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The Chainsaw Man manga is one of my favorite things in existence. I really think it is the peak of what the shonen demographic can be. My standards were really high going into the anime, but it's more or less lived up to the expectations that I had.

Like a lot of people, I was worried about the CGI after the fight in episode 1, but every subsequent action scene has looked significantly better than that one. There's some here and there just like every other modern, big-budget anime, but it's used sparingly, and fits into the art-style surprisingly well.

I feel like I've never said this ... about an anime before, but I think the best part of the show might be it's music. The opening is a classic already, and the songs used throughout the show help set the energy and tone of the world as a whole in the best way possible. The coolest thing though, is that every single episode has a different ending song, with a standalone animation to go with it. I have never seen a show go through the effort to do anything even close to that, and I think that speaks to the amount of care and passion that MAPPA has put into this.

I'm really happy that the craziness that is Chainsaw Man is breaking into wider popularity now, because it really deserves it (not that it was niche before lol).

Coming off of a season with a show like Spy x Family, the time was perfect for another childcare-focused show to burst onto the scene, but The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting didn't really take advantage of the opportunity.

It's certainly had some good moments here and there, but I don't think it's been very good as a whole.

The concept of the show is fun at the very least, and sets up some pretty interesting ideas from a dramatic, and a comedic perspective. It seems like the showrunners really wanted to capitalize of off that, and the tone comes off really inconsistent as a result. Every single ... episode has awful attempts at comedy coming right before or after scenes intended to make you cry, and the show just isn't good enough to pull it off successfully. There are very few anime that consistently manage to do that well, and this was not one of them. It just made the whole thing feel like a bit of a mess in this case.

The characters are pretty all awful, to be frank. None of them behave like real people, all of their interactions feel awkward, and their motivations are stupid and shallow. I don't think there is a single character in the entire show that I liked, or even thought was well written. The main character is an irredeemable asshole who continues to do nothing but hurt the people around him, and I constantly find myself wondering why I'm supposed to be rooting for him, especially during episodes 10 and 11. I usually love shows who have morally gray main characters, but the way they did it here just didn't work.

Genuinely the only thing that the show has going for it is the cuteness factor. The story feels like it only exists to bring about wholesome moments between Kirishima, the main character, and Yaeka, the girl he's babysitting. There's no real substance beyond that. Once you've seen the first episode, you've pretty much seen them all. The charm wears off pretty quickly.

The final thing I want to mention is that episode 4 of this show currently holds the title of the worst anime episode that I have ever seen. Episode 4 is a filler episode. Putting filler 4 episodes into a 12 episode seasonal anime on it's own is already pretty despicable, but the content of the episode is what makes it stand out. In order to make the gang a little money on the side, the main character decides to become a Twitch streamer. No, I'm not kidding, and yes, It's as bad as it sounds. I think that episode was the tipping point where I lost interest with the show. It never really hit the same afterwards.

Not a bad show, but it was definitely one of the more disappointing shows in an already disappointing season. Maybe the final episode can redeem it a bit, but I doubt it.

Cyberpunk 2077 was at one point my most anticipated game release ever. But when it came out, I played maybe 2 hours of it. To say that the game's launch was a disappointment would be a bit of an understatement.

But... I am so glad that they didn't give up on the Cyberpunk universe, because this show is a triumph.

Despite my previous disappointment with the video game, I was intrigued leading up to the release of this anime, and it was one that I was really keeping my eye on. It seems to have flown under the radar a bit for the general public due to ... a lack of promotion, but hopefully that will change as people see the critical reception it's receiving.

All I expected was a well-animated action show, but I got a lot more than that here.

Unlike what happened with the game, the trailers were a pretty good representation of what Edgerunners was going to look like. The art style is great. Everything about the creative direction of this show was spot on to what you would want and expect. A color palette full of vibrant greens, yellows, and purples, along with some striking character and world designs. It really brings the city to life. You can tell how much fun the animators and production staff were having toying around with the Cyberpunk world.

Something that elevates the artistic vision even farther though, is the pacing of the show itself. It really likes to jump back and forth between flashbacks and real-time without any major indicators, which can be a little confusing, but I think the high tempo really fits the show. The speed of Edgerunners very rarely slows down, which helps to immerse you into Night City itself. Every scene on the streets of the city is loud, bright, and flashy, never giving your eyes a rest. But in the few scenes where the characters find a secluded spot or leave the city, everything quiets down. The shots and scenes themselves are longer. The music slows to a crawl, or doesn't play at all. The colors change from the buzzing neon glow, to a dusky, pale set of grays and browns. It's just brilliantly done.

The action scenes are great as well, and are one of the best things about the show. Edgerunners is absolutely GRUESOME, so much more so than I anticipated. I have never seen an anime get this explicitly graphic with it's violence, and I am all here for it. When someone gets shot, or stabbed, or smashed they will show you EVERYTHING. There is no censorship here, unlike the majority of more traditional anime. I'm really glad that the studio was allowed to go all out here, and make this show as wild and over-the-top as it needed to be.

The animation quality itself is a little bit inconsistent however, which is one of my only complaints I have with the show. The majority of the action is amazing, as I stated previously, but towards the latter half of the show, there is a pretty noticeable drop-off in animation quality, with the studio relying more on 3D models rather than pure animation during the climax of the show, which is really the only place I can say that the show came up a little short. It doesn't really affect my opinion on the show at all, but it's something I felt inclined to mention.

Now, I said in the beginning that I was just expecting a pure action show, but this is not that. Edgerunners really blew me away with the depth and thematic value shown in it's story. There's a lot more going on than just 'gang shoots and does crime stuff' that it looked like in the first bit of the show. David and Lucy's characters were some of the best I've seen in anime, at least in recent memory. Everything about David and his arc were so much better than anything I could have expected from a show like this, and I was truly blown away. I do wish the show was a little longer to space out the story beats and make the events that happen a bit more of a slow-burn, but with the time they had, I think they did an excellent job. I didn't expect to be emotionally impacted by a fucking Cyberpunk show, but I was. There are some moments here that are genuinely genius from a storytelling perspective.

Talking about the story without any spoilers is a bit of a tough task, so for your benefit, I won't go into any more detail than that. This is one of those shows that will leave you wanting more after you finish it.

I'll be looking forward to the next entry into the Cyberpunk universe. If they continue putting out stuff like this, CD Projekt Red could have something really special.

It isn't perfect, but it is certainly incredible.

Season 2 of The Devil is a Part Timer has been getting some pretty serious criticism from fans, and I think a lot of it is pretty deserved.

This season just lacks a lot of the charm the first one had, and that goes for almost every aspect of the show. The art style isn't bad, it just doesn't feel the same. The writing isn't bad, it just doesn't feel the same. The storylines aren't bad, they just don't feel the same. Etc.

The first season was carried by the absurdity of the the situation that the characters found themselves in. However, the honeymoon phase of that ... hilarious premise has long since worn off, and the show's inherent flaws have been on display as a result.

The comedy isn't landing as much, the characters aren't as funny, and all of the gimmicks have gotten pretty stale. The original wasn't all that great or anything, but it was a fun 13 episode anime. That's all it ever needed to be. I don't think this season really needed to exist.

It isn't completely awful, it's just pretty disappointing and uninteresting.

Call of the Night COULD have been a great show. The concept itself is good, the music is amazing, it's funny, the characters are fun, the events that happen in the show are entertaining, and the art style and color palette are remarkable... but the show just isn't great.

You probably already know what my complaint is going to be at this point.

The story of Call of the Night revolves around the relationship between Nazuna, who is a 40 year old vampire, and a 14 year old boy named Ko. Ko, in order to escape his dull life, is trying to become a vampire like Nazuna. ... To do so, he has to fall in love with her (they don't explain why, but just go with it). It isn't just a wholesome family-friendly relationship that they're developing either, half of the show's plot is about Ko deciding if he is really starting to love Nazuna, or if he just wants to bang her. I can only stomach so many scenes of a middle-school boy staring at a 40 year old woman's boobs before it starts to feel a little weird. I've gotten pretty used to this sort of thing, given that strange pedophelic relationships are kind of a staple in anime for some reason, but it's still very uncomfortable.

The worst part is that literally nothing about the story would change if they were of similar ages, so I just don't understand why they made the decision to have a 30 year age gap between the characters. It's pointless. This kind of thing is the very worst part about anime and anime culture, and it doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon (in fact, it feels like it's happening more and more often).

I enjoy watching the show, but something like this just gets pretty hard to ignore after a certain point.

Overall: 6/10

Inu Oh is a good movie, but it is absolutely chaotic. This benefits it in some ways, and hinders it in others.

I'll get back to that in a bit, first I want to talk about the strongest part about Inu Oh; the art. The art direction is superb. I love everything they were going for in that department of this movie, and they pulled it all off. The animation is wonderful. I can't describe my favorite scenes in all that much detail due to spoilers, but there are some really awesome artistic moments in this movie, most of which relate to the main characters' disabilities. ... Under the same umbrella of 'art', I'm going to include the music as well, which was PHENOMENAL. Even if you take nothing away from this film, you'll still be able to appreciate it musically. Inu Oh combines traditional Japanese instruments with modern rock styles, and it's really unlike anything I've ever heard. Towards the end of the movie there are multiple 10+ minute long musical numbers (or they at least felt that long) which will really take your breath away. While being a little repetitive sometimes, the music is still strikingly unique and interesting. It isn't just there to sound cool or to fill space either, the lyrics help to develop the backstory and plot of the whole movie. Although I haven't seen all that many music related anime, Inu Oh is definitely one of the best when it comes to the music itself.

The characters aren't all that developed, but they're certainly interesting; Inu Oh specifically. He was born horrifically deformed, and because of that, he is shunned by his family and treated like a dog. His father was a dancer, and all Inu Oh wants is to become an amazing performer (partly to spite him, and partly to live up to his family's legacy, if you ask me). It's a pretty interesting concept, and he really stole the show every time he was on screen. The other main character, Tomona, was good as well, but noticeably less so than Inu Oh. He had some great moments in the final act, but he took a back seat to Inu Oh for a large portion of the movie.

Now with all of that being said, this movie ultimately fell short in a lot of areas for me. I liked it, but it is significantly flawed. The pacing, story, and themes are all pretty chaotic all throughout the film. There is no down-time in this movie at all. It jumps from one year and place to another, without even giving you a chance to process what you just saw. I wouldn't exactly call the pacing 'bad', but it is very very quick, which just adds confusion to an already tricky to follow plotline.

For a movie that is barely over 90 minutes long, there is a ton going on. There are 3 stories all getting developed simultaneously; the story of Tomona, the story of Inu Oh, and the story of a war that happened over 100 years ago. Given some more time it could have worked pretty well, but like I said in the last paragraph, the pacing does not help. The abrupt time and location jumps leave you feeling a bit winded as you try to keep up with what's going on on. A lot of the lose ends get tied up towards the end of the movie, but the ending just unravels a few more. The story is far from bad, and there was a lot about it that I liked, but I just felt a little overwhelmed with the scope of the story they were attempting to tell here. That left the themes feeling pretty jumbled, and me feeling like I missed out a lot of the deeper messages. Don't get me wrong, I do love confusing movies. Films that leave me thinking after I watch them are often-times some of my favorites, but it came off as bit more of a negative thing than a positive one here. Or maybe I'm just an idiot who can't understand a director's vision. That may also be true.

Despite having a lot to gripe about, I still thought it was a good movie. It is truly special from an artistic perspective, however the rest of the movie doesn't really pull its weight, which has dragged down the score a bit for me. Maybe after another watch my opinion will change a bit, but maybe not.

Overall: 7/10

I don't really know what it is about them, but I am an absolute sucker for shows like this.

The characters are never great, and the stories are always non-existent, but something just draws me in. Last season it was Aharen is Indecipherable, and this season it's When Will Ayumu Make His Move. I cannot stop watching shows like this.

I don't even know what shogi is, and I still cannot stop watching. They play it every single episode, and half of the dialogue and plot-points are related to it, and I know absolutely nothing about it. It seems kinda like chess from what I've gathered just ... through watching, but I'm not really sure. Still though, even knowing nothing about this game, it is a blast to watch.

I'm not going to get into any deep critical analysis here, because you pretty much know what you're getting into with a show like this. Nothing is innovative or unique (in fact, you could even call it cliche at some points), but it just does what it does very well, in an enjoyable manner.

Is an 8 a little high for what this show is? Yeah. My score will probably change in the future. For now though, just based on enjoyment, I'll put it there.

After 5 episodes: 8/10

So yeah, as expected, it did not end up being an 8 lol.

A fun, charming show, but it gradually declined as it went on, and I was left a little unsatisfied with the end.

It was still very much worth watching, and was one of the better shows of the season.

Let me just say, WOW. What an incredible series.

I thought nothing could ever top Vinland Saga as my #1 manga, but Goodnight Punpun has come very close. It is a genuine masterpiece. Everything about it is phenomenal.

I was thinking about writing a really long dedicated review, but I just don't think I will be able to. As I was reading this, I literally kept a dedicated notes tab on my phone just for writing down what I was thinking about the story so I wouldn't forget, there is no way I would be able to formulate all of my thoughts on this series into ... just a single review without sitting here all day. If I were to list off everything I loved about Goodnight Punpun, this review would be a mile long. So instead of doing that, I'll just make this quick.

Goodnight Punpun is the most realistic interpretation of humanity I have ever seen put to a manga or anime format. The characters, the dialogue, and even the story itself just feel so much more genuine than others in the medium. It feels more like a biography than a fictional story at times, if that makes any sense. It's not just the super depressing story that it's gained the reputation of being. It tackles crushingly heavy topics over and over again, and are so many overlying themes that I can't even definitively say one thing that Goodnight Punpun is actually 'about', but it just clicked together in a way that created a truly special work of art.

I don't think it will resonate with everyone, but it will resonate hard if it does.

Lycoris Recoil is unexpectedly good.

The only reason I even started watching it in the first place is because it was one of the first summer shows to begin airing. I knew nothing about it before-hand, which resulted in me not really having any expectations, but it's been a pleasant surprise so far.

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[STORY/CHARACTERS]

The story isn't anything overly special or unique, but it works. Japan is policed by a secret military force made up entirely of orphaned teenage girls (for some reason), called Lycoris. They do everything from running errands for people, to tracking down and destroying illegal arms dealing operations. The story follows two of these ... Lycoris' (Lycorises? Lycori? idk), Chisato and Takina. Chisato, while being a Lycoris, spends most of her time working at a cafe. She treats her Lycoris job pretty carelessly sometimes, and just does whatever she wants to. Takina, however, is the opposite. She was recently kicked out of the main Lycoris force, due to disobeying direct orders, and is pretty beat up about it. Being a Lycoris for the main force was the most important thing in her life, and she feels a bit lost without it.

Chisato and Takina are decent enough on their own, but their interactions together bring them up another level. The 'protagonists with opposing personalities' trope is one of the most common out there, but it's done really well here. Chisato is outgoing, strong, and confident, while Takina is more reserved and quiet. We're still only a few episodes in obviously, so we haven't gotten the opportunity to see where their friendship goes yet, but it's off to a pretty cute start. I really like the way they've introduced these characters and shown their personalities and struggles in these first few episodes, and it sets up a lot of interesting things for later in the show.

The other characters outside of the main 2 are just okay. Most of them are yet to receive much development or even screen time, so this is one of those things I'll have to reevaluate farther into the show.

Story and characters: 7/10

[ART]

The art in this show is what surprised me the most. Besides some CGI moments when it comes to background characters and such, it's some of the best animation of the year so far. The character designs and colors are all distinctive and vibrant, which paired with the super well done lighting results in a show that looks great visually.

The action scenes are phenomenal as well, and are up there with some of the best I've seen. The fight choreography, while really silly at times (with characters dodging bullets like it's the matrix or something), is very good. If you suspend disbelief for a bit and just watch the characters kick some ass, it's awesome.

Art: 8/10

[SOUND]

I've mentioned this in some of my previous reviews, but voice acting is something that I usually don't really care that much about, but this show's voice acting has stuck out to me a lot. Specifically Chisato's voice actor. She absolutely kills it. It's really rare to see a voice actor put that much passion into their voice in every single scene, even the most mundane ones. It really seems like she's giving 100% effort at all times, and she's done a really impressive job so far.

The other voice actors are pretty standard, no real complaints or complements for me to give out as of yet.

The music is just okay too. None of it is all that memorable. If you played the opening for me right now, I probably wouldn't be able to recognize it unless you told me what show it was from.

Sound: 7/10

[ENJOYMENT]

Lycoris Recoil is pretty awesome. Great action scenes, great animation, and fun characters. There's not a lot I can complain about so far. In a season where I'm watching like 10 shows, it still manages to be one of my most anticipated ones every week.

Enjoyment: 8/10

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With how much I just praised the show, this ranking is probably going to seem a bit low. I like the show a lot, and think it has a ton of potential, but I'm going to hold off a bit to raise the score any higher.

Super fun, and a surprisingly good start to the show. I'll update this review after the show finishes airing.

Score after 3 episodes: 7/10

Update:

This show was good. Maybe not as good as it could have been, but everything in this review still holds pretty true. Definitely a top 3 show of the season, although that isn't really saying that much.

I'm going to keep the score the same, at a 7/10

This is Dr. Stone at its best.

I felt a little disappointed by the 2nd season due to the science taking a back seat to mediocre action, but this got the show back on track.

The new character, Ryuusui, was really interesting, and he added some pretty cool ideas into the world. The first thing the former multi-millionaire does after being stuck in stone for almost 3000 years is immediately create money and an economy. It's just great lol.

The rest of the characters were as entertaining as ever, and the science was just as good as it was in the first season. Just a super fun ... hour of anime, and I can't wait for more.

If the 3rd season is anything like this, it's going to be very good. I'm excited.