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Sep 27, 2024
(This review is as of chapter ~280, because I wanted to get some thoughts down about Espereon vs Seiran and I don't really see my opinions changing much once I've caught up.)
Ao Ashi is probably the ballsiest sports manga/anime out there. The twist (you know what I'm talking about) is iconic and the main turning point of the manga, but I've never seen anything like it. Such a monumental fuck-you as soon as the show begins to hit its stride is pretty much out of the question for most stories, but somehow Ao Ashi makes it so integral that it seems like it wouldn't exist
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without it.
I'd like to preface that I am a sucker for sports shows. Ace of the Diamond is one of my all time favourite animes and Ao Ashi is now pretty close behind it, and the two definitely have their similarities. Alot of sports-based manga are incredibly timid. The reason why I've dropped titles like Days and Haikyuu is because of the author's defiance to have their team lose at important moments. Losses are (in my eyes) some of the most important character building moments available, and to turn your back on that can only make it more difficult to create investment and growth for the team that the audience watches.
Although Daiya and Ao Ashi definitely have some elements of plot armour (which at some points can be unavoidable), I never felt like the team was invincible or that there was some sort of safety in losing situations just because they were main characters. This, as well as the characters' personal losses and ups and downs, creates that element of thrill and excitement which is so hard to find outside of these shonen sports or battle shows.
I also feel that Ao Ashi excels at creating characters. The most obvious evidence of well-written character growth is Akutsu, who literally goes from the least to the most likeable character in the span of one arc - but other characters like Tachibana or even non-players like Hana have levels of depth and struggle which makes them feel real and relatable, which makes this cutthroat world of football seem that little bit more realistic. Another highlight was Taira - although his actual presence in the manga is fairly negligible, I felt that his ending alone was enough to remind us of the other side of the coin in the club, those who simply aren't lucky, and living on through Aoi just shows me how close the main character was to that and just how imminent the danger really is.
My most recent boners have come mainly from this Espereon vs Seiran match, which definitely has its place among some of my favourite arcs ever. Akutsu's backstory drop, Aoi and Ren's rivalry, the manager mind-battle, Aoi's 'grasp' and even the mangaka's football knowledge (N-box??) just made for an absolute rollercoaster with an unbelievable amount of highlights (u better believe I screenshotted those) and the manga honestly could have ended after this with no real complaints from me. My only worry from now is that it never lives up to this same energy, but I also think I need a breather after that anyway.
I guess we'll see after I inevitably binge the rest of this tomorrow
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 21, 2024
Wistoria is a weird show to watch, and definitely hard to call *bad*. Despite basically all of its basic plot elements being ripped straight from successful new-gen shonen, and an awkward air surrounding the dialogue and undefined, basic world: Wistoria is still competent, and *can* tell a story.
I found that the show was best when it took a step away from the blatant troupes and clichés it likes to build off of. Certain moments/fights in certain arcs did have some interesting ideas and moments, which provided us something different from the bleh up to that point. Sure, these scenes were not exactly well executed, and
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could certainly have been done better, but seeing a side to the show that was more adventurous was infinitely better than the safe, formulaic shlock it seems to love to serve.
Although, one thing that confused me was the power scaling of the universe. Elfie(?) is kind of presented as the strongest from the beginning, and has a couple of small feats which signify people’s power levels etc. in comparison to her. The problem is that despite this, the other characters’ strength is so inconsistent that these benchmarks just become unreliable. Teachers are also weaker than students, character matchups seem to change outcome with no real build up or excuse, and gaining power itself is just vague and unacknowledged.
I guess I feel that this just demonstrates how disorganised i think the show really is, making it seem like nothing was really planned ahead - the studio maybe thinking that the safety net which other shows have laid out for them will just pave a way forward, when its never that simple.
That being said, I think its inevitable that most stories will end up going their own way at some point, no matter if they have copied the concept of something else. So it is still quite early to write this show off as just hopeless, but it certainly didn’t do a good job getting me on side, however good the animation might (rarely) be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 16, 2024
Ok, 10 is a hyperbolic rating . Baki has problems with pacing, elements of predictability , dialogue and probably a million other things.
But even so, it is some of the most fun I've had reading manga in a long , *long* time. Moments like Garland suplexing a snake, or that panel of Baki crying over an ape (all animal related for some reason...) are so unique to the world of Baki that anything else similar just seems like a cheap copy. From the beginning, the series slowly ramps up in insanity with no sign of stopping, whilst somehow still maintaining that core foundation of martial
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arts love and knowledge which started it all.
And Baki isn't just something to laugh at . The final tournament arc is genuinely grand-feeling and somehow manages to tie up the crazy 200 or so chapters beforehand unfathomably neatly (considering how random it appeared at first). Shoutout also to some of the character writing : Hanayama , Jack, and even tinier parts like Yuri were genuinely fleshed out and eventually became the most likeable people in probably the whole manga(yes this is including Baki, just wait), even though they started out as villains . I also thought that the artwork (especially the anatomy of course) was very memorable and suited the story absolutely perfectly, I can't imagine Baki without it.
I still have my complaints of course. (As referenced before) Baki himself is a pretty underwhelming lead - ending up more as a vehicle for the story and other characters rather than a fully realised human himself. His fights are all formulaic - he begins losing, but eventually learns something or reveals his full hand and wins a hardfought victory. This 'equation' is fine, and definitely works a couple times. But across 371 chapters, I think anyone would find it a little played out when the finale is the exact same as we've seen all along.
I feel as though the mangaka somehow knew it was getting tiring, but instead of changing this formula every now and again (maybe editor interference?) he decided to drag the focus away from the titular character entirely and just explore as many others as he could (enter: tournament arc).
I'm excited for the later reboots/entries, although I'm not sure how comparable they are to the original. I guess we'll see
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 15, 2024
Just wrapped up season 1 (literally abt 2 minutes ago ) and it ended up finishing a lot neater and tidier than i had anticipated considering season 2 + movie. I am aware that the other two feed back into the ending but it never really dawned on me that that was 'the end' until it started happening. Anyway, review time:
Let me just start by admitting that Steins;Gate is clearly a cut above some of the other drivel that washes up on the shore of the 'seasonal anime' lists and recommendations. That is to say , as far as anime go , this is
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probably one of the better ones out there.
However , the amount of praise and mentions that this thing gets, I think it was inevitable that I'd feel a little bit let down when it started and it wasn't injecting literal heroin straight into my veins. My main critiques probably do stem from the crazy expectations I had going in, because it is *so* hyped , to the point where it becomes impossible to deliver: things like the first half of the show being 99% setup, or the actual meat of the plot being a little less 'grand' than the hype would suggest really don't suit such an excitable reputation. It probably took until ep18-19 or so for me to really get into it and know where to look for what it really offers, which for some people is way too far and it's definitely understandable if you are put off by then (not saying that it has nothing to offer until then, moreso that the hype gets delivered around that point).
The characters are probably the highlight of Steins;Gate. And whilst I do like them, and think they are well written , I'm not sure if they warrant the overwhelming love and attention that brings this up to one of the best rated anime of all time.
I guess this brings me to my real point. Why is this show so popular? Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, but it never felt like one of those shows which would bring together such a unanimous community like it has. At points it literally feels like you're reading a visual novel, and the mechanics of the plot aren't exactly something I'd leave up to the average anime watcher to figure out. So, why? I still don't know , but I can only guess that it struck the perfect middle ground between *feeling* smart, and *being smart*. The less involved viewers can get something out of the characters and emotion of the story, whilst the analysers and pretentious assholes (me) can rewatch and enjoy a neat time travel story with all its easter eggs and setups in the first half. It also has some incredible meme potential and iconography, so maybe its not such a surprise that it got so big.
Reading back this review, it almost sounds like a 'Not Recommended', so I'd better start spouting off some pros. This is one of the view anime TV shows I've seen which have put this level of thought into the cinematography/art direction. Despite its lack of conventionally 'good' animation, it still avoids feeling ugly or taking you out of the world that it is trying to build, even though its really just an average, small town that they're depicting. I also thought that the dialogue was particularly refreshing for an anime, not falling into any tropes unintentionally, and providing something a little more interesting to listen to considering the lack of 'action', especially early on (I think this can definitely be attributed to its VN roots).
There are definitely more positives to the show, but they've been said before and my fingers are beginning to get tired, so I'm going to end it here. If you want something a little more intelligent and you still haven't seen Steins;Gate, you have my recommendation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 12, 2024
Prison school is a hard anime to judge , considering that its jokes constantly teeter on the fence between parody and genuine fanservice/pervy-ness ; blurring that line just enough to get away with more than its probably allowed. Despite this , I think I can pretty confidently say that it has a majority of positive intentions and is one of the few anime which has been able to dredge a consistent stream of laughs out of me.
The comedy itself, whilst of course lending itself heavily towards more crass , inappropriate humour, manages not to lose the intelligence required to actually make a joke funny. I
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feel that a lot of other shows wouldn't run with the lack of R-18-restrictions in the way that Prison school does, where there is more than the shock of nudity or inappropriate images to get a rise out of you. The characters genuinely serve a comedic purpose (however stereotypical it may be) and can be predicted in a way that suggests they have some modicum of personality.
Now, don't get me wrong , this isn't to say Prison school has fantastically-written characters (or even well-written characters). I just believe that it goes a stretch beyond some of the dime-a-dozen ecchi shows which have become so abundant in recent years.
I guess this brings me onto my negatives. The main gripe I can imagine surrounds Prison school is the- admittedly very blatant - objectification of women which literally becomes the crux of the show. I find it hard, as a guy, to really form an opinion about this. On one hand, I can probably argue about satire and parody and 'the meaning of comedy' or some shit .On the other hand, you can't argue with the fact that someone was offended and that is just the way it is. The show doesn't really exist without that inherent sexism , so its definitely a hard issue to talk about. I think that viewing it from a parody angle probably removes that concern but its definitely a matter of viewpoint .
Either way, the show definitely has a host of other issues under this main, overarching complaint. The characters are pretty unlikeable (intentional?), maybe excluding the glasses guy. The problem with this is that it not only plagues the main male-cast, but also pretty much everyone in the show. This kind of affects my motivation as no character makes me want to follow them, and any moment where the jokes get old or something doesn't hit loses *aaaalllll* of the momentum the show had been building to that point, considering that that is basically the only reason I'm here. Luckily, that was rare.
Either way, I can atleast say that my degenerate ass had a good time, so do with that what you will .
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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