(this review contains spoilers)
When I say this is the most interesting anime I've ever seen, I don't say it lightly. That by no means is saying it's the best show i've ever seen but in terms of the amount of content there is that's discussion worthy it definitely is.
I guess ill start with the main issues this show tries to tackle, which is hikikomori’s and suicide. I'll say it right away they tackle these issues horrendously, they treat these issues as the most one dimensional things on earth and make characters out as ignorant or stupid for having these issues in the first place. For
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example when a group decides to kill themselves, one of them starts to have regrets and asks the rest of the group what their families would think. They all decide to not kill themselves. Mind due this was after hearing one of them say they had thought about this thoroughly. The same person after the now canceled suicide gives a speech about how people with tunnel vision often cant see the solution when its right infront them. He says this to a boy who was also trying to kill himself because he stole money from his parents. This blatant insult to anyone with suicidal thoughts or to those who have committed suicide is extremly in-considerate. They even have the nerve to have another character tell them they’re fools for attempting it. On the surface saying committing suicide is foolish seems fine, but the way the show goes about it is terrible.
Now the main issue of the show and the whole plot point, hikikomori’s. In the show there is another hikikomori, other than satou, who is saved from his hikikomori ways by not being fed. That’s it. Are you starting to see why I said they treat these issues as the most one dimensional things in the world? The whole show is about misaki helping satou overcome his isolated life and yet the solution to it is apparently just to not be enabled. They even have satou change his ways and become self reliant all because his allowance was cut off.
Assuming the episodes of the other hikikomori didn't happen, we could give misaki credit as she may have pushed him further out of his comfort zone and not having food was the push he needed. but of course they needed to add that terrible filler which served no purpose other than to debunk that theory i suppose. because the other hikikomori was saved by not eating food even though he received no outside help initially. so we are just led to believe the whole project was pointless and he could've just had his allowance cut sooner. they had the story perfectly set up and ruined it on their own volition for absolutely no reason. It would be a million times better if those episodes were cut from the show which pisses me off to no end
Regardless of her seemingly uselessness, misaki is a very well written character. Her motives for helping satou are revealed very gradually in pieces leaving the viewer constantly speculating as to what her motives are. It’s ultimately revealed that she sees satou as someone that can give her life meaning and gives her a sense of being needed. I’d also like to imagine she wants to be with someone who has also gone through hardship. Considering how I was clueless why she wanted anything to do with satou for the majority of the show this was a satisfying explanation.
But what's interesting with the characters in this show is that despite the fact the show tackles very real issues and the fact the characters have a lot of issues unique to them, the characters still seem extremely artificial. I can't really explain why but these characters could absolutely not exist in the real world and yet I still found myself convinced of their authenticity. This is probably a result of the dichotomy of their realistic down to earth traits and their sudden changes in character to fit the current context of the episode. It felt like the show had a hard time keeping track of all the different character’s personalities and feelings whilst trying to manage the plot changing simultaneously.
Near the beginning of the show Satou hits his lowest point in the entire show. He becomes addicted to loli porn. There's starting a character at a low point to lead up to redemption but one must wonder if this was really necessary. It gets so bad to the point where he sits outside a middle school to take pictures of little girls. The characters recognise this as something bad but not nearly to the degree they should be. But I suppose that's a step forward for the anime industry. At the time this show aired, the age of consent in japan was 13 but it’s still absolutely deranged behaviour. Almost stopped watching it there and then but thankfully the show became pretty tame after that. At Least in comparison to this.
While watching this show I was wondering if the whole point of it was to belittle Satou to feel better about yourself, because it was certainly feeling that way for a while. But near the end of the show in a dream all the characters lecture Satou on how pathetic it is to belittle someone else to feel better about oneself. I thought this was really interesting as this was obviously there to call out the viewer. This was said in the context of trying to get satou to admit he's a failure and that he needs to better himself. Assuming this is a message to people watching the show it is by no means a bad one. There are a lot of people who will blame anyone and anything for their problems before themselves. So this was pretty cool to see.
Despite all of the glaring issues with the show I can’t help but really like it, because at the same time there’s alot to appreciate. 8/10
May 27, 2025
NHK ni Youkoso!
(Anime)
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(this review contains spoilers)
When I say this is the most interesting anime I've ever seen, I don't say it lightly. That by no means is saying it's the best show i've ever seen but in terms of the amount of content there is that's discussion worthy it definitely is. I guess ill start with the main issues this show tries to tackle, which is hikikomori’s and suicide. I'll say it right away they tackle these issues horrendously, they treat these issues as the most one dimensional things on earth and make characters out as ignorant or stupid for having these issues in the first place. For ... May 2, 2025
As artist into anime I obviously took an interest in bakuman. the characters in this show are very well fleshed out (for the most part). each character feels unique with different things driving them without too much exposition.
as for the story, despite its repetitive nature I find it engaging nonetheless. they don't show mashiro's progression as an artist visually unfortunately which for me was pretty disappointing. they do show art from time to time but there are no noticeable differences in quality. characters do acknowledge his progression throughout the show but for an anime about the creation of art it would've been nice to ... Mar 6, 2025
Durarara!!
(Anime)
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Saw Durarara!! on mal yesterday and could've sworn by watching the trailer it was made by the same studio behind baccano. and sure enough there ended up being at least 10 references to baccano throughout the show. I was honestly skeptical if i'd even enjoy this because it had the mystery genre. usually i'd associate the mystery genre with generic detective anime and the same stupid predictable twists, but that ended up being an unfair assumption as although it is technically a mystery show that's only because there are unanswered question posed and re-asked throughout the show. it's unfair to lump it in with the
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Mar 6, 2025
Sousou no Frieren
(Anime)
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Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is the best anime ive seen in years. First thing that immediately caught me off guard was that this anime has 0 fan service and 0 screaming and loud shrill voices like you'd find in your generic show. probably one of the first shows to have such a good rating and not have these things in it. Still has the highest rating on mal btw. one of the fight scenes at the beginning of this show had me thinking this would top aot but the quality wasn't as good after that. everything about this show is great, extremely refreshing to watch
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Mar 6, 2025
Bakuon Rettou
(Manga)
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Took me two days to read all of Bakuon rettou. It was like 100+ chapters too the bum behaviour is off the charts. But nah this was a really enjoyable read it’s definitely put me on manga that’s not adapted. It’s basically Tokyo revengers but good. A lot of stuff in this manga is based on real life experiences from the writer too. Haven’t seen any gang/delinquent media, despite there being so much of it, actually be able to empathise with the gang members on an emotional level. Just gapped by real world knowledge in writing I guess. Like this clears everything else in the
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