So Nagatoro just ended...and that means its time for me to write a second review of it. Yes, this is my second review. I made a review of the series on my Youtube channel a couple months ago which mostly goes over the manga and barely talked about the anime. I have the same complaints in it that I do for the anime so if you'd rather watch a video review then you can watch that instead. Plus theres a lot more to it than there is here.
EDIT: Apparently I'm not allowed to send links in reviews so you can find it by searching Nagatoro
...
Sucks and Here's Why by The Harem Reviewer
Story: 3
Nagatoro's plot is almost non existent.
The only sort of plot in Nagatoro is that Senpai gets teased and bullied by Nagatoro. Thats honestly it. Episodes usually centers around a new way Nagatoro can tease Senpai and then the episode ends.
Rinse and repeat.
The last two or I guess two and a half episodes cover the arts festival arc which is easily the best part of the series but thats not saying too much.
This is basically if Teasing Takagi was shit. Teasing Takagi doesn't really have a plot like Nagatoro, but it makes up for it with its characters. I really wish I had more to say about the plot but there's really nothing to it nor much to say.
Characters: 3
Nagatoro is a fucking asshole and she's also loud and annoying. As for Senpai he’s a loser, he’s a pussy, he’s boring and generic. He does get some development as it goes on but he’s still not interesting even if he gets a bit less nerdy and wimpy. The side characters in Nagatoro aren’t forgettable, they’re just unlikeable. Gamo, Yoshi, and Sakura are just annoying. They aren’t as dislikable as Nagatoro but its like choosing between Pearl Harbor and 911.
A simple concept like this needs to be carried by its cast which is why Nagatoro fails. Its main characters suck and its side characters suck. I would say the entire cast is unlikable but I would be lying if I said that. There is one character that I actually enjoy which is Art Club President? Jesus Christ the creator is terrible at naming his characters.
She’s the only good part of the entire series. She isn’t unlikable, she’s not annoying and most of all she has fat titties. She also gets nude for her art projects which is great. The only problem is that she isn’t in the series that much. I mentioned before that the art festival is probably the best part of the series and thats because the President is in it a decent amount. Besides that she doesn't make appearances too often which sucks. If she was the main character the series would be leagues better than it is now. But overall besides the President, the cast is poo poo, moving on.
Art: 6
The anime looks fine for the most part. Sometimes the animation can look cheap but normally its nothing to praise or complain about. Character designs are fine, but the backgrounds can actually look pretty good when they want to be. I don't have to much to shit on except for one thing. It was a design choice to have all the background characters have no eyes. This really bothers me. These background characters are usually framed so that its very notable that they have no eyes. In the last episode there's a close up of one of them giving a reaction to Senpai's response and it looks disturbing and awful. I don't know why this was done but I hate it. But besides that, the art is the best part of the show but its nothing to write home about.
Sound: 5
Most of the soundtrack is kind of forgettable. Some are fine but then there are other cringey Minecraft dubstep tracks that play whenever Nagatoro starts teasing Senpai. They're so bad its even kind of funny at times. The OP is whatever, I always skipped it but I actually really like the ED song. So if theres one good thing we got out of this show its that...also the sus memes.
Entertainment: 3
This is one of those rare cases where while I do hate the show, I was never bored by it. Typically shows I hate are ones I find boring and uninteresting. Here thats not the case. Nagatoro is just unlikable because of its cast. I don't really find any of it funny and only laughed during it since I was making fun of it. This show is just frustrating and generic, I fail to understand how people can genuinely enjoy this.
Conclusion: 3
This show sucks, don't watch it.
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Jun 28, 2021
Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
So Nagatoro just ended...and that means its time for me to write a second review of it. Yes, this is my second review. I made a review of the series on my Youtube channel a couple months ago which mostly goes over the manga and barely talked about the anime. I have the same complaints in it that I do for the anime so if you'd rather watch a video review then you can watch that instead. Plus theres a lot more to it than there is here.
EDIT: Apparently I'm not allowed to send links in reviews so you can find it by searching Nagatoro ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jan 29, 2021
Rosario to Vampire
(Anime)
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EDIT: I made a video review of Vampire recently on my Youtube channel. If you'd rather watch it in video format instead of reading it then check it out here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWgUwrnBLK4 Today I'm going to be reviewing Rosario Vampire, an anime that for about a year was my all time favorite anime, but now thats clearly not the case anymore. If you've already seen the series I'm sure you're most likely confused by my score but there's a reason for that which I'll obviously get to. I want to get this out quick and just say that Vampire isn't some sort of hidden gem or underrated classic, ... so if you were expecting me to go into detail explaining that then I'm sorry to disappoint you. The manga is genuinely great however, and I would recommend that to a lot more people then I would for the anime. The anime and manga are DRASTICALLY different, infact season 2 of the anime doesn't even count as an adaptation of the manga since literally nothing from it comes from the source material. Season 1 has a lot of the same characters and some episodes are faithful but after that it becomes an entirely different series. Anyway, I don't usually do this but this is going to be a sort of biased and nostalgia filled review. I'm clearly heavily nostalgic for this series but I'm going to try my best to point out the series' flaws but will also give it some genuine praises if I can. Also this is a review for both seasons, there's some pros and cons to them both but overall they're pretty much the same in terms of quality. Also I'm sure no one will care for spoilers since there isn't anything big to spoil besides the endings of both seasons but I guess I'll give out a spoiling warning, for the anime, I won't be spoiling the manga. Story: 7 Rosario Vampire is "supposedly" an adaptation of the manga which focuses on Tsukune, a human, transferring to Youkai Academy which is a school for all types of monsters. There, the monsters teach and learn just like a regular school except they're all monsters and one rule that they're supposed to follow is to not expose their true monster form. It's a simple concept that works but the one rule about revealing their monster form is never followed so it doesn't really matter after a few episodes into the show since no one suffers any consequences for revealing their form. Season 1 spends a lot of its episodes on character introductions with only a few on just random "filler" which are episodes 4,5, and 8. They aren't pointless such as in the mermaid episode where we find out that Moka can't go into water without placing herbs and other ingredients in since water purifies vampires. But yes, a majority of season 1 is establishing characters into the series and thankfully all the character intro episodes are very enjoyable. This goes for the whole series but the quality of the episodes are fairly similar. There are some that are weaker but they're still solid episodes and none are bad. Episodes such as Mizore's introduction, the season 1 finale, parents day in season, and visiting Tsukune's house are probably my favorite episodes. It's a lot more balanced unlike something like Panty and Stocking; there each episode was directed by a different person and it shows a lot. Episodes range from meh to decent, pretty good, or outright awesome. Here they're still pretty fun at worst and hilarious at best. Most of the anime is episodic where plots tend to conclude within their respective episode but Ruby's episode where they go to the human world is a two parter, and episode 11 is basically just a regular episode until towards the end where it leads into the season final which is also a two parter. Most of the series is tonally very stupid, ecchi, harem, fan service fun but some of the more serious moments I do enjoy. The series barely takes itself seriously but when it does it can be genuinely good even if its still on the dumber side of things. The season 1 finale episodes are probably the two best episodes of the season and maybe even the whole anime. Its a much more serious tone with Tsukune about to be killed along with the rest of the gang since one of the schools committees believes he's not a monster since they've never seen him transform before when in danger. Having previous episodes build up to this works surprisingly well and its a great way to end of the season. Season 2 only has one character introduction episode. The first two episodes we are shown Kokoa, Moka's younger sister, who is honestly one of the weaker and probably weakest mainline character in the series. Besides that, season 2 feels a bit more "filler" like than season 1 since there isn't a ton of characters to show off and give an entire episode to. Episode 3 has the casts' parents, which I mentioned is one of my favorites, but the season tends to just give us some random nonsense but also adding some minor characters and expanding a bit of the story. It's more slice of life but then again some of the better episodes here are some of the dumber ones. Just like with season 1, episode 11 is mainly an episodic story but leads into the season or technically two parter series finale. Here Moka sacrifices her rosary in order to save the academy and prevent a war from starting between the humans and monsters. Because of this, the real white haired Moka is now in control all the time and its bothering Tsukune so he goes to Moka's house and fights his father. These last two episodes are still pretty good and we even get to see the casts' parents again which is great. However, compared to the season 1 finale its not as great, and this is also the series finale which only makes it worse. All they had to do was make one small change and this would be a much better ending and the series would feel conclusive, even if it would be a bit rushed; all we needed was for Tsukune to confess to Moka and have the series end with them getting together but instead we get some bullshit about how he needs time to choose who he wants to be with. It's really frustrating and I get annoyed every time I watch those last few minutes. This is the biggest problem the series or at least series; the ending or lack there of is unfortunate. We even get a "The End" at the bottom screen wince it was unlikely of the series receiving another series despite it being fairly popular during its run. Having a good or even conclusive ending wouldn't save or make the show great but it would've been nice for the fans to get something more out of the anime. Overall, Rosario Vampire's story is mainly very slice of life, fan service harem nonsense with there being very few story ideas coming through from time to time. The series knows that its a dumb harem show and because of that it doesn't need a big or complex story and take itself seriously unlike High School DxD. The quality of the episodes are what matter so that's why not delving into the lore of the series is that necessary, but not having an ending is very frustrating. Art: 6.5 Vampire was animated by Studio Gonzo and they aren't known for having the best animation. That being said, I do believe that there is effort and care put into their series and whether it be the animators talents, time, budget or any other reason, their series don't look great in the longrun. Vampire is FINE, from an animation point; characters are typically on model, girls look cute, backgrounds are fine, but the fights aren't usually that good besides a couple, mainly the season 1 fight. Gonzo can make good looking scenes...sometimes, its just not that often and they tend to be in small cases. The series doesn't need to be visually stunning, the areas that need to be focused on: the girls, panty shots, etc. look good which is where all the time was spent and thats fine. Vampire's audience clearly cares more about that they do for the fights which is why I'm trying to defend the art in some way. It's lacing in some areas, but makes up for it in some other places so its overall a decent looking show. Sound: 7.5 The soundtrack is actually pretty good. The first OP is amazing and catchy and the other OP and EDs are pretty good as well. The normal OST I remember enjoying, and unfortunately I can't listen to it in its entirety on Youtube since the only uploads are in 240p so that sucks. There are a fair share of character songs which I don't tend to include as part of the actual score but they all actually play in the series aren't just for CDs which is a nice touch. All the character songs are great, haven't listened to a single bad one. The English dub is pretty standard: it's good, not great, but perfectly watchable. Everyone does a fairly good job with their role but no one sticks out. All the voices seem to fit their characters so yeah, no main problems. Characters: 8 Where the story might be a bit lacking, it makes up for with some of its characters. It's not the best cast, there are some ehhs but overall its very good. Tsukune is unfortunately one of the most generic and boring harem protagonists out there: he's lame, weak, a bit annoying, and can be frustrating to watch at times. I've seen worse but maybe I dislike him more than I should because the rest of the cast is so much better and likable. As for the girls I'll rank them in official order of greatness. 1. Mizore 2. Kurum 3. Moka 4. Ruby 5. Yukari 6. Kokoa As I mentioned, this used to be my all time favorite anime for about a year and one of the reasons I love and still do enjoy it a lot is because of its cast. Mizore was my all time favorite anime character for that time period but she still sits at the bottom of my top 10 favorite characters. I don't care what you think, she's the best character in the series by a decent amount. She's hilarious, unique, and I'm a sucker for stalkers. Kurumu and Moka are great, Ruby and Yukari are pretty enjoyable, but Kokoa is mixed. She's a lot worse than everyone else but is leagues more enjoyable than Tsukune. She can get a bit annoying here and there but she does have some pretty memorable and funny moments. Vampire's cast fits well for what the series is: a dumb fan service harem that appeals to incels like me. They aren't deep but they're fun and thats what important. Enjoyment: 9 My first watch of Rosario Vampire was way back in April 2014, and I'd call it an experience. This was my first harem I've ever watched so I had no idea anime could be this perverted, fan service filled, and stupid. My mind was blown and this series introduced me to one of my all time favorite genres: harem. My first view was incredible to say the least, not just watching it, but other outside sources improved my mood and experience. It took me basically two days to complete Vampire and let's just say those two days were perfect for me which might be why I considered it my favorite show. A year later, I purchased the DVDs, rewatched it and was a bit disappointed. It wasn't as good as I remembered but then again I was exposed to a fair amount of other harems after my first watch, which one was my currently all time favorite series: Heaven's Lost Property. I still greatly enjoyed the series from start to finish but it just wasn't the same feeling. Watching the series today, it's still just as enjoyable as my last view, more or less the same. It's been about 5.5 years since then but I still laugh at the dumb jokes, I get way too much enjoyment out of these characters, and a ton of the episodes are just fun to watch. I'm never going to get that same experience with Vampire as I did on my first watch and that might go for any show. Your first viewing will most likely be your most founding since you're younger and have no idea how the series will continue from its previous episode. I might have adored Heaven's Lost Property on my first watch, and still love it even after watching it four times, but my first viewing still isn't as fondly remembered as it is for Rosario Vampire and I truly believe nothing will ever top. It's hard to score my enjoyment for the series, let alone the series as a whole but my first viewing was an 11 and now they're a strong 8 leaning towards a 9 I'd say. I'm a sucker for harems but Vampire is way too nostalgic for me to rank anything lower than a 8. If I were to hypothetically forget my memories of the series and watch it for a first time today I know I'd still enjoy it, but I don't think I'd love it. I'd probably still love Mizore but I can't say if I'd put her in my top 20 or not. At the very least I'd give the series a 6 and at most a 7. What I'm trying to say is that Vampire is still a dumb and fun show even today without watching it with my nostalgia glasses on. Overall: 8 Rosario Vampire is dumb. It's silly, stupid, fan service filled, and its for and ONLY for harem fans such as myself. If you haven't seen Vampire yet and are a fan of harems then go now and watch it, I'm sure if you like dumb shows you'd get a fair share of enjoyment out of this. As for the manga, I'd recommend it to more people but its also a bit difficult to recommend. The series starts off fairly ecchi but shortly turns into a more serious shonen like manga and its genuinely great. Vampire isn't deserving of the score I've given it, it's just a guilty pleasure anime that I have unbelievably fond memories of. It's not a gem or an underrated classic, that I'll maybe get to this year if I ever decide to review that anime...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 24, 2021
Dragon Ball Kai (2014)
(Anime)
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EDIT: I recently made a video review of DBZ Kai 2 on my Youtube channel which is heavily based off this review with the script being nearly identical. If you want to watch it instead of reading this then check it out here
https://rumble.com/vt3vwq-the-buu-saga-is-disappointing.html After finally finishing the first season of Kai I of course had to watch its second season which retells the Buu Saga. Normally I'd just write one review for a series that has multiple seasons but sometimes the quality of a season can be slightly or even notably different whether thats for the better or for worse, and unfortunately this is the latter. ... Obviously this is a review for Kai 2014/Buu Saga/Season 2, or however you want to call it, but for simplicity I'm going to refer to Frieza and Cell as Season 1 of Kai and this, the Buu Saga, as Season 2 of Kai. Also I highly recommend reading my previous review of Kai Season 1 since I'll be referring to it in this review which you can find here. https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=371058 Finally this is spoilers for all of Kai so if you've somehow not seen Z or Kai or any Dragon Ball then go watch them first. Story: 7 DBZ Kai 2 is supposed to be exactly how the first season of Kai was: a condensed and edited version of the original Z anime which trims a lot of the fat and removes a heavy chunk of filler in order to speed up the pace and adhere more to the manga. Season 1 did a pretty damn good job of completing this task even if there were still some scenes that could've been removed and lowered the episode count down to a few episodes. Still, season 1 cut out 96 episodes worth of content which basically cut the run time to half of what Z was to get to the end of Cell. Since the Other World Tournament was filler that was cut of course which left a remaining 92 episodes of Z to be re-edited and trimmed down for season 2. Here we get a total of 69, yes 69 episodes, not 61 which is listed here on MAL. I honestly have no idea why this is so confusing and why the number of episodes is different. On the Wikipedia episode list page apparently some episodes are cut from original Japanese airing which doesn't really make sense but now that its technically complete it's a total of 69 episodes and not 61 which is all you need to know. By the number of total episodes its clear that something feels off. This makes for a total of 33 episodes less than the total of what it was in Z which is a notable difference, however it's clear that they could have cut another 10 or probably even 20 episodes out and speed up the pace in some areas. This is probably due to the fact Toei themselves produced and edited Season 2 of Kai and it sadly shows. For Season 1, Toei paid a company called QTEC to re-edit Z and turn them into Kai episodes and like I mentioned, they did a pretty damn good job at it. With Toei doing the work themselves, Season 2 has an episode count that should be significantly lowered from 69 to about 50 or even 55 episodes, footage that is cropped and now a slight green tint during its entirety (which I'll get to in the art section later on). Toei has always gotten a lot of slack and hate over the years and I'm not sure if they deserve it or not. It's either Toei Animation themselves to blame for this or Fuji TV which airs their episodes on their network. Either way one of them is extremely greedy and wants to milk and get as money out of their series as they can possibly get which is why there's more episodes than needed. I will say this though, there is clearly talent, love, and care at Toei. The directors managed to include decent and well thought out filler sections in Z's original run, character stills are usually good, and its clear that their animators can do great things when they have enough time. Look at Dragon Ball Super during the Tournament of Power, a ton of the arc looks great which is because Toei gave their workers much needed time to complete episodes while also adding more staff and teams to assist. What I'm trying to say is that Toei has talented and respected workers but either the higher ups or/and Fuji TV's owners are greedy bastards who prevent their workers from creating even better works. After all of that blabbering I think its time to talk about the pacing and why its very bittersweet here in season 2. Clearly a cut of 33 episodes means the pacing is quicker, certain filler is removed, and the runtime is a fraction of what it once was. At the same time, there are still certain scenes that definitely could have been cut, fights and scenes that could have been speed up, and I can't believe this but even EPISODES that are filler. Yes, I was shocked that Kai: the series that is supposed to cut filler, has some filler episodes. It's only 2 out of 69 but there's no real reason for them to be here. The first one is of Gohan and Videl saving a dinosaur who's been kidnapped, and the second one being a celebration party after Kid Buu's defeat. They aren't bad episodes but there's no excuse for them being here considering all of the runtime for them is filler and shouldn't be included. I mentioned in my review of Season 1 that I was usually fine with Z's pacing and that the only real time I thought it was going too far was on my rewatch of the Frieza fight which is notorious for being way too long and dragged out. I don't mind if certain scenes and fights are a bit of the slow side but still including filler moments like characters monologuing on the sidelines explaining what's going on in the fights could have been removed especially considering this is what Kai is supposed to be after all. Overall however, watching the Buu Saga is about the same compared to how it was in Z, maybe a bit better here since the runtime is less. In my S1 review I touched on how the big moments in the series were overall better in Z and the payoffs were too such as Frieza and Cell's defeat, Goku turning Super Saiyan, power ups and transformations, etc. Here, due to the slower pace this really isn't an issue. The only scenes I'd say for sure that's better in Z is Vegeta's Sacrifice and Goku turning Super Saiyan 3 which is like 5 minutes of just nonstop screaming and its awesome. Here in Kai its MUCH shorter and isnt nearly as cool. Thankfully other moments such as Gotenks introduction, charging the Spirit Bomb, and Kid Buu's defeat are pretty much the same in terms of impact and payoff. But all in all, the upgraded pacing isn't what it could have been but its still faster paced than Z which is to be expected. It's basically just receiving the bare minimum of what'd you'd expect from a re-edit and nothing more if that makes sense. Now onto the story which there's a good amount to talk about. The Buu Saga can be divided into four sections or arcs which I'll refer to as 1. The Great Saiyaman/World Martial Arts Tournament 2. Majin Buu 3. Super Buu 4. Kid Buu The season starts off which the Great Saiyaman which leads into the World Martial Arts Tournament. After seven years since Cell's defeat, Gohan is now 17 (or 18 if you count the year in the Chamber, Toriyama kind of messed this up), and he begins to commute to his new life as a high school student. At the same time, Gohan wants to dress up as a Superhero and be known as the Great Saiyaman in order to not get his identity revealed. While doing so, we also get introduced to Hercule's (or Mr. Satan's) daughter, Videl, who befriends Gohan but also believes that he's the Great Saiyaman and wants to find out the truth. This whole arc is much more slice of life and laid back than everything we've seen since the beginning of the series which is been long overdue. It's great to just see Gohan and Videl live a somewhat normal life while saving the day by doing superhero deeds. Shortly after is the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament which is pretty good too. It's nothing special but again, its a much needed tone of being very low stakes while just seeing the cast enjoy themselves. This is until towards the end of the arc where Spopovich beats the crap out of Videl, which is one of the better fights in the series honestly, and then ends off with Gohan getting his energy drained by Spopvich and Yamu. Overall this arc is pretty solid and is probably the second best arc of the saga. Next is the Majin Buu which which is technically where the saga starts. It's sort of like the Saiyan arc in the Frieza saga; some refer to it as a saga where others refer to it as an arc since it heavily leads to the Namek and Frieza saga. But anyway I could say for sure that this is where the saga and Buu aspect ultimately begins. Unfortunately this arc is easily the weakest of the four which I'll be going over. The arc's hook is nothing compared to Frieza and Cell's openings. In Frieza we get our minds blown learning that Goku is a being of an extinct race since his brother comes to Earth in order to destroy. This causes the evil Piccolo and Goku to team up to defeat Raditz which results in Goku dying at the beginning of the series which was insane. In Cell we start with Frieza and his father, King Cold, coming to Earth in order to get revenge on Goku which had me shit myself the first time I saw it. This unease ends abruptly since a new mysterious Saiyan comes, turns Super Saiyan which was cool for the time, and defeats Frieza and his father without breaking a sweat. This set the bar for how much more powerful the next villains would be from then on out. Here, the arc starts with the Z fighters finding and entering Babidi's lair, but beforehand are left with Kibito getting killed, and Krillin and Piccolo turning into stone from one of Babidi's minions Dabura. This leaves us off with Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and the Supreme Kai left to deal with Babidi and his minions. This whole segment is probably the worst part of the original series. It is better here in Kai but not by a whole lot due to the pacing not being as fast as it should be. Goku and Vegeta kick Babidi's mionion's asses easily and Gohan is seen struggling with Dabura because he's out of practice. The fights aren't that interesting and Babidi's minions aren't really interesting to begin with either. Shortly after there's the fight between Vegeta and Goku which is really damn good and exciting which then brings us to Majin Buu being resurrected. Vegeta fights Buu but then realizes he can't win normally so he decides to sacrifice himself in order to save the entire world which is a fantastic moment in the entire series. Of course Buu survives because the arc can't just end as soon as it starts and Babidi and Buu start to destroy everyone on the planet which is where the problems start to show. I'll go into more detail later but one of the main downsides of the arc is its cast and Babidi is probably my least favorite mainline or B tier character in the original series. I enjoy Buu but he's one of the biggest problems with the arc too. A decent amount of time is spent with Babidi and Buu destroying cities and people and it isn't anything special. This is the sort of violence and terror that Vegeta and Nappa could've done in the Saiyan arc. Sure, Buu probably managed to destroy more cities and kill more people in a much quicker time but that's really the only thing he has going for him. Babidi even says it should take around 5 days before everyone on Earth is dead. The stakes don't feel nearly as high as it was with Frieza or Cell and tonally it's not easy to take seriously when you're main villain is a fat pink blob who turns people into candy. It's just difficult to take seriously but then again it is something different and I think having another Frieza or Cell would feel a bit recycled but we'll get to that soon. While this is going on, Goku soons goes Super Saiyan 3 against Buu which I already mentioned was one of the best moments of the saga, and then leads into Goten and Trunks learning fusion. This is where the pacing slows down by a ton for a decent amount of episodes. During this time Majin Buu kills Babidi and then spends more time destroying cities and people but then ends up building himself a house. Goten and Trunks send a few episodes learning fusion and then Hercule soon meets up with Buu. This whole section is just very slow and it doesn't feel like much is happening during these episodes. Once Hercule and Buu become friends it gets better and is honestly a really well written idea having Buu become nice while also giving Herucle a nice side as well, showing that he isn't just a loudmouth coward. This whole arc overall is decent and kind of sums up the arc as a whole. It has some great moments and ideas such as Super Saiyan 3, Vegeta's sacrifice, and fusion, but when you actually sit down and watch it, it's not the best. This is mainly due to pacing issues and a lack of great characters. Next is the Super Buu arc which is just a fight with the new evil Buu who swallows and absorbs fat Majin Buu. I'd say this arc is mainly just Toriyama being told that he needs another villain that is more on the line of Cell and Frieza and that the arc is more similar to what we've seen before whether that was for better or for worse. Here we get to see Super Buu fight Gotenks, Gohan, Goku, and Vegito. Most of these fights are good although the Gohan fight is very frustrating. Gohan has been spending this entire arc on the land of the Kais after his defeat with Buu earlier ago. Here he has been messing around with the Z Sword which is said to grant any warrior a huge amount of power but ends up with him just sitting around for 25 hours standing and sitting doing absolutely nothing but gaining power without having to doing anything at all. And after all of that time spent gaining power, he fights Super Buu for a few minutes kicking his ass, but then gets overpowered after Buu absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo. First, having Buu gain the upper hand is fine but Gohan can't do anything after this happens. It would've been a lot more interesting if they were at least equal now with Buu maybe having the advantage but instead its a complete 180 in the span of only a few minutes and its really annoying and disappointing to see this. Second, Buu absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo, and eventually Gohan too and gains some of their appearance, knowledge, intelligence, and of course power. This is literally just a carbon copy of Cell at this point. I'm fine with Buu surviving Vegeta's blast by having some of his body remain intact even if its exactly how Goku died for nothing against Cell but I can let it pass since Buu is a very unique fighter. I could even let it slide with Evil skinny Buu absorbing fat Buu since they're both Buus sort of like how Namekians can merge to become a stronger being. But this is basically just Cell without the cool terrifying transformations, and of course without Cell's personality. After absorbing Piccolo Buu feels and acts like a bootleg Cell until after his fight with Vegito which is another one of the best fights in the saga. Finally, the arc ends with Goku and Vegeta entering Buu and removing the fighters he's absorbed including Majin Buu which leads to him transforming back into his original form which is known as Kid Buu. Finally we get to the end of the saga where Kid Buu destroys the entire Earth with everyone on it. First off its great to finally see an attack actually destroy the planet. Ever since Goku vs. Vegeta we've heard nonstop of how everyone's power or attacks shook the planet and how their number 1 move was too powerful and would destroy the planet. Here we finally see it and now the stakes are risen to a new level that we haven't seen before which is kind of ironic to say since that's what every new villain is suppose to represent. But here just having everyone die and the planet destroyed just feels fresh since its never happened before. Second, it doesn't make any sense why Buu is more powerful after Majin Buu gets disconnected from his body in his brain. If I have this right, two of the Kais got absorbed by Buu which weakened him and made him more childish and less destructive. However, wouldn't that mean that by absorbing Piccolo, Gohan, and Gotenks, he would become more restrained and less powerful? It's very confusing and I think its just a massive oversight and flaw that isn't explained well or even at all. Besides that, Kid Buu ends up fighting with the last remaining fighters on the land of the Kais which is against Goku, Vegeta, Majin Buu, and even Hercule. This entire arc is just a fight too but its probably the best in the entire saga just because we get to see Goku, Vegeta, and Buu switch places and take their shot and holding off Buu. The finale is great and is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. Goku charges up the Spirit Bomb and needs to energy of everyone on Earth and even characters from other planets and worlds such as Namek and Other World. During this we get some nice call backs to early Dragon Ball such as Nam, Suno, Upa, and even Launch. The idea of having literally everyone on Earth and everyone else in the series giving all of their energy into one giant attack just shows how grand and epic this finale is and its great. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not but it sort of reminds me of Goku winning the Martial Arts Tournament for the first time at the very end of Dragon Ball. There is took him two times of failing but finally winning in the end on his third attempt. The Spirit Bomb has failed him against Vegeta and Frieza so its a nice touch that it finally ends up working here since the saying is third time's the charm. Overall its a great finale to the arc and having callbacks to a lot of previous characters makes it so much better as a sendoff to the series. This is pretty much the end but there's two more episodes that take place ten years after the defeat of Buu which is held at the Martial Arts Tournament again. It's extremely short but is still a nice way to se these characters one last time even if its a bit depressing seeing them all old. I'm still mixed on the decision to have Goku leave his friends and family at the very end though. It's a very Goku thing to do and it fits his character, especially having him become a teacher now, but it just doesn't sit right knowing that the series ends with Goku not being with his friends and family. To sum up the Buu Saga, all in all its probably the weakest in the entire original series but its still a good and solid arc despite some of its glaring flaws. It's still an above average and enjoying arc, although it's very clear that Toriyama was already worn out while writing it. Art: 6 Just like with Season 1, Kai is just a re-edit and sort of remaster of the original footage from Z. There are a few key differences here though. For starters, the big change is that Kai is cropped in order to fit new widescreen TVs. I'm not too big a fan of this decision but I also don't necessarily mind it. When I rewatched all of Z a few years back I watched it all on the Blu Rays which are cropped in order to fit the entire screen so I'm fine with watching it cropped. I still believe it should be in its original format since we a re technically missing parts of the screen but most of the time I don't notice it too much. Second, there's the weird new green tint thats on screen which I don't understand at all. It makes the show just look worse but its not a huge probably, its just very confusing why its there in the first place. There's also some minor censorship that was done by Toei themselves and not licensors such as Funimation. It's not a whole lot but basically middle fingers are removed, the one dude at the Tournament who gets his head blown up by Babidi is covered up, and Babidi's blood is now changed to be purple. These are all minor changes and complaints. I'm fine with Babidi's blood being purple since that is his blood color after all so its more of a color correction but removing the dude's heads getting blown up and removing middle fingers is a bit of a letdown. As for the art itself, Dragon Ball has always struggled with its animation. I went into detail defending the art to an extent in my season 1 review so I'm quickly recap my thoughts. In terms of animation, Z or Kai is kind of shit. There are some well animated fights but a majority of the fights don't look good and feel lazy. Fortunately, some ground is made up to compensate for this. Toriyama's character designs are fantastic in original Dragon Ball and especially in Z and for the most part characters were on model and were well drawn in Z and Kai before. Here in the Buu saga however, characters look even better than ever. The art is more consistent and the still shots look amongst the best they ever had. Despite the series lacking in the animation department, this is still the best looking Dragon Ball has been during its original run for sure. Sound: 6 Soundtrack: 5 I was very astonished and confused during my view of season 2. I'm no music expert but if I can call out big flaws in the sound area then its clearly a problem. Let me just say this, I don't hate or even dislike the OST for season 2. Here we get an entirely original new track which ended up being used for Super too but unfortunately we don't get any returning tracks either. The original Japanese track was pretty good, I didn't love it while I wrote my season 1 review but its slowly starting to grow on me, especially since its league better than these new tracks. The new songs we get are fine, I will say that. There are some solid tracks here but overall its nothing special. The main issues are that they aren't too great in general, they're repeated quite a lot and are very noticeably, and worst of all they don't even fit half the time. This was by far its worst during the Majin Buu arc. You'd think I'm joking, but during the filler where Yamcha, Chi Chi, Bulma, and everyone else are collecting the dragon balls, one of them being from a giant fish, we hear the same epic music that plays when a villain shows up. Its ridiculous with how unfitting these songs can be placed in and just shows how little they made. The question is why not just reuse some, if not then a good chunk of the original tracks. That's what Kai did and it worked out pretty well. But there isn't a single reused track besides the Battle of Gods mix of Cha La. After the Majin Buu arc, tracks get repeated still but it's the tracks tonally fit when used most of the time. It's really just during the Majin Buu section where the sound design when down the shitter. Voice Acting/Dub: 9 I've always loved the English dub of Dragon Ball and season 2 is a bit better than season 1. All the voices return from Kai which I have no problem with. Kid Gohan and Frieza were the only voices I highly preferred the original Z voices for and since they aren't here, besides Frieza with literally a few lines of dialogue, I don't really have any complaints. I failed to mention in my season 1 review but Bulma's voice also changed going from Z to Kai and I'm fine with Monica Rial as Bulma. I still prefer the original VA for her in Z but I've gotten use to Monica and she does a good job as her. They also got Oolong back who had a really shitty voice in Kai so thats something even if he also only has a few lines. But yeah no real complaints, Dragon Ball dub is great as always. Characters: 7 Dragon Ball has always been known for having a great cast of characters but unfortunately the Buu saga's cast adds some of the weaker and less likable characters to the series. Let's start off with the good additions. Videl is great and giving Gohan a sweetheart works, and then there's the new Kais which are pretty fun to watch even if they're basically a replacement for King Kai. As for the returning cast they're for the most part good. Vegeta is fantastic in this saga and he gets a ton of development here from him sacrificing himself, fusing with Goku, and even coming up with the idea for the people of Earth to save it themselves. Piccolo works as a mentor figure which gives him some good moments, and Goku is still Goku. I especially like how he purposely doesn't defeat Majin Buu while up against him because he really wants to push his belief for having the new generation fight off the coming dangers and villains, but I'll get to that soon. There's also Hercule who gets some great development with Buu for awhile. As for other returning characters, they're sort of mixed. Krillin does nothing in the entire saga which sucks after seeing him on Namek and even having him fall in love with 18 in Cell. Tien makes a decent entrance against Super Buu but then gets one shot and serves no purpose whatsoever so it defeats the purpose of him even being there to begin with. Other characters have no real roles anymore but it would've been nice to see 18 at least try and fight Super Buu since she has unlimited energy after all. Finally, there's of course Gohan who can get a lot of hate here and I'm mixed on him. Let me just start by saying I'm not one of those people who are upset that he isn't a badass like he was against Cell while being Super Saiyan 2. Gohan's character is all about how he doesn't want to be a fighter and how he just wants to live a normal life being a regular everyday working man. This along with Goku's perspective of having the next generation fight for themselves could have worked out really well together and could have given the arc a lot more potential. Throughout Dragon Ball we've seen characters such as Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien who picked up fighting and martial arts as a hobby. We then have characters like Goku and Vegeta who fight mainly to become stronger since they strive to a good fight. Some of Goku's motive is to protect and now the same applies to Vegeta but having a character train and fight sorely to protect others while also not enjoying fighting could have been fresh and interesting. We could have seen Gohan train not out of enjoyment of fighting but as a duty in order to protect people like Videl. But instead we get most of the arc with him sitting around for an entire day, getting more powerful, and then getting his assed kicked after a couple of minutes of winning. The whole idea of the next generation moving forward also gets forgotten since the arc ends up with Goku saving the day which sort of ruins what the entire Cell fight represents. When you take a glance and the Cell fight it's very simple in terms of structure and may not be one of the best fights in the series; Goku fights Cell, Gohan fights Cell and gets his ass kicked, they reuse the concept of the Saibamen, Gohan kicks Cell's ass, Cell kills Goku, and Gohan kills Cell with everything he has. Its a very one sided fight most of the time but the meaning behind the fight is what makes it so good, also Gohan being a complete badass but that not the point I'm trying to make. The fight represents Goku passing the torch onto Gohan and leaving the fate of the world into the hands of the next generation. It was also really ballsy of Toriyama to replace Goku with Gohan and have him take the spotlight which is why its so disappointing to see how he was handled in this saga. You see, Toriyama planned for Goku to become a side character sort of like how he was against Buu as Super Saiyan 3 but got a lot of hate from fans early on in the saga which is why Gohan just stops being in the spotlight after the Tournament. I know I got a bit side tracked but now I'll get to some of the new characters that aren't bad but are kind of mixed. First is Trunks and Goten. They're kids obviously so they're going to act like kids and can be a bit on the annoying side sometimes. They're fine but the main issue with them is that they can overstay their welcome which I'm thankful for in Super by the way, where they are mostly just side characters and don't really do much. Gotenks is where the bigger probably arise. Since Gotenks is the fusion of Trunks and Goten he's of course going to be two kids into one which doesn't sound very good. Again, I can tolerate Gotenks but the main issue is again, he overstays his welcome a decent amount of the time and can get on the annoying side. It's also really frustrating seeing him not take his fight against Buu seriously especially after Goten just watched his mother die in front of him and turned proceeded to take his training seriously for once. Next is Majin Buu who I actually quite like as a character but from a story view he brings in problems that I mentioned. Yes, I do enjoy an appreciate that he's one of the more unique characters in the series, especially coming as the main villain for a decent amount of the saga but its difficult to take him seriously when he's a fat pink blob who usually kills people by turning them into candy and eating them. Buu is a good character but not a great antagonist. Super Buu on the other hand is a worse character but a better antagonist. Super Buu doesn't have much of a personality besides being a bit stupid and evil. I can enjoy him up until he starts absorbing people since at that point he basically just becomes worse Cell without having what made Cell so great of a character. Lastly there's Kid Buu who's the best antagonist in the saga since he's the most threatening but as a character he's just evil and a bit stupid, basically just a more extreme version of Super Buu except that he talk, only screams. I can let this pass somewhat since he is Bibidi's creation and his sole purpose was to destroy everything so having the mindset of being purely chaotic does make sense, it's just not very unique or interesting. Lastly there's Babidi and I really don't like him. He represents everything wrong with the characters in this saga that I have fixed feelings with. At first I'm fine with Babidi as a character; he's a short, loud, and powerful wizard that relies on magic to achieve what he wants. The problem is just like with Gotenks, he overstays his welcome way too much and can get annoying very fast. This is mostly due to him shouting all the time and its just frustrating hearing him boss Buu around when we know Buu could easily kill him. When Babidi finally dies its not great, its more of a finally moment. He's probably my least favorite character in the original series but I've seen worse in other shounen so I don't HATE him per say. I'll take him over half of Fairy Tail's cast any day. The characters in the Buu Saga aren't the best the series has to offer but at the same time there still are a good amount of likable characters that sort of make up for it. Enjoyment: 7.5 I love shounen, its one of my favorite genres and of course I love Dragon Ball. I can watch a lot of shounen episodes in one sitting such as over 10 episodes so it makes it easy to binge some of these longer shows. I still have a very time watching Dragon Ball and I do enjoy this saga. It might have some pacing issues, story flaws, some mixed characters, and a confusing soundtrack at times, but overall I still unsurprisingly had a pretty solid time watching the series again. Even if some moments are repetitive, and some episodes aren't the great, I still love this series which is why even with its weakest arc, I'm still able to have fun watching it despite its short comings. Overall: 7 DBZ Kai Season 2 is a disappointment. This is due to the "Kai" aspect being not as well done as the first season which extends the runtime longer than it needs to. The other problem is of the saga itself which couldn't really be helped considering a lot of problems here are canon issues. Besides that, season 2 of Kai is still good. It may not be as well made as the last season, and the arc itself may be notably worse in comparison, but at the end of the day its still the final saga of the original Dragon Ball, so even at its worst, this is still a solid season despite some of its glaring problems.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 31, 2020
Dragon Ball Kai
(Anime)
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EDIT: I recently made a video review of Kai on my Youtube channel which is heavily based off this review. If you'd rather watch it in video format instead of reading it, then you can check it out here
https://rumble.com/vs5j8x-dragon-ball-z-kai-is-epic.html I've been a fan of Dragon Ball for 6 years now and I finally decided to sit down and watch Kai to see how it would compare to Z and the manga. Also this is a review for the first season (97 or 98), 2009 Kai, or whatever you want to call it. Just know that this does not include 2014 Kai (Buu Saga) as I will ... review that once I complete it in the coming weeks since my score will most likely be different from this one's. Story: 9 As for the story, Kai is basically the exact same in terms of plot when compared to Z and the manga with some very minor differences. Kai is an edited version of the original DBZ which ran for a total of 291 episodes where Kai cuts it down to 167 episodes. This is a mix of cutting out filler episodes entirely and trimming a lot of the fat and filler in the canon episodes which could easily be condensed to a shorter time. Unlike other big shounens with filler such as Naruto and Bleach, DBZ didn't have TOO much filler episodes. Out of the 291 episodes, about 40 episodes (14%~) are filler/not canon so a good amount of the fat comes from the filler in the canon episodes themselves. This leads to the biggest change coming from Z which is the pacing which everyone knows is typically slow. I can defend Z despite accepting its flaws and I can say that I usually didn't mind the slow pacing, and in some instances the slower pace or inclusion of scenes usually weren't bad or at least I didn't mind their inclusion. That's not to say every minute of Z was great because it definitely wasn't. The Frieza fight is clearly better in Kai than in Z, it was fine on a first viewing and I was hooked to see what happens but on a second viewing its very slow and dragged out even for me. Most of Z isn't like this but the Frieza fight was probably the worst case of pacing. Kai overall is much faster paced and is half the length of where the Cell saga ended in Z and a majority of the cut content I am fine with leaving off. However, I still prefer some aspects of Z's pacing even if Kai is clearly the better when it comes to an overall experience. I'd say for about every scene I enjoyed more in Z, I'd enjoy at least 5 more in Kai or something like that. DBZ is a very action oriented show and the fights were dragged on longer than they were supposed to in Z and in Kai they are much faster paced which is for the better. However, slower, peaceful, and more dialogue heavy moments are probably better in Z just because its a nice change of pace and DB's cast is great, so seeing these characters interact is always fun. Besides removing filler from the canon episodes there is the lack of filler episodes and arcs and for the most part I am entirely fine with this change. DBZ thankfully didn't have 40% or 50% filler episodes and only had some but those filler arcs were usually not good. Seeing Gohan train was dragged on way too long and those episodes of the Z warriors training were not great. Fake Namek was pretty shitty, Garlic Jr. was shit, and the Other World Tournament was actually watchable, I don't like it as much as some do, but I have no problem with it being cut out or at least just being shown in a montage for about a few seconds. Unfortunately some of the good filler was cut out which is mainly just the driving episode of Z which is probably my second favorite episode in Z for sure. There's a training episode for the androids after which I enjoyed, the filler with Taoi right before the Cell Games is pretty good, there's some filler before the Saiyans arrive like seeing Launch live with Tien and then leaving which at least gives some explanation to why she's missing but overall the cut filler episodes is easily for the better. I basically just want to say that not all the filler and pacing in Z is bad or worse compared to Kai. Big moments such as Frieza's and Cell's defeat have a bigger impact just because there's much more time spent on them being the villain of the saga so finally seeing them die after 60+ episodes is much more satisfying than around 30. Also certain scenes that are slower paced such as Vegeta powering up his final flash I prefer in Z just because it gives off the impression of how much power and time it takes to charge up a super finishing move, but again these are only some scenes. I'm still going to prefer a lot of the fights in Kai when compared to Z just because it is paced much better. Now as for the actual story itself, Kai adapts the Frieza (or Saiyan and Namek) and Cell (or Androids) sagas. These two sagas are my favorite out of all of Dragon Ball and a majority of the fanbase agrees as well. Honestly I'd probably give Z the same score as I did for Kai if the Buu saga was listed separately just like it is for Kai. The Frieza saga is exciting and nail biting from start to finish. The series starts out revealing that Goku is an alien of a race that is one of only 4 left, then having him team up with the evil Piccolo in order to defeat his evil brother who came to Earth to destroy it and bring Goku back with him. This ends up with Goku dying at the beginning of the show and then having a majority of friends who fight die. The hook is insanely strong and has a lot of memorable moments and creative ideas. There isn't too much to complain about in the Frieza saga besides some nitpick or small complaints. For example, Goku arriving on Namek and kicking the Ginyu Force's asses, while still amazing, is basically just his arrival on Earth and beating Nappa, even if the scene is an improved version. There's also this weird part where Goku can read people's minds which is never brought up again but again, this is very minor. The Frieza saga feels like everything was planned out from the moment it started until the moment it ended. The Cell saga on the other hand is the complete opposite, but at least is still just as if not only slightly weaker than Frieza. Just like the Frieza saga, the Cell saga starts off with just as much of a banger with Frieza coming back as half machine, even more powerful, and with his father, King Cold. After what seemed like a never ending fight, seeing this scared the shit out of me the first time I saw this in Z. I expected this to last for another 20 episodes or so but instead we get introduced to a new character, Trunks, who destroys and humiliates Frieza and his father by cutting Frieza into pieces and blasting King Cold out of existence, while at the same time going Super Saiyan just like Goku. We then learn that Trunks is Vegeta and Bulma’s son who came from the future where his timeline was ruined by two androids that were created by Dr. Gero which is a nice callback to the original Dragon Ball. While this is a great start on paper, some of the flaws of the arc become very noticeable especially as it goes on. For starters, it’s a bit unbelievable that Dr. Gero could create androids using Earth technology that are stronger than Goku and Frieza, especially when Frieza is, or was, supposed to be the strongest being in the universe. That I can glance over and deal with but from a story perspective it's easy to pick out the flaws in the Cell saga. Like I mentioned, the Frieza saga felt as if the entire saga was planned out ahead of time and Toriyama knew exactly what he was doing. For Cell, the main antagonist(s) change about 3 times. Frieza and King Cold I can give a pass so in total we get 3 villains who were initially the main threat to the series at one point. While Frieza’s soldiers such as Dodoria, Zarbon, and the Ginyu Force got their time to shine, it was always clear that even when they were defeated, Frieza was still the main villain of the story. In Cell we go from Androids 19 and 20, then going from 16, 17, and 18, and then finally to Cell. It’s very clear that Toriyama did not have the saga planned out and he openly admits that everything after Frieza was written as the manga was being made weekly with only some small points being planned in advance. Kai doesn’t add or change much from Z but one detail that I enjoyed was how the series started. Instead of being expected to watch the original Dragon Ball, Kai gives a short recap of the events in DB which is nice while also showing Bardock and Planet Vegeta’s destruction as the very first scene which works very well. For Cell, I would’ve liked to see a similar approach with some added scenes or at least some scenes taking place sooner rather than later. They could have shown the time machine Cell came from landing before Frieza showed up or after he was defeated or at least show some scenes or shots of him even if it was just in his lava state. Cell basically comes out of nowhere and it's clear that Toriyama added him on the spot with no foreshadowing beforehand. It’s something small but would’ve made the saga better as a whole even if it wouldn’t fix some of the other problems it has. The fights overall in this saga are weaker and are unfortunately very similar in terms of their structure. A notable amount of the fights include two fighters where one gets clobbered easily and there isn’t too much to it besides that. This includes Trunks vs Frieza (I’ll give this one a pass), Vegeta vs 19, Vegeta getting bodied by 18, Vegeta vs Semi Perfect and Perfect Cell, and also Gohan vs Cell. For example Vegeta vs Semi Perfect Cell starts off with Vegeta playing around with Cell until he gets bored and is about to kill him. Cell ends up transforming into his perfect form and then Vegeta stands no chance against him no matter what he does, even if we do get to see him use Final Flash which is still amazing to watch. There isn’t much going on with these fights besides characters being stronger than their opponent and ultimately having no chance in losing. DBZ’s power levels are stupid which is why Toriyama stopped after Frieza because he knew numbers wouldn’t matter anymore. That’s why speed means literally nothing anymore and the line, “his power is unreal,” loses its meaning since they have been overused since the Frieza saga. That’s obviously not to say the fights here are bad, in fact the ones I mentioned I still do like quite a lot even if they aren’t as creative or well written as they could be. The Cell saga has a lot of great moments and fights such as Vegeta getting his ass handed to him by 18, Piccolo fusing with Kami, Cell’s introduction, Cell’s transformations, and of course the father son kamehameha against Cell which is my all time favorite moment in the series. The Cell saga may have its fault but it's still a blast to watch from start to finish and it introduced some great characters while also having some other really strong character moments. Art: 6.5 Similar to Z’s pacing I can defend Z’s art to a certain extent. First off, art doesn’t necessarily mean animation which is where Z gets a ton of complaints from. I will say that the animation in Z is not great, in fact it’s not even good. For Z I’d probably give its overall art score a 5 with the animation being a 3. Z’s art wasn’t that bad when you look at it altogether. Toriyama’s character designs are fantastic and a good chunk of the still shots looked pretty good especially since they were reused a lot. Very few bad shots are kept for Kai but at the same time it’s great to get a laugh out of them when they show up such as SS Goku at Kami’s Lookout or Super Vegeta against Semi Perfect Cell. Z’s color palette was also pretty good but the main problem was the animation. In Kai the animation is technically better since very little animation is reused, and the same applies to still shots being used repeatedly. The pacing being a lot quicker and animation being reused a lot less also made the fights much better to watch even from an art perspective. Overall Kai looks fine but still nothing great. Kai came out in 2009 and this was still in the original 4:3 aspect ratio so no widescreen is disappointing. People have stated that the entire anime should have been remade from scratch but after seeing the transition images I’m really glad they stuck with using the old footage. Toei clearly doesn’t have what it takes to remake DBZ and make it look great, let alone good despite Super looking great in its later half, but that was about a decade later. Sound: 8 Soundtrack: 7 Voice Acting/Dub: 9 I’ve never loved Dragon Ball’s soundtrack but I’ve always liked them. The original Dragon Ball score was pretty good, the original Z’s Bruce Faulconer tracks were pretty good and Kai included some new tracks that are nice additions. This is the only aspect of Kai where I don’t really care too much about the differences. If I had to pick I’d probably go with the Faulconer score but its’ not by too much. It would have been nice to see an option in the Blu Ray or DVDs to include the Faulconer score though. As for the voice acting, the English is known for being very well received. The original Z dub was great for its time and is still pretty good today despite some flaws it has. The Ocean Dub dubbed around up to the point where Ginyu changes bodies with Goku and the Funimation dub started right after front there. This is where the new cast gets introduced and for the most part, again especially for its time, it's pretty good. Unfortunately Sean Schimmel as Goku is very jarring for some of these scenes, especially the first 10 or 15 episodes. He clearly hasn’t done much acting and wasn’t prepared but by the start of Cell he begins to get used to his role and does a great job from there on out. Z had its share of strange moments that were mostly just played for laughs are great to go back to such as Vegeta’s “sad for you”, “I do push ups, sit ups, and drink plenty of juice,” Piccolo’s “I feel great,” “Your son is dead,” Frieza’s backscratcher line and plenty of others that are removed and changed to a more accurate translation in Kai. All of these lines are really funny and it's sad to see them not make it into Kai which just goes to show that Z still has its features over Kai in some areas. On a more important note, some of the actors were changed in Kai which for the most part I;m not too thrilled about. I think 16 and 18’s change of actors are perfectly fine although I still prefer the originals. However, characters like Frieza and Gohan I have bigger problems with. They aren’t bad, but for these cases I MUCH prefer the originals. I enjoyed chainsmoker Frieza a lot and they literally just put kid Trunks’ voice over Gohans and Kid Goku’s which I don’t like. They aren’t terrible or even bad but I just wish they stuck with the originals. There are some other minor character changes such as Dr. Briefs and Oolongs which I don’t like that much, especially Oolong but they have very little screen time so it’s not a big problem. I guess I can say this about the dub for Z and Kai. I prefer Z’s voices but I can admit that the acting all around is better and much more consistent especially for Goku. I would still choose Z over Kai’s dub but it’s not too much worse. Characters: 9 Dragon Ball’s cast was great and Z’s is more or less the same. The Cell and Frieza sagas include fan favorite Vegeta, the Ginyu Force, Frieza, Trunks, the Androids, Cell and others as well. There isn’t too much to say about the cast that hasn’t already been said. Goku is extremely lovable, side characters like Yamcha, and Krillin are fun to watch, Frieza and Cell are both terrifying and thrilling additions, everyone knows and enjoys the cast of Dragon Ball. I could point out a few problems with the cast if I had to complain. First off, most of the cast isn’t too deep besides a few but that’s a very minor complaint that I can let slide. One big problem that everyone can point out is the lack of things for the side characters to do after the Frieza saga. Tien and Yamcha basically do little to nothing after they die to Nappa, besides Tien holding off Cell which is awesome. Chaoitzu isn’t even in the Cell saga at all because he’d be that useless. Most of the time characters that aren’t useful just sit around and don’t get to do much besides just watch from the sidelines which is disappointing. The addition of characters and cast overall might be better than Dragon Ball’s but the characters were much more useful and had more do in previous arcs. Enjoyment: 9 I’ve seen Z twice and read the entire 550+ chapter manga and yet even though this is my fourth experience with the series, fifth if you want to count abridged, I still have a blast watching Dragon Ball. I’m a big shounen fan, I love the cast, I enjoy the fights, there are a bunch of really interesting ideas, and even though the series can get very repetitive, I still can’t find myself getting bored of characters being cocky or kicking their opponents asses. The main difference with Kai’s enjoyment comes from the removal of filler episodes and better pacing but as mentioned, I didn’t find the pacing too bad overall in Z so I get the same or at least a bit more enjoyment watching Kai. Overall: 9 DBZ Kai is a bit bittersweet in some areas but overall the definitive way to watch DBZ. As mentioned, Z still has its areas that are better than Kai’s but the removal or filler episodes, improved pacing, and less reuse of animation is very noteworthy. DBZ Kai is unexpectedly great and I’m still confused as to why it’s notably lower here on MAL than Z. It could be nostalgia in which case I recommend trying Z again today to see if it holds up well which it does, but if you’ve seen Z before and plan on rewatching the series, just stick to Kai and/or read the manga. Both options are great!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 6, 2020 Mixed Feelings
Ranma 1/2 is one of the most well known works from the talented and creative author, Rumiko Takahashi. She's mainly known for creating works like Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Inuyasha and obviously Ranma. Currently, I have watched all of these except for Yatsura which I'm only halfway done (100+ episodes) with but I have enough knowledge to discuss and refer to it here. Also, I'm going to refer to these works in the review in order to do some comparing but won't spoil anything major for them but will of course review the entirety of Ranma's anime.
Finally this is a review for the entire ... anime series along with the OVAs, however not including the movies which the quality is notably lacking compared to the main series. Story: 5 Ranma 1/2 is a very Takahashi series which is a good aspect to have but unfortunately comes with some of her major flaws as a writer. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume many fans agree with me that the beginning/first season of the series is easily the best. The majority of season 1 (first 40 episodes), mainly focus on character introductions and explaining some key story details. Takahashi across her series have many fun and interesting ideas and concepts to mess with and for Ranma the main gimmick is for him to turn into a girl, while his father, and other side characters turn into animals after making contact to a certain amount of water. The main goal of the series is for Ranma to find a cure for this curse while also being engaged to his father's friend's daughter and deepening his relationship with her. The concept is great as a starting point but unfortunately the series does little to nothing to add to this besides giving some side characters some of these curses such as Shampoo, Moose, and Ryoga. Any story details about the cast trying to fix this curse ultimately ends the same way which is them failing to lift the curse which sucks. This is one of the main problems, if not the biggest that the series has which is its lack of progression. As I've said, Takahashi has a lot of creative and interesting ideas but her weakness as a writer is that she never does any sort of progression with her story and even her characters. Besides the addition of some more minor side characters later into the series, you could pretty much watch these episodes in any order after Ukyo's introduction episodes which are around episode 40. This fatal flaw is seen throughout Urusei Yatsura, and in a unique instance in Inuyasha. It's very questionable why Takahashi chooses to write her series like these. She has the skills to write a story with an overarching plot, in fact her previous series Maison Ikkoku, (which is easily her best work) had a great story that had little to no filler. Speaking of filler, the anime has around 45% of filler which is a LOT. It's just as much as Naruto and Bleach but fortunately the filler isn't that bad which is mainly due to the series being episodic. Its not easy to distinguish filler and canon episodes but more likely than not some of the bad or meh episodes are most likely going to be filler rather than canon due to them not coming from Takahashi herself. As for the quality of the episodes, it was very consistent for a surprising amount of the show's run. I'd say throughout the first half of the series (80 episodes) there may have been a small handful of episodes that weren't too good or meh, maybe about three to five if I had to guess. Unfortunately the second half takes a notable nosedive in terms of quality. I'd say this is a mix of me just getting somewhat tired of the series' flaws and length, while also being the quality itself dropping in some of these filler episodes. If the first half of Ranma had very solid and fun episodes with a decent amount of great ones, then the second half was mostly "good" episodes, with some great gems, but also with a lot more just alright and meh episodes. It's nothing bad by any means but for a series to be 161 along with a handful of OVA episodes its obvious that the quality was going to drop sometime. If the series ended halfway through I'd most likely give it a mid - high 7 but because of the show just lasting way too long along with having its quality drop its sad to see it go down quite a bit. The last major problem with the anime is its ending or lack there of. The original 161 episode run ended 3 years before the manga ended so there was really nothing they could do about it unless they did an anime original ending or if Takahashi gave them her concept for how she wanted the series to end. Unfortunately the final episodes to the anime is the 3 episode OVA labeled Ranma Super which while being fine episodes on their own, definitely have no reason being the final episodes. Whether the studio and staff knew it would end with the OVAs or not I'm not entirely sure, but in the end we get an incomplete work which I'm used to but it's even more frustrating the longer the show is. It's extremely disappointing and irritating to watch over 150 episodes of Ranma just to get no conclusion of out it unless you read the manga but I'm not going to try that for a good few years. I'm expecting its going to be roughly the same just with the lack of non canon episodes along with an ending, and hopefully a good one too. Despite having major flaws in its story, Ranma's episodes overall are good, there will be some misses here and there, more in the later episodes, but overall I'd say the episodes themselves are typically quite good and fun. Art: 7 For a long running series that aired weekly episodes for a bit over three years, Ranma looks quite good, especially for the early 90s. It's colorful, characters are usually on model, backgrounds are good, fights are decent and sometimes above average and look leagues better than a majority of fights in DBZ. Also these are Takahashi's character designs and a lot of people, including myself, enjoy her designs a lot. Nothing mindblowing, but a continently good looking series. Sound: 7 Ranma's first OP is extremely catchy and is probably the best song in the entire series. That's not to say the rest aren't great, in fact a lot of the EDs and OPs are pretty good too. The main OST I remember fondly of, but I need to listen to the entirety of it one day. A small complaint could be that due to its run, some of the tracks due tend to get used a lot in certain scenes so that is a bit of a bummer that the quantity is lacking in some areas. I am someone who watches 99% of anime in dub and Viz's English dub I enjoyed a lot. It's not perfect obviously, but it's pretty well done. I had to listen to the 2008 OVA in sub and while I didn't have a problem with it, I still clearly preferred the English cast. To be honest, I think Akane's English VA is notably better than her Japanese's. She feels much more like a tomboy and hearing her being annoyed and irritated sounded much better in English than it did with her Japanese VA. Another thing I wanted to praise was that Shampoo's English VA sounds nearly identical to its Japanese voice which was really interesting to find out about. One weird detail in the dub though is that after episode 65 if I'm not wrong, Ranma's male VA changes which was very drastic and it took me a good amount of episodes to get used to it. They got the same VA as Inuyasha for him from there on out and I actually don't have a preference. I think both actors do a solid job at being Ranma. Characters: 7.5 Ranma's biggest strength is its cast of likable characters. Ranma is a great protagonist, Akane is one of the better tsunderes in anime, and actually likable, but not lovable (I typically do not like tsunderes), and the rest are mostly quite good. Shampoo is easily my favorite then followed by Ukyo. Ryoga and Moose also make me laugh a good amount of the time. The only character who really overstays his welcome is Happosai. I enjoyed his stay at first but shortly after he just becomes very annoying and rarely seems to get punished for his actions. He isn't terrible, I don't hate him but he's clearly the worst and least likable character in the series. Luckily nearly everyone else is very fun to watch. The only other problem with Ranma's cast goes back to a problem with the main story: progression. In Ranma, characters get very little to no character developments. Sure there are episodes where Ranma and Akane seem to be getting closer to each other but it doesn't seem to affect the episodes that take place after. Ranma still clearly has feelings for her shortly after the series starts but nothing happens between them. Its all just fake and filler. Enjoyment: 6.5 As I said before, the first half of Ranma was very consistent but unfortunately the series goes downhill shortly after. I would really like to give the series a 7 but due to the abundance of filler, lack of story progression, and lack of character development, its hard to really love Ranma where I can just like and enjoy it for what it is. That being said, a majority of the episodes are fun and it's a pretty fun show during those good episodes. I just wish the series wasn't so long and sort of a drag at times. Overall: 6.75/10 Ranma 1/2 is a very flawed and way too long of a series that lacks a progressing story, an ending, and character development. That being said, for what Ranma is, its a fun show to watch. For what it lacks, it does include a cast of very likable characters along with being quite funny a good chunk of the time. Currently, I'd say Ranma is Takahashi's second best work being only slightly better than Inuyasha as a whole, Urusei Yatsura, while Maison Ikkoku is by far her greatest achievement. The main question that I should answer is of course, should you watch Ranma? It's not a simple yes or no, it all comes down to how much you enjoy anime, how much time you have clearly, and if this seems like something you'd enjoy. It's very difficult to recommend Ranma due to its large run time but if you just want to have fun then I recommend watching just the first 50-60ish episodes and if you really enjoy it then try out the rest and see how much you enjoy. Basically, if you want a good story along with deep characters then this obviously isn't the show for you; go watch Maison Ikkoku. However, if you just want to have fun then just try it. You might end up enjoying a good chunk of the series and then end up dropping it halfway or a quarter way through but hopefully you'll enjoy what you watch of it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 28, 2020 Recommended
Season 3 of Aggretsuko is finally here and that also means its finally gone.
I enjoyed the first season a bit more than I thought and the finale of it really helped. Season 2 was overall slightly better having some even stronger moments in the series and this season continues the trend of being the best season yet and also having some crazy moments too! (SPOILERS) Story: 8 This season is a lot different compared to the previous two; instead of mainly focusing on Retusko suffering with her office job and trying to find love we get to see her work and sing in an idol group. ... It's very strange seeing the series take such a major turn like this but at the same time it's a new way to experience Retusko suffering and trying to deal with her problems in life. While this is going on, Haida get a lot more to do in this season. A new character, Inui, gets introduced and is trying to get together with Haida. It's been two years since I've seen the first season and a year since the second but from memory I don't believe there was really any focus on characters besides Retsuko. Having Haida spend time and develop as a character with Inui is an entirely new B plot in this season and this idea sort of represents this season overall; it feels fresh and polished...mostly. Yeah I really enjoyed a lot of the story here but there's the ending which is really bizarre and confusing, in fact I actually had to look up what happened which I shouldn't have to do. Just like the previous seasons, this season's finale or last few episodes are the best in the season and even series. Haida has to choose whether or not he wants to give up on Retsuko and go for Inui meanwhile Retsuko has to decide if she wants to become an idol full time. It's pretty obvious how it turns out but I still wanted to see Haida and Inui get together and have Retsuko be happy living as an idol, but of course that's not what happens. I'd expect Haida to choose to continue his chances with Retsuko and have the season end like the others similarly but he sort of confuses to her and judging from the last scene it appears as if they are together??? A lot of fans are confused by this cliffhanger if you could call it that. This is either a very rushed ending and not a great one at that, or it's a painful cliffhanger as we wait to see what happens next between the two in the next season which isn't even confirmed yet. Overall, the ending is weird but only time will tell how I feel about it judging by if we get another season or not. Art: 7 The art isn't necessarily impressive per say but it's still not bad at all. I really like the simplistic art style and I think its fits the series very well. Character designs are simple and clean, backgrounds are nice, really no complaints here. Sound: 7 Similarly to sound, I don't have much to say here; the English dub is above average, the background music is typically good, the OP is fun, etc. Characters: 7.5 Some side characters from previous seasons don't get too much screen tie here but I don't really mind that. Here we get to see a lot of great moments from both Retsuko and Haida as well as the new characters introduced. Retsuko is able to embrace her metal self in front of others, and Haida questions and doubts himself for a majority of the season wondering what to do with his love life. Inui might be my new favorite character in the series and the idol group are also nice additions. Enjoyment: 7.5 This season was fun just like the last two as I've been saying and the last few episodes are a big reason of that. This time I feel that the season overall is more solid despite the last few episodes still being the best. The episodes are only 15 minutes long besides the last and honestly I wish these were normal length episodes. The series has always been on the short side being only 15 minutes long and only 10 episodes per season. I binged this all in one sitting which is pretty easy considering its a bit less than 2.5 hours. This only shows how much I want to see more of this series small little series and see what happens next. This season had some balls to the walls moments, I jumped out of my seat a few times and of course cringed during some of the Haida scenes. Overall: 7.5 This is the best (and hopefully not last) season of Aggretsuko! It might be only a bit better than the last one but that's nothing to complain about. This season is fresh and filled with new and interesting ideas that haven't really been in the series before. All I can say is that waiting for the hopefully coming and confirmed season 4 is going to be rough with that ending we got so let's all be excited and patient!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 24, 2020
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
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Some of my favorite anime are well known and beloved while others may be less known and only fairly well received; Baka & Test is of the latter in this instance. While not mainstream like most shouens are, B&T isn't too unknown in the anime community with seeing mostly passable and "good" reviews but nothing more. For me however, B&T has stayed in my top 20 favorites even since I first watched it back in 2015. Today I'll going to try my best and give it a fair review while also trying to explain the appeal of it.
Just as a heads this is a review ... for both seasons and the 2 OVA episodes, and also some big spoilers ahead Story: 8 As the title suggests, Baka & Test is mainly about idiots and tests. In this series our cast is set in a special school that allows students and teachers to battle each other with avatars. Avatars correlate to the student and teacher's grades depending on the subject and depending on their grade they receive points. With this, students are put into classes ranging from Class A, the smartest, down to Class F, the dumbest. Classes are able to battle each other whenever and declare a war and the winner receives materials from the loser's class. It's a cool idea, a bit on the simple side but the show messes with this idea a fair number on times. Although a lot of it comes down to having the biggest number and the most points, Class F instead uses strategy and "outside resources" to win most of the time. This is interesting and all but I had some fears at first that thankfully didn't come true. Baka & Test at heart is a rom-com with a bigger emphasis on comedy that doesn't normally take itself too seriously. With this avatar and school system I was afraid the series would take itself way too seriously and focus a lot more on the studying and avatar, and while they do from time to time it never overpowers the light hearted comedy and the character themselves. After the first two episodes, the studying and battles stop for a majority of the season but there are still some episodes and moments that revolve around using them for battles or whatnot. I think a good way to describe B&T's story is that its very balanced or at least it knows never to spend too much time on the battle sections. Like I said, this is supposed to be a rom-com filled with idiots doing stupid tasks and a lot of the time it's just that; idiots being idiots, and that's probably the biggest strength of the series but I'll get to that later. For a majority of the time, Test doesn't take itself too seriously but when it does its amazing. Season 2 overall felt like a slightly improved season 1, focusing more on the slice of life stories like having Hideyoshi switch places with his sister for half an episode, seeing Minami's sister backstory with Aiki, and seeing the cast play BS in the classroom. But as soon as the after credits hit on episode 7 is when the anime peaks for the next 4 episodes. Minami's backstory is fantastic and is the best episode is the anime which is then followed by two more great episodes and then ends with Yuuji's and Shouko's backstory. After this however, are the last two episodes which are good episodes on their own, easily some of the weakest ones for sure and it doesn't really help that these are the last two episodes of the season and most likely series. For these episodes, the school has a haunted house event where students can't get scared otherwise they lose, all while battling some students on the way. Again, they're good episodes on their own but they have no right being the last episodes of a series or season. It always baffles me that Minami's or Yuuji's and Shouko's backstory wasn't the final episode(s). Sure it wouldn't pass as a series ending but as a season it fits MUCH better than what we got. It's a pretty big complaint I have and is probably the only complaint at that too. But yes all in all, Test's first two episodes and last two are on the weaker side, especially the last two but everything else is great for sure. Art: 8 Baka & Test looks really nice; its bright, colorful, has great character designs and it's easy to tell that the staff behind it put in a lot of effort and had fun while making it. The directing is notably very well done, there are a ton of cool and interesting shots and the directing overall feels playful and creative. This is the same director that did EF A Tale Of series which I didn't like for its directing, but here it's toned down a lot and isn't too "weird" I suppose. As for the animation itself, Baka is well animated for sure, nothing mind blowing but far from bad. Also bonus points for having some really funny visual gags, I especially love the jokes surrounding whats written on the chalkboard in the classroom. Sound: 8 As for its soundtrack, Baka's background music is good, not one of the favorites but I've listened to it about twice now, it's nice. However, all 3 OPs, ED Eureka Baby and ED Hare Tokidoki Egao are all great. The OPs are all bangers and I usually don't skip them, same with the mentioned EDs. Besides its music, Test's English Dub is for no reason fantastic. This is a 10/10 dub and I think I wouldn't enjoy this series as much as I have if the dub wasn't so good. Everyone fits their role perfectly and everyone gives some of their best performances yet. Brina Palencia does a great job as Hideyoshi, Greg Ayres does his usual perverted voice as Kouta, Josh Grelle who I'm usually mixed on but that mostly depends on the character he's voicing, thankfully brings out the best out Aiki, and also finally worth noting is Scott Freeman as Yuuji. He hasn't done too much at Funimation and sadly quit in 2015 for "reasons" but unsurprisingly also does a fantastic job playing Yuuji. I can't recommend the dub enough, it's just that good. Characters: 9.5 Here's where the series shines; its cast of characters. Your story may not be the best, it might not be well animated but having a lovable and fun cast is the most important aspect of a series, besides being entertaining. I don't really have too many problems with Baka's cast besides some small nitpicks that hold it from a 10. Himeji and Kouta are really fun characters on their own but are notably weaker when compared to the other 5 main characters, that's really it. Kouta isn't too unique being mainly a pervert, and Himeji has a lot of tropes that have been used in many other series. Again, I still love the main cast but this is just a small issue I have. As for the goods, everyone is hilarious and seeing them all interact is just so fun to watch. This may not be the most deep or original cast but it works really damn well and that's all that matters. It's a struggle to even choose a favorite character. Minami might be my favorite by a hair, then Hideyoshi, then maybe Yuuji? You know a cast is great if I'm struggling to choose between 5 characters as my favorite. But yes, this is the series' strength and without this cast I can't imagine the series being nearly as good without them. Enjoyment: 9 Comedy is subjective and I understand people find different things funny or others are find it harder to laugh at certain jokes or jokes at all. For me, Baka & Test is hilarious, and I don't say that for many anime. I'll laugh a decent amount of the time for a majority of anime but it takes a lot to make me laugh for a good 15 seconds after the joke already happened. There are tons of times I'm caught off guard and can't help but laugh. This is definitely a top 10 funniest anime for me, or at worst top 15. This is up there with Heaven's Lost Property, Clannad, and Konosuba for sure. As of this review, this is my third time watching Baka and I still find it extremely funny today. Besides its comedy and characters, a mentioned I'm engaged in the story a lot of the time and episode 8-11 always have me hooked. Overall: 9 I'm probably being way too generous with my score which is something I don't tend to do but for me, entertainment is by far the most important aspect of a series. If I'm not entertained then what's the point. Like I said before, sometimes a great cast with a ton of humor can make a show amazing and for Baka this is one of those cases. Yes, B&T has its flaws or mainly the one major flaw being its very disappointing finale both as a series and as a season. But if you can enjoy yourself for the remainder of Baka's run its mostly worth it. I've seen Baka & Test three times now and it's still one of my personal favorite anime and I don't see that changing the next time I watch it too.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 19, 2020
Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season
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Well My Hero is finally back and this time we've been waiting patiently for a year and a half instead of only 6 months like the last two seasons. However, this time around the wait really wasn't worth it and unfortunately like I have feared from reading some of the reviews here on MAL this season is easily the weakest one yet. That being said My Hero is still good thankfully but it certainly has stepped down in terms of quality from the past two seasons.
SPOILERS AHEAD Story: 7 Just like with the last two seasons, season 4 is divided into two arcs and just like ... the last two seasons as well the first arc is much better and more exciting than the latter. I've always been complaining that season 1 should've been 25 episodes that way we would've ended off with the tournament there and then All Might's final fight for season 2's finale but that's besides the point. Here for S4 we start off like 3 with a typical recap episode which is fine, I mean especially since its been quite awhile since S3 ended. After that there's the Eri rescue arc which is a bit slow in the beginning due to set up and introducing characters but its overall worth it in the end. Once the rescue starts things really get exciting and I screamed a decent amount of times but despite that I still had problems with this arc and mainly the series in general at this point. My Hero is almost 100 episodes in and there hasn't been too much plot progression recently or at least since the fall of All Might. The second half of S3 was a fun training exam but then this season starts off with a new villain case that while interesting, doesn't really impact the series too much. We get introduced to All Might's sidekick, Night Eye, which is cool, Togata has some really fun moments and other characters get to shine but by the end of this arc The League of Villains hasn't really changed and the heroes haven't changed too much either. This is even more obvious in the School Festival arc which is by far the weakest arc in the series as of this point. I hate to say this but it almost feels like filler in a sense. I still enjoyed it but it didn't really impact the story once it wrapped up. I also hate how the story actually picked up and went somewhere when there was only two episodes left especially with the last one. The last episode is easily one of the best this season and now I'm hyped again for the next season which is going to suck waiting for. But yes My Hero's story has certainly gotten weaker this season but at the same time it still manages to be mostly fun and has its cool moments. I was never bored like some people and the pacing, while a bit slow sometimes was never bad. In terms of writing there was only one detail I really didn't like and felt very cliche where Deku changes the future despite Night Eye explaining that its impossible for anyone to change the future he sees. This really irritated me and I was concerned for other moments but thankfully they didn't go the way I thought. With this changing the future idea I also thought Night Eye was going to somehow live and that Togata would gain his quirk back but I like how the series didn't go a Fairy Tail route and have no consequences. Art: 7 I honestly don't get some of the complaints concerning the animation and look of the show this season. I will admit that in terms of animation it isn't what it used to be for the previous seasons but its still overall a good looking show. This is not one of Bones best looking series like FMAB or Mob Psycho but when the series wants to look good during key fights it looks great. But when big fights aren't happening there are a noticeable amount of still shots which I'm fine with since they're well drawn and also due to the fact that I really like a lot of the character designs. Sound: 8 My Hero's soundtrack has always been good with no complaints but the voice acting has always been where the series shines for me. Funimation's English dub has always been great and they have literally everyone in their studio doing at least one voice. Everyone does a solid job and many of them are great especially with some like Todoroki and Sabat as All Might. It may not be perfect but it's easily one of their best dubs in recent years. Characters: 7 My Hero's cast is huge and there are a ridiculous amount of characters and it doesn't help that we get even more characters in this season. Overhaul and Gentle Villain aren't too interesting as characters but the concepts behind them are what I find interesting. They're decent but I probably won't be remembering them any time in the near future. Some characters from previous seasons get more of the spotlight like Togata and Kirishima which is a big plus. Kirishima is someone who've I've never given a shit about until this season and now I actually remember his name and quirk besides referring to him as the dude with the red hair. These characters getting more development is something the series really needed and there are some other new characters as well such as Night Eye which is a great addition to the cast even if he didn't last too long. The cast being huge is definitely a problem since this doesn't give too much time for each character to get their moments. Even Ururaka and Asui are in the rescue arc yet they do pretty much nothing throughout it. Fan favorites such as Bakugo and my personal favorite from the cast, Todoroki, really have nothing to do besides one sort of lame episode. This is a complaint I can justifiably agree with. Having too many characters is a problem and I hope the next season doesn't add too many characters and will instead do what this season did with Kirishima. Besides my complaints I have with this season's cast I still enjoy a numerous amount of the characters here even if they aren't the most developed or thought provoking and deep. Enjoyment: 7.5 Honestly if I prepared myself in advance I would've watched this season in one sitting; I watched the first 17 episodes in one go but then got tired so I couldn't make that achievement. I'm a big shounen fan and My Hero is no exception. I can watch a lot of shounen episodes in a row easily but I have to be honest and say that I am disappointed with this season. I wasn't as hyped and invested with this season as I was with the last ones but I still had a good time with it. I was hooked on the rescue arc and couldn't wait to see what happened next but the festival arc was quite disappointing. Gentle Villain didn't leave a good first impression and the story wasn't too interesting but it still had its moments. I might have enjoyed this season more than I should have since I'm a shounen fan but I didn't love it. Overall: 7 I might have been complaining a decent amount of this review but I have just been pointing out problems I've had. Overall I still liked this season despite it being the weakest season we've had. It's not easy going from a great season to a good/solid one. People like to shit on Chuunibyou season 2 just for example even though I still really like it although it wasn't nearly as amazing as the first season. I understand some of the complaints people have had with My Hero lately and I am starting to get annoyed with some of the problems myself but I still consider myself a decent fan of the series and am excited for what's to come next. I really hope this season will be known as the odd one out in the future and that season 5 will fix my problems I'm having here. The series needs to have something big like a full 25 episode arc and dedicate its time to some of these characters such as some in Class A. The series is far from being mediocre or bad and I don't see that happening anytime soon with the way things are now. I don't read manga past the anime so I'. hoping the next season can jump back up to the quality of seasons and 3.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 14, 2020
Clannad: After Story
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I've completed over 1,600 anime according to MAL but in terms of series it's something around 600. With that being said Clannad After Story is one of extremely few series that I've ever given the score of a 10/10. It takes an unimaginable amount of enjoyment and love for me to give any series that but After Story somehow manages to do so. That being said, a 10 isn't perfect, a 10 is something that is realistically perfect or something that has small problems but the rest makes up for it and I think that's a great way of summing up After Story. There are
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some small shortcomings it has but the highs of After Story are unlike anything else out there.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Story: 10 After Story has a sort of similar problem or aspect that it very similar to the first season which is that the first third or for AS, the first 8 episodes are notably weaker than the rest of the season. This is what I thought for a long time actually and although everything after episode 8 is perfect form start to finish that doesn't mean the first 8 episodes aren't anything bad, infact most of them are great. The first episode starts off with a banger and has the cast involved in a baseball game which is one of my favorite "fun" episodes of the series. Then there's the Sunohara arc which is awesome but after that there's the next two episodes about Misae. They're really good episodes but it begs the question; did we really need two episodes about her? There is an important detail that justifies its existence but they've easily been the second weakest episodes for me in the whole series besides the recap episode which I don't count. Then episodes 7 and 8 follow Yukine which I refer to as the "gang episodes" and they honestly aren't that great. They're easily the worst episodes in the series for numerous reasons. Yukine was always a sort of side, side character in a way. She was never like Ryou or Mei which are great side characters and always fulfilled her role at helping out Tomoya and Nagisa and anyone else and I don't think anyone really asked for an arc about her. It's sort of like the Fuko arc where the character themselves just isn't too related to the main cast so it feels weird and asks why does this need to happen? Just like with Misae's episodes there is one important detail that gives it sort of a reason to exist but I never look forward to these two episodes whenever I watch After Story. Fortunately on this fourth, yes fourth, watch of AS I enjoyed these episodes the most but even then they're at most a decent 6/10 for me. They still have some good moments, really funny ones, and the fight with the gang leader and Tomoya is still pretty fun and really damn well animated of course. But besides that ramble there's a reason why AS's story is fantastic and that's because after those episodes the story truly begins. Now that Tomoya and Nagisa are dating we get to see them act like a couple and just get to see them enjoying their lives and every second of it is precious and more importantly heart breaking. Rewatching After Story is rough to say the least. I've rewatched it three times now and every time I can't help but start crying during some of these scenes even before they happen. Tomoya's proposal is one of the best scenes in the series and makes me tear up, Nagisa's death is easily the saddest death in all of anime, Ushio and Tomoya crying at the flower field had tears flowing down my face, and many other scenes were just a challenge to watch. Like I've said before, I've seen a shit ton of anime and After Story is one of the four anime that makes me cry. It takes a lot to make me cry during shows and movies but After Story's storytelling is so phenomenal that it'll make someone like me be forced to hold in my tears during a decent amount of episodes. After Story is something I wish many other romance anime could be. It's a continuation of a previous season that was already complete but takes the story even farther. What happened after said couple gets together? After Story is able to answer that question and create a brand new story of its own. After dating comes marriage and during marriage means having a baby. AS is just so satisfying to watch because of this. I would've loved to see what happens after Heavens Lost Property or Toradora but here we actually get to see this development. But since its Clannad everything can't always be happy. As soon as you start to get comfortable something awful happens and while the original did these moments really well, AS sort of shits of these moments in terms of their emotional impact. As I said, Nagisa's death is tragic and is unbelievable. The main heroine of the series dies and after a five year time skip we get to see Tomoya miserable. He's a depressed lonely man who has nothing left to live for. He wastes his money to go gambling and starts smoking because he hates his life. The amount of balls Kyoto and the team had to have to even think of doing this is insane. Afterwards we find out that Tomoya's daughter, Ushio is now five and its obvious that he doesn't take too lightly of her. She's the sole reason why Nagisa is dead and why his happiness is gone too. Soon Tomoya bonds with his daughter and starts acting like a father since he's realized he was acting just like his father was. This is golden. I can't even put into words how strong and well done this is. But then After Story finally drops another bomb and decides to kill off Ushio leaving Tomoya with now nothing left to life for. I know I've basically been summarizing some of the parts that happen but those ideas are just ridiculous. No other anime would even try to accomplish something like this. And at the end it all comes together in the best way possible. It's both tear jerking but also happy at the same time. Art: 10 Watching After Story sometimes makes me want to go back and change my art score from Clannad from a 10 to a 9. After Story came out 6 months after Clannad yet it feels like its been at least 2 years. The amount of improvement from an already fantastic looking show is just unreal. Lighting is better, backgrounds still look incredible, everything is top tier. The animation is also just as fun and fluid as it was before. It's also funny how I'm watching this on a DVD and I still can't believe how good it looks. Sound: 10 I said in my Clannad review that its soundtrack was one of my favorites and After Story is pretty much the same. This is because a lot of songs from AS are reused from the first season which I have zero problems with. There are some new ones which are great too. The OP is pretty good but I still prefer Meg Mell from the first season which I almost never skip. Here I usually end up skipping AS's OP but this is most likely due to wanting to get to the episodes sooner since I'm just that excited. The new ending song is a banger but for the second half of the season its really unfitting most of the time. It's almost jaw dropping watching Nagisa's death and then seeing it slowly go to the ED. But besides that, I still love the soundtrack. Characters: 10 I'm a bit iffy with giving the characters section a 10 honestly. I said before that Clannad's cast is one of my favorites and that's still true but here in AF its a bit bittersweet. First off is the obvious which I mentioned before. We get two episodes surrounding Misae and two more about Yukine which I'm not too big of fans of. But besides that is the main cast itself. After graduation which is around episode 10 we unfortunately don't get to see much of the cast I've come to love such as Kotomi, Kyou and even the chad Sunohara. At the same time this is in exchange for seeing more developments from Tomoya and Nagisa which I am all for. Everyone had their time to shine in their own arcs such as Kotomi, Tomoyo and now even Sunohara so it does make sense but I did occasionally miss some of the cast while watching After Story. But like I said, since they've all, or most of them, had their time to shine that means Tomoyo finally gets his turn. Tomoyo has always been by far my favorite character in the series as is currently in my top 10 favorite anime characters of all time. Seeing his development in After Story is even better in the first season. He goes through a lot of rough shit to say the least with his wife dying and then his own daughter dying too. We get to see new sides of him that are heartbreaking but also great at the same time. But yes, Clannad's cast is still overall fantastic and is still one of my favorites. Enjoyment: 10 I've been expressing my enjoyment a lot in the review so far so I'll make this quick. After Story is still hilarious as it's ever been. Akio's lines always land, Tomoyo is a dick head, Sunohara is an even bigger dickhead, and everyone else has their own charms. But unlike the first season, AS is an emotional roller coaster. Scenes are hard to watch and even harder to watch without crying. But most importantly AS is a blast to watch 95% of the time just aside the two gang episodes. It's high points are unreal and have some of my favorite anime moments ever. Overall: 10 Clannad is underrated and deserves more attention but After Story gets all the praise it deserves. It is nothing less than a masterpiece and I've always thought so and knew for the last 6 years ever since I was first able to watch it. The second time I knew as well, the same with the third and unsurprisingly now my opinion hasn't changed. In fact I think I've enjoyed After Story even more now than before despite knowing where the story is heading. After Story is as good as anime can get and is easily one of the greatest anime ever created. It has always been one of my all time favorites and after watching it again these past few days I'm now going to rank it even higher. I look forward to revisiting the series again in a few years and falling in love with it all over again.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 12, 2020 Recommended
Whenever people talk about Clannad they usually talk say the original is good but After Story is when it gets amazing. As for myself I consider the original Clannad to be only a bit worse than After Story and on its own still a fantastic season. There are some small shortcomings but overall Clannad is an example of having every aspect of an anime come together and work extremely well.
Story: 9 Unfortunately while I love the series, Clannad isn't exactly for everyone. Melodramas especially Kyoto's are aimed at a specific audience and while many people can still love them its not something like FMA that ... literally everyone and their mothers can enjoy. It also doesn't help that Clannad starts off with the worst main arc in the series. Some mini arcs in After Story are worse but as a main 4-5 episode arc, the Fuko arc is clearly the weakest. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's great, funny, and entertaining but it feels like the odd one out when compared to the other episodes. It's just very weird to have the first main arc be about Nagisa's teacher's sister. Fuko isn't a main character or doesn't do anything afterwards so the arc just comes and goes. But besides the Fuko arc there's the Kotomi, Tomoyo, and finally the Nagisa arc which are all amazing. Kotomi's is probably my favorite but the others are still close. Clannad is a very laid back and also "slow" series but because of that it gives off its own unique charm that many anime just don't have. Besides the first main arc I honestly don't have many complaints to point out. Art: 10 I might be a bit generous here but at worst Clannad is a 9/10 series from an animation only perspective. Kyoto Animation is one of and for my the best anime studio out there. Their backgrounds are gorgeous, the lighting is always great, and character designs are always on point. But most importantly is the animation; I still can't believe how fluid and fun the animation is. There aren't too many still shots and when they are present they're done cleverly and never stick out. Even the reusage of animation which is very rare is done very well. But yes Clannad's animation is top tier. Sound: 10 There are so many god damn good tracks in Clannad whether its sad or upbeat. Clannad's OST is one of my favorite anime soundtracks ever, it's up there with Death Note, Samurai Champloo, and FLCL. Whenever a majortiy of the tracks play during an episode it makes the scenes just work even better than they already did before. I have zero problems with Clannad's music. There's also the voice acting and I'm being honest here; Clannad has probably one of the best English dubs ever. It's easilt Sentai Filmworks best dub and everyone does a fantastic job. Luci Christian as Nagisa, Calene Black Shelley as Kyou, Greg Ayres as Sunohara, Andrew Love who I honestly thought was David Lodge this entire time as Akio, and most importantly David Matranga as Tomoya. Every single actor puts their best performance with these characters and it just makes Clannad more real and more entertaining because of them. Characters: 10 It's funny, I never noticed until I was writing this review but Clannad's cast is actually one of my favorite anime casts. Tomoya is one of my favorite anime characters ever and everyone else is almost just as great. There isn't a single bad character here. Even a lot of the side characters are really fun whenever they're on screen. But yeah everyone here is hilarious and a lot of enjoyment from Clannad is because of its cast. The reason I'm always so invested into this series is because of how much I love these characters. Watching them all is just so much fun and entertaining. I can't name too many series that make me smile for literally every scene that isn't sad or serious but Clannad is probably one of them. Enjoyment: 9.5 To say watching Clannad is fun might be an understatement. As I've expressed Clannad is a blast to watch. I don't mind the pacing at all but the only thing keeping my enjoyment from a 10 would have to be the somewhat slow start caused by the Fuko arc but its still a very small complaint or even complaint. I'd just say After Story is where my enjoyment goes up to a 10 since its just better. But yeah Clannad is able to make laugh my ass off, multiple times per episode at that, and also manages to make me really damn sad when the time comes. There isn't any scene in Clannad that makes me cry but there are some occasional moments that get me close to sniffling. But the crying is saved for After Story. Overall: 9.75 I would really like give Clannad a 10 but I just know it probably doesn't deserve it. It's close but there are just some small problems I have with it. After Story honestly has a bit more problems but its high points are so unbelievable that I have to give it that golden 10. But overall, as of this review this is now my fourth time watching Clannad and I'm still not tired of it. I'm sure in a few years I'll come back and watch it again, and again, and even again after that. Clannad isn't nearly as worse as some people make it out to be when compared to After Story even if it doesn't really hit the insane highs of its sequel.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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