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Aug 3, 2017
The short answer is: I really enjoyed this anime. 10/10, in terms of how I felt about it by the end, after having gone through that emotional beautiful emotional roller-coaster. However, after having stepped away from the excitement of finishing the anime, I thought everything over and decided to give it a fair 8/10.
It's true I loved everything about it. The story was definitely interesting (homunculi, the philosopher's stone, the gate), even though it followed the general shounen anime outline (gifted boy, at the center of the trouble, fights the bad guys one-on-one). Actually, I wouldn't say following the general shounen outline is a
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bad thing, because personally it reminds me of shows from my childhood (Soul Eater, Shaman King), which I consider a plus (nostalgic bonus). The only thing is, the ending got to me. I thought it was a great ending, leaving a couple of ends open in order to prepare us for a second season, but then I found out FMA:B is not the second season. Considering this, the ending didn't wrap up some endings and left a lot to be desired. In a way, you can consider it to be an accurate and deserved bittersweet realistic open ending, but it really does seem to set us up for a second season that it doesn't deliver on, which disappointed me.
The characters were quite well done, but not complex enough for my taste as an adult. They're definitely great for a younger audience, and considering the type of anime it is, I don't mind the problems I found within some characters. Still, I had to take two points off, to be critical. Edward was a very typical shounen hero, the guy who wants to take everything as his responsibility, and doesn't really want to rely on others. Not to mention, he's very quick to anger, and speaks quite vaguely when he's on to something. He's a child, so it makes it more understandable. Nevertheless, that "he's so short" joke was beginning to get on my nerves by the end.
The art was okay for me, but a bit more bland compared to what I'm used to. To be fair, this is probably because it was made in 2003, so it's understandable. Nevertheless, it got the point across. The sound was also alright, but I didn't enjoy the openings too much. Only 2 of them caught my interest, as well as an insert song (the Russian one about brothers). The rest weren't that great, and I don't think they suited the anime too well.
To wrap things up, like I stated earlier, I really enjoyed this anime despite its flaws. 10/10 in terms of enjoyment.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 5, 2017
I originally didn't want to watch this series after I realized it wasn't actually the second season of one of my favourite fantasy animes. But I gave it a chance, and I'm sure glad I did. Let me quickly tell you why.
This anime follows Ais' story, which goes on in the same time period as the first DanMachi series. It isn't a retelling of the first DanMachi and it isn't the continuation. It's something new (story-wise) but familiar (setting-wise/the big picture). It ended up providing valuable information to flesh out some characters that weren't explored too in-depth in the first DanMachi, and giving a new
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viewpoint on the same oncoming disaster that was hinted at in the first DanMachi. Even if you had regarded this anime as a stand-alone, it is really good and really interesting.
Like in the first DanMachi, this anime has a well developed plot—good pacing, good foreshadowing, and it effectively shares information (about events, characters, etc) without it seeming fake or boring. In this way, characters are developed naturally. And about the art—of course, it is a favourite aspect of mine (I love DanMachi art).
Overall, it was really fun to see Ais' perspective and to learn about where she came from and to watch her develop. She became more than that beautiful human doll I was introduced to in the first DanMachi.
In essence, I recommend watching this show—especially if you liked the first DanMachi. Even as a stand-alone (like I said) it's a great show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 2, 2017
This anime is super cute. It's a realistic little story about a middle school romance, and although the plot is nothing revolutionary, it's very innocent and adorable and I really liked it.
Like I said, the story is nothing revolutionary. It has basic development and conflict points as many other romance stories, but the way this one handles them is different. It stays true to the middle school setting and resolves problems the way that young and well-meaning children/pre-teens would, making it refreshing to watch. No typical drama here, folks! In addition to the main point of the story (the romance), this anime does a
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good job showing and integrating various aspects of middle school life and the interests of such a demographic, as well as the common problems this demographic shares. I missed my youth while watching this!
The characters also well reflect their age, in terms of their behaviour, speech, and interests. Not only this, but the characters are pretty well developed. Character development wasn't a huge part of the story, so they didn't dive deep into this aspect, but they did flesh them out quite well. One of the ways they did this was by showing the behaviours and scenes around them. For example (and this isn't a spoiler), the main character Azumi likes boxing. We're very obviously introduced to his love of literature, but boxing is an interest that comes more subtly. It is introduced to us from how his friends act around him (tackling him, for example), from how he mock-boxes with this thing on his lamp (you'll see if you watch the anime), and from the Muhammad Ali poster in his room. I found this method of introducing character to be super cool.
The only thing is, I wasn't a huge fan of was the art. The cut scenes were by-far the worst, with poor 3D animation done, but if you skip those parts it isn't that bad—just not my cup of tea.
So, in conclusion, it's a pretty sweet show. If you're craving something innocent and cute, this is definitely something you should check out.
PS—I LOVED THE ENDING. Very well executed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 28, 2017
I have a lot of serious problems with this anime. I think their idea is a good one, but they did a bad job carrying it out. Let's break it down:
STORY
It wasn't fleshed out enough, wasn't paced well, and didn't do such a great job at creating the appropriate ambiance/emotions around its sub-arcs/main arc. The biggest reason for such failure, I believe, is the lack of character development.
CHARACTERS
For a story to be good, it has to have strong characters. Otherwise, weak characters will seem like puppets simply going along with whatever the author needs them to do to progress the story. That was kind of
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how this anime felt. Since the anime neglected to flesh out the characters, it also missed a lot of chances to flesh out the story to make everything more meaningful and impactful. What I mean by this is that, if some random kid won an award at your school, you wouldn't really care. But if you're best friend won an award, you'd be excited for them. Why? Because they're your best friend, you know them and you've shared memories with them. But the memories that this anime goes through is not enough/not diverse enough. Ok, so everyone is connected by music, it's a special thing they share, but there's not reason to have such a strong connection as the main characters do. The story needed more things/different things to happen to flesh out the characters, their connection, which would in turn give more substance to the story.
And about the love aspect of this story—it kind of makes no sense to me. Sure, Momo and Nino liked each other when they were young kids. Nino and Yuzu met each other during a sensitive time that made them closer than any other time would have. I think these are good starting points to grow a relationship, but they're not enough to have full blown head-over-heels love. This was part of what made the story seem superficial/forced.
Also, very few things were mentioned about the characters backstories—their families, friends, own experiences outside of being with Nino—and this again contributed to the flatness of the characters.
ART
The art is appealing. BUT the 3D animation they use for the concert scenes really hurt my eyes. It's probably not such a big deal, but I hate it when 3D is mixed in with 2D, especially such poor 3D. It ruined the mood for me.
SOUND
Despite being an anime centered around music, the music wasn't actually all that great. I like Japanese rock, but I did not like what songs this show presented me with. For a show, I guess they're fine. But the voice they chose for Nino was not meant for rock. I originally thought the voice actress could not sing, but after a while I came to the decision that she can, but she is no rock singer. Good rock singers can sing intense songs without losing the notes, but when things got intense, Nino's voice lost its musicality and seemed to be screaming. It was a good enough voice, just not good enough for rock.
I've seen a lot of good reviews for this anime, and considering it currently has a rating of around 7, I'd say that it's relatively well received despite my criticism. Honestly, I think this is because of differences in age and preference. If you're a preteen, you might like this show. But if you're my age (young adult) you might have some of the same problems watching it as I did.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 28, 2017
I do not often cry from watching shows or movies, but this anime proved to be one of the few that coaxed several tears from my eyes. I loved this anime.
From the start, it didn't seem like it would become a favourite of mine. Despite being well paced and having an intriguing concept, shows in this kind of fantasy realm tend to be divided into either really good or really bad (from my experience). By the end of this show, I realized it was one of the really good ones.
In terms of story, like I said, it has a interesting concept and it
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has a good pace. It fleshes out several characters well, and creates an accurate ambiance of a world at war. It answers interesting questions it poses, like where Willem comes from, what leprauchans are, etc. And it shows what happiness is. That happiness is much more simple than you'd think, and that it is still possible when there is war. Leading up to the finale, it has a sort of slice-of-life feel (for people in war circumstances) where information is slowly given to answer said questions and lead up to the explosive ending.
The characters are great, fleshed out well enough and avoiding those annoying 2D stock-personality types (for example, tsundere). The music, too, is lovely. I think it had one of the most impressive openings of the season, and the songs that arose during certain scenes were good in supporting the appropriate mood.
Once again, I loved this anime. The finale was well executed and made me cry, but it also left a kind of hope-mixed-with-sorrow feeling at the end. I cannot give it 10/10 though, because I think that it didn't answer all of the questions I was curious about/vaguely answered some. I guess I wanted closure on whether or not the world was doomed, but not getting that answer may be the point.
Hopefully I've done a good job explaining. I believe it is definitely a worthwhile show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 22, 2017
In terms of story, Ajin isn't all that unique when you break it down. Very simply, it is a story about a "misfit" in society who is discovered and whose life changes. He tries to live simply and blend in, but various circumstances coax him into becoming involved in a larger picture, in which he acts as one of the saviors of humanity. Like I said, it's not that unique. So, why does it stand out? In my opinion, it's the characters.
Ajin is interesting because the main character isn't your run-of-the-mill hero. He's colder, darker, and his motives are centered more around himself than
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justice. He seems to be attached to certain people in his life, but then again he seems psychopathic. This makes his actions less predictable and more interesting to watch throughout the anime.
The concept of ajins is also interesting. Questions like "where do they come from?" and "why are they here?" and "what will happen to them and society?" help drive the anime forward while keeping the interest of viewers.
Overall, Ajin is a good anime. Not top priority, but if you can get past the animation, give it a try.
I must warn you, though, that the ending is unsatisfactory. It was mostly setting up for the second season (which is already out).
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 21, 2017
91 Days isn't unique.
This seems to be the biggest thing many people are focused on when critiquing this anime. Honestly, it's true. It's the typical mafia scenario—you killed my family, so now I'll kill yours. It's not unique... but it works.
Personally, I loved the anime. In terms of story, it did a great job at following a good and steady pace, and it was one of those "seamless stories" that I so love (a story that can naturally incorporate different information and things into its episodes that all grow and tie in together at the end). Despite, the idea being somewhat cliche, its
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"sub-arcs" and its main-arc are all very interesting and beautifully hold the attention of the viewer.
The ending, especially, I am a fan of. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that although it may start off not that unique, the ending is something wonderful.
The characters were also great in the story. Hardly any characters presented were two-dimensional (you know, the bad guy who's just bad, or the good guy who's just good)—it gave us a complex show of many of the characters which made it hard to see any of them live/die/suffer loss (or whatever) even if we may have not liked them in the beginning.
What I also loved about this story, was that it was... like life, kind of. You know those animes where everyone survives and all their battle scars heal and everything is rainbow and sunshine despite whatever odds they may have been facing? Yeah, 91 Days isn't like that. It doesn't make miracles happen... It stays true to the gruesome life of the mafia.
Plus, the soundtrack is awesome.
So, overall, this was a fantastic anime. I highly highly enjoyed it, and I think many other people would too.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 21, 2017
3-gatsu no Lion is an absolutely brilliant anime.
I have so much to say but I'll try to be brief.
Let me start off by saying I'm not a shogi fan. I'd never even heard of it before this anime, yet I still managed to enjoy this so much. So, if you're using shogi as a reason to avoid watching this—stop it.
The anime, although it about shogi, does not entirely focus on the game. Throughout the episodes, it gives us enough information in a easy-to-understand-and-process way, so that even total babies to shogi (ahem, me) understand enough of what's going on. It doesn't overload this
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information, though, giving the perfect amount, and using the game to present to us a drama anime that works through some of my favourite themes, such as success/failure.
The story as a whole is written very well. It doesn't focus on a subject too big that the writers end up having to rush just to get it done, and instead it leaves just the right amount of room to take its time in exploring the characters and their lives, and is thus successful in creating an effective ambiance/feeling around the story and drawing us in. I am a sucker for seamless stories, ones that are able to naturally incorporate various things throughout episodes and then ties them all together for a nice finale, and this anime does just that.
Additionally, if you appreciate devices such as symbolism, you'll be in for a treat. The animation in this story is already super appealing, but the way this anime uses symbolism made me really giddy. It tells a story not only through events but through its animation, which was really wonderful.
Finally, I'm a huge fan of the main character's interior monologue. It kind of reminds me of The Catcher in the Rye, if you've read it.
Overall, definitely give this anime a chance. I can't imagine anyone disliking it (unless, perhaps, you are of a younger age—personally, when I was 10-13 I was more interested in action-packed things—in which case this may not be for you).
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 21, 2017
Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records is overall a good anime.
The story isn't very unique, although it does present some novel ideas that separates it from other magical/school/supernatural anime out there. It generally flows at a good pace, gives us enough information to flesh the characters out, and progresses the story well enough. The progression of the story could be made more realistic/natural, however, and that is actually one of the things that bugged me the most. I could pick out specific episodes that were put in for different reasons, like "this episode is to flesh out so-and-so's character" and "this episode is about
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revealing this thing" and whatnot, and basically what I'm getting at is that sometimes the episodes seem formulaic. I prefer it when episodes are able to create a seamless picture of the whole, telling the story in a way where it's not divided into blocks but has multiple strings in it that all tie into the end. (Hopefully that makes sense—I did my best.)
Additionally, if you're looking for a one-time/one-season anime, don't try this one. The ending wasn't entirely satisfactory. There wasn't that much development between the love interests and a large amount of big questions went unanswered, likely in the anticipation of a second season. (I hope there will be a second season.)
Overall, it is enjoyable but nothing that will get your heart pumping.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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