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So, had been watching my way up to episode 6 of Oshi No Ko. If I am being honest, the show kind of feels overrated. Like don't get me wrong, there are things that I love about the show; the visuals and lighting are good. Voicework is also good, and I love the opening and ending themes.


But with me...I feel that what made the show good at first was the prologue. I was never bored when I was watching it. Sure, it was kind of an exposition dump, but what made it good was Rie Takahashi's performance as Ai Hoshino. She had this infectious, vibrant ... energy to her but at the same time, her issue was that she believed lies were a form of love and went about being deceitful with her fans but it is actually the definition of a parasocial relationship.

The fact that she remembered the name of her killer when she struggled to remember her own children's names is immeasurably sad. Just seeing the light leave her body and the dead smile on her face is horrifying. I was legitimately crying when that happened.


As for the reincarnation angle, it was interesting albeit some moments felt kind of weird, especially with how Aqua and Ruby had an adult conversation when they were still pretty young with them both unaware they had known each other in another life. The rest of the show goes into the murder-mystery plot which would make the reincarnation thing kind of misplaced, but that is not really my issue even if it feels like the reincarnation thing was really not important. The show, to me, would have worked the same had Aqua and Ruby not had previous lives.


I do also like the harsh reality of the idol industry. It is really a toxic kind of fandom: while obviously, not all fans are rabid, what makes it worse is when an idol is placed on an unattainable height, they unwittingly place crushing expectations on them. But being as fickle as they are, once that illusion is broken, they say the most despicable of things on the internet at worse, some going as far as to stalk and outright kill their former stars. And even in the event of Ai's death, people spout the most despicable things about her.


Not to mention how unforgiving the idol industry is. They just manufacture idols, chew them up and spit them out once the newest idol appears on the horizon. The prologue, in my opinion, does a good job of conveying that.


As for the rest of the series proper, some episodes are fine, my favorite one being when Strawberry Productions partnered up in sponsorship with best boy Pieyon. But in terms of how Aqua is trying to find his mother/Ai's killer tends to be filler. Like I found the whole him volunteering to be in a TV drama and then a dating show as inconsequential in the scheme of things. I get that it is because some of the directors had connections to Ai or knew something intimate about her, but I just found those episodes boring. Do I care about his revenge scheme? Eh...honestly no? Doesn't help that he can be downright devilish with manipulating people. That, and kind of being some edgelord.


The other characters are okay. I do like Ruby and the whole conflict of her wanting to become an idol like her mother while Aqua tried to prevent that before arranging for Strawberry Productions to go back in development. Kana calls to mind many out-of-work actors and actresses who were once the talk of the town due to their roles as child stars. But now that they are older, they are given zilch because fresh blood is always a desirable trait.



And I actually really liked the sixth episode and how it tackled Akane's issues. Probably the second saddest moment from the series because of how people relentlessly tear into her because of a mistake she made, and no matter how hard she tried, people kept trashing her. I mean was it melodramatic? I mean, sure, the show does have those moments, but thought it was handled well enough that I cared about the character.


Other than that, Oshi No Ko to me is something of a mixed bag. I do like a lot of aspects of the show with the 90-minute prologue getting me hooked, but as the show goes on, while still good/watchable, it just feels like a generic idol show albeit with a hit of murder while somewhat going into the dark reality of idol culture. That is strictly my opinion as I know that the show is very well-liked, but thought I should be honest here.

This show is pretty frustrating IMO. Spy Classroom is about how warfare was exchanged for espionage in a fictional war. There exists a type of assignment known as an "impossible mission" which can often be seen as potentially life-threatening.

We follow the spy Klaus who was previously a member of a spy group called Inferno. But things did not go well. He is tasked with taking seven flunkies and one of their first tasks is trying to capture him.

The show is structured weirdly. The first half of the anime is the girls preparing to embark on their "impossible mission" with the other half being the building ... up to them entering enemy territory. In some ways, it makes sense because the show actually introduces a character who was behind the scenes from the beginning. But by doing so, the show is not something that can easily be digested.

Despite it being a show about spies, it can actually get boring even with the stakes because you know the characters will be fine due to foregone conclusion. That also goes into the girls' attempts at getting the drop on Klaus but he always turns the tables on him.

Seriously not since Talentless Nana have I seen something so contrived. Klaus does so many acts, it begs the question if he is even human. That whole "he is a great spy" can only go so far as an excuse until you have to accept that the show works in his favor.

As for the other characters, aside from Lily, the other girls are underdeveloped or could be summed up with the "ability" they wield. The first half of the anime has them gearing up for the mission but not really interacting outside of trying to catch Klaus. Even with the flashbacks, there is still so little that we know of the girls aside from their brief mentions of their backstories which doesn't really make you feel for the characters because you know they would be fine.

The animation, at the least, is nice to look at. But writing-wise, it is a very generic show.

So here we go. Buddy Daddies is an original series about two professional assassins, Kazuki and Rei, who are given the task of removing a human trafficker, but they did not have the gift of hindsight to realize that the guy they just killed was the father of a young girl named Miri. So, the two roommates now have another mouth to feed for the time being.

When I first heard about this series, it was natural to compare this show to one of the most popular anime series at the time Spy x Family. Y'know, a "fake family" raising a daughter and all? This obviously ... tossed some allegations the show's way that it was ripping off a well-liked show by opting to follow the leader rather than be something original. Having watched my way into 8 episodes, what do I think?

There are some similarities, but there are several vast differences that the show. For one, both "parents" are assassins so no espionage-related aesthetics. The show also feels more grounded in reality. Obviously, no instances of characters having freakish superhuman strength or any other fantastical aspects that Spy x Family has. The big one is that there is no overarching "mission" the "dads" are in like the Forger family. In fact, their taking in Miri was more because their latest hit aligned itself with Miri going to find her biological father. It was purely happenstance that the two ended up meeting Miri.

Another difference is how the show depicts the young child of the two families. In Spy x Family, Anya tends to be more collected and "stable" largely because of her telepathic abilities giving her a more analytical mindset. Miri, however, is a realistic take on a child who is an unadulterated ball of chaotic energy. In her debut episode, she literally runs through a room while Kazuki and Rei's targets are firing up a storm of bullets. She is completely unaware that she is in danger.

So Kazuki and Rei should probably make it clear that another difference is they are roommates who alternate with being Miri's "Papa" rather than being in a fake marriage as a result of a mission. Kazuki, for instance, is completely straight which is brought up by his frequenting casinos and greeting women, or how his backstory revolves around a lost love of his.

Though despite the show being called Buddy Daddies, it should honestly be renamed to Single Father Raises Two Kids because Rei is more or less a manchild. Rei's interactions with Miri mostly consist of them playing games together, and they both have the same preferences for food like sugar-coated candy. As such, this leads Kazuki to be the one to do most of the housework to his chagrin.

Both express their love for Miri in different ways. While he was initially annoyed with Miri, Kazuki gradually melts into the father role who becomes concerned for Miri if she were to be in trouble or if he would be near clinically depressed if Miri told him she hated him. A lot of this does come from his backstory with his wife/girlfriend which, knowing that, adds a layer of sadness to Kazuki's character.

As for Rei, it is more subtle. They bond over video games as I had mentioned, but Rei would be more reluctant to take on the fathering role. That is until he is put into a situation where Miri needed to get taken to the hospital. Normally, Kazuki would fulfill those needs, but Kazuki is absent leading Rei to rise to the occasion. What is noteworthy about Rei is where he sleeps. Unlike Kazuki and Miri who have their own beds, Rei sleeps in the bathtub. He does this largely, from what I can see, because he found it is one of the few secure areas he could lower his guard. The fact that he ends up sleeping with Kazuki and Miri shows that he is slowly breaking out of that safe space he assigned to himself. Speaking of Rei, snippets of his backstory show that he also did not have a good upbringing. He was raised by an abusive father who only answered to the name "Boss," and was to inherit his assassin business.

With its humorous moments, the show also masterfully depicts more serious moments. Besides Kazuki and Rei's backstories, you get twinges of melancholy throughout the show such as with the truth of why Miri was sent away. On the one hand, you can have fierce hatred for her mother for resenting her daughter and abandoning her, but there is also the side where you can slightly sympathize with her reasons as she was thrust into a position she hated. Miri just so happened to be born into it. Still, resenting a child through no fault of their own is bad.

Besides the main cast, we also get some good supporting characters my favorite being Anna, Miri's daycare teacher. She is just adorable and has a motherly demeanor to her. Kyutaro, Kazuki and Rei's informant, is also a good character who once volunteered to babysit Miri when he started to notice them falling behind on their quotas.

Overall, definitely an enjoyable show with some real laughs and heart. While it may have been inspired by Spy x Family, the show does not define itself strictly on that, and I am tempted to say it actually does a few things better than SxF.

Really, what is there to say about Komi Can't Communicate? This is probably up there as being one of the best anime adaptations this year with each episode really improving over each one.

The animation is simply beautiful and polished. The lighting and fluid movements are also top-notch. But I especially love the character designs of each character so much so, it would be relatively easy for each character to be identified with a silhouette.

But the main story is also really relatable: the social awkwardness and the desire to want to speak with other people but there are things that inhibit that such as shyness. But, ... really, you do want friends, and yet, how will you even hope to relay that?

The characters are what really give the show life. Tadano is described as "hopelessly average," which is true. When you have a whole school of students with different quirks and personalities, Tadano feels rather "vanilla." And yet, I feel that it works out just fine. Really, because of how much the students at the school treat Komi as a goddess or put her on a high pedestal, their flaws come from being unable to interpret Komi's true feelings in part because of their outrageous quirks. They are in love with the idea that Komi represents, and yet ironically, they are so woefully ignorant of what she is really like.

So despite that, Tadano is able to look past Komi's beauty to see someone that truly wanted friendship and he voluntarily assists her in her goal to get 100 friends. He does this again not because he is trying to score with her, but it is because he understands her. He also congratulates her whenever she would try to step out of her comfort zone.

For what little words she actually does speak, Komi is adorable with the show doing a great job at adapting her "bug eyes." The main humor comes from the classmates misunderstanding her behavior or actions by filling in the blanks when she actually had something else completely different in mind. Her goal of wanting 100 friends is just cute even though it seems relatively simplistic at first. But it shows how lonely and desperate she is with wanting to speak and only makes her relationship with Tadano all the more wholesome.

Then we have my personal favorite the based Osana Najimi. They are the most hilarious of the main cast of characters with their bombastic personality and trolling nature. Oftentimes, they do try to put Tadano and Komi into a situation to make them closer, but they are a good friend.

Supporting cast. As I said, they also have their own personalities and are about as entertaining as the main characters. There's Agari, a nerdy girl who gets nervous anytime she has to speak directly to others (and later decides to become Komi's pet due again to misunderstandings). There's one who believes herself to be in a rivalry with Komi, but Komi does not even know she exists. And, of course, we have a chuunibyou who is convinced that she knew Komi from a past life.

While I love a majority of the characters, the one I absolutely loathe is Yamai Ren. She is your typical yandere girl who is greatly obsessed with Komi, but it tends to go too far and is not funny at all. Really, that one scene where she discovered one of Komi's strands of hair is scarring. Worse, she even goes to drastic measures to be closer to Komi that I really wanted the outcome to be that Komi would befriend the entire class with her being tossed to the curb like the hot trash she is. At least from what I have heard the manga has her appear less.

The voice work and sound need no complex reason as to why they are good. Just really, the show is nearly perfect in its themes; relatability; animation, etc. Definitely a must-watch.

Girlfriend, Girlfriend is one of the funniest rom coms I have seen this year. It revolves around Naoya Mukai who had continually begged his childhood friend Saki Saki to be his girlfriend...but then he opts for "two-timing" when a girl named Nagisa confessed to him.

To describe the show, it is awkward because of the concept. But it is also bizarrely funny. The characters themselves are likable in their own ways: Naoye is a character who is...hard to figure out. There is obviously something wrong with him. Basically, he is someone who is very, very criminally honest. He finds himself liking Nagisa despite the fact that ... he is already in a relationship, but he tries to somehow make both girls happy with the relationship. It's not so much that he is being cruel or rude with the "two-timing..." his mind is just wired weirdly. Like him rejecting Nagisa's confession amounts to him thinking that he was lying about seeing her as attractive or something like that.

Saki is also pretty good. She is the one that does suffer from feeling insecure when it comes to sharing Naoya with Nagisa: she can't cook; really do chores; or anything really, but you do feel bad for her in some ways. But it is funny when she beats the stuffing out of him whenever he sticks his foot in his mouth.

Nagisa, at first I did not get: the first few episodes of why she was so intense with wanting to get together with Naoya aside from a brief flashback that shows she met him a semester or so again from afar. She is sweet and is typically seen as Saki's rival since she is better than Saki in lots of ways: cooking, doing chores, giving unadulterated attention to Naoya...but it comes at a cost: she spent all her time bettering her cooking skills, body, etc. that she has the worst grades in her class.

Animation's fine nothing too special. Otherwise, a very funny show.

It comes as no surprise that Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro was initially heavily sought after to get its due. The series revolves around Naoto Hachioji, otherwise known as "Senpai," who is a second-year at Kazehaya High School who'd rather be by himself and draw his own manga. However, fate had different plans: after his manga is unwittingly shown to a group of popular girls, Senpai finds himself tormented by a tanned girl with a devilish smile.

At first it seemed that she was merely bullying him for sadistic reasons (which were true to some extent), but it becomes apparent that she actually had a ... crush on him.

The show is episodic; Senpai would be minding his own business, and then Nagatoro would waltz in, suggest something lewd, and pull one over on the poor guy. Sometimes, Nagatoro's friends would playfully mess with Senpai earning Nagatoro's ire.

The animation's nice. There are some shots that are well-crafted and detailed like one instance where the camera lingers on the shot of a small crab shuffling on the shore. Though the only dislike I have with the animation are that the background characters are all eyeless. Feels uncanny, but it was likely intentional.

There are really no characters that you can truly hate. Senpai does come off as being weak, but in some ways, he is really relatable. Some may have been that introverted student who'd rather be left to their own devices then have to have those awkward social interactions. When you see that he was bullied a lot as a younger boy, it makes a lot of sense that he would become that tense.

Nagatoro. Oh boy. At first glance, she comes off as being too much of a bully to Senpai to the point she made him cry twice and is arguably one of the most sadistic lead characters I have seen. But, it becomes crystal clear that she was in the same boat as Senpai. Underneath that teasing, bullying persona belies a shy girl who obviously has it hard for the MC but only feels that she can express it by playfully teasing him. But she does have standards such as defending Senpai when her friends were making harder hitting insults at him.

Her three friends, Gamo, Yoshi, and Sakura, are about as sadistic as Nagatoro tends to be and like trolling Senpai to his expense. Gamo is the tall leader of the group and the most mischievous of the group. She is the brains behind most of the attacks on Senpai and is fully aware that Nagatoro was in love with Senpai and is doing this stuff both to invoke some response from her friend, and to bring the two awkward kids together.

Yoshi is the more dim one who just parrots whatever Gamo says. She comes across as more or less "good," but is susceptible with going along with what Gamo is planning because she likes her. The opening theme, "Easy Love" is also rocking, and the ending theme is also good.

Overall, a good show. Very fun to watch.

Pretty short and simple thoughts: when I first heard of Redo of Healer, I didn't think that it would be that bad. To start with, it begins as a generic hero journey of a guild trying to take down an evil overlord, but instead, we follow the guild's healer who, for lack of a better word, is abused and exploited for his healing abilities. Worse yet, whenever he heals someone, that also entails that he receives their painful memories as well. After dying over and over, he eventually regains the memories of the previous lives he had and decides to redo the world so he ... could have his revenge on those who mistreated him.



For the most part, the show comes off as just an edgy revenge fantasy. Virtually none of the characters are likable; the supposed "heroes" of the setting turn out to be vile pieces of work because of course they are. They are also cartoonishly evil to an extent where they screw themselves over because of them having the need to be douchebags. Later episodes do change things up a bit. So, I was wrong to have said that no one was likable. But the real problem is that they're really only there for the sake of being there. Sure, they have interesting personalities or have reasons to crave vengeance for their wrongdoings, but outside of those aspects, they don't come across as fully well-developed. In other words, they are tolerable, but even then, there is nothing that really makes you invested in seeing them succeed. The main protagonist is really no better off. While it is largely understandable he was driven down a dark path, that doesn't really make his character any better as he also engages in some of the most despicable of debaucheries.



The animation itself...it's fine as long as you're watching the televised version. The uncensored version tends to make the objectionable scenes play off as more awkward by panning the camera away before things could get any more dirty. While it is pretty well animated, it almost feels like a waste to use the animation for an anime of this caliber.



Overall, I feel that the show is bad, but that is just my opinion.

The show is not the best, but it has its moments. For one, I feel that the Otherside is not fully realized. They do provide exposition of what the Otherside is, but the way that the anime presents in, we are already launched skin deep into the story without fully explaining how these characters discovered the Otherside, nor how the dimension works as there are many ways that someone could accidentally wind up in the Otherside.

While the Otherside is a very interesting concept, it felt more like a backdrop to establish the setting of the series. Because of this, there isn't much investment that ... one can take in the story due to it barely scratching below the surface of the inner mechanisms of the world.

Animation. It is serviceable, that I can guarantee, and some shots of the Otherside do look adequate. When it comes to representing the monsters, however, a lot of the action/intense scenes are blatantly CGI-animated that it takes you out of the scene if you think too much about it. With having an intriguing plot such as going to another world, it doesn't live up to its full potential and is barely creative with how the world functions.

But with an uninteresting story, are the characters at least good? Sorawo and Toriko are the lead characters and they do have great chemistry with each other I won't deny that. Sorawo is someone who starts off introverted and would rather be by her lonesome. This does make her hard to like at first because she really isn't much of a "hero" at the beginning. She was someone who could come across as cowardly and would have to be pushed by Toriko to save people. This came as the result of past trauma that is reflected on, but whether the show does a good job at depicting her PTSD is another question. She does get better towards the end of the series, however.

Toriko was a little more interesting. She was trained by her JTF2 mother in arms and is motivated by her goal of finding her "friend." She tends to be more optimistic and energetic which does serve as a good contrast to Sorawo. There are also some inclinations that she is drifting away from her in favor of Sorawo.

Kozakura is a good supporting character. As mentioned, she collects strange artifacts from the Otherside and mainly does indoor research due to her fear of going out in the field. She is a cute character and is often deadpan in her behavior

There were two others introduced in the middle of the show's run, childhood friends Natsumi and Akari. Akari was taught karate and is involved in two supernatural cases; Natsumi works with cars and other vehicles and is obvious that she is crushing hard on her friend. But they are...kind of there. They don't really contribute much to the overall story and are slightly bland. I had to look up their names again because of how forgettable they were.

The show has that kind of effect on me: aside from interesting character traits and flaws, at the end of the day, are they characters that I would remember long after the show is over?

It isn't a must-see masterpiece, but I do like it for its concept.

This one, oh boy. It is about Kazuya Kinoshita who is about to enter college only to discover that his girlfriend Mami dumped him after dating him for about a month. Distraught over that, he discovers a rather shady app where he can rent a girlfriend. So, he ends up meeting the seemingly perfect Chizuru Mizuhara. After their first date, Kazuya, despite knowing that this was a job, grows suspicious of Chizuru and gives her a low rating. Which makes her angry.

To make matters worse, Kazuya's grandmother collapses and she has the misfortune of meeting Chizuru, so they have to keep up the facade a ... little longer.

Characters. Kazuya himself isn't really likable. He's a pushover who everyone throws shade at. Everyone, including his own family. He can't stand up for himself; he's pretty much a loser. I get him wanting to have a real relationship, but as Chizuru pointed out to him, what she did was her job. That outburst in episode 1 was really unnecessary. He's borderline insufferable as a leading character. But a lot of that is intentional, so I can't really completely blame him for that.

The other characters are hard to really "like." Chizuru herself at the least is shown to at least see that while Kazuya can be foolish and an idiot at times, there are at least some good qualities about him. It is also good on her part that, while she is overly critical with Kazuya being the doormat he is, she does assist him with upcoming the visage of a relationship. She even stands up for him when Mami was talking smack about Kazuya. Which perfectly segues to...

Mami. Oy vey, Mami. What can I say about her? Out of all the shows I am watching this year, she is hands down the worst character in the show. On the outside, she looks bubbly and friendly almost like an angel. But on the inside, she is an utterly petty borderline sociopath.

For starters, she finds herself insanely jealous of Kazuya and Chizuru's "relationship" despite the fact that she herself dumped him in the first place under the claim that she met someone else she loved. It's her actions that led to him finding the rental app and yet she wants to destroy the (fake, but she doesn't know) relationship between the two because she cannot stand that Kazuya appeared to move on after her. She is a manipulative, verbally abusive young lady who tears Kazuya down with her words. While the show treats him as a punching bag, nothing about what she says is funny as not even the other characters humor her for it. Worse, she even forces Kazuya to apologize for her when she gets called out for her actions.

The worst part of her plot had to be when she was trying to tempt Kazuya when Chizuru was in a position where she likely would have died had it not have been for Kazuya's quick intervention. This just goes to show how much of a ruthless sociopath she is where she does not give a crap about whether someone lost their life because of her. Unlike with Chizuru where she has her own softer side, Mami doesn't have anything remotely redeeming about her. It's really because of her presence that the show feels especially cruel and I'd think that it would be better if she was written out. Maybe die in a car accident or some freakish scenario. She is trash plain and simple.

The friends of Kazuya are mostly one-note except for his childhood friend who does acknowledge that there are some good parts to Kazuya's behavior such as his determination. Kazuya's family...don't like them. His grandmother to me comes off as especially bad partially because of her trying to dip her hand between Kazuya and Chizuru. She has that snooty attitude as well which also makes her hateable in my eyes. Otherwise, characters are hit or miss.

Voice work is also fine as is the animation. It isn't amazing by any means, but it services the show well. Comedy is hit or miss because it revolves around the misgivings of the MC and if you don't care for that kind of humor, it can come off as painful.

It follows the eponymous Hana Uzaki who is at first delighted to be at the same college as her classmate from high school Shinichi Sakurai. But when she sees that he has a rather mundane lifestyle, she decides to take it upon herself to hang out with him.

I get that there was some slight controversy of the series because of some moral guardians being critical of Uzaki's design. If not for her...assets, she would easily be confused for maybe a high school or elementary school kid. Her being short not helping matters. But...the show establishes that she is a young adult as in reaching her ... 20s at best.

Pushing the controversy aside, thus far the characters are very enjoyable. There's Uzaki herself for starters. She is energetic and preppy as well as a Grade A troll who loves to mess around with Shinichi. She has the potential to be annoying, but she squarely falls under the "not too obnoxious" side for me partially because it is a more funny kind of annoying wherein the character or characters are the ones being irritated by her antics.

But she also has her good side. There are moments where she does unwittingly drive Shinichi off the deep end and she apologizes. Ultimately she does have a good heart where she wants to ensure that Shinichi does live fully.

Shinichi is a good foil. He tends to want to be by himself and enjoy that time and when Uzaki intervenes, you can understand his frustration with her. But he does find himself slowly enjoying being around Uzaki. Despite this, he does have a softer side such as loving cats and dogs. It's unfortunate that because of the perpetual scowl on his face, he comes off as imposing.

Supporting characters include Ami, her father, and Shinichi's only friend. Ami works for her father at his cafe where Shinichi works largely because of how attractive he is. This comes across as interesting in terms of Ami: she lusts after Shinichi because of his physique, but much like her father, she is a passive watcher of Uzaki and Shinichi taking an interest in seeing their relationship bloom.

Sakaki is Shinichi's friend who is a ladies' man who also takes an interest in the relationship because he wants Shinich to get a girlfriend which puts him in conflict with Ami due to him wanting to take an active approach in getting them together. He's kind of sleazy to me, but that's from a minor glance. He may get better over the course of the series.