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This is an interesting one for me.

Let me just say right out of the gate, in all ways technical this movie is a masterpiece. The animation is incredible the voice acting is strong and the music brings it all together....however...You have to note that this movie is basically for Fujimoto, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's similar to Boy and The Heron that way. We are not the audience. It's a form of expression, it's Tatsuki Fujimoto laid bare on the screen.

From a story standpoint, there isn't much to talk about, it's fun, but generic and held together by beats that are engineered ... to make you sad but hold little value otherwise. There is depth for sure, but with its short runtime, it felt more like I was watching a technical demonstration than a movie.

Okay...

I think this is the best way I can phrase this. If this movie was made by the studio Project No.9 (famously mediocre animation) then I think I would be much more harsh about it. That's not to say it's carried by animation, more accurately it's carried by passion. The passion in every aspect of this movie is so present, so in that regard, the end result is a gift more than it is a movie.

And I can't hate this gift. I don't even like Chainsaw Man all that much, so I don't have the Fujimotot bias, but the passion this movie radiates is infectious so I can't help but love it for that.

Makeine is a testament to good directing, the visuals are constantly interesting and colorful, and the voice acting is unique and makes you love the characters even more. The directing of every facet of this anime is expertly done and that doesn’t go unnoticed.

Also, unlike a lot of other shounen romcoms (ahem, Roshidere) it’s not a fantasy with some genius MC who gets all the girls. Nukumizu is very awkward, and he makes plenty of mistakes. But with each mistake he learns and gains the respect of those around him. When he steps over the line he gets chewed out, and that’s something that a ... lot of romcoms fail to do. A main character that can do no wrong isn’t interesting and Makeine realizes this.

Finally, another thing I really love is that the characters actually seem like friends! It’s a detail that is so often neglected, but all of the main female characters seem like legitimate friends and they are believable as such. It makes rooting for all of them much easier, and the watching experience much more enjoyable.

So, is Makeine perfect? No. But, if you’re looking for a fun romcom that is both engaging and consistent I can’t recommend it enough.

I’ve never seen a great anime lose my trust faster than Golden Time did about halfway through. I won’t spoil it but I’ll say that a grounded romance drama can’t just suddenly have weird supernatural undertones just to add tension. The show is good for the most part, the writing is solid and the characters are interesting, but boy do they fumble in the later half. It’s not completely terrible, I don’t hate this show because of where it went, but I would have loved to see it go in a different direction.

The animation isn’t anything special, but it’s never distracting so I can’t ... really complain. The voice acting is pretty good too and it is funny at times which is hard to accomplish in anime. So in conclusion it’s not bad, it’s good even, but it could have been so much better.

I’m really not sure why this movie pisses me off so much but it really does. It’s simple but nonsensical and completely meaningless and not at all impactful. The animation is stellar but my compliments stop there. It’s not even offensively bad it’s just so painfully nothing. It didn’t beat me up and take my lunch money it just sat in the corner of my room menacingly for 90 minutes. I can think of so many better uses of 90 minutes…actually I don’t think I can think of worse ways to spend 90 minutes. This movie makes me unreasonably upset.

Let me start by saying I am not a big fan of Shounen Action Anime to begin with. I don’t have much interest in seeing those long running 100+ episodes shows so back when there was only one season I gave this a shot. I get it, I get why people like it, but in my opinion it’s just painfully repetitive and uninteresting. Ufotable does an incredible job I will never deny that, but as far as the story goes I was far from engaged.

The characters are probably one of the weakest aspects, Tanjiro is cool and all but the other two are just obnoxious. ... The demons are somewhat interesting but they all have the same sob story flashbacks attached to them to try and force me to care about someone who is only on screen for five minutes.

“It gets better in the newer seasons”
Maybe, but if an anime couldn’t hook me in a 26 episode season than I’m inclined to believe it’s just not gonna be the type of good that I want. Also Nezuko is 12 stop being creeps everyone.

This movie spoils you even when it doesn’t seem able to afford to. I never want to be that guy who complains about cgi in anime, most of the times I think these claims are pretty unfounded and I understand the necessity in cutting corners here and there, but this is a little different. Blue Giant will give you chills, it’s music will take you on a journey and some dynamic colorful visual will make you forget about everything else for a moment, but then it cuts to some passable cgi characters that seem uncanny. Maybe KyoAni’s Sound! Euphonium has spoiled me in this area, ... but I truly think a version of this movie without cgi could have elevated this to the next level. Alas I know enough about the industry to know that the hard working animators probably wanted that too.

Overall it’s a great movie with fun characters and a simple but engaging plot. Don’t let the visuals stop you from watching this, because there is a lot to offer here, even within the visuals some scenes are truly breathtaking.

Look, I don't care for Isekai and generic fantasy settings. I was never really into that sort of thing, but Dungeon Meshi is something else entirely. Instead of using a generic setting to jumpstart an interesting plot Dungeon Meshi flips that on its head and says: "What if we make a simple slice-of-life show with the most complex and thought-out ecosystem and world you've ever seen"...and well, it does just that.

Even the ideas that start as familiar quickly turn on their head and reveal something entirely new and unique. Every monster is crafted with such care it's legitimately insane. And while I said the plot ... was simple, this really only applies to the first half of the show. I won't give anything away but after 12 episodes this show takes its carefully crafted world and uses every facet of it to provide an experience so unique that is simply incredible. If you have any interest in this show give it at least 4 episodes and I promise you'll want to keep going. By episode 12 you'll realize what makes this show so incredible.

90% of the characters in this show are assholes...if you can't handle a show that actively punches you in the gut every episode maybe look somewhere else. Welcome To The N.H.K. shows true characters, flaws and all, so brilliantly. I will be the first to admit it is a painful watch at times, but it is so worth it if you are looking for raw human emotions. It's a story of hating oneself and learning to love oneself. Above all else this show is depressing, but I cannot stress enough how important it is. Sato is an incredibly written protagonist, but if you were to ... ask me I'd probably say I don't even like him. This makes for a very unique show where you watch him spiral into conflict after conflict beating himself down hoping he comes out of it alright.

I don't think I'm selling this very well, but if you want to experience love, loss, pain, and loneliness in its most concentrated form please give this masterpiece a watch. You will be hurt but you will gain so much more in return.

Frieren is a show that I can only describe as handcrafted for me on every level. I know that’s not how this works, but I can think of few anime that check as many boxes as this one. I didn’t realize I had a preference for how I like animation, fight animation specifically, to look at, but I have now realized I do. The fluid animation is endlessly impressive, and it sets itself apart from any other anime I’ve seen. Frieren has some of the most lovable characters I’ve ever seen, and the fact that it is so calm and character-heavy is just amazing to ... see. Even the openings feel tailored to me by picking both Yoasobi, and (more importantly my favorite band) Yorushika.

I could go on and on, but I’ll just leave it at this. This series is incredible, it’s slow and important and it doesn’t treat the audience like idiots. It’s so intelligent and whether nothing was happening or some of the coolest-looking fights I’ve ever seen were happening, I was smiling all the way.

It’s been a while since I’ve been this conflicted about a show. Parts of it were genuinely some of the most interesting and well-written anime I’ve watched. Other parts, not as much. Most of my complaints come from this show’s problematic age gaps. Sugawara and the director’s relationship is just creepy, not in a way that’s interesting and makes you feel bad for the character, it’s just creepy and hard to watch. It’s creepy and blatant pedophillia. Thankfully the show is at least aware of this, but whenever he was on screen It just reminded me of the parts of this show that are hard ... to ignore. While at least that relationship is called out as creepy Hongo and Milo’s relationship isn’t questioned the same way, but I’d argue it’s just as creepy if not more. The teacher doesn’t care for Hongo in this way, as evident from the fact that he gets married to another teacher at the end of the show, but he still suggests terrible things for her to do to win him over for no real discernible reason. Telling a student to flash you because it’s less problematic than dating is incredibly messed up, especially if you have no intention of ever dating in the first place. While it’s just as creepy as Sugawara’s relationship Hongo is either 17 or 18 so it isn’t as against the law, although I would have still greatly preferred if it wasn’t handled how it was.

Momoko’s aspect of the story is a bit harder to judge. I think seeing her find out her love is interesting and well done, but once she establishes her feelings she changes her whole character and becomes wholly unreasonable. I get that that’s realistic in a sense, but it came off like Okada didn’t know what to do with her character and then just switched her up to cause conflict.
I’m most torn on the last two episodes, part of me thinks it’s stupid, but it almost works… I just think a lot of what happens is almost irredeemable, but they haphazardly forced a world where they somehow moved on. As things stand Izumi admits that he is sexually attracted to someone other than his girlfriend, which realistically isn’t uncommon, but saying that to both Kazusa and Sugawara is just incredibly cruel. Poor Momoko is in love with Sugawara who actively tried to ruin her best friend’s relationship and as far as the anime goes it doesn’t imply that Sugawara is gay even slightly. Meanwhile, Sonezaki and Amagi are just happy, and I’m happy for them, but it just feels weird that only two people came out unscathed. I don’t think these things are completely beyond repair, but it will take a lot more than one night for everyone to truly get over it and become friends, but this ending just skips that and says “It’s all good now.”

This review has been mostly bad things, but as far as the good goes there’s a lot of that too. It’s pretty rare for an anime to deal with an openly gay character, and for what it's worth Momoko’s journey and finding out she isn’t into boys was really interesting, until the final episodes, but I digress. Sonezaki and Amagi are just pure and wholesome all the way through, and I enjoyed every minute of them. For the most part, Kazusa and Izumi’s relationship is very sweet, and their confession is well done as well. This show was funny quite a lot, especially more towards the front half of the show, but still.

Overall, I think this show fails the most when it comes to Sugawara and how she interacts both with the director and Izumi. I get wanting to build drama, but I have little to no sympathy for her, a good love triangle leaves you thinking “It’s a little sad that those two couldn’t end up together but I’m happy for the couple that did happen.” Nearly every action Sugawara made regarding Izumi just upset me. I’m all for love triangles, but when you’ve seen so many romance anime you can tell which love triangles are well done and which aren’t.

In conclusion, I think there is a lot to enjoy from this anime, and it makes for an experience very unique from any other show I’ve watched. That said its flaws are a little hard to overlook, and I think it could have dialed back the drama, just a touch.