After three epsisodes, pleasantly surprised and impressed by this show. I wasn't expecting much, just another bland romcom. But I was immediately captured by two things:
1) the MC is an ordinary guy. Not an outcast, or weirdo, or self-loathing reject. He has friends. He is able to talk normally to his classmates, both boys and girls, without throwing a nervous fit. They think he is OK. There is nothing "special" about him and that is such a relief. He is considerate. He is willing to help out. He is willing to improve. His strength is in fact that he takes the time to actually talk
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May 25, 2023
Mashiro no Oto
(Anime)
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The music is superb. Purely as an introduction to the passion and tradition of shamisen and acoompanying song this anime could not have been better. I will always be grateful to have been given this chance to experience that for the first time. And not just one or two performances: the show features multiple Japanese artists playing together or alone, sometimes introducing us to new ideas, sometimes playing the same piece but made individual through their own styles.
However. The excellent music and good supporting artwork are let down by the story and characters. The main character is The Troubled but Brilliant Artist in Search ... 
May 15, 2023
Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu!
(Anime)
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So far, an excellent and deeply involving character study. Hime is a girl who can pretend to near perfection in her goal of making everyone like her. Mitsuki cannot understand pretence, with the result that noone likes her. Yet both must act the part of affectionate schoolmates in a cafe modelled on yuri classics like Maria Watches Over Us.
Hime and Mitsuki must go on a difficult and emotional journey as the both navigate their feelings while maintaining their public and private facades. Is what they express what they really feel, or is it part on the act? Will they survive an avid cafe clientele ... 
May 14, 2023
Tonikaku Kawaii 2nd Season
(Anime)
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A feel good romantic comedy where not much happens and the story line every week is will they/won't they get embarrassed again like twelbe year olds at the thought of holding hands or being partially naked. This married couple who have lived together in the one tiny room for months.
Season one was pretty interesting with the mystery of Tsukasa' origins. But so far in s2 that has been completely replaced with perpetual blushing and adults acting in a cutesy way that is either completely unrealistic or the reason Japan doesn't make children any more. The art is as bland as the characters have become, but after ... 
Mar 3, 2023
Lets get one thing out of the way: if you expect to see anyone being reborn to master any blades, you're in for a disappointment. The heroine is reincarnated as one of the few people to understand how mana works, and essentially uses that to nuke anything that gets in her way.
In her previous life she was a king, but in this life she just wants to have fun as a fighter without all that responsibility. This scenario in itself is a giant improvement over the standard isekai formula of Japanese game-playing loser reborn to live out a power/sex fantasy. The heroine is fun to ... 
Feb 24, 2023
Tensei shitara Ken deshita
(Anime)
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As an isekai about a man transformed into a sword, this show was immediately elevated by not having the protagonist as the main hero of the story. As a (mostly) inanimate object, he can only ever be a supporting character, which means that we can avoid the worst tropes of this genre. He isn't over-powered, he doesn't have a sex slave or a harem, and his abilities exist in service of the story rather than the centrepiece. In fact, I don't even know why this needs to be an isekai at all, as his previous life has no bearing on the story as told in
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Feb 15, 2023
An office romance between two co-workers, one of whom has some unusual powers. I had high hopes for this at the start. The characters look good, his ice powers might make for some original situations, and above all I was glad to see a romance between grown adults for a change. I had presumed that characters in their twenties, having already gone through school and college, with some experience of adult life, would act with more maturity and decisiveness, at least some of the time, than we normally see in high school romances.
No. Unfortunately everyone in the show has the emotional development of a ... 
Feb 2, 2023
Kubo-san wa Mob wo Yurusanai
(Anime)
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A sweet, very lightweight romance and a poor man's Teasing Master Takagi-san. The main character leads a quiet life with noone even noticing if he's there until Kubo, the pretty girl who sits next to him in class, starts paying attention to him. Gentle comedy ensues.
It is very obvious she has a crush on him and only teases him very gently, but rather inserts herself in his life. All this is a pleasant and relaxing blandness. The main issue is the main character. In order to demonstrate why he has been socially invisible, pains have been taken to make him as bland, unassertive, and self effacing ... 
Feb 1, 2023
Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e Kayou
(Anime)
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What is this show about? The story is simple enough, but what is the point of it? The all-powerful demon lord is reborn as the all-powerful demon lord. He chooses to go to demon lord academy. Why? It seems he knows the entire curriculum already, and if he wanted to be demon lord again, he could just steam roller his way back into position immediately. On the other hand, if he doesn't want to be demon lord again, why go to the academy at all?
Here we have the central confusion. The main character is so powerful that he has no challenges to overcome. He ... 
Jan 30, 2023
Frustrating. I am sure there is a good story (four stories?) buried in here. I think the main character is interesting and well acted of course. I think this could have been great... if they had only slowed down for a minute!
Side characters are introduced and disappear and pop up again. Wait, that guy was, what, an architect? Or something. Those guys hanging around with nothing to do except dress up nicely were... what again? I am sure I've seen them before. Wait, that girl was at a fancy school for the elite and now she's a chambermaid (what would her parents think)? Frustrating. That guy ... |
