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Here's an odd take but probably not a unique one. I think quite a few will be feeling the same way. Re-Main is a sports anime that would have benefitted greatly by not being a sports anime. An anime torn between being a character driven type drama and a sports anime, failing to deliver on both and ending up to be average in all areas. I can't give it a low score as the anime was not bad. But there was a lot of potential left unfulfilled. It's middle of the road 5/10, there is better out there, and I would only recommend if you ... are really bored. Continue reading for some light spoilers and more in detail explanation.

As a sports anime, Re-Main leaves a lot to be desired. I came away from watching feeling I know very little about Water polo. The anime itself featured very little as most episodes focused more on the characters. Even episodes that did feature water polo still focused on the characters and how they were feeling during the game. It's worrying when you're watching the final episode and there are still people narrating the rules of the game to themselves to keep the audience up to date with info. Meaning the first 11 episodes have not done enough to educate the audience on exactly on what's happening. This detracts from enjoyment in a sense, as when you do not know what is happening, you do not know what to feel.

The character front, the main focus on this anime, it's also surprisingly weak. The only character given any real depth is the MC, Minato. After having a date with Truck-kun, he loses a span of time and years worth of memory. The anime follows his growth of learning about who he was as a person, people's perception of the "new" Minato, as well as when his memories return and how he copes with this and his "new" life. I actually really like this idea. There's a lot that can be done with this, interactions with characters can change quickly given knowledge of characters, previous experiences etc and this did happen to small extent. If the anime focused more on this, and was not tied down to a sports setting, I feel it could be a very interesting watch. Re-main is not that show. It could have been used a lot more and to greater effect.

The supporting characters are weak. Even after just finishing, I barely remember any names. They fall into their stereotype, and that's how I remember them by. They have maybe 1 story element (although I'd go as far as to say, some have almost none), each that gets semi resolved by the final episode but none of them are noteworthy and any investment was not rewarded.

Re-Main is a long drink of water. It's certainly not bad. It ticks enough boxes. But it falls into mediocre valley. It's not good, and not bad enough to be entertaining (though the latter I find is rare in anime). Regarding art and sound, again both are serviceable but forgettable. There was nothing much to standout so this review will feel rather bare bones because of it. I will not remember Re-main or look to rewatch this further down the line. As for Sports anime, there are lot better out there. For a recent example, Bakuten! a sports anime for gymnastics is one I would recommend. It's also not perfect but I'd rather watch that over Re-main. Please feel free to read my Bakuten review for further thoughts recommendations.

Thanks for reading :)

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan is an anime which you will get the most enjoyment from the more you relate to it. And the more you relate to it, the more sympathy you'll have from me. A dark, scathing but also funny look into work/life balance, responsibility and progression from childhood to adulthood, highlighting that life is not all smiles as much as we wish them to be. A very solid anime with good jokes throughout, engaging characters and small segmented stories. It won't be for everyone, and awkward at worst for some. But to me, that relatable awkwardness made it that much more enjoyable. ... Please keep reading for further details and a small summary at the end.

UO has a very simple premise. Uramichi is a gymnast, turned TV presentor for a children's show. Think Steve from Blues Clues, but with a live child audience. He uses his physical prowess to an extent as part of his act in front of the children, in the form of song and dance with his other co-hosts. The story follows Uramichi and the supporting cast in their time in and outside of work. Their thoughts on given situations and comedy surrounding the situations they find themselves in and their interactions. The comedy for the most part I thought was great, with good one off jokes, a few running gags and some amazing scenarios that had me laughing to tears. A personal favourite is the cast filming a summer based episode in the ocean during the middle of winter. Only for a few episodes later to have them filming in full winter gear during a heat wave. The situations were bizarre but funny and did not fail to make me smile.

Each episode is usually split into roughly 2-4 small segments with self contained stories or scenarios. They can be further split into, In work, Out of work or song/dance segments with a few in betweens. The song and dance sections were always extremely funny to me and were my personal favourites, thanks to their ever dictator like and unreasonable director. The story itself is not deep but it doesn't have to be. The characters make these sections come to life and they are great. Good chemistry with each other and amazing good voice acting. Not only with the singing, but the general voice acting was a very high standard and is noteworthy of praise.

The thing that gave me the most joy out of this anime is how relatable it was to me in my own life situation. I am currently stuck in a dead end job which I hate. Some of the people I work with I share similar interactions with as Uramichi did with his. I hate the job I am in but there are a few moments which I feel I make a difference, only for it to come crashing down and be utterly meaningless the next day. Uramichi pulls off that feeling in a comedic form. It doesn't shy away, but instead emphasizes it, with the awkwardness played for comedy. There are a lot of other points, and some will not like this show because the awkwardness can potentially dampen the comedy, but for me, they worked nicely hand in hand and I could appreciate the messages being said behind the comedic facade.

UO is well worth a watch. It will not be a hit for all and that's ok. I'd also recommend watching past episode 1, as I remember it being a bit of a slow start but really ramped up by episode 3. I don't really have any recommendations for anything similar. For me, anime is my escape. To avoid the drag of every day life. This anime not only made me look at my own situation but did so with dark humour funny situations. A solid 9/10, worth the time to watch. While I think everyone can watch it and enjoy it, it'll be most enjoyed by young adults. Despite it's childlike appearance, the messages it portrays are certainly for those who are a little older.

I hope you enjoyed reading my review. Feedback is always appreciated. :)

Bakuten!! is a solid 7/10. A good watch covering a niche sport. It's not very deep and follows a lot of common tropes and stereotypes, but it follows them well and overall this anime is enjoyable to watch. For more detail, please keep reading and see my recommendations at the end.

When starting Bakuten I was expecting very little but ended up pleasantly surprised. The overall level of this anime ranges from average to good with very little in the way of any major negative points. At most a few personal nitpicks which I will cover. For me the biggest draw is the overall enjoyment. ... Call me a bit of a sucker, but I do like the stereotypical sports anime. MC is your average (usually teen) Joe Blogs, he sees or encounters a sport that he has never seen before and is blown away by the experience, and the anime follows his journey in learning about and developing his skills for said sport. The story itself is interspersed with supporting characters, a rival character / team and some small personal side stories for said side characters. Bakutenn!! doesn't deviate far if at all from this. Again, I am a bit of a sucker for this formula. The MC being brand new means you get to learn alongside them as they do, so you do not feel completely left out when they start talking about sports terminologies. As a badminton player I can relate as I've had similar experiences and met people with similar experiences within the sport. Some people may not enjoy it as much due to how generic the formula can be, but that is completely understandable.

The characters themselves are enjoyable but generic. The MC being a blank slate, so you get to insert yourself into their situation. On the team there's the muscle jock, the calm and quiet guy, the nerdy happy-go-lucky guy, the brooding guy, the aloof guy etc. It doesn't push the boat out and if you've watched other sports anime you'll see the similarities (and also recognize the voice actors), but as mentioned earlier while it does not push the boat out in both story or characters it uses them well, and they are enjoyable to watch. It's because the story is a bit generic that I feel safe in writing an early review, as I don't think it will hinge on the story.

A major plus for me was just how positive this anime was. The overall level of positivity was refreshing. Maybe it's been other recent anime I've seen, or maybe lockdown is finally getting to me, but the positivity in this anime was infectious. I liked seeing the characters help each other through their situations, and their enjoyment rubbed off on me as I was watching them. There's no major dramatics or dark twists. It kept things nice, simple and upbeat. A good change of pace for myself.

The only negatives I could mention, and I'd say they are more personal, would be the sound and art. The sound in terms of the OP and ED and BGM is good, if a bit forgettable. I won't remember it down the line, but I didn't mind hearing it. I will say the sounds of the gymnastics floors and crash mats is rather well done in this anime. The art is the only thing I have a gripe and it comes down to the use of 3D. I don't hate 3D but I like consistency. For the big gymnastic performances it will switch to 3D to show them off. It makes the movement more fluid with longer, continuous scenes, which makes a lot of sense, but I found the change from 2D to 3D a little off-putting myself. Not a major negative and one I was happy to overlook, but just something to keep in mind.

In summary; I gave Bakutenn!! A solid 7/10. It's not genre defining, but I think it fits within the genre of niche sports anime very well. An overall enjoying watch and time sink.

For a further recommendation if you liked Bakutenn!! I have to point you in the direction of Ballroom e Youkoso. Another niche sports anime following ballroom dancing. Following a similar formula as the one I mentioned above but with 24 episodes allowing the characters and story to be a bit more fleshed out. Personally one I prefer more to Bakuten!! in terms of overall quality.

For a slightly different second recommendation, I will go with Kono Oto Tomare! While this anime is a music focused anime, I find sports anime and music anime hit a lot of the same notes (hah) with their formula. With Kono having 2 seasons, and a similar number of episodes to Ballroom, it's a bit more fleshed out. Similar to Bakutenn I enjoyed its positive approach and it was also very fun to watch.

Thanks for reading my review.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park (IWGP) was one anime I was really looking forward to watching. The synopsis sounded amazing. Quote: "Crime-ridden Ikebukuro is a haven for violent gangs, the Yakuza, and home to Makoto Majima -- when a rising tide of violence results in Makoto losing a loved one, can he ride out the storm, or will he drown in all the spilled blood that floods his streets?"

Does that not sound amazing? Gang warfare, intrigue, mystery, blood and violence. Complicated criminal and gang activities while following the perspective of a 3rd party. And while there were certainly moments that had aspects of this, they're incredibly ... watered down. To the point of near non-existence. And what little there was had such wasted potential. It wasn't bad, but there's very little I could recommend. Very much style over substance, and it will not leave a lasting impression.

In summary, I would not recommend this anime. It's mediocre personified at best and a let down at worst. For a spoiler free explanation and recommendation for similar anime, please continue reading.

From what I understand, IWGP was an urban mystery novel produced in the late 90's. And again going by the synopsis I figured this sounds like a great premise for an anime. My major worry however came when I read the synopsis above, and saw the show with no rating (I believe this has since changed to PG-13). There was a massive disconnect to what was happening in the show and what the description of both the original novel and anime. Ultimately this had led to the disappointment that most will feel when thinking back on this show. This however was not the only negative I found when watching. The actual structure of the anime was in my opinion, lacking. For a 12 episode anime I was expecting rather tight story telling. But after finishing I feel like I've watched 9 episodes of fluff and filler (emphasis on the fluff as a lot of these episodes completely contradict the synopsis), and barely 3 episodes of the main story. And I say the story very loosely as most of it was pushed through in post episode narration. A lot of it was told at the end of an episode through exposition and flash forward. There was no time given to reflect or to think about what had happened and effects these may have. But worse is that most episodes had no lasting effect or any play in future episodes. It was very episodic in nature.

Further to this, it felt like the story was shrink-wrapped down and only the bare minimum was allowed to seep through the cracks. There is a wide cast of interesting looking characters. Perhaps in the novel these are expanded upon but in this show they are mostly for window dressing. I couldn't really tell you any of their names other than the MC, and even the ones that appear more regularly are not given any time to be fleshed out or explained. At most, they are just there to turn the tide over while the story is told around them. There was a lot of wasted potential here.

I wouldn't say the entire show was bad. The art direction was OK with interesting characters and the show had a catchy intro and outro. That being said I wouldn't say there was anything standout, and any BGM playing throughout the show is forgettable.

In all I was hoping for a lot more but in the end they were all dashed. I was hoping for an in-depth look at interesting characters in a gang warfare setting. There was very little of that latter and the parts we got to see were not that interesting. I was hoping that the episodic and sporadic nature of the show would come together for an amazing ending. While it did try to do that with the final 2 episodes, it again felt rushed and wasted compared to what it could have been.

I can not recommend this anime to anyone interested in it unless they have a lot of time, and even then I would likely say to watch something else. For an alternate recommendation I would go with:

Banana Fish - Similar setting with gang warfare and intrigue, but a slower paced feel giving you time to breathe. A much better fleshed out story and overall more enjoyable while hitting all the notes I was looking for.

Thank you for reading.