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Aug 3, 2020
The Hellsing Organization is an organization devoted to killing vampires. Integra Hellsing, Alucard, and Seras Victoria are members of this organization, with Integra being its leader. This anime depicts their journey through hell.
Hellsing Ultimate is a dark and gritty show about the nature of vampires and humans, featuring an interesting ensemble of a cast alongside a straightforward and simple story. It is bloody and gruesome, painting the screen red with blood. It never strays away from the depiction of slaughter. It is a mature show through and through, not just because of its gruesome violence but also in its atmospheric layer of darkness and chaos
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that stems from a story filled with corruption and tragedy.
Hellsing Ultimate is an action show, first and foremost, and it creates some of the most brutal and vicious sequences of violence ever. It does not shy away from showing men being brutalized and eaten by vampires, mobs of people getting pierced by the blazing storm of bullets, and vampires being reduced to shreds by both their own race and by humans alike. It is fun to watch the protagonists collide with various interesting characters along the way, and the sea of red that the show produces from these exchanges is a sight to behold.
Unfortunately, the show is a good example of preferring style over substance, or rather, blood over substance. While there are fun scenes and moments, it is left as a superficial concept.
"Y-Yeah!"
Much like Seras' hesitant "yes, sir!", the show tries to incorporate deep themes surrounding morality and what it means to be a monster or a human, but it never fully commits to these ideas. There are a lot of interesting points of reflection and contemplation being thrown to the viewer, but they are reduced to a surface-level state as they are never fully given the attention they deserve. It is a shame considering that the show could have been more than just its simple vampire-action premise. It also does not help that the story itself is bare and does just about the adequate amount to showcase the vicious nature of violence without ever doing much with the themes it lays out.
The characters of Hellsing Ultimate suffer from lost potential. They are never expanded on and are unfortunately left lost in the huge puddle of blood. The protagonists had a lot of potential at being complex and thought-provoking characters. While Alucard and Integra are both the center of most of the moral conflict in the show's story, their thought-processes and musings are never fleshed out fully. Seras Victoria fares much better at character development, though the show could have also done much more with her as her inner conflicts concerning retaining her humanity are short bursts of flavor that do not leave a lasting taste. I still loved her though. The villains are the typical kind without much beyond being evil. For example, the Major's henchman are reduced to plot devices while the Major himself is a moving model of evil with not much else beyond that. The rest of the characters are reduced to the caricature of individuals that are surface-level at best, pointless at worst.
Hellsing Ultimate is ultimately an entertaining action anime that features extreme amounts of beautiful blood and violence. With that being said, the show never reaches towards a higher place thematically, leaving behind a trail of what could have been.
P.S. Seras is best girl. Amen.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 28, 2020
Hoshi no Koe - also known as Voices of a Distant Star - is a manga about time and space, told through the perspective of a delicate romance between two separated lovers. It is a manga that, despite its short length, manages to capture deep subject matter regarding life and love. Even with all of its melancholy, it clings to the power of hope and patience, giving a bittersweet ending that is hopeful and optimistic but still fitting naturally into the manga's pensive story.
"We are two lovers... separated by time and space."
Hoshi no Koe details the delicate romance between two lovers, Mikako and Noboru, while
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also being wrapped around a sci-fi premise. Despite this, the manga chooses to approach its story in a realistic manner, focusing more on its human characteristics with the emotions and thoughts of its two central characters. Both Mikako and Noboru are interesting individuals that are easy to sympathise and relate to, and it is fairly easy to put yourself in the shoes of both of them as they deal with their own issues. Their inner conflicts, concerning problems with being forgotten, thinking about the future, and being aimless in life, are nuanced issues that are delivered excellently and given a layer of realism that makes this manga tug even deeper into your emotional heartstrings. The manga does a great job at creating characters alongside a story you can invest easily and deeply in, and it does not make that investment a disappointment as its ending is a perfect way to conclude its melancholic story. The ending brings a more hopeful and optimistic light onto the table, and it fits well as a natural conclusion.
Despite the manga focusing more on its human characteristics, its own sci-fi premise does a lot to picture interesting thoughts surrounding the pursuit of space and knowledge. Many of the people participating in the space mission are young and have their future seemingly taken away from them because of the pursuit of the beyond. While ten chapters is not enough to fully delve into these aspects of the story, they are still wonderfully told and are given a lot of intricate thought to them. They are merely short musings, but they capture the state of the members onboard, giving the manga an even stronger sense of personality and life.
The manga's art style reflects perfectly the melancholic tone of this romance story, giving way to beautiful illustrations that do its job at conveying the emotional weight of the topics it touches on. Characters are drawn nicely, and their issues and struggles are portrayed clearly and smoothly by subtle gestures of behavior. Things such as gazing into the painful and fleeting moments of the past or being drifted away into a never-ending melancholic state are conveyed such that it makes this manga a captivating read as it perfectly illustrates the emotional weight of its themes.
Hoshi no Koe is a short manga that manages to do so much despite its length. Its themes surrounding life and love through the lens of a sci-fi premise - and its delicate and perfect execution of these themes through its story and characters - manages to pave the way for a manga that leaves an outstanding lasting impression, an impression that makes it nothing short of amazing. It is a short yet thoughtful work of fiction that leaves you gazing at the sky above, distant and detached from the world around you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 24, 2020
This manga is not for the faint of heart.
Kijin Gahou is a long and twisted slope into the abyss of darkness. It is wicked, gory, and perverse in nature. It is ero-guro, first and foremost, a label that is not exactly in the norm. It is not a genre that can be enjoyed in the traditional sense; the initial barrier of disgust will turn many readers away and rightfully so. However, if you are able to stomach in your desire to look away, then there is a lot to appreciate from this. Shintaro Kago's penchant for visualising guro through his art shines completely as he
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is able to create unique and refreshing, and equally disgusting, pieces of fiction that tackle themes grounded in our reality.
Kijin Gahou is an anthology, containing various stories ranging from sexual desires turned rotten to peer pressure being envisioned through the slicing of your stomach. It is a lot to take in, especially with the second story being hard to read for various reasons that will not be spoiled, and, if you get shivers by looking at insects, the last story is extremely hard to get through. This is not just a creative outlet for drawing horrifying imagery, however, as Kago manages to insert wicked humour that criticises society's issues, commenting on topics such as peer pressure, abortion, and religion. They are rather simple themes, but they are manifested in creative ways, and Kago uses his guro style of artwork with these themes to create ridiculous yet captivating stories.
The artwork is raw and ugly; characters are not exactly "pretty" or pleasing to the eyes. Of course the gory and disgusting imagery are not nice to look at either. This works entirely in Kijin Gahou's favor, however, as it is a collection of guro stories, but Kago never aims to fetishise his art nor does he work to create meaningless depictions of the grotesque. His artwork mixes entirely well with the nature of his wicked stories, and it keeps to a consistent sense of dirtiness and rawness.
Some of the stories present really are just exhibitions of Kago's style of art and do not contain anything beyond being concepts for Kago's creativity to shine, but they are still imbued with his signature wicked style of humour. The dark kind of humour that is absurd enough for the reader to revel in despite the disturbing content, and it is crazy enough to work in the confines of this assortment of guro stories.
Kijin Gahou is not for the faint of heart, and it is easy for one to avoid it from glancing at its first few pages. With that in mind, it does a lot for the genre and beyond it, incorporating a wicked sense of humour which fits in line with the absurd stories and containing a style of art that Kago knows exactly how to use in his favor. Shintaro Kago knows exactly what he wants out of his creations, and he communicates it to us directly with a dark collection of disturbing guro stories that do its job to horrify and captivate while also commenting on interesting topics surrounding society. It is hard to stomach through, but it sure as hell can get a reader's attention.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 23, 2020
Human combustion.
It plagues the world of Fire Force, forcing people to develop a specialized force that serves to protect the people from the dangers of the Infernals, beings that were created from human combustion. This specialized force is known as the titular Fire Force.
Shinra, the main protagonist of the show, joins a rag-tag team of individuals, the Special Fire Force Company 8, looking to find out about the origin of the plague and to prevent many similar events of human combustion from happening. It’s an interesting premise, but that initial potential is halted by its poor characters and a weak story.
The protagonists are basic
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and don’t offer anything fresh to the table; they fit their roles but never develop much as characters throughout the course of the show. Shinra, being the main character, manages to get a significant amount of development as he learns to define his ideals of being a hero. However, his “hero speeches” whenever he fights an enemy feels shallow and empty, and they get annoying after a while. The show does a great job at creating a character who learns and evolves, but we don’t need him constantly explaining to us what it means every time. There are better ways to do it than generic monologues, such as in subtle gestures and slight changes in behavior. It doesn't need to be overt; having a smooth route paints a clearer level of understanding.
Villains are your cardboard crazy types, and the show makes sure to show you how evil they are with the stereotypical evil facial expressions and obnoxious maniacal laughter. The dialogue is also predictable coming from these kinds of characters, adopting a Darwinian philosophy and taking part in a ridiculous cult. It's easy to show how crazy a villain is, but the show never moves past the surface-level "crazy and that's all there is to it" archetype. Another thing is that the animation shouldn't need to show villains in a sinister light again and again. Their thought process and their actions speak for themselves, and showing villains with black lines along their faces to portray how nasty and sly they are doesn't really add any depth and only points to how lacking they are as memorable antagonists.
Fire Force's story is predictable and straightforward. It's a hero story about Shinra first and foremost, and it's not exactly a unique take on the concept either. It's plain and adequate enough to direct the course of the show but doesn't lend itself to anything memorable or noteworthy.
Regarding the fanservice concerning Tamaki, the ecchi-styled comedy feels very awkward, and it begins to be repetitive later on. Humor is subjective, but the jokes with Tamaki get overused past the halfway mark, and it loses its initial appeal.
With that being said, there's still a lot that Fire Force provides in terms of pure entertainment.
The fight sequences are great. It's explosive and powerful, the animation and sound design doing a great job at illustrating the intensity of Shinra’s kicks and showcasing the various abilities that the rest of the characters possess. A few issues were that the action-oriented moments could have showcased a lot more aspects on the technical side like hand-to-hand combat, and the monologues that the characters tell as they’re fighting is pretty unrealistic. The constant introductions and info tidbits take away from the immersion as well. All in all though, the animation does an incredible job at giving life to the fights, and it adds a whole new layer of enjoyment and a great level of hype.
While the cast of characters don’t offer anything new to the table, they still act as sources of entertainment with their interactions being pretty fun to watch. The Special Fire Force Company 8 are a funny group of people with their own quirks. Maki's cute musings while being a completely reliable member of the team, and the running joke of Arthur being an idiot, which serve to create interesting predicaments during his fights, are just examples on how fun they are to watch. Comedy is subjective for this one, but I found myself being amused by a lot of the shenanigans of Company 8, not to the point where I'm laughing out of my mind but enough to create some moments of relaxation and breathing between points of dramatic tension.
At the end of the day, Fire Force isn't fresh and is far from special. It lacks in a strong story and well-written characters, but it does have a place in being a fully serviceable piece of entertainment. That's enough for a lot of people, and I can appreciate it for what it does.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 18, 2020
ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka is a mature show with style. Concerned with politics and culture, it delivers a steady story filled with mystery while also being wrapped with a relaxed atmosphere. Driven by an interesting assortment of characters and stylised by its colorful and vibrant animation, ACCA'S lack of explosiveness is replaced with all the right amounts of flair.
Enter Jean Otus, an inspector in the ACCA Inspection Department, an aloof individual tasked with helping ACCA preserve the peace of the show's world. Along the way, conspiracies are shared, mysteries are hinted at, and somewhere along the line, Jean gets involved in a political mission that's much
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more than what it seems.
ACCA's story is straightforward in its premise but clever and thoughtful in its execution. This is elevated with the likable cast of characters that have their own quirks that serve to create interesting interactions and dialogue as the plot thickens and mysteries are revealed. The vibrant animation helps in creating a relaxed and chilled aesthetic even when the more serious scenes take center stage. The way it balances both serious drama and its relaxed comedic moments is smooth, feeling realistic in a way that fits naturally into the show's concept. Given that most of the show is structured in a seemingly episodic fashion, the overarching plot at play is still given its needed focus while also allowing time for the audience to breathe. Even with the mystery aspects in mind, which are intricately presented and executed, there is still a lot to enjoy from the show's quirky sense of humour. It also makes the show's ending that much more fulfilling.
The portrayals of all the various districts that Jean visits throughout the course of the show are properly realised in a brief but thorough manner, giving each place their own personality and distinct culture that sets them apart from each other. A lot of this is due to the animation which does a great job at executing the look and feel of the different districts. Given the various introductions to different places, ACCA has a very fun and comfy road-trip vibe that doesn't overstay its welcome and presents the viewer an interesting new setting to take in in the world of ACCA. A lot of what makes ACCA so unique and fresh is not only from its politically driven story and interesting characters, but also with its powerful and bright way of incorporating visual imagery and creating a wonderful overall setting with its animation.
While ACCA does lack in giving fully-realised characterization, its characters still fill their role as interesting personalities, with its main duo being extremely likable and entertaining to watch. Jean and Nino make for the perfect partners, relaxed and aloof, and their interesting personalities establish a likable pair to invest in. The rest of the characters are also great in their own way, and even while a lack of screentime - especially with an anime that is only 12 episodes long -, may hurt the story, ACCA does a great job in handling its characters in a way that doesn't leave them underutilised.
ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka is a show with style. A political mystery filled with likable characters and an equally captivating story, wrapped with a blanket of colorful animation, it delivers in its own unique way. And I loved every bit of it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 7, 2020
A girl has been bullied throughout her last year of school, before her graduation. She hopes to wait patiently until it ends. If only things were that easy.
There's an ugly sense of realism in this manga if you look past the ridiculous and edgy violence.
A revenge manga that doesn't glorify revenge is a revenge story done well. It's frustrating, but it's a reflection of real life. Is Misumisou exaggerated? Dramatised? Sure, a lot of the violence present feels unnecessary and too much at times, and the facial expressions of its characters only act to serve in its seemingly obnoxious edginess. Nevertheless, it's in this
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exaggeration that accurately depicts the ugliness of revenge. It's been shown time and time again that revenge doesn't bring anything positive for the victim. It doesn't rewind time nor does it resurrect the dead. It's a temporarily satisfying feeling, and in this case, none of it was satisfying for the protagonist, Haruka.
Rensuke Oshikiri creates an ugly and tragic story of Haruka, bullied and pushed to the brink of her sanity. She doesn't feel anything besides pain. Even when the revenge portion of this story begins, it's nothing but hurt. The seemingly low quality art style greatly emphasises this feeling, depicting a bleak and fleeting environment. The setting, a town with a decreasing population, work to visualise the emptiness and meaningless view of life. Misumisou is anything but happy.
Haruka is a victim, and so is everyone else to a certain degree. Every one of the bullies get their own tragic backstory that works to effectively create a moral standstill between them and the victim. When they get their just karma, it never feels fulfilling, and Oshikiri conveys this feeling well through Haruka's unfazed and unsatisfied mannerism. Bullying is something anyone can relate to, whether it be physically or verbally, and while Misimisou seems like a fantasy compared to everyday real life, it's not a stretch to say that it CAN happen. Maybe not in a fictionalized manga, but there's a reason school shootings exist and a lack of action from the school system only enables this pattern of tragedy.
Revenge and bullying are ugly topics, but Misumisou is able to give a gripping and suspenseful story surrounding these themes, never shying away from the extreme but still always being grounded in reality. It's painful, but it's in this pain that makes it worth a read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 2, 2019
The second season of Mob Psycho pursues Mob’s growth as a character as he faces individuals plagued by Esper powers. He learns to become independent from Reigan and seeks to help others with similar powers as him, and along the way establish purpose in his own life as he progresses through his Middle School years.
The first half of Mob Psycho consists of comedic slife-of-life with the occasional action-packed fight scenes. Mob himself has undergone substantial growth throughout, constantly pushing himself and restraining from using his powers so as to help him learn to not become too reliant on it. His personality is as awkward as
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ever, which is the main charm I have always seen him have. His development as a character is solid and engaging, his inner conflicts captivitating the viewer as he struggles to blend into society while helping individuals along the way.
Even Reigen goes through substantial growth as a character as he steps back and reconsiders his recent decisions. His encounter with Mob, his current spirit business, and if his whole ordeal ever had a purpose. Through this realisation he becomes aware of his actions and begins to develop his friendship with Mob, aiming to act as a reliable Master.
The second half folds into one huge arc concerning Sho Suzuki’s father. His father seeks to rule the world, changing it to fit his own views based on his Psychic powers. There are multiple fights animated consistently, providing fun action, though the final boss fight is rather short-lived. Nevertheless, the story is the focus here, and Touichiro Suzuki and Mob learn from each other because of their two vastly opposing views on the world. Even the villains here learn something in the end.
Speaking of which, the villains are not exactly that special yet still show enough depth as they learn from Mob's character. Taking the same approach as the first season, the antagonists are shown to be extremely powerful, becoming even stronger than last season’s foes. Unfortunately for them, Mob prevails in the end, showing almost no effort to best them, only being restrained by his moral conviction of peace instead of violence. Some have actually reformed, as shown with one of the Upper Claw division’s decision to fight alongside Reigen and Mob. Others have found their way through the rubble, reconsidering their attempts of dominating the world, and realising there may be better ways of using their powers.
The animation looks to be a step down from the previous season. Though the action is as enjoyable and exciting as ever, it is rather short-lived, with the only real highlight in Mob’s confrontation with Mogami Keiji. Backgrounds look unimpressive with very little detail. Still though, it is consistent enough to support the weight of its hype.
The journey with Kageyama-kun and his friends has been a good one so far. Each episode pulls me in with endearing protagonists, pumping action, and a well-written story with a message that can apply to anyone. Live life to the fullest. No matter who you are, your social standing, your place in society, you contribute to the world in one way or another. I’m satisfied.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 29, 2019
The third season of Date A Live is a massive letdown.
The show reuses the same formula as its predecessors; Shido (you should know him by now) encounters a Spirit, conflict arises - usually by ludicrous means - and another gal gets included into his harem. However, almost half of the anime is focused on one girl, and the other half is focused on the development of another.
The dialogue is laughable, basic lines including Shido screaming, “Why are you doing this!?”, or “I know you’re not evil!”. His harem is no different, offering one-dimensional mumbo-jumbo about their harem daddy. Funnily enough, it is
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only until some action ensues that they’re able to form some kind of intellect. As for the new girl, Natsumi, her reasoning for torturing the guy is just absolutely petty, if not just plain stupid. Let’s look at how it all started.
Natsumi acts like a sexy oneesan (ara ara) towards Shido
*Enemy troops attack*
*Natsumi’s true form is briefly shown*
Natsumi: “You saw, right?”
“Don’t play dumb!”
“You saw my…”
“Unforgivable.”
*Points index finger towards Shido*
“Your life… it’s about to be over for good!”
If I was in Shido’s place, I would have slapped her back to where she came from, even if she was one dangerous oneesan (she ends up being a loli, how disappointing). Is this really how you treat your fans after four years?
After her arc is dealt with, we never get to see her backstory, and it is only ever implied. At least in Tohka and Yoshino’s case, they have somewhat reasonable character development in their respective arcs, but Natsumi on the other hand looks and feels like a copy-paste Tsundere loli, and she acts the part as well. You can say she barely had any screen time compared to the aforementioned two, but the rest of the characters in Shido’s harem are just the same. They sprinkle tons of generic flirting and teasing, add in some basic lines about how they love their “darling”, and then finally act as filler for mundane exposition dumps. They are subject to poor writing, and they never do stand out. This is a harem so there is no real reason why I should be expecting anything grandiose, but I do not want the same obnoxious scenes reiterated to me again and again.
The latter half of DAL’s duration is a slight improvement, though the way it is introduced is incredibly sudden. Origami runs into one of the antagonists, and after a brief discussion she joins them; this all happens in the span of a few minutes. The events that occur later on retain some of my attention since we finally get some character development after almost half a season being spent on that pointless Natsumi arc. The date with Origami is also pretty cute and funny, so there is that as well. With that said, Origami’s arc has got to be the best in the series as of yet, though that is really not saying much when looking back on it now.
Ironically enough, I could not take the show seriously because of its drastic tonal shifts. Five minutes of serious melodies, and then five minutes later, it transitions into goofy musical cues. The comedy, or comedic relief for that matter, is not that funny. The feeble attempts at melodrama are cringe-inducing, especially when Shido is at the forefront of it all, blasting out his usual quotes left and right.
Speaking of Shido, he is back with his stubborn, whiny attitude. Honestly, it makes me want to tear my skin out whenever he screams into my ears. It literally takes up half of his dialogue. If he actually thought rationally, this whole season would have been over in five episodes. He jumps headfirst into the middle of a warzone and attempts to persuade the spirits to stop fighting. Aside from being utterly banal, he is one of the stupidest harem protagonists I have ever seen, yet because of plot convenience, things always work out in his favor.
The sound is lackluster and bland, even recycling some of the music from the previous seasons. The opening and ending tracks are painfully forgettable.
The animation hits its lowest point in the series. It is baffling how it could manage to stay so average, even as the franchise switches between three different studios. J.C. Staff should have stepped up, but they unfortunately have not. Frequent low points are scattered throughout this season, where it nosedives in dull action and constantly still frames. It is a shame, really, since the character designs for each girl are unique and pretty to look at, but because of lazy animation, it was never able to fully shine. Compared to, say, Quintessential Quintuplets (another show this season), Date A Live looks painfully bland in comparison.
The third season of Date A Live is empty, devoid of any significant standing and personality. This addition tries to incorporate a story and attempts to take itself seriously, however this proves fruitless as it manages to be riddled with lazy writing, rapid pacing, dull characters, and lukewarm animation. Even for long-time fans - as a harem and for whatever its so-called “plot” is worth - this is average at best. I am disappointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Mar 28, 2019
The Quintessential Quintuplets is pretty good.
We enter Fuutarou Uesugi, a teenager who inevitably gets thrown into the lives of his tutee’s, a group of five sisters. From then on, we get to see how he fares with trying to make these girls study. The first episodes are standard harem scenarios. We are introduced to various personalities, some of them we are already used to, others we begin to acknowledge for their incredibly endearing sweetness. The show takes its time for the cast of girls to develop trust for Uesugi, and I appreciate that. Though the progression is slow, we gradually see the girls develop deep
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trust - even feelings - for our dear Uesugi. The conflict and drama are believable enough and provide many layers, notably impressive for an anime like this. Uesugi, while still retaining a little of that standard harem protagonist, manages to soar beyond his beta male counterparts. His determination and passion for reasons that are sincere and genuine prove to put him a step above the rest from other harem protagonists. His backfired attempts at convincing the girls to study lead to some pretty funny instances of shame and sorrow, all of which still contribute to the show’s efforts at seriousness. Slowly but surely, we develop interest in Uesugi’s struggle and goals while he still becomes the subject of teasing by his “students”.
The girls themselves all have typical personalities… initially, that is. There is substantial growth in their character by the end of the season, and they break through the initial expectations set by earlier shows of the same nature. There is more to them than what is shown in the first few episodes. The chemistry between each of them and Uesugi is fun to watch, and we all know Uesugi’s going to pull through for our waifu’s. The whole sister dynamic is also something I have not seen, and the show manages to execute it well. While the anime is still held back by the bounds of overused tropes and a few weak-willed attempts at stirring drama, what is mostly shown in this adaptation manages to be fairly consistent and worthwhile. While it does not deliver in explosive portrayals of a bunch of girls madly in love, it is still a refreshing change of pace.
On a visual level, Quintessential Quintuplets does not fail in this department as well. Colorful backgrounds coupled with fluid character expressions. Character designs are a bit meh to no one’s surprise, but there are some features of the cast that stand out. Fanservice is sprinkled in bits, though it does not make up the main appeal of the anime. There are a few grand spectacles, particularly in the closing episodes. The anime does a good job in highlighting the attractiveness of each individual with regards to their personalities. Vivid and lush, it maintains the same quality of production throughout its duration. As for sound, it is more or less of the same quality, although I am slightly afraid of what the end of the opening song foreshadows.
Of course one can take the development of the harem in either positive or negative reactions. The anime is slow to develop romance, so if you want girls crushing on a guy left and right, you will not get that here. What is instead thrown is a satisfying harem that can hold its ground against others like it that are similarly well-received, and sets a benchmark that future adaptations should follow. Arguably enough, it might even be a step in the right direction. Too bad it was only twelve episodes. When all is said and done though, the Quintessential Quintuplets made my time spent worthwhile, and hopefully it ends up being the same for you, too. Miku though...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 4, 2019
Zashiki Onna is not much of an interesting horror manga without its downright creepy artwork. That is to say, that's pretty much all it needs.
The art is creepy and well-drawn. The look of the woman can cause nightmares for anyone who dares to read this manga in the dark, alone, without any help in sight.
The story is as straightforward as it gets, understandable since it's only 11 chapters after all.
The characters are smart and honestly kind of likable. They are easy to sympathise with, especially in the case of the main character who seems to be the catalyst of the horror.
My main gripe stems
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from ending. It's so... abrupt and underwhelming. Maybe I expected too much from it, but the characters involved with the main protagonist didn't at all care about his situation in the end. They seemed... out of character, despite being significantly involved with the monster in one way or another.
I wasn't particularly scared as much as other people claim they were. Maybe it's because I was in a crowded setting and read this on a whim. Probably. That said, if you're looking for a quick, fun read with doses of nightmare fuel, then this is right down your alley.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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