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"Tomo-chan wo Onnanoko!" is a fairly straight forward romantic comedy that I'd recommend to anyone looking for something in the genre.

The main conceit of the show, as I'm sure you're aware, is that Tomo is in love with her best firend and we follow her struggle during the show to get her best friend, Jun, to open his mind and finally view her as more than his friend - to see her as a woman. She's already tried to confess to him, but he didn't take it in a romantic way. I'm sure you already see how many of the show's scenes will play out ... in your mind's eye, and let me tell you - you're not wrong.

I think it's important to lay something out for prospective viewers of this show: "Tomo-chan" isn't a "will-they-or-won't-they?" that drags on for the series' runtime. Rather, think of "Tomo-chan" they way you would of an adventure. Will Tomo finally get her man? Well, did you think Frodo would eventually make it to Mount Doom? Same principle. Tomo is hellbent on making sure that Jun will truly look at her as a woman and prospective lover.

Jun is that already mentioned friend. Surely he's an airhead, you might be thinking. Here's someone (Tomo) who's accepted as being very attractive in-world. Jun firmly knows that Tomo is a woman even as the story starts. So what's the big deal? Well, Jun sees Tomo as a friend first and foremost. Their relationship has hardly ever been touched by any preconceptions of gender and potential romance. They playfight - and actually fight (for comedic purposes) - and hang out as buds. Jun is content in what they have had, but will be forced during the show to alter his perception on their friendship and relationship and make a decision on how to go forward - since we already know where Tomo wants things to go. I'm sure there was a potential idea for Jun to be the series' protagonist (albeit different title then, obviously) and I think most of us would agree that not only would that be less fun - it'd also tread old ground.

By her side, Tomo has two core friends. The cool-headed Misuzu who is a bit of a human encyclopaedia on all things - even romantic, despite being someone who doesn't seem like they've ever been in a truly romantic setting. There's also Carol, a foreigner who's big heart has room for anyone but fails to make friends until she meets Tomo's group of people. Both try to balance out Tomo's hang-ups and attempts to get at Jun - as well as come with their own suggestions for Tomo to try. They make up a very entertaining comedic duo as the devil and angel on Tomo's shoulders and trio with Tomo herself as they scheme for Jun's heart. Their plans usually result in making up the plot for the episodes - Tomo tries new clothes for Jun to see her in, Tomo and friends go to the beach in new swimsuits (so Jun can get an eyeful of Tomo's boobs, to be blunt), and much more.

This leads us to the main themes of the show: Firstly, Tomo is trying all sorts of different tactics to make Jun see her as a girl. But even then - is he seeing the real her? Tomo is a clearly attractive young woman, and Jun obviously likes hanging out with her. The situations they two are put in often result in Jun looking at Tomo in a new light, but how much is he actually seeing the real Tomo instead of the Tomo that's presented to him as being more girly? Secondly, the series is also about two friends becoming more and more romantically entangled. What happens in these situations? Can the friendship keep going as before or is something fundamentally changed by acknowledging the present attraction? Can they still hang out in the same way? Can they still punch each-other (comedically, sure, but consider violence in relationships, etc)? These are resolved in the series in a sweet way which I won't disclose here, other than to say that "Tomo-chan" is a remarkably smartly planned romantic series - despite giving off the aura of being a kid of dumb romcom.

Final details then. The art is quite good and does a great job in selling important scenes. The OP and ED(s) are great and sets the tone well for that's to come. The voice actors are very good.

All in all, I highly recommend the series to anyone with a taste for romcoms.

Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e is a lovely little show revolving around a group of children who have their world changed by invaders from a foreign dimension. The easiest parallel I can give you is that it's basically an anime cousin of Stranger Things.

The series focuses on the relationship between Haruka and Yuu. Both come from more or less broken families and have been friends since they met. Haruka is outgoing and friendly, while familial circumstances and social pressure has turned Yuu into a loner who wants nothing more than to grow up and leave town. Haruka is also a being called the Dragon ... Torque, which grants her certain (limited) reality-bending powers, that make her the target for a group of foreign invaders from the world of La'cryma - invaders that have surprisingly strong ties to them and their group of friends. Haruka forms a quick and deep connection with one of them called Karasu, who seems intent on protecting her.

Noein shines when it focuses on the kids and their reactions to the wild events of the story, as well as Haruka and Yuu's relationship with Karasu. Haruka struggles to connect with Yuu on a deeper level, and Yuu finds it hard to measure up to the fully grown and capable protector that is Karasu. The kids are all likeable and have relatable struggles with their connections to each-other and growing up.

The series starts to struggle a bit when it opens up the wold a bit more and showing you different vantage points of the whole story. While parts of them are interesting - that is, the parts that aren't complete pseudoscience gobbledegook - they take away from the heart of the series which is the children themselves. Similar to how a horror villain/monster often gets less scary the more is revealed about them, here the story gets more and more bogged down with uninteresting detail that isn't directly relevant to the children (as in, they don't need to know about quantum bullshit to progress the story) and takes more and more screen time away from the actual interesting parts of the story, which are mainly the relationships.

There are several adult characters that show up and explain the circumstances of the setting to the viewers, but they are rarely very interesting and their stories are often more than a bit disconnected from the core of the show. There's also a fair bit of politics about capitalism in the series that aren't exactly bad, but just feel like they come from a completely different show. There's even a sort-of Elon Musk stand in, who initially feels to cartoonish - until you realise it's a pretty accurate caricature of a childing billionaire who wants to the THE GUY without knowing his stuff. Ultimately he's such a tonal mismatch to the show that he feels wasted. The stakes that are attempted to be raised by the adult storyline doesn't really matter when positioned next to the central storyline and its events.

Speaking of adults, it's plain to see the effects that Haruka and Yuu's mothers have had on their lived. Yuu's father is abscent and Haruka's father lives in Tokyo so they both have single mothers. Yuu's mother is presented as the bad one, and she certainly is horrible. She wants him to study hard so he can go to a prestigious school in Tokyo, while struggling with her past and taking things out on Yuu, pressuring him to perform and isolating him from his friends. Haruka's mum is framed as the better parent, but this falters a bit when you shine a light on her behaviour. She basically locks herself away and works from home all day long. She sleeps in and doesn't take care of herself that well, to the point where Haruka has to cook and clean for her. In a way, it's not too bad for Haruka to develop some independence while young, but it's plain to see that being on her own without real limits and parental teaching has affected her emotional intelligence and she struggles to understand many of the relationships around her, and is reckless with her own personal freedom and self-sacrificing to a fault. It's especially evident how unreliable Haruka's parent is during one event where Haruka is missing and her friends are out searching for her together with their teacher. At no point during that event is Haruka's mother contacted to assist in the search or even be informed of her daughter's disappearance. The assumption lands at nobody really trusting her with auch responsibility.

Onto the aesthetic stuff: The voice acting is mostly very good, and has to do a lot of heavy lifting. Some performers are a bit miscast, such as the very recognisable Nakai Kazuya as Karasu who doesn't work very well with that part, imo. The music in the show in general is lovely and services the story well. The sweeping, orchestral score gives the exciting scenes way more of an impact. The art is generally pretty horrible, I'm sad to say. At times the barebones animation can work well, but the show is honestly quite ugly a lot of the time. Especially a few episodes in as the production quality takes an absolute nosedive.

All in all, I think it's certainly a show well worth watching, and one I recommend.

I will start off by saying that Parasyte is a good anime and I wholeheartedly recommend it. I have some misgivings with its pacing and some story developments, but stand by the previous statement.

I spoiler-marked this review, but it's mostly spoiler-free until I explicitly warn you about spoilers, so it's pretty safe reading until then for any prospective viewers.

As you'll know by the series' synopsis, Parasyte is about Shinichi - a teenage student - who ends up getting his hand taken over by a parasitic organism later called Migi. The parasites of the show appear seemingly out of nowhere and start taking over and ... killing humans (their primary food source, though they can eat normal food) - some at random, some in a more calculated way. Along the show, Shinichi must find a way to live a more or less normal life with a monstrous right hand and squaring off with an assortment of parasites with varying objectives. The story takes Shinichi and Migi through a hazardous time where danger hides around any corner and where you can't sometimes trust even yourself.

Shinichi's struggle to live with Migi, keeping his infestation a secret and dealing with the parasitic menace makes up for most of the series' action and is the most interesting part. It takes place in multiple settings and take many twists and turns. Some of the events and their aftermaths stretch one's ability to believe that they are in any way conceivable or believable in the world itself - such as a few especially violent events not feeling like they actually have much of an effect on the world, while the real world would have a much stronger response both publicly and behind the scenes. Contrast this to something like Death Note, where the harmful actions of the show's villain causes a powerful response. Here, events are somewhat quickly forgotten in a way that doesn't do them justice. Nonetheless, the show remains exciting for most of its runtime and you do end up caring where (almost) all the characters are going to end up.

Parasyte is v e r y violent, which may be something for you or something you dislike. It is not gratuitous, in my opinion, and rarely revels in the violence besides one episode with an enemy in the school.

Parasyte's themes are a bit all over the place. Partly it's very much so about what it means to be a human being - why do we care about the things we do, like how we enjoy the company of animals but have driven countless species to extinction and the like - with Shinichi and Migi engaging in many debated about the meaning of life and living. Shinichi's attitude in these things and how they change are reflected mostly through his blossoming romantic relationship with Satomi as she reacts to his actions and opinions as he's affected by Migi and traumatic events in his close vicinity. This is the weakest aspect of the show to me, in how it's handled, which goes hand in hand with its pacing. The changes to Shinichi's persona happen in such a way that it gives you whiplash and struggle to see how he's able to keep up any semblance of a relationship with anyone. It also leads to the Shinichi-Migi team making very odd decisions at times.

Another major theme is obviously parasites themselves, with both the titular creatures and humans being pointed at. "How can we argue that the parasites are so awful by what they do?" the series asks, noting how humanity is the cause of so much pain and suffering, not only to ourselves but to the planet and our ecosphere as a whole. The presentation of this theme works better within the confines of the show and leads to some very interesting interactions and story decisions for good or bad. The themes being so spread out and diffuse at times feels like a symptom of the show not quite knowing what it wants to be or what it wants to say. It is still very good and I feel that the sticking point of its ultimate message resonates well, especially today.

Shinichi is almost the only character that gets any significant development during the series' runtime. Shinichi himself is not an overly interesting fellow. He's presented as a normal guy, perhaps a bit more timid and squeamish than usual - which I found endearing and interesting for a lead. Since it's an anime, basically every named human woman character is in love with, or attracted to him, and basically have next to no agency within the story. Still, I think the show does most of them justice, with Kana being the glaring omission. Despite having an interesting angle to follow along with her budding affection (which feels like it comes from absolutely nowhere) for Shinichi - Kana is eventually forced into the role of a pining girl who has nothing going for her except liking Shinichi, or at least the idea she has of him. Some of Shinichi's development and decision-making (along with Migi in this) makes little to no sense. He starts having problems showing some emotions outwardly, despite clearly feeling them inwardly and displaying other emotions without a hitch. The pair of Shinichi and Migi also make some very strange decisions with whom to trust with their secrets and burdens throughout the show and their shifting allegiances and those of the antagonists bounce all over the place is a frustrating way to really understand why on Earth they'd do some things. Many of these things resolve well, still, and are at the very least engaging in their execution throughout.

Like pointed out previously, the pacing of the show is a bother at times. Many storylines are developed far too quickly and are instantly forgotten to kickstart new ones. Some significant characters go away for several episodes and some questions are left lingering as the show blitzes past them and leave them in its wake.

I do like most of the art of Parasyte. It's far from the prettiest show around, and the redesign that Shinichi goes through is absolutely awful in my eyes. He goes from a normal-looking guy to some perversely warped idea of what a cool guy is supposed to look like. Most other characters are drawn well and stand out among the crowd. The combat is a bit basic, but isn't really the main focus of the show anyway. Most of the battles are resolved ahead of time by Shinichi and Migi planning or by different circumstances presented by the setting. The parasites are appropriately gross, though some of their abilities do strain the logic of the world a fir bit at times.

The soundtrack of the show is decent, and the voice-acting mostly very good albeit a bit formulaic with how some characters are casted with the exact voice you'd expect them to have. Nobunaga Shimazaki does a great job as Shinichi ad stands out as a unique voice for a male lead. Hirano Aya (of Haruhi fame) is an interesting choice for Migi and does the part justice.

I feel like this maybe turned out a bit more negative than intended, but it is easier to point out the things we don't like rather than how we feel that we like stuff. All in all, I would really recommend Parasyte - especially as the things I had more or less problems with, you might really enjoy instead. Hope you enjoy the show if you pick it up!

SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

Shinichi and Migi's decisions to place their trust in some people are really bizarre even at the best of times. Sure, some are kind of unavoidable, like with Reiko/Ryouko, but their decision to hide the truth from Satomi - who you can be pretty sure would have kept their secret even after a shock at the reveal - to the very next fucking episode put their trust in a private detective who is literally working for a former (and kinda current) antagonist is laughable.

Shinichi's development into somewhat emotional death as prompted by his mother's death is so sudden that it's hard to really sympathize with and care too much about, especially as we've hardly seen his mother in the show. If it had happened around the half-way mark, where there was already a bit of an empty place to put some story, I would have cared much more. It also makes his relationship with Satomi a bit weird on-screen, as much of what she loves about him just goes away but the relationship persists for a bit longer.

The politician storyline is such an interesting wat to develop the story, but it really doesn't have much of an impact on the show. IMO it should have been the focus on the show after Shinichi/Migi's and Reiko's alliance splits up. The politician being an environmentalist and in cahoots with the parasites is such a good setup for a finale where they go up against Shinichi and Migi (you could have also involved Uda/Joe in this) in a battle of wills and principles. It would have done wonders for Reiko and Gotou's development as well, as they both stagnate when the story doesn't need them any longer.

I really struggle to believe that the Japanese Police and otherwise justice system would have been so tame and slow to respond to what is a seemingly catastrophic increase in violence and murders, considering how local some of it is around Shinichi. Especially the mass murder in the school by the berserk parasite, which happens after a previously very violent event at the school.

END OF SPOILERS
END OF SPOILERS
END OF SPOILERS (and also the review - bye!)

The first time I registered watching an episode of Casshern Sins here on MAL was all the way back on the 16th of October, 2008. Almost 13 years ago. Holy wow.

For some reason I kept coming back to the show time after time after time, never being able to finish it. I got a few episodes in. A couple more then next time. Even 16 episodes in. Every single time I stopped. It's hard to put a finger on why, though I certainly have my own theories, which I'll get into. Recently I gave it another shot from episode 16 and onwards in an attempt ... to finish it off once and for all, and I felt like I had to write something after finally finishing it. I'll try to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. In short:

Casshern Sins is a good anime.

***Maybe the most important thing to bring up when talking about Casshern Sins is the fact that its a very melodramatic series that moves at a glacial pace. I do NOT recommend watching this if you're already feeling down - while the show does have a tendency to display beauty, it is often quite a depressing watch.***

You probably know of the central conceit of the show, so I'll run through it quickly. Casshern Sins opens up with a flashback of Casshern seemingly in the middle of killing someone called Luna. In the now - a world fallen into disrepair due to the Ruin - an amnesiac Casshern struggles to find a purpose as he alone is undying in a world of absolute death. On his way, he finds a group of on-and-off travelling companions that help him along and show him different sides of the world. This is complicated by most of the robots Casshern runs into claiming that him killing Luna is what brought Ruin to the world.

The future Earth of Casshern Sins is inhabited almost solely by robots. Humanity appears to be long dead and buried. Most robots are in an advance state of turning to rust due to the Ruin. Many are envious of Casshern as he remains unscathed - and can even heal his wounds - from the Ruin.

Much of Cassherns Sins' running time is spent on philosophizing about the nature of life and death, and what they do to the robots of the world (the robots being obvious stand-ins for our reality's humans). Casshern's travels lead him to meet a wide array of different robots who fight or embrace the ruin for their own reasons. Some wail and gnash their teeth at the unfairness and uncaring nature of death. Some try to find love. Some seek some overpowering purpose - a final fight, creating a lasting artwork, and more. Some never cease looking for a way to escape the Ruin - whether that is by attempting to kill Casshern and eating his heart, or by trying to find a being rumoured to be able to stop the Ruin and grant eternal life. As the series runs on, it explores life and death through the lens of different characters and their reactions to the Ruin. This is done almost entirely episodically, with few episodes having anything to do with the others, besides Casshern and friends (and enemies). As previously stated, this is a very slow series of anime. Most episodes have a fight scene - these tend to be very brutal - but crawl along at a snail's pace. Eventually it leads into a more structured story arc to close the series out.

Most of these struggles regarding life and death are mirrored by Casshern's travelling companions. Friender is a robotic dog who initially clashes with Casshern. Upon being confronted by death, it follows Casshern seemingly to observe his impending demise, but develops a sense of loyalty to him and becomes a constant companion at his side. Ouji and Ringo is and old-looking man and a young girl (robots, all the same) that run into Casshern every now and then. Their meetings always appear to be out of chance, though I took this as an example of showing time passing. They move around the same parts over a long amount of time - of course they'd run into each-other every now and then. Ouji is a tired old inventor whose Ruins has been staved off by replacing parts of himself with fresher parts. He found Ringo after she was seemingly abandoned long ago and is raising her. Ringo is a curious little tornado of energy - imagine a normal child of 5-7 years of age. Ouji's distrust stands in contrast to Ringo's liking of Casshern. Ouji is haunted by old demons of his past and chases a sense of purpose and safe places to spare Ringo from the cruelty of Ruin-time life. Ringo herself has an endless passion for life and discovering new things. The final main character is Lyuze, a former bodyguard of Luna whose life was thrown into turmoil after Casshern killed Luna. These characters all develop over the series' 24-episode run and change significantly. I understand why some may think of them as very wooden, but they do open up with time - I'd definitely call most of the emotional core of the show to be very subtle, with the viewers themselves having to keep up and figure out why the characters slightly change throughout the story. The recurring villains that eventually show up add even more spice to the theme, but I'll let you discover them for yourselves. The entire cast is superbly written and you learn to care deeply for them if you afford them time to develop.

While Casshern Sins is a mostly very heavy show, it has a couple of episodes dedicated to the beauty of the world. These stand out in tone and theme, naturally, and are always a treat. There are also some very experimental and trippy episodes (the Lyuze-centric one is an incredible, oddball stand-out). They are fine palate-cleansers in contrast to how heavy some episodes get.

Casshern Sins features a rather dated art-style. That's not to say it's bad, necessarily (though I wouldn't call it especially good as a whole). Most of the characters are very well-drawn, but a lot of the background work makes the show feel quite cheap at times. The animation during the fight scenes is adequate and fit the show quite well. Usually the characters themselves and why they fight are in focus, rather than cool moves and the like.

The sound design of the series is tremendous. All the sound effects are terrific and perfectly accent the actions of the characters. The soundtrack is lovingly crafted and heighten emotional and melancholic scenes both. The OP is an absolutely wonderful bop of a tune and bears listening to everytime you start an episode. The EDs are mostly whatever. There is however a special ED for a middle-part episode that is absolutely terrific, and it boggles my minds that it never shows up again.

All in all, Casshern Sins is a carefully crafted, slowly moving look at life and death in a robot-filled world. It takes you on a tour through most emotional experiences on the human spectrum and leaves a lasting impression. If you have the patience, I highly recommend giving this rewarding experience a try.

Zankyou no Terror is a good anime.

First of all, let's begin with this, so you're not tricked into thinking this is a show about terrorism and the morals around it. Because it isn't. It really isn't anything I expected when going into it.

Whether or not I recommend it, is a bit of a complicated question, but I'll ultimately say no. There are definitely some good - even very good - parts to this story, but I just can't recommend it. Or can I? I mean, fuck, it's difficult, alright?

Going to deep into what the story is actually about is kind of risking spoilers, but I'll ... try a spoiler-free version: Zankyou no Terror is about connectivity. Not just between two people, or about someone who's on the outside of societal norms, but a society. Also, it's about the Japanese climate and generational gaps, in a post-war society (even if the show has a modern setting). It's just a shame there's so much in the way to actually get to that. Well, technically it's always there, but it's just not "stated" that that's what it's about. Sure, us viewers have to read into things as they happen, but sometimes it can't help to kinda lead us to what were supposed to get out of it. Eh.

Anyway, ZnT centres on a duo of young men, Nine and Twelve, who fashion themselves terrorists with a cause. Nine is the classic silently intelligent bad-ass you often see in anime. Twelve is another stereotype - the hyper individual, with a magnetism that pulls people to him. Initially Twelve seems to have the interesting twist of being a psychotic emotional manipulator, but that quickly goes away to reveal a pretty normal guy, minus the terrorism angle. I won't go too much into the attacks and repercussions themselves, but I will say that the show definitely veers hard away from very serious terrorism stuff - is, I guess, how I'll put it. They call themselves Sphinx 1 and 2, and the series starts with them stealing a nuclear device. After that, they go to record and upload videos with them forecasting bombings, and basically daring the cops to do anything about it. They challenge the police to solve puzzles related to Greek mythology. So, those of us who aren't read up on Sophocles' Oedipus just get to kick back and watch the story unfold.

Among the police trying to solve Sphinx' riddles is former detective Shibazaki, who got taken off the force in the past for investigating police corruption. He's the series' most interesting character, in that he actually has a fully developed character. He feels like a more mature L Lawliet, without the eccentricity. He knows what man-made disasters can do to a country, and will go far to stop Sphinx' plans.

Into this mess, Lisa Mashima is pulled. She's a schoolgirl that's bullied by the other girls and seems to generally hate life. Her mother seems incredibly Twelve injects himself into her life, which has huge consequences on both of their lives. There is potential to the Lisa character, for sure. She could have offered another, but still parallel, viewpoint to the Sphinxes', and help to further explore all three characters. That doesn't really happen, though, or at least not soon enough. She plays the damsel in distress and is portrayed as being quite ridiculously useless. Her bad cooking is played for laughs, because anime stereotype. Her arc ends up in a pretty good place before the series crashes and burns at the end.

The story is excellently animated. Absolutely gorgeous. The music is also a stand-out, behind which is industry veteran Yoko Kanno. One song has guest vocals from the vocalist of one of my favourite bands, Agent Fresco (whom you should definitely check out, yo). The soundtrack does its job superbly well, and adds to some very good scenes.

You know what? Fuck it, I'll recommend it. If you can bear the really bad ("the bad", obviously being relative to what you enjoy from your anime) of this show, there's a story there that kinda deserves to be seen. To quote myself from earlier, because I can, "It's just a shame there's so much in the way to actually get to that." Cut a couple of episodes, especially the parts with the nonsensical and oh-so-uninteresting villain that you can see a mile away after watching the first episode if you've seen a couple of anime series' before (seriously, the villain and its cadre, and its actions and reactions from the local police are fucking terrible ends up being a ridiculously awful addition), and focus on the more personal and cultural story. Hell, it could have worked very well as a longer feature film at like 2 hours or so.

All in all, it's a troubled, yet good anime that has something to say , even if its message gets a bit lost in between its sometimes crazy antics. It's not getting a whole-hearted recommendation, but I think it's worth checking out. At the very least, it at least tries to stand out from most other anime released today, and that's worth something.

Holy shit, it's finally over.

So, Naruto. One of the Big Three (joined by Bleach and One Piece), unless their status has changed. No matter, though. Anyway, I did use the word "finally," indicating that it's something I've waited for for some time now. It's true. Somewhere along the line, the sheer length and meandering pace got me turned off of Naruto, so it was a happy moment when I noticed that it had ended, since I'd give me a reason to pick it up again. Like running, it's easier to read when you have a goal. So, what about this ninja story, 15 years in ... the making?

Naruto is a good manga.

This'll have two parts - one with no to minimal spoilers, and a second, spoiler-filled part. First is intended for new readers and second for those who have completed the entire thing.

Having its start way back in 1999, Naruto is one of the modern successors of Dragon Ball, in the way it places its values and builds its story. Like Goku, Naruto starts out virtually alone. Naruto, though, is alone because of the fear the other villagers holds for him. You see, inside Naruto dwells a monster - A monstrous nine-tailed fox that nearly levelled the village before it was sealed into Naruto. Despite his social seclusion, Naruto has a dream: To become Hokage, recognised as the most powerful ninja in the village. And so starts the trials and tribulations of Naruto. He's quickly placed in a team with Sakura, a girl he's liked from a distance for a time; Sasuke, the sole surviving member in the village of the incredibly powerful ninja clan Uchiha; and Kakashi, a world-renowned ninja with an unorthodox teaching style. Together, they form Team 7 and go on missions and adventures together.

It's kind of hard to judge the story of Naruto at first, because it's kind of aimlessly chronicling the growth of Naruto into a more mature young man (he's not even a teenager when the manga starts). It's an interesting set-up for a shounen manga, considering it puts the characters in situations where they have to kill as they are just children. But the ninja world has not a care for your age, just your capability- is what I'd like to say, but good luck pushing out 700 chapters of a bleak, survivalist manga through Weekly Shounen Jump. Naruto instead falls into its oft-criticised "befriend them to death"-formula, where Naruto's sheer perseverance and good-heartedness lights a path to victory. Maybe it sounds like I'm dissing it, but I really like it - to a point. The first part is a very strong manga, thanks to some great character work and rather brave story-telling that you don't normally see in straight shounens.

To the characters, then. Surely the most important aspect of a long manga. Does Naruto succeed in creating memorable characters that keep you coming back? The answer is obviously yes, due to its enormous popularity, but in a very limited way. Hardly any characters except for the main quartet gets any real development, and one in the quartet itself is so poorly written it feels like an affront to manga in general.

"How's Naruto, then? Surely the main character is well written?" Yeah, I'd say so, and I'd say that Kishimoto succeeds in having the story led by Naruto's motivations and actions, rather than Naruto always being led around the nose. That said, he's uncompromising in a way that is endearing at first, but becomes ridiculous naivete as the manga grows older. Like with almost all other aspects of the story, Naruto's growth through the story doesn't work with the growth of the readers. Say you were 15 when Naruto started. You're 30 now. Still, the tone of the manga and the characters have hardly moved an inch. It's weird. I'm an adult now, but Naruto's still a kid with training-wheels. Harsh, yes, but so was reading the final act.

A lot of that can be simply attributed to the fact that Naruto is just a young man throughout the manga, even if he does grow up, to an extent. But his growth is made nearly void at times, with other characters having become leaps and bounds more mature and responsible. While he's still young, a lot of the focus of the manga is pointed at young ninjas having to grow up quick or die.

As far as the character itself, Naruto can be looked at quickly and have you say "he's just another stupid, strong lead character." Thing is, Naruto is about as far from that trope as you'll get in shounen manga, while still being forced into its trenches. He's brash, crude and very rash, yes, but he's also very intelligent and compassionate. He can both plan ahead and come up with tactics in a hurry, given him being very flexible. That's what makes it even more frustrating when Kishimoto makes him into a staunch redeemer who basically befriends people to death. Where's the Naruto that makes tough calls for the greater good (the greater good)? He sure isn't in this manga. Having been possessed by the Kyuubi since birth, you'd expect Naruto to be more pessimistic at least some of the time, and make some bad decisions out of old hatred. But we can't have darker character development, can we, Kishimoto? That's not to say that Naruto doesn't have his share of dark moments, but I feel it's an area that was sorely unexplored.

As for the other main characters:

Kakashi is the team leader, and the adult of the group. Having become a high-level ninja at a young age, he knows how to make tough decisions and has no great qualms about killing. As a teacher, he is strict, but loving, and comes to see his three trainees sort of as his children with time. He's calm and collected, nearly always finding time in battle to come up with a plan to strike. He's also obsessed with reading a certain romantic series that later becomes embraced as a running gag and story development. He's also got a special tool - one of his eyes house a special eye (kind of hard to explain, but special eyes basically make you able to use better ninja-techniques) that allows him to easily see his opponents' moves and intercept them with incredible speed. Being a high-level ninja, Kakashi is proficient in every sort of jutsu (technique, as in "ninjutsu" = ninja technique) around, and he seems to have virtually no weaknesses.

Sasuke is a pretty standard shounen cool-guy character. He's handsome, calm and collected, and of course he's incredibly talented. He's also got a bloodline limit (aka a power limited to those who share a specific bloodline) that is ridiculously powerful, and whose evolution throughout the series becomes even more and more far-fetched. I went from initially hating Sasuke, to actually kind of accepting him, and then hating him again. What's frustrating with Sasuke is that, like many other characters in the series, his rationale and actions are haphazardly altered to fit the story. This leads to some awful reasons for his actions and his constant switching between good and evil, which grows extremely tiresome. It's also hilariously predictable to see where he's going to end up, so most of his scenes become a drag.

Onto Sakura, the most frustrating part of the main cast. Is it because Sakura is a bad character? Well, duh. Sakura is this series' damsel in distress. That's not to say that she's absolutely useless, or that she doesn't have any redeeming qualities, because she does have some good moments. But it's all brought down due to her basically being a love-slave to Sasuke. Whether he tries to off her or is just being a standoffish douche-hat, Sakura is perpetually enamoured with him. Even as she grows up to be a (supposedly) more mature young lady, she still clings to this saddening pretence of what love's supposed to be. The subject of love in manga/anime is almost always a source of vitriol for me, as it's almost always written abominably bad. The Sakura-Sakuke dynamic is another one of those. At least the series' other major (major being arguable) romantic angle, Hinata being into Naruto, has some legs to stand on (despite how rarely Hinata has any meaningful part in the plot) as she actually gives reasons for being in love with our goofy lead man. Sakura's like a programmed woman, designed to submit herself whenever Sasuke shows up. It's kind of a slap in the face where Sakura ends up after having been given no deeper explanation during the series' 700 effin' chapter run. I think ladies reading Naruto will feel insulted, and with good reason. I'm not saying Kishimoto hates women, but I do think he's clueless as to how to write them.

Most of the supporting cast are what they need to be and are playing their simple roles. There's the gutsy ones, the comedy relief ones, the cool ones, the smart ones, and so on. It's very standard fare for shounen manga.

Finishing up with art: It's nice. Sorry, I'm not an artist. The initial art starts out very so-so, as Kishimoto is finding his style, and moves on to be quite sleek and very pretty. The backgrounds can be quite lazy, but it's not my biggest complaint, so no bother.

Finishing up the spoiler-free part, Naruto isn't really something I'd recommend for anyone else but someone who wants to read a big shounen adventure. Naruto might be right up your alley, or you might absolutely hate it. I've learned to tolerate it, and think there are enough redeeming qualities in it (I mean, I finished 700 chapters of this saga) to warrant a passing grade. Naruto uses a lot of build-up that ends up going nowhere and/or being shafted for more "acceptable" reading. I get the reasoning, but it's not for me any longer.

Alright, lads. Spoilers are on from now. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Naruto's main problem to me is the lack of a focus, as it just leads to five different plots at once. Naruto going off on his own and other characters given time as well. The second part of Naruto is the glaring example of this. After the time-skip, characters just haven't changed in general, which makes it pretty fucking meaningless.

Most arcs after the time-skip are sooooooo looooong, and the ninja war being the biggest offender. Everybody gets a mega level-up and are epic-ing their faces off at everything moving and it's just become so blasé at this point. The Akatsuki arc has a promising start, but loses traction very early and just spins it's wheels until Naruto shows up to pummel it to dust, with kindness. Sigh. Technically it lasts until the end, but nobody really thought of the ending as Naruto vs Akatsuki, did they? Thought so.

Also, how many training arcs are there? Man, Naruto stood on its own legs for a while, and then went complete Dragon ball with the characters' developments.

The final pairings are also a complete joke in some aspects. Sasuke and Sakura being married has to be the most abusive relationship ever. I'm okay with Kakashi being named Hokage, even if it didn't seem like a role he'd ever want to have. Others are just paired together due to fan demand, which I guess works.

Like many people, I think the series lost its way somewhere after the time-skip (even if the final arc before that was hilariously bad). The battles grew longer, and the characters became caricatures of themselves. The villains became dumber and dumber until the final big bad shows up for a trans-dimensional tour.

Alright, thanks for reading. Want to ask me something or just cuss at me? Hit me up. Ta~

So, I wanted a light-hearted anime to get me back into the medium after finishing my Game of Thrones-marathon. I had previously watched some of Ergo Proxy, but it felt a bit dark to hop into after GoT's overbearing nature. I'm not sure what I expected out of it when I started watching, but
Free! is a good anime.

And there's really not too much more to say about it. KyoAni basically made K-ON (just going by what I've seen and impressions, as I haven't actually seen K-ON!)but with dudes in tight clothing and swimming.

The story of Free! is about as simple as it gets, seeing as ... this is a sports anime in a school setting. There's a group of people who like a sport. The sport happens to be competitive swimming. They start a club at their school (Do Japanese people not have local or regional clubs on youth levels? It seems like there's always in-school clubs that are the go-to places to train. Then again, maybe I'm one of the minority of people here.) They go through some stuff to be able to start the club and get members, and then it's off to the races (literally) after a training arc. The writing us usually pretty good, and there was some intrigue about the characters' common past, but it wasn't executed particularly well when actually revealed and the writing in general took a nosedive from there. Not to the extent of tearing the show down, but it feels like the show is kind of treading water until the second season, and just wanted to get all the story out of the way so it could focus on the team in the future. I understand that philosophy, but I don't agree with it. There needed to be a better mix between the story and sport, seeing as some of the scenes towards the end felt extremely redundant.

As with most sports series that aren't hyper-specific in the mechanisms of the sport, Free! is a character-focused show. It's got a pretty decent sized cast (7 central characters) and most are given ample screen-time. Do note that they are extremely generic for the type of series this is. If you've seen a sports series, you will have stumbled into more than a few of these.

Haru is the resident sports fanatic. The twist on this in Free! is that he's kind of indifferent when it comes to actually competing (though I assume it will change in the future, since I just found out there's a sequel airing right now), and just wants to be in the water - so much that he tends to soak in his bathtub when he's not in school. From what I can tell, he lives alone, or at least very independently. Only time he shows some actual motivation is when his rival is involved. Always swims freestyle (front crawl), which is where the title stems from.
And that rival is Rin. A member for what seemed like a short time of the same swimming club as Haru when they were kids (they're currently 17), he later left for Australia to chase his dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer, which he chases to fulfil it for his father, who never got to reach it. While acting hostile and/or indifferent to Haru and the rest, he's clearly no antagonist and still wants something from them, but whether that's just competitive rivalry or friendship is yet to be seen. Said to be very good at butterfly stroke, but is shown to be proficient at others as well.
Makoto is the reliable guy, and obviously also team captain (with Haru taking the supposedly superfluous position of vice-captain), keeping the group together. He's got a deep-rooted problem that makes his life in the swimming club a bit odd when it's time for a training camp of just vacation - he's afraid of the ocean. I'll get more into that later. Swims backstroke for the club.
Nagisa is the energy bunny and relentless optimist of the group. He also fulfils what I suppose is the moe-role, but for guys (I'm sure there's even a fucking term for it). Breaststroke-specialist (heh) for the club.
Rei is the guy they picked up to fill final spot on the team. He's the brains of the squad, and only joins after thinking that Haru's swimming looks beautiful (he only likes beautiful things, apparently, so the clichés won't stop on the Rei-train any time soon). However, as he joins the club, a problem of his might throw a spanner in the works - he can't swim. This is used for comic relief until it's not funny, but to the series' credit, they do get away from it rather quickly after.
To the sort of expendable charters then. First is Gou (but she likes to be called Kou), the younger sister of Rin. She steps into the position of club manager to help the club initially get started and is the one to plan training sessions and the like. She's pretty obsessed with muscles, which is used to some comedic effect at times.
And finally there's Miss Ame, the class' home-room teacher, and then club advisor (you basically need one to be legitimate, is my understanding after my years of watching anime). It's hinted she's had a job that's related to swimsuits, and it's strongly hinted that is was as a swimsuit model.

The cast is pretty alright, but it's, as said earlier, very generic. The gimmick that brings the boys together is that they all have girly names, and Gou has a manly one. All the characters have a role to play, and it's made more important than them actually having characters (even though they clearly do, but they're moulded to fit the part).

Free!'s strength is probably how damned easy it is to watch. It's incredibly easy-going, even in it's few serious scenes and you can follow the story (the little there is to be followed anyhow) with ease. You could probably watch without subs and still have a good idea about what's going on. I suppose that's actually a pretty big achievement in itself, now that I think about it.

Adding to the delight of watching is the absolutely superb animation. The character designs are excellent and very well animated. I think they mix normal animation and CG during some of the in-water scenes, but I could be mistaken. In any case, it's gorgeous. It's easily the best animated show in Kyoani's portfolio.

Voice acting is good in general, although some of the actors kind of flub the emotional dialogue at times, just reverting to the normal style of voice-cracking screaming/shouting, or just not sounding like they care.

There is some fan-service in the series, but to discuss it I would have to bring up gender roles and sexuality in media in general, which would be tedious and stuff. It's very bearable, and you might in fact like it.

In closing, if you like watching good-looking anime boys do things, you'll enjoy the series. If you enjoy sports stories, you'll enjoy this. Free! is an amalgamation of the two and does its thing very by-the-book, so you get what's on the cover. It's good, but not more, and that's okay.

tl;dr - Kurozuka is a bad anime. I really support and like some points made, but the show itself is of pretty poor quality at most times.

You don’t know what to expect when you dive into Kurozuka. While this is true for a lot of other anime as well, Kurozuka is a special enigma. Being about vampires (especially the main leads) can turn people off, seeing how vampires are often portrayed nowadays. Sadly, thoughts hop to Rob Pattinson as Edward in the cringe-inducing soft pornography for girls known as Twilight. Sure, Twilight isn’t the only sinner, but due to it’s popularity, it is the most ... stand-out. Onwards to Kurozuka, then.

On first on-look, Kurozuka seems to be a love story about vampires, set in Feudal Japan. That preconception is quickly smashed to bits after the first episodes as we skip to a bleak future version of Japan that has been a-bombed. Back in the past, our hero Kuro (known as “Minamoto no Yoshizune”, a very famous and popular Japanese literature hero) was fleeing into the mountains, and came upon the lodging of Lady Kuromitsu. He and his close ally Benkei were allowed to stay under the condition that they do not approach nor enter Kuromitsu’s room. Of course, that promise doesn’t mean all too much and Kuro finds himself outside the mysterious woman’s room, where he sees her biting and drinking the blood of a man. The place is attacked, and Kuro is badly hurt helping his hostess. The two had quickly became attracted to one another, and Kuromitsu offers Kuro eternal life with her. Kuro accepts. Then the focus shifts to the future where Kuro has become separated from Kuromitsu and ventures to find her. He instead meets Karuta and Rai and becomes embroiled in what is basically a civil war between the Red Army and the rebels, both fighting for the very prize Kuro seeks: Kuromitsu.

I was pretty excited to watch this, as it felt like vampires were treated as a big deal and it also seemed like a cool set-up for a powerful romantic saga, but alas, all the potential amounted to jack shit in this absolute train-wreck of a series.

The series jumps from different time periods, usually at the start of episodes, without giving the viewer much warning or explanation, which is the major flaw of the series in my opinion. It’s very hard to get a grip on the characters as is, so there’s really no need to confuse viewers additionally.

It’s hard to gauge what exact powers are afforded to the vampires of the series, as Kuro just seems to go all Goku on people at times when he needs to put another gear in. Besides obviously being more powerful than normal humans, there doesn’t seem to be much to vampires, other than whatever odd time dilution Kuro can cause when convenient. It’s never really explained what they can do. The reveal of how they work is also incredibly slow-played, so there’s not much in the way of flavour being given to us, except for some bursts of information at times.

As is the case with the vampirism angle, characters in the series don’t really develop. They’re very static in personalities and in what they do. Not even the main character ever develops, he just learns more about who he was. Frankly it’s very disappointing, because when things happen to our tragic heroes, it’s hard to care about them as they’ve just been one-dimensional plot-points. That can work if you have strong characters to begin with, but as noted, these characters are dull as hell. You also get some unintentional comedy in the absolutely bonkers scientist with a penchant for torture, who starts quoting Stoker (because you have to fucking shoehorn that into a vampire show like your life depended on it) and Tolstoy, and is generally weird as hell.

The story is equally odd. Parts of it just comes and goes as it pleases, like there’s a revolving door of relevance. It really is hard to care about what is happening when you don’t grasp the relevance of events to one-another. Characters just do complete one-eighties in order to provide more filler before the end finally arrives. It really is a shame, because it felt like it was to be a show that made vampires rather cool again, but the amount of plot-holes and contrivances really do get in the way of enjoying it. All of the reveals towards the end just made me laugh out loud with their increasing craziness, until we arrive in bizarro-world come the ending.

Visually, it’s very pleasing for most of the time and there is a lot of incredible imagery, but then you get some absolutely retarded character designs that feel like they invaded from another series.

The sound design is pretty decent, but many characters in the series are woefully miscast and a lot of the performances are really bad. The soundtrack, however, is pretty damn awesome. Both the OP and ED are great.

Now, I’ve been shitting on Kurozuka a lot, but the final episode shows up and delivers the best possible ending the series could have had and I really freaking loved it, so I'm ultimately torn on where to go with the series; good or bad? Ultimately, with all the tomfoolery, I’ll go with bad, but there’s certainly enough good in here that a person that disagrees with what I found negative would find this to be a damn good show. It also increases my frustration with the series’ unfulfilled potential. The run-time of the entire thing is way too long relative to what it’s trying to convey. Honestly, remake this in film-length and condense the story a bit, and I’ll watch the hell out of it. I’m totally behind the point it makes about love and selfishness and I actually came away from it rather liking the vampire concept, but the length and general poor quality makes most of the series unbearable to watch.

TL;DR - Hellstar Remina is a good manga. Just know that it has some pretty gross imagery and a disturbing plot. Squeamish readers beware.

If you've read an Itou Junji manga before, you know shit is getting real real up in here. Let me just state this: Hellstar Remina includes some crazy imagery that is not suited for everyone. Eldrich abominations and locations are in there. With that, let's go. There'll be some very slight spoilers in this text. You have been warned.

Hellstar Remina's premise is incredibly simple. A professor predicts a wormhole to be present in the Hydra constellation. One day a planet is ... witnessed passing through it, into our dimension. The professor receives the Nobel prize. He decides to name the star after his daughter, who is instantly propelled into a global celebrity. Some time after this, it's noticed that the planet is constantly moving - at times at the speed of light - and that stars around it seems to just disappear. Scientists are befuddled, especially when they notice that the star has changed its trajectory and is now headed towards Earth. Then shit gets crazy. The following panic makes some people just lay down and cry and some go on a wild chase after the people they hold responsible: Professor Oguro and his daughter Remina. All while the planet slows its pace and seems to now be slowly approaching our blue planet. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: The planet has eyes and mouths, and devours the damn moon in a quick bite.

It's an interesting notion that Itou puts out about celebrity: We're rather quick as a people to shine the spotlight on things we find curious and then put it on a pedestal. Remina has done nothing apparent to validate the gigantic fanbase and general following she gets and her decision to "enter the world of entertainment" is incredibly bizarre from our viewpoint, but is widely celebrated in the manga. Maybe the people are so starved for enjoyment that they cling on to anything new, or maybe its a symbol for the sheep we all become to the organisations that produce the products we consume. It's an interesting point to make.

Let me just restate: This manga is bonkers. Absolutely crazy. It's a look deep into the human psyche. How far will you go to save yourself with apocalypse knocking at the door? How far can people be driven by insane ideas, when reality is insane enough that they seem plausible? As much as Hellstar Remina is about a monster-planet from another dimension coming to Earth and killing the fuck out of everything in its way, it's also about people losing their morale values and becoming driven by mad ideas and basic needs. In the middle of global panic, a cult steps up and takes control of the numerous mobs in Japan. Their Mission? To kill the professor and his daughter. People follow these zealots with a burning passion and a wild hunt is on. It features some commentary on people using religion to get other people to follow their lead. It's also not pointed out as an evil, because hey, what if they're right? As crazy as it sounds, reality is more crazy now than ever before, so it's not plausibility isn't naught. People basically revert back to the dark ages and witch hunting. At times they even stop to find enjoyment in what they're doing, which is when they're seemingly pointed out as being of lesser morality than us readers. That said, they could also be so relieved at the ordeal soon being over and just letting go. However, not only religious craze is spotlighted when people lose their shit with apocalypse on the doorstep. There's a scene where a man tries to rape Remina, and she fights back. The scene is discovered and the man says "she was asking for it." Surely we're all shaking our heads at that comment, but it's accepted in the manga, because, hell, she's the cause of the apocalypse. If she can bring a killer-planet to us, why can't she ensnare men by sheer will? It's a different kind of horror to the jump-scares us horror fans find in most horror flicks nowadays. It's the realisation that anything goes when it comes to killing this girl when it's about staving off all our deaths. And we don't even know that her death will save us.

All this while the monstrous planet above is just looking on. Maybe approvingly. Maybe it's just observing us to see what happens when it shakes the world. By all accounts, it appears no more intelligent than a small child, poking our planet to see what happens. The few times we do get a peek at Remina's surface, it's terrifying beyond words.

The art is really good. It's not the best I've seen, but it's highly realistic most of the time, and very confusing at other times.

As for the characters, there's really only one to talk about, and there's not much to say. Remina is a young, shy and modest girl who is propelled into super-stardom just by existing and having a planet named after her. She seems to have difficulty with handling the attention given to her, and then the apocalypse happens. Her desperate struggle is certainly one you feel sympathy for, but there's not much exploring as far as character development goes. Remina is just another person. She just happens to be in the middle of a global witch hunt when mind-boggling coincidence has it a planet named after her arrives to kill Earth.

I highly enjoyed Hellstar Remina, and recommend it to people who enjoy horror and chaotic stories. As far as the ending goes - without spoiling it - I wasn't a big fan of it. The story feels unresolved to me.

To finish, let me just say again that this manga is not for everyone. It features very graphic violence, like torture and (attempted) rape, which could be a trigger for some. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it. Just know what madness you're opening yourself to.

TL;DR - Jormungand: PO is a good anime

The crazy hijinks and bold plans with Koko and company continue in the sequel to Jormungand. How does the second coming of Jormungand fare? I’m here to tell you that it’s better this time around. How do you improve Jormungand’s formula, you ask? You make it more focused. Spoilers for the first season finale below.

So, Koko and her friends are still roaming the world and everything is swell. Oh wait, no it’s not. The story takes place right after the end of the previous one. R is a double agent who is spying on Koko for the CIA; ... Hex, a woman from Kokos past, is here for blood; All this while Operation Undershaft is trying to figure out what the hell Koko is trying to do. So let’s look at the formula set for the previous season and see it it still is in place here.

1. The crew arrives.
2. Stuff goes awry and they need a way out / need to out-think their opponents / straight up kill dudes.
3. Mission completed and on to next arc.

Yep. Although this time around the arcs are longer and more focused on storytelling rather than outmanoeuvring and killing enemies.

Here’s a run-down on the cast if you need to freshen your memory.

Koko Hekmatyar: Arms dealer, handling business mainly in Europe and Africa. Very charismatic and beautiful. Usually very energetic and behaving sometimes like a child, she has a ruthless interior and on multiple occasions called a monster. Although usually cool with a smile on her lips, Koko has one of the most intimidating glares in anime.

Jonah: Child soldier. His parents were killed in an air-strike and he became a child soldier shortly after. Has a strong hate for weapons, but still works for Koko, often serving as her bodyguard. He shows more understanding than expected from a child.

Lehm: Ex-Delta Force operator. Used to be active in Somalia. Second in command of Koko’s crew. Veteran mercenary who takes charge when armed conflict arises. Used to work for Koko’s father. Very versatile in weapon use, ranging from long-distance sniping to close quarters combat.

Valmet: Ex-Major serving for UN forces in Africa. Her unit got slaughtered by Chen Guoming and she lost an eye in the attack. Since then, she suffers from anxiety whenever she sets foot in Africa. Very proficient with knives and pistols. She is also in love with Koko, something which often is used as comedic relief.

Then there are the rest of the cast, that aren’t given much other than support roles most of the time. Technically only Koko and Jonah are the only real main characters, but Valmet and Lehm are given much more time on screen than the other side characters, so they sort of sneak into main roles.

Mao: One of the regular grunts of the group. Was discharged after a training exercise went awry. Picked up by shortly after. The only one of the group to have a family (as in wife + kids). He lied to them in order to leave. Teaches science to Jonah between missions.

R: Former Italian intelligence officer. Revealed in the last episode of the former season to be a mole for the CIA.

Ugo: Former Mafia driver and enforcer. Spared by Koko when his family was destroyed. A behemoth of a man, he possesses immense strength. The crew’s driver when needing a getaway.

Lutz: Former police sniper, part of a counter-terrorist unit. Very hesitant to kill young targets.

Tojo: Previous Japanese black-ops operative, working in places like Cuba. In charge of teaching Jonah maths between missions.

Wilee: Former explosives expert and ex-lieutenant of the 20th Engineer Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps of the US Army. Assigned to give Jonah English lessons between missions. Is the only member aside Koko to be black-listed by the FBI.

The perils of having a huge cast like this is just as apparent in the second season as it was in the first one, but the show does a better job at dealing out screen-time this time around and you quickly get a good vibe where everyone’s at. It’s still the same colourful cast with no subs, so if you liked them in the first season, there’s more goodness here. The opening arc, dealing with R being a double agent and Hex coming after Koko is without a doubt the series’ strongest, with some strong, emotional moments. It sets up a season that is in its entirety better than its predecessor. The stakes are raised for Koko and her compatriots. Nobody’s safe in this crazy world.

The second season takes a step back from the group dynamic at times and focuses solely on Jonah and Koko. They’re interesting contrasts. Koko is the daughter of a shipping magnate and presumably had a very peaceful, or at least pampered life as she grew up. Jonah meanwhile, grew up in a war-zone and had his parents blown up by a bomber, coincidentally sold by Koko’s brother, Kasper. Jonah hates weapons with all his being, and Koko sells them for a living. The two make a fantastic leading duo and represent the tension and morals towards the end of a magnificent series.

The morality of the characters are brought froward into the centre this time around, and when Koko reveals her master plan that she’s been working on for a long time, it’s surprising it wasn’t brought up earlier. I can understand the reason why it’s hidden for so long, but I don’t agree with the choice. It would have been interesting to have it in the open for longer and see how it affected the supporting characters.

So, the story. It’s better, considering there’s actually a story this time. From the first episode to the last, every episode is connected to Koko’s goal, which is revealed a bit into the season. The series sheds its episodic skin, and so the arcs are more focused and character-driven, much to my joy.

The art is just as clean and well-done as it was in the first series. Maybe even better. Some backdrops are absolutely stunning. The character design is much like the first series, although a bit more realistic in general this time around, when it comes to the supporting cast of revolving antagonists/partners.

The voice acting and soundtrack of the series is way better than the first season. Actors have more opportunities to get heated here and some excellent dramatic episodes bring out the best of all. The music is still top-notch, and the opening song especially is fantastic.

The theme and pacing are still the same in this second serving of Koko’s adventures. The more story-focused approach leads to a better balanced product, with the episodes being better structured and the tone being a bit darker. With it, my pleas for the show to have less comedy are answered, as the show did turn towards the more serious in this venture, and the show is better off without the forced comedic elements.

The antagonists and threatening forces this time around are more realistic and grim. There’s not a crazy villain with ridiculous fighting techniques. It’s guns vs guns and tactics + strategy in a wild dance of death.

Enjoyment-wise, Jormungand: PO lands a step above its former series with more thrilling planning; cooler action; better humour; and tear-inducing, heart-wrenching drama. Once again with a Jormungand series, the variance is its strength, balancing several genres and giving them good time. It’s one of those series’ where you finish one episode and keep watching. Not because there’s a crazy cliffhanger, but because the atmosphere, characterisation and execution of the series is so fantastic that you can help wanting to spend more time in Koko’s mad world. Jormungand: Perfect Order is a rare gem to find in today’s anime world, a show with an identity so unique and fresh you can’t help but be swept away by its charm.