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Jun 18, 2023
Banana Fish is a manga, that I couldn't stop criticizing every time I've read a volume because there were some reacurring things happening that annoyed me. But at the same time, I couldn't wait to read the following volume the next day... The story begins with our main characters trying to solve the mystery that is Banana Fish. But as the story progresses, it becomes a much grander story with things involving crime syndicates or government corruption and especially how they relate to our main character Ash. In fact, Banana Fish doesn't get brought up that much in the later chapters and the aforementioned things
...
become even more important. So to get the negative things out of the way: I didn't like some of the repetitive scenarios our main characters, especially Ash, found themselves in. To understand this criticism, I have to mention that there are 5 main villians in the manga: Dino Golzine, Blanca, Yut-Lung, Colonel Reed and Arthur. And out of the bunch, only Arthur (and Yut-Lung...kinda) want to actually kill him (but can't). So that leads to:
1. Villians are hunting ash but want/have to capture him alive
2. Ashs friends get captured so Ash gives himself in to get them free
3. ???
4. He breaks out
5. Repeat
That formula is very much present throughout the whole manga... And don't get me wrong, even though they are essentially the same scenario, the manga offers unique problems that Ash etc. have to face and I think it's done incredibly well most of the time... But still, it's kind of a headscratcher how the villians always find themselves in the same situation over and over and over again.
Another writing choice that became kind of annoying was THE CONSTANT MENTION OF ASH’S OTHERWORDLY ABILITES, OH MY GOD. I was actually laughing my ass off after the manga mentioned three times that Ash has an IQ of 180 (which was already insane), the manga one-upped it and raised it to "over 200" after a certain point. But besides intelligence, Ash has "SWAT level aim" that makes him pretty much unbeatable (unless you're the Seme-GOAT Blanca). Additionally, he knows more about politics than any journalist, knows as much about science as professors in specialized fields, can out-tactic an actual high ranked military member in warfare etc. etc. ... Fact is, Ash is kinda perfect at everything he does and while there are many good explanations given in the series on why he is so amazing at all the stuff he does, it still is kinda ridiculous at times. Like one example was how all of Arthur’s men shit their pants immediatly after Ash got his gun back during the raid... BUT FOR GOOD REASON, because Ash was able crush them like kids with a single revolver... But to end it on a positive note: I still liked the depiction of Ash's intelligence as it was done in clever and (mostly) believable ways. Like when he found the impostor in the hospital by the smell or when he dropped on the floor to find out if it was soundproof. So in the end, I still enjoyed his magic.
But enough hating because the thing that made me love this manga are the characters + Dynamics!
Ash: Ignoring the aforementioned criticisms, Ash is a vulnerable child who wants to flee the life he was forced into and brought him nothing but pain. And seeing Ash's mask slip as he is usually extremely durable mentally, makes the moments of him cracking even more significant and emotionally powerful. Perfect examples are all the intimate convesations with Eiji, Max or Blanca and the amazing backstory of him meeting Shorter in the cell showing the parallels between early Ash and Ash at the end of the manga. Seeing his growth and internal struggle of identity, needs and morals was a huge reason why I wanted to keep reading.
Eiji: He is the safe haven for Ash and the reason why he hasn't fully gone rogue. What's interesting about Eiji is that he, in max lobos words, isn't that interesting. And Eiji really is a normal boy caught in a world full of trouble... So what makes him special? It's his care and understanding for everyone around him. While Eiji is an innocent boy, he has the ability to figure out the more overlooked internal struggles that people face, which is a part of the criminal lifestyle that nobody else presumably cares about. So in other words, Eiji is the human part that is missing in the rest of the cast. But he also never gives up on anybody and is bold enough to face any danger, despite being a weakling (physically). Another thing that makes Eiji such an important, and oddly enough devisive, character, is that he kinda works as a catalyst that makes everyone else start questioning their own character and morals.
SUPPORT HERO: It's kinda tough to sort everyone together and I would love to talk about all of them more but going into details would give away so much of the things that makes these characters special. So MAX in the beginning was the one that understood Ash the most. He was responsible for a lot of introspection and analysis before Eiji took over his role more (and Max's decline in screentime). Calling him a father figure for Ash would not be a stretch considering their relationship (and the manga being self aware about it). Still in the end it was always fun to watch his journey to hunt Banana Fish and he was the type of guy you wanted to root for (I would also put Charlie and Jenkins sort of into that category). CHUN is burdened with the huge task of leading one of the biggest street gangs in the manga and he serves as a contrast to Ash, as someone who is not getting everything right with lots of mental pressure put on him at such a young age. IBE is... kinda boring? He is the only character that I wasn't that interested in as his only journey was to think about Eijis well-being and becoming Max's sidekick. Oh also SHORTER is the truest homie ever.
SUPPORT VILLIAN: When BLANCA came into the manga, I was super excited as he was finally the one that could make the untouchable Ash less immortal. What I love about him are his unpredictable moves (we learn about his intentions more), as well as his menacing presents while being level headed. I put ARTHUR and COLONAL REED in the same category as they are both not that interesting on their own but are perfect conflict creators. Although with Arthur, I liked his self-serving and snake-isch personality, which differs him from a lot of the other gang leaders. YUT-LUNG is a smart and mysterious character, with lots of unresolved trauma that is challenged by Eiji especially. One of the most well-writen and complex characters in Banana fish, easily.
MINI SPOILER:
I wasn't sure what to think about GOLZINE at first because he was supposed to be the big baddy, but was pretty much outclassed all the time... But then I realized that this was probably part of his character, as Golzine is an ego driven man that wildly overestimates his own intelligence and abilities. And even in the end, I was asking myself if he saved Ash because he secretly cared about him or if he still believed in the delusion that makes him think that Ash is his creation that he needs to protect. Very satisfying ending to his character.
ART: The blood looks funny but anything else looks super good going from character design to the environment. The manga truly makes you feel home in NY despite me having no idea what it looks like there.
FAZIT: Banana Fish has arguably the best supporting cast ever, combined with the best pacing ever but there are a few persistent quirks that annoyed me.
EDIT:I totally forgot to talk about the ending, which is one of my favorite things I've ever read. It's bittersweet, incredibly beautiful and gives us a final picture of the psychology of all the characters that we followed for so long...
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 7, 2023
The story begins with an introduction to our main character Loid and his relationship with the overarching conflict that is present in the manga. Which is a cold war that plagues the world with the potential of escalation. And Loid, who is a world class spy is the one with the responsibility to save the world from it. His mission however requires him to go undercover with a family built out of people from the enemy country. And luckily enough he chose the oddest people he could find as a wife and daughter... And this family dynamic is the main selling point of the series
...
as each one of the characters have a secret identity (or rather ability in anyas case) which always leads to interesting and of course comedic situation regarding their bonding and their way of socializing... Now all the characters, when they're not together have their own storylines (more in the character section), with the ridiculousness being something that the writers are probably aware of!
As a side note the manga tries to go a more serious route later with Loids backstory and the desire to expand on the world building with the red circus arc. It didn't lose any of it's comedy yet so I'm not opposed to it!
LOID: Ok so Loid is actually the character I'm most undecided on when it comes to what to think about him... on one hand I love his family side where he approaches it very analytical (autistic) where he has to learn the emotional, unpredictable and just straight up irrational side the family life. But on the other end he has his spy storyline. And I personally am not the biggest fan of it. The reason for that is that Loid is... kinda perfect? I heard an argument (@YouseiNoMori) that It's the point of his character to be perfect in everything BUT his family life but the problem for me is that there are whole chapters trying to built tension that are in the end only showing off Loids invincibility. The exception (sometimes) are also the goofy missions of Loid like the one with the amateur detective that I absolutely loved. But to end it on a positive note I still enjoyed Loids rather serious but secretly caring character. And him having the struggle to find out his priorities is nice and will for sure lead to some really interesting stuff in the future
YOR: In terms of the family side, Yors arcs are my favorites! She is a very shy, lowkey (autistic) person that suddenly has to learn everything about being a wife and mother. And while her journey is arguably the simplest it makes for cute and rewarding character proggression and moments throughout the series. On the other hand she has her killer side which suprisingly enough feels like the least significant secret identity out the bunch... up until the cruise adventure arc which was in my opinion the best arc from the manga and was undoubtedly carried by Yor! Her having to constantly switch between her roles and the existing tension all the time made her character absolutely shine. And other than Loid she actually had to overcome a lot to fulfill her duty here (also the fight scenes were actually really cool)
ANYA: She is my favorite overall! Anya has the ability to read the minds of other sentiant beings which means that she knows everything about Loid and Yor's secret lives. She also never had a family before which means that her insentive is to keep the family structure stable and working... because otherwise she would be given away and replaced (at least that's what she believes). That combined with the pressure pretty much completely relying on her leads to some cute and funny situations where she has to overcome her inability to socialize (autism) and be a good student. Funily enough the stakes in the eden acadamy are at the highest in the manga which makes even the most innocent and seemingly unsignificant moments actually really important... And Anya is of course is aware of that which leads to funny moments where she often overthinks everything. But in my opinion the best part is her effort to be friends with Damien and honestly their relationship is my favorite part of the entire manga. Damien btw also a very interesting character
ART: The thing this manga is probaly the most notorious for are the very exaggerated faces and they are actually really funny! Other than that I really have to praise the amazing costume design and the author showing off a lot of his concept designs that was very charming
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 2, 2023
Before even reading the manga I already knew that chainsaw man's setting, characters and story would be build on exaggerated shonen tropes with a good amount of self awareness. And in the end this was the case! The Story is set in a world were devils are frequently terrorizing humanity and the devils powers are enhanced by the amount the people fear a certain object (I.e Gun Devil would be more dangerous than the Chicken Devil). What separates csm from other manga of that type are the motives and the overall "unrighteous" behaviour that is coming from... basically everyone? That alone already is creating
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a lot of interesting dynamics between the characters and also gives us an idea about the "Devil hunters" and how they generally are. The most fun part about the series are the very wacky Devil/Character designs and of course the growth of our main characters (although often not very subtle). The manga does a great job creating lots of tension were it pretty much never slows down which can be both good and bad because on one hand I felt like we needed a bit of a cooldown at some times like after a climax but on the other it never made for boring transitions into the coming arcs. Additionally to the tension point, csm does not shy away from character deaths and utilizes them well for world building, character development or just pure shock and excitement.
To get a few words about part 2 out: I actually believe that the writing improved and feels better than even in part 1. The dialogue is smoother and the progression as it stands also feels cleaner (without part two it would've been an 8 [nerd emoji])
Makima: Her main selling points are the manipulation abilities and the mystery surounding her. What I think is exceptional about Makima is that the more we see from her she grows to be a terryfying force in the csm world. Like honestly of the top it's hard to name a character in another anime that has a comparable presence to her. The only thing I don't completely get even after reading the manga are her motivations and how exactly they relate to denji. Still, her relatiponship with denji is super interesting and bizzare (in a good way!)
Power: Probably my favorite character! She brings a perfect amount of charisma and fun to the show as most other characters in comparison behave pretty lowkey/serious (which is understandable when thinking about the environment). But she is not only that, as her characters changes and her relationships grow deeper.
Aki: Also one of my favorites! Out of everyone he stands out as a pretty selfless person whereas It's not clear if It's solely driven by his only and biggest motivation (let's see if that changes). Sadly I often felt like his purpose kinda went away after a while but he was still very much enjoyable
Denji: He is THE most important character in the series. You may say "hey that's not suprising he is the main character" but no. Pretty much everything that happens in chainsaw man is 100% correlated to him. Funnily enough it is often the case that he gets pretty much strung along the entire time making him a observer of the things happening around and in some ways because of him. But the strenght of his character is that when we need him to overcome those hurdles he usually does it and does not stay the same dumbass that he is at the beginning of csm. Another thing that gets apparent are of course his motivations (that word seems to be important I noticed lol). While other people are driven by revenge or justice, he is completely focused on his own pleasure (which also explains the strung along part). But saying it like that doesn't do it justice as we get introduced to his special circumstances from the beginning and can understand why he wants to have sex or a girlfriend because he had a lack of companionship and love in his entire childhood. Now the fun thing about his character is his adaptation to his newer life and their problems. This is something that he of course progresses in but still stays a factor even in part 2
Asa/Yoru: Without spoling too much I already love the dynamic they have and the very unique/authentic problems that Asa faces. It sounds weird to say it this early but they even feel more of a main character than even denji in part 1
Art: Not a suprising thing to say but the character design is for sure one of the things that made it very fun to read. Other than that it's insane how sudden and gigantic the art improved after volume 1 where some of the faces looked a bit wacky. Another point that I don't hear mentioned is that the author does a great job drawing backgrounds or the whole environment in general. Although maybe It's because most of the series plays in a city so it can look like nothing special (even if it is!). The fights are good. They are not the best I've ever seen but also not the worst. The bloodiness does work very well tho even if more detailed fights ability wise were my favorites. Like the ones against the katana devil, probably the best from a pure choreography perspective
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 22, 2022
Before writing about the story the first thing that really stood out to me was the weird (not in a bad way) pacing. The first volume was mainly a slow introduction to our main characters - done so very nicely. After that the pace picked up by a lot from Volume 2-5 before slowing down significantly again. Personally I enjoyed the very fast and the very slow a lot!
Now - the story is simple, our protagonist wants to find her mom at the bottom of the abyss which is a hole that has the effect that a human cannot go up again without being
...
affected by a certain curse (depending on how deep they are which they sepparate in "layers"). The Curse especially is something that the author greatly utilizes. It's part of superb world building - including the dangers of the abyss which create lots of tention all the time. But it also makes up for really brutal stories for some of the many characters we meet - showing us the horror of the abyss more and building them up. Plus them being kids gives the manga a very unnerving atmosphere where they have to gain knowledge on their own with little help and limited ressources, additionally creating a akward dynamic between the innocent dream of the protag and the harsh reality of the situation they found themselfs in. All in all the adventures that our main cast goes trough is pretty exciting with all the layers giving them new problems which they have to overcome!
ok again as a precursor (again). The thing I love the most about the below mentioned characters are their relationship with the abyss. They are all of course unique in their own ways so lets talk about them!
Riko: My favorite character! She starts out as a pretty naive and lively character and while those qualities remain, she adepts to her new life slowly and makes subtle but meaningful changes troughout the series. What makes her character special tho is her being clearly the weakest and most vulnurable person of the cast meaning that she has to use other methods to survive (which is exactly what she does)
Reg: Besides the mystery, Regs mechanics are the thing that define him. He is a protective and strong boy who has to be careful to control his (limited) power the right way which always creates interesting/tense situations where the cast has to overcome themselfs. But he himself is not a dumb character who knows his abilities and fights smart
Nanachi: She is like equivalent of the meme where the funny classmate is super depressed on the inside. Nanachi often feels like the guiding light for the others, as she has the most experience in the abyss. She always tries to stay cool but her character arc revolves around her trying to let go of the past
Art: Lets adress the elefant in the room... The very much underage characters are often depicted in very disturbing and sexual situation. BUT (pls don't kill me) if I had to find a reasoning besides the hornyness of the author I would probably say that many of the explicit jokes as an example are made to bring over the authenticity of them being children which sounds dumb but we all know the anime with the all powerful 180IQ 12 year old... With the torture scenes I would say that they are useful for additional shock value (which is not a bad thing as it makes us respect the abyss more) as well as showing how children in the abyss can still be exploited grossly
OTHERWISE
the designs of all the characters are great and immediately recognisable and especially the beasts of the abyss are ultra terrifying with cool mechanics. The strength of the author for sure lies on human characters tho with the environment being kind of a weak point in the beginning (It got way better later on for sure)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 12, 2022
Mononokes story is... there?
Every episode is structured in a similar way with the main character, the Medicine Seller trying to find out who the Mononoke is to kill it. There isn't really a end goal or even a liniar story which makes the show is purely episodic. The special thing here are the stories that are told in the individual episodes. They are slowly figured out over time and are usually touching on very freaky and unique topics like abortions or incest. Another great thing about Mononoke is how these topics get told and resolved - It is always done in a very abstract and
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artsy way where you kinda have to bring the puzzle pieces together to truly get every aspect of the show because many infos are revealed over the fast paced and over the place animations (insert the "To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand X" copypasta). Being artsy is probably the main appeal of the show in general! It's hard to describe everything but there are clear patterns like sudden location changes, every non relevant character having an inhuman depiction, incredible sounddesign to create a tense atmosphere, weird (facial) expressions and just straight up akwardness. The colors and locations too are very beautiful but feel empty and dead at the same time which all just makes for a unique experience here additionally with the incredible animation
We only have one real (or what feels to be real) character present but there's still a commonality with the other people - they match the weird athmosphere perfectly. The MC on the other hand is mysterious with literally no information about him. Still he knows what he's doing with him (pretty much) always being in control of the situation, often using other people to achieve his goal. There's not much else to say about him other than that he is really f ing cool with the payoffs being super satisfying and the figthts being extremely well done.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 9, 2022
All the arcs have very unique stories to tell and are all great in their own sense so let me tell you why!
Black Swordsman arc: This arc is a perfect introduction to Guts and his sidekick Puck. His goal is clear from the start, although still a mysterie why he pursues it. Not only is this arc showing Guts's strenghs but also hinted at character flaws that have deep roots (like him not wanting to be touched or the weird spirit that follows him). That all serves as great foreshadowing and makes the reader immediatly curious about the protagonist and his history. we also get
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to see the incredible designs of the appostles that are present throughout the series plus the creative ways in which guts beats them. the arc ends with guts showing sorrow and then...
Golden Age arc: ...we transition to - without exaggeration the best piece of media I've ever consumed. This arc serves, mostly as an explanation to Guts's character and his story. His raw and brutal upbringing is like a slap in your face and makes you empathize with him in an instand. The depictions of everything he went trough made Guts feel human and that was an important step to building his character. Another big part of this arc are the people he meets along the way. Especially Griffith and Casca are Important to Guts. Additionally they are such well writen, multi-dimensional characters and I just love how the author takes so much time to establish them with lots of screentime and dialog... he does this just frankly flawlessly. But the crown jewle of this arc are the relationships those mentioned characters have with Guts and how they shaped him - and vise virca. I love watching the battles but them just speaking to each other, learning about their struggles is just amazing. And they weren't even the only great characters! The hawks (the group guts, griffith and casca are part of) are also incredibly written - while not as important as griffith on their own, they create this strong sense of companionship and build trust into Guts's dark character. Honestly while reading the story you just can't do anything else than enjoy their journy, root for their success but still have this unnerved feeling that something bad is going to happen... Another thing the arc does great is create conflict. without spoiling too much - the battles are intense (Guts fight against Wyald and the one against 100 Knights especially), the political fiascos are actually pretty interesting and realistic, the foreshadowing through characters like zodd and the skull knight are great with the main conflict being of guts not knowing his place in the world and it affecting the others.
The end of this arc as probably everyone reading this was expecting, incredibly tragic... but hey! It has also also given a lot of explanations of things that got teased in the black swordsman arc so yeahhhh...
Conviction Arc: Gotta keep it a buck fifty... this is my least favorite arc. While it was starting strong with the rosine/jill story, expanding the world more and giving new meaning to puck's and Guts's character, the whole story after with farnese and Mozgus isn't that interesting. The reason for that being that farnese just wasn't that compeling of a protag to read. In fact she was pretty frustrating at times and had only two redeemable characteristics - her being a sado-masochist and that she's useless. That combined with reading the word god a billion times made it a bit tough to read trough for me. But after the backstory of farnese and serpico (one of my favorite parts of this arc) I started to appreciate her character way more in retrospect. The other characters that got introduced made for interesting stories and dynamics tho. Luka was a unique character that felt way to righteous and loving for the cruel berserk world and Isidro brought a weird amount of charisma into the storyr. Still it was the only time in the story where I felt like Guts was blantantly overshadowing every other character in terms of funness to read. The arc ended strong tho with lots of crazy things happening that changed the course of the entire story again.
SPOILER TIME NOW BE CAREFUL
Millenium Falkon: After Griffiths rebirth we are now following two courses - that of Griffith and that of Guts. Griffiths plan is still the same but the Interesting thing about his part is how "ordinary" people or even the entire world reacts to his rise. Miura depicts it perfectly - every action that Griffith takes feels Grand/Important. Guts story on the other hand has become more of an adventure, with the introductions of new "team members" and the goal to get cascas memories back. What I especially loved about this arc was the introdcution of many fun mechanics. Magic sounds like something too wacky for the berserk world - but oh boy it's so fun. All of it is perfectly fitting and gives the Guts crew new and fun methods to survive plus new risks because certain magic has dangerous downsides. The berserker armor specifically had the job to bring Guts's inner conflict to the forefront (as he hasn't much time to reflect on it on his own). In terms of world building and design berserk has expanded to another level in this arc for sure. There were so many new weird apostels, new creatures and the Kushanes who were lurking in different environments. This is also the point where the other main characters besides Guts and Griffith became stable and entertaining on their own without them needing to be bound to the mentioned characters to be interesting. Same with Guts who goes through big changes - softening up a bit and most importantly reassessing his priorities.
Fantasia: The current arc is mostly like an expansion of the Millenium Falkon arc with the main difference being the new creatures and also showing the payoffs of our main characters adventures (but you know berserk, so do you really think it will all go well?). Guts and crew were mostly chilling on a ship before arriving at elfheim. And btw Miura really had fun with the world building it was so good in this arc and for sure made the world feel even bigger and more beautiful somehow. Isidro especially popped off with his dynamic with Isma (it was so cute cmon we all were rooting for our boy right?). Otherwise it felt like the arc was/is(?) trying to connect the holy trinnity of Guts/Casca/Griffith again which sounds pretty exciting! Don't really have that much to say on it other than that the current content was really fun and that it really felt like there was still so much to tell... With the mysteries of the skull knight to Griffiths feelings/Intentions
Characterts (there are so many good ones wth):
Guts: Let's start with the big boy! Guts is probably consistenly the greatest protag ever. He can not only play an amazing supporting role for the characters around him but also makes an incredibly character himself. Especially the GA arc fleshed out his complex person and it is obvious to say that he alone can carry any story in the series. His intentions also change over time as he gets exposed to new people or new information which makes him unpredictable but at the same time humanizes him as we mostly see him as a raging fighting machine - which is also fun to see btw! To add to the last point - While being a brute Guts is a smartly written character as we never have moments were we ask ourself "huh why did he do that?" because his thought process is layed out perfectly. his smartness also applies to fighting as his opponents often outmuscel him but he still finds ways to beat them.
Griffith: Cold, calculate, charismatic and even inspiring are the words that describe Griffith the best. But at the same time he also appears to be petty/childish considering his dream or his relationship with Guts. What separates him from other characters is that throughout the story he is more of a symbol than a person - we often hear talks about his greatness from the perspective of other people but rarely see his own thoughts - but when we do get to see them, it feels like something special. And while his intention are simple we still wonder how he truly feels when doing certain actions. He raises tons of interesting questions like "how does he feel about Guts?" "How is his end goal looking?" "Can Griffith even be considered evil?" which makes him just more intriguing as an antagonist(?).
Casca: What makes casca so cool is that she's a hard working, strong and caring Knight that is handicapped by her womanhood. That all makes the reader feel for her especially considering all the horrible stuff that's happening to her across the series. The way she is affected by her struggles (and strengh ofc) makes her stick out from Guts and Griffith in terms of being the most human out of them, which sounds boring but makes for a nice dynamic between them all. Later casca goes through big changes (Potato) but her character honestly still stays fun (although in different ways yk?)
Puck: Pucks Main purpose from the get go was his ability to read emotions (and healing), making him the narrator of Guts in some ways. But in the beginning the little elve also worked on being the moral compass of guts - Not that successful tho! The big thing about Puck is that there are two Infamous versions of him: Normal Puck and the legendary Chestnut Puck. Chestnut Puck overtook the manga after schierke joined the main cast - pretty much replacing all his roles completely and making him a pure comic relief character... And honestly it didn't bother me that much. It also shows quality to concede that you wrote a character into a corner but still be able to keep him cool. His interactions with isidro especially made for funny moments that are often needed in berserk.
Schierke: We don't know much about Schierkes childhood but considering she's a kid she has the role of the leader and is the smartest out of the group - Although some glimpses of her innocence get shown in her banter with Isidro. And as said, she pretty much completely adopts Pucks entire purpose and even adds to it - I would say she has by far the strongest bond out of all too Guts together with casca. Another fun point is that her magic is versatile which always makes for good fights.
Isidro: Isidro is a cocky kid who run away from home to become a bandit. Originally he wanted to take Guts as his mentor but It's save to say that his role has developed trough more than that. Especially during the fantasia arc with Isma it felt like Miura had something planned for him but let's see how it will go now. Otherwise he became a stable member of the comedy squad of berserk but also worked on his abilities as a fighter where it was always nice to see his tactics that he worked for be employed.
Farnese/Serpico: While she may not work as a stand alone protag she does perfectly function in a team! It was kinda confusing to never see her crazy side again but that could be the case because she allowed herself to be vulnerable with guts & friends. Of course her main problem still stands: What can she do to be less useless? At first she was only there to be cascas caretaker. And even there she struggled at the beginning but later on she was (rightfully) dissatisfied with her position and tried new things. Her journy from a noble girl to a hardworker was nicely and realistically done!
Serpico on the other hand always had one role. Be the protector of farnese. But while he wasn't the most active character beyond that, he was a very witty fighter and just a cool dude
Art: I mean what do you want me to say? There are barely pages that aren't reeking of Miuras perfectionism. The art was great from the start but it just progressivly better and even more detailed. Especially the character design polished over the years. A big feature are double pages that Miura uses as a way to intensivy scenes or build the world beautifuly. My favorite part was the battle between Griffith and Ganishka - It had some of the best drawn pages I've ever seen.
RIP KENTARO MIUARA
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 27, 2022
Slice of life ist not my cup of tea but hey this anime is actually pretty good!
Characters: The first thing that gets apparent is that all 4 girls are outsiders but in a way in which they are very distinct from each other. And while they where sadly hit by the "16 year old girl that acts like a 6 year old" syndrome I still have to commend the pretty realistic depiction of societal isolation and their effects. The point tho is to make them as relatable as possible to other introverted teenage girls - which is not necessarily bad!
- Mari Tamaki, the main main
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girl is also the most uninteresting one from the cast somehow, with shirase feeling way more like the focus of the series. Her purpose in the story (besides doing fun fun stuff) is to be like the emotional support for the rest of the group - which is nice but just doesn't make her character that compeling stand alone.
-Shiraze Kobuchiwasa on the other hand has a lot more to offer. She is a shy introvert that sometimes goes girlboss mode. And I think her emotions getting revealed more and more throughout the series make her character the most interesting to follow.
-Hinata Miyaka is probably my fav character. Being the funniest and most adult in terms of social situations (which also makes her the most consistent girl) makes her the most pleasent character to watch.
-Yuzuki Shiraishi is a character that pops off for a episode and then it kinda feels like she is backlined again... but for her active time she is pretty funny!
Story/Presentation(?): So yeah 4 high schools girls want to go to antarctica.. although it's the journey, the motivation of the individual characters and the relationship building that really matter! Regarding that, the relationships feel natural and the motivations are all explored very nicely. Humor also plays a big role - earlier being more of a hit or miss but getting better later on.
The episodes are always structured in what I would see as 3 Parts:
1. Funny fun girly adventures (where often problems get teased)
2. Now the drama gets going!
3. Drama ends and everything is cute again
Now. The problem I have is that I usually don't find the first part particularly interesting. It feels like a friendship simulator where the watcher can project themself in - which is nice for certain people for sure - just not for me.
The part where the show really shines is after the first part. The way the show treats social problems is really good and It's super fun and often heartwarming (I shed two or three tears) to see the girls solve them together.
Visuals: Not anything special but Bright, Colorful and good looking! Especially when the girls are exploring the environment the animation really makes me appreciate the prettyness of those things
Music: While nothing I would listen to in private the show uses it perfectly in emotional moments to boost the scene even more
Fazit: For me slice of life was not that interesting - But oh boy let me tell that if you are a introverted teenage girl I have found THE perfect show for you! And if you are not in that mentioned group you will maybe like the drama and hopefully the slice of life part more than me. Still overall it did more things good!
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 22, 2022
Watching an anime in chinese was honestly tougher than I thought... It was at times hard to follow because of it's speed so I especially recommend watching it for your own understanding
now
Story: The first episodes had some pretty high pace which I'm absolutely not oppossed to - but my problem with TGCF was that it did not use it's limited time that well. Usually the first episode(s) is/are there to introduce the characters, explore the mechanics or explain the world they were in. While TCGF introduced us (a bit) to our protagonist Lian Xie it did not do that as well in the
...
other criterias I've mentioned - as an example I would've liked to know the structures of "heaven" or it's relationship to the mortal realm - I think that alone would've made things clearer. Same as the role of our protagonists whose goals or place I still don't really get. This is for sure the biggest problem with the show because the lack of information makes it often hard to follow... especially because it feels like this show has a lot to tell
Also what happened to the ghosts...? Like they were there for a bit and then disappeard completely LIKE WHERE DID THEY GO
Later when things slow down and we mostly follow Lian and Hua (who just appeared all the sudden) around it becomes way better as their relationship is the best part of the show so while I wrote more about the negative stuff this part overshadows it (for the most part at least)!
Characters: FIRSTLY lets talk about Yao Fu and Qing Mu and how their only characteristic is that they are strong and always easy to provoke... maybe it's just not my thing but that type of humor was for sure the most annoying part the show. And while that alone wouldn't be that bad them interrupting important scenes like personal dialog between Lian and Hua made them for a good part of the show insufferable.
Idk this "GRRR I'M SO MAD AND I WILL BEAT YOU UP" thing is pretty cheesy no?
but now to the good stuff: Lian is a pretty compelling protagonist who is soft spoken, strong, intelligent and overall just pretty pleasent to watch. He not only makes the viewers interested in him because of his mysteries but also has the best dialog. For Hua Chen I have similar feelings as he is this seemingly all knowing dude that just randomly appears to have a massive crush on Lian... Sometimes their romantic teasing is a bit cliche but their dialog makes up for it - also hope he doesn't just become the cliche protective bf
Art: It's good! Not anything mega special but the designs are pretty and the animation is fine. It's not as colorful as I expected but that also sets a certain tone
Sound: As with the art the music isn't anything mindblowing - but it is perfectly fitting for the chinese themes of the show... but as a little complaint - what are these "DUMP" sounds everytime something dramatic happened that made me cringe a bit lol
Fazit: Story is pretty messy but it's worth to watch for our main boys. But god damn proper world building would've been soooooo good
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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