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Apr 4, 2023
Stampede starts and ends strong, but episodes 2-8 were a struggle to get through.
Let me get this out of the way - I don't care about your thoughts on the original Trigun anime. You liked it? Cool. You hated it? Cool. Whatever. That discussion is not relevant here and I feel it's in bad faith to always compare the two when it's obvious both series were trying to achieve different things, ESPECIALLY knowing how season 1 of Stampede ended.
The very first episode of Stampede was honestly amazing. Everything from the storytelling, the pacing, character interactions, animation, comedy, etc., it was all near perfect. I, for
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one, was very excited to see the direction of Stampede. Unfortunately, it starts going downhill, really fast. The villain of the week formula does not work for this show. Again, knowing how S1 ends, I kind of see what they were going for, but none of it felt cohesive. It was just one bad guy or sometimes two or three at a time, all competing for spotlight before one or all of them dies and the story and the main characters move on.
I said the villains were all fighting for spotlight, and that negatively impacts the main cast because, aside from Vash and MAYBE a little bit of Wolfwood, the main cast get zero spotlight. It seems the writers went the FMAB route when writing Stampede, in that they assumed you watched the original series and knew the characters from there so that they don't have to spend too much time reintroducing them again. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work here. The Vash/Meryl/Wolfwood/Knives in this show all feel very different from their OG anime counterparts. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but, because the show doesn't give us a chance to know the Stampede versions of these characters, I go through literally every episode still not sure what each character's goals, motivations, likes, dislikes, etc. are. I'm honestly really bummed about this, because I genuinely like all of the main characters, but I also feel like I don't know them at all. It's like seeing that one person in class or at the gym and getting along with them for the two hours you're there but then not knowing a thing about them outside of that.
It's even worse for Wolfwood in particular. The show just randomly drops his backstory on us, and, while I do think it's a great backstory, the emotional weight was absent because there was no build up. All he did was join the crew for like two episodes, complain about Vash, then boom sad backstory. You can't give me a sad backstory for someone I really still don't know.
Another big issue I have with Stampede is its tone. Episode 1 is so tonally different from the rest of the show that it was jarring. I'm not against dark themes or bloody/gory fights, but the show just randomly gets so dark and gruesome and needlessly violent after its very lighthearted and silly first episode. Again - I'm not against those things in a vacuum, but it just didn't match, making the later comedic scenes feel out of place. If they wanted this show to be dark, it should have been that way from episode 1.
I'm glad the last few episodes were able to tie up the mess it left behind in the middle episodes, and I'm still cautiously optimistic about season 2., if not just for the fact that I love Vash so much and am willing to get any type of Vash content that I can.
I didn't talk about it a lot but I will say the animation of Stampeded is absolutely gorgeous. It makes me hopeful about the future of CG in anime.
I know I talked a lot of smack, but I'd say give the show a try. Don't listen to the discourse of whether or not the OG series is better - be open-minded and at least give the first few episodes a shot (haha get it).
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 4, 2022
I'm a simple guy. I like aquariums and I like slice of life/drama anime, so I'm quite pleased with this anime just by its premise alone.
I was recommended this anime through a YouTube video detailing the YouTuber's favorite anime of 2021, of which he lists Aquatope as a great anime for young adults in their 20s, unsure of their future. After watching Aquatope, I for the most part agree with this recommendation. I've seen a few other reviews here call this anime niche, and again I'll have to agree. This show simply won't deliver as strongly as it tries to if you don't fall under
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its niche.
Let's get the easy stuff out of the way - the visuals are stellar, whether it uses CG or not; the openings are bangers (OP 2 has this sick drum roll in the pre-chorus and I'm a sucker for that type of thing); the characters are all enjoyable to follow; the OST, while not outstanding, is still solid; and, of course, the aquariums are just presented wonderfully.
I really love the aquarium setting.
The CG fish may look a little off-putting in a few scenes, but for the most part it blends wonderfully with the 2D animation. Everything about the marine life in Aquatope is just so visually amazing. I'm not familiar with the studio that animated this but if this is what their other anime look like then I'll keep my eye out for them.
Additionally, I love how this anime really goes out of its way to show viewers how aquariums function, and the different parts of it that make it all come together. Tingarla displays the business side of things as well as the more grandiose tourist centers most of us see aquariums as, whereas Gama Gama and the other small aquarium give us a more humble perspective. I'm not gonna act like I'm a marine biology expert so I can't comment on how scientifically accurate every little detail is, but for the most part I love how real it all feels. I'm not just watching an anime that takes place in an aquarium, I am there in the aquarium learning with Fuuka-chan. I also appreciate that it never feels like the show is wasting time showing all the features and elements of the aquarium. The pacing is never abruptly stopped to show us these minor details, instead the realistic parts of the aquarium are well-integrated in each episode's plot.
Aquatope nails its setting and utilizes it perfectly.
My issues with the anime are a little more difficult for me to convey.
For one, though I did say the characters are all enjoyable, the main character got on my nerves a little more than I wish she had. I understand that her role in the story is the young/naive/idealistic kid that gets a heaping dose of reality, and she fulfills that role well. There were just quite a handful of episodes where that was the main conflict of the episode - she struggles to understand/work with others because she only sees things from her naive perspective. That alone is a fine lesson for her to learn, but it gets tiring real fast. Most of the time when these conflicts arrive it just makes the MC look like she lacks any ability to reason or empathize at all. These moments don't completely take away from my enjoyment of her but, like I said, it did grate on me quite a lot, especially in the second half of the show.
Speaking of the second half of the show, I will admit it felt like it lost focus for a few episodes. I get it, this is a new season and time for the characters and setting, but the narrative kind of felt lacking in that there wasn't really a clear goal or vision. I suppose this is where Aquatope leans more into its slice of life elements rather than its drama ones, but I digress. This complaint of mine isn't anything major but I did feel a little lost around episodes 13-15 in terms of what the show wanted to achieve.
**SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS SECTION**
I suppose now my biggest issue with Aquatope is that I have no idea what message it wants to leave its audience with. I was under the impression that it would try to leave viewers with some kind of encouraging message about achieving dreams or recovering from broken dreams or whatever - something cheesy but nice is all I needed. And yet, I really got nothign out of this. Gama Gama closes so the MC decides to swallow her pride and work at Tingarla. And that's perfectly fine - I like this message of seize any opportunity you get regardless of circumstance. But from there nothing new is really learned. The MC deciding to stay in marketing is literally the same message.
"Don't cry about Gama Gama being over, there's still opportunity at Tingarla"
"Don't cry about not working with the fish directly, there's still opportunity in marketing"
Maybe it's my fault for trying to find deep meaning in slice of life (as I said, once the Gama Gama arc is over the show really leans more into the slice of life side) but can you really blame me? The show presented me with a relatable conflict in an aquarium setting and in the end all it gave me was the same message twice but in two different aquarium settings. And even then, let's think about what this show is really doing. Not everyone will be given the same opportunities that the MC was able to get. Landing an office job in an aquarium right after graduating high school is no easy feat, and that's where I struggle to relate to the show, thus leading to a message that falls a little flat.
My last and really minor gripe (if you can even call it that) is that this show is unapologetically just a more "adult" version of Love Live. It even has the school idols and everything. Not really a complaint, but given how Lantis did work on this show, the openings were done by an idol group, one of the MC's is a former idol, all the female characters' knees have the signature Love Live red glow, and the overall plot progression from "we have to do x so that y doesnt shut down" to "we did x to achieve y so now let's focus on z" makes it hard for me to see Aquatope as its own thing. Again - might just be personal bias and I don't really dislike the show for thius or anything - but it is very funny to me how similar Aquatope is to Love Live. Fuuka even looks like a slightly older version of Kotori from Love Live!! I just can't erase this from my mind LOL
All that aside, Aquatope is pretty solid. If you like fish you'll probably like this anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 4, 2021
Before I get into this review, here's some context of my experience with Hyouka:
I started this anime around January 2020 and, put bluntly, did not enjoy it. While I did find myself liking the characters and animation, the lack of interesting mysteries really turned me off, especially considering how serious the show wanted to be about it. After watching up to episode 18, I lost patience with the show and wrote a pretty scathing review here afterwards, giving it an overall score of 5. From then on I would talk endless smack about this show whenever someone had asked me about it (which, surprisingly,
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happened more than I expected).
Fast forward, it’s now December 2021. Literally out of no where, I decided I’ll give Hyouka another chance, and I am very glad I did. A lot of the issues I had with Hyouka back when I last watched it still exist, but I have a newfound appreciation for the show.
If I had to sum up what makes Hyouka great: it is 100% the characters, or, more specifically, their chemistry together. The four main characters, while maybe not being very iconic as a group, have a lively, enjoyable, and cute dynamic. I love that, while their character tropes are there and do exist, they’re able to interact in a way that doesn’t just feel like character archetypes being archetypes (*ahem* looking at you, K-On!). Sometimes in 1-on-1 interactions, the conversations do have that anime cheesiness/cliché (as in they say things to each other that no one would say in real life), but, as a whole group, the cast is pretty enjoyable to watch.
As individuals, I’ll admit that some of these main characters took some time for me to warm-up to: namely Houtarou and Chitanda.
Houtarou, admittedly, kind of rubbed me the wrong way at the beginning of the show. I’ve never been a fan of the smart/smug/apathetic character trope. His interactions with the other characters, however, was enough to show me that there was potential in his character, so I was able to look past his qualities that I’d normally find very irritating. That said, his character arc is one that really resonated with me. Seeing Houtarou go through his personal journey to better understand himself and enjoy a lifestyle he previously thought he couldn’t live is satisfying. I appreciate how realistic and well-paced the development is for him. Houtarou becomes a pretty different person by the end, yet, because of how well done his arc is, it doesn’t feel like a jarring change. While I did have to warm-up a bit to Houatarou, I found myself very satisfied with him by the end.
I’m gonna be super honest here, Chitanda is the least interesting character in the main cast. That’s not to say she’s bad, per say, but she doesn’t really change in any meaningful way. That said, I don’t really think she needed to have much development, but she does fall a bit short of the others, especially by the end of the show. Chitanda rarely ever does anything other than say “I’m curious” over the silliest mysteries. Other than that, she might provide some input here and there. Yes, there is more to her, but the show takes a long time to really shine any light on that. Overall though, she didn’t really do much for me until maybe episode 10 (whenever that student film arc starts).
I don’t have much to say about Satoshi and Mayaka. They’re fun and cute, and their individual arcs, while not having too much focus, are still satisfying to watch. The romance subplot was done particularly well and, in my opinion, was pretty mature, too. Satoshi is the biggest offender to the “anime cheesiness” I mentioned earlier, in terms of the dialogue he exchanges with Houtarou 1-on-1, (like who the hell goes around proclaiming “life mottos” every other day to their friends lmao) but I was able to look past that. Overall, I like Satoshi and Mayaka.
Now, to sum up what brings Hyouka down for me: it’s definitely the mysteries.
This was my biggest issue with the show my first time going through it. The cast kept going through all these mundane and, frankly, uninteresting cases. A lot of people have told me that I should look at Hyouka as a slice-of-life and not a mystery, but that’s kind of hard to do when the entire first half of the show follows the same mystery formula every episode or two. The mysteries in the later arcs are considerably better than the previous ones, but I still wouldn’t call any of them outstanding. I do appreciate that the characters and show do have a self-awareness about these pretty dumb mysteries later on, but I still don’t think it justifies spending all those episodes solving, let’s be real, boring mysteries. The best mystery, in my opinion, is the student film one. The conclusion was actually pretty satisfying to me, the clues forced me to think, and it’s the arc where we really see the characters become, well, better characters. I think at some point the writers realized the mysteries should just stop being the focus, because, for the last few episodes, mysteries are instead used as ways to continue the plot, and not the focus of the plot itself. I’m glad that the last few episodes really embraced the slice-of-life/drama aspects that was only semi-present previously, because the focus on mystery really did not help much.
As a result of this, I began to notice that Hyouka feels like two completely different shows by the time you reach the end. The story and mysteries are so weak in the first half of the show, but things really pick up at the halfway point. Some mysteries become bigger in scale (as opposed to small/mundane ones), the characters have more time to shine as individuals, and the overall flow and pacing drastically improve/speed up. I also mentioned that mystery stops becoming such a huge factor in the show in the last few episodes, but I’m glad it was still present as to not betray the first half of the show. I’m not entirely sure whether or not I should classify this as a good or bad thing, but I think it’s worth noting that there is a pretty clear change in quality once the halfway point of the show is reached.
There isn’t much else of substance for me to say here. The animation is beautiful, as expected. The soundtrack is alright, though sometimes the eerie music it uses isn’t always the most appropriate for the scene it might be in. The openings are decent, but ending 2 is a banger with some really cute animation to back it up.
I don’t think Hyouka is anything outstanding, but I honestly do regret not being able to appreciate it my first time going through it. I didn’t touch too much on the themes/messages of the show; not because they’re bad or not worth talking about, but I think it’d be better for you to experience them in the show than have me explain in detail what they are lol.
To anyone out there that was turned off by the shallow mystery formula present in the beginning of the show like I was, I do recommend giving Hyouka another shot.
The characters, their interactions, and their eventual development all make it worth it, in my opinion.
TL;DR - show is a bit of a trudge to get through in the first half even with the good cast, but things do get better and the characters for the most part don’t disappoint
7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 20, 2021
I don't think I need to explain why One Piece is fantastic and a narrative masterpiece. All of the other reviews have said what needs to be said in a much better manner than I ever could. So, instead of doing the easy job and telling you why One Piece is so great, I'm going to detail my ONLY major complaint: the fan-service/depiction of women.
This "review" will have minor spoilers.
The fan-service before chapter 600 was bearable. It crossed my boundaries maybe once or twice in the Thriller Bark Arc, but, otherwise, I didn't mind. But, my goodness, once chapter 600 hits and we get
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post-timeskip Sanji, I'm just barely able to like his character and Oda's depiction of women. Thankfully, after Fishman Island Arc, Sanji becomes his better self, but I still am not a fan of how Sanji is written, and how Nami and Robin have basically become outlets for Oda to draw over-sized breasts. It's unfortunate because none of the female cast is written poorly, per say, but it's obvious that their designs only really serve to get the bodies of little boys to pump out hormones faster than Luffy's Jet Gatling. I really hope the fan-service gets toned down later, as I'm only on the Punk Hazard Arc as I write this.
I'm sure that, for a lot of people, this is not an issue. And I think it's important to note that the fan-service doesn't degrade any of One Piece's other outstanding elements. But, I'll be honest, it's starting to drive me crazy, and, if it continues, it will seriously lower my enjoyment of this otherwise amazing manga.
TL;DR fan-service bad, but not Fairy Tail bad
EDIT: I'm now caught up (chapter 1009) and thankfully fanservice gets toned-down (save like one or two bath scenes). I still stand by my claim that Oda designs women in a way that could be found offensive, but otherwise things could be a lot worse. I love One Piece :)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 26, 2021
I couldn't finish this. There hasn't been a single anime I've watched that was as painfully boring as K-On! and/or its second season.
I wanted to like this show. My siblings and my friends love it. I've heard nothing but good things about it. On top of all this, I'm an amateur musician, so I was instantly drawn in by an anime about a small band and I also loved the spotlight on all the character's gear. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
There was a meme I saw prior to watching K-On. It was the famous clip of MoistCr1tikal saying "oh yeah baby" with
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bottom text that read out "K-On fans when nothing happens". What I first saw as a silly joke turned out to be the miserable truth. Nothing happens. Okokok fine, SOME stuff happens. Are any of what happens meaningful for the characters? For the club? For their supposed goal of Budokan or Bust?
I'm not asking for a deep story, I've seen plenty of slice of life anime where technically nothing meaningful happens. But, for the love of all good things on this earth, make it INTERESTING. K-On does nothing to make it stand out from other moe slice of life anime. Not even the musical aspect helps make K-On stand out. They hardly play their instruments. they hardly practice, They hardly perform, and when they do perform we don't even get to see it. The ONE quality that can make this anime different from every other of its genre is completely wasted.
And then there are the characters. I strongly dislike Yui, and feel meh about the rest of the cast. Yui is insufferably stupid. Normally, I don't mind ditsy main characters; in fact, I usually tend to like them. Her entire character revolves around being sleepy, useless, hungry, and braindead. Aside from her outstanding guitar skill, she literally has no redeemable qualities. She exists so that every other character can be like "haha wow Yui-chan you're so silly haha" and I HATE it. She contributes absolutely nothing and they had the gall to say that she had changed so much by the end of Season 1.
Ritsu plays the typical tomboy role, Mio is the shy girl, Mugi is the carefree but sweet girl, and Asusa acts as the kind of serious girl. None of them act or talk like real people do, and it drives me insane. Admittedly, I do have a special affinity for Mugi, but, again, she isn't necessarily a great character.
K-On! isn't terrible. The songs that the club writes are great, the openings and endings are quality (I actually really like the 2nd ending), the animation is pretty solid, and the humor lands pretty well every now and then. It just suffers from being incredibly dull and boring, and, to me, that's worse than just being a terrible F-tier show. Like I said, I wanted to like this show. I trudged through all these episodes hoping for SOMETHING of substance. I really wish I liked this as much as everyone else did, but here I am.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 5, 2020
This was honestly one of the most painful anime -no, TV show experiences I've ever had. Sunshine to me is just a much lazier copy of the first series, except with more forced emotional scenes.
That's really my only problem with Sunshine: the story and the "drama". The animation? Great. The Characters? Pretty good. The music? Bangers. Sunshine had all the elements it needed to be great - but it wasted them.
There was so much unnecessary drama. From episode 3 or so, it felt like somebody cried/sobbed/teared up at least once per episode. The third-year subplot is the worst offender here. All they did was
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cry about the past and their friendship and chasing their dreams and blah blah blah. It worked in the first Love Live series because we got to know those characters first before it decided to get emotional. But, in Sunshine? I don't know jack about Mari. "Haha funny anime girl speaks engrish and touches boobies" is all I get from her. Dia at least gets more character time, so I can kind of feel bad for her. And then there's Kanan, who's just gone for most of the season. They really expected me to care about these girls when I hardly know them?
On the topic of the characters: I like them all. Some are more boring/basic than others, but I like that they aren't (individually) exact copies of Muse, save maybe Chika. We see different personalities getting mixed with different tendencies and habits. I genuinely like Aqours as individual characters and as a school idol group. Their songs are great and their singing voices are overall a step above Muse, though nobody can ever beat Rin's or Honoka's voices in my opinion.
But, my goodness, this show takes itself way too seriously. All it needed to do is relax on the emotions and ease up on drama. This might seem like a small nitpick, but, trust me, every single episode is filled with it. Sunshine is the first anime I've seen since Fairy Tail that I refuse to continue after episode 13. It hurts me to give this anime a 4. I wanted to like Sunshine, but I just couldn't.
If you're really THAT interested in the Love Live universe, fine, go watch this. Otherwise, you're better off not watching Sunshine. Chances are you'll probably find a 10-minute video on YouTube with all of the good moments anyways.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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