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This is an updated version of my original review, I wrote the review below on March 20th 2023 and I've decided to update it since the manga has recently finished. The old review has since been deleted since mal won't let me have both up, although I have an archive for prosperity

I'm going to start off this review with a bit of a personal anecdote of how I came to discover this manga. I was lying in bed at about midnight, trying to force myself asleep as I needed to wake up early the next day. I was tired but I just could not sleep ... so after about 20 minutes of trying to go to sleep I grabbed my phone (I know it was a stupid decision but I wasn't thinking straight). I decided to read some manga and after looking through the manga list of my friend's accounts and stumbled upon this so I decided to give it a go. Watching the characters wholesome interactions how they transform the school's observatory in an earnest attempt to try and fall asleep was incredibly soothing and is what allowed me to go to sleep.

Most slice of life manga (and anime) often make the same mistake, they don't give you a reason to care. Slice of life is heavily character-driven and so we need to have time to become familiar with the characters and watch them grow and change. But since insomniacs after school uses the insomnia of the main characters I cared because I wanted to see them sleep because I saw how hard they had worked for it. This allows you to become endeared to the characters without them having to have some interesting character dynamic or unique quirk to help flesh them out.

If I had to describe the two leads of this manga in one word it would be endearing, even despite their personal setbacks they try their hardest to the point you just want to see them act out the mundanities of everyday life because at this point you care. And because you care this manga shows why it is much better compared to other slice of life manga.

After the earlier chapter more iyashikei/slice of life approach the manga transitions into a more romantic slice of life series and proves that it is better than most romance manga too. This is achieved in a few ways. 1. There is no unnecessary drama to try and keep the series engaging allowing the manga to keep it's more laid back and calm tone. 2. It doesn't spread itself too thinly either as it just focuses on one relationship, due to this the show only has to focus on developing one set of characters and can therefore make the relationship between are two leads feel genuine. 3. There is a constant sense of progression, Ganta and Magiri's relationship is constantly moving forward. There is none of this "waiting multiple volumes for a character to confess their feelings". The manga is constantly moving forward and never just standing in place.

A quick note on the visuals as I feel like if I say anymore I'll just be repeating myself. The character designs are simplistic but still aesthetically pleasing (even though they are constantly changing outfits). But the real beauty of the artwork shines through in these very calming night time scenes which help sell the soothing feeling of this entire series.

TLDR: The slice of life is good and the romance is good. A perfect read for when you are half asleep.

Well, here we are, 2 and a bit years later. The series has ended, so it is probably due an updating. This is going to start with a bit of a preamble before it loops back round but so did my initial review, so it seems fitting.

It's such a weird feeling when a series you have been following for a decent amount of time ends, even though it was only 2 years ago it feels almost nostalgic. That isn't a great way to describe it but rereading what I had written and having that as almost a time capsule serves as a point of comparison to how I have changed and how the series has changed. Is this review going to be structured probably? No, not really, I think the preliminary review is still perfectly functional even now, so I'm not going to be diving in to pick it apart to make a new review, this is just an addendum, nothing more, nothing less.

So what's new in the 70 new chapters that have been made since then? Not much, well, not much in terms of what can be written about. An anime adaptation finally happened which I haven't seen, but I'm happy for the recognition nonetheless.
In highlight chapter 55 was the perfect place to leave the series on, with the series releasing by volume and not by chapter there is always bound to be some change from every chunk of chapters to the next, but this is was where the biggest change probably happened in the manga, because that is where the romantic really changed from being about two people getting in a relationship to two people being in one. Yes, while this isn't the technical begging of it with Magiri almost running away and being so defiant to her parents really cements where this relationship was a what it meant. Then the series slightly changes gears, I praised the series in my initial review for actually making progress in the relationship between the two main characters and here is the next step, time moves one, everything eventually changes.

Everything changes, nothing is stationary forever as the series all two often likes to remind us with Magiri's illness being such a significant plot point in the later volumes. Lots of people had mentioned that there were many death flags throughout the series, I remember talking about it even before my initial review, so the seeds have always been there. Looking back on some of the previous events are now put into much more context now that we know that this is potentially life-threatening.
One of my favourite parts of this is how it effected Ganta, is insomnia stems from the fear that when he will wake up things will change, he'll lose what he has. His insomnia isn't a physical inability to sleep but the fear of sleep developing into to something that has such a grip over him.

I get that.

No, I'm not saying he is just like me. Not word for word anyway, but I understand the fear of going away, not wanting to 'close your eyes' because one day things might be gone. I think most people can relate to this, I know there have been times when my behaviour has changed out of a fear that things change.

There is a few chapters while Magiri is in the hospital just focusing on Ganta and how, strangely, he is ignoring Magiri. He's running away from the idea that someone so important to him, some who has changed him, might be gone tomorrow. He tries to live to continue living normally, so he doesn't have to acknowledge the truth of what's happening, it's hurting people, and he knows this, but it isn't easy to be able to face something like this. Once he does get over this and confronts Magiri it is sort of the end of his arc, and with this the series has covered all basis and alls that left is to put a nice bow on things.

Which brings me to the ending and the ultimate will they or won't they to Magiri surviving. It's a happy end, they finish school and grow up. The focus of their relationship is left up to interpretation, as it should be because all bases that need to be covered have been covered. But there is something kind of unfulfilling about this happy end, obviously this was highly speculated from the amount of death flags but if you take the same interpretation of the series as I did this doesn't really challenge Ganta's change from where he was 125 chapters ago. Is this a bad thing? No but this just kind of feels like the safe way to end the series.

And that's it, my feelings on this review have changed as my tastes have changed throughout its run, but I am happy with my score and still recommend this, everything I said then still rings true.

This review is going to be structured in a specific way, I am going to focus on the individual revues and the characters dynamics and then bring it back to the whole film, I'm going to this because ultimately revue starlight is a character-driven story, it's a story of these 9 girls and their growth into stars and their growth as people.

Also, I am leaving the revue of annihilation till last

Chapter 1 – The revue of malice:

All the revues in this film, while spectacular performances are a stage for character development, where these characters relationships clash and evolve and where these characters can develop from ... it, with that out of the way, onto the actual revue.
A recurring theme in this film is that of growth, or that having a fixed goal will lead to the metaphorical 'death' of these characters as stage girls and as people.
The core conflict of this revue Futaba finally being able to let go of Kaoruko and grow as a person. Kaoruko and Futaba's relationship has been one of subservience, a relationship that is completely one-sided. This is what causes the main conflict, Kaoruko knows this and is trying to get Futaba to let go because she truly cares for Futaba, and she knows that if things continue as is she will only ever be comfortable in her shadow. She can't shine in her shadow. There is a joke that this revue is Kaoruko and Futaba getting divorced which kind of works.
Let's rewind a bit, to the start of the film, before all the revue's start. Now that we have a rough idea of the nature of the relationship of Kaoruko and Futaba the preceding events start to fall into place. When the girls are discussing their future career plans early in the film Futaba, like a lot of the rest of the stage girls, is applying to join the new national theatre troupe. She knows how competitive it is and that she might not get in, but she is ok with this. Her applying for the troupe is as much as her trying to progress her career as much as her trying to say “I am here, look at me!” She is continuing her evolution she started at Seisho. She is no longer running away from her problems, but running directly at them.
And then we have Kaoruko, she never had any grand lofty ambitions of joining the new national career troupe because she never needed too. Being the heir of the Senka-Ryu dance school her only goal was being better than everyone else, not to be the top star in starlight but to always be the top star. With her always comparing herself to Futaba and the auditions she has always proved to herself that she is the top star. But then when Futaba applies to join the new national she knows they will split and this combined with the lack of auditions means there isn't a stage for her to prove herself. She can't stand that people have accepted they can't be the top star and feels separated from the group as a whole.
In the scene on the train we can see that she is separated from the entire group, while everyone is excitedly chatting about what they will go onto to do she is isolated in the corner. The train, while being an actual train, is also a metaphor for these girls paths in life. In the revue of annihilation we see Nana constantly repeating that “the train will get to the next station without fail” is her proclaiming that she will make sure everyone gets to the next station in life without fail, because if anyone is hates this stagnation the most, it is her.
Anyway, to the revue. We are now in a situation where the usual relationship dynamic has been flipped on it's head and this is used to forcibly pull out their character and make them collide. At the start of the fight there is a Hannya mask before transitioning into Kaoruko's face. A Hannya mask is used in Japanese Noh Theatre to represent a jealous female demon, and the transition into Kaoruko shows what this conflict is about, Kaoruko's jealousy. Then, Kaoruko reminds Futaba of the promise that Kaoruko would become a top star so that they can both be at the top, and so that they can be together. While Futaba has accepted that she needs to leave to continue her development as a stage girl, Kaoruko can't accept this and want her to stay by her side. At the start of the revue they are both in a nightclub talking about this problem but then later evolves into a fight. There are a lot of visual similarities to the revue in episode 6, but with the combat initiated by Kaoruko this time and not Futaba.
In Futaba's portion of the song she expresses how she is not satisfied with her old dream, since that would mean that only Kaoruko would shine, just like the truck that she stands on, she no longer needs her opinion. She no longer needs Kaoruko since she has grown past her. This Revue is as much Futaba trying to beat Kaoruko so that she will let go but also proving too her that she can shine bright and that this move away is so that she can continue her development as a stage girl.
Near the end of the revue Kaoruko falls of a building but Futaba catches her and refuses to let her fall. Even after Kaoruko tried to push Futaba away for the sake of her own ego Futaba holds on, because she still wants to be able to stand next to her. Falling is a recurring theme in Revue Starlight, it isn't a literal metaphor of falling from the spotlight but symbolic of breaking a promise. And even though that Futaba is parting from Kaoruko her preventing Kaoruko from falling is showing that she is refusing to let the promise break, and even though they are separating it is so that they can be together, and shine brilliantly.

Chapter 2 – Revue of competition

Now, the revue of competition is a bit different in structure compared to the revue of malice. While the revue of malice was taking two characters who could almost be joined at the hip and something which could be seen as a long time coming, the revue of competition Mahiru and Hikari are much more different. This revue is also a bit more one-sided, since it is more about Hikari's development. Mahiru as a character is quite similar to Futaba (in the revue of annihilation they are both taken out in the same swing), both of them are characters that are in the background for the sake of others, but while Futaba develops in the series and then eventually builds up to the revue of malice, Mahiru doesn't have the equivalent of Kaoruko, so she hasn't gone through the same bit of development that Futaba has. Whereas the revue of malice is about Futaba pushing herself away for her own sake, this revue is about Mahiru pushing people away for their sake.
And then we have Hikari, the deuteragonist of this series. She's in this weird position in the show, being one half of Karen's dream but often moving out from the story. She has always been presented as confidently on top, so this revue exists to break her down so that she can be forcibly pushed to her next step.
Now, onto the revue. The revue of competition often likens it's to life itself, or standing on the stage as living. In the lyrics for MEDAL SUZDAL PANIC the kanji “舞台”(butai) for stage is sung as “人生”(jinsei) for life. To these, to be on the stage, to perform is their life. In a literal sense, it is their livelihood and in a deeper sense. These revues are how the story of their lives are told, they clash, break down, and grow in these performances in an effort to be the best version they can be. They are not just aiming for the top star in their actual performances but making themselves into their own top star.
The revue starts with Mahiru declaring that she will live on stage, she's not just saying this to herself, but making sure that Hikari knows that Mahiru is calling her out for running off-stage when in suits her, running away from life. The first half of this revue Mahiru is completely in control, Mahiru's last revue was sports focused, and the stadium is filled with suzdal cat's. Everything about this is to show that Mahiru isn't in control but completely dominant and that Hikari has no influence on her. So she runs. She is worried about Karen, and she is in somewhere where she has no control, she keeps insisting that she can't be here because she is worried about Karen but in reality it isn't just that, she's scared, afraid, she has no control here, so she needs to get away. Just like she ran from Karen when she thought that she could overtake her, because she can't acknowledge that she isn't the top star, because that's what her identity and relationship to Karen is. It's about being the top, the star that Karen is chasing towards, so that they can stand on the same stage. Mahiru knows this, because her character is one of observing the other stage girls. Throughout this revue Mahiru is constantly confronting Hikari about her refusal to act, her refusal to live and give 100% not only on her stage but to give 100% on other people's stage as well. Her refusal to act and then her loosing her button, her pride as a stage girl is almost like her losing her identity. What's a stage girl who is scared to act?
And then Mahiru does everything to break Hikari, she says she is acting, but I think it comes from her own twisted love, she loves her that's why she must break her. Because unless her own weakness is dragged out of her and put to her face she can never develop. She will only stagnate because she'll run whenever she doesn't have control. In the revue Mahiru break the mister white cut-out that Hikari came with, she wants Hikari to know that she is alone and because this isn't an audition, she can't run. It isn't enough for Hikari to feel weak, she has to know that Mahiru is strong, much stronger than her. Everywhere Hikari run's she is constantly bombarded of symbols of her own weakness, the mister white cutout's with red heads, being trapped in an elevator with nothing else but Mahiru's voice. This combined with the fast, almost erratic nature of the editing in the previous scene is meant to show Hikari's fear, because she has no control.
And at the end of it all Mahiru reveals that it was all an act (although how much was acting can be up for debate) Hikari knows that even people who love her want her to change and that if she truly wants to help Karen and to shine she must approach her own fear head on and give it 100%.

Chapter 3 – Revue of hunting

This revue is a bit different from the other revue's. While most are two characters working through their issues together this one contains Nana, so it can't be that simple, because while Nana is a complex character like any of the other girls she is also one of the core drivers of the events of the series, and especially the events of the film.
Let's start with Junna and hoo boy she's going through a lot.
Earlier in the film, when Kaoruko has accused some of the stage girls of giving up, even though she admits this wasn't a truthful outburst she is kinda right. Junna still wants to act, but she feels completely inadequate compared to the rest of the cast. In the very first scene that she appears in she is re-enacting a scene with Karen. But in this scene Karen is always the centre of attention, when Karen steps onto the platform she steps off, surprised. The scene that they are re-enacting is a scene from the play that they are going to see later in the film, with Karen being the main star. This mirrors the first revues we ever see, Junna being outshone by Karen. While this seems like something insignificant to begin with it is just one small example. Between this and her being the only one going to university (and not applying for a drama/music course, but a literary one instead), to her not recognising that it is the anniversary of the revues starting (when others did), to her list of questions all about how to handle push back in the interview. On the train, when everyone is excitedly chattering away about the new national theatre troupe she is nervously looking at her notes. When she asks Claudine about suggest the new national to Futaba she says “since you're Futaba, won't you make it?” and then she asks Junna if she is ok with not apply, to which she dodges the questions and then admits she is not good enough. Even Claudine says “since you're Junna, you could make it” to Claudine there isn't even a maybe if she could make it, she considers all the stage girls good enough. But Junna puts herself down, saying she is “no match” for the other girls and that she needs to study further to get to that level. Junna putting herself down, a far cry from the Junna that we see earlier in the series. The Junna that earlier in the series snapped at her classmates for giving up on becoming Flora or Claire because they thought that they weren't good enough. The person who has gone from motivating her classmates to strive for the top star has gone to the one being motivated that she is even good enough to apply to a new school, let alone take the leading role in starlight. It isn't much of a surprise this is the last meaningful conversation before Nana attacks everyone, and it also isn't much of a surprise that when she is justifying not applying to the troupe, the shot doesn't have her in but Nana instead.
Speaking of Nana, let's have a look at her. Nana, like most of the other stage girls, is applying for the new national theatre troupe but also the production troupe, while this isn't too much of an important deal it is nice to see that even someone like Nana is at this crossroad. Anyway, up to the revue of annihilation Nana hasn't really been super involved in this film, she has always been in the background, watching. In Karen and Junna's re-enactment she is to watch, in the conversation with her and Karen on the train, she isn't paying much attention, instead focusing on the conversation between Futaba and Claudine. Nana's whole personal subplot was that she was scared, scared that all of her friends would grow and develop, and then separate. She was scared of being left alone, like she was in middle school. So because of that she continued the loops, until everything was perfect. Until her starlight was perfect. But then when she finally achieves her starlight what next? Life goes on, but Nana is scared, so she initiates the events of this film so that everyone clashes together and has their weaknesses pulled from them so that they can grow. She wants to force everyone to arrive at the next station, but she is also on this train as well.
I want to mention some of the parallels to her and Karen, since they were both in the same situation. They were both left behind by their friends when growing up. But whereas Nana obsesses over making sure this can't happen again Karen is taking life in her stride. And the film wants you to know this. Nana and Karen are the only ones without a clear plan for the future in the career meeting, Karen and Nana are the only ones not in the room during Kaoruko's outburst and even when Karen is re-enacting a scene from the play the go and watch, when she says a line about being separated the camera cuts to Nana, and she finishes the line “my friend”, she hasn't been able to let go. While the events of this film is about Nana trying to get everyone to sop stagnating and continue evolving she doesn't realise that she is the one that she is the one who is stagnating.
Anyway, onto the revue. The revue opens with Nana recalling Junna saying that she doesn't have enough experience and directly calling her out for giving up. Then follows it with the line “Thou shalt not die” while this line is directly stating Nana's intentions throughout the film (note that the scene in Rondo Rondo Rondo where they literally equate giving up to dying) but also reference the popular Japanese poem “Thou shalt not die” (the same one that was referenced in bungo stray dogs), echoing this anti-war poem right before having Junna set up as if she were to commit seppuku (something that is done at wartime) is almost as if it were to say that “parroting borrowed lines means nothing” and almost like Nana is directly making fun of her for it.
Junna fights back because she knows she can't lose, she needs to prove to Nana that she can shine. But even when she starts to take back control she is always in the shadows. A stage girl is meant to shine, but the spotlight is on Nana. While Junna tries to hide an away and pick her shots carefully this is the same strategy she used in her revue against Karen, which in the end she eventually chooses to be more straightforward. Something interesting to note is when she fires her arrows and the debris from the shot turns into the kanji for star, but it is also the same kanji used in her last name. She is sabotaging her own stage to surround herself in stars. But as the fight goes on we see her slowly start to change, she is not longer surrounding herself in stars but just being by herself. She even takes Nana's sword and smashes the hilt into one of the fragments of gem. While this is making Nana's sword her own, like she is making other's words her own this is almost as if she is saying “I don't need your star”. This signals a change in the whole atmosphere of the revue, once something oppressive and overpowering is now something equal. Junna isn't being shone on by Nana, she is refusing to hide in her brilliance and is no longer being hunted. The Junna Nana knows is gone, the idea of Junna Nana had in her head was never there, and she needs to accept that Junna isn't a closed book like Nana wanted her to be.
I couldn't really find anywhere to fit this in but “go subsist on nothing but the haze of your pipe dream”, what a line.

Chapter 4 – Revue of Souls:

If the revue of malice is two people getting divorced then this one is two people getting married. While the past revues have mostly been breaking down people to draw out their weaknesses, this one is about building each other up and bringing out their strengths. They are not worried about parting, they are not worried about not being able to achieve their dreams.
But that also makes it one of the hardest revue's to write about, but anyway, to the characters.
Maya, like most people, is applying to the new national theatre troupe. Unlike some of her fellow stage girls she has no reservations on whether she will get in. Hell, her teacher only warns her that the lessons will be strict. Even she kind of expects her to get in! She's constantly talking about the revue and in common room early in the film she is reading a book about the troupe etc, she's dead set of the troupe. When Kauroku mentions the significance of the date she is the first one to mention the auditions, she is shown socialising with next year's class and just being more amicable to her fellow stage girls in general. Everything we see of her before the revue of annihilation is just to show us how much she has grown compared to who she was earlier in the series. Although that isn't perfect, I've mentioned before that this is all initiated in a fight against stagnation, and now that she has developed past her flaws she has no obvious place to go, so he role in the story isn't about fixing what flaws she has but seeing how far she can go, how bright she can shine.
Onto Claudine, due to her performance at the 100th starlight she was scouted by the prestigious Theatre du Flamme. It's an absolute honour for her, and she is 100% dedicated it to it, she doesn't even put the new national as a second choice option, at least that way she could stay with Maya, but everything is going towards this. There is no sense of attachment, they both know for there sake they should move on. And that's fine, they're stage girls, and nothing is going to sabotage their brilliance. In the series the cool and calm Claudine always seemed to drop her cool around Maya and gave 100% into beating her but now that she has her own place and carved her own path she no longer needs to beat Maya, and she no longer needs to try desperately to beat her. They can finally give a revue that is 100% authentic to who they are.
So when the revue of annihilation starts they are the first too to go for Nana, they are not blinded by the stage lights or the nature of the whole situation, they are leading the charge which everyone else follows.
But that doesn't mean they are perfected, they are the only duo not completely in sync, and they still lose, and they are still on this train. Nana see's something in them which is holding them back so this spark it what removes the idea of their own perfection from their own heads, but instead of breaking them down that only builds them up, because now they can keep improving and give the revue of souls everything they have, so they can see how far they go.
Now, onto the revue, unlike the other revues which have been more of a despite struggle to come out on top. This revue is purely theatrical, the rest of the stage girls are even in the audience watching this play, which this on its own doesn't really mean anything it helps show the different priorities in this revue. This is performed is not just for the girls but also for the viewer.
At the start of the revue a bet is made, Claudine holds up a small golden bird while proposing the bet. My guess is this is meant to represent Maya's soul, or her life as a stage girl. Maya is shown in front of a bigger version of this, and it also shows up in the revue of pride. The bird is a symbol of Maya's dominance and Claudine, the devil in the revue, is offering it her back. Maya then signs by making a T with her blood but the T also doubles as the symbol of position zero. They are both offering parts of themselves to each other, so yeah, marriage revue. In this part of the revue Claudine is playing the roles as someone who is designated to lose. The title of this chapter in the revue is “the black tragedy” and with Claudine being nicknamed Kuro (black) and with Maya wearing a dress resembling one that the Top Star Otokoyaku would wear at the curtain call of the Takarazuka Revue (the theatre troupe the revue starlight critics). On top of the stair placing her physically higher than Claudine (also the same stairs that were in the revue of pride, which Maya won). But Faust is a tragedy in which Mephistopheles wins and takes Faust's soul, if this revue was just them acting it out it would never be a fair fight, Faust is just a mere human while Mephistopheles is much more. But neither of these characters are in this revue for an unfair fight, since they are aiming to be rivals, to be people who can better each other. They are breaking free from their roles and aiming for something better. Claudine doesn't want to sing “For you, a devil. For me, a devil”, she wants to sing “For each of us two, a rival”, for Claudine this part of the revue is about putting them on a level playing field.

After this there is not top much to say, the events of the revue kind of speak for themselves, it is these two stage girls shining so bright, burning so hot, that they are literally a fire, because to them there relationship is now one of building each other up. It isn't Claudine trying to overtake Maya, but about them trying to be the best they can be, regardless of how good anyone else is.

Chapter 4 – The Last Line

This revue is probably the most straightforward one so far, I can't really analyse it because what is there to say? Hikari throughout the entire film has been looking for Karen as she was worried about her. When she finally finds Karen she breaks down and starts monologuing about her inner feelings. I can't really analyse this because she puts in so clearly, she's taking my job away from me!
Karen is an interesting case, if you recall from the revue of annihilation she was the only one of the stage girls that wasn't present. This is intentional, it is as if the film (and more importantly, Nana) are saying this is what you should aspire to be, this is someone who isn't stagnating and is growing. She's spent her whole life chasing after Hikari, unlike more of the other girls she spends her whole life chasing. Even when Hikari is next to her, she is still chasing, growing, evolving, she is the standards the rest of the stage girls should judge themselves by.
The content of this revue is a bit similar to the revue of souls, in the fact that it isn't working through problems but functions more as a swansong. As a grand spectacular climax to the film and to Hikari and Karen's arc. Being the main characters they have had the most development in the series, there is little to go in here compared to some of the other girls, hence why I am keeping this brief.

Chapter 0 - wi(l)d-screen baroque:

You can call this a cop out, but I'm not going to analyse the actual contents of the revue of annihilation, there are bits and pieces throughout the review. What I am going to do instead is have a look at the film from another angle, from a more meta point of view. Because while the film does have in-universe meaning there is also a whole meta aspect to wild screen baroque. You know when Nana constantly repeats “This is not an audition” throughout the revue of annihilation? That's because it is a performance, a performance for us, the viewer. The TV series works as a conclusion, this is for the spectacle. Just a Kirin once officiated the auditions he knows rushes to wild screen baroque, he is the fuel for the stage girls, hence the scene with him covered in vegetables. We are Kirin, we are the fuel that powers the stage girls, and we are the ones who rush to see them perform.

TLDR: I didn't scrape the surface of what this film has to offer, there are a ton of references in it to all sorts of media and I would really recommend looking into some interviews with the director or other things like this if you are interested. I have also cut corners in what I could say in this review because wow this is really getting long. This grand spectacle is definitely worth your time.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

If I had to sum up char's counterattack in three words it would be “potential for humanity” because what this film is a celebration of what can be achieved when humanity works as one.
Char's counterattack faces quite the challenge, it has to sum up the conflict of ideals between the federation and Zeon, but on a more personal note it has to sum up the conflict between Amuro and Char. All this while taking the themes of understanding and the cycle of war explored though the use of newtypes.

And it only has 2 hours to do this, all ... while being an enjoyable film.

Luckily, it achieves this.

I've touched on this idea before but to reiterate while newtypes may seem like space magic it can all be summed up in one word “understanding” what gundam is saying is that war springs up from a lack of understanding and what newtypes are is being who can understand other properly. Not understanding words or thoughts, but feelings and ideals. This is what's meant by “newtypes will be the future of humanity” because it is humanity that perpetuates this war. It started in gundam, it continued in zeta gundam and this will be the end of it. This is what the axis shock is. In humanities final hours, Londo bell and Zeon forces come together to push back against the asteroid because they finally understand what is going to happen. This is what gundam is about, not just the horrors of war but how understanding can stop a war, and that's what the final half of this film represents.

Notice how I said this is what the final half represents because the first half is a lot worse when compared to the second half. There is a need for backstory and set up but char's counterattack takes this too far, a lot of the film focuses on two characters Quees and Hathaway (mainly Quees though) and the issue is that they are just not important to the story. Quees's addition into the story is to act as almost a Zeonic civilian and to show why Zeon are rebelling. You can also see this is how the federation forces talk about the Zeonic rebels with such distrain. That's great and all, but they achieve their role in the story fairly early and just stay. Quees in particular is present in way to many scenes of the film, accompanying Char's where ever he goes. And the pay-off for all this character build up is almost non-existent. This is a film about Char and Amuro with Quees jumping into too many scenes, while she is removed from the story midway through the and makes the slower first half a bit worse. There also is the fact that the federation sold Char the axis asteroid base, even though he has already tried to drop one before. You could say this is actually a good thing because it shows how the top brass of the federation are oligarchs only looking out for their own profits than the good of the people, lending credence to Char's rebellion. But you could also argue that this is ridiculous that they would sell it to Char directly and not use a middleman. But these two issue are the only main problems with the film and while the former can dampen the experience, the latter is a minor nitpick that probably won't influence your opinion, whether you like this film or not. I have also heard of criticism of the fact that Char and Amuro are allies again despite almost seeming to be on the same side in zeta, and how that could feel like the film is retreading old ground, while I don't personally agree with this I thought it would be important to bring up.

On the audiovisual side of things this film is spectacular, it contains one of the first uses of CG in anime and the first in gundam, and the 2D cel-animation is spectacular, all the character and mecha designs look great (mostly), the action is fluid and well choreographed, the soundtrack is on point and overall if you are just looking for some well-made this is some of the best you'll get. This film is a culmination of the talent that has been made through sunrises long history of mecha anime, and it shows.

TLDR: Char's counterattack is the perfect thematic ending to UC gundam, if you're just here for great mecha fights it has that but if you are just here for a good story it has that to. There is something for everybody.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

Colourful manages too something that seems impossible, it is simultaneously to long and too short.

It's almost like the staff working made the film but the realised that the script and storyboards only cover an hour of screen time, so they decided to emphasise certain bit of the film to make it longer but only achieving making the overall pacing of the story was way longer than it needs to be. So even though this is a two-hour film, it barely achieves anything of value. It's one of those anime that is made so at the moment you think ... it is really profound and deep but when you end up thinking about it a few months later the only think about the film you can remember is the final few minutes. As I am writing this review I am having to go back and rewatch sections of the film because the only thing I remember from my initial viewing is criticisms that I made (and the opening and ending scenes), and when the most memorable part of a film is the reasons you don't like it that is when you realise something went horribly wrong.

The film starts with the rather effective hook of someone in the afterlife, a young boy, who is given the chance to relive his life and to prevent his own suicide. The overall directing of this scene is quite impressive. The camera is positioned in such a way that Purapura (the spirit guiding the souls of the dead) is always in the centre of the screen, his upbeat tone and boyish look clashing with the overall morbid nature of the scene, our main character (who we know nothing about) has his own voice muted and replaced by white words on a black background. The other souls represented by translucent 3d models in direct contrast to the 2d background and too Purapura who still takes up a large portion of the screen, the dichotomy between these models and 2d drawings is really effective at bringing across the uncanny nature of this scene. These entire few minutes, while impressive, probably hurt the overall experience as it puts the viewer's expectations higher than what the film can actually deliver.

But after this opening scene the film throws us directly into the life of Makoto and its liner through line all but disappears as the viewer ends up watching Makoto live his day-to-day life, his encounters with friends and school, his relationship with his parents, the stresses of finding a new school and other fairly typical events in someone's life. Since the main focus is meant to be on the life of Makoto it is more of a collection of a bunch of random scenes with only some of them contributing to the actual plot and themes of the film, you could cut out a good chunk of the scenes in the middle of the film, and it would really detract from the film. There isn't much of a plot to colourful, there is the whole idea of Makoto being reincarnated, but that is mostly you used in the start and end of the films with the actual meat of the experience being the interpersonal relationships between Makoto and the rest of the cast, the problem is that Makoto is just an annoying character. He is arrogant and rude and bairly has any characterisation that can make him appealing despite his personality, maybe this lack of characterisation is done to make him seem like a typical school boy, but it just is one of the many issues that makes the time spent watching the film unpleasant. He does develop as a character but all of his development is kept to the final quarter of the film, so while it is great that he does develop most of the film we are stuck with and annoying MC and his development isn't particular noteworthy as it is just him learning to be a better person. The rest of the cast aren't any better, a lot of the characters that are around Makoto's age are similarly annoying or just have some really lacklustre characterisation that they are just boring to watch because their entire purpose is to talk to Makoto about some random event. There is one scene in the middle of the film where Makoto and his friends skip school and just end up walking around the town and talking about the history of it (it's more of Makoto's friend talking at him, though). But this scene is a bit of a waste of time as all it does it prove Makoto has a friend and due to the naturalistic approach to voice acting the series takes all the characters sound extremely uninterested and the lack of anything else to spice the scene up (like a good ost, impressive directing or noteworthy animation) the whole scene is just boring and has no real place in the story, and for the over all length of the scene it barely impacts the actual film.

And after some heart-to-hearts between Makoto and his parents the film stumbles into its ending, where its entire message is made clear in an overly ham-fisted and preachy way, that people are multifaceted, you could even say that people are “colourful” and the film wants to make sure you understand this by saying it multiple times, the staff were trying so hard to make sure that the viewers understand this message that they have the big conclusion that the answer is spelled out right in the title. My main issue with this isn't the lack of subtlety or the obtuse nature that the film takes in preventing its themes, it's that it is fairly obvious to most people. We've spent our entire lives living around over people and learning that they aren't black and white or easy to fit into categories. In the anime community to outsiders it might look like we are one homogenous group but as you can see there are plenty of different types of people, you'd have to be colour-blind to think that life is not colourful and then for this film to come round like it has made some grand revelation on human nature just feels wrong, we already know what the film is trying to say so no matter what the film does say we already know these messages and then combined this with the lack of anything conclusive happening to Makoto just makes the ending sub-par.

Even with all of these issues, the film just isn't that entertaining.

TLDR: Too long with sup-par voice acting leading to a disappointing conclusion.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

Odd taxi is good.

TLDR: Anime of the season.





...
There is this issue I have with anime, especially dialogue-heavy light novel adaptations, where the dialogue feels like it was written by a robot. Very by the book statements that don't really feel like they were made by humans and were made by a computer program, at best the writers might try to add some personality to by having the characters insult each other and then pass it off as sarcasm. So when the first episode of odd taxi started with two radio comedians having an organic conversation it immediately hooked me because this isn't something you see in anime. In a show like odd taxi this authentically human dialogue is extremely important, not because of its plot but because of its characters.

When you think of well-writen anime characters you might this of characters that develop and change but most characters in odd taxi are adults who have already grown because this anime isn't about people growing and changing, it's about society and the connections people make and in this massive web of connections Odakawa is in the centre of all of it.
This is why a place such a big importance on dialogue because odd taxi leans entirely on its characters, it's a show that relies completely on its characters. The actual plot of the show isn't anything to write home about, a heist with some corrupt cops and a missing high schooler, all pretty standard stuff but since it has such strong character writing it can get away with it.
When people are talking about plot in anime they often just talk about the events in the plot of the characters and how they develop, but one thing that often isn't discussed is structure. Most anime approach their story in a fairly linear fashion, event A happens then event B then C you get the idea, but not odd taxi. Odd taxi's story happens by a group of random characters living their life and one small event leads to another which leads another, which leads to another. The story then unfolds in an organic, and realistic, way. One of the main benefits of this chaos theory like structure is that it constantly keeps you on your toes, it is kind of easy to predict if you know anything about general storytelling tropes, but the main trope odd taxi applies is an absolute rejection of traditional writing styles and trope and therefor it constantly keeps you on your toes.

All these little things build up, the lofi music, Odakawa's dry yet eccentric behaviour, the visual aesthetic, the structure, the dialogue everything comes together to make one unique whole. While each of these individual parts may not make a show good on their own the way the coalesce forms a truly unique whole.

At this point saying anything more won't add much to the review, the visuals are constant on-model and memorable, the music is chill, the delivery of the plot and dialogue is good and you get the general idea of things.

TLDR: Odd taxi is good

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

Nomad has no right to exist, but I am glad it does.

You can almost consider nomad to be the other side of the meglobox coin, while s1 had a simple underdog story it derived its entertainment from the stellar visuals, soundtrack, and directing whereas nomad is much more focused on its story and characters, and less about the fight.

Joe starts of this season back at the bottom, while he had achieved everything he set out to do in season 1 it doesn't make him happy. Nanbu's gone, Sachio's gone and while Joe is at the top he is all ... alone. "They don't make graves for stray dogs" but in the first episode, we see joe making a grave for a stray dog, combined with the constant imagery between Joe and stray dogs perfectly shows what's has happened to joe. We know Joe is dead, we only have nomad now.
The first four episodes don't really concern themselves with the fight but the focus is laid squarely on Joe and the Casa. I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons for Joe's depression was the depression stemming from his loneliness. Joe and the Casa are complete opposites, you have joe, the successful but lonely and depressed megloboxer and then you have the Casa a persecuted but happy group and opposites attract. Joe slowly grows closer and closer to the Casa until this wondering nomad finally has a home. Mi casa es tu casa.

And in episode 4 everything the Casa is aiming for is in their reach, they finally have the chance to be able to make the land the life on their home, and all it takes is for Chief to enter the ring once again. Then Chief does it, he secures the land for the Casa and then finally cements Joe as a part of the Casa by calling him, family. When Joe goes to offer Chief a handshake he refuses and hugs him instead, this scene is genuinely heartwarming after only 4 episodes we've seen Joe grow and develop as a character while this show builds some great characters of its own.

But nomad isn't a 4 episode show and it needs something to hold up its other 9 episodes, the show stubbles between plot points until its final episodes and it drags down the experience, the first four episodes set the bar too high and the rest of the series just can't reach it. Episode 5 is a flashback episode, while it does kind of work since Joe is alone again one of the big emotional climax's of the previous episodes is Joes developing and becoming his old self again and then a sad backstory episode kind of feels that the series is regressing a bit. There is some more back story, some new characters get introduced, some fights happen, this mini-arc about a new character called Mac et cetera et cetera. Nothing that really pushes this show to new heights happens, it certainly has its moments but nothing more than the previous season had. There has been this feeling of melancholy throughout the series, while megalobox was all about the glitz and glamour of boxing nomad is what happens in the aftermath of it all, and the mac mini-arc perfectly encapsulates this.

Mac, like joe and chief, is a boxer past his prime, He has fought with the gear and his age has come to pass, but because of the new technology offered to him by Sakuma he once more has a shot at the limelight. But all this has done is convinced Mac that he is ok when he clearly isn't. He keeps trying to achieve glory once again but he ends up pushing away what means the most to him, his family. There is this heartbreaking scene in episode 11 where Mac reaches to his son and he just screams "get away!" and everything from the accompanying ost to the hurt look on Mac's face these few seconds really sell this mini-arc. For a second nomad is showing that it can live up to its first 4 episodes. The only issue with this mini-arc is while it is great it doesn't have an emotional connection to Joe, while the Casa arc allowed Joes to grow and change as a character it is much harder to draw that comparison in the Mac arc which limits its potential.
The visuals of this season are the same as the previous season, it still has the low-resolution cel-animated look and while I like the cel-animated look the lower resolution of certain scene can harm anime. But other than that the animation is spot on. The ost is great, nomad has a very Spanish feeling to its ost and to the Casa which helps it carve its own identity, it's a shame that most of the Spanish influences are mostly contained in the first 4 episodes though.

TLDR: Nomad manages to be more than just an extra cour of megalobox but if you are only here for the fights to might not be too impressed.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

A short and sweet review for a short and sweet kids film.

If you took everything that Mamoru Hosoda has ever made and blended it all and condensed it into a 98-minute film you'd get Mirai. Depending on who you ask this can be good or this can be bad. You could say that Mirai is just reusing Hosuda's old idea's and you could say Mirai is a refinement of everything Hosuda has been building up to. Both of which can be true (depending on your perspective).

Mirai doesn't really follow a specific story, there isn't a set goal or task ... to complete, but instead, it is a story about maturing. While most coming of age anime focus on older teens maturing into adults Mirai focuses on a 4 years-old boy, Kun, learning to be less of a brat. He has gone from being the apple of his parent's eye to being only a part of it. And because he is four years old he reacts about how you would expect him to. But the film isn't about learning life lessons or overcoming challenges, like the most coming of age stories, but about the unrestrained wonder of being a child. Whether it is through interacting with his time travelling sister, or his shapeshifting dog, or Kun shapeshifting into a dog, or him having to tidy up the dollhouse with his dog and Mirai, or time travelling to see how his parents lived or just anything in this film. You can say that the story is unoriginal but it has been refined in such a way that this film could only have been made because all the constituent parts have been perfected.

It's just fun.

While its individual parts have been perfected that doesn't make the film perfect. Since it runs through a bunch of Hosoda's idea and not focusing on one for most of its story that leaves some of the individual parts underdeveloped. And while Kun gradually grows up throughout the film he still starts as an annoying brat, so depending on your level of tolerance for this kind of thing your enjoyment of this film could vary.

Are you looking for a film with interesting themes, likeable characters, intriguing yet entirely original premise? Then this isn't your film. But if you are looking for a film that you can just put on and be entertained this should do the trick.
And a quick note on the audiovisual side of things this film looks great, it has the same aesthetic as all of Hosoda's previous films, but just like the story side, it has been refined so it is among the best of Hosoda's films and everything else is spot on.

TLDR: As long as you don't go in expecting something widely new to add to Hosoda's catalogue of films they will do you just fine.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

This review is going to be split up into two parts, part 1 will be a very opinionated take from a gundam fan and how this entry affects the overall canon and the second part will be a less opinionated, more standard review of the film.

Part 1 - Gundam:

Harutoshi Fukui seems to of had 3 specific goals when making gundam NT. The first one was "how can I make sense of all the newtype bullshit in gundam?", "How can I make a thematic end to UC?" and, "Why is there no psycho-frame in F91?" Fukui tried to make sense ... of what a newtype is by retconning everything we previously knew about new types by giving his own definition. But to understand what the issue with this is we will need to understand what a newtype is and what's so wrong with NT's version.
Newtypes have never been easy to explain but if I had to sum it up in two word's it would be "wordless understanding", one of the major themes of gundam is understanding. If all humans could understand what everyone felt then we wouldn't have these petty conflicts beyond ourselves, if humans could understand each other they could stop fighting and build a better world for each other, and not trying to make it worse. This is the direction char's counterattack went and it works as a perfect conclusion for that as it sums up all of gundam's thematic ideas as well and laying to rest the story of the characters. Then there is gundam NT which tries to change it so newtypes are "humans who can reach into another dimension where the souls of the dead exist and that they can manipulate this dimension to do all kinds of things, including time travel". Does this answer some of the newtype bullshit present in other series? It can but at that point, you are bending over backwards to provide an answer for gundam because it is not giving you one. Does this completely damage any of the previous thematic aspects of gundam? Absolutely, if new types are more akin to Jedi's or sorcerous then some of the pivotal moments of the series lose all their impact. Because if newtypes have these godlike powers then it loses all weight when they can achieve something because it is no longer something they achieved through their actions but something that was achieved through the superpowers that they magically got. Because of this retconned new type meaning it now means that psycho-frames essentially allows humans to have the power of God so an alternate dimension has to send the time-travelling. self-piloting Phenix to stop it.

You can dislike an anime because of what it does (or doesn't) achieve in its runtime but anime that retroactively make other series worse are on a whole different level of bad.

Part 2 - Gundam NT:

Story:

Even ignoring the ramifications that NT has on the overall gundam canon it is still a bad movie. Its characters are flat and unappealing, its plot is poorly explained, even what plot is understandable is bland and reused from other gundam series and at the end of it, it is just a gundam style retelling of the myth of Icarus, even though that the myth of Icarus is used in multiple pieces of fiction and has lost most of its impact. And a forced return of Banarger links makes it clear what the point of this film is, to be fanservice for unicorn fans.

Audiovisuals:

This is the one thing the film succeeds in, while some of the character designs are a bit ridiculous (Zoltan) on average the mecha and character designs are fine, and so are the visuals and sound. The only issue is because of the lack of emotional investment stemming from the paper-thin protagonists the fights can only serve as eye candy.
At least the film is only 90 minutes long

TLDR: For people who like the magical aspect of gundam you might enjoy gundam NT but for anyone else you probably won't enjoy this film. Just don't take its plot ramifications too seriously.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is another one of those heartstring-pulling anime but this time done well.

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (which I will now just call tiger and fish) is a pretty standard affair in terms of the fact that it doesn't bring much new to the medium of anime, although it does have a few twists and turns which can be unexpected (from my personal experience).

Narrative:

As you can tell from the poster the main character, Josee, is in a wheelchair. While this doesn't seem like it will affect the story you can probably guess how ... this anime will go just by the fact that there isn't much anime about wheelchairs but luckily it doesn't focus too heavily on the fact Josee is in a wheelchair (thankfully).

The film starts with an accidental encounter between our two main characters, but the focus of the film is laid squarely on Josee, Tsuneo is only really focused on in the final third of the film. The film then carries on at a fairly quick pace, showing us an organic development of Tsuneo's and Josee's relationship. But the film goes out of its way to show the viewer its "secret weapon" the fact that Tsuneo wants to go and study in Mexico, giving the film a specific point where everything will have to end. This combined with some other events is what makes up the 2nd act of the film.
The events of the second act are sparked by the death of Josee's grandmother, which leaves an issue. Does Tsuneo leave Josee all alone to pursue his dream or does miss out on this opportunity and stay to care for Josee? There isn't really an easy answer, especially that it is suggested that Tsuneo is developing feelings for Josee. But the world doesn't wait for Tsuneo, it moves on, people move on and make their own decision, after Josee finds out that she won't be able to be with Tsuneo she tries to cut him out of his life, she can't just say no to someone she cares for so she tries to irreparably damage her relationship and tries to radically change herself to become someone new. But this isn't what Tsuneo wanted and after Josee's wheelchair gets stuck in a pothole disaster strikes, Tsuneo is hit by a car.

The directing in this scene is very impressive, the paramedics rushing to make sure Tsuneo is ok, spliced with a completely black frame with only one central siren pulsating, the breathing with gets faster and faster, combined with the music the is quiet enough to put focus on the heavy breathing but still noticeable. The music swells up until a breaking point and then silence, all the sound is gone and it is just Josee crying in a bleak hospital room. The music starts up and the rain drowns out any other out, then Tsuneo wakes up. The reason I am focusing so much on this one specific scene is that it perfectly creates an atmosphere of panic, while the film has focused on death before the focus of the film has always been on Josee so to see that the focus of the film has been ripped from her was a welcome surprise. Some other cool directing tricks are used, mainly Josee entering the hospital but having her head out of the frame, only showing us her wheelchair, with other shots making sure to have tunes leg near the middle of the frame. It's small directing tricks like this that manage to convey information to the viewer without having the characters physically explain it.

This bit isn't perfect however, I've referred to this as the second act and that because the film follows the three-act structure almost to a tee. For those of you who don't know the three-act structure is one of the most simple ways of structuring a story. The first act is usually used for build-up or establishing the characters relationships, the second act refers to some conflict normally due to rising tensions throughout the story and the final act is the resolution. The reason I am bringing this up is because of the structure of this film the main conflict is resolved before the film actually ends, Tsuneo comes to terms with what has happened and is already working to improve himself. But because of the loose threads, the film has left a few loose threads it stumbles around before it can reach its actual conclusion, taking the viewer out of the experience. It sometimes feels as if the film is bouncing back between whether it wants a happy or sad ending. But while the ending of the films feels a bit confused it isn't enough to dampen the overall experience.

Audiovisuals:

This film is stunning to look at all the characters look great and the overall visual presentation of this film is frequently great. The audio is also praiseworthy, while not being especially memorable it complements certain scenes well and never feels too intrusive.

TLDR: While tiger and fish is nothing revolutionary it effectively accomplished what it set out to do while being pleasantly entertaining. Don't go in with high hopes and you leave feeling pleasantly surprised.

(TLDR at the bottom, thanks for reading.)

Who are you?

How do you define 'you'?

Does anyone truly know who you are?

Bloom into you is a story about identity, and not about what you think your identity is but how people around you think of you. There is a concept in sociology called the looking glass self, the looking glass self describes how people base their own identity on how they believe others view them, this is essentially the core of bloom into you.

There is a surprisingly meta part of bloom into you where the characters have to make a play, and this play focuses on an amnesiac ... who has lost all sense of self due to having no memories. This amnesiac is then visited by a friend, a family member, and a lover. These three people both tell the girl who they think she is, but she ends up getting three completely different answers. Without an idea of who she is she ends up choosing the lovers answer and starts to pretend to be what she thinks she is. This makes the main theme of identity very apparent to the viewer but more importantly, it presents these ideas directly to the characters.

The main character arc of Touko is her coming to a realisation of who she is and accepting this fact. Touko hates who she thinks she is, the idea of herself she has is far away from what she thinks is good, because of this she attempts to bury this. She attempts to bury this by wearing a mask of what she wants to be, her sister, as she idolises who her sister is but when she talks to Tomoyuki she ends up finding out that her sister was also wearing a mask and that she doesn't really know who her sister is. But if the person she was modelling herself after doesn't exist what does she have? This shows the real reason why Touko was wearing her mask because she was lonely, she states that she "I can not get back to the empty self she was before" but with no mask, she has no one to copy. That is until she finds Yuu, Yuu is someone who sees's through this facade and Touko feels that instead of trying to be her sister she can just live as Yuu see her, becoming the truest version of herself, she blooms into herself.

And then there is Yuu, Yuu is an odd character because the story doesn't really focus on her, despite her being the main character of the story. Yuu's character is really shown as she is used as a tool to show Touko's true self and not her projected self. Yuu is present as a character that is detached from love, after consuming so much shoujo manga and music she has this idea of what love is and because nothing she feels comes close to this. And because of this detachment from love, she feels alienated from peers and feels lonely and isolated because of this. But then she meets Touko, who manages to fill this hole in her just as she helps fill the hole in Touko. They both bloom into themselves through each other.

Maybe Touko loves Yuu because Yuu is the only person who knows Touko.
However, I do have a few issues with this anime. There are times when the show feels like it is trying to pander to a crowd of yuri fans. Does it make sense that Touko wants to keep kissing Yuu? A bit. Does it still make these scenes feel out of pace? Yes. There are also a few characters that had a bit too much screen time for what their role in the story is. I understand that Sayaka's purpose is to cause Touko and Yuu's relationship is too develop but for what she brings to the table she gets too much focus. These elements are added in an attempt to make the story more enjoyable and while they do sometimes achieve this it just seems like they are occasionally haphazardly used. And also the lack of a conclusion (in the anime at least) can dampen the overall experience.

But even with these issue bloom into you manages to stand head and shoulders above other shoujo-ai anime by not just being another romance story, and not playing to the same tropes and themes as its contemporaries and carving its own identity, and that's what makes it special.

TLDR: Bloom into you is as much a story about love as it is a story about personal identity.