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SSSS. Gridman, what an adventure. I'll try to make this review as spoiler-free as possible.
From the show's relatively humble beginnings to it's grandiose end, it's was excellent all the way through.

SSSS.Gridman is an amusing blend of genres, putting one of the spotlights on the school life aspect of it's main cast but driving itself forward through both elements of Mecha and Kaijuu tokusatsu shows. It's the perfect transition to animation an original Henshin tokusatsu show could ever ask for.

Every episode littered with great cinematography, art and animation accompanied with high energy tracks that compliment the production.
It's filled to the brim with 2D sakuga and ... fluid CG animation which shows just how passionate the staff was about the whole show.
The atmosphere's carefully crafted by the proper use of soundracks and effects combined with the cinematography consisting of airless, sort of confined shots of the blistering summer heat and oppressive cloudy rains. It gives the show a sense of an identity that a lot of recent anime just can't seem to grasp.

The story is rather formulaic as it sticks to a Monster of The Week format but the archetypical structure of the format is broken down in a few places, making way for an actual overarching plot within the setup.
Every plot point the show setup was unveiled at a proper pacing, and while the characters lacked development outside of Akane, the underlying themes still got through and eventually culminated into it's fantastic ending which saw Akane finally facing herself instead of finding fault in everything else.

The entire roster is colorful and visually distinct, making them easy to remember, and potentially iconic - someday, down the line.
The development for Hibiki, Rikka and Utsumi did feel kind of miniscule in the grand scheme of things and they should've gotten more screen time addressing their personal characteristics but the main focus of the plot didn't really require much on that front so they can be given a pass.

Overall it's a great show that's totally worth everyone's time and attention.

JoJo's Bizzare Adventure is a series that I used to avoid mainly because of the fanbase... (and as irony may have it, I'm now sinking into the fandom) but I eventually gave in. I sat down and watched Phantom Blood/Battle Tendency and now that I've finished it, I figured that a review is a given.
Though one thing is for certain, the word ''bizzare'' isn't just for show.

The show's overdescriptive manner and fittingly bizzare contents managed to captivate me and now I'm hooked.

CONTAINS SPOILERS
------------------------------------------------

PART 1 - Phantom Blood [EP 1 - 9]

... The beginning of the story and the ground for everything else to come.
It all starts with Dio Brando's arrival as Jonathan Joestar's adopted brother to accomplish his goal of overtaking the Joestar mansion and heritage.

The Phantom Blood arc is split in 2 halves - the first half being Jonathan and Dio's childhood as they grow up in the same household while Jonathan has to endure Dio's constant torture and eventual mutual peace.
Jonathan reveals his scheme to everyone and as it crumbles down, Dio kills Joseph's father and casts away his humanity to become a vampire.
With JoJo going through deadly hurdles to eventually destroy Dio and the mask and bring peace back to his and everyone else's lives, eventually succeeding but forfeiting his own life in the process, leaving behind his pregnant wife as a set up for the next arc.

Phantom Blood's pacing is extremely fast and haphazard but that's one of it's charms alongside the bizzare characters and great art direction.
While the fast pace made the arc more enjoyable in a certain aspect, it's also the reason why some other moments just fell short, it sucked the impact out of them.

And the overall writing had a few misses here and there, mainly in the first half, as a lot of the issues that were present could've been solved simply by logic (I know, it's not something I should look for in JoJo) and Jonathan just properly explaining what's actually happening and what Dio's true personality is to his father.

The characterization for everyone is as simple as it gets, but that's not bad, since JoJo's greatness comes with it's simplicity. Everyone's based around a single trait. Jonathan wants to be a true gentleman, and his behaviour ove the course of the series certainly lives up to that. Meanwhile Dio's just straight up rotten to the core. He's violent, arrogant and selfish. Although that's something most likely caused by the harsh enviorment he was raised in, while JoJo was pampered and spoiled.
Although as Part 1 went on, I didn't really get attached to a single character besides Dio, Jonathan and based fangirl Speedwagon.

Overall Part 1 is a fun arc with interesting concepts and ideas that were executed properly,
It's got a lot of charm thanks to it's bizzare cast of characters, the captivating art and great soundtrack but some aspects could've been executed better.

------------------------------------------------

PART 2 - Battle Tendency [EP 10-26]

This is the the longer part of the two. It's also a lot more consistent in structure, making it easier to follow.
It takes places 2 generations later, with our main protagonist being Joseph Joestar, the grandson of the late Jonathan Joestar as he gets pulled into events caused by what happened 50 years ago. He's the only one who can defeat the Pillar Men, the ones who inadvertently started everything. JoJo, together with Speedwagon seeks out Caesar A. Zepelli to improve his Hamon, and over tough experiences together, the two form a manly bond and set out to defeat the Pillar Men. As the events unfold Joseph learns more about Hamon and gets stronger and stronger and eventually defeats the Pillar Men, though not without losses along the way.

The pace in Battle Tendency isn't as fast as Phantom Blood's, giving you more time to ease in into the premise and to get attached to the characters, which is great because the characters themselves are a lot more fleshed out than Part 1's cast. Not only is the nuance of the characters a couple notches above Phantom Blood's, the combat system itself is a lot more fleshed out, with us getting an actual idea on how Hamon works within the universe alongside a more appealing use for it.

The writing is more tight and suspensful, every battle feels like a struggle and there were well executed twists that I didn't expect. We get to see the gradual pace and effort put in which JoJo learns how to use Hamon instead of magically being a prodigy at it.

The characters as a cast also have a much better dynamic than Part 1's quickly put together group of characters that have no real synergy with each other (Dio and Jonathan are an exception).
Joseph feels energetic and fresh, he's a joy to look at on the screen at all times and his defining trait of being a cunning trickster has a pretty wide application withing the story, unlike Jonathan's bland gentleman etiquette. Joseph also grows in the story to an extent, starting out as someone who's easier to anger but matures in some aspects over the course of the story.
Now, let's talk about JoJo's main companion during the story, Caesar A. Zepelli, the grandson of Part 1's Will A. Zepelli. Unlike his grandpa, Caesar has a properly presented personality and his dynamic with Joseph feels like a brotherly bond, something that Part 1 tried to achieve with Jonathan and Will to an extent as suggested by Will's words ''you're both like a son and a brother to me'', though it didn't succeed.
We also spend considerably more time with Caesar than we do with Will, which makes him a lot easier to get attached to.
Part 2 as a whole feels like a natural successor to Part 1, with pretty much a similar overtone but much much better execution.

The OST of Part 2 is a lot better, it's used at the most appropriate times, pulling you into the scene even more. Though I certainly didn't expect dubstep, it actually fit well.

Overall, Part 2 is a fantastic experience, with a fun - unique cast, great soundtrack and better writing and is a natural improvement of everything in Part 1 by a large margin.
While I've yet to see what's to come in the future Parts of JoJo's Bizzare Adventure, I can see why Part 2 receives the high praise that it does. Battle Tendency also happens to be the main reason why my final score of the show is as it is. It's simply that good.

ConRevo came as one of the biggest surprises I've experienced since I've started watching anime. A show I severely underestimated solely because it looked silly at first glance.
The show was a massive critical success in Japan but it failed commercially, an overlooked gem so to speak.

I loved most of my time I spent on watching the first season of Concrete Revolutio: Superhuman Phantasmagoria and here's why :

The plot of ConRevo centers around society and Superhumans with themes of discrimination, different moral compasses and justice.
If Superhumans are the one protecting normal people, then who is protecting the superhumans? Enter the Superhuman Bureau, an organization that studies ... and oversees superhumans, consisting of 6 people in total. They're the primary figure dealing with everything related to Superhumans, the police being left out of supernatural cases save for only one detective they have.

The show depicts justice as something that comes in many forms, it's neither black nor is it white. At the end of the day, justice is not objective, everyone can feel justified in their own actions and be technically correct in believing they're justified. Nothing is inherently villainous, "villainy" is something that really just serves a purpose you don't agree with.
These sort of gray morals make Jirou Hitoyoshi, the main protagonist of the show and the Superhuman Bureu's No.1 superhero, to start questioning the Bureau's method of handling and ''protecting'' superhumans, beings he idolizes.

The contents and themes of the story aside - the show is depicting it's events in an achronological order - meaning each episode constantly shifts time periods while packed to the brim with events. It's non-linear structure makes it hard to follow for some people but it shouldn't prove to be any trouble if you're even remotely acquinted with any work that presents itself in a manner like this.
All characters have unique and stylish character designs and are quirky in their own way.
Jiro is at a first glance - a professional guy who's only focus is his job but he has some really subtle fanboyish tendencies towards Superhumans. He doesn't know his own idea of justice, but he knows that he wants to be a hero and that's his conviction to push forward.

And then there are the rest of the Bureau's members, which consist of Emi, an attractive and sly Yokai woman who is supposedly in a relationship with Jiro who she seems to care a great deal for, followed by the witch Kikko, who is really just a Mahou Shoujo with a naive personality, she has a crush on Jiro ever since she first encountered him and he's the reason why she joined the Superhuman Bureau in the first place.
The rest of the colorful cast comes in the form of Fuurota, a ghost who has remained a child since forever, he's obnoxious but is a caring friend when it's the right time for it, coming after him is Hyouma Yoshimura, a man in his 30s better known under his alias ''Mr Jaguar'' - he's capable of stopping time and transforming into a humanoid Jaguar, he's a genius physicist and is the creator of Jiro's stylish car which transforms into a Mecha centaur.
And the last member of the Superhuman Bureau is Akita Daishi, their boss and the one responsible for strategising and overseeing their operations.

All of them have a certain layer of mystery to them (most likely left out to be explored in the second season) which makes us more involved with them by seeing more and more information about them slowly unveil.

Concrete Revolutio looks simply amazing. The vibrant neon colors, comic dot shading and amazing character designs by Noizi Itou who is better known as the artist of series like Shakugan no Shana and Haruhi Suzumiya, as well as the character designer for the anime original ''Another''.
Needless to say, ConRevo's character designs are her best by an extremely large margin.

Complimenting the amazing art is the fantastic animation done by a lot of talented key animators including but not limited to :
Yutaka Nakamura (Cowboy Bebop The Movie, Sword of the Stranger, Soul Eater)
Norimitsu Suzuki (Star Driver, Soul Eater Persona 4)
Yasushi Muraki (Eureka Seven, Star Driver, Gundam)
and the newest animator one in the staff Kenta Yokoya (Captain Earth, Darling in the FranXX, Dragon Ball Super).

The animations is fluid, dynamic and varied. Thanks to the show's rough and vibrant art a lot of different animation styles work with it, which results in each key animator applying their own style without the fear of consistency, so the animation can get from extremely smooth with proper weight to it to an extremely snappy, dynamic Imaishi-like style, and it all fits together.
As per usual with every Bones original, it's filled to the brim with sakuga.

The insert tracks present in Concrete Revolutio consist of energy pumping techno and rock instrumentals usually with a slow build up and a strong impactful drop towards the main portion of the song which is perfectly timed with action scenes at all times.
It helps keep you on the edge of your seat, pumps you with adrenaline and makes you move to the rhythm.

Overall, Concrete Revolutio: Superhuman Phantasmagoria is a great show severely misunderstood because of it's achronological order, dealing with relevant themes such as discrimination and morals in it's own way, sprinkled with some social critique and accompanied with great animation and sound. It's definitely worth a watch, but it's also definitely not for everyone.

Made in Abyss grabbed my attention way back when it was first announced with it’s unique art on the teaser poster. However I didn’t get around to watch it for quite a while, I finished it about 30 minutes before writing this review actually.
So what are my thoughts on it? Let’s start the review.

- S T O R Y -
Despite the extremely thrilling premise that just yells ''GRANDIOSE ADVENTURE'', you really don't get any of that.
The characters barely go through anything yet progress so much due to the extremely fast pacing. The series is extremely telegraphed in that aspect, as you always know when Reg ... and Riko face a big danger and manage to overcome it, they're practically at the end of the layer and will dive even further only for the same ''Explore a bit, get into a hopeless situation, prevail'' cycle to repeat.
Practically the whole series' plot can be summed up to the same length of the previous paragraph.

The series does introduce a villain by the end of the season as a set up towards the announced sequel but he is nothing but a textbook bad guy, since nothing screams evil more than ''Booo gruesome experiments on children''.

Despite this, the series have a lot of emotion in them alongside an extremely well constructed world with a lot of potential for further development.

- C H A R A C T E R S -
Made in Abyss is full of visually distinct and memorable characters but a lot of them are extremely simple as personalities.
They have no depth or any inner conflicts, what you see is what you get. What the characters say, that's what they think, what they say, they feel, there's never a moment of subtlety or expressiveness without mentioning what they're expressing with words outside of a major moment in the final episode.
All of them have valid motives for what they're doing, be it sense of exploration accompanied with wanting to meet your mother who's waiting at the bottom of the Abyss or wanting to find out who you are. The motives don't feel weak but sometimes the conviction of the characters' does and unintentionally so.

- A R T & A N I M A T I O N -
The art is absolutely gorgeous, no other way around it. It's extremely detailed and atmospheric. The world couldn't have been portrayed better. The animation is good enough, although the quality jumps a lot.
It's usually above average with plenty of double framing and that works, but out of nowhere it can get real smooth and dynamic when an action scene comes. Which wouldn't have been so haphazard... if... the smooth animation didn't occasionally show up out of nowhere on some completely arbitrary moments. It's kind of evident whenever a better key animator's turn comes around to animate a portion of the episode.

That's a minor nitpick though. The smooth animation is welcome.
It compliments the show's world as a whole and could be really expressive given it's quality if the characters just let it do it's own work instead of yelling out their emotions constantly.

- S O U N D T R A C K -
The OST is fantastic, it's extremely memorable and almost always played at the right moment to play with your feelings. The whole track list has that sense of mystery, beauty, sadness and adventure at the same time so almost every piece of the score can be used at any given moment and it'd fit perfectly.
The compositions are mostly made of orchestral arrangements and medleys with touching vocals.
I do feel like the track ''Hanazeve Caradhina'' was played a bit too much (4 times in total) for what it was.
It's the most special track in the whole OST so it should've been handled with a bit more care as it's amazing.

- O V E R A L L -
I think Made in Abyss is a really good show overall with plenty of positives but is stopped from being the grandiose adventure it's supposed to be due to it's extremely quick pacing and lack of exploration. The characters sometimes feel like they literally fly past the Abyss' layers.
It's definitely worth a watch though. When Season 2 comes around I'll definitely watch it.

I had never seen anything related to Devilman prior to this anime but when I saw the trailers and the fact that Yuasa was directing it, I was already on board. So I actually watched the entirety of it in one sitting, it was that good, I couldn't stop until I had finished all of it.
So, let's get into the other segments of the review.

The premise of the show essentially boils down to Akira Fudo - a shy boy with a kind heart becoming Devilman with the guidance of his friend Ryou Asuka, to protect humanity from the rise of the demons

The overall execution is ... fantastic, Devilman: Crybaby does it's share of social criticism, the humans' cowardly nature of being unable to accept anything different from them because they don't feel safe from the unknown and always resorting to hostility in result and the recurring theme of keeping your love/faith in humanity despite their flawed nature to eventually get your existence across to them.
The main portion of the themes it covers was handled with superb quality but some of the
more non-essential tid bits were skimmed over.

The show also really likes to play with your heart strings, especially at the latter half of the story.

The story's pacing is fast but it doesn't feel rushed at all through out the majority of the show's run., it never stops for a single second to waste your time with pointless dialogue, it always gets straight to the point, making it more enjoyable to binge.

The characters are all enjoyable, mainly due to their over exaggerated behavior and interesting personality. Essentially the only character with any semblance of a ''journey'' was Akira and to an extent Miko, the other characters all served as cogs that move Akira forward.

Of course, the art is fantastic, it's Yuasa we're talking about here.
He brought his usual style into Devilman, which made it a blast to watch.
The extremely vibrant use of colors that's actually used to portray a dark gritty setting is
aesthetically pleasing and makes for some really unique scenery.

It's largely debated whether this is Yuasa's best or worst looking show to date (kinda funny seeing as how Devilman itself is extremely divisive in it's contents as well)
but for me it worked, way too well in fact.

The characters all look iconic, mainly due to the fact that they're just modern redesigns of already iconic characters and because the art style sets them apart from any other character no matter what.

So what kind of soundtrack does this extremely gritty, gory, violent anime have? Metal? Rock?
Nope.
SYNTHWAVE!!!!! (A modernization of the 80s Neon synthesized disco songs)
And it works great with every single scene, the aesthetic meshes so well with the OST that the chances you will be bobbing your head to the music while watching through out the whole anime are extremely high.

It does also have some really touching and hype inducing orchestrated tracks like "Crybaby" and "D.V.M.N" which do not feel out of place with the synthwave that's present in so many scenes and only add up to the many emotions the show's soundtrack will make you go through.


As a whole, Devilman: Crybaby is a fanastic anime and proves that a great concept is timeless with it's straightforward dive into the issues of the social construct and other themes, all complimented by it's amazing and unique art style and schlocky nature.

FLCL is a series that's full to the brim with chaotic comedy, amazing action scenes, hidden metaphors and underlying themes.
It's a coming of age story focusing on our protagonist Naota, just a normal ordinary sixth-grader living in an ordinary city where nothing exciting ever happens. Naota took it upon himself to look after everything his older brother Tasuku left when he went to America to play baseball, from from his top bunk bed to his ex-girlfriend Mamimi Samejima, who hasn't stopped clinging to Naota since Tasuku left.

Little does Naota know, however, that his mundane existence is on the verge of being changed forever: ... enter Haruko Haruhara, a Vespa-riding, bass guitar-wielding, pink-haired psychopath whose first encounter with Naota leaves him with tire tracks on his back and a giant horn on his head. Though all he wants is some peace and quiet, when Haruko takes up residence at his parents' home, Naota finds himself dragged into the heart of the greatest battle for supremacy that Earth—and quite possibly the entire universe—has ever seen.

- S T O R Y -
FLCL tells a story that is a lot more clever and thought provoking than one would expect.
Often requiring knowledge of the left and right brain and color perception, how the red represents aggression and anger, and how blue stands for calmness and wisdom.

The main focus is the character development of Naota, his road to maturity.
Growing up isn't the easiest thing, and this goes double for Naota. As he is surrounded by people who are older than him but lack the maturity that he has. He doesn't understand women and often confuses their signals.
He tries his hardest to be taken seriously, but he feels alienated from both the adults in his life and his classmates, as he still isn't ready for the adult world, despite trying so hard to seem like one, but he also isn't a part of the other young people, because he's running away from his childhood despite secretly wishing to have one.

Everyone has that someone that they look up to, and to Naota that's his older brother Tasuku, with his brother now gone to America. With his rolemodel gone, he now forces himself to grow up which puts a lot of pressure on and tires him.
He pretends to be ignorant about other's problems, despite caring, and he even though he doesn't like sour drinks, he drinks them to appear more mature.
He's trying to cast away a childhood he wants to have.
The thing Naota has the most trouble with is his own feelings, he doesn't know how to deal with his own feelings.
Throughout the series, the dialogue is filled with sexual innuendos which represent Naota's mind being assaulted with thoughts of sex (mainly because of Haruko). With no trusted adults to go to for help, his feelings of isolation only grow and grow.

FLCL does have a plot besides character development, which is really Haruko's part.
She is the one that actually progresses through the plot, but the main character we see is Naota.

Medical Mechanica, a monolithic industrial corporation that makes a lot of robots has captured Atomsk, the Pirate King who is actually the most powerful space pirate in the universe.
It is unclear what relations, if any, Haruko had with Atomsk, but one thing is for sure: She wants his powers and her current goal is to free him from Medical Mechanica's confinement by directly warping robots randomly out of N.O. channels. To do this she needs brains that matches the proper signals, so she comes to Earth in hopes of finding someone.

- C H A R A C T E R S -
Each and every FLCL character is not what they seem. All of them face their demons and struggle with something, or have hidden objectives.

Mamimi, Tasuku's ex-girlfriend is using Naota to vent her sexual frusturations and is a severely depressed chain-smoker. Mamimi can be seen to lack control over her life or willpower, hence the near-constant smoking and child-like reliance on others, whether it'd be Naota or his older brother Tasuku. This could also explain why she loves taking care of things that are weak-willed, which she leaves (or which escape, like Ta-kun, the black kitten) when they start to show independence.

Eri Ninamori is much like Naota, with the exception that she's a bit more selfish.
She projects a proper, even slightly stuck-up personality, and conceals personal information to an almost obsessive degree; she does not even let her classmates know that she needs corrective lenses, instead wearing contacts while at school. Even with her class president status, however, Eri isn't above breaking the rules to get what she wants. She rigs the voting during the casting for the school play in order to get the lead role and have Naota cast opposite her, which (along with letting him see her wearing glasses) hints at her crush on Naota. Other hints are her expressed dislike of Mamimi and a final scene with Naota by a vending machine that mirrors Mamimi and Naota's early-series interactions. Ninamori is highly intelligent, if a little jaded. Much like Naota, Ninamori attempts to act mature

Mentioning anything about Haruko except that she's completely nuts would be a big spoiler.

- A N I M A T I O N & OST -
The animation was extremely fluid and gorgeous, it really sets the right atmosphere for the show. It's full of color and energy.
The OST is probably one of the best I've heard in anime, the western inspired indie rock in FLCL fits perfectly and the only one we have to thank for that is The Pillows, an amazing band that to lend it's talent to FLCL's production.

- O V E R A L L -
FLCL is a great series, a coming of age story with a lot of energy and chaotic comedy that also has underlying themes about growing up and sexual frusturation.
It's a lot of content packed into just 6 episodes but it manages to convey everything perfectly without feeling rushed.

- I N T R O -
I was looking for the next quick watch to help me relax from all of the great but tense anime I've been watching and I decided on Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry after seeing a few fun clips on YouTube. I wasn't left with a good taste in my mouth, not to say I didn't expect it... but it wasn't anywhere near to this extent, here's why :

- S T O R Y -
There are humans capable of using magical power to manifest their souls as weapons and they are called Blazers, and those who are recognized as such undergo ... training at academies to become Mage-Knights.
Ikki Kurogane is an aspiring Mage-Knight, despite being considered the worst student at Hagun Academy as an F-ranked Blazer—the lowest rank possible.

One morning, he accidentally stumbles upon Stella Vermillion, a visiting princess and A-ranked Blazer who has just enrolled at Hagun, in a state of undress. As a result, she challenges him to a duel where the loser will be the winner’s slave. It seems like a surefire win for Stella, but could there be more to Ikki than meets the eye?

Of course there is something more to him, he's the protagonist of a Light Novel adaptation.
The premise is insultingly generic and the story itself is no different. All of the LN clichés you could think of, it's like Rakudai hits them all on purpose.
The pacing is too fast at moments and at some episodes it's non-existent.
The writing feels extremely amateurish at more than a few points and the comedy is extremely forced.

The battle scenes are handled alright, though they're nothing great. Two of the battles are well choreographed and do flow nicely, but that's far too few. Every other battle relies on absolute non-sense or Ikki's ability which is to use 100% of his power in one go, since humans can never bring out 100% of their power.
Though this ability does not last long and serves as a victimization tool for the protagonist. The moment it's duration expires, Ikki collapses because he's tired to create the illusion he really struggled with the battle when he easily defeated his opponent with his plot convenient power.

- C H A R A C T E R S -
None of the characters are unique, Kurogane is nothing more than your typical bland self-insert present in plenty of Light Novels. He has no personality outside of constantly spewing his clichéd ideologies like ''Friends should never be hurt'', ''the truly strong ones are the people who have someone to protect'', etc.
Other than him being a rather weak character, there's nothing much to say about him. His backstory is mildly interesting but it is nothing new.
The main female lead, Stella, is a basic tsundere. They didn't go out of their way to flesh her out or make her a unique. She's just a waifu archetype and nothing more.
In fact, every single female in this series is a waifu archetype, none of them are developed. They feel rather uninspired in terms of design.

Whatever antagonists this anime has, he/she's nothing more than a one dimensional villain to make sure the MC looks cool infront of the girl. They don't really have much of a personality on their own.

The show also tried to shamelessly force in incest, yes, it doesn't miss out a single clichéd Light Novel trope.
His sister is in love with him, she's nothing more than a shallow character serving only as a love rival to the main female lead.
Alongside her, we're introduced to another character, he happens to be male so of course in order to not get in the way of the harem he has ''a maiden's heart''.

The main selling point of Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry is the fact that unlike many anime of that sort, the main characters do get in a relationship, that doesn't stop Kurogane from having his low-key ship moments with the other girls to tease the fans of course. Also, every single romantic interaction of theirs is extremely forced, the author felt the need to constantly remind the viewers/readers that the two MCs are in a relationship and that it's a big deal.

- A R T & A N I M A T I O N -
The art in Rakudai feels extremely bland and uninspired, you would have a hard time setting it apart from similar anime such as Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan or many other. There is no set atmosphere in it, it's just a regular city with a messy setting. It seems more technologically advanced in certain places but other locations feel just like a regular city building. Despite all of this, it does fit with the series and still does feel pretty at places.

Art aside, the animation is actually good during the action scenes, it flows nicely but as I mentioned before, the battles themselves are not well choreographed, they feel like a slugfest of random attacks, only the very first battle had some kind of strategy involved but even then the animation still makes the action scenes enjoyable.

- S O U R C E M A T E R I A L -
Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry by Misora Riku (Story) and Won (Art) - The art in the Light Novel is certainly better than it's animated adaptation but seeing as this is a Light Novel, it's not of much use as you're gonna see an illustration every 100 pages. The script, while it does have more time to develop itself and the events that happen, the characters are still nothing more than just archetypes and a bit more time to develop the story does not make a difference since the overall script is bad, amateurish and the pacing is still all over the place.

I do recommend reading the Light Novel over watching the anime though. Unless you're just in for the pretty colors and animation.

So I stumbled across a few artworks by Oh! Great and was simply fascinated by his art. This really made me want to read his works so I started with Tenjou Tenge, although I put it on hold because I heard Air Gear is his best work.
Now that I've finished it, here is my review.

- S T O R Y -
The story is centered around Minami Itsuki as he gets introduced to the world of A-T and grows as a Storm Rider and he overcomes progressively increasing in difficulty challenges through practice, skill and sheer will.
It starts out fairly simple with a fresh concept not ... seen before in Sports manga but as the story progresses it becomes more and more convoluted.
The pacing is good, it's not too fast, nor does it drag on. Every moment has enough time to develop itself and not overstay it's welcome.

That aside, the story, while really enjoyable, is the weakest part of Air Gear for sure, the battles often rely on will and having to protect someone in order to be strong. While not necessarily a bad thing, it does do it a tad bit too often.
Sometimes it doesn't even try to make sense with some character's powers but that's not a problem Air Gear is an over-the-top Sports/Battle Shonen hybrid and does what it does really well. Air Gear was not made to excel in writing and be the Hamlet of the manga world, it was made to be cool and that's what it does best. Air Gear is the definition of cool, that's what it breathes and that's what it exhales.

While it has plenty of nonsensical moments, there are the occasional scientific explanations that makes what just happened seem plausible but they're far too few.


- A R T -
The best aspect of Air Gear for sure, the art is incredibly crisp, clear and incredibly detailed in places. It compliments the setting of Air Gear and it makes the characters shine.
Especially when they zoom in the A-Ts, the detail is mesmerizing.
Oh! Great's proportions make some pretty good fan service, for both guys and girls, Air Gear is riddled with hot guys and hot girls.

- C H A R A C T E R S -
While they're pretty archetypical, they show plenty of personality and do grow as characters, each of them has his own individual character arc and road.
Their motives are pretty clear and simple, they want to improve themselves.
Also, their interactions are one of the best thing about Air Gear alongside the art.

- O V E R A L L -
The story, while nothing special, it manages to make the best out of it's characters and setting, the action was great, the panel selection for each scene was perfect and it knew when to stop on a cliff hanger. It kept you on the edge. There is plenty of violence and fan service but none of it feels out of place with Air Gear.

- E N J O Y M E N T -
I really enjoyed Air Gear, especially because of it's action and fantastic art.

So, I got into D.Gray-Man on a whim because I remembered watching the anime back in 2008 so I thought maybe I should check the manga, I didn't expect much of it but boy, I was in for a pleasant surprise.
Without wasting anymore time I will start with the review.



- S T O R Y -
The plot is centered around Allen Walker, the protagonist who possesses both a cursed eye and an anti-Akuma weapon since as an apostle of God he bears the ''Innocence''. He joins the Black Order under the recommendation of his Master to exorcise Akuma and ultimately stop their creator, the Millenium ... Earl alongside his fellow exorcists.

The story is well paced, it develops the world of D.Gray-man enough for you to get a grasp on the overall situation that they're in with the Akuma and all and so you don't feel like they're walking in a generic 19th century setting.

Due to the manga changing from weekly to monthly at one point, you will notice that the quality in both art and pacing skyrockets as Katsura Hoshino has more time to think of how she should progress with the story and has more spare time to conceptualize other things that might come into play in the story as well.

The story is definitely not something unique but it's something refreshing than your typical Shonen, most of the cliché Shonen tropes are nowhere to be seen and the manga's edgier tone fits perfectly with the setting.(edited)


- C H A R A C T E R S -
The main characters all have their motives, their goal and their story.
They do feel pretty well developed through out the series while still staying true to their core personalities, the most interesting character so far is without a doubt the protagonist, Allen. He is presented in a manner that makes you feel you already know what you need to know about him but there's this feeling of vagueness and lack of knowledge about him as well and the story constantly teases the fans with a hint of something connected to his backstory and his origin.
Although the other characters also fare pretty well, all of them are likable and with an interesting backstory or motives and each has distinctive looks and personality.


- A R T -
D.Gray-man's art has a really charming gothic art style that perfectly fits the setting and tone of the manga.
While it does start out pretty simplistic, it does evolve drastically because of the jump from a weekly publication to monthly and is currently extremely crisp, detailed and the action is really clear. The gothing charm of the manga is kept intact and is even more apparent now.


- O V E R A L L -
I think D.Gray-man is definetely worth reading if you're looking for a Shonen manga that feels different from every other mainstream Battle Shonen.
D.Gray-man has it's characters as it's main focus and puts the battles in the back seat, although they are still present.

So I finished Re:Zero some time ago but I finally got around to make a review on it. I don't want to waste your time for pointless introduction and me excusing myself for rating something like Re:Zero a 6 because frankly it deserves it. It's in no way a masterpiece. Let us proceed with the review. I will structure it in your basic ''STORY-ART-SOUND-CHARACTER etc.'' that everyone in MAL seems to use. Let's go.

STORY - 4

The story starts with our bland self-insert protagonist Subaru who immediately coming out of a convenience store gets teleported to a fantasy world and doesn't even question why he's there. ... The moment he is teleported there he thinks he's some sort of a chosen one by a beautiful girl who summoned him there just like a video game. Keep in mind that this anime is supposed to be dark, gritty and it's characters are supposed to behave realistically (as they can) so you know what my first impression of that was. (Hint : WTF?)

SHOCK VALUE WOW is the primary reason for the show's high scores. I mean how unique, a show that kills both of it's protagonist in the very beginning.
Repeating that through out the whole anime makes you numb to the impact and shock.

Subaru suffering only has weight when the author needs it. If he was a good character he would be affected by this torture with his actions and motivation but Subaru just flicks all this aside cause he's in an ''otaku's dream world''. I've heard he reverts to his typical otaku self so he can cope with the world he is in but if that's the case, it's not shown well at all.
The structure of the episodes can be used as an argument against that.

The show doesn't use many situations to keep you on the edge, it relies solely on it's cliffhangers, nothing else. Because of that, every episode where something happens ends with a cliffhanger. When nothing of importance is happening the show just wastes your time with funny moments and pointless character interactions.
All events in the series that are not related to Subaru gurgling blood are clichéd situations to make it really apparent he's an otaku and it's mostly him fucking around with the girls and that means this is were the series' ''humor'' kicks in. Subaru's humor is really dry and unfunny and it's nothing else but an over-generalization of the otaku culture.
So... he uses these funny moments to cope with the bad situatuations? It is not spelled out anywhere nor is it hinted in the slightest, using this as an excuse that he is actually a good character is really freaking dumb.

They try to convince you that Subaru is just a regular guy who struggles to get the girl, struggles just to be alive in that world and that he is no one special.
But just like every Light Novel protagonist. At the end of the day, he gets the girl(s), he is practically immortal depending on how you look at it and he is the chosen one (By the witch).


The story is below average and is full of really dumb moments that could be avoided if some characters were capable of common sense. A lot of stuff is unexplained and the plot is really predictable.

Subaru's power is just a stupid plot convenient device and there is no tension in the series. It's all just a gore fest. It's weird how he doesn't question that he's in a fantasy world at all and is immediately fine with it.
Also, Re:Zero loves to fake tension but if you're paying more attention than your average viewer you will see that he will always go back in time before he makes any mistakes so he could just do a perfect run after a few times of dying. He will never reset in a point where something has gone wrong and he can't fix it. They try to make it seem like his powers has factors against him because he can't tell anyone about his power otherwise he would die or the person he told about it will die but it doesn't mean much in the long run with the exception of one single moment in the series.

The best episode of Re:Zero is episode 18 for sure.
It managed to ACTUALLY DEVELOP Subaru as a character without rushing, just in one episode, it proved that Re:Zero could be so much more and not just gore galore. Episode 18 was packed with so much emotion, proper characterization was a joy to watch despite the whole episode being just a conversation. The animation was not lazy either, they had exaggerated gestures, emotions, the animation was good and the angles were dynamic so it didn't feel like a lazy way to save budget.

(STFU LN readers, the anime went with an original ending so the criticism about tension applies to it).



CHARACTERS - 2
Subaru, our main character is a bland self-insert who they try really hard to convince you is something more.
He is an inconsistent character, constantly rewritten. He is insane when the plot needs him to be insane, there's no build up to him going insane usually. That's not development. When he is himself he is the same old generic self-insert we know. Subaru is really dislikable character. Constantly crying, moaning, complaining and is powerless for the most part.
He is not a good character at all and the only thing to set him apart from other bland self inserts is that he is constantly suffering.


Females are empty shells, all of them are bland waifu archetypes and are nothing more than that. I sort of explained them a bit in the story section.
None of them has any depth.

Emilia is a character we do not know absolutely ANYTHING ABOUT and the show markets her as the female lead. All we know is that she's a cute politician girl who looks like the witch Satella but hates being called that despite introducing herself as Satella at the beginning.
Subaru calling her that at the beginning, everyone took it fine, no one reacted. When Subaru died the first time and got respawned at a point where he still hasn't met her, he saw her and called out to her as Satella and suddenly everyone reacted like he has done the worst thing ever because they suddenly decided to turn the name Satella into a plot device.
Why she introduced herself as Satella despite hating being called that just cause she looks like her and despite the fact mentioning Satella's name is a taboo in general.

They tried giving a bit more flavor to Rem and Ram with their back story but even then it's really nothing much and as characters development goes, it's not well done. Rem's development goes way too fast it's more like a complete change of character. She goes from killing Subaru to being so in love with him she's willing to follow him to the end of the world.
You might argue that she trusts him because he saved the villagers and her and he risked his life but... he risked his life when saving Emilia as well, he could've died. Wasn't that enough?
''But he smells of the witch and Rem notices that''. He smells of the witch when Rem is in love with him anyways.
''But he may've been acting when he saved Emilia, faking his good intentions''.
Same applies to Rem's situation. He may've been faking his good intentions and his smiles when saving the villagers.
BUT this is a Light Novel adaptation, common sense applies only when it's convenient for the plot.

Beatrice is just a generic smart loli whose only defining trait is her catch phrase ''Kashira (I suppose)''

Felt is a character that was introduced as a major character but she suddenly disappeared out of the plot when Reinhardt took her away in the beginning. She was not seen since for at least 2/3 of the series and she appeared briefly afterwards. She is your typical tomboy who grew up in the slums so she steals. Due to a set of cliched events, she's a princess and doesn't know wtf is going on which is cliché in itself.

Ram - Nobody gives a flying f*ck about Ram. She's basically a funny version of Rem but pink hair and smaller chest. (And there's a slight possibility Roswaal is tapping that).

Roswaal himself is the owner of the mansion that Subaru lives in because he saved Emilia. It is not shown clearly in the anime but Roswaal wants to use Subaru to help Emilia become a ruler of the lands.

Emilia and Ram are completely trustful of Subaru, Beatrice grew fond of him and Rem stopped doubting him as much once he saved Rem. Roswaal is probably the only one in the mansion that still doesn't trust Subaru but that's bound to change in the future. Most of the cast has already warmed up to him so there's no possible way something like them hating or betraying Subaru will happen. Especially with Rem.

It is also mind boggling how everyone just rolls with what he says after he tries to convince them for a bit. Hello? Despite you asking him, he can't explain how he knows all of this information (it's from him constantly dying after learning sh*t). You're gonna take his word just like that?

The other characters are not worth mentioning as they didn't stand out in any way except Wilhelm who is the most fleshed out character in the whole series despite not appearing for that long. We know his backstory, we know about his personality, we know about his motivation about why he wants to kill the white whale, overall a pretty good character.

ART - 8

I honestly really like the art and is one of the positives of Re:Zero for sure.
Character design is great (when it comes to the females or any other male that isn't Subaru). The scenery is visually stunning.

SOUND - 9

The soundtrack of Re:Zero is really good, full of songs that fit the anime and give you a certain feeling while listening to them. The music is the main reason that otherwise scenes you wouldn't give a crap about keep you on edge. The music just goes really well with everything that happens in the anime.

Enjoyment - 6

Despite my criticism of Re:Zero, I do think it has a lot of potential, it's just isn't executed right. And those who know how I rate my anime (if you don't, just quickly skim over my profile bio) will know what kind of overall score Re:Zero will get from me based on what I am saying right now.


Overall - 6
That's what I give to anime that were flawed but had potential or at least one thing that made me enjoy it without dropping it. (Though Subaru wasn't really keen to make me keep watching as he's pretty dislikable).