Back to jai_es's Profile jai_es's Profile

This film is dangerous. I've been thinking about this movie for a long time. It still upsets me to this day, because it's a very sickening destruction of not only Violet, but love itself. And it's one of the highest rated, lauded anime films of all-time. To me, the people who love this film and resonate with it, are simply emotionally underdeveloped or brainwashed to believe "conventional" Hallmark-level relationship dynamics. Here's why.

The conclusion of her arc is to romantically chain herself to the man who ghosted her, who is also literally her adoptive father. At it's core, this idea of love is completely juvenile; that ... in order to feel fulfilled, you need to be in a relationship. And not only is that core principle a main conclusion of the show, it's also a forced relationship with a disturbed individual that literally ghosted her for years, and clung to her after seeing her beg for his attention. This entire show, the entire arc of this beautiful and layered narrative about love and finding yourself through friendship and art and self-expression is reduced to Neanderthalic drivel. Ah yes, Violet finally found herself: in the arms and bed of her reclusive father who emotionally scarred her! I'm so happy for her! This was the culmination of everything she learned!

It's truly a despicable narrative. I can't help but feel like the writers thought they were giving the audiences what they wanted, but if you actually step back and think about what's happening, it's truly insane and twisted.

I like to imagine this film doesn't exist, and the show simply ended. It's much better for Violet's sake. She's in a much healthier position without this film existing. The art and music are incredible though!

F this movie. 3/10 (generous)

This season is everything I wanted from Kimi ni Todoke.

The first two seasons are pretty good, but this season completely enraptured me. To me, the first two seasons were simply the prologue, and now the real story has finally begun.

All the side characters get a spotlight, and honestly they are some of the best in the entire show. Ayane in particular solidified her spot as my favorite character, she was given a lot more depth and her inner conflict is super intriguing. The main couple finally gets to explore what being committed is like, and how to navigate that, which is always more ... interesting to me than the classic "when will they confess" rollercoaster. I love all the characters, I love seeing them navigate their problems, I love seeing them grow and bond and interact. The writing in this season/arc is simply enthralling, and I had tears in my eyes at multiple points.

The art maintains its pretty, colorful, watercolor background style, and the new music added for the season is gorgeous, even better than the previous 2 seasons. The episodes being an hour long are also really satisfying, it allows you to get more immersed in the drama and the atmosphere, imo.

All-in-all, I was so surprised by this season. If the next seasons keep up this momentum, this will be one of the best slice-of-life shows I've ever seen. I went right into this after watching the first two seasons, and I never expected to walk away from this show giving it a 10, but I will. And I did.

10/10

Do NOT let the title fool you. Don't let this become a hidden gem!

What shocked me the most about this anime is the presentation; very subdued, atmospheric, full of abstract and emotive imagery. The music is absolutely gorgeous and the sound design is incredibly intimate. Personally, I think it's brave to direct a show to be so slow-burning and spacious, I think it might put a lot of people off. But for me, this somber and ambient energy is really quite stirring.

The drama is very simple, the circumstances are very simple, the stakes are very low. It's essentially two strangers, who are slightly broken ... and cold, becoming closer. However, the mature writing and excellent directing makes it compelling, somehow. I'm very excited to see it continue.

8/10

The 'girls making music' genre has been getting pretty saturated, and going in I felt like it wouldn't have anything new to add. I was surprised, however, to find an incredible Anime with massive depth, maturity and jaw-dropping visuals.

Writing 9/10: (very mild spoilers, no plot details)
There is genuinely intriguing and intricate character drama going on in this show, including lovable and hateable characters that struggle like real people. I see a lot of talk about how annoying the characters can be, especially the lead Nina, but I actually found this to be a breath of fresh air, and makes for a fascinating protagonist. She's a ... sheltered kid who struggles with insecurity, anger issues, and forces her ideologies onto other characters, but through this lens there is a very sobering and genuine growth. It would be one thing if the characters were annoying or troublesome without purpose, but the writing is executed with clear intent and maturity. Just in it's 13 episode runtime, it explores a lot of different themes: learning to love yourself, accepting change, rejecting cowardice, revenge, parental roles, independence, creative growth, and probably a lot more I can't intelligently analyze. All of these themes are explored with maturity and fantastic character writing, something that really surprised me when getting into this show. If there is one thing I could complain about, it would be that the pacing was a bit fast over-all, and it barely scratches the surface of actually being in a band and making music. Also, the whole "rock" and "rawness" thing is a bit silly considering their sound is pretty mainstream J-rock stuff, but maybe I'm just an elitist. (its good tho)

Characters 9/10:
The two main leads, Momoka and Nina are simply captivating to follow. Momoka desires Nina's singing, and Nina desires her music, but they aren't compatible. The way they see each other defies expectation. Their relationship is a constant rollercoaster, and that push and pull is a work of art in itself. Subaru is the one character in the show I feel is truly likeable at her core, and she's simply iconic, I love her. She serves as the balance to the volatile dichotomy of the two leads, as well as the comic relief. The two characters who end up being bandmates also add an interesting dynamic to the show, although I wish they had more development. The three main girls, Nina, Momoka and Subaru, are one of my favorite casts to be put to screen in a very long time. I really want to see them continue their story; 13 episodes was not enough.

Art 9/10:
Some of the most emotive, creative, and beautiful CGI-2D hybrid art I've ever seen. It's so good it almost transcends 2D animation at some points, for me. The amount of nuance in the facial expressions, the intricate and diverse mannerisms of the characters, the slapstick comedy moments, they squeezed every last drop they could from the CGI backbone of the show and it WORKS SO WELL. There are some brief sections with just 2D art that don't look very good, but it's overshadowed by the incredible CGI character animation/dramatic direction. There is also a great use of effects, especially the visual motif of the red and black sparks coming off of Nina in certain scenes, that are incredibly memorable and emotionally effective. The directing consistently proves how much love they had for this show, it just oozes with personality and detail.

Music 8/10:
I'm very glad that the song driving the entire plot is actually a banger; I think it would have been silly if a mid song changed Nina's life and set this whole story off to begin with. I love that Nina's VA is actually doing the singing, especially since it's a driving conflict in the show. I also love the music video style insert songs throughout the Anime, great visuals and outfits. Other than that, I don't think all the music is peak or anything, but it's not bad in the slightest. The actual OST of the anime itself, not the band music, was just fine. In some parts it sounded a bit cheap or emotionally ineffective, but it never bothered me too much. Again, this anime excels in it's character drama, the music is mostly a vehicle to deliver the themes of the show.

CONCLUSION/TLDR:
This anime blew me away. It isn't a masterpiece by any means, but as a 'girls making music' anime, it's probably the best written I have ever seen. Almost no fan-service or tropes, it relies completely on the characters and the plot, which has a very unpretentious, genuine, mature quality to it. The main character, Nina, is refreshingly broken and difficult to deal with, and this dynamic leads to fantastic depth, conflict and potential growth. It has some of the most emotive and well-performed CGI I have ever seen, borderline exceeding 2D animation for some of the emotional moments.
While 'Bocchi the Rock' excels in it's music, animation and comedy, for me, I will always prefer genuine or even uncomfortable drama and complex characters over just pure fun, which this anime delivers excellently. It is an absolute shame this anime didn't get licensed, because it now has less eyes and ears to enjoy it. Even though it's gaining a strong cult following outside of Japan, I fear that it won't be enough for a second season. But I still plan to buy Blu-Rays, push for localization, and support them to show we care. Please, do the same!

tl;dr tl;dr - it is absolutely worth watching, and gets better with each episode.

9/10 - Amazing show. Use NakayubiSubs for fan-translation please! Thanks.

Disappointing, contrived, and pointless.

I love the first season; despite the annoying fanservice and tropes, at it's core the world and characters are riveting, and I always wanted to see what was going to happen next. Sadly, this season totally took the wind out of the sails.
The first four episodes are basically filler. Sara as a character has no reason to exist other than to spur on the main conflict of the season, which at first seems interesting but is simply used as a joke for the rest of the story. Their relationship develops completely unnaturally and feels forced, and the new adventurers he teams up ... with have no impact. The narrative should have really been more introspective about Rudeus' reaction to the end of Season 1, but it added too many elements that just fizzle out right away. He goes from wallowing and almost killing himself to basically forgetting his trauma instantly when he enters the school; no character growth to be found, and the first 4 episodes are forgotten. I was very excited for the school arc. It was foreshadowed at the very start of the show, but it also turns out to be pointless. He just lives in the school, reads books all day, and molests classmates. For some reason he finds this a better use of his time than going out to save his mother (which is the arc of this Anime I wish I could watch instead). The reasoning for this is completely contrived, especially when Roxy knows exactly where she is and could just tell him. Perhaps if the school arc was about him building up his power or learning something new about himself it would have felt more acceptable that the story linger here, but it's basically just a slice of life with no direction and no world building. Including way too many scenes involving his figurine-loving fan, ceaseless p*dophilia, and cat and dog-girl fanservice slaves. All of the characters introduced this season have NO depth, and NO relevance to the plot.
Additionally, Fitz has NO good reason to be hiding her identity in front of Rudeus; it's so cliche and contrived, and only serves to drag out the plot even further than it needs to be. There are so many stupid reasons for the narrative to be going the way it is, that it should have just been fundamentally rewritten.

And, about the animation. It took a big nosedive compared to the previous season. Season 1 has my favorite anime art style EVER. It's absolutely gorgeous and textured. The emotions and movements were fantastic. In this season I can remember MULTIPLE moments where characters are distorted, limbs are distorted, movement is stiff and strange, faces are undetailed and unconvincing (or downright WRONG). Everything feels cheaper, and it's a shame. With that said though, it's still a good-looking anime generally.

All in all, the first season had well-written and genuine character drama, interesting conflicts, and a grand sense of progression with every step. The series already had problems with degeneracy that didn't service the plot, but I could overlook it because everything else was so good. But now it's all it has to offer at this point. I am hopeful the next part of the season will bring back some of the magic of Mushoku Tensei, because this part has none.

STORY: 2/10
ANIM: 7/10
MUSIC: 8/10
ENTERTAINMENT: 5/10

FINAL: 4/10

Please, trust this story. Don't give it up.

Chainsaw Man is a strange, unhinged, but ultimately refreshing narrative. The downfall of the hype of this show is that it's very easily misunderstood in the beginning (as someone who has read the manga). The slowest, most rocky part of the entire story is it's first few episodes, but what the story does to subvert these trope expectations is absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, the CSM fanbase does a huge disservice to newcomers by saying things like "bro, Denji is so relatable he just wants boobs, genius" completely missing the point of his character. "Makima step on me!" completely ... missing the point of the character. If I was new to this show, I would think that the show is misogynistic, meandering stupidity. But it is so beautifully animated, so well adapted, that believe me, the things to come are absolutely worth the wait, and I implore anyone reading this review to give the show a chance. It's a lot more cerebral, and thought-provoking than you think! And at the end of the day, it's a lot of fun, and looks amazing visually.

Cheers.
9/10