The Top Review of Shelter: 1/10

JizzyHitler said:
who gives a shit, it probably took longer to make this thread in response to a guy writing a review than it takes to watch the fucking thing you both are talking about.

EndlessNights9 said:


I want to understand his perspective; gain greater insight which is why I'm reaching out

JizzyHitler said:
clearly you arent cause if that were true you'd just message him directly, these type of threads exist only as an echo chamber.

EndlessNights9 said:


Yes but knowing he probably gets hundreds of DMs, my message will only be futile but for those who up-voted the review, maybe they can explain to me why they agree with his review.

DegenerateReviewer said:
1250 people found this review helpful
A lot of people liked this review, so do take it seriously.
Other reviews by this user
Please subscribe and click here if you want to see more!
Oct 19, 2016
GOTTA GO FAST
1 of 1 episodes seen
I actually watched this shit
Overall Rating: 1
Trigger warning/10



This might be one of the worst things I have ever watched.
This is worse thing ever.

Despite my acerbic persona, I don't think I normally say stuff that's this outlandish, but with Shelter, I feel like something crucial needs to be said about why this kind of content is not acceptable.
While I’m a thoughtful asshole, I usually don’t throw mean shit into people’s happy pie. (I'm a thoughtful donk like that.) However, I’m gonna lay it into Shelter because I want to. Suck on it mate.

Let's get two things out of the way. Undeniably, this video looks good. It's well drawn, well animated, and is certainly eye catching with its colorful visuals and impressively imaginative landscapes. As music, this is not something that's suited to me, but I can at least understand people who think that Porter's music is palatable to them.
Now, before you naggle waggle gobstoppers start whining and crying, let me just get this out of the way in this introductory paragraph: Shelter looks and sounds mighty fine. Mighty fine! (Like, maybe it’s only ok, but whatever.) MIGHTY FINE. So don't say I don't acknowledge the mighty powers that be, because I do, I really do.

My problem with this piece is not related to the audiovisuals but rather with the idea that this should be taken as a story or a music video that is trying to be something more than just Porter's music meshed with beautifully animated sequences. I understand that these criticisms are often held back by the difficulties of critiquing something that isn't overtly concerned with story, but in a piece so unabashedly attempting to draw sympathy, there's fair ground here to levy some serious concerns.
But you see, dear gobbelstopper, the problem with Shelter is not the animation or music! Allow me to now state the issue: Shelter desperately wants you to FEEL, and so, it’s open season.

Shelter exemplifies everything that is wrong with storytelling in anime, namely that rather attempting to tell a real story developed with content and meaningful emotion, it takes the most abusive shortcut by designing a cute character, throwing her into a position of bittersweet melancholy, and using that as a means of manipulating our basest emotions into believing there is something meaningful and tragic to be said.
Using moe to create easypeasy penis-tickling tragedy porn is pretty basic and cheap as willy wonka’s candy. Cute girls being cute is Anime’s shortcut to success. Stop being such a sucker.

People are praising the emotional resonance in the story and its ability to bring out the loneliness lost in the profundity of memory. Yet, consider a world where the main character is not a beautiful teenage girl, lost and confused in a world completely foreign to her. When you remove that physical appearance that makes us so inexplicably attracted to her stake in the story, there is ultimately no reason for us to feel sympathy. It is completely superficial.
As much as some try to deny it, shallow FEELS is the name of the game, and being turned on is no excuse for being a yucky sucker.

One might say that it's only a six minute short, but the fact that Shelter goes out of its way to show for a split second the main character's letter from her father, to invoke the community to spend time and read it on a second watch, tells me that there is a serious intent to manifest some semblance of a meaningful story. However, that is undermined precisely by the video's own neglect of that story. Much like many other anime designed purely for cheap tears and easy pity, we are given not substance, but rather a montage of a young innocent girl cherishing sweet memories with someone we barely meet.
Some people, (like OP!) will try to excuse this lazypants heartstring prancing. But Shelter wants you to care. It tries to be something deep. BUT IT’S NOT!! And so it has wounded itself deeply in spirit and soul. Like so many other baby anime, Shelter is an empty slideshow of noisy but meaningless movement.

Sure it can be cute, but that does not preclude it from being utterly trite. Shelter offends its audience by presenting us with its fascinating visuals, the ostensible undertones of a post-apocalyptic world, the perceived loneliness of being potentially the last human in the universe, but gives us nothing more than the lowest common denominator of a story, one that galvanizes its sympathies out of the most mundane and pathetic tricks in the book, and half-expects us to take it seriously. I cannot in good conscience, recommend this music video to anyone.
Yeah, shit’s cute. But this A++ from the heart does not make even a passing grade for the mind. The human experience is more than this. Instead of getting worked up over Shelter, pls do something better with your life.

show less
You don’t want to click this unless you’re a baby gobblestopper.

Thanks for your feedback! You found this review helpful..
Absolutely killed it

Maz said:
Pretty sure it's a troll review written specifically to cause the backlash it apparently did. MAL is made up of children who can't fathom the notion of someone disagreeing with them, and immediately lash out if someone dares criticise that which they enjoyed.

Based on the review itself, as well as how the author has responded to comments - even the legitimate comments that analysed and critiqued the review - I can only come to the conclusion that it isn't a serious one, or that the overall score was exaggerated in order to trigger people. The 1/10 isn't genuine; it's laid on just for attention. You can't give high praise to the sound, art and animation on a music animation and then give it a 1/10. The lowest score possible indicates that you felt it had absolutely no redeeming factors. It's a false score. A large portion of the review itself isn't even reviewing Shelter, so much as just attacking the viewers. How it can be classed as a review of Shelter when it goes off on one about the industry and tropes that people like is beyond me.

OppaiSugoi said:
You mad brah? @Zergneedsfood is MAL's saviour from the heavens. Honestly this music video is mediocre (just Porter promoting his new brostep single) yet people wet themselves like it's the second coming of Jesus.

sat2400 said:
yeah, 1 is too low, I think 6 or 7 fits this serie, IMO

snyviper said:
I can't understand why so much hate on shelter. It's not supposed to be a series, it's supposed to be a music video, right? Its song is amazing, its simple story makes me want to cry, and sends us a beautiful message, its art is outstanding... so why don't you rate it thinking about what it's supposed to be, instead of thinking about anime movies or series? It's like rating a chinese restaurant badly because they didn't offer mexican food.