No.36186
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31559/Prince_of_Stride__AlternativeI watched Prince of Stride: Alternative, which is an otome-game adaptation by Madhouse. Here are my thoughts:
For context, this show revolves around an imaginary sport that is kind of like a relay-race version of parkour but with a leader who coordinates everyone. It is very entertaining to watch, actually.
The animation quality is good, but much more importantly the visual direction is absolutely terrific. I really like the way colour and brightness effects are used in this. It's difficult to explain but this anime was so bright during some scenes I felt like I needed to wear sunglasses just watching it. It was sort of like they played with the exposure settings on a camera or something like that. It looked great. Art style too I really liked. I liked the character designs. The visuals for this anime are a major strong point. I enjoyed them enormously. Especially for a sports anime, having awesome visuals like this really was a pleasure. Cinematography was also well done and made the sporty scenes enjoyable to watch. There are also lots of really cool sound effects that enhance the running scenes a lot. The running scenes look, feel, and sound AWESOME. Overall the production quality is excellent. The OST is good as well and enhances the mood of a variety of scenes.
In terms of characters, there is a self-inserty team-leader succubus character and there are her male team members. You might anticipate that this would result in a typical reverse-harem situation, but actually shounen-ai between male team members is the only romantic subtext, and even that is mild. Apparently in the VN there is a lot more hetero romance involving the MC. The male characters are fairly likable, and each have unique personalities which mesh together for some good chemistry within the team. Takeru was my favourite character. Beyond the characters themselves, the drama is handled fairly well, which leads me to my next point.
This anime has great direction. They had to introduce an entirely new sport and do some world building, but I never felt like I was being forcefed information. Exposition was handled well. There's also a good balance between sporty scenes and slower, more dialogue-heavy scenes. There is some comedy, but it's sprinkled lightly and not used inappropriately. The anime actually has a consistently serious tone (and feels that way to the viewer). Maybe that was an artistic risk because someone might find the sport they're doing to be absurd, and it might be easier to just load up the comedy. I'm glad they didn't take that approach. The series feels competitive, dramatic and exciting. You could really feel the emotional highs and lows. I felt excited every time I queued up an episode to watch.
If I had to identify a weak point in Prince of Stride, I would say it's the plot. Although well executed, the story at its core is kind of mediocre. Sometimes it can be kind of 'melodramatic' as well, however this is hardly surprising for an otome-game adaptation.
Overall rating: 9/10
Shockingly underrated anime. Really well directed and exceptionally entertaining. I will definitely be rewatching this.
I really hope that someone makes a high-quality Blu-ray rip of this (I couldn't find one). It seems like this franchise got disproportionately less recognition in the West relative to its popularity in Japan. There is little evidence of any kind of western fanbase. I think the combination of sports and the otome aspect is a major reason for the anime's lukewarm reception. The average person watching it for the sport appeal was likely put off by the otome elements, and conversely the otome audience often didn't enjoy the sports focus. I think that the anime as a whole appealed to very few people — most people were probably only drawn in by specific aspects of the show, not the sum of its parts. This might explain the mixed feelings that so many people seem to have. I'm probably unusual in that I found most dimensions of the anime appealing. Hopefully the rumours about a second season are true.
UP UP SPEED UP
No.36240
Drifters, man what a blast of a show.
Firstly I will say that the artstyle is great, really great, I tend to love deeply shaded anime and this is certainly under that umbrella. There are some gross cgi scenes, limited animation EG floating kicks, and some chibi style comedy scenes to save budget - but overall I was rather impressed by the amount of animation and general quality throughout. If there is one thing to note about this show is that it has style, and it doesn't hold back ever. No surprise to see Ueda as the producer of this at all, with all the Helsing influence so clearly etched into this anime. That same Hellsing vibe throughout almost cheekily admitting its influence with the large titted succubus surrounded by evil men and devilish eye glows.
Unfortunately on the writting side of things, I was left rather dry and wishing for much more. The historical gimmick was poorly implemented, rarely using it to any noticeable effect besides in the case of gunpowder, but made for a fun adventure while giving backstories to the cast. The story is incomprehensibly stupid, the characters moronic to say the least, and as for themes or any of that - this isn't that kind of show. Style over all else, to the point where there is only style and nothing else to bother with really. The plot functions its purpose of creating battle scenes, so it's not a total incomprehensible waste, its just not worth talking about at all.
My final rank is 6/10, the story is too poor, the gimmick too underutilized, the characters too lacklustre, and an absence of any depth overall makes me unable to rate this any higher. However I still enjoyed the art and animation immensely, if someone loves the old Wicked City/Ninja Scroll/Hellsing kind of anime then this is right up their ally.
No.36243
Finished Hai to Gensou no Grimgar today.
I have to say that the first episode of this almost made me drop it, the isekai opening had had me worried, then the homosexual crossdresser had me very worried, and finally the fan service started ramping up and I got ready to drop the show if it got any worse. Luckily it never did, in fact I was very surprised to see it vastly improve afterwards, even dropping the fan service entirely after the second or third episode. Its very rare to see series that start off poorly but improve afterwards, usually the exact opposite is the standard where a strong start leads to a poor finish.
Firstly lets talk about what it did well, and that is the background art. Now I am no expert of A1 studios, nor of the producer Nakamura Ryousuke; so I am unsure if the watercolor backgrounds has been used by them before, what I can say however is that I enjoyed them immensely. The closest style that I know of is Princess Kaguya from Gibli, which is also a spectacle for the eyes. If there was a single reason to watch this show it would be for the background work, honestly just great feeling from each scene. Now, not all backgrounds were given the same watercolor treatment, there is certainly a few more generic digital styling or cgi, and for some reason the studio decided to use awful photoshop after effects like sunglare on most of their watercolors. That being said it is no reason to complain about when it still looks so great.
Unfortunately the actual design of the world and characters is painfully generic overall, basically you could take any character or monster from this show and put it into any generic isekai/mmo/fantasy anime and you wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't suppose to be there, the reverse of this is also true. When you remember that this is the same studio responsible for Sword Art Online, you begin to realize that of course it would be a very safe series in general, not taking any risks in driving away customers. From weapons to armor, to towns and forests, its all your bog standard stuff here, nothing that would catch your attention even once.
The animation itself is nothing spectacular, nor was it ever painful. It did not rely on cgi much, using it sparsely and making it blend in as much as possible. For a tv series, its solid.
As for the story it is a typical MMO/Isekai kind of "cast is thrown into an unknown world, and need to loot/level up to gain powers and survive". There is not much to say in regards to that, it functions as it should and is not improperly implemented or anything. Unfortunately this 12 episode advertisement for the manga does not finish up the story entirely since the manga is still ongoing, but it does wrap up its key plot focuses revolving around the priest characters quite nicely so I can't complain. Which is also where I might dive into the characters, who are for the most part surprisingly well done. If you have ever watched "Shinsekai yori" then you might have the same feeling with this gang, with the story also making use of horrific events to show how younger age adolescence would handle it in different ways. The MC, his mentor the priest, the dark knight, and the second priest are the heavy favourites of screen time and thus the most well developed. Personally I thought the dark knight was handled somewhat poorly, the other three were handled in a fashion that most generic anime series never achieve. There is some forced melodrama, cringe dialog (see one of my pic related, they are speaking about holes in cloths and wounds, then drop the "some wounds can't be healed because they aren't physical", cringe galore), and spectacular coincidences - yet it really is rather good for the majority of the time ignoring those infrequent weak moments.
Overall my rating is 6-7/10. It is hard to say if it is a 6 or 7, due to it being simultaneously extremely generic, and yet executing itself rather well while having its own unique style of background art. It's worth a watch just for the art in my opinion.
No.36254
MADOKA, yes this very well known series is something I only just today watched. Its been a long time coming honestly, and I'm glad to have it off the "to watch" list, especially when it was this good!
What is there to say about Madoka? Perhaps better to say what isn't there to say? Its fantastic in every aspect, executing itself with masterful precision in all regards, so I can only make small nitpicks on things I noticed that would detract from my own enjoyment. This is series everyone should watch unless you have no respect for great animation, art, story, or deep characters.
Now this was produced by Shaft which is a studio I am more familiar with due to watching Monogatari, so naturally I see many similar approaches to things, especially the way they utilize cgi. They do not attempt to blend in cgi, but rather just seem to accept that it will stick out and attempt to make it look good standing out. As for the actual "drawn" animation, it is pretty standard for the 12 episode series, but in the movies the animation is just fantastic. It doesn't quite match the absolute best of the best such as Steamboy, Akira, Gits, or the rest - but it is very nice.
Artsyle wise Madoka is simply amazing, coming to life in the witch labyrinth sections it absolutely blew me away in both the tv series and movies. It is odd, unique, surprising, and a host of other terms of endearment. The strange paper cutouts, the mosaic backgrounds, the colour choices, its just FANTASTIC, truly I cannot give enough praise to this. The courage it took to actually go ahead and use these methods, its astonishing that this ever came to see the light of day in a full series, when this is something you expect to see in some small 5 minute pet project lost to time. The only thing I might say is that I almost wish it wasn't limited to being "anime", the characters look too simple for the liberty given to the rest of the project, let me see another Belladonna dammit!
As for the story I have to say I got massive NGE vibes and can see why people lump the two together so much. A genre deconstruction that takes the traditionally childish tone and asks the views what would really happen if we took it serious. Add a bit of alien lore spliced with transcendental godhood figures and you have NGE, sorry, I mean Madoka! This is a bit harsh and there are certainly things Madoka does better, mainly the way it handles its plot. Madoka is far more straightforwards, even its somewhat confusing rebellion movie does not hit the same strangeness of NGE episodes 25/26. Which can certainly be a good thing, and I have to say I'm happy to not need outside information in order to understand what happened in the story, compared to NGE which has information stored away in spin offs and video games of all things. That being said, for what Madoka gains in clarity and cohesion in plot, it loses in the depth of thought that its competitors such as SEL or NGE put forth. Its not to say that Madoka lacks themes or message, it just doesn't focus on them in the same way, in other words it does not sacrifice the story for the sake of taking you down its producers own journey with depression. Its very content just being a fantastic story start to finish, and I can't fault it for that.
To nitpick a bit with an otherwise perfect story (warning mega spoilers), the first thing I can think of is that Madoka herself would have used her wish to save Mami if she was feeling that guilt and previously could not even decide on any wish at all. It is only because Madoka's character was well written that I can say that, I think it is a gaping issue ignored in favor of the story taking another direction, but still the issue exists in my eyes. Secondly and far more concerning was the way the reveal of what the soul gems were was handled. Why would their soul being placed into a gem really matter at all? It might be shocking as first, sure - but was it really enough to cause almost suicidal depression in Sakaya? Official speaking they couldn't even tell any difference until it was shown to them, would just the knowledge alone be enough to cause such general panic in the entire cast? It seemed absurd to me honestly.
The characters themselves were all great, being fleshed out and acting as they should according to the characteristic given to them. (Spoilers again )Homura perhaps being the weakest and strongest of them all, weakest due to her entire character being based on some platonic obsession with the MC, yet the strongest for playing that part to perfection and how well thought out her endless suffering really was. It was like they took Yuki from The Melancholy of Haruhi, and made her into an actual human being with a properly thought out story. She is so vital to the story that despite the name suggesting otherwise I might just give her the spot of MC, and she plays that role perfectly.
Overall my rating: 9/10. The main reason for not giving this a 10/10 is the lack of introspective themes and the few hiccups in the story, I also tend to think of 10/10 just being a subjective rating since no show is really "perfect" unless you mean to say "perfect for myself" which Madoka was just short of.
No.36280
>>36254Madoka is a far better anime than NGE the only thing NGE has going for it is Asuka and Misato being hot in my opinion.
Madoka is fun and cute.
No.36289
>>36254Really good review
No.36310
Paranoia Agent, a rather nice thriller/psychological series with a famous producer heading this project; Satoshi Kon of Paprika/Perfect Blue/etc notability. This is my review, it's spoiler free except where I've marked.
Its hard to pick an area to talk about first, so I'll tackle the easier and less spoiler-y ones first. I suppose lets start off with the animation, there isn't that much to say really - its alright. There really was almost no moment that made me interested in the slightest, but on the flip side there wasn't any real cgi to ruin a moment or bring you out of the show with jarring awkward moments. There are better moments and worse moments, as usual its just about the budget for the scene, and I don't imagine paranoia agent had a even remotely good budget to work with.
Artstyle wise things are much better, there are a few episodes in particular near the end that were great if you enjoy watching unique artstyles like Mononoke. I've included two images from those episodes here, but don't expect that throughout the series. Its really only in the last 4 episodes where things go wild, but certainly the rest is worth a look if you like what you see rom the first image. It reminds me in a way of Texhnolyze in how dark it is, while also having that same "haze" or bloom effects showing themselves from time to time. Some of the characters such as the antagonist have a really interesting design, even the face being rather unique in the way its shown.
A quick note on sound, which I usually forget to touch on; there isn't that much to talk about. Your standard sound design for the most part, and the song tracks all play their part well enough. A special note is that the OP is done by the same artist who did "Berserk - Forces", so berserk fans may get a kick out of that.
Now to the meat and potatoes of Paranoia Agent, the story and themes. Now I said it was a thriller/psychological anime, but really it might be more accurate to say it is both a thriller and psychological anime, but not simultaneously. The reason why I say that is because for the first 9 episodes it is a pure murder mystery thriller with little "psychological" to speak of, and then flipping that around completely to turn into a psychological trip for the last 4 episodes while dropping the thriller almost entirely. There are slight moments of each genre leaking into their respective partners "section", but it is a very noticeable difference between the two.
For a thriller the story must be engaging and keeping you on "the edge" so to speak, its actually a rather hard genre to pull off since it requires you to have full attention of the audience at all times. Did paranoia agent pull it off? Uhhh, kinda, sorta, not really? I think the thriller section was actually rather boring sometimes, and almost irrelevant overall. Sometimes it doesn't even seem to take itself seriously enough, such as the interrogation of Shounen Bat where the entire episode was made to be an adventure. Don't get me wrong the adventure made sense to the story, and I didn't hate it, but I also think you lose a lot of tension for that idea, and I can't say it was entertaining enough to be a positive overall. However I might add that I absolutely did enjoy the Maria/Harumi episode. Which makes sense since that is a Satoshi Kon specialty, his abilities to create an animated showing of split personalities and mental illness is fantastic.
For the psychological or as others say "2deep" section, does it stand up to the heavy hitters of anime history? I… wouldn't say so really. I found the ideas and themes to be very obvious since even the beginning of the series, which might be either good or bad writing to you depending on how much you enjoy "digging" into a series or having to think deeply. Now it could be that for you, you might have a harder time knowing, but for myself I can't say this was any sort of Serial Experiment Lain equivalent. The main issue for me is the lack of something to chew on, something to really think "deeply" about and harvest ideas from over time. Satoshi Kon in general is not a very obscure writer in my opinion, but I do think he leaves more for the imagination and mind in his other series. That being said I did actively enjoy the last 4 episodes far more than the other 9 thrillers. this is Kon's strength and home, so naturally he doesn't flounder to pseudo-intellectualism, boring monologues, or information dumps. The writing is clear cut and assuming you have but a bit of intellect, you should understand what he is trying to say through the series, and especially during the end.
It might sound as if I am railing into this anime, but its only because of both Satoshi Kon's name and the genres it uses. For genres like shounen battle, SOL, or isekai garbage headed by some unknown producers - I don't expect anything at all, so I might even sound very pleased with a slightly above mediocre series. Anyways, back to Paranoia Agent, is it a great anime in terms of psychological's best and in comparison to Satoshi Kon's monstrous movie library? Not really. Is this a good anime compared to the usual low effort and generic series put on by the anime industry? Yea I'd say so, its certainly worth a watch.
Final rating 7/10
No.36311
>>36254>A genre deconstruction that takes the traditionally childish tone and asks the views what would really happen if we took it serious>traditionally childish toneEvery single time I see this sort of sentence in reference to Madoka, I instantly know the user is not actually familiar with Mahou Shoujo at all. Overall Madoka is pretty OK so I'm glad you enjoy it, and I like reading your thoughts as formulating impressions into long posts is something I'm absolutely terrible at, but as a fan of the genre it just infuriates me when someone says this sort of thing. Madoka is certainly clever in how it establishes and executes its deconstruction and twist, but the endless jerking off of it for its own sake, as if it were some miraculous never before seen serious take that instantly validates the genre for mature audiences, is just display of blatant ignorance of the genres incredibly long history. Not to read too much into your statement in particular, but at best the vast majority of fans conflate this simple dynamic as sole measuring stick of overall objective quality for the show, and at worst for the entire genre itself. It really, categorically, emphatically, is not, especially for the latter.
Mahou Shoujo has always and will always tackle serious topics and issues with appropriate tone and respect, and thus will have lasting and direct appeal to all audiences, mature included, and doesn't deserve peoples unwitting branding as mindless 'kids stuff.' It's good. More people should watch it.
No.36312
>>36311Every single time I see this sort of sentence in reference to NGE, I instantly know the user is not actually familiar with Shounen Mecha at all. Overall NGE is pretty OK so I'm glad you enjoy it, and I like reading your thoughts as formulating impressions into long posts is something I'm absolutely terrible at, but as a fan of the genre it just infuriates me when someone says this sort of thing. NGE is certainly clever in how it establishes and executes its deconstruction and twist, but the endless jerking off of it for its own sake, as if it were some miraculous never before seen serious take that instantly validates the genre for mature audiences, is just display of blatant ignorance of the genres incredibly long history. Not to read too much into your statement in particular, but at best the vast majority of fans conflate this simple dynamic as sole measuring stick of overall objective quality for the show, and at worst for the entire genre itself. It really, categorically, emphatically, is not, especially for the latter.
Shounen Mecha has always and will always tackle serious topics and issues with appropriate tone and respect, and thus will have lasting and direct appeal to all audiences, mature included, and doesn't deserve peoples unwitting branding as mindless 'kids stuff.' It's good. More people should watch it.
No.36316
>>36313It actually works perfect as a 1 to 1 comparison, the point being was to show how ridiculous it sounded. Anyways, if you want a more honest answer to your post, then I'll give it here.
Firstly it seems to me like you have emotionally attached yourself to the Magic succubus genre, this might seem an inflammatory remark and maybe it is, but I also think I am correct in this thought regardless of that. One should not defend a genre, but individual series, to defend a genre shows only blind admiration towards that collective. Now, a genre is a group of semi-related story ideas used for organizational purposes, within this group of ideas lie outliers, unique combinations, and borderline cases. Yet also very obviously, there are a great deal of generic copycats within the genre that collectively create what the genre is suppose to be in its purest and most basic form, otherwise there would be no genre to speak of. What do I mean by this? I mean to say that yes - there are good shows within the genre, there are also non childish shows in the genre, but does that make Magical succubi as a collective some sort of mature intellectual grouping of ideas? Exceptions to rules, do not except the rule.
I will be blunt, the genre of "Mahou Shoujo" is at its heart a body of shows targeting towards young children, specifically young succubus children. Which means that yes - what I said was true, Madoka IS a "genre deconstruction that takes the traditionally childish tone and asks the views what would really happen if we took it serious". This is not something to be offended by unless you think your personality is linked to the media you consume, in which case I would suggest letting go of such ideas. There are a lot of exceptions to genres, for instance shows like Mushishi really push the boundary of what could be called a "slice of life" - does that make the slice of life genre as a whole a mature genre for more intellectually minded people? Absolutely not, obviously.
There are so many of these problems I've noticed, that being the problems of categorization. My only suggestion is to remove your personal feelings from the equation. What is the Magical succubus genre? A collection of shows about magical succubi fighting bad guys and spreading love/kindness around the world, to which the target audience is most likely to be aimed at little succubi. Just the same as Shounen Mecha shows are a collection of prepubescent male children fighting bad guys in a robot, proving they are the number one pilot of all, and most likely to be aimed at little boys.
No.36317
>>36316Can you please suggest a Magical succubus show that is not episodic? maybe something mature as well
No.36318
>>36316No, it's not at all a direct comparison. Shounen Mecha (or more loosely, mecha in general) as you well know, is also similarly demographically targeted to children, with the exception that perceptions of the genre, at least in the west, has somehow missed this. Or to be more specific, they never realized it in the first place as a result of specific gatekeeping. Nobody jizzes their pants about the Gundam, Gaogaigar, or Gurren Lagann involving mature topics and themes and uses that as sole arbiter for their thoughts and impressions of the show. Madoka, and by extension the entire Magical succubus genre, do not share in this, despite similarly having always had these elements in them as well.
>yes - what I said was true, Madoka IS a "genre deconstruction that takes the traditionally childish tone and asks the views what would really happen if we took it serious". This is not something to be offended byI'm not offended, nor am I doing that. It's much more simple. I just think your basic assumptions of the genre are entirely wrong, and said so. Mature topics and theme are inherently baked into the genre, and they are always taken seriously. That is where the source of contention lies, and misunderstanding this is exactly how the attitude that Madoka is some groundbreaking revolutionary genius show arises from. It's indication of poor understanding of MS convention, and nothing more.
No.36319
>>36317No, because I almost entirely sure I know who you are in particularand I have no interest in having any conversation with you or doing anything that might help you in any fashion what so ever tranny.
No.36320
>>36319No need to be a cunt, cuckime pro.
No.36321
>>36317They're all pretty episodic. That's one of their things, so I'm not sure what you're expecting there.
>mature as wellNevermind that that's all of them, but Full Moon wo Sagashite sounds like what you're expecting.
A little succubus dying of throat cancer wants to be a popular singer to find her beloved onii-chan figure, and uses shinigami magic to transform into her older, uncancered self to enter the industry and do so. It's pretty good despite being pre 2004 anime. Obviously it's episodic though so take it or leave it.
No.36322
>>36311>>36313>>36318>>36320The guy you're responding to is just a shitchan tourist who strolled in here a couple weeks ago and is now shitting up every thread he touches. He seems fairly young and tends to project his own intense insecurities onto other people.
No.36323
>>36322I'm fairly convinced I know exactly who it is, and I really don't care. As long as he knows his shit about anime and is willing to discuss it, that's all I need. Making a big deal about so-and-so and such-and-such that they did is for absolute nerds.
No.36324
>>36318>as sole arbiter for their thoughts and impressions of the show. Madoka>groundbreaking revolutionary geniusIs this the people to whom you argue with? I only ask because in my own review I myself noticed and spoke at how Madoka is extremely similar to NGE, its obviously not groundbreaking if there is something in the exact same vein. Again, I can't help but notice that you seem to harbour some emotional ties to this genre, and in particular to Madoka; of which don't seem to be related with what I spoke about personally. In fact I even said "That being said, for what Madoka gains in clarity and cohesion in plot, it loses in the depth of thought that its competitors such as SEL or NGE put forth". Personally I don't actually think the deconstruction aspect or the themes were the shining star of the show, if you notice I instead lathered on praise to its experimental art direction and story for being so well written.
I was going to write more but honestly, it seem like you cannot get over the fact that a genre based around little magical succubi is in fact aimed at little succubi for the [b]majority[b/] of the time. This conversation reminds of dealing with SOL, Shounen, Action, etc fans that claim how truly wonderful their genre of choice is. Why you people attach yourself to a genre is beyond me. Truly I see no difference in this conversation as I do with arguing to a Hunter x Hunter fan about NGE, it's really almost identical. The hardest part of biases, is just how hard they can be to notice if you don't think you have any.
>>36322>couple weeksIs that why I have posts from months ago still here? You are a delusional tranny orbiter, or more likely you are moddess here to defend your pet tranny while it screeches about wanting to be a succubus.
No.36325
>>36321omg thanks I know i read a manga that was pretty much this but never finished it! thank you anime poster hope to see you share more insights around here about anime. Cute gif
No.36326
>>36324>Is that why I have posts from months ago still here?Please point to any posts you made in the previous review thread.
No.36327
>>36326both of these:
>>35188>>35258Although reviews are a rather newish thing for me, only because I kept seeing the other review guy post his on /b/ so I got interested.
No.36328
>>36324>Is this the people to whom you argue with? I only ask because in my own reviewDon't be a disingenuous faggot. You know damn well that 99% of all (at the least, western) fans of the show will express that exact sentiment, and it inundated the entire anime-sphere for years after the show was released, and still does with that Wonder Egg bullshit. The rest of your post isn't worthy of rebuttal. As you'll note, I wasn't conflating that criticism with the rest of your particular post, but only that specific line and extrapolating it to perceived perspective on the genre. Nothing more or less.
>for the [b]majority[b/] of the timeThough you may have hedged your bets with this admission, I am glad you recognize I am correct. Mature topics, themes, and situations are inherently baked into the MS genre. This is fact. I know it. You know it. God knows it.
>I instead lathered on praise to its experimental art directionAs opposed to Tatami Galaxy, that did much the same, better, and a full year before Madoka? To be fair though, it is quite rare and novel.
Calm yourself, hapa schizo. I disagreed with a single line of your entire review and you're sperging out acting like I will kill anyone who speaks ill of MS
No.36329
>>36328How am I being disingenuous? You just said it has nothing to do with me - and everything to do with other people that you read or argue with. EG the "99%".
>hedged your bets with this admission,…I literally said the same thing in my other post multiple times, in fact it was my very core point to begin with. I'll just list them out:
1) "Now, a genre is a group of semi-related story ideas used for organizational purposes, within this group of ideas lie outliers, unique combinations, and borderline cases."
2) "Yet also very obviously, there are a great deal of generic copycats within the genre that collectively create what the genre is suppose to be in its purest and most basic form,"
3) "I mean to say that yes - there are good shows within the genre, there are also non childish shows in the genre, "
4) "There are a lot of exceptions to genres, for instance shows like Mushishi really push the boundary of what could be called a "slice of life" - does that make the slice of life genre as a whole a mature genre for more intellectually minded people? Absolutely not, obviously."
Did you read nothing of my previous posts?
>As opposed to Tatami Galaxy,Personally I felt that the artstyles for the two were rather starkly different, nor did they tackle the same themes, or even have the same tone. Don't get me wrong I loved tatami galaxy and basically everything Yuasa has touched, but I don't hate Madoka just because another great experimental show exists. Or shall I dismiss all experimental movies that came after Angel's Eggs? You are getting rather absurd I think,.
>hapa schizo>spergin out >acting like I will kill anyone who speaks ill of MSUh, if you say so man. Hopefully the irony is not lost by anyone else here.
No.36330
>>36329>How am I being disingenuous? Perhaps by pointing to a single phrase, used for exaggeration affect, to obfuscate your position when you know full well it accurately defines your argument. Perhaps not in full, as I readily admit, but at least in part. Considering the story, of which deconstruction plays a predominant part both in the show and in your review (a full paragraph), you're obviously being disingenuous when you disavow any and all such notions. Just because you're expressing this via comparing the deconstruction to another deconstruction doesn't mean you're still not placing overdue importance on it in your review for reasons already stated.
>…I literally said the same thing in my other post multiple timesThen why bother disagreeing about my initial post if you so easily agree with the message?
>there are non childish shows in the genreand you've revealed yourself. You clearly didn't say the same thing, as thus this sentence is nonsensical. All of them include mature topics and themes. How can you meaningfully distinguish between MS shows that 'are childish' because they do not include these categories, as opposed to those that do, when they ALL include them? You can't, because they are inherently not childish, and if you truly agreed we would not be having this conversation in the first place. Do keep in mind that Precure, the quintessential MS show of the era, is marketed to pic related. If the prototypical new-age example of the show, roughly 35 years after its inception, is still including those exact elements that would appeal to old men, then it's patently ignorant to insist that their inclusion is the outlier, and not the genre norm.
You can repeat yourself and say I'm being being a biased fan or whatever of the genre, but the truth remains your impressions of it are simply objectively incorrect.
>re; Tatami GalaxyI attribute that mostly to direction and creativity. The artstyle elements themselves are the same, roughly speaking.
I'm not even remotely implying you must hate Madoka because Tatami existed first, but placing undue importance on Madoka's inclusion of them for their "experimental" nature is ridiculous when something has already come along first and tested and proven it. Just seemed silly to me.
>Hopefully the irony is not lost by anyone else here.Would it help if I used your preferred style of screeching and repeatedly call you a tranny?
No.36331
>>36330>All of them include mature topics and themes.Ok, so I must be getting trolled, or you are just too far gone to even pretend to have an adult conversation with me. Overall your black and white, 0 nuance, 0 thought, hot takes are just a bit too much for me to bother giving any more attention to. Think what you will, judging by your posts you are looking for the epic internet win, so uh… congratulations for your epic win? The rest of this post I had already written out so I'll post it anyways.
>Perhaps by pointing to a single phrase, used for exaggeration affect, to obfuscate your position when you know full well it accurately defines your argument. I must be pretty smart to have thought all of that.
>Then why bother disagreeing about my initial post if you so easily agree with the message?…Because I don't agree? The genre when taken as a whole is made for younger children, just like mecha is made for younger children. As I said though, exceptions to the rule exist, but they do not except the rules.
>revealed yourselfYou uh… caught me? Maybe a few posts later after I had to copy paste it again, but you got me… I guess.
>The artstyle elements themselves are the same, roughly speaking.I don't see how Madoka's labyrinth scenes or transformation scenes are even similar to Tatami galaxy, but maybe you see something I can't. Normally I wouldn't mind discussing this, you've put a sour taste in my mouth from how childish your last two posts have been, so this is my last reply.
>Would it help if I used your preferred style of screeching and repeatedly call you a tranny?Like I do in this thread, and the ones you don't know I post in? You can attack my character, but at the end of the day I only treat one poster in such a way, and really you are just looking for any excuse you can to gain an upper hand in this conversation. Anyways, as I said before, your inability to speak or accept nuance and only thinking in black/white ways is not very entertaining for myself.
Later.
No.36332
I am starting to see that this
>>36322 guy was likely correct. This guy is the king of projection and I appear to have mistaken him for someone else. Someone vastly more intelligent.
>>36331>Ok, so I must be getting trolledI am the only one who has posited any actual real world examples that collaborate my point. Or do you mean to tell me that this entirely accurate description of a fairly normal MS show here
>>36321 is "childish" either in topic or tone? If you need be, I can post specific examples of the show to demonstrate exactly how "childish" it is. Protip: it's not fucking childish.
Similarly, Precure, as shown in official marketing, is also similarly not childish. No company in their right mind would try to proclaim Barney, for example, was intended for 35 year old men were there not serious and mature elements that appeal to that age group in it. How many more shows do I need to bring up before you recognize this? Doremi and its episodes on abortion?
The truth, as I have stated ad nauseam by now, is that these shows are inherently not childish. They're obviously clearly and demonstrably 'made for younger children' but your ignorant preconceptions are hindering you from realizing that that does not mean they are, themselves, childish. Not in tone, and not in subject matter. That's just how Mahou Shoujo does.
>durr it's a fight and you just want to winNo, you retard. I just wanted to criticize a single fucking line and clarify that you're undeservedly giving an entire genre a bad rep before you started sperging out. Reply or not, I don't give a shit. You're an idiot.
No.36333
Please stop fighting please I enjoy reading what each of your thoughts are and I am sure others do as well we do not need to fight at all.
No.36407
Short review of the "Blame!" prologue and ONA production. This will be quick due to their length (less than an hour for both). Mostly the focus shall be sound design, due to the extremely obvious shoe string budget these have and how little animation or story there is to speak of. TLDR: If you know what these are, you will have watched them, if you don't then probably best to keep it that way unless you really enjoy sound design or like semi-artsy experimental project
Blame! Prologue
Extremely short, running in at 6 minutes for both "episodes", if you can call them that. There is zero dialogue, which has to be the most Blame thing possible. The cgi is very basic and will seem old/stiff compared to newer methods.You will see two short actions scenes, that's it. The sounds of the weapons is awful, but the wind and music gave some atmosphere befitting of the dark and lonely blame universe.
The backgrounds are in typical blame fashion, simply amazing. Which is the only reason you should watch this for, not that you should do that.
If you are a blame cultist, then watch it (you probably already have), if not then don't bother.
Blame! ONA
Basically just pages/scenes ripped from the manga and given voice acting and made to "move" by scrolling or extremely poor animation. There is no real story, you are expected to know what is going on due to reading the manga. One note that I will have is that if you love the sound design from shows like Lain, Angels Egg, or Boogiepop Phantom, then you might actually enjoy the first ONA episode in particular.
First ONA is an entirely atmospheric 6 minutes of nothing except sound design and backgrounds, thats it! Man does it kick ass though, the eerie air instrument (trumpet?) plays while strange organic noises gurgle. The buzzing hums and drone murmurings like a crowd of the undead. The sounds of something being dropped thousands of feet down, tv static rippling. Great work overall for the sound, I've included a small sample of the audio for anyone interested.
Second ONA has a very cool red shading pattern that any fan of Blame should know about, I'm glad to see it here.
Third, Fourth and Fifth we see are very plain, just scenes from the manga with scrolling pages and voiced lines. Nothing too special although the fifth has another great section of sounds, the distorted sea waves crashing down with screeching metal in the background was great.
The Extra has another set of fantastic humming and if you know the sounds of Serial Experiment Lain''s power line sounds, then this sound should feel nostalgic.
Not even Blame cultists should watch this ONA, honestly no one should.
No one will ever bother to watch these, but if you ever do, you now have a review to look at lol.
No.36414
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34494I watched Sakura Quest. Here are my thoughts:
Sakura Quest is a 25-episode show that is mainly focused on the efforts of various civic employees working to promote commerce in a small rural-Japan town and restore its tourism industry. The show is fairly self-aware and is clearly meant to be a social commentary in some ways. Although it is genre tagged as a slice of life, it usually felt more like a drama to me, albeit a slow-paced and not overly emotional one.
I liked the main female characters in this. They were all relatable in various ways and felt like real human beings. Much of my enjoyment of this anime was derived from my appreciation of the characters. I empathized with multiple characters in various ways. The young-adult career search is a frequent theme in the show, which I'm sure many people will find relatable. This anime does a good job of depicting authentic female friendship, carefully built up through personal connections, instead of just superficial character interaction. If you're looking for an anime with female characters that feel like real human beings instead of tropey moeblobs, then Sakura Quest might be worth a try.
I have mixed feelings about the writing; although sometimes crude, in some ways it was one of the things I enjoyed most about this anime. There were aspects that I liked and disliked about the writing. Sometimes there are 'coincidences' in the story that are a little too convenient. These sorts of 'plot conveniences' are a symptom of lazy and poorly planned writing, in my opinion. The story demands a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. At times it felt like the plot was a little bit 'forced' and unnatural. These are subtle criticisms, the importance of which will likely vary significantly among different viewers.
I really liked the overall themes that were used in the writing, but the plot mechanics through which they were implemented were often very crude. In other words, from a very broad perspective I liked the writing, but the detailed specifics often seemed amateurish and careless. The author had good broad-view ideas, but they were poorly executed. I'm still able to appreciate the writing in some ways, but that requires that I look past the crude details. Providing examples would require spoilers, but I think someone watching the anime will understand my point here. The social and economic issues of rural Japan, and the ways those issues affect individual characters, are core themes in the writing.
I liked the writing themes, I liked the individual characters and their respective arcs, but the actual episode-by-episode plot was often boring and almost always crudely executed. Keep in mind that this is a 25-episode anime with minimal 'filler' content. Meaning, no fight scenes, singing scenes, slice-of-life silliness or unrelated comedy skits; the show is nearly always advancing some kind of plot (albeit, a usually mundane one). As a result, when the plot starts to drag it really craters the entire show. I wish that this anime focused more on the character arcs of the cast instead of the seemingly neverending sequence of mundane inconsequential events that took up most of the screentime.
In terms of direction, the show has an amateurish feel in this regard as well. Speaking as a very patient viewer, even for me the pacing was slow at times. As I've said in the past, I'm fine with slow pacing as long as screentime is being used effectively. The problem with Sakura Quest is that there is not much else of entertainment value. The viewer is forced to sit through the slow march of the mediocre plot without any other noteworthy potential sources of enjoyment.
There are some funny moments. At times, the humour is fairly intelligent as well. It got some chuckles out of me, but it's usually not really a laugh-out-loud kind of humour. Much of the humour is derived from the social commentary aspects of the show, so from a comedic perspective it feels more like watching an amusing parody.
Visually, this show is not particularly well animated, but a lot of attention and care is paid to body language and facial expressions. I appreciated this a lot. To me, this is far more important than highly fluid animation. However, unfortunately the art style is quite bland. The character designs are also fairly simplistic.
The voice acting is average overall. However, I liked the voice acting for the MC (Koharu); the VA fit her role well and was unique in subtle ways. The OST is unremarkable, although I liked the first ED song.
Overall rating: 6/10
This anime is amateurish but also charming in some ways. There are some good characters. The writing exhibits many good ideas, but they are poorly executed.
Ririko is literally me.
>>36240>>36243>>36254>>36310>>36407We've already talked to each other on /b/, but thanks again for your contributions.
>>36311I agree with much of what you've said. Some of the oldest anime fans I've ever met have been deep into the mahou shoujo genre.
>>36319Please keep your insufferable spam off the listed boards.
No.36431
Blame!: The Movie. This is a CGI anime inspired by the manga" Blame!" as the name suggest. The original manga is a fantastic atmospheric journey with pure action and a raw gritty tone throughout. If you haven't read it, imagine Texhnolyze's world, penchant for violence, and gritty nature crossed with the plot, atmosphere, and dialogue (lol) of angels egg - sort of. Now as a fan of the manga, there is only one way to describe this movie: This isn't Blame, its a 4kids-tier rape of Blame. I will be writing from that perceptive (a fan with previous knowledge), however I will try to keep in mind what it might be like for others.
Firstly I would like to rant as a Blame fan.
Within the first 5 minutes I was already frankly disgusted with what I saw, which never got any better or changed throughout. There is no dread, no harsh isolation, no desolate feelings of being in a lost cyberpunk world. Instead we are introduced to what appears to be 4 children running about in Blame's setting while typical hollywood music is played. There is too much chatter, too much talking, this is suppose to be fucking Blame! Everything feels wrong, from the music, the lighting, to the sounds, to the generic moeblob faces, ITS NOT FUCKING BLAME! WHERE IS MY BLAME ADAPTATION?
Anyways… back to the review, lets talk animation or rather cgi,
When I first heard it was CGI I was rather interesting since I knew Blame as a series would never get a high budget, but with CGI it could have a level of quality for it's fights. Pure cgi movies are not something I am particularly familiar with besides the berserk movies and a few others, I've noticed this movie seems to really wish to copy the animation techniques of anime, for example using as little frames of animation as possible to keep the "anime" look. Frankly I think if you are doing a full cgi anime, then let it be cgi instead of cgi with anime techniques.
The artstyle itself is rather ridiculous what with the characters being so well lit up it looks like they are all a photo shoot, I guess in Blame: netflix edition every scene must be a runway. Every background scene also tends to have some blindingly obnoxious light source with the bloom slider maxed out as well, if it's not that then you have computer fx glows slapped on to inanimate objects. Certainly this is nothing like what I had in mind while looking at the original Blame artstyle. Which is the only saving grace here, the backgrounds still contain hints of the maze-like corridors that stretch of for eternity.
I can't say I enjoyed this animation or style, and the fight scenes were simply too awful to justify using this method. There is exactly one (1) decent fight that lasts 1-2 minutes in a 90+ minute film. Perhaps all the budget went towards animating fancy computer effects of 1st person pov's - slapped together with Dragonball Z power level scouters, or maybe it went towards all the anime waifu faces, who knows. The world as a whole is absurdly bright at all times, where is the dark and decrepit fallen cyberpunk world and why are these dumb anime moeblogs seemingly lit up with the power of a thousand suns? Also where are my fucking Blame fight scenes?
Speaking of disappoint, there is the music and sound design.
This is where Blame falls to pieces in my opinion, its just inexcusably bad. What I was expecting music wise, was no music at all unless a fight started, which is what it did mostly. Unfortutantly what should have been was not simply just "no music" but strange and eerie ambient sounds giving dread and feelings of being lost in a place with no end. This would allow watchers to soak in Blame's original desolate/lonely feelings of being trapped in a never ending labyrinth of manic and futuristic cyberpunk horror. Ambient sounds should have been the majority of this movie, instead of the pure silence or hollywood tunes that was used during scenes without action or thrill. Since we are talking about that, what the fight music which should have be composed of is pounding electronic or industrial metal, maybe even a bit of Doom 2016 influence, which would have been a wake up from the lull of the lonely journey that Killy is suppose to travel through. Netflix however decided to do the opposite and make it as hopelessly wrong as possible. Acoustic guitars and grand pianos in my dystopian cyberpunk nightmare setting - make it stop already. Things I also want stopped are the hollywood-styled orchestra thriller tracks you would hear at the movie theatres, complete with Inception trumpets for good measure. Don't forget the eastern mystical fantasy tracks that are just so not-Blame or even futuristic at all, that it honestly hurt to hear it being played. In fact if I had some advice to the producers, it would be to just stop playing music at all and let the film speak for itself if you can only manage to make it worse.
As for the ambient sounds, its just pitiful, I don't even have much to speak about since it was so lacklustre that I barely even noticed any. The only times they tried to give any atmosphere at all, they didn't even bother turning the volume up enough to hear it properly, deciding to leave it in the background as much as possible - least you remember that this is suppose to be a horrific dystopia instead of a cgi waifu simulator. The 0 budget pet product Blame ONA and Prologue absolutely blew this movie out of the water (listen to the audio track I posted there). The only thing I might say is that the gun sounds were alright, but I wouldn't even say they were anything special or worth noting really.
As for plot or characters, I can only describe it as generic at best, and possibility funny at its worst.
This is an area that Blame fans won't care about since that was never really a Blame kind of thing to care about. If you haven't read Blame I imagine somethings will just seem strange since terms are mentioned as if you already know what they are, such as "builders". That being said, nothing that actually matters to this story is left completely unexplained. For the story in the manga you are left to guess and figure things out yourself a lot of the time since their is very little exposition, Normally you would do this while soaking in the setting and atmosphere. However in Blame: netflix edition, we are given a basically fully explained story with many characters that are forgettable even down to what their names were. What I cannot believe is just how much dialogue there is in this movie, I can't say it enough - this is not Blame, this is netflix Blame, it a 4kids rape tier adaption. As for the dialogue itself, mostly it is absurd comedy in general. My favourite was listening to cibo opening up to killy mere days ( or hours) of meeting him while he remains the mute MC as if he is from a final fantasy game. Even for Blame's orginal standards the plot and character interactions here are rather terrible in comparison. Here is an example, we have the electro fishers who have not seen an outsider or traveler even once in their lifetimes. Killy who is unknown to the extremely wary elctro fishers, (so wary they shot at him despite being him standing inches from their children) is suddenly let into the city before all the citizens simply because he is not a safeguard, and then he grows some food for them, which they start digging into before even asking him what it is at all, and then allowing him to freely move about as if he is an electro fisher himself. Its ridiculous and laughable.
Luckily Netflix did one single thing right. In the last quarter of Blame: 4kids edition we have Killy fighting a real enemy with real suspense, its the pure action of Nihei come to fruition with the ease of cgi animation to allow the fights to breath freely and smoothly. Even the music starts to become what it should be, an industrial-ish metal track starts ripping through the speakers to increase the thrill of the fight, you forget how awful the last 60+ minutes had been, and… it lasted about a whole 1 minute. Pack it up folks, see you again next blame adaptation! You should be happy you got a single minute of enjoyment!
My rating, for blame fans its below 0/10, if I pretend its another series or spin off, maybe a 4/10.
No.36477
Finally got around to finishing 11eyes
It isn't very good, mainly because it tries to adapt ~50-70 hours of material into a 12 ep show and does a poor job of it. So plot threads are left all over the place most things don't make sense a lot of the time, and new things with just be introduced out of nowhere and you just sort of have to except the hand-wave since they don't have to time to properly set most things up, especially as they get closer to the end.
Also the absurd number of asspulls is obnoxious.
Bonus ep was dumb but somewhat more amusing then the show it's self.
No.36624
>>36619All three were fantastic animation wise, I know Magnetic rose is beloved by personally I will always remember Cannon Fodder for the rest of my life. Really fucking cool artstyle.
No.36627
>>36624>Magnetic rose is beloved by personallyShould be "beloved, but personally"
No.36632
>>36624Stinkbomb was my favorite
No.36636
>>36632Really? I actually thought it was the worst of the three, which isn't a bad thing since they are all great in my opinion. Stink Bomb does have very nice animation - same as the others, but there wasn't that much about it that sticks in the mind the way the characters/plot in Magnetic Rose do, or the unique artstyle and narrative of Cannon Fodder. That being said, I do remember enjoying it very much, and the story was genuinely fun to watch. Ridiculous and kind of silly, but still immense fun to just sit back and watch unfold. I guess there really is an argument for either three being the best, and certainly all three are just gorgeous to watch.
Just a quick question since I do no often get to meet anyone who liked anything other than Magnetic Rose, what are your preferred genres?
No.36638
>>36636I mostly watch shounen, but I don't watch much anime now. I don't think it was the best one, just my favorite. It's just a perfect little capsule of what I feel animation should be.
No.36639
>>36638I see, you mostly sticking to manga now or have you moved on to books? I think after I finish my next anime series I might swap to manga for a good bit.
No.36642
>>36639I stick to video games and music mostly. I don’t have the patience for the update schedules of most manga, and I don’t have a lot of books I want to read. Manga is definitely the best way to enjoy most series though.
No.36644
>>36643What most anime bring in sound design they tend to lose in other aspects, just as a matter of production. I'm not saying anime is worthless, it's just better to read the manga first. Anime is best for indulging in those chapters where movement and sound is best, after you've seen the artwork and absorbed the story through the manga.
webm related was only 3 panels in the manga, and because it was a popular gag they were able to make it truly shine in the anime.
No.36645
>>36644>What most anime bring in sound design they tend to lose in other aspectsMostly plot and character development imo. It seems like it's not very clear to most people out there, but most anime is a beautiful, quick tour to an usually much longer, deeper story and characters. By deeper I don't mean more complex, I mean a lot more stuff happened that the anime simply cannot cover.
Most anime is like an invitation for you to check out the full story but for some reason that seems not clear for most people? I might be mistaken, just my impression. 99% of the time I see someone complaining about plot or character in an anime, the reason behind the complaint is that the person doesn't understand the anime is like a tour de force in bullet points for a much longer work.
No.36646
>>36644Oh ya I do agree for story and such anime can usually only make things worse, just the same as manga as compared to books, although I will say that anime can sometimes create something better than the original by chopping away at unneeded or worthless arcs/characters. A great example of that is Kino no Tabi (2003), I found the anime (despite its low budget) to be a fantastic story, while the LN and Manga to be nearly unreadable garbage due to all the awful arcs and characters the anime cut out.
Don't forget about all the anime originals though, everything from Serial Experiments Lain (Masterclass of sound design imo) to NGE. No manga or book to compare to there.
One thing I will say though, is the movies are where anime shines the brightest. Just the higher budget per minute value and the extra effort put into every scene really brings animation into being its own thing instead of a cheap knock off. Memories being just one example of that.
>>36645Just because anime does not have the upper limits of story that manga or books do, does not mean the story should be disregarded entirely. That's just being ridiculous and how people excuse low effort shows. Otherwise you would just go and watch trippery imagery and sounds for hours at a time instead. Frankly I'm tired of seeing garbage comments like these, usually coming from SOL CGDCT fans who don't even respect quality animation or sound design like they pretend to do in order to justify their moronic ugu kawaii kun series. This is without mentioning that a great story in an anime still wipes the floor with a subpar one from a manga or book, we are speaking about upper limits and ceilings of greatness, not as an entirety including the floor or middle space.
Also stop watching seasonal trash made as overglorified manga advertisements and what you are describing becomes less of a problem.
No.36649
>>36646hm, what an odd post. This guy just went on a complete rant arguing against stuff said by no one itt. I was going to point all the stuff that nobody said that he's arguing against but then again if he didn't properly read the posts he quoted the first time, there's no point going for seconds. oh well
No.36650
>>36649He’s just saying his opinion. I don’t think he’s arguing or anything.
No.36651
>>36649>This guy just went on a complete rant arguing against stuff said by no one itt.Like a very young child just realizing what his peepee is for, he is compelled to touch on these "issues" that only exist in his mind but have nevertheless been ruining the entire animation medium itself for years and years.
No.36652
>>36649hm, what an odd post. This guy just said he was going to do a bunch of stuff but then decided not to, and instead just posted about not doing stuff. Oh well
Honestly though the first person who replied to you said is right, I'm just stating my thoughts on people who dismiss stories in anime as a whole, which happens far more often than what people like
>>36651 pretend.
> he quotedWhat quote?
No.36665
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31500/High_School_FleetI watched High School Fleet, also known as Haifuri. I watched the TV anime, OVAs, and the movie. Here are my thoughts:
This is basically the maritime clone of succubi und Panzer, which I didn't enjoy enough to watch more than the first season of. It's been years since then, but I think one of the main reasons I dropped GuP was because of the crappy characters. I remember also thinking that the battles were very drawn-out and often boring. Anyway, enough about GuP — I only bring it up because the comparison is so common.
High School Fleet involves battleships which are operated by crews of cute succubi. This is a winning combination, in my view. Watching the succubi working together in their various naval roles is entertaining. The succubi are enrolled in a naval academy for training to join a military organization called the Blue Mermaids (Blue-Mers LOL). It's unreasonable of me to expect this, but it would have been nice if a bit more attention was given to the technical aspects of the battleships. Although, anime is probably the wrong medium for that. Regardless, if you like military stuff then there's an okay amount of that here. Admittedly, I'm kind of a military dork so I'm probably a little biased in this regard. The ships featured in the anime resemble WW2-era battleships.
In terms of animation, CGI is frequently used to animate the battleships. The CGI can sometimes appear crude, even by anime CGI standards. However, the character animation is often surprisingly good (although inconsistent). I'm fine with this resource allocation as the high-quality character animation does enhance the cuteness appeal of the show. Both the art style and character designs are fairly generic. Although I will say that a disproportionate degree of attention is paid to the characters' hair, both in terms of design and animation. I enjoyed this subtle aspect of the show since I just really like hair (OMG I'm such a weirdo) and think it's an important feature. There are lots of cute hairstyles among the cast! Anyway, it's not really the character designs themselves that evoke the feeling of moe within me, it's the 'gap moe' of the succubi operating warships that really amplifies the cuteness.
The cast is very tropey, unsurprisingly. Some of the characters are pretty funny though. I don't have any significant complaints about the cast; this isn't the kind of show that requires character development. The cast is enormous, making it difficult to implement individual character arcs anyway. None of the characters are annoying, thankfully.
In terms of voice acting, there's a fair bit of variety. Some of the VAs do an exceptional job (ex. Rin), although they are diluted by the enormous size of the cast. As for music, I liked the OP song (the vocals are pretty good). The OST was nothing special. I would have liked to have seen a more military-like soundtrack for this. Could you imagine a well-produced military-inspired OST with lots of brass instruments used in a show like this? That would be awesome. There was a mild military theme to the music, but I would have preferred it be stronger (I realize this is kind of a silly complaint). Regardless, a more creative and talented OST composer could benefit this anime a lot, especially considering that there are plenty of moments without any dialogue. However, I will say that the sound effects during battle scenes were pretty nice.
There was a healthy mix of plot and lighthearted silly scenes. It was sometimes a fun show to watch. However, one of my biggest issues with this anime was the plot itself. The battle scenes were usually fun and entertaining, but many other plot-related scenes were tiresome. Without giving too much away, the story involves a dumb mystery. A lot of screentime gets wasted on eyeroll-inducing scenes related to this mystery phenomenon. Just know that it was really dumb, and not in an enjoyable way — I sometimes felt like I was watching a one-star horror movie. Even beyond the mystery, the writing in general is just poor. The plot doesn't completely dominate the show, so I don't want to overstate its impact on my viewing experience. Still, it was pretty bad and I would have preferred a completely different story or, better yet, no plot at all. Seriously, I even would have preferred that everyone just sat around painting their nails and drinking milkshakes, while occasionally firing some torpedoes and 400mm cannons. In any case, for maximum enjoyment of this anime, I think the best thing to do is shut your brain off.
Overall rating for the TV anime: 6/10
I pretty much got what I expected. It was fun and cute, but there was room for improvement. It felt like this anime 'played it safe' in a lot of respects. Aside from the naval setting and the sometimes-strange plot, it was a fairly stereotypical moe show. I actually would have liked to have seen the maritime theme embraced more than it was. Meaning, a greater emphasis on naval operations, naval warfare, and general seamanship (I realize this is an unrealistic expectation for anime). As opposed to tropey character interactions that we've already seen play out in countless other settings. Due to its setting, High School Fleet had a chance to be truly unique. This chance was somewhat squandered. I also think that this show would have really benefited from a higher animation budget. There was tons of opportunity here for gorgeous visuals that would have enhanced the viewing experience, but this wasn't fully capitalized upon.
I'm not sure if it had any effect on this anime production, but apparently the studio went bankrupt not long after it aired (the movie was made by a different studio). Maybe there's a story behind that.
I'll also include my opinion of the two OVA episodes: they were bad. The plot was bad and they didn't even take place on the ships, which removed a significant driver of my enjoyment of the show. The OVAs were considerably worse than the TV anime, in my opinion (OVA rating: 4/10). I wouldn't recommend watching them unless you adored the TV anime.
As for the 2020 movie, here are my comments on it:
- the same crude jarring CGI is used to animate the ships, unfortunately. In fact, the visuals in general are barely a step above the TV anime, which is disappointing. As I already said, this anime could benefit a lot from better visuals.
- again, not enough focus on the maritime theme of the show. Not nearly enough cool battleship content. To my stark disappointment, the first ~50 (FIFTY) minutes of the movie did not have a single battleship scene (so, basically half the runtime). High School Fleet continues to squander its potential by not focusing on the things that make it unique and entertaining. It still continues to be "Generic School Anime but Sometimes On a Boat This Time" (which unfortunately isn't unexpected).
- again, another ridiculously bad plot that feels like it came out of a grade-school creative writing class. Literally the kind of thing I'd expect in a one-star movie. Not that I care that much about the plot anyway. Please just show me some cool battleship stuff and accompanying gap moe; at this point I don't even care what storyline you need to justify it.
- when the battle scenes did finally arrive, they were pretty underwhelming, particularly for a movie. Sound effects were alright but could have been better. I was also disappointed by the lack of any ship-vs-ship skirmishes.
- the sense of novelty that kept me interested in the TV anime has since worn out. I've already seen 14 episodes of this anime, and the movie isn't really bringing anything new to the table.
- the characters are still just as cute as they were during the TV series. This is one thing that High School Fleet consistently does an okay job of.
- overall I simply didn't enjoy the movie as much as the TV series. Spending ~half the screentime onshore was a major reason for this. It's called High School FLEET, okay?! FLEET. As in, on ships at sea in the flipping water! That's all I'm asking for!
My overall rating for the 2020 movie: 4/10
Rin and Tama are the cutest!!
There's another thing I want to say about modern anime more generally, even though this review might not be the best place for it, and I'm probably stating the obvious anyway. A lot of modern 'moe' CGDCT shows will add a theme to their story or change the setting or do something to try to distinguish themselves from all the other similar shows. So many of these anime will, in concept, have a totally unique and interesting theme that could make for a memorable show. Upon implementation though, the show will squander this unique potential by deferring to the same tired formulaic CGDCT material — the same tired character interactions, the same stale comedy, the same character types and tropes. High School Fleet is yet another example of this (and hardly the most egregious). It doesn't fully commit to the elements that make it unique, and instead plays it safe, so what you end up with is Generic School Anime (sometimes on a boat this time!). Admittedly, High School Fleet has a unique plot (and unfortunately it's quite bad), so it's not even an ideal example of this phenomenon.
No.36666
>>36665It can't be said enough. High School Fleets plot is completely pants on head retarded. If anything, you've understated how completely detrimental to the show it was, as I personally think it is solely responsible for killing it. A significant part of what made succubi und Panzer work was the delicate balance of tone it achieved, with CGDCT safely juxtaposed between hardcore tank warfare. Since nobody was ever in danger, no matter how the plot arrayed itself, it never became too serious but neither was it allowed to relax and become stereotypically banal. I strongly feel the gap moe of these two antithetical approaches, somehow mixing harmoniously, is quite novel and contributed heavily to its success.
HSF, in aiming for a more serious take, shoots itself in the foot by prohibiting that. It's instantly unbalanced, forced to constantly pick between being either deathly serious or no-stakes cute succubus things, or more often both in the same episode. It's incongruent and drastically cheapens both aspects. The magic mind control rats and other stupid crap near the end only put the final nail in the coffin.
I liked the studios style and a good bit of the adaptations they did, so it sucks to hear they died from this.
>A lot of modern 'moe' CGDCT shows will add a theme to their story or change the setting or do something to try to distinguish themselvesCGDCT but with a gimmick basically. Unfortunately, the gimmick tends to end up as mere afterthought, put in place to establish a weak background for the characters to rally around before the real intended core (SoL) of the story immediately supersedes it. From Kinmoza, Rifle is Beautiful, K-on, GochiUsa, Stella no Mahou, and so on, they all run on this to some degree. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and the importance and method of integration of it into the narrative is an easy measuring stick of objective quality for most of them. Too little and it's directionless fluff, too much and you get way too niche and your characters and atmosphere suffer.
No.36667
>>36666spooky digits for a spooky plot.
Hahaha I tend to care a lot less about plot than the average person, so if I'm complaining about it then you know it's really bad!
Yeah it was real bad. It literally felt like a kid wrote it. All they had to do was have them fight pirates or something and it would've been fine.
For whatever reason I just really didn't like the GuP characters. I agree though that the mix of (low-stakes) warfare with moe is a winning combo. In concept, High School Fleet seemed like a license to print money. It's crazy how badly they screwed it up. The drama surrounding the MC's performance as a captain was pretty groan-inducing as well.
>I liked the studios style and a good bit of the adaptations they did, so it sucks to hear they died from this.FYI, I don't know if High School Fleet was related to them going under, just thought it was worth mentioning.
>CGDCT but with a gimmick basically. Unfortunately, the gimmick tends to end up as mere afterthought, put in place to establish a weak background for the characters to rally around before the real intended core (SoL) of the story immediately supersedes it. From Kinmoza, Rifle is Beautiful, K-on, GochiUsa, Stella no Mahou, and so on, they all run on this to some degree. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and the importance and method of integration of it into the narrative is an easy measuring stick of objective quality for most of them. Too little and it's directionless fluff, too much and you get way too niche and your characters and atmosphere suffer.At this point I want things to lean into the niche, because I've seen the formulaic CGDCT routine done so many times. Especially if the characters are tropey and simple. I tend to place a lot of value on uniqueness and creativity.
No.36676
>>36667>FYI, I don't know if High School Fleet was related to them going under, just thought it was worth mentioning. Oh, I think you might be partially correct actually. I hadn't bothered to personally fact-check and was only going off anilist information which appears to have been entirely wrong. HSF had a full committee comprised of Aniplex, Half H.P Studio, Asmik Ace, Graphinica, BS11, Contents Seed, Cromea, and Akatsuki. I'm very unfamiliar with half of that list, but whatever the case it's my understanding the animation studio wouldn't have lost any money at all from the venture. From casually glancing at everything else they did, they were only ever contracted out. Maybe they were simply grossly mismanaged?
>At this point I want things to lean into the nicheTry San Choume Zouhyou Monogatari. Manga only, and short, but it's the first thing off the top of my head that both fits the bill and is actually good.
No.36677
>>36642>the update schedules of most mangaThat's why I stick to completed works
No.36757
Just dropping a quick review of Genocidal Organ, nothing fancy since it doesn't deserve a longer review and I don't hold any personal attachment to anything about it. Spoiler text used where spoilers are.
Animation wise its very clumsy and amateurish, even basic walking animation seemed like a challenge for them at times. Extremely noticeable in scenes with bigger crowds with people moving and changing in direction, really poor effort honestly. To add to that there is just too much cgi as well, it was attempted to be blended in, but failed to do so properly. Really jarring and awful to look at in general.
Sound wise the guns don't sound "realistic", but they don't sound bad or anything. Other than that I can't say there was much poorly done or very well done. There are some hilarious moments where you hear shells dropping on the floor… from the viewpoint of a gun firing out of a plane in the sky lol. Music wise there actually isn't even that much music played at all really. What does play is generic orchestra stuff you hear in any movie; very safe and doesn't do any wrong, but also does nothing above the average either.
Plot wise we have a modern hollywood slightly futuristic action film, think generic special ops call of duty plot but slightly in the future. Besides how painfully generic it is for any western viewer, it wasn't even executed well at all. Most notably is the really strange jump from after they crashed their helicopter down and lost John Paul - to suddenly being in another plane instantly with no explanation at all. I don't even know what they were thinking, but it feel really poorly thought out in general. You can invent an explanation in your head obviously, but you shouldn't have to just guess like that. The story is suppose to explain itself, not have you explain for it.
Themes are where it really had potential, and I'm sad they squandered it all. It seems like it wanted to comment on too much, from what freedom is, the compromises of freedom, if true freedom exists, modern survalence states, proxy warfare, color revolutions, the morality of genocide, if language can change perception of reality, the horrors of not knowing or being able to control the unconscious forces of the mind, etc, etc.
There was a really great show hidden in this mediocre call of duty film, its honestly a great shame it turned out the way it did. I give it a 5/10, the plot and animation were just too poor to give it anything higher, despite the potential for greatness it had.
No.36761
>>36757In a way, these have got to be the hardest to watch, because you cringe at all the wasted potential.
No.36771
>>36761While I agree that these kind of shows are hard to watch, I think generic and boring shows are far worse to endure. The worst of all being time wasters that use filler episodes or unneeded chibi comedy scenes to save budget and fluff out the running time. At least with something like Genocidal Organ there is a hope of goodness, and a spark of something greater than itself. On one hand it's painful watching the show unfold so poorly, yet I can at least think about how it COULD have gone. I think the far worse alternative is when I have almost no expectation or delusion of something great happening, and yet I look over and see I still have another 10+ episodes left to watch.
No.36773
"Da Yu Hai Tang" - or in english; "Big Fish & Begonia". TLDR; it's not a particularly complex watch and its certainly no plot or character sensation, you will be watching it mostly for the glorious art which I can only describe, but should be witnessed first hand yourself. Just know that any Ghibli fans should watch this film at least once in their life. Any spoilers will be hidden by spoiler text.
A habit of going through art first seems to be growing on me, so why stop now? Animation! Its the main reason we watch anime, to animate - or to bring things to life; and Big Fish & Begonia (will refer to it as BF&B from now on) hits the nail perfectly square in that department. Sometimes just watching the animation was so enthralling that I forgot to even pay attention to the subtitles altogether - which to me is a sure fire way to tell how worthwhile any animation really is. Its smooth, effortless, whimsical at times, and always has something going on or in-motion to keep you looking and paying attention. There really is no lack of animation here, nor does the quality ever dip majorly to save budget; I can say with confidence that every minute of this show is really well done artistically. Humming birds flapping their wings, horses running, magical plants growing, the flapping of clothing from the wind, and all of it coming together to bring picture into motion and life. The only real negative here is the role of CGI that I couldn't say is minor without being a liar, but even then I can say it was well done without holding back a snicker. You can notice it, simply because the animation and detail is too perfect in the way CGI always is; yet the way the artists coloured and filtered it with after effects made it very well hidden. Don't take the use of CGI as a major part of this show, its really not, and what is there is well executed with effort clearly put into it. While I brought up Ghibli in my first paragraph, it's not quite there in animation, but discounting the CGI its honestly not far off.
To double up with fantastic animation, we have the frankly magnificent background art, and world design as a whole. It's very hard to accurately describe just how gorgeous the artwork is in this movie. If you have any appreciation for well crafted background work, you WILL be pausing this movie to soak in the different details and feelings many, many times throughout a single watch. Firstly, the story's narrative 'sky and seas' or as some of you may know it 'as above so below' - is so well entwined artistically I can only say it was spectacular to witness. The mirroring of still water reflecting the sky back up, of animals diving through clouds revealing the water underneath, and both of those turned back around; it blew me away how well it was orchestrated. It's not just about how well implemented it is to the narrative, but also the colour selection was enough to have me continuously pause the film and admire their work. The glowing warmth of lanterns and candles, the bright beaming blue sky at night with stars and moon reflecting back from the water, the dark cliffs and mountains jutting out above the low lands filled with murky fog showing only the tips of the rolling hills below. Much of the movie is screenshot worthy and that's not being hyperbolic. Very few animated movies will ever reach the heights of Ghibli or Disney in background art, but BF&B gave them a very close run for their money.
To quickly touch on the character designs, I will admit the faces and overall design of humans are very Avatar the Last Airbender influenced - and I don't hate them for that. The simplified designed functions well for the fantasy world and the kind of animation they clearly wanted. They more than make up for that lack of originality in human design via their showings of non humankind anyways. The mythical creatures and demigod-like figures that inhabit the world are unique and interesting unlike in Avatar which has rather plain depictions in that regard. These are without a doubt heavily inspired by Chinese mythology, and its great to see something so refreshingly new in a genre normally exclusively made for either Japanese or Western audiences. While I won't pretend I know much about the mythology itself, I am rather certain that many creatures in this show are probably given artist leeway to say the least, such as the faceless three armed boat paddler.
Musically this sountrack was very… western? It almost sounded like if you asked a western studio to make a normal soundtrack, but with very slight hints of Chinese influences. Which compared to something almost farcical like Mulan, is far more tasteful. Overall it is very safe and time tested orchestra music, while also having more unique digital sounding tracks for certain scenes like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXCdp7eVewE. Seeing as this is a movie targeted for younger audiences, there is a lot of music and sound to drive the show due to not having a focus on long strings of dialogue which would bore the children, obviously. The ambient tracks do a great job of showing off the feeling of the scenes and to create the feel of a fantasy world. The placement of the music felt right for each scene, and I can't complain about the tracks themselves, so good work overall.
The weakest part of this show is in its story itself, and especially with the characters. Now it could be that I merely missed it being a giant reference to some Chinese mythology, but that wouldn't excuse its inability to create a good story on its own two feet without outside material. As a movie for children you obviously won't find any real complexity in regards to story; it is very straightforward in its approach, yet is perfectly interesting enough to watch it go along its simple way. What I can say is that things seem rather haphazardly thrown together and sometimes are just completely left unexplained or unfinished such as:
the rat lady who had her part completed just fine midway through the movie, but for some unknown reason she was brought back in and the audience is informed she was cursed, and then had the curse lifted due to story events, only for her to fly off into the human realm for reasons unknown and never be seen again. When that happened I just scratched my head in confusion, and wondered what the hell was the point in showing that event at all. Maybe it is some reference to a mythological tale, but it still had no real relevance to the story being told by the movie and its creators themselves.
Motivations are something the story struggled with, and I can't say there is much to dig into at all. Chun the MC herself is just some absurd being driven entirely by her
love for a human man whom she only knew from seeing him in the distance and whom she accidentally kills by flailing around in her dolphin form. The second most important character also being an absurd being driven entirely by his
love for someone whom shows almost no gratitude towards him despite him literally sacrificing himself for her. While the third character was a mute dolphin who
originally was a man that loved dolphins and then died because of the MC, only to be resurrected as a dolphin - so maybe he got what he wanted in the end. The characters are just rather badly written if I am to be honest, certainly not worth diving too in-depth about.
Finally the themes and message of the show, there is something here as with any show that exists, but not exactly a cultured or sophisticated take on anything. Obviously resurrection and the inevitability of death being very strongly shown in
the grandfather dying to become a begonia tree, and in the literal phoenix reincarnation of the grandmother. Funnily enough for a Chinese anime, there is a massive individual focused philosophy in this show, with the MC
sacrificing basically the entire of her known world for the sake of her dolphin lover, and not only that, but actually being given the go ahead by her grandfather. However, after a big helping of empathy from the MC once
she sees the suffering of her family and friends, she does decide to
sacrifice herself to save everyone and her dolphin lover. So maybe it's not exactly a individualist message, but one of love and kindness just as the grandfather said "as long as you keep your kind heart". There are ideas such as if living without happiness is worth anything, and other things that are brought up but never really explored too deeply.
My final remarks are that the lack of cohesion in plot combined with poorly thought out characters thwarted this film from standing next to other animated masterpieces. While it has in my eyes a near perfect score in art and world design, being only topped by the kings of such things like Spirited Away and GiTS, it just can't stand next to them when taken as a whole (and especially not when you factor in its use of CGI). Still, it deserves its praise in what it does well, and what it does well is what anime is meant for - thus I hand it a 7/10.
No.36784
>>36782Yes kind-of, but I will say that its really not awful to watch in the moment. For instance if you can stand watching stupid shows about stupid succubi doing stupid things, then this film should be no problem at all. Just sit back, watch the amazing art, and only really look at the surface of the story; your going to have a good time. Its once you start being a pedantic autist like myself that it starts coming apart story wise, but don't think there isn't good dialog or character moments in the film , its just when looked at in-depth its pretty poorly written.
I mean I still think the film is great even with its shortcomings, I gave it a 7/10 afterall - its not a film to pass up in my eyes. However I admit I am heavily biased to great artstyle and animation in general, I even have Memories(1995) at a 8 or 9 I think, and that truly was an animation showcase.
No.36786
>>36782Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Animation fans need their fix, too.
No.36788
>>36786>Animation fans need their fixWatch just about any movie released throughout the year? idol shows? Even if you're jerking off to animation supremacy, there's no real reason to trump up a random shitty Chinkime when there's a plethora of choice at any given moment.
No.36793
>>36788> any movie released throughout the year?Please don't discredit something you haven't even watched, Big Fish & Begonia stands to be compared to the giants of anime films, not your average low effort garbage shovelled out each year. If you don't like the Chinese and don't want to see their films that's fine, but don't pretend like you have any other reason besides that. In the future you are going to miss out on a lot of good anime if you keep up that kind of thought process.
Also
>idol showsLol.
No.36919
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32995I watched Yuri on Ice ("Yuri!!! on Ice"). Here are my thoughts:
Visually, the anime is good overall. There are lots of really nice character designs. The cinematography is pretty good, especially during the skating scenes. The character animation is fluid, although sometimes inconsistent. Some episodes were better than others in terms of animation quality. The most jarring visual imperfections were the frequent off-model frames during the skating scenes. This might have been exacerbated by my tendency to repeatedly pause and rewind these parts, but I doubt I'm the only one who noticed this. I'm not a stickler for animation quality, but there was room for refinement here. In any case, at least they didn't use CGI for the skating. For the record, I watched the Blu-rays; I've heard anecdotally that the TV broadcast had some animation sloppiness.
Sound effects are nicely done. Like in the ice arenas for example, it sounds exactly as it would in real life. I could feel the cold rink-arena air as I watched this anime. The OST is decent, although I wish there were more musical variety, particularly during the skating scenes. Both the OP and ED songs are great. Voice acting is alright; Victor has a nice voice.
Although not bad, the writing of Yuri on Ice is not one of its stronger attributes. The story is simply okay, and it serves its purpose. Anyone watching this anime should set their expectations low in this regard. Personally, I didn't particularly empathize with any of the characters.
Sometimes character development seemed abrupt and unexpected, without adequate foreshadowing. This might partially be a consequence of the show's pacing, which is arguably kinda quick.
Strictly in terms of being a sports anime, Yuri on Ice is decent in this regard too. The skating scenes are captivating. Watching this anime made me want to go play some kind of sport. Although it did not feel as intensely competitive as other sports shows I have seen, there is a lot of emphasis on the mental state and psyche of the figure skaters, moreso than I'd expect in an ordinary sports show. The strong emphasis on the psychological dimension of sport performance is a somewhat-unique trait of this show. I suppose the solitary nature of figure-skating performance is ideal for this. Personally, I think it would have been nice to see more attention paid to the technical aspects of figure skating, although I suspect few other people share that opinion.
I think that Yuri on Ice sought to strike a balance between on-ice scenes and off-ice scenes. In terms of total runtime, the anime has tons of scenes on ice — even more than I expected. The on-ice scenes are very entertaining and are when the show is at its best, in my opinion. I really did enjoy the skating scenes. However, this came at the cost of having less time for off-ice content, and consequently, less time for character development and related storytelling. The prioritization of on-ice scenes may be one factor which resulted in my lack of empathy and emotional connection with the characters. Now, I'm not saying there is anything objectively wrong with this. Yuri on Ice delivered more skating content than I expected, and I'm thankful for it. However, I think that the consequences of this screentime allocation should be acknowledged. This effect is also compounded by the size of the cast; the large number of characters diluted the attention paid to individual character arcs. I think one mistake this anime made was trying to implement character arcs for too many side characters; it would have been better to exclusively focus on the main characters, particularly due to the scarcity of off-ice screentime. On the other hand, more character arcs create more potential ways that a viewer might connect with the anime, which in theory might broaden its appeal. Perhaps this was a decision made with the intent to make Yuri on Ice more of a 'crowd pleaser' show (a common strategy for the directorial decisions, it seems to me).
Now of course for the answer to the question some of you are wondering — how gay was it? Well, it was pretty gay. In fact it was even gayer than I expected. There was a lot of very strongly implied subtext, both in words and actions. However, a lot of it struck me as pandering fanservice. Sometimes it was almost exaggerated to the point where it broke my immersion. It was not an elegant kind of romance; it was more like forcefed fanservice. I didn't dislike the flavour, but it could have been implemented more gracefully. The crudely implemented homosexual overtones did not match the elegance of the figure skating. This flaw is also representative of a broader issue that I have with this anime — I wish it took itself more seriously. Yuri on Ice feels like it was created to please its audience (and sell) instead of satisfy an artistic vision. It is difficult to become emotionally engaged when there is a constant barrage of various forms of practically fourth-wall-breaking fanservice. Similarly, potentially great scenes are sometimes dragged down by the use of comedy. Yuri on Ice could have been a very emotional show if it told its story with confidence and seriousness, instead of (perhaps cynically) pandering to the audience. I wonder if things would have turned out differently if this was a manga adaptation.
My overall rating: 7/10
It was a consistently entertaining anime. The figure-skating scenes were both captivating and plentiful. It was easy to watch, however it never really engaged me on an emotional level. Don't go into this anime expecting a compelling story or rich characters — you won't get either of those things. Fortunately, there are plenty of other sources of enjoyment. Even though there is an overarching story, you could show a random episode to someone unacquainted with the series and they would probably still be entertained. It is a surprisingly easily digestible show, in stark contrast to my wrongful prior assumptions about it being more suited for a niche audience. As for the homosexual romance element, if you go into this expecting anything deeper than shameless pandering fanservice then you will be disappointed. For maximum enjoyment, Yuri on Ice should be approached with a casual lighthearted attitude. Also, due to how much skating content there is, I'd advise against 'binge watching' this anime. It will feel repetitive if you watch it too frequently. I watched ~2 episodes a week and this felt optimal to me. Yuri on Ice is an enjoyable anime if you set your expectations correctly.
I also want to say, despite this anime's reputation, it is a decent sports show. Before viewing, I expected that the skating aspect would be secondary to the core story. This is not the case. Skating is the central theme in this anime and I'm grateful for it. I would sincerely recommend this anime to people who enjoy sports shows, regardless of the sexual overtones.
I'm not sure what the situation is with the rumoured sequel movie. I had been delaying watching this anime because of the supposedly upcoming movie, but unfortunately it still hasn't come to fruition.
No.36920
>>36794Can you suggest some idol shows that wil get me hooked on the series please.
No.36922
>>36920Idolish7, unironically.
>>36921I'm a huge LL fan but IIRC he said he didn't like it.
No.36925
Modest Heroes
3 short films bundled into a compilation, all of them being quite good. All of them are kinda low on dialog and high on feels.
Mostly showing of what the studio Ponoc can do.
No.36926
>>36925And excellent animation all throughout.
https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=modest_heroes+ My favorites being when the little kid has an allergic reaction and runs down the stairs, and every scene with the invisible man.
No.36929
>>36920For otaku-friendly stuff, try IM@S, Love Live, Re;Stage, Ochikobore Fruit Tart, Lapis Re;lights, or, on the otome side of things, I7, I✰chu, King of Prism, or Ensemble Stars. Most of these shows are only nominally 'idol' shows, and instead have far more overlap with other genres, such as CGDCT, comedy, coming-of-age, drama, reverse harem, etc etc. As such, your experience may vary wildly. Do some research beforehand.
Alternatively, you can try youjo-muke idol anime, which are far more on the nose and unironic in their appreciation. Mainly this consists of the juggernaut franchises of Aikatsu and Pretty, but they each have several different iterations by this point with varying takes on the idol theme. Some are comedic, some are hyper-competitive shoujo sports drama, some are laidback idol SoL. They're all self-contained seasons, they're all good, and they all have lives every single episode, running the entire gamut of musical genres.
>>36922I7 is great, but probably not what I'd recommend to someone firstly. Don't underestimate how hard it can be for the uninitiated to overlook the incredible fujobait homolust.
No.36946
>>36185Watched Kage. It's a dark action hentai about a succubus ninja who sleeps with people before killing them. It's pretty much the same thing every episode: revolting sex scene followed by a gory execution and then a ninja fight. And I call the sex revolting but it's 'normal' sex; I just find it really grotesque in these old hentais. But that's part of the charm with shows like this and A Kite, the dirtiness and grossness of it adds to the atmosphere.
The story doesn't go anywhere. It's just an excuse for sex and killing, but it is quite fun seeing traditional ninja doing ninja stuff.
No.36964
Tekkon Kinkreet, a movie with a great artstyle, interesting soundtrack, and even better background work. Based on a manga with the same name from the person who made Ping Pong. If you're seeking an excellent looking show with a somewhat mature vibe and a bit of obscurity to chew on; I would say this is certainly worth a watch. Spoilers will be in spoiler text below.
To begin lets touch on animation, its fluid and almost always happening with little key frame senaniganes. There is CGI used in some panning shots, driving segments, and camera angle changes, but its so well done I can't hate it for that. Its not very often so don't worry about it. One note I do have here - is that the artstyle is in a Ping Pong the animation design, meaning that it not only looks pretty unique, but far more importantly is easier to animate. There is less detail and strict form needed to be taken into account in this style; not that its a bad thing, its just means that extra animation should be expected and I'm glad to see it did indeed do so. A negative I do have in regards to animation is the abuse of motion blur effects, it is very noticable and lets be honest here, it's just a way to save budget by avoiding animating properly. That being said in addition to the extra animation the artstyle allows for, the background artists of this movie really put in a massive amount of work, its spectacular how intricate and full of detail the city is. From the moving signs, the endless expanse of buildings, the las vegas style advertisements, street vendors, theres too much to see without pausing the film, and god do I think that is a good thing. Some might say its a waste of effort, I suppose they might also say the intricate details hidden away in the ceiling corners of a gothic church was a waste of effort. For those who are willing to take the time needed to view them, I can say for myself there was no wasted effort. Its nice to see "too much effort" than too little, such is the standard these days.
Moving on to the soundtrack, it is exceptionally well done and rather unusual which is not something I say too often. Just listen to the first 4 minutes of the first track from the OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WixQfMABnFA containing a rhythmic beat, some tambourines, synths, bit of guitar, digital sounds being distorted, a xylophone of some sorts, something that almost sounds like a harp, its a rather wild piece for a movie honestly. The rest being just as odd, yet when you listen to them in the movie it all fits so well. As someone who has grown rather weary of your standard orchestra pieces or hollywood inception sounds, I was very pleased to have such a different take on a soundtrack
The strangest part of Tekken Kinkreet to me is not the artstyle or soundtrack though, its the story itself and the aftertaste when finished. Not that its hard to follow, but the events and cast mix in a rather peculiar way. Surreal is something thrown around a bit too often, but I do feel like Tekkon Kinkreet was trying to reach for that sentiment. You can easily interpret this entire story to not actually be real at all, alternatively you can take it at face value, both seem to function perfectly - which is what gives it the strange aftertaste. Nearly everything could be taken metaphorically, even the characters seem as such very obviously with the two MC's being called Kuro and Shiro (Black and White) respectively. This obvious ying yang reference is played out in Kuro's vicious nature and dark thoughts, while Shiro retains his childlike innocence and love for the world. They both complement each other perfectly to the point
Shiro even states "I have every nut and bolt that Kuro is missing from his heart". There are also other clear metaphors such as the ocean signifying things such as death, other reality, new experiences, fantasies, dreams, etc. Kuro and Shiro very easily suggest themes like moderation in everything, that one needs both good and bad to grow up and be a functional human, Shiro representing idealism and fantasy gone so far as to distort your perception of reality while Kuro representing cynicism and anger doing the same.
Far more enjoyable than the two MC's however was to watch yakuza characters, who seemed far more like real people rather than just some abstract metaphor for mysticism or depression from trauma. This applies to both the older Suzuki and the younger Kimura, who I almost wished had a separate movie for themselves. Its great watching both struggle with putting away sentimentality, and each failing to do so leading to their own self destruction. Suzuki's
monologues about time passing and the world moving on without you isn't very unique, but the character pulls it off in such an almost apathetic and yet caring way its hard not to respect what is being said. In the end what he loved was
the city and to see it being taken from him was the same as death, so he choose to die from the very young man who he trained himself. A perfect and befitting end to the younger generation overtaking the older showing the passing of time yet again. Another great connection is that in all major characters of this show, the common link is a great desire to own, control, or impose their will upon "the city" or as each one stated to themselves and others "MY city". This was a great common theme among the entire cast and shows off the innate drive and desires of those whom live in cities. Even the film comments on
how it's not that the city has grown cold (this happening during a scene of crowds ignoring the homeless), but that cities have been cold even since the time of Babylon itself. One minor detraction I have with Tekkon Kinkreet is the high amounts of action scenes that serve very little purpose at all, technically yes they are related to the story, but I don't really need to see such long chases myself unless I am being presented with real sakuga moments to keep me interested. Sometimes as well I felt the movie got a little bit shounenish, especially during the scene where Kuro's
evil sides surfaces and gives him a power up. What I will say is that at least Tekkon Kikreet respects its views more than shounen does during action scenes. One example of that is how they didn't feel the need to explain the
5 o'clock plan of tiring out the other party while keeping one of their own members full of energy. Other shounen would not have the respect of the viewer enough to keep quiet and let him/her think and figure it out for themselves.
So what do I think of Tekkon Kinkreet? The more time one spends thinking about this show, the better it becomes. Originally before this review I thought it was just ok, but after spending more time analyzing each theme and connection, one has to admit that there was an extravagant amount of effort put in to this story and animation. Truly I didn't even begin to truly get into every idea I had about the show, since you might as well be reading a book at that point. I rate this film a 8/10, its rather obvious metaphors (there are less obvious ones), uninteresting two MC's on a human level, and action scenes were of no real interest to me so I can't place it any higher than this. What I will say is that the backgrounds, artstyling, world design, soundtrack, inter-connectivity of the story and characters, and of some personalities made this a fantastic watch.
No.36965
>>36964The soundtrack was done by Plaid aka one of the greatest duos in electronic music.
No.36966
>>36965That explains it then, I was listening to the OST by itself thinking it was actually a very nice album. Usually I find "electronic" music to be rather boring and overly rhythmic/repetitive, but not nearly as much in this work here. I'm assuming this is "IDM"? Honestly I'm unsure of "electronic" genres myself, I can tell what generic house, d&b, or techno is; but as soon as it becomes slightly unusual I can't tell what obscure subgenre it falls under anymore. Either way an exceptional soundtrack for sure.
No.36967
>>36966>I'm assuming this is "IDM"? Yes, if you're to call anyone's work "IDM" then they would fit the bill.
No.36968
>>36967Ok nice I got it right, that genre gets pretty wild and different, so I often have a hard time knowing what exactly is IDM or not. I generally just try to listen for irregular time signatures and less repetition in the song or album. Its sort of like the prog of "electronic" from my understanding. Anyways thanks, maybe I'll check out their other stuff when I'm in a mood for digital sounds.
No.36969
>>36964is Heihachi in this?
No.36972
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35241I watched Konohana Kitan. Here are my thoughts:
The characters are kind of bland but there is good chemistry among the cast. Some of the character designs are cute, and there are some nice kimono outfits. The show has a fairly rich traditional-Japan theme, and primarily takes place at a large rustic ryokan. Most of the characters are so-called "fox succubi" who are ryokan employees. The fox succubus thing is mildly cute but it's not a major reason for my watching the show, although I'd imagine there is a passionate audience out there for this kind of thing. There are some mild supernatural themes that creep into the show at times as well. This anime often feels like it has a surreal dream-like atmosphere.
Art style during some scenes is nice. Colour is used well. The background in some frames can be quite detailed and colourful. Visuals are one of the show's stronger attributes. The animation itself isn't particularly fluid, and there are a lot of stills, but I often found myself pausing to admire frames.
The OST is okay and the voice acting is mostly unremarkable. I would have preferred a different seiyuu for the main character; her voice was kind of annoying to me. I liked the voice acting for Ren (the pink-haired succubus).
This anime definitely has direction issues. Although I haven't read the manga, I get the impression that it might be a better way to approach this if you care about the story. This anime feels very disjointed. It feels like random scenes from the manga were just haphazardly slapped together with zero care for the broader narrative. Episodes have inconsistent mood, and transitions between scenes are not handled well. Furthermore, I often felt like I was missing background information during any remotely plot-related scene. Sometimes it almost felt like I was watching a promotional video for the real content, instead of an actual stand-alone anime.
There is a lot of yuri pandering. However, I never felt any sense of deeper meaningful romance. It always felt kinda cheap and shallow. 'Pandering' really is the right word to use here. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy it, but you should know not to expect anything deeper in this regard. Even beyond the romance element, the whole show just feels like fluff. There's little cohesion from scene to scene, nevermind between episodes. For me, this anime was just something to shut my brain off to and watch some cute stuff with nice visuals. If you expect anything more than this then you will likely be disappointed.
Despite my criticisms, it was still usually a pleasant and relaxing show to watch. The more I tried to actually use my brain while watching it, the less I enjoyed it. The show is fine though as just some cute fluff to wind down with at the end of the day. This anime is best watched immediately before bedtime.
My overall rating: 6/10
No.36974
>>36973You have the post order mixed up my friend.
I really don't care about shitchan and the main purpose of me making a thread there is so that my review will get included in the /a/ archives.
You should have seen what an absolute dumpster fire my Yuri on Ice review thread turned into.
No.36978
>>36974I didn't know you also posted these on 4ch/a/d.
>You should have seen what an absolute dumpster fire my Yuri on Ice review thread turned into.Took a quick peak myself, typical of nu-/a/, I don't think a single person actually read your review. Thread is either people crying "tldr", just seeing the title and posting something about the show irrelevant of the OP, and of course the majority of posts just begin diehards arguing over some irrelevant issue no one gives a fuck about beside themselves. /a/ is just a dumpsterfire in general, frankly its just awful to read 99% of the time. The shitposting can be funny though, if there's one good thing about the shounenshit generals its the stupid memes they crank out on a regular basis.
No.36979
>>36976>>36978Sometimes I will search the /a/ archives with keyword searches of anime I have seen in order to read what others have said about it. This is best done for less-popular shows because more-popular shows tend to attract shitposting and lower-quality discussion, and also just because of the general scarcity of discussion for less-popular anime. For example, I recently read the seasonal Prince of Stride threads, and they were surprisingly tolerable by shitchan standards.
Anyway, for the sake of people like me who also do this, I like to ensure that my own reviews get incorporated into the archives.
If anyone has better anime discussion platforms to suggest then I'd be happy to hear about it.
No.37013
Boku dake ga Inai Machi, a rather mediocre mystery series. I'll try to make this relatively quick since its not really unique enough to warrant a full on review, however I will go into the characters and plot in some depth. Spoilers will be in spoiler text below.
Animation/arstyle, its generic and absolutely FULL of cgi. It's a modern anime TV series, there is no creativity or risk taking at all. Digital aftereffects with CG run the show, and its not well done at all. There isn't a single sakuga moment in this series, nor even an attempt at one. Knowing that, I must assume that the budget was not great at all. That being said - that doesn't excuse just painfully boring it is too look at, and how little they tried to do anything differently. I can honestly say I didn't bother to take a single screenshot while watching this series, the ones I posted are purely for this review.
The soundtrack was pretty standard for the most part, you know the usual orchestra stuff you've heard many times before. Its not poorly done, but you won't ever think "yea that sounds like the Boku dake ga Inai Machi OST" even once in your life. Its modern anime through and through.
Plot is where the only possible enjoyment could be had in this series. Yet it wasn't that great either, it tried for something great - but unfortunately just ended up rather predicable and not very believable at all. First off we have a time travel mechanic; which I generally hate because it means nothing can be meaningful when you can just go back in time and change it anyways. This mechanic is tied to no real rules, so its basically just a whenever the fuck its convenient for the author to have it happen. The villain and murderer of the series could be easily guessed within 3 episodes, and there is no other real potential opposition to that assumption. So effectively you are just stuck waiting for the obvious reveal during the many episodes leading to that, and it should surprise literally no one when it happens. Both the mechanic and the genre are frankly just poorly implemented, maybe if you've never seen a mystery series or time travel before this sereies, it might be interesting for you.
Anyways, so Satoru the MC goes back in time to grade 5 to save an assortment of people from death. As the MC became a child I was expecting to hear of some difficulty in acting as one again, in order to not draw attention to his being a 30 year old mind in a prepubescent child's body. This was skipped over entirely, and no one really sees any difference or cares if they do notice. Along with this we have the other """children""" who might as well be fully fledged adults with how they act and think. Especially Kenya is just out of line for a supposed 10-11 year old, even if this was half-heartedly explained by his introduction stating him to be very clever. Not only is he unfazed by every act of the show in stoic intellect, his insights into life and people is just too much for a child whose only 5 years past drawing pictures with crayons. We also have the mother just somehow knowing everything her child is thinking, which is explained by nothing and might as well just be "because that's the way she is". Yet this all-knowing mother apparently couldn't tell her son (whom is an open book to her) had now aged mentally nearly two decades. Overall the characters are not very well written at all, except for maybe Kayo was done somewhat fairly? I won't pretend I know what traumatized children act like perfectly, but I didn't find myself scoffing too much at her actions. One could argue she was too quick to accept the MC as a friend, on the other hand one could argue that her trauma and lack of friends might be the reason she was so quick to accept. To add to that, the anime explains that she and the MC are similar to each other being "fakes and liars" according to herself, so maybe its just a perfect match kind of thing.
There is a lot more to dig into and be pedantic over such as the last 3 episodes feeling like an addon to the show and frankly just absurd in how the MC acts entirely; but I think you kind of get the idea on my thoughts of the show anyways. So what did I think overall? Its another generic modern anime, "another one in the pile" is how I feel about it. I can't say anything was downright offensively bad, however there is no reason to ever watch this show in my opinion. 5/10, Its just boring and rather uninteresting overall.
No.37024
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32924I watched Urara Meirochou. Here are my thoughts:
This show focuses on novice users of divine powers and their journey to improve those skills. I like divine themes in any kind of story, so I'm probably a little biased in the degree to which I liked this anime. In fact, I wish the show focused even more on the actual divine powers and supernatural themes. In terms of screentime, this anime has a lot of typical slice-of-life scenes. However, there are sprinklings of broader plot that are strategically added. When they do occur, the divination scenes are quite nice.
The main characters in the show are all likable and have good chemistry in their interactions. However, this anime has too much comedy, in my opinion. Both in terms of the way it interrupts enjoyable moments and in the way that so much overall screentime is sucked up by mediocre comedy. The timing of the comedy was poor too. It often broke the tone of a scene in a disruptive way, and in general was too frequent for my taste. I sometimes felt like I was getting emotional whiplash by the way the mood constantly jumped around. It felt like the show was trying to cater to someone with an extremely low attention span. There were many moments where I was soaking in the mood of a scene, only for it to be disrupted by some unfunny tone-breaking comedy. This is the show's greatest flaw from my perspective. However, in fairness, the latter half of the series is comparatively less comedy-heavy.
The art style is unique, creative, and in general quite nice. The style of the background setting, like the town's houses, is unique. The soft pastel colour palette is nice. Stylized frames with artistic patterns and the like (think Hidamari Sketch) are effectively used during dialogue scenes. The pervasive use of soft curvy haphazard linework contributes to the show's playful fantasy-like atmosphere; it sort of reminds me of childrens' storybooks. Some of the character designs are fairly cute, with cute outfits too. The animation quality in this is fairly average, but there is a lot of visual detail. You can tell that a lot of attention was paid to minor details, moreso than I'd expect from this kind of anime. I found myself pausing frequently just to admire random objects or features in the frame. Cinematography is used effectively and creatively as well. Each scene usually has lots of variety in terms of 'camera' angles, framing, distortion, etc. A lot of care and creativity was put into this anime's visuals, even though it doesn't have 'butter-smooth' animation. I really enjoyed the visual aspects of this show.
The main characters have incredibly cute voice work, which is great because the show is dialogue-heavy. It seemed like a fair bit of attention is paid to sound effects, like during divination scenes for example. Even mundane things, like the sound of movement on tatami mats, are handled in detail and with care. The OST seemed good, although it is usually overshadowed by dialogue and sound effects.
My overall rating: 8/10
Despite my distaste for the comedy and the way it was implemented, this show is exceptional in many other ways, and I very much enjoyed watching it. The atmosphere, setting and themes are rich and unique. The art style is creative and unique. All of the main characters are likable. The divine powers theme in the story is interesting and refreshing. However, if they got rid of the comedy and focused even more on the divine elements in the writing, I imagine that I would rate this anime even higher. In fact this anime had all the ingredients to be a 10/10 for me personally, and that potential could have been realized if things were executed differently. Regardless of my lamenting some squandered potential, I enjoyed this anime quite a lot.
I want to read the manga because the writing seems like it has lots of promise.
Lastly, to anyone who enjoys the SoL genre, absolutely I would recommend this anime. It is creative, comfy, cute, playful, relaxing, and unique. I enjoyed every single episode and always looked forward to watching it. It really was exceptional.
No.37027
>>37013while i was scrolling by i thought this said based
No.37028
>>37013I still don't understand why this became so popular, dude acts completly retarded at the start and could have completly avoided the police thinking it was him
No.37029
Got one more episode of flip flappers to watch but seems like it's mostly wrapped up. Wouldn't say it's a 10 but better than that madoka schlock.
No.37030
>>37028Well at least that's somewhat understandable, you could just assume he lost his sense of reason due to being emotionally charged after seeing his own mother dead before his eyes. I think far worse was the ending, where he seems to suddenly become some 1000+iq genius who even predicts being pushed off an exact ledge off of the roof. Not to mention the whole dialog between him and the killer, completely out of character entirely. It was just absurd honestly. For me it was bad before, but the last 3~ episodes basically killed any potential this series had of being above average.
No.37069
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32086I watched the Blame! movie, released in 2017. Here are my thoughts:
For the record, I have never seen the older (2003) OVAs nor have I ever read the manga. I knew nothing about the franchise before watching this movie. Obviously this review will not address the faithfulness of this adaptation to the manga; I am only evaluating the movie as a standalone product.
Basically, Blame takes place in a sci-fi post-apocalyptic setting because machines took over and blah blah blah reasons. The premise and setting kind of reminded me of the live-action Matrix trilogy.
This movie is animated in CGI (well, at least the characters and machines are). There were moments where the character animation seemed unnatural, but overall the characters looked okay to me. By CGI standards, it looked good. Facial expressions were done surprisingly well, which is unusual for CGI animation. Beyond the characters, the background setting looked terrific. There is tons of detail in the background landscapes, which really complements the post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting. There are lots of screencap-worthy frames in this movie. The muted, mostly grayscale, colour palette is suitable as well.
The audio production quality is excellent. Lots of different sound effects really enhanced my immersion. Regardless of the CGI visuals, this movie sounded very realistic to me. Blame's setting is one that can really be enhanced by sound effects, so it's great that this was capitalized upon. The OST is great too, and really well produced. The voice acting is adequate; I liked Cibo's voice.
The plot was pretty generic post-apocalyptic sci-fi material, and fairly predictable. In some ways it felt like a generic Hollywood blockbuster film plot. Although at times I felt like I was missing background information, it was overall coherent and competently executed. The plot was also fairly self-contained, meaning that there were no significant loose strings at the end (a common manga-adaptation issue). There was minimal character development, but the characters served their purposes, and none of them were annoying or unpleasant. Some of the character dynamics were a little corny at times, but these instances were short-lived. In terms of sci-fi stuff, there is a decent helping of cool technology in here, although nothing particularly unique.
My overall rating: 7/10
I found this movie immersive and consistently entertaining. It sounded great and looked good. It was competently directed and didn't have any major flaws. It was a good cinematic experience. Manga readers probably feel differently, but I think this movie did a good job of depicting a post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting.
If you have a surround-sound setup then I'd recommend using it if you decide to watch this (or at least a decent pair of headphones).
No.37074
>>37069>7/10I didn't expecting you of all people to give it a 7/10, normally you don't even like movies, especially with the semi-mute main character interacting with the others. Did you not find Killy's exchanges with Cibo to not be truly odd? The way she opens up about herself with no actual input from Killy? I mean I understand why he is like that, due to manga reasons, but for you it must have been strange no? He's almost like a final fantasy MC that says nothing since you are playing as them.
Yea I'm so confused that you liked this, the only explanation I can think of is that this movie was seriously moe as hell. Which is probably why I also hated it so much. I'm still shocked.
>the background setting looked terrificOf course, since its all based on the original Blame.
No.37075
>>37074The sound design was excellent and the setting looked great. The OST was way better than your average anime.
>normally you don't even like movies, especially with the semi-mute main character interacting with the others. Did you not find Killy's exchanges with Cibo to not be truly odd? The way she opens up about herself with no actual input from Killy? I mean I understand why he is like that, due to manga reasons, but for you it must have been strange no?Movies are typically too short for me to care about the characters (this is why movies are a poor format for dramas), so as long as nobody is annoying or really unlikable then I'm fine. Cibo pretty much got used for loredump purposes in terms of the dialogue, so it seemed to me. I had no issues with Killy. Most of my enjoyment of the movie came from its audio and cinematic qualities. I have no strong feelings about the characters. Obviously I haven't read the manga, so I'm not nearly as invested in the story as other viewers.
>this movie was seriously moe as hellThis is a huge exaggeration, IMO. You are using the term 'moe' very loosely. There were only like two characters in the entire cast who had vaguely cute-ish character designs, and their designs hardly seemed inconsistent with the other humans (and one of them dies in a gruesome way anyway). People are seriously kneejerk overreacting to the (barely present) so-called 'moe' elements. It is really silly.
No.37076
>>37074There's nothing wrong with moe, and you can't stop from seeing it everywhere because you have a facile understanding of anime and the culture which spawned it.
No.37077
>>37075>The sound design was excellent I actually totally thought the opposite, I think they could have done so much more sound wise, and the OST was so off for what a dystopian post cyberpunk world should be. Serial Experiments Lain and Boogiepop Phantom are examples of something carried by their sound design, but I didn't feel anything close to that in this. Even the $0 budget OVAs/ONA's I reviewed here
>>36407 had better sound design IMO. I don't think the film ever had a moment as cool as the the mp4 I linked in that same post.
The OST like I said was super off in my opinion, standard orchestra with standard instruments was already bad enough, but then they had these strange folk influences as well which is just so wrong for the setting. Am I not right for thinking this should have been almost entirely electronic? Just listen to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eobrXrsiXc and seriously try to explain why a harp is playing in a distopian horrorshow of a world. Its impossible.
>You are using the term 'moe' very loosely.Zuru, who might as well be the MC from how much screen time she has, is pure and utter moe. There is no reason for her to exist as a character besides to be a moeblob, which is something that Nihei is obsessed with ever since his daughter said she didn't like his manga Biomega. Sure the setting is gritty and grimdark, but the characters sure are fucking moe as hell. Even Cibo looks completely out of place, and is now pure waifubait at this point. Its moe as hell and I can't see how Zuru is anything but a moeblob forced in to cash out on some waifufags.
>>37076Pic related, you are objectively wrong.
No.37078
>>37077All you did was repeat that the characters are "moe as hell". This doesn't amount to much proof, nor do those images you've posted; do all modern female character designs look "moe" to you?
No.37079
>>37078>nor do those images you've posted;lol delusional
No.37080
>>37077>The OST like I said was super off in my opinion, standard orchestra with standard instruments was already bad enough, but then they had these strange folk influences as well which is just so wrong for the setting. Am I not right for thinking this should have been almost entirely electronic?Well, I liked the orchestral soundtrack and thought it was well done (will definitely be relistening to it in the future), but this is all a matter of personal taste. Anime/movie producers tend to suck ass at making electronic music anyway, so be careful what you wish for. The orchestral soundtrack will also age way better, IMO.
>Its moe as hell and I can't see how Zuru is anything but a moeblob forced in to cash out on some waifufags.Even if I were to agree with you, I don't really see what the big deal is. Western sci-fi is usually jam-packed with 'waifubait' characters too, but that doesn't invalidate its artistic value.
>>37078It looks like a fairly ordinary female character design to me. I'm surprised he didn't pick a screenshot that featured her CGI-animated witch orbs lol
No.37081
>>37079What does this even mean? Can you properly respond or not?
No.37082
>>37080>I liked the orchestral soundtrack and thought it was well doneThat is understandable, Which it may very well be, but I just thought it didn't function as a proper dystopian Sci Fi soundtrack. There were tracks that I found enjoyable like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3l4sifNTr8, but for every track like that there was a track like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbE7bwlRH3 which just make my head spin back from how off-putting and misplaced it was. I guess if you just rate it off enjoyment then maybe I get you, it just felt like it was for the wrong movie to me.
>Western sci-fi is usually jam-packed with 'waifubait' characters tooYea, but I don't like it when they do that either. I also think western scifi tends not to be as in your face about it, and handled in a more tactful and mature way. For instance I find Ripley from Alien and Racheal from Blade runner to be far more tasteful than generic moeblob Zuru and robot mistress Cibo. Even cibo's very strut animation signifies sexuality, see vid related. Racheal also has real lore to explain her looks, while cibo is simply a robot mistress for no reason at all besides being waifu bait. There was unlimited options for her design lore wise, but of course it just had to be a waifu.
>>37081Reading comprehend skills on point, stay in school kids.
No.37085
>>37082>>37084>It just has to be waifu and moe and waifus and moe waaaah! Why are there attractive succubi in my media!Just keep telling yourself that
No.37086
>>37085>everything I watch MUST have little succubi and female waifus for me to jack off to, even if the setting is a dystopian cyberpunk horror worldThats very nice to hear crab, but its not an argument and just makes it look like you belong on r9k.
No.37087
>>37086Answer the question.
No.37091
>>37087>don't ask a question but tell someone to answer your nonexistent questionLow IQ. Many such cases.
No.37093
>>37092>examples of mainstream western sci-fi that have nudity and actual sex scenesYes of course there are examples of fanservice in western movies, although I will say that is mostly because of there being romance in the movie. Sometimes it is just pure fanservice, and I would harp on them for that as well. The problem I have with Cibo and Zuru is that there is no reason for them to be such a way, they just don't fit in the world being presented to me, nor is there an adequate lore reason for them to be such a way. Cibo herself is a deep scientist who was just stuck for probably thousands of years as a stationary head, why does she walk/look/talk as if she is robot mistress suddenly? Why is Zuru some moeblob in a world where her friends are constantly dying or starving, all the while killer robots hunt them down as they go for food? Why is she even a focal characters anyways? Did she really add any worth to the show? Could they not just have easily replaced her with an adult male or female, which would have been far more accurate anyways? Well, I do actually know why Zuru and Cibo are the way they are, its very obvious when you take into account Nihei's original designs vs his newer ones.
The reason why it bothers me is because its just fanservice nonsense that actually takes away from the world being shown. How am I suppose to get invested in the atmosphere when I'm forced to view Cibo's comically out of place design randomly do her model runway strut in the middle of a scene? How am I suppose to take the harsh and cruel dystopian world seriously when I have Ms Moeblob blushing and acting moe in most scenes she is involved with? Its impossible to be immersed in such an over the top fanservice riddled show.
Its not just the designs, its the way they are presented as well. The close up shots of faces, the blushing, the undressing scenes, the runways, the lighting, the focus on the females; its all so obviously designed to take advantage of the lower human instincts. It ends up coming off as if I am not being sold a world, but rather I'm being sold a product to make money. Of course all anime is a product at the end of the day, but I don't want that to effect the film or ideas themselves. At least I don't want to be constantly reminded of that fact, and lose any possible immersion or atmosphere due to constantly being taken out of the world by a "WOAH CHECK OUT THIS PRETTY LITTLE succubus UNDRESSING!!!!".
No.37097
I just finished watching odd taxi. This was a pretty good show for the most part, some parts were even masterful, but the ending was very disappointing. It felt rushed and didn't tie up all the loose ends. Been a lot of good shows with shitty endings this season like Vivy and Megalobox S2.
No.37098
>>37093You're a homosexual in denial.
No.37099
>>37098Thats very nice to hear crab, but its not an argument and just makes it look like you belong on r9k.
No.37100
>>37099>durr not an agugumentReading comprehend skills on point, stay in school kids.
No.37102
>>37093>why does she walk/look/talk as if she is robot mistress suddenly?They made her a sassy badass robobitch, and it was entertaining. She had a nice voice and it made it easier to listen to the loredump. I also thought her voice was a cool contrast with her initial decayed-head appearance.
>At least I don't want to be constantly reminded of that fact, and lose any possible immersion or atmosphere due to constantly being taken out of the world by a "WOAH CHECK OUT THIS PRETTY LITTLE succubus UNDRESSING!!!!".As I recall, there was literally one scene where the group is taking off their armor stuff and it was completely tame and didn't feel sexualized at all to me. Your third screenshot in
>>37077 is literally the most skin that got shown in the entire movie. Are you posting from Saudi Arabia?
I sympathize with the principle of your argument about breaking immersion, but as I've already said, I think you are majorly exaggerating. Anyway, I've said all I want to say about this topic, and we are just going in circles anyway. Maybe another wizzie should watch the movie so we can get a third opinion.
No.37104
>>37102>didn't feel sexualized at all to me.How is an undress scene not sexualized? That's literally impossible, unless for some reason there was some massive plot device tied to it, and even then I would say its sexualized anyways. All they did was have a chat, so why the hell is watching the moeblob undress necessary at all? Its just objectively utterly pointless fanservice at the end of the day.
Take for instance GiTS, it has an obviously sexual scene for its opening credits, but it has an actual purpose at the very least. That is to show off the creation of cyborgs and introduce those ideas of mechanical human beings, while also showing what Mokoto is herself (clearly very important for the ideas that the show discusses). Despite the sexualization, its actually a rather immersive scene itself. The design of Motoko is also far more believable in the world set up by the creator, its cyberpunk and its expected that such a world/character would look like that. Even her optic-camo birthday suit makes some sense, at least compared to Cibo looking like a "sassy badass robobitch" for no reason at all. GiTS is a fanservice ladden movie, but I don't find nearly as intrusive as Blame's, because it fits in the world its set in.
>I think you are majorly exaggerating.Honestly I just think people are just too used to how much fanservice in put into anime, people end up becoming normalized to watching trash and so filter it out without even realizing they are.
>third opinionMost likely to side with you, imageboard anime viewers are for the vast majority overwhelmingly tied to waifu idealism, so they will excuse it of course. If you browse threads about this movie, you will naturally see endless pictures of Cibo and Zuru, along with the poster's wish that one of them might "sit on their face".
No.37130
>>37128How typical. Anime nigger can't properly elaborate on why he likes his favorite uguu moetrash for ronery otaku crabs. Many such cases!
No.37134
>>37130This, but unironically
No.37137
>>37084what the fuck kind of hairstyle is the first pic anyways
that would look so stupid as a 3d model in the animation i imagine
No.37141
>>37137Its just braids man, the only difference is that its given slight amounts of anime gravity defying properties. Comes off very dystopian and punk to me, which fits the world perfectly.
No.37153
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31478I watched Bungou Stray Dogs (all 3 seasons + the movie, the OVA, and some of the Wan shorts). Here are my thoughts:
I generally speaking don't like action anime. I also dislike superpowers as a plot device. I prefer comedy served as a side dish; too much comedy will put me off depending on how palatable I find its flavour. For these reasons I expected that I would not enjoy Bungou Stray Dogs and in fact almost passed on it entirely. Just to be sure though, I pessimistically watched the first episode just in case.
I felt hooked at episode 3 and knew I'd be watching the entire thing. The first few episodes were strong. There were interesting characters with tons of promise.
Season 1 has a good balance between comedy and serious scenes. Don't be fooled by the comedy of season 1 though. Like many other anime, they lure you in with a lighthearted beginning to introduce characters and setting, and then the more emotionally tumultuous journey begins. Season 1 spends most of its time fleshing out characters and setting. There is a major shift in tone from season 1 to season 2. There is very little comedy in season 2 and the tone is far darker. The difference was so stark that I double-checked to see if they changed staff. Actually, in general this anime is all over the map in terms of tone. These transitions are usually handled well though, which I think is a sign of good direction.
Here's a summary of my pros and cons.
Positive aspects of the anime:
- Interesting and sometimes well-developed cast of characters.
- Many of the characters are both likable and memorable.
- Complex (yet coherent) and interesting plot that interweaves numerous characters with different motivations, ideologies, backstories, etc.
- Good voice acting.
- Complementary OST with variety.
- Some of the supernatural abilities are kind of cool or at the very least unique.
- Attractive male characters and yaoi ships.
- Funny comedy sometimes (mainly season 1)
Weak aspects of the anime:
- Large cast without adequate development of many characters.
- Arguably poor direction at times. For example: rushed story arcs, inappropriate comedic relief, boring fight scenes, etc.
- Asspull conflict resolution and all the usual issues with super powers ("muh power is arbitrarily better than yours, and then everyone died, the end.").
- Unshakeable feeling of protagonist plot armour, even from early in the series.
- Using the absolutely insufferable 'rich American' character trope for an important character.
I don't particularly like super powers or enjoy fight scenes. Thankfully the fight scenes in this are dialogue-heavy and/or resolved quickly. Someone who naturally gravitates towards the genres of this anime would probably enjoy it more than me.
My overall ratings:
Seasons 1, 2 and 3: 7/10
Dead Apple movie: 5/10
Wan! shorts: dropped after 4 episodes
I actually would recommend the TV anime to a casual viewer because it's a very easily digestible series. Also a pretty solid 'page turner' — I usually watched multiple episodes in one sitting. I'm not surprised to see how commonly well received this anime was. There is pretty much something for everyone in this show; I mean that in the sense that there are many aspects of it that can potentially appeal to people.
Assorted miscellaneous comments:
Okay animation, not great (not an issue for me). Could be considered a negative if you want to see well-animated exciting action scenes. Overall the visuals of this anime are mostly unremarkable. Probably the only noteworthy things are the character designs, which are pretty nice. There are also nice city landscape frames that appear sometimes.
Good OST. Lots of variety yet it still always complements the scene well. The music definitely enhances this anime. Good voice acting too.
The atmosphere in general is rich. It's difficult to describe but the show has a very 'punkish' lawless feeling.
Direction quality varies a lot. On average it's good, but it varies a lot from episode to episode. Sometimes the show is suspenseful, other times it can be somewhat boring or melodramatic.
All three seasons started strong but I found the last few climactic episodes of each to be somewhat underwhelming. This might be due to my distaste for long drawn-out fight scenes. I also never felt like the stakes were particularly high in pretty much all the conflicts, despite the often epic scale of the events taking place. Unfortunately, from early in the series I learned to expect asspull conflict resolution, or at least resolutions without major consequences to the protagonists. The use of super powers in any story permits bad writing in this respect. I will say though that I liked the frequent theme of redemption/atonement in the writing.
Good characters. This is probably the best aspect of this anime. There are many characters in the cast who are unique and interesting, as well as memorable and likable. I think that the characters really carry this show as a whole, and are a major reason for the success of the franchise. I should mention that the characters are (loosely?) based off of various famous authors, so someone who's familiar with Japanese literature might derive more enjoyment from this series. For example, one of the main characters (Osamu Dazai) is based on the author of the well-known novel "No Longer Human."
There are a lot of attractive male characters in this and a ton of potential for yaoi ships and the like. I'll spare the average reader from my elaborating on this point. There are some romantic pairings within the context of the story. It doesn't surprise me that this franchise is popular among Japanese succubi.
I'll also include my comments specific to the Dead Apple movie:
- the plot and the resulting drama felt artificial and forced.
- plot was confusing and messy.
- the characterization/behaviour for some cast members seemed inconsistent with the other anime content.
- any humour felt like audience pandering instead of anything organic (ex. lazily recycling jokes from previous content).
- overall was simply worse than the TV series, both from an artistic and entertainment perspective.
- for anyone wondering, you don't need to watch this movie to understand the story of season 3.
Here are my comments pertaining to the "Bungou Stray Dogs Wan!" 2021 chibi-style shorts (based on the few episodes I watched):
- these are just lighthearted comedy skits.
- the skits are unfunny and boring.
- much of the comedy relies on the character dynamics already established in the prior TV seasons.
- the one nice thing about these shorts is that they do a decent job of showcasing the voice acting of the cast, which as I've said is pretty good.
- I'm not sure what the point of making these was, besides having a poorly veiled advertisement to broadcast on TV to remind people that the franchise exists.
- I dropped these shorts after 4 episodes. I'm not sitting through 12 ~12-minute episodes of unfunny chibi "comedy."
No.37155
>>37153I watched the first season of that and just couldn't get into it, I just didn't know if the series wanted me to take it seriously or if it was a comedy, and I felt like it just didn't work either way.
Very nice animation though.
No.37250
Finished Ninja Scroll. It was a pretty fun show. How does the older movie compare? The art style for it looked a little nicer.
No.37251
>>37250Actually decided to just watch the movie now and I liked it a lot. The art is very beautiful and the smaller cast means everyone is somewhat more interesting. The tone feels a bit more serious, too.
No.37252
>>37250I didn't even know there was a tv series.
>>37251Watch Wicked City if you liked the artstyle of Ninja Scroll.
No.37279
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33988I watched Demi-chan wa Kataritai (not including the ONA), also known as Interviews with Monsters succubi. Here are my thoughts:
This is literally just a typical school SoL show but with a (mostly inconsequential) monstergirl gimmick. That's it. The show doesn't excel at much, and it's not particularly unique or creative. It is watchable though, marginally.
Aside from the novelty of "demi-humans," the characters are pretty bland as a whole. Although, the vampire succubus is a good character; she has a playful personality. I enjoyed her presence in the show. However, the rest of the cast is fairly bland. I would say that characterization is one of the weaker aspects of this show, particularly because it is a dialogue-heavy SoL that features interviews of the main characters.
This anime has a significant 'romance' component, moreso than I expected prior to watching. It's a shallow kind of romance though. Truthfully, the show probably deserves a harem genre tag. I guess this isn't surprising considering it's a SoL with a male main character and nearly all-female supporting cast. Most of the story revolves around the main teacher character helping the demi-humans with their personal problems, and in the process learning about their biological characteristics. This story sounds interesting in concept, but in reality the final product is boring and surprisingly generic.
The animation quality is mediocre but sometimes the cinematography is noteworthy. During some moments (not consistently) the character animation is above average. The image frame moves along with actual character movement, which can enhance the sparse moments of fluid animation. A decent job is done for facial expressions as well. The art style of the anime is quite generic and lacking in visual detail. The character designs are similarly generic.
The voice acting is unremarkable, aside from the vampire succubus who does a great job. The OST is also unremarkable.
My overall rating: 4/10
This is just a typical highschool SoL show, but with a demi-human 'schtick' added. As a whole, it feels surprisingly uncreative for the premise. It is mostly boring and generic, and it doesn't excel at anything in particular. It was just barely entertaining enough for me to watch to completion.
I wouldn't recommend this anime to anybody.
A footnote I also want to mention: one of the main characters in this show is literally a succubus, so her character was kinda funny to me because I've spent so much time here.
No.37399
https://myanimelist.net/anime/7785I watched Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei (including the specials), also known as The Tatami Galaxy. Here are my thoughts:
Once I realized that the MC was a self-pitying young man who was envious of his peers and pining for romantic affection, I knew I was going to have a bad time. Seriously, I can't stand this kind of character. If you find this garbage relatable then you need to take a serious look at what kind of person you are.
The two central characters (MC and Ozu) are pieces of shit, and the story consists of them acting like pieces of shit but with some time-loop stuff thrown in. I pretty much hated everything about the writing in this anime. My enjoyment was significantly impeded by this. Most of the story revolves around the MC being the pathetic worm that he is and treating everyone around him terribly, all the while pining for romantic affection. In addition to this unpleasantly relentless theme, the plot itself often feels repetitive due to the frequent time rewinds. This is because the same events and scenarios are repeated frequently, often with little variation both in terms of the facts of the story as well as the style in which it is told.
Visually, the show is pretty creative. The art style in the backgrounds is unique and stylistic, as well as highly detailed despite the constant scene changes. In general, I enjoyed looking at these creative visuals — they captivated me enough to continue watching the anime despite my grievances.
The style of direction and storytelling is interesting. The first-person narration by the MC is unique, particularly in anime. I think this style of storytelling is more common in American movies. Perhaps this is because it is relatively less common for anime to have conventional novels as source material. My main complaint about this storytelling style is that the narration is almost relentless during each episode. What I mean by that is, there is a near-constant info dump to pay attention to, while also trying to appreciate everything that is happening on-screen. I felt like my attention was often split between the visuals taking place and the narrative audio.
On the subject of audio, the voice acting is not bad. It's difficult for me to gauge the OST because of the literally constant fast-paced narrative dialogue which prevents me from hearing the music clearly. I recall there being some not-bad piano music. OP and ED songs are okay.
My personal overall rating: 4/10
As I already said, I seriously loathed both the characters and the writing in this. Furthermore, although unique, I didn't particularly like the style of storytelling. Additionally, this anime became repetitive very quickly and often felt like a chore to watch. The creative visuals are pretty much the only reason I watched this to completion.
To be fair, I am probably the wrong audience for this anime. This kind of story doesn't click with me at all. Furthermore, the focus is entirely on the MC, who is nearly always on-screen. So, in my case, hating the MC's guts is a major issue.
My intuition might be wrong about this, but I suspect that a lot of the people celebrating this anime must find it relatable in some way. At least the college setting is probably relatable for much of this anime's audience.
I will concede that the 'love doll' story arc was pretty funny. It got some laughs out of me.
No.37406
>>37399Well I was waiting for this review for a while, and I knew you hated it, but I have to ask though; is having the MC be an awful person such a bad thing? Personally I didn't find him to be that awful of a human being, but even if I did I wouldn't say he's bad because of it. If anything wouldn't that be a rather unique characteristic of his for an MC?
No.37409
>>37406>is having the MC be an awful person such a bad thing?No, it was just his personality in particular that was like nails on a chalkboard to me. Especially when combined with the relentless monologuing. The self-pitying envious whiny covert-narcissist monologues. Oh lord how it sends a chill up my spine. At times it felt like an anime adaptation of a less-extreme version of My Twisted World.
Maybe I should have made this clearer in my review, which admittedly I worded pretty strongly.
I don't instantly hate immoral characters; it's a personality thing. I mean, Bungou Stray Dogs is filled with immoral characters and I literally praised it for its likable cast. I also think that a good villain can really enhance a story.
I was reading through the MAL reviews today (yes I know, inb4 green arrows), and it's interesting how bimodal the score distribution is. This review (
https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=389405) also laments the unlikable MC – nice to see I'm not entirely crazy lol.
No.37411
>>37409>Oh lord how it sends a chill up my spine. At times it felt like an anime adaptation of a less-extreme version of My Twisted World. You are so over the top, actually made me chuckle IRL. I went and rewatched the first 5 episodes fully and I don't even see how you could take such an extreme perception of the MC. Rewatching it honestly only made me remember just how good this show is. Its amazing how well they intertwine each episode with each other, even though it resets time after each episode you still see nods and acceptance of previously shown events. Its also respectful enough to continuously abridge the repeated sections shorter and shorter each time they are shown. Honestly, I actually love the MC as he is far more human than most anime characters are, his inability to see what he has before him and his tendency to blame others for his failures give him a real character. At the same time he isn't just some over the top showpiece for that, he reactions are understandable much of the time because the show always presents events in his own perception of them.
That is all without even talking about the artstyle or how well the themes are executed on. I don't know how you could hate this show, maybe your hatred of the MC was just that strong, but I can't really understand it.
> it's interesting how bimodal the score distribution is.Yea until you click on the names of the people who rate the show poorly and see their scores for others things. Where they call Tatami Galaxy generic in one breath, and then rate Fate a perfect 10/10 in the other lol. Not saying all of them are complete idiots; but when I see weed backgrounds, fate 10/10, or hailing Welcome to the NHK as a great show despite hating the MC of Tatami Galaxy (completely failing to notice the similarities of the two MC's) I stop caring what they think.
Also I saw few others who hate the MC on MAL, kind of just comes across as the Evangelion Shinji situation; where they attack the character itself, but not attacking if the character was actually well written or makes sense in context of the show. Idk seems like people can't separate themselves from the MC and always self insert instead.
No.37413
>>37411>his inability to see what he has before him and his tendency to blame others for his failures give him a real character.Or on the other hand, this is another aspect of his character that is annoying and frustrating to watch, especially when it is drilled into the viewer over and over again throughout 11 repetitive episodes.
>maybe your hatred of the MC was just that strongit was indeed strong.
>Yea until you click on the names of the people who rate the show poorly and see their scores for others things. Where they call Tatami Galaxy generic in one breath, and then rate Fate a perfect 10/10 in the other lol. Not saying all of them are complete idiots; but when I see weed backgrounds, fate 10/10, or hailing Welcome to the NHK as a great show despite hating the MC of Tatami Galaxy (completely failing to notice the similarities of the two MC's) I stop caring what they think.I'm guessing I could make the equivalent argument for the people praising it, but in any case this is a silly line of discussion.
Simply put, there were multiple aspects of Tatami Galaxy (including the MC's character) that made it an unpleasant viewing experience for me.
No.37448
https://myanimelist.net/anime/12679I watched Joshiraku (including the OVA). Here are my thoughts:
Having somewhat recently completed Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, I thought it would be interesting to watch Joshiraku with the memory of it fresh in my mind. However, I quickly realized that the two shows are completely different. Joshiraku is a comedy and consists of short skits. The main characters are rakugo performers, although rakugo itself is not a major aspect of the anime. The rakugo theater (usually backstage) is only a setting for the various comedic skits (which are usually unrelated to rakugo). So, don't be like me and expect this to be a rakugo-themed show.
This anime is clever and amusing, but not really laugh-out-loud funny. There is a lot of clever wordplay. It often breaks the 4th wall; it is a very 'self-aware' show. Occasionally it felt boring; some skits can feel a little drawn out, and the pacing of the skits is slightly sluggish at times.
I could tell that some of the jokes were too Japanese even for my weeb ass. There were seemingly obscure references to Japanese culture, history, politics, geography, etc…
In terms of audiovisuals, this anime is unremarkable at best. The visuals are adequate, and provide demonstrations of the jokes when necessary. The voice acting is similarly adequate. The OST is unremarkable and fairly inconsequential due to the dialogue-heavy nature of the show.
My personal overall rating: 6/10
Most episodes got some chuckles out of me, but it was never gut-bustingly hilarious or anything like that — just moderately amusing. I enjoyed how clever a lot of the jokes were.
If you like puns, clever wordplay and Japanese cultural references, then this is the comedy anime for you. It is a very Japanese show in that there are frequent references to Japanese culture in some form — anything from politicians to pop culture to kanji readings to traditional folklore. The cultural references have a lot of breadth. Receptiveness to this will likely vary a lot among viewers. A casual anime viewer probably won't be amused by puns about train station names (or something equally culturally esoteric), but a smaller subset of dedicated japanophiles would probably eat this stuff up.
No.37455
Took me forever to get through Ragnarok the animation.
It's pretty subpar, I wouldn't recommend it.
No.37456
>>37453I loved the manga years ago but never got around to watching the anime.
No.37460
>>374596/10 is the median score for anime I complete, so it's not like I hated it or anything.
Also I'm kind of a stick in the mud when it comes to comedy in general, so anything I say about comedy shows should be taken with a grain of salt.
No.37503
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34561/Re_CreatorsI watched Re:Creators. Here are my thoughts:
The premise of this 22-episode anime is quite cool and exceptionally unique. Superficially, Re:Creators is a so-called 'reverse-isekai' show, but in reality it is much more than this. All I can say without going into spoilers is that characters from a diverse variety of fantasy/sci-fi stories appear in real-life Japan, where they interact with one another and meet the creators of their respective stories (side note: I think this would be a great premise for a comedy anime too).
This is a very dialogue-heavy show. There are few actual action scenes, which is more than fine with me but did (pleasantly) defy my initial expectations. If you go into this anime wanting action scenes, you will be disappointed. This anime is far more a fantasy drama than it is an action show.
Sometimes this anime can be very exposition-heavy. In particular, the early episodes of both cours contain heavy exposition dumps. Very little effort is made to make these exposition dumps more palatable for the viewer. As I recall, there are multiple >10-minute exposition speeches that take place in a dull conference room with zero visual flair or anything to add entertainment value. My geeky sperg self was completely fine with this (and I was extremely interested in this anime's writing), but a different viewer might find it hard to swallow. The exposition is fascinating (in my view) and all necessary for the later story developments to make sense, but the delivery could have been handled better. Despite this, the conversational nature of this show is a major strong point, in my opinion. The dialogue is often very thoughtful and contains many memorable lines. During some scenes the script is absolutely phenomenal. I really do mean that; at its best, this anime contains some of the finest scriptwriting I have ever witnessed.
All of the fantasy characters in this ooze personality, and their interaction both among themselves and with their creators is one of the best features of this anime. However, the MC is kind of bland and lacking personality, aside from being your typical useless cowardly teenage-male anime protagonist. Thankfully the cast is quite large and he doesn't speak that often. In fact, even referring to him as the MC is exaggerating the significance of his character (arguably the real MC is Meteora). Even so, he was definitely a weak aspect of this anime. I would even say he is the weakest link in the show; in general, this anime is at its worst when the focus is on the MC. However, his presence is necessary for the plot to work, so perhaps I shouldn't be so harsh. Also, although this is fairly minor, I found the involvement of the government-official succubus to be annoying. The involvement of the military/government in general made it feel like a generic anime action show, and sucked away screentime from the show's true strengths. I get that it was necessary to include the government to have the plot make sense, but I found their on-screen presence to be excessive.
Overall the plot is great, and often creative and inventive, although some of the details can be a little wonky or confusing. Re:Creators is very ambitious in what it seeks to accomplish with its story, so I'm willing to be lenient about some hand waviness. If you put every little plot mechanic under a microscope, you'll definitely find things to nitpick. From a broad view it's excellent though, and I was always interested in the story and eager to see what would happen next. In fact, I burned through episodes of this anime and struggled to turn it off, and couldn't stop thinking about it. Literally, this anime kept me awake at night staring at the ceiling. I was totally hooked, which surely is evidence of a great story. On the surface, the plot resembles a typical 'battle royale' story in some ways, but there is deeper meaning lurking beneath this.
Beyond the mundane plot details, Re:Creators explores unique thought-provoking themes in creative ways. The writing incorporates themes such as the relationships between a story and both its creator and its reader, comparisons between fictional worlds and real life, the emotions of a fiction creator and the creative process, the experiences and feelings of a self-aware fictional character, and the nature of how a character develops within a story. These writing themes connected with me on a deep personal level and touched me emotionally. I felt very strong emotions while watching this anime.
It was so enjoyable to watch all these characters from different fictional worlds interact with their creators and one another. There are elements in the writing and script that are clearly meant to appeal to storywriters and other content creators. In some ways, Re:Creators feels like a celebration of fiction itself.
In terms of visuals, this show is nothing special. The character designs are good, and there are some occasional nice moments during action scenes. Otherwise, the animation quality is adequate at best, and there are tons of sloppy frames. Conversely, audio is a stronger component of the show. The sound effects are quite well done; even mundane stuff like the sound of background noise in rooms is implemented with detail and care. The soundtrack is good, and both the OP songs are absolutely terrific (I replayed the OP sequence at least 100 times, not exaggerating). The voice acting is alright; nobody's voicework really stood out to me besides Meteora and Magane (she has great facial expressions too). Meteora provides a lot of the exposition, so it's good that her voice is nice.
My overall rating: 9/10
Re:Creators has a fantastic premise that is executed well, albeit with some minor plot wonkiness. The story is exceptionally creative and engaging, while also exploring fascinating abstract themes about fiction itself. It truly is a unique artistic creation. The fantasy characters and their interactions are very enjoyable, and the dialogue is often thoughtful and memorable. This anime is exceptional in many ways. I eagerly burned through the episodes like they were popcorn; seriously, this is the most binge-watch-inducing show I've seen in years. For me, Re:Creators was such a joyful thrill. During its best episodes this anime is mind blowing.
The emotional side of me wants so badly to rate this 10/10, but I can't ignore the fact that there are some weaker episodes and that the show does objectively have some minor flaws. Regardless, I really do believe that Re:Creators is a very special one-of-a-kind work of art that deserves far more appreciation.
The premise of this show is potent imagination fuel. Can you imagine meeting the characters from your favourite stories IRL? We can only dream. If fiction is something that's personally important to you, then you should watch this anime.
No.37536
>>37503You sold me on watching this.
>Spring 2017I hope it's still available…
No.37543
Finished Rebuild 3.0 + 1.0. Unshockingly a complete cash grab with little to no enjoyable moments. The CGI was quite literally sickening, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a motion sickness warning at the beginning of the movie in theaters. The rotoscoped shots in the first half of the movie that all the budget seemingly went into looked awkward and stupid, but I like unconventional looking things so I forgive it. Sagisu's score as always saved a lot of scenes from being completely awful, like the 2 minute long farmlife slideshow. I saw someone describe the film as "EoE with extra steps", but I think that description is an insult to EoE. Speaking of The End of Evangelion, this movie pays a lot of homage to it. I didn't think Anno wouldn't sink that low, but boy did he. It felt like I was watching one of those Star Wars sequels where they rehash entire plots and visuals. And to top it off, the ending is a lame, continuous drone cam shot of Studio Khara and Tokyo, with a cheesy pop song that doesn't fit the tone of EVA at all. The film was quite clearly made exclusively with Japanese audiences and their wallets in mind, with full intent on making billions of yen from merchandise profits to prove to other studios that the Evangelion IP can still make money, so years and years of reboots and spinoffs starring new, even more one dimensional characters and bridge bunnies can be produced until Japan sinks.
No.37566
>>37543should've watched it subbed
No.37567
>>37566Apparently it's in eleven languages.
https://soranews24.com/2021/08/12/evangelion-in-11-languages-amazon-releases-multi-lingual-preview-for-final-eva-anime-film/11 languages? Can you mix & match? Set Asuka to German & Rei to Japanese. And Shinji to Texan American for the cringe.
No.37593
>>37543Oh boi how long I've waited, being a fan of the original, I tried lowering my expectations but the new movie still made me a little sick after the ending. Apart from plotholes like the lack of explanation regarding the timeskip (so shinji was responsible for the Near Impact but the real Impact still happend afterwards, not by shinji? and they shit on him for the whole 3rd movie, until this one where they forgive him for something he wasn't responsible for, until the spinoff comes out) the first half was great visually, and then they gradually butcher it with overblown CG, I didn't care about it in the previous movies because they used it lowkey, but the staff who was so passionate about 2d animation that they changed the industry saw the whole movie and felt this was ok? or rather they didn't care, because at the end it's "purposely" bad, sure
At least shinji transforms from being depressed to superhero who doesn't cry anymore in mere minutes, who gets his big tiddie succubus because apparently it's that easy, wow shinji is so grown up now! He wishes for his own escapist fantasy-world without eva, which is ironic in itself but looking at it on a meta level it's clear that the ending exists to shit on losers like me, but of course the masses love it now. End of Eva told me that life can become really shitty, but if I am not ready to end it then I still have to move on. This movie feels like preaching from an old man who spent too much time with miyazaki, who got lucky enough to make it and now he tells you to get over it too, because it's eaasy he could do it too. Imagine George Lucas throwing the message at you at the end of the first star wars movies, telling you that you suck because you like something too much.
Still after all that I think the movie was better done than anything else that came out recently, now after ranting it's bye-bye all of evangelion for me, now I will go consume stuff from those who don't feel the need to preach constantly their own self-hatred of "escapism is bad mkay" to the idiots who acknowledged the original in the first place, if they feel that way why even bother remaking the whole thing and letting people wait for years? Oh that's right because money.
No.37594
>>37543>>37593This is why I avoid sequels and remakes simply out of principle.
No.37595
>>37543They took way too long to release it and I was confused by the existence of the whole rebuilt gimmick in the first place so I just lost interest like 5+ years ago and haven't really thought about the series other then passing memories of the old show, which whenever I reflect on it I like less and less.
No.37616
What do you guys think of Chobits?
No.37624
Finally finished Xenosaga the animation.
It isn't very good in any way shape or form. I guess that is what I get for picking up a show because I thought one of the character designs was cool.
No.37704
https://myanimelist.net/anime/477I watched Aria the Animation, also known as season 1 of the Aria anime series. Here are my thoughts:
I like how sci-fi elements were mixed into a comfy SoL show, although this aspect could have been made more prominent. I think I would have found a stronger sci-fi theme more interesting than the generic SoL episodic plots I've seen many iterations of before.
A lot of the characters have catchphrases that don't take long to become annoying, and result in a lot of seemingly repetitive dialogue. The script in general is mediocre and, although there are occasional sentimental moments, it's nothing beyond what I'd expect from a typical SoL show.
If nothing else, this anime is fairly relaxing. The setting is unique, and the atmosphere is relaxing and otherworldly in some ways.
I don't value visuals too much, but there is room for improvement in this regard. The lack of visual detail is truly a missed opportunity. I would have been fine with just a powerpoint presentation if there were more care put into the backgrounds and visual environment.
Aside from its unique setting and atmosphere, this is a mediocre SoL show. The characters are completely forgettable, the writing is not particularly creative, the visuals are poor, the OST is nothing special; there's just not a lot here to appreciate. On one hand, this anime is relaxing. However, framed another way, it is fairly dull, even by my SoL-loving standards. I pretty much had to watch it before bedtime because it would inevitably lull me to sleep — this could be a desirable feature, depending on the viewer's expectations.
This anime started airing before SoL really took off as a genre, so it may have received more praise at its time of origination than a theoretical contemporary equivalent might have. This anime is not exceptional by contemporary standards of the genre, aside from its setting.
My overall rating for Aria the Animation (first season): 5/10
It was an adequate show to lull me to sleep at the end of the day, but nothing about it particularly impressed me.
It's unlikely that I'll be watching the sequels any time in the near future. Maybe I'll revisit it in a few years to see if my viewpoint changes.
No.37705
>>37704glad to hear someone who also thinks that this show isn't that great
No.37707
>>37704Edit:
Just for some context, going into Aria I expected I would enjoy it a lot. It seemed like a show well suited to my tastes. I enjoyed Amanchu immensely, and watching it was the trigger that finally got me to try out Aria. In theory Aria seems like it would be a great anime, but its execution is lacking. I wanted to like it.
Also regarding the OST, I am a little negatively biased because I tend not to enjoy guitar-like instruments as much as the average person.
Aria seems like it doesn't explore its setting enough to fully realize its potential. The lack of detail in the visuals is also a significant aspect of its wasted potential.
No.37709
>>37399i didnt find the MC very unlikable. from my experience his flaws are normal things to find in people. i do agree that the series got repetitive after episodes 5-7 or so. i was almost waiting for it to get to the end i knew was going to happen
>>37704dropped it after 3 ep. extremely boring.
No.37767
Just finished Erased.
The characters don't feel human, the story is full of plot conveniences, the time travel is bullshit and the villain was meme tier. In its defense, it was thrilling. I'd give it a 6 or so.
No.37863
beastars season 2 was…unfortunate, it's like the manga author ran out of ideas halfway through the arc and chose to power through the story using cringy anime tropes instead that resulted in destroying everyone's character development and general plot mayhem, I'm reminded of sequelitis in movies
I just had to delete it from my pc after
No.37972
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33263I watched Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregototsukai. Also known as The Beheading Cycle. Here are my thoughts:
This is an OVA by Shaft, and it certainly feels that way. The visuals are signature Shaft and resemble past works by the studio. I did not particularly like the character designs or art style, personally. I also wish there were more visual detail in general. However, the visuals were still mildly interesting due to the way Shaft uses cinematography.
The OST is by Yuki Kajiura. It is decent but it felt like not a whole lot of artistic risk was taken. It uses the same kinds of instruments and sounds you've likely heard in her other past OSTs. It was not particularly innovative. (Having said that, I suspect I'll be more impressed with it once I sit down with the OST alone and carefully explore every song in the catalog, since it is Yuki Kajiura after all.)
This is the case in general with Kubikiri Cycle. Although it has a lot of artistic flavour, it doesn't stray beyond the artistic boundaries already explored by Shaft in the past. The cinematography, music and art style are all similar to past works put out by the studio.
I did not like or appreciate any of the characters. The male MC in particular was annoying and unlikable. Also, despite involving a murder mystery, I was never interested in the story at all. However, sometimes the script itself was intriguing and had some memorable lines. The scriptwriting was clearly done with a lot of care. Although I didn't care about the story, the dialogue itself held my attention. In terms of voice acting, the cast was skilled but nobody struck me as exceptional.
My overall rating: 5/10
As a whole, it was only marginally entertaining enough for me to watch to completion. The visuals were mildly interesting but hardly spectacular. The music was decent. The script was well written. No other characteristics of this anime provided me any enjoyment.
I used the Yuki subs and they kinda sucked. Especially for a show like this with lots of complex dialogue. A lot of excessive and unnecessary liberties were taken with translations. The subs often did not accurately reflect the true meaning of the words being spoken.
For the record, at the time of writing this, I still have not seen the Monogatari series. I mention that because it is often compared to this anime.
No.38004
>>37992You just watched one of the best anime ever.
time to watch haibane renmei now.
No.38005
>>38004i don't like the artstyle of it
No.38006
>>38005The 2014(?) anime run has a much more "adult" style and the manga is downright sexy at times.
No.38007
>>37992The 4th episode was something else altogether.
No.38008
>>38006You mean Kino or haibane renmei? Haibane has not had a manga aside from the art work done by Abe and the older Kino had the more adult feel to it. The new one made it look like a typical anime show.
>>38005How can you not like the art style of haibane renmei? it has some of the best art in how it is simplistic but coherant. Have you even watched it?
No.38009
>>38008>How can you not like the art style of haibane renmei?it looks awful
>Have you even watched it?i tried but didn't like it, dropped after 1 episode
No.38011
>>38009>he drops it after 1 episodeThe first episode is nothing and just a primer you should see it as the first few pages in a book because that is all it is.
>>38010is new version worth watching? I was reading the manga I am yet to finish and watched the old version and loved it. I watched new version for an episode or two and it seemed to be the same stories obviously but done in a way that was different. Kino no tabi felt like being told a story from two people and having to decide yourself what to think if that makes any sense but I did not get that with the new version.
I need to rewatch lain and tehnolyze again myself. Will probably just rewatch haibane renmei again instead.
No.38012
>is new version worth watching? I was reading the manga I am yet to finish and watched the old version and loved it.
I still need to watch it. I heard that some parts were rushed, like the Arena part. Ryutaro Nakamura did an excellent job directing the first version.
No.38013
>>38011I think it's worth watching if you are already a fan while keeping in mind that the new version isn't as good as the classic version.
No.38060
>>37616pretty solid romance anime, but it has been a long time since I've seen it
No.38068
>>38010>kinocouldn't get into this, was too boring to me
what's the appeal?
No.38070
>>38068It's not really supposed to be exciting. That's the appeal.
No.38071
>>38068It is very contemplative.
It makes you think and feel then think about those feelings.
No.38094
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33674I watched No Game No Life: Zero. This is the movie sequel to the TV series No Game No Life (henceforth NGNL). Here are my thoughts:
This review will specifically discuss the NGNL: Zero movie, not the franchise as a whole.
First of all, it's been years since I saw the TV anime. I liked it a lot though and rated it 9/10. I really really liked the art style and colour palette, and overall found it a very fun and entertaining show. Much of this review will focus on how the movie compares to the TV series, since that is the benchmark of my expectations.
Although it still looks good, I prefer the colour palette of the TV series. I miss those bright pastel colours; this movie has a comparatively duller colour palette. It still has a lot of visual detail though and is fairly captivating. The visuals are still good, don't get me wrong. In particular, the setting and background frames of this movie look interesting and detailed.
The audio production quality is decent, but I did not like the OST as much as the TV series (Konomi Suzuki sounds amazing in the ED song though as usual). The movie has more of a classical music style; I prefer the electronic OST of the TV anime – it felt much more unique, creative, immersive, and suitable for the anime. Also, for whatever reason I did not like the voice acting of the male MC of this movie.
As is often the case with movies, I find it difficult to feel emotionally invested when I've only known the characters for a few minutes. This movie is yet another example of this – it jumps into strongly dramatic content early in the runtime, and I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by it. I never felt any emotion whatsoever towards the characters and their story. I don't think this is just me being a stick in the mud either – I think a lot of people would agree the storyline of this movie is weak and unengaging. Overall I would say the story is very mediocre, not to mention barely coherent and poorly directed. The pacing was also too quick for my tastes.
There was a stark lack of world building and exposition. I was often confused by the plot. Random plot-critical facts were often introduced out of nowhere. Barely anything is adequately explained and the story basically just feels like "humans fight in apocalyptic setting because reasons."
Similarly to the TV anime, there is a fair bit of sexualization in this. And it is equally as shameless. If shameless fanservice is something that bothers you (or you can't at least ignore it), then NGNL is not for you. It is a fairly sexualized show, even by anime standards. Personally, I don't really care, but I feel like this is a point worth mentioning. In my opinion, the sexual elements fit in with the overall atmosphere and escapist theme of the show. To me, the sexualization is just one element of NGNL's unique personality. Others will find it off-putting though, so I definitely want to address this point. Also, the fanservice fits more naturally into the playful atmosphere of the TV series, whereas it is somewhat out of place when it interrupts the more-serious moments of the movie. However, I also recall the TV series having an erotic tone more frequently, so there is a tradeoff in that respect as well. Like I said, this isn't a big deal to me either way but I know a lot of readers care about this kind of thing (either positively or negatively) so I thought I should address it, especially for a series like NGNL.
The TV series had a more-lighthearted mood overall, and was way more fun to watch. Overall I found the TV series far more enjoyable, both in terms of story and atmosphere, as well as audiovisuals. Also, unlike the TV series, this movie has little actual game-focused content. I thought maybe this movie would explore the lore of the TV series a little, but it didn't even do that significantly.
My overall rating: 4/10
This movie lacks nearly all the features that made me enjoy the NGNL TV series so much. The main reason I liked the TV series was because of its unique artistic flavour, as well as its creative setting and storyline. And also the simple fact that it was incredibly fun to watch. The movie does not do any of these things nearly as well as the TV series, and so my viewing experience was quite disappointing. The only redeeming features of this movie are the visuals, which are good overall.
I would not recommend this movie to anyone (unless literally the only thing you care about is visuals). It's hard to believe it was made by the same people who created the TV anime.
No.38096
>>38094I watched both the movie and the series and I liked both. I just think you're being grumpy for the sake of it.
No.38097
>>38096Unfortunately my disappointment is sincere.
I have been on a negative streak lately though. I thought NGNL would break the trend.
There are a couple shows I'm watching right now that I'm quite enjoying, so there should be some enthusiastic reviews in the pipeline.
No.38109
>>38097hope you find something you like!
No.38116
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35639I watched Just Because. Here are my thoughts:
Overall this anime has an unmistakably amateurish and low-budget feel to it. Despite its flaws though, this story plucks at my heartstrings. In a lot of ways, Just Because is a fairly standard-fare highschool romance story. However, I found that the character dynamics and interactions feel very real. The story genuinely feels like something that could happen in real life. The writing is very down to earth and involves ordinary people and ordinary events. It feels very organic and wholesome. The story in this feels like soil between my fingers – it is so authentic, lifelike and down to earth. I found Just Because very immersive because it felt like a genuine depiction of real life. This is not something that can be said for most anime, romance in particular.
I had this show on my mind a lot. Long after each episode ended it would still be creeping into my mind. Despite it being a slow-paced show with mundane events, I finished it in under 5 days (very rare for me, particularly for a 'low-intensity' anime like this). I always eagerly looked forward to watching the next episode and did not want to watch anything else until I had completed this anime; I was quite captivated by it.
This anime has a unique atmosphere to it. It is consistently very calm and soothing – almost hypnotic. Despite there being interpersonal conflict, nobody ever really yells or fights, or even interrupts. Most characters' emotions are conveyed gracefully. The dialogue is nearly always slow and calm. This might sound like a trivial observation, but these qualities are relatively rare for anime. It's also worth noting there is basically zero comedic relief in this, which in ~90% of cases is a good thing for anime, in my opinion.
Although I've praised aspects of the writing above, one of my main criticisms of this show is that the characters are fairly bland, especially the MC(Izumi). Pretty much the entire cast is bland and underdeveloped, with the possible exception of Komiya. I'm not sure this could have been avoided given the size of the cast and the 12-episode runtime, but it is a weak aspect in any case. Of all the characters, I empathized with Komiya by far the most. Another criticism I have is that the plot does seem to rely excessively on coincidences to make things work. Maybe that is an intentional artistic decision though (recall the title of this show).
I don't particularly like the character designs. A lot of characters have these overly blocky square faces; feels like this is a romance in Legoland. In general the visuals are lackluster and unpolished. I found the character animation very lacking overall as well – even with the simplistic character designs it still often looks sloppy. Very often. In fact the character animation is often embarrassingly poor. However, sometimes the urban landscape does look nice (so many trains, yay!). As a whole, this anime looks very low budget and sloppy. The character animation in particular is often dreadful; I am usually quite forgiving about this kind of thing but it was bad enough to break my immersion sometimes.
I didn't like the voice acting for the male MC; it was very dull and unemotive. On the other hand, Komiya's VA does a good job. The OST seemed alright, although admittedly I didn't pay much attention to it; this is a pretty dialogue-heavy show. I do recall there being some okay piano songs. Also, the music consistently fits the calm soothing atmosphere I mentioned earlier; I recall there being few (if any) uptempo tracks.
I should probably mention this: despite having a significant romance component, this show has zero sexualized fanservice. Although I typically don't really care either way, I know that some people might find that a desirable feature. This is one of the many ways this is a wholesome show. Despite involving romance there is pretty much zero sexualization, which I think is noteworthy.
Between the two main male characters, I found the romance arcs involving Izumi more engaging than those of Souma. This is because the female partners for Izumi were more-interesting better-developed characters, and also because their romantic chemistry was much better. I found Izumi's romance arcs much more emotionally engaging – they have a lot of truly precious moments that made this anime a worthwhile experience.
My personal overall rating: 7/10
I have really mixed feelings about this anime. As I've said, it is quite amateurish and low budget. The character animation is sometimes awful. The characters themselves are bland and underdeveloped. However, despite these flaws I still found it a very captivating show and couldn't turn it off. The character interactions felt so real to me and the writing is very down to earth and lifelike. There are some really touching moments in this anime; it invoked emotion in me. I liked the consistently smooth graceful calm atmosphere as well.
There is also the simple fact that this show avoids two very common pitfalls of romance anime: unfunny poorly timed comedy and intrusive tone-breaking sexualization; simply not making these common unforced errors is praiseworthy.
If you like highschool romance then Just Because is worth a try. This anime made me feel strong emotions. I literally sobbed during the last episode; there was one scene in particular that was a gutpunch tearjerker.
SPOILER-ISH COMMENT BELOW:
I think that Natsume's emotions in general were not demonstrated to the viewer as clearly as they should have been, given the importance of her character. I think I would have empathized with her more if the show did a better job of depicting her feelings.
Just for the record, I shipped Komiya x Izumi really hard in this, in case you hadn't guessed already.
No.38175
>>38116The characters seem too normie for my tastes, at least one of the MCs has to a weirdo/outcast for me to enjoy a romance anime
No.38181
>>38175The male MC is kind of an autist, whereas the other core male character is more of a stereotypical 'jock' type.
Education and work are important themes in the show for pretty much all the characters.
No.38190
just finished shiki. kind of a stupid show. something something vampires have feelings too, as they slowly murder an entire town. if i was supposed to sympathize with them, i didn't.
No.38191
>>38190What kind of stuff do you normally like?
What were your expectations going in?
No.38192
>>38191idk i just watch random stuff or stuff i see people discuss. this was something i randomly clicked on 9anime. didn't read anything about it beforehand either.
No.38193
>>38190I viewed the entire show as one really tired metaphor for the effect that young people leaving rural areas for the cities has on old people. It was still too boring for me to finish.
No.38197
>>38193I can see that.
I think it's a little contrived how the young monk falls in love with the vampire loli and defends her in the end. Seems like fighting vampires is his job more than anyone else's, but then the school kid and local doctor were the only ones who gave a shit. No.38214
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34712I watched Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau, also known as Children of the Whales. Here are my thoughts:
I'll begin with discussing visuals, as this is one of the show's best features. This anime consistently looks excellent. Nearly every single frame is screencap-worthy. The art style is unique and has an organic look to it that is quite immersive. There is a lot of variety among the character designs, and most of them look good. The MC is adorable, both in design and personality. Facial expressions are well illustrated and the character animation is consistently good. The creative art style and high visual production quality really enhance the fantastical setting of this show as well.
The setting is another very remarkable aspect of this anime. It is quite unique and otherworldly. It was a major component of my enjoyment. More and more information about the world is gradually revealed throughout the show; it is pretty intriguing and the show does a decent job at worldbuilding for a 12-episode runtime. What I can reveal to you without spoilers is that the show takes place in the middle of a 'sand ocean' aboard some sort of magical ship composed of earthy materials. It is quite cool and fantastical, and the nice visuals really complement it.
Even beyond the world building, there are a lot of mystery elements in the show and hints dropped about things not yet revealed. However, as you might cynically expect from a 12-episode manga adaptation, many of the mysteries alluded to the viewer are never explained. Regardless of some of my questions not being answered, I still often felt a sense of intrigue while watching. The writer clearly had some fascinating ideas. Also worth mentioning is that the ending is not particularly satisfying and leaves a ton of loose plot strings. The last episode indicates an upcoming sequel (and I did watch the Blurays), but at the time of writing this (December 2021) I'm not aware of any sequels.
One of this show's most significant issues is the size of its cast. The enormous cast with this limited runtime is not a good combination, especially in an already plot-heavy show with a lot of exposition. This anime tries to balance way too many character arcs, and none of them are done particularly well as a result. Compounding this issue further is the fact that it's difficult to feel emotions for characters who are not given adequate development, or barely any screentime at all for that matter. A common criticism that I've heard from others about this show is that it is too "melodramatic." I would argue that this feeling of so-called melodrama described by others is the result of phenomena I've just outlined: emotionally impactful events happening to inadequately developed characters. In any case it is true that the show is dramatic. Most episodes involve somebody crying at some point. If frequent tears is something that puts you off then you likely won't enjoy this anime. It definitely lays on the drama heavy (that's certainly not an issue for me personally). Apparently the source material is shoujo demographic, although it felt much more cosmopolitan than that to me. One subtle but praiseworthy aspect of this anime is that it maintains a fairly consistent emotional tone. I was grateful for the absence of comedic relief and minimal 'emotional whiplash' effects.
Beyond the characters, the show tries to tackle a bewildering amount of story arcs, in addition to the already elaborate worldbuilding. Simply put, the show tries to pack way too much story into its runtime, and as a result none of the story arcs are executed particularly well. The divided attention of the viewer and lack of sufficient screentime meant that any resulting emotional payoff from a given story arc was significantly impeded. To me, this is a core reason for this anime's squandered potential. I think you won't be surprised to read that I found the show's overall pacing way too quick, particularly during the later episodes.
Although they weren't present in every episode, I found the fight scenes to be a weak point of this anime. They were fairly lackluster and, even worse, drawn out and soaked up a lot of precious screentime. I'm really not sure why so much screentime was allocated to these fight scenes. Regardless of the execution, it was disappointing to see such a unique creative show devolve into mundane violent conflict. I realize that the kinetic conflict was a mechanism to explore the themes of the writing, but I wish it was approached a different way. However, my opinion on this is definitely biased due to my general distaste for fight scenes. It's possible I'm overstating their significance.
The OST seemed decent but I'll need to listen to it in isolation to evaluate it with greater confidence. I know there were some good tracks, but it was mostly overshadowed by dialogue and sound effects (like sandstorm background noise), at least from my perspective. In terms of voice acting, nobody in this large cast impressed me or stood out (besides Ouni's sexy deep voice).
My overall rating: 7/10
This anime has a truly unique setting along with some intriguing worldbuilding, and it's all presented with a wonderful organic-looking art style. It consistently looks fantastic. Unfortunately, it suffers from unfocused storytelling and poor screentime budgeting. It tries to present far too much story content for its runtime, and sadly as a result none of the story arcs realize their impressive potential.
A lot of this anime's issues could have been diminished if it were two cours instead of a mere 12 episodes. Most of its flaws are common manga adaptation problems.
Despite my criticisms, I think that a lot of people could enjoy this anime. There are a lot of aspects here worth appreciating. I'm surprised it isn't more popular.
No.38243
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34547I watched Shoukoku no Altair, also known as Altair: A Record of Battles. Here are my thoughts:
This is a historical show set in a vaguely medieval time period. Magic does not play a significant role in the show (if at all – I don't recall any magic but I hesitate to promise its total absence), and overall it is pretty realistic. The MC (Altair) does have protagonist plot armour in some situations, but as a whole I found the story fairly believable.
The setting consists of a variety of nations that resemble those of the historical-Mediterranean perimeter. The MC is a high-ranking member of a pseudo-Ottoman nation's government. The MC travels around throughout the show and different nations are featured along the way. Various ideologies of both nations and individuals are explored throughout the story. It is pretty interesting. The show accomplishes an impressive amount of elaborate worldbuilding during its 24-episode runtime. All the different nations depicted in the show were also potent imagination fertilizer.
Overall the story of Shoukoku no Altair is exceptionally well written and clever. The storyline is very intricate and unique. It is complex yet coherent and intriguing. I found the story very interesting and enjoyable. The writing (including worldbuilding and abstract themes) of this anime is its best feature. Most of the plot is related to political and military conflict between (and within) nations.
Beyond the plot, the writing explores themes relating, or at least tangential, to international relations and geopolitics. Themes such as military grand strategy, relations between a nation's culture and its foreign policy, and a wide variety of political themes in general. These themes made the show very interesting. There are often parallels that could be drawn between the story and real-world history.
In addition to being excellently written, the story is well executed. Despite the complexity of the story I never had any difficulty understanding what was happening. Furthermore, the pacing felt perfectly calibrated to me. It is a well-directed show.
One caveat I should mention is that, as you might expect of a manga adaptation, the ending of this anime does not have any finality. Although it does end at a major turning point in the plot, most of the conflicts that the plot is centered around remain unresolved. Personally I don't mind this (and it does signal that the adaptation is faithful) but I know it will bother others. I am very tempted to read the source material to find out how the story continues.
Despite the mature themes explored in the writing, the show does sometimes have a juvenile shounen-ish feeling. It's a very mixed bag though and varies from episode to episode. Generally speaking, I found the earlier episodes felt juvenile more frequently. As the show progresses, the strategy elements start to dominate more and more, and the scale of conflict increases. It takes time for the worldbuilding to develop to a point where the exploration of some political themes is even possible. My numerical rating for this anime increased as I progressed through the episodes.
It's also worth noting that this is not a particularly character-driven show. It is very much plot-driven rather than character-driven. It seemed to me that little attention was paid to depicting the emotions and feelings of the MC and other characters, particularly during the later episodes. This isn't a criticism, just an observation. In a different show this might be an issue, but for a strategy-focused show like this that explores abstract political themes it really isn't. Although there certainly are emotional episodes, some episodes are so devoid of emotion it almost felt like watching a history documentary. Again, particularly during the latter half of the show when the grand-strategy elements really reach their climax. Despite the show's length, there's also not a whole lot of character development, however there is a diverse variety of personalities in the cast, and perhaps more importantly, different sociopolitical attitudes. The show certainly has ideological diversity within its cast.
In a lot of ways the MC does feel like a generic anime protagonist. Although his lack of character development really isn't an issue, perhaps more effort should have been made to depict his ideological attitudes and their development throughout the show. On balance, I have a neutral feeling towards the MC, but I can understand the perspective of people who disliked him. I would agree that this is one element of the anime where there was room for improvement.
In my opinion, the OST is good. Nice OP and ED songs too. The voice acting is adequate but nobody really stood out to me. I thought the voice work for the MC was a little weak.
As for visuals, some of the character designs are nice. Due to the size of the cast and its cultural diversity, a wide variety of outfits are featured in the show. Unfortunately, the character animation is frequently crude and lacking detail. However, the background setting usually looks great (I took lots of screencaps); every episode has at least a few nice detailed landscape frames to admire. During indoor scenes a lot of the pseudo-Arabic architecture and interior decor is neat as well. The visuals are inconsistent overall, but there are certainly moments where things look awesome.
My overall rating: 8/10
This anime is exceptionally well written. The story is interesting and clever, the themes explored are thought provoking, and it contains some of the most elaborate worldbuilding I've seen in a while. It is rare to see anime handle a topic like political strategy so competently. Furthermore, the anime is well executed and doesn't have any major direction issues. Visually, the setting looks good but the character animation is often sloppy.
This is an underappreciated show that would appeal to a lot of people, including those who aren't typically anime fans. I would definitely recommend Shoukoku no Altair to people who like political/military strategy stories. However, I should warn you that I found the first couple episodes comparatively weaker to the rest of the anime. The show feels a little juvenile at the beginning, but it eventually develops an elaborate world with a rich complex story. Don't judge it prematurely based on the first few episodes.
Also, the manga might be a better way to approach this franchise. I haven't read it, but the fact that the anime's best quality is its writing does suggest that literature is the optimal consumption medium.
I liked this way more than Arslan Senki (a similar anime in concept).
>I will never command a unit of attack-falcon-equipped soldiers in a medieval war between civilizations on the Eastern Mediterranean perimeter JDIMSA
No.38329
https://myanimelist.net/anime/10719I watched both seasons (including OVAs) of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, also known as Haganai or I Don't Have Many Friends. Here are my thoughts:
I tend not to like harem shows such as this with a male protagonist and a lot of (typically unfunny) comedy. Nevertheless, I decided to give this anime a chance. The title is certainly enticing and relatable.
I really liked the voice acting for Sena, Yozora, and Kobato; everyone else is unremarkable. The OST is bad, in my opinion.
The humour is sometimes funny. The comedic theme of social ineptitude is a winner. There is also a lot of 'otaku humour' which can be funny as well. Character interactions are sometimes enjoyable. The various activities of the club and the resulting antics of the characters can be fairly amusing. Humour and character interactions are really this mediocre anime's only redeeming qualities. Probably the thing I enjoyed most about the anime was the chemistry (or lack thereof, haha) between Sena and Yozora. The way they play off each other is amusing. Sena yelling "YOZORA AHO" and then running out of the club room will never not be funny. Conversely, I found the other characters (i.e. not Yozora or Sena) to be unfunny. This anime is at its best when it focuses on Sena and Yozora. In fact these two characters are the only reason I kept watching. Seriously, I did not like anyone else in the cast besides maybe Kobato because her chuuni moments were funny. Despite the 25-episode length of this anime, the entire cast has shallow characterization and is often one-note in their behaviour, which can result in the gags and character interaction feeling repetitive.
The writing of this anime feels amateurish and crude. The show has an overarching story that mainly involves Yozora and the main character. The story is quite dumb and I didn't like it (the story-focused episodes are the worst in the series). Thankfully it does not suck up that much screentime. This anime is mostly episodic. I did enjoy how both Sena and Yozora have uniquely flawed personalities in their own ways, which is sort of refreshing compared to the usual idealistic love interests you encounter in typical romance/harem shows.
I don't mean this in an overly critical way, but this show is juvenile even by anime standards, both in terms of the writing and humour. This isn't an objectively bad thing; I can imagine that a teenage boy would enjoy this anime a lot more than I did. It's not that I can't enjoy childish anime, it's just that a lot of the content of this one fell flat for me, and a pervasive underlying reason for this seems to be the juvenile nature of the show. This is coming from someone who generally enjoys the SoL genre. It's difficult for me to articulate this point because it's hard to concisely express why this schoolyard comedy is more juvenile than other schoolyard comedies.
In terms of visuals, the art style in this did not age well. I did not like the character designs (although purple eyes do look great on Yozora — wish that were a more common design choice). The colour palette is also very dull. Animation quality was acceptable — there were 'quality' moments but at least the facial expressions were adequately animated. There's a ton of fanservice as well, which isn't surprising since this is a harem anime.
My overall rating: 4/10
It was pretty bad but amusing enough to keep me watching. This anime did have funny moments, but my average level of enjoyment while watching was fairly low. There were plenty of unfunny skits that diluted the parts that I did enjoy. Yozora and Sena basically carried the entire show — I would have dropped this on episode 1 were it not for those two characters. Also, as I said, the voice acting for some characters (Sena & Yozora) is an outstanding aspect of this anime.
A teenage boy would likely enjoy this anime more than I did.
Compared to season 1, season 2 has notably better animation quality, cinematography and lighting effects. Otherwise, the content is pretty much the same. By the way, the prequel OVA is complete garbage; don't waste your time watching it like I did. Conversely, the season 1 OVA (AKA episode 13) is one of the relatively better episodes.
Somebody should make a compilation of all the times Sena yells "BAKA YOZORA" or "YOZORA AHO". It could be really funny.
yes I'm aware of the cultural relevance of this show to wizardchan No.38330
>>37102>>37104It is sexualized. The issue here is that anon1 has associated a stigma with the word "sexualized" and thinks that sexualization is something taboo. Because of that, it's hard for him to come to terms with the fact that he is actually okay with the sexualization in Ghost in the Shell.
It's not just sexualization purely to make the viewer feel sexual desire or pleasure though. I think it's meant to convey some punk idea about femininity and the relation our bodies have with our mind. Probably related to the concept that minds and bodies are or should be separate.
Typically I hate the obsession so many cyberpunk works have with sex and bodies, and I disagree with the message. To me it's just wishful and misguided, but you can't deny that there is meant to be a message behind the sexualization.
No.38331
>>38330not the person you’re replying to, but it’s most likely sexualized for no real deep meaning. It’s an anime made for late teens, adding fan service like that is just typical for any anime made for male teenagers and it’s pretty obvious why they add it. I honestly found the scene pretty tasteless, but I hate fan service.
No.38332
>>38331Then move on to a more "serious", "mature" artform and save us all from your insufferable whining.
No.38365
>>37102>>38330You're talking about the Blam! movie? I've watched it twice and it didn't even cross my mind.
>The issue here is that anon1 has associated a stigma with the word "sexualized" and thinks that sexualization is something tabooYeah, this isn't loaded language at all.
>why the hell is watching the moeblob undress necessary at all? >Its just objectively utterly pointless fanservice>Despite the sexualization>I don't find nearly as intrusive as Blame's>people are just too used to how much fanservice in put into anime, people end up becoming normalized to watching trash and so filter it out without even realizing they are>"WOAH CHECK OUT THIS PRETTY LITTLE succubus UNDRESSING!!!!"clearly, he was clearly just imagining things, that's as neutral as it gets.
Here, I even downloaded the movie again and flipped through it a third time to see the dreaded strip scene (couldn't even remember there was one). You see… pretty much nothing but the fact that they're wearing a bra, or a wifebeater, we don't even get a good enough look to tell that. And also… AN ANKLE! I'm serious, I really tried to catch as much of this abhorrent lewdness as possible. These are the very worst frames from that notorious scene. Check it yourself if you don't believe me, it's at 26 minutes. The rest of the time they're not showing anything below the neck. And, well, the townspeople don't seem to wear gloves, so that might be a little racy. And out of combat, sometimes they take their helmets off, showing their hair. Wow, it's quite filthy. Aren't you supposed to get stoned for that last one?
It's so overblown, I can't imagine how he manages to watch anything at all. Waste of words, too, since he'd spew the same nonsense about anything.
Besides, Nihei has always loved showing off his character designs. Which includes succubi, with differing degrees of punk, mechanization, ball joints, and yes, cuteness. There's very little difference between the succubi of the church in Aposimz, or the covers and illustrations there, and what he's been doing from the start with characters like Cibo, Sanakan, and Pcell. Just the shading, pretty much. Even the very earliest chapters are loaded chock full of random hot and gross silicon life and silicon life looking succubi. As you'd expect from a Giger fanboy. And, well, from someone who's been doing exactly from the start. Continuously. For 25 fucking years now. A generation.
No.38390
>>38243Thanks for the review. It convinced me to watch it. I just finished it. I agree that it was good. The mc is an example of how to do an idealistic pacifistic character correctly. It could have been great if it just had a few more episodes to slow down the pace a little. Other than the pace my main criticisms are as follows: stupid bendy swords, Einstein (I don't mind the blatant ripping off and mashing up of different cultures and time-periods but this one was just a step too far), the cannon being invented by a little boy, and everything about the director of Chielo. Also likely due to the rushed pace things come a little too easily and conveniently. Other than that though it is quite good and I also would rate it about an 8/10.
No.38391
>>38390Glad to hear you enjoyed it overall.
I'll concede that the pacing in the last few episodes was quick, but before that I'm not so sure. Maybe I perceived it differently since I watched the show slower over the course of many weeks. Maybe they should have spent less time on the civil war arc during the first half.
I do wish they had included the naval battle that apparently took place during the Chielo siege, but it was glossed over in the anime, despite apparently being a major event in the manga.
>EinsteinLol I've learned to never underestimate Jap's ability to bastardize and butcher Western cultural/historical influences in their fictional works. At least he was only on screen for a few minutes, as I recall.
No.38392
https://myanimelist.net/anime/23279/I watched Gyakusatsu Kikan, also known as Genocidal Organ. Here are my thoughts:
I feel like military-themed sci-fi media such as this is one of the rare things that Western entertainment does better than the Japanese (or at least used to).
This movie does an okay job of creating suspense. The pacing is fine and it is competently directed.
There were relatively few action scenes. I was expecting this to be a lowbrow sci-fi action movie, but it was slightly more complex than expected. However, you should be warned that there is a female love-interest character in this. Thankfully she does not suck up much screentime, although her presence is influential.
As far as the story goes, it was fairly generic near-future sci-fi. However, I will say that the involvement of linguistics was creative, or at least somewhat unique. Genocide is a significant theme in the story, as you might expect from the title. The movie is pretty morose, and you should expect people dying and a lot of bad things happening. When it does occur, the violence is pretty graphic.
The characters as a whole are pretty generic, and not much character development takes place during the movie. I would have liked to have witnessed more interactions between the soldier characters. The focus on special forces soldiers did appeal to me, and I wish this aspect was examined even more in the movie. This is definitely a reflection of my own biases though (I have been interested in the psyche of SF soldiers for a very long time, and have listened to at least hundreds of their interviews over the years).
In terms of sci-fi elements, there's some cool technology but nothing I hadn't seen before. Some of the futuristic combat technology was sorta neat I guess.
Audiovisuals were adequate. The soundtrack was adequate but unremarkable. Voice acting was at best adequate, although there weren't many opportunities for a VA to showcase their talent anyway. Animation quality was fine, although hardly high-budget blockbuster anime material. Some of the European cities featured in the movie looked okay; otherwise, the visuals were fairly lackluster. Facial expressions were decently animated at least. Also, although infrequent, the action scenes did sound and look decent – not spectacular, but decent. I usually enjoyed them. They are shortlived though, so don't let that be your motivation to watch this.
My overall rating: 5/10
It was adequately entertaining and I never considered turning it off. However, there was nothing exceptional about this movie, aside from perhaps the use of linguistics in the story. There was some neat technology, but nothing much beyond your typical 'future soldier' stuff. As a whole, it felt like a pretty generic sci-fi military-themed movie.
I wouldn't recommend watching this unless you are obsessed with sci-fi or have some strange fixation on genocide. If you are seriously interested in this work, you should probably just read the source material. If you just feel like watching some futuristic combat, scan through the movie and watch the action scenes I guess.
No.38395
>>38394Glad to hear you enjoyed it overall.
No.38465
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32949I watched Kuzu no Honkai, also known as Scum's Wish. Here are my thoughts:
Basically this is a romance anime, but with multiple romantic pairings and more focus on sexual intimacy than usual – in some ways this show is more 'mature' than your typical romance anime, especially one with a highschool setting.
When I read the synopsis for this anime I immediately felt that I probably wouldn't enjoy it. This is because I usually dislike love triangles (or n-dimensional polygons, in this case) in fiction. Add to that a bland school setting, and I was feeling fairly pessimistic. However, my intuition was wrong. Although I was correct in that the writing of Kuzu no Honkai is literally fanfiction-tier (and that's being generous), it is an exceptionally well-directed show. The poor writing is more than salvaged by the excellent execution. I found the style of storytelling immersive and captivating; they did a good job of depicting the emotions of the characters. The inner feelings of the characters were richly developed and depicted in a deep thorough way, despite the crudeness of the story.
I still did not like the love triangle aspect of this anime (again, this is a writing flaw). However, there were other redeeming qualities that made my viewing experience worthwhile. And although I criticize the love triangle element, I also found that the diverse mix of relationships that are developed in the show created a lot of variety in terms of the chemistry of the romance, which in turn kept the show consistently entertaining. I think a major reason I enjoyed this anime is because it usually explores the perspectives of both parties in the relationships featured in the show; this is often the case for me with romance shows – I usually feel more immersed and emotionally engaged when the feelings of both people in the relationship are demonstrated, instead of just totally one-sided romance (which a ton of anime are guilty of). This anime usually explores the feelings of both romantic partners, and in doing so really enhances its emotional immersion as a whole.
Kuzu no Honkai actually deals with sex in a somewhat mature manner instead of glossing over it as if it isn't a significant component of a romantic relationship (like most other anime). I found this very refreshing. This show does a great job of depicting sexual intimacy (especially by anime standards). Sometimes it's a little cheesy and over the top (expect a lot of exaggerated saliva-heavy makeout sessions), but honestly it fits the atmosphere of the show. Although the sexual scenes can be borderline comical at times, that corniness is nothing compared to the story itself. You really need to be in the right mood for this anime and let yourself be immersed in the atmosphere — an atmosphere which typically swings abruptly between soap opera and raunchy sexuality. If you're not willing to let yourself be shamelessly enveloped by this atmosphere then you won't enjoy this anime to its fullest potential. State of mind is hugely important for appreciating this show, in my opinion.
In some ways, the romance in this seemed like how real-life relationships actually work. Meaning, people settling for someone who doesn't reach their own true desires, often due to loneliness and low self-esteem (remaining in a relationship out of convenience or due to lack of superior options, instead of sincere mutual attraction, might be a theme that some viewers find relatable). The way that some characters use physical intimacy with others purely for their own validation is another example. This kind of realism is something you rarely encounter in anime romance. Furthermore, this anime depicts intimacy in a realistic manner (i.e. with actual sexual intercourse and all the related psychological phenomena such as insecurity and performance anxiety), as opposed to the reluctant hand-holding (etc.) that the audience has learned to expect from this medium. In fact the sexual elements of this are often depicted quite graphically and in far more explicit detail than I'd usually expect from anime.
I say this often but it's especially true for this anime: you need to be in the right mood to enjoy this to its fullest potential. Every episode is raunchy sexualized romance with a soap-opera-tier storyline. Don't watch it unless you're in the mood and prepared to enjoy this kind of thing. If you have the right state of mind, this anime is fantastic. The attitude of the viewer is hugely important for this show. I watched it slowly because I wanted to make sure I was always in the right mood to enjoy it.
I should also mention that there is minimal comedic relief in this, thankfully. The show nearly always maintains a serious dramatic tone, which is something I very much appreciated, even if I was laughing internally at the fanfiction-tier storyline.
Visuals are overall another strong aspect of Kuzu no Honkai. The character designs are terrific – the detailed hair and eyes looked great. Detailed facial expressions are used effectively during the frequent close-up face shots. The cinematography of the show is excellent and enhanced my enjoyment a lot. It's difficult to put into words, but cinematography is employed in sophisticated and creative ways to really elevate each scene, and the screenplay style of the show feels unique. However, arguably the animation quality itself is mediocre. The animation is kinda 'powerpoint-ish' (or, in more-optimistic terms, 'manga-like'), in the sense that stills and minimal in-frame animation are employed. Personally I was fine with this, but others may dislike it. In my opinion, the visuals for this anime are great.
The audio of the show is also solid. The voice acting is good and enhanced many scenes (Hanabi in particular does a fantastic job). Music is skillfully implemented; it is turned off and on at appropriate times, and climaxes in the music coincide well with a scene's emotion. The soundtrack is decent and suited the mood of the show. The audio production quality in general is good; the voices sound like they were recorded on really high-quality microphones.
The incestuous romance in this is somewhat unique in that it is told from the (imouto) female perspective. Furthermore, the otouto is the nonreciprocal party of the romantic duo. I found this element of the story interesting because it's not something I recall seeing before. For anime, any kind of incestuous romance is usually narrated from the perspective of the male, often along with crude wish-fulfillment character dynamics. Kuzu no Honkai is unique in this regard; I enjoyed seeing this unique style of romance explored from a female perspective.
I found the romantic pairings involving Hanabi far more engaging than those she was uninvolved in. For me, this show was most engaging when it focused on Hanabi and her romantic escapades. It was still an entertaining show when she wasn't on screen though – don't get me wrong.
My overall rating: 8/10
I was pleasantly surprised by the way this anime defied my expectations. In multiple respects, the show does have artistic merit. It impressed me in many ways. Going into this, I expected it to be a generic highschool romance; but after watching, I have to say that I see Kuzu no Honkai as a very unique show. The nature of the romance is unique. The cinematography is unique. Its maturity (in some ways) and the way it parses sexual issues is unique. Visually, the show is skillfully crafted. Overall it is quite well directed and a demonstrative example of how bad writing can be salvaged by good execution.
If you're a fan of romance anime you should try sampling this. Don't think about the crude writing too much, just take it scene-by-scene and bask in the emotion.
Lastly, I'm going to say it one more time: you need to be in the right mood to enjoy this anime. The tone and themes of each episode are fairly consistent. Don't rush watching this. Watch an episode when you're in the optimal mood to enjoy it; don't binge watch it. State of mind is really important for savouring this show. I watched an episode every week or so, and when I did I was constantly rewinding and dissecting each scene and savouring every moment. It would take me at least an hour to finish an episode because of this.
Somebody here asked me to review this, gosh, at least a year ago now. Well, here it is, haha. I enjoyed it. I didn't like the first BDrip I downloaded, and the next one took forever to seed, hence the delay. No.38484
Watching a few OVA while washing cloths so probably won't be the only post I make today.
Anyway
Suikoden Demon Century
Was super truncated and lacked substance and the action was only ok. They really didn't have the time or budget to do the story they probably wanted to do justice.
No.38485
And I am back after watching Dragon Half.
I read the manga back in the day when I used to still read manga.
The OVA is exactly as dumb, scatterbrained, stupid, hyperactive, retarded, etc. that I remember the manga being.
I love it.
My only complained is nearly every female character in both the sub and dub have absurdly high pitched voices, which took a few minutes (and some sound balance adjustments) to get used to.
Really wouldn't recommend it to most people, but if you liked the manga like I did, or just like really dumb fast pace gag humor then you might find some enjoyment in it.
No.38486
I just finished the first season of Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom).
Personally I loved this anime. I started reading the description of the anime and was already sold after one line and went to go watch it. The basic premise is that this is an isekai where the mc is someone who has been studying to be a civil servant in Japan and he is summoned to a fantasy world as a hero and instead of fighting monsters and shit he implements smart nation-building policy. It's mostly based off the late middle ages (+magic) so there's a lot of stuff to be done. This is a love letter to realism, liberalism, and the bureaucratic state. It does a good job of highlighting how a lot of the things we take for granted today were actually huge improvements in society. It is a very anime anime, that is to say it hits basically all the tropes but it hits them well imo. This is not a character or drama based story but the plot is excellent and really carries it.
No.38488
>>38486That actually sounds pretty interesting.
No.38500
https://myanimelist.net/anime/36220I watched Itsudatte Bokura no Koi wa 10 cm Datta, also known as "Our Love Has Always Been 10 Centimeters Apart." Here are my thoughts:
This is just a 6-episode anime, so I'll try to be brief. Although you can watch this show on its own with ease, it is sort of a sequel. There is a sorta-prequel movie with the same cast, but the MCs from this anime are minor supporting characters instead (and vice versa for this anime – the movie MCs are supporting characters). The sorta-prequel movie I'm referring to is Zutto Mae Kara Suki Deshita; I didn't particularly like it (for pretty much the same reasons as this anime) and rated it 4/10 when I watched it 2 years ago. Anyway, moving along from this preamble…
As you might guess, this is a typical highschool romance show. I found it quite mediocre. There are a few decent scenes, but it doesn't compensate for all the other lackluster content. My average level of enjoyment while watching was low. There were flickers of emotionally engaging romance (ex. the fireworks scene), but they were infrequent.
The story in general is weak, and the second half of the series is filled with forced drama. Sometimes the actions of the characters don't make any sense.
The characters are, at best, generic. In fact they are borderline unlikable, particularly the male MC. The supporting cast is totally generic and might as well be cardboard-cutout props.
The visuals are adequate but unremarkable, as is the audio in general (both music and voice acting). The character designs are totally generic, although Miou's brown hair/eyes do look nice. I will say that sometimes the facial expressions are well done, but these moments are infrequent.
My overall rating: 4/10
This is a totally generic mediocre highschool romance show with no particularly noteworthy qualities. There were a few decent scenes, but they were not nearly plentiful enough to satisfy me. There is a lot of forced drama, and the characters range from generic (at best) to unlikable.
There is a music group by the name of Honeyworks that has been strongly associated with this franchise. I attentively listened to a bunch of their albums (about 75 songs) and found ~10 songs I liked enough to set aside for future listening. So, although there was stuff I kinda liked, the signal-to-noise ratio was high.
There isn't much of value in this franchise. I recommend avoiding it entirely unless you are obsessed with highschool romance. I tried to like this franchise and gave it many chances, but every single thing I tried was mediocre at best. Your time is better spent elsewhere.
No.38534
Don't know if it counts but finished part 1 of Jobless Reincarnation. Was decent enough. Barely watch isekai so dunno how it stacks up.
No.38549
I just finished Kekkai Sensen. Spoilers in this review are very mild and you could probably view them without spoiling much but I included them just in case.
This is a very whimsical show with a lot of zany designs. The city manages to be gritty and yet colorful due to the use of a bright color pallet and whimsical sci-fi/fantasy designs injected here and there. Overall the art and animation is good to great. The sound track is also pretty good. Unfortunately despite these strengths it didn't really capture me. The mc is as boring and average as they come and he is mostly a side character in his own show. He has no combat capabilities and is therefore mostly useless. This is the type of show where you are just thrown into the action and you learn more about things little by little, but in the end they didn't actually explain a bunch of stuff satisfactorily. Most of the other characters are just there for comedic relief besides the leader of the group who is just written as the perfect gary stu who can do no wrong and is super strong. They have wacky personalities and do wacky things for the purpose of entertaining people. This whole show feels like it was designed for zoomers who have no attention span and need some bright colorful action or comedy to entertain them at every single minute of the show. It has a kind of cowboy bebop feel if cowboy bebop cranked up the lolz so randum to 11. Like cowboy bebop the story it tells is mostly non-existent. The mc is supposedly trying to heal his sisters eyes but does literally nothing to bring about this goal and instead just gets drawn into fighting vampires and shit. Then they abandon the vampire shit they set up to go do some other thing with some possessed boy who just so happens to have had the exact same backstory as the mc (lazy as shit). The end was extremely disappointing and felt like plot armor was the only thing allowing the MC to triumph.
IDK if I will watch the second season. Perhaps it would clear up some of my gripes with the show leaving things unexplained but I just don't know if I care enough to watch it. In the end this show is like a piece of fruit that looks absolutely delicious but when you take a bite it's completely mediocre. I'd say the flashy visuals and good soundtrack make it worth watching because it may be more to some people's liking than it was to mine.
No.38581
https://myanimelist.net/anime/9289I watched Hanasaku Iroha. Here are my thoughts:
I really wanted to like this anime; at first glance, it seemed like something I would really enjoy. Unfortunately however, my viewing experience was mixed at best and certainly didn't meet my optimistic expectations.
During approximately the first third of the show, my optimism persisted but began to wane, and in retrospect the earlier episodes were the best part of the series. As the story and characters continued to develop, my opinion of it soured, and by the time I was halfway through the TV series I knew I was watching something mediocre.
At its core, Hanasaku Iroha is a character-driven drama much moreso than a typical slice-of-life show. Generally speaking, I like character-driven dramas. Unfortunately, this one has a very weak set of characters as well as quite generic and cliche writing. All the conflicts were things I've seen before in fiction. All the characters were tropes I'd seen before. All the character arcs were, at best, tropey and cliche. The writing felt like a generic character-driven drama that happened to be set in a ryokan. The mediocrity of the writing is a major flaw, especially considering this is a 26-episode(+movie) character-driven drama. The writing of the latter half of the show in particular was very weak and had plenty of forced artificial-feeling drama. The movie-making arc, for example, was absolutely dreadful.
I really want to emphasize my lack of enthusiasm for the characters themselves. Literally the entire core cast is unlikable and/or annoying. It's actually impressive that they managed to create such a consistently off-putting set of characters. By the time I completed this show, I can confidently say that I disliked every single significant character (and there are a lot of them). It really is astonishing how such a character-driven show has such a lackluster cast of characters. Despite it being a drama, I never connected emotionally with any of the characters. Some of the most important cast members felt like exaggerated caricatures – particularly the older characters; the younger staff felt more realistic, although still irritating in their own unique special ways. I think maybe I would have empathized more with the characters if they actually evolved as people and overcame their problems/flaws, but there is barely any character evolution during the 26-episode runtime! Saying that there are character arcs in this show is a misnomer – nobody overcomes anything, nobody achieves any goal, and certainly nobody improves their personality or grows as a person.
The comedy was also consistently unfunny. The consultant succubus character was annoying as hell; she was clearly supposed to be used primarily for comedic relief, but she was incredibly annoying and groan-inducing. I dreaded her appearing on-screen.
Alright, up until here I know I have been ripping into this show, but I do want to give credit where credit is due: the ryokan setting of this anime feels very authentic and I appreciated that a lot. In fact I specifically sought out this anime because it was about ryokan employees. The ryokan feels very real and there is lots of attention to detail paid to the setting. This is further enhanced by the surprisingly great production quality. For a 26-episode SoL-ish TV anime in a real-world setting, without any action or anything to justify a large visual budget, that aired in 2011, the visuals of Hanasaku Iroha are rock solid and very well done. Although there isn't much artistic flair, there is not a single blemish to be found. It easily could have passed as a modestly budgeted movie. The setting often looks quite nice; lots of detail is used in backgrounds and the like.
The visual style was simplistic but natural and organic-looking and felt remarkably similar to a live-action show. Despite the mundane events of the anime, the character animation is well done. The attention to detail and high production value really enhanced the ryokan setting and made it immersive. I appreciated this aspect of the show.
As for audio, I must say that the voice acting has a ton of variety and nearly every core character has unique distinctive voice work. I liked the voice work for Minko and Nako. Ohana does some good work during some of the more-dramatic scenes. The OST is okay, although a little more variety would have been nice for such a long runtime. The OP/ED songs are good, in my opinion (to those of you wondering: yes, I do like nano.RIPE's vocals but I can understand the perspective of those who don't).
My overall rating: 5/10
I wanted a ryokan-employee simulator and I got a ryokan-employee simulator. However, it unfortunately came with some undesirable features. Although the ryokan setting is very authentic and immersive, and executed with flawless visual production quality, its inhabitants are annoying and unlikable. Furthermore, the writing is as cliche and lackluster as the characters themselves.
Sakura Quest had its flaws too but I enjoyed it more than this; it certainly had way better characters. I haven't seen Shirobako yet but hope to watch it soon.
Here are my comments on the Home Sweet Home movie:
- I should mention that I watched this immediately after finishing the TV anime, and was already feeling pretty burnt out on the series after 26 episodes. It's possible I might have enjoyed it more if I let the TV anime digest in me for longer, although honestly I doubt it.
- Visually, the show was the same but with slightly better production quality. The TV anime already had solid visuals, so there wasn't much room for improvement here anyway.
- I liked the focus on teenage Satsuki. I actually think they did a good job depicting her and her youthful struggles, especially with the limited runtime. I think I would have much preferred her as the MC in the TV series.
- There was not much of an overarching plot and the movie basically just consists of an assortment of mostly SoL-style scenes. I was fine with this; it would have been a mistake to try to cram a serious plot into this short runtime.
- Aside from the scenes that depicted teenage Satsuki, this movie felt just like another TV episode (including the usual flaws).
- My rating for the movie: 5/10
Hanasaku Iroha has kind of a 'live action' feel to it, in the sense that I could easily imagine it being played out with real-life actors. People who typically prefer live-action TV dramas might like this anime.
>>38551Lol, if it's any consolation I made it 6 (SIX) episodes into that anime before accepting that it was indeed garbage. I felt strange potential in it for some reason. At least the OP/ED songs are decent, as are a few of the character songs. Also the spinoff is surprisingly good if you like cutesy SoL.
No.38598
https://myanimelist.net/anime/36038I watched Net-juu no Susume, also known as Recovery of an MMO Junkie or Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life. Here are my thoughts:
In terms of the writing, the characters are a strong point – they are likable and often relatable, particularly the MC (Moriko). However, the plot is cliche and predictable. I don't want to be too harsh on the plot though because it set up a ton of situational comedy and was a fertile source of humour in general. Regardless of the story, the script itself is overall well done; I thought they totally nailed it during some scenes, and it was further enhanced by the voice acting. The dialogue was often funny too. I enjoyed the humour in this a lot, and the script and its delivery was a major component of that. I laughed out loud at every episode.
The voice acting in this is surprisingly good, especially for the female MC. Her voice work definitely enhanced the humour for me in many instances, and she also handled emotional moments well. In fact all the lead characters do a good job. Lily's in-game voicework is great, as is Lilac's. Hayashi does a good job too. The voice acting in this was a significant contributor to my enjoyment. Conversely, the OST seemed like it lacked variety (even for the short runtime) and felt low budget and unremarkable. There is one nice piano melody that is used frequently though.
As for the romance aspect, there are certainly some cute moments but I wouldn't say it's the main appeal of the show. This is more of a romcom (which I know is an off-putting term for many people, myself included). It doesn't play it straight and serious like a typical romance; comedic relief is frequent, including during romance-heavy scenes. Ordinarily I would take issue with this, but I really enjoyed the comedy of this anime and thought it was skillfully implemented. The mixture of sweet and funny feelings made for a really enjoyable viewing experience. It's very rare for me to feel this way about comedic relief, which I think is a testament to how well it's executed in this instance. Overall this is a surprisingly well-directed show.
The visuals are pretty basic and lackluster. Although I will give credit to the fact that the character animation is consistently on-model, which is not something I take for granted (especially with the presumably low budget of this anime). Even so, the visuals are adequate at best and there is definitely room for improvement in this dimension.
My overall rating: 8/10
I was either smiling or laughing while watching this. This show is funny and relatable. The MC is quite likable. The script is usually well written and delivered surprisingly well by the VAs. Although the plot is cliche and predictable, it created a lot of hilarious situational humour. Regardless of its lackluster production quality, this is a surprisingly well-directed show; I was consistently engaged by it and always looked forward to the next episode. This is a really fun anime and I'm glad I watched it.
I would definitely recommend this to people who spend a lot of time in internet communities, or have a significant component of their social life online.
This anime is 10 episodes plus one full-length special sequel episode. Just warning you, that 11th episode is one of the weaker ones IMO, so don't get your hopes up too much. You should treat the 10th episode as the finale.
No.38599
finished part 2 jobless and it was ok
finished demon slayer movie 1 and that was also ok
No.38602
Otogi-Jushi Akazukin OVA
Went in blind, thought I would hate it, turned out to be somewhat enjoyable and I kind of want more. Then found out they made a whole series called Fairy Musketteers that is 39 ep long. Debatting if I should watch it. Probably will even if I am sure the quality won't hold up.
No.38621
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31240I watched Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, also known as Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World. I watched both seasons (including both parts of season 2), as well as the two movies. Here are my thoughts:
I should mention that I watched the director's cut for the first season, which supposedly had slightly more content than the original TV series. The first-season director's cut consists of 13 ~50-minute episodes, instead of the 25 TV episodes that composed the original version. For this reason my viewing experience might have been slightly different than others', although I've heard anecdotally that there's not much difference between the director's cut and the TV version.
The setting of Re:Zero is a fairly typical classic-fantasy world, but with a few unusual mechanics thrown in. There are a few cool things (like the flying magical whale), but overall it is pretty standard-fare fantasy stuff.
I'm really not fond of the character designs. Seriously, every single character in this is an eye sore, in my opinion. I just personally don't like the character art style at all. I also found the character animation during season 1 to be sloppy, however that did improve during season 2. Conversely, the setting and backgrounds in the show are sometimes animated well (moreso during season 1). The clash between the detailed backgrounds and poor character animation was impossible to ignore. It is quite stark and there are countless frames that look absurd because of it (again, this is a much more prominent issue in season 1).
I don't particularly like any of the characters, especially the MC. The story is told entirely through the perspective of the MC, and he is pretty much constantly on-screen, so my distaste for his personality was a major issue that seriously impeded my enjoyment of this series. My dislike for the characters (especially the MC) also prevented me from feeling empathy for them, which in turn inhibited my overall emotional engagement with the anime. The MC's behaviour and motivations were often stupid or even incomprehensible, and I frequently felt frustrated by his actions. Simply put, I would have enjoyed this anime more if the MC wasn't constantly behaving like a childish imbecile. His personality really is intolerable. Furthermore, even by isekai standards, the MC comes across as very 'self-inserty.' The rest of the cast is also fairly bland, and most supporting cast members just exist to facilitate aspects of the plot. The story really does revolve entirely around the MC (with the exception of some portions of S2P2).
During some portions of this anime I thought there was way too much unfunny tone-breaking comedy that would totally ruin the tension and emotion in a scene; this issue was most prominent during the first half of season 1, but never really went away entirely. It's really just a symptom of a broader issue, which is that the scriptwriting in this is garbage, at least from my perspective. Everything is overly spelled out so explicitly, the characters might as well be narrators. There is no nuance at all. It sounds like the VAs are reading from a rough draft. Scenes that have the potential to be emotionally impactful are often crippled by clunky unnatural dialogue and/or inappropriate comedy. Another ever-present issue is that the character interaction in this consistently feels unnatural and forced. These issues might be related to the seemingly juvenile target audience (more on that further below). The overly literal and explicit dialogue might be an intentional decision so that a younger viewer won't have trouble understanding anything. Sometimes the dialogue felt cheesy too, although that is just another manifestation of it being overly literal and explicit.
I didn't like the voice acting for Subaru (the MC) or Emilia. This is particularly unfortunate because the MC is near-constantly speaking, either to others or internally monologuing (I will concede that the VAs for both Subaru and Emilia got better during season 2, or maybe I perceived it that way due to the reduction in comedic relief). However, I did like the voice work for the two maid sisters (Rem and Ram), and Garf (introduced in S2) does a remarkable job as well.
The plot is sometimes good, and pretty much the only reason I stuck with this anime. The plot can be entertaining and sometimes the series does a good job of creating suspense. It's fairly easy to watch and the episodes pass quickly (during season 1 at least). If you want a somewhat interesting and complex plot, then this anime might be worth watching for you. It's also noteworthy that the plot is usually fairly coherent and laid out clearly, despite its complexity. There also aren't any major pacing issues (at least not in season 1). Plot execution is done well — and that very easily could have not been the case, so this is praiseworthy.
The OST felt a little generic sometimes although with fantastic production quality. There's a lot of orchestral music – some of it is actually quite excellent. I liked the season 2 OST more than season 1, despite the composer being the same. The composer's style eventually came to grow on me, but it took a while (I listened to the OST numerous times in isolation – not having to hear Subaru's awful voice concurrently likely helped). Regardless of your personal tastes, the OST is far better produced than your average anime soundtrack. Also, all of the OP and ED songs are good, and their respective albums are worth sampling. Music is a strong aspect of this anime, overall.
The first season of Re Zero had a pretty weak start. I think a major reason for this is because Emilia occupies more screentime. This is bad not only because Emilia has the personality of cardboard, but more importantly because Subaru and Emilia have terrible chemistry together. Their whole relationship feels unnatural and forced by the writer (actually, this is the case for all of Subaru's romantic pairings). So, as more characters are introduced as season 1 progresses, Emilia's character presence becomes diluted, and the show becomes more tolerable. Another significant reason that my enjoyment of season 1 increased in its latter half is because the show becomes much more serious, and there is a corresponding reduction in the awful comedy I addressed previously. However, conversely, I found that the feeling of suspense was strongest during the first half of season one. The latter half of the season also contained more action scenes, which I personally didn't find particularly entertaining.
As for the second season, the cast of characters is just as awful. However, season 2 does excel at developing mystery elements. Although there wasn't much linear plot progression, I enjoyed the way new dimensions of the story were gradually revealed during each of Subaru's reincarnations (during part 1 at least). All of my other criticisms continued to apply though, and the overall character of the show wasn't much different from season 1. The second part of season 2 had a weaker story in my opinion. There were also a lot of flashbacks, which I found boring. The supporting cast who received more attention were somehow not any more compelling than Subaru and Emilia, which really is revealing of the author's lack of skill. I found part 2 of season 2 to be the weakest portion of the entire series, and getting through those ~30-minute episodes was sometimes a struggle.
Overall this anime feels targeted towards a relatively young audience, particularly for a (supposedly) psychological thriller show. The self-insert pandering is very transparent — almost obnoxiously so. In fact sometimes the self-insert pandering is so shamelessly excessive that it feels like a parody. Even if you try to buy into the self-insert bait, it's pretty difficult to imagine being as imbecilic as Subaru, unless you have a crippling self-esteem problem. For context, this is coming from somebody who usually isn't bothered by self-insert baiting. Many of the themes in the writing and character motivations are juvenile as well. There's nothing objectively wrong with this, but I feel it's an important observation that this show is likely to appeal more to a teenage male audience.
My ratings are as follows:
Season 1(Director's Cut): 5/10
Season 2 Part 1: 5/10
Season 2 Part 2: 4/10
Re:Zero has a ton of flaws but, regardless, the plot was interesting enough to hold my attention. Furthermore, it is directed competently, at least in terms of plot execution. By anime standards, it's praiseworthy that a plot this complex is presented so coherently. Also, the OST is exceptionally well produced. Season 2 in particular has a very skillfully crafted soundtrack. Aside from the plot and music, nearly every other aspect of this anime is bad; but despite my negativity, I still watched over 4 cours of content, and would consider hatewatching future sequels.
Due to the arguably juvenile nature of the show and its characters, a teenage audience is more likely to enjoy this.
No.38622
>>38621Also here are my ratings for the two OVAs/"movies":
OVA1(Memory Snow): 3/10
OVA2(Hyouketsu no Kizuna): 4/10
I suggest skipping both these OVAs (especially Memory Snow) unless you really care about the franchise. They aren't necessary to understand the TV anime.
The second OVA is focused on Emilia's backstory and does an okay job of humanizing her (in stark contrast to the TV series itself). I wish I had watched it earlier in my viewing sequence (ideally halfway through season 1, certainly before season 2). Also Emilia's VA puts on a surprisingly decent performance in this OVA. Why the low rating for the second OVA then? Because it didn't have the complex interesting plot of the TV series, which is by far the primary reason I've stuck with this anime at all.
I think that Re Zero will not age well and will eventually be recognized as one of the most overrated works from this time period.
No.38635
>>38621I also disliked most of the characters, especially the MC. Ultimately I couldn't get through the first season because it wasn't up to my standards.
No.38650
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35076I watched Juuni Taisen, also known as Zodiac War. Here are my thoughts:
So basically, as you might have guessed, there are 12 warriors, each of whom are vaguely based on a zodiac animal. They all fight each other to the death simultaneously in an abandoned city because of a battle royale-style competition. It was interesting to see how the various warrior abilities competed against each other (and worked together in some cases). I'm a huge sucker for battle royale-style conflicts such as this.
The actual battle royale plot is easy to watch and makes for suitable binge-watch material. If you just feel like burning through an entire season in one day, this show would be an okay candidate for that, despite its flaws. This is kind of a junk-food show and shouldn't be taken seriously.
This show would be much better if they just entirely cut out the time-consuming character backstories and kept the screentime exclusively focused on the battle royale plot. Instead, literally entire episodes are wasted on inconsequential exposition for characters nobody cares about. None of these characters are compelling or interesting in any way. They easily could have filled an entire cour with a 12-fighter battle royale conflict; I have no idea why they threw away that opportunity to instead waste half the runtime on generic uncreative character backstories that would be better off in an OVA or auxiliary literature. This really was a terrible decision. By far the most boring part of this anime were all these pointless backstories. They spent way WAY too much screentime on this. Nobody cares about the exposition for some one-dimensional character in a huge cast who gets killed off one episode later. I am not watching this anime for character development (although I usually value it in other shows); this is not the situation for it and this show does not benefit from it at all. I don't care about your cliche tragic backstory or that Grug likes opera and long walks on the beach when he's not crushing skulls. I am just here to watch people with cool abilities plot against each other and fight; stop wasting my time with anything that isn't that. Just as an example to illustrate my point: they waste an ENTIRE EPISODE on the utterly generic boring backstory of a character who was killed off SEVEN EPISODES AGO. Right during what should be the pinnacle of the story they pivot to this nonsense – it was utterly ridiculous and totally stunted the show's momentum.
The character designs are overly comical to the point it almost made the show difficult to take seriously. I would have preferred them less pants-on-head retarded. Most characters in this look like they were designed by an edgy 12-year-old boy shortly after he learned about Chinese New Year. This show can be a little over-the-top edgy in general, sometimes to the point of it backfiring and being comical.
Overall the visuals are adequate but definitely not a selling point. The character animation employs this effect that blurs the linework, maybe to make it more organic-looking. I think I would have preferred that these blurred linework effects not be present, but it's not a big deal either way. The character animation was consistently adequate, so I probably shouldn't complain. Overall this show is animated competently but it doesn't excel beyond that. There isn't much of an art style, which is a missed opportunity but also not a flaw. CGI is used during some action scenes, FYI. The fight scenes were quite underwhelming and unimpressive overall. The fight scenes are also usually so shortlived that I hesitate to call this an action show at all; this is not necessarily a bad thing – I would prefer it over the tedious drawn-out fight scenes that plague some other anime. If you go into this show excited for fight scenes, you will be disappointed. The strategy aspect of the battle royale competition was far more entertaining, from my perspective at least.
The OST is generic and unimpressive, and never enhanced my enjoyment of the show (although I did like the ED song). Voice acting was similarly unremarkable, despite the ample opportunity for unique voices. I guess the VA for the necromancer did an okay job. Also I gotta acknowledge the VA (Yuuichirou Umehara) for the ox fighter – that guy has a great voice and I've enjoyed him in other roles.
Often the show plays a character's internal dialogue while they or somebody else is speaking, resulting in the viewer needing to pay attention to both lines of dialogue. I found the frequency of this a little irritating but I suppose it is an effective time-saving technique in terms of getting through dialogue quickly. It's also true that the contrast between what the characters say and think can be quite significant, but maybe it could have been demonstrated better. Having to follow two people speaking at once is cumbersome and I wish this anime didn't force it so often.
One very petty criticism I have: the city they fight in supposedly had a population of 500,000; I gotta say, a city with that population would not have infrastructure as dense as what is depicted in the show, not even in Japan. It looks like a city with a population at least double that (I know this is a silly thing to fixate on).
Yet another example of this anime's appalling waste of screentime is that the final episode consists mostly of the competition winner deliberating over what their 'wish' (the competition prize) should be. This mental deliberation of course takes place over the backdrop of some very dull screenplay, resulting in a viewing experience that is simply not entertaining. It was a very underwhelming season finale.
My overall rating: 4/10
My rating for this would be higher if the absurdly excessive and out-of-place pointless character backstories were removed from the show, or at least their duration were reduced enormously. It's mindboggling how much time got wasted on this. I try not to focus on one single issue when critiquing an anime, but it really is that straightforward in this case. When the show actually focused on the battle royale conflict, it was entertaining and easy to watch. Unfortunately, the screentime of this show was utterly squandered and the cool battle royale plot was heavily diluted by very low-quality content.
Seriously, just skip the flashback scenes. They aren't necessary to understand the plot of the show, and the anime as a whole would be much more entertaining if they were removed. Ordinarily I would be mortified by the thought of skipping content, but the banality of these character backstories is especially egregious and they add nothing of value to the show at all. This is a junk-food show and should be treated as such.
Despite my criticisms, this is still adequate binge-watch material. If you just want something to entertain you for ~5 hours straight, this isn't a terrible choice – you could do worse.
Lastly, I want to be very clear so that nobody misinterprets me: character development is usually a good thing and I have praised it in other shows (or criticized its absence). The difference is that a 12-character 12-episode battle royale action show is not at all suited for it – particularly the sheer amount of time that was devoted to it in this case.
Vague spoiler: the rat warrior's ability is really cool. It's a shame it didn't get more focus. It would have been interesting to see it deployed more from his perspective.
No.38654
>>38653Really should have just ended with the end of that arc with the Arrancars.
It was the perfect place to end things story wise. I guess there was just too much money on the table and too few ideas for a different project after spending years doing nothing but make Bleach.
That said it was the best of the big 3 shonen of the time.
No.38655
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34543I watched Dive!!. Here are my thoughts:
So, as you might have guessed, this is a fairly typical sports show that is focused on diving. Much of the show revolves around the preparation, and selection, of athletes for the Olympics. Going to the (Tokyo) Olympics is certainly relevant to recent world events at the time of my writing this. Overall this show has a pretty amateurish feeling and seems low budget.
Considerable attention is paid to the technical aspects of diving, certainly moreso than I expected. This is a very unique feature of this anime and one of the main reasons I stuck with it. It was interesting to learn about the sport of diving through this medium. In fact I would have liked to have seen even more focus on the details of the sport (maybe I should've just watched a documentary, haha).
Although it was a little melodramatic, I was grateful for the absence of comedy in the show. I could consistently feel the tension in the show and the pressure the athletes were under. There was a pervasive feeling of anticipation of upcoming competitions. I much prefer this over a comedy-heavy show. So although people complain about melodrama, I just want to point out that the alternative scenario could have been much worse.
Overall the characters were fairly weak and a little underdeveloped. However, I did like the female coach (Kayoko) and the ocean-cliff diver guy (Shibuki). Shibuki was one of the reasons I stuck with this show; he was a cool character. Kayoko was also cool and I enjoyed her presence. Unfortunately the MC was a pretty lackluster character; he didn't have much of a personality and added little to the show. A better MC could have gone a long way to improving this show, or at least somehow making him more sympathetic and likable would. I found the coaching staff more intriguing characters than the divers themselves (there is a fair bit of drama revolving around the diving organization and its members). There is also a lot of focus on the athletes' state of mind – I appreciated this, even though it could have been done better, and would have been augmented by better characters.
The visuals are serviceable but certainly nothing special. There wasn't any discernable art style. Although there were no major visual flaws, the animation is basic and lackluster, and definitely not a selling point for the show. Which is kind of unfortunate because this anime could really benefit from a high animation budget; there was tons of (squandered) opportunity for visual flair. I try not to place too much emphasis on visuals, but there was definitely a lot of wasted potential here in that regard. This anime could have looked awesome if only it had the budget. Also I can't end this paragraph without mentioning those hot muscular slender diver bodies – they are indeed tight and sexy, and there is a lot of fanservice, albeit with lackluster animation. One thing I will say about the fanservice is that there was never ever screentime devoted strictly to it – it was always just incidental and never particularly intrusive. I say this in contrast to so many other shows that basically put a neon sign up saying "THIS IS THE FANSERVICE SCENE" (I'm being hyperbolic) and proceed to jiggle breasts in front of you for the next minute straight with nothing else of entertainment value on-screen; the fanservice in Dive was way more tasteful and nondisruptive than this, which is certainly preferable to the alternative. Also it's just unavoidable that a show focused on male diving athletics is going to have a lot of naked lean muscular men on-screen.
The audio is underwhelming; the OST is not bad but fairly generic, and the voice acting as a whole is quite mediocre. At least the ED song is nice and soothing.
Even though it was amateurish, there was nothing about this anime that was particularly awful. On the other hand, there was nothing about it that significantly impressed me. It is a fairly typical sports show, just focused on diving and maybe with a bit more voyeuristic flavour than usual. A bit more melodrama as well, but I still much prefer that over excessive comedic relief. On the other hand, I wished they focused even more on the sport and experience of competitive diving itself, rather than all the melodrama regarding the Olympic team and its support staff. The last few episodes definitely had some forced drama laid on heavy.
My overall rating: 5/10
It wasn't THAT bad. Although amateurish, it doesn't have any major flaws. It's a little heavy on the melodrama but personally I still prefer that over excessive comedy; I appreciated this anime maintaining a consistently serious mood. This anime doesn't make any major unforced errors, but also isn't particularly ambitious. Although the characters are forgettable, it was an adequate sports show. I was adequately entertained and would watch a second season.
People who like sports anime should consider giving this a chance. It's a shame about the budget – I really think this anime could have benefited from better production quality, moreso than other shows. This definitely doesn't deserve to be one of the lowest-rated shows on MAL.
For the record, at the time of writing this, I have not yet seen the Free! anime (it is often compared to Dive).
I remember a long time ago when I was a child, multiple times I attended a summer camp hosted at a university with an Olympic-style pool. I swam in this giant pool frequently, and I still vividly remember the diving platforms. It was set up exactly like in this anime. It brought back some memories. I've had recurring dreams over the years about being back in that pool. It's a prominent memory in my mind. I remember jumping off those concrete diving platforms. As a kid it was really cool. I still vividly remember the feeling of those concrete diving platforms beneath my bare feet, and the feeling of jumping off them.
SPOILER COMMENT: nobody actually goes to the Olympics…during the show. The last episode takes place before the Olympics, during a preliminary competition from which the Olympic team is determined. Personally I tend not to fixate on plot milestones like this, but I know this will bother other people. The ending isn't entirely unsatisfying though. An Olympics arc would have been nice to see, but I suppose the Tokyo Olympics were still years in the future when this anime aired. As I've already alluded, most of the show's drama revolves around the preparation for the Olympics, not the actual event. So, be aware of that and set your expectations accordingly.
No.38738
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34822I watched Tsuki ga Kirei, also known as The Moon is Beautiful or NyQuil PM. Here are my thoughts:
I tried. I swear I tried. I tried my very best to like this show. I dropped it TWICE – once shortly after it aired, and once again when I gave it a second chance around 2019. I picked it up a third time in 2022 in a desperate effort to see what the hype was all about, yet still I was disappointed, although did finish it. I did my very best to like this show, and watched it in a variety of states of mind only to be met by unwavering disappointment.
For those unaware, this is a pure romance show focused on characters in late Japanese middle school (around 14 years in age I think).
The male lead and his female love interest are both ridiculously boring characters. They both have the personality of a three-day-old bowl of gruel. They have terrible chemistry and their interactions are mindnumbingly boring. I never felt the slightest spark of romance between them, or any emotion at all for that matter (besides boredom and frustration). Their entire relationship feels unnatural and artificial.
The dialogue is painfully boring and tedious, way WAY beyond the point of endearing shyness. This is not the cute reluctant youthful romance I was lead to expect. The two leads are absurdly deadpan – their affect is so flat I thought they were on enough antipsychotics to put a schizophrenic elephant into a coma (and if that doesn't work they should just broadcast this anime in the beast's habitat – this show is so forgettable it could invalidate prior studies on elephant memory). Furthermore, a huge portion of their interaction takes place via phone messages, which maybe is a blessing in disguise because the character animation is so bad. Which leads me to my next point…
The visuals of this anime are poor. The character CGI is awful, and I'm usually willing to overlook this. Seriously, those scenes of the school campus with the CGI-animated students were so poorly done. Besides the rare background frame, this show has poor visual production quality. Also worth mentioning is that I did not like the character designs – those sameface characters with the beady eyes were consistently unpleasant to look at. This is compounded by the bland school outfits and totally boring colour palette. Even outside of the CGI scenes, the character animation is crude and often off-model. Like, I can excuse poor animation if the show makes an effort at some kind of art style, but this show has neither! The colour palette and character designs are ugly and the animation quality is messy. I will concede that there were sometimes nice background frames (the ep.8 festival date is a good example), but that certainly does not excuse the appalling character animation. A lot of the visuals in this look like they took a real-life photo, passed it through an anime-style visual filter, and then added some hideous CGI-animated characters. The visual contrast between the characters and their environment is often quite stark. Even in scenes that take place on the street, the CGI-animated cars look like they belong in a console game released in 2002. Infrequently the focus of a frame is well targeted to create a nice cinematic effect – unsurprisingly these moments don't have any characters in the shot. Also I would be remiss if I did not mention that the ridiculous amount of phone messages in this show resulted in some consistently boring and tedious screenplay. Seriously, when phone screencaps are a central focus of the ED sequence, you can't deny something has seriously gone wrong with this so-called 'romance' anime (and that's not even mentioning the unfunny 'comedy' skits they add after the ED).
The commercial success of this anime is a total mystery to me, but clearly the return on investment must have been great since the animation budget was planned in Zimbabwean dollars (perhaps the elephants really were running the show, with autocratic rule too).
As I already alluded, the voice acting for the two leads is totally catatonic, and because they dominate the screentime and script, the rest of the cast is largely irrelevant. Regardless, none of the supporting cast VAs impressed me. As for music, I remember there being at least one okay insert vocal song, but otherwise the OST seemed fairly unremarkable.
Storywise, the sources of conflict are quite cliche. It was a pretty generic school romance in this regard too. There was nothing in the writing that I found praiseworthy, and the story overall feels formulaic.
Later in the series, competing potential love interests are introduced for both the male and female MC. Ordinarily, I would not enjoy this, but the two leads have such awful chemistry that I actually enjoyed (relatively) the presence of these other potential suitors. Seriously, both the alternative love interests had better chemistry with their respective targets. I think in both cases this was largely due to the pairing of an outgoing extroverted character with a shy soft-spoken romantic target. This is in stark contrast to the original couple, who are both quite introverted and reserved (and boring!). On a similar train of thought, I gotta say that I liked the amusement park episode way more than the others, perhaps mainly for the reasons just outlined. Or maybe because everyone in that episode communicates in-person instead of relying on those awful tedious text messages. In any case, episode 7 when they go to the amusement park, that was probably my favourite episode of the entire series (which isn't saying much).
It's worth noting there is little comedy in this, which is certainly not something I can say about other romance shows. Regardless of all my criticisms, I will always praise the absence of inappropriate comedic relief, particularly here because it's so common in romance shows like this. Similarly, I appreciated how wholesome and pure this show was. There was pretty much zero sexualization at all or so-called 'fanservice'. This anime was consistently innocent and sweet, regardless of all its flaws; it consistently had a 'puppy love' feeling to it. I think this is one of the main reasons it was so well received, but that also illustrates the scale of unmet demand for this kind of thing – I'm sure a show with the same premise as Tsuki ga Kirei but competently executed could be very successful.
My overall rating: 3/10
Tsuki ga Kirei is one of the worst romance shows I have ever seen. I'm mystified by what people see in this show. From my perspective, it brings nothing to the table; I see nothing of artistic worth here. There are some brief romantic moments but they're not nearly enough to compensate for the time invested. The two leads are unbelievably weak characters, and more importantly, they have zero romantic chemistry whatsoever. Additionally, both the screenplay and dialogue are incredibly dull, and the character animation is jarringly dreadful.
What words would I use to describe my Tsuki ga Kirei viewing experience? Exasperating, frustrating, BORING, irritating, unemotional, tedious…
I feel like most of the people praising this anime are just projecting their own memories onto it. Since the show and its characters have zero personality whatsoever, it is certainly a good projection medium (perhaps this is a positive feature for some viewers). I also imagine that this show would be potent self-insert material for some people. Maybe I am the wrong audience for this kind of thing.
Just warning anyone reading: expect a lot of negative reviews over the next few months. I have a lot of garbage in my pipeline and, with some exceptions, I am mainly scraping the bottom of the barrel of 2017 right now. I'll probably be more positive once I wrap up my evaluation of 2017. No.38826
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33218I watched Kimi no Koe wo Todoketai, also known as I Want To Deliver Your Voice. Here are my thoughts:
This is just a ~90-minute movie, so I'll try to be brief.
It should be noted that I'm a huge sucker for anything relating to DJing, or radio, or talk shows, or just anything that involves sharing audio with others really. For this reason I thought I might like this movie, and was cautiously optimistic about it.
The plot of this feels kind of unfocused, and most of the movie consists of the various teenage succubus characters messing around in this radio cafe place. There is some petty drama among the teenage succubi. Throughout its runtime this movie alters between SoL-like scenes (that often involve radio), and various kinds of drama. This movie felt pretty 'family friendly', in the sense that I could imagine both a child and adult enjoying it. There was nothing inappropriate in here for a child audience (well, maybe aside from one character being in a preexisting long-term coma, and a bitchy slap in one scene during an argument among the succubi).
The main premise of this movie is cool and promising. Much of the story revolves around the existence of 'kotodama', which are basically word spirits. The idea is that spoken word has the power to influence reality via these word spirits. I thought this was a great idea for a story, but unfortunately the execution in this case is very mediocre. I also wish they spent more time in general developing this aspect of the story. Although there are some good ideas, the actual scene-by-scene storyline of this anime is pretty uninteresting.
This movie feels amateurish as well as low budget, which is kinda surprising since it came out of Madhouse. I really do not like the character designs – they are ugly and overly simplistic. Furthermore, the character animation is lackluster and the facial expressions lack detail. The setting sometimes looks decent, but definitely not above average for a modern anime movie. Overall the visuals are lacking.
Ironically (recall title), the voice acting in this is pretty bad, overall. The MC in particular has really amateurish-sounding voice work, which is unfortunate, especially considering the importance of voice in this movie. Most of the music they play is well-known classical that you've likely heard before; it was pretty underwhelming. It felt like they played it overly safe by sticking to classical music. Also, teenage succubi knowing and liking Vivaldi definitely required some suspension of disbelief. I think it was a poor decision to use classical music for this. There is a song near the end of the movie that the succubi sing together; their singing actually sounds surprisingly good, especially in chorus. Nice lyrics too. I would have enjoyed this movie more if they included more scenes like that. The vocals in the ED song were surprisingly good as well.
It's worth mentioning that, despite the short runtime, this movie is well paced and the ending is neat and tidy. They didn't bite off more than they could chew. I also want to mention that there is zero romance (or any sexualization at all) in this, which I was grateful for. All the main characters in this are female, and males are barely relevant beyond facilitating the plot.
My overall rating: 4/10
Although its premise has a lot of potential, and there are some good ideas in the writing, the execution of this movie is unmistakably mediocre.
As far as anime movies go, this wouldn't be a bad choice to watch with a kid or young teenager; I think that's one aspect of this that could be a selling point. There aren't many anime movies I could say that about, so I think it's noteworthy. In particular, I can imagine a young succubus (like, about age 8-12) really enjoying this due to all the early-teens female social dynamics it contains, and this movie overall has kind of a girly Disney-like vibe to it. In fact the more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that this anime was made with a young female audience in mind. This movie seems like something a mother and daughter could enjoy together.
I've seen multiple people liken this movie to Kimi no Na wa and Koe no Katachi – this assertion of similarity is utterly moronic and not based in reality. Aside from being a drama with a similar title, this has very little in common with those two other movies. Anybody saying this is "the Madhouse response to [KnNw/KnK]…" has meme brainworms and isn't analyzing things objectively. I don't know the reasoning behind this movie's title choice, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a marketing gimmick designed to catch attention and spark discussion due to its similarity to the aforementioned well-known titles. Maybe there's a story to be told regarding that.
No.38858
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33337I watched ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka. Also known as ACCA: 13th Territory Inspection Department. Here are my thoughts:
I'd describe the world this takes place in as a fascist monarchy. Culturally, it felt like a mix of France and Germany but not overtly Nazi-inspired (aside from the uniforms). It also felt like a mid-20th-century time period but with some modern technology added like cell phones and desktop computers. It was peculiar. Sometimes a random piece of technology would appear in a scene and it would seem very unusual and break my immersion for a moment.
This anime is about a political conspiracy that unfolds painfully slowly over the course of the show. Most of the characters are government officials in the ACCA department and/or belong to the ruling monarchy in some way. There is inadequate exposition, particularly during the early episodes. This anime tries to be 'show don't tell', but this is not the right setup for a subtle conspiratorial political plotline. This is definitely a show that requires world building and background information, and its deficiency in this regard is a major issue. I often felt like I was watching a promo trailer or something because it frequently seemed like I was just randomly dropped into a scene with zero context or ability to comprehend the significance of the dialogue. I wasn't given a reason to care about anything or anyone in this show. Literally, putting a 1-minute exposition blurb by a narrator with visual aids in every few episodes would enhance this show tremendously. There is no broader context to what is happening in the show and it almost just feels like a nonsensical fever dream, particularly during the earlier episodes. The story feels totally aimless for much of the runtime.
Pretty much the entire cast is unlikeable or at least lacking personality. The little sister character is annoying and airheaded. The MC (Jean) is a memorably awful character. He has zero personality at all and resembles a chainsmoking beached fish. He is such an incredibly dull character, and what's even weirder is how he's adored everywhere he goes. There's also Niino, who is chairman of the Jean fan club and is his stalker BF (not quite literally). Other characters include a large number of ACCA organization members, nearly all of whom are underdeveloped. Many of the ACCA members could have been removed from the cast and the story would have worked fine without them; it seems the author needed some extras to use up the remaining silly hairstyles they had sitting around.
The scriptwriting in this is shockingly awful. Mundane comments about smoking tobacco are relentlessly included in the script for seemingly no reason at all (literally the MC's entire personality, aside from being borderline narcoleptic, is that he's a smoker). Also, whoever wrote this show clearly loved sweets and baked goods, because they are constantly inserted into the script AD NAUSEAM. The dialogue in general is incredibly dull and mindnumbing. Everything in the script is so banal and pointless. I really can't stress enough how unbelievably dull and monotonous the dialogue in this show is. It's almost hard to believe it was even meant to be entertainment. It's astonishing this anime even got greenlit, especially with such a seemingly high budget. This script is so torturously monotonous they should have broadcasted it on repeat at Waco (perhaps they will relate to the fascist themes in the story!); even if the Branch Davidians are burning alive, the real torment will come from having to hear another goddamn conversation about smoking.
Throughout the show the MC visits different districts of the kingdom, each of which have different cultures, climate, and are subject to their own unique set of regulations. In theory this sounds very interesting, but the actual product is so lackluster. Usually little of each district is shown during the visits, and not much detail in general is provided. It doesn't take long for the conversations during these travels to devolve into "dude cigarettes lmao." These trips were great opportunities for exposition and world building, but their potential was not capitalized upon at all. It's just shocking because people are constantly talking during these trips, yet the conversations contain so little information! The level of wasted potential is truly staggering. The world building in general for this anime is done very poorly.
Despite this supposedly being a mystery show, it seems like there was zero effort whatsoever put into creating suspense.
Midway through the season, there is a hugely important reveal (I won't spoil it, or specify which episode), but the way it is dropped is so nonchalant and flat. This could have been a dramatic moment but instead it was just randomly inserted into the script as casually as the MC talks about goddamn pastries. It was unbelievably strange. I was so bewildered I had to rewind the scene because I thought I misinterpreted the dialogue.
There are eventually some major plot developments during the final few episodes, some of which were inadequately foreshadowed IMO. Despite the seriousness of these developments, I was still left with a feeling of inadequate payoff in terms of that being the climax. It was dissatisfying and underwhelming, especially after enduring the long dull journey to get there. Much of this is in the execution of these scenes and the overall poor direction of the show. There is zero suspense whatsoever, and there is no feeling of catharthis at all when things are resolved, despite the ridiculously drawn-out build up. The climax of the story, including the final episode, is incredibly underwhelming and you definitely should not get your hopes up for it. Please don't justify to yourself continuing to watch this show because you're expecting some big reveal at the end – trust me it's not worth it.
I would describe the art style as being like retro anime but with a modern polish while also retaining its organic feeling. It was crisp and refined but also somewhat dull and lacking creativity. Although the character designs are unique, I think I disliked more of them than I liked. The droopy fish-like eyes of the MC being one ever-present example. Also having most of the cast wear similar bland government uniforms made for a dull visual experience; they could have had way more fun with the outfits and put more creativity and variety into them. Instead, nearly everyone in the cast wears the exact same uniform most of the time, which just reinforces the relentlessly monotonous feeling of this anime. However, the setting did look decent overall. It appeared fairly realistic but, similarly to the outfits, with not much personality or variety. It would have been nice to have something more interesting and with more artistic flair to look at while listening to the droning dialogue of this show. It is still crisp and polished though, don't get me wrong. There is not a single blemish to be found really. However, even though the production quality is solid, this anime still feels half-baked (and I don't mean the goddamn pastries) due to how poorly executed the story is.
I would say the cinematography was above average overall, although inconsistent. Shot composition often did a good job of featuring the setting. Variable focus effects are sometimes used to give the visuals more depth. That said, the animation in this is not dynamic at all. Stills appear very frequently and it felt like the bare minimum of character movement was used.
The voice for Niino (the MC's stalker BF) is unique and suits his role well. Conversely, I found the voice acting of the MC (Jean) as underwhelming as his personality. Everyone else had unremarkable voice work. As for music, I personally don't like jazz, and there is a lot of it in the OST. It seems well produced but it just isn't my cup of tea. There are a few alright piano tracks though.
Lastly, I want to mention that the consistently low-key calm atmosphere of this show made it suitable for when I was tired or just didn't want to watch anything too high energy – this anime was reliably chill and nobody ever yelled in my ear. I suppose this is a positive aspect – it is the main reason I was even able to watch this show to completion.
My overall rating: 2/10
This anime is literally just videogame-NPC dialogue played over a low-tempo jazz soundtrack. I'm not exaggerating, that's literally what this show is. The dialogue is so dull it's bewildering. Despite this apparently being a mystery show, it fails to induce any feeling of suspense or tension whatsoever, and is overall incredibly boring to watch. The lack of exposition is also crippling, particularly during the first half of the show where there is zero context at all for the events (or lack thereof) taking place. Throughout all this the MC has the personality of a beached fish and pretty much the entire cast is unlikable. Furthermore, although the production quality is high, both the art style and screenplay leave much to be desired. The visuals being quite polished doesn't change the fact that they are boring and dull. This anime doesn't even feel like entertainment.
Regardless of all this, it was reliably chill. There is basically zero high-tempo music and nobody ever yells. So, if you're looking for a show to fall asleep to, this would be an excellent choice for that. Plus, you won't miss anything if you pass out halfway through, I promise!
There is a 47-min sequel OVA which I masochistically hatewatched.
The setting looked nice and the visuals in general were a notch above the TV anime. However, all of the flaws I addressed above persisted. This OVA was just as astonishingly dull as the TV series.
I did not watch the special shorts but I bet they're awful. I did watch the Blurays though for the record.
No.38887
Ichigo Mashimaro follows the daily lives of Itou sisters Nobue and Chika and their friends, Miu, Matsuri and Ana. It's SOL and CGDCT with a rather unique timing to it, but more of that later. Nobue is 20, Chika and Miu 12, Matsuri and Ana 11, making the show mostly about childhood and how those kids' personalities clash for humorous effect. As one might expect for a show of this genre, the atmosphere and mood are quite soothing and the plots are all trying to be lighthearted and endearing and it hits the mark most days.
The timing for this particular SOL is rather unique. The pacing is slower than most I think, not the plot itself but how the dialogue works and the way the comedy is delivered. This is not a bad thing and it works particularly well if you want something to shut your brain off for 20 minutes which is what I was looking for. This is also hinted at in the color palette for the show. A small range of mostly meek and calming colors. Right away you know what you're getting yourself to.
As far as the characters go, they're all quite nice and it's comforting to watch them playing around and being mostly silly. Miu is the chaotic element of this crew and as a result most of the comedy revolves around the rest of the succubi having to deal with the crazy stuff she pulls off all the time. Ana is English but has lived in Japan for most of her life. She's very keen about Japanese culture and is very eager to make friends. Matsuri is a very shy, meek and introverted succubus whose only weapon is her natural ability to inspire her friends to immediately stand up for her whenever needed. You'll understand why when you watch it. Chika is described by her older sister as "a succubus whose main trait is not having any particular traits" but that's not true. She's the mature one of the group, many times acting more like an adult than Nobue herself.
Then you have Nobue. Being almost a decade older than the other characters and with no parents in sight, she ends up being a parental sort of figure, but without the pressure of being a real parent. All the other kids think she's super cool, except her sister who knows her a little better than that. She's a real mystery. Sometimes it felt like she had her own life going and having to take care of her sister and her friends is a nuisance to her. Other times it feels like all she has going on in her life is her sister and her friends and outside of that she's a recluse. It's obvious she dislikes school and doesn't care about it. Her room is pretty bare and the only passion she seems to have is smoking.
Sometimes she does a very excellent job at being an adult and treating those kids well and fairly, sometimes she fails miserably. Her relationship with Miu is particularly interesting because Miu obviously admires Nobue a lot and wants to be the succubus Nobue likes the most. This is where Nobue is pretty hit-or-miss on her behavior. She seems to forget sometimes that she's dealing with kids, other times she goes out of her way for them. I suppose that makes her a rather realistic character in this. She was the most interesting character in the show for sure and watching her dealing with the children is very entertaining.
To finish this little rumbling here I would like to talk about the differences between the anime and the manga. It's been a while since I watched an adaptation so well put together. They read the original material and managed to change a thing here and there to great effect. First, changing Nobue's age from 16 to 20. Obviously this makes things easier with her smoking and drinking. Also, putting more age between her and the other succubi reinforces her role as an adult watching children growing up, something she does a lot. A teenager would probably be too involved in their own crap to be around as much as she is in those kids' lives, so it makes her a little more grounded and interesting I think. Another change is having Ana there right from the start. In the manga she's only introduced on the second volume. Also making her enjoy Japanese things from the start instead of finding things weird really made her a lot more sweet. It also changed the way her elegance is presented, going for something less related to pride to something more agreeable. Lots of situations from the manga show up in the anime but the order, motivation and interaction between the characters are a little different. Ironically, I think the way the anime presented those characters actually revealed their personalities better than the first few volumes of the manga. Of course, they had the chance to read all the original material first and then decide how to proceed, while the manga was an original work in progress and that entails mistakes.
All in all, I really enjoyed this series. I wish the author would publish more volumes, as it stands, the story doesn't seem to be over yet, but it's on an indefinite hiatus for now. Let's hope we'll be seeing more of Ichigo Mashimaro soon.
No.38888
>>38887cute anime, I remember watching it back in the day and posting screenshots on 4chan when people still cared about it
No.39011
I finished 'Kumo desu ga, nani ka?'. It would have been a lot better if every scene featuring the other reincarnations was cut from the show. In fact if you ever decide to watch this show I suggest you do a search and see if you can figure out what parts contain those scenes ahead of time so you can skip them, that's how utterly worthless everything in this show that was not the mc fucking around was. The mc fucking around though is fun enough to make the show worth it.
No.39080
I finished succubi und Panzer. I knew that this show was going to be ridiculous going in but I underestimated how ridiculous it was going to be. Very fun show.
No.39082
>>38925>Gave me that weird feeling of when you check out something that you thought it was good as a teen and then realize that it was kinda bad. Reminded of the days when I could watch any piece of crap anime and enjoy it. I would binge watch entire series and not hate a single second of it even if it was utter dreck.
Now? I don't watch anime unless it's something spectacular. If for some reason I do pick something up that isn't spectacular, I start scrubbing through episodes when I see familiar arcs or tropes or if it's just crap filler episodes. Sometimes I scrub through an entire series in a few hours.
No.39088
>>39082I don't know why but that is just what happened to me with all media. I rarely watch anything new, cause nothing seems worth the effort of consuming anymore. New anime is boring, new movies are bad, new videogames are boring, new books are written by charlatans. I don't know how to find fun things anymore, and I know they exist.
No.39202
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35413I watched Imouto sae Ireba Ii, also known as A Sister is All You Need. Here are my thoughts:
Wow this is complete trash. It was a mistake to feel the slightest flicker of optimism for anything created by the same guy who wrote Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. Despite being about the manga/LN industry and having characters who are slightly older and 'more adult' than your average anime, this show is surprisingly juvenile. The author really channeled their inner 14-year-old boy into this.
There is a ton of sexual humour in this and most of it is utterly moronic, even by anime standards. Furthermore, the amount of time that gets spent on it is ridiculous; it's not just a line or two here and there – they spend entire scenes just for some idiotic gradeschool-tier sexual joke that makes me feel like I'm being lobotomized. The comedy is unfunny in general, but all the sexual jokes are especially atrocious and just so excessive and ever-present. This show often feels like a 14-year-old boy with an awful sense of humour wrote it with his dick in his hand. I'm not even prude or anything, it's just the constant sexual humour was absolutely eyeroll-inducing and none of it was clever at all. Literally it feels like most of this show's script was written by a dumb hormonal teenage boy. The 'siscon' schtick (recall the title of the anime) also wore out its welcome very fast, and the ways it was used were surprisingly uncreative, especially considering how frequently it was invoked.
The MC was such an annoying little pervy worm; I wanted to beat him up, steal his lunch money, and hang his sneakers from the power lines. He was an insufferable little dweeb with zero redeeming qualities. What an awful MC – probably made to resemble the mouthbreather mental-teenager author himself. In fact I disliked the entire cast; all of the primary characters were annoying in some way. For a show clearly made to appeal to young men, the two female leads both had surprisingly off-putting personalities.
Later in the series there is some character drama involving the main members of the cast in some kind of convoluted love-polygon situation, with a cup of jealousy and inferiority complex thrown in. This drama felt even more juvenile than all the sexual humour. It was really stupid and just unpleasant and groan-inducing to watch.
I must admit, the skits with the accountant were actually funny. Same goes for the tabletop RPG episode – that one was sorta funny and relatable too (although still plagued by excessive unfunny sexual humour).
As far as the publishing industry theme of this show goes, they did make some effort to demonstrate the emotional experiences of authors. However, although the concept is promising, I was still disappointed by this aspect of the show – I thought it could have been handled better but also that it deserved greater focus. The screentime of this anime is dominated by all the sexual comedy, and this promising aspect of the show is neglected as a result. Also, the childishness of the writing and characters themselves neutered a lot of the potential this dimension of the show had. It's hard to relate to this awful cast of characters, even if some of their experiences resemble those that real-life writers commonly encounter.
I thought the OST was bad. If I have to hear one more generic saxophone-heavy 'lewd atmosphere' track I am going to flip a table. Of course this kind of music plays frequently due to the prominence of sexual comedy in this show, and it does not enhance the humour at all. Even outside these scenes, the OST never once enhanced my enjoyment of the show. The voice acting for the entire cast was mediocre as well, with the exception of Nayuta – her VA did a good job and sounded cute, although I disliked her character.
As for visuals, they were adequate but mediocre. I didn't like the bolt-on-torpedo-tits character designs of the females, and all the males looked dweebish and unattractive. There is no discernable art style and the visuals were never a source of enjoyment for me. Also they could have had way more fun with the character outfits, considering they're all adults in an informal creative industry, but instead the outfits are boring, uncreative, and rarely change.
I appreciated the craft beer 'food fanservice' in the show. Delicious craft beer doesn't get nearly enough culinary attention in anime, haha.
My overall rating: 3/10
This anime in one sentence: a bunch of unlikable characters (mostly LN authors) hang out together and there is a lot of excessive unfunny sexual humour, and then during the later episodes there's some eyeroll-inducing crummy immature character drama about people you don't care about. The end.
This show is quite juvenile and a teenage boy would likely enjoy it far more than I did. Anybody who wants to enjoy this needs to put themselves in a juvenile state of mind and get in touch with their inner teenage boy. If you, like me, tend to dislike sexual humour (especially in excess) then I would suggest avoiding this anime. Were it not for the (underexplored) publishing industry theme, I would have dropped this very quickly.
>>38887I haven't watched that anime but good post nonetheless.
No.39248
the current anime season is Summer i think, because it is summer right now?. i missed out on Winter season, the start of 2022. Trying to catch up on Spring, i binged a few this week
It's so annoying when you slack off and miss things, i dont normally check things by the season i just watch things as they air so im overwhelmed
No.39250
>>39248Best shows for spring 2022?
I watched surprisingly little too, I liked Paripi Koumei though, always left one with some historical setting to read up a bit about. The Otome Game isekai I liked a bit too, although I would've changed the story a bit. Had some hopes for Summertime Render and Shield Hero 2 but haven't managed to finish them.
No.39251
I watched Flying Witch:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31376/Flying_WitchThis show begins like your typical slice of life anime. I started watching it absentmindedly without knowing what it's about. At the end of the first episode, we actually get to see that it's about magic, the build up is great and I was pleasantly surprised. This is a very comfy anime, because it is more of a magical realism story than a fantastical anime, that is witches living ordinary life. It is comfy to watch and the humour is very good. I haven't enjoyed a show like this in a while. At its best moments I was reminded of Miyazaki's movies, especially Kiki's Delivery Service. Of course the animation is nowhere near the level of Miyazaki. This shows seems to suffer from the drop in animation quality that modern shows suffer from, this is a show from 2016, and that is my only complaint, but it isn't as bad as to distract from the story.
The story oddly seems to open up plots but dropping them: we see Makoto going to school, but then it's never spoken of again for example. Again this isn't really distracting, as the story offers very beautiful and comfy scenes throughout.
Makoto best succubus, 8/10
No.39266
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34881I watched Aho succubus. Here are my thoughts:
The episodes for this are under 13 minutes long, so I'll try to be brief. This is basically a silly comedy show that is mostly episodic. In a nutshell, the comedy itself is objectively terrible but the delivery is good.
Most of the comedy in this is either slapstick or sexual, neither of which I'm fond of. Much of the humour in this is just utterly generic school-anime comedy that any anime viewer has definitely seen before. However, the delivery was good enough to keep me watching.
The VAs constantly yell and the dialogue is pretty fast-paced. Yoshiko (the main retard succubus with the orange twintails) really carries the entire show – her VA does a fantastic job of enthusiastically yelling all her lines into the mic. This show would literally be unwatchable without her voice work; I'm not exaggerating, this VA carries the entire show, and redeems its bad attributes enough to make it tolerable. None of the other voice actors shine nearly as much as her. Everyone else in the cast is both unfunny and unlikeable as well. However, the male lead, although irritating and shameless self-insert bait, acts as a good foil for Yoshiko, and they play off each other well.
Visuals and OST were both adequate but unremarkable.
My overall rating: 5/10
The fact that this anime is completely retarded is both its worst and best quality. It really is stupid as hell. However, sometimes it is just dumb enough to be funny and entertaining. I also think the execution of this show is good, and this compensates a lot for how mediocre the humour itself is written. The high-energy script delivery and fast pace combined with short episodes are really what make it watchable. Yoshiko's VA in particular basically carries the entire show with how well she manages to deliver such a low-quality script.
I have no idea how the manga for this managed to be successful, because the writing of the show is totally mediocre and recycles a lot of typical anime humour cliches. Maybe the way the manga panels are setup enhances the humour.
I found this show optimal to watch when I had a bad day or I was angry about something because it would reliably lighten me up just by being really silly.
No.39269
>>39251>we see Makoto going to school, but then it's never spoken of again for example. Again this isn't really distracting, The manga follows through with the plot points it set up like imouto becoming a witch herself. I think the anime only goes up to like volume 4 of the manga
No.39296
i watch SPY x FAMILY and it was ok.
No.39315
bubble
was good but sad
No.39335
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34051/I watched Akiba's Trip. Here are my thoughts:
The plot is mostly episodic monster-of-the-week stuff that is consistently boring and idiotic. Basically, there are bad guys in Akibahara, and the only way to fight them is to strip off their clothes (hence the title of the show). It's as moronic as it sounds, and it stops being funny after about 5 minutes, yet entire scenes are devoted to it, usually multiple times per episode. The fight scenes are boring as hell and drag on way too long. This show overall is frankly just completely retarded, and not in an endearing way either, at least not enough for 13 episodes. My average level of enjoyment while watching was quite low, but every so often there'd be some relatable nerd reference that I'd chuckle at, which is why I didn't drop it.
The art style is somewhat cartoonish and has a strongly saturated colour palette. The animation is simplistic with quality adequate at best. It feels pretty low budget overall. The character designs are also cartoonish; I don't like them aesthetically, but they do kinda fit the theme of the show. Their simplicity made them easy to animate as well, which I guess was beneficial for the action scenes. The characters' personalities are generic and simplistic, as well as annoying in some cases.
As for audio, the OP song is pretty good and has nice peppy vocals. However, the cartoonish OST itself sounds low budget and is sometimes abrasive. The voice acting is also consistently awful. In fact multiple voices in the cast made me want to shove toothpicks into my ears they were so annoying.
Akiba's Trip has quite an authentic otaku-culture theme. The only reason I stuck with this anime was for the truly genuine otaku-culture flavour. Literally nothing else about it was entertaining. These otaku-culture references are diverse too; for example, there are allusions to milsim hobbies, audiophile culture, idol fandom, amateur radio, and PC building. They even have a Yugioh/MTG parody episode, which contains some hilarious moments. I also got the feeling there were obscure references to Japanese Akiba-related pop culture that I probably didn't fully catch.
Aside from the authentic cultural flavour, this show is seriously awful. The only reason you should consider watching it is if a strong otaku-culture theme appeals to you. Even then, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on this. What I'm writing here may sound appealing, but I really can't overstate how underwhelming this show is in reality. Also, the last couple episodes are filled with groan-inducing forced drama that was painful to sit through.
My overall rating: 3/10
This anime is exasperatingly retarded and often boring as hell (especially the fight scenes). However, it does have an authentic otaku-culture flavour and relatable nerdy references. Akiba's Trip feels like a passion project done poorly.
Seriously, this show is total brainrot material and to be honest I was only able to tolerate it whilst stoned out of my mind.
Lastly, apparently there is a game related to this – for the record, I have never played it.
No.39336
>>39335If you liked the authentic otaku stuff then the game may be up your ally. Mind you it's only on the psp and steam, so it's kinda janky. But overall pretty fun beat em up, and even has a side VN with dating options.
No.39337
>>39336I'm extremely picky with video games to the point where I effectively am not interested in them at all. I appreciate the suggestion but it's highly unlikely that I'd enjoy the game. Maybe I'll test it out in a PSP emulator sometime if I'm in the mood for some brainrot.
No.39338
>>39337Nah if you don't like games I don't think you'll get anything out of it. It's pretty subpar, the otaku stuff is the only draw.
No.39357
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34368I watched Vatican Kiseki Chousakan (including OVA), also known as Vatican Miracle Examiner. Here are my thoughts:
This anime is about two religious scholars who travel around investigating the validity of various miracles on behalf of the Vatican. This show has an intense Roman Catholic theme that is quite unique – I really appreciated this aspect of it. However, aside from its strong unwavering commitment to this rich Catholic theme, this show isn't well directed. The actual screenplay and script are kinda dull. Furthermore, as much as I love the premise, the writing is undeniably super amateurish and feels like a novel you'd find in the bargain bin of somebody's neighbourhood yard sale. The plot is so absurd it feels like a kid wrote it. The explanations used to justify the various mysteries in the story are completely ridiculous. As a whole this show is incredibly campy, but that's what makes it fun to watch.
Vatican Kiseki Chousakan is a very unique show. It's so over the top it's comical, yet plays it dead serious at all times. Like, I honestly can't tell whether or not this is all just pokerface satire. This anime has a unique satirical charm that I really enjoyed and think others would as well. On a related note, I definitely got a shounen-ai vibe from the two main characters, which is somewhat ironic to say the least, and also enhanced the parody feeling even more. Plus, they were super cute together.
The two MCs are actually great characters: unique, likeable, memorable, and they complement each other well. Additionally, I liked both of their VAs and thought they suited the roles. Another thing that adds to the show's campy charm is how the many English words in the script are mispronounced by the seiyuus (to the point that referring to the subtitles is often still necessary).
Visually, the show is adequate at best. Some of the character designs are decent, but other than that it is super basic and feels low budget. I think much of the poor visual budget was compensated for by using poor lighting in many scenes. Thankfully, not much character animation is needed to tell this dialogue-heavy story. I do like the seemingly authentic church-like OST. There is a lot of choral music, organs and that sort of thing, which suits the themes and mood of the anime. I'm glad they committed to the themes in this regard as well, instead of using a more-generic soundtrack.
One thing worth mentioning is that the show constantly cycles through supporting characters. The two MCs travel frequently, resulting in the surrounding cast constantly changing (or disappearing because they were killed off). The show is constantly introducing new characters, only for them to disappear within an episode or two. The cost of this constant recurring exposition is significant and is a drain on the show. This is compounded by the fact that some random just-introduced character is usually key to whatever 'miracle' they are investigating at that time, which makes for a sometimes-confusing viewing experience. They randomly throw in characters who are fundamental to the plot and then they vanish and an entirely new supporting cast is introduced – this happens multiple times throughout the show and it is a lot to digest during a 12-episode runtime. I think a fixed set of supporting characters would have been much more suitable for this anime.
My overall rating: 6/10
As much as I adored the premise of this show and really wanted to see it succeed, I can't ignore its very real flaws. Foremost, the writing is unignorably amateurish. It feels like some hack novel that was just barely publishable, although it does have a lot of satirical charm; similar things could be said about this anime's direction and production quality. Regardless, this is still a very unique show and I'm glad I discovered it. A huge portion of my score here is a result of how unique this anime is, as well as the confidence and conviction with which it is presented. The intense Roman Catholic theme of this show is one of a kind and I valued it tremendously. The shortcomings of this anime are unfortunate – it had enormous potential. This appaling waste of potential is a mortal sin indeed.
If Catholicism interests you then you might find this anime enjoyable despite all its flaws. Or if you like (comically absurd) mystery stories, or the unique premise appeals to you for whatever reason. I would love to see the premise of this show executed more-competently.
I think that a member of the Wizchan userbase has a higher probability of enjoying this anime than the average person.
No.39378
already finished both awhile ago but i really like ranking of kings and spy x family for overall feel-good impact.
No.39408
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34104I watched Knight's & Magic. Here are my thoughts:
This anime is about a geeky programmer who gets isekai'd into a fantasy world where he is transformed into an androgynous mecha-fanatic (inb4: wow he's literally me!). The isekai world is like a medieval fantasy setting but with mechs added. Basically, this is a typical isekai show but with a lot of mecha-related content. If you stripped away the mecha theme, this would be an utterly generic medieval isekai. The mecha theme in a medieval setting is the only thing this anime has going for it – there really isn't any other selling point. In general this show feels fun and self-aware of its own silliness.
After the first couple episodes I was feeling cautiously optimistic about this anime, but as I progressed further my enthusiasm declined. I wanted to like this but the actual story is quite dull and boring. The story feels better suited for an LN instead of anime, which isn't surprising since this is an LN adaptation. A large portion of the show consists of the MC tinkering around in the mech mechanic shop, which could be interesting but the execution is so underwhelming (it's probably cooler in literature format). This issue is aggravated by the mechs functioning via some kind of nonsensical magic that isn't ever adequately explained. I think all the tinkering and mechanic shop scenes would have been way more interesting if the mechs operated on physical principles, or at least all the engineering aspects were coherently explained. Anyway, when the mech conflicts do occur they feel totally formulaic. This anime fails to deliver any kind of engaging storyline, and the episodes feel like a slog to get through as a result. I never felt the slightest flicker of excitement or suspense while watching this. It should be noted that I haven't read the LN and can't vouch for the quality of the source material nor the fidelity of this adaptation.
The characters themselves are rather lackluster; nobody is memorable in any way besides the MC. The supporting cast is tropey, generic, and underdeveloped. I liked the MC though – he was fun and his enthusiasm for mechs was infectious. The MC's VA suited him well, and his clingy female companion (Adeltrud) has some cute voicework too. There are all sorts of bastardized western-Continental-European names for everything that are a neverending source of amusement when paired with the Japanese dialogue in this ridiculous show.
Some of the action scenes are decent, although a little crude at times. This is hardly a high-budget blockbuster movie; CG is frequently used to animate the mechs and monsters. Don't go into this anime expecting mindblowing action scenes, you won't get that here. However, some of the mechs are pretty cool, and there's a decent variety of mech models featured in the show. Furthermore, sometimes the setting looks nice; for example, the medieval castles have a lot of aesthetic moments.
Although the OST is nothing special from a musical perspective, it has a unique medieval flavour that suited the setting well (think historic-European instruments like bagpipes and various types of horns). It is a comical juxtaposition to hear music like that playing while the screen is filled with mechs battling.
You probably won't be surprised to hear that this show can be fairly juvenile and generally feels catered to a young audience.
My personal overall rating: 4/10
Were it not for the mecha theme, this would be a boring formulaic medieval isekai. The story in this is not compelling or interesting at all. Most of the characters are underdeveloped and tropey, with the exception of the MC who is fun and likeable. The show in general is fun and playful, and feels like it isn't meant to be taken seriously even though it involves military conflict. There is a ton of 'mech fanservice' in this, and for diehard mecha fans it might be worth watching. Aside from the cool mecha action, I didn't particularly enjoy this anime.
The thing I savoured most about this show was the action scenes, but that's more a consequence of the story, characters, and script all sucking. If you just want to chill out and watch mechs fight in medieval castles and shoot lasers at each other, this show is fine for that. Honestly, you won't miss out on much if you just skip all the duller dialogue-heavy scenes. This isn't an anime you should take seriously.
I'm probably the wrong audience for this. For diehard mecha fans, I think this show is worth a try. Also, boys around roughly preteen age might enjoy this anime.
No.39411
>>37992I just started watching this today. So far I'm really enjoying it. It's actually gotten me back into anime. It reminds me of Yokohama Drive in a weird way.
No.39469
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33983I watched Onihei. Here are my thoughts:
I dropped this halfway through but picked it up again a few months later and managed to complete it. Overall it was pretty mediocre but did have a couple positive qualities. Foremost, this show does a good job of depicting the 18th-century Japan setting, both visually and from a sociological perspective – many social themes that prevailed during that time period are featured in the writing (ex. caste system, prostitution and infidelity, criminality and law enforcement, gambling and drinking). This anime can be interesting from a sociological perspective. That said, I found the constant focus on burglaries became boring and repetitive, even from early in the runtime. The screentime used to demonstrate the thievery (like sneaking in, etc.) is often quite dull and repetitive, as well as lacking creativity. The low-budget undynamic animation also certainly did not complement these burglary scenes. Although there are many frames in which the setting (ex. building architecture) looks nice, the animation is not dynamic at all – it often feels like a Powerpoint presentation. There are certainly some nice static shots in here, but the character animation feels very low effort, including during the short-lived action scenes.
The plot is mostly episodic with stories that are self-contained within their respective episodes. However, there is a core set of characters who persist across episodes. Unfortunately, these recurring characters are underdeveloped and not particularly likeable or memorable in any way. The episodic plots usually involve the characters reacting to some kind of conflict (i.e. generic burglary scheme #9001 + ratchety hoodrat drama that belongs on Jerry Springer), leaving little room for any kind of character development – this issue is compounded by the large size of the cast. Overall I found the storywriting tedious and repetitive. The episodic plots are quite generic and felt like they came off an assembly line – there was nothing in here that I hadn't already seen many times before in fictional writing. Like, a third of the episodes somehow involve a guy falling in love with some dumpy hooker bitch – this gets tiresome very fast, yet the theme gets repeated over and over in the writing; it was eyeroll-inducing.
I personally am not at all fond of the jazz-like OST and this is another major reason why I'm lukewarm on this show. This is a matter of personal taste though, and other people may like it. Also, the voice acting was nothing special, except for maybe the MC himself who has a deep handsome voice.
My overall rating: 5/10
This anime is basically a combination of Cops + Jerry Springer: Feudal Japan Edition. Similarly to these iconic American TV shows, Onihei explores many sociological issues in a highly dignified manner. Seriously though, somebody interested in historical Japan society would likely appreciate this show. Onihei's best aspect is how it depicts its setting, not only visually but in the way that so many sociological phenomena are featured in the writing. Unfortunately, the episodic plots themselves and the characters they involve are nothing special. Much like the animation itself, there are some appreciable moments but the overall execution is repetitive and lacks dynamism.
No.39482
cyberpunk edgerunners was cool
No.39505
>>39469>>39408>>39357>>39335>>39266Seeing that most of the series are you just complaining and giving them between 4-6 is clear that the problem are not the series but yours.
No.39506
>>39505He literally watches every single anime in whatever year he picked, unlike most people he has no filter for what he picks basically. 4-6 is an accurate take if you watch every mediocre shitheap put in front of you.
No.39507
>>39506>He literally watches every singleWhich means the problems are on him and not on the series.
No.39509
>>39508Maybe I interpreted wrong what you were saying. Haven't sleep in a while.
No.39512
https://myanimelist.net/anime/35251I watched Sengoku Night Blood. Here are my thoughts:
This is first and foremost a reverse-harem show (it's an otome-game adaptation). If that doesn't appeal to you then you shouldn't watch this. If you don't want to be surrounded by hot vampire werewolf warrior men in a historical Japan setting, then this is not the anime for you.
Unfortunately I think the premise of this show is not used to its full potential; the supernatural elements of the story aren't really explored at all, even though they are what makes the show most unique – definitely a missed opportunity there. Instead, much of the dialogue revolves around the military conflicts between various factions, which sounds like it might be interesting but the execution is underwhelming.
I found the story difficult to follow; a ton of random names (well, many characters are named after historical figures like Nobunaga) are thrown at the viewer from early in the show, and it's difficult to digest it all and keep track of the lore, plus the viewer is never given a reason to care in the first place. I often felt like this anime was designed with the expectation that the viewer already had background knowledge of the lore and characters, which I guess isn't surprising for a niche otome-game adaptation. The story (and its execution) is a weak point of this anime, at least from my uninformed perspective. I often felt confused by the events taking place. This issue is compounded even further by the enormous size of the supporting cast – there are dozens of warriors who interact with the MC throughout the show, and keeping track of all of them and their relevance to the plot is not a simple task. Anybody who intends to watch this should assume that they won't be able to fully comprehend the story if they're otherwise unacquainted with the franchise, particularly during the first half of the anime. Comprehension issues aside, I found the overall writing totally unengaging and dull; I was never interested in the story at all, aside from the romantic context it provided. Additionally, most of the characters feel underdeveloped and tropey. Although the enormous cast size is certainly one factor in this, even the MC herself is lacking in personality, beyond being shy and useless.
At times, I thought the character interaction in this was done well – particularly for the MC and her chemistry with the rest of the cast. Although a little cliche at times, this show shines during the many little moments of interaction between the MC and her male companions. It doesn't rush things either, and seemingly mundane scenes are frequently stretched out to savour these special little moments. As amateurish as this anime feels in other ways, the character interaction is sometimes surprisingly well done. A major component of this is the script: although the scriptwriting is a little crude sometimes, there are also scenes where it feels quite intimate (when the characters aren't loredumping random information). There are some really romantic scenes lurking in here that made watching this anime worthwhile. I'm pretty sure it was an unwritten rule that the MC needed to be princess-carried at least once per episode, haha.
The character designs for some of the men were a little too animal-ish for my tastes. The big wolf ears and big mane-like hair on some characters was a little too much for me. I'm sure other people like that kind of thing though. I found the vampire guys hotter than the werewolf guys. I also found some of the designs a little too bishounen-ish for me and wished a lot of them were more masculine, especially since they're supposed to be fighters. Somewhat conversely, I disliked the mullet-like hairstyle of the female MC. Like OMG honey you need some conditioner. She looks like she should be a greasy rockstar from the 80s, and I don't mean that in a flattering way. She also only wears one boring outfit the entire time, which was disappointing. If those guys (read: animation staff) really treasured her they would get her some nice pretty clothes!
Historical shows are often a good opportunity to exhibit unique outfits, and the outfits in this are fairly detailed, but some are pretty gaudy and aren't always aesthetically pleasing despite the effort put in to animate them. A lot of the outfits are 'overdesigned' so to speak. One small detail I appreciated was how they would include sounds for the sword scabbards shuffling around on the characters' hips. So for example, when somebody would sit down on a wooden floor you could hear the sound of heavy sheathed blades against the wood.
Although the animation quality is nothing special, the lighting effects in this, both indoors and outdoors, are often done pretty well and can enhance the romantic feeling of a scene. This show kind of feels like it's a decade older than its actual production year, in terms of visuals as well as the premise, story, and even the soundtrack. True to its title though, the night sky of this anime always looks good.
The voice acting for pretty much the entire cast is mediocre, including the MC. The OST is also nothing special.
The comedy in this is applied very lightly and is not particularly intrusive or frequent – I am grateful for this. The show takes place during some kind of military conflict/stalemate and the tone most of the time is serious. In terms of sexualization, it's not over the top and usually not graphic; a lot of it is subtext related to the supernatural warriors wanting to drink the blood of the MC (which is very erotic to be honest). The warrior men get power by sucking the blood of the female MC – to be candid I found this psychologically super hot and it's one of the main reasons I stuck with the show. In all seriousness, it's a very good idea for a plot mechanism in a supernatural romance story. The MC being a pivotal tool in warfare as well as sexually attractive is hot on like an abstract meta level.
My personal overall rating: 5/10
As much as I like the premise of this show, its execution is mediocre in most ways. Its best feature is the character interaction between the MC and the warriors. What kept me watching were all those little sweet moments between the MC and her adoring warrior companions. Sengoku Night Blood has some uniquely romantic scenes, but you need to tolerate a confusing storyline to get to them.
Hanakanaru Hachiyou Shou has a very similar premise to this anime but does it better; I would recommend you watch that before trying this if a historical reverse harem is what you're looking for. I suppose Akatsuki no Yona would fulfill that criteria as well. I wouldn't suggest watching Sengoku Night Blood unless you've already exhausted the better implementations of the reverse-harem feudal-Asia template.
>>39506Basically this. Imagine how bad the stuff I drop is, haha. The other thing to keep in mind is that it usually takes me way longer to get through a show that I know is actually good and worth appreciating, because I'm always trying to optimize my state of mind and mood for maximum enjoyment. Plus, if something is really great then I'm constantly rewinding and watching every scene at least twice (analyzing the script, taking screencaps, etc.). It usually takes me at least an hour to watch an episode of a show I'm truly savouring. Conversely, I can easily churn through episodes of trash because I don't feel pressured to appreciate it. Sometimes I just want to rot my brain with garbage anime. Unfortunately, by the time I find time in the day to watch anime, I am usually tired or intoxicated or depressed or whatever. The worst thing about being a full-time worker is that the cognitive prime of your day is wasted. I always try to optimize my enjoyment of anime, and this can impede my progression through shows that I know are excellent. I have a couple great shows in my pipeline right now but it's taking me a while to get through them for these reasons. Plus, I've been super busy IRL this year unfortunately, which also shifts my anime consumption towards trash for the aforementioned reasons. Furthermore, I am scraping the bottom of the barrel of 2017 right now, and I'm optimistic that my average rating will increase once I wrap up my evaluation of that year. 2017 has more trash in its catalogue than a third-world river basin – I'm wincing at what I'll need to include in my 'top' 5 for each season. 2017 has so much garbage. That said, one good thing about watching a lot of trash anime is that it gives you the perspective needed to really savour the good stuff. You learn to identify common pitfalls, and appreciate their absence when something is done well. It helps you build a broader understanding of this medium as a whole, which in turn enhances your enjoyment and ability to identify high-quality works. It's a virtuous cycle.
No.39611
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34934I watched Koi to Uso (including OVA), also known as Love and Lies or Koi to Kuso. Here are my thoughts:
Koi to Uso is about a group of highschool students in a world where marital partners are assigned by the government. Most of the story revolves around the MC's affections being divided between his government-assigned partner and the succubus he naturally desires.
My first impulse was to drop this, and for about half a year I did, but I ended up coming back to it out of curiosity. What I discovered is that Koi to Uso is an utterly ridiculous show but it has enough redeeming qualities to be enjoyable. For the record, I have never read the manga.
The story of this literally feels like a 13-year-old's creative writing assignment. Everything has this juvenile logic to it; the story demands a lot of suspension of disbelief. I really can't overstate how cheesy and pulp-fiction-like the story is. Even by highschool romance anime standards, this show is unbelievably corny and ridiculous. Forgive my use of youthful lingo, but this show is another level of 'cringe'. The secondhand embarrassment I felt watching this was extreme. A lot of the character interaction felt unnatural and it was kind of eerie. The way this show treats romance in general feels quite immature and juvenile, although it is somewhat endearing. It's possible that my perception of this is clouded by cultural differences in the courtship process.
The male MC is awful and has zero personality besides being a spineless, indecisive, clueless idiot, like most highschool anime protagonists. However, both the main female love interests have unique personalities and surprisingly a lot of depth to their character that unfolds throughout the show. They are more-thoughtful characters than the typical female love interests of a male-oriented hetero romance (a pretty low bar to overcome).
The thing is, pretty much all the flaws I've discussed above are storywriting issues. If you can look beyond that, Koi to Uso is actually a fairly well-directed show. It does a decent job of setting up romantic tension, and overall kept things dramatic and interesting. The character interaction, although written in an absurd manner, is sometimes surprisingly well executed. There are some romantic scenes in here that absolutely knock it out of the park with great script, music and cinematography. I know I'm showing contempt for this show in this review, but do not be mistaken: there are some scenes in here that made me gush they were so intimate. Furthermore, Koi to Uso is unique – it fully embraces its premise and explores the concept quite thoroughly. I also appreciated the absence of comedy; this show delivers its corniness with a totally straight face and I appreciated that.
As for visuals, I liked the character designs, including the eyes; the characters' eyes are huge and bug-like even by anime standards. I liked the characters' faces but they're definitely a little uncanny and other people may find them off-putting. The character animation is decent for a non-action anime, better than I expected at least. The facial expressions are well animated. During some scenes the cinematography is more sophisticated than I'd expect from a typical highschool romance show. Overall the production value is a notch above your average anime, although the manifestations of this are subtle.
The soundtrack is surprisingly good and felt quite modern and well produced – definitely a much better OST than your average anime. The background music elevated a lot of scenes and enhanced the show considerably. Conversely, I found the voice acting mediocre and none of the VAs impressed me.
I liked that the existence of sex was acknowledged in this. As opposed to so many other highschool romance shows where handholding might as well be our species' means of reproduction. This show is fairly 'sex positive' so to speak, which is somewhat rare for romance anime and might be a desirable feature for some viewers.
My overall rating: 6/10
Koi to Uso is SO BAD it's KINDA GOOD. The writing of this is comically moronic, but the execution is good enough to salvage this fanfic-tier story. The show is fairly well directed and decently produced. If you're prepared to endure a weapons-grade level of cringe, this anime is actually pretty enjoyable and entertaining. State of mind is hugely important though – you really need to embrace the corniness of this to enjoy it. There are some surprisingly romantic scenes in here if you have an open-minded attitude. Koi to Uso exceeded my low expectations.
If you're just looking for some ridiculously campy telenovela-tier romance, then this anime is a good candidate for that. It literally feels like some teenager's fanfiction randomly got an anime adaptation. I want to reiterate again how juvenile this show is: I think it would be hard for someone older than 14 to take it seriously. That's part of its charm though – it's so silly that it's fun. For fans of highschool romance, I think this anime is worth checking out, especially if you like this kind of thing served over-the-top ultra cheesy. This is definitely not an anime for everyone, but there is a specific kind of audience that would enjoy it. I'm glad that I gave it a second chance and didn't discard it based on its poor first impression. Also, if you're a drinker, this show is best enjoyed with a little booze to make you more receptive to the cringiness and cheesy romance.
If you are weirdly fixated on the idea of the government assigning you a spouse (I've actually seen this seriously discussed many times on the internet), then you might be interested in this show – it explores that topic quite thoroughly. Also, in case you hadn't inferred already, I think a female viewer is more likely to enjoy this due to the focus on marriage and relationship dynamics.
If you like ultra-cheesy highschool romance, you should give Koi to Uso a chance.
No.39612
>Scrolls down the replies
>More 6 and 5
Predictable. Seriously what is the point.
No.39615
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1535I (finally) watched Death Note. Here are my thoughts:
I still vividly remember how popular this show was in the Anglosphere during the late 2000s. I remember so many people I knew were super enthusiastic about this show. I remember the merchandise in the anime aisles of the hobby stores too. If you had asked me in say, 2008, to name the title of an anime? I would have said Death Note. And back then I had little interest in anime at all. Still, even as an uninterested bystander, I could recognize the characters of Death Note. And way back then, I still remember thinking the shinigami character designs were creepy as hell! Hahaha
Like most shows that manage to achieve tremendous popularity among a broad diverse audience, the real strength of Death Note is in its plot and story in general. The story is quite intricate and well thought out. Initially, it felt a little cliche and predictable, but as the episodes progress, more and more complexity gets added and it becomes impressively intricate and thoughtful. The writer of this is talented. There are lots of surprising twists and I was consistently interested in the story despite the considerable length of this show (37 episodes). It is an entertaining easy-to-watch anime and the episodes passed quickly.
I think another reason for the widespread success of Death Note is that it's very suitable material for an edgelord's self-insert power fantasy. I won't spoil anything, but just based on the premise alone I'm sure you can understand this point. Similarly, this show was very compatible with the outcast subcultures that prevailed during the mid-2000s, such as goth and the like.
The visuals are adequate but not really a source of enjoyment. Nothing about the visual presentation of this anime impressed me, except in some ways the character designs. The character designs, including for the supporting cast, often looked quite lifelike and I could easily imagine a real-life human equivalent of them. This might be a factor in why so many people unacquainted with anime latched onto this show – it feels a lot like live-action and I could easily imagine it being performed by human actors. Sometimes the facial expressions were done well too, albeit not particularly fluid. Otherwise though, Death Note looked like a generic mid-2000s anime. The animation quality was literally Powerpoint-tier during many scenes. In fairness, this isn't a show that needs visual flair – the vast majority of it just consists of people talking in various urban settings, and you need to pay very close attention to the dialogue to follow the complex story anyway.
During the second half of the show there is a noticeable change in the art style, perhaps driven by the show's success and the resulting impact on its budget. The character animation somehow got even worse, and seemed off-model relative to earlier episodes. I found this change in art style to be unwelcome despite the bar being set quite low in this regard.
I did enjoy the peculiar autism-like body language of L (AKA Ryuzaki, the MC's main adversary). Even little things like the way he holds his phone made me smirk (this is such a meticulous little detail too). In fact I liked his character a lot and wish he were the MC of the show instead, although he does thankfully get a lot of screentime. He is a great character: distinctive and memorable, unique in both his psyche and communication style, and consistently entertaining. Death Note would not be what it is without him; I think he added a ton of value to the show. The best episodes nearly always had him in the spotlight.
I thought the soundtrack was actually pretty bad, during the first half of the show at least. There are lots of abrasive guitar-heavy tracks that do not suit the mood at all (as is the case with many anime from this time period). The entire OST sounded low effort and mediocre; it never enhanced my enjoyment of the show. That j-rock OP was awful as well, and I dreaded having to hear it every time I queued up an episode. There is some choral music that fit the show well, but unfortunately it's used infrequently. I will concede that the OST improved during the second half of the show when new background music was added.
None of the voice actors impressed me except for L's (Ryuzaki) VA – he has a distinctive voice that fits his character well. The voice for the shinigami (Ryuk) could have been way better and was definitely a missed opportunity. The shinigami's voice really did not suit his role at all; he sounded literally mentally retarded and it was so out of place. I also thought the voice acting for Misa was very amateurish.
Without spoiling her context in the story, I did not like the main female love interest (Misa) in this. The points in the show where she was most prominent were also the weakest. I had a bad feeling from the moment Misa was introduced that she would herald a decline in story quality. Unfortunately, I was right. I loathed Misa's appearance on-screen almost instantaneously, and continued to do so throughout the runtime. She clashed so much with the mood and themes of the show, and was overall annoying and degraded the quality of any scene she was in. Unfortunately, she gets a ton of screentime, particularly during the middle episodes of the anime. At the very least I would have preferred her personality were completely different. Also, Misa's voicework was consistently annoying as hell. Takada Kiyomi (prominent character near the end of the anime) was a way better love-interest character and I strongly wish Misa were swapped with her.
My overall rating: 7/10
Although the anime production is lacking in some ways, the story of Death Note is an impressive work. It is intricate and thoughtful, while consistently being suspenseful and surprising me often. The praise this author has received is well deserved, and I hope they have continued to produce other stories (that don't include Misa).
If you're interested in Death Note, I suggest you consider reading the source material instead of watching the anime. The story is the selling point here, and if that were disregarded then the anime itself is not particularly impressive. The anime is also 37 episodes long, which is a considerable time investment; reading the manga is probably more efficient. Of course it's up to your personal tastes, but if you like manga then you should consider just reading this instead. Death Note seems well suited for a literature format, no pun intended.
>>39612Dude, I watch a lot of trash. You have to sift through garbage if you want to find diamonds in the rough. Furthermore, these results are not unexpected if anime quality obeys a Gaussian distribution.
I realize I have been on a bit of a negative streak, but that is primarily due to the reasons outlined beneath my Sengoku Night Blood review. I have a couple 10/10 anime in my pipeline right now, but it is taking me a long time to finish watching them due to perfectionist autism.
No.39616
>>39615So you see every show in every season and decide to give most 6 and 5. There are only two possibilities for that, you're an autist, or you're one of these retarded "anime reviewers".
No.39624
>>39615Have you actually read the manga? I've never done so myself, but according to what I've heard from others over the years and my quickly glimpsing through the manga, the anime is actually superior in all ways and the manga is meh/decent.
No.39625
>>39624Anime has been superior to it's manga adaptations until CGI made it's way into being into every anime. To get the full experience of course you need to either understand Japanese or be a good speed reader of [proper] subs. Sometimes anime gets the moods wrong but that's really a different corporate/economics related issue. Besides Berserk, Blame, Jojo and some horror manga there isn't really anything visually stunning. Manga is pretty much boring to read besides looking at the cover art, the initial first few pages, and the rest is crap until the final chapter panel. Anime sets the pacing better most of the time due to VA's and music. A lot of supporting/background cast gets screentime rather than mainly looking at the MC and his thoughts in every panel of a manga.
No.39648
https://myanimelist.net/anime/30375I watched all three seasons of Starmyu (including OVAs), also known as High School Star Musical. Here are my thoughts:
In some ways, Starmyu is a fairly typical male-idol show; the cast is almost entirely young men. It consists of musical scenes, with singing and dancing, interspersed by varying degrees of forced drama. It literally feels like a live-action musical, and in this regard is a unique show. It has a very large cast – some of the characters are likeable, most are forgettable.
The show takes place in a prestigious artistic school which focuses on theatrical acting and singing/dancing. If you want to self-insert into that kind of scenario, this anime is uniquely suited for that. Much of the plot revolves around the academic activities of the artistic students and related drama. There is a lot of emphasis on kouhai-senpai relationships during every season, as well as teamwork among the various students. Sometimes there is a mild shounen-ai vibe, but it's not that prominent and can be ignored if you're averse to that kind of thing.
To be honest, this has been a go-to 'drunk anime' for me. The combination of musical/dance scenes and forced nonsensical drama made it ideal for watching under the influence of alcohol. Frankly, the storyline is silly and the drama feels quite artificial. You should completely shut your brain off if you want to enjoy this anime. You're better off not even trying to follow the ridiculous storyline, which mostly consists of endless bitchy catfights among the drama-queen cast members.
Visually, this anime is nothing special. I will give credit to the fact that the character designs, although simplistic, are distinct and easy to discern among the very large cast. Some of the guys are pretty cute too. The dancing in the musical scenes is also quite captivating, which is great because each episode has at least one song-and-dance scene.
Musically, Starmyu is quite good. The songs are catchy and stick in your head. The VAs are distinctive and have decent singing ability. The background OST is good too and does an effective job of setting the mood for the incoherent bitchfight drama. I'm looking forward to exploring the musical content more in isolation; I might even buy some albums if I can't find high-fidelity downloads. The musical catalog is quite large as well, which is always a plus.
Among the three seasons, the third was the worst. Although they all lay on the forced drama heavily, Season 3 is by far the most egregious in this respect. The plot of Season 3 is filled to the brim with some of the most forced artificial drama I've ever seen, and the way they dragged it out for 12 episodes was exasperating. Season 3 made fight videos on Worldstar seem Shakespearean in comparison. Season 3 also brought nothing new to the table in terms of content, and didn't improve on anything already depicted in the prior two seasons.
My ratings are as follows:
Season 1: 7/10
Season 2: 7/10
Season 3: 5/10
The writing of Season 3 is truly dreadful and cranks up the forced drama to an unbearable level. Otherwise, I enjoyed this anime. Although the forced drama is excessive, the dancing scenes are captivating, and who can resist imagining oneself as an art-school student or faculty member? Moreover, this show delivers on its most important selling point: the musical content is consistently good.
If you like performance arts, you might enjoy this show – it's basically an animated musical. This anime will let you experience the theater-kid life.
>>39616>There are only two possibilities for that, you're an autist, or you're one of these retarded "anime reviewers".I'm not sure what the distinction between these two options is.
>>39624I haven't read the manga either but I'm under the impression it was well received overall. I was just trying to make the point that the manga may be a superior consumption method for some people and that they should consider it. I know I was reluctant to commit to 37 episodes of something I wasn't sure I'd enjoy.
No.39651
I finished watching NOIR it was pretty good. to bad the ending is meh
No.39677
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34902I watched Tsurezure Children, also known as Tsuredure Children. Here are my thoughts:
These are ~12-minute episodes that consist of generic highschool romance skits between various student pairings. The characterization of these students is shallow and tropey.
I found the dialogue in this to be very clunky and unnatural. The romance feels quite inorganic and hamfisted, and overall simply not emotionally engaging. The script is seriously awful and a crippling flaw from my perspective. It feels so unnatural it's uncomfortable at times just having to listen to it.
The characters have simplistic same-face designs, and the animation quality is unremarkable. The voice acting is okay but that doesn't mean much when it's wasted on such a clumsy unnatural script.
If you can tolerate its flaws, this show can be mildly entertaining. It is sometimes cute, and some of the romance-oriented humour can be funny. To be honest, I only watched it with at least a bottle of wine in me, mainly because of how cringe-inducing the dialogue is.
Overall this is a very juvenile anime that feels targeted to an audience in their early teenage years. Somebody in that demographic may enjoy this more than I did. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone older than early teenage years enjoying this anime much.
My personal overall rating: 3/10
No.39678
>>39615It was tough to watch this again as an adult after liking it as a teenager and realizing how utterly retarded and full of plot holes it is.
No.39686
>>39678you should stick to historical documentaries then
No.39699
finished blue gender.
honestly some of the best kino ive ever seen. kind of an eva clone though.
No.39702
>>39699jesus fucking christ
No.39710
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34028I watched Idol Jihen, also known as Idol Incidents. Here are my thoughts:
This anime is about idol succubi who are also politicians within the national Japanese legislative system. Despite some mature themes involved, this show basically feels like a Saturday-morning cartoon meant for a child audience. The plot is mostly episodic and usually involves the simplistic use of some kind of political conflict, such as a scandal or public policy decision. Aside from these political themes, this feels like a generic formulaic idol show; this anime isn't nearly as creative as it could have been. Regardless, the unusual juxtaposition of idols and politics is silly and fun. The absurdity of it got some chuckles out of me. The novelty of mixing idols and Japanese politics is what kept me watching this show, even though the actual scene-by-scene story is quite dull and feels calibrated for a child audience. This anime consistently feels juvenile.
I wish there were more song-and-dance scenes and more musical content in general. All they ever did was recycle the (admittedly quite cute) OP and ED songs for the idol scenes, which was very disappointing and also just another major indication of how low effort this anime is as a whole. They also reused the exact same CG dance animation multiple times. If you want good musical idol content, look elsewhere. At least some of the idol outfits and character designs are cute.
Idol Jihen is a unique cultural artifact, but ultimately it's not particularly entertaining. If you're interested in the Japanese legislative system, you might get a kick out of this anime, but don't expect much in the way of detail or nuance; the treatment of politics here is quite superficial. Lastly, this seems like it would be a fun show to watch with other people and collectively joke about; it has a lot of meme potential, which hasn't been capitalized upon due to its low viewership.
My overall rating: 4/10
No.39763
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32615/I watched Youjo Senki, also known as Saga of Tanya the Evil. I watched the first season, the OVA, and the movie. At the time of writing, Season 2 has not yet aired. Here are my thoughts:
This anime is about a salaryman who gets reincarnated in pseudo-WW1 Europe as a young orphan succubus (Tanya) while retaining their original personality. Tanya has an aptitude for magic and joins the military as an officer in the mage unit. Tanya is sort of an 'anti-hero' main character in the sense that they are highly self-interested and morally ambiguous.
The action scenes in Youjo Senki look good and have detailed fight choreography along with nice sound effects. The audio production quality of this is what I'd expect from a movie – it's pretty nice. In fact, Youjo Senki overall has movie-like production quality. The visuals are a strong point – the setting in particular looks fantastic. The European landscape often looks amazing. Furthermore, the architecture and interior decor feels authentic for the time period and is consistently meticulous and vividly detailed. I could tell there was a lot of attention to detail put into how the setting is depicted. One of my favourite things about this anime was admiring the intricate interior design of each room, and the cinematography does a good job of displaying it! Additionally, the character animation is fluid and well done too, including facial expressions. There is also lots of variety among the character designs, making each member of the large cast distinctive and easy to discern. The visuals of Youjo Senki are excellent.
Although the premise of this show is neat, I found the actual episode-by-episode story underwhelming and very predictable. Speaking more generally, although I found Youjo Senki entertaining, I never found it suspenseful or exciting, which seems like a shortcoming for a violent action-heavy show set in a war zone. The protagonist plot armour is blatantly indestructible, and the stakes never feel high as a result. It is a fun easy-to-watch show though. Despite the war theme, this anime feels best suited for casual viewing – it never feels all that serious. This isn't Saving Private Ryan; it's just a silly isekai anime and you should set your expectations accordingly.
Tanya's VA does an excellent job and is very unique and memorable. Her voicework really enhances this show and deserves a lot of praise. The voices for the various military officers fit their roles well too. The OST seems well produced – it is mostly military themed; it could have had a little more personality I think. Conversely, the ED song sung by Tanya's VA oozes personality (Aoi Yuuki is super talented).
My overall rating: 7/10
Youjo Senki is fun and entertaining, but it is also predictable and lacks suspense. I didn't find the story interesting or engaging at all. However, the production quality is consistently movie-like and the action scenes are well done. The early-20th-century European setting often looks excellent and quite detailed, both indoors and outdoors. Tanya's VA does a memorably terrific job and adds a lot of personality to the anime. The audiovisuals of Youjo Senki are great in many respects.
For anyone fond of the early-1900s European setting, Youjo Senki is worth checking out. Even if you don't like how silly the story is, the setting really does look terrific. I would also recommend this to action fans because the fight scenes are quite captivating. If you're looking for a solid cinematic experience, Youjo Senki can provide that.
Youjo Senki reminded me a lot of Shuumatsu no Izetta, which is another anime that involves flying magic users fighting in WW-era Europe. I liked both these anime but for different reasons; Youjo Senki is more playful and has better visuals and action scenes, whereas Shuumatsu no Izetta is more dramatic and has lots of cute memorable yuri romance.
>>39678I've seen much worse TBH, especially by anime standards. I tend not to be overly concerned with plot realism though.
No.40065
https://myanimelist.net/anime/31422/I watched Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu (including the Taiwan special), also known as Minami Kamakura High School succubi Cycling Club. Here are my thoughts:
The title of this anime accurately describes the content. There's minimal 'filler' material in here – the screentime is nearly always focused on cycling in some way. I appreciate anime that consistently stick to their theme, unlike so many other highschool anime which devolve into formulaic episodes unrelated to the show's main selling point. Minami Kamakura Jitensha-bu could be described as formulaic as well, in the sense that the storyboard is what you'd expect for a show about novice cyclists, but at least you won't have to suffer through a culture-festival episode or a typical beach episode. I was apprehensive about the highschool setting but thankfully there's barely any classroom screentime in this. As you might expect, various landmarks in the Kamakura region are featured throughout the cycling activities. It does sometimes feel like a thinly veiled tourism advertisement, albeit not overly so and my enjoyment was never impeded by this.
I liked the brief live-action segments that play at the end of each episode. They mostly consist of various cycling-related conversations in a bike shop. These live-action segments are both informative and cute and I enjoyed them, especially because they seemed endearingly loosely scripted. This anime is fairly educational for cycling – although I already knew much of what is explained regarding bicycles, it was still entertaining to see things rehashed. This show does a good job of teaching the viewer about cycling while still being entertaining. This could serve as a kids' show. There's minimal sexualization, and the character interaction is very simplistic and straightforward such that a child could understand it easily. This anime's characters are quite tropey and there's barely any character development.
Minami Kamakura Jitensha-bu comes up short in the production-value department – it could pass as being 15 years older than its actual production year. The character designs are retro, and CG is sometimes used to animate the cycling scenes. The landscape and setting do sometimes look nice though. I found the voice acting mediocre and was also disappointed by the crummy low-budget soundtrack.
My overall rating: 5/10
If I didn't like cycling, I would have dropped this. This anime really doesn't have any selling points aside from the bicycle theme, which it does focus on consistently. This show does the bicycle theme well and is filled with lots of cycling scenes in various contexts, and also informs the viewer about some technical aspects of the activity. The characters and their interactions are tropey and simplistic. Production quality is lacking in many ways, however the Japanese outdoors do sometimes look decent.
People who like cycling might enjoy this anime. It's also suitable for a child audience while still being entertaining for a viewer of any age. I liked Long Riders slightly more than this anime – you should give Long Riders a try first if you're looking for a cycling-themed show.
>>39764The character is canonically both genders; there's no political agenda here.
No.40080
https://myanimelist.net/anime/33378/I watched both the Haikara-san ga Tooru movies, also known as Here Comes Miss Modern. Here are my thoughts:
This anime is about a tomboy who is pressured into an arranged marriage with a half-jap soldier in the Japan army. The story takes place during the first couple decades of the 20th century and has a socio-historic flavour that some viewers may find appealing. It involves a lot of social issues in Taisho-era Japan, mainly involving female gender roles. It is somewhat interesting from a sociological perspective, although the plot velocity and runtime constraints limit the depth to which these themes could be explored. Even so, someone interested in historical Japanese society might appreciate this anime. These movies also incorporate the political nature of marriage in the writing – I found this to be refreshing, as the typically overly romanticized nature of marriage in fiction often doesn't reflect reality. I appreciated this lifelike treatment of marriage, and it meshed well with the other social themes. That said, romance is still a dominant motif in this anime, as is the relationship drama that comes along with it.
This feels like a shoujo-demographic anime, albeit not exclusively so. As you might assume from the title, the story focuses very much on the female MC. The primary male love interest lacks character depth – he's really underdeveloped. In fact the entire cast is tropey in characterization, but I don't think that could have been avoided given the runtime. The story actually reminded me of theatrical works like Shakespeare in the sense that it involved themes such as love and loss, love polygons, tragedy and reunification; it was all quite reminiscent of theatrical writing. Haikara-san ga Tooru feels like it could be a stage play instead of movie anime. Ironically however, I found the scriptwriting itself poor – many scenes in this could have been enhanced by a better script.
Similarly to theatrical writing, the story of Haikara-san ga Tooru demands a lot of suspension of disbelief. It is filled with convenient coincidences used to move the plot along and it felt crude and hamfisted as a result. The second movie in particular is quite bad in this regard and I enjoyed it less than the first. I also found the pacing of the first movie better calibrated than the second.
There are a lot of scenes in which the boorish tomboy MC is placed into situations where elegance and sophistication are expected of her – these scenes are funny and I enjoyed watching them. The sidekick ruffian henchman character (Ushigorou) also has some funny moments. Unfortunately the other sidekick character (Ranmaru), a feminine-boy childhood friend, is kind of annoying.
The visual art style and animation quality are rather lackluster. The visuals are on par with what I'd expect from a modest-budget TV anime – they're nothing special. The character designs are mildly retro shoujo-manga-like. In fact, overall this anime feels retro – if you told me it were 15 years older than its actual production year, I might have believed you. Regardless, the visuals overall feel low quality and fairly amateurish. However, the soundtrack does have some nice orchestral music. Conversely, the voice acting is consistently mediocre for the entire cast, in my opinion.
My ratings for the Haikara-san ga Tooru movies are as follows:
Movie 1 (Benio, Hana no 17-sai): 5/10
Movie 2 (Hana no Tokyo Dai Roman): 4/10
The writing of the second movie is worse than the first, mainly due to forced coincidences in the storyline. Furthermore, many scenes in these movies suffer from weak scriptwriting coupled with underwhelming voice acting. The visuals are lacking the quality I'd expect from movies made in the late 2010s, however the soundtrack is decent and worth checking out if you like classical/orchestral-type stuff. Some viewers may appreciate the socio-historic themes of these movies.
I think that in general a female audience is more likely to enjoy these movies; they kind of felt like Taisho chick flicks.
For the record, I have never seen the original anime adaptation released in the 70s.
These movies reminded me of Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni, in that they are set in a similar time period and deal with similar social themes (i.e. female gender roles in historical militaristic Japan).
No.40083
I finished Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
I dont think ive ever felt worse in my life by watching an anime. Every episode was gut wrenching and made me cry.
I wanted anaru and jintan to get together so badly man
When it ended ive been feeling even more down…… FuCK my life.
No.40096
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32901/I somehow watched Eromanga Sensei to completion, including the OVA. Here are my thoughts:
Basically, this anime has a ton of sexualization and not much else. If you want ecchi cumbrain garbage, here's your jerk material. There's no other major selling point here.
Most of the main characters in this are writers or content creators in some form – I thought this might be an interesting dimension to explore. Unfortunately, this show does not deliver any kind of interesting story whatsoever. The supporting cast, despite being composed of artists, are mostly treated as sex objects, and the scriptwriting reflects this accordingly. I was initially hopeful for the content-creator perspective of this story, but they never really provided anything substantial in this regard. The male MC is a writer, but otherwise he is a spineless idiot with zero personality, as usual. In fact the entire cast is unlikeable for various reasons, as well as lacking character development in general.
Eromanga Sensei has very little entertainment value besides arousing your poor abused weary foul fap-blistered septic basement-dweller chode. When people say they hate anime, this kind of show is what they are thinking of. Frankly, it's the textbook definition of garbage. It has plenty of lewd content though, so it may be able to assist in draining your sweaty hairy sensitive delicious lustful intoxicating voluminous nutritious testicles, which perhaps is an advantage depending on your perspective. There's not much else of value here. Of course, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that; boys will be boys ;)
Seriously though, there are some funny moments, but I wouldn't recommend watching this unless your primary motivation is sexual in nature. This anime really is shameless cumbrain material. Some of the (usually sexual) comedy did get some laughs out of me. Also, if you're one of those people obsessed with shipping and who wins the MC's affections, or someone who sees love triangles as a glorified horse race to place bets, then you might personally find this show entertaining. There are multiple female candidates vying for the male MC's attention. The OVAs in particular focus on this aspect of the story.
I can see why this show spawned so many memes. Unlike the characters themselves, the meme material is quite fertile. There are also a lot of screencap-worthy facial expressions. In some ways, this anime feels engineered to be shitpost material.
Although the soundtrack is nothing special (aside from maybe the OP/ED tracks), the voice acting in this is not bad – I thought all the female leads were distinctive and performed their roles well.
My personal overall rating: 3/10
Eromanga Sensei is utter garbage but it did occasionally get some laughs out of me. Above all else, this is a highly sexualized anime meant to arouse the viewer – if you're into this material then feel free to shamelessly enjoy; I'm not judging anyone. There is also loads of sexual humour in here, which some people may find appealing as well. Furthermore, this show has a lot of fertile meme material and this is probably a major reason for its infamy; all publicity is good publicity I suppose.
>>40093解た、ESL-くん。
No.40125
I finished Utawarerumono this morning, overall I think it is a good story-based anime with a lot of war and interesting bits while not trying to be over the top.
Doesn't really feel like a 2006 anime except for the pace, I would say.
No.40184
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34280/I watched Gamers. Here are my thoughts:
Gamers has a serious branding issue, in the sense that the content doesn't match its marketing. This show is like 90% relationship drama, and gaming hobbies are just an excuse to facilitate that. If you go into this expecting gaming-related content, you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you like highschool romance and relationship drama, you may be pleasantly surprised by this show. I, very selectively, can enjoy these things, and so my initial pessimism about this anime was pleasantly defied. However, people looking for a show about the gaming hobby will likely have the opposite viewing experience (and consequently give it a low rating). I should clarify that when I say 'relationship drama' I'm including the many platonic relationships featured in the show as well. Gamers is a show about relationships, not gaming. Of course there are a lot of gaming-related jokes, but what I'm trying to convey is that gaming is not the central focus here – it's just a theme or canvas upon which the actual story is illustrated.
The writing of all the various relationships and the ways they intersect is surprisingly intricate and well thought out. However, it takes a while to build the foundation for this, and the writing doesn't start to reveal its true potential in this regard until around midway through the series. The story of Gamers takes a while to really start to deliver, but when it does it's really great. This anime is fairly well directed, and does a good job of exploring and fleshing out each character's perspective. The relationship drama in this is quite well done, regardless of the juvenile mechanics it sometimes involves. Similarly, the characters and their interactions are terrific. The plot and character interaction in this feels very down to earth, lifelike and real. Gamers is an excellent 'highschool social-life simulator'. The entire cast is likable as well, including the MC who is a super-cute boy – he is so adorable!
Character animation in this is sometimes quite sloppy. In fact the visuals in general are lackluster and feel budget-constrained. However, some of the character designs are cute, like the boyish MC, and Aguri with her pink hair and cute accessories, and Chiaki with her tomboyish charm and kelpy hair.
The OST is not bad – it enhanced some scenes. There are some cute 8-bit retro-gaming-style tracks. I like the ED song too – it's ultra cute and has a nice melody that was stuck in my head for weeks. I also appreciated the variety among the voice actors in the main cast; every VA sounded distinct and suited their character well.
Just FYI, although the penultimate episode was easily one of the best, I found the finale to be a disappointing weaker episode. Also, as expected of an LN adaptation like this, there isn't any closure or finality in terms of relationships.
My overall rating: 7/10
Although the visual production quality is rough, I really enjoyed Gamers. The character interaction is so real and lifelike. The writing weaves numerous relationships together in an elaborate way, yet the story is coherent and well directed. The entire main cast is cute and likable, as are their relations with one another. Gamers is a show about relationships and it does a great job of it. It really tickled my emotions. This anime is so cute!
If you're interested in a show about gaming, you should watch something else. However, if you like cute relationship drama you should consider watching this. As I said, Gamers is seriously misbranded. On a related counterintuitive note, I actually think a female audience would enjoy this anime, for reasons you can probably infer.
I also want to take this opportunity to say that, despite my low expectations for a new studio, with poor animation quality to boot, I am quite impressed with the direction quality of Pine Jam, at least for these 2017 shows – especially in terms of romance. Both Gamers and Just Because completely smoked my (admittedly low) expectations. I see a ton of potential in this studio and look forward to future works. Even though it looks sloppy, it does a great job at what really matters. This studio has induced the butterflies-in-stomach feeling within me multiple times already, and I really want more.
No.40187
Finished Domestic na Kanojo. Scratches the itch for cheap melodrama for its own sake. Rui is very cute. 6/10.
No.40224
If you ever find yourself looking at an anime with a 5/10 rating and wondering "can it really be that bad?", it absolutely can be worse than your worst imaginings. That is my review of Jungle De Ikou. My life is forever altered. I dare not entertain the thought of watching a 1/10 anime for fear that it might endanger my life.
No.40255
god this season's anime fucking blows.
No.40256
>>40224isnt 5/10 average or what? or is it supposed to be like a test score where that is considered failing
No.40257
>>40256People can't grade shit anymore. See how all video games, even the most average ones, get 7 or 8 in video game reviews.
No.40262
>>38738I had a hard time finishing it, and most the time I was just plain bored. OP/ED weren't good, either. succubus was cute, though.
No.40266
I finished the entire Legend of Galactic Heros old version series. Here was the prequel recommendation order that's not on the chart.
A Hundred Billion Stars (HBS)
Spiral Labyrinth (SL)
1. Spiral Labyrinth (SL, 1-14)
2. Silver-White Valley (HBS, 1-4)
3. The Mutineer (SL, 15-18)
4. The Dualist (SL, 19-22)
5. The Retriever (SL, 23-26)
6. Dreams of the Morning, Songs of the Night (HBS, 5-8)
7. A Hundred Billion Stars, A Hundred Billion Lights (HBS, 13-24)
8. 3rd Battle of Tiamat (SL, 27-28)
9. Dishonor (HBS, 9-12)
Currently I am going through withdraw and looking for recommendations for any other anime. But next to Babylon 5 I can't think of a series that comes close. Hell LoGH relied so little on magic bullshit and aliens it is hard to compare, being more like military historical fiction than a sci-fi series. It's made me appreciate large scale fleet battles where it's not who has the biggest gun but who has the best coordinated fleet movements.
For the main series though my main gripe was the ending. if the high terrian priest had a history power level of Yang Wenli he shouldn't have been so easy to kill. And I don't know how Rienhart would capitulate to Julian even though he fell before him in a bloody mess. Any Reuenthal is MVP
No.40268
>>40266Space Battleship Yamato or Galaxy Express 999. They are both great.
No.40271
>>40270
I remember someone saying the first battle(first episode) was unrealistic, despite being literally based on some of Napoleon's battles.
No.40275
finished texhnolyze, it was pain in the ass to go through.
No.40340
Archival and new thread time?
>>40271Uhhh, well, uhmm, it's unrealistic because LOL spes is 3D and water isn't!!!11 Also, I swear there is some in-universe explanation for why they conduct battles like classical naval warfare.
No.40369
I've already watched welcome to the NHK bit I want to use this thread to talk about the LN and the manga. I liked the LN because it's the original piece of work. For the manga, I just finished it and it was awful., but it was more load with elements and details
No.40392
I finished watching welcome to nhk for the second time. it was good and feel like home now I am a neet. because the first time I've watched it, I wasn't a neet. now I wish I had a misaki saving my life too. sad life
No.40534
Finished watching Odd Taxi. It was alright. Not bad. Not great. O.K., though.
Light spoiler.
If you're thinking, "Oh, all the characters are animals, this is for furries," I'd suggest to put up with that pain. Also, this is one of those anime where the everything builds to the last episode, so if you're watching an episode that's kind of meh, keep that in mind, and don't be afraid to skip an episode that you find particularly boring. I found the one on gatcha really boring and skipped it.
Heavy spoiler if you never plan to see this.
I watched a review where the reviewer guessed at the show's twist before it got to the final episode saying shit like, "Notice how his doctor says, 'What do you see me as?'", and man I really fucking wished I never saw that review. Nonetheless, they really drop hints at it the entire show. That twist is pretty much the sole reason to watch the show.
No.40558
finished watching all OG naruto. i started as a kid watching it as it aired on cartoon network in the afternoon/night, only made it to zabuza was a kid and then i lost track of everything and didnt want to spoil the stuff i missed so i stopped wathcing altogether
rewatched it as an adult around 2011 after a coworker loaned me dvd boxes of neon genesis, samurai x, samurai champloo, and some others, it got me back into anime. but i did not finish all of the og naruto. i quit my job due to some problems and it somehow was in the middle of when i was rewatching naruto. i made it to somewhere around the 150th episode
but i managed to rewatch it all now. favorite episodes were the zabuza ones, and the construction worker trapper guy. i like naruto, hinata, the sand ninja folding fan succubus, kakashi, toad sage, shikamaru, lee, guy sensei, and the bug guy. i don't like sasuke and itachi, sakura and ino, the chunin exam sensei who was uses genjutsu, gaara
it was nostalgic. they did a good job with the characters, all of them develop and change as the show goes on, except for maybe the older characters, but that's realistic. neji and gaara are good examples of the younger characters mindsets doing a complete 180. i know people shit on naruto but i love it. i can finally watch shippuden now