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PROS:
+ fluffy alternate universe (AU) for more SOS shenanigans
+ references to the main series...
+ everyone's in character...

NEUTRAL:
~ aimed at Yuki/Kyon shippers...

CONS:
- ... feel half-baked in this AU
... - ... except for Nagato
- ... but even they will find it disappointing
- main pairing feels awkward and forced
- Koizumi and Asahina get shafted

MIXED FEELINGS

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan is a logical watch for Haruhi fans, but is it good? Not really. The show has a strong start as it rattles off the usual slice of life/comedy tropes (Valentine's Day, hot springs, etc), fanservice galore, but it quickly devolves into a snoozeworthy mini-arc that documents... well, the "disappearance" of Nagato. The real disappearance of Nagato is what happened to her character when writing the show. Instead of the demure, bookish girl she was in the Disappearance movie, she's now this Tomoko Kuoroki-esque girl who's obsessed with video games and spazzes out all the time.

I would recommend this ONLY if you're desperate for more Haruhi, and even then it's going to be disappointing.

PROS:
+ first love in all its cutesy, innocent bliss
+ charming OST accentuates the blossoming romance
+ a romcom that actually shows the parents

NEUTRAL:
~ small cast, few set pieces
~ aimed at a male audience

CONS:
... - honest to a fault
- weak, undeveloped side characters
- bland protagonists

RECOMMENDED... for saps only

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (TANDSMR) is a heartmeltingly adorable romcom that is as sweet as it is straightforward. I don't mind the cliched story, but these stories are better with some drama in the mix. Both characters in the main pairing are too typical of their roles. Amane is the unmotivated, apathetic high school boy who gets mom'd into boyfriend material by Miharu, the angelic, Mary Sue, "not like other girls" who totally doesn't twerk, eat hot chips or lie, and has a precocious mastery of all things domestic. While watching the show, I found myself often grumbling, "just kiss her already, stupid," but such thoughts are the sign of engaging romantic tension in an anime like this.

While there's much to be said about how bluntly TANDSMR caters to the otaku mommy fuckdoll fantasy, that's maybe giving too much credit to the men who truly buy into such narratives (who themselves are certainly no Amane), and it's such an unfair criticism to level against a show that makes no pretense of being anything more and has consistently restrained itself. This show reminds me of the early courtship between me and my first love, and while such pathos is perhaps unbefitting of greatness, it's enough to make me feel warm inside and keep watching.

PROS:
+ great animation, OST, direction
+ exciting soccer battle sequences will get you pumped up
+ fast paced, suspenseful, compelling

NEUTRAL:
~ total sausagefest/no waifus

CONS:
- predictable, formulaic plot
... - literally every character is an expy
- lame, angsty dialogue and melodramatic internal monologues detract from action sequences


RECOMMENDED... with some caveats

Blue Lock, or BL (not to be confused with "boys love," though the show is almost as gay), is not a masterpiece, but it's a fast-paced, punchy watch that will scratch your shonen itch. If you want pure shonen energy directed right into your veins, you'll like this show. But you might be disappointed if you're expecting clever twists, fresh characters or any spice whatsoever because BL is as vanilla as they come.

I enjoyed OMK from start to finish, even if it does stumble along the way, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who finds the premise intriguing. But I feel the need to warn you about two things. First off, you need to REALLY be a sucker for loser-guy-redeems-himself-and-gets-the-girl narratives. I mean, you probably are, since you're on an anime website reading a review for this obscure, masturbatory manga, but I feel the need to stress this point. Secondly, you need to be willing to massively suspend your disbelief. The MC does some fucked up things (he cums inside of some girl's recorder, girl doesn't ... realize it until she attempts to play it), and in the real world, things would play out quite differently*. However, it feels wrong to hold that against it. At no point did I expect this story to be dark, cautionary tale about the consequences of unchecked lust and malice. This is a feel-good story meant to serve as wish fulfillment to the (almost certainly) loser guys reading it, and I would say it excels at that. The whole thing can be read in two hours tops, it's nicely paced, and it has a happy ending for basically every character.

* IRL, Kurosawa would obviously face far greater punishment. There's no doubt he'd be expelled, face legal charges, a social pariah for the rest of his life, the whole shebang. But the negative reviewers seem to overlook Kitahara's blackmailing, which was the only reason Kurosawa continued this behavior in the first place. Yeah, cumming on Sugawa and Harada's uniform was all him, but I daresay they deserved it given their bullying of Kitahara. If you ask me, the most unrealistic part of this story is actually Sugawa's character arc. Why exactly does she decide to stop being a bitch? Because the dude who jerked off on her uniform helped her with math? Because she had to be portrayed in a less evil light in order to be a love interest for the redeemed Kurosawa? Uhh, okay, whatever.

Story: 1
Art: 7
Sound: 7
Character: 1
Enjoyment: 1
Overall: 1
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I remember when this first aired... my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it. It's insulting that this is ranked so highly and speaks volumes to how braindead the average person watching anime is (and how they are identical to those watching Hollywood flicks and Netflix originals). Your Lie in April is a dime-a-dozen, stock standard, romantic tragedy with a plot twist a blind man could see coming five trillion light years away. The plot is basically A Walk to Remember but anime. I don't know how anyone, especially westerners who are constantly inundated with this kind of ... story, can find this compelling, LET ALONE one of the best anime of all time. I would give this a zero if I could. I knew what was going to happen during the intro the very first episode. This sucks and you have shit taste if you like it. QED.

Story: 3
Art: 8
Sound: 6
Character: 5
Enjoyment: 1
Overall: 3
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Boring as fuck. Aside from the great art and animation, there isn't a single thing this show does better than its predecessors. Except maybe for putting its viewers to sleep. It's been a long time since I tried to watch this, but I feel absolutely no desire to go back to it. If somebody recommended this show to you because you like SNAFU or Haruhi, please steer clear. This show truly sucks. It's the most mundane slice of life I've ever seen with the tropiest, tropelord characters to ever trope.

Story: 6
Art: 8
Sound: 8
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 6
Overall: 6

FYI: This review discusses all three seasons of the show, but my ratings refer exclusively to this season. Spoilers ahead.
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Oh, SNAFU. You were my introduction to slice of life/romcom and what a perfect introduction you were! I'm not sure how common this opinion is but it is my view that this show gradually got worse every season. The first season is a shining example of how to do a school anime: colorful, socially awkward weirdos trying to figure out where they belong in the world and who they should be in the midst of high school life. Hilarious and ... compulsively watchable, it was a fresh spin on a genre that's been done to death. Even the drama scenes were reliably fun to watch thanks to Hachiman's thought-provoking inner monologues and the show's stellar direction.

The second season, well okay, they amped the drama up. It's not funny anymore, and it's getting kind of boring. This Iroha character sucks ass and is completely pointless. Still, the "something genuine" scene is great character development and catharsis. And the meeting scenes with the other school are amusing commentary on work life in Japan. And then the third season rolls around...

At first, we were all just thrilled we were even getting a third season. Some slice of life shows wish they could be so lucky (looking at you, Haruhi Suzumiya). But honestly, all this show does is drag out the plot for a conclusion everybody knew was coming. Along the way they completely SHATTER Yui Yuigahama, by basically giving her the "boyfriend experience" with Hachiman. These scenes for me were so bitter to watch. I'm really not even sure what other emotion they're meant to evoke. Pity, perhaps? We already know that Hachiman has the hots for Yuki, not Yui. We already know that Yui knows this too. A real headscratcher.

The ending is sufficient, but it took far too long to arrive. There was way too much needless built up and protracted, pointless drama for a predictable ending. The "rap scene" is totally cringe and devoid of any humor. It's a shame that it appears to be many people's most memorable moment from this show. The highlight of this season is the dialog between Hiratsuka and Hachiman, and the former's hysterical proclamation that she "hopes all normies drop dead." SNAFU disappointed me. When I saw the first season, I recommended it to everyone I know. Now that it's concluded, I don't think I would recommend to anyone that isn't already a fan of the genre.

Story: 6
Art: 7
Sound: 5
Character: 5
Enjoyment: 6
Overall: 5
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So, when's the last time you watched an anime about gay pedophile gangsters? Oh, never? Fucking casual. There are few, if any, anime that have the same premise as Banana Fish. The story revolves around the eponymous drug called "banana fish," a mind control agent. But what the story is really about is the star-crossed romance between an innocent Japanese boy and a brooding American bad boy. The show is pretty forward in its depiction of grooming and child sexual abuse, although it's mostly off-screen and implied. The romance between the two lead males is also quite take-it-or-leave-it; the ... show is careful to not shove it in your face.

Why would it be careful? Well, the source material for BF is extremely old: the manga debuted in 1984 when homosexuality was more stigmatized. That and the pedophilia, violence and crime throughout the story make it groundbreaking in terms of its content, not to mention its demographic busting appeal to both sexes. All this being said, I really didn't care for this show and don't find it very memorable. I do not recommend it.

Ash Lynx (yes, that's really his name) and Eiji Okumura are two of the blandest Mary Sue characters to ever appear in an anime. Lynx is the perfect gay flame: tall, blonde, lean, white, tortured, tough, brilliant, brooding. He has no flaws. You think someone with his upbringing would have some serious issues, but nah, he seems pretty well adjusted despite the frequent raping and exposure to drugs and violence growing up. He is maybe the most unrelatable and unrealistic character ever made.

Okumura has the opposite problem. Whereas Lynx suffers from an excess of character, Okumura is a total blank slate. I can't remember a single thing about him. He's just meant to be a template for the viewer to self-insert anyway. Lynx has massive trust and intimacy issues (shocker) and somehow this milquetoast Japanese boy with no personality is the reason he decides to open himself up and care for someone... yeah, I'm not compelled.

To the show's credit, the narrative is coherent and paced well with some exciting action sequences. But the impetus of this show is its two male characters and their special relationship, and this falls flat for the aforementioned reasons. Go ahead and put your banana away because this fish is dead in the water.

Story: 5/10
Art: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 6/10
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I suppose a 6/10 doesn't seem like a great score, but I had a blast watching this. The narrative is compelling, the characters are likeable and unique, but the story is a mess. The animation, pacing and voice acting does a good job distracting you from that during the buildup, but the conclusion is downright insulting. Here's a spoiler, so look away now if you're not ready: literally nothing bad happens to anyone in this show. The heroes pay no cost, make no sacrifice. The villains are redeemed. Even the true big bad at the end is portrayed in ... a sympathetic light.

Now, this is a somewhat lighthearted show, so I was never expecting anything too dark or grisly. But like, they establish the existence of this character via flashbacks, Dorothy. She's a fun character: cute black girl who loves the finer things in life, just as deceitful and mischievous as the rest of the cast. She's a love interest for Laurent and, if I recall correctly, the two are engaged. But she meets with a tragic end, getting shot and kicked off a boat somewhere in the (presumably) Western Pacific, never to be seen again... OH WAIT JUST KIDDING SHE'S FINE LOL.

Oh, and not ONLY is she a-okay, she even finds the FUCKING RING that Laurent throws into the ocean as TRIBUTE to her. You know, because he thinks she's DEAD. I genuinely raised my hands and said, "what the fuck?!" at this moment. It's ridiculous! But honestly, I guess I can't be too surprised, since two of the other characters cheat certain death the exact same way. But to be fair, I suppose it WAS in the script for them to evade it, since their murders were staged... somehow. I mean c'mon, you didn't really think they were gonna kill Cynthia and Abby, did you?

I was willing to turn off my brain and be dazzled by Great Pretender's wonderful colors and sounds, and just bask in the humor and catharsis, but the resolution cheapens almost all of the buildup. 3/4 of the villains all end up assisting the heroes in the end, and the big bad Chinese lady Akemi Suzaku is made out to be this sweet, sensitive old grandma who just happens to be a little misunderstood... I mean, she's only TRAFFICKING CHILDREN. Excuse me, show, but you don't NEED to make me feel any sympathy for her. Just let Cruella de Vil be a bitch!

So yeah, this show's plot is absolutely wack. The ending is a complete joke. It's so dumb. But it is a lot of fun, I have to admit.

Story: 6/10
Art: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Character: 7/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
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Golden Wind disappointed me. This arc is more of a straightforward battle shonen with a serious, tragic narrative (that has basically nothing to do with the rest of the universe). It's still a fun watch, with a killer soundtrack and amazing art/animation, but it lacks the charm and humor of the prior arcs. If you mostly view this show as a comedic parody of the shonen genre, like I do, then I think you will also find Golden Wind underwhelming. Spoilers ahead.

This arc is different for a few reasons. Most notably, it doesn't revolve around a Jojo character. Giorno ... Giovanna is by blood a Joestar, but I can't consider him the true main character. That's because the story really revolves around an Italian gangster named Bruno Bucciarati and his gang's quest to... clean up the neighborhood? What? Anyway, Bucciarati's story arc is quite good when it finally hits its stride, but the buildup to that point is boring. There's also an unfortunate issue where the Stand names are all references to artist/album/song names, so the subtitles differ drastically from what is being said on screen. This was a huge immersion killer for me, and I know it's not fair to hold that against the show, but I can't help it.

What was I talking about again, Italian gangsters or whatever? Yeah, I guess there's a real problem in this universe with children buying hard drugs like heroin. The plot makes no sense, but that won't stop all the characters from acting like it's serious business. The Stand powers in this arc are way less creative than the previous ones, and the fights are unfortunately much more typical of other shonen anime. The fights in Battle Tendency and Stardust have such a distinct quality to them; they're less of a physical fight and more of a chess match where the opponents are trying to figure out exactly how their powers interact.

I hope you don't like those style of fights, because there's precisely none of them in this arc. There are moments that evoke the metaphysical Jojo weirdness I love the series for (e.g., there's a turtle who has a Stand that allows it to carry people and things within it), but it's mostly typical battle shonen ass pulling and overpowered nonsense. Speaking of OP bullshit, the primary antagonist Diavolo possesses one of the most ABSURD and STUPID powers in all of anime. The Jojo series is usually good at putting limits on ridiculous powers, but I guess Araki couldn't be fucked to balance King Crimson. The way he's defeated is also bullshit.

It might sound like I think GW sucks or I hated it, but I promise that's not true. It's still good and memorable, but it just doesn't FEEL like JJBA. There's not even any gratuitous animal abuse (although there is a frankly hilarious scene depicting domestic abuse). I think this arc just really disappointed me compared to Diamond is Unbreakable, which I hold to be the high point of the series.