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Spoilers ahead, *only read if you have finished the series*! Otherwise, it’s a really great show. Easy 8/10. I love Phos. That is all.

Houseki no Kuni is a story about growing up, about one person’s resolution to change, and all of the pain and suffering that comes with it. Really, it’s Phos’ story, but it’s more than that too. At the start of the series, when we first get introduced to our cast of humanoid crystals, I found myself struggling to get into what seemed to be another ‘monster-of-the-week show’. The Lunarians showed up, we got a fight scene, and they went away. And all ... the while that was happening, Phos could only look on in helplessness and have others come and save them. None of the characters really shone to me, and it was hard to find anyone to connect to. But as I think back now, while I don’t think it was entirely deliberate, I think it is fitting. After all, Phos is someone looking to prove herself to others, to be valued and respected as an equal, even if she can’t but fail in childish ways. She’s someone without a place, not strong enough to fight like all the people she looks up to, but she wants to be an equal to them. Everyone looks at her like she is just a simple, useless child.

So, she makes a resolution to change, but not knowing how to, she seeks out guidance from those same people around her. She puts herself in danger, makes a resolution that she will help the other, more prominent outcast she knows, Cinnabar. She resolves to do things that she would normally refuse to. She suffers a bit, takes on a few bruises, gets betrayed by someone who seems like a friend to her, then crawls home without both of her legs, bringing enough minerals with her to have substitute legs made for her.
But to everyone’s surprise, Phos’ new legs work far better than expected, she can run at blisteringly fast speeds, so fast that she starts to shatter. She’s changed physically, and all of a sudden, she has a skill, she has something she can do. But did she change mentally? The answer comes quickly when facing off against the Lunarians with the Amethysts. Just like before, there was still nothing she could do, she was totally unable to fight. She just froze. Later on, despairing about this fact, she decides that she won’t hibernate that winter, and instead, join Antarcticite for the Winter patrols.

To me, that point was when the story really started to come into its own. Phos and Antarc were a good pairing, and even over the course of an episode or two, it really felt like the strongest connection we saw on screen. It felt like Phos was learning, but she was learning the wrong things. By losing her legs, others started to see her in a new light. All of a sudden, she was promoted up from being useless. She broke out of the prison of her reputation… Then, what if she lost her arms too? What if she could hold a sword like the rest of them, and fight like she always wanted to?

She gets her wish, but in the worst way possible. Trapped in a cage of her own making, Phos has to look on as Antarc is shattered into pieces and taken away by the Lunarians. Yet another person is killed in front of her, but this time, it’s a friend, a comrade, a mentor. Someone who never complained, did the work they were given, and did it well—did it with courage.

In that moment, the old, innocent, child-like Phos dies. Not physically, but in spirit. After that moment, she’s never the same again. She gains new power from her alloy arms, yes, she gains the resolve to fight, but to do so, she loses so much. From that point forward, I really felt that I was watching something special. The first time I saw the new, changed Phos, haunted by her inability to save Antarc, I was in disbelief. I could barely believe it was her. Never mind the new haircut, never mind the new arms. That serious look on her face, those eyes that always stayed half-closed, that polite manner of speaking that was so different from that of the old, playful Phos. And most importantly of all, the grief and regret that she feels towards what happened with Antarc. The next time I saw the opening, with that happy, innocent Phos—blissfully unaware of what was to come, about the many sad things that she would experience—I couldn’t help but cry. Even now, just thinking about that contrast, it brings tears to my eyes. No, before, Phos was just the main character. Someone who was bright and warm and made me laugh. After that, she was much more special. She was someone I felt for, someone I cared about. You cannot help but love her. Not in the typical way where you see a character and you’re like ‘Oh! I love them!’, but you love them in a way that’s much deeper than that, you feel empathy toward them, you feel such toward them that they don’t need to crack funny jokes or be some badass in a fight. You just connect with them. From what I saw, Phos has easily become a favorite character of mine. Maybe not top ten, but I won’t forget her anytime soon.

She became strong. She gained the ability to fight. Others finally started to look upon her differently, started to respect her, to look up to her. But when she looks back at that younger version of herself, she can’t help but feel somehow jealous. I thought that was incredibly poignant. As a story of change—of character growth—it’s one of the best that I’ve ever seen.

The animation throughout was beautiful. As expected from Studio Orange, the characters were dynamic, the battles were engaging, and best of all, the camera was dynamic and used elegantly to shift perspectives as if it were live-action. It’s a different experience from normal 2D animation, but in a good way. Orange know how to take advantage of its strengths. I also appreciated the restrained use of music. Even while characters said profound things, the only sound to be heard was the sound of silence, not some swelling music that tried to artificially tug at your heartstrings, and I’m glad that was the case. This is a mature story, grown up in ways, yet charming just like a modern, engaging piece of fiction should be.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time watching Houseki no Kuni. For a show that didn’t initially grab me, it made a reversal of the highest order. It deserves nothing less than an 8 out of 10, putting it up there with some of my favorite series. In fact, if I think about it for long enough, I’m sure that I might feel more and more inclined to give it a 9. I’m looking forward to seeing what the manga may bring, and whether my opinion on it will change at all.

Phos… I hope that someday, you regain that smile of yours…

Here it is folks: the Monogatari novel that I couldn't get into; the only one I've decided to watch *instead* of reading.

You know, when I watched the first episode and saw the opening 'The Last Day of My Adolescence', I thought that I had seriously misjudged this story. After all, the events in the opening were emotional, intense and nostalgic. In fact, I really like the song itself. Something about that second verse starting with 'Kimi no inai...', Sawashiro Miyuki's vocals are great (well, aside from that one aggressive ear-splitting tangent in the middle of it). The thing is—spoiler alert—the events depicted in the opening ... aren't real or in the actual story. Nope, turns out I didn't misjudge anything.

And maybe you might say 'oh well what did you expect, it's not like Senjougahara stapled the entire world; the world where there are fifty Hachikujis riding the bus to school doesn't exist; Kanbaru didn't leap from flower to flower; Karen didn't actually turn into a bee; Tsukihi didn't put on a mega rave and Hanekawa didn't fall asleep on the train. To that I would say: Okay, fine (but the world with fifty Hachikujis is a realm called Valhalla that's only reachable through honorable death in battle).

Let me just say it straight up: Hanamonogatari is boring. Yes, aside from a handful of surprises (mainly in episodes 1 and 2), this whole story was one languid stroll along a perfectly straight road, and that's ironic considering it's about Kanbaru, a character known for running around everywhere.

Look, I did appreciate a handful of scenes in here, but the two big characters in this story are Kanbaru and Numachi, and I was literally waiting right until the end of the last episode for Numachi to become anything more than some character who emerged out of the blue with little reason to care about her. I didn't manage to find that reason personally, and I think a lot more could have been done with her character. Maybe other viewers will find her perspective upon the world interesting, but I didn't much care for it.

In the end, Hanamonogatari is a disappointing entry in the otherwise fantastic Monogatari series. Ultimately, it is part of a larger, thoroughly enjoyable whole, so I doubt that viewers/readers who have already gotten through nine story arcs (more if you watched in anime release order) are going to drop it at this point. This isn't going to make me drop it either, but it comes down to this. Hanamonogatari tells a story that I'm not even sure needed to be told. It's lackluster and dull. Fortunately, it only clocks in at five episodes - so you could easily watch it in a single sitting, which I recommend doing so that you can move on with your life afterwards.

Frankly, as the second story in the series that gives Araragi a day off of his job as narrator, it totally pales in comparison to Tsubasa Tiger, which is easily filled with more tension, twists, turns, development and catharsis than Suruga Devil. Although, comparing anything to Tsubasa Tiger might already be unfair on the level of comparing a night out at Outback Steakhouse to dining at the Ritz.

I don't think this is going to be anyone's favorite story arc in the series, but I do think there will be a lot of people that enjoy this more than I did. Most of the other reviews on here, for example. However, if you found Hanamonogatari's story to be generally dull, then know this: you are not alone. The production values on display here are good as always, and the story isn't *bad* per se, to me it was just unengaging. But in a series that's otherwise exceptional, it sticks out.

Overall: As dull as it is short. Don't elect to skip Hanamonogatari (that would be the mark of a true psychopath) but instead, just sit down and expend the two or so hours that it will take you to consume the story and move on. You might even like it more than I do. No, instead, I'll be diving into the pages of Otorimonogatari without a single pang of guilt in my conscience for electing not to read this one.

Final score is going to be a blasphemous 5/10 for Hana-meh-nogatari - and no, I cannot hear your groans on the other side of the screen, nor can I smell the rotting fruit that you are throwing at it for that awful pun.

Confession: I used to be a Monogatari hater.

What? Why? The answer being that when I first engaged with the series, first watched Bakemonogatari around a year and a half ago, the anime adaptation frustrated me. Unfortunately, I was just too much of a realist to enjoy the surreal style---I didn't want the iconic, infinite staircase---I'd have rather had a plain, boring one. Not to mention that my personality was likely incompatible with the style of the story. As Nisioisin puts it (forgive me for my awful paraphrasing), the books are mainly about having a bunch of silly conversations. Watching the anime, I was getting frustrated ... and wondering if anything worthwhile was going to happen. Go on, laugh at me. Only later, would I become the kind of person who would be sold on that premise.

So I bought the books. All of them, to be precise, simply because I was sure that there had to be *some* reason that this series was so highly acclaimed. Buying 20 books at once without reading any of them first, you might consider that slightly reckless---and I would agree. However it's something that I now, evidently, don't regret in the slightest. I mean, have you *seen* the cover of Bakemonogatari Pt. 3? It's gorgeous. Oh yeah, not to mention the words printed behind the cover are novel and entertaining too.

How could I possibly regret getting into a series that is just so funny and charming, that's unlike anything I've read before? The clippings section on my Kindle is clogged up from me saving all the best jokes and quotations.
But of course, that's not the only good thing about this series. Yes, it's funny, written in flowing and engaging prose, but it can also wound you. Hell, you can tear up reading this series. It can be poignant and emotional, just the same as it can be childishly funny and frivolous.

I could end this review by saying that I loved it and writing the conclusion, but for now let me also run through each of the instalments that make up this first season.
Bakemonogatari is where the story originates. It's pretty good. I would hesitate to say it's as good as some of the other instalments. I must say that the conflicts/aberrations are on point throughout, but still, not my favorite. I liked Suruga Monkey and Tsubasa Cat especially, and I enjoyed the humor of Mayoi Snail.

Kizumonogatari is brilliant. How to express my feelings on it... Let me just say that I can understand why Vertical published it before Bakemonogatari. It's the potential of Bakemonogatari realised. It's funny, it's iconic, and best of all, it is genuinely touching. It's so memorable and good that after I finished reading it, I didn't bother to move onto Nisemonogatari for a few months. I just felt so satisfied. If I had to review this book on its own, no question, it would be a 10/10.

However, I couldn't stay away for long. Eventually I started to crave more of that signature Monogatari quipping. Luckily, Nisemonogatari was the perfect one to start reading for that. Nise turns the quipping and the jokes up to 11, getting more and more meta, as well as making use of the full cast of characters to crack jokes with. It's like the world that the story takes place in became a lot brighter. It's very silly, but it's heartwarming too. I liked Karen a lot. Naturally, I loved it.

Okay, last one then. Nekomonogatari (Kuro). Imagine, a book where around a quarter of its overall length is taken up by one conversation. Impressive. Not as intensely satisfying as Kizu, but the emotional drama was very enjoyable. It genuinely tugged at my heartstrings.

Now, if I had but one criticism of the series, it would be that the action sequences are resolved rather easily. Kind of suddenly, even. Never will there be an intense struggle to solve a problem. Even if Araragi is practically banging on death's door from an intense fight, there is never a climax where you would say that they really had to fight to reach it. To compare it to another series, imagine if every conflict was resolved in the same way that A Certain Magical Index's Daihaseisai arc was resolved. There's a struggle, there's a fight, but at the end of the day, it's kind of meaningless. Sometimes that can even be refreshing (like in Nise pt.1), but it's just the nature of the series.

But, overall, what I really want to say is that the Monogatari series is hyped for a reason. You can start out one of the novels laughing your ass off, then read the last few chapters while tears well up in your eyes. Yes, believe the hype.

If you are like I was and didn't enjoy the style of the anime adaptation, yet you don't find yourself averse to reading stories filled with long, meandering and frivolous yet hilarious conversations, then I whole-heartedly recommend reading the novels. And if you did enjoy the anime adaptations---loved them, even, then I still highly recommend reading the novels. You get all of the narration, all of the meta jokes, and indeed, all of the content. There was actually a fair amount of cut content in the anime adaptations. Yes, if you can believe it, a seventy seven thousand word long book like Nekomonogatari Kuro could not be adapted in its entirety in just four episodes. And if you enjoyed Nisemonogatari's anime, then wait until you read Nisemonogatari Part 2. It's like a whole different experience!

And most importantly of all, if you haven't seen the anime at all, know nothing about this series and aren't averse to reading, then I still recommend reading it. Take it from someone who is typically hype-averse, this time, believe the hype!

Overall, I massively enjoyed this series. It's like nothing else that I've read. The best entries in this first season are worthy of incredible scores, but to round out this whole first season while anticipating that the highest highs are perhaps yet to come, I am going to give the series a 9/10. I'm glad I gave the series a second chance.


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Now for some pathetic complaining, please, spare yourself the time and move on unless you are the kind of person who cares about name order and honorifics, because I'd like to do some nit-picking with the official Vertical translations.

Tell me, what is the name of the protagonist of the Monogatari series. The main one. Last name Araragi? Is it Araragi Koyomi? Or is it Koyomi Araragi? What about his girlfriend? Is it Senjougahara Hitagi? Or is it Hitagi Senjogahara?

If you answered Koyomi Araragi and Hitagi Senjogahara, then there is absolutely nothing to worry about. These translations are perfect. Enjoy!

However, if by chance you are umm... well, particular(?) about things, then you can read on.

My brain writhes in pain, sending a deep sense of rejection throughout my body whenever I am forced to parse a sentence containing the words Hitagi Senjogahara. I feel so distracted that I can't even read the page that I have open. I fall out of my seat, crawling desperately to my computer, where I am compelled to 'fix' the epub files by myself. Finally, all of the pages say Senjougahara Hitagi. All is right in the world.

Unfortunately for myself, I am the kind of person who cares about this sort of stuff. Also unfortunately for me, in the official translations, it doesn't quite swing my way. They use Westernised name order and mostly omit honorifics (bringing them back only in certain situations). So when Araragi says Karen-chan and Tsukihi-chan, someone comments on it, then after that, the honorifics are kept intact inside of that novel. If that was going to be the case, why not just use honorifics throughout? (Because they didn't need to, duh? [Shut up, get out of my own monologue! I don't need to listen to common sense!] Come on, they're trying to appeal to a wide demographic, including people who don't know what honorifics are or don't care about them. [Look, if I didn't have bad opinions on localisation that actual translators laugh at, I'd have ended the review a few paragraphs earlier.])

Let me tell you, it took effort for me to adjust to the GJM subs of Railgun T (Huh? Wasn't this a review for the Monogatari series?). Gone were such unlocalised terms as 'Onee-sama' and 'Daihaseisai'. I was incredibly torn up by it. My pathetic baby tears flooded my neighborhood, destroying massive amounts of property. I woke up the next day and didn't even pull back the curtains. However, after I went on a spiritual journey and reached a state of miniscule enlightenment, I was finally able to accept that the subs were excellent and that I could understand why they localised these terms. I grew as a person, but still, I have not triumphed over my need for Japanese name order.

All this to say, if you're like me and get all particular about that, you might find yourself mildly inconvenienced (I mean TERRIBLY AWFULLY TORN UP) about that fact. But really, it's a nit-pick. The translations are excellent. But if you're like me, my pro tip is that you can fix it yourself by doing a mass find and replace in notepad++ if you open all of the text files inside of the epub files.

The funny thing about this OVA is that it is actually much less 'OVAish' than some episodes of the actual first season of Railgun. In short, it's a fantastic episode of the show that far exceeded my expectations.

First of all, the OP of this particular OVA is something you do not want to miss if you're a fan of the series, it's sweet, it's funny and it's heart-warming as well.

Every one of the four main characters gets their time to shine in this OVA. Now I know saying this is controversial, but I didn't really like Saten too much in the original series (sorry Saten ... fans, no disrespect). But here, Saten gets her time to shine along with Uiharu and Kuroko. Now I still don't *love* the dastardly skirt-flipper, but this OVA made me appreciate her character, as well as all of the main characters in general, a little more. The friendship they share with each other is really emphasised in this episode and is a central part of the story instead of just being a segue into the action.

This OVA also explores some rather mature subject matter, I was rather impressed at how the show handled this too. It's a different dynamic from what we saw in the first season of the show and I thought it was fresh and interesting.

The comedy scenes are pretty good too and in fact, so are the visuals. Usually an OVA is where we see some stripped-back animation, but nope. Misaka and Kuroko's abilities are animated satisfyingly and the final product doesn't just look slapped together.

But of course, it wouldn't be an OVA without some good old-fashioned 'fan service' right? Well, there's a bathhouse scene. And no, no one is wearing a towel in the water. Thankfully, however, the plot doesn't grind to a halt during this scene, and it's integrated decently well in the story. You win some, you lose some, and this is a pretty minor point against this OVA in my opinion.

Overall, this OVA was much better than I was anticipating. It made me like the cast of characters a bit more. It was fresh, funny and interesting, and definitely one of the best OVAs I've seen. If you've seen season 1 of Railgun and skipped over this, I highly recommend going back and watching it. 8/10.

I don't think the second season of Black Lagoon is better than the first. Rather, I think it's worse than the first. The author has lots of good ideas, but the execution of them is rather lacking. Many people here say the second half of this season was the highlight, but I have to disagree, it was an arc that outstayed its welcome and barely delivered enough character development for all the time it took. The young mistress wasn't a good character at all, and served as a perfect example of weak storytelling. High school girl holding a gun, deep right? Really makes you think? ... She wasn't even the only kid with a gun this season.

The biggest strength of Black Lagoon was its setting, the city of Roanapur, and the uneasy camaraderie between all the violent criminals and mercenaries that lived there. But they barely even stepped foot on the Black Lagoon (the boat) this season, and they kiss Roanapur goodbye for a good half-season. I was disappointed when I finished it because I was so excited after watching the first season. I think the very first arc was the best, in a way, because the finale of it was very good action wise. The second arc kind of felt like an OVA in its story. The third arc was filled with good ideas but just not done all that well, even the action sequences weren't that good, just people running in circles and missing countless shots. But at the very least, Rock's character started to develop a bit, but just a little bit.

Overall, you watched the first season, right? Why not watch the second? It's not as good, but there's more shooting and more Revy. It's just a shame that the rich story seeds sown for the third arc didn't blossom beautifully and make this season worthy of a much higher score. Clumsy and edgy storytelling lets it down, and it brings me no pleasure to give this season a 6/10.

I'm gonna try and keep this a short one (by my standards) and also spoiler-free.

I like stories with lots of suffering. I especially like stories where that suffering is repeated, over and over again. That's why I love series like Steins;Gate and Re:Zero. When I found this light novel series, promising exactly that, I was excited to dive right in.

Volume 1 gave me what I was looking for, it was an exiting page-turner that I couldn't put down. The 2nd and 3rd volumes of the series were decidedly less engaging and exciting, but I still had hope for the series. The 4th volume ... was the start of a real return to form and the 5th and 6th volumes were entertaining in their own way. Finally there was volume 7, which was a fantastic conclusion as I got my wish for the most suffering, ever. There are just a few things bothering me.

My biggest issue with the series: all the romance and relationships sucked! The main relationship looked like it was going to be great by the end of the first volume, but ultimately I grew to dislike it. The relationship at the center of volume 5+6 was also really annoying, it was so insufferable and pretentious that I absolutely hated those characters by the end.

Another thing I disliked was that the series seemed to have somewhat of a fixation on sexual assault and a weird attitude towards it. It doesn't help that this violence against women is used to drive forward character development either.

The MC was also quite annoying and plain with a stupid motivation for a lot of the time, although it was great seeing his development towards the end of the series. The side cast was also very unmemorable except from Yuri, who I initially liked, but I didn't like her in the epilogue.

Final point, since this is a light novel, there's supposed to be illustrations, right? They were really inconsistent and varied in quality by a lot, by the final volume all the characters look like they are adults and some characters like Yuri look totally different. Not good.
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Overall, yeah it's pretty good, but there are some very good parts and some not-so-good parts. If you're enjoying it enough to read until volume 7 your patience will be rewarded, I just don't think its a 10/10 masterpiece. There's a lot of suffering to be relished in here.

Ore no Onna Tomodachi ga Saikou ni Kawaii is neatly summed up with one adjective, dreadful. Never have I read something that was just a total rag start to finish. I don't understand why this book was even published, much less why it was deemed good enough to translate into English. There is only one possible use for this book and its to wipe your ass with if we run out of toilet paper again. This is legitimately the worst piece of 'literature' I have read in my entire life. I'm pretty sure the author has never spoken to a woman, ever.

Here, check out this ... extract from the book. It will tell you everything you need to know:

'As both a Monster Hunter lover and someone who was always a bit ahead of the curve, he couldn’t stop himself from treading into new, joyous territory. “That sounds nice~” Jun said, writhing out of what seemed to be sincere jealousy. Her huge boobs jiggled.'

It literally reads like it's satire! But it's not! It's just the author's fantasy through and through, and you can tell as much from the amount of in-depth namedrops in the book. You can skim every page of this book and get the exact same experience as if you read it. Sometimes it's necessary to skip 3 or4 pages at a time because they're just talking about video game bullshit like 'omg equip the enchanted gigafart peepee armor and drink a chug jug to fight the hellblade glasdadsesd it will match your playstyle perfectly.'

In this book you will find big rambling sentences talking about video games, followed by randomly calling Jun sexy. Kai goes to karaoke one time and not only are girls clinging to him and flashing him, but afterwards Jun offers to let him feel her breasts at a karaoke bar. The cast of side characters are apparently all falling for him, despite him being a guy who is literally incapable of not talking about manga. This book is just gross, objectifying and utterly ignorant towards women.

I was cringing so hard reading this, rolling my eyes all the time too. If you're the type of person who finds bad art funny, then you might laugh your ass off with this. Otherwise, don't bother! I'm just glad it was a short one!

Man! It's tough being the coolest, most beautiful girl in class. With all these boys chasing after me, and even some girls, some might even say I'm in a privileged position. Little do they all know, that deep down, I actually live a secret double life! Yep, while I'm in class, I have stunning flowing long hair and an air of coolness surrounding me, but as soon as I go home... I tie my hair up and do chores! I know, I know, embarassing right? There's just one thing missing, I really need a boyfriend who will be super mysterious, he's gotta be living a ... double life, and living with some amount of trauma (but not too much, I need to be able to fix him!). Yep it would be awesome if I found the most loving and kind boyfriend ever, he could even be an older brother figure to my kid brother! Yep I think we would be best friends for a while, until suddenly he would be unable to hold his feelings back! Then we could date and kiss and make love on a rainy night at home, then when it comes to Christmas time, he could propose to me! I really want someone to propose to me in high school!

What did that sound like to you? A self-indulgent fantasy? The kind of wattpad fiction written entirely as a self-insert fantasy? Well that's exactly what Horimiya is! Yep, this anime, supposedly the 'highlight' romcom of the season, might try to make you think otherwise, but the story is just garbage. For a show called Horimiya, like Hori and Miyamura, it certainly doesn't spend a lot of time waiting for feelings to become palpable. The romance plays out as if it was always meant to happen, like it was destiny, and that makes sense seeing as the romance is in the title. There's no feelings of doubt and it takes no time at all for the requisite romantic feelings to be developed in our main couple.

While other, plebian romcoms might take 4 episodes just to establish that the characters are beginning to feel something between them, Horimiya has them already dating by then. It's a rare thing in anime for the main couple to already have been formed before the halfway mark, it's even rarer when they fuck at the halfway mark. Maybe you can tell, I don't like HoriMiya's relationship. Because the pacing is too fast, it feels like the relationship development is forced. Not to mention the characters themselves are inconsistent and Hori is kind of a Mary Sue character and Miyamura is written to be kind of a revenge fantasy on school bullies.

So, our main characters are supposed to be two people living double lives, and when they discover each others they can finally be themselves around someone else and they fall for each other. Of course, Miyamura's double life of being a hot, emo bad-boy is significantly more impressive than Hori's supposed 'secret identity' as a responsible older sister. Hori seems to be the author's self insert vehicle. She is beautiful and cool, everyone likes her, all the guys want her. She is maybe kind of a tsundere but just a little, and this is never viewed in a negative way, she is also tough enough to scare and bruise delinquents who might try to harm her epic bad boy bf (some kind of dominance, protector fantasy). Similarly, she uses Miyamura to indulge in some kind of masochistic fantasy in public, thank you HERO, very cool! Miyamura is some nerdy loner who becomes an epic bad-boy, he is also an extremely nice guy who is tolerant of just about anyone. He was an outcast in middle school and had some pseudo-bullies. Luckily however, after he meets Hori he gets totally fixed and then has almost absolutely no trouble slipping into a clique and apparently becoming a magnet for other people. He becomes super popular and wouldn't you know it, even his old bullies want to apologise and befriend him! After this he just becomes funny generic protagonist who plays a straight-man role in the comedic sections, he genuinely feels like deadweight on the screen sometimes. Speaking of deadweight, about halfway through the series we start getting to see less of our main couple in favour of other side characters.

I thought to myself one episode, I'd rather watch this series through the point of view of Kono Sakura than I would HoriMiya's. Not that I think that means much, I'd rather watch this series through the perspective of just about any other side character too. My favourite character was Yoshikawa Yuki! Her whole thing with Toru was pretty good right until it became detached from any kind of logic or momentum. Anyway, a lot of the side content gets introduced, first scene happens, then they forget to follow it up, then on episode 13 we get a quick little update. For example, we get Sawada introduced, a handful of short scenes with her and Miyamura, one significant scene, then she disappears. Similarly, we get Iura's sister, introduced, handful of short scenes, one significant scene with her and Hori, then she vanishes until the last episode. It's just okay for most of it but its still more interesting than the central relationship in this series is, which really serves to illustrate how very mediocre this series is.

Well there is one positive to this series, frankly its the only reason I'm going to give it a score as high as I am. The series is actually pretty funny! Not only does it have solid visual gags every episode, we get funny conversations and interactions between our characters. I found myself having a good laugh maybe twice an episode, which is great to see. I also found myself laughing at things that werent meant to be funny, like the proposal as well as during other moments that were meant to be emotional, but a lot of it was just that corny. Like on episode 13, there was a super gratuitous montage of what would have happened if Hori and Miyamura never met, apparently none of their friends would have ever met? It's so dumb, because it feels like the meeting of those two had so little impact on the world around them, its a huge stretch to say them meeting was just that important.

So, anyway. Horimiya! Best romance anime ever? No! Best romcom ever? No! That throne still belongs to Toradora (fight me). A good romance? No! Its just about okay, like not even as good as Plastic Memories. Is it funny? Absolutely! Should you watch it? Well, first of all, I'd tell you to save your time, but if you want some mindless romcom fun it can certainly fill that role. Overall this is a below average romance with some above average comedy. 5/10.

So I have just finished reading all 9 volumes of this series, as my first Light Novel series ever I feel like it's worth writing a review. I read this series at a furious pace, I finished volumes 3-9 in less than a week, that's 1 volume a day or so. The first thing I have to say is that of all the Yuri media I've ever seen (not a lot), this has absolutely been the best. However hailing this series as a 10/10 masterpiece just seems wrong, I want to explore why in this review.

Minor spoilers ahead! I will be as non-specific as ... I can!

The first time I heard of Adachi and Shimamura it was from browsing the list of anime that would be airing in the winter 2020 season. I watched it every week and gave it a 7/10, I enjoyed it a lot and I was hungry for more, so I leapt on the chance to read the light novels. I started from the beginning and it was well worth it, Volumes 1-4 which the anime adapts are simply not the same without the extended inner monologue of both deuteragonists. These volumes also have slightly weird pacing, where one chapter is almost entirely setup for another chapter where an event like Christmas or Valentines is taking place. Now to be fair, the event chapters never disappointed, but once you arrive at Volume 4, things really start looking up and the series starts getting more interesting to read as more things happen than just: Adachi wants to say a normal thing but says a weird thing and her face turns red. It's under the blossoming sakura trees that set the scene for the beginning of their second year of high school where there is a noticeable increase in momentum.

So let's talk about the good.

THE GOOD
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First of all, Adachi and Shimamura are both good characters. They both noticably develop as the series progresses and their perspectives can sometimes really have great emotional impact. Adachi's story is one of breaking out of one's shell and trying her absolute best for the one thing she has found that she is not entirely indifferent towards. She isn't braindead and indecisive, she's super driven and on the flip-side, also super awkward. It's hard not to find yourself rooting for her, and the experience of seeing her triumphs and failures is a joy. Shimamura's story is similar to Adachi's, in that she is finding something in the world that she is not entirely apathetic towards, unlike Adachi, she wasn't always an apathetic, asocial person, it's constantly hinted that she underwent a major personality shift in middle school. She has only recently started to see most things in life as bothersome. Her inner monologue about the pains of living with the memories of your past self as well as becoming jaded with the world will be relatable to many readers.

Second of all, the interactions between our characters are interesting, hilarious and adorable. I've heard many series be described as 'cute girls do cute things', but to quote a video essay I watched on this series, this series is 'awkward girls do awkward things', and it works brilliantly. It captures the cringy enthusiasm of young love in a way that so many other series totally fail to do.

Third, our supporting cast is interesting and has a lot of potential, I enjoyed Hino and Nagafuji's interactions, and while at the start I totally hated Yashiro, by the end I had grown to love her as a fun and simple character who can easily bring a smile to your face. Where you might expect her to cause friction in the story, she often has the effect of being a positive and funny addition to scenes and doesn't end up getting in the way.

Four, its a very entertaining series and once you get to about Volume 4, you probably will not want to stop reading. It's pleasant and keeps drama on the minimum, its nice and relaxing and will have you smiling, laughing and cheering for the awkward romance of these two girls. There are also some really touching scenes that are quite beautiful, I have a lot of praise for Shimamura's bit in Volume 6 that did quite the job of developing her character. I didn't cry but I could certainly understand if you did.

Now, onto the bad things about this series. As much as I would like to say there's nothing wrong with this series, there is a fair amount to talk about.

THE BAD
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First of all, the biggest issue of the series. Imagine a batter playing baseball, the ball goes flying towards them at high speed, its a fastball, a perfect pitch. But the batter is ready, they were prepared for this kind of pitch, their form is on point, the swing is textbook. It looks like it's gonna be a home run! The ball looks like its about to go flying out of the park. The bat hits the ball right in the sweet spot ...but the ball just fell on the floor and barely moved? Well, thanks for indulging my gratuitous metaphor, now how about I explain what I'm talking about.

That fastball is any kind of possible drama or issue in this series, its well set up, it builds up for a while and comes hurtling into view. Similarly, the actual problem occurring is on point …the issue is, there is entirely no follow-through! The perfect example for this is what occurs in Volume 6 in the chapter 'Shimamura's Sword'. The long monologue in this chapter was absolutely heart-breaking, in a way, it was actually haunting. While reading it I was actually reminded of 'broken Emilia' from Re: Zero season 2, like I could hear the 'Call of the Witch' creepy sound in my head, or the strangling scene in Evangelion. A well written, total meltdown. Surely this was going to cause some huge drama? Well, no. This incident has close to 0 consequences for the story and for their relationship, because, apparently, the person on the receiving end of this monologue zoned out and wasn't paying attention. Yeah... That person doesn't even recognise a conflict has taken place. If the author didn't want to deal with the drama, why did they go through the effort of writing it?

This issue doesn't just occur once, remember Tarumi? Despite being a character created almost for the sole purpose of creating drama and adding a love triangle element to the story, after the events of Volume 5 where it really seemed like her relationship with Shimamura was going to go somewhere, she becomes totally irrelevant! Another rapid fire conflict with no follow through, Adachi's intense and overbearing jealousy, again, major conflict that is just glossed over and swept under the rug. Remember Adachi's resolution to change? Well after taking a bath one time, she certainly doesn't! Why is Shima the way she is now? What major transformation did she go through? Take this chapter that does not explain that properly! It's frustrating and is most certainly to the series detriment.

Second major issue, nothing is done with the supporting cast. Hino and Nagafuji, I'm looking at you two! First of all they are wasted as they don't get a lot of chances to interact with our deuteragonists, I would have really loved to see them used as a vehicle to develop Adachi's character but nope, nothing ends up being done with them. Also, after reading so many bonus chapters, even dedicated side story chapters with these two, basically nothing has happened with their relationship, they have airhead conversation and Hino talks about Nagafuji's boobs a whole lot, and they think of staying together long into the future, so at the very least, it seems to be pseudo shoujo ai stuff. But their only major character development chapters were in Volume 4 and Volume 9, its frustrating that their story does not seem to be going anywhere given how many pages it is taking up in the later volumes. There are also random side stories that are like what ifs, as well as random perspectives that are teased at becoming relevant but never do. You're eager to dive into Volume 6, but the first chapter you get is a what if story about what if Adachi and Shimamura met in Kindergarten, at first you feel enraged that the author is going to wheel out a trope that they met each other but just didnt remember, then all of a sudden it is ended by telling you that what you just read never happened. Awesome! It was from this side story onwards that the amount of side (filler) content started ramping up too. Yashiro is also a big offender, while I initially read the first few volumes I was always wondering what big story purpose she was going to build up to, well, she hasn't done that, instead she has just been a quirky and quite enjoyable side character who occupies the latter half of filler.

Third issue, the author, Hitoma Iruma, seems to be growing tired of the series or running out of ideas. Non, the illustrator who did Volumes 1-8, has also left the project. After Volume 6, filler content started increasing in frequency and size, where they used to be 'bonus chapters' tacked onto the end of normal chapters, now they make up the majority of chapters in the book, then in the newest volume, the side content makes up most of the text too. In the latest volume, the word count has fallen to around 40,000 words from where it was previously around 50-60 thousand. Worth mentioning that the latest release, Volume 9, also has a really ugly cover and features no illustrations. The biggest blunder in my opinion is the 'insurance ending' that Iruma has prepared as of Volume 8. I was really let down by this as the story was still continuing and the actual ending itself was rather unclear and lacking detail, you actually have to go read the Anime Special Novel 2 to flesh it out to any reasonable degree. It seems like a careless way to go around ending a piece of work, and seems rather devoid of any passion. It is a shame too because the present day chapters in Volume 8 were actually great, maybe some of the best in the series. Unfortunately, I found Volume 9 to be severely lacking and it is probably the weakest entry in the series so far, one of the huge moments for the main relationship here takes place at a random table in a non-descript mall with not a lot of build up, once again failing to resolve an issue in a satisfying way.

CONCLUSION
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Adachi and Shimamura is not the 10/10 masterpiece I have seen it praised as. There is plenty to complain about with it, and the series does not seem to be getting better at this current time. However! It is still a very enjoyable series, so much so that I read all of it in around a week or so (volumes 1-2 in Dec-Jan and 3-9 this week). The romance is pretty good, and of all the yuri series I have talked with others about or watched it is by far the most normal and respectful depiction of a yuri relationship. The overall story is nothing to write home about, but the characters are well written enough to make up for it most of the time. Most important of all to a *true romance fan*, this series will make you feel warm and fuzzy and put a smile on your face, which is a great indicator of well-executed romantic feelings. Don't go into this series expecting any kind of conflict or drama, its gonna be awkward girls do awkward things and its not aspiring to be more than that. I think this series overall is a 6/10 from me, lacking in story, but with good characters and great illustrations by Non, manages to be very enjoyable.

SUMMARY
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+Good characters
+Good romance (with W.A.F.F.)
+Funny, cringy and cute
+Touching, emotional moments

~Overall story quality is decent slice-of-life
~Cliched moments

-Conflicts remain totally unresolved
-Too much filler content that never goes anywhere
-Downward trend for the series
-Given an ending devoid of passion

6/10

Kamisami ni Natta Hi currently holds the worst rating on my anime list. Never before have I been compelled to give an anime just 1 out of 10, but this took the cake. It is so bad, so chock full of cliche bullshit, so exploitative and just such a poor effort. By the time the last episode rolled around, I was practically laughing my ass off. The 'emotional' moments were so bad they were funny. This also has one of the worst (and most creepy) romances of all time.

Because I hate this anime so much, I will be totally lenient with spoilers. So if you ... care about the plot of this dreadful show, you can go ahead and skip over my review, but I promise you that you aren't missing anything.

I've said this before, but if they stuck with the formulaic structure of the first 5 episodes or so, where Hina and Youta go around solving people's problems, it would be a much better show. But no, where would the emotion be! How would Jun Maeda make you cry for the cute moe anime girl?

This time, Jun Maeda ran out of ideas. After all, there were only so many car accidents and plane crashes that he could come up with. Suddenly, he had an idea! "Wait a minute... That's it! People die from illnesses too!" was surely the revelation he had before sitting down to pen the screenplay for this show. "And they don't even die immediately! I can draw out the sadness for multiple episodes. And, and and they can record video messages to the future, they could do more than write a note before they die in an accident! Oh my god Jun you've done it again. This is going to be your finest work yet. The saddest anime... ever!"

And so he set to work, but he needed time, time to perfect the anime. Unfortunately, production had already started! Oh no! How was he going to deal with this? He gazed out of his window. Down on the street there was a young person collecting money for charity. Hmmm.... what do charities do? They help people! Perfect. He decided he would send the character outlines to the studio and quickly write a few stories about helping people. And so there was the first half of the show sorted. He would realise all too late, however, that he forgot to write in any character development! 'No problem'. He would just rush the character development into a handful of scenes. After all, anime watchers are all pretty much braindead anyway, he thought to himself.

At least, I imagine that's what was going through his head, because all the character development in this show happens in 2 minutes or less in completely ridiculous circumstances, and for rather unclear reasons too! It's like they just cut like half of the show! For example, Yota's best friend (that like, never says anything) suddenly becomes in sync with him for one episode and they have a flashback because they are... jumping from a motorcycle onto a truck? Why are they jumping onto a truck? Well its because the most idiotic writing ever means that Hina has walked into the back of a truck and sat down inside and the doors were locked and the truck drove away. It's so stupid it makes your head hurt. Anyway, you'd think developing this friendship might have a purpose. Like what might be done in a tightly written script. Nope! Their relationship never comes up again??? OK fine, surely that's a one off. Nope. They randomly develop the hacker antagonist of the show like he is going to be part of a big mystery, we get glimpses of him every other episode. Finally he shows up for most of an episode, he shoots laser beams at a whale while monologuing how his parents were evil etc etc cliche sob story etc. So then contrary to this character that was established, he sells out Hina for 0 reward, then rages that they took her supercomputer chip that keeps her brain alive. He hangs out with Yota and pals for MONTHS, then gets mad that Yota didn't chase after Hina. That's all he does in the show. He literally did not have to be in there.

In general, all the character development only lasts for a few minutes in a single episode eg. Tengan Koko was introduced, characterised and promptly forgotten about and now she hangs out with a bunch of teenagers all day. Some of the side characters aren't even characters as much as convenient bodies. In episode 8 the camera pans out and Yota is like 'omg i didnt realise I had so many friends'. 2 of those 'friends' are just a loan shark and Tengan's bodyguard. Then his sister likes films and speaks in a slightly different way. Yota's male friend never says anything (why I don't even know his name). Then there is the ramen shop owner who hasn't spoken since the second episode. Real tight group of friends, a very lovable cast indeed! Why did they even need a cast of characters? I'll tell you why. For a sequence at the end where they make a movie, a movie they only made so Jun Maeda can get Hina to record a video message.

I haven't even started on the worst part of this show. And that's Hina. At first, Hina seems like a likeable enough character. All her characterisation is that she can predict the future to some degree, she speaks in an old timey pompous way and she wears a goofy outfit. Also she likes video games because she is an epic moe girl please make her your waifu and stop paying attention to the quality of the show. But omg, Hina must be hiding something. What's her secret!?! Where did she come from? Is she a god? Well, actually, she is a girl with anime disease. This disease means that she has trouble moving and communicating, and acts much younger than she is. But she was cured by her grandpa who built her a quantum computer that lets her function above and beyond typical human ability. How does that work? Sorry, no time for questions! So when shadowy government organisations that are never mentioned again take her quantum computer, she instantly becomes an object you are meant to cry and feel sad for. It's so manipulative and disgusting. Even more bizarre than this, she is meant to have developed feelings for Yota by the end of the anime. She is like 12 years old! Yota is about to go to college! WTF!?! I remember watching Episode 10 where this 'confession' happens, and literally everyone on the forums was confused and were hoping that this was just familial love between her and Yota. It's not! Their entirely undeveloped, creepy and bizarre romance is dropped on you with all the grace of a falling piano. Yota chases after her to the care home or whatever she is taken to, and basically he just messes up over and over again making her scream and cry. This wasn't sad, or funny. This just made me feel sick. You get the idea. By the end of the anime they are soulmates apparently and Yota is going to dedicate his life to her, she can't even really communicate with him so she's along for the ride regardless. So how will Yota know how she feels? It's okay, she recorded a video message! She says she had a nice summer. That's basically it, Yota is happy. The anime ends. And they all live happily ever after, please forget about the government conspiracy.

This show is so, painfully bad. I cannot recommend anyone watches this, ever. What's about to happen in each scene is so predictable, you would know whats coming if you were watching the show without subtitles through someone's window in a bush a mile away. There isn't anything worth seeing in here. Stay well, well away from this show, and if you didn't, well then slap it with a 1/10 rating so we can stop others time being wasted with this too. When I first wrote my preliminary review for this show, it had a score of 7.43, I am pleased to see it's now at a 6.something but we can do better. Flush this show down the toilet, give it a lower score than ex arm. Bury it deep underground so that noone will ever find or remember it.