- Last OnlineJun 26, 2024 8:31 PM
- JoinedSep 25, 2020
RSS Feeds
|
Mar 5, 2023
I put off this review for half a year so this will be a further retrospective than usual.
tl;dr novel. in both good and bad
Yofukashi no Uta is something fresh. Like really fresh. Bleeding edge fresh. Or at least it was to me. Right off the bat, fresh colors and fresh angles, fresh animations. It might get tiring if everything was like this and it was certainly a shock at first but, hey once in a while it's pretty nice. One could even say, refreshing. Anyway, this is all to say that while the story may follow a typical coming-of-age comedy the bricks that build it
...
up are not typical at all. If you're sick of cookiecutter art and styles I would give this a once-over.
Now the content is... there. What I mean is they had to fill this hauntingly beautiful nocturnal screentime with something and they did, though it often leaves something to be desired. Or rather, things to be undesired. Yofukashi no Uta loves introspection and character explanation but sometimes it feels less like an anime and more like a cult indoctrination video. Maybe that was the angle they were aiming for but jesus for a nighttime anime sometimes it doesn't give you what it claims night is best at; silence and insight into a different part of life.
Music slaps though. Slaps slaps. I was singing along to the opening more than once.
I'll definitely be watching a sequel season if one is made.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Mar 5, 2023
tl;dr 6/10 unexpectedly great show but has trouble concluding
There was a mildly popular game released in 2013 called Game Dev Tycoon where, as the name suggests, the player attempted to turn concepts into successful games. Naturally combos like adventure+fantasy were successful but once in a while the absolute oddest combos like rythm+vocab+action would become huge hits.
With its Yakuza x Maid pairing, Akiba Meido Sensou is one of those wack content combinations that manages to pull off a win, and like I said about Paripi Koumei, I don't think we'll see anything like it for a long time. Why then do I only give this a
...
6/10? Well, we will get to that in time. First let me tell you how great it is.
Don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying if you were expecting a cutesy maid cafe flick you have come to the wrong place, something that is made perfectly clear in episode 1. Personally I was laughing my ass off the whole time. There's something immensely comical about frilly maids spitting hard-ass gangster lines and slinging shots at each other. So if you watched episode 1 and you loved it, you will have a great time with the rest of the show.
Character development is key to the show's value offer and frankly is done very well. By the end of the show you don't even clearly remember how the cast started out, but it never feels heavy handed or forced. Everyone except Nagomi basically has two sides, a cute maid side and a mobster veteran side. Nagomi stands out in the sense that what you see is really what you get, and this freshness is central to the story. The characters you get at the end are the same but different (something I've paraphrased from the show).
Going on from that, the show is split also into two halves, a more lighthearted and slice of life first half and a heavier and more linear second half. Pacing wasn't really an issue especially because the content is so funny. Even during the second half the viewer will find themselves frequently laughing when kawaii maids engage in the most un-kawaii pursuits.
My chief complaint has to do with how the writers decided to wrap up this otherwise amazing show, but in the interest of not spoiling anything, I will just say that the 11 episodes preceding are absolutely worth watching, and that if it weren't for the last 3 minutes of the finale I would be giving Akiba Meido Sensou a 7 or even an 8.
Definitely worth the watch anyway.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all 1
Oct 22, 2022
tl;dr formless and aimless, I fell asleep multiple times while getting through it
I really wish I could've given this a better score than a 4. Cute character designs and an interesting premise are unfortunately not backed up by actual content. 24 episodes was perhaps a few too many for this amount of development and plot that honestly could've fit in a single 12 episode season or less.
Kakkou no Inazuke was enjoyable and funny at times yet astoundingly boring and frustrating elsewhere. Perhaps it's part of the decline of the harem romcom in general; one can only watch the same trope a finite amount of times
...
before feeling bored and disengaged. And I think that's the main issue with the show. It drags on too long over the same content and simply isn't engaging.
The characters art and music on one hand were pleasant, but after the first few episodes it becomes clear that there won't be any character development. What little change the characters see in their behavior or relationship with the other characters is really more of a revealing of past inclinations or previously unknown traits. We end episode 24 in much the same state that we started episode 2 in. Naturally the creators want to do this in order to drag on the clueless MC trope as long as possible, but as we have seen in Bokuben and Quints (who share really similar MC's with this show) there's only so much you can stretch that trope before it becomes unbelievable to the point of detracting from the show.
Maybe there just isn't enough source material to fill up 2 cours of anime? In which case I would be judging the show too harshly. Yet from manga source to a show in 3 years is perhaps a bit on the fast side surely there's enough to put in here to prevent it from becoming the soporific it is? Either way, maybe if you're out of romcoms to watch you can hit this one up. 4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
1
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all 1
Oct 20, 2022
tl;dr it's idolmaster but it's not The Idolmaster
You might be familiar with Plato's theory of forms if you took philosophy or maybe an advanced English course. If you're not familiar with it basically Plato posits that beyond our perceived reality there is a more perfect existence where everything we can perceive exists in a more ideal "form" or on a more fundamental level. Everything in our world is but an imperfect imitation of these "forms." Anyway, all that to say that Idolmaster Cinderella Girls is like the tangible thing to The Idolmaster's ideal "form." This iteration is no doubt Idolmaster but if you lay them
...
side-by-side there is no way Cinderella Girls can compare to the 2011 series.
I mean it's not bad really. I still gave it a 6. But for some reason or another it lacks the vital spark that the 2011 Idolmaster had. For starters the organization of the plot is a bit different though Cinderella Girls pretty much follows the same overarching structure that 2011 Idolmaster did, much like how Star Wars VII followed the same track as Star Wars IV. Where 2011 Idolmaster had a background and episode for each and every idol that made them feel unique, Cinderella Girls forgoes that in favor of more group content to fit into the main plot.
Maybe it's because the tone is darker? Well, both back halves get pretty heavy. Are the characters less likeable? No, in fact I liked some characters in this show better than some in 2011 Idolmaster. Is the music worse? Also no. But something, something is missing. For lack of a better way to describe it I think it's simply that Cinderella Girls had big shoes to fill and the producers knew it and let it get into their head.
It was definitely enjoyable and I would certainly recommend it, but if you were looking for another 26 episodes of Idolmaster 2011 I'm afraid you'll be slightly disappointed. 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
1
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all 1
Oct 9, 2022
tl;dr the sequel curse hit strong. lacks the charm and easy humor of the first season
Maybe it's just nostalgia but I swear I remember the first season being much funnier or at the very least much more noteworthy. And I mean from a content perspective it makes sense since by this point Maou & co are more adjusted to Japanese society, but it still means you don't get the same great reverse isekai laughs.
But honestly that's pretty minor compared to the extreme pacing issues. If it weren't for that I'd honestly have given it a 6 or higher. With a nicely sized group of
...
core characters that are all quirky in their own ways without being too extra or annoying, the show still delivers an enjoyable experience overall with plenty of humorous moments. Hataraku Maou-sama!! starts out fine with the introduction of a mysterious new character who promises to be the catalyst for much of the action for the season, but then quickly becomes a token toon that sees little if any development at all throughout the disaster of a plot.
Instead, the viewer is given about 6 episodes worth of filler SOL of the MC doing some random part-time work that honestly could've been skipped with little impact on the story. Still, that would've been fine and dandy if it weren't framed on both sides by the other 6 episodes that feel like they belong in a different, more energetic and less SOL-esque show. The resulting show now feels rushed whenever the main plot is being advanced but slow and boring in the middle episodes when it isn't. It gets so bad that I was hardly able to follow the last episode at all.
I'd also like to mention that the tone of the show feels different. Season one was a more straightforward action/adventure anime. Season two feels more like a romcom with its strong emphasis on cute girls doing cute things. Still enjoyable sure, but for different reasons that fans of the first season may not appreciate.
Anyway, all that to say that if you watched season one and liked it you'll probably still enjoy this one. Just know that if you were looking for the same exact kind of enjoyment this will be a miss.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
4
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all 4
Oct 7, 2022
tl;dr undoubtedly better than the first season but still very very frustrating
I'm not gonna lie I was pleasantly surprised by this season. I walked in expecting more trashy MC and while we did get that sometimes for the most part MC shows strong improvement from season one and actually displays human emotions and thought processes from time to time. So if you're like me and you had to skip most of the first season because MC was a pile of literal garbage rest assured that he is only garbage infrequently in this season. In fact there's so much change in his character between season one
...
and two that it almost feels like the writers were reading the reviews from last year.
From a plot standpoint we actually have one this season; most of it is devoted to how MC wants to help Chizuru in her acting endeavors. The pacing is alright and doesn't leave the viewer feeling bored for more than a few minutes at a time. Since it's the second season I won't go into the setting; we all know that it's patently ridiculous. Suffice to say that this season actually feels like I'm watching anime instead of somebody's collection of lewds.
And on that count I'm happy that there's a lot less mind-numbing fanservice and horny incel drama going on. We get actual character development, at least of the two main characters, and the show is made that much better for it. MC might be trashy but at least he's slowly recycling himself.
Also as a closing note I'd like to mention that the OP and ED slap. Like slap slap. Unironically good music.
If the next season is more of this and less of season one I'd watch it for sure.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
1
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all 1
Oct 7, 2022
tl;dr gets worse as the show goes on but still worth the watch.
Another isekai for isekai summer, at least Isekai Yakkyoku tries to be a different sort of isekai by isekai'ing its MC into a pre-Victorian-era isekai as an isekai doctor/pharmacist instead of some kind of isekai combatant. Too many isekai's for you in that sentence? Welcome to how I feel about this summer.
For all the people saying this is a unique idea: it's not. I'll give points for this being the first, considering it started serialization first, but it does come after the other two anime. Points for being the best one so far
...
though since both Cheat Kusushi and Yuusha Party were subpar to put it lightly. Where the other two failed Isekai Yakkyoku succeeded, for the most part. It has a good exposition, a plot that doesn't feel too forced, and characters that are at least likeable.
I don't want to go too far in praising the show. It's not some kind of genre-defining anime and it definitely has its faults. Top issue with it is all the characters are flat. His sidekicks could've been copypasted from any other anime and it wouldn't have made a difference. There's not really any change beyond initially doubting MC Farma before he brings them to his side with his sick pharma raps. And on the topic of his pharma knowledge I appreciate the effort that went into the research of actual drugs but just naming them doesn't help at all. Cue that overquoted Clarke quote about any sufficiently advanced technology. Lastly in the interest of not spoiling anything I'll just say that as the story goes on some of the resolutions lack the depth that I was expecting from the tone that the first episode or so set.
Isekai Yakkyoku could've really been great, with a little tuning of the content and characters but lacking that at least it's still average. Worth a watch if you're sick of hack-and-slash isekais.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Oct 7, 2022
tl;dr interesting isekai intro quickly becomes another harem collector
I'll keep this one short. As the second summoner isekai this season Kuro no Shoukanshi is also a steaming pile of doodoo but for the complete opposite reasons as Tensei Kenja.
Black Summoner starts out with a hot intro for sure, like Konosuba but where the goddess is actually useful. Hot off the blocks but then it trips up somewhere around the elf girl or if not there then definitely at the demon girl. After that it just becomes harem collection and the quality falls off a cliff.
To be honest I enjoyed the first part of the show
...
where he was first discovering his powers and making new friends. It actually felt like we were going to be set up for some development but instead no plot was ever developed and we just got new addition after new addition of characters. Kelvin remains a battle junkie with a shit-eating grin that honestly gets super annoying after while. It's not funny like Overlord's sasuga. It's just repetitive.
The way the show deals with the actual heroes summoned from Japan is just obtuse. For a relatively clued-in show before that it just felt so dry and incorrect. I can't really describe exactly what I disliked about it and frankly I don't think this show deserves any more thought beyond that.
Yeah. Whole thing was no bueno. Tensei Kenja's plot is too repetitive and cookie-cutter and we see no side characters. Kuro no Shoukanshi's plot is too random and there are too many poorly developed side characters. Both are bad in their own ways. Not recommended.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Oct 7, 2022
tl;dr mediocre at best
There's something in the water this summer. Both Overlord and Danmachi come out with highly anticipated fourth seasons but both of them are meh.The difference being Danmachi also had a pretty average third season as well.
First half of the season is alright in my opinion. You're thrown back right in the thick of it with another dungeon expedition and with it of course another ridiculous bonkers enemy and another case of Bell getting dragged down into a deeper floor. You can already see the template that we're following here. In the interest of not spoiling too much I'll just say that since
...
we have so many side characters now that for better of for worse you could really make a whole show off of just those episodes with his familia/party.
Of course they have to make sure we know Bell is the main character of the story so what better way to do that than just making him super OP? Rhetorical question. They try to balance out those moments of Bell basically being an ex machina by having other moments where he's almost unbelievably weak. But something is missing. The magic of Bell's ambition and growth that we saw in the first two seasons is gone, replaced by a poor pastiche that shares the same traits but cannot deliver the same feeling.
Then you get to the second half of the season with all its pacing and composition issues. It feels like a majority of the time in these 5 episodes is devoted to walking in tunnels or otherwise doing nothing, be it the larger party or Bell himself. The wild goose chase doesn't need to take up 2 episodes. Why am I watching people running around like headless chickens when 3 episodes could've been cut out with a simple face-to-face explanation? The whole thing is astoundingly meh. Then the conclusion just sort of... happens. It really just feels like they're stretching out the content as much as possible which makes the whole thing ring false.
Will I watch the next season? Yeah, I mean I'm 4 seasons in at this point. Maybe that's why the studio is ok with releasing something this meh. They know viewers are past the point of dropping the show. Here's hoping the next release is better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
3
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
1
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Oct 1, 2022
tl;dr mediocre, especially by Overlord standards
Overlord 4 was alright, I guess. I'm a huge fan of the Overlord series; I consider it one way you can do an isekai right. However, unlike the previous installments Ainz doesn't really play much of a role, so we're missing the biggest draw of the series right off the bat. There are less sasuga moments as well as less OP Momonga/Ainz/Momon moments as well.
Frankly speaking most of the season was pretty boring and highly skippable. The plot jumps all over the place when it isn't being super predictable. You spend 80% of the season watching Ainz's followers having
...
busted stats which is nice in its own way but gets fairly repetitive after a few episodes of it. That's part of my next critique: the pacing is really off in this season. Sure they're taking down a whole kingdom which sounds like it should come with some decent amount of content attached, but that content never materializes. It just feels like nothing really happens at all.
As far as character development and world development goes it again falls flat. Neither Ainz nor any of his followers really sees any change or shows much learning, and while we're introduced to a new potential threat that threat is never really developed. As far as we know there's still strong enemies out there which have the potential to hurt our main characters but for some reason they're still biding their time.
Anyway. Do I think it's still worth a watch? Yes, especially if you've seen the other three seasons already. It's not bad enough to where I'd drop the show, no. But I know for a fact that they can do better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
1
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all 1
|