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Uzumaki is a massive failure. Nevertheless, it is one of the best anime series of 2024.
The anime is not as good as the manga. However, I actually believe that the first part of the anime is better than the source material. There is a crucial difference – while the manga narrates each of the unsettling episodes separately, the anime decides to tell you multiple ones at the same time. This way the whole story feels more interconnected and the characters, especially Shuuichi, have more space for personal development, or rather descent.
Having said that, after a very strong start, the anime fails spectacularly. The second part ... almost feels like a self-parody. The pacing is off, the feeling of horror is almost completely gone. Instead of being mesmerised and unsettled by the story, one almost laughs at it. You are almost encouraged to see the lack of logic, consistency and seriousness that is inherent to the entire horror genre (and is supposed to be covered by the lingering aura of mystery and fear). I believe that this horrible pacing is partially caused by the wrong decision to cover every single part of the manga. Some of it just should have been left out. However, it is also clear that a lot of bad decisions and other problems must have led to such a poor result.
Fortunately, the anime gets back on its feet in the 4th episode. The ending of the story is actually coherent and relatively closely resembles the manga (even though the pacing still is not always quite right).
All in all, some parts of the series are just bad. Still, it remains a fact that the first episode of Uzumaki is one of the best things that happened in the anime world of 2024.

While I feel certain respect for the anime, I thought it meaningful to express why I was not satisfied with it.

What I really like here is the idea to build the plot around older, more experienced and laid-back characters. The dynamic created by that really allowed the creators to produce a more contemplative and intelligent ambient. Also, most of the characters are actually interesting, different from one another and likable. What's more, the story itself manages to convey the ideas without too much further explanation.

Consequently, it is extremely disappointig to see how much unnecessary explanation, annoying immaturity and emotional turmoil is "artificially" added to the ... story. Especially the first couple of episodes really overdo it when portraying the characters' disagreements. Additionally, there is the omnipresent storm of motivational phrases that is not needed at all: the story itself is motivational as is. My point is that with more maturity and focus on the storyline this could have been a wonderful anime.

Lastly, I did find my answer to the anime's recurring question "What is running?": That's a stupid question - the answer can either be banal or have nothing to do with running. And stop pretending to be writing Plato. It's pretentious.

This show isn't exactly surprising: an isekai with the traditional harem theme, some comedy, some romance, some adventuring and some fighting. Nothing wrong about that - an anime like that is never going to be a 10/10 for me, but I do not require surprise to be satisfied with a show. You can really clearly see that this anime follows the genre staples very closely: you will be reminded of InuYasha, The Vision of Escaflowne, Naruto but mostly Sword Art Online. Now, let me explain why I did not enjoy The Rising of the Shield Hero.

The initial setup is fine. After the first couple of ... episodes I was not exactly excited, but I wasn't unhappy with how things were unfolding. However, things went south after that.

1) The characters never change. Some of them start to annoy you, some start to bore you.

2) The plots are usually quite stupid. One of the reasons is that the main character's intelligence is at best average and the supporting characters are all idiots - every single one of them. Their plans make you cringe and there are many inconsistencies or absurdities.

3) The adventures are boring. There is nothing remarkable about any of them.

4) The characters talk too much. They explain even the most obvious things.

Still, I would forgive all of these: they apply even to some shows I actually quite liked. The two unforgivable issues are:

5) The fights are horrible. I watch fighting anime to enjoy the fights, even if everything else is just stupid. Here there is nothing to remember about the fights: the outcome is quite clear from the beginning of almost all of them, nobody ever dies, the animation is lackluster, the villains are often not introduced at all and the main characters spend 90% of each fight talking.

6) Finally, the lore is just forgettable. There is nothing new, magical or interesting. Consequently, the show just feels absolutely generic.

To sum up, if you are looking for a good isekai, don't look here.

Pluto may easily be the most overrated series here. Let me explain why I think so.

The animation and music are not horrible. The characters are often well-developed and some of them genuinely memorable. The storytelling is quite good and very professional. The anime is heavily emotional and it promises to tackle some deep topical problems. That does not sound too bad, does it? So where does it fail?

First of all, the lore is horrible. Unlike in Casshern Sins, to give an example of a somewhat similar series, the world described to us is flat, boring and unimaginative. A future where there are robots and humans ... living together: that’s it.

Second, the robots seem to have nothing in common with the real-life technological advances. None of the questions connected to them remotely resemble real-life issues connected to technology. Basically, they are humans who can fly and transform their hands into guns. Consequently, all the so called philosophy in the series is just pretentious nonsense.

Third, the fights are just really bad.

Most importantly though, the story is full of holes. Nothing seems to make any sense if you think about it for a second. Instead of any inner logic we are offered quite a few of emotional scenes. Some of them are rather good. No amount of good storytelling can mask that the story being told is, well, maybe the weakest I have ever had the bad luck to chance upon in my life.

If you are looking for something to watch, look somewhere else. Despite its many irrefutable strengths, the anime falls flat and leaves you disappointed.