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Undead Unluck had eye-catching setting about the world and character abilities; the idea of "deniers" was really refreshing. Although not every plot withstood scrutiny, it was at least interesting and innovative, in the sense that it challenged the viewers' "common sense" - the day-to-day concepts in our lives can be created, revised, and denied.

The storytelling followed a very typical shonen style. The main characters continuously level up in battles, learning to better cooperate and utilize their abilities, while also getting trustworthy teammates (with tragic backstories). Even the occasional sexual harassment jokes are so typical (in a bad way) - but fortunately, it gradually shifted away ... from such jokes and moved towards proper world and character building.

The anime adaption left me with mixed feelings. There were highlights in the beginning, but were soon buried in numerous disappointing moments spanning two seasons. The pacing was inconsistent - sometimes a story was rushed, while sometimes the plot moved unbearably slow with tons of flashbacks, repeated scenes, and recaps. There were excessive amount of narration, and they were often disjointed from the visuals. (Yes, those narrations existed in manga as well - but a good adaption is supposed to make adjustments according to the medium!)

I would still recommend watching it, just for the story; having a lower expectation would likely make it more pleasant to watch.

Don't be fooled; at least finish ep.1. If you enjoy mecha but got a little tired of “traditional” stories (and don’t mind some homoeroticism), give Bang Braven a try!

What should I expect from an anime directed by Obari Masami? Probably robots with crisp yet muscular design that can make striking poses. Yes, the top priority is to see some cool robots!

To my disappointment, the first half of ep.1 was totally a real robot mecha anime; and the robot designs were so…boring. There were some nice characters though, who seemed to be skilled, hard-working, and passionate…blah blah blah…

But you know what? After 10 minutes, all ... of those wouldn’t matter anymore. Audience would be thrown into a totally different story, accompanied by this bizarre but earwormy opening theme. Yes, here it is, a robot with crisp yet muscular design…oh, and it can talk.

But wait a minute…Is this robot talk too much? Is the story is a little weird? Is this episode ending too soon?…Do you…want to watch the next episode for no reason?

I knew ep.2 wouldn’t disappoint, but I didn’t expect it to so hilarious and …homoerotic (hey, it’s a robot anime so that’s not too surprising, right?). It’s true that the jokes were mostly silly, maybe even vulgar - but I couldn’t really hold in a laugh when watching this.

Is the plot and theme important at all, in this anime? Maybe they will be in the future; we can’t tell yet. But for now, I just want to enjoy the absurd humor and cool battles. So far It did really well in piquing my curiosity - Will I be deceived again? Will it get even funnier? Will these silly scenes turn out to be foreshadowing? I can’t wait to see the next episode!

Let’s BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG BRAVERN!

Came for the chuuka-fuu aesthetics, stayed for the content.

Despite being set in a medieval Eastern world, the anime had very modern plot and presentation. The story would perfectly fit into any era and premise. Still, Chuuka-fuu aesthetics added a refreshing touch with unique character designs and costumes, setting it apart from other “traditional” fantasies. (The last chuuka-style anime was probably _Saiunkoku Monogatari_ over a decade ago?)

Stripping away the Chukka elements, it’d be easier for us to identify creators’ thoughtfulness that contributed to the success of this anime.

The story was a blend of mystery and romance at its core, a popular combination in mystery light ... novels (with quite a few successful anime adaptions as well). The mysteries were far from the serious “challenges to the reader” type; but light-hearted, puzzle-solving process. The female protagonist Maomao, and possibly the audience too, cared more about interpersonal implications rather than the truth itself. That’s a smart design, as it managed to pique the viewers’ curiosity just enough without inviting too much scrutiny on its rigor.

There was a larger mystery, or the main plot about Maomao’s story. The creators were more meticulous about the narratives and pacing on this side. They occasionally provide clues - some were straightforward while some were misleading, but always left ample room for speculation. This seemed to be the real “challenge to the audience”, and audience were more than pleased to be challenged. It kept viewers hooked throughout this two-season series.

The protagonist Maomao was designed to be popular. She resembled the protagonists of a lot of reincarnation-themed shows - possessing exceptional knowledge (like…how to make chocolate?!), was mature and smart, but chose to detach from those around her. Like it or not, this type of characters can easily amass fans today .

The romance in the story was a typical female-oriented one, but the male protagonist Jinshi felt corny sometimes. Occasionally his behavior turned out to be more cringey than romantic. That was the biggest issue I had with this anime. Otherwise, it’s an enjoyable show that I'd happily watch each week.

(update upon completion)

Unwanted Undead Adventurer is a role model of an anime "playing on the safe side". There was absolutely nothing unpleasant or controversial - the anime just focused on telling the story of a nice guy (and nice people around him). The risk, of course, is that the anime may come across as boring or forgettable for some viewers. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an easy-to-watch and relaxing adventure anime, but not to those who want an adrenaline-filled experience.

(preliminary review at ep.3)

This is a distinct adventure anime compared to other light novel adaptions.

Right from ep.1, main character Rentt’s made extensive ... amount of inner monologues - he was basically a narrator who directly explains things. It felt like a lazy narrative device initially, but created the feeling of reading a novel once the audience got used to it. In addition, after other characters gradually enter the story, the amount of monologue and dialogue became more balanced.

How does it feel to become an undead (or skeleton)? It’d be quite challenging for the audience to imagine, and _Overlord_(2015) didn't explain it to us lol. The staff seemed to recognize this as well, and intentionally added interesting scenes for viewers to “feel” it. For example, they showed the blurry and colorless world from Rentt’s perspective during his first fight with another skeleton, effectively conveying the initial struggles Rentt had to face after the transform.

My favorite aspect of this anime is Rentt’s personality - diligent, persevering, calm. The audience wouldn’t be surprised by his survival and growth; all his actions were logical and coherent. So far I’ve never experienced a "what the heck?!" moment yet. I'd appreciate that the author was treating the readers as people with normal intelligence. (Given there are so many light novel authors who don’t...)

Up to ep.3, it feels to be a solid and engaging anime that’s worth watching.

The first four episodes were stunning. A typical tragedy-of-long-life story spanning decades was told in a restrained manner, evoking both boundless melancholy and brimming warmth. As the journey of Frieren unfolded a second time, audience were repeatedly touched by the memories from previous journey - thanks to the staff’s delicate way of storytelling. The story afterwards resembled more of a standard fantasy adventure; it remains enjoyable, but wasn’t awe-inspiring as the first four episodes.

The director’s various choices in adaption are worth pondering - there are no right or wrong choices, only trade-offs.

Frieren’s story had a grand worldbuilding beyond the journey itself: horizontally there’s intertwined ... relationship among human, demons, and elves, while vertically there’s continuous pursuit and inheritance of magic among all species. The anime did hint some of those (e.g. through Frieren’s memories with Flamme), but most of the time it focused on depicting interpersonal relationships and slice of life during the journey. The director chose to create a chill, comfortable space for audience with low information density; the trade-off, of course, was loss of depth (to some degree) in the story. Was it a bad decision? Probably not - Judging from the wide acceptance of the anime today, it was a actually nice decision meeting the needs of most audience.

In storytelling, viewers could easily feel a deliberately crafted calmness ,and an extreme focus on details. It distinguished _Frieren_ from other traditional TV anime, and made it more akin to a movie. It’s not uncommon for animes to get more “cinematic” in recent years, but it often gets overdone (e.g. _Chainsaw Man_). Fortunately, Frieren happened to be a story well-suited for this. Instead of exaggerated actions that keep viewers hyped and occupied, audience really needed ample space to feel and resonate with the story. The director’s choice was proven to be effective.

Lastly, Evan Call's outstanding music has to be mentioned. Melodious and classical, it complemented the visual perfectly. Overall it’s an impressive piece of work.

(update upon completion)

All characters turned out to be more rounded and adorable than the beginning, creating a great viewing experience. Yuki was pure and cute from beginning to end, while Itsuomi turned out to be mature and personable. The anime also spent non-trivial efforts on supporting characters, adding to the depth of the story.

Glad to see Yuki gradually embraced a bigger world under the influence of Itsuomi...even though I wish more of such growth was endogenous, rather than just motivated by "wanting to travel abroad with my boyfriend".

Would recommend to those who enjoys a straightforward and peaceful love story.

(preliminary review at ep.3)

This ... is a delicate romantic anime, but it's not portraying the (supposedly) mature love between adults.

It's easy to see the thoughtfulness of creators. Since hearing impairment is the key theme, the character design places strong emphasis on the lips, making it easier to discern the different mouth shapes when characters spoke. The actions and postures of the female lead Yuki were adorable, making up for her lack of speech. Like most romance anime, there was a lot of focus on Yuki's expressions and inner thoughts, making it easy for audience to follow her emotional journey.

So far, the pacing and atmosphere of the anime have been well-managed. Ep.1 had relaxed pace but efficiently told the story of how Yuki met the male lead Itsuomi, and delivered an impressively beautiful scene of them chatting on their phones. The nice balance of emotion depiction and story progress continued into following episodes as well.

It can’t be viewed as a mature love story, however, due to the imbalance between Yuki and Itsuomi - unfortunately, power dynamics is an inevitable topic in romantic relationships. Itsuomi was depicted as someone who loved freedom more than others, and marched to the beat of his own drum. In contrast, Yuki was portrayed as a pure, inexperienced hear-impaired girl, who seemed passive and needed protection. Furthermore, so far the anime was shown entirely from Yuki's perspective, which easily gave the impression that she was too occupied by this romance. It naturally raised concerns among viewers, much like the concern of Yuki's childhood friend Oushi: Would this romance really work out? How long would it last?

Essentially, the anime was lacking in portraying Yuki’s proactivity and growth. Having the courage to ask Itsuomi’s contact info wasn’t the proactivity I’m talking about here. What I wanted to understand are: Why Itsuomi's presence made Yuki want to see the larger world? Will Itsuomi become her catalyst, prompting her to expand her horizons? If so, how will she go about to do that?

If in later episodes, the anime can delve into the theme of “Love as a catalyst of personal growth”, it would become a more outstanding work.

(update upon completion)

The anime turned out to be fragmented and ill-structured till the end. Among the many characters introduced (with polarizing traits), not a single one left a lasting impression on me; the connections between the characters were also very weak. Perhaps this was intended with much ambitions yet to be fully showcased; but for the audience, it was annoyingly chaotic.

The story's progression mainly revolved around the male protagonist Sasaki getting entangled in various issues in two different worlds and smoothly resolving them by navigating between various factions. The anime tried hard to portray Sasaki as a mature problem-solver, but the lack of persuasive problem-solving ... methods makes it difficult for the viewers to resonate, especially those with years of experience in the workplace. A main character lacking charm is devastating in this case.

I'm not sure which type of audience is this anime trying to target - overall I don't find it worth watching.

(preliminary review at ep.3)

This anime tried to incorporate so many elements that it became confusing. It's hard to predict where the story will end with current pacing.

Ep.1 took viewers on quite a ride. The first few minutes seemed like a healing slice-of-life story, but all of sudden the main character Sasaki was teleported to isekai by a talking bird. Then Sasaki got into trading for a while, but somehow he learnt magic and was forced into some secret government agency dealing with supernatural power IN REAL WORLD (?!). Not to mention the mysterious teenage girl living next door, who showed toxic love towards this 40 y/o man (wtf?), but seemed to have nothing to do with either isekai and secret agent…There were a lot going on, but they were all parallel with no clear connection points. It felt like a dish with too many ingredients.

Up until ep.3, the storytelling had been straightforward and lacked a clear focus. Sasaki was a typical salaryman, and to be honest there wasn't much fun watching him doing corporate things in isekai. Still, it was better than seeing Sasaki fighting - because the fighting scenes in this anime was subpar.

It remains to be seen how the story will progress; hopefully the multiple lines of plot would cross somewhere in this season.

A typical "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" anime with theme being mahjong. While CGDCT genre has many bland animes, this one brought boringness to another level.

The parts involving mahjong were quite challenging to watch. Even it provided some basic explanations, it’d be very hard to follow if one knows nothing about mahjong. Viewers would need to be quite familiar with mahjong/gambling-themed anime in order to understand the jokes in ep.1.

The parts without mahjong were incredibly dull. The characters' personalities weren’t distinct: Riche might be the most different one, while the other three girls all seemed to have similar casual, optimistic personality. The way anime ... described the daily actions of characters were mundane and boring; it was hard to see the intention of the creator - what kind of experience did want to bring to the audience?

The production appeared to be haphazard at every turn. The character designs, especially the apparels, looked so outdated. The background music often overwhelmed the scene, or even overwhelmed dialogues with a loud and distracting volume. The character movements were stiff - even the first few scenes in ep.1 were so poorly animated. And hey, what's going on with Chonbo the bird? It looked as if it was replicated from a kindergarten doodle!

After watching three episodes, I felt it’s a total waste of time to continue watching.

A rare “orthodoxical” isekai reincarnation anime in recent years, truly focusing on “friendship, effort, victory”.

It was so refreshing to watch an isekai anime with no fan service, no idiotic characters, nor some random god who decided to grant superb talent to the protagonist. The main character, Usato, simply went through proper training and hard work to gain skills. The audiences who got to follow through could totally resonate his growth. The show also came with a touch of humor that was not over the top.

However, as the story progressed into ep.3, very little was revealed about the main plot yet. To be ... honest the flat narrative didn’t do a good job in piquing my curiosity, and somehow I feel the story will be very predictable. Still, I’m happy to follow along and prove myself wrong!

This type of anime should be a separate genre - maybe "Realistic Fantasy”? I really like it! It's a light-hearted, imaginative anime that can be watched without any pressure.

The theme of this anime reminds me of _Ishuzoku Reviewers_(2020) or _Tondemo Skill De Isekai Hourou Meshi_(2023). Dungeons are a product of human imagination; when we see dungeons in games or anime, we’d rarely question “Is it even reasonable?”. This anime takes a different angle. It deconstructed the ecosystem in dungeon, fitting the otherworldly elements into something that aligns with human common sense. Love the creativity here!

The humor in the show was just right - it ... brings a smile to your face without overdoing it. When I saw the “Dungeon Gourmet Guide," and the Slime’s anatomy in ep.1, I’ve decided it’d be one of my favorite shows for this season.

The character lineup was nice; each character had some traits that I like. Marcille is probably the “common sense” one that most audience can resonate with; while Laios is a “weirdo” filled with curiosity and wants to taste everything. The viewers derived more enjoyment from watching the interactions among characters with contradicting personalities.

The animation was smooth and comfortable. Although it didn’t have a lot of action scenes (so far), Trigger injected vibrant dynamism into the characters' facial expressions and movements. Even in static scenes, when one character spoke, the other characters would show subtle changes in gesture and expressions. These additional movements ensured that viewing experience was never dull.

So glad it’s a two-season anime. Looking forward to see more cuisines and adventures!