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Jun 20, 2021
As is with the majority of silly comedy anime you have to take Sentouin Hakenshimasu and this review with a grain of salt. It's one of those animes that are self aware and intentionally stupid. So if you are one of the people running around on this platform who consider themself "anime connoisseur" and the "sentiment of acquired taste" please go and call out another anime for "characters as flat as your girlfriend's chest" or "story as lame as Lightning Larry Luciano" (damn a SpongeBob reference, a comparison and a hyperbole I'm getting going on this one)
Disclaimer out of the way so let's roll.
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If isekai is a family then Sentouin Hakenshimasu is that weird little cousin that always acts like he snorted uncle Kazumas cocaine line leftovers.
I swear that's the only and last Konosuba reference or comparison (or is it).
The story hits the zeitgeist like nothing else.
It's basically Twitter as an anime. One stupid bubble bashes on another bubble on a quest to gather useless attention by harassing and insulting others while being as edgy as possible. Meanwhile, you enjoy the clash of idiotic morons and some occasional softcore porn while scrolling through your feed.
Just the way you like it.
You will find out that this description is more accurate than you might think so I don't even bother you with some actual introduction or summary. There's actually a linear plot that is featured here and there but overall it's still as deep as your bathtub. But that's fine, you wouldn't want your Twitter timeline to be covered in Kant or Nietzsche quotes.
Coming to the main selling point: The cast. Anime like these need genuine and enjoyable characters. They need just the right traits and characteristics that fit the goofy and ironic narrative. And Sentouin Hakenshimasu ticks the necessary boxes. The main cast is a solid match of characters. They are really fun to watch and in no way boring or tediously dry.
The main character is Combat agent Sex... I mean Six aka Zipperman. Hes your average degenrate twitter troll. And when he's not shitposting on some random Twitter hashtag or bullying someone on their discord server then he uses the rest of his spare unemployed day to moderate Reddit hentai fetish subs. What can I say his persona is just made to spread joy around his fellows. All jokes aside just for now but he's unironically a "better" character than you might suspect. Explaining that just wouldn't fit this review, trust me he has his moments.
He's followed by his sidekick Alexa or was it Alice I don't remember. No, seriously that shotgun wielding Loli android is the epidemy of Amazon Alexa evolution. Just call her up and whatever goody you need she will ship it. High caliber weapons, C4 .. everything a modern household needs regularly. And when you don't keep her occupied by bombarding her with boomer joke requests, question her what to cook today or beg for life advice she will either interrupt you with a weather forecast for some town on the other side of the globe or remind you of those bugging appointments or chores you desperately try to avoid.
Now to the rest of the main cast harem:
Big brain Six managed to accumulate the most useless fighting trio of all time. Competing with the likes of Jesse, James and Meowth, Shinpachi, Kagura and Sadaharu or even Megumin, Darkness and Aqua. It's just as good old schooldays: the sports ace drafted himself the fat kid, the nerd and the girl who is usually dodging PE class, as his dodgeball team just to show off how incredible he is.
So who are the lucky poeple Six and Alice chose? For starters they got themself a crippled hag with a body that is a merge of Kate Moss and Stephen Hawking while having the mental capabilities of Hagrid. Even her magic abilities are as debilitated as her limbs.
She's followed by an annoying brat. The little Kirby cosplayer has the ability to transform into everything that she gets between her chops. "That ability doesn't sound that bad it sure has to be of some use!". You could think that but apparently, little Rose only transforms some parts of her body, and let's say that "she wasn't exactly struck by luck when it comes to her transformations".
Last but not least we have the basic dumb bitch whose sole drive to live is to gather either fame, fortune, or both by using her "feminine qualities'. Trust me if she could access the internet, my my she would certainly be all over the place. But in her world, the career of a soldier is the only way to gain the attention and money she so much desires (or by digging for gold). And such the battle waifu has found her way into the group. However, having the IQ of a watermelon is not the best trait to possess in a leading military position.
She is also as emotionally stable as a certain building in new york on the 9th of September 2001
If you made it this far into the review and you think these story and character descriptions suck as much ass as Six does in his wet dreams then you should definitely go ahead and watch Sentouin Hakenshimasu, you won't regret I promise!
Animation. It's functioning there's really not much more to it. I mean its JC Staff expectations are met I guess. Bright colors but generic palates. Lame and repetitive backgrounds. Basic character design. I felt that the longer the anime progressed the less I was "irritated" by its mediocre animation. It's working for what the show is a comedy parody.
The music is just on par with the witty and stupid comedy/ dialogue and is very supportive of those scenes. Even though I gave a relatively high score don't expect killer songs or gorgeous melodies. I just think Sentouin Hakenshimasu was over average in combining comedy with beneficial tunes.
As mentioned before this is classic comedy Isekai in terms of story and characters. Both are quite basic but not really generic either. For what it is it delivers above average I would say. But you arent, or shouldn't at least, be watching this show to see highly developed characters or experience a cinematic story. You should be watching though if you want some blunt comedy and stupid punchlines for a great laugh. Sure there's one or another cringe and childish gag but who cares I found most of them quite funny too.
As my last words: "You earned evil points"
Maybe it's just me having a narcissistic touch but this line is oddly satisfying to hear.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 19, 2021
86 plays in the year 2144 in a post-modern scenario with highly advanced technologies. The empire of Saint Magnolia is currently defending itself in a war against drone like mechanical war machines. For their defense, they use mechanized war machines themselves but contrary to their opposition they need to be manually controlled by humans.
In this story element lies one of 86's biggest story anchors. Theirs much focus on such topics as segregation, oppression and racism. The only people working/being used as soldiers are the people called 86. However, officially the war is fought "ethically and without human casualties" The 86 are distinguished from "real
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humans" by their hair color. People with a different hair color other than white are damned inhuman and not worthy to live under Saint Magnolia's prosperity. As such they end up fighting the war to protect the people they hate. Both parties use the term pig to refer to one another.
The main story follows Lena Milize a young rebellious "Handler". Handler coordinate a designated troop of soldiers who are fighting on the frontline remotely from a military HQ inside the walls of Saint Magnolia. She is tasked to become Handler of the Spearhead unit. A special unit that consists of only the most experienced mecha pilots. Their leader, who is the 2. main character, has the nickname Undertaker, not only because he has the most takedowns out of all the 86 soldiers but also because he and his squad are known for having their former handlers either killed or driven into insanity.
As the series progresses observant viewers will acknowledge a double edged sword 86 has to deal with. There will be a lot of questions like a lot lot. This is a minor blessing and a bigger course. The way the narrative is presented keeps your attention high because you are longing for answers to all the questions you will have. The structure and order in which mysteries are revealed and new plot elements pop up is rather linear yet logical however they don't feel rewarding to discover. The more episodes you watch the better your understanding of the world and its playing pieces becomes. The inevitable conclusion will be that 86 is a pile of wasted potential. At a given time some questions will be explained. A few with a logical and satisfying outcome however unfortunately the most crucial ones by irrational, thoughtless and superficial writing. The best parts about the story are probably those that haven't been revealed yet. If you pay close attention and think a bit for yourself you could easily come up with way more original and complex explanations to the potent topics and themes 86 throws at you.
86 first season would have been better if it had featured a more intuitive worldbuilding and overall a clearer explanation on some topics. It stays very discreet about the bigger picture and the greater context of most things that happen. Most questions still bug me quite a bit either because they are still unanswered, and answering them should not take away content of future seasons I believe, or because the given explanation is just garbage.
If you don't watch super carefully you will find yourself in a wasteland of plot holes and even if you do you are surrounded by holes filled with the whole table of elements most of them being toxic to the human.
Yet I haven't lost all hope for season 2 because there's still so much possible content untouched to deliver a more rewarding and enticing storyline.
One point which I personally really liked was that 86 had usable parallels to modern history and, to a certain degree, today's society. The way the "86 being inhuman" narrative is displayed features many parallels to the Third Reich and other oppressive regimes as well as the everyday segregation many people face today. However, at least now in the first season the why's and how's on this topic lack proper explanation and are only touched upon on a superficial level.
Another bigger flaw, at least for me it was very irritating, that stems from this is the fact that 90% of the overall screenplay is probably pure dialogue between characters. It gets really daunting seeing the same characters discuss the same topics over and over again.
I expected that the show is carried a little bit more by action driven story elements.
Taking a look at all episodes together as the full season I thought that the story has weird and unintuitive pacing. The way they set and change focus between worldbuilding, character development, action and giving further insight to other plot elements is truly wearing. At first, the only focus the show has is worldbuilding for several episodes. To compensate for the missing character introductions and first development they use staggering amounts of time to fill episode after episode with that. Throw in an action scene here and there and 20 seconds of more or less useful dialogue that try to explain the last 40 minutes. And repeat.
While the heavy focus on dialogue is a downer in terms of story perception it is great when it is used to portray the interpersonal relationships between each character especially between Lena and Shin (Undertaker) but also, though to a lesser extent, the 86 from the spearhead legion and the people in Saint Magnolia. Lena and Shin are really good main characters they are not static in how they feel and think about one another and their fellows. That is also reflected in their changing opinions and emotions. Both of them are driven by clear reasons and goals which are rooted in the story. Those also change and adapt to new situations and relationships.
The side cast is quite bad though. Be it the other members of Spearhead or Lena's peers in Saint Magnolia. Most of them are really generic in a way that if you look at them individually they don't feature any lasting impact on the story or other characters. There is no actual thoughtout individual behind them. I wouldn't say that they are useless because as units (Spearhead Legion, Saint Magnolia peers) they have do have an important role but the individuals are bland and replaceable. The viewer doesn't get to connect to them just as well as he can with Lena and Shin. The only side character I genuinely liked was Henrietta, Lena's close friend in the military.
Above average quality for A1 Pictures overall when it comes to serieses, not movies. Some nice backgrounds, fitting and adaptive coloring but nothing too fancy. The few action scenes we have are really fun to watch. The fights are quite well choreographed and accompanied by good looking visual (CG) effects. I wished there were more, there's noticeable potential in them. Overall more high speed and impactful action scenes would have been a better fit for the given setting. The extensive focus on dialogue goes so far that even when there are fights ongoing we mostly see either somebody sitting in their mech or Lena doing her handler work behind a screen in a dark room. When it comes to direction outside fights the inexperience of the team has a lasting impact. There's little to no original or appealing camera work, mostly plain and simple settings are being used. This makes all the dialogue even more daunting to consume.
We also have to experience one of A1 biggest weaknesses yet again: Incredibly generic Character design. I swear, judging by looks I've seen each and every character somewhere else already.
Sawano and Kohta Yamamoto. What's their left to explain. There's a fitting theme in almost every scene. The music manages to hype up action, accompany emotion and build up tension. Great work, as always. Especially the later episodes shine with incredible vocal songs that are just beautiful and touching.
Action scenes feel lively and impactful due to great sound effects.
To conclude I would say that 86 is a bad representation when it's categorized into the mecha genre. There's too little action actually going on to appeal to any fan of the genre. The heavy focus on dialogue pushes it more towards a mystery, with a bit of thriller, type. 86 Story has many really hot takes that are unfortunately executed quite lackluster. The world is interesting and offers much potential for a better second season. Lena and Shin are a good main character duo and following their journey can for sure still be interesting.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 19, 2021
"Vivy: fluorite eyes song" is a tragic irony. Its irony is so masterfully executed it's breathtaking. Not in a comedic sense but in a deeply thoughtful way that simply goes under your skin. Due to spoilers, I will not list the story's relevant contradictions. But they are easy to grasp as their use as stylistic devices is an important part of the narrative. So keep an eye out for them when you watch the show yourself.
The story revolves mainly around one goal. Save humanity from extinction. Which is not a particularly one-of-a-kind scenario. To save humanity from deadly rampaging AI's? A bit more specific but
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we've also seen that. But I swear you haven't seen it in a way Vivy is about to show you.
Diva or Vivy, as she is called by one of her first fans, is the first-ever fully autonomous AI. Her life mission is a single task, just as every other non-autonomous AI is reduced to fulfilling a single task, to make everyone happy with her singing. How does she accomplish that? Well, that's easier said than done. She has to fully pour her heart into it. But how is a heartless AI able to pour her heart into something. That leads to one inevitable question: what does it mean to fully pour your heart into something? The journey of finding the answer to this question is a crucial part of the story which stretches itself over the show from start to end and turns out to be extremely time consuming and complex. Many other thought provoking topics are connected to this and they are also covered by the story such as: The relationship between humans and humanoid AIs. What makes a human truly human? Can a robot become human? How does a certain goal or mission limit someone in their actions, behavior and emotions? What's the drive to achieve one's goals how do they change or adapt over time and what's the cause?
While Diva starts fulfilling her mission in NiaLand, an AI theme park, by singing on a small stage for a few people, she meets Matsumoto an AI who comes from the future to rewrite history in order to save humanity from an AI lead massacre that's about to happen in a couple of decades. In accordance with her mission Diva agrees to help Matsumoto to save humanity so there will always be humans there she can make happy with her singing.
The story with its respective plot elements has incredible pacing and is super thrilling to follow. The series is divided into antagonistic parts. While each part has a new storyline the narrative stays linear between them. So all parts eventually form the bigger picture. Every arc has a great introduction into the current mission, state of the world and to new characters.
Each ark is also followed by a significant and relevant time skip due to the fact that some story and character elements are purposefully reset. These time skips are always the start into a new arc or part of the story. Despite that, they are all connected and in some way intertwined with the previous or upcoming story elements and with reappearing characters.
The plot is always open for smaller and bigger scale twists. There's an incredible connection and flow between tense moments emotional and informative dialogue and thrilling action.
Vivy or Diva is truly an incredible character. As an AI she is not lead by true emotion. However, she features clear motives, thoughts and commitment which are always connected with the plot. These are not static but evolving and adapting to the situation Vivy currently experiences. In her, we find the most omnipotent of the aforementioned contradictive narrative choices. An anime that is literally about emotionless beings becomes one of the biggest emotional rollercoasters you will ever experience.
Vivy's character itself is far away from overflowing with emotion and feeling. However, she amplifies the emotions and feelings from her surroundings as well as acting as a catalyst for them. This then is projected from her surroundings to awake emotion and feeling in the viewer himself. There are so many feelings displayed in just the right way that they keep on touching the heart of the watcher. Joy and grief, hope and despair, hate and love and whatever YOU may feel.
She displays multiple fascinating forms and directions of development due to the way the story progresses. Trying to describe her ever-changing character with traits characteristics and how formative events crafted them would take an entire essay to describe. All of this makes her a very throughout entertaining and versatile main character.
Enough about Vivy though let's not forget: Praise be to the Cubeman Matsumoto. Vivy's partner in crime and centerpiece in the mission to save humanity. This character is just absolutely glorious. His dialogue his appearance his demeanor, everything fits perfectly to his role. He has an array of well picked traits. He is very confident and is able to project this confidence onto others. When he's opposed by inferiority he starts being sarcastic and oppressive. He can be quirky and goofy depending on the situation but is, for the most part, serious and calculated. His character is very static and linear throughout the entire season. In his case, this is a good thing because he is a constant in the otherwise so fastly changing universe.
Vivy also features a super versatile side cast. There are totally new characters within each arc. Their introduction, the way their role, motives and behavior is presented is perfectly executed into the arc format. Each side character is inseparably connected not only to the arc they are featured in but also to the outer plot.
When talking about animation what is there left to say except Wit Studio? Wit Studio basically is a get out of jail free card for clean and on point visuals. Each arc has a different unique visual setting. Every chosen scenery looks really amazing and fits the respective plot perfectly. The well-crafted futuristic theme is not only maintained but evolves and changes in the same way the world and the characters do.
Not only is everything a joy to look at but there's also easy to grasp meaning behind the work. You could easily do another essay on how visual elements and directive choices are used to portray different aspects of the story or characters.
Excuse me, but I have to namedrop again when it comes to sound, especially the music. With such a renown name as Satoru Kousaki as the composer for such a highly music driven anime, nothing can go wrong anymore. And indeed nothing goes wrong. Everything goes absolutely right. The soundtrack carries the emotions the AIs themselves are barely capable of transporting right to the viewer. The music is also another balance point to the fastly changing world, consistent character switches and different plot points. Repeating tracks display a much needed continuity and connection while new, changing or remixed themes support the ever changing style.
There's one simple conclusion: Vivy is a masterclass in every aspect.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 9, 2021
Its bland, its tasteless, absolutely dreadful, nasty, heck it's fucking raw... and where's the f ing lamb sauce??
No no, Gordon chill we just wanted to review an anime here not bash on a dying restaurants dish. Wait what, you really tried to describe Youjo Senki? It can't be that bad, can it?
Well it's a messy conundrum of wanting to be somewhat historic and blending in batshit stupid isekai elements like magic tech that are just horribly implemented. It's like serving salmon and bacon together in a dish.
We get thrown into (a) great war and there's almost zero explanation. What's actually going on, who is
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the enemy (or better) which factions are involved and why? What's the state of the war? What are they aiming for? What drives them, what is their ultimate goal? None of the above is actually explained to a comprehensible level. This anime actually has the worst world building I have ever seen.
You can't connect to anything let alone immerse or even understand.
Not to mention that plot holes run through the story like the trenches on a battlefield.
The isekai backstory (i.e. why MC got reincarnated) here is that apparently he is somewhat of an atheist sociopath who takes advantage of his fellows by only relying on logic and rational thought while strictly following hierarchy orders. So before his death a god like being sends him into a disastrous life situation to forcefully find a reason to believe in a higher being in his despair and to live a "better life" than he used to life. This philosophic backstory was something that hooked me in the first episodes. But even that element gets completely thrown out of the window after a few episodes. Although this story element is being refered to various times throughout the season it is not actively used as deeper writing element or put into a greater perspective. The whole anime would function the same way without it.
The only good point the story has to offer is the presentation of strategic battle maneuvers and turning points which are heavily connected to both WW 1 and 2 warfare. They are easy to understand and logically explained and executed. On one hand this is a nice gimmick for history nerds but on the other it just adds to the overall setting conundrum the show suffers.
Ah yes, characters always a great point of discussion, usually at least. In Youjo Senki it is what it is and as what it is it shall be described: Crap, utter garbage. From MC to what remotely can be viewed as a side cast. MC is constantly contradicting himself in his actions and statements over and over. He dismisses his goals coming into the new world throughout the show and just shits on everything his character his expected to achieve. There's no drive behind any of his actions, no meaning, no feelings, no purpose, no reason. There's basically zero personality behind MC and the other characters we remotely get to know.
And why is MC a ducking Loli girl? It is completely unfitting and unsettling it makes absolutely no sense there's basically no more reason behind it other than being a gimmick to trick people into watching this. The story not once makes any use of this at all. Using a normal adult person would have made way more sense.
Overall Youjo Senki scores with good background art. Besides the fact that most of the screenplay consist of showing a soggy gray cloudy sky or muddy battlefields which look decent but are highly repetitive there are a few good scenes which break that line. I liked the character design, above average IMO. Actions scenes look rather half-assed and are also very repetitively executed. The atmosphere delivered through animation meets the demand.
Coming to notably the best thing about joujo senki: Sound. The OST really carries the otherwise tasteless experience to a somewhat watchable level. The merely intense combat has thrilling themes. Intense and chill dialogue is well rounded up with good background music. Every mayor scene is accompanied by a correspondingly fitting theme. Sound effects are exceptionally impactful especially in battles. However, just as the Ever-Given may have carried a lot of heavy weight through the Suez-Canal, it's of no use if it is piloted by a donkey.
If you want to watch a show that somewhat depicts historic warfare this show is not for you. If you want to watch an isekai with an unconventional story and setting followed by reasonable characters this show is not for you either. Heck even if you think like the degenerate I am and just wanted to watch a Loli incarnation of Hitler this show isn't for you either. Clearly not recommended to watch. Besides its soundtrack this anime can legit only appeal to people who have as much taste as a leper who lost his tongue. Maybe some lamb sauce would have been the cutting edge.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Mar 25, 2021
*This is a follow up of my preliminary review it contains minor spoilers but not spoilers actually affecting the plot*
Mushoku Tensei is one of those anime which splits the community in half. Why is that so? Is it because it only appeals to a certain audience? Does it use a daring form of animation and or story telling? No none of that. The doge police certainly has a lot going on bonking Mushoku Tensei's characters into horny jail. For some people they have to bonk a little too much and in addition to that MC gets bonked for clearly repugnant reasons.
I completely agree with everybody
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who thinks that the controversial actions Rudeus takes are out of place and wrong to say the very least. I'm no one to say that what Rudeus occasionally does is ok because... (insert dumb arguments here). But that alone does not make Mushoku Tensei a fetish fest for lolicons if you put it into the context of the show's idea as a whole. It's sad that the show is broken down by many people on this one fraction of Rudeus personality and the lewd allusions mostly in the first part of the series. Mushoku Tensei delivers so much more than just bonks to horny jail if you expand your horizon just a little bit. Even those "fan service" parts don't feel out of place or plain meaningless like they do in many other series. They are an integral part of the world and character building. Mushoku Tensei‘s purpose is not to give examples on how a perfect role model should look/behave like because many characters purposefully don't resemble that. It’s much rather focused on providing a view on how individuals are influenced by their environment and how they grow and evolve around and with it. By doing so Mushoku Tensei features characters to whom you don't have to look up, project yourself on or like on a superficial level. However, that does not turn them into bad characters.
The theme of the show is to follow the main characters new life in a medieval fantasy world as Rudeus Greyrat being reincarnated from his past life. And this world features every element an interesting Isekai has to offer: An interesting timeline (medieval in our case), magic, a wide range of characters, different factions, a mysterious villain and so on and so forth. Besides that Mushoku Tensei features something modern Isekai lag: A reason why an Isekai is an Isekai. That reason being the possibility to build a new life for our protagonist with him becoming a better person. The story starts of facile but picks up its pace exponentially. This is just right for a (re)coming of age story that features life from infant to young adult. From arc to arc the plot contains more meaning, depth and world expansion. This world and its environment is shaped by their inhabitants inducing a great amount of immersion.
Our main characters former life basically was a dumpster fire of rotting organic waste. He was excessively mobbed and traumatized in his childhood causing a huge problem: social seclusion. Having no friends or other reference/attachment figure he socially never matured leading to many bad traits and habits on different levels of his personality as an adult. To name some: mental instability, laziness, self-pity, lack of confidence, missing social skills and his unreasonable relationship to sex, yes including pedophilia. As he is transported into his new habitat even though he starts of being an infant all these traits aren't magically lost, in fact Rudeus remembers every part of his former life. This is the absolute greatness the show builds its entire existence on: How the main character overcomes those traits and habits to develop a new balanced and healthy personality as Rudeus Greyrat with strong and meaningful relationships as well as a sophisticated set of morals. We see him struggle on many occasions regarding different aspects of his former self, yet he is successfully willing to change. As Rudeus journey of growing up unfolds the viewer is presented examples of how Rudeus struggles or relapses on his old self however there are explicit scenes focusing on each progression he makes ultimatly overcoming his nemeses. Listing an example for every time this occurs is beyond the scope here. And yes the viewer is also presented with a clear development against the main characters not so legal cravings... The show elaborates on the huge contrast between what the future holds for an individual that grows up in a social environment with established role models around them versus a lonely and depressing environment. And this is something as present as ever in nowadays society which should not be blatantly viewed as just a kinky show to satisfy lolicons.
Regarding animation and production this is Isekai on another level. The people behind the newly formed Studio Bind all have advanced experience in creating art and sound for this genre of anime. It is definitely acknowledgeable that the main focus of this studio is creating Mushoku Tensei. I can't really describe how, but every aspect of animation is crafted to perfect the world Mushoku Tensei creates. Watching it does not feel like watching a generic anime, it feels like walking through a gallery of renown artists, it's the presence of greatness. However, there are only a handful of scenes which are visually mind-boggling.
Music and effects are where they should be. The music is solid but nothing to crazy or out of the box. It has some themes which are more outstanding and those themes are well made and put to use in their respective situation. Overall a wide range of what a well-equipped orchestra has to offer is used with your occasional coir input here and there.
Looking at how much more input the baseline light novel offers and how obvious the ongoing of this series is regarding its producing studio this is going to be the next big Isekai. Mushoku Tensei is a definitive recommendation to everyone who already likes the genre as well as for people who tend to dislike Isekai because this show definitely makes up for a lot of the flaws the last gen of Isekai struggled with.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 16, 2021
*Minor spoiler ahead*
A geologist was in search of his perfect stony SO in the sheer endless waifu universe but couldn't find the perfect match so in his rocky might he created himself a gemstone universe. In this or a similar way Houseki no Kuni was created.
Houseki no Kuni has something of a curse to it. It is incredibly remarkable on various levels which I've never experienced in an anime or even any TV show before, at least not to the extent Houseki no Kuni does. The turnoff that surfaces with being this extraordinary is that flaws even if they are just minor are more outstanding
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and bothering than they should usually be.
The story mainly consists of building the unknown and mysterious world and environment while slowly revealing small pieces of background knowledge. In many cases these circumstances result in a disconnection between the viewer and the world and its inhabitants however for me that was not the case with Houseki no Kuni. I was hooked and immersed from the get go. The world and environment use a familiar "post human" scenario but in a special way you will most likely never have experienced before. Where there's lacking emphasize on an orthodox story line, resources and effort is put into creating plot points that are highly supportive for Houseki no Kunis greatest element characters.
Everybody develops wishes, hopes and dreams. Some of them may very well be achievable, but there are also the ones that unfortunately rather unrealistic or even mere fantasy. Role models or idols, most people have someone they look up to or aspire to be like. What happens when our dreams do come true how unrealistic they may be? How do we change while pursuing others. How did we manage to achieve our dreams? What did it cost? Are we happier than before? Was it actually our hearts true desire? These are just some questions with which I try to sum up the overall development of our main character. It's so highly facetted I am otherwise unable to describe it. The world and elements in it shape Phoses character and I mean that literally. Every interaction be it verbally between characters or physically as well psychically within the world has consequences. Each supporting character does exactly what they are supposed to do: support our main character. Although they are by far not as complex as the MC and almost entirely limited to a certain trait that's exactly the right approach. Why would you build up unnescarily diverse side characters when there's already barely enough time to focus on your main character. Because the side cast consists of just the right amount of characters and they are all entirely different there's still a good diversity. It feels like they all work together as a unit complementing MC's personality, emotions and actions, each other and the world. This is another reason why on the first episode this anime made it into my favorite list. I instantly felt attached not only to the world but also to the characters. Almost every good aspect of this show shines from the first episode on. Every action or behavior will be led by a fleshed out persona as well as deep emotions and feelings from every character complex or not. Furthermore, all of this is interconnected with the characters being attributed by gemstones in their design. And there are even more magnificently outstanding aspects they offer if you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
Matching the anime, as we are midway through the review lets face the flaws I mentioned earlier. There will be a time when story progression (world development) and character development drift off into a weird and shallow shounen like style. For a short period of time the complex personality of MC is kinda thrown overboard while her actions and behavior are not as thoroughly backed as before and her achievements feel rather effortless. I mentioned before that after watching the first episode this already became one of my favorites. At a certain time I was about to revert my decision, out of frustration. Looking at it after watching the whole show, all in all that phase wasn't even as bad as it sounds. It just felt out of place while the rest of the show ends up almost flawless.
The show also scratches many fascinating psychological and philosophical themes and topics unfortunately the most attention they receive is a side note in dialogue at best.
Let's keep going with the good stuff again shall we? I have yet to see an anime, no any show, that manages to combine so many genre elements together without being a terrible and or inconclusive mess. There's just the right amount of everything. Comedy, witty dialogue, action, drama, mystery. It somehow just works.
Animation wise Houseki no Kuni is a milestone in CG animation. While hardcore CG tends to look a bit "wonky" Houseki no Kuni can't entirely fix that however the overall style and design fits the environment and characters. Because most of the entire series is made in CG it doesn't look as sharp "of" to the eye as it is the case within mixed productions at the time.
When the soundtrack kicks it frigging hits. And it kicks nonstop. These few words should describe it pretty well. There are so many designated themes which complement each character and key moments. Especially the character themes are well done and thought through resembling their attributes and elements. It's incredible how divers the soundtrack is while mainly using orchestral and occasionally piano and basic synth elements.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 8, 2021
*Very minor spoilers ahead*
Zankyou no terror feels like an ambitious project with much potential that at the end just couldn't deliver. And I will be using the phrasing "feels like" more often so don't get angry at me for sharing MY opinion here. There was a vision of the perfect psycho thriller, but that vision was just to perfect to be real. A lot of thought must have gone into creating super interesting scenarios and plot points but how to realize and properly build them up was cut short.
The story starts of really interesting and promising. A cat and mouse chase between a mysterious duo
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of teenagers and the Tokio police. But authors must have thought that this core story is just too basic and boring. However, with introducing more facets to the story the authors lost track of the plots bigger picture. This anime has more holes in its plot than russia has holes in its streets. The cat chases mouse story shifts into a mouse chases cat while an eagle flies over them trying to catch both of them story. This analogy in real life makes just as much sense as the story in Zankyou no terror. Not everything is terribly bad, apart from the nice start there are story parts that are interesting to follow but at the end everything just doesn't ad up smooth. Overall it feels like an all tangled up piece of yarn. It could have been very useful if just were a nice and straight string you could work with.
The characters feel like they are pressed with a mold and the mold is the story. Same as the story at their core they are promising and are solidly build around the plot, however they lack deeper meaning. Their backstory has so much potential to be a foundation of ambitious and advanced writing but its just not used adequately. It doesn't achieve to arouse the much-needed empathy they demand. Their intentions and motives are unclear, there seems to be no great purpose for the actions they take. Even though explaining characters and their backstory is a crucial a part of the whole anime which is taking up a lot of screen time, they just don't feel fleshed out.
The animation is overall pretty nice. What I enjoyed most is the great use of lighting and brightness. It is an excellent support for a thriller themed series. The character design is also above average. Action as well as fast or impactful scenes have great camera place-/movement and cuts. Special effects look good but not outstanding. "Normal" and calm scenes look kinda bland. Background design is ok.
Audio is definitely the strongest aspect Zankyou no terror has to offer. It comes with a well done and divers soundtrack that covers every theme and ambient the show has to offer be it mystery, tension, action or just calmness.
Although I don't rate Zankyou no terror really high I still recommend watching it because it still features many good elements a psycho thriller has to offer.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 6, 2021
*No Spoilers*
The most promising way to enjoy this show probably goes like this: You are gonna hit that play button and then you basically shut down your brain. Only leave your visual and acoustic senses left alive. If you try to make any sense of what you hear and see you most likely won't have a good time watching. That would be very sad because FLCL at its core is insanely entertaining.
FLCL jumps from being completely bonkers to absurdly dumb to incredibly weird and ultimately is just plain stupid. Its sick craziness reincarnated. It's almost impossible to predict what happens next. Now you are probably
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thinking: "Why would I want to watch this, this sounds horrible", but hold on just for now. To be honest, even though I will try to explain why, ultimately, I still don't fully understand the abstract beauty that slumbers in this absurdity of an anime. It's a perfect mess. Maybe you have to be crazy yourself to find this beauty. Despite this supposedly bad characteristics this anime can work so well, if you don't fanatically focus on what I will explain now.
As I stated at the beginning you shouldn't worry about this and if you follow my suggestion you won't be able to because you can't think while watching. But just for integrity I will dedicate a part of the review for story and characters separated from the series as a whole.
Simply put the story is crap because nothing makes sense throughout. Until the end there's little to no plot at all. The characters are either stupid or annoying and just as senseless as the story.
Despite this holistically being bad, in conjunction with the animation and soundtrack the story just becomes unnecessary and obsolete and characters turn out to be really enjoyable.
Let's face the crucial elements which turn this mess into a masterful anime starting with its animation. At first, it looks extremely basic and kinda cheap even for the early 2000s. Despite that basic core look you will soon find out that the animation with its every aspect is NOTHING but basic or cheap. I've never seen an animation that uses its potential so damn perfect. Its Gainax production with limited budget at its absolute peak regarding character and object movement as well as their design and presentation. It is in a flawless flow with FLCL's crazy scenes. The same is true for the amazing direction. Camera movement and setups as well as cuts fit so incredibly perfect with the absurd, weird and sick things the viewer is presented with. The animated manga style parts in episode 1 and 6 are also an incredible joy to watch.
Another outstanding part about FLCL is its absolutely outstanding soundtrack. The music seriously is next level. It elevates the messy story and character elements into enjoyment heaven. Same as the animation the soundtrack fills the otherwise bland and stupid script with substantial depth and meaning. The only critique there is to state is that due to it mainly being composed by a single band its not very divers. It's mostly dominated by rock sounds and after a few episodes themes will repeat however that's not a big downturn because the OST is so good in first place.
There are also many cool anime and other pop cultural easter eggs to discover which create another special charming element.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 19, 2021
*Very minor spoilers ahead*
It's Space Dandy, he's a dandy guy, in space...
If I could rate the show based upon its first 30 seconds it would definitely be a 10/10 masterpiece. The intro... It's just amazing.
My love for this intro now out-of-the-way lets get to the main review. "Space Dandy is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get"© (yes this ingenious statement is 100% to my credit). Overall it looks very nice and appealing there are many differently flavored pralines some you will find tastier than others. They all share the same basis however each one has its own remarkable ingredient(s). Nonetheless, at
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the end all pralines are some kind of chocolate.
Space Dandy has 3 main characters. These are throughout the season very basic in their traits, emotions and behavior. Due to the shows heavy episodic nature there's no development. But there are designated episodes for each of the main characters that grant them a bit of depth. In these they are able to show some deeper emotions, make new bonds and advance their usual traits or show new ones. Unfortunately the content of said episodes has no lasting impact. However, the superficiality of the characters is not that big of a deal as there's no main theme to follow anyway, but we will get to that later. Furthermore, their characteristic traits are very thoughtfully picked to create a trio that is able to support each episode with interesting dialogue and interaction.
Dandy is the "main" main protagonist he's egocentric, confident, outgoing, reckless and poised. Meow is his sort of sidekick and a meaningful contrast to Dandy as he is mostly restrained and held back in his actions. They often share different opinions and are in conflict regularly. QT is a robot that completes the trio, personally my favorite character. He is pretty considerate and mindful compared to his palls. He mediates the relationship between Dandy and Meow. To conclude each character appends one another and the plot of each episode.
Speaking of plot lets talk about the story. As I already addressed each episode has a standalone plot which is in no way connected to content in other episodes. Every episode has its own tale to tell. Most of them I found interesting, some are definitely better than others, but that's mostly not objective and up to personal preference. Some episodes have small depths of meaning, but it's mostly based on action and excitement.
There is an antagonist faction with a very shallow main antagonist. They exist, we don't really get to know why they exist and even bother about Dandy and his crew on the Aloha-Oe. Still they rarely feel out of place or like just squeezed in to have some sort of antagonist role because they are at least somewhat impactful or even crucial to each plot.
From a technical point of view this is probably due to the fact that many different directors and their respective teams worked on the show.
*BIGGER SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH*
Nevertheless, I don't like that there's no continuity throughout the season at all. The main characters may even die at the end of an episode in spite of that the next episode starts as if nothing happened. Well even the universe itself sometimes basically fades out of existence.
If you like works like Cowboy Bebop or Gurren Lagann with late 90s/early2000s style animation and effects this show is an eye candy. It's funky with flashy special effects yet clean and detailed. Scenes and places are very creative and original and not repetitive. The differing teams working on the show also leave their individual impact in the animation on the show. Overall... It's just.. dandy looking.
Music and sounds are never too shabby, mostly good supporting the science fiction space environment. There are few episodes where there's recognizable more focus on music leading to a next level soundtrack. I really enjoyed those.
The show also includes many references to other anime or (pop)cultural concepts which are nice to identify and discover. Although one of Space Dandy's biggest selling points is humor, funny dialogue and quirky scenes all this is a bit too much based on fan service elements, be it visually and or verbally.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 6, 2021
*No Spoilers*
It's possible to sum up Konosuba in a single sentence: It is ingeniously bad and that's ironically what makes it so enjoyable.
Luckily while watching the show I always had the feeling that it was aware of it being generally trashy. There are no tries to actually fix something, to push the show in a better direction. Konosuba embraces this trashiness just further. Even when you think a little bit of plot sprouts through the tarmac ground that is the story the sprout gets run over by the 20 ton truck that has "script delivery" written on itself. Every fragment of personality that a character
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is close to develop is spartan kicked into the abyss by Leonidas himself.
That being said there's no cohesive story or plot to be found while watching from start to end. You come to think of watching an anthology series but even the episodes themselves mostly have no main theme to focus on. Over the course of 10 episodes literally nothing of significance happens except you hear the characters say they levelled up. Some people say the story has the pacing of a snail trying to crawl through a dessert. That would be an understatement. It's more like a turtle that does not stick its legs out in fear of tripping over something... slowly dying of starvation.
I would not call the characters flat ( ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ) ) because they all have a major trait that makes them somewhat special and distinguishable, but throughout they are not unique, complex or multifaceted. But those characters are the basis of the very essence that makes this show enjoyable besides its groundbreakingly lackluster writing.
Having amazing dialogue and a great sense of comedy is why this show should not be objectively called trash. On a meta level the show recognizes its flaws and ironically reiterates on them through interactions and dialogue between the characters and the world. Referring to my beginning statement the show should be insanely agonizing to watch. But it isn't due to its incredible awareness of being agonizing which is achieved with quirky dialogue and "funcringe" comedy.
Another aspect that emphasizes this is the use of vulgar language and overall "profane" scenes and scenery which at least for me lead to a more mature overall setting. Although for some viewers this statement could be contradictory.
The production sources from Studio Deen. This by itself should be enough of a statement. It's does not look particularly bad overall it's just unloving and or inconsiderate. Effects are copy-pasted whenever possible. The scenery is mostly plain and boring. Characters look and move ok.
The soundtrack is pretty good. It underlines actions, scenes and emotions really nice and contributes to the "self awareness thing" I've tried to explain.
Konosuba is not meant to be a serious anime with a pseudo deep backstory or meaning like many other isekai try to be and kinda fail to achieve. It’s a silly clusterfuck and that’s good.
On a side note: I recommend watching this show with a friend or two while having one nice drink or three... It can't be a coincidence that dozens of pages come up when you google "Konosuba drinking game" (all responsible and to your own delight of course yada yada yada).
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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