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Otona Joshi no Anime Time is a series of four episodes. Every episode has a different woman as the main character and we get to see a bit of her daily life as well as get to know her thoughts. I really liked this show because the women depicted are just ordinary people and even though nothing really extraordinary happens to them it is easy to empathize with them. Every episode has a different type of animation and they all look really good.

The first episode has a somberness to it. It kinda of reminded me of a Murakami short-story.
The second one is cute and romantic but hides some serious subjects.
The third episode was the one I enjoyed the most. Probably because it's the funnier and the main character learns to laugh at herself.
The last episode is the one that seemed more common, as in more relatable. I can think of a few women I know that have similar lives to the life the this main character has.

None of the episodes has a conclusive ending to it and there's no big changes in these characters lives. Some learn lessons, other don't, but that isn't the point. The objective is to show that everyone has wishes and desires and hopes and regrets. The show does not really pass judgment on any of these women, it just shows who they are. And there's something very relatable on every of them. The honest and intimate way their thoughts and actions are portrayed brings out the viewer's emotions and insecurities. All of the characters seem real and that's one of the bigger compliments I can think of.

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So the first episodes of Net-juu no Susume really made me want to drop it. I had read a review where someone said that the first episode was kinda of boring so even though I didn't care for the first episode I watched the next one. But I didn't care for the second neither, nor for the third one. So why did I keep watching this anime? I guess I wanted to give it a chance and believe what other people had said about it.

It is only around the 5th episode that things start to get better. I think this has to do with the fact that the story starts to focus more in the real world than in the game the characters play. So the action is slip between the mmo Moriko Morioka plays and the real world. And the real world scenes are just so much better than the ones in the game. I thought the game scenes were really annoying. It just felt like whoever made those scenes does not understand how games and online relationships work in general. People don't log into games to hang out and chat. People log in to play. The friendships made while playing are made while playing, not while admiring the game scenarios and graphics. I know these scenes were supposed to be like a caricature but it felt like the show also wanted to be an isekai besides being a show about a NEET in the real world.

So when the story starts to take place mainly in the real world it stats improving a lot and it becomes rather endearing. Sakurai and Koiwai are pretty good characters and their interactions with each other are really nice. But that brings me to the other problem I have with this show: how weak the main character is. We never really understand what kind of person Morioka is because she is always just reacting to what other people tell her. The only moment she seems like having made a decision for herself is when she quits her job but we don't see that happening and never completely understand it. We know why she quit but when we don't see Morioka struggling or talking about it, we can't completely empathize.
We can't really understand why Sakurai would be interested in her either. His friend on the other hand, it is quite obvious why he would want to get to know her: because he got to talk to her while they were both going through similar situations.

But it's not a bad show. The mmo scenes are certainly cringy but towards the last episodes it seems like the show became more self aware and started mocking some of these situations. It has nice animation going for it and some comedy here and there. The story is nice and the whole coincidence thing is actually entertaining. It also doesn't make use of the misunderstandings that could easily been avoided cliche, which is a relief because with this plot it could've easily fallen into that trap. Overall, it's entertaining and, for the most part, a pleasant watch.

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So for my first review I decided to tackle one of the most hyped and well regarded anime around. Hope I'm not being too ambitious.

Cowboy Bebop is, in one word, cool. Everything about it is cool: the soundtrack, the art style, the characters... everything. But the amount of coolness can not hide some of it's problems. It is an overall pretty good show but I found it somewhat lacking in some aspects. So lets start with the things I enjoyed and them move on to what I think it could have done better.

First, I should say that it took me a long time to make up my mind about watching Cowboy Bebop. Even though it was recommend to me endless times, I just couldn't get over the fact that it was a rather old show and that the animation would suck - I'm someone that easily discards shows if I don't like the way they are animated. But it turns out I was wrong! The animation has hold out pretty well and it has something very stylish about it. The character's designs are great - except for Faye's awful even though iconic yellow suit - and the whole universe is full of charisma. The soundtrack is just as great, having one the best opening songs ever - hell I'm listening to it right now just to get pumped to write this review.
The episodes are very entertaining, full of action and funny moments. There are also a few more dramatic episodes and others where you can see they were trying to mimic or mock some genres, which adds to the show. There's some variety to the characters which is a plus and their iterations with each other can by very funny to watch.

But for such an iconic show I was expecting a little bit more of a story. Truth is that in all of the 26 episodes maybe 5 or 6 of them really matter for the plot. Every other episode just repeats more or less the same formula: there's a bounty to catch, Spike, Faye and sometimes Jet go after it, they all get in each other's way, they manage to catch it (or not) and in the end are still broke because they have to pay for all the damage they made. It is entertaining to watch but at some point you start to expect a bit more.
The characters don't really help much in developing the story either. Even though they all have at least one episode dedicated to them individually, they don't really change. Faye is the most frustrating one, having such an interesting back story and not really changing when she finally finds out what she wanted to know.
There are a few episodes about Spike that hint to a very complex and interesting story. This actually seems to be the plot the whole show was supposed to revolve around but it doesn't. This leads to a last episode that even though is cool and has fun action scenes, just seems like it came out of nowhere. In the end none of the characters learned anything and, even though they might have started to care for each other, they don't show it.

I might sound overcritical towards a show that I rated pretty high. The thing is that a see the amount of potencial Cowboy Bebop had. Every episode is entertaining but when it leads to nothing, even though it seemed it wanted to lead to something, it is a bit frustrating. If it was just a show about the daily struggles of the cast I would be completely fine with it. But when it adds Spike's darker story and tries to pass it as a main plot point even though it is brushed off for most of the show I just get confused. I think Cowboy Bebop could lose that whole plot and be just as good, if not better.

But overall, this is a great show that you will certainly enjoy and have fun with. I guess the best way to watch it is just to forget about the hype and not take the story too seriously.

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