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Apr 1, 2019
This might almost seem like overkill to give it a 10 all around, but... it really feels like it deserves every 10 that I gave it.
Because I think this is now my favorite anime of all time.
Very few anime have made me feel as much as I did throughout a series as I have here. The messages of empathy and understanding were well executed, the art was beautiful, and Mob is just full of lovable characters. And Mob himself is an exemplary protagonist of the series.
Bones really came up to bat for the series. ONE's art style is obviously rough, but despite that, Bones took
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such care of the animation, making it look beautiful when you would expect things to look bad. The ED's are some of my favorite too, most of them even being by the same artist. Truly, Bones has crafted several of my favorite series up to this point and has become a contender for top anime studios to date.
Onto the story, so many highlights among it brought that deep desire to understand others and be understood by others in such a beautiful way. ONE has cemented himself as a great writer in my eyes. The idea of doing what you love and what makes you happy isn't anything new, but is handled in a relatable, down to earth fashion while also not being shoved down your throat. Mob went from that boy who never considered what he wanted to do or how he felt to constantly pursuing his own happiness, working tirelessly to achieve it.
It felt like each episode had a different message about dealing with life and what it throws at us. It could be so many different things like remembering what's important to you, finding value in yourself and those around you, working hard for what you want, and so on. Each message never so blatantly said as some shows, movies or such like to do, but showed it rather than tell. It was thanks to both ONE's writing and Bone's masterful animation that these ideas were able to come across as well as they do.
The overarching plot of Mob isn't about a special boy who's destined to take down an evil Esper. It's about a boy who helps others see that they're just as special, all in their own ways. And that can apply to even the viewer.
I hope that Mob is remembered as one of the best series in years. Because it's cemented itself in my heart as one of my favorites of all time. And I hope others will see just what I found so special about it as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 11, 2018
Let me start out by saying that I started Fairy Tail with the highest hopes. It was during the peak of the original Big Three's Naruto and Bleach that Fairy Tail came out, at first looking like a contender to take one of their spots as their series drew to a close. But as the story went on, the plot began to slip, and Fairy Tail fell into a trend of tropes that completely ruined the series quality to me.
The first trope and the most obvious: the plot armor called the power of friendship. Now, in most Shonen, the power of friendship is a
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very common concept. the protagonist goes out of his way to let their friends know that they are there for them, their friend gets some mushy backstory on how their friends changed their lives, ect. Now this isn't a problem... if done right. In One Piece, Luffy makes a small declaration of what he's willing to do for his friends, but doesn't tack on a big speech about how much they're his power. He proves it with his actions. The only time he did do it was during the Arlong arc, and after that it was obvious to the readers why.
In Fairy Tail, the author felt the need to remind the readers that friendship is magic EVERY SINGLE FIGHT. This might sound like an exaggeration, and to some extent it is, but I kid you not that when you examine or watch the more important battles of Fairy Tail, you will definitely hear about how much friendship has brought them this far. It was fine at first, but then it became a huge continuing trend of the series that you just can't help but roll your eyes at. Which means your eyes will be pretty much rolling on the floor by the time you get to the end point of this anime.
The next trope taken way too far: the fanservice. Now, fanservice can be fun, admittedly, if dolled out in moderation with a Shonen series like this. One Piece has been pretty guilty of it as well. But the problem is that the fanservice in Fairy Tail is FAR too evident and completely distracting as the story goes on. Even during major conflicts, fanservice can literally swoop in and ruin a great fight that's going on. Lucy, the main female protagonist of the story, is the poor victim of this trope as well as another main character Erza. I get it, they're both hot and fans want to see them looking suggestive. But when you display them in such a way that I can pretty much consider the amount of fanservice to a HAREM ANIME, you know something is wrong.
One of the worst moments of fanservice I've ever seen from the series (minor spoilers ahead) was when Natsu, the protagonist, is duking it out with a dragon. The fight is intense and he's playing things smart. But then, out of nowhere, Lucy comes flying in, butt naked and screaming, and crashes into Natsu and abruptly ends the fight by sending him to another part of the city. This goes on for several panels and it's just *sigh* its bad. No self respecting Shonen battle series should be resorting to such tactics to end a fight that the main character isn't winning. It's dumb, lazy and overall annoying.
Now, does the story itself make up for this? Not at all. The plot itself is pretty weak. Some of the earlier arcs were a lot more fun, but the later arcs just started to drop in quality alongside the increase of fanservice and friendship speeches. Even setting those two huge problems aside, the plot of Fairy Tail and overall cast wasn't strong enough to keep me that interested. This could be the problem with most long running anime just running out of steam no doubt, but even then it wasn't as long lived as something like Naruto or Bleach, both of which were at least decent up to a certain point in time for me that far outlived Fairy Tail.
The cast was a fun bunch when I first came across the series, but the problem was as it kept going it felt like they were repeating the same exact lines and interactions as the story progressed. Natsu was never that interesting but I thought he was fun. But with his lack of growth and his sole focus of friendship and fighting, you get pretty bored with it all. The series had many chances to elaborate on the characters more and expand on what makes them fun, but wastes it most of the time with dumb tropes. In comparison to Luffy, people often think that he's no better. But time and time again, Oda shows off how Luffy is with each member of his crew and that he can be fun by using tropes differently each time. Natsu 90% of the time is constantly fighting with Gray or another member of his guild, showing little in the way of actual character interaction. I'm fine with keeping a character consistent, but taking it to the level of never learning much more about a character outside of arcs because of the one trope you made for them is lazy.
The music I would say was the best part of the anime, if anything. The bagpipes and concurrent themes of the story were always pretty good. The animation wasn't bad either, usually consistent. Those two things are at least the stronger points of Fairy Tail. Not that either is particularly special when compared to its competition. But hey, have to give credit where credit is due.
So in the end, Fairy Tail is one of my greatest disappointments as a series as a whole. Something that I had the highest hopes for completely fell in quality. I wouldn't recommend it at all on this basis, to be honest. If you're looking for dumb fun without any attention to story or plot, then give it a shot. But if you're like me and want consistent story telling and a long adventure with good characters, don't bother with Fairy Tail. It fools you into thinking it is that, only to take a nose dive into the ocean off a cliff.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 21, 2018
Let me say this right now: One Piece will forever be my favorite series. I have faith that Eiichiro Oda will continue to write with the amazing skill that he has and will not let it falter like the writers of Naruto and Bleach did toward the end.
But but BUT there's two big reasons that I say series rather than anime. In truth, I follow the manga far more closely than the anime itself. There are two reasons for this: the filler and the animation budget. As a long time One Piece fan, I'm sure that many of you understand what I'm referring to.
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But to those who are jumping into the series this late (good luck binge watching that, kids) I shall explain the faults of the anime.
Let's start off with the big one: animation. Now, when I say animation I'm not talking about art style. I think Oda's art style is unique and he delivers it very well. No, I'm referring to the amount of crappy stills put into a fight scene. The amount of quality that fails as the series progressed. Up until the Whitebeard War arc (which you could say is currently the halfway point of the series) the animation had its own charm. It wasn't overly flashy but it certainly got the job done and both the fight scenes and the relaxed scenes looked fairly decent. But once the New World hit, something happened to the budget of the animation, as many of the scenes lacked a lot of detail and its disheartening to see. Now, recently, the animation has started to hike back up. I don't know how long this will last or if it will be just for these few scenes in between the big climax, but time will tell on that.
Onto the second problem: the filler. Now, unlike Naruto and Bleach, One Piece's filler isn't done through seasons of standalone arcs. There's only a few of those throughout the series and generally don't last that long in the first place. The filler, much like the animation slope, came later in the series, and worked its way in between episodes. What Toei does is instead of making arcs to distance themselves from catching up to the manga or just taking a few months break, they instead will expand on one scene very terribly and ruin the flow that Oda put forward. Something that lasted one or two panels in the manga will last close to ten minutes in the anime. This might not be such a problem if Toei didn't make the expanded scenes so ugly looking or interesting. Instead you can just feel the laziness of the scene.
With those complaints out of the way, lets get into the good stuff: everything else. The story of One Piece is fairly simplistic in nature as its usually just following Luffy and crew from one island to another, usually involving Luffy saving said island from some evil mastermind. Now this might seem like some rinse and repeat idea, but what Oda does to make each arc different is simple: He makes each island have its own genuine feel. In the East Blue arc, all of the islands are generally identical, but there's a reason for that: East Blue is the weakest sea on the planet. Its meant to a more relaxed adventure with more personal problems than outside problems. Once you get to the Grand Line, each island starts to pick up in scale. First big arc is Alabasta, a literal gigantic desert island under the influence of a Warlord. Next is an island in the sky that the crew shoots themselves up to. After that, an island that's' like a giant water utopia, and so on. Each island has its own unique aesthetic as well as a unique set of problems. Each arc feels well crafted and is able to stand on its own two feet in quality.
Next up, the characters. I think this is the biggest thing for a lot of fans because its definitely one of my biggest things about One Piece: I LOVE the main cast. Monkey D. Luffy is a fairly simple character as he's an idiot with a lot of strength and a big dream he's constantly chasing. Sounds pretty familiar, right? Well, Luffy as well as many of the other crew members have plenty of unique things going for them. For one, Luffy isn't a fight crazed protagonist who's constantly seeking a bigger challenge, even if he's constantly picking fights with the big names of the world. Believe it or not, he'd rather go on adventures than fight, even if he does enjoy it to a degree. Not to mention he's aware of his own faults, having assembled a crew that can act in ways that he can't.
Another thing about characters in One Piece is that, somehow some way, Oda does not let any of the named ones go to waste. Somebody who seemed to only have a bit part in the past or seemed insignificant before is very likely to come back up again and have a larger role in the scale of things. The thing about it is, Oda knows how to make even subvillains seem sympathetic if he wants. In the previous arc, a very small time bit villain has a flashback during his fight with one of the crew and it ends up making you feel bad for him. To be honest, I was shocked how much I ended up liking him. His design is so dumb but the design has a reason behind it and you end up thinking 'wow, that's actually cool of him'. Seriously, if anything is the highlight of this series, I'd say its the character moments.
On to the music and sound, the music is pretty on point. It's not the greatest anime OST ever created but it certainly gets the job done. When the series wants you to feel hyped up, its got the track for you. When its got a scene that is sad, you know it's about to play the perfect mood setter. The only complaint I might have about the sound is the eye catchers that pop up when you can tell its switching to commercial. Sometimes those can get annoying and ruin the mood of a scene especially if things are getting intense or sullen. Other than that, the OST is good.
As for the voices, I'd say generally the voices fit each of their roles perfectly. I remember when I first watched One Piece subbed, I thought 'what the hell is up with Luffy's voice??' but as I continued to watch the series, I realized that the VA for Luffy is incredible. Her emotional content and strength of voice is amazing. Not to mention she's actually in her 70's. You have to admire that kind of skill in a VA. When Luffy's going to make a big exclamation, she's right on it. When Luffy's in pain or suffering, she can put that out like nothing. Don't disregard the Japanese VA just because the voice seems childish, she does a fantastic job as Luffy. The same goes for the rest of the crew, but Luffy's VA stands out for me the most.
Well, I believe that about wraps up my review. Overall, while I do prefer the manga to the anime due to the reasons above, there's plenty to love in the anime regardless of that. There's a reason that this series has survived so long and has ruled as the king of Shounen since its arrival. If you don't mind the length and time required to be put in, I highly recommend this series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 28, 2017
This anime is something far outside the mold of what I am usually inclined to watch. I have deep interest in action-adventure anime, something that focuses on a protagonist that is usually accompanied by a strong cast at his side, going on adventures and saving the day. That, or a rom-com that focuses heavily on the development of relationships between the protagonist and one or more girls around him until he decides who he really loves. Lion was a complete gamble when I watched it because it was merely a suggestion my friend made and I went in with low expectations. I was completely absorbed
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after two episodes. Not because of any action or romance that was put on screen. I was drawn in by the deep characters and the beautiful display of the terrible emotions and feelings that a lot of us experience in life. The main character, Rei Kiriyama, is a troubled young man who plays Shogi, a form of Japanese Chess, professionally. He doesn’t hate the game, but he doesn’t love it, playing it simply as a means of living in life. He lost his parents at a young age and was brought into a house that brought conflict between him and the children of his adoptive parents. This troubled him through his entire life, and the best he could do was isolate himself from those around him as a way of dealing with it.
The story is less about what’s going on around him and more about what Rei and those he cares about are experiencing in those moments. Rei is a great protagonist, not feeling too depressing as a character and carrying a lot of small quirks and problems that make him feel real. The cast around him are also great, most usually bringing some light into Rei’s life and giving him a much needed push toward a less isolated lifestyle. Along with the art style that displays the waves of emotions and troubles through imagery, the characters are no doubt a huge highlight in the story. Rei’s depression is expressed through the feeling of being stuck under water, constantly drowning with no way to air. His isolation portrayed as a whirlwind of darkness that constantly surrounds him. When he sees the Kawamoto family though, they radiate with light and warmth that he desires.
Lion makes you feel for each character and understand the emotions they experience with force, making your heart strain when something goes wrong and making your heart leap when something finally works out. It doesn’t drown you in depression despite the amount of emotions it pushes on you, always showing that even when things get bad, you always have a chance to bounce back and change. After losing to Shimada before the finals, Rei becomes bedridden and depressed. He spends most of his time curled up in bed and almost starving himself because of the pain. The Kawamoto family realize they haven’t seen him in some time, come to his home and take care of him until he’s feeling better. It’s moments like this that show that even when things seem to be their worst, there is always a way to recover. In this case, it’s through the sisters that he can come back.
Each character has something to bring to the table. Certain ones do provide only a bit of intrigue to the story, while others persist as either fundamental players in Rei’s life or are presented with very real problems of their own. One prominent person in Rei’s life is his step sister, Kyouko. She can be very confusing in her relationship with Rei, constantly trying to push guilt on him over his victories over other players but still relying on him as a form of comfort when her own strained romantic relationship isn’t working out. At times, you think that she hates him for taking attention away from her to their father, but other times she is seen confiding in him. At times, their relationship seems to even border something taboo, small flashbacks alluding to Kyouko possibly sexually abusing Rei. Their relationship is tricky to understand, but makes for great moments in the story.
The most prominent good in Rei’s life is the Kawamoto family, who consists of three sisters and their grandfather. They provide a warmth for Rei in his dreary, cold world that he is constantly putting himself into due to his bouts with depression. As much as he loves the sisters, he is constantly putting on the breaks to keep himself from getting too comfortable. Insecurities and fears drive him to think that like his foster family, he will somehow drive this family apart with his presence. Despite this, the sisters constantly invite him over, using his tendency to be unable to refuse people to make sure that he comes over. They serve as the family that he always wanted, becoming too attached to them to ever outright abandon them, even with his lingering fear.
Rei’s biggest thing in Lion seems to be that while he’s great at Shogi, he doesn’t enjoy it. It’s his way of life and what he does for a living. Rei doesn’t play to win, he plays to ‘not lose’. It has become his only way of surviving in the world as his profession. This entire concept is finally turned on its head for him when he plays against a superior Shogi player, Shimada, who later on becomes a mentor of sorts. Shimada provides Rei with the knowledge of what he’s missing as a Shogi player, the hunger to win rather than not wanting to lose. Rei comes to admire his skill and drive, allowing himself to be humbled by Shimada and become one of his students of sorts. Shimada has great development of his own, almost taking center stage for several episodes that depict his own troubles in the Shogi community, having challenged the champion several times but always falling short. This is another great display of character development done right in a story, exploring his thoughts and pains throughout his endeavor to beat the champion.
Character development and imagery of this level is rare, and I’m always happy to find a cast of characters that has me interested in every single one. Lion speaks to you about the emotional struggles of the heart from all angles, ranging from depression, loss, defeat and many others. But despite the turmoil, you have to keep fighting until you’ve won. Even if you keep falling down, don’t let it stop you from pushing forward. I have named it one of the instant classics among the anime I have come to watch and will continue to enjoy it as long as it keeps going.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 28, 2017
Honestly, I got more than I expected out of My Love Story. I was originally a bit reluctant to give it a try due to Gouda's design, but watching the trailer and hearing the premise convinced me to give it a shot. Needless to say, I'm glad I did. My Love Story has become one of my favorite Shoujo's, and I'll explain why:
The characters: Let's start off with Gouda: the big lug is pretty damn lovable and goofy. He's obviously very different than most shoujo romance protagonists, where usually it's a very plain boy with a flexible but weak personality. Gouda's this manly guy who
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actually gets along with the majority of his male classmates (who think he's the greatest) in contrast to how normally a male protagonist will have one guy friend who is usually a pervert, where as Gouda's best friend is actually quite the opposite, but we'll get to him next. He's not that smart and while he's confident in his physical capabilities lacks real confidence in himself when it comes to dealing with women, which many can relate to.
Onto his best friend Suna, you could sort of say he's the 'expected' protagonist of the story, with a laid back and almost bland personality and a natural allure that draws women to him. I wasn't sure what to make of him at first and thought he would be boring, but he actually serves the role of best friend perfectly for the story. For one, he loves Gouda (which you'll obviously never hear him say lol) and goes out of his way to help him when he can, knowing that Gouda is pretty dense in the field of romance. People might argue against this, but I love Suna's role. Very few rom-com's, especially in anime, have a best bro role that is taken by someone who is really trying to help the main protagonist.
Rinko is a sweetheart. Her initial infatuation with Gouda is as cute as you'd expect from a girl so tiny compared to the hulking Gouda. It's funny, because of his personality, Gouda isn't willing to put his 'selfish' desires of being closer to Rinko at the front to be respectable, so Rinko is the one who has to be 'aggressive' when it comes to this (I put quotations because the things she wants are just small things like holding hands or similar such kiddie stuff lol). Gouda is a nice guy, but he needs to catch a hint lol.
Those are the main characters at least, with a few smaller reoccurring ones that are decent but much less of the focus. I think the three of them make for a great trio in the story that doesn't involve some sort of silly love triangle. This is Gouda's love story, not the story of his fight with his best friend over a girl.
The tone of My Love Story is generally upbeat and sweet, although some could argue that it's a bit 'too' happy. I was fine with this because I wanted to see the couple succeed, even though I would find it interesting to see what would happen if Gouda were to date one of the other few women who actually like him.
Now that's not to say My Love Story is flawless. Because of the strength in their relationship with one another, it's hard for there to be any true stakes when it comes to the drama. You have a couple times where the couple is faced with an outsider who is attracted to one of the two, but it's easy to tell what choice they will make. If anything, you could almost say that My Love Story is too 'pure', as previously said before. This wasn't a problem for me but I can see why it would be a problem for watchers looking for something with more conflict.
All in all, My Love Story is honestly one of my favorite anime. It might not be a five start for everyone, but if you want a sweet story with a sweet couple, give My Love Story a shot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 30, 2017
I'll be honest, as good as My Hero Academia season 1 was, it wasn't anything spectacular. It was a bit slow to getting started, Izuku and cast were getting introduced, and it was far more laid back overall. Not that it didn't have great moments of course, but it wasn't, in my opinion, what people hyped it up to be. It was an origin story, which are usually a bit tedious when getting through. But it was good enough to get people interested in the series, which it does good at.
Now season 2 of My Hero Academia? That is when things become truly amazing.
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been a long time since I've gotten into a series in which the second season so far exceeded the first that I became this hooked into a series. After the big fallout of a lot of long running Shonen titles, I thought that One Piece was going to be the only survivor of the genre. But to my pleasant surprise, a light shined through in the form of HeroAca.
Season 2 starts off strong, jumping immediately into the UA festival. We're finally able to see the development from the other characters as well as Izuku, namely Todoroki and Uraraka, the underdog of the tournament. The arc doesn't feel too long either and doesn't dwell on certain fights longer than it needs to like previous shonen anime have. The best fight lasts for an episode and even includes the flashbacks, compacting it well enough that you appreciate the backstory and the fight all at once.
But that's just the beginning of the season. The Stain arc that comes in the middle is nothing to shy away from. Not only is it Izuku's training arc, but it also introduces a villain that almost anyone could like. He's an idealistic killer who aims to clean up societies heroes who he deems unworthy, which is almost an oversimplification of his conviction and is best shown by Stain himself. It also serves as development for Iida, who I found pretty annoying in the arc, but that's just a personal pet peeve.
Anyways, I could go on about the season 2 and how vastly superior it was to season 1, but I won't do that. Overall the animation and the music was on point, You Say Run still serving as a great amp for certain scenes, but the Villains Theme also shining quite a bit thanks to Stain. The characters were all on point, and Izuku has become one of my favorite protagonists of a Shonen series in both his personality and the fact that he goes against the usual grain of Shonen protags with his low self confidence but well thought out battles rather than just punching his way through. Which there's nothing wrong with, but it's nice to see a protagonist like him shine so well without the same tropes going for him aside from the messy big hair.
All in all, I would recommend HeroAca to everyone. Push through season 1 to get to the amazing season 2.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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