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All spectacle and whimsy, with no plot or notion of development. There is no proper build up for anything, and consequently no proper pay off for anything. Everything is incredibly contrived. It is the perfect kid's movie because you just turn off you brain and enjoy the flashy colors and fun things unfolding.

Rubric 1: Entertainment and Artistic Value = 2/2
This is the only saving grace of this movie, its a masterpiece of animation that is truly the pinnacle of artistic achievement in the medium of film. Even 20 years later the art and soundtrack is better than most works. Eye candy and eye catching. ... The first half was kinda enjoyable, seeing Sophie wrestle with the dynamic of being an old lady, her antics and funny jokes as well as bantering and calm approach to everything. The first half was fun which I'd say salvaged it somewhat. Also because my baby girl was enjoying it a lot too so I'm inclined to find it fun too.

Rubric 2: Would I recommend this? = 0/2
Absolutely not. Maybe if you are curious about what this movie meant, you could watch it for the incredibly Sakuga. But narrative and art is much more than pretty paint and colors. We have narrative storytelling, world building, multifaceted character development, exploration of complex thematic discourse and of course the core tenant of the movie being a complication, building with set up to set up until its a lock in that leads to a climax where you get your pay off all the way to resolution. None of that here.

Rubric 3: Narrative Consistency = 0/2
I define narrative consistency as the quality that allows you to determine at any point in the film how easily you can ask What are we doing? Why are we doing this? When is this in the entire story and Where are we headed? Through out the entire film, I was unable to answer any of these questions. We start with questions and are left with nothing but more questions. Nothing is resolved and complications after complications spring up out of nowhere with no build up. Frankly, I had no idea what was going on in the film anymore after the half way mark.

Rubric 4: Emotional Moments = 0/2
Any moment that sticks in your mind be it due to heavy emotions of Sadness, Anger, Joy or Cerebral. Some examples are United States of Smash from BNHA, Operation Arclight in Steins;Gate, CHOOSE ME BEATRICE from ReZero S2, Tokai Teio in Uma Musume S2 etc. Moments that stick with you long after the show has ended. Unfortunately there is nothing here that I find remotely memorable, aside from the splash of colors everywhere.

Rubric 5: Caters to Personal Preferences? = 1/2
My preferences are as follows:

Historical = The plot, world building or power systems are based on real history or inspired strongly by history.

Power Systems = Magic Systems, Power Mechanics, basically the plot devices and means of influencing the plot or other things. This could be FMAB's Law of Equivalent Exchange, Avatar's Airbending, or even the Rules of Time Travel in Steins;Gate. Brandon Sanderson's 3 laws of magic apply here.

Idealogue = Deep themes, and philosophical discourse. My favorite theme is the theme of Kingship, so stuff like Fate where we have King Arthur in Arturia Pendragon, Iskander as Alexander the Great and Gilgamesh the King of Heroes clashing with each having their own ideals of being a Great King.

Out of these, due to the blatant inspiration from the Great War (WW1) era as well as an attempted inspection of the theme of War and Peace. This show gets the Historical point there.. barely.
The magic systems make 0 sense, everything is contrived and nothing seems to make sense. Aside from only 1 limitation about Howl, which even then didn't make sense either. Too much contrivance.
Sanderson stated in his laws of Magic,
1 = The capability of a magic system to solve a plot complication must be directly proportional to the audience's understanding of it. If we don't understand how any of this works, or have any idea of the limitations. We don't know what is the magic system capable of, as such plot complications carry no significance or stakes. If a demonic curse can be solved by a kiss or true love? thats fine but communicate that first and then make the stakes the logistical problem of getting there, i.e the beast has gone mad and his beloved needs to reach them but is impeded by baddies etc. None of that here.
2 = Magic Systems are known not by their capabilities, but their limitations. Its magic, its literally the do anything i want plot device. If we don't know what are the limitations or costs in a concrete transactional manner, then it is not interesting. We never did learn what were the limits of power for many people here, only that they suddenly lose powers for some reason. It also doesnt seem to justify alot of motivations, are they powerless? if so how? if not why don't they just do what they want? (assuming we even know what the characters want in the first place), magic is party tricks here. it is flashy and does alot, but we don't know what it is not capable of doing and why. We never did see Sophie actually resolve the matter of being cursed.
3 = Before you expand on your magic system, make sure its consistent with existing rules. This is probably the most blatantly abused against here. So many things happened and so many developments with endless more magic stuff happens which we never understand. The more you watch, the more confusing, frustrating and ridiculous it gets.

Lastly is idealogue. I do like the theme of War and Peace here which was completely neglected and put in the background sadly. They could have gone somewhere. But the most infuriating thing in this entire show.. is nobody is willing to die for anything. Everyone has PAPER THIN MOTIVATIONS. What does the witch want? idk, is it the king? 50 years? nope apparently. She wants hearts? Okay then why is she suddenly the good guy here right until the moment where they want her to throw a wrench in the works? What about Howl? What does he want? He wants to be free? Then why is he held down by anything? Why does he go out and risk his life like he does? For what purpose? Does he want to be free? or does he see a duty to stop the war? If he wants to stop the war enough to risk his life why doesnt he go face the king? Hes a coward? Then why is he risking his life? Wait he got courage? He needed one old grandma stranger to give him the courage to risk his life like that? I could keep going, but by far the most ridiculous assertion out of everything. Was the fact the two actually somehow fell in love with each other. I could somewhat get Howl, a man can catch feelings if he is helped by someone at their lowest. But Sophie? If she never met howl, she would never have gotten cursed and would have lived a normal life. Its his fault she got dragged into all this. Maybe she wanted an adventure? and she fell for this whimsical mess of a man? Why? I find it rather degrading for a girl to simply get the hots for a guy for no apparent reason like that.. or maybe im out of touch or taking this too seriously. Either way, it is infuriating. Nobody stands for anything, so i found no reason to care about anything either.


The first half was still bearable, the 2nd one went south super fast. The entire world building went nowhere, the entire war thing was pointless. tldr 3/10 this stuff sits alongside Queens Blade. That balatant Fan Service fest atleast had potential, consistent characterization and world building. This show has nothing but fancy sakuga thats it.

This Season has been an emotional rollercoaster, which took some time to digest. However, thinking objective I'd give it a solid 8/10
Before going further, I'd preface by saying if you have watched S2 and loved then you should watch S3 and form your own opinion. However, if you didn't like S2 then don't have high hopes here then.

While everything from entertainment value, artistic merit, the premise of the story, the emotional peak moments were all there. The Bias and Narrative Consistency is where S3 suffered.

Meaning:
2/2 Artistic and Entertaining: It handled the premise of a a star studded idolizer, a childhood friend turned rival and the ... twilight of ones career really well. The final race in particular hit hard after that emotional investment.

2/2 Recommended to everyone: I can't recall a good sports anime that handled the twilight years of an athlete properly. I wont say more since spoilers but I think this has something for everyone to appreciate.

2/2 Emotional Moments: There were multiple extremely emotional moments, with the final climax leaving me kinda dead inside. It was one heluva emotional rollercoaster and I can see myself remembering this for a long time after this show ended.

the 2 points here are one from Narrative Consistency, which compared to S2 wasnt as good and the other for my bias on Power Systems.

1/2 Narrative Consistency: I define it as the ability to ask "What are we doing", "Why are we here", "When is this happening", "Where are we headed" and "How did we get here?" at any point in the story. Having a clear answer at any point means full points, but here admittedly, ever 3-4 eps feels like an arc of its own that doesn't properly flow well together compared to Season 2 which flowed extremely well from start to finish. So while S3 gets the job done, I feel it isn't as clean or smooth as S2.

1/2 Bias Category for meeting 2 of 3 biases. My preference is:
1 = Historical Inspiration, Uma musume adapts stories of Horses that happen in real life into a dramatized anime form which I absolutely love.
2 = Idealogue, It has sufficiently deep exploration of themes such as pursuing your idol as a dream, dealing with childhood friends turned rivals and of course most importantly the Twilight years of an Athlete's career.
3 = Magic/Power System, Meaning the abilities and powers involved in resolving the narrative and plot points. I use Sandersons 3 Laws of Magic for Power Systems here.

Law 1: An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic.

For S1, I wasnt convinced. Special Week and Suzuka are talented but I dont understand exactly how and where they are talented. I appreciate shallow steps on hills and slip streams but I feel they were only used once or twice max. S2 however solved that. Tokai Teio has flexible ankles and a beastly acceleration on short spurts that makes her a menace. Meijiro McQueen has plenty of power and stamina that allows her to compete over a longer distance and is more consistent. This is best leveraged in their corresponding training arcs with Teio being given endurance training and mcqueen taking strength training. S3 However, I am not sure I am entirely convinced. Kitasan has an incredibly busted body physique. a nod to the real life Kitasan known as a Tough guy. This often didnt translate much onto the race, but they did use it for training arcs.. which was more 'Intense Training' rather than specialized training.
Infact a point about foul play. In S1 we see a horsegirl try to knee jab Special Week, but she dodged it. We saw how Satomo Diamond is a bit frail and was pushed around in the race in S3, but we don't see any of that with Kitasan explicitly. If we had seen how Kitasan with her strong physique could easily withstand pressure, and her strat to be middle of the pack aligned as such it would make better sense here in contrast.

Law 2: The Limitations of your Powers are more interesting than the Capabilities.
Law 3: Explain what you already have before you expand it.
These 2 were properly met as we frequently contend with Limitations of each characters and how they approach them, and all training arcs start with stating what we already have before moving onto expanding it.

Hence with that.. while S1 satisfied 1 of 3 laws. S2 satisfied all 3. S3 satisfied i feel only 2 of them, as the explain-ability of the power systems didn't feel as relevant and it was more Loud Screaming during races instead.

Hence a 8/10. Better than S1 but flawed just enough to not be a masterpiece. The narrative shortfalls and the just enuf absence of the power system compared to S2 brought it down.

But eh, Despite that I still enjoyed and loved it immensely as the emotional rollercoaster was truly something insane.

Ill be referring to my narrative rating rubric which can be found in detail on my profile.

2/2 = peak entertainment and art
Entertaining and Artistic:
Uma Musume is back with top tier animation and sound design which is accompanied by incredibly intense and fun races. The artistic appeal of someone who has the talent and hard work but faces the reaility of losing is well explored and so is the burden of survivors guilt for the other. Making this a compelling piece to watch on its own

2/2 = perfect narrative consistency
Narrative Consistency, defined as the strength of story telling such that in any episode you can stop ... to question What is going on, Why is this happening, When is this happening, Where are we and How is this unfolding. Essentially going from one plot point to another without causing confusion and being coherent. With 4 episodes, there was suspicion of toning down the plot a lot that it may feel jarring but thankfully not. We follow the Consequential Classic Races and the flow from one plot point to another is clear and enjoyable making it a pleasing and entertaining watching experience that ensures you arent lost.

2/2 = Has something for everyone, wholeheartidly recommend
Recommendation? Wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. While knowledge of the Uma Musume-verse helps, the 4 episodes are largely self contained even though we have some characters in Rice Shower and Urara chan making an appearance. The narrative story of seeing someone work hard and use the best of talents but still fall short, and work to fight that frustration is a compelling story for any athlete. Admire Vega's story arc focusing on her sister too much was unfortunate consequence of 4 episodes, but it works really well to its advantage where we are able to see her journey of coming to terms with her survivors guilt.

2/2 = CHOCKFULL OF EMOTIONAL MOMENTS
Whether its the first race with someone making a statement from the outside.
The second and third race, especially the second, with a blow out phenomenal performance that left me losing it.
And of course the finale. Oh the finale.. a nail biting moment with emotions running high culminating in a very memorable high.
Multiple highly Emotional moments gives this full points here and will be stay with you long after.

Bias:
Historical Accuracy is top tier, Admire Vega vs Narita Top Road vs T M Opera O is an amazing 3 way rivalry to cover

The Idealogue is top tier. Top Road suffers from the complex of combining hard work and talent to the max and still falling short.. overcoming that hurdle was a big win. Admire Vega suffers from survivors guilt, the story of overcoming that mental block is amazing. TM Opera acts as an amazing foil for both of the protags here.

Power System exists in a satisfactory capcity. We are demonstrated the strengths of each of the 3 and then the play is around out competing each other.. the Final race was heavily unusual as it betrayed most norms and was a tight race of strategy and expectations leading to an explosive finish that kept you guessing

For satisfying all 3 of my biases, thats a 2/2 here as well

And as a Bonus cherry on top.
*I didn't skip a single second start to finish* which includes the OP as well. Its a rare honor deserving only of 10/10s
If you like Uma Musume, you will absolutely love this. If you haven't watched uma musume, this one still has something for you in regards to an amazing sports drama.

(Note I am using my Rubric, consisting of 5 categories that has 2 points each:
1= Fun & Artistic, 2 = Recommendation Confidence, 3 = Narrative Consistency, 4 = Emotional Moments, 5 = Personal Bias)

def fun and artistically unique 2/2
It takes the premise of Horse Racing and adds a Cute Girls doing Things flair to it with Horse Girls racing instead. Plus the show itself was quite enjoyable, I found myself constantly cheering for the characters in their races and got myself emotionally invested with Suzuka too.

narrative consistency is perfectly solid, the 2 problems i had was why is suzuka in spica and the rigal ... v spica disparity. But it doesnt bother me since the plot services really well despite it. That's a 2/2 too
Narrative Consistency can be simplified to starting any episode and being able to ask "What are we doing? Why are we doing it? When is this? Where are we? and How did this happen?", with a narratively consistent show being able to answer all of the above with a reasonable accuracy if not full clarity. At no point in the show did it felt like things were dragging, they made motivations clear, goal posts clear and wasted no time in moving the plot along whilst giving ample room for all the characters to breathe and shape up. I personally never felt lost and could trust the show to answer most questions satisfyingly whilst I enjoy the races themselves. Plus lots of fun subversion moments as well, and of course how the characters grow as a result of defeat and how Make or Break works.

Emotional Moments. There was definitely One. <SPOILERS> was the pull that sold me from 2x and 1.5x down to 1x speed. But besides that not much, i doubt ill remember any other moment after a while except Suzuka here
1/2
Emotional moments can be defined as any scene in the show that leaves a strong impression on you such that you will remember it long after the show is over. Like 2 years later if this show was mentioned, I'd still recall that scene of Suzuka there and the intense emotions it inspired in me. Those emotions can be Joy, Sadness, Anger or merely Thought Provoking Silence. Point is it leaves a strong impression. 1/2 since there is only 1 moment, I expect more. A good example is 3gatsu no Lion, its pack full of Emotional moments that make me remember it long after it ended.

It caters to my personal bias of drawing inspiration from history. but ofcourse no deep idealogue or magic systems here (if they used physics terms like horsepower and what not maybe. They did it once with the stream-way thing where if u tail a horse u can block air resistance. they also did the shallow step technique for uphill running, but besides those 2 there is a lot that could be done.
1/2
Personal biases for me mean when a show has 1 = Historical inspiration, 2 = Interesting Magic/Power System, 3 = Deep Idealogue.
No fancy powers here and no deep philosophy either, which is fine. But the fact that the races adapted in the show actually happened IRL is a strong inspiration from History which is a big plus for me, hence 1/2

Would I recommend this to everyone?
Idk, its definitely the category of cute girls doing things without much more to it. Since its subjective on someone liking it as a hit or miss, id give it a "I'll happily recommend it but ik its not for everyone" hence 1/2.
The premise of the show makes it hard to sell to an outsider, its definitely the cute girls doing things flair but telling someone its a show about horse racing doesnt begin to describe the emotional investment of seeing these Horse Girls competing in a sport unique to theirs. The fact how life threatening injuries are (quite literally) makes it all the more intense and how quickly no stars can be borne. That said, while I personally enjoyed, I can see why it may not be for everyone. Hence a 1/2 here as a niche recommendation.

That brings us to 7/10
leaning 7.5 since they sorta did do the magic system/physics system slightly, but i feel they could do more.
at 7/10 its in the same league as Jujutsu Kaisen and Cyberpunk Edgerunners for me

tldr Blue Lock is better

Boring ahh football right there. All of that pansy ahh dicc tugging smile for the camera BS. Men don't puke nor do men poop on the field, men don't deliver their new born baby on the side lines either. Softcore butterball foosball chuck it. Blue Lock is Better.

I was recommended this since people told me its a more 'authentic' and 'better' depiction of football than Blue Lock and hence more fun.
Aside from the fact the MC is a cookie cutter loud mouthed Shounen MC. The anime suffers from a "Tell don't Show" Syndrome, where apparently every important development happens through exposition ... rather than showing it.
MC is disregarding tactics? Have someone state it rather than show he is breaking formation to the chagrin of others.
MC is being fed the ball? Make sure to mention that since no point in showing that.
MC cares about his friends here because he is accepted here despite being a ball hog? Make sure to have him say that without actually showing any of it.
And episode 1 wasnt even done lmao. Then you have some legendary player turned coach magically scout out this guy, was he working hard? Better say he ran 2 laps rather than show it. MC has a special power here? Better explicitly mention it without ever showing or explaining properly how he utilized. Even more jarring is how its instinct magic. MC doesn't care about tactics nor does he like them, but his instinct power is seemingly knowing the position of everyone on the field so he is in the right position.
Does MC care about his friends? or was it really because he got mad on his family's behalf?

Just in case you haven't had enough yet, we already got a female love interest gushing over the MC in episode 2 with some fun quirks.
Dont forget to have the MC do something outrageous without even showing a shred or moment of introspection. He just 'knew what to do' all of the sudden, and then immediately after that down play it as a 'oh i got lucky!' moment. Infuriating as hell.

Blue Lock in contrast was far far better and superior. The frustration of losing and having your ambition being gutted from day one is what we see in the first minute of Blue Lock, the frustration the MC has is on himself not his circumstances. Then he is invited to a special Blue Lock program where from the get go everyone is told they are trash and really the only way to filter out the best is from Ego. Gotta love how everyone trashed on Blue Lock early on thinking of the shallow surface level interpretation of hurr durr ego everything jsut score score score. Top Tier Football is when great Egos and Great Hunger Combine into a drive for being the best, and the Chemical Reaction produced by working with other elites is how you get peak Footbal, like what Madrid accomplished in UCL. Thats exactly what Blue Lock achieved. Teamwork is acquired organically to necessitate hunger, not to pander and play nice. This is a competitive sport where people quite literally are betting their entire livelihoods with so ofcourse they take it with that level of intensity. Something that Aoashi grievously lacks.

So yeah, dropped it after 3 eps. Blue Lock is better.

For people who have already read the Manwha and are curious about the animation, Episode 5,6 and 11,12 are my recommendations. You get the best of the anime there. For everyone else, give it a 3 episode rule and see if you vibe with it.

What you can expect is a journey of a weak person into becoming strong not through abusing a mechanic or cheat but through sheer grit and willpower, along with ofcourse a great many strong foes to overcome.

Now to the actual review:

The most popular Manwha out there, the Power Fantasy of Power Fantasies. I read and finished the Manwha and it was ... a fun ride. Though by no means I'll call it a masterpiece for art is more to it than just flashy power trips and Solo Levelling suffers greatly from cardboard characters and paper thin personalities. However, the anime is not the same as the manwha and I think in a good way, since the anime has done more to delve into the side characters and Jin Woo's Psyche compared to the source material which imo was just balls to the walls power fantasy, while here Solo levelling shows the journey and growth of a once weak and powerless Jin Woo now going through hardship to become stronger and face progressively stronger foes. I think a 3 episode rule will give it a fair shake for everyone to decide whether they like this or not. I see many people who hate it because its a Power Fantasy or a Video Game inspired Magic System which they don't like, I mean yeah anime taste is subjective. If you don't like it, that's fine. That said, I personally enjoyed watching Solo Levelling, especially with Food. The Igris Fight at Episode 11 and 'ARISE' in Episode 12 is great.

I usually watch anime at 2x speed since most of the times they either bore me or the pacing drags on. However anime that impresses through engaging plot developments and emotionally climatic moments often have me slow down and watch it more closely. Usually reserved for masterpieces like FMAB, Steins Gate or AoT. I oddly found myself really enjoying Solo Levelling.

Anyway, onto my objective assessment. You can refer to my profile for more details:

Rubric 1: Arts and Fun = Entertaining & Artistic Merit = 2/2 points
Originally I would have given it a 1/2 since the Artistic merit is nothing new. However, you have to understand this Manwha is really old and predates SAO in the video game fantasy genre. That said, despite the aged context of the plot the anime does a really great job of portraying Jin Woo's evolution from being weak & powerless to being a strong, ruthless and often times cold blooded hunter. In future context of the plot it also sets the elements for the future plot in motion pretty well too. Plus the production value is pretty good, as such I'm happy to award it artistic merit since It managed to iterate over the existing material and improve it.

Rubric 2: Recommendation = It's a really fun time if the premise doesn't turn you off = 2/2 point
I understand people who don't like Power Fantasies or Video Game Mechanics in anime, calling it creatively bankrupt or whatever. However, I disagree on the creative bankruptcy part. Good stories can be told through any means and media, utilizing game like mechanics is only bad if the anime does little to explain any of it assuming 'you know it already' which is what I'd call mooching off others work. But I digress, I'd recommend Solo Levelling with the idea that if you enjoy Power Fantasy, you will love it as its a slow ascent to power and then balls to the walls power trip, however I definitely think Jin Woo right now when he is still weak in contrast to the absurdities in the later manwha still has a journey of overcoming your limits that is quite a treat to see. You can't just solve all your problems by grinding, you need to pick your battles and push yourself beyond your limits. So basically, I found it fun and I think you might too so give it a chance and see if it vibes with you.

Rubric 3: Narrative Consistency = Completely Flawless = 2/2 points
Narrative consistency I define is the idea that anywhere in the story, you can stop and ask How, What, Why, When, Where and you should be able to answer that without any confusion. Atleast as far as the anime has progressed there isn't a concern with the flow of the story and thus the narrative consistency is sound. This makes it easy to follow and tracking Jin Woo's progression and growth is really fun and rewarding.

Rubric 4: Emotional Moments = Has atleast 1 emotional moment = 2/2 point
An emotional moment is something that evokes an immense intensity of emotions:
Happiness (You are happy and smile in joy)
Saddens (A scene makes you sob)
Thought Provoking (A scene that makes you think very deeply)
Memorable/Iconic (A scene unlike any other that will stick with you)

A good example of an emotional moment is United States of Smash by All Might in My Hero Academia, also Endeavour VS Nomu fight from the same.

The Serpent Fight in Episode 4, The Ending and the incredibly direct reference in Episode 12 along with Arise all served up enough Emotional Moments to justify the upgrade to 7 points

Rubric 5: Personal Bias = Does not cater to my biases = 0/2 points
I like 3 things:
1 = History (If the anime has a rich lore or is inspired by actual history and adheres to it)

2 = Idealogue (The anime jostles with deep and thought provoking topics like the Idea of a King or the Concept of Freedom and Justice, and tries its best to explore or deconstruct)

3 = Magic Systems (Be it a hard magic system defined by rules like FMAB's Law of Equivalent Exchange, or a Soft Magic System that is more mysterious like bending in Avatar the Last Airbender)

The History and World Building is incredibly surface level, we don't know much about the world beyond its pretty much the modern world and then the gates arrive and we get Hunters etc. Wasted potential there..
Idealogue is surface level in the anime, it does deal with the psychology of strength and what it means to kill someone to lose a part of yourself, but it doesn't really go into any depth about it. Just an acknowledgement and moving on. However, later in the Manwha Solo Levelling explores other themes but I won't discuss them here since it's not relevant (yet).
The Magic System is incredibly bare bones, you Level up in a way you do in RPGs and get stat points to allocate and skills and items and stuff. Aside from plot relevant and surface level information and comparisons, it really doesn't dive in deep to flesh out the entire system. I won't say anything about it, but this is a plot point thats relevant later in the story However or now the 'Magic System' is sadly surface level and not properly fleshed out. Jin Woo can get skills and items and stuff all in a matter of convenience. Sanderson said in his Laws of Magic that 'Magic is best known through it's Limitations rather than Capabilities' meaning it is more interesting to know what are the limitations of a given system and have your characters problem solve with that in mind. FMAB's Law of Equivalent Exchange is a masterclass in this, we know the cost of doing anything must come equally in payment. In Solo Levelling, constraints are dynamic and often only show up in context of scenarios or plot complications, there is no overall law that governs hard rules of what constitutes what can and cannot be done which adds too loose of a definition in terms of Power Scaling. But eh I'm rambling, point is the Magic System of SL is surface level serviceable, not the sort I particularly like hence I can't award any points here.

Final rating: 8/10

I'm finding it hard to understand why people hate this anime. I guess it's likely due to the sentiment of being 'overrated'.
I think Frieren absolutely deserves its spot as the Greatest Anime of All Time alongside FMAB and Steins;Gate.
Ill get to the more objective bit in a moment, but I'd like to Preface why I love this anime so much.
I grew up playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim when it first released. 13 years on I am still playing it and I love it. Skyrim gave me that sense of 'Adventure' where there is the great outer wilds with magic, monsters and mystery. It is incredibly ... exciting, braving the unknown and coming out stronger and learning and exploring things. That sense of adventure felt lost to me for 10 years as growing up I had to confront the realities of responsibility, academics, worsening economic situations and global turmoil as well as climate change and what not. Life has gotten a lot more stressful and I often yearn for a simpler time where I could have that cozy sense of adventure.

Frieren... is a 24 episode anime that effectively captured that sense of 'Adventure' I felt. Through Frieren's own journey, exploring the world she inhabits, reliving the memories of the time of Himmel the Hero and his party. Everything.

Now onto more objective analysis. Refer to my profile for an explanation of my Rubrics:

Rubric 1: Arts and Fun = Entertaining & Artistic Merit = 2/2 points = Frieren takes the plot of a story that is after the end of another. The great hero and his party already defeated the Demon Lord, and now as the relentless march of time continues the Heroes party fades into Legend. Frieren is an Elf, as such she lives far longer than any human being, and due to her past and disposition she is emotionally distant and experiences time radically different compared to humans. For her, only at the passing of Himmel the Hero, does she truly feel regret at not having gotten to know him better. As such, Frieren under takes a Journey to the ends of the World where the Dead live as spirits to go meet Himmel. This exploration of valuing ones encounters and appreciating life and those with you is poignant, all the while we are served Frieren's Bizzare Adventures as she explores the world, collects spells, teaches a disciple (Pout Queen Fern), getting caught by Mimics and Genociding Demons. It's fun and artistic and deserving of its place.

Rubric 2: Recommendation = Recommend to everyone without reserve = 2/2 points; Frieren is a show that is simply unlike any other. It goes against all the established norms of what constitutes a great story, the idea of having a strong overarching plot, the idea of having deeply compelling villains or simply following the Heroes Journey Pattern. Frieren does none of these and yet excels in a way previously unheard of. It is a story that is so incredibly reliant on its characters, and the characters themselves absolutely deliver. I'd want everyone who has enjoyed anime to look at Frieren. It is better to watch it and hate it because you didn't like it, than never having watched it at all imo.

Rubric 3: Narrative Consistency = Completely Flawless with no room for improvement needed = 2/2 points; What others considering a boring and slow pace is lauded as respectful depth and time given to properly develop and mature the characters on screen. Narrative consistency refers to how at any given moment in the story you can ask What, Why, When, Where and How. Good Narrative consistency means you will be able to answer those questions without being confused given you were paying attention. Frieren absolutely excels at this. From Episode 1 to Episode 24, everything flows uniformly. All events, all developments, all complications, all plot points, all conflicts. Everything progresses at a natural and organic pace and the emergent problems arise in a way that make complete sense and links back to the start. Everything is being done in service of a Journey to the proverbial end of the world to meet Himmel, though the anime takes the liberty of not stressing any urgency which is to our benefit as it allows our characters to live and mature whilst also being consistent with how Frieren experiences time. Fern is helpful here as she forces Frieren to consider Human Lifespans to factor urgency in, which makes all interactions realistic and interesting.

Rubric 4: Emotional Moments = Minimum 3 Emotional Moments = 2/2 points
An emotional moment is something that evokes an immense intensity of emotions:
Happiness (You are happy and smile in joy)
Saddens (A scene makes you sob)
Thought Provoking (A scene that makes you think very deeply)
Memorable/Iconic (A scene unlike any other that will stick with you)

A good example of an emotional moment is United States of Smash by All Might in My Hero Academia, also Endeavour VS Nomu fight from the same.

I have lost count of how many such moments have hit me in Frieren. The fact its over leaves me empty thinking I wont have Frieren Fridays for the Foreseeable future. Also contrary to what people think I really loved the first opening, the lyrics make it absolutely on point.

Rubric 5: Personal Bias = Caters to All my Biases = 2 points
I like 3 things:
1 = History (If the anime has a rich lore or is inspired by actual history and adheres to it)

2 = Idealogue (The anime jostles with deep and thought provoking topics like the Idea of a King or the Concept of Freedom and Justice, and tries its best to explore or deconstruct)

3 = Magic Systems (Be it a hard magic system defined by rules like FMAB's Law of Equivalent Exchange, or a Soft Magic System that is more mysterious like bending in Avatar the Last Airbender)

Frieren has a rich history of its own world, and in fact our story begins after Himmel the Hero defeated the Demon Lord which adds a monument of Historical undertones which I absolutely love. Frieren delves into numerous philosophical areas, from the idea of mortality and time, to the value of ones connections and friends, to the idea of everlasting things and legacy, to the idea of what is Power, Strength and Passion. Perhaps most poignant is Frieren's take on Demons. I think people who hate it misunderstand it greatly, Demons in Frieren are monstrous beings. They have no regard of morality (which I argue makes one Human), and everything from their demonstrated empathy, humanoid features and even use of speech is all explained as a means to an end to deceive and take advantage of Humans. They are a species in love with Mana and Magic and spent their entire lives dedicated to that power. Demons don't have any concepts of Family or Kinship, merely Strength and Power through which they aren't afraid to ally or use others as pawns to enrich themselves. This is best shown through Aura who's power allows her to dominate anyone with less mana than her. However, despite all their strength a demons greatest weakness is their Pride. Frieren quite literally spent her entire life mastering an ability so utterly useless in every context.... but its supremely affective in fooling Demons which is what makes her an extraordinaire in slaying Demons. Frieren has a rich world with rich history and strong Magic Systems explaining its own power mechanics, there has never been an instance of a Deus Ex Machina suddenly saving them as every plot point is resolved from the confines of established consistent Magical Systems.

Therefore in conclusion, Frieren deserves its position as Top 1 on MAL. I'd still rate Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood as higher because unlike Frieren, FMAB has 64 episodes to Frieren's 24. Basically I want more Frieren >.>

10/10 Masterpiece

A fun anime following an apothecary with her adventures in China's rear palace. It's a fun approach to use Alchemy and Herbal techniques to problem solve complications. Maomao's character is really entertaining and takes a strong place as an entertaining, fun and highly unique characteristic female lead. Episodes follow the trend of a problem occurring which Maomao will solve using a mix of her Apothecary skills and Detective Intuition. Bit by bit towards the latter half of the series, we find out the incidents are actually connected and it culminates in a climatic event whilst also connecting to Maomao's past and how deeply she and ... her family are involved.

(Refer to my profile for a guide on how I judge my 5 Rubrics)

Rubric 1: Arts and Fun = Entertaining & Artistic Merit = 2/2 points; Apothecary Diaries is an entertaining and interesting take on using Apothecary knowledge as the 'magic system' in this series (It's not magic but the means to resolve plot points) which is interesting and the Character dynamics of Maomao and the whole gallery of side characters is quite interesting and fun

Rubric 2: Recommendation = Recommend to everyone without reserve = 2/2 points; I have no qualms about recommending this to everyone. It has something for everyone, the detective-esque mystery, the calm slice of life, character drama, romance, diegetic alchemy and historical context. Episode 23 in particular is something really touching.

Rubric 3: Narrative Consistency = Some flaws or Nitpicks with room for improvement = 1/2 point; Summarized as that at any moment you can ask Why, What, When, Where, How about the plot and you will know with little confusion. While for the most part the anime is quite interesting, there isn't a strong correlation of how it all ties together outside Maomao's Bizzare Adventures and whatever Jinshi is feeling like. This reservation is the strongest at the Finale of the series. I disagree with the explanation given at the end given the intense animosity and high running emotions as well as the history of the characters involved. It made little sense why half the things happened as they are if it was so easy to fix everything, it makes a core complication seem contrived or unnecessary. I'd happily take an extended Episode 23 with 5-10 minute extra epilogue with a decent explanation than Episode 24. That said, I understand why people like it so I won't rain on that parade, it is quite enjoyable but I have my reservations.

Rubric 4: Emotional Moments = Minimum 3 Emotional Moments = 2/2 points; Moments which elicit a strong emotional response. Can be either excitement or sadness or even anger or shock/outrage. Think United States of Smash if you will. This anime had no shortage of them, I can count a minimum of 3 highly emotional moments that made me go 'OOOOOHHHH' or just deathly silent at how absorbed I was. 2 of which happen in the final 3-4 episodes. Well worth the build up and the emotional climax. This also includes sound track and sound design, Opening 2 is one of my favorite openings in general.

Rubric 5: Personal Bias = Caters to atleast 1 of my biases = 1/2 point; I prefer 3 things: History/Lore, Idealogue and interesting Magic Systems. Apothecary Diaries has History theme done really well being set in China during the rule of what I'd consider either Ming or Qing dynasty. The Apothecary Magic System and Idealogue are both touched briefly, since Maomao somehow gets Detective Ex Machina as well, and while her place as a commoner and the fate of the lowborn is discussed early on it is dropped in the latter half to focus on Maomao's past and budding Romance with Jinshi. As such, I can say it only really catered to my Historical itch, with the other two leaving more to be desired.

Overall that is 8/10 for Apothecary Diaries.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

Alright, the show is finished so I can say the full story now. It is great to see a lot of people see the light and it shows in the reviews.

Tl;dr; 8/10 = For those who can enjoy it, this anime is a very entertaining and refreshing take on the football anime landscape full of interesting characters and growth in the backdrop of an ideologically charged character who believes Japanese Football requires Ego to grow and allow them to compete for the World Cup. Full of hype moments and exhilarating sequences that are incredibly fun to watch.

Artistic and Fun: 2/2
It is fun to watch ... the craziness that unfolds on the pitch, it is quite entertaining in how the match progresses and the artistic merit of inducing ego within players is well founded.

Recommended: 1/2
I can easily recommend Blue Lock to everyone, both the anime and the manga are a really good read. For people who watch actual football, I can understand they will find this cringe and jarring that is just how anime is. The focus of the anime is on developing egos and how the character chemistry works with other Egoists, it is less about tactics, structure and mechanics surrounding the beautiful game. If that is what you want to look at, you are welcome to watch other football centric shows like Ao Ashi but this one laser focuses on the Egoism and it does its job perfectly but I can understand that it will not be entertaining and even frustrating for some people but for those who can enjoy it it is a top tier treat.

Narrative Consistency: 2/2
Made simple, if you ask your self 3 questions “Why are we here?” “Where are we headed?” “How are we gonna get there” If you are able to get a satisfactory answer for those 3 questions then that is good narrative consistency. “We are looking for the One Piece, that is why we are headed to the Grand Line but it is the pirates graveyard so we figure out a way to cross it from this guy Koby who explains how marines cross it” sounds good? A good anime has sound narrative consistency. Blue Lock, depending on who you ask, has an answer to those questions but each in their own way. For Ego “Japanese Football needs Ego, For that I made Blue Lock to cultivate their Ego. How that is gonna happen is through elimination so only the strongest egoists survive”, For Isagi “I want to play football on a high level maybe even the world cup, That is why I am at Blue Lock and why I am going to be the greatest striker. I do that by analysing, deconstructing and remaking myself to overcome my enemies”. You get the point, every character can answer that very well which is a very strong case for how good the narrative consistency is. On top of that, their reasons are compelling and get you invested.

Emotional Highs: 2/2
Defined as moments that evoke strong emotion, be it Anger, Sadness, Happiness, Laughter or even Thought Provoking that can leave you speechless. United States of Smash, the unveiling of the master plan in FMAB and Okabe's Operation Arclight are good examples.
Minimum 3 moments = 2 points
Blue Lock has plenty of hype moments, from Isagi’s Direct Shot, to the Back Heel and how he overcomes Barou. That is Isagi alone, Bachira, my beloved Chigiri and Nagi all of them have their moments.

Bias: 1/2
Ill mention it briefly, my biases are: Idealogue, Theme of Kingship, History
Blue Lock has the idealogue of Ego down to a Tee, so it gets the point for that. Also there are plenty of Historical inspirations like Messi, Cantona and Ronaldo. For manga readers they will know in the later chapters how we have leagues and how players are inspired from actual people. However I cannot give it the point for Theme of Kingship which is my favourite, Barou briefly explored the idea of a King which quickly becomes about a Tyrant and for the manga readers they will know its more than that. Therefore, it is unfair but Biases are subjective and I find the Theme of Kingship to be the most worthwhile theme to discuss as it embodies Strength, Sincerity and Duty in a character while also as the political system that has prevailed the longest in human history. Therefore 2/3 bases means 1 point.

Conclusion: 8/10
This anime is a very entertaining and full of hype as well as great art with the sound track, colors and animation. It breaks the usual mold of how football really is of the power of friendship sort, and for those finding it to be surface level or cringe haven't understood the point of the story. It's not Strikers are everything or All Strikers only. Football doesn't work like that; the idea is to induce Ego as that is what Jinpachi Ego believes is what is missing in Japans football and through is Ego every player finds what they are good at and use that to the full extent while still being hungry for the ball. The character dynamics, the growth of every character, their personal motivations and chemistry is a joy to watch. Most specifically the way Isagi breaks himself down and rebuilds himself again to overcome each challenge is one of the most interesting displays of dealing with obstacles.

Please don't judge me, I was watching this at 2x speed while grinding FGO. I didn't actually think by the end I would get invested and enjoy it, yet here we are.

TL;Dr 3/10: Fan service, Big Bodacious Bouncy Babes Battling it out in a Battle Royale to be Queen. The only thing I saw of merit was the MC Leina's development towards the very end, but that's basically it. There is a mountain of things here that could be explored but isn't cuz the show is simply Silly Huge Badonkers fighting one another.

Artistic and Fun: 1/2
0 Artistic merit, I mean what do you expect ... from a show that is about Women Fighting where armor & clothes get conveniently ripped off to flash some racks. The Battle Royale and Character Journeys, as well as the existence of other races and higher beings could be interesting but none of it is explored cuz Badonkers is the focus.
However, the show can arguably be fun if you watch it on 2x speed. Echidna is hawt, Tomoe is precious and Leina evolving from a weakling to a contender is actually fun. That is if you haven't already dropped it or paid attention to anything besides the flashing.

Recommended: 0/2
I could never in my right mind recommend this to anyone. Please understand I only had this on as a sort of background junk to watch while I grind my gacha. If you want a battle royale that delves into the theme of Kingship where the winner will fulfill their wish and the main protagonist is also a Blonde Royalty voiced by Ayako Kawasumi, go watch Fate/Zero (To TM fans, yes I know. Now shush)

Narrative Consistency: 0/2
The plot is pretty much a battle Royale, but the show seems unable to even respect that. Usually if you lose in a battle royale you get disqualified, but that isn't the case here, a lot of the rules and restrictions aren't explained leaving us, the viewer, very confused and giving it a Deus Ex Machina feel. Considering this show messed up handling its core plot, which was so shallow its amazing how they managed to mess it up, you will frequently wonder why anything is happening. The only way anything made sense would be in hindsight from the ending, it's all in service to Leina's growth. However, I argue, Character growth is not a plotline. It is something that happens over the course of one. Simply removing the involvement of the Angels declaring a Queens Blade battle outside the Imperial Capital can nicely address that issue, this way the pilgrimage to the Capital for the selection is made meaningful as you will likely face many dangers and competition on the way. Only the strongest will survive and reach in time for the selection. So yeah, you will find yourself confused and frequently wonder what is happening, why is it happening, whats the point and why are you even watching this.

Emotional Highs: 1/2
Defined as moments that evoke strong emotion, be it Anger, Sadness, Happiness, Laughter or even Thought Provoking that can leave you speechless. United States of Smash, the unveiling of the master plan in FMAB and Okabe's Operation Arclight are good examples.
Minimum 3 moments = 2 points
Despite failing to service a plot (instead it services the fans lmao), Character growth is definitely present here. Leina's battle after her training arc was actually pretty fun imo. As someone who was cheering her on from the start, it was nice to see the MC finally blossom into something resembling a challenger. However, I'm really stretching over here to say this was an Emotional High. Considering the absolute hype that is Haikyuu, or the end of Vinland Saga, Operation Arclight from Steins;Gate. This is incredibly lukewarm, but I cannot say I myself didn't feel anything. So if I can feel it, means there exist others who might as well hence I feel this anime has earned this 1 point.

Bias: 1/2 (mentioned after the next 3 paras)

Queens Blade's Power and Magic System is incredibly shallow, it gets points for completeness like the first enemy having a limitation that was exploited. However aside from that it is bland, uninteresting and uninspired. Stuff happens cuz it happens, and there is extremely little information provided in understanding how powers function. Although, I do prefer this Limitation without Explanation System as opposed to a OP Can Do Literally Anything with a BS Explanation System (think OP MC kun with a harem) they are still both equally bad and I cannot accept such a terrible Magic System.

The core complication is the Battle Royale Tournament to determine the next Queen: Queens Blade. The show touches on many things that merit a deep dive such as the idea that the strong take what they want rightfully: Law of the Jungle. The idea of one having Responsibilities from birth they need to live up to: Birthright. The idea of forging ones place in the world when you are a hybrid of two races: Mixed Race Identity, and of course the theme of what is in the name (it's male counterpart is more fitting) What Does it Mean to be a King? Is overwhelming strength the only perquisite? Where does Wisdom, Kindness and Duty come in? The idea of a King is something that truly fascinates me since it is the oldest and one of the most prevalent means of ruling for Mankind until we had Democracy in the modern era. However, sadly this show explores literally none of these.
The sad part is there are alot more themes here that I haven't even mentioned and I know I'm not mistaken when a show full of bouncy badonkers can casually mention "Separation of Church and State" as part of National Policy. This anime has tons of deep themes ripe for potential, but it squanders all of them by being utterly shallow and not exploring them at all. Its utter disrespect since the show kicks you in the face saying "What did you expect from a show literally about tits"

Queens Blade has its own World with its own histories, nations, traditions, factions, phenomenon, races and cultures. From the Oriental Nation where Tomoe comes from, to the more standard European one where Leina hails from. The Elves in their forest, the Dwarves in their Mountains, and while sadly most of this is just set dressing for the main show (Big Hooters) it isn't irrelevant. The Elf council making their decision based on Racial Prejudice, The Dwarves getting involved because the Humans were out producing their market with cheaper less quality goods instead, The Orient facing rampant corruption in their nations administration, the existence of Angels and Demons down to the fact that Queens Blade was a Divine mandate. This all tells us of a world lived in, and sadly this anime barely does anything to explore this world. Instead once again rushing ahead to flash some racks on screen.

My biases: Magic Systems, Idealogue and History

Magic Systems: Any system with strict (Hard) or implied (Soft) restrictions of what it's capable of qualifies as a Magic System for the purposes of this Review. Be it FMAB's Law of Equivalent Exchange, Steins;Gate's World Lines or Dr Stone's Science

History: Real world History or World Building and Lore based History. Re Zero and Overlord have vibrant Worlds with their own fleshed out History, Races, Relations, Politics and Factionalism. Bonus points for Natural Phenomenon Unique to their worlds. Whereas Youjo Senki / Saga of Tanya the Evil takes direct inspiration from WW1.

Idealogue: Deep and Thought Provoking takes on contemporary or otherwise archaic matters. Be it Intangible stuff like Justice and Meaning of Life, or something achievable like being the Best at X and the ramifications of being so. My favorite is the Idea of being a King, and the concept of a King in general.


Conclusion: 3/10
This anime is wasted potential, a shallow caricature who's prime operating directive is "Boobies"
The show is unable to remain consistent with its complications, it refuses to respect any of the themes it mentions, it keeps churning out episode after episode of sludge that is mostly tits flashing left and right.
However, if you by some Herculean merit decide to look past the fan service. You will be left with nothing but disappointment at how much of a wasted potential this show truly is. This show is a very good example of how damaging fan service can be to a story, I'd like to believe the person who wrote the plot truly had something in mind but maybe I am giving this show too much credit and maybe all these deep things are red herrings there to give you a pretty pathetic attempt at an illusion of depth that all really exists to act as a backdrop for big bouncy boobs battling each other.
The only thing off merit in this entire mess is the main characters development at the end, which isn't exactly impressive. I'm just saying its the "only thing that's good"