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CGDCT is a genre in which all anime usually follow the same formula: episodic, no plot, cheesy, and has no stakes. However, Hanayamata went beyond the typical CGDCT and experimented with an overarching plot, theme, and had tons and tons of drama and stakes, for better or worse.

Hanayamata is an anime about yosakoi, and friends who dance yosakoi. It's pretty simple but the club members have a lot of depth and development, which is the main draw of the series.

Naru, our protagonist, is an airhead who is average and has no passion. I feel like she's very relatable, but at the same time painfully generic ... and cheesy. She had room for development through her trauma, but for some reason the show scrapped it aside. Hana is a foreign girl who introduced her to yosakoi, but I thought she was very annoying and overbearing, though she was given some characterization and development, so she became tolerable near the end. Yaya is a great character who is nicely written, she's a tsundere who has abandonment issues. Tami is the best character in this series and honestly one of my favourite anime characters if I had to be honest, though recency bias is speaking. She's insanely likeable but has so much depth through her father issues and her tendency to care for others. The episode focused on her was the best episode of the show for a reason. Machi, our final member, was introduced into the main cast by the time there were 4 episodes left, which was way too late and didn't make me care about her enough. Overall Hanayamata has very good characters and is the main appeal of the show, they are extremely likeable and fun to watch, while they each have their own development and backstories.

Yosakoi is a type of dance I have never heard of, but the show portrayed it excellently and made it seem very fun, though a problem I had with the show is how yosakoi ultimately feels useless to the show. Nobody even really has an attachment to it, most of the members joined because their friends were in it. Yosakoi had no major effect on any of their lives, so yosakoi as a theme felt very lacking.

The art is very pretty to the eye, and the animation is surprisingly great. The music is repetitive but it hits when it hits, ESPECIALLY the opening which is a banger.

Finally, the drama is a major topic discussed when talking about Hanayamata. Some think it's peak and emotional, some think it's in your face and exaggerated. I think Hanayamata does its drama with grace and while it could get a bit much, the drama has purpose for developing the characters and it gets pretty emotional too. Overall the melodrama was a major complaint about the series but I think it helped stand out among the CGDCTs.

Hanayamata is a beautiful show with a bright cast and good writing that is only held back by its lack of a strong theme, being yosakoi. If you're a fan of slice of life shows with a hint of drama, Hanayamata is a wild and emotional ride with a lot of emotions and fun characters.

Good endings are difficult to make. You have to tie up as many plot points as you can, conclude the story in a meaningful way, and at the same time make it special so it's not generic and forgettable. Writing an ending can really make or break a story as a whole, and in the case of Sakamichi no Apollon, it broke it to its core. It left most of the plot points introduced ignored, concluded the story in a nonsensual way, yet at the same time make it generic and forgettable. Sakamichi no Apollon, known as Kids on the Slope, is a fundamentally good ... anime that was ruined by its awful ending.

To start, SnA is a historical anime taking place in the 1900's focused on our main character, Kaoru, who meets a delinquent Sentarou and Sentarou's childhood friend Ritsuko or Ricchan. Kaoru is your typical introverted nerd who also plays the piano. Later in the anime he teams up with Sentarou to play jazz music, while Ricchan serves as a typical love interest to stir up a love triangle. First of all, I think Sentarou is a great character. He has a lot of depth and development and is a great friend. Ricchan is okay, she is likeable enough but she feels like a major plot device who doesn't really have much to her other than being a love interest. Kaoru is a different story, in which I will touch on later.

The plot is quite simple, they form a jazz group in which they play jazz, and at the same time they navigate friendship and romance. While Kaoru is crushing over Ricchan, Sentarou meets a girl Yurika, who is perhaps one of the most useless characters I have seen in media. Yurika falls in love with Jun, who is Sentarou's senior and is a cool guy. Yurika and Jun have this romantic side plot line that I think is awful and serves no purpose, yet it took about a quarter of the runtime. Their relationship didn't even payoff in the story, they just left after having their conclusion. What was the purpose of it? I had no emotional connection to any of them, let alone did I care about them at all. I was far more interested in Sentarou and Kaoru, in which their segments were a joy to watch and I was heavily invested.

The romance was okay, I guess? In the first half, Kaoru and Ricchan's will they won't they dynamic was fun to watch and I was surprised that it actually developed throughout the course of the series. Yurika and Jun's romance, while useless, was written okay though boring. I feel like they should've given more character to Ricchan so that it would feel like Kaoru actually had reasons to fall in love with her instead of just watching him fall in love with a character just made to fall in love with, if you get me. I was far more invested in the bromance between the two main characters, which was honestly the best part of the show. I could feel their emotions when they played together and is one of the best friend pairs, at least in the early half of the show.

This review will now be going into spoiler territory where I will discuss the ending, so be aware.

The last 2 episodes of Sakamichi no Apollon were honestly apalling. I was liking this show a lot until they pulled whatever happened here. First of all, they were building up to a great performance at the school, but last minute they decided to pull off a vehicle accident trope. On paper this is a great idea, it could build tension to him showing up for the performance last minute or whatever cliche scenerio. Also, they built up some tension for a brain damage and possible amnesia/coma trope, which is random but whatever cool things are getting interesting, but for some strange reason they decided to cop that out and turns out he was completely fine. This was a really weird decision and it just felt like they just wanted to play with feelings for shock value. But then I could forgive that because we get an awesome roof scene on the hospital where they show their love for eachother as friends and Kaoru wants Sentarou to rely on him more as a friend, and they share a bittersweet moment where they cry together. It's a great scene that shows their development as characters and as friends. HOWEVER, right after that they decide Sentarou just disappears forever and nobody knows where he went.

Uhm, hello? The worse part is that the start of the very same episode he already tried to run away from home, but Kaoru stops him because people genuinelly care for him and don't want him gone, and that should be good development, right? But then why does he run away anyway? But whatever, next episode, which is the last, should explain everything to us and maybe he comes back in the end, right?

Well, in the last episode, we get Kaoru almost raping Ricchan! And guess what he says to her? Our lovely Kaoru says that he's glad Sentarou is gone because all he did was get in between them. You're telling me those 2 were friends now? We went through 11 episodes of development all for him to do that to Ricchan and to say that about Sentarou, his supposed best friend. I honestly don't care if a character says a shitty thing as long as they explain their actions so I could at least sympathize, but no, Ricchan gets mad, Kaoru goes home and all he says is he's scum. Like, honey, we all know that by now, but at least monologue why you did that? Or said that about Sentarou? Then the next scene, Kaoru apologizes to Ricchan (without any explanation, of course) then goes on a train to Tokyo.

Then a scene later, it's an 8 year timeskip. Woah. There are so many plot points that haven't been covered at there's a timeskip now? Kaoru is now a doctor looking miserable, and we see a grown up Yurika who's living happily with Jun who we don't even see in the timeskip. She then talks to Kaoru about where Sentarou might be, which brings us to Kaoru going far to some church in a small town where Sentarou is a priest. Honestly, I liked that idea, it sounds very Sentarou. They both reunite in the church, but instead of saying anything, they play music. It was a pretty powerful scene but in the long run, it doesn't do anything. It doesn't give any conclusion nor does it tell us anything. Then the final scene is them running down the hill and they meet Ricchan. Then the anime ends. As an ending scene, it's okay, but the episode as a whole is awful.

And after all the drama, and timeskips, and music, what do they tell us about Sentarou?

Nothing. Him running away, his family situation, his development, his inner thoughts, all left for us to imagine. All his development for him trusting his friends and accepting his dad in the house was already thrown out when he decided to run away, but the fact they don't tell us why ruins more development, and this is because we see him as a priest 8 years later, and we don't get to see why he ran away in the first place, why he became a priest, and he doesn't question why Kaoru is there. It just feels confusing. Kaoru also doesn't question anything, they just played music and ran down a hill. How did Kaoru feel after seeing Sentarou after he ran away and disappeared for 8 years? Also, Sentarou literally CAUSED that accident which made his sister have head trauma. You're telling me someone who "cares" about their family decides to abandon them on the day they most need him? It all just doesn't make sense, and it doesn't help they don't explain it.

That's all for my rant about the ending.

The music was amazing and the animation complimented it really well, pairing smooth and accurate playing with jazzy music. The culture festival episode was a major highlight and is iconic for a reason. The artstyle is inoffensive and definitely shows the vibe of the 1900s. The character design is honestly disappointing, Sentarou's is okay but Kaoru and Ricchan were just so bland for main characters. Some proportions also looked weird but it was well directed overall.

Sakamichi no Apollon is a good anime in the technical aspect and an excellent one for a majority of its runtime with good character writing and a believable story, until a truck (literally) ran it over. It's a shame, it would be an easy recommendation if they didn't decide to ruin the bromance, aka the best part of the show, and made the romance more bearable to watch other than guy forces himself on girl for the 29th time.

Though sometimes, a bad ending doesn't really ruin a good anime. Take Kamisama Ni Natta Hi, for example, the ending was honestly not the best but I respect it because it kept true to its themes and it was memorable, but SnA's ending completely ruins its themes and made the characters act out of character for the sake of drama and trying to be unique. Would I still recommend it? Only to watch until the culture festival episode, then just stop after that.

An ending should be conclusive, memorable, unique, and coherent, which Sakamichi no Apollon failed in all aspects.

Family.
Whether you like your family or not, we all know that family has impacted our lives in some way or another, both positive and negative. However unlike friends whom you can just stop talking to or a special other whom you can just break up, family is permanent. Whether you like it or not.
And whether you like your family or not, sometimes you unexpectedly lose your family. Whether you like it or not, of course. Life is a huge bitch, the people dearest to you could be gone in an instant. This brings us to the (un)usual story of four brothers living together- confronted with ... the fact that both their parents are dead. We are then introduced to the wonderful and authentic world of The Yuzuki Family and its Four Sons.

At first, reading the synopsis, you just can't find any interest in it. Four brothers living together and navigating their life. Every slice-of-life ever, right? Well if you were looking for me to say that there's more happening beyond what the synopsis implies, then you'll be disappointed. Pack up if you were expecting some sort of plot twist or romantic tension. There's nothing more than four brothers and their friends navigating through life. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not.

Simple stories are often criticized for being basic and unoriginal, but it depends on execution. Not every anime needs an Assassination Classroom level of a complicated story. What makes Yuzuki so special though? In my view, not only is the execution of the story flawless, but it has so many layers of humanity and complexity to the simple story. Each sentence a character speaks can tell you something new about them, and while these characters start as tropes, we see their motivations and flaws as PEOPLE, which is what I truly love about this series. The characters are as human as you can get. For example, the girls aren't acting all cutesy and act how a middle schooler would act, while keeping their character fun, engaging, and well-written.

Each character has layers and layers of struggles. Let's dig deep into some of the characters.
The eldest, Hayato, is a young adult who has a job of teaching. He may act like an old man sometimes but he's still a young person. However, due to the burden of taking care of his brothers, he has to step down from enjoying the prime of his life to focus on them, and this brings consequences too. In one of the early episodes, we see his old classmates lose interest in him for having to take care of his brothers. We can often see that Hayato is tired, mostly due to stress and working, but he still comes home with a smile. I like how overprotective he is, and it's nice to see his brothers acknowledge it since Hayato's overprotectiveness is the main cause of one of the later story arcs involving Gakuto.
Hayato isn't perfect and he knows it. He often makes assumptions too quickly and is overthinking every little detail. He is a perfect father figure and I admire him so much for stepping up for his brothers while sacrificing his youth.
Mikoto is another amazing character. At first glance, he seems to be the generic “ikemen” being super popular in school and not seeming to struggle much. However, we can truly see how many struggles and worries he has later on while not changing my perspective of his character. Mikoto got jealous of how much attention Minato got from their mother, and Minato used to annoy Mikoto a lot. Once, Mikoto got so angry at him that they started getting into a huge fight. This is a defining moment in their relationship and shows how Mikoto LOOKS perfect, but he has a lot of hidden jealousy. Another time where this comes to show is when Minato dotes on Gakuto. Mikoto shows jealousy and attempts to make Minato spend more time with him instead. However, Mikoto developing a brother complex is hilarious and adorable and isn’t depicted weirdly. Mikoto brings the comedic energy a lot and is genuinely hilarious. Mikoto also is very kind and a great liar, and it’s sweet to see how he always helps out his brother.
Minato is the best protagonist the series could offer. He is outgoing and friendly but he has many, many flaws. He is super loud and annoying and he doesn’t know when to stop, both good and bad. He’s determined to never quit, but sometimes when someone wants to be left alone he keeps on persisting, making matters worse. And it’s amazing because this is 100% something that can happen in real life. Minato also never considers other people’s feelings much, he acts on his feelings. This can be a bad choice sometimes, especially in a later arc where he should’ve come clean or just stayed out of it. It’s also really cute when he acts all tough but is weak. The sick Hayato episode was super touching because we could see Minato’s growth as a person. Overall, Minato is a super complex but fun character. He is what gives the show energy. Without Minato, it would be super boring, whether you like him or not.
Gakuto is my favourite out of all of them. He’s just a small kid with a large capacity for knowledge and curiosity. Gakuto is emotionally intelligent and can read the room even though he’s what, 5? However, Gakuto has struggled with himself, wanting to be older so that he can be more useful around the house. His older 3 brothers are always doing all the tasks and Gakuto is too small and weak, so he feels guilty for not being able to help out. This is admirable of him, honestly, I want to hug him! Gakuto’s emotional intelligence could sometimes cause problems, though. He had to drag in 6 people (3 unintentionally) because he didn’t want to worry Hayato and wanted him to keep working so he didn’t need to take time off. This is super sweet of Gakuto and I love him for it, I’m not sure what the best move was, but I feel like Gakuto’s method wasn’t the best way of going about it. He also had to unfortunately stop Waka’s mother from going (though that was Waka’s own decision). The contrast between Gakuto wanting to grow up vs. Hayato wanting to be younger was nice.
I honestly just really love Gakuto. All his lines are adorable and hilarious with how much wiser he is than Minato. Gakuto sort of reminds me of Uncle Iroh with how wise he is.

Uta is less important to the story but is a great addition nonetheless as Minato’s best friend. I like how Uta isn’t the stereotypical “childhood friend” and is tomboyish, outgoing, and lacks manners. Also, I ADORE the dynamic between Uta and Minato. They act like REAL FRIENDS. In all those childhood friend anime you see childhood friends acting all awkward or forced but Uta and Minato genuinely have a bond, and shared interests, and you can tell they are close. The arc where Uta first met Minato was amazing, especially the divorce part. It shows how emotional the show can get but at the same time highlights Uta’s flaw of making assumptions but not confronting them directly. The Uta’s lover arc was also amazing and put them into an awkward position and you could see Minato reconsidering what their friendship means.
Waka isn’t as deep but they’re a total sweetheart and a cutie! Saki and the grandpa are both kind people and they added a lot of great moments, especially the grandpa buying the DVDs to connect with the kids. Saki sacrificing her vacation to help Hayato was also very touching.
Mikoto’s friend didn’t really add much but he was funny and he provided one of the best cliffhangers of the show in the lover episode.

Is that all the characters? How many is that, 9 characters? That’s not many but they managed to center the show around these 9 characters and made it beautifully. Each character was memorable and likeable while being well-written and serving a purpose.

Now, let’s talk about the episodes themselves. The first 4 episodes were just introductions to our characters. The first episode is mostly centred around Minato but also introduces us to the family and neighbourhood. The second shows Mikoto and his bond with Minato. The third and fourth are for Gakuto and Hayato, respectively. All of these episodes are perfect and show the struggles between them. The episodic structure of these episodes was perfect to introduce the lovely characters. After that the show starts going more into arcs, starting with Uta’s lover + bond with Minato, and then we get Gakuto’s visitation. The Uta episodes were amazing and beautiful. The entirety of the lover’s arc I was on the edge of my seat and had an emotional climax. Uta meeting Minato was probably the single best episode of the series. The fight scene was genuinely amazing but heartbreaking and Minato’s declaration had me in tears. The themes of divorce and affairs were a nice touch too, and we also had some development for Saki. The Gakuto arc was also amazing seeing how he got so many people involved just because he didn’t want to worry Hayato. This was a great development arc for many of the characters and we even got some nice development for Minato wondering what was the right thing to do. I’m still salty that Saki got the bad ending, though.
The last 3 episodes are a little more episodic but they tie up loose ends and provide some backstory like with Mikoto’s brother complex. The Sick Hayato episode was great because it made the characters who relied on Hayato so much have to live independently and they recognize how much they appreciate him. The brothers being scared of losing Hayato was heartbreaking.

There’s just so much I want to talk about this masterpiece, but I’ll try my best to wrap it up by covering these next parts.

The art style seems basic but it’s fine because the animation was amazing, they made use of the animation genre with a bunch of effects to show how the characters are feeling and great sound effects making me feel like a roller coaster. There are a lot of meme potentials too. The fight scene in episode 7 went viral for a bit for the amazing animation and it was so impressive for a slice-of-life. There weren’t any animation flaws and you could see how the characters are feeling through just an expression, which I like.
The sound is AMAZING. The opening and ending I’m obsessed with, especially the opening which makes me cry tears of nostalgia. Flumpool is one of my favourite artists and this is one of my favourite songs of his since Kakushigoto’s opening. I don’t usually notice background music, but the music here really stood out to me, especially the emotional moments that helped me cry. The sound design was amazing, not much to talk about but was flawless. I especially loved the earrape effects when Mikoto got mad in episode 2.
The entertainment value is super high, I watched this weekly and caught up while with other shows I’m at least a week behind. This is not some boring slice-of-life anime, so don’t judge quickly!

The Yuzuki Family’s Four Sons is an adventure. Every single week after each episode I feel like I went on a whole journey. Not many other anime had this sort of impact on me. The Yuzuki Family anime was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I will never regret watching this. It has so many deep themes like divorce, affairs, abandonment, aging, jealousy, attention, social pressures, and so much more. If you liked Skip to Loafer or those Disney Channel sitcoms back then, this is similar to those!
Seeing the brothers navigate through their struggles and family was so much more rewarding than I expected. I wasn’t even interested in this show, I was expecting something boring, but this was something truly special. The Yuzuki’s felt like my family. I smiled with them, I cried with them, I laughed with them. So, thank you, Yuzuki family.

Overall, just WATCH IT! You won’t feel an ounce of regret. I mean it this time. I haven’t felt so much burning passion or love for an anime for a long time, and it’s because of a simple story about a family. I hope you guys found this as remarkable as I did with this unusual family. But what even counts as a family, right? It’s not something as simple as a mom, dad, and child. Family is a bond between people who feel at home with each other, and this story managed to nail it on the head.

No matter where you go, how far you run astray, or how many new people you meet, you will come back to your family.

-Baby Penewine

“Hey, have you seen Chainsaw Man yet? That shit’s hype!”

“Huh? What’s Chainsaw Man??”

“..What? It’s literally the hottest and best anime this season!”

“Hm. Never heard. Were you perhaps referring to Bocchi the Rock?”

The queen is dead? What are you talking about, it looks like Bocchi the Rock is alive and doing well.

... Well, better than well. It’s the best, most creative, most funny, most relatable, and most heartwarming anime of this season.

“B-but it’s a music!!! Isn’t it just another K-ON?”
That’s where you’re wrong. Bocchi the Rock is FAR from being the next K-On. Bocchi is its own show, a show taking on new ideas and innovating some of the most creative visuals and productions of any anime I’ve watched. K-On was about their band going through high school together as a team, while Bocchi the Rock explores each individual character as they work together to help their band grow. Bocchi the Rock is a show about growing and learning to be the best version of yourself.

Social anxiety is not a light topic. It’s a disorder that affects your daily lives in conversations, tasks, relationships, and even self-confidence. A heavy topic such as this, in my opinion, was not done very well by Komi-san. While I’m aware Komi is a comedy centred around Komi’s “cute” social awkwardness, I think Bocchi did a finer job at showing how to show awareness of social anxiety and the thoughts that may go through a lot of people’s head, while still maintaining god tier levels of comedy, which I think is even funnier than Komi.

Now, what makes the comedy so special? What makes comedy funny?

Comedy is never an objective subject. You may find the Minion memes your grandma posts the most unfunny thing you’ve seen, but maybe other people find it hilarious (extra fries, am I right?). The same goes towards comedy shows. Some may find it funny, some can find it cringe, some just find mild amusement. However, it feels like Bocchi is a laughing medicine. Bocchi’s social awkwardness always leads to sad and sometimes cringe moments, or Bocchi overthinks things and other awkward moments happen. Usually, that is a huge turn off for many people, but CloverWorks really put effort into the comedy.
Instead of the sad and cringey scenes that we would usually see, the anime uses visual gags and phenomenal voice acting to make it the funniest thing you’ve seen. The timings are on point, the voice acting is believable, and you won’t feel an ounce of cringe. Her overthinking is absolutely ridiculous and absurd which makes it so funny (the attention-whore monster!) with some of the best animations ever produced by CloverWorks, with different camera angles, metaphors, visual gags like explosions, all that, and to top it off, many references to different anime including Evangelion, Dragon Ball, and so much more it’s uncountable. The comedy never went stale, never in this show have I thought “Hm. They could’ve made this comedic scene a little funnier, it wasn’t that funny and they should’ve added something to get a laugh out of me”. You can see that the animators don’t see this as a half-assed project, they are putting their hearts and souls into this beautiful anime.

Now, what’s the most important part of an anime? Animation, of course. It’s obvious.
As I have previously mentioned, Bocchi the Rock gives some of the best animations from this year with animation that is smooth and expressive. Heck, this makes Chainsaw Man look like Chainsaw Boy.

“Should I watch it then?”

Yes.

“But what if I don’t like it?”

If you’re not interested, drop it and move on with your life. Nobody is forcing you to watch Bocchi (though you should).

“I don’t have time, I won’t watch it.”


Watching anime isn’t a chore, if you have free time and you feel like watching some anime, Bocchi is a great show to pass the time and forget all your worries. Besides, anime is a hobby.

“The plot doesn’t exist. It’s just girls forming a band and that’s it.”

Not true. Bocchi the Rock also tells the story of how Bocchi grows through her failures and learning to get through the world. She really is trying her best and the story puts an emphasis on how hard she’s trying to improve. Sure, it has many Cute Girls Doing Cute Things elements, but at its core, Bocchi the Rock is a down-to-earth and moving show.

Of course, characters are a vital part in anime. One bad character who annoys you or is written poorly can impact your opinion on the whole anime. Most authors have to spend a lot of time thinking about their characters. Are they likeable? Are their designs memorable/cute? Do they actually have a personality?
As you may notice, many shows lack these qualities, which leads to a negative view on the show overall. Even if the plot is good, why would you want to watch it if it has annoying and dumb characters? (see Munou na Nana)
Bocchi the Rock seems to be aware of this, as the characters are all likeable, well-written, and have personalities. Each character’s character designs are iconic and you will surely recognize their unique designs just from the colours of their hair. Voice actresses fit and do excellent jobs. Even characters that don’t show up much (PA-san) are pretty loved by the community.

Now, I’m going to go deeper into each of the major characters. Expect a long one.

Hitori, aka Bocchi, is your typical slice-of-life protagonist who isn’t interesting and is super bland. “Haha, you must be joking!” Yes, I am. Bocchi has to be one of the best characters from this year. She is funny, relatable, cute, and all of the good qualities of a character.
What makes Hitori so special is her social anxiety. I know, we’ve seen it so much like in Watamote (another great one), Komi-san, Welcome to the NHK, HitoriBocchi, MMO Junkie, the list goes on. While I haven’t seen the last 3 shows and I don’t want to assume things, I know that Bocchi has to be one of the best socially anxious protagonists ever. Not only because she gets into hilarious situations where she reacts amazingly, or how she overthinks situations and somehow predicts her life as a miserable adult, but how she isn’t trying to be better in some half-assed way (“I’m going to improve myself!” *does one nice thing and calls it a day). We can see Bocchi genuinely dislikes her social anxiety and is trying to overcome it. Like she said, there is a difference between the loner (Ryo) and the lonely (Bocchi). Let me do a little explanation on that.
Ryo is the loner. She enjoys being alone and has no problem with it. She finds fun in being by herself without anybody around her. While of course enjoying spending time with others, she doesn’t feel lonely by herself.
Bocchi is the lonely. She still likes being alone but constantly wants to be with others. She feels lonely without the company of others and often feels lonely by herself. Bocchi usually has more fun doing things with other people.
There is a giant misconception that Bocchi is a hardcore introvert. Bocchi is NOT an introvert, I believe she is an extrovert that has social anxiety. Extroverts aren’t always loud and outgoing, they prefer spending time with other people and tend to share their thoughts more. Bocchi is, in my opinion, what I described. Introverts get motivation by themselves while extroverts get motivation with others. As we can see in the anime, Bocchi feels drained and wasted alone but feels happy and comforted with her band members.

Nijika is an excellent character. At first, she seems to be a Ritsu Tainaka clone (tomboy drummer) whose entire purpose is to just be there. Nijika looked like she had no importance and was just a character tossed to the side. Boy, I was so wrong. Nikia is an amazing and inspiring character who took me by surprise. Nijika is the group’s motivator, someone who is able to support others while going through her own struggles. All I can really say about her now is, yay! Nijika! Oh and also, she has one of the best character animation scenes where she says “it’s a secret!”. I also really like her dynamic with Ryo.

As I cannot reuse my joke about the queen near the start of my review, let me just say Ryo is a queen. She has a chill attitude, though she’s definitely not a perfect person. She’s one of the funniest characters and her personality stands out a lot. She reminds me a lot of Shima Rin from Yuru Camp (the best girl of all time). She is very poor though, mostly because she spends a lot of money on guitars. She likes to bug Bocchi for her money a lot, which I find really funny (poor Bocchi though). The way she tries to beg for stuff is very funny and overall she’s a great addition to the show. I literally cannot imagine this show without her. Not to mention how carefree she is. If I were to be friends with anybody from the show, it would be her.

For the final band member, Kita (aura)! Kita has to be my favourite character in the show, and I can sorta explain why. Kita is basically the polar opposite to Bocchi: has friends, is socially active, not scared to interact with others, etc, and she is also very kind and clearly looks out for Bocchi more than Nijika and Ryo. Like Bocchi says, Kita has this shining aura around her that makes her stand out a lot and attracts everybody to her. A lot of scenes she’s in steals the show and it’s really fun to watch Kita’s moments. Her dynamic with Bocchi is very sweet because of how she cares for Bocchi and makes sure she’s alright at school, while Bocchi is envious of her naturally good social skills. Kita even almost went out of her way to cancel all her plans with friends to help Bocchi, something Ryo and Nijika may not do. Overall, Kita is my favourite character from this show and she’s such a joy to watch.

There aren’t many side characters to the show but I personally think they all contribute to the show immensely.

Kikuri, aka the drunk mentor/supporter of Bocchi, is a very nice character that I enjoy seeing her on screen. Although her drinking habits are very worrying, I like how the anime parallels her to what Bocchi could become: an outgoing person with some godly music skills. The similarities between the two are astonishing and I think the author wrote her character very well. I very much enjoyed her song performance and would love to see a spin-off of her band.

Nijika’s sister is basically a Tsuntsuntsuntsundere, who is mostly Tsun but less Dere. She barely has shown up much but I like her as a character. She clearly is also socially awkward and it’s funny to see her do things in a roundabout way instead of being honest about her feelings to Nijika and the rest of the characters.

Now that’s basically all of the characters worth talking about, and as you can see I view all of them in a positive light. Bocchi the Rock has an excellent cast and has a huge variety of different types of people you can relate to.

And of course, the music. My favourite song has to be ED3, Nijika’s “What is wrong with”. The song is so touching and I cannot stop listening. I’m a huge fan of the other songs too, especially Guitar, Loneliness, and the Blue Planet. Music is another great aspect of Bocchi and it made the show so much more memorable.

This Fall, Bocchi caught many of the community by surprise. Myself included. What I thought would be a K-On clone turned out to be a beautiful, hilarious, and touching show.
Bocchi the Rock is a work of art. It’s something I believe everybody in the world should experience. It is a masterpiece, wait no, calling it a masterpiece would be an understatement. It is something beyond a masterpiece. Something that I truly think is perfect. An anime worthy of going past the limits of 10/10. After all, Bocchi managed to go past the standard anime tropes and turn it into something creative and engaging. Bocchi took advantage of the anime medium. It took everything good from an anime and expanded beyond that. What I’m trying to say is well, Bocchi really ROCKS!

No. Fucking Way.

Kaguya-sama ENDED?!

Good riddance! Why would you want to read a manga about a battle-of-wits comedy romance between characters with chemistry, development, and personalities???

Just kidding. Love is War is one of the GREATEST pieces of fiction to hit the media, and I'm not even exaggerating. What? Fullmetal Alchemist? Bleach? Never heard of that, I'm too busy indulging myself in the presence of Kaguya-sama. If the one who confesses first loses, I guess I lose because I am confessing my love for this manga.

Hello, I'm Baby_Penewine. You have most likely never heard of me or come across any of my reviews, but I'm one of ... those reviewers who like to review from the heart. I don't write whatever I think would make you happy, I write exactly what I think. You could say I'm very passionate about my reviews. But do you know what else I'm passionate about? Fucking Kaguya-sama baby.

Oh boy, you gotta read this new harem about an average guy with a harem of girls with no personality!!!! It's really cool I promise!!

That's what people probably think when someone mentions romance or something, but Kaguya-sama is literally the opposite of that. Generic MC #12039 with no personality who? Shirogane is one of the most fantastic characters I've seen in the medium, with every single member of the cast having their own traits. There is literally NO boring character, but we'll get into the details later.

First, let's talk about the plot. Spoiled girl with an ice-cold heart later falls for the main guy and opens up, meh, same story, heard that 1000 times already, but what if I told you this actually made that trope GOOD? And what if I told you the battle-of-wits isn't just a dumb banter with cringe misunderstandings and melodrama, but with actual mind-games and tricks that make you think? And, hear me out, what if they put in actual laugh-out-loud content in basically every chapter and is actually funny? That's Kaguya-sama for you.

If you say that you didn't get hooked to Love is War in the first 5 chapters, you are either a liar or you should be reading Demon Slayer instead. Love is War looked at a plot setup and literally said "I'm going to make this perfect", and it did NOT lie. It has one of the most brilliant introductions I've seen to the characters and plot and before you know it, you can't just put down the book.

But what if I told you Kaguya is not just about the battle-of-wits and comedy? Then what else would it have? Genuinely meaningful character interactions and banter.

I dare you to pair up ANY of the main cast together. All of the interactions would be unique and entertaining.

Don’t believe me?

I will name every character and the dynamic they have with the other characters in the main cast. Skip this if you’re bored.

Shirogane-Kaguya: They literally have the main focus of the series, and of course they’re great. They’re too shy around each other and it’s adorable how much they’re made for each other.
Shirogane-Chika: Teacher and student dynamic, and probably the most fun one here. Chika getting pissed at Shirogane has to be some of the best running gags in the series with Shirogane being absolutely awful at everything he does. You’re lying if you never liked them as a duo.
Shirogane-Ishigami: The bromance everyone wishes of. It’s such a realistic approach of a friends dynamic, and I really like how they both encourage each other towards their dreams.
Shirogane-Miko: I really like the senpai-kouhai dynamic, as it’s really cute how Shirogane is so nervous around her while Miko is in awe of him. Another brilliantly written duo.
Kaguya-Chika: Possibly the funniest dynamic in the series, how can you not love them? Chika literally loves her, yet Kaguya switches from “Awww BFF for life!!” to “Man, fuck you bitch”.
Kaguya-Ishigami: Just noticed this list is getting long af so I’ll make these shorter, another senpai-kouhai relationship, except Ishigami is fucking terried of her, which comes with really funny scenarios.
Kaguya-Miko: Literally Kaguya-Chika except Miko doesn’t trust Kaguya. They do share some moments where they support each other and it’s really sweet!
Chika-Ishigami: My God, Chika is great with everyone! Chika and Ishigami have some great banter, with Ishigami usually the victim to Chika’s praks.
Chika-Miko: Man, how can you not love them? Miko literally idolises her while Chika uses her as a tool, lmao.
Ishigami-Miko: The last one, and I saved one of the bests for last! This is possibly the most developed duo over the course, as they have gone from hating each other to being half-friends with some other stuff too. I can’t go into much details but the way the author handled this was fantastic and I applaud him for that.

Now that the dynamics are done, shall we talk about the characters, while we’re at it?

Like I mentioned, Shirogane is one of the best characters in anime history, and my favourite protagonist (not my favourite character lol, can’t top Shimarin). He is one of those protagonists who don’t look plain, generic, and every synonym of that. He has a distinct appearance that is unique to him and him alone (and also literally one of the most attractive characters ever). Aside from appearance, his character is fantastic. He started from a “meh, just a random bozo who spends all his time studying” to a great, inspiring character. His insecurities are wonderfully handled and everything he does has a motive to it. I cannot have a single complaint about him. I also love how useless he is at basically everything else, which sets up some really funny scenarios.

I don’t know why people are arguing over Marin vs Yor or whatever, because Kaguya easily tops. She has one of the best character arcs I’ve seen from an emotionless and moody girl to a sensitive, thoughtful character. Some people have found her unlikeable and selfish, but she made it up for it, as she has become the great and inspiring queen we all know.

When there’s something with love… in your neighbourhood… who ya gonna call? Love Detective Chika, of course!
Chika is definitely the funniest character in my opinion, with her constant barging in and weird and quirky lines. If Kaguya is your cure to depression, then Chika is your injection of happiness. There is not a single dull moment with her, and it shows. We will and always will see her as our heroine.

Ishigami, oh Ishigami. What the hell would Love is War be without you? Ishigami adds a LOT to Kaguya-sama, and when I say a lot, I mean he made the show a lot better! He has a lot of humour and is very relatable. I’m sorry Kaguya, but Ishigami has a better arc (although every character have God tier character developments). Ishigami sort of reminds me of Tomozaki, as they both started as a gamer nobody to a gamer somebody (lmao) with a peak fiction arc (you know what I mean).

Miko is seriously so cute, don’t you just feel like headpatting her at all times of the day? Of course, her development is awesome, I think I touched on development too much but seriously, her development is just so good. I don’t really know what else to say, just she is a great addition and I don’t know what the series would be without her.

Now, some side characters who are equally as great as the main cast:

Hayasaka is known to be best girl, with endearing moments with Kaguya. I really like how she was introduced as Kaguya’s personal servant and slave but ended with being her own person and doing what she wants. This was a great theme for the series and very inspiring. And not to mention, she’s funny and cute as hell, I understand why she’s known as best girl.

Imouto? Like what little sister? Disgusting incest or incest teasing? Or annoying sisters all over their brother? Or even more annoying sisters where their only lines are “creep”, “disgusting”, and “pervert”. Well, Kei Shirogane is literally fuckingggg greatttttt. She doesn’t do any of these (except maybe the last one, but not much), and she’s her own character in my personal opinion, not to be known as “Miyuki’s little sister”. I feel like she has a right to be best girl. She honestly has the MOST realistic dynamic with Miyuki than anybody else. They’re really funny together and act like every sibling does. You can’t deny it, you were once Kei.

Maki, Kashiwagi, and Tsubasa were also some very fun people to have in here. The recurring sex theme vs suffering was really great, and I really like Maki as a character. Of course, her dynamic with Kaguya, Shirogane, and Ishigami were great and her development was ALSO awesome.

And to make my review not stretch out too long, here are some notable side characters worth mentioning:

Tsubame was cute and helped develop Ishigami.

Karen and Erika had their funny moments on their rare appearances. I enjoy their spinoff too.

People like Onodera, Osaragi, and the like were some nice additions and contributed to the plot and scenarios.

And that concludes the lengthy character section! The one thing I have seen in common with all characters were that they had flaws; none of them were perfect and there weren’t any characters who didn’t fuck up before. They’re all human, and I love the series for that.

The art, I don’t need to go into detail, it’s beautiful, it’s great, and it’s comedic. No complaints.

The voice acting was superb- I mean, like, uh, the dialogue was really really good and made me invested.

Now with all that out of the way, let’s talk about my enjoyment for this series.

…

Do I really need to say this?

Kaguya-sama is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life. It’s my favourite piece of fiction written (sorry, Amaburi), and while YOU might see flaws, maybe I need contacts because I see none. This series is truly perfect.

Now, the question is, will you like it? That’s up to you to decide. I have opened up the door for you, and it’s your choice if you want to enter or not.

If you choose to enter the door, then I think you’ve made the right choice.

"To me, you felt more real than anyone I'd ever met."

Looking back, I can only describe it as youthful indiscretion, but from summer of 2022, I watched what you may call a beautiful anime, with a simple but engaging plot, realistic characters and interactions, and a touching story. With confidence, I can say that "My Stepmom's Daughter is My Ex", also known as Tsurekano, was an anime I enjoyed from start to finish, an anime that never felt like a chore to watch, and most importantly, an anime that connected to me.

Now look, I get why many people dislike this anime. I'm not here ... to debunk on your reasons to dislike it. Instead, I'm here to tell you why I love Tsurekano.

First of all, the story. Let's all be real here; the story is nothing special. We've seen many animes already about stepsiblings + romance. From the title alone, you could already tell what the anime is about. So, what makes it so great? In my opinion, the simple story makes it very engaging. Complicated stories with constant misunderstandings, mess-ups, and drama are getting old nowadays. It feels really nice to sit down and watch an anime that takes a break from all that. It's a down-to-earth, captivating, and brilliant.

Now, the plot. What's the difference between a story and plot, you may say? A story is the setup. It introduces the characters and main storyline, basically reading a MAL synopsis. The plot is how the story develops into a more in-depth show, and Tsurekano does it perfectly. The backstories shown each episode build up overtime and connect like a puzzle. You can see the character interactions develop overtime, and you can see the characters become human. I found the development of Mizuto and Yume to be very engaging, and Isana's growth as a character was authentic. The different problems in being stepsiblings show overtime were genuine, and it really made me say, "wow, this is really realistic". I absolutely loved how true their relationship was portrayed. It definitely shows how fragile relationships are and how it can break up over a single argument. Through their struggles, you can see their perspectives on the situation, and you really can't blame anyone. Just an authentic and true plot.

The characters are annoying. I said it, they're annoying and irritating. Does it mean it's a bad thing? I wouldn't say so. Mizuto is one of the few non-annoying characters, and he's a great one. At first, he seems like the average protagonist; a loner, edgy, and is quick to have comebacks. However, he is much more than that. His insecurities get revealed over the course of the show and how awkward he really is. It's honestly admirable. He is also kindhearted, although he may not seem like it. His efforts to help Yume from behind were touching and didn't feel out of place at all. Yume was a bitch, but still an amazing character. She is actually the most real character in the anime. Her struggles to try to be popular were relatable and her insecurities could strike you right down in the heart. She tends to misunderstand very quickly and always acts on them instead of trying to find proof. A perfect example of a flawed person, but truly a legitimate character. Minami was really annoying. She constantly tried to change other people's ways instead of letting them be themself. She's like those manipulative popular girls in your classroom, except taken to the extreme. She's creepy, a stalker, and likes to pop into people's business. Her obsessions are always acted on to a scale of 1000 and anybody near her would never catch a break. I love her. I might be talking a bit too much about realism here, but I felt like she was meant to represent how creepy and manipulative real people could be. Kawanami was just there to be honest, he didn't have much influence and was meant to serve as a potential love interest to Akatsuki. I don't have much to say about him, but he set the mood for a lot of comedic moments and was enjoyable to watch. Isana is the best character out of all of them. She's nice and cute, but also super introverted. However, when she meets the right person, she can become the complete opposite. She makes really strange remarks and honestly is really strange. Her character dynamic with Mizuto is some of the best "friends, but more" dynamics I've seen. Another thing that makes her so realistic is how easily manipulated she is. Isana constantly believed what Akatsuki said was true and was convinced super-fast. It shines a light on many introverts like most of you and it feels refreshing to have a character like her.

The sound was completely fine, I have no complaints. There were emotional sounds at emotional moments, and comedic sounds at comedic moments. The opening and ending are complete fire though. The opening is my favourite of this season alongside Kana Hanazawa's Pokerface and ReoNa's Shall We Dance. The visuals for the opening were nice, and I liked the minor details of who their life was intertwined with. The song was amazing, Dialogue+ never misses. The ending wasn't as great as the opening but served a nice purpose too. The song had some great harmony, and the visuals were adorable.

The art style is the regular ones you'd see in anime nowadays, but most of my attention was on the character designs. When they released the first visual for the series, I remember seeing comments saying how bland the characters look. I honestly think the bland character designs fit the story super well. It shows how freaky and strange coincidences could happen in such a normal world and normal people. Just imagine this: pink haired and fluffy cute girl used to date prince of the school, until they broke up. All of a sudden, they get reunited as stepsiblings. Doesn't sound too down-to-earth now, does it? The designs were absolutely great for the side characters, showing how contrasted it was. The animation was flawless, I think Project No.9 did a beautiful job on this.

I enjoyed this anime very much. The comedy was right up my alley, the story and plot connected with me, the characters were authentic, plus a banger opening and ending. For me, this was the anime of the season (with LycoReco and Shadows House). If it's not up your alley, don't give it a shot. But if it sounds like something you'll be interested in, congratulations, you've got yourself a new show to watch!

(THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS)

Deaimon, also known as Recipe of Happiness, is a story about finding. Everybody at one point in their lives is looking for something, whether something small or large. Adapted by the Young Ace manga by the same name, this wholesome yet somehow sorrowful anime is about a girl named Itsuka and our protagonist Nagomu, who are both looking for something in their lives.

The story is outstanding. The main topic of the story is our heroine, Itsuka looking for her father, who left her at Ryokushou. We are often presented with flashbacks of her dad and their life until he left ... her. While looking for her father at the station, that's where she meets our protagonist Nagomu, who has returned after 10 years of being a musician in Tokyo. Nagomu's band broke up, and until now he has been doing side gigs, barely passing by. Many twists could shock you and keep you interested, and although this is a healing and easygoing anime, the story is fantastic.
The sort of episodic nature of the show fits, as we see the people who work and revolve around the shop, with each character getting their episode to shine. The buildups and character growths were handled excellent, and the way the show unravels bit by bit is terrific.

Normally, I think good art is crucial to an anime. Good art catches your eye and it brings the show to life. Deaimon does it exceptionally well, as each background art was made with love, with the style being incredibly unique and beautiful, looking like a pastel painting. The details of the seasons passing by were spectacular and added a lot of flavour to the show. Character designs were decent, some characters looked average but some looked great. The animation didn't flow sometimes, but a lot of times the animation looked beautiful, like the snowing segments. Overall, Deaimon chose a strange but unique art style and executed it very well.

Music and sound are also very important, as they show the mood and how the characters are feeling. Whether it is a comedic scene, a sad scene, or a wholesome scene, Deaimon puts the perfect soundtrack to fit the mood. It never felt out of place or weird. The opening and ending themes were superb, one of my favourites this season. The singer sang it very elegantly and the music compliments her voice. The background noises are what you would expect in an anime, although I loved the sounds when they are making food. The voice acting is like any other anime, however, I think Nagomu's voice acting was great. This was also the first role of Itsuka's VA, and I think she did a great job as her. The side cast voices fit the characters and I never thought that there was an out-of-place voice.

Now, the characters, which I believe is one of the highlighting points for Deaimon. Nagomu is very unique, as he's not your typical adult protagonist. He's a total immature goofball, who likes to have fun whatever the situation. He's selfless and always helps, but sometimes makes things worse. Itsuka is another great character. We don't know much about her and don't see much from her perspective, but she gets amazing character development from a stern child to someone who learns to appreciate what you have. The relationship between Nagomu and Itsuka (while not pulling off an Usagi Drop) was very wholesome and provided a lot of growth throughout the series.
The side characters were all great, as each had its own arc and problems to overcome. There are so many, so I'll list the important ones. Kanoko is the most important side character in my opinion, as she is Nagomu's ex and provided a combination of character development and relationship growth while showing Nagomu's past. Mitsuru wasn't as important but gave tons of moments when showing her crush/admiration for Nagomu. The love triangle between Kanoko and Mitsuru was priceless. At first, Nagomu's parents didn't seem to be happy with their son, as he left them to pursue his dream. However, near the end, we can see they accepted him and stopped being a total jerk to him. Many other characters like Saki didn't play a crucial role but were fleshed out and weren't one-dimensional. Some characters showed up for only about half an episode and rarely showed up again, like Koume and Naruto, who were somehow pretty well written and showed some building around Ryokushou's area.
There was a particular character I had mixed feelings about, and that was Itsuka's father. I feel like his motivations weren't explained and he was too mysterious for us to know more and sympathize with. We got many interesting flashbacks and twists revolving around him, but we never saw a part where he explains his goals. He disappeared out of nowhere and didn't explain what happened. Giving his child away was a pretty dick move too because he could've possibly found Itsuka's mother or taken responsibility for Itsuka. However, I can see he was a well-thought-out character and if we ever get a continuation, I hope we can see his motivations and potential redemption.

I enjoyed this anime a lot, it provided growth and development, a great story and characters, some wholesome, depressing, or hilarious moments, a beautiful art style and sound, and overall well-written. I look forward to any possible future installments to this amazing, heartfelt, softening anime!