Back to Soulgamer78's Profile Soulgamer78's Profile

Hahahaha! Been a long time since I have last wrote a review. This is going to be a little weird. Let me start off by saying that this series is definitely not for everyone. The people who should not watch this anime is...

-People who have tons of friends and have never been hurt by them
-People who have been happy constantly and have never experience loneliness
-People are optimistic to the point of delusion
-Basically, people who have the head ten feet up their a**es
-Or people who only enjoy anime for battle shounen

Also by the way,
SOL-Slice of Life
... RomCom-Romantic Comedy
*I'm going to be using those abbreviations A LOT!

Story:8
One of the the many good points of this series. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU is very contrary to its name. Instead of acting as most ordinary SOL RomCom (Harem galore, Idiot Protagonist, generic females, et cetera), it acts more like a deconstruction of the genre instead. It's a story that while on paper is mundane, is told from an interesting point of view of a pessessmistic but kind loner. That is what makes the story good and better then the average RomCom. We recieve various monologue from the protagonist, Hachiman Hikigaya(8man) so while the story itself is somewhat mundane, the actions that Hachiman takes and the thoughts he thinks make the story compelling and intriguing to watch. The story continues from the first season, as Hachiman continues to solve problems that are brought to the Service Club. However unlike the first season the second is much less comedic and more heavily invested on the complex emotions of the multiple characters that the show presents. Despite being a “romance” anime, it isn’t the shows full focus. There are a lot of that, and many teasing of characters being liking each other, but it is a secondary concern below just simple friendship and character interaction.

Art:9
The art from this season is a large step-up from the original one. The character designs being the biggest change. At first, I actively disliked it at first, but as I continue to watched the character designs began to not only grow on me, but grew to the point where I like it more the original. Their looks now allow for more emotions and are less stiff. Studio Feels also manage to create great animation that allow you to be able to understand character thoughts just through their movements. All and all, the art and animation for the second season was fantastic, and while not as flashy or pretty as some of the action series as of late, but it is quite stunning in its own right.

Sound:9
The opening was actually pretty average for the most part, and in to be quite honest I prefer the opening of the first one. However, the anime counters that by making the ending fantastic and much better than the one from the first season (again, in my opinion). But the background soundtrack and voice acting is where this anime truely shines. Its subtle and minimalist tracks helps build up suspense, and allow for emotions to come naturally. The music will never overtake what is happening and will never be the star of the show. But it never needed to be, it being a minimalist type soundtrack. It purpose is to enhanced the show and what is going on, it tracks help amplify suspense when need, it also builds sadness or joy when it is played. A lot of people I know and probably a large portion of music-lovers out there dislike minimalist music so this track probably isn’t something you can listen to over and over. That being said, a few out there will find this enjoyable to constantly listen to, and some of you might even find it among your favorite music tracks. Regardless, few can argue that the music got what needed to be done, and did it with flying colors. The voice acting make the already realistic characters seem more real, and makes for what they say actual conversations that could happen instead of just characters in a fictional setting, talking.

Character:10
Oh boy, the character is where this truely surpassed my expectations. Being a RomCom, I went into this show expecting s***. As mention above RomComs usually follow a very generic formula. One of the ingriedients would be generic as hell characters, Idiotic and nice protagonist along with girls to fit every fetish and tropes to fall in love with said protagonist. This show does almost a complete reverse, with a highly realistic(pessimisstic) and intelligent protagonist with only two fully fleshed out and developed female protagonist. Let’s talked about Hachiman(8man) first, as well as talking about how much I love it when a show implements catharticism correctly. This could range from when Hachiman puts down other people with his superior rationality, or when he solves problems by commiting social suicide only to realized later on that it was a TSPP(tempory solution permanent problem). His way of thinking and morales in life resonates with me on a personal level. Which is a large reason why Hachiman is a character that is not for everyone. If you could relate to him through life experiences or you’re able to understand and realize his viewpoints on life then he may very well be one of your favorite main character in any series, SOL RomCom or otherwise as he was for me. If you’re one of the people mention on the list of people who would hate this anime, Hachiman is probably the biggest reason why. He is negative, and cynical, which is great as now their is a main protagonist that is similar to me and millions of other people out their who aren’t optimistic as soceity tells us we should be. Now on to the female leads, which we have two of. Yukino being the first one we are introduced to, and like Hachiman, is a loner and has been bullied in her younger years. Unlike Hachiman however, she is far more successful and thus, sometimes have a superiority complex. She faces many of the same problem that faces Hachiman, but many of the times these problems require different solutions and are caused by different causes for the two characters. So it makes the two characters, while similar, also distinctively different. This causes many opportunities for the the. Final, but definitely not last of the main characters, is Yui. She is the bubbly, happy, social type. And she is absolutely and one hundred percent necessary for the show to work. She acts as a foil to the two other main characters, but in some odd way is still as completely relatable as the other two. Her interaction and chemistry with the other two is at times comedic, and at other time emotional brings along a whole entire other sets of problems. Her character brings to light an entire different view point and to put it simply, without Yui, the entire show would be completely different and more than likely, no where near as good. The most important thing about the supporting cast is each supporting member is that each one is a fully fleshed out character and anyone who is named would likely show up more then once. They are each filled with their owned personalities that are not just generic tropes, each often having problems that can watchers can relate to. Each are realistic, such as Hayama who despite at first seems like a Gary Stu, later turn out to be just as troubled and filled with problems as everyone else in the show, or Komachi who (for the first time in forever not a love interest), actually act as a simply would to the main character. Having fights with him, giving advice, understanding, apologizing for mistake, et cetera. All this combined with the emotionally broken and trouble main characters each being rejected by society in some way make this show have the most diverse set of characters and one of the most realistic and relatable group I have ever seen from not only anime, but from a story in general.

Enjoyment:10
Like all my other reviews, the enjoyment is not factored into the final review, so this long section is completely skippable. What else is there needed to be said, everything that praises and critics (to which there are few) have already been said in the moderately long review. So lets talk about why this anime means so much for me (which again, if it is boring then is completely skippable), and while it rank at number two in my list of favorite animes. The reason is simple, I have never in my entire life relate to an anime as much as this one, and even more than that I have never relate to a character as much as Hachiman. Like him I have tried to reach out to make friend in the past, only to be left in severe disappointment. It didn’t take long after that to just simply stop caring, and since then I have always been more pessimistic than an optimistic. And with every telling me that is an terrible way of living and that would lead to wrong to thing negative thoughts, only enhanced my pessimism, as using optimism to “help” a pessimist really doesn’t work. I could fully imagine what it would be like to be in his shoes and often could see the world through his eyes. From him getting rejected without much thought by a crush. From being despised from a trait that was gained at birth, and from spending hours simply doing nothing looking at others doing things that required more then a single person. I could also imagine myself in his shoes, when he was trying to do the right thing, but not being able find a method that would not involve hurting and most likely more then likely others. As a result even now, I only have a small group of friend and even a smaller group in which I can freely talked and express my problems. My advice for anyone who meets a Hachiman in their life and want to become friends with them would be to never talk about celebrities with them, but more importantly be patient. Just be patient and stick around and never try to “fix” them. My advice for people like me or Hachiman (which can be taken with a grain of salt) would be to stop thinking that your way of living is wrong, it just different. Don’t try to make friends for the sake of making friends, but make friends who you would help you when ask, and you would help if they ask. That got a little heavy and I also didn’t imagine it would go on a mini therapy (though I don’t think I made a great therapist) session. Well that is the reason why this show recieve a perfect ten in the enjoyment catagory, that and because even though the show isn’t gear towards everyone, I felt like one of the people that is was gear towards. From it storytelling, to its art, to it beautifully constructed minimalist soundtrack that I could listen to over and over again, and it splendid and beautifully constructed cast of main characters. Since this is skippable, let’s talk about the romance to which I can quickly sumarized up with imagery. You see there are two gigantic battleship which have said and are fighting each other. There is also a ship for a cute underclassmate, but that one is more like a wooden conoe. Anyway, I currently being told to walked the plank on both ships multiple times because of how much I like the characters. What I’m trying to say is I have literally no idea what side I am on, and would be happy and sadden by any choice the author picks for the main character. Which is kind of a lose-lose and win-win senario. Confused. So am I about how I feel.

Final Verdict:9
Like all show, it has its flaws such as the title. And as all shows, it is not for everybody. But if you have ever been outcasted of soceity either it only have been a while or for your entire dang life, I would urge you greatly to watch the show. It shows that your way of living, no matter what, is not right nor is it wrong. It shows the pros and cons to living like Hachiman, and living like someone like Hayama. I have already rambled enough out the shows good and bad points in the review sections, and have already said how much I like the show in my enjoyment section. There really isn’t much else to say besides me saying that if you don’t consider yourself to be part of these people...

-People who have tons of friends and have never been hurt by them
-People who have been happy constantly and have never experience loneliness
-People are optimistic to the point of delusion
-Basically, people who have the head ten feet up their a**es
-Or people who only enjoy anime for battle shounen

Then go watch the f***ing show. I’ll end it here, just so you can so watch it, heck, I’ll even include a link to the show on Crunchyroll.

-http://www.crunchyroll.com/my-teen-romantic-comedy-snafu

Yeah, I like it that much, and writing this review kind of made me appreciate it more. Not sure if it will have the same effect on you, but hey, there’s only one way to find out.

It pains me a lot to give this series a 7. In fact, I really want to give it a 9 or 10 for this review. However, a few things stop it from being higher, actually only two things really. The first thing is simple. It never keeps the amazement factor rolling, the first three episodes were fantastic, but it slow goes to great, then good, then just plain OK. The second, and in my opinion much more important thing is that it stop just when things get interesting. It force me to read the manga from which this is adapted from and actually ... made me a lot more disappointed in the anime. The Manga is fantastic, easily one of the best I have ever read, in fact currently it is my second favorite of all time. If the anime had gotten enough support, or if it had gotten enough care to completely adapt the manga through and through then this could easily be a different review where I say ,"This is the best anime ever no exaggeration." Alas, it is not, so it pains me immensely to have to give it a score of only good.

Story:6
It is definitely interesting. It is a blend of romantic comedy, horror, ecchi, zombie (yes, zombies are in my mind it own separate genre, sort of like how it is for gaming), and even a little bit of action. It starts off intriguing, but after episode four things start to become chaotic. It feels like a chronological mess (which to people who has read the manga, it is) and things seems to be out of place, or it feels like an event was suppose to happen but didn't. The ending was also felt incomplete and felt like a setup for something else. However, I will say that in the story department this anime is amazing at creating side stories and giving us background details on some of the characters.

Art:7
Yes, Sankarea only gets a 7 for art. Yes I know most people would give a much higher score with it beautiful environment, but to be quite honest I seen better, from the same year and from anime such as Sword Art Online and a bunch more. The character design are also pretty average outside a few exception like Rea and Chihiro and a few other.

Sound:10
Yeah, you saw the score correctly. No typos and accidents, the music is fantastic through and through. I don't know the name of the composer, but once I do I will listen to every song compose by him/her. Other then the two reasons mention in to introduction, the music is another huge reason why it pains me greatly give the anime a OK score. Each track match the tone of the event and two songs, Honto no Kimochi and Sukeru Hitomi, stands as some of my favorite songs from not only anime, but of all mediums gaming including (which is quite an amazing feat, cause I like myself some game music).

Character:7
Now we get to the one that was the most greatly affected by the short runtime. Don't get me wrong, the show stills have great character - Rea being one of my favorite character even if we only consider the anime. However, the anime is missing much need explanation and character development for the other characters which the manga provides. It provides enough for me to get interested, but stops short of me caring about any of the characters besides the above mentioned Rea.

Enjoyment:10
As with any review, anime or otherwise, the enjoyment is not part of the final verdict.The reason is because I may love a series, but not be able to give a good score for it because of it's up irrefutable flaws. This is one of those cases. I love Sankarea it have a lot of morals and ideals that are similar to mine, and Rea is one of my favorite characters and IS my favorite female protagonist. Also as stated the music is amazing which greatly factors and can even change my personal enjoyment on anything, anime or not. Also as stated above I read the Manga which allows me to make sense of the cryptic story and allows be to care for each characters even minor ones. It is extremely disappointing that this anime didn't adapt everything otherwise my overall score could be identical to my enjoyment one.

Final Verdict:7
At this point I probably sound like a broken tape recorder so I really don't want to repeat what I have said a million time. But I really need to stress that this anime could have been a "This is the best thing since sliced bread!" anime instead of a meh one if it had done a full adaptation of the manga. So here's me hoping for season two, really crossing my finger on it.