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Mar 26, 2023
Spoilers ahead...
And well, let me start this off by saying i wouldn't recommend this, not even as a standalone.
First lets start with the elephant in the room... No, not the CGI, the lack of the black cat mascot! ...
Just kidding, but not fully, you already know something's off when that thing's not there anymore aside a hard to spot easter egg or a few.
The CGI. Yes its studio orange, and yes, people love to sing them praise, but i personally found beastars pretty choppy and robotic in many scenes, while decent visually. Similarly, while the land of lustrous was pretty good looking, especially the hair,
...
some of its scenes where pretty choppy too, and the shot composition wasn't always great. So where does Trigun land?
Animation wise, its usually better, aside some scenes that do the Japanese 3d 'anime' favorite and start dropping fps to something like 10, or even lower at somewhere around 5 at some points, taking it to a slideshow, which with 3d, that doesn’t morph and stretch to accommodate for that, ‘makes your eyes bleed’ because you can’t follow the motion at all. Thankfully these slideshow moments aren't frequent, and the rest is decently animated at a high or acceptable fps... Animations? Well, very few are robotic, so that's a win. Depending on the scene, some are okay, some are honestly great, some are… TOO fluid, to the point of being literally cartoonish, especially with Vash losing traction with the ground, literally or figuratively (air walking/running)… But these are mostly around the show’s first two episodes that are more lighthearted so int not really that big a problem.
But if that was the 'somewhat good', here comes the 'somewhat bad', or simply bad... First of all, the camera motions. As often is the case with 3d CGI, it takes far too many liberties and moves all over the place in ways that make no sense and don’t contribute anything, or even disorients and gets in the way of your understanding and enjoyment of the scene… Zoom is overused for no good reason as usual as well. Second of all, the shot composition itself and the camera placement are pretty bad, which makes for some pretty bland shots most of the time, and ones that don't accentuate or inform you of much as the viewer, which is, well, bad. Lastly, the character design, visuals, backgrounds…
Now that's where the worst part is. Along with the bad shot placement, the backgrounds that vary from poor to good can make the scenes very plain. For example gradient sky or desert ‘backgrounds’… Or great DRAWN backgrounds that get mere seconds of use and perhaps even with zoom so you don't really see anything! The character designs themselves... Well, i'm personally not a fan of some, others are good, but overall they're decent. What's NOT even close to decent is the detail and models outside the face. The cell shading light renderer effect turns the clothes into really bland, stupid looking 'concrete tubing'. Doesn't help that whichever program was used for making the show doesn't allow for dynamic cloth either so its as stiff as can be which looks really weird. Coupled with the lack of detail on clothes, it makes the character two tone featureless ‘clothing tubes’ stand out from the relatively well detailed and shaded backgrounds, and in the worst way too, something that could easily be fixed by giving the cloth elements SOME textures and/or more details like pockets, patches, scratches, and other decals.
Oh, and the action scenes kind of fall flat because while some bits can be pretty good, for example Vashe’s close range hand to hand combat… MOST of the time its just him and others running around pointlessly, with the camera flying or panning around, sometimes storm trooper bullets sprayed in their general direction. So what do you get overall? Well, despite all i said, its definitely watchable, and doesn't look all that bad, but it doesn't look great either. Guess 6.7/10 if i'd have to score the visuals alone. So, if the visuals aren't really the problem (they ARE a part of it tho, since bad shot composition impacts storytelling negatively, and with the bland action scenes, it hurts enjoyment too), WHAT is? Well, its the directing, scene composition, and STORY.
And so let's skip right ahead to said story. This is a weird reboot-prequel kind of deal. People often complain the original anime had a lot of filler (which it kind of did, but not really since a lot of the filler where expanded short post ending bits and other things that WHERE there, just not as long), but here… Its ALL FILLER! As in, almost entirely made up because pre-July we’re not really told of anything in the manga, and this show went ahead and made a whole season out of that ‘material’ it either made up, or combined with existing stories or parts of them while also moving them in the timetable to make an unholy mix of badly written and badly developed story and progression!
The way almost every episode plays cane be described with one word - lazy. You do not get any big mystery and a sense of wonder, you get FACE STUFFED with exposition about where they are and how they got there (human race survival plan, aka ‘arcs’ crash landing on the wrong planet that's just a desert you can barely inhabit due to Knives sabotaging them and with the help of Vash). You get told pretty much everything about Vash, Knives and project seeds in the first episode, the only ‘reveal’ being why Knives went haywire (learning the independent plant girl before them was dissected). The conflict and action is also extremely straightforward and boring.
Compare it to the original anime which kept you in the dark on the fact this is the same universe as ours, and isn't just some steampunk - sci fi- western fantasy until like a third of the way in, presenting very little to go off until the big reveal about how they all ended up on that planet in the first place and the show's antagonist, also showing up also about half way in, and you'll understand that the comparison makes stampede look simply pathetic. And that's in the grand theme of things, each episode is also far more well structured, raising an interesting core question, sometimes concepts, showing various sides of Vash and adding to the mystery of this man and what exactly is going on...
There isn’t much story or sense to it all is what I’m saying. It starts out, mercilessly dumps exposition, introduces the villain in episode 3, and sends the crew of 3 on a pointless crusade to ‘find’ Knives, aka just travel to July, picking Wolfwood on the way. Why? Who knows, Vash doesn’t seem to have absolutely any plan. Why does he even GET to travel when Knives wants to use him as a gate, and could easily just TAKE him in episode 3, with the current Vash being far weaker than the manga or 98 anime, and Knives being far stronger? No idea.
Now for the flip side of the story – characters… Also interactions and overall writing. Who is the most well written character in the WHOLE SHOW? Knives. Who is still written pathetically and makes little sense, and appears for less than a quarter of the show! Yes, its that bad. What is his motivator? A childhood based hatred for humanity after seeing the dissected girl, learning of the plant ‘final runs’. This is the decently written part, and the one that makes sense. But how about the part where he continuously gaslights Vash about it being his fault for crashing because he helped, crushing him mentally be saying ‘he did it for him’? And the fact he both supposedly cares for him, but also don’t mind killing him, literally, or by turning him into a plant? That part doesn’t make a lot of sense at all.
What about Vash, the frigging PROTAGONIST of the show? Nope, he doesn’t exist. Forget the witty, goofy guy he was before, (also he can also apparently regenerate and shrug off being shot now, because why not… where’d the lasting injuries come from then..? as a tradeoff i guess he can't dodge/manipulate bullets or do the other cool tricks from the original), now he’s quiet, sad and not at all well explored either. His pacifism? Its just a fact you have to take at face value because its source – the dialogues with Rem that’s the very core of his being has been cut almost entirely. So why is he a pacifist that would go to insane extents to protect anyone, even the bad guy? Eh, WHO CARES RIGHT~? No comedy or lighthearted behavior from him aside the very start too. Nor any friendly fun interactions with Wolfwood and Meryl either. Speaking of them, Wolfwood, aside his couple episodes with the steamer, orphanage and flashbacks pretty much DOES NOT EXIST. Well, guess he shoots a mutated kid for questionable reasons, cool. Not that Vash who supposedly takes it hard doesn’t really seem to care in the next episode.
Meryl exists to an even lesser extent, being there seemingly just to sometimes react to things happening in the most lazy, boring, and non lasting ways, nowhere near close to what she was like in the manga and 98 show. You might say its expected with her not yet being developed and it being the prequel, but, what’s the point of even having her in a central role then..? Her partner, a new character and useless drunk, is just there to be the narrator, dump exposition and needed questionable dialogue, then die, which is supposed to help her grow somehow..? And well, lastly, they also barely talk and interact inside this group, making for a very dry and weird experience, unlike the much more fun, interesting and loud main cast of the manga and show. So overall we get HALF a functioning character (Knives) that’s missing for most of the show, and three-four ‘main’ characters that are less developed than most side characters in other shows... And frankly downright PATHETICALLY written to fill in for the rest of the air time!
I could start unwrapping specific examples of how this plays out horribly, and how these decisions in writing suck, and even make the characters react to things in ways that make absolutely no sense, also how they changed the powers and characters further toward being more boring, but, I think you get the picture by now. Final verdict – a rare 3/10 (just for the somewhat decent 3d and new designs) and NOT recommended at all for absolutely anyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Feb 17, 2023
Its hard to quickly put into words what i think about this show quickly, but if i would have to do it, i'd say my problem with it, is that it took itself too literally (and seriously).
What do i mean specifically? Well, the part about the body improvement club and other self improvement in general.
More and more shows as of late seem to have been going down this path of trying to search/state some sort of meaning and moral behind them, even ones that have no business of doing so and who's writers have literally no ability to make use of the theme and
...
actually instill the audience with anything of value. There are, and where OTHER shows that either did have that capacity, or, instead, recognized their inability to do these things, and kept it to a more simple formula of RAISING these questions they wanted to discuss, but leaving them open, which is a great approach as if done correctly and the show's interesting and worth it enough, it will get the viewer pondering and seeking these answers themselves...
But... Not mob sadly. What started as a very entertaining and funny show in season one, which i think made it great and interesting, one which kept the moral lecturing to a minimum and focused more on entertaining the viewer and maybe raising a couple of basic questions, soon devolved into a preachy mess in season 2, and even worse in 3, with the comedy drying up hard, and the entertainment dwindling to a minimum just to pretend to raise and answer a few questions it deems important. Worse than that, despite these supposed steps forward it pretends to take, usually the characters do NOT seem to act much different than they did before. For example after the things reagan went through in season 2, i expected him to be, or try to be a different man, instead, he's still exactly the same outside the end of season 3 where he has a brief scene of being real and getting over himself to speak the truth for once.
Overall it also seems to carry the exact same tired message of mediocrity that MANY other anime seem to carry and fits the Japanese mindset to a T - "having special abilities doesn't make you special" (both in regards of talents or literal supernatural abilities)... Which is actually a ludicrous statement, as being able to do things others can't, or being able to do them better ABSOLUTELY makes you special, which is why a heart surgeon will always be valued more than a cleaner, even under socialism or any other oppressive enforced social regime. Which of COURSE does not warrant bad treatment of people without talent, nor should affect equality under the law.
This in turn is why the show veers more and more into fighting other people instead of fighting ghosts like it did in the beginning, to the point they pretty much seem to disappear entirely by season 3 despite season 1 showing them literally everywhere. The dilemma to use special powers vs living life like a completely normal human thus makes a bit more sense, but literally would be nonsensical with all the ghosts around... And even then, the decision to do everything manually such as saving kids from incoming traffic or a cat from a pole as opposed to using powers for it, putting your, and other lives at risk for the sake of normalcy still looks incredibly stupid and naive, also selfish, considering you're not taking into account all the possible pain, suffering and worry you'd be causing to the afflicted individuals and their relatives, your own too if you where to fail.
And that's on top of the final theme of s3 which is self acceptance. If Mob accepted his side with the powers, why still prefer not to use them in a potentially dangerous situation (climbing a pole)? It also goes against the principle of self improvement as a theory, not within the show's narrow confines, but in general and logically... But guess for japan self improvement is just about striving for utter normalcy and what others expect of you (as long as that expectation is within the confines to be normal) than striving to be extraordinary.
At the same time its about being selfish if you want to and perusing momentary desires like love interests and being normal at the cost of your potential? As i said, its all over the place and doesn't really make a proper point or argument to back any of this up, nor leaves a lasting lesson or proper conclusion, being a mess at best, and hypocritical, confused and shallow at worst.
5/10 for me, can't honestly recommend anything but the first season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Feb 15, 2023
Redundant
This is the perfect word to describe my main gripe with this show. Non the less, i would definitely still recommend it.
What do i mean? Well, let's get the usual things out of the way first. Sound, animation, drawing, characters... All that stuff is pretty good, not great but still very pleasant to look at and hear. Directing is decent too.
What's NOT as good is the writing and structure. At first it felt like this show was horribly structured and also had an identity crisis. The first episode seems entirely unrelated to anything and entirely out of whack with the rest of the show,
...
being on earth rather than in the isekai where the rest of it takes place... It goes for cool and a bit of cringe. And the character that half of the episode spends its time on building? GONE BABY! Never to be seen again, not in this season, not in the next, unless he finds a way back to earth somehow..? So what was the point? No idea.
Next we're introduced to his new family and sister... Said family we don't see after that either, his sister shows up from time to time to be 'scary' but that's it, no real character behind her either it seems. Then we're introduced to his new 'pets', the girls he's saving from a weird curse and recruiting as secret followers, making up some stupid chuuni crap about an evil organization they're fighting which he calls stupid himself... At some point these girls leave, with him thinking they realized and went on with their life, only for them to return later as a serious organization he re-joins, who indeed DO fight the evil organization he frigging made up!
Did i say identity crisis? Because yeah, up to that point, which is i guess about 6 episodes after his reincarnation, it plays out kind of like overlord, with the leader seeming clueless and highly incompetent, if overpowered. It also delves heavily into chuuni stuff to the point of literal cringe in the first few episodes, which is not as bad due to it being self aware and mc constantly stopping to re-evaluate and asses 'how cool it was', which makes it pretty funny... So it balances between comedy and action, with mc being kind of the 'masked hero' that he tries to make as cool as possible, adding more humor to the situation... While in real life he also plays a role, the role of an incompetent moron loser 'side character', which he also gets some chuuni pleasure from and which also plays out rather humorously...
But then it devolves into him trying to play the villain instead? Which even after finishing i didn't understand at all, though by the end that role makes much more sense, only due to the events that happened then. Where it also devolves is the introduction of all his school love interests and some other side-main characters, along with the very high count of his main crew (there's a side crew too!), who all barely get appropriate screen time... Which brings me back to redundancy. So, while the start is somewhat enjoyable, after the pink haired girl is introduced, it feels ALL over the place and horribly structured, at which point i thought its lost.
YET... The last two arcs (aka the second half) suddenly regain structure, largely focusing on mc and TWO characters only (his last aka blonde clingy 'love interest' he doesn't really care about, and the first one's big sister (readhead)), as well as a bit more proper time to the other members of shadow garden, and the structure suddenly falls into sync, the small fry pretense op chuuni mc comedy formula is back and more stable, and the show suddenly gets a whole lot better and actually enjoyable!
So, final thoughts? I'd cut down the character count by at least 30% to decrease reduncancy, along with trimming a good bit of ep1, and re structure the first half a bit. With better budget and some extra thought on some plot and structure, it could go as high as 9/10. As is? A solid 7.4/10, and still pretty recommended.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 28, 2022
What do you get when you cross up SAO, plastic memories... And a shitty dated, and super stereotypical dating simulator? Coupled with fanservice and harem, obviously... Well, i'd say nothing good, and i'd be right, but its not the entire truth.
The premise had me interested, i won't lie... NOT the anime itself, its was frankly dreadful, but the premise. Dreadful isn't the right word here though. It was bad... INTENTIONALLY bad, which doesn't make it less bad, don't get me wrong, but how well it relayed the feeling of 'something is wrong' and made it all look super nonsensical and cliche, driving one to think
...
this is some kind of shitty full dive dating simulator is definitely impressive and deserves some points.
It also dropped clues to this not being real very generously, and so despite not really enjoying this, i kept watching, and questioning the people dropping the show without waiting for the big reveal to come, because it was clear it was coming! ... And waiting... And waiting. That's the first big problem i find with the show aside the obvious ones - they delayed said reveal for far too long. I understand there was a need to create more bond to the characters... But the ridiculous and fanservicy setup just made the upper limit to that far too low, so there really was no point, nor was there a point to introduce THAT many girls, 3 or even 2 would more than cut it, which would increase attachment even with 2~ less episodes of buildup.
The sad part is, when the reveal and development of the actual story and its resolution came, it ended up being far too badly executed and thought through to justify this show's existence, almost to the point the people dropping it in the beginning would be validated, but only almost, and for the wrong reasons... Because you see, the idea itself WAS somewhat interesting, its just the execution that failed horribly, the main reason behind that being the lack of central theme and uniting point to it all, it also made ZERO sense story wise.
The point of logging into the satellite and risking his life was to steady the global AI network, was it not? The greater good was also the argument that got him to decide going in... And yet the satellites FELL..? What the... Okay, let's pretend that wasn't the point. Maybe point was to save the 5 AI girls that gained proper sentience? Nope, wasn't the point either, they also got them deleted... And saved too..? Not sure how that works but whatever. Then WHAT was the point of it all? Helping mc move on and get closure, meet his dead childhood sweetheart and talk to her for 4 minutes..? I'm not sure.
It was nice and emotional, don't get me wrong, but it was pointless, and the story fell apart so bad i had no idea what the whole show was trying to achieve. If Ai was deleted and the satelites got saved for the system to stabilize, and/or if the girl got him to move on and taught him some valuable life lesson instead of extending the pain and disappearing as if it somehow solves anything in his head, i'd get it... But literally all the possible reasoning behind him being there and RISKING HIS LIFE was utterly destroyed, including the 5 girls, and the fact they somehow got saved changes nothing. There's a whole list of other things that could have been handled far better and developed to a far greater degree the show would benefit from but aren't there, but frankly, its not worth my, or anyone's time. So despite thinking it had the potential to do well, i hope there's no need to say i'm rather disappointed with how underwhelming it turned out to be?
Final verdict - 6/10, not recommended. Go watch plastic memories instead, while its not all that similar, it deals with the main issue of this show far better, and provides better insight and closure into the unpleasant, downright disgusting, and yet absolutely essential and necessary, scar rippling reality of having how to learn to let go and move on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 27, 2022
"First there where chainsaw memes, then there was chainsaw..." -genesis 101xyz (or something)
Well no, technically first was the manga. Well, whatever, point is, I saw a lot of memes around, and praise for the manga, then the anime adaptation hype came, which sure, I found impressive in the pv... And then came the anime itself...
And then, just as it started, it ended. And now I'm here and in awe, not at the show, but at what the heck was all this hype about. The start was fun and promising, okay. The op was stuffed full of famous movie references... Cool I guess? The production value
...
and some scenes where pretty impressive and well made... Great.
But that's true for some other shows too, others, while not being as amazing on production, catch you with the brilliant, or at least interesting story... What was supposed to hook and get me interested in anything about chainsaw man? The thousand scenes of shoes walking? The OTHER scenes of walking from different angles? People eating in a living room?
There's a story in there, yes, and it's even interesting to a degree, but it's too far in between on its own, and further padded by less significant things, to the point I was pretty bored watching most of the time, and to the very end I was still waiting for something impressive and/or genuinely interesting to happen to understand what the hype was about.
But nothing did. Maybe I could give it points for great action? Well no, it's rather far in between, and despite the production values, it REALLY doesn't look all that amazing, impactful and impressive, let alone interesting. No really, compare that to some of the scenes from demon slayer or one punch man, and a bunch of other great shows and it's really nothing impressive, even if it looks better... And by 'looks better' let me be clear I mean picture quality alone, the choreography, creativeness and dynamic flow of most fights kind of sucks!
To sum it up, the only two things that at all impressed me about the show is the production values, and... The decent attempts at drama in the start, just a bit past middle, and around the end of the show... Maybe a bit of the comedy too. Which for an action show is kind of stupid and disappointing.
Final score - 5.9/10, not sure if I'd recommend it to anyone, but wouldn't tell people not to watch it either, it's just weirdly mediocre in all senses despite the great production values and interestimg attempts at originality.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 24, 2022
On the good side - great production and entertainment values, extremely cute and for once NOT AT ALL fanservicy loli catgirl, great fighting choreography.
On the bad side - yet another somewhat generic Isekai rpg story that doesn't really go anywhere and plays out pretty much exactly like all the rest. In its one season it barely scratches the service of any major and interesting plot too, feels like an overstretched prelude, even if its not at all padded to hell like a lot of shows and somewhat interesting and fun stuff definitely happens often... But guess that negative is negated by the fact season 2
...
is ALREADY announced (though who knows when it'll be, what kind of treatment it'll get, and if the story gets any more original and interesting?)
Very sneaky and shaky 7.5/10, feels almost deserving of 8 but not quite, definitely recommended, but without expecting it'd bring anything too great to the table... The curry prep scene and possibly full cute kuudere main neko reaction compilation extraction video is a definite must watch on youtube though!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 24, 2022
A very simple, straightforward and wholesome fantasy (NOT another isekai at least thankfully) story based around a goodie two shoes that suddenly finds out he's overpowered, and goes on to do good deeds, save exotic beauties (because weirdly enough most other women don't need help), get stronger and probably go on to save the world instead of the hero who's a baddie moron and his team of just as stupid and mean, all of them that way with no real reason given.
Good in pretty much every aspect aside its simplicity, childishness and extremely generic ways. Its individual elements (art, production, audio, designs) are are
...
definitely good but not perfect, but with its story and how it plays out, even if WAS the most amazing visual and technical feat, i'd barely be able to give it any more credit from just how lacking the story and originality department is, you've seen pretty much everything it has to offer, and you know what'll happen next too, plus mc is so overpowered he adds the show the old superman boredom element.
Final score - 6.3/10, still somewhat recommended if you have nothing better to watch and want some very relaxed, wholesome, predictable and simple plot to watch with some cute catgirl running around and a bit of good comedy to turn your brain off to.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 24, 2022
Well here i was again, in need for some brain off light fun stuff, comedy, ecchi or both... And came across this 'gem'
"Why not i figured"
Well... Not a lot of reasons not to touch this show, but at the same time more than enough to steer clear.
The good? Fun color palette and character design, well stylized art style that's well drawn. Other production elements are all fairly decent too i guess.
Bad? Not a lot either, on paper there's a story, somewhat workable and diverse characters that might even be interesting, potential for a lot of comedy... The latter especially is what drew me in most.
How
...
does it play out in practice though? UNBELIEVABLY bad in its amazing mediocrity and lack of content. What would one expect of such a show? Probably not story, but it has one... One stretched so thin though it might as well not be there. Fun characters? They're there, but they hardly EVER get the chance to do much to make the viewing more interesting. Fan service? Well, its also there, but... Actual nudity comes in pretty homeopathic dosages. And both that and more 'safe' fanservice is rather weak and underwhelming. There's some comedy, but its just as thinly stretched, and just as underwhelming outside of a couple select moments.
Honestly... Its as if nearly nothing there. Like someone took a 2-3 episode OVA and decided to stretch it to a whole season, filling the gaps with lore dumps and copy pasted events, the same copy pasted events that the short show already has too much for even for 3 episodes! ... It usually plays out like this - the girls leave the city's safety to train with MC, but being massive quirky fuckups, soon get molested by monsters. The MC drops his jaw and stands there watching, first in bewilderment, then horny, then ready to help but stopping because he's embarrassed, watching some more and eventually saving them, and so they return. Or, more rarely, the big girls flips out and kills everything, including MC.
THAT'S IT. There's a few more interesting and memorable events, but generally i've just told you 90% of what you'll be seeing in the show in that one previous paragraph. "Woopsie" "Trapp" "OH NO, KYA!" probably see some fa service that probably (but not always) culminates with some nipples, get saved... Rinse and repeat, pad with exposition dumps as you introduce the characters... Not sure what to say more really, its just really, REALLY boring, repetitive, static, mediocre and stretched out.
3.8/10 for the couple of decent jokes, art and designs alone, NOT recommended to anyone but hardcore soft monster molestation enthusiasts.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 2, 2022
Spoiler free review.
So, how do i put this... I'm split, and the show is too.
25 episodes/2 seasons is a lot of time, and i feel the show could do much more with it. Or, on the other hand, do LESS (as in cut half its airtime) for a better result... That probably sounds weird, but its the best way to put it.
The first half of the show is close to being a masterpiece, like, 8.7/10. It focuses a lot on the mystery thriller kind of thing, with some strong horror elements, good action and managing to make you THINK and FEEL while introducing the
...
characters. Every pretty much every episode there's some interesting and unexpected term, the game rules shift nonstop... The only few minuses i can find are some of the fanservice bait it has, the Disney shenanigans, and some smaller stuff.
The second part/season however... Yeah, its where things go downhill. Pretty much all of the elements which makes the first half great disappear, as the show deteriorates into something close to a shounen battle manga. The amazing op and ed are gone as well, with the new ones being far more generic and portraying said stuff too, woo, everyone's fighting, cool right? Well, no, i've seen far too many like it, and this one isn't special in any way, in fact its not that great, 6.5/10 at best.
The ending is pretty generic and unoriginal, not that its not satisfying, but again, just feels like the show could do, and deserves so much better. All in all still recommended, its just that the first and second half are worlds apart 7.3/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 29, 2022
"Uh... Well that was weird." - The one good way to put how i feel about this show. But let's go in for a deeper analysis and why i don't think you should watch this.
First of all, let's put aside the whole thing with MC being a 14-yo minor and main girl being a 40 to possibly 90 year old vampire, or even more, exact age wasn't stated, and though that SEEMS to be the range. That's too big of a discussion and loaded topic for a multitude of reasons, plus, these characters are fictional and their stage of mental maturity can be anything the
...
writer wants it to be, at any age, nor will it benefit the analysis of the show in any way but one - they all seem equally completely clueless regardless.
I actually have an old history with the manga before the show came to be. I came across it by accident, the art was interesting, so i decided to give it a go... And dropped it not too long after that. The reason? Well... Simply put, it was boring. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, and analyze what IS good about it first.
Art. The art is amazing, both anime and manga. Sound... Dunno, wasn't paying attention. The ending song is great though... Just don't read the translation, its kind of fucked up... And that's it. The weak part is characters and story, which are severely lacking.
Mc - a more or less normal confused mid-teen. There are a couple interesting qualities about him, for example how forward and determined he is sometimes, which does differentiate him a bit from the average anime protagonist... But honestly he's not that interesting. Main girl is a semi mysterious energetic and bold kind of girl, kind of, but also extremely shy around romantic feelings. Again, nothing interesting.
The side characters are even more boring and one dimensional, usually making rather few appearances, and their whole thing being pretty much 'tell your story and fuck off'... They play very little role. The one interesting side character in the whole show, to the point she could be the main cast, appears pretty much in the end, and for a rather brief period too - 2 brief encounters and one more significant and slightly longer one... But again, so briefly there's not much she can do for the overall value of the show, not much comes off it either.
So what's there to say aside that? What's the story? Well, there's none. MC is tired/bored/frustrated of the day life, so he opts out of school. Then starts walking around in town at night. Why so vague? He, like most characters in this show too, seems completely out of touch with his emotions. His past? We don't know much, he seems to have refused a girl's confession, and then got harassed/bullied by her friends... How long? How bad was it? Who knows. He doesn't seem to care that much either..?
He had two friends... Who, along with him, didn't seem to be sure about being friends..? What a load of weird bull, surely you can't be THAT clueless..? Anyhow he kinda sorta re-connects with them in the show, i guess. That's shown by a brief discussion of their past, and a tiny chat about being friends, and they're fiends again now i guess... Really weird and pathetic dialogue there to be honest. He seems to have a mom, but we never see or hear from her.
That's the side story i guess. Main story is him meeting that one vampire girl, who sucks his blood, goofs around with him during his night walks... Which i guess is fun. He decides he wants to become a vampire too to live in, and enjoy the night properly, but she reveals he has to fall in love with her to become a vampire. So he decides to fall in love. Umm... Cool..?
So, again, the whole show, or rather 10/13 episodes is them mostly trying to have some fun. Basically slice of life. On the way they meet a couple more vampires and get into their society and struggles just a little bit, and they threaten him that if he fails, they will kill him since they don't allow humans that know about them to live. Again, kinda boring.
Then a detective lady comes along, kills an old guy that's semi lost it after becoming a vampire, refused to drink blood. She lets him, then somehow kills him with some ring and sunlight or whatever combo she used - its not really explained, but i guess binding to the past life and/or silver ring + sunlight and maybe something in her blood. She tells MC he knows nothing about vampires, and seeing the scary old guy, and this scene he becomes confused.
Then he wants to find out more but she calls the cops on him so walking in the night is harder. Then its revealed the vampire girl was actually bored out of her mind and was just pretending she knew how to have fun... Rather successfully though so they both did. And with a weird talk with a trap that wanted to hypnotize him (literally), he suddenly regains his confidence in his goal because he realizes he had fun (didn't understand that before..?), still without knowing anything about the vampire girl, rushes to him for their clueless short stifled emotion dialogue, kiss, and with nothing really happening, being achieved, and a vague future ahead (he lost his determination one time, regains it without real explanation, and DID NOT learn much about her anyway, so why wouldn't it happen again?) the story ends.
What was learned? What was the point? Being honest and talking? Well, that's the BASE of human interaction, did we really devolve that much to consider this story worth anything? Again, the art was nice, but the story and characters are just so shallow and clueless, pretty much nothing happens, and the show gives the feeling that everyone, or at least the people in it have NO idea about anything to do with life, morals and common sense. Not even the semblance of a modern shallow existence in fact! NOTHING AT ALL! And so, i simply can't consider this to be worth anyone's time, maybe for the art alone. 5.7/10 just for production value, NOT recommended.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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