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THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW :)

I actually thought this anime would be worse than it actually was based on some of the top reviews for it.

However, as another reviewer has already stated, it is more of an anime that has a very interesting concept, but its execution of the concept could definitely use some work.

However, with that being said, the first half of the anime, up until about episode 6, was actually decently well done in my opinion.

This anime is kinda like SAO when it comes to it being about a virtual reality game, and also it does eventually get into ... the whole “this game could actually kill you in real life” troupe.

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So with all of that being said, I guess I’ll start with the things that bothered me in this anime.

The thing that bugged me most about this anime is how overly rushed it felt, especially on episode 6 and beyond. This anime definitely needed to be a solid 24 episode season at the very least, because the 12 episodes that it has is not nearly enough to properly flesh out the story and the characters. Even when characters die off, it’s like the anime expects you to feel something for them, but it’s like how can we do that when we barely got any time to get to really know the character.

Another thing that bothered me was the main character. I don’t mind tho whole “I hate my life and my family so I’m a shut-in gamer” character troupe, which is how this main character is like, but what I don’t like about him in particular is that he is honestly not that interesting of a main character. He is a bit boring and bland honestly. And when he’s not boring, his personality is just really irritating.

The other thing I didn’t like about this anime, is the constant crying. I don’t mind crying when it’s like someone is gonna die or just died, or something super traumatic just happened. But I hate when it’s overused in anime. Idk it’s just a pet peeve of mine I guess.

Another thing I didn’t like about this anime was the fact that the anime itself was so interesting to me initially because of the whole “I’m playing a VR game with my family as my teammates but we don’t know we’re teammates” stuff, and yet we didn’t really get to see much of that here honestly. We really don’t get to see more than a few minutes of interaction between the family in the VR world.

And honestly, it’s like we were kinda just force-fed certain things in this anime, which was pretty annoying tbh. Like for example, the main character (who in the VR world is called Ichiro) has a really close relationship with a guy named Shiro in the VR game and sees him as a positive father figure, as opposed to how he sees his father outside of the VR world (whom he pretty much hates). I would’ve loved to see more interactions between Ichiro and Shiro in order to see why exactly Ichiro came to love him as much as he did, instead of just being straight up told why he does.

And the other thing I will say is that although the concept of unknowingly being VR teammates with your family is definitely interesting, I will say I am definitely disappointed with the fact that it was like the writers actually expected us to buy that not a single person, even someone outside of the family, was responsible for orchestrating the entire family meeting up and becoming teammates together. I mean, I understand coincidences, but come on. It’s not like it was just a couple people in their family who became teammates, it was the entire family and not even one other random person.

Last thing that was rather convenient to the story but was never explained why it was a thing, is that all of the family in the VR game had this rule about not divulging any part of their personal lives to each other. Why? No clue. It was never clearly explained in the anime. And what makes this even more confusing, is that other groups of people in the VR game have no trouble in expressing the troubles they go through in real life to each other and they like talking to each other about their personal lives, but yet our main character and his family just so happen to have a rule not to talk about anything personal to each other in the VR game.

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As for what I enjoyed about this anime, I will start with the art style. I actually thought the animation looked really nice in this anime, especially when it came to the characters. Is it the best animation I’ve ever seen? No, but even still there were quite a few instances where I thought the characters were animated really beautifully. Also, surprisingly the gore in this anime was done really well too, which i actually didn’t think there was gonna be gore in this anime, but there was. It was kinda creepy how detailed some of it was too honestly.

The other thing I liked about the anime was again just the very interesting plot. Now of course, like I said the execution of said plot did fall short quite a bit, but even so, I was entertained enough to stick to this anime until the last episode.

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I will conclude this review by saying that although this anime was not what I would call “bad” and I did not feel it was a waste of time to watch, it is still what I would call just a “fine” anime, not a great or even good one.

It’s watchable, but I would only recommend this anime to people who currently have nothing better to watch and are in need of a new anime that at least has an interesting premise behind.

As for me, although I was fine watching it all the way through the one time, I don’t really have a desire to ever go and watch this anime ever again.

This is the most intriguing anime that I've seen in a very long time. I had feared going into it that it was going to be overly cliché plot-wise for some reason, and I'm glad to say I was wrong with this anime.
Since it's in the description for this anime, its not a spoiler to say that the main character has a wife. Now let me just pause right there for a moment and say that I really do appreciate when that happens in anime, because it can sometimes be so exhausting watching anime where the main ship is super obvious but its like ... neither of the main characters choose to acknowledge their feelings until the very end of the show. Don't get me wrong, there are some anime that do that and they do it very well, but its just not something I usually prefer to see in the anime that I watch (although I do make the occasional exception with certain romance anime).

Anyways, I love the art style, most of the characters, and the plot of this anime. One of the only things that bothered me about this anime was the opening song and end credits song; neither one sounded that good, nor did either of the songs feel like they matched the intensity of this anime's atmosphere.

Another thing that I disliked, and that I genuinely hope isn't true, is when a character at the end of episode 13 suggested that the MC was essentially imagining someone that didn't actually exist. I won't go into specifics because I don't want to spoil anything, but let me just say that I genuinely hope they clear this major plot-point up next season.

I loved the MC in this anime and his growth as a character, as well as his powers. I also loved the eerie yet colorful environment and the creepy creatures on this island the characters travel to.

Overall, this is an anime that I do recommend people watch. I can't wait for the next season!

*This review will have mild spoilers in it*
I watched this anime with my younger brother, and lets just say he doesn't see nearly as much wrong with it as I do.
I'll start with the cons, since I'm really itching to get into those for this anime.

First of all, it is just a general pet-peeve of mine when the MC is a cry-baby. And in this anime, this MC cries literally every few minutes. And not just over deaths or especially traumatic events (which always get a pass from me), but just over really simple things as well. And I'm not talking like just ... tears, I'm talking literal sobbing and whining. Yea, that's a big no from me. Very annoying trait to have in almost any character, but ESPECIALLY the MC.
And if you were expecting - rightfully so - that since this is an anime about gangs, any other gang member who saw this guy crying (for pretty much no good reason) all the time would steer clear of him, well, you're dead wrong. Yup, in this anime, the MC's crying is considered a wonderful trait and something everyone loves about him. The MC's gang friends even at one point start calling him their "cry-baby hero"...... I- I'm sorry, what?...... Look, can we all be real here for a moment? How do the creators of this anime expect anyone to take this show seriously when they expect us to believe that the MC being as weak as he his, both emotionally and physically, that he would ever be able to make it in a gang?
Now yes, does he have a motive for wanting to try his best to get in and be a part of a gang to prevent the death of his girlfriend, regardless of his strengths or weaknesses? Sure. But why on EARTH do the other gang characters in this anime think he's good enough to be involved in and/or join their gang when they have literally no real, good reason to? I know Mikey said he admired that the MC fought for something other than himself or something along those lines. But although fighting for your loved ones is an admirable trait, its also not that special, since most people in general have someone they would protect and/or die for.

Moving on to this anime's main objective: saving the MC's girlfriend.... So, let me get this straight; this entire anime's premise revolves around saving this girl... and yet she's the most bland, uninteresting character in the entire show. Seriously, there is nothing special about her besides being the MC's reason for doing what he's doing. The creators give us absolutely no reason to care about her character other than the fact that she's the MC's girlfriend. Definitely a huge missed opportunity on the writer's part.

The other thing I disliked about this anime was the overly forced comedy. Very rarely did a joke land with me in this anime. But you could tell every single time when the creators were trying to force their "comedy" down their audience's throats. However, instead of these moments being comedic, they just felt very awkward and forced.

Also, there are so many plot inconsistencies with this show. There was one such moment in this in the show that I remember quite clearly since it was towards the end. So, after Aji makes a violent statement in front of the entire Toman gang that he is leaving, Mikey (later when he's alone with the MC) requests, quite out of the blue, that the MC go retrieve Aji from the enemy gang. Why couldn't Mikey do this himself? And why on earth, of all the people he could've asked to help with this, did he choose the MC who's one of weakest people he could've chosen to do this dangerous task? No clue. We never get an explanation. And on top of that, the MC doesn't question the request himself either.
And then as the MC is trying to figure out how to infiltrate the enemy gang, a few people from the enemy gang show up at his school out of the blue, and ask him to follow them to their base. And instead of questioning why they would be so suddenly willing to invite him, an enemy, into their base, the MC just goes along with them with no fight and not really much caution either. Not that he needed to be that cautious anyways, I guess. Since, once he got there, they just needed him as a witness and didn't plan to harm him at all... which doesn't make any sense. First of all, why would they ever trust the witness testimony of someone from an enemy gang, when he could've very well have been lying and they would've been none the wiser. Second of all, why would they not take advantage of having the MC there at their base and beat the crap out of him? It's not like they're a gang that's known for their moral status, in fact they could care less about such things, with them being as brutal of a gang as they are.
^The reason these scenes frustrated and annoyed me so much was because it was like the creators were just trying to move the plot along with the MC at the center of what was happening by any means necessary, even if nothing in the situations context-wise made any sense whatsoever.

Now for the pros... of which there aren't many for me.
I liked the animation style for the most part. The opening song was great honestly, I genuinely enjoyed listening to it. I liked the fight scenes. I liked the MC's powers. I liked the overall sense of family in the Toman gang.

I'm sorry if I sound too harsh on this anime. It's just that it really did end up giving me a headache watching it. Will I be watching season 2? ... Yea, my younger brother really wanted me to watch it with him, so I guess I will. But overall, I don't recommend this anime to anyone.

I went into this series having no prior knowledge about it other than my younger brother (who watched this series with me) telling me it was based off a videogame. So this a review coming from someone who just jumped right into the series with no knowledge about the game. However, I think regardless of that, the other reviews on here for this series from people who HAVE played the game and are familiar with the storyline, but are also just as disappointed in this series, speak for themselves.

The first episode was intriguing enough. I liked how it set up the setting for the ... city the MC was living in. It showed just how messed up this alternate future was by showing how poorly people treated each other. It also showed just how dependent society had become on virtual reality technology, which that in and of itself was a bit disturbing to see. Seeing people have holes in their necks big enough to fit hard drives in, and seeing some sort of tech literally inside everyone's eyes, really intrigued me because it was just so disturbing to think about how much society was willing to rely on technology in this alternate future.

But even in episode one, there were things that made me uncomfortable and questioning if these things were really necessary to show in detail in this series. I mean, I don't exactly consider myself too much of a prude. I can handle nudity and even some sensual scenes in an anime as long as they are very brief/non-explicit and don't show up a ton in the story enough to be overly distracting and/or uncomfortable. But when an anime, not even 5 minutes into an episode very abruptly shows a first person POV VR of a fully nude woman having explicit sex with someone, albeit even for just a brief moment, that doesn't exactly spell out an anime that I'm going to like. I know that may sound petty, but after having watched the series entirely, I now know that I was right in thinking that.

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my anime characters to have even just a small amount of shame when it comes to being naked around others. It may not be super prominent in the first episode or two, but in this anime, I am not kidding when I say its almost like the characters only wear clothes because they don't want to get cold. Every single woman in this anime is the type where they could stand up, walk around, and sit next to any man very casually as if nothing is wrong, all while being completely nude, with no shame whatsoever. And even the men in this series aren't really bothered by it or seem to find it strange at all, and they never call the women out on it. There was a glimpse of hope one episode where it seemed like the MC would say that it was strange, uncomfortable, or even call out the woman who was sitting next to him completely nude, but he ended up not saying anything and looking only mildly uncomfortable.

And I'm sorry but just one last thing about the sexual things shown in this anime. Look, I understand that they are trying to show us as viewers how dependent on technology people have become, even in the sense of sex. But that doesn't mean that I needed to see a grown man being pleasured by a machinal device for like 20 seconds. And its not like they only show him doing it once, they show it several times (maybe it was only twice, I don't remember, but even showing it once was too much). There were so many non-explicit ways that would've gotten the same point across that this guy likes his porn, I'm sure. Other animes have done the same before but in a way that was more comical and less uncomfortable. Heck, even just the brief two second look we got of some homeless dude outside being pleasured by the same device would've sufficed in letting us know that these things exist and people are addicted to them.

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Now, onto the next point of why I disliked this anime: the characters. Whether it be the main or side characters, I didn't really care for any of them. The show does a really poor job of making their characters likeable or relatable to a point where you would be upset if anything happened to them. I will not go into specifics for the sake of not spoiling anything, but there are some characters we are introduced to that do die in this anime, however, I can almost guarantee that just about none of their deaths will really affect you all that much. Mostly because the show doesn't give you enough reason to care about them. I can only think of one character who I really felt something for when they died, but that was more toward the beginning of the series.

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For another point of why I didn't like the series: the gore. I seriously do not mind gore in anime, but this anime's depiction of gore, especially more towards the end, was absolutely comical. The blood looked fake, the skin looked fake, and just everything about the gore looked cheesy. It made me take the show even less seriously than I already was after watching the first episode.

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Onto the last reason why I didn't like this series (although I'm sure there's more that I'm just not remembering atm): The ending. Of course, I will not go into specifics because I don't want to spoil anything. But the ending was simply horrible. I found no satisfaction in it. It felt very empty and unfulfilling. I honestly can't think of any feasible reason why they chose to end things on the note that they did. And even if you look at the reviews for people who do know the game and storyline, they seem to be perplexed by the ending as well.

Overall, I do not recommend this anime to anyone, even people who have played the game before, as it seems to have done a disservice to the original storyline of the game (according to other reviewers who have experienced the game themselves).

*this review contains some spoilers

This anime had so much promise going into it, and I was really intrigued by it for the first few episodes. However, after about episode 5 or 6, it all sort of went down hill for me.

Don’t get me wrong, the visuals, sound, and music in this anime were great. And the story concept seemed interesting. But from about episode 7 until the end it just felt like the same repeated song and dance. Thorfin is always angry and hyped up for revenge, but he never ever ends up being able to properly fight Askeladd because he never is ... strong enough to. And for some reason the writers just decided to make Askeladd extremely disinterested in Thorfin for many, many years. It was really hard to watch. It just all seemed pointless.

I also just couldn’t stand the feel of this anime. Like I get it, it was a lot different back then in the Viking era and people weren’t always all lovey-dovey to each other. But still, I would’ve loved for someone other than Leif to have shown genuine care for Thorfin after he left his mother & sister. It felt like there were no emotions between the majority of the characters other than “I love killing, let’s kill everyone to get what we want” or “I will be angry for practically forever until I get my revenge”.

And then there’s Canute. The first time I saw his character, even without seeing his face, I just kept on thinking “it’s a girl! Not a guy. They must’ve just been keeping that a secret until now for some reason.” But no, it’s just another anime guy that for some reason has to look almost exactly like a girl. Idk why anime writers feel the need to add that kind of ridiculous stuff to anime that would otherwise be fine without it.

But on another note, there was another thing that upset me about Canute’s character. I know this probably bothers very few people who watched this anime, but as a Christian, I was deeply bothered by the fact that it seemed like this anime was trying to say that the reason Canute’s character was so weak was because of his faith and love for God. Don’t get me wrong I understand him having doubts during this time with all of the death and suffering that he has witnessed, but this anime basically made it seem like he needed to completely abandon and forsake God in order to be a proper ruler. I hope I’m not the only one who feels this way about his character, but maybe I am. And that’s okay, it’s just my opinion.

Overall, this is an anime that I have no desire to go back to. It just has a really depressing and hopeless feel to it that I just can’t stand in anime. Sure the fight sequences were cool; but with the main character being very average and just angry at everything at every second of the anime after episode 4, and all of the other depressing things going on in this anime, it’s not exactly something I want to revisit.

I know that my opinion won't be shared by a majority of people on here, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is simply my opinion. You can take it or leave it, but I don't care much either way. I guess I'll just start by saying that I may have a slightly more controversial viewpoint than many people in today's society on several topics. But in this instance in particular, I hate it when anime blatantly emasculates men, or defeminizes women. In this anime, it very much emasculates almost every single male character in it. Now you can believe me ... when I say this or not, but I'm not saying this as a man, I am saying this as a woman. I mean, not that it really matters either way because I believe both sexes should be able to hold this opinion, but I digress.

This is the type of anime where when the main guy finds out his girlfriend wants to paint or is painting his toenails, he doesn't get the least bit bothered about it. Not even the classic anime trope where usually in this situation the guy would just cry out in disbelief and distaste but then roll his eyes and let her paint his nails just this once so as to not upset her. Nope. Instead our guy is all for it and barely flinches. I felt like I was watching two girlfriends get together for a hangout. It was very off-putting.

Also, there's Kakeru and his relationship to Remi. I don't remember every detail of what exactly he says when he's explaining his relationship with her to Sakura, but when he starts talking about Remi, he says, "Because she's behind me, pushing me forward, I have the strength to give her the push she needs too. In the end, she's protecting me". Keep in mind that a bit before he says this, he's talking about how weak he is. And then directly in the next episode, when explaining her relationship to Kakeru, Remi starts by saying, "The boy I love is really weak". Can we all just take a second to imagine if the rolls were reversed here? If Kakeru just right off the bat just called Remi "really weak", everyone would be going crazy about it. But since its a guy its somehow okay. It is my belief that men are supposed to be not just protective of their women that they love, but also show strength and be the leaders of the relationship. That doesn't mean men can't have a weak side or cry or make mistakes, since they are only human and stuff happens, but for the most part they need to try their best to be strong. But I guess I tend to forget and need to remember that in todays society, masculinity is toxic, cancerous and disgusting, and all men should be more feminine. I personally think the traits that differ men from women and vice-versa are only natural and are something we should all embrace.

But, any-who, I'm done with my rant about how this anime emasculates almost all of its male characters. The other reason this anime was dropped by me was because it was honestly really cliché and boring. The animation and sound was good, but other than that it just felt like it was reusing a trope that I feel like I've seen over and over again. "Misunderstood guy with a secret side to him meets pretty/popular girl and they fall in love"... yea I can think of quite a few animes and/or movies that are like that. Maybe if they had done more interesting things with the trope it would be ok, but it just felt very basic.

I'm just gonna say right up front, I had no idea this was an ecchi anime when I started watching from episode one. Of course, this was made clear to me that it was indeed an ecchi anime in the very same episode... But suprisingly, even though I usually really don't like ecchi anime generally, I didn't mind this one much at all. Now sure, there were certainly plenty of ecchi scenes that made me uncomfortable and that I wished weren't there (because they really didn't need to be; most ecchi scenes in anime don't need to be there). But this anime... its nothing like ... other ecchi anime.

Let me explain. I have watched other ecchi anime in the past, such as "Strike the Blood". Not because it had the ecchi genre in it of course, but because from previews I had seen of it on YouTube, it looked like it actually had good art, sound, and a decent plot (also I used to be obsessed with vampire anime lol). However, "Strike the Blood", even though I enjoyed the story, will never be one of my favorite or highly rated anime. Why? Because all of the constant showing of cleavage, panty shots, and just overly sexualized scenes that the anime displayed 20 times an episode made me cringe constantly and also just made me overall pretty uncomfortable watching the show. In my (probably) unpopular opinion, there is such a thing as too much ecchi in anime, and it can even ruin an anime altogether at times.

Now, back to this anime. Although there were many ecchi things in it, the writers managed to make the ecchi stuff very funny and not pop up every 5 seconds and distract from what was happening in the story overall, which I found to be very impressive. Also, not every single female character was itching to get in bed with the main character (unlike in most ecchi anime). I said earlier that there can be too much ecchi themes in anime (imo), which is still true, but with this anime, I would never take the ecchi completely out of it. Why? Because the main character's slightly immature, dirty-minded personality was simply hilarious and was one of the reasons I enjoyed the show so much. Ecchi, although it is very easy to overdue in anime, can sometimes be done right depending on its execution and if it carries enough comedic undertone to it.

The plot in this anime was evenly paced, as were the episodes themselves. I also really liked how instead of having an actual OP, they just put the OP song over actual episode scenes.

The art was smooth and just really nice to look at. The sound was great as well on all counts.

The only complaint that I can think of with this anime, is the MC's lack of crying much, or lack of proper reaction to situations in general. Don't get me wrong, I understand that he is like 40 mentally and most 40 year old men don't cry that often, especially over little things like getting yelled at or falling. However, there were several scenes where I actually expected him to have more of a reaction because most people, even at his age, would've. Like when he saw Ghislaine behead someone and the blood even flowed over to him. I'm pretty sure any normal person, having not been exposed to people dying that graphically in front of them before, would either scream frightenedly or at least throw up, but Rudeus did barely anything except look shocked and maybe gasp I think. I don't know, maybe I am overthinking things and he is having the typical reaction to most things, but it just doesn't feel like he is to me... But, the reason I'm feeling this way could also be because my mind is getting confused by the fact that he appears a lot younger than he actually mentally is, lol.


Overall, I feel like I could confidently recommend this anime to most people. It was very enjoyable in spite of it being in the ecchi genre, which really surprised me. I will definitely be watching this anime again, and when season 2 comes out (hopefully soon), I will be watching that as well :)

Going into this anime, I didn't expect too much out of it. I had only ever heard of it once before from (I think) a YouTube video, which recommended it. I had put it in my "plan to watch" list and didn't even consider watching it until today because I was bored. The art style is great, no complaints from me there. The sound was pretty good as well... The story, however, was sadly this anime's downfall for me. Don't get me wrong, I would totally watch this show again. However... only until 14-15 minutes into episode 8. Everything that happens after that point, to ... me, is not good plot-wise.

First, let me get into what I liked about this anime, and then we can get into why I only gave it a 7/10. Other than the art and sound, I also loved the characters of this anime. They all were very diverse and interesting. I also loved the vibe this show gives off. There is just so much thrown at you at once and its so chaotic. It kinda reminded me of Kekkai Sensen with its random chaotic-ness, however, I did like that anime way more than this one for several reasons. I loved the relationship with the MC and Cutthroat as well. I know they weren't meant to be the main ship or anything, but their relationship reminded me of the anime Angels of Death which I also really liked. I think, if they gave Cutthroat just a bit more character development and made it so that the MC was the one person he would always protect and never try to kill, it would've made the show a lot more interesting... It was definitely a missed opportunity on the writer's part imo. I also really liked the fight scenes as well.

Now, onto what I didn't like about this anime I know some people will get triggered by what I'm about to say, but you know what, everyone has a right to their own opinions, and this is mine. Do with it what you want.

Anyways, at about 14 and a half minutes into episode 8, the MC cuts her hair, which this in and of itself is not a bad thing, but she cut it so short that it just did not suit her at all, and after she did that I found it very hard to take her character seriously. It was so unlike something her character would do from what I had seen of the show thus far. I didn't think the haircut made her look awesome or whatever people have been saying about it. In fact, I think she already looked plenty awesome with her appearance just the way it was. A character shouldn't have to give up her beauty to look like a strong character, but that's exactly what the writers are trying to sell in this anime it seems. And before you say "it was to disguise herself!"... umm ok, maybe it was, but it still didn't need to be done. Her disguise never once saved her from the people coming after her. Robots could still recognize her face when she was on the run! So really, the writers making her cut her hair was senseless and a horrible idea.

Tbh, I would've been happy just knowing that the MC ran off with the little girl someplace safe, and then be left hanging about everything else that was going on in the plot. They really should've ended the show 14 and a half minutes into episode 8, because after that it all goes downhill story-wise imo. Cutthroat just becomes your typical serial killer once again, making his character a lot less interesting. Courier becomes OOC pretty much out of the blue, being overly helpful to the MC out of nowhere after preaching about not bringing feelings into work.

And of course, even in the beginning episodes there were things I didn't like. Like how the MC has to save every cat, even if it puts her in life-threatening danger... just makes no sense. I still have no idea why she has such a horrible obsession with cats, the anime never made that clear. That may not seem important at face value, but her trying to save a cat is what got her into the mess she was in in the first place, not the 500 yen coin. If she hadn't run after that cat, she wouldn't have been where she ended up hanging out with a bunch of deadly criminals.

There were also a lot more plot wholes when it came to the justice system and stuff that annoyed me towards the end. But I think I've gotten my point across.

Is this anime worth watching? Yes... but maybe only until 14 and a half minutes in to episode 8. Trust me, you're not missing out on much after that point.

I am one of those people who has NOT watched the first original seasons of this series before this one, and I think there is a game related to this series as well that I have not played either. So basically, this is an opinion from someone who just clicked on this anime and decided to watch it and give it a try. And I have watched all the episodes of this anime (or at least, all the episode of this particular season I guess). Just clearing that up so that ya’ll know what to expect when reading my review.

First of all, this season of ... this anime is not as "new-viewer friendly" as you may have heard. There were so many points in the anime where it was glaringly obvious that you needed to watch the previous seasons in order to understand what characters were talking about. I can't even express how frustrating that got to be, especially towards the end of the series.

((SPOILERS AHEAD))


Also, I absolutely hated how they made Keiichi in the first episodes appear like he was the main character. I hate when any show does that actually. I've never seen the point in doing something like that. And I also have never seen it as being "clever" when I find out the character I've been most curious about and rooting for is actually just supposed to be a side protagonist and nothing more. There literally was nothing supernaturally special about Keiichi. Not one thing. Why lead us on to think that? What was the point? Here I am, thinking that maybe he's like the Re:Zero guy: repeating at a spot in time over and over. But nope, instead its another character who I never really cared about until the writers decided to abruptly shove the fact that she was actually the main character down my throat. Don't get me wrong, Keiichi is a great character with a great personality, and I will always like him more than the so-called "real" main character, Rika. But this anime really made me feel robbed when they basically shoved Keiichi to the sidelines when I really thought he was a great main character.

And another thing, this anime is much too slow for my tastes. The pacing was just all over the place. Now, I will admit, the horror scenes in this anime really are something. Very disturbing for sure. But the horror scenes themselves, especially in the beginning and middle episodes, just seemed way too spaced out.

In conclusion, although this anime had great art, sound, and a great OP as well, it was not what I was hoping it'd be. It was not "new-viewer friendly", as I had heard it was several times. But the biggest disappointment about this anime to me, was that it had so much potential to be great. In the beginning with Keiichi as the MC, although the pacing was still not good leading up to the scares and major plot points, the anime was actually pretty enjoyable. But the second they revealed Rika as the main character, I could no longer enjoy the show as well as I had been when I first started watching it. Mainly because of the fact that Keiichi was a much better MC that captured my attention in a way that Rika, with her dull personality, never could.

If you are considering watching this anime, I urge you to watch the first seasons first. People may tell you otherwise, but trust me when I say that there are a lot of things you will be really confused about if you don't.

I personally feel absolutely no desire to watch the previous seasons, having figured out that the one character I actually liked (and was tricked into thinking he was the MC for the longest time), is not actually the MC.

This anime is one that I first watched some years back, and it is an anime that I will hold dear in my heart for years to come. There's just something about it that makes you want to come back and watch it again and again, and it never gets old.

The first time I watched this show, the first word that came to mind was "chaotic", because that's exactly what it is. Almost every episode there are explosions and death, and the main characters (as well as most of the people in the anime in general) are just so used to it that they ... just brush it all off in the most comedic of ways. Only if a very significant character dies do they show some emotion for their death.

Is this show deep? No, not really. Sure, many of the main character have their
backstories, but they don't get too much focus and they're not a significant part of the plot (except for maybe the MC's backstory). For the most part, this anime is an action/supernatural/comedy. There's not really that much drama associated with it. But I think that's what I like most about it. It's not something overly complicated, it's just something that's very fun to watch.

The only significant complaint I have about this anime at the moment is that it's been like 4 years since the last season, and we have yet to hear news of another (or at least, I personally have not come across any confirmed news about another season). But, needless to say, the second the 3rd season comes out, I will be one of the first to rush to watch the first episode. And it really isn't a question of "does it really need another season", because it absolutely does. Leaving the show as it is now and at the point its at in the plot would be very dumb. To explain, the show is based around the main character Leonardo Watch and his journey to fix his and his sister's eyes.... and he still has yet to do so. Ending the show without resolving this extremely significant issue just would not make any sense.

But anyways, that concludes my review. Please consider giving this anime a chance. You won't regret it! ;)