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Nov 11, 2023
I have a few must-haves when I consider good slice of life comedy romance: romantic progress, a humorous vibe if not straight-up laugh out loud comedy, a supporting cast that works for the romance and comedy.
1. Romantic progress: How many slice of life romances involve an infinity of hesitation, self-questioning, bullshit reasoning for why they aren't together, and lack of any progress over the course of multiple seasons? (screw you Uzaki-chan) This anime has real progress that doesn't get walked back or extended forever because of greed or bad writing. The leads are amusing and compatible as complete weirdos, they act like they're dating most
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of the story, and the show doesn't blueball the audience with wishy-washy emotional drama that just prolongs the courtship stage.
2. Humor: the main two are bona fide weirdos and the ML is well-written for magnifying the humor with his delusional scenarios and explanations for Aharen's oddball behavior and reticence. They go on dates, compete at silly games and sports, while ML hypes Aharen up and supports her for who she is. She is drawn to his open-minded kindness and treats him well. Just what I want to watch.
3. Supporting cast: not as strong as the other two, but we get straight man characters who amplify how strange the leads come across and support their burgeoning romance. Aharen's childhood friend isn't the most engaging or interesting character, but she works for showing Aharen's personality and a third person view of what's going on. There are a couple of other who try to match-make or determine if they're dating, which again succeeds in providing an outside view of their romance. Aharen's siblings also show up and offer a bit by way of side character flavor. For a show so centrally focused on its main two characters, I think the supporting characters work to make the most of what matters: romance and comedy. While not perfect, at least there aren't any pointless or distracting characters that steal episodes and screen time from the main couple (ahem Horimiya).
I think it's hard to find shows like this that deliver in the ways they should (1 and 2). I consistently enjoyed their goofing around antics and thought they worked really well as a romantic pairing. I hope there's another season, because this show knows how to deliver with what's actually good about this genre, rather than focusing extremely hard on giving the illusion of progress while actually forcing nothing at all to happen the entire time (the goal of a lot of slice of life romances--again, screw you Uzaki-chan).
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 11, 2023
Girl with a bad attitude meets an immature controlling psycho and they fall in love and have an extremely toxic relationship. Not cute. I think this anime would have been many times better with a different male lead. Blond guy is way way way better in every imaginable way and isn't actively violent and horrible. Taming a habitually violent person (who hurts and threatens FL several times) with major emotional and psychological problems is so far not romantic, it's insane and dangerous. ML here should not be in a relationship, but in therapy.
I think you can have one half of a couple in a
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romance who has a bad attitude or major problem, but not both. FL is barely mature enough for a relationship, but ML is not in any way, shape, or form and a relationship with him would be abusive because he doesn't know how to control himself or his emotions. He is the kind of romantic partner who needs fixing, which is a sign of toxicity. The drama is high in this one and I would say it's 75:25 probability of her getting killed because of him vs. them having a happily ever after. I watch this kind of thing for romance, not drama rooted in violence and toxicity. Everything about this anime that doesn't involve him, though, is actually good. I just cannot stand characters like him.
A lot of people have a problem with the FL, but she is similar to a lot of romance heroines (bad at communication, bookworm, etc.) but the emphasis is more on her negatives. She needed a kindhearted ML who could draw her out and help her realize her misconceptions and flaws, but instead she gets an incipient criminal and wife beater who leads her to rationalize, minimize, and accept violent abuse and stalking. I would say this is one of the rare romance anime where the main couple ending up separated forever at the end would be a good thing. Why watch a romance with such a terrible ill-suited couple at its heart?
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 11, 2023
One of the best anime about friendship. Slice of life high school romance is about as rote and staged for mediocrity as a genre can be, but every now and then, there's something that isn't just a vehicle for cuteness, gags, ecchi nonsense, or the basest impulses of viewers.
Skip to Loafer works. The main character is amazing for this kind of anime in that she's direct but not rude, goofy and silly but realistic, personable and weird but not a social extreme, with a unique background and motivation. The supporting cast fills it in with living, rounded characters who have goals, indecision, and flaws.
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The tone is light even if there's some heavier backstory at points. The opposites attract romance in this is also very likable and charming, even if that's not the emphasis at all thus far. The pacing is pretty fast- a school festival with all the planning and performances in just 2-3 episodes and almost a whole year of school in the bank.
The music and animation are really well done. Unlike a lot of slice of life, there is no corner cutting in this animation; it's absolutely lush and beautiful. ML looks like he belongs in a Studio Ghibli movie, while the editing builds context and space for scenes in a very effective way. Formally, this anime is excellent. If you like slice of life, coming of age, and slow burn romance, this is definitely for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 9, 2023
This is the type of anime where you will like most if not all the characters, but there will be no romantic fulfillment to make any of it matter. By the end of this, the main two have been on 100 dates, are exclusive with one another, she sleeps at his place, they both like each other, he knows she likes him, and yet absolutely no real romance (going out, physical intimacy, relationship, anything concrete beyond romance vibes). It is blue balls the anime. In a world where anime getting a sequel season is the exception and when the anime is hardly unique or special
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enough to deserve such a thing in the first place, it's baffling that this anime would be so smug and frustrating to its audience. If ML is going to be such an indecisive fool, at least make them kiss and have him take a step back. Give it some real stakes, some life or drama, rather than banking on more episodes that might not come.
I highly recommend you don't watch this. I honestly believe even with a third season, the most we would get is a confession, with no kissing or displays of affection, but them just struggling to call each other by their first names and that kind of nonsense. With a fourth season, they would just hold hands by the end. What is the point of a romance anime where there is no romance? This would be like if it was a sports anime and they just practice for two full seasons and never play a game against another team. Just pointless and insulting to the viewer. Has romance anime just become a contest for how little progress a couple can make over the course of a season? Light Yagami makes more progress with Misa, a woman he could not care less about, in Death Note than the main two make in two seasons of this. Hell, Naruto makes more progress with Sasuke in one episode than this couple does in 26. I hate this trend. I know the chase is more exciting but you have to give the audience something damnit.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Nov 8, 2023
This is that brand of high school romance where the indecision and drama is forced and protracted to the point of frustration. Most of the characters work. I liked FL's friends, though the karate/wrestling dojo father of a tomboy is extremely cliche. There must be 10 anime with that exact same character. The pacing in this is pretty similar to Nozaki-kun but with a successful confession at the end. However, this feels almost in every scene to be copying some other anime, given how suffused with tropes it is. I don't really think I could point to a single unique thing about it, besides maybe
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FL's friends (even if her best friend is similar to every overactive FL's best friend, I.e. the sadistic bitch who's loyal but a wingwoman).
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 20, 2022
Review on rewatch. S02 of Darker than Black exists only to show us to be careful what we wish for when we ask for another season of something good. The world would be better off without this. It takes the most interesting and cool character of the first season (Hei), neuters him, gives him alcoholism as a cheap has-been trope, then focuses on a new character nobody cares about. Everything that was interesting about the first season, from the noir vibe, to scifi intrigue, to funny or gripping side characters -- all this goes out the window with terrible writing.
This stands right up there
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with Haruhi Suzumiya's Endless 8 as far as biggest middle finger to the fanbase goes. If you want more of what makes the first season interesting, I'd try Psycho Pass or something else. S01 would've been better off as a standalone, including the OVAs which just open the door to the nonsense of S02.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Mar 20, 2022
I think it's rare to find good non-romance anime that's directed towards a young female demographic. Some criticism of this show might come from how magic is treated and how childish some parts of it are. However, I don't think the same criticism is levelled at the bevy of shounen action series that have even more cringeworthy premises and execution of supernatural powers. To speak on the show itself, though, I think it has appeal even for those not in its demo. Little Witch has excellent storytelling, strong Studio Trigger animation, and characterization developed through foils and episodic challenges. I think LWA works and accomplishes
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everything it set out to do extremely well.
The story is built on the audience knowing something fundamental about one of the characters that Akko, the MC, doesn't know. The past gets revealed incrementally, something effective for episodic shows like this. The backstory reaches a climax when Akko needs to know it. For most of the run, she builds her ability to use the Magic Rod, an object imbued with power that needs moments of realization/maturity to activate, through learning things about herself and how her friendships with others work. LWA is primarily a coming of age story about relationships and the obstacles both internal and external to achieve one's dream. It's also about testing that dream and what it really means. Akko is a smartly conceived character who wears her emotions on her sleeve, tries to cut corners, but doesn't let failure keep her down - she comes in as the most incompetent witch and develops not by unlocking some chosen one hidden ability but by being true to herself amidst conflict. Her authenticity leads to her forging relationships with an unlikely group of her peers and each relationship makes sense. She doesn't have superficial harem powers or anything that magically attract people to her. Rather, she endeavors to learn about others even when she makes mistakes and has negative assumptions about them.
Her relationship with her opposite, Diana, clearly represents this. She eventually goes out of her way for her, even though Diana has been rude and haughty most of the show, because her values won't allow her to leave people behind. Her competitive relationship with Diana mirrors the relationship between her idol and the antagonist of the show. This is where the storytelling is the best because it demonstrates the stakes and unique decision-making that prove Akko's value to the witch world. I also like the writing of the main antagonist who's consumed by the same type of jealousy that's possible for Diana and Akko but never materializes because of Akko's honesty and Diana's ability to overcome her own issues. This main antagonist also doesn't have convoluted take-over-the-world motivations, but more a desire to be recognized as the best and to positively impact the witch world. Jealousy and her thoughts on means and ends lead her to villainy in an organic way. The main reveal in ep 22 also provides a nuanced conflict for Akko who has to overcome a huge challenge brought about not by the antagonist but by someone closer to her. I think this kind of conflict works extremely well for the type of story this is, i.e. a coming of age about relationships.
I think the episodic nature of the show mostly works, but one thing that stands out is how incompetent and ineffectual the witch school's leadership is. One would assume that, like in Harry Potter, the headmistress and the lead witches would be incredibly strong to defend the school, but this isn't the case at all. Essentially every teacher is basically hopelessly incompetent and there just to complement the bullying Akko and her friends constantly receive. They're flat almost to a extent of the adults in Charlie Brown. However, I think this is because action is secondary to this show. Having a collection of those with extremely strong magical powers wouldn't work for a show based in relationships and fidelity to one's dreams. The last act of Harry Potter has all sorts of elaborate nonsense and use of powers, but it doesn't hit at a story level because the twist comes not from choices the MC made, but from power levels and finding combat weakness. It operates on an action level with action story logic. That wouldn't be appropriate here because Akko's goal isn't to become powerful, to overcome some evil, but to change her world in a different way.
Another negative to this anime is that the world's scope and detail isn't very clear at points. There are different nations and a global kind of conflict towards the end, but much of the specifics about where, how far, etc. aren't discussed nearly enough. There are several episodes where Akko and co. travel somewhere else, but these distances don't seem very consistent over the course of the show. Ultimately, I don't think this impacts the viewing experience or enjoyment level but I think it serves as a limit to the quality of the worldbuilding.
Lastly, I think LWA is exceptional for what it doesn't do; it's extremely rare for an anime with this quality of animation to resist all fanservice. The terrain of anime today means something like this is a rare commodity. It does have an episodic structure which some might take for being unfocused, but I think this could optimistically called worldbuilding. In this way, I think it's similar to how One Piece uses the crew splitting up at the start of every arc to build out the world. The delivery of important plot detail through the episodic structure is also reminiscent of Adventure Time and shows like that, though with less convoluted detail. I think LWA has a pretty well constructed world, even if a few parts of it do miss the mark.
Tl;dr: Most anime storytelling is just not as good as this, plain and simple. The goals and focus of the LWA is clear and an end product was definitely in sight from day one of production. It's a complete, well-executed coming of age story focused on character. Though this character psychology isn't extremely deep most of the time due to the young demo, I think the emotional climax of the show and how the main conflict gets developed is surprisingly complex.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 21, 2022
I watched and dropped this some time ago and was reminded of it when scrolling through manga. Scum's Wish has stuck with me as one of the most perverse and toxic anime out there. It features yet another horrible and unforgivable normalization: pedophiles and self-sabotaging emotions. As others have said, not all anime need to end with or force a positive resolution. However, I think this anime is completely irresponsible and disgusting in its depiction of young desire. The emotional manipulation, passive sexual situations, etc. depict two kids who have no concept or perspective on healthy sexual behavior and yet who do their best to
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ruin their lives because they want to screw their teachers.
The two leads are both insufferable. The male lead is a major whipped tool who would jump off a cliff if his pedophile teacher told him to. The female lead will compromise her desire at any moment for fleeting escapist pleasure because she can't move on from a dumb crush. Every episode of this show is a nonstop "yikes, this show isn't going to stoop this low" and then it does. And the leads only become more pathetic and self-hating every episode.
I can only think this is meant as an response to all the happy ending high school romances but it takes the toxicity to such a level that it drinks its own poison, rationalizing horrible behavior and making escapist romances seem healthy and even realistic by contrast.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Aug 11, 2021
Main review and then recommendations for anyone looking to get into the series after (from someone who isn't a One Piece stan or a One Piece hater).
I watched the main arcs via One Pace (like all new OP fans should), but have seen the pacing of the show in normal episodes as well. There is egregious padding to start and end nearly every episode (thus each episode is really only 10-12 min of new content) and there are several filler arcs that are unwatchable nonsense. As others have pointed out, the strengths of this show are countered by the abysmal pacing. Even though there are
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around 1,000 episodes out, if compressed and reedited to be reasonable, there would only be around 700, if not fewer.
However, disregarding the unreasonable pace, it's clear why this show has so much of a following. The world is expansive, embraces different ideas of freedom, provides an imaginative structure of power (both the character power system of devil fruits/Haki and the world power subdivisions like World Government, Pirate Emperors, the Revolution Army), and is overall a strong mixture of light adventure and the brutalities of pirate life. If you're lucky to get into OP now, you don't have to wait and can breeze through strong arcs like Alabasta, Sky Island, Water 7, Marineford, and Impel Down. The current arc, Wano, is very strong as well, though incomplete. However, you'd be more lucky to get into this show in 10 years, since I can only imagine that's how long it'll take for Oda, the creator, to finish.
As far as characters go, Luffy is a strong shonen protagonist, if not a typical one. Hopelessly daft, impetuous, strong, moral, compassionate, gluttonous- he shares perhaps one too many traits with Goku. The crew members are mostly fine but some have gags that have and will never be funny but which persist for some reason (Brook asking every girl if he can see their panties, and his "I don't have x body part since I'm a skeleton" thing). Nami, Zoro, and the newest crew member (as of Wano) are clearly the best, while Sanji and Chopper are the worst. Chopper is just there to sell merchandise. More on Sanji below. Villain quality drastically varies, from Crocodile, Enel, and Blackbeard at the stronger end, with Hody and Gecko Moria at the weaker end. The cast of characters OP has is impressive, even if some come up short. The world's scale is perhaps the best in anime.
Female characters and how the male characters interact with them, however, is where the show is at its worst. Oda takes the grotesque and insidious body image standards of supermodels and goes even further with his female characters. Big boobs and waists thinner than their heads. Within the show itself, these characters are largely the object of a gross voyeuristic look, with Sanji and myriad other characters repeating the insufferable nosebleed horniness that should be totally removed from all anime. Sanji is easily the most cringe character in this show.
Next, the plotting of the arcs can be repetitious and formulaic. Many major arcs involve this plot progression: arrival at a new place, the crew splitting up for some unnecessary reason, chance encounters by the crew build out the world (often where canon arc filler comes in), Luffy meets the most influential character in that place - typically a princess - by saving them from danger and thus accrues good will, Luffy and other major characters get captured, some previously befriended support character saves them, we learn Luffy's befriended character is extremely important to the history of the place, they escape from captivity after the main antagonist spills their plan like Dr. Evil, the crew reunites and hatches a plan, that plan fails but things fall in place anyway, Luffy screams the antagonist's name and stands up against injustice of that place, the characters match up with enemies of their skill level while defeating hundreds of grunts, Luffy battles main antagonist, the friends made along the way help Luffy and co. leave the place and/or protect them from capture. The arcs that don't follow this formula are generally the best plot-wise: Impel Down, Marineford, Water 7/Enies Lobby, Wano.
Sound and Art: fine to good. Some episodes where the animators are padding includes horrible slideshow animation that tracks over static shots for like 10 seconds each. In addition, they give reaction shots to every single character present in order to give the appearance of actually animating when in reality it's just a sequence of still shots. The worst of this was in Fishman Island, probably the worst arc of the series. In the climactic moments of the series, including major battles, the animation is good to great. I don't pay as much attention to music as some on here, but the climactic moments do unfold to a strong score.
Recommendations: While this will be blasphemy to the One Piece stans, I think a good portion of One Piece can be skipped. I would highly recommend checking out the many filler guides for OP online. I would not watch a single filler/anime-only episode; the only content worth watching is canon manga material. As a result, I would highly recommend watching One Pace, which reedits to agree with the manga- it's incomplete but still very helpful. For instance, Fishman Island ran 62 episodes while the One Piece reedit puts it at 24, with some episodes going around 30 min. Next, the Long Ring Long Land Arc, regardless of what anyone says, is filler and can be skipped in its entirety. I would also suggest watching all of Fishman Island at 1.5 speed and skipping any scene Hody, the main antagonist, is in. Lore is the only thing that matters in this arc, and everything that isn't teaching us about the ancient world is extremely boring. Besides these two warnings, every other major arc is important enough to watch (via One Pace).
Finally, the level of enjoyment really depends on how much the filler and padding affects the experience, as well the arc in question. Like I said, I didn't have to contend with the insufferable pacing as much as others have and so enjoyed it more than most would if they watched all ~1,000 episodes without skipping. I really enjoyed the arcs previously mentioned, and was bored by a few. If I had to pick the most enjoyable arcs that I think represent the spirit of OP and validate its popularity, I would go with Sky Island, Water 7, and Dressrosa. I understand why OP gets both so much praise and why it should get even more criticism than it does. At its core, it is one of the strongest shonens but its strengths lead people to think it's perfect. It's not one of the best anime ever, but it's very entertaining when it's sticking to the main events, lore, and world building.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 28, 2021
I'll get right into it: I think this is the most underrated anime there is. There are a thousand anime out there that are enjoyable in one way or another, but the highest tier of anime (and art broadly), in my mind, combine that enjoyment with a commentary on real life social topics. Arakawa takes the alienation in modern life and translates that into an appropriately strange comedy, flipping the switch on what's rational and irrational in the modern world. In doing so, it invites us - particularly through its comedy - to consider our own motivations and routines.
Arakawa Under the Bridge follows the main
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character Rec who starts out as a model of corporate self-reliance; he's dressed like a salaryman and follows a personal credo (inherited from his rich businessman father) that he'll never be indebted to anyone. Originally full of himself, he meets those under the bridge, a group of misfits and weirdos living in a commune that shields them from the obligations of the 9 to 5. Over the course of the series and one joke at a time, he comes to recognize the bankruptcy of his corporate life trajectory through his interactions with the other characters (especially Star and Nino) who don't have typical definitions of success and happiness. He typically plays the straight man to the supporting cast's set of atypical traits and thought processes, and the contrast between normal thinking and strangeness is funny.
I think calling the humor here silly, stupid, or random doesn't do it justice. It's a character-based comedy that revels in the idiosyncrasies permitted under the bridge, so the randomness of their traits is purposeful. The silliness of the humor establishes an unusual logic to the show and characters overall. In an increasingly capitalistic and results-driven society, under the bridge here stands as a space of absolute freedom from the ridiculous, though normalized, bullshit of everyday life. Rec comes in representing a life of feckless accumulation and self-interest but through his relationships with those under the bridge, he discovers a new way of evaluating people, relationships, and his own sense of himself. The people he originally thought were space cadet freaks turn out to be motivated by truer feelings and ideas than those in the presumably rational, capitalistic world. This show complicates what's normal, showing our reality of money-motivated selfishness to be hollow in the face of authentic relationships we could build without such an imperative. The supporting cast aren't all designed directly for this reorientation of thinking, but as a group carve out a place unencumbered by social expectations, thus contributing broadly to my point.
On a more abstract level, this show has a great energy to it. I think there's a place for all the characters in the broader story and that the OPs/EDs in this and the sequel are some of the strongest there are. I don't think the art impedes any of what the show tries to do and there are great live action end scenes sometimes (of Kappa guy hanging out on the Japanese river banks). I think these live action scenes feed into my analysis about what this show is doing.
To conclude, I think this anime is an interesting pairing alongside Welcome to the NHK which deals with social alienation from a different angle. Here, traditional success is a type of personal failure stirring change, while in NHK, personal economic and psychological failures create relationships which in turn lead to change. As I get older, shows like this gain increasingly more real estate in my mind because they get at something real that a person experiences when they get older, especially living in a big city. In particular, I think current anime's fixation on fantasy escapism, incest, pedophilia, and rote genre/narrative recycling is an attempt to avoid the insecurities, social dislocation, and economic problems covered in NHK and Arakawa.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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