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Oct 2, 2017
One trope that anime uses time and time again is the underdog story. In which the main character is a nobody who has a dream, is told they can’t do it, but they work hard and believe and they achieve their goals. While this is a very good message to younger viewers, for anime veterans such as myself, it kind of gets old after awhile, so a show like this something special to stick out from all the rest. And Little Witch Academia delivered on that and more.
Story: 7/10 The story of Little Witch Academia follows Akko Kagari. A young girl who has a dream
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of becoming a witch like her idol, Shiny Chariot. To do this, she attends the prestigious school for witches, Luna Nova. She quickly finds out, however, that it’s very tough for her to fit in there. She can’t perform magic nearly as well as everyone else and she can’t even fly on a broomstick. As such she gets bullied a lot by her classmates. Especially a snobbish girl named Diana Cavendish and her 2 friends. Despite this, Akko still believes in herself and still tries to improve as a witch. There is one major flaw with the story though. It takes forever for any major plot points to kick in. The first 10 or so episodes feel more like episodic adventures of Akko and her two friends Lotte and Sucy getting into mischief or going on a crazy adventure. It isn’t until the second half when the true plot kicks in, when Akko’s teacher Ursula tells her that she needs to find the seven words of Arcturus in order to give the Shiny Rod (a wand that was owned by Chariot and is now inherited by Akko) magic power. It is then that Akko’s adventure truly begins. While the more episodic first half is fine and very fun to watch, I feel like it didn’t need to drag on as much as it did and it caused many people I’ve talked to to drop the show early. Once the plot kicks in though, it’s truly magical (pun intended)
Art: 9/10 Studio Trigger is no stranger to unique and quirky art styles, so needless to say, this anime looks great. Obviously it isn’t animated as good as the OVA and short film, but considering this is a 24 episode TV series I can forgive that. The art is very vibrant and colorful and really sucks you into the world of this anime. Coupled with unique, standout character designs and many different locations that the characters visit, you better believe that this anime will hook you in with the art.
Sound: 8/10 The soundtrack to this anime is very fitting for a show like this. The songs sound magical and mysterious, yet upbeat and charming at the same time. Both opening songs are very upbeat and motivating songs to emphasize the “follow your dreams” message that the anime has. The voice acting is very good too. Each character has a unique standout voice that reflects their personality making each one recognizable. All in all, very little complaints with the sound.
Characters: 9/10 Little Witch Academia excels with its characters. I’ve already mentioned Akko, so let’s talk about some of her friends. Lotte is the brains of the group and is a major bookworm. Sucy is very monotone and obsessed with mushrooms, Diana is a know it all snob that is respected by everyone at the school and may or may not contribute to Akko’s life, we have Ursula who is Akko’s mentor and has a huge secret about her that I won’t dare spoil for you, and I would talk about Crois, but I don’t want to get into spoiler territory here. Some characters could have gotten a bit more screen time and development, but nothing too major. Other than that, Little Witch Academia handled its characters very well.
Enjoyment: 9/10 This show was a joy to watch every Monday back in the Winter and Spring 2017 seasons. The first half is fun to watch just to see what antics Akko and her friends will get into in each episode, and the second half is even better as we get to see Akko’s journey to find the seven words and even get a few VERY shocking reveals along the way. All in all, this anime was a joyride all the way through.
Overall: 8/10. Little Witch Academia had its share of issues such as the first half feeling more like a drag plot wise and some characters not getting enough screen time, but even then, the good definitely outweighs the bad and we get an inspirational story about following your dreams and working to improve yourself instead of trying to be like others. I highly recommend you watch this with a younger kid, as this show is appropriate for all ages (for the most part) and the message will definitely speak to a younger audience as well as an older one as well. Thank you for reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 5, 2017
THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
I think it's safe to assume that everyone here in the anime community has a favorite anime. And the beautiful thing about that is that even if two people have the same favorite anime, everyone has their own reasons for that particular show to be their favorite. Be it nostalgia, relatable characters, the way it was directed, or in my case, how it changed your life. As you can tell, that's what The Tatami Galaxy did for me. How? We'll get to that in a bit.
Story: 9/10 Tne Tatami Galaxy follows an unnamed protagonist commonly referred to as Watashi, an incoming
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college student who wants to live the "rose colored campus life." To do this, he joins certain student organizations and clubs and tries to find happiness and love through them. As he is walking home one night, he is told by a fortune teller, "Opportunity is always dangling in front of your eyes." However, Watashi never reaches for it and at the end of each episode, time resets setting up the next scenario for Watashi in the following episode. Kind of confusing, but this will all make sense by the end of the review.
Art: 10/10 This show is directed by Masaaki Yuasa, a man commonly known for his unique and stand alone art style and is animated by Madhouse, a studio never known to cut corners when it comes to animation, so needless to say, the show looks brilliant. The colors you'll see in this show are primarily black and white, but there are quite a few colorized objects as well. Not to mention the live action shots. While this is a major turnoff for some, I view it as more of an artistic style choice. Also worth mentioning is that each character is brimming with personality, with over exaggerated facial expressions and eating animations. All in all, the art in this show is perfect and really complements the style and message Yuasa was going for with it.
Sound: 9/10 Aside from the art style, another reason many people are turned off by this anime is that there is no dub and the dialogue goes by very fast, even for long time subtitle readers. However, in a few episodes, you should be able to get used to it, and once you do, you'll find that the voice actors did a brilliant job conveying the emotions and feelings of their respective characters. As for music, the opening song is one of my favorites in any anime is is constantly getting stuck in my head, it's just so dang catchy. In the department of sound effects, this anime hits it out of the ball park with that too. In order to enhance the narration, sound effects were added to bring simple dialogue to life. It doesn't even matter if you see the person or object that's making the noise, it really livens up the experience.
Characters: 10/10 The characters are what make this show for me. Everyone here has a purpose and contributes something to Watashi's life. We have his love interest Akashi, who is missing a toy keychain that Watashi has, Ozu, a weird looking man who acts like a rival to Watashi constantly stealing the fun from him, Ryoko, a dental hygienist who forms a close relationship with Watashi, hell, even an inflatable doll plays a key role in this show. Not a single character is forgettable in this anime. The cast is very diverse. In other words, each character has a unique trait about them that is actually explored very well. More shows and forms of entertainment in general should aspire to make their character as well as Tatami Galaxy made theirs.
Enjoyment: 10/10. Believe me, if I could rate this higher I would. My enjoyment for this show didn't come from me being entertained by it. No, my enjoyment came from the message it was sending, and the time that I watched it. Around this time, I was a senior in high school with about a month or two left before graduation. I had very few friends, had trouble talking with girls I had strong feelings for, and was too scared to take risks. I didn't feel like I was ready for the pressures of college at all. People were telling me time and time again to watch The Tatami Galaxy because it is a masterpiece of animation and is up there with the greatest anime of all time, so one day when I had nothing to do, I caved in and watched it, and I am SO glad that I did. Going back to the quote from the fortune teller, "Opportunity is always dangling in front of your eyes." This anime's message is that if you feel like you're living down in the dumps or there's not enough fun in your life, you only have yourself to blame. You need to reach out for that opportunity and hold onto it for dear life. That is the key to living a fulfilling life. After watching this anime, I decided to reach out for opportunities more than ever before and never be afraid to take risks, and I'm living a hell of a lot better now because of it.
Overall: 10/10 Even if we put my personal connections aside, because in the end that means nothing, this is still a fantastic anime in every way. Memorable characters that serve a purpose, a very odd yet charming art style, great music, and a message that will speak to just about anyone, The Tatami Galaxy is a show that needs to be seen to be be believed. Allow me to end this review with a message to anyone getting ready for college or even the real world after college. If you feel like your life is boring or you feel like you don't know your place in the world, I IMPLORE YOU to watch this anime. Thank you for reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 30, 2017
I'm just going to say right off the bat that this is not an anime that I would recommend to just anyone. Not because it's bad, quite the opposite. It's because it's designed for a very niche audience. You have to be in the right mood to truly appreciate what this anime is and understand everything about it. Are you still confused? If you are, you'll see what I mean as the review goes on.
Story: 8/10. The story to Serial Experiments Lain is very... avant garde if you will. I really don't want to get into it too much because I want people to go
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in knowing as little as possible to enhance the experience, but I'll give the basics. This anime came out in 1998 when the internet was becoming more mainstream, and more and more people began using it. To make a long story short, this anime's goal was to be a commentary on the rise of the internet and how it's affecting us as a society. That's all I'm going to say for now.
Art: 9/10 All I can say about this is... wow! If someone were to tell me this anime came out in 2002, I would have believed that. Visually, this show was WAY ahead of its time both with art and animation. One thing you'll notice is that the art and animation can be very weird and even kind of unsettling at times. This is not only meant to convey the message of the show, but also to provide certain symbolisms as well. This show always keeps your full attention with its visuals keeping you wondering what it's going to do next and what everything means.
Sound: 9/10 The music in this series is top notch. The intro song is instantly recognizable, the BGM really adds to the situations and atmosphere of the show making already unsettling moments even more unsettling. As for sound effects, they play an important role as well. Especially the electrical sounds coming from the telephone wires. Voice acting is nice as well. A mix of insanity, monotone voices, and occasionally bubbly voices from Lain's friends, the voice actors did a great job portraying their respective characters.
Characters: 7/10. One of Serial Experiments Lain's faults is that its characters aren't the greatest. Lain herself is pretty dynamic and well handled, along with her best friend Alice or Arisu, but it seems like the rest were just kind of treated as afterthoughts and didn't really get enough screen time or development. Granted, this isn't too bad because this show was never meant to be character driven, but I still think they could have done a better job handling the side characters.
Enjoyment: 10/10 Needless to say, this anime kept me hooked from beginning to end. I was intrigued by its unique atmosphere, I wanted to know more about its deep themes, and I enjoyed dissecting every little scene to figure out what they could possibly mean. All in all, this show was a fun yet kind of freaky ride from beginning to end, and I love it for that:
Overall: 8/10 I said it once and I'll say it again. Serial Experiments Lain was way ahead of its time in so many ways. Art and animation, voice acting, and themes. Heck, even almost 20 years later these themes are still relevant in society. In fact, they might be even more relevant now than ever before. As I said before, this anime is NOT for everyone, but if you're looking for an anime to mess with your head, keep you analyzing every moment, and leave an everlasting impact on your mind, look no further than Serial Experiments Lain!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 7, 2017
Death Parade is an anime that I kind of feel conflicted with when it comes to my thoughts on it. There's a whole lot that I liked about it, but at the same time, it has a lot of flaws that prevent it from being nearly as good as it could have been.
Story: 7/10 The story of Death Parade is a simple, yet interesting one. There is a bar called Quindecim which people are sent to after they die. When they arrive, they normally meet up with someone else, most likely someone from their past or someone who has had a similar experience to
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the other. Once they meet up, they have to play one of nine "death games" chosen at random on a roulette and cannot leave until they do so. The main purpose of these games are to cause one person to admit to a dark secret from their past. Once the game is over, Decim, who is the bartender, as well as an "Arbiter" whose job is to decide the fate of the visitors of Quindecim, sends the two down one of two elevators. One allows the rider to reincarnate (this happens if you were good) and the other just sends the rider straight to the void where they are left to die permanently. (This is for when you're bad) The main problem I have with the story of Death Parade is that it barely goes anywhere. Sure, the character of Chiyuki has a backstory that is revealed a little bit as the series progresses, but even then, the series barely goes anywhere with the story.
Art: 9/10 Madhouse always delivers on the art and animation in their shows and Death Parade is no exception. The character designs look cool. I love the neon purple look of Quindecim, and the animations shown when a game is getting ready are visually stunning. Easily one of the best aspects of the show
Characters: 5/10 Unfortunately this is where Death Parade takes a huge nosedive. Other than Chiyuki and Decim (to an extent) none of the characters stick out and seem to have one personality trait that never gets fleshed out, and we never learn anything about them other than the fact that they're arbiters. In fact, other than maybe Nona, these characters are barely shown at all and don't get nearly enough screen time so half the time you forget they even exist. I would have given this category a lower score, but Chiyuki's backstory and some of the reveals about Decim's story later on interested me enough to give it a 5 at best.
Enjoyment: 8/10 OK now to address the elephant in the room. This anime was fun to watch. I mean REALLY fun to watch. I always enjoyed watching the two contestants of the week play the games and see what interesting secrets they were hiding, and in some episodes, find out more about the mystery of Chiyuki's past. It's also very fun to debate with a group of people watching the show about who deserved what fate and why. In other words, this show excels at keeping the viewer entertained for 24 minutes each week, but once the show is over, will it truly leave a lasting impact? Sadly, that did not happen with me.
Overall: 6.5/10 All in all, like I said before, there's quite a bit to like about Death Parade, but the sad truth is, it just leaves you wanting more. I wanted to know more about the solar system symbolism going on, I wanted the side characters to be fleshed out more, I wanted characters other than Decim and Chiyuki to have more screen time, and most of all, I wanted to learn more about Quindecim itself. The series had little to no World building. For the majority of the show, all you see is the bar area of Quindecim and you just get Breuer scenes of other areas on rare occasions. This in turn gives us no information on Quindecim other than the fact that it exists, people go to it when they die, and they play death games to determine their fate there. Maybe if this show gets a second season, we'll learn more about all this, but for now, it can't get more than a 6.5 out of 10 for being a nice entertaining watch, but nothing that will leave a huge impact on you when you're done with it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 18, 2017
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!
When I first walked into this anime, I thought it was going to suck. I mean, it had everything to make me skeptical. It was by A-1 Pictures, it was a Light Novel adaptation, and it was a trapped in a video game story with a fantasy setting. We've seen dozens of these before and very few stood out to me as interesting or memorable, but to my surprise, Grimgar turned out to be one of my favorite anime of last year.
Story: 8/10 The story is basic, yet effective. As I said before, this is a trapped in a video game story
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involving 6 characters who don't even know each other waking up in a fantasy world remembering nothing but their names. Now, they must fight in order to survive in this fantasy setting. I would talk about the story more but it ties in to the other topics as well so this is all I can say for now.
Art: 10/10 I rarely give a 10 to any anime for any aspect, but I feel that this one truly deserves one when it comes to the art. Grimgar's art and animation is beautiful with great character designs, but the real icing on the cake is the world itself. Everything looks like it came straight out of a watercolor painting adding to the rich detail of the world of Grimgar as well as assisting with immersing you into it making you feel like you are really there with the characters.
Characters: 8/10 The characters are what makes this series truly shine. Each one is different and each one develops in some way, be it in their ways of thinking, overcoming their fears, or simply getting stronger through actual hard work instead of just getting a random power up for the sake of the plot to make them overpowered. Each character also has their own unique class, so each one can do something different in battle, and we actually see them take advantage of this by strategizing and letting each character know what their role will be in a battle. Haruhiro is a theif, Ranta is a knight who wants to do everything on his own, Yume is an archer, Shihoru is a mage, Moguzo is a tank with heavy armor and strength, and Manato is a priest or a healer. When Manato dies he is replaced with a girl named Merry who is more strict when it comes to healing, but has a tragic backstory that I wouldn't dare spoil for you here. What's great about these characters is that as I said before, they grow gradually and still have a heavy risk of danger in fights, even in the latter half of the series. They start out extremely weak, struggling to kill a simple goblin, so they train up and learn new skills, gradually and eventually are strong enough to kill goblins. This type of development goes on throughout the entire series.
Enjoyment: 9/10 From beginning to end, this series had me hooked. From the beautiful world, to the dynamic characters, this show never failed to keep me interested. It's worth noting that the story is very slow paced and some episodes just focus on characters doing their everyday routines while an insert song plays, and while I can see how someone would dislike this aspect of the series, I feel like it gives it a sense of realism. We get to see these characters struggling to fight enemies to collect money for resources to survive and we get to see these characters working hard to get stronger as they go. This also gives the show a great advantage in terms of world building, as we get to see the vast variety of environments that each of these characters explore, and as I said before, the beautiful watercolor art style helps the viewer get immersed into the world and makes you feel like you're right there with the characters. Another thing this series does right is tension. Too often in fantasy anime like this one, I see characters get super powerful to the point where they can beat anyone with ease and the whole appeal of the show is merely the fight choreography, but here, there's always a sense of danger with enemies that are way more powerful than the characters so they always have to enter a fight with caution and make sure they have a plan, otherwise, they could get killed. There are even some instances where the characters decide that they are not ready for a certain enemy type so after a tough battle, they leave, get better, and a few episodes later, come back to fight the same enemies. All in all, this series nails the survival aspect of it and truly feels realistic, rather than giving characters unfair advantages over the bad guys.
Overall: 8.5/10 Even after all of my praises, Grimgar still has some flaws. It was way too short, having only twelve episodes, and with a series as slow paced as this one, it at least needs 24. The story feels incomplete and I feel like certain characters have the opportunity to develop even more based on the final scene of the anime. Although I'm sure a season 2 can fix that problem. Unfortunately nothing has been confirmed about one. Also, in typical A-1 Pictures (or modern anime in general) fashion, there is some unneeded fan service here and there. Mainly coming from Yume, which kind of breaks the immersion and makes me feel like they just want to pander to the otakus, but other than that, this is one of the finest fantasy stories you'll find with a great sense of adventure, dynamic characters, actual tension, and fantastic world building.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 11, 2017
Every year the anime community finds a new show to hype up and call a "masterpiece" and for 2016, that anime was Re:Zero. Week after week, we were constantly theory crafting, arguing over who the best girl is, and making new memes. But at the end of the day, was the show really that great?
Story: 6/10 The story starts out very typical for light novel fantasy standards. A teenage boy named Subaru randomly gets teleported into a fantasy world and is now stuck there, but here's the kicker: Subaru has an ability called "Return by Death" which causes him to respawn somewhere after
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he dies, but only he has memory of what happened before his death. We eventually meet a white haired half-elf girl named Emila who Subaru immediately falls in love with, wanting to do everything in his power to protect her.
Art: 7/10 The art in this anime isn't bad by any means, but it's not very unique either. It reminds me so much of other light novel fantasy series, so it doesn't really stick out to me that much. That being said though, the animation is nice and the backgrounds look good.
Characters: 6/10 I wish I could give this a higher score. I really do. But I can't because half of the characters in this series are barely there and are just placeholders for some events in the plot. As for the characters that are present for the majority of the anime, they're kind of a mixed bag. The only characters who truly stood out to me were Subaru and Rem. Subaru for his development in episode 18, and Rem for how much she legitimately cares for Subaru and how much she does for him (and of course her famous scene in episode 18). Other than that, no other characters truly stick out to me and are just kind of... there.
Enjoyment: 8/10 I gotta say, despite my complaining, I enjoyed following this anime week after week. I loved discussing each episode with my friends, having waifu wars, and looking at all the memes being made. I had a lot of fun watching to see where the story would go, but I'm not giving my final score on my personal enjoyment. I'm just judging this series as a whole.
Overall 6/10: Re:Zero isn't a terrible show, but it does have a LOT of flaws to address. First, the checkpoint system for Subaru when he dies isn't explained at all. I know that a new checkpoint is created when a major plot point happens, but it's never explained why or how, so for now it just seems like plot armor. I have had someone tell me that they work whenever Subaru sleeps, but I haven't heard any confirmation of that so for now it's just a theory and does not mean anything. Another plot hole that needs addressed is how Subaru got into this world in the first place. He just walked out of a convenience store and magically wound up there. Why was he summoned? Why does he have the Return by Death power? The anime doesn't tell you. Finally, as I said before, very few characters were actually fleshed out and seemed to just be along for the ride getting little to no development. The villain wasn't even that great either. He was just insane with nothing else notable about him. All in all, Re:Zero was an enjoyable series but it is far from perfect and has WAY too many unanswered questions and plot holes to fill. Plus as I said before, Subaru has SO MUCH plot armor with the return by death ability. It kills all the tension because no matter what, Subaru can respawn and try again, and if he screws up, he could just die and get a do over. 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 30, 2016
This is my first review, so feel free to give me constructive criticism.
Oh Erased. I remember when the first episode came out and the entire anime community was hyping it up as one of if not the best anime they've ever seen. Now, I'm just going to say right now. This is something you should never do. There are many shows with very captivating first episodes that quickly go downhill as weeks go by and Erased is unfortunately one of those shows. The story is about a 29 year old manga artist and pizza delivery man, Satoru Fujinuma. Satoru has a mysterious power dubbed "revival"
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which can send him back a few seconds to prevent deaths or serious injuries. One night, when Satoru comes home from work, he finds his mother lying dead on the floor, with the killer just leaving the scene, tipping his hat to Satoru. Satoru gets the bright idea to run up the the body and get blood on his hands, causing his neighbor to blame him for the murder and call the police on him. When Satoru tries to go back in time to prevent this death, he goes all the way back to 1988 when he was in grade school. It was around this time that that same killer was killings little girls from his class, and Satoru, now knowing this, decides to solve the mystery of who this killer is, and stop him in his tracks. Sounds good right? Well, the story did have A LOT of potential but unfortunately, it fails to live up to any of it. The show is classified as a mystery, and it's clear that Satoru's main goal is to find out who the killer was. The problem with this is that the show made it way too obvious who the killer was. I was able to pin point it by episode 3. In fact, if you pause at the right time in the opening, it literally shows you the killer's face. This ruins the entire point of the show. A mystery show is supposed to make you think and theory craft as to who the killer is and why he would be committing these horrible crimes. To do this, the show must present at least 3 plausible suspects for who the killer could be and focus on each of them equally, giving the viewer time to get to know them, and use their brains to deduce who the killer is. Erased unfortunately gave us one plausible option and wasn't very subtle with it either. I won't spoil who the killer is, but if you decide to watch the show, I won't be surprised if you figure it out by episode 2 or 3. Another thing wrong with Erased is its characters. Very few are fleshed out. Satoru, Kayo (one of the victims of the killer) Satoru's mother, and arguably Kenya (Satoru's best friend) are the only characters to be fleshed out at all in the story, when there are plenty more characters that seem like their just there to be there and add little to nothing to the story. The biggest example of this is Airi, Satoru's co worker. We did get some neat interactions between the two and I'm the manga, her character was fleshed out and likeable, but here, she's just a forgettable one dimensional girl who appears for like, 3 episodes if that. We get a brief explanation of the killer's motives but in the manga, we get treated to his entire backstory and learn more about his motives and why he mainly targets little girls. Although I will give credit where it is due. The art and animation are very good, and the music (especially that opening) is top notch. Other than that, I see nothing but wasted potential here, and as a manga reader I can definitely say that the manga is better. It fleshes out more of the characters, it makes the killer less obvious and adds a whole new arc to make up for the anti climactic ending. In the end, Erased gets a 5/10. The ideas were there, but little was done with them.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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