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Nov 18, 2020
A needlessly complicated and overly long snorefest. What little merit the series has is overshadowed by bloated filler that seems to serve no purpose than to try and add depth (and fail to do so spectacularly) to an anime about as deep as a puddle.
It starts off relatively simple, with the main character being hinted to have special powers or something, but by episode 2 it's already unbearable. Tachibana is a weak main character and it takes her forever to do anything other than panic and ask questions. The rest of the cast can fit either in the "Trope, the character" or "Cardboard Cutout" categories;
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no one has any memorable quotes, motives or goals, except maybe Kanzaki but his reveal comes so late it might as well be irrelevant. All this detailed information about the artificial organisms (a term which they throw out every few seconds), the "matter" (very inrtiguing name, almost as bold as naming your plot device "plot device"), the internal squabble between the scientists is really only there to pad out the show. It's like they couldn't write decent characters or an interesting world for them to venture out in, so they turned to explaining every little detail that doesn't matter. Yet the one detail that does matter seems to be handwaved for a good chunk of the show; that is the true nature of Tachibana's body. It's not until near the end of the series when they casually drop the big twist, but by then I had forgotten what the hell was the point of it all. It's so easy to get lost with the show's awfully slow pace. Every time I watched an episode, I felt like I was an episode ahead (ep. 8 felt like ep. 9 and so on), like "There's no way they can drag this out any longer, is there?" and yet to my surprise the show just kept going and going.
The art isn't anything to write home about either. Generous use of bad 3D CGI ruins even the average 2D art, but it's everyone's stiff animations that bother me. Not a single shot impressed me or took me by surprise, everything felt like I (and probably the art team) was going through the motions. Either the studio did not care and wanted to get this done as fast and as cheap as possible or they dumped it on one of their B Teams.
This needed to be a movie, not a 12 episode series. There isn't nearly enough content here to warrant anything more than 3 or 4 episodes max. As it is, it's just not nearly good enough to be considered even average nor is it hillariously bad enough to laugh at its faults. Its writing is weak, but it plays it safe and since it never goes over the top, never tries anything different but sticks to a predictable and terribly executed plot it ends being a complete waste of time.
The dub (original) was pretty bad too. Everyone sounds like worse versions of more famous actors and they keep misspronouncing the Japanese names. Maybe stuff like "artificial organism" and "matter" was the dub's fault too, the translation team should have handled the script with more liberty and creativity. As it stands, it's completely bland. Apparently they used everyone's first takes, but no amount of good acting could save this script. This didn't stop them from making a second dub with different actors, but... Seriously, why bother?
Overall, not worth anyone's time. Forgettable, lazy and with no substance.
Kudos to whoever decided to make a Project A-Ko reference in the dub. A true man of culture. Half a point for the reference and another half for the admitedly cool opening theme.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Nov 7, 2020
Outstanding movie. I went in without knowing anything about Lupin, besides that it was a popular franchise and yet I never felt like I was missing part of the plot.
The whole film reeks of old school and I wouldn't have it any other way. The way the film starts, how it slowly reveals the true mystery of the castle, how The Count is prety much a James Bond villain especially with his castle that is full of traps and his dozens of servants/ bodyguards. It's got action, romance, mystery, suspence, drama and it's all very human despite being quite over the top most of the
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time. The animators often drew the characters in wacky poses or had them survive near impossible situations, but the film never feels like it has a stick up its ass; instead it never forgets that it's a cartoon, so it's OK if things get a little silly at times, especially with a plot like this.
All the characters were very memorable too. Sure, Lupin gets to be on screen most of the time and he's a great character, but the rest of the gang all played their part wonderfully. Zenigata was tied into the plot in an excellent way and never felt like he was interupting, but rather assiting the script and helping things move along. Clarisse was fantastic as well. Despite being the damsel in distress, she was more than willing to sacrifice herself twice in order to let Lupin escape, despite the Count's growing impatience towards her and that makes her very brave in my opinion. Then of course you have The Count of Cagliostro. He's a snobby prick who's always full of himself and DAMN proud of it. Only thing he doesn't do is twirl his mustache; other than that, he catches Lupin, but throws him in the dungeon instead of killing him, lives in a medival castle full of traps, shows off how rich he is with every chance he gets and he even dresses up with his final boss costume for his sword duel with Lupin towards the end. Again. I wouldn't have this ANY other way.
I loved the soundtrack too; gave me strong 70s and James Bond vibes and I love how whenever there was a visual gag the music went along with the animation. Marvelous combination. The main theme was very chill despite the mostly fast pace of the movie, but it helped ease me into the plot and slowly close out the movie.
All in all, a masterpiece. My only gripe is that the sound design is a little weak, but aside from that I was ready to rewatch it the moment it ended and I'm down for watching The Castle of Cagliostro anytime, anyday. Cannot recommend enough.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 6, 2020
A bunch of high school girls who like camping go campiing and have fun. Tha's pretty much it!
Usually this kind of plot is reserved for a comic relief episode or a two parter at most, not a full series, so I was curious to see how they'd tackle it. To be honest, you could easily fit this entire anime into a movie, even if you had to cut some stuff, but on the other hand it feels nice to have something chill to come back to.
That's definitely the anime's biggest strength. The animation is nothing to write home about, there are no stakes, no villains
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to fight and nothing to give you food for thought. One could say it's literally all filler and again, I think that's why the anime works so well. The pacing is slow, but you're shown all the preparation, traveling, fun times and even mishaps of each camping trip so every time an arc ends, it feels like a complete trip. The pacing is so slow that there are 4 2-parters and one 3-parter in a 12 episode anime, but for this show I wouldn't have it any other way.
It's wholesome, it's relaxing, the character designs aren't over the top yet they stand out and while the animation could have been better, they clearly spent all their money on the backgrounds which is fitting for an anime that takes place in the Japanese countryside. The music's fantastic as well, it fits perfectly with the easy going mood of the series.
Highly recommend if you need a break from whatever you're watching, especially if it's fast paced or has many thought provoking themes. Yuru Camp promises a fun relaxing time and it does not disappoint!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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