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Jun 19, 2020
Disclaimer: May contain minor spoilers. TLDR is bottommost paragraph.
The Rising of the Shield Hero is pretty much your typical isekai. Almost everything about it down to its minuscule details are unoriginal and predictable. Yet, something about it made thundering waves across the anime community with it being one of the most successful anime of the year. After all, season 3 has already been confirmed even though the season 2 release isn’t known yet. That goes to show just how much revenue the anime generated.
I think the only thing that really stands out in RSH is our MC’s immediate plunge into darkness. Right off the bat,
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we get to see a nonchalant, blank canvas of an MC transform into the hardened, cynical MC that isn’t so common in isekai. However, even with the dark twist of events, RSH still ends up having the same plot as every other action anime out there.
In fact, the plot is rather horrible. The anime follows a cycle of MC “saving” a cute girl and adding to his harem, then fighting the next onslaught of monsters, and repeat. Ep 8 and ep 25 are nearly identical save for some minor character development countless fights that contributed nothing to the plot. The comparison between the world to an MMO game goes to show how lazy the story writers must have been when making this anime. At first, everything was emphasizing how it wasn’t just a game and everything had real consequences. Before long, MC and his crew are out “level-grinding,” “one-shotting,” and talking about a heap ton of other video game stuff.
Not only have we seen the plot countless times in other anime, RSH has the honor of presenting numerous major plot holes. At first, the series does a good job of resolving these problems (his hero abilities allow him to translate languages) but later on, major plot holes and events contradict each other. In addition to the looming plot holes, we get over-convenience reminiscent of a grade schooler’s fantasies. Some of the episodes had a plot so shallow, that it makes one question whether the writers were on shrooms when creating the story. The anime makes no effort to advance the plot past a stereotypical shounen fantasy story.
As far as plot goes, RSH hardly stands above other animes of the action/fantasy/isekai genre. Story aside, let’s look into baffling character interactions RSH presents. RSH’s characters are extremely shallow and based solely on character tropes (chosen one, damsel in distress, feminine fatale, etc). It’s disturbing to see how utterly dense the characters are made to be just to make story writing more convenient. Every character that isn’t part of MC’s party seems to be devoid of brain cells and common sense.
Let’s take Malty/Myne/Bitch for example. Myne is the feminine fatale meaning she uses her sexual charms to take advantage of our MC. She does this immediately and by ep 2, we respect her as a cunning, pathological liar. However, over the course of the next 20 episodes, she loses all of her decency, common sense, and respect from the viewers. This may have been intentional, but to most people, it was probably disgusting to see a character development based on cheap tricks such as exhibiting zero intelligence.
The characters in MC’s parties are barely better. And the relationship between MC and his party mates is borderline fetishistic. His harem consists of enslaved lolis and princesses. It really makes one wonder whether a horny 5th grader was behind the character writing. And while the subject of slavery is touchy, I can complement RSH for not viewing slavery in a positive light but rather the relationships between Raphtalia, Filo, and MC. Although, the entire slave crest thing could have been voided and the anime would have remained the same apart from potential NTR bs.
The characters are unbelievably one-dimensional, yet I have to say that I did enjoy many of their interactions, particularly between Filo and Melty. Although cliche and often cringe, the relationship between Raphtalia and MC is also appreciable, especially towards the beginning.
There’s not much to be said about the art of sound in RSH. Both are well-done but nothing phenomenal. The use of CGI in some parts was interesting and appreciable. The fight scenes were all very well done. Kudos to Kinema Citrus.
Despite RSH’s stereotypical story, horrific characters, and the questionable harem of enslaved lolis, RSH was still very enjoyable. Perhaps it was the isekai/action anime formula that RSH seeming religiously follows that makes the anime enjoyable, despite having seen the same characters and story found across countless other shows. Overall, I did enjoy every episode (some more than others) and I do recommend it to isekai/shounen fans. 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 17, 2020
“Maybe alive means it has an end…” - Yuuri, Girls’ Last Tour
Minor spoilers ahead. Amature review writer. TL;DR is the last paragraph.
What makes us human? What defines life? What is the point of life? These are such questions siblings Yuuri and Chito face on their journey through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Girls’ Last Tour takes traditional Moe anime and blends it with the melancholy of treading through a wasteland.
Going into this anime, I don’t think anybody could have expected how deeply philosophical this anime is. I would’ve never thought two blobby moe girls could alter the way I see the world.
First, I’d like to
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get art and sound out of the way. The character design of the blobby moe girls is honestly genius. The cute adorable faces juxtapose with the grim backgrounds and inevitable hopelessness of their journey. The CGI backgrounds are some of the best in anime. The sound is the best I’ve ever experienced in anime. From the well-fitting background music to the detailed sounds of rain, clinking, driving, etc, Girls’ Last Tour drowns you in its melancholic world. The sounds are so good, that I’d describe it (episode 5 especially) as an ASMR experience. White Fox again serves another quality animation.
Sound and art aside, I’ve found many viewers having issues with the story - or rather, lack of story. Girls’ Last Tour lacks the traditional story-telling we might expect from an apocalyptic anime. After all, the conflict-resolution structure doesn’t seem to exist here. However, despite not having a clear structure, Girls’ Last Tour does have a plot, albeit not obvious. The story is built on dialogue and encounters rather than problems and resolutions. Every word, reaction, and encounter serves to present and (attempt) to answer questions of our humanity. Girls’ Last Tour mauls over the eternal philosophical questions of companionship, happiness, hopelessness, religion, loneliness, and desire. These themes are present in every episode and nearly every second of the anime. To really enjoy the story, I’d suggest looking deeper into the seemingly superficial-moe-cutesy dialogue. You might be surprised at what you find.
The characters of this anime consist of our two girls, two humans they later encounter, and a mysterious creature named Nuko (or Cut depending on subs). Despite having seemingly flat personalities based on stereotypical character traits, Yuu and Chi have many more layers of complexity than their superficial appearances. Although Chi is represented as the smarter, more serious girl, Yuu, who is often portrayed as dense and nonchalant, usually is the first to take action and answer the deeper questions the series mauls over (quote at the top is one example). And while Chi is depicted as logical and more emotionally stable, Chi loses herself and sobs when Yuu is taken away from her. Through tiny interactions and reactions, the characters are magnificently developed in ways no other moe girls develop.
Girls’ Last Tour is a surprisingly well-made anime. It offers so much more than you’d first expect. The world-building is incredible and although there are no cliff-hangers or action, I still found myself hooked. The anime really makes you step back and view everything in a different light, something most animes could only dream to achieve. The characters are easily lovable and enjoyable to watch. The art and sound are masterpieces of their own. Overall, Girls’ Last Tour is an amazing anime that I will probably find myself thinking about for the next few years. However, the slow-burner story and melancholic atmosphere might not appeal to everyone. But still, I urge you to give it a try. Maybe a story about cute blobby girls can teach us all a little more about life.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 15, 2020
SPOILER WARNING
Charlotte is very much like SAO. Generic storyline but amazing execution… at first. Like SAO, Charlotte loses much of its charm and potential very very quickly. If my enjoyment of Charlotte were to be graphed, it would look much like a parabola - decent at first, then losing all of its charm, and finally redeeming itself with the last arc. It pained me to watch Charlotte because all I thought about was how awfully the producers and writers messed up. The anime had atrociously bad pacing, one-dimensional characters, and too many plot-holes to count.
Story: This was my biggest problem with the anime. Not
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only is everything recycled trash (Angel Beats! Clannad, and Charlotte share the same writers), the pacing went ahead screwed it up even further. Let me put how poor the pacing really is into perspective: The first episode introduces most of the characters and begins building the world. So far, it’s normal and enjoyable. However, the following 5 were filler-esque styled episodes serving almost no purpose aside from introducing another character. Episode 7 was decent, showcasing the major event of MC’s sister’s death and episode 8 was similar, showcasing MC’s reaction and recovery. The last couple of episodes introduces and solves the major conflict in the most rushed way imaginable. Could the writers not have made the story flow more naturally? Did the major conflict really have to be introduced two-thirds the way in? Did episodes 2-6 serve any purpose at all? Will Mxple-kun stop asking questions in this review?
And the pacing isn’t even the worst part of it. Somehow, the writers were able to take Angel Beats, rename the characters, borrow a scene from Clannad (baseball scene) and create Charlotte, a money-making success. And in the process of creating such an original anime, the writers somehow managed to make every episode come with its own couple of plot holes. The most obvious example being kids showing off supposedly SECRET supernatural abilities out in public.
The part that annoyed me the most is how poorly the characters reacted to trauma and death. After the death of his sister, MC became depressed, then abusive, then rebellious, then violent, then a drug addict, and finally reverted back to his original self in one. single. episode. The very next episode, everything returned to normal with poorly placed comedic relief inserted not even 5 minutes in.
And my last concern with the story: how overly convenient everything is to the point where every other scene is just made-up cringe. For example, MC was able to cure Kazuki’s madness or dementia simply by letting him hear someone sing. Every episode is filled with all sorts of miracles that usually only occur in children’s fairy tales and after a couple hundred, it becomes cringe. The story gets a 4/10.
Art: Not much to be said here. Art is very modern and enjoyable. But also not very unique. PA Works did a fine job. Nothing mindblowing but not at all bad. 9/10 art
Sound: Opening was alright, nothing too amazing. The ending wasn’t really great either. Only time the music really stood out is when Kumagami entered the room dripping wet. Bonus points for having unique songs written for HLH and ZHEID. 7/10
Characters: Another disaster. In the first episode, we are introduced to a cunning, mischievous, and very likable MC. However, it seems that Yuu Otosaka’s character traits completely vanish after the first twenty minutes of the show. He becomes the generic “ultra-shallow, overly-dramatic, face-palm worthy” MC in every generic slice of life ever. Only in the last few episodes does he show any change due to being subject to trauma. Along with our MC, most of the other characters are flat and centered around a particular character trait. For instance, Takajo exists almost solely as a clown for comedic relief. Not only is his comedic scenes cringe, they are also severely misplaced. In fact, he was making perverted jokes in front of MC right after his sister died. Wtf man.
Yusa/Misa was also a character I had a lot of problems with. Yusa is basically the embodiment of a cringey character you’d find in a 4 y/o’s cartoon. Misa isn’t much different and seems like a lazy attempt at writing a strong female character. And the way Misa acts in the anime is the worst part of all. She somehow feels the need to stick to her tsundere tomboy act at all times and never speaks a word without yelling and being overly dramatic.
All the other characters are similar but to a slightly lesser degree. Nao Tomuri is probably the only character that I actually enjoyed and respected. Tomuri is a much deeper character and actually shows different shades of emotions. She’s usually confident, cunning, sly, and rough but we learn that it’s mostly a facade. She has layers to her character and seems almost realistic. All in all, the characters are pretty trash, but Tomuri was cool so I’ll give characters a 4/10. Way to go Tomuri, carrying the team :b
Enjoyment/Overall: Although Charlotte is a disastrous mess of poor storytelling, flat characters, and cringe, Charlotte was surprisingly enjoyable. Episodes 2-6 aside, Charlotte was not a bad anime. Sure, it failed me in almost every way possible, but it still managed to find a way into my heart. If you’re bored or enjoy looking trash, I’d recommend this anime. And if you aren’t bored or enjoy looking at trash, still, maybe give Charlotte a shot. 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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