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Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen - Ketsubetsu-tan


I can hardly decide which of the two new seasons was better or worse. Like the first, this season got off to a pretty dynamic start and delivered more Bleach lore to fans of the series. Among other things, this season also included one of the most popular Zaraki fights from the manga, which was well represented.

The real problem with this season is not whether it's good or bad, but how generic it is. Absolutely nothing happens in this season that hasn't already been done several times by other shounen, one cliché follows the other, offering no variety whatsoever.
The first ... season had already given a good start for this arc, in the sense of setting the stage for the theater act. Kubo introduced so many new characters [Sternritters] into the story, only to give them no depth or relevance and remove them from the show like cannon fodder. A lot of the fights weren't even necessary because they had no relevance to the plot.

A purely spontaneously introduced new group attacks the Soul Society, winning one-sidedly so that the main characters can finally train again. A couple of Kubo's favorites are given the biggest asspull ever so they can come back to one-sidedly beat the crap out of their previous opponents. While Ichigo makes his tenth "Number One" appearance and shocks everyone again. I get it's cool when the protagonist shows up like this, but Kubo tries it again every arc, this idea is already completely stale.

Although the Sternritters were given such interesting abilities, practically nothing was done with them except for 2-3 Quincy who actually made a notable appearance. As expected, Yhwach continued to sit on his chair-sama and talk about how smart and wise his mustache was.

This season had relatively mediocre pacing, combined with a lot of monotonous fights and a lengthy training arc. As a whole, it's not particularly noticeable, but for a single season, it's a major drawback.


The animations were about on par with the first and were of a satisfactory quality. However, the animations are far from earth-shattering, and nothing that hasn't been done is far better.

It's less relevant, but as a German, I'm always impressed by how much Japanese authors love German words. And although only 1-2 German words are used per episode, such as "Vollständig" or "Auswählen", not even these can be pronounced correctly.

[Conclusion 5]

Despite its appearance, Bleach is a more profound manga/anime, even if the author often doesn't focus on it. The concept around the Soul Society is very creatively done and for me, Bleach is a relatively healthy mix of a shounen with a more sinister approach.
Unfortunately, Bleach has the problem that the author often puts more emphasis on action than on anything else. As a result, his own world-building and the story have to suffer.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed both seasons, I can see why Bleach is simply too tough a meal for many people. A shounen that chews through the arcs again and again in a similar pattern becomes very monotonous in the long run.

[Enjoyment 7]

Tokyo Revengers: Seiya Kessen-hen

Despite a solid concept, the first season was already a tragedy, so I'm not surprised that the second season continues at a qualitatively mediocre level. The only exception is that I find this season more likable. It became more of a generic shounen, but at least it had some sort of goal, no matter how stupid it was.

The highlight of this season was the protagonist because he really started to develop and not just talk about it all the time. That didn't make this season any better, but at least it made it a bit more bearable. The rest of the characters ... were still a disorganized mess and the story continued to go in circles. The antagonist who I relatively enjoyed, has somehow lost all his brain cells this season and has stopped thinking. If this hadn't happened, there wouldn't have been a twist for the next season.

I still don't understand what Tokyo Revengers is even trying to get at. This manga/anime just can't decide on a flavor and is constantly trying to do everything and failing in every category imaginable. And this season you now got to watch 4 guys fight for 5 episodes instead of the time being used for anything meaningful.

Apart from that, why is every imaginable teenager in Tokyo Revengers a psychopath? The most normal student here would be the average petty criminal in our world. Their poor parents can soon do without a pension.


[Conclusion 4]

The anime is perfectly suitable for mediocre entertainment, it's not a disaster even if it may seem like one. Despite the gruel that the author has mixed here, it still has a certain entertainment value.

[Enjoyment 5]

Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen

After the first 3 episodes had actually impressed me and I immediately had to write a "positive" review about it, the remaining 9 episodes made me do the opposite. There was much talk about the anime fixing many of the manga's problems with changes and improvements. I'm still waiting for that. The intro of this season was decent, it built up suspense and curiosity and the studio did a good job of pacing. Unfortunately, everything changed with the beginning of the invasion of the Soul Society. From then on it was just a mediocre spectacle.


The Quincy invasion was a complete mindless act ... of mercy. It was meant to show how dangerous and deadly these enemies are, yet they failed to kill a captain even though they had every chance to do so. Especially with some strong Sternritters present like Bazz-B who could have wiped out half of Gotei 13 while not possessing any Bankai. Instead he did nothing because it would be stupid if the main characters died. And the only one who had an oversized deathflag (Byakuya) just survived? They spent half an episode making it look like a Death, only for an Unnamed NPC to come along and say "Don't worry he's alive lol :3"

The fights between the Captains and Sternritters felt so forced and weird, a questionable mix of too rushed and yet too little screentime. You could have made every one of these fights almost off-screen and nothing would have changed in the course of the season, except that the pacing would probably be improved.
Because Gotei 13 is only made up of weenies, they just waited for Kurosaki-kun for the next 2 episodes. And that was really it, these 3-4 episodes had absolutely nothing, they were soulless and empty.

After the final conflict between the two leaders began, you might have thought that the interesting part was about to begin. In the end, Yamamoto only fought with a cosplayer and lost as usual. Yamamoto is a character with so much hype who is only there to make bad and wrong decisions.
And after the end of the arc, Yhwach of all people had to tell us the Yamamoto lore and why the fight ended the way it did. There is no worse writing than using the enemies as a narrator to explain something.


Well that ended the bad part of the season. From then on there was the Zaraki training arc? If you can call it that, which was relatively surprising and interesting. Also the backstory of Ichigo's parents, which was practically the most interesting part of this season. This part gave the story much more depth and tied up some loose ends. It also successfully promoted the "Aizen Partner Finding Service".



[Conclusion 6]

I was really looking forward to the new Bleach season because I had forgotten what Bleach was like over the years. This season helped me remember that Bleach is really just a big pot of shounen cliches and fan service adorned with epic music and cool fights.

I'm happy with what I got, but on average it was a pretty meager result. My hope lives on that the upcoming seasons will be able to make up for the horror of the manga.

[Enjoyment 7]

Tokyo Revengers

I remember when the anime was released in 2021 and had gathered quite a lot of hype around it. It was compared to other similar works like "Erased" and seemed to be rather popular. Well at least for the first few months, somewhere in the middle of it, people suddenly stopped seeing any of the anime on YouTube or anywhere else, it was like it was gone and there was no trace of the fans. After I started watching this anime, I understood why that was the case.

Despite all expectations, this anime/manga is blessed with a very interesting concept, especially for thriller fans. We ... have unexplained murders, time travel, and a protagonist who wants to stop it all. None of this is new or revolutionary, but it is a relatively good and successful approach. Nothing can go wrong with that, can it?
At least that would be the case if the author had any idea how to write a plot and use his protagonist.

This whole anime makes no sense, has no context, and is more random than my closet. Nothing here is explained and is done for the sole purpose of moving the story forward. No matter what you see, no matter who the protagonist suddenly meets, "It happened that way because the plot wanted it that way". You can cope with that a few times, every series has something like that, but here it's almost at every conceivable moment.

[Story & Characters]

As I said, the plot revolves around time travel, but it's not a one-off but a recurring one. The protagonist returns again and again to change the past. This whole concept of time travel makes no sense whatsoever, but it is what it is. His moving and emotional motivation to do this is the death of his former school friend Hinata Tachibana. Who he... He hasn't seen her for 12 years and has forgotten that she even existed. But after seeing her again as a teenager, he immediately realized that he had a crush on the 14-year-old. But before that, he didn't seem to care whether she lived or died. In between, many smaller events are part of the larger problem that the protagonist has to deal with. Ultimately, that's how the series plays out.

It's no surprise to know that the protagonist is often an "eyesore" and is very often completely overshadowed by popular supporting characters. And here the author has gone out of his way to make the protagonist seem like the most annoying and unbearable existence. Not only is he a complete loser, but he's a permanent crybaby, and has 2 motivational speeches every episode without developing in any way. And then he also tries to cheat on his "girlfriend", whom he wants to save and loves endlessly. And not with another character, but with a random girl in the brothel.

The rest of the main characters are relatively one-dimensional personalities, at least in the first season, but as the second season progresses they start to develop more personality. The ONLY interesting character in the whole series is Chisaki. And I swear on my mustache, I would never have finished watching the anime if Chisaki wasn't an interesting villain.


[Conclusion 4]

I understand why you don't hear about the anime and manga these days, it's just... hard-core mediocrity with a relatively poor realization. There's hardly anything good about the first season, except for the backstory of Mikey's brother. That and Chisaki were the only two highlights that I found interesting. Everything else is not even worth watching.

[Enjoyment 4]

Nah I'd Win Season 2

I haven't read the JJK manga and was just along for the ride as an anime-only spectator, so I wasn't really expecting this season to actually be interesting. The first season of JJK was basically average shounen with minimal digressions and improvements, it was fun to watch but nothing earth-shattering or noteworthy. Of course, I expected the second season to be roughly similar, especially after watching the mediocre movie. By the way, the movie should be watched after episode 5 ( following the past arc) as it takes place directly between episodes 5 and 6 as far as I remember.

The ... second season starts with a backstory that is very simple but leaves a decent impact on the plot. Was this season good because you didn't expect what happened here? Or was it because you didn't expect what happened here that made it good?

Also, this season includes the highly praised best arc of JJK the "Shibuya Incident Arc", I've heard of it before but didn't think anything of it. And I'm not saying the arc was a "masterpiece" in terms of writing style. The whole arc was a relatively interesting all-out battle between the Curses and the Jujuzists, which had a relatively unexpectedly dark tone. Of course, this shock factor, along with important character deaths, ensures that this season leaves a much deeper impression on viewers. We are not used at all to shounen being so dark.

The characters in Jujutsu Kaisen are all relatively mediocre, it's the interplay between the characters and the progression of the plot that gives them a certain sparkle. On their own, almost every character is a simple stereotype. Likewise, their backgrounds or motivations are also relatively average.

It was a rather surprising season and despite some low points, I was very entertained. The studio's effort is particularly commendable, they really got the best out of each episode.

[Conclusion Stand Proud / 10]

If you are the one who left everything behind, then you should stand proud because you are strong. This is indeed one of the Seasons of all time. Despite the lack of plot and variety, this season was eye candy and definitely worth watching.

[Enjoyment 8]




Nah I'd lose

Golden Kamui 4

Have you ever seen a pseudo Jack the Ripper fight an army officer while the two were shooting at each other with their own "cum"? No? Of course not, but now is your chance. When I started this season, I never expected to see a scene like this on my screen. But I was impressed by it, something like this should be seen more often.

Aside from the masterful performance delivered by this bizarre fight, I must also continue to praise how well the series has developed. Even though this season had more adventure episodes than story episodes, they were made very interesting. It's ... worth mentioning that every character gets screentime and doesn't just vegetate.

You can tell that the series is slowly moving towards the end and I hope that the last or next season can offer a similar quality as the 3 predecessors, so that a successful conclusion would be possible.

Jujutsu Kaisen Episode 0


The biggest problem with this "movie" is that it's not really a movie. It's just 4-5 episodes stuffed together with a bigger budget and released as a movie. However, the content is like regular JJK episodes, it's like suddenly releasing the middle part of the first season as a movie, who would actually care about that? It could have been handled much better as a kind of double ova, but at least they made some money out of it, is that all that matters?

Otherwise, the movie was reasonably entertaining, it was fast-moving and introduced a new "important" main character who is suddenly ... a star and a walking protagonist cliche bomb. Then they went on normal missions and nothing really happened for half the movie. Until the point where the big finale suddenly started. After the time skip, the blubbering wimp of a character had suddenly become a badass and master fighter, there was an epic animated final fight, and tada. That was pretty much it, the movie had nothing else worth mentioning. Especially since the constant flashbacks attacked the pacing.

I liked the movie, it was good to watch as well, but the fact that this is supposed to be a movie is just amusing. It's practically the same problem with the Mugen Train from Demon Slayer, cool to watch but would have been better as a series.


[Conclusion 5]

An average movie, there was nothing else to it.

Golden Kamui - Season 3


It's really rare to watch a show that starts relatively poorly and disappointingly but manages to improve significantly from season to season. Usually, the opposite is the case, but apparently not here. After thinking about dropping Golden Kamui so many times in the first season, I'm really glad I stuck with it. This one is a real goldmine, not because it's just good, but because it's a charismatic beast.

In Golden Kamui, you have everything your heart desires. A decent main plot, bizarre humor, interesting characters, good pacing, and enough male chests, what more could you want?
Along the way, the series ... also manages to maintain its quality standards, making each episode on par with the next without undermining the tension and atmosphere.

Another notable point about the series is the lack of overview and transparency. It actually reminds me of Game of Thrones, lots of characters with a common goal and you don't know how it's going to play out. Several characters that I thought would be irrelevant and die early are still here and have become relevant main characters. Whereas other characters who seemed like key figures are no longer alive. This gives the viewer a very good sense of uncertainty as to what might happen next.


I can't say much more about it, except that the Golden Kamui series is practically an alternative version of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. If you like one of the series, you'll also like the other.

[Enjoyment 8]

Digimon Adventure

Either you loved Digimon, Pokemon, or both. For me, it was without a doubt Digimon and with this season my love for this Anime began. Each day before school, I watched the episodes and kept listening to the music over and over again. That was undoubtedly a beautiful childhood, unfortunately, childhood memories are always different.
That's why I sacrificed my childhood memories to watch that show again. This resulted in a very unpleasant disaster because as expected, it's far worse than you can imagine.
For kids it is still highly recommended, children are not interested in anything but an emotional story and that is exactly ... what Digimon is all about. Music, emotions, friendship, and fights for good. That's all you need to like it. At least if you are still very young.

But from the perspective of an older person, watching Digimon was a real challenge. Not only were the episodes deadly boring, the dialogue was disastrous, and the show was a monotonously chewed piece of gum from beginning to end. There was no variety or individuality. It always repeated the same pattern, until the finale.

I think Digimon would have been far better if it had put a higher focus on the characters and their relationships, rather than "battles". In the later episodes, almost 2-3 minutes per episode go by just for the digitations.... and the rest are just relatively mediocre fights as if they were from a puppet show. Whereas the character relationships get almost no attention.

Although I like Digimon more than Pokemon, Pokemon has achieved exactly the opposite result here.


[Conclusion 4]

It's really hard to rate an anime this old and made mainly for kids. I hope I didn't go too far out on a limb with this attempt. Anyway, Digimon is very suitable for a young audience and unfortunately nothing for adults. Unless you ignore the criticism and just want to float in nostalgia, then this is not a problem either.

[Enjoyment 5]

Golden Kamuy 2nd Season

I can assure you that this anime is not for everyone. Either the person will like it or not. That being said, I'm relatively sure that it should actually please fans of the series Gintama and JoJo, due to the similar use of humor.

After a terrible start in the first season, the anime needed a longer period of time to become more convincing. Towards the end of the first season, it showed some strong points at last. The second season also starts with exactly these qualities, which makes it look much more attractive and can actually build up a certain kind ... of tension. Of course, this season still achieves just above-average results and continues to struggle with major weaknesses. One of them is very weak pacing, which only improves stumbling. Furthermore, we have many mundane moments in the series (like dinner) that are completely monotonous and lack any relevance. If I have to watch them cook something every time and talk about how they like it for 2 minutes, I might as well watch Gordon Ramsay videos. But this is one of the lesser problems. Furthermore, all the characters are "interesting" and "likable" but very superficial and one-dimensional. Except for their obvious traits, they have no depth of character. They are practically just walking strange personalities.

Of course, the series also has its strengths, especially from this season on, these come clearly into play. The style of the series is very individual, as well as the way of narration, gives the story a relaxing but also adventurous atmosphere. In addition, the interesting uncertainty about which character will play which role in the story. I have to credit this series very positively. Who the "enemies" and "allies" are changes really quickly here, as each character has their own priorities and goals. There is no good or evil here, only neutrality on both sides of the story.

Furthermore, this show has very well and quickly written battles that barely last longer than 2 minutes. This quick flow keeps the momentum going and the action doesn't suffer. Likewise, the fights have a more realistic tone, as the characters are not absolute monsters and can be injured in normal ways in combat.

In addition, I have been very impressed with the brain-dead and straight-up silly humor of the series. I just love it when characters are combined really well with their kind of humor. Which creates wonderfully bizarre scenes that are really not to be underestimated. I also love that despite all the chaos, the scenes remain mostly serious and the characters take it as normality.


[Conclusion 5]

The anime manages to maintain a fairly interesting plot and mix it with humor without sacrificing much. It doesn't offer the viewer much from the beginning but manages to get a lot out of the existing. Through a humorous narration of the story and some interesting twists, the anime develops over time into something really fun and unique.

In any case, the anime has entertained me a lot and has become more interesting in the third season.

[Enjoyment 6]