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Calling 'Summer 2024' a "rare" season for anime might be an understatement. The overwhelming number of romance-centric shows made it truly exceptional. Two of these new romance shows even overshadowed the well-established popularity of "Oshi no Ko" to some extent. One of them was "Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian."

So, where does this show stand compared to classic rom-coms? Does it have enough substance to be a top recommendation? Or is it just another generic romance that tries to do everything but fails to deliver convincingly?

Art and Animation (8.5/10):

Let's begin with the animation and art style, areas that likely won't significantly alter public opinion. ... While the art style and character design were great, Alya, in particular, stands out as one of the most visually appealing waifus of 2024. Her striking appearance is crucial for two reasons: first, as the titular character and primary heroine, her design sets the tone for the show. And......I will talk about the second reason a bit later.

The other characters also looked fine, closely resembling their light novel counterparts. The studio did an admirable job in this respect.
The animation quality was above average for a romantic comedy anime. The twelve distinct ending songs, each with its unique visuals, were a noteworthy feature. Although mostly static, they required more effort than a single ending sequence.

Plot(6.5/10):

Let's be real. "Roshidere" fails to distinguish itself from the sea of generic romantic comedies. The narrative lacks depth, failing to deliver a truly original story or effectively utilize the intriguing setting it presents. Roshidere is a tale of missed opportunities, filled with countless "could have beens" and "should have beens."


Despite the elements at the author's disposal, the transition from light-hearted to serious moments felt forced. The comedic moments, especially those featuring Yuki, were good. But not all of them worked for me. For example, the hypnotism scene felt weirdly out of place. It was clearly fan service, but it didn't justify how abrupt it was considering the previous serious conversation between Nonoa and Masachika.

The serious elements were done pretty well, but the characters' buildup and motivation still felt lacking. It's probably largely due to the anime's failure to place scenes and incidents in an order that would intensify the main focus: the student council election, not the comedy or the relationships. In its 12-episode run, 'Roshidere' used tropes that have been used many times before. So there's barely anything unique about it, except for Alya's occasional Russian sentences.

Does that mean the plot of 'Roshidere' is bad? No, but it does mean you shouldn't expect anything deep from this show's first season at least. Whether it be complex issues, intense drama regarding relationships, or chaos-creating comedy, this show tries to have a piece of all those but fails to achieve a balance. In short, 'Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian' so far gives off the vibe of an average rom-com."


Characters(6/10):


I won't be talking about the side characters who barely had any focus put on them in the anime. For example, Ayano, Masha, Taniyama- they had their moments but not enough to be critiqued or praised for their character depth, background, and archetypes.

So, it all comes down to three characters: Alya, Masachika, and last but not least, Yuki.

Yuki: If you ask me what character I enjoyed most watching this season, I'd probably say her name. So, what makes her character funny and likable at the same time? First of all, she's an otaku, secondly she breaks the fourth wall, thirdly she's sadistic, and fourthly she works as a wingman sometimes. If I list these reasons separately like this, it won't really do justice to Yuki's character. She was fun to watch precisely because whenever she got the chance, she did something that we least expect from a little sister character. She had that surprise in store for the audience. And since I'm trying to avoid giving out spoilers, I won't be talking about her family issues.

Masachika: I'm on the fence about his character. While his interactions with Alya are refreshing and he's not the stereotypical clueless rom-com lead, I find the constant reminders of his child prodigy status a bit overdone. It's like a magic trick that loses its luster once you know the secret. The 'child prodigy to laid-back high-schooler' transformation feels like a gimmick that's been overplayed.

Alya: Speaking of gimmicks, Alya's occasional use of Russian as a language barrier is an intriguing tactic, though not quite as impactful as the hour-long looped video released by 'Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan'(That was a marketing masterstroke in my opinion). While her occasional Russian dialogue doesn't significantly alter the story, it's a shared responsibility between her, Masachika, and the author. The author's decision to have Masachika pretend not to understand Russian adds a layer of complexity that could have been explored further.

As for Alya as the main heroine, she's fallen short of expectations. Her character seems primarily driven by her physical appearance, with limited development beyond the typical tsundere trope. While her final speech was a step in the right direction, it doesn't fully compensate for missed opportunities for independent growth. Her reliance on her looks can be seen as a way to compensate for her lack of assertiveness and social skills, which are crucial for a student council candidate. Her interactions with Masachika mirror a typical tsundere relationship. Whether you find her behavior endearing depends on your personal preference for the archetype. Personally, I'm not a fan of tsundere characters, so I don't have strong feelings about her bashful or jealous tendencies, but I do find her lack of directness somewhat frustrating.


Audio and Soundtracks (7.5/10):

I'm not a Russian speaker, so I can't comment on Alya's accent. And since she barely spoke Russian, it's not a major concern. That said, Sumire Uesaka is a talented voice actress, and the overall voice acting was satisfactory.

The opening song was great. However, I have mixed feelings about using 12 separate ending songs. It limits their memorability compared to having a single ending song or one for each female character, like "Monogatari" . Regardless, the Haruhi ending was a highlight, motivating me to rewatch the series.


Overall(7/10):

While 'Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian' isn't entirely groundbreaking, it offers its share of strengths. However, these are often overshadowed by the weaker aspects of its first season. With the announcement of season 2, I'm hopeful for significant improvements in the storyline and character development. There's still plenty of room to explore family dynamics and Masha's past relationship with Masachika. I'm eagerly anticipating the release of the second season.

As for whether or not I recommend this anime, it depends on your preferences. If you're a fan of the genre, I think you'll enjoy it. However, if you're not particularly into rom-coms and are looking for the best introduction to the genre, I'd recommend "Love is War" instead.

Thank you for reading. (If you read the whole thing) :)

'Making a rom-com anime is simple, but making a simple rom-com anime is the hardest thing there is.' - Otaku Cruyff........

Though that was a playful twist on Johan Cruyff's wisdom, it encapsulates what I loved most about 'Astro Note'. That is its simplicity. This anime's charm lies in its straightforwardness, mirrored in every character it portrays. 'Astro Note' is a must-watch, especially if you're nostalgic for the 90s or simply a rom-com enthusiast.

Plot (7/10):

The core of 'Astro Note's' plot is reminiscent of many classic anime, employing the familiar 'living under the same roof' trope. In this regard, 'Maison Ikkoku' notably comes to mind. The young, ... beautiful female lead who is a 'Mibo-jin,' the presence of a pet dog—these similarities can't be mere coincidences. Yet, despite these parallels, 'Astro Note' carves out its own unique identity, steering clear of being a mere 'Maison Ikkoku' clone.

The characters are compelling, and the situations they navigate are engaging. This rom-com doesn't just spotlight the main couple but delves into the lives of the side characters as well. Such depth is rare these days, given the constraints of a typical 12-episode season, which often struggles to develop multiple relationships fully while giving minor characters their due. 'Astro Note' faces some challenges because of this approach, but it also gains significantly by making its world feel more real and its characters more relatable. On the other hand, the sci-fi elements in this anime don't play a significant role in the storyline for most of the show. In conclusion, 'Astro Note' is primarily a comedy anime with some romance and a touch of slice-of-life.

Characters(7/10):

Like many other anime series featuring a group of people sharing a house, 'Astro Note' has a cast of eccentric characters. There's a jobless adult who always stays in his suit-and-tie attire, a boy who wants to crossdress, a small old man, an unsuccessful and depressed idol, a professional chef who just lost his job, and a couple of actual aliens. Each character receives roughly the same amount of screen time. Perhaps Aoi-chan, whose situation adds complexity to the main couple's relationship dynamics, gets a bit more focus towards the end.

Each character's story feels genuinely believable, and the creators handle some complex topics quite nicely. However, amid all these stories, the development of the main couple feels neglected. Their relationship receives much less focus than it deserves, making the eventual romance feel rushed and underwhelming.

In addition to the main cast, there are other characters, some of whom impact the story significantly, while others do not. The old hag, for instance, is primarily there to add humor. Unfortunately, not every joke delivered through her character lands well, and her antics become tiresome over time.

Animation (7.5/10):

As this is an original anime, there's no reference point for comparison. However, the art style, while unconventional, was neither bad nor strange. It was acceptable. I appreciated the character designs, and the studio consistently maintained the same quality throughout the anime's runtime.

Audio and Soundtracks (7/10):

Though perhaps one of the least popular shows of the season, this anime featured experienced and prominent voice actors, resulting in solid voice acting. The opening and ending songs were decent-not the best or particularly catchy, but they weren't bad either. The effort put into the visuals of the opening sequence was evident and paid off well.


Overall (7.2/10):

While I can't say 'Astro Note' is particularly unique or jaw-dropping in any aspect, it achieves what it intends to: keeping the story relatively simple and laid-back while focusing on the humor of the show. It does a good job in that regard. 'Astro Note,' as a comedy and slice-of-life anime, is a really good watch. However, if you are specifically looking for a sci-fi or romance anime, you might not enjoy it as much. In the end, 'Astro Note' manages to wrap up things quite nicely, making it an anime worth calling 'underrated' (it's rated 6.57 at the time of writing this).

Option 1: Drawing a '10-year-old female protagonist' and giving her a 'Thinner waist and wider hips than supermodels, add massively thick thighs.'

Option 2: Drawing a '10-year-old male protagonist' and giving him a 'Thinner waist and wider hips than supermodels, add massively thick thighs.'

So, which one sounds normal? The answer should be quite clear: none of them.

This spring season is stacked with promising starts to multiple new shounen animes, the return of three most popular isekai shows, and remakes of 'Spice and Wolf' and 'Bartender,' which have had smooth starts so far. Amidst this flurry of activity, how can an anime stand out? Well, making a ... shota protagonist with bizarre body proportions is probably the last thing that comes to mind when searching for an answer to that question. Yet, here we are...

Plot (6/10):

One of the most intriguing aspects of this show is that it isn't an isekai; it's simply based on the theme of reincarnation. The protagonist dies and reincarnates in the same world, and as the title suggests, he reincarnates as the 7th prince. Our protagonist is depicted as somewhat insane when it comes to anything related to magic, and he is exceptionally powerful on top of that. He can defeat pretty much anyone he faces without a hitch, and maids love him; almost any female character he encounters falls for him (or I should rather say that they get obsessed with him). That is essentially how the story unfolds.

I have to rate the 'Art' and 'Animation' separately for this anime, and there is a clear reason behind why I am doing that.

Animation (8/10):

This anime has numerous action scenes, all executed with precision. Fight sequences are captivating, and the visual effects have been impressive thus far. So, the animation is definitely up to par, considering this is not one of those 'popular' series with a relatively much bigger budget that everyone eagerly anticipates. It easily surpasses a handful of new fantasy shows airing this spring in terms of production quality.

Art (3/10):

Let's revisit the beginning of this review. As I mentioned earlier, none of those two options seem right to me.

So, one might ask, 'Tomboys and Femboys have been a part of anime for a long time, so what's the problem?'

I will discuss the 'Femboy' part later, but before that, I deliberately quoted the '10-year-old male/female protagonist' part for a reason. That also raises two subjects to discuss: First one - '10-year-old' and Second one - 'male/female protagonist.'

Regarding the '10-year-old' part, I have actually seen quite a lot of anime characters of that age or even younger with body proportions that do not match reality. So, Lloyd having a character design that definitely doesn't fit in the 'normal' category shouldn't have bothered me. But that is where that 'protagonist' factor comes into discussion. 'Have I witnessed a 10-year-old male protagonist with this type of character design in the past?' 'No, I haven't.'

The story of this anime mainly revolves around Lloyd, and he gets the majority of the screen time. So, there isn't any 'Turn your Brain off and Ignore' option here. You have to consistently watch a 10-year-old 'boy' with a very weird character design moving around for 20 minutes straight. The production staff didn't even attempt to tone it down. Lloyd's movement, his postures, expressions - they ensured none of them had any 'male' characteristics in them. So why this intentional move? There could be multiple reasons. But if the primary reason behind creating this type of character design is to attract a very niche type of audience or generate publicity by becoming a hot topic of discussion in forums and social media, then they have succeeded remarkably.

As for the 'femboy' or trap part and why they shouldn't become a more frequent type as far as the protagonist's character design is concerned, let's focus on an example: Imagine Totsuka (one of the most popular traps), maintaining his character design and equipped with Hachiman's personality involved in a love triangle with two beautiful girls and think if you could possibly tolerate the whole three seasons of 'Oregairu' that way..... I pretty much doubt that.

Music and Audio (6.5/10):

Lloyd is voiced by a female VA, and that's not an issue at all. In fact, a ten-year-old boy definitely shouldn't sound like a man. So there's not much to discuss about the voice acting. Others did a fine job as well.

Both the opening and ending songs were average. They neither sounded extraordinary nor had anything special in the visuals, in my opinion. And apparently, the ending song is about unrequited love!!

Overall (5/10):

Could a change in character design possibly make this show great? Ummm... It's still a 'No' for me. But it could be better than those run-of-the-mill fantasy shows that we get every season and end up watching them anyway. Even if it weren't for the awkward character design, there are still much better and interesting shows airing this season. So I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone who watches a limited number of anime per season.

So.....before we move on to the season of ‘Big Isekais’, Winter 2024 quietly delivered some decent shows within the same genre. Among them, ‘The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic’ is probably the one closest to being termed ‘Generic’. However, it handles certain aspects so well that the ‘Generic’ or ‘Clichéd’ elements become almost negligible. ‘The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic’ was unexpectedly a good watch.

Plot(7/10):

The first 20 minutes of this anime mostly contain the ‘clichéd stuff’. Multiple students get summoned in a hero summoning, and the protagonist receives the least powerful ability (Healing). Everything up to this point is what you would ... call a generic start to an isekai show. However, things begin to improve a bit after the introduction of Rose. But the show still follows the predictable pattern of the protagonist undergoing harsh training, facing near-death situations, and realizing his responsibility while helping others. In the climax of the show, we witness the protagonist overpowering opponents while his friends struggle to do the same. Everything I’ve described about the plot so far sounds extremely clichéd, and it is. Yet, somehow, I enjoyed all of it, and there are reasons behind that.
Side Note: If you’re not familiar with these tropes and this happens to be one of the first isekai shows you’re watching (which is quite unlikely), then you’re good to go. You’ll have absolutely no issues with this anime’s plot being generic.

Characters(8.5/10):

In “The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic,” one aspect stands out and redeems the show-the interactions involving the protagonist, Usato. These interactions significantly impact the overall viewing experience, making the show more memorable.

The portrayal of the relationship between Usato and Inukami senpai (Suzune) is particularly interesting. Initially, Usato holds nothing but admiration and respect for Suzune. However, when he discovers her true characteristics, the dynamics between them naturally shift. It’s a realistic response—learning more about someone can alter how we perceive them. What sets Suzune apart from typical heroines is her lack of clichéd behavior. Unlike characters who constantly blush, act tsundere, or pout when the dense main character misses something, Suzune remains consistent. She continues to act like she always did after the summoning incident. This authenticity adds depth to Usato and Suzune’s interactions, making them feel genuine and refreshing. This also allowed the author to add some jokes among their conversation which were mostly funny.

Although four characters are listed as ‘Main Characters’ in MAL, only one of them, besides Usato, receives priority in these 13 episodes. This becomes quite clear when we observe that two whole episodes are dedicated to showing the backstory of Rose, which is an emotional one. This backstory helps the audience understand her personality better and makes her character even more likable. The relationship between Usato and Rose exemplifies an ideal master-disciple dynamic. It follows the usual philosophy: “I don’t want him to die, so I will make him strong.” Overall, I still liked Rose’s character, and there is no strong reason to dislike the interactions between Usato and Rose.

While most of the other characters were likable and didn’t bother me, I found the princess’s character lacking. She had very little impact on the story, apart from being flirtatious toward Kazuki whenever she appeared on screen. Unfortunately, their relationship had practically zero progress.

And....Blurin was cute.


Animation and Audio(8/10):

There are both positive and negative aspects to discuss regarding the animation of “The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.” While it didn’t feature any particularly eye-soothing or breathtaking scenes, it consistently maintained an average quality throughout. However, a noticeable quality gap exists when comparing it to recently concluded shows like “Frieren.” But hey......we currently live in an era where even a series like “Classroom of the Elite” faces harsh criticism due to its low-quality production. Considering how popular the COTE Light Novel series is, the subpar adaptation of “The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” still managed to achieve passable animation. At least it doesn't have those awkward moments where you can take a screenshot and get an instant meme template.

On the positive side, the show features two well-animated insert songs. A special mention goes to the ending song, which beautifully depicts Suzune’s daily life before her summoning. That was a nice and creative touch.

As for the voice actors, they performed their roles admirably, leaving no room for complaints. Additionally, both the opening and ending songs hold their own. Personally, I liked the ending song better.

Overall(7.5/10):

'The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic’ demonstrates that having a generic story isn’t necessarily a drawback. When a show excels in other fundamental aspects, it can still provide a satisfying experience. Despite the predictable story pattern, the series manages to deliver a pleasant watch. With decent pacing, likable characters, and decent animation, it’s a great choice overall. I recommend it for isekai fans seeking ‘fun’ shows to add to their watchlist.

The title "Beyond Journey's End" does sound appealing, doesn't it? While I typically oppose altering the literal meaning of Japanese titles during translation, in this case, I make an exception. "Beyond Journey's End" more effectively conveys the essence of "Sousou no Frieren" manga/anime than "Frieren at the Funeral" does.

The title indeed suggests that the anime serves as an ‘After Story’ for a particular journey of Frieren, the story’s protagonist. It’s important to note that Frieren is an elf who does not age physically and possesses a unique perspective on time, relationships, and interactions, differing from humans. These two pivotal aspects form the foundation of the ... narrative, as we witness Frieren come to appreciate the value of the relationships forged during her travels and anticipate the journeys yet to come.


Plot(9/10):

As Frieren is several thousand years old, a significant portion of the story consists of flashbacks across various timelines. One timeline depicts her youth as a disciple of Flamme, while another showcases her time with the hero party. The narrative primarily unfolds in the present timeline. Throughout the anime, we witness Frieren reflecting on the past while assimilating her current experiences. It presents a form of redemption from a certain perspective. The central theme of this story is about ‘Living in the moment and not having regrets later.’ Each past encounter and memory with the hero party influences Frieren to cherish her present companions more deeply, as she harbors many regrets for not understanding the hero party members’ sense of time. Frieren, vastly older than the rest of the cast (excluding other elves), continues to learn—learning how to interact and empathize with humans whose lifespans are merely a fraction of her own. Setting aside all those travels, the final third of this anime focuses on the 'First Class Mage Exam' arc, which brims with action and introduces a substantial number of additional side characters. Each fight scene offers viewers insight to grasp the characters' depth and their underlying philosophies. Overall, ‘Frieren: Beyond the Journey’s End’ skillfully blends the central theme of the series with various elements such as the magic system, and the Demon-Human conflict.

Characters(9/10):

This anime features a large cast of characters. Not all of them play a significant role in advancing the plot, but that’s not a complaint though. It’s unreasonable to expect an anime to delve deeply into the background of every character introduced. However, the characters of Frieren and Fern had to be likable and well-written at the same time as they received more screen time and narrative focus. The author did more than a decent job in that regard. Watching the evolution of their relationship, enriched by mutual care, is particularly heartwarming. Additionally, there are numerous scenes that provide comic relief, each one is humorous and relaxing. Stark and Sein also have significant portions of their backstories explored. Their moments on screen never felt dull; Stark, in particular, had some 'Wow' factor in the scenes we see him facing opponents . The “First Class Mage Exam” arc introduces a bunch of new characters. Among them, Ubel and Serie stand out, capturing attention with their unique character traits. (Serie is actually a very important character of this arc)

Frieren’s former companions: Eisen, Heiter, and Himmel. They epitomize the ideal hero party members. Each one is portrayed as a ‘Good Guy,’ and rightfully so. Let’s focus on Himmel for the time being, as he is likely the primary reason we follow Frieren’s journey with Fern.

Hero Himmel is depicted as cheerful, brave, and humorous—a quintessential hero. He was a person who inspired others. His passing led Frieren to realize her errors in gauging time and in valuing relationships from her perspective rather than from the humans’ viewpoint, with whom she had spent a considerable amount of time (from their perspective). As mentioned earlier, it was Himmel’s influence that prompted Heiter to adopt Fern and care for her, as he believed Himmel would have done the same. This, in turn, led to Frieren assuming the responsibility of looking after Fern.

Animation and Visuals (10/10):

'Madhouse Cooked again!' that was my initial reaction while watching Frieren's first 4 episodes on the same day. The studio behind so many classics is still producing more of them. The manga already had good art and uniqueness in character design. So the production studio just had to do one thing and it was to not 'mess up' the adaptation. And they did that beautifully. Environment and atmosphere of 'Frieren: Beyond the Journey's End' anime turned out to be a lot brighter and colorful than my expectation and I loved it. The direction of the fights were top notch. They improvised in some of those and they never felt out of place. Whether it was Fern casting zoltraak like fireworks or Stark defeating a huge dragon, I enjoyed every fight sequence this anime has to offer. Kudos to the people working behind the scenes, specially the storyboard directors.


Audio and Soundtrack (9.5/10) :

I was actually surprised after seeing that they cast Atsumi Tanezaki to voice Frieren. (I always imagined Frieren having a more childish voice while reading the manga.) She did a fine job, actually. The rest of the cast also delivered commendable performances, leaving me with no complaints about the voice acting.

'Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ features three songs in its soundtrack. The first opening theme is ‘Yuusha’ by Yoasobi, followed by the second opening theme ‘Haru’ by Yorushika, and the series is rounded off with the ending theme ‘Anytime Anywhere’ by Milet. Each track is enjoyable in its own right, but ‘Anytime Anywhere’ stands out to me the most. It’s not only as catchy as the other two but also has lyrics that resonate deeply with the show’s themes.


Overall(9.5/10):

I am still quite surprised to see this anime garnering so much attention on the internet. It’s become one of those ‘Everywhere I go, I see her face’ moments for me. I had actually expected ‘Frieren’ to become one of the underappreciated, gatekept animes in the future, but that’s far from what actually happened. In fact, ‘Frieren’ is the most popular non-sequel release of 2023, along with ‘Oshi no Ko’ and 'Zom 100' . It also checks all the boxes to add itself to the list of all-time classics created by Madhouse.

‘Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ does almost everything right. It has a meaningful story, a protagonist whose journey feels exciting and emotional at the same time, just enough focus on the side characters, excellent animation and direction. Moreover, it blends all the genres involved extraordinarily well. That’s why you never feel anything is amiss when it shifts from the slice-of-life genre to the action genre in the last few episodes, or when observing some sort of romantic development in Fern and Stark’s relationship.

I will remember ‘Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ for a long time. The last time I was this eager to watch the next episode of an ongoing anime was when ‘Summertime Render’ was airing way back in 2022. Frieren indeed made my Fridays better. Therefore, this is an easy recommendation from me to anyone looking for a good, comforting anime. 'Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End’ is certainly one of the very best of its kind.

'Zom 100' is surely the most hyped and talked about non-sequel anime of this year. The first episode of this anime can probably hook anyone to give it a try. It was so damn good. But as soon as you start to pay attention to the characters and how they act, you should start noticing some major flaws of this anime, which might be the reason this falls into the 'This is not for everyone' territory.

Animation (8/10): I know that the plot is the first thing to discuss in a review generally. But all the hype around this show was mostly because of its animation. ... So let's talk about that first.
It was good. It was colorful and consistent throughout the entire 12 episodes. I never felt I had any problem with the excessive use of those vibrant colors. Although I noticed something interesting. The fact that Akira's face and expressions perfectly resemble Luffy. Hmmm... still it didn't bother me. Not that the other characters had any remarkable or unique character design to begin with. So I was fine with it as they looked good. Overall, you can't expect much better in the animation department than this from a new studio.

Plot (6/10): 'Zom 100' is not the first anime to have a setting where a bunch of people try to survive a chaotic situation where any normal human being would feel some sort of fear and sadness. Regardless of the individual, they will constantly be thinking about how to prolong their stay on this planet, even by a tiny margin. 'Highschool of the Dead' used this exact concept more than a decade ago. That anime showed the journey of a group of people trying to survive while also keeping their sanity and humanity intact. And that is the part where 'Zom 100' faces a major issue. We follow a set of characters who act inconsistently. Sometimes they act like normal people and sometimes they act like a bunch of drunk psychopaths you would find on the streets. They embark on an aimless journey. More about them in the 'characters' category.

Characters (5/10): Wouldn't you notice if the 'Good Guys' of a show can forget anyone's death just a few moments after their death and can celebrate getting a huge TV like they won the biggest lottery of their life? I personally think you should notice that. Akira and his nudist friend with a questionable personality are both equipped with very little common sense and empathy.Sometimes they crack some silly jokes which didn't hit the spot most of the time. I don't care how much one suffers handling their respective jobs, how painful it gets to keep your cool. Will you lose your human traits just because of the temporary freedom you get? (Of course, it is not temporary in their case as they survive every difficult situation just because they have plot armor, how on earth he jumps better than some Assassin's Creed characters btw?) Akira, his nudist friend, Shizuka and Beatrix continue their journey which has very few things to discuss. I think anyone will be able to tell that there is not much personality in any of the characters. So you get to see Beatrix, she is there for the sole purpose of giving us some fan-service with an added 'Samurai Woman' gimmick which makes her character even less enjoyable to watch. And in Shizuka's case, she also starts acting like Akira and his nudist friend upon meeting them. The reason: 'Happiness, freedom blah blah blah....' To sum up, you will find a bunch of idiotic characters wandering around prioritizing their desires over their survival. I know the author maybe tried taking a less serious approach while writing this. But zombie apocalypse and light hearted comedy about some people chilling and saying some idealistic things once in a while just don't go well together.

Audio (8/10): As always, there is little to complain about the voice acting, it was good. The opening and ending songs were also good. The visuals of those songs were even better.

Overall (7/10): At the end of the day, I can't deny the fact that I enjoyed watching this show(Specially first three episodes). That is the reason you are seeing that rating. Though this show suffers from lack of good writing and likable characters, most of the people will still find it enjoyable. These shows might have a higher 'entertainment value' than most, but lack some basic things that make a show memorable. I still won't recommend it to someone who looks beyond a show's 'entertainment value' and searches for a zombie survival show that handles the situations seriously and has an actual plot.

**I forgot to mention anything about the last three episodes being delayed earlier. That really wasn't any good news for this anime either. The hype has already died out and I had to rewatch all the episodes partially while writing this review (Not watching the recap was intentional btw)

This is not the first time I have added a random manhwa to my reading list and it ended up exceeding my expectations. (I should check out some more, I guess.) ‘Webtoon Character Na Kang Lim’ is enjoyable for the most part, even more so if you do not mind reading a near-identical execution of the ‘Re:Zero’ formula.

Plot(7/10): As the synopsis suggests, the protagonist here finds himself solving the problems of webtoon waifus as he is the only one who knows the upcoming events of their lives. And he loops every time he fails to do so. This is where it gets a bit more ... intriguing. He does not need to die to repeat the events, it just automatically happens after every failed attempt. I mean, he dies, the heroines also die at times, but death is not the trigger for looping. And unlike Subaru, he always knows the events beforehand and can prepare for them in most cases, whereas Subaru has to die every time to get a better understanding of the situation. The situation and events get altered because of him not being the protagonist and doing things differently than the original webtoon.

Characters(7/10): Na Kang Lim is the protagonist of the story who does everything that a harem protagonist usually does. He solves the problems of the female characters and gives them emotional support, and in the process, everyone starts to fall for him. As clichéd as it can be. He is dense and cannot catch any hints from the heroines until one of them says it out loud. He does not get much character development throughout the course of the 100+ chapters I have read so far. The female characters are also the typical types. The author has given them just enough personality and backstory to make their respective story arcs engaging.

Art(7/10): Though the art lacks originality, which always gives an extra point, it was decent. I cannot say they were totally consistent, but nothing felt wrong with the slight adjustments they made in the later chapters. The characters look nice, and that is what matters the most.

Enjoyment(8/10): The reason I am writing this review is probably that I enjoyed this manhwa a lot more than I thought I would. It has a nice balance of comedy and drama. There are some genuinely funny jokes and references that can make you laugh. The pacing of the story felt right, the characters are not as dull as I thought. Overall, a solid use of the time-loop formula.

If you are tired of Japanese harem mangas and looking for something slightly different than usual, this might be the manhwa you should read. This is pretty good, considering how it handled the whole time-loop concept. And cute waifus are just a bonus on top of that.

Update:

In addition to all the good things I’ve already mentioned about this manhwa, it had a fantastic final arc and a satisfying ending. I'm giving it a 9 now. A must-read if you're into harem-comedy, and it should easily surpass your expectations.

So... if you are reading this review at this moment, there is a big chance that you have not watched this anime yet and are probably thinking of giving it a try after reading the synopsis or maybe after seeing the cast of voice actors or maybe you are just curious to see Ruka-chan's isekai gaming journey. For whatever reason you had thought of watching this 'Video Game' anime, just drop it.

Ok, so I am going to talk about the eSports aspect of the show first. I am guessing that most of the gamers from the last decade (casuals included) have at least heard of ... Valorant and Counter Strike. The characters of this show play some sort of rip-off version of those two games which somehow looks way worse than the games of the PS3 era. I don't get why some of these anime are having serious issues with the CGs. Yeah, they are horrible in this one too. But bad CGs weren't the only issues. This anime has these pro eSports squads taking on each other who do not behave like actual pro gamers at all. At least I have not seen a functional gaming group acting like that. More on the characters later. You just have to know that they weren't even close to creating a realistic rip-off and a set of realistic characters who would give the intense vibe these games give in real life. They were off by a lot.

Plot (3/10): Shun, a guy who has a ton of family issues, starts gaming for the second time. He has a gaming cafe where they flirt, eat, sleep, etc. He, along with his group which consists of a pedophile, a childhood friend, an isekai-d Ruka-chan and a random fat gamer. (Yeah, I am not using their names because I forgot most of them). Anyways, the way this show progresses is really messy. The whole 'Sister being mentally weak' thing makes little sense. The events of this show were hard to follow, sometimes random and sometimes unnecessary. They tried to give the main two characters some common complex scenarios to deal with which is fine but they failed miserably while doing that. And this show apparently has some romance in it. This statement is maybe partially a lie. This seems like two timid girls chasing after one oblivious guy who probably has no intention of dating either of them as this dude's only concern is his sister's illness. And they didn't even resolve that whole love triangle problem. Everyone seemed fine at the end. I forgot to mention earlier about the cringy antagonist who drinks curry every time he is on screen. Thank God he does that. Otherwise I would have forgotten his existence entirely. Other side characters were also bland and had no involvement in the story whatsoever. Overall, if you put every half-baked idea in an anime together it would be something like Protocol:Rain probably. Or it might be even better.

Animation (2/10): I have spoken about the horrendous CGs earlier. Now I am going to talk about another matter which bothered me for at least a couple of episodes. The fact that they used a character (Yuu) who is almost identical to a character (Ruka Sarashina) from a totally different show just surprised me. You take off the ribbon from Ruka's hair and that's pretty much it. We have been talking about those Kirito rip-offs all these years but none of them were as close to the original as this character is. So, it lacks originality in character designs as well which adds to the failures this anime already suffers from.

Audio (6/10): This anime had great voice actors working in it. All of them did their job just fine. The OP and EDs were average. Still not as bad as the other departments though.

Overall (4/10): I generally do not give any anime below 5 ratings unless I am extremely annoyed. This show as a whole had nothing to offer the fans of any genre at all. It had terrible visuals, a non-existent plot, useless family drama, pointless love triangle and on top of that, it made a mockery of the 'eSports' concept while not even aiming for it which summarizes how bad this anime is. It will be some sort of miracle if it gets a second season to solve those drama issues they left undecided. As of now , this is a strong contender for the worst anime of fall 23 along with 'A Girl and her Guard Dog'.

"Don’t watch this."

When ‘Kanojo mo Kanojo’ aired two years ago, I saw two types of reviews . Some of the watchers were praising it for its new type of approach to a harem comedy , on the other end some of them took this show so seriously that they complained about how over the top it was or how every character of this anime acted out of ordinary. I liked the first season a lot . Not only for its unique premise but also how it made me laugh every episode. So, I am one of those who liked this ‘trash’ back then and now feeling ... glad that it has got a second season.

So, this season will probably cover Shino’s arc from the manga. This is one of the best arcs to cover as Shino has always been fan favourite among manga readers. The comedy of this show still is top-notch and fan service is there from episode one as well. The major difference is how Shino gets herself involved and manages to add herself in the harem as well and some drama regarding Mirika's issue. All the characters are still ridiculous and do not act normal at all.This show is still a good watch if you can accept the fact that this is a work of fiction and there is no chance of these events happening in real life. There are plenty of scenes in this to make you laugh.

I noticed that the production studio has changed for this anime. That is possibly the reason behind the slight change of color tone which looks nice. Having some of the most prominent VAs means nothing to complain about voice acting either. Their voices matched the characters really well. The opening was catchy enough to make me listen on two occasions out of three episodes I have watched so far. ( I usually skip openings in most cases)

Harem animes have come a long way. At some point of 2010s every harem anime started to have a fixed story with some commonly used characters. Add some cliché fantasy school setting to that, and that is how we got harem animes that were so predictable that watching two or three episodes were more than enough to tell the rest of the story. But 2020s have brought a lot of changes to that trend so far and that’s the reason we are seeing ‘Bokuben’, ‘Kanojo mo Kanojo’ and ‘100 girlfriends’ getting anime adaptations. If you like questioning fictional characters of a harem/comedy on how they could be more realistic, stay away from this. And if you are one of those people who had mixed feelings about it and can’t decide whether to give it a try or not, then do not watch it. This anime is a good watch only for those who had absolutely no problem with how the story progressed in the first season and this is still a good recommendation for them.

‘Yuzuki-San Chi No Yon Kyoudai’ is the easiest anime recommendation this season in my opinion. Not many shows tend to tell us what this anime does . Four brothers facing the aftermaths of their parents’ death and adjusting to the new roles they have to take – surely is not a common scenario in animes. It is just surprising to see how realistic the characters and the situations are in this anime. A great example of slice of life done right way.

As I said before, nothing flashy going on here . Yet it manages to make us connect to the characters and the the ... changes they have to go through due to the tragic death of their parents. I liked how two elder brothers were able to make themselves more reliable for the sake of their brothers. Hayato and Mikoto are somewhat similar in this manner . Minato is also a character that people can relate to. That childish and cheerful behavior makes him look like a spoiled brat but in a family of four siblings everybody will not be the same.And Gakuto is just a cute kid as well the unluckiest one among four siblings as he was barely able to get his father's and mother's warmth.So far, the side characters didn’t appear that much. But they are also well written have their own part to play. (I checked the manga). Overall the story is truly heartwarming and it manages portray all the interactions between the brothers of a family nicely while keeping them as realistic as they can be.


The animation is okay for it’s genre. Voice acting is also good as there is little to complain about Japanese VAs. And I liked the opening song and its visuals as well.

Slice of life is probably the most underrated genre due to the fact that majority of the audience prefer fast paced action focused animes over slice of life shows which are quite slow paced in general. So this is one of those animes which will probably get that 'Underrated' or maybe 'Hidden Gem' tag later on. . As this season (Fall 2023) is not really packed with a lot of slice of life animes. So it is obvious to recommend ‘Yuzuki san-chi no yonkyoudai’ to anyone who is searching for a good, unique slice of life show to watch.