prize money, sponsorship deals, endorsement, commercials, national caps salary etc. while Japanese players have stable income (salary from club company) on top of sponsorship deals, endorsements, national caps salary, commercials and prize money (while players from other countries could get most of their prize winning, Japanese players will receive theirs after a cut from the national badminton association). Some interesting tidbits worth sharing since the idea behind Ryman's Club is from one that has been existing for quite a long time in Japan.

In Ryman's Club, we get 4 teams which are fictional portmanteaus of the real-life companies:
- Sunlight Beverage (Suntory Beverage & Food);
- Tomari Transport (Yamato Transport, only replace the two cats logo with a lion);
- Unisics (Universal Music with their logo being inspired from Asics); and
- Mitsuhoshi Bank (Mizuho Bank with their logo being inspired from both Mizuho and Mitsubishi).

But the story itself is bog-standard that's conceptualized out of someone's performance boot and dark history that got him out of his former company, and right into a fresh new company whom recruited this same person to play on their team. This person is Mikoto Shiratori, a badminton prodigy with the ability of foresight, and someone whom went through his own dark episode from young times of playing doubles and causing his teammate to get injured, to playing for one of the top-ranked companies (Mitsuhoshi Bank) and only to get the boot because "failure is not an option". His next venture into Sunlight Beverage is a means for a re-start at getting his life together, but not before he'd meet his future partner: Tatsuru "the Badaryman" Miyazumi, his boss and doubles partner, whom had been drunk the day before his first official day at work, only to resurface his PTSD of his young badminton days when he was about to let go of his past behind. Being a relentless request from Tatsuru himself, Mikoto is introduced to the SunBev team of Coach Yasuomi Ono, Koki Takeda, the Saeki brothers Toya and Sota, and their formerly team ace Toru Usuyama of the East, and therein sets the journey to overcome past traumas and be a better team through teamwork. Believe me, it sounds simple, but it does the entry-level job application enough.

Of course, how can you have protagonists without antagonists, and there are a fair few bit of players within the same reign of issues that they face. The only few people whom have a backstory to them are the doubles team of Mikoto and Tatsuru, along with Usuyama, and they exist from the strongest adversary team ever: Mitsuhoshi Bank. Mikoto's history with the team with the Bakugo-like character of Takuma Kirishima; Tatsuru's history of playing with Izumo Naohiro as a doubles team (before Mikoto made his entrance); and Usuyama of the East and Ibuki Sentaro of the West, the team singles aces which have an extensive history behind them to face off for years before the former would quit and sacrifice his badminton to focus on his work and family. Mikoto also has Tomari Transport's Azuma Tachibana as a former player of his young badminton team, whom is there to check up on Mikoto when he got back in the groove of playing badminton for another company's team. Other than that, the requirement of 6 players per company team creates the same derivative that you would expect of any sport that needs a minimum amount of players just to play ball. Again, simple story, backed by simple characters and intended motives, nothing to really complain if the execution is done decently.

You know the drill: when it comes to sports shows, studios like Production I.G. and MAPPA have made a name for themselves adapting high-profile shows like Haikyuu! and Yuri!!! On Ice respectively. And Liden Films have also made a name for themselves when the studio produced Hanebado! back in Summer 2018, proving that they ARE the go-to studio for badminton anime adaptations turned into beautiful and striking sakuga animation. And 3.5 years later, we're seeing the same with Tokyo Revengers episode director Ami Yamauchi and Sarazanmai series composer Teruko Utsumi's work, which thankfully other than the missteps of Hanebado! in the story department, this works great and hand-in-hand with the overall package. If there's a strong department in this show, Liden Films has done it once again to deliver good performance.

And what's a good series if it doesn't have good music, and this bumps the extra atmosphere with the show to good effect. Given Mafumafu's musical calibre, I don't really need to mention if you've heard a good 2 or 3 songs that this Vocaloid producer has produced, but it's Novelbright's OP that really slaps. A double thumbs up.

Ryman's Club is what I like to call: simplicity at its finest. In every predictable twist and turn, there's the direction from Ami Yamauchi with the skills learnt from Tokyo Revengers to twist things on its own shuttlecock and racket, so going into this series being her debut directorial show, I'd say she accomplished a work well done to keep it simple, working and executed properly.

This is a well-rounded show, all things considered.

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Note: There will be little spoilers in this review, though it'd be best to put it all together like a fine douche portrait of an intellectual philisophical research paper of a work.

Overly exuberant ambition, undermined by problems from behind-the-scenes pre-production woes to wistfully "grand" exposition and storytelling, that only begrdudgingly concocts as a servitude to hide the fact that you don't actually need to be a "big brain" of a fool to even understand a conch of this work. This is the story of Tokyo 24-ku a.k.a Tokyo 24th Ward, brought to you by CloverWorks, the studio now infamous for the "3 shows per season lineup" moniker that the Black Sheep of the season has to suffer inherent problems, and this show is that Black Sheep of blame.

Let's start by laying the groundwork for this show: directed by Jojo director Naokatsu Tsuda, with scriptwriter and series composer Vio Shimokura from Nitroplus (the company responsible for churning out visual novel games, created from writers like the acclaimed Gen Urobuchi), Tokyo 24-ku can be summed with these words alone: groupism, artificial intelligence, altruism, utilitarianism, individualism, consequentialism, principle of double effect. But the most important aspect of how Tokyo 24-ku works is by this barreling issue called the "trolley problem", first invented and accounted in a 1967 philosophy paper by English philosopher Philippa Ruth Foot, one of the founders of contemporary virtue ethics that are inspired by Aristotle, along with fellow philosophist Judith Jarvis Thomson.

To understand Tokyo 24-ku, you need to understand what is this "trolley problem" all about. This thought experiment is described as such: a series of thought experiments in ethics and psychology, involving stylized ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number, that usually begins with a scenario in which a runaway tram or trolley is on course to collide with and kill a number of people (traditionally five) down the track, but a driver or bystander can intervene and divert the vehicle to kill just one person on a different track. Then other variations of the runaway vehicle, and analogous life-and-death dilemmas (medical, judicial etc.) are posed, each containing the option to either do nothing, in which case several people will be killed, or intervene and sacrifice one initially "safe" person to save the others.

And this trolley problem is placed on the 3 central characters: Shuta "Shu" Aoi, Ran Akagi and Koki "Ko" Suido, or as nicknamed as such: RGB, because of their hair colours. How all these events conspired to turn on their heads, falls on their history growing up in the 24th Ward a.k.a Shantytown as childhood friends with their own typical ambitions in life, being raised in different family backgrounds, hobbies and personalities, with friends being close and typical as family-like. But one event changes everything, and that's when their historic elementary school suffered an arson attack that at first, was thought to be a rando terrorist attack, but it was insignificant things like rats nibbling on old wiring that caused the school to catch fire, and that someone was Koki's younger sister Asumi whom was caught in the flames, the causal effect to lose her life. Asumi is close to the RGB boys, in fact, she'd call them as such to signify their closeness, but with her death, she is seemingly not done yet as her tentative soul lives through phone calls to the RGB guys to present to them the trolley problems known as "Visions", though for what purpose remains to be seen in the beginning, that slowly begins to unravel the ugliness that's harnessing those "Visions" and the very things that make up the special district of the 24th Ward.

So first off, I mentioned that you do not need to have a big brain to understand this show, because at hindsight, these trolley problems or "Visions" start out as being 2-way choices of limiting innocent deaths by the count. But as time progresses, the Visions get progressively more nuanced, taking into accounts of the nihilistic nature of human radical behaviours from the likes of utilitarianism, altruism and consequentialism, that despite the descriptions of the trolley problem at hand, raises the stakes that would always result in a win-lose situation. And this is where the mysterious Carneades comes in to thwart the RGB guys, thereby raising the stakes higher that death is imminent for at least an innocent being despite the choices that they make. This is pretty significant because Carneades (in history) is known as an academic skeptic, whom holds the belief that all knowledge is impossible a.k.a acatalepsy (meaning "inability to comprehend", incomprehensibleness, or the impossibility of comprehending or conceiving a thing), except for the knowledge that all other knowledge is impossible, that human knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only to plausibility. On the basis of truth, Carneades argues that if there were a criterion, it must exist either in reason (logos), sensation (aisthêsis), or conception (phantasia). But then reason itself depends on conception, and this again on sensation; have no means of judging whether humans' sensations are true or false, whether they correspond to the objects that produce them, or carry wrong impressions to the mind, producing false conceptions and ideas, and leading reason also into error. Therefore, sensation, conception, and reason, are alike disqualified for being the criterion of truth.

Alas, the happenings within Shantytown have a butt-ton of problems to deal with. Starting with the RGB guys, or as I would like to call them, Shuta "Mr. 24 hero" Aoi, Ran "DoRed" Akagi and Koki "SARG" Suido, each of their ambitions are very different, and yet thus serve a different aspect that shows the faction divisions within the ward. The red-haired Ran Akagi is the leader of his graffiti group called DoRed, whom exhibits a strong personality and is able to convey his emotions and feelings through the art of graffiti, which has progressed in the series to be more like a cult following for people opposing the government's radical changes against their will. Together with friends like Kinako, technological hacker Kudo "Kunai" Naito, and influencers like Kuchikiri (better known as 0th) Ran is a force to be reckoned with. The green-haired Koki Suido comes from his familial line of intelligents, with his father Gori being the mayor of the 24th Ward, save for the deceased sister Asumi. Together, they run the 24th Ward with the usual bigotry treatments of fabrications and lies (as you would expect of any governmental system) heralding from the system utilized to keep the ward in their grasp, funded with the help from fellow chief researcher Sakiko "Satchan" Tsuzuragawa. And this is so because Koki works in SARG, Shantytown's police faction equivalent to keep harmony within the midst from the likes of Hazard Cast (their version of police surveillance control) and the KANAE System, named after the Suido family's deceased mother (which is an upgraded feature that severely limits privacy in exchange for security) through phones specially supplied to and heavily controlled in the ward, known as cPhones. The blue-haired Shuta Aoi, he's your typical neighbourhood boy with a childish ambition to match, and is the one that always knocks time off around with the people of Shantytown, doing the regular work that's just like the normal average layman. Together with Mari Sakuragi whom manages the 24th Ward's popular okonomiyaki restaurant "Itadaki", Shuta is the most average person alive whom has a good side to him being of childlike wonder, yet scramble to action when the Visions occur because he finds it to be a recurring dilemma of choice, because he is known as Mr. 24 the hero of Shantytown, and he wouldn't want anyone dying right in front of his eyes to befall emotional curses upon himself.

The other characters ploughing through this wonky series, it's sad but obvious to say that they're nothing more than plot movers, because where else would you concoct characters that only have ulterior motives, only to scrap them when their duties are done. Guess this shows that character dynamics are essential, yet when executed wrongly, can become the most glaring of issues to question why does "this and that" characters need to be around to begin with. A very hard pass on having too many characters to reflect the adage of "too many cooks spoil the broth".

By now, you should've known the terror that is the behind-the-scenes production woes at CloverWorks, and probably already guessed it by now: the Wonder Egg Priority curse has struck again. In case you didn't know, in Japan, it's prohibited for staff to share what's going on with the production of shows, think of it as like NDAs. But yet above all, one person did: chief animation director Kiminori Itou, whose pessimistic troubles were so rampant enough that he literally documented, chronicled and shared the events leading up to release on his Twitter account. Starting way back last year on October 24th when the anime was officially announced (and mind you, that was after announcements for both Sono Bisque Doll and Akebi's Sailor Uniform), the staff only literally had 2 months (give and take) to create, make and finish the entire production, even if it meant that they had to outsource animators to finish up the job. To put things into perspective, Episode 1 (the double-length premiere) was only completed in the nick of time before the TV broadcast. What resulted in all of that was inconsistent animation, visuals that look nice but was hampered to the point of overlays (the RGB guys displayed many instances of overlay visuals), and though the CloverWorks name is attached to it, the perception that the Wonder Egg Priority curse had already taken over the entire anime in general was already realized even before we the audience actually got to see Episode 1 in the flesh. Yikes, what a mess.

Of all the bad occurences in this show, there is some sliver of hope, and although the musical function is decent, I just can't feel it with so much dialogue and information being pushed down to our throats. All I can say that the OP is great, and come on, it's the same J-Pop band that brought you Vinland Saga's 1st OP. Survive Said The Prophet never misses, and shows their pedigree here. The ED's title references the RGB colour codes in unison to the RGB MCs, though the song is a bit on the meh side.

When all is said and done, even after taking everything into consideration, music alone can't really save the entire hectic production that leaves people to having tireless crunch and overwork, it's just so inhumane to see this, but this is the life of the anime industry in Japan, and there's no way to salvage this practice for years to come (that's why we advocate KyoAni in a different light, geddit?). Whatever the reason here, if Wonder Egg Priority was a showcase that if not taken severely enough, then Tokyo 24-ku is the next work to point a finger at both CloverWorks and Aniplex on a practice so deadly that it could cost people their lives and precious time wasted. And this is a protest that the anime industry will not listen to, because it's quantity over quality, and money is the root of all evil.

So there you have it: the classic case of greedy corporations at the oversight of quality, that rather of Tokyo 24-ku as a standalone show telling its own internal side of the story, there's an external side waiting to be scrutinized and criticized just as hard. What a shame, really.

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The father of modern political philosophy and science, 15th Century-borne Niccolò Machiavelli, is a very influential figure for his unscrupulous acts that are proclaimed in his most famous (or infamous rather) work on The Prince (Il Principe), being heralded as the instruction guide for new princes and royals, accepting that the aims, such as glory and survival, can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. But as is with this very controversial work that's debated for centuries after his death, there was one consensus that was generally agreed on, and it's innovation, partly because like many other prose works of the time, it was written in Italian Vernacular, giving rise to the popularity of literature in the Renaissance Period.

The Prince's aim was to teach that the "effectual" truth was to be taken as more important than any abstract ideal. And novelist Dojyomaru took and transformed that ideal into an Isekai where a modern person of intelligence and conceit was summoned to a fantasy world where the kingdom he was summoned was facing political and social pressure, and needed to be reformed before it could be lost to potential rivals typical of the kingdom wars and takeover and what-have-yous. And since this is the continuation of that series from last Summer, to say that Realist Hero wasn't for me would be a sore understatement. I do love shows covering politics and the like (a la Log Horizon) because it gives me reason to jog my brain, but after bearing through yet another season of this, I have but only one answer to it, and that's by some quotes:

- “I imagine that the intelligent people are the ones so intelligent that they don't even need or want to look 'intelligent' anymore.” ― Criss Jami, author of Killosophy

- “Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.” ― Karl Popper

- “It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.” ― Richard P. Feynman

And this quote might just be the best answer to sum this series as a whole, short and sweet:
“Absurdity is the ecstasy of intellectualism.” ― Criss Jami, author of Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile

It's no surprise that deep within the reaches of Realist Hero, nothing stands but generic Isekai and with a harem to match, because what else could you try to match sophisticated intelligence like Machiavelli's to make it "realistic". It's like cooking something but adding sugar instead of salt (or MSG rather) to make the taste balance topsy turvy, and yet still, manage to fail in every regard. I like references when done right and that the general audience understands why the context is used, but Realist Hero just quotes them like "It's the definition of law and order, written in black and white" to appease the people whom didn't understand one fair bit, yet continue to trust that the same people will understand the motives of the one in charge and trust that whatever the hero's doing, he's doing it for the best intentions of the kingdom. Whether frenemies or strangers that he comes by, he does it by the book to ensure that everyone is treated equally, which in an imperfect world, would sound almost to the point of narcissism. That's why it's labelled fiction, a imagination of a "what-if" situation if past Centuries' kingdoms would've been led by modern-day civilization, and for that it's fine, but doesn't harness any realism values at all.

Everything else is just the same, just nothing to note about. At least Inori Minase's OP is better by a wee bit, and the ED got an upgrade to not being PowerPoint-worthy half-assed lazy material with Aimi's ED to boot.

If you love it, you definitely will love it, and vice versa. I can't imagine anyone with common sense will like this one since it's just constant quotes to signify a brand new age, and it's still the same utter convoluted nothingness as the 1st Cour that came before it. This series is just too smart for its own good, and that "playing smart" is its Achilles' Heel, for better or for worse.

Meanwhile, just watch Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu a.k.a The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt, that one is far less liberal on the socio-political aspect and more comedic that's a better representation of being a more realistic Realist Hero.

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Jun Mochizuki's epic vampire tale continues after a season's break, and is it just as good as the 1st Cour back in Summer last year? I mean, come on, it's gotta be good, and I assure you that it delivered the same and more.

In the 2nd Cour, right after the events of the Chasseur Hunters, the two main focal events are The Beast of Gévaudan and Amusement Park arcs, which covers the manga progression continuing from Volume 6 to the most recent Volume 10, meaning that the anime has fully caught up with the source material, which in my mind, sums up the perfect adaptation of an esteemed series by an esteemed author like Jun Mochizuki. Spoilers be warned for intensity.

The Beast of Gévaudan arc, which takes up 2/3rds of Part 2 / 2nd Cour, this arc really displays the magnificence of Vanitas no Carte's world-building as a whole, which combines both vampires, humans, Charlatan, Chasseurs, and the diabolical plan of the Beast: the Silver Witch known to all as Chloé d'Apchier. As the daguther of Marquis d'Apchier and being a "curse-bearer" vampire herself, she was the hidden vampire of the family, and her presence mattered because Jeanne's parents were Lord Ruthven's students when she was young, and Jeanne got to know Chloé because Ruthven introduced the former to her, taking care of her well-being until it was found out that she was the Beast, and you can imagine that all hell broke loose right after that fateful incident. And this time, the Book of Vanitas becomes a lot more relevant as it's used to create the Alternte Engine in an effort to make her human again, and there will be none to stop her, other than getting past her protector Jean-Jacques Chastel, which he is always prepared to sacrifice his humanity to play the scapegoat game as the Beast to lure people off Chloé from her oppressors. Along with the inner conflict of the Charalatan that continues to haunt people's past, makes for one hellish nightmare that requires a lot of sacrifice, reconciliation and realization to turn people to the truth, that like Noé friends turned curse-bearers before, it's the same story but on a larger, grand scale.

And if you'd thought that was enough, the Amusement Park arc which displays the final 1/3rd of the 2nd Cour, is where I like to call: personal friends settle grievances towards each other. Vanitas's past is on full display this time, since we the audience never really got the chance to dive deep into his psyche in the 1st half, and it's forced through this little boy known as Mikhail. Not just Vanitas's, but combining Domi, Louis and his past, paints a picture of a moment in that time the human of the Blue Moon would not want to diverge and forget about all that's happened between him and Mikhail. If you remember the eccentric vampire doctor that is Moreau, he was employed by the Chasseurs to research on vampires, and declared Vanitas as No. 69. But, BUT, there was actually another person hiding in the sidelines: the young kid Mikhail, whom like Vanitas, is subjected to inhumane research. Why do I say this, is because both Vanitas and Mikhail were rescued by the original Vampire of the Blue Moon, being raised by him/her and teaching the young-uns all about the world of vampires consisting of the malnomen, astermite, and most importantly, the Book of Vanitas, which is why Mikhail has another copy of it as well. The past that Vanitas wishes not to be digged into, forces Noé to confront him and save those he cares about fondly, and ultimately understand Vanitas as a whole in his most vulnerable stage.

As I've said in my 1st Cour review, Jun Mochizuki really knows how to use character development to her advantage, and using that to course and piece the events of her epic story, it's just as well done as Part 1, if not on par with it since this is a continuation after all. Her stories are fearsome, yet have balance at stake to weigh the pros and cons, and this is the mark of a very talented writer that I honestly just have no words to say, but even more jaw-dropped at its capability to warp understanding even in the most intense manner. It's ambition at its most darkest, yet gleaming with light at the end of the tunnel.

Vanitas's core staff team from Bones are back, and the quality retains its action-packed violent gore that simply just is breathtaking to watch. The OST is just as great under the invincible woman of flare that is Yuki Kaijura, but I feel it's a tad under for Jun Mochizuki's standards when it comes to the OP/ED. Little Glee Monster's 2nd half OP isn't bad, but compared to the 1st half with Sasanomaly's, I really gotta take the latter's anyday. For the ED, I would like to believe that Momonkul's ED song is without a doubt, purposeful. As is by the song title of "salvation", this 2nd Cour's teaching point is that everyone deserves salvation, regardless of the right or wrong actions done addressed towards themselves or others' lives.

Vanitas no Carte a.k.a. The Case Study of Vanitas is more than just a work of art, it's about the allegory and juxtapositions of life, and the extent of putting others at risk just so that you could preserve your history. That's why this show is a play on the classic case study teaching quantum, and will be a Case Study worth examining that I will never forget.

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So...after the massive disappointment that is Season 1 back in Summer 2019 that's rife with production woes, novelist Ryo Shirakome's storywriting that while is highly praised in the LN, was such a misnomer in the anime adaptation due to plot pointers that was glossed over in favour of the rushed pacing that's directed by the now-deceased Season 1 director Kinji Yoshimoto, is Arifureta still the same trash-worthy Isekai as it was back when it released? For good or worse, it's still quite mixed.

For the sequel that's led by Corpse Party director Akira Iwanaga, the story is (obviously) continued from the events of Season 1 that ended with Volume 4 of the LN, and the continuation that's heralded between the leftovers of Volume 4 to Volume 6 of the LN, which is in my mind, a huge improvement from the last that doesn't feel rushed for the viewers. Everything is where it should be with no excuses of cut content, just full on trash enjoyment values, which I really breathe a sigh of relief after watching the horrendous prequel 2.5 years back.

Unsurprisingly, Hajime and his harem gang are back (and yes, including his class of heroes which I thought are always brain-dead niceties), and they get a fair bit more action in the sequel continuation. The difference is now with new characters like the mer-folk/dagon-type demi-humans and the whole Demon Army side of things, where only now it gets frenetic with stakes at hand. The young mer-folk Myu is a new addition to Hajime's gang at the tail-end of Season 1, but her inclusion this season does provide some resting moments, other than always being in peril with their lives on the line in the situations that they face in the Grand Guen Volcano, to back home in Myu's birthplace of Erisen. Of course, what's left to say more than the eventual conflict of Hajime and the Demon Army of both demons and classmates being evil, that's a thing.

As to be expected, everyone will bite back at the overall presentation, and this still feels like ass, though not as bad as how much Season 1 was effed upside down with the last-minute production changes. Studio asread. is still here, albeit with yet another studio's help: studio MOTHER, replacing the intended White Fox in the 3DCG department. It honestly doesn't feel bad to finally see Arifureta adapted in decency, though this is still a far cry from its potential.

Though I'm quite saddened to say that the OST wasn't as strong as Season 1, but who I am kidding myself since it was pretty much the same as before, except for the theme songs obviously. Void_Chords set an insanely high bar with their banger of an OP 2.5 years ago (and is still a fantastic song to this day), and though MindaRyn is beginning to build her reputation as an esteemed Anisong artist, it just feels night and day when compared between the two. Even with DracoVirgo's kinda lackluster ED for Season 1, though FantasticYouth did a better job, both songs just aren't really my taste and sound quite average.

Even as a "restart / reboot" to the series by doing the usual adaptation practices right, Ryo Shirakome's Arifureta as a whole, just is not a good Isekai, and even if Season 1 was heaps of terribad with some good points to it, Season 2...just felt like there wasn't any "fun" injected into it with its overall serious tone that it would carry from start to finish. I am glad that the sequel fixed up the vast majority of the glaring issues of the prequel, though at the expense of feeling numb to watch any more of Arifureta. Take this sequel on your own risk if you think that this series still has some value to you that's worth the continuation.

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It's been a long while since we've ever had a Josei adaptation, which are works targeted at adult women, the last of which was Chihayafuru which wrapped up Season 3 back in Fall 2019. And come this Winter, mangaka Fe's Koroshi no Ai a.k.a Love of Kill (the Japanese title connotation pun for killing each other) is silently a low-key combination of "Kaguya-sama: Love is War" in terms of romance and more like Mr and Mrs. Smith's version of "Spy X Family" in terms of mystery and suspense in the making (before the actual thing coming next season) as a stopgap measure. And for better or worse, the anime adaptation kinda faltered when compared to the manga of the same name.

How Koroshi Ai was penned by mangaka Fe, it's actually quite a surprise to say the least. Originally published on Pixiv in October 2012 under a very long title (which is quite the mouthful), it gained a huge following so much as to spawn a sequel, then combine them both under Media Factory's Shoujo manga magazine Monthly Comic Gene for serialization, and that's how the series which depicted an assassin couple in love came about. And sure enough, it is the meeting between two assassins: a male and a female. Of course, who am I kidding.

The bounty hunter Chateau Dankworth and professional hitman Song Ryang-ha, both meeting coincidentally due to the professions of their missions, and being assassins they attempt to erase the other in a swift and fast action, to which the latter won. But instead of killing her, he decides to have fun by tagging along with her, even to the point of bounty hunter assassintion missions just to get her attention, to which she constantly rejects his romantic advances. To add things into the mix, Chateau's agency, Ritzland Support, soon finds themselves tasked with taking down a hitman who's wanted across many organizations for single-handledly taking down the Hong Kong Triads, and this hitman is no other than Song Ryang-ha. This, at the very beginning, is where the "show, don't tell" practice comes into play, as we follow both Chateau and Ryang-ha seemingly delving into lots of the practical assassination plots, to only then pick up with the constant flashbacks where both man and woman's past reveal a hideous truth that changes the game's playing field and lets the viewers see how everything from their past comes to haunt them in their present day. It's a very slow burn for sure, and it'll take lots of romantic teasing and deaths by revenge and summons just to reach to that point. The real meat is in the details, and I'm not gonna spoil it here as the central story is what makes Koroshi Ai such a good read from the manga, and the anime adaptation kept it very faithfully, albeit with the constant recaps just to fill in for padding the runtime, which is annoying to say the least.

The female lead, Chateau Dankworth, feels simpler in design. She is somewhat similar to Saber from Fate visually, and being very quiet, stoic, cute, and all the more for not understanding it or caring about romance. But since this is a Josei work, the focus is squarely on the male lead, Song Ryang-ha. If you've noticed a little about his character design, fox eyes are a rare, important feature, since they are essentially like a façade that hides their true colours. In case you didn't know, fox-like characters are impenetrably smiley most of the time, playful, socially adept, and seemingly eager to serve...until they show their eyes, and you know that shit has become real. And for a professional hitman-cum-romanticist, Song Ryang-ha fits the description to a T: he has a murderous identity, he is the nine-tailed fox in the room you have to ignore to appreciate this work, actually. Furthermore, Ryang-ha is like a small sadistic predator, serving tortured bodies as gifts to the female lead (Chateau) and resides in rundown buildings. He mellows pretty fast, always attracts the view, being smooth, sleek, functional, and ever so casually stylish. A low-key dangerous Ikemen because he is for the most part, very natural, and therefore classy as heck if he wants to be glamorous.

The other characters do serve as plot movers, though of one particular interest is with Ritzland Support's secretary Indian, or Jim is as called in the anime. His real identity is a mystery, though he is an immigrant from India. And if you're thinking why doesn't Jim have a mouth, it's not because you're seeing it wrong, as the manga is also drawn this way, it's intentional. Most of the cast derives from Ryang-ha's past such as the spiderweb cheek tattoo Hou to the mastermind that is Donald "Donny" Bachman, and this syndicate forms the basis of the tumultuous downward spiral of which both Chateau and Ryang-ha are involved in. It's a deadly race of revenge and time, and time will only tell how these 2 are connected to one another as the series progresses, which amps the mystery and suspense quite decently.

Some will have issues with the ways and styles of Platinum Vision's visuals as a studio, and this is a problem that I've encountered in a similar show: Devil's Line, back in Spring 2018, also produced by the same studio as one of their first works. The premise and setting of the 2 are almost like one another: dark, gritty and almost at times, condescending. While it gives the sense of mute-ness, it isn't as quite polished as I would've like, and the visuals are almost to the point of being a disappointing adaptation at best given its tense atmosphere. That said, if this was handled by a studio and staff team that understands the literacy of the work, then it could've been better, but this is what we got, and it's frankly kinda mediocre.

On the upside of things, the music really fits the tone and mood of the show, to a T, and yes, that includes the credit visuals. Seiyuu Toshiki Masuda may have a long and extensive discography of his works, but this is the first time that he's going solo, and his debut OP song "Midnight Dancer" is such a dance of a bop that really doesn't disappoint. The one that truly surprised me was Aika Kobayashi with her ED song "Makoto Period", because her past songs were all very cheerful, vibrant and uplifting, and this was a stark contrast with dark and dreary but melancholic tones that had the feels going for it. I might say that this song is really her best effort and foot forward so far, and at times, left me fearful in a claustrophobic manner for what's about to come, in a good way of course. One of the best EDs of the season IMO bar none, and props to sound director Hajime Takakuwa for laying down that atmosphere which has been an integral part of the moving plot.

Even as a straight guy, I can say that Koroshi Ai is an interesting Josei work that you just don't hear quite a lot. Sadly with the somewhat subpar anime adaptation, and with a work like this that demands your fullest attention (because if you blink, you'll miss it), some will love it, others will hate it. But hey, in a niche demographic like this, I have to judge everything the same, and this is a fine (as in decent) adaptation when all is said and done.

I think I will gear to the manga more to continue where the anime left off, and you might have a better experience that way as well.

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Of all the series starting off the new year of a very dry Winter season, mangaka Miko Yasu's Hakozume a.k.a Police in a Pod definitely stood out for being one of the most interesting works ever made. A manga that clinched a win in the 66th Shogakukan Manga Awards in the Best General Manga category, alongside Inio Asano's Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction last year (which is now finally getting an anime adaptation), it's no secret that this work is truly something special, and it all had to do with the fact that Miko Yasu herself, was once an ex-cop working in Japan's kouban (a.k.a police box) police force.

Before I go further, I would like to elaborate specificially that the police culture of the East and the West are vastly different, and that has lead to some unnecessary triggering of comparisons made that could extend itself into a hate rant (I'm looking at you ANN), so please do not snare up any hateful rants here as well.

Back to the main topic, Hakozume's main episodic stories and arcs are based off of Miko Yasu's personal real-life experiences working in the police force for approximately 10 years, but was saddened by Japan's culture of overwork, and this manga was her way to spread understanding about the profession to encourage public support. She joined the police force in her local kouban as a low-level officer doing crime prevention publicity campaigns, her inspiration for joining being that she felt empathy for families of crime victims, but ultimately left when the officer that filled her role when she took her childcare leave, died of overwork. Being the victim of someone's death can instill emotional guilt, and as best as Miko Yasu tried to cope with the trauma and rallied recruitment efforts, there is yet another turning point of disheartenment to see that the younger generation wasn't all that interested in being a police officer. One boy whom she asked, said that he expressed interest but had some skepticism of the profession, claiming that it was too high of an order for someone like him whom struggled to take care of himself. It was this reason that Miko Yasu decided to convey the message that police officers aren't necessarily upright and honourable people, just regular human beings doing their best on the job. And being a low-level officer herself, it was easy to pitch to publishing companies like Kodansha's Morning magazine to get her work serialized, but although she had experience drawing portraits during her time in the police force, it's because of her inexperience drawing manga that forced her to quit the profession and focus on refining her art to be suitable for serialization. So, to see all the effort finally getting an anime adaptation produced by Madhouse under Kaiji director Yuuzou Satou (aside from last year's Nippon TV live-action drama), everything has come around full circle.

This story is supported by the fact that the main female police officer Mai Kawai, serves as a fictional person of the mangaka herself, who's all but done from the police force. Kawai joined the force to earn a stable income, unlike her crude father that ended up on the opposite end of the spectrum. Being a fresh graduate from the Police Academy, she wasn't treated all that well when she was transferred to the local Machiyama Police Box, being hurled hurting remarks that are spokesbeing of the culture and the reception of the outside people. These issues are serious enough for Kawai to throw her letter of resignation, but that was stopped when a new instructor steps in: Seiko Fuji, a once detective chief that got demoted to a sergeant and transferred out for harassing her junior. And man, is Seiko-chan such a ruthless woman to stand her grounda amidst pressure, guiding the almost-resigned Kawai into comedic antics from the usual rank-and-file cases ranging from burglary to assault. And every single one of these chapters has a purpose, referencing back to how Miko Yasu had seen and heard the exact same issues in her police lifetime.

To edge the profession ever further, there's the Astro Brothers of Sergeant Seiji Minamoto and his detective sidekick helper Takeshi Yamada. Like Seiko-chan, Minamoto has an eerily similar personality to Fuji, so much so that they tend to clash a lot, putting both Kawai and Yamada as their juniors to shudder in fear. And since everyone knows each other from Police Academy, it's easy to say that both Fuji and Minamoto were in loggerheads with one another, brought to the real work life where the troubles never end. But as much as these two are tutors to their junior counterparts, they do act the role as superiors when life matters most in the fight against crime, solo or syndicate. The Machiyama Police Box has also Miwa Makitaka as a backup force, mainly dealing with stalkers and sex crimes, but with a drawback that her entire world was surrounded with girls and not being accustomed to men. Despite this, she's an iron-fist clad of a woman to stand her ground against the criminals oppressing her, and male-centric divisions like Criminal Affairs will step in if she needs help to handle the most difficult of men. Overall, to bring similar figures that Miko Yasu has known in her 10-year cycle in the police force be replicated to the manga, it really shows how much the audience can really mistake police control in the horrid ways of the real world, though depending on where you live, police brutality will always be the the central taboo.

It's glad to have Madhouse produce more shows outside of their comfort zone, now with the studio's recent revival and dabbing into other genres. Along with last season's vampire comedy show Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu a.k.a The Vampire Dies in No Time, Madhouse is chosen to adapt yet another comedy series, albeit one that's focusing more on the police force, and I think like the many recent works Madhouse still has that unmistakable quality that's instantly recognizable. The elephant in the room is with director Yuuzou Satou, of which I've mentioned that he is famous for the Kaiji series. He hasn't had a breakout work since Kaiji Season 2 a decade ago, and finally found his stride with this show. It'll be a long while before he comes back with another work, so for now, enjoy while you can Satou-san.

Music is pretty decent too with Riko Azuna and nonoc at the helm. I'd think that I gravitate more towards nonoc's ED "Change" because of famous Vocaloid composer DECO*27, and I know this because DECO*27 composes really good songs that I've heard before, so the standard is there.

Works like this are rare to find, even one that's worth the inspiration to be adapted into anime, and I thank mangaka Miko Yasu for being a source of inspiration to draw and illustrate what was once her life's job into manga form, that you can't really find anywhere else. And because this is the AniManga industry, I hope that you don't carry over the overwork culture from your police days to drawing manga. Nonetheless, regardless of where you live in the world, try and see this show from a different perspective, and you might find something to like about it.

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