TLDR/Summary: Boring, milquetoast in every respect, and completely derivative, Tsuki ga Kirei manages to do nothing but tell the most basic story with bland characters. It fails to have any depth in any facet as well as lacking any shallow, surface-level appeal, making this show uninteresting and unable to set itself apart. The glacial pace of scenes and bad character design only exacerbates theses problems. At its best, this show is plain white bread. At its worst, its a stale loaf without having any drinking water.
The problem with this anime isn't necessarily that there are problems (which there certainly are), but more that it
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lacks any strengths. In wracking my brain for positives, I could only come up with two things that I would actually call good: the characters typically acted realistically and the kiss scenes were done pretty well. That's it. You could maybe also argue the music, but I ultimately found it mediocre.
Now that I've gone over all of the positives, its time to delve into where this show really fails. Many of these failures could possibly be overlooked if the show was charming in other ways, but it failed to do anything spectacularly well to look past these shortcomings.
Firstly, none of the side characters had any personality. They were all very bland and had no input on any of the outcomes in the story (with the possible exception of Koutaro borrowing the phone or him getting jealous). None of their actions really mattered and none of them developed or even showed character traits. The whole point of realism as a genre is the characters and if you fail here in any form of media aiming for a realist portrayal your work will be boring. To be fair, this would be fine if your main couple can pull the personality of the show by themselves, but they definitely can't.
Second, the plot was predictable, shallow, and uninteresting. If you are going to do a plot that has been done a trillion times before, the only way to make it worthwhile is to deviate somewhere, whether that is concept, character interactions, or even quality. Tsuki ga Kirei doesn't. To call it milquetoast would be putting it lightly. It didn't innovate with its plot points, characters, interaction, setting, or even directing/portrayal. It was a cookie cutter plot, cookie cutter characters, etc. These can be fine each on their own, but if there is no unique aspects anywhere it creates a feeling that the story is not one worth telling. For the same reason I would not tell a story about how I went to the store and came back with a carton of milk, Tsuki ga Kirei is a bad story where very little exceptional, interesting, or unpredictable things happen.
Third, the pacing was horrible. I watched the majority of the show in 2x speed, and it still felt like characters were talking slowly and scenes were dragging on. I actually enjoyed the show more like a 4.5 than a 3, but the fact that it felt only normal in 2x speed was certainly a knock. Additionally, the show took 3 full episodes to stop being complete garbage which is too many when you only have 12 episodes.
Fourth, the character designs (specifically the main). Most of the faces were the exact same. Ultimately, this isn't actually that big of an issue, but it was exacerbated by making the two main characters look almost exactly alike. This admittedly may not be a problem for everyone, but it is a huge issue to me when we are supposed to see these characters as unique.
Fifth, a lack of development or depth to the main characters. This also extends to the side characters, but is clearly of more importance with the main cast. They never change in any way or show any moments of human complexity. To be fair, change isn't absolutely necessary if you make a point of resistance to change or create a change in viewer perception of a character, but none of this happens. Even if a character never changes, if their complexity as characters is displayed that is often enough to be engaging, but they were utterly bland and simple characters. To be fair, you could argue the characters different displays of emotions (predominately jealousy, embarassment, or fear of rejection) were these complexities and in a way you would be right. The only problem is they were just standard reactions, with no more complexity or depth than if an author simply wrote "He felt jealous." It was the equivalent to the tsundere heroine meme that is "It's not like I care about you or anything, baka." Its just basic and uninteresting unless there is more going on or some context, which there isn't.
Additionally, I had some pet peeves that weren't drastic errors, but should be noted. The credit ending was sweet and endearing, but didn't fit the tone of the show imo, Akane's actions to me are too diabolical to be realistic unless they painted her as an evil character, the story he wrote at the end being discovered is a little too convenient, and the fact that they never brought up his interest in boxing and the Ali poster was a huge missed opportunity to actually add something to the character.
I don't understand how anyone can give this show a 7. That might sound arrogant, but it is undeniable that it wasn't innovative, it was purely basic. If you like basic thats fine, but calling anything purely basic more than just good seems intellectually dishonest. As I said in the TLDR, at its best this show is plain white bread. I can understand how someone can like plain white bread, but rating it 8 or high baffles me. At its worst, its stale, tasteless, and drags on forever.
Nov 28, 2018
Tsuki ga Kirei
(Anime)
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TLDR/Summary: Boring, milquetoast in every respect, and completely derivative, Tsuki ga Kirei manages to do nothing but tell the most basic story with bland characters. It fails to have any depth in any facet as well as lacking any shallow, surface-level appeal, making this show uninteresting and unable to set itself apart. The glacial pace of scenes and bad character design only exacerbates theses problems. At its best, this show is plain white bread. At its worst, its a stale loaf without having any drinking water.
The problem with this anime isn't necessarily that there are problems (which there certainly are), but more that it ... 
Oct 2, 2018
High Score Girl
(Anime)
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High Score Girl was obviously not going to be a flashy hit. It's wonky art style, niche setting, and lack of typical tropes. But it managed to be different and endearing. The three main characters were all relatable and their actions and feelings were both novel and understandable for the most part. It managed to tell a decent story very well, embracing the retro game culture it set itself in. The music also was very well done and fit the theme of the show.
That said, it's problems were clear. The art, while refreshingly different, was still below par. There were times it was noticeably really ... 
Jun 30, 2018
Asagao to Kase-san.
(Anime)
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This is one of the most shallow, frivolous anime I have ever watched. It has exactly two good points: Art and cutesy moments (which is at least 50% art, the rest voice acting and atmosphere). But outside of that there is nothing I can even find remotely redeemable about this anime.
A quick list of some of the very obvious problems with this anime: - SHALLOW characters: Yamada is literally just the insecure, innocent, shy girl. That's everything about her character. She loves Kase, because she is nice? She gardens because why not give her a random hobby. The friend, while being my favorite character, ... 
Nov 24, 2017
Flying Witch
(Anime)
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The art and sound quality are top notch, but that is basically all the show has to offer. The entire series is lacking any conflict or extensive developments, which were far and away the best parts of the show. The sister's arrival and the magical phenomena (the mandrake, burning the hair, the black and white river) were the best parts, but overall the series came and went and literally it was just a bunch of characters in a room talking about obvious and/or dull things with almost every other sentence ending in sugoi! (amazing) or eehhhh! They would call such random things amazing. Oh you
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Nov 3, 2017
Major is such an underrated anime, and I absolutely loved watching it. The further seasons will almost definitely get higher marks from me. The main charm of the series in my opinion is the genuine nature of the drama and the interactions in the character. There was never a point when it came to the characters that I thought "This would only happen in anime". That's actually a lie, there is exactly one part where this did creep to mind and holds it back a little bit. Hoshino and Goro's dad got together way to fast to the point where it wasn't exactly believable to
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Oct 18, 2017
Another was a show of high and lows for me, as certain things it did really well and had a sort of artistic class, while others were a mix of mediocre, cliche, and horribly paced. It is a decent mystery type show, and did well not to overextend it's narrative focus, but there were definitely points it could have improved on.
*SPOILERS AHEAD * One thing this show did really well was the early resolution of what exactly Mei Misaki was, as the entire class ignoring her existence wasn't exactly obvious and gave the show a hint of plausibility that gave it a sort of charm ... 
Jan 13, 2017
Nana is a story of dysfunctional people, and it created and developed those characters in a way that no other series I've seen has. Most series fail to build realistic flaws in characters outside of quirky personality traits or the general bully or evil type. Nana instead made the characters feel like real beings.
While the actually romance stories, drama, and all the other aspects of the plot and production were fairly well done, it was the exploring these dysfunctions and the social dynamics they spurred that let Nana shine. I have never seen another show do it better. Nana is weird in that I've seen ... 
Jun 24, 2016
I honestly do not understand how this anime is highly rated, unless it is solely because people are rating Clannad and After Story together. I just have problems with this series.
First of all, the plot was just very uninteresting. The whole thing with Fuko was very meh to me and nothing else plotwise really interested me. The whole thing that happened with her later was sort of interesting, but not fantastic. Also, this show just doesn't really make me like Nagisa much. I don't really have a lot of analysis here, I just don't really like her character at all. However, Clannad did ... 
Jun 24, 2016
Trigun is considered a classic, and I could certainly see why. The characters are presented well and the story runs smoothly. It really achieves the steampunk western feel it is shooting for.
And for what it is worth, Trigun is a good show. It is only brought down by my tastes in that I don't really enjoy westerns and it was a bit too episodic in the beginning for me. It is also brought down for the art, as a reboot would make this at least a 7 for me. But if you enjoy the theme than I have no doubt you would enjoy the ... 
Jun 24, 2016
Usagi Drop
(Anime)
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Usagi Drop feels like the type of show that would be critically acclaimed, but just not be very interesting. By that I mostly mean the story telling elements were good, the characters were presented well, and parts were endearing. But even though it told the story very well, the story itself was not very interesting. It is a similar issue I have with some classic pieces of literature like Great Expectations (for example). The writing is clearly world class but the story that it is telling just isn't all that interesting.
The show definitely isn't bad, I'd just wish they introduced better conflict or something. ... |
