I've already done a proper review on the Horimiya anime so if you want to know my full thoughts, you'll have to find it there. I'll just sum it up and say:
Everything I've said in my anime review, applies here even more (except for judgement on anime-only aspects such as "Sound"). And also the manga just has more of everything the anime has, more extraneous anecdotes, even more confusing parts and problems with the overarching plot, more unnecessary focus on characters which don't matter in the overall plot, so on and so forth. Only other thing I'd add is that, for the length that
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Apr 3, 2021 Mixed Feelings
Average.
It's almost like this word was invented exactly for Horimiya. Now depending on how you view things, an average anime might be even worse than a bad anime. A bad anime can at least give you the solace and satisfaction of judging it for all its flaws, but an anime that is average can't have you praise it for any of its good parts, nor judge it for its bad parts, and that in turn, makes it even worse than a bad anime, and this not only stands for anime, but for any entertainment medium, from games to movies, and to manga, and so forth. ... Moving on to the actual review of Horimiya, there is so much that could be said about it, so I'll try to keep it as short as possible, both for my, and the sake of anyone who reads this; I'll start by mentioning that this review will be split into six different elements (as they are displayed when writing a review), Story, Art, Sound, Characters, Enjoyment, and finally, Overall. Story: Horimiya presents an interesting concept which slowly becomes irrelevant and overshadowed by the goofy day-to-day life shown to us in each episode. It desperately tries to bring it back and tie it around certain moments in the "plot" as to not make us forget its inconsequential premise, yet it never really sticks or has the same effect on the story as the first time. Putting that aside, one thing that I have not understood throughout the duration of the anime is why it tries to keep an overarching story and theme while at the same time presenting individual, completely disconnected, almost anecdotal-like moments, it only creates dubious continuation problems and rids the story of any depth or understanding regarding its timeline, a problem it already has; from start to finish, with the exception of a few events "clearing up" the timeline, it never adds any gravity or weight to this established timeframe, which, before you know it, leads to the end of the cast's school life, unexpectedly and in a hurried manner. Yet that isn't even the biggest of its problems. Going back to the formula it has established, due to the story's inability to stick with either a linear or "issue of the week" route, as it airs, those issues only strengthen, and are never really addressed. Take for example late introductions for characters with little to no exposure which get their one or two anecdotes and are then meant to play an important role in the bigger picture? Also, to add, while at the same time the anime prepares to reach the conclusion in the following few episodes, but I'll talk more about this, as well as the supporting cast's involvement in the story when I reach the "Characters" segment. Moving onto the final bulk of this part, the ACTUAL, overarching story, which I'll ask YOU a question about: What actually is it? Yes, we are painted a picture at the start, which kind of fades and, as mentioned, becomes unimportant. But why does it? Well, simply because, get this: The story IS not important. We are not meant to be shown a fantastic romantic piece with twists and turns beyond our wildest dreams which will stun us for ages to come and will go down as one of the best stories ever written, we're simply meant to watch individual bubbled stories within a shared universe, that hold no actual weight or importance in the telling of the "plot", which just so happens to be one of the points WHICH makes Horimiya average. Now, hardcore Horimiya fans will defend this hill and die on it, saying that "it DOESN'T need an overarching plot" and "it DOESN'T need conflicts or elements which have weight IN the overarching plot", and I would have agreed with them-had it not been for the fact that, Horimiya DOES have an overarching plot, like it or not. "Well, what is this so-called overarching plot" you ask?, I'll tell you-the premise of, a girl (Hori), finding out her male classmate's (Miyamura) secret. Despite the fact it is brought up at least two other times (possibly many more) in separate instances, it is never mentioned or plays any relevant role. But just that simple little incident/detail is enough to CREATE an overarching plot (I'm genuinely tired of writing these two words) or idea, which is chosen to be ignored, and becomes, as I said before, completely irrelevant. Hori and Miyamura could have met in any other cliche way and it would not have mattered in the least, in fact, it would have kept the formula way clearer, there was no genuine need for that introduction. However the reason it was put in, is because every story needs a 'hook'. Yet what the writer completely forgets, is that once the bait is laid out and taken, keeping the fish (viewers) on the hook takes additional fight and effort (plot development, advancements, etc.), not just THE hook; some will chose to fight it, some will accept their fate (in this case, the latter being Horimiya fans). Ironically, Horimiya's interesting premise was also its downfall in the long run. Oh, also to end this part, just because it does a few things differently to its counterparts, it does not make it special or unique, especially if it doesn't use certain clichés and tropes, that is simply what should be expected of any good story: to not conform to certain characterizations. Art: WARNING - My main focus in this review is to talk about the Story and Characters, therefore, seeing as how I am not an expert artist, art director, sound director or anything of the sort, I cannot give you the most comprehensive review on those aspects, though I'm sure you can find reviews with better explaining of them. With that, I'll keep them as short, while as insightful as possible. The art is not pretty, but it does not fall into the ugly territory, yet another average element (just like everything else, really). However, putting aside the "floaty, puffy and kind of pastel" aesthetic it holds like every other contemporary anime with a school setting, its choice of grounded character designs with seemingly natural unnatural (does that make sense?) hair colors seems incredibly odd. You have characters like the main two with believable hair colors, and then you get supporting characters with unnatural hair colors, which creates a disparity which is never really talked about or even referenced, and this in turn, I don't believe fits the anime. In terms of art direction, I don't have many complaints with the exception of a few techniques and shots which are never really used again. This could be due to different directors for each episode, but nonetheless certain unique aesthetics are abandoned which lower the overall distinctive factors. Oh also as an ending note, personally, I am not a fan of the sharp features and big eyes, it makes the characters look ugly, unremarkable, and easily comparable to many other slice of life/romance anime (especially early ones) character designs, which suffer from the same issues. Sound: Voice acting is rarely and issue in anime, and Horimiya is exactly the same. There isn't however, any prodigious voice acting, which yet again loops back to the story factor that, it does not have any conflicts (or rather, any important ones), which in turn doesn't allow the voice actors to perform to the best of their ability. We are not given any moments memorable enough which warrant voice acting expertise and/or a show of talent from the cast. Regarding sound design, I know almost nothing, all I can say is that superlative sound design is easily distinguishable, and Horimiya has nothing of the sort, it's not bad, it's not good-so average. As for the opening, it isn't catchy or outstanding enough for me to play it for more than the first time. Characters: Seeing as how I spent plenty of time rambling about the Story, I'll try to keep this segment more concise, although there is a lot to be said about this too. I'll start off by saying: there is too much focus on side-characters, and it's never chronological enough due to the story's formula. For a show called after the two main characters, man they need to dial it down with the supporting cast character development. For a majority of the anime past the first few episodes, the focus on side characters becomes easily filling. While cast development is definitely praiseworthy, Horimiya suffers from an issue One Punch Man (yes, I know, weird comparison) does, there is not enough focus on the protagonist(s). Granted, Horimiya does not suffer from that problem to the same degree, but it's evident enough to create issues. To go even further with that, this development is almost always between two supporting characters, therefore there is never a proper display of the relationship between one of the two main characters, and a supporting character, with the exception of possibly two, and even then, incredibly limited towards the second half of the anime. Moving forth from this point, and going back to complaining about the formula of the anime, yet again, due to its anecdotal nature, certain issues between characters and their relationships get brought up, and they fall into either of two categories: They are either minimal enough that there was no need to write them in the story, or if they are "important" (with VERY heavy quotations on "important"), chances are, they'll be split in multiple parts, usually in-between having other, completely unrelated anecdotes, destroying the pacing and urgency of those "conflicts". And speaking of conflicts, memorability? Almost zero. I will not deny that some of those topics are issues in many people's lives, but exactly BECAUSE of that, they are not memorable, as they can be encountered anywhere and at any time in real life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but usually one of the jobs of a story is to remain in the audience's head, and it does so by being MEMORABLE; granted, different people look for different things in stories, but everyone would like to enjoy a story that sticks with them, and the easiest way to do that is to be UNIQUE. Presenting day-to-day issues is the furthest thing away from achieving that goal. Now my final point about the characters in this anime is: the (little) involvement of so many of them regarding the main characters, and how a few notable ones barely make an appearance past a certain point. Take Miyamura's friend, Shindo. A character which SHOULD have gotten development, and he seemed to have his own issues, which are never resolved or brought up due to the anime's length of 13 episodes. Another one would be Miyamura's middle school bully, which he seems to make up with, but except for a little moment during Christmas Eve, he never gets involved again. Why exactly are this in the story? By the fact that Miyamura constantly gets "visions" of his past self, it makes their appearances worthless. There is no moment where he remembers Shindo and is grateful for being his only friend, and there is no moment where he denounces Tanihara or remembers his bullying, and this in turn is yet another attempt at connectivity in a completely disconnected anime storywise. There are many other issues I'd like to tackle regarding the other "supporting", if they can be called that, characters, and how little their existance really matters in the grand scheme of things, such as Yanagi and his one-time involvement with Yoshikawa's sister or any other interaction with any other supporting cast member, or Sawada's three appearances and no real resolution to her familial problems, or even the lack of appearances from Miyamura's parents (especially his dad), but that would drag the review on even longer, consequently, I'll move on to the final two segments of the review. But before that, one final remark: Why the hell do Hori and Miyamura call each other by their last names after months of dating and even having sex? Enjoyment: I'll keep this short (yeah I said that before and look where we are). Look at my score, and my review. My enjoyment of this anime is average, just like it is. It is what I like to call "background anime", an anime which is most likely to be put in the background due to the fact that it doesn't require enough brain power to concentrate on it. Basically, it's better than nothing, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it if I didn't have to. Overall: I'd like to say that a majority of this review is not biased and objective, but I'm sure there's some personal things in there other than the ones mentioned. Nonetheless, as I said multiple times throughout this review, and as I said at the start too, in my opinion, it's almost like the word "average" was invented exactly for Horimiya; because that's what it is, not bad, not good, but simply, bang on in the middle. You could call it a "mid anime".
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 22, 2021 Recommended
Every now and then comes an Isekai anime which has actual effort put into its core, and it makes you wonder, is this innovative, or what should be expected of stories? If you want to read this review, brace yourself, it's somewhat long.
As far as I'm aware, the Mushoku Tensei Light Novel series is regarded by many as "the Father of Isekai", and I can see why. The story starts off as (basically) every Isekai does, a guy dies from a truck, and gets brought to another world. Seeing as how this is a story that was written in 2012, I decided to look past ... that stereotypical trope. And what follows that is a stunning work crafted with great care and passion towards the project (from what I know the studio was original started for the sake of animating the story). It holds a compelling story which lets things unveil before releasing conflict. For some, the starting pace might be slow, but getting accustomed to the world before jumping in action is rare for many Isekai. Rudeus' discovery and advancement of magic holds actual weight compared to how many other MCs tend to be at God Level from the get-go; and surprise surprise! He isn't talented at EVERY offensive art in that world, which is good, because without a balance, a lot of the problems in tend to become trivial since they can just be solved through "brute force". In the second half, the pacing picks up, as an actual element of danger is introduced in the story, and conveys to the viewers how the series plans to progress forward. Mushoku Tensei could however learn to plan and foreshadow a bit better, with a few of the events that happen coming out of left field and without any real indication, but other than that, the story is well-put together (of course, with a few smaller issues which would take too long to entail). The art of it is another strong point, with an outstanding style and character designs, as well as beautifully drawn and painted backgrounds and environments, it captures the feeling of the Medieval Era, while giving its own spin on it, and surprisingly, it keeps those environments grounded. Usually a problem a majority of Isekai have is the fact that they try to keep the humility of medieval architecture and society, while integrating elements and atmospheres which are close to, if not contemporary. Sometimes, such things work depending on the worldbuilding done, but often, they seem out of place. Having said that, while Mushoku Tensei does have great art, there isn't an inherent element in it which marks it as "unique" and "memorable". Indeed, the art is good, but say for example if I was to compare similar looking shots and frames from various anime which look alike, I would most likely not be able to point with absolute certainty to the one I think to be Mushoku. Most of the time, if an anime does one thing well, it's the voice actor performance, and so does this series. The wide ensemble of characters and their individual traits and characteristics, as well as mannerisms are well performed by the voice actors, however we have not yet got to any scenes which would be able to let the cast truly shine. There are moments for sure, but nothing of absolute importance which makes the voice acting outstanding. As for the sound design, I'm not an expert, so I can't comment much other than say that there is certainly thought put into it, and I can see that, but then again, with the exception of two or three scenes, it doesn't stand out much. When it comes to the characters, there are the good parts, and the parts I personally consider somewhat bad. I'll get the good parts out of the way. Rudeus' development is something worth witnessing for yourself, therefore I won't go into it, but I will talk about interactions between characters. As previously mentioned, because of the wide ensemble of characters, obviously, there's many different personalities; all I can say is: they're all very eccentric (in a good way!). The dynamics presented especially between how Rudeus converses with his parents, and his "friends", is interesting to see, especially seeing as how there's a wide gap in years and experience, as well as our protagonist's personal situation. It creates a three dimensionality and realism is rarely seen, and which indicates the author has put thought into the conversations and interactions between characters, and that is commendable. Now on the other hand, the bad part is, the inherent nature of some of the characters, especially Rudeus and the rest of the Greyrats. If you've been on the anime side of the internet, chances are you've seen a few of those memes about the "horny Greyrats", and truth be told, at the very least to me, it was not as pleasing as the memes make them out to be. Sure, it's amusing the first few times and it breaks tension now and then, and I appreciate the accuracy of the mindset of characters living in the Middle Ages and their thoughts on intercourse and pleasure, but sometimes it gets a bit odd (which is probably just me honestly). That "horniness" is displayed in a peculiar manner and I don't appreciate the realism regarding THAT aspect, as well as how many times it is encountered over the course of the anime. However, I'd say regarding this topic, my biggest problem would probably be Rudeus himself. Without going into spoiler territory, he has many instances, especially in the first half of the series, where he commits certain acts which I can only call uncomfortable. If he were a simple kid living in a Fantasy Middle Ages world, I could look past that, but the problem stems from the fact that he has the consciousness and "soul" of a fully grown adult, in the body of a child, so acting out these perverse actions seems kind of exploiting of his situation and his victims as they do not KNOW HIS situation. I understand this is all done in a humorous manner and he gets karma for his actions, but those jokes are kind of done in poor taste and land, in my opinion, kind of flat. Other than that, his struggle with adapting to the ways of this new world, is enjoyable to watch, and what is especially of interest to me is the contrast of his views of life and death, and the people's from that world. Combining all those things I've talked about at the end, there are plenty of details that can be worked out, improvement in art style and quality, voice acting and sound design, as well as character (especially Rudeus) development, but judging by the ending, we can expect things to slowly change and take their own shape, slowly giving Mushoku Tensei its originality which it still somewhat lacks as of now. Still, that doesn't stunt the series from delivering an enjoyable story and world, and personally, I think that's the most important thing any story should do. If you're looking to get into Isekai anime, Mushoku Tensei is the best place to start, though if I'll be honest, it'll most likely be the highpoint of the Isekai genre for quite some time, so don't expect many other series of the same level of quality. So, is Mushoku Tensei innovative, or what's to be expected of storytelling? I'll have to go with the latter. It is still what should be expected of a story, but it slightly goes above that in some areas, which communicates that it does have the potential to become unique, and that's what it needs more than anything!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 19, 2021 Recommended
Kaguya-sama is without a doubt an interesting take on romance anime. That statement might make any reader go "Wow, never heard that before about any other slice of life/romance", but let me explain why that single sentence is enough to describe this anime. Every now and then comes a romance story in anime that is usually declared (for the time it's still running) as "amazing", "great", "the best", "innovative", so on and so forth; and every time I usually check them out, they end up being decent, but never anything special.
You could argue that every romance anime is in itself special, or that they're all ... plain and boring, and I would say to you that, at the least to me, they somehow succeed in being both. I'd say that being special is what, in itself, makes anything classified as such, ordinary. Without a doubt, Kaguya-sama has incorporated ideas, humor, character tropes and story arcs which are by no means one of a kind, yet it somehow gives its own flavour to those things. Going into ACTUALLY talking about the anime, the start is definitely strong, however it can definitely be a hit or miss depending on the person. Some people like build-up, some like explosive starts to keep them engaged, and despite the fact I was not really a fan of its suddenness, I decided to keep going. The anime took the expression "Love is War" quite literally, and acted upon it. Its comedy is refreshing, and the understanding the writer has of the culture built by the current youth is definitely commendable. And yet it somehow becomes too much at times. For a majority of the anime there aren't any real "conflicts" which are usually customary in such a story. I'd go as far as to say they're introduced a bit too late, and furthermore, suddenly and without any (evident, at the least) foreshadowing of those events happening. In itself the story is enjoyable, but it could use some work regarding its pacing. Seeing as how this review is already running long, I'll try to go through everything else a bit more concisely. Its art is, I'd say somewhat stiff in terms of looks, and a bit off. It might just be my taste, but some fluidity in designs could definitely improve the issue, although, the dynamic directing definitely works in giving part of that fluidity and "smoothness" it needs, though it could use a little bit more. I have nothing to comment on the animation quality, as far as I can remember, there were no issues or low budget shots. The opening is memorable for sure, melodic and catchy, and the sound design complements the wacky nature of the editing, pacing and directing. Our cast is incredibly eccentric and interesting to dissect, although that's kind of the whole nature of the show anyway, but some personality traits and the way they exhibit themselves should be improved, in some sense the characters seem dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience. I'd say its best quality is the enjoyment it provides. I found the humor to be broad, and (probably) amusing to a majority of watchers, its simplistic and dependent on multiple cast members, yet effective, but some parts are definitely a bit "uncomfortable", and they could be worked out. Overall, Kaguya-sama is a good story with many decent points, as well as many that should be improved, but nonetheless it remains enjoyable and friendly all throughout and leaves you wanting more. All that's left that I can say is, it's without a doubt an interesting take on romance anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 7, 2021
Dokyuu Hentai HxEros
(Manga)
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Not Recommended
I'll start this off by saying that this review will attempt to be as harsh as it can with this manga, but keep in mind that this should not be enjoyed as whatever you consider "a memorable story", but simply something you'd read if you're too bored, or to pass time.
This story was exactly what it set out to be, a low quality, ecchi manga that can only be used as content you engage in when you wanna turn your brain off. I can't help but think of multiple occasions that it copied To Love Ru, even down to the name of the protagonist ... Retto - HxEros; Rito - To Love Ru; but I'll put that aside, seeing as how every modern ecchi/harem manga does that to a certain degree. Granted, I never expected an overarching plot, three dimensional characters, spectacular foreshadowing, unexpected twists and turns, or anything of the sort from HxEros in comparison to others that are alike, but given as how it took a more action-oriented approach, it definitely could have used some of those. The story is simply put mediocre, with many conflicting elements and mismatched issues that are never really tackled, or given any exposure. The characters I'd say, succeed in somehow being slightly worse. They have one single personality trait that keeps them relevant, and that's also only if they're on page; not to mention many relationships and attempted developments that went kind of nowhere (seriously, how open ended are the protagonist's relationships with everyone but the main heroine?). I suppose its one saving grace is the art. While definitely not fantastic, it made the readthrough much more bearable. I'm glad there were no weird anatomical moments, sketchy panels or questionable quality of drawings, but that should be a given, from a manga that has its characters more naked than clothed. Its quality is decent and definitely better than anything I can produce, but its constant use of bright shades brings its rating down, it could do with more tonal contrast, I know that "Eros" energy or whatever it is, is meant to be glowing, but seriously, tone it down. Oh and the other thing that saves it is that it knew exactly when to end, a lot of these manga for some reason usually have issues with ending things before their "quality" plummets down (To Love Ru is also guilty of this). To wrap this up, I'll repeat once again what I said at the start. If you're expecting an amazing story you'll remember for the ages, this isn't it. But if you know what you're getting into, and know that this is only going to be ecchishit you'll laugh at, or you're going to read it out of boredom, go for it. It's much better by a large margin than stories similar to it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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