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Wow, so much glowing praise. Really? Come on, let's be frank... it's honestly not very good. Sluggishly paced, meandering, and quite boring. Look, I enjoyed the first two seasons of 'Yuru Camp'. It was like comfort food. I had no issue with the pacing. I liked the relaxed vibe. It's about process, not payoff. It's about learning as you go along. Taking pleasure in the little things, soaking in the environment, either alone, or with friends. I get that, and I like that. It was a refreshing change of pace to the fan-service drenched fodder we're usually served up. Majestic landscapes, "food porn", hot springs... ... Loved it.

Now, what ever they were trying to achieve for the movie, didn't work for me. Sure, 'Yuru Camp' has always indulged in the detailed procedures of camping and cooking activities, almost to an educational step-by-step extent, but it's completely bonkers-level here. Half of the movie is like a DIY video on how to build your own campgrounds. Now, I know what you're thinking... "'Yuru Camp' has always had cute little 'How-To' tutorials"... Yeah, sure, but I don't particularly find constructing campgrounds and facilities to be all that interesting. There's about 20 minutes alone dedicated to cutting tough grass (I kid you not!!!!!!). The girls are all grown up, and that's fine, but they're less adventurous at this point in their lives. And I find it odd that none of them are in a relationship, but that's never been what 'Yuru Camp' was about. If anything, the food always looks delicious in this series, and it comes through once again here.

What more can I tell you? I don't know, man, this just wasn't it.

*Very mild spoilers, to get my point across*

Alright, let's get this going. Our MC, Komura, is wildly hysterical. And when I say wildly hysterical, I mean this little guy can't stand next to a pretty girl without screaming in his head and flailing about in exaggerated, hammy theatrics. Example of how twitchy this kid is: when it came to just sharing a drink with a girl, he immediately started imagining what her DAD might think of the situation. Like, really?? Yeah, bro, her dad's gonna equalize you over a harmless drink. What a disgraceful perv you are!!!! Come on, get a grip, little buddy. Things ... carry on like that, in every episode, and it gets old pretty fast.

Now, the FMC sure is a special little thing. Her shtick is, she continuously forgets to bring her much-needed glasses to school, which in turn makes her exceedingly helpless. So the MC takes it upon himself to take the role of caregiver, cuz he's got the major love-Jones for this stupid girl. He finds her beauty immaculate, yet she doesn't even remember his face. Simp woes. Now, let me tell you, the amount of times this screwy bitch forgets her glasses is ludicrous. So much that I'm sure she also forgets to take her brain medicine, too. How are we supposed to buy into this bit when it happens to her EVERY SINGLE DAY?!?!?!?! How does it make any sense?? I can only suspend my disbelief so far. I mean, for crying out loud, she mistakes a plastic bag for a cat!!!!!! How has she not impaled herself on a fucking weather vane? Why isn't she covered in cuts and bruises? Someone needs to glue those spectacles to her dumbass face. It's such a stupid setup. And when she's not cooing about her constant forgetfulness to our convulsive MC, she's squinting and glaring at him while softly groaning "ooooooo" and "mmmmmmm". Is she insane? Or did brainrot set in? Why does she need to get right in his face? And again, this shit happens EVERY SINGLE EPISODE!!!! Oh wait, she has contacts!!!! But oh no, she can't wear them. Too bad. OH, BUT WAIT!! She has an EXTRA set of glasses in case she forgets the other pair!!!! But oh no, she broke one pair, and left the other at home. And why is that, you might ask? Cuz she "likes to keep a pair at home." Told you. Brianrot. She's as useless as a band-aid on a corpse. I couldn't even begin to tap into the inner machinations of this dumb girl.

And while all these fascinating chain of events are bludgeoning us over the head every episode, she's giving our clueless hero the most obvious signals that she wants him to be more than just her chaperone. Does genius pick up on these signals? No, he just reflects at the end of every episode if he's "special" to her or not. DUH, YOU USELESS GIMP!!!! She couldn't possibly make it any clearer. But I'll give him a pass since he's an introverted adolescent.

If I have anything positive to say about this series, I'd say the animation is pretty nice. And at it's heart, it is a cute little story about budding love, tenderly told. The girl is almost too sweet, tho, to the point where she's less human and more mythical. So much more could have been done with this anime, the main thing being if she only forgot her glasses only a couple of times, instead of a dozen times. The show also ends on a bafflingly anticlimactic, feeble note. It made me care so much less about everything that preceded it.

Citrus. Pulp and all.

I came for the yuri... and this is yuri to the core. Here we have only a few male characters (with very little screen time) and a glorious assortment of cuties all vying for each other's love. Well, mostly for Mei. That girl is a lesbian lightning rod. She has some sort of magnetism that perplexes me. Honestly. And let me be perfectly clear about this... all the main female characters should be administered a mental health assessment by a professional, pronto. Mei, in particular, is a very detached individual. Okay, let's cut to brass tacks here, the girl is colder than ... the Boomerang Nebula. You never quite know what's going on in her head. She just broods about in her usual gloomy way, quietly observing, perhaps only thinking of herself. Yuzu, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. She wears her emotions on her sleeve, weeps like a widow every episode, and professes her feelings any chance she gets. And then, rounding out the Big Three, we have flighty little Matsuri. Only a middle-schooler, but lives a very mature life. Don't even get me started on her disturbing pastime activities involving a webcam. To take it a few notches higher, the calculating little demoness Matsuri also acquired the ability to blackmail and manipulate at will. See what we're up against here? 'Citrus' probably isn't the worst way to waste a little time. It has good legs to start on, and then it kind of falls apart some time in the second half, with the arrival of two completely forced/unnecessary characters. Did we really need another love interest for Mei? I found myself getting bored spending more time with them. The intimate scenes, disappointingly brief as they were, didn't quite translate well. I'm referring not only to the "rapey vibes", but even the more "tender" encounters. But I will say, there was something fiercely carnal about Mei's (and even Yuzu's) unpredictable bursts of sensuality. Too bad It was never titillating, as the show failed to let the girls explore further. But it does seem 'Citrus' received a bit of backlash for the controversial "rapey scenes". And to that I say, we've allowed much worse in anime to let pass.

Beautiful visuals wasted on a dopey concept.

The trailer hooked me, with it's lush animation and a somewhat intriguing idea about an apartment complex floating in the sea. Seemed like it would be a good time, given that I'm a bit of a fan of single location settings.

Well, after watching it, I felt cheated. Let's briefly dismantle this thing, shall we? Honestly, there's nothing particularly special about this movie that warrants an unnecessarily bloated two-hour runtime. The supernatural elements are dense, and awkwardly written. The main characters yell at each other for a good portion, constantly being absolute savages to one another. Seriously, these KIDS want ... to see each others brains and guts splattered all over the floor of that floating apartment. That Reina girl, what a charmless, bitchy child. This is a prissy, stuck-up debutante who enjoys constantly tearing down everyone, except her bestie. Only with her bestie does she show any heart. The backseat characters (especially Juri and Yuzuru) are far more rational and likeable. And, like I said, the supernatural aspect of the story was where the movie really lost me, particularly the "ghosts." We have to watch this mopey, uninteresting, vague ugly ass ghost with mossy shit growing on him, brooding along, trying to make this dour experience reach some sort of emotional apogee, and ultimately missing the intent completely. Anyway, to conclude: it really irks me when an anime hits all the technical marks beautifully, only to leave me cold by an under-cooked, heavy-handed plot, and miserable shit characters. Skip it. It's a colossal two-hour dud.

*this review contains mild spoilers*

Oh, what a frustrating ride 'Toradora' is. For the first ten episodes or so, there was a certain sense of maturity to this romcom. Something that made you think, "this anime is something special". And then it took a complete nosedive into contrived melodrama. First of all, yes, the outcome is beyond predictable just after the first episode. You know exactly who will end up with who. But I don't have an issue with that, as long as the journey keeps me engaged. Things began fizzling out with wasted opportunities like the beach house episodes. Instead of setting up some cheeky ... romantic mishaps, they instead give us a boring scare prank plot. After that, the FOUR parter covering the Cultural Festival. I mean, wow, was that tedious or what?? Then the student council election, and the oh-so forced and yawn-inducing Kitamura arc. People yelling, hollering, getting into physical fights over trivial, stupid things... What a mess. I always prefer these stories when they keep it simple, instead of tossing every character into a blender, creating pointless drama for the sake of it. Despite all that, there is great heart to this series. Some sweet moments. The conclusion was pretty unsatisfying, but there were parts of it that were somewhat touching. I debated on giving this either a 5 or a 6, and in the end I went with the latter, because this is a quality anime, when it's not throwing everything into the pot.

Why is Chi's voice so drastically different in the later episodes of 'Chobits', and even more-so here? It's very off-putting. It's just not Chi. She sounds like she aged 20 years. I miss the cute Chi in the first half of 'Chobits'. That's the Chi we all fell in love with.

This is awful, by the way. Six minutes, yet so boring. Sumomo is more annoying than usual, and there's really no point to anything, other than fan service for your panty fetish, or love for mini-persocom kawaii. Animation and tone is the same as the series, of course. Nothing out of the ordinary. I say ... skip it.

Hideki is a regular guy. He grew up on a farm all his life, he's kind, patient, and he cares a lot. He finds a "Persocom" (an android in the form of a beautiful girl, used as a personal computer) and takes her home. Homeboy's been dreaming of owning one, but has never been able to afford it, so he's pretty ecstatic. The android (which Hideki names "Chi") is the most adorable thing ever. And over time, he begins a journey of caring for Chi, and learning how she works. He has his friend Shinbo to help him (and us) learn the basics. Eventually, it ... gets to a point where there's nothing Hideki wouldn't do for this mechanical beauty. He gives her unsullied adherence, attention and respect, and she in return gives him strength, endless esteem, affection and pure love. It's really a wonderful thing. The main characters are fine, and they do have good chemistry. The idea of "Persocoms" is kind of interesting. I mean, who wouldn't want to own a human computer that looked like a pretty girl? Sounds like a commercial homerun to me. Hideki's simple life and devotion for Chi are what hit the right notes. My issue is, once the explanations surrounding Chi's origin start to unfurl, the whole thing becomes much less watchable. Now, me personally, I enjoy the more slice-of-life elements rather than the needlessly convoluted turn in the later episodes. But sadly, even those get bogged down with boring filler material at times. The supporting characters are, for the most part, acceptable. The problem is, everyone has a sob (back)story, and too many preposterous coincidences between characters ruin the flow of things, and take you right out of it. **Spoilers** Hideki's landlord is nonsensically linked to Chi in a very revealing and important way. Yumi and Chi's boss at the bakery also have a history together. Shinbo and the teacher have been banging on the side. The picture book series that Chi finds so endearing (which I thought was incredibly precious) was ruined by the explanation behind it (So we're to believe Hideki's landlord writes these books? Really?!?!?!?!). They should have kept things simplistic and quaint, instead of shoe-horning in more pointless subplots that make no sense. My interest really began to erode around the time the two Persocom Blade Runners were introduced. The sci-fi elements were sloppily written from that point on, and I was pretty much forcing myself to reach the conclusion. We're given a fountain of exposition... along with a messy plot involving her twin... Yeah, that's right, she has a damn twin!!!!!! But none of it clicks, and a lot of things are just plain confusing: like for example: how the fuck can Chi get a paying job? Wouldn't all human workers be replaced by pretty Persocoms? Are there Robot Rights? Do they pay taxes? Maybe I'm overthinking it. My overall sentiment is, 'Chobits' shines most in the first half, when it's quietly mild-paced and coherent. The second half of the show is poorly written, and betrays the charming characters we started to connect with.

Absolutely abysmal. If not for the beautiful animation, I wouldn't have even finished it. But I did, and I regret it. The story went nowhere, the characters never grew on me, and every harem cliche in the book spewed from the screen. A boatload of frisky females all vying for the attention of the main character, escaping one strange scenario after another. Is there anything titillating about any of this forced nonsense? Do we care about these feisty she-mutts in heat? Well, I sure don't. It's a parade of repetitive banality written by mental adolescents, with no redeeming factor whatsoever. It looks good, sure... but ... it's trash.

This was engaging at first, then quickly fell into the usual harem tropes and cliches. I liked the idea of the club, the characters played off each other well enough, the art style is fetching, **SPOILER** and I loved the idea of them never realizing they were all actually friends... but as usual with harem anime, they have to sacrifice the story for a gaggle of cooing pixie-girls all fawning over the only guy around. I know I shouldn't expect more at this point, but I was really hoping this one would be different. Still worth a watch, tho, as it's not nearly as bad ... as most series of this genre.