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Jun 6, 2023
A high-quality one-volume manga with art renderings and panels like cinema, with deep characters, and an interesting setting during the late-Edo period.
I'm surprised that, for just a short manga, the art is really good and unique. It has a distinct style that differentiates itself from other, more orthodox, manga. It almost has a sort of 'cartoon' feel to it yet it is very much a manga. The way shadows are rendered on top of objects is also very well-drawn, it gives off so much emotion to each panel. It's almost as if I'm watching an old movie. I'm no expert, but I feel like the
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author has decent knowledge of cinematography.
The characters are well-written and everyone in this manga seems 'grey'. By that I mean, despite the setting being inside a brothel, you would expect prejudices about the customers, the managers, and the prostitutes. But everyone just feels so human and so grounded and yet the grim nature of the brothel business is well documented.
This brings me to how accurately the author portrayed this very specific time period of Yukaku (Japanese brothel/entertainment district) culture in the late-Edo period. Many readers might not be aware of what the Yukaku culture was like in that era and the manga barely gives any exposition to its setting but so many things in this manga accurately describe the details and intricacies of the everyday women in the Yukaku. It's dark, and hell I'd say the reality would probably be even darker than the manga. But things such as STDs, contracts, debt, girl apprentices (kamuro), romance, and so on are so well portrayed in this manga.
9/10 it's a short story, it's historical, it's tragic, it's really good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 1, 2021
A few years from now I think Josee, the Tiger and the Fish will be considered a cult classic. It's a shame that this movie is so unknown. The story has been adapted 3 times: first as a Japanese drama, then a Korean drama, and now an anime.
I think a lot of people will say that the story was cliche and simple. For some parts I can agree on that but to be honest I still enjoyed this movie a lot. To put it simply, this movie is a more straightforward and more romanticized version of Koe no Katachi. I consider myself to be a
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romantic (I don't mean love romantic. I mean the idealization of reality type of romantic) so it's easy for me to enjoy the plot. I believe other fans of romantics would also enjoy this movie.
The animation by studio Bones is definitely up there with other contemporary anime movie greats like Kimi no na wa and Koe no Katachi. The world is filled with details and you can see that in the movie's setting. Such as Josee's old rustic house that is filled with old stuff that seems to have come pre 21st century. To contrast that with the modernity of the city Josee will later explore with the company of Tsuneo. I could sense the feeling of alienation and unfamiliarity Josee feels during these trips due to the fact that she has pretty much been confined at home due to her grandmother. The character animation is also very smooth and the camera work is also superb (which is hard to do for animating).
Another bright note is the soundtrack by Eve which I thought suited well with the tone of the movie. Listening to Ao No Waltz after watching definitely made listening to it more emotional.
My only gripe is that I wish the movie extended a bit longer. Maybe past the 2 hour mark. I think some details of the show should've been fleshed out with more detail. But overall I the emotional impact the story had was still great.
I really loved this movie and hopefully I can catch it again while it is still in theaters in my country. I can't recommend this enough if your a fan of emotionally heartfelt movies. 9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 13, 2020
This show is what taught me to never judge an anime from its MAL score.
I think a lot of people get caught up with Rikako being an unlikable character or how the show feels so different to that of other Ghibli movies. In a way those statements are true but this show isn't about any of that. I believe in its heart, this show is a love letter to youth and nostalgia. I think Yutaka set the tone early in the show when he said he'll remember the school did something wrong if they canceled the class trip, even 20 years after graduation.
The peak of
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the show was definitely the class reunion. Its nice to see everyone just get past all the dramatic nonsense of high school and just be more adult.
Overall I enjoyed this movie a lot. I may not recommend it to anyone younger but for us older folks past college, I think this show is like eye candy down memory lane.
PS: This show was the first Ghibli show to not be directed by Isao Takahata or Hayao Miyazaki and I gotta say the younger studs of Ghibli definitely have a very nice sense of fashion. The wardrobe of the characters seem like something I might definitely pick up next time I'm going thrift shopping lol.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 20, 2020
Tbh I was skeptical about Aggretsuko when it first came out. I thought it was just another satirical comedy anime that Netflix put out, but this show is much more than that, don't let the MAL score fool you. I don't intend to make a long review but here it is.
This is a show that any adult in the working force can relate to. It's not just an escapist satire comedy to laugh out loud about every week because this show touches a lot of topics on life, work, money, passion, family, marriage, divorce, responsibility, and basically everything that comes with the baggage of adulthood.
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This show does so much with a 15 minute airtime its really amazing.
For those who haven't watched it, please do. Especially if you're in the working force or just confused with everything that's going on in life, well actually, aren't we all?
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 27, 2019
This. Anime. Is. Underrated.
TLDR this anime is like Ghibli vibes, Akira level sci-fi, and Monster plot twists in one show. One of the best mystery themed anime I've seen my whole life. Its hard to explain once I've started writing this review now that I think of it, but like I said, it draws similarities from Akira where the world is set up so absurdly it manages to make the illogical become logical. It is absolutely genius.
Let's start with the story. This show is an epic opera. The story starts off with several parallel story lines of Thoma and the gang, the Children of Befort,
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and Detective Cooks. Like all mystery stories, elements in each story line interact with other one by one. But in Fantastic Children, each discovery just ends up in another twists revealing more secrets and mysteries. The story keeps you second guessing about what is truly going on behind the scenes. The only downside is during the later episodes the pace starts to go a bit too slow almost as if its a soap opera. But the mysteries uncovered in each episode is just too good to miss out you wouldn't notice how many episodes have gone by.
I think a big point of why this anime is underrated comes from its simplistic style of animation and character design. Fun fact, the creator of this anime was Akira's character designer. So if there was a reason why all the characters looked flat and simple then that is why. It does seem that this show was on a budget and its clear by how the animation production became but I think the animators did a good job on correctly animating character expressions even with its flat face like characters. I was always immersed in each frame and never felt that the animation hindered that.
The soundtrack is also super underrated. The opening "Voyage" is one of the best orchestra soundtracks in anime I've ever heard. The ending "Mizu no Madoromi" was equally beautiful and had a Russian version that played in a few episodes which I thought was unique. The overall OST was very beautiful yet melancholic and fit the narrative really well.
The characters are written well and each had differing personalities which played off each other nicely. A lot of people disliked Helga's dead quiet personality but I think it served her aura as this mysterious "chosen one" girl well. The supporting cast were all memorable including all seven of Befort's Children.
I absolutely enjoyed this anime and will definitely recommend this to anyone of my anime friends. If they think the childlike characters and simple animations made this anime suck then screw that. Because everything else in this anime is absolutely genius. 10/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 15, 2019
This is an amazing piece of art by ufotable. Although it has its flaws which definitely blew my experience watching this. Kimetsu no Yaiba is an anime which I can certainly recommend, especially to new comers of anime.
TLDR: This anime has amazing art. But some inconsistencies in the writing and world building just knock off some of that watching experience for me. Note! Some spoilers ahead!
Let's start off with the good: Animation
This is the highlight of the show and why everyone is talking about it. First of all, well done by ufotable for giving us some of the best sakugas I've seen in awhile. The
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style that ufotable brings is one that mixes CGI with traditional hand animation nicely. Because of that we are able to experience some of the best fighting scenes in anime in maybe the past decade or so. The way they can work moving camera angles and dynamic environment is just box office level. 10/10
And the bad: Inconsistent Writing & World Building, Characters are just sometimes basic shounen obnoxious types, Repetitive Pacing, and part of the show's "chill" time is a bit too giddy/slapstick for me
I'm going to rant a little bit on these notes. First of all there are a ton of inconsistencies in the way this show handles writing and world building. To point out one is during the Mt. Natagumo Arc during the battle between Tanjiro vs Rui. During that battle, Tanjiro manages to muster up the strength to slash Rui's neck off. But as Rui's head is sent flying off, it is revealed that Rui actually slashed his own head off before Tanjiro could do so. Thus preventing Rui from getting slashed by a Nichirin Sword and manages to live. BOOM! This is like the writing just hit itself, that is some bad logic in my opinion. If demons are immortal unless they are decapitated by a Nichirin sword then why can't they fight headless or create a demon art that somehow slashes their head off before the slayers can? It's kind of broken in my opinion. The show doesn't manage to give an exact description of how and what can kill a demon. It's not clear like Attack on Titan, there is a controller in the Titan's nape and if you slash the source, the titan dies. But in Kimetsu no Yaiba, all we know is you can kill a demon by sunlight, decapitate with special metal (Nichirin Sword), or by special potions (Shinobu). Why? Well because of reasons I guess. And there is also a part in the Mt. Natagumo Arc where Tanjiro must fight a headless demon controlled by the puppeteer demon, hmm... It turns out that cutting of his body to his lower waist is what kills him because Tanjiro's logic always works.
Next, I want to rant about the characters lol. I think in its heart, the writing of Kimetsu no Yaiba is very shounen-esque. You have spirit-over-ability comeback moments during fights, a never give up protagonist who everyone loves, and crazy side characters with unique designs (really unique). Aaaand that's where it blew me off. For context, during the show it is revealed that Zenitsu got his stunning yellow hair because he got hit by lightning (his original hair color was black). So, in my logic I thought that the character designers were aiming to design characters with a majority of real black hair. Because if I'm correct most characters before we saw the Hashiras were all designed with normal black hair (in the least some of them had tints in their hair such as Tanjiro and Inosuke. Demons don't count because they are demons). But all of the sudden the Hashiras are designed super crazy and all have borderline obnoxious personalities tied to their breathing styles. During that reveal, a lot of the world's immersion just blew off. If Zenitsu's hair turned yellow because of something supernatural then why does all the Hashiras have crazy hair too? Were they all hit with something supernatural? Remember character designs can tell us about world building too. And I think the designers did a exciting albeit inconsistent choice of design. Just because characters are super strong doesn't mean you have to make them look dumb.
My next rant is about the story notes and pace of the story. At most I think it is very repetitive. Tanjiro gets summoned to mission, he fights demon, comeback win, Tanjiro feels bad for the demon, the worst part: demon backstory, and characters go and rest to heal. Man, they don't have to give a backstory for every demon. I mean, if they want to send a greater message about suffering and people in destitute that's fine but I don't think their points hit the mark on this.
My final rant is about the show's chill time. Or basically when the characters aren't fighting demons. Its really clear when they are doing this. In these moments are the over the top slapstick comedy and the characters are drawn in 3 FPS blobs. I mean, its a good way to help cool down after a battle scene. Sometimes it can be enjoyable and funny but as the show gets further its starting to become obnoxious. The predictable pace also doesn't help because it really becomes clear when the show starts doing this. But I think it is a smart way to press down the animation budget for the sakugas though.
All in all I think Kimetsu no Yaiba is an enjoyable shounen for most anime fans. Although I had a lot of rants, the animation is still one to spectacle because of the amazing work ufotable has done. This is also a good opener anime for new weaboos or those trying to get their friends to become one. To be absolutely honest I think giving it an average rating of 8.97 (as of this review's writing) is a bit overrated. But hey, who am I to judge. My final verdict is 8/10. I wish I could give it more of a 7.75 though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 3, 2019
I've watched this movie for 3 times already and all I can say is this movie just keeps entertaining me!
Yes, Makoto Shinkai has done it again, another jaw dropping drama with stunning animations. Has Tenki no Ko topped Kimi no Na wa? Well no, but this is a must watch for all weebs.
First of all the animations! OMG! Damn, without a doubt this is Shinkai's most amazingly animated piece of work. I can't imagine having to animate super realistic rain which basically happens throughout the entire movie. The lighting, super detail backgrounds, and crazy camera shots are definitely like nothing else! I can't give enough
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praise for the animation.
Now the downside of this movie is the story. I think Shinkai managed to take one step up in animation but stagnated in story and writing. You can really feel that Shinkai was pressured a lot from Kimi no Na wa's success through reading interviews. He mentions again and again the burden of following up such a great success. And I think that messed up his creativity with the writing. A lot of story plots follow the same beats as Kimi no Na wa. Right from the beginning to the end. The ending might have a lot of people questioning but I thought it was alright. All in all I feel that Shinkai took the safe route with story and could've been more creative.
I don't have a lot of comments about the OST. RADWIMPS did good and I loved "Grand Escape" ft. Toko Miura.
You can really feel Shinkai's passion for animation. Animating all those rain scenes and pan shots of Tokyo must've been such a pain, yet the results don't disappoint. He isn't the greatest story writer in my opinion, but once he does great, he makes a masterpiece. This one came close. My score 9/10.
The story just felt too de ja vu. I hoped for something more fresh. But nonetheless watching this was an eye candy and still managed to spark emotions. Wonderful!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 4, 2018
I remember watching this anime for the first time when I was still a little kid. I was watching it at my friends house at the time. And I remember being so immersed inside this beautiful world Hayao Miyazaki created. I remember actually being scared watching all these weird and crazy "spiritual monsters" move about. I mean, back then I was a kid who only knew the happy-wacky western cartoons and while I was watching this, it was a breathe of fresh air of my childhood. I was wonderstrucked.
As a kid I could barely understand what was really going on plot-wise. But the wonderful imagination
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of this spirit world, the setting of Yubaba's bathhouse, and this wondrous atmosphere brought by the direction kept me at it. It's amazing what goes through the imagination of Miyazaki and his team. It's as if everything in this story is random; the antagonist is a disproportionate witch who happens to own a bathhouse, our MC is a whiny average little girl, and No Face is one of the weirdest characters I've seen... you know what I mean? But everything just flows so well like it's magic. Every scene kept me wondering and that's amazing.
As I grew older and rewatched this anime, I could understand the messages this anime tried to convey. It's a coming of age story that's easily relatable to everyone. Chihiro, our MC, is really just your average girl. She's a coward, lazy, shy, etc... she's definitely not a hero, and we've all felt this way at some point in our life. Even Miyazaki himself called her a bum in one of his interviews. But of course, they gave her one good trait and that is that she is sincere. And through that sincerity coupled with the experiences she's been through gives her one of the best character developments I've ever seen.
The animation is undoubtedly amazing, it's Ghibli of course. The coloring, light rendering, detail of movement, facial expressions of characters, and background were all time highs for Ghibli. And Joe Hisashi has probably produced one of the most remixed anime OST of all time.
This anime is timeless. The amazing animation is timeless. The magical atmosphere it brings is timeless. The story and messages it tells will always be great to pass on to the next generation. And that is why this anime, to me, is a masterpiece. 10/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 3, 2018
To me this anime is magical, and after rewatching this for probably the 10th time now, it still is.
Kimi no Na wa is an anime about destiny and the hardships and sacrifices that come with it.
Before I talk about anything else in this anime, I have to mention the amazingly beautiful animation that comes in this. In terms of production, well I can't imagine how hard Makoto Shinkai and his team put into this. The animation is amazing. The detail he put into those Shinkai signature backgrounds are unprecedented. The rendering of lighting is so crisp and clean(its amazingly in every scene too). Even the
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cinematography is top notch and how thoughtfully the direction Shinkai made in how scenes intertwine to make sense. You need a lot of time to think about this stuff too. All in all, the animation is an absolute eye candy.
The story was magnificently written, which is great because Shinkai isn't primarily known for his writing unlike his masterful animation. The monologues the characters make are thought provoking, as if it were a poem. The atmosphere, backed up with that beautiful animation, struck me in awe. Like I said, the way scenes will intertwine at points and make sense is an absolute revelation in terms of plot presentation. For those who aren't sold on the premise nor the hype surrounding this anime, all I can say is that this anime is more than a cheesy romantic body swapping anime. I was surprised and so will you be.
The way Shinkai made average characters into these wonderfully lovable characters is almost Hayao Miyazaki-esque. Taki and Mitsuha aren't superheroes. They are like us, average people who were given these great circumstances. Shinkai found a fine line between creating this epic plot and not over-dramatizing it. And I believe that is what makes this anime feel so relatable.
The soundtrack which was made by RADWIMPS is absolutely amazing too. I am usually skeptical about Japanese indie-rock bands in anime. But they have done a great job in complementing scenes with their music. Even without the anime the songs are great to listen to.
This anime has a special place in my heart. Its the reason I got into anime in the first place. It told me the true potential of what great anime can be.
It's 2018, I don't know how you haven't watched this and you're reading this. Just watch it. I guarantee a minimal of 8. But for me, its a 10/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 3, 2018
This is a story about many things; youth, friendship, family, hardship, doubt, etc. But mostly it is about doing something crazy and getting out of your comfort zone. And this anime explores that perfectly.
The story starts out with one of our MCs, Mari, who dreams of doing something amazing before her youth ends. And everything starts from there. The people she meets, learning the value of family, the hardships she endures, and proving the doubters wrong from starting this journey are amazingly explored and it all started from "doing something crazy".
The message hit really hard, especially for me and maybe will for most of you.
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Because it fits perfectly in context in reflection of our community which is highly judged and considered outcasts. I bet most of us are insecure people in some degrees. Well go somewhere you've never been, eat something you've never tried, meet someone new, tell people you love that you love them, aim for some crazy dream job in the future, etc. You only have one life, one youth.
Aside from the great messages this anime conveys, this anime is actually easy and light to watch. The scriptwriters found a great balance of light heart comedy, which is legit funny, and seriously touching moments, which is legit feels train.
In terms of presentation, I think this anime was well animated and has great cinematography. Madhouse has done a great job again, kudos to them.
This anime is great to watch in any mood. It is especially a must watch for slice of life lovers. You'll laugh, smile, and cry... and you'll love everything about it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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