Back to BlueCicada's Profile BlueCicada's Profile

Did you notice when the last time Suruga had a major role prior to this arc was? The arc she was introduced in, Suruga Monkey. Meaning that in between, we’ve had 46 episodes almost entirely devoid of her, only making occasional minor appearances.

I missed her greatly is what I’m trying to say.

Now she is finally back to the spotlight in Hanamonogatari, also known as the Suruga Devil arc. The second stand-alone arc of the series following Nekomonogatari: Kuro.

As a big fan of the character, this season lived up to my expectations wonderfully. I would say that it even surpassed them, managing ... to deliver a heartfelt, touching story of two individuals caught up in their own fears.

Hanamonogatari very gracefully unravels the insecurities of its lead, Suruga Kanbaru, in a slow methodical manner. I’ve heard some call it boring, but I found it really engaging. It is one that lets the viewer really sink into it. A quieter arc than most of Monogatari’s. Even the dialogue, so notoriously quirky and bizarre, is significantly more subdued here. Don’t get me wrong, it still carries plenty of that trademark Monogatari quirkiness. It’s just not nearly as overflowing with it as most of the other instalments, and I’d say it works very well for what it is trying to accomplish. A slightly ethereal, lonely atmosphere, which I find irresistible.

Nowhere does this shine more than in a certain scene towards the arc’s third act where, after certain shocking and deeply upsetting things are revealed to her, Suruga decides to go for a run in the middle of the night, which leads to one of my favourite moments in the entire series. Suruga runs, as she is unsure if what else to do. Runs through the empty town after dark, then by the sea, eventually leaving the town completely behind and entering the vast countryside, with none but her around, like she is the only person left in the whole world. It’s an incredible sequence, in which the cinematography, the music, the backgrounds all come together in a stunning way to highlight the main character’s feelings of uncertainty and loneliness, in a perfect encapsulation of the entire arc and its themes.

This hypnotic pace and atmosphere in addition to some well-done twists, a clever climax, and a very interesting resolution, all work together to make Hanamonogatari a masterpiece of storytelling and tone.

Characterisation-wise, this arc is just as good. Here we see a side of Suruga that we have only seen a little of prior. This is probably the most serious and contemplative she gets for the whole series, as her insecurities slowly begin to overwhelm her. She fears what the future might bring, grappling with the anxiety of making the wrong choice, sending her down a wrong path in life, and now these fears are bringing her to stagnation. They are only made worse by the fact that she does already have a history of making awful decisions, disastrous in consequences for both her, and people around her. It feels like an unexpected, yet still very natural progression for her character from the point that we left off with her in Bake and Hana does an excellent job fleshing her out further.

Suruga’s foil in this arc is Rouka Numachi, her childhood basketball rival, back in her life, as she now operates under the alias of “Lord Devil”, hearing out and solving the problems of her customers for initially unknown reasons. Rouka is a highly intriguing character in her own right. She has a fairly enjoyable personality, with her seemingly laid-back attitude and teasing nature, but this is Monogatari, so of course, there is a darkness lurking beneath this surface. Her dynamic with Suruga is fascinating due to the parallels between them, and how, despite being seemingly very different, in just how many ways their ways of thinking, and emotions overlap. Without spoiling anything, the way Rouka currently thinks and views herself and those around her can essentially be seen as something of a cautionary tale for Suruga. A deeply sad picture of what can become of a person when they are consumed by regret of the past, and fear of the future. For those reasons, and one more which I will not reveal here, Rouka ends up being one of Monogatari's most tragic characters, and a very impactful, memorable presence throughout the arc.

The other characters appearing throughout all have fairly minor roles, but they all perform well in these roles. Like some of the familiar faces from the other Monogatari instalments, as well as a new character, Seiu Higasa, Suruga’s friend from the basketball team. I quite liked her in her few minutes of screentime, her personality being this mix of cheerful and peppy, while also being a bit sassy, as she is shown to playfully insult Suruga to her face, without even the slightest change to her happy-go-lucky demeanour or way of speaking. It’s nice that they gave even such a minor character a little bit of a memorable personality.

The visuals are, as is part of the course for Monogatari, excellently done. As implied earlier, they do reel it in a bit for this arc when compared to the rest of the series in terms of the sheer visual insanity, but once again, it works incredibly well, as the visuals on display are still very creative and appealing to look at. Not to mention, accompanied by some of that trademark lively, smooth Monogatari animation, when it is needed. I will also mention that this one has some of my favourite backgrounds in the series, especially during the scenes taking place during night-time (like the previously mentioned night-run sequence).

The music is also very good, nicely complimenting the arc’s slower, more subdued tone, and the opening theme, The Last Day of My Adolescence is easily among my personal favourites. It’s a great song, which manages to sound both exciting and fun, as well as melancholic and nostalgic, invoking a strange bittersweet feeling that is hard to really describe.

The voice acting is as great as ever, with Miyuki Sawashiro's performance as Suruga easily living up to the standard set by the other voice actors in Second Season, and absolutely nailing the new aspects of her character that Hanamonogatari goes into, and Kana Asumi does an excellent job as Rouka, perfectly portraying the the character's playfulness, while also giving her this tired quality to her voice. She gets across the sadness underneath Rouka's confident smirk very skilfully. The supporting cast all do very well too in the smaller roles that they have here.

Overall, Hanamonogatari stands strong as, in my mind, one of Monogatari’s absolute best. It is a touching, clever character study, encompassing all of the wider series’ strengths, while also being quite different from all the other entries in the best way. An underrated unique little gem, which ended Monogatari’s stellar Second Season on an incredible high note.

Monogatari Series: Second Season is one of the more critically acclaimed instalments of the Monogatari series and for a good reason. It continues the story and the character arcs in very compelling, and sometimes highly unexpected ways.

THE STRUCTURE:

Each arc of Second Season takes the characters, and gradually unravels them over the course of their respective arcs in a very engaging, elegant way. Mainly through immensely entertaining, odd and expertly crafted dialogue, which tends to lead into a very rewarding climax, whether it would be exciting, emotional or a mix of both. It is the sort of storytelling that makes Monogatari so satisfying and immersive to ... watch. Pretty much every arc of Second Season uses this structure masterfully and utilising it for some great character development.

THE INDIVIDUAL ARCS:

The Tsubasa Tiger arc puts its titular character in a position where there is effectively no way left for her to run from her feelings anymore, and it provides everything one could possibly hope for Tsubasa’s development, all leading up to an incredible conclusion, as her journey through her own complicated emotions continues. Ones she has for her family, for Koyomi, and perhaps even more importantly, ones she has for herself.

The arc also introduces the Head of Specialists, Izuko Gaen, in addition to marking the first on-screen appearance of the vampire hunter, Episode. Gaen makes a strong first impression, seemingly helpful, yet with an odd air of tension behind her politeness, which makes for a memorable entrance for her. Episode unfortunately does not leave nearly as strong a first impression, not showing much of a personality aside from being kind of smug.

The second arc, Mayoi Jiangshi, is a time travel arc, kicked off by Koyomi Araragi and Shinobu Oshino deciding to go back to the past, and eventually ending up preventing the death of Mayoi Hachikuji. One flaw in this arc is that Koyomi’s logic behind this decision is, I always felt, questionable. He goes through this whole list of reasons why changing the fates of other girls would be too complicated, while Mayoi’s not, but I just don’t see how it was any different. For instance, one of the main reasons he gives for not interfering with Tsubasa’s past is because that would be changing the lives of multiple people rather than just one person. But…can’t the same be said about how saving Mayoi would inevitably also affect her parents?

Thankfully, the questionable set-up aside, the rest of Mayoi Jiangshi is phenomenal. It actually focuses on Koyomi and Shinobu’s relationship far more than it does on Mayoi (more on that later) and it does so incredibly well. The duo has fantastic interactions as well as individual character development throughout the arc. Shinobu is made to reflect on how incidental her current reality is, revealing a level of emotional complexity that we have seen very little of from her prior. Koyomi meanwhile once again has his saviour complex blow up in his face spectacularly, leading him to question this aspect of his identity more. Mayoi Jiangshi takes these two characters who were both already very interesting, and adds even more layers to them, while very skilfully progressing both of their development.

Another thing of note about Mayoi Jiansghi is the fact that it brings back the character of Yotsugi Ononoki from Nisemonogatari. She appears for a conversation with Koyomi, which gives us some much appreciated insight into Yotsugi as a person. We learn of what exactly she is, and a bit about her nature as a revenant. More importantly however, we gain a bit of an understanding of how she feels about her own nature. She is unsure of what her true purpose is, what she wants, and if her current role is really all there will ever be to her life. It was a great moment, which immediately made me care about Yotsugi so much more than I did before.

Next up is Nadeko Medusa. If you have read my review of Bakemonogatari, you may recall that I felt that the character of Nadeko Sengoku came off as rather uninteresting and weakly motivated upon her introduction. And so, to say that Nadeko Medusa surpassed my expectations would be a massive understatement. This arc takes every single aspect of Nadeko’s character that fell flat back in Bake and explores it so thoroughly, in such great detail, and it took such a frankly completely unexpected direction with Nadeko, that I found myself genuinely speechless by the end of it. The arc is a masterful character study, putting Nadeko’s psychology and issues under a microscope, brilliantly contextualising and recontextualising the little bits of info we were given about her in earlier seasons. Nadeko Sengoku went from what I considered to be a rather vapid character, to one of Monogatari’s most psychologically complex and fascinating over the course of this truly unexpected gem of an arc.

Shinobu Time seems to be considered by many to be Second Season’s weakest arc, and while I am inclined to agree, I still think it is all things considered incredibly well done. My main issue with it is really just the fact that I was not a huge fan of how the story of Shinobu’s past was delivered here. It was essentially just a massive exposition dump taking up an entire episode, and I just feel like there are better ways of showcasing a show’s world and history than that. Even if the exposition in question is admittedly interesting and accompanied by some gorgeous art.

Outside of that however, I honestly do not have any issues with the arc’s other three episodes. Much like Mayoi Jiangshi did with Shinobu, Shinobu Time really puts Mayoi in the spotlight more than it does its titular character. Because Monogatari. But once again, I do not find that to be a problem at all, as it works brilliantly. Shinobu Time ends up really zeroing in on Mayoi’s issues in a way where she ends up having to face them head-on, leading to excellently written growth for both Mayoi herself, as well as for Koyomi, whose desperation to help those he cares about is highlighted here beautifully. The arc adds quite a bit of interesting layers to Shinobu as well. My issues with its delivery aside, her backstory here is very intriguing, and succeeds at giving the audience insight into Shinobu’s past regrets and flaws, once again showing that, even though she was once a proud powerful entity, she was still also a flawed person. Perhaps Shinobu Time is a bit more flawed than the rest of The Second Season, but it still has plenty of strengths that make it an engaging watch.

The last arc of Second Season is Hitagi End. A yet another one which focuses less on its titular character and more on the character who happens to get roped into the events surrounding them. And this time that character is Deishuu Kaiki, the main antagonist of Nisemonogatari’s Karen Bee arc, now back in the role of Hitagi Senjougahara’s anti-hero-ish ally, hired by her in order to help with a certain threat looming over her and Koyomi. What the threat is exactly I will not say here.

Kaiki was already a great character back in Nisemonogatari, and Second Season manages to recapture and expand upon everything that made him so enjoyable there. While Kaiki is still his lovably greedy, selfish self, in Hitagi End we also learn of a potential other side to him. A little bit of vulnerability that Kaiki made sure to bury underneath a landfill of cynicism. Just a little bit, that the show adds to the character in a subtle, and quiet manner, which just makes it all the more affecting and fitting of Kaiki’s character. It is this season in particular that made this morally compromised asshole into my favourite character in Monogatari, the place he holds to this day.

Hitagi herself is as fun as ever, and it is very satisfying to see her here, due to all the little differences in her demeanour when compared to how she was in the previous seasons. You can tell how far she has come since Hitagi Crab, which is very heart-warming. Not to mention, her relationship with Kaiki is at its most fascinating here. In true Second Season fashion, a lot of layers are added here, making it one of Monogatari’s most strange and complicated dynamics, in the best way.

There is one other significant character in this arc and, while I will not say who it is in the interest of keeping this review spoiler-free, I will say that they are just as well handled here as the other two, with more unpredictable and perfectly written development, providing possibly some of Monogatari’s most resonant messages yet. At least to me personally.

There is one thing in Hitagi End that I would nitpick, and it is something regarding the actions (or rather lack thereof) of a certain character’s parents. Without going into spoilers, I just felt that their reasons for choosing to not do a certain thing were not particularly believable given the situation that they were in. Still, this one little detail is only a slight bump, on what is otherwise an amazing arc.

LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT OUGI:

Throughout the season, we also get occasional very memorable appearances of a new character, Ougi Oshino, who claims to be Meme Oshino’s niece. There is something very clearly off about Ougi, with that cheerful, yet creepily detached-seeming demeanour, and some of their…questionable actions. They are this strange enigma and make for a very intriguing addition to the cast.

VISUALS AND SOUND:

As for the technical aspects of the series, I honestly do not have much new to say, as I have already praised Monogatari’s visuals and sound plenty in my previous reviews. Since this season is no way worse, I would probably just be repeating myself. The visuals, the music and the voice acting are all up to the series’ usual high standard. The actors also manage to nail all of the new aspects of their characters that Second Season introduces.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Monogatari review if I didn’t talk about the openings. Chocolate Insomnia, Happy Bite and Kogarashi Sentiment are all fantastic, and I actually really love the mostly wordless White Lies. My favourite opening of the bunch however has got to be Nadeko Medusa’s Mousou Express, with its catchy, somewhat eerie, almost hypnotizing rhythm being an absolutely perfect fit for its arc.

CONCLUSION:

If there is one word to describe Monogatari Series: Second Season with that word would be “satisfying”. The amount of character development and depth that it manages to deliver is truly admirable, and it does all of that through multiple well told, greatly engaging stories. It truly has everything that makes The Monogatari Series so great. Except for Suruga. It doesn’t have much Suruga. Can’t win them all I guess.

Note From the Author: I've changed the rating from 5 to 6 and edited a few sentences ever so slightly as, even though I do still do generally stand by the opinions expressed here, I do think I was initially a bit harsh on NekoKuro.

I’ll just come right out and say that Nekomonogatari: Kuro, also known as the Tsubasa Family arc, is my least favourite Monogatari instalment. Not because it’s bad or damaging to the series in any way. Frankly, it’s neither of those, it’s perfectly harmless and inoffensive. It’s just predictable and well...almost kind of pointless.

NekoKuro is effectively the extended ... version of the Golden Week flashback from Bakemonogatari Episode 11 (Tsubasa Cat, Part 1). It tells the story of Koyomi Araragi and Tsubasa Hanekawa’s first encounter with the sawarineko oddity, and the original emergence of Black Hanekawa.

As I mentioned before, NekoKuro does not do anything to the overall series' detriment. Koyomi and Tsubasa’s characterization in this arc is on point. We learn some very interesting new things about Tsubasa and her relationship with her family, and Koyomi’s development into the mindset that he is in in Bake is handled well, as are their very well-written and enjoyable interactions. In that sense, NekoKuro does its job.

The problem is the fact that we already know like 85% of this story. We know what’s going to happen, we know how it will end, we…just know. It was all told to us in like ten minutes back in Bake. Why are we spending almost two hours on this now?

The additional info that we get does not break the general feeling of predictability plaguing this arc, nor does it do much to justify its existence. Once again, it is interesting and adds depth to both of the leads, but it could have easily been delivered elsewhere. Instead, it is surrounded by an entire arc of which way too much feels like borderline hot air.

All that said, from the technical stand-point, NekoKuro is solid throughout. Admittedly, I don’t think it stands out too much when compared to some of the other instalments, but it’s still Monogatari, so there is still plenty of charm to be found in its art style and directing, and the music is as good as always. Monogatari has an excellent track record with openings, and this arc is no exception. Perfect Slumbers is a very, for lack of a better word, elegant song. Slow, melancholic, and calm, it has a certain magic to it, which makes it one of my personal favourite Monogatari OPs. Voice acting-wise, I have already praised all of NekoKuro’s cast’s performances in their respective roles in my reviews of Bake and Nise, and here they are just as good.

I don’t know how the Tsubasa Family arc was handled in the original light novel. Here however, it mostly feels like a placeholder. Something mainly released just to keep the audience thinking about Monogatari in between Nise and Second Season, while giving them some new information about the characters to not make it too obvious. It most likely was not the actual intent, but that is what it felt like to me as I was watching it. Still, it is certainly not bad, and it has paved the way for something genuinely amazing, in the form of the, in my opinion, far superior Nekomonogatari: Shiro. As for Nekomomongatari: Kuro, it is far from some sort of a horrific disappointment. It’s just a relatively average chapter of an amazing story.

DISCLAIMER: This review contains talk of pedophilia and sexual harassment.

I don’t normally say the whole “I don’t have a problem with people who like this show” spiel, before I criticise something. I always found stuff like that condescending personally. That said, given the nature of this particular show, and the specific things that I want to criticise it for, I will make an exception and say it. No, you are not a bad person if you like UzaMaid! I mean...not by default anyway. Maybe you just like this show as a dark comedy. Or maybe you just don’t assign the same kind ... of morality to anime that you do to real life. Basically, there are non-creepy ways of enjoying this series, and if you do, good for you. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the actual show.

When I first heard of UzaMaid! and read the plot synopsis, I’ve immediately written it off as…let’s just say not for me. Honestly, a part of me still can’t believe that I actually did sit through the whole damn thing in the end. So why the change of heart? Well, you see I’ve actually heard some people on various websites coming to the show’s defence and voicing a belief that UzaMaid! is actually just an incredibly dark comedy. And so I took some interest in it, wondering if it would be possible to get something funny out of a premise so uncomfortable. I can honestly say that I approached this one willing to give it a chance.

Truth be told, after the first two episodes, I was not exactly hating it. Was I having a good time? Not really, as most of the humour made me cringe more than laugh, but I could see where the appeal of lied. It seemed like the people defending this show as just a bit of dark humour were not wrong at least.

And then Episode 3 happened.

Something in that episode made me feel more uncomfortable than all of the pedo jokes from the first two combined. Because it was in this episode where the show started to portray the titular maid, Tsubame Kamoi, as a sympathetic figure. That becomes a theme running throughout the show. Every few episodes we get a moment during which we are clearly expected to be happy about her and Misha getting closer. Whether it would be Misha beginning to realise that she is missing Tsubame when she is gone, Tsubame saving Misha from a bear, or generally acting as an emotional support for the little girl. The intent is clear. We are supposed to view Tsubame as a not entirely negative force in Misha’s life. Someone who may be kind of creepy, but ultimately capable of making a positive change. Perhaps even filling the void that was left by the death of Misha’s mother.

And once I realised that, I could no longer laugh at all.

Even if Tsubame would not go as far as to force herself onto Misha, that does not make the things she does do to her any less wrong. She keeps sexually harassing this kid, and thinks up multiple elaborate grooming strategies throughout the show (yes, stupid ones, but still). Despite the show’s gross, half-assed attempts at arguing otherwise, Tsubame is a selfish, manipulative pedophile, and the idea of her being an okay influence on Misha in the end is not just insane, it is also disturbing.

To those who want to tell me that I’m taking this show too seriously, I’m pretty sure the show itself would disagree with you. I won’t go into spoilers, but the entire final episode is highly dramatic and attempts to talk about Misha’s trauma caused by her mother’s death seriously. And Tsubame is presented as her wise, concerned friend and ally. So no, I don’t think the defence of this relationship not being meant to be taken seriously on any level works here. Perhaps, the show itself should not have taken it seriously if that was the intent.

As a result of all that, whatever development the writers wanted Misha to go through becomes dead on arrival because it all ends up being directly connected to her grossly tone-deaf relationship with Tsubame. Which is a shame because Misha is actually a character, I can see myself liking if she were in a better written series. In the scenes that she does not have to share with Tsubame, she is pretty entertaining. Her sass and deadpan snark got a few laughs out of me when it was not being portrayed as her being “tsundere” for a fucking pedophile.

And yeah, I certainly couldn’t care less about whatever “sad backstory” they tried to give Tsubame. Look, none of that changes the fact that she is a child molester that the show tries to portray as “just kind of quirky.” Once again, the sheer tone-deafness of that alone is enough to kill any possible investment I could have had in her automatically.

The other characters are a mixed bag at best. Misha’s step-father, Yatsuhiro gets some moments that would probably be charming in a different show. His main struggle comes in the form of trying to act as good parent to his step-daughter after the death of his wife and Misha’s biological mother. He is in an awkward position as he has to look after and raise a kid whom he has only really known for a little bit, and who, does not resent him, but does not seem to acknowledge him as her father either. I love the idea behind Yatsuhiro’s character, but I just find it difficult to take this story about the difficulties of parenting seriously, in a series the main premise of which is watching Yatsuhiro’s daughter get sexually harassed behind his back, and that harassment being portrayed as endearing.

Then there is Misha’s school friend, Mimika Washizaki, and her frienemy, Yui Morikawa. Mimika is largely a nothing character, without much of any personality to speak of outside of being obnoxiously cutesy. Yui is the better of the two, but still not great. She is a fairly typical tsundere, being aggressive and bratty, but having a sweet side. Her primary gag is her frequent challenging of Misha to different sorts of contests, due to her jealousy of how her peers seem to view Misha as cuter than her. Remember how Riko from Dragon Maid was when she was first introduced? Well, Yui is basically that but for the entire show. Is it funny at least? Sometimes. Because of how one-note her comedy is, it grows old rather quickly, but I won’t deny that her ridiculous levels of arrogance and pettiness can be occasionally endearing. Especially in contrast with her sweeter side whenever it shines through.

There is one character in UzaMaid! whom I can honestly say I found consistently enjoyable and that is Midori Ukai. A past acquaintance of Tsubame, who has been obsessively in love with her ever since. A lot of the comedy she provides is similar to that of KonoSuba’s Darkness, as she is a raging masochist who gets off on just about any form of physical as well as emotional abuse you can think off. Her over-the-top perviness does make for plenty of laughs. Outside of that, she also gets a few moments of being a pleasant and helpful person during some of her interactions with Misha and Tsubame. An all-around fun and charming bright spot, in a show that is otherwise largely devoid of either fun or charm.

I will give the show credit that it is quite well made. The animation is very fluid and filled with energy and the art style is nice, albeit nothing too remarkable. The music is catchy. Especially the show’s ED which I found surprisingly hard to skip. The voice acting is also solid across the board with Haruka Shiraishi, Manami Numakura, Mao Ichimichi, Shiori Izawa and Masayuki Katou all capturing their characters very well. So did Sayaka Harada (the voice of Mimika) though she was sadly not given much to work with.

Still, no amount of technical competence or voice acting talkent can save a story as poorly conceived as this. If UzaMaid! wanted to be a weird, creepy comedy, fine. But the moment it tried to be more than that, it crashed and burned, as it did so in just about the worst way it possibly could have. As I said at the beginning of this review, if you are not bothered by the stuff that I was bothered by, and you can just see UzaMaid! as a bit of ridiculous fun, that’s great. The intent behind this review is not to guilt-trip anyone. Still, for me, it was a chore. I have watched UzaMaid! in 2020 and, while not the worst anime I’ve seen that year, it may have been the one I was the happiest to be done with. And one that made me hate my annoying inability to drop shows once I started them the most.

The second instalment in the Monogatari series is a divisive one. It has been labelled by many as the franchise’s least interesting entry, more concerned with fanservice than with interesting storytelling or compelling characterization. It does however have its fair share of fans, willing to defend it as a misunderstood gem. Personally, I love Nisemonogatari…up until a certain point.

As opposed to Bakemonogatari’s five, Nise is comprised of two arcs. Those being Karen Bee and Tsukihi Phoenix, each one focusing on one of Koyomi Araragi’s siblings, the Fire Sisters. Two girls whose goal it is to bring justice wherever they go seemingly having a ... similar fixation on helping those in need as their brother, even though, unlike him, they don’t try to hide that.

KAREN BEE:

I’ll say right out of the gate that I think Karen’s arc leaves nothing to be desired. It is an interesting, well structure arc with, I would argue, great character writing and development.

Nise’s primary theme is that of fakes. The show explores topics such as personas, masks that people put on and how those differ from our real selves. Now Monogatari has already touched something similar before, mainly in Tsubasa Cat. That said, Karen Bee puts its own spin on it by bringing up the question of how much it really matters if the personas that we put on are not completely true to our real self. After all, is it really so bad to be a little bit of a fake?

The arc explores these intriguing themes masterfully through the incredibly interesting new characters in the form of Karen and the arc’s villain, Deishuu Kaiki, as well as the returning Koyomi Araragi and Hitagi Senjougahara (I know Karen was briefly in Bake but still “new” to the spotlight).

Karen is a great character. She is hardly one of the most popular Monogatari girls, and I’m not sure why that is. Her bombastic, boisterous, somewhat snarky personality made her incredibly likeable and fun to watch, and her gradually revealed inner turmoil is very compelling and unique. She is unlike any other Monogatari character and made for a great addition to the cast.

The sinister conman, Deishuu Kaiki, makes for an absolutely perfect villain for this arc, given its themes, and what he brings to them. Kaiki is basically Monogatari’s take on an 80s cartoon villain. Everything about him just screams evil. Except for him himself. What do I mean by that? Well, things such as his blatantly shady design, and the direction of just about every scene he is in, are all going out of their way to make him look like the Devil himself. The guy is literally introduced standing menacingly in the shadow of a black, dead tree against an eerie blood-red sunset. And yet, Kaiki himself never really acts cartoonishly evil. His general demeanour is that of a bored asshole but not much more than that. This contrast makes for a lovably strange and weirdly fun bad guy, who still manages to be decently threatening, as he is deadly competent and ruthless at what he does. All that, and the fact that he is eventually given some very interesting worldviews, he is truly everything one could possibly want in a Monogatari villain.

Koyomi and Hitagi are both handled incredibly well here as well. Admittedly, the former is mainly a vehicle for the development of Karen and Hitagi in this arc, but it is done in a way where there is additional depth added to his character, as we do learn about his views on and relationship with the concept of “real” and “fake.” And Hitagi continues her journey of coping with her dark past, as she comes face-to-face with the man she holds responsible for a lot of it. Kaiki, with whom she has a troubled, deeply unpleasant history. Her development is once again handled very gracefully, as she remains one of the series’ most interesting characters.

This is also the first time we get to hear the resident 600-year-old vampire loli, Shinobu Oshino, speak. In Nise, we get a more solid idea of her personality than we did in Bake. And she is a ton of fun, being a snarky, prideful and humorously condescending little asshat, while still having a few moments of softness and weaknesses like her adorable love of sweets. She is very believable, both as someone who was once a dignified, powerful being, while still being a person outside of that.

I have heard people say that Nise meanders quite a bit. I’d assume that, in case of Karen Bee at least, they are referring to the first two episodes, which mainly consist of Koyomi having conversations with characters like Mayoi, Nadeko and Suruga. Conversations that don’t really add a ton to the arc’s story. Honestly, I get what they mean if that’s the case. That said, I don’t really have a problem with that, as I felt that these conversations were enjoyable and decently well integrated into the story. Not to mention, they do a good job setting up some future developments.

TSUKIHI PHOENIX:

So far, I have done nothing but shower Nisemonogatari with praise. Unfortunately however, this stops here. As I've mentioned before, I only really love this season up until a certain point. In my opinion, the second arc, Tsukihi Phoenix, is thoroughly underwhelming.

As you would expect of Monogatari, the arc mainly consists of interactions between characters. However, with the exceptions of a few moments (the toothbrush scene anyone?), those interactions lack the series' usual level of wit and come off as significantly more dry. They are not...tedious per se, as some interesting stuff is being brought up in them, but they do feel like they are more concerned with building-up to the arc's climax than they are with being entertaining while they last. So is the climax worth it at least? No, not really. It's a simplistic action sequence without any particularly exciting choreography, resolved in a rather unconvincing manner, involving a certain character making a confusing, very sudden 180.

Speaking of character, that is another area in which Tsukihi Phoenix is lacking. I was rather disappointed with how Tsukihi Araragi was handled here. Not only is she not allowed to do much of anything in the story, with Koyomi and Shinobu being the proactive characters in her stead, she also does not have any real depth to speak of. We learn some interesting stuff about her, sure. But it’s more things regarding what she is, rather than who she is. The reveals in Tsukihi Phoenix don’t lend any insight into this character’s personality, emotions or anything else that has to do with Tsukihi as a person. At the moment, she is more interesting as a plot device than as a character. A shame really because her personality is actually quite entertaining, with her snark, and occasional outbursts of borderline psychotic intensity, that humorously clash with her usual pleasant demeanour.

The other characters are not any better here. The arc introduces us to Yozuru Kagenui and Yotsugi Ononoki, and both come off as rather one-note and unmemorable.

Yozuru has some personality with her mix of eccentricity and the feeling of intensity that she gives off, but the attempts at giving her depth fall flat, as her views and thought processes that we learn about are not as interesting as the show thinks they are. The fact that it was her who was responsible for the previously mentioned confusing 180 doesn’t help. As for Yotsugi, while she does become a more interesting character in The Second Season, here she is only really defined by a single joke in the form of her odd, deadpan demeanour and way of speaking. She is mildly amusing, but this doesn’t exactly make for the most compelling character introduction.

This arc doesn’t do any disservice to Koyomi and Shinobu. That said, they are both very static throughout it, so they don’t do much to make up for the flatness of Tsukihi or the lacklustre first impressions left by Yozuru and Kagenui.

Thematically, I don’t think this arc adds a whole lot either. The stuff it brings up feels like a rehash of what was already sufficiently covered in Karen Bee, just with a less engaging story and weaker character writing.

VISUALS AND SOUND:

Much like Bake, Nise is very well done from the technical stand-point. The visuals keep all of their energetic flare and trippy creativity, and the new OPs are easily on pair with those of the first series. Marshmallow Justice and Platinum Disco are show stealers, but I quite enjoy the more calm tunes of Futakotone too. Something that I always enjoyed about Monogatari’s visuals is that some arcs kind of seem to have their own unique colour pallet, and it’s especially on display in Nise. Karen Bee is vibrant and warm, with all its yellows and oranges, while Tsukihi Phoenix goes for a colder pallet, with plenty of soothing blues, whites and greys.

Voice acting-wise, the returning cast knock it out of the part once again, and the newcomers are excellent as well. Eri Kitamura perfectly encapsulates Karen’s energy and fierceness and Yuka Iguchi’s performance as Tsukihi, is oddly charming in how equal parts mature and childish sounding it comes off. Maaya Sakamoto, Schinichiro Miki, Ryouko Shiraishi and Saori Hayami, are also all fantastic matches for their respective characters’ personalities and unique quirks.

Okay, I’ve managed to not talk about fan service even once in my Bakemonogatari review, but considering how famous Nise is for it, I should probably address it here. Yes, this one turns the fan service up to 11. But in all seriousness, I don’t mind. Much like Bake sometimes did, I think Nise does an excellent job using fan service to better get across the characters’ emotions and dynamics (e.g. the conversation between Koyomi and Nadeko). Not to mention, sometimes it can get so ridiculous that it’s honestly just really funny to me (e.g. the toothbrush scene).

CONCLUSION:

Nisemonogatari is a strange part of the Monogatari series. It’s a masterpiece until it isn’t. But while I may have come off as harsh in some parts of this review, I actually like Nise quite a bit. Sure, I’m not crazy about one of its two arcs, but that arc is ultimately just four episodes, with the first seven being the exact kind of Monogatari goodness that I fell in love with in Bakemonogatari. So, would I side more with Nise’s detractors or defenders? Honestly? I’m leaning pretty heavily towards the “defender” side overall. While it’s nowhere near the highest point of Monogatari for me, it still has plenty of the kind of stuff that makes me love this series as much as I do.

With its strange blend of ridiculous humour, compelling themes, and complex characters, the Monogatari series is a smart, unique, and unforgettable gem of a franchise. And this is the show that started it all. Welcome to the beautifully bizarre art house student’s fever dream that is Bakemonogatari.

THE STORY:

The show is divided into five arcs, each one focusing on the series' main protagonist, Koyomi Araragi interacting with a different girl, each of whom is being troubled by an oddity. Oddities are mysterious supernatural beings capable of latching onto humans and, to put it simply, screwing with them. For different reasons and in different ... ways, seemingly always connected to their mental and/or emotional issues and twisted emotions that they try to bury deep down.

Right of the bat, I believe that to be an ingenious set-up. Exploring and effectively personifying psychological issues through strange supernatural occurrences is incredibly unique and allows for a lot of creativity when it comes to approaching character development. Thankfully, the execution is just as good as the idea here. Every arc of Bakemonogatari (with one exception to which we'll get to) is brilliantly crafted. They all have an engaging and natural flow to them, which never fails to keep the viewer interested. Throughout each arc, the issues of each girl is gradually revealed, the writers very skilfully peeling off the layers of their respective problems. That by itself is already quite enticing, and the fact that it usually leads to a highly exciting climax feels satisfying, after the slower, dialogue-driven part of the arc. Something that the Monogatari franchise is known for is how dialogue heavy it is, but it’s impossible to get bored during it, as the dialogue itself is oftentimes so whacky, bizarre and just plain entertaining.

THE CHARACTERS:

Starting with the male lead, Koyomi Araragi, he is what every harem protagonist should be. What I mean by that is that he feels like an actual person, rather than just acting as a self-insert for the audience. He cares deeply about the people around him, but you wouldn't be able to tell as his general outward personality is lazy, irritable and gloomy. He is very shy when it comes to anything having to do with sexuality, being easily embarrassed and annoyed by the teasing that he experiences at the hands of Hitagi and Suruga. He is also kind of a pathetic moron, who unironically gets satisfaction from beating a little girl in a fight, something that he has enough self-awareness to berate himself over. Yet in spite of all that he is still perfectly capable of having a normal conversation and to be generally pleasant to the people he feels close to. His main character flaw is that despite the exterior, he cares about other people to the point of constantly putting himself at horrible risk for them. Now, having a protagonist whose defining flaw is being "too good for his own good" is something of a slippery slope. What makes Koyomi work however is that there is an actual sense of progression with him. The show is clearly willing to explore his self-destructive tendencies and how they may hurt the people he cares about just as much as himself, rather than just throwing it in as a cheap pretend character flaw.

Then of course, there are the girls themselves, starting with Koyomi's love interest, Hitagi Senjougahara. Hitagi starts out as a snarky, rude, sometimes low-key psychotic asshole, who takes a great deal of pleasure in teasing Koyomi and verbally annihilating him in various humorous ways. And she is absolutely perfect. Her attitude rarely comes off as unlikeable or genuinely malicious (and when it does the show acknowledges it to be a character flaw). She never takes it so far as to be deeply hurtful. It's honestly just funny. As she grows closer to Koyomi, her jabs at him become significantly tamer and turn into charming banter. For all her posturing, she genuinely cares for and likes Koyomi, and appreciates his willingness to help people. Certain horrible events in Hitagi's past caused her to become detached from the people around her, and in Koyomi, she finally has someone she finds comfort in. A chance to heal.

The second girl, Mayoi Hachikuji is a lost child, whom Koyomi and Hitagi find on a playground, looking for her mother. She is initially an abrasive rude little brat, but once more time is spent with her, she begins to reveal a friendly side. Similar to Hitagi, her sarcasm and teasing of Koyomi becomes more friendly than spiteful, and she is given some very endearing little character quirks. Like her signature regular mispronunciations of Arararagi's name, that are very obviously done on purpose just to piss him off. Mayoi is a character who seems to be trying to keep others at a distance, even those who want to help her. The show gives her interesting reasons for being this way, while showcasing how destructive this kind of a mindset can be to herself and those that care about her.

Then there is my personal favourite of the five, Suruga Kanbaru. How do I even describe Suruga’s personality? One second she can act like your typical "cool girl" sort of character. Athletic, confident and out-going. The next second, she casually proclaims that she is not wearing any underwear, and her immediate reaction to finding herself in a boy’s room is to try and find porn magazines. She is also an absolute troll to Koyomi but, unlike with Hitagi and Mayoi, it almost feels like she doesn't even intend to be half the time. The shit she does and says that get a rise out of him, she does in the exact same tone and manner that she would something completely normal. She is a natural eccentric, a polite troll, a cool weirdo and a confident pervert. All of that while being endlessly fun and charming. She is just so unpredictable in her personality and humour, and there were multiple times throughout the series where I found myself laughing out loud at her absolutely lovable brand of weirdness. That is all not even mentioning her own highly intriguing psychology. Through Suruga, the show explores subconscious desires and how they may differ from what a person may want consciously.

The final girl, Tsubasa Hanekawa is introduced as a calm, collected and wise class representative, but once her own arc rolls around, it becomes quite clear that there is quite a difference between the kind of a person Tsubasa really is, and the kind of person she wants to be perceived as. A complicated and troubled young woman, Tsubasa’s arc is an emotional tale of identity, victimization and people’s reasons for putting on masks.

The show’s weakest part is its fourth arc, Nadeko Snake. The arc’s problem lies within the girl on which it is focused, Nadeko Sengoku, who just feels like a bland quiet nice girl, with little personality, no growth, and lacking a believable motive. Now, all the aspects of this character that ring hollow in Bake get brilliantly explored and expanded upon later down the line, causing Nadeko to become one of the series’ most fascinating and complex characters. But I do wish there were more of a hook there upon her introduction. The arc is not terrible however. Its climax is very exciting, and it does feature some great development for Koyomi. Not to mention, Suruga is a major player in it, and she is as entertaining as always.

There are two notable side characters in Bakemonogatari. The first one being Meme Oshino, a specialist whose occupation is helping people out with oddity related issues. He is very likeable, his personality being a blend of a shady weirdo, and a genuinely kind, helpful, and all around cool guy. And then of course, there is everyone’s favourite vampire loli, Shinobu, who doesn’t actually get much to do here (she doesn’t even speak), but she does make for a decently interesting minor character, through her implied history, her relationship to Koyomi, as well as her current role as his reluctant ally. Bakemonogatari sets this character up decently, even though it’s not till the next season when we get to know her properly.

THE VISUALS AND SOUND:

On the technical side, Bakemonogatari is an amazing looking series. Imagine the visuals of Madoka Magica but multiplied by 10 and on crack. There is this great sense of surrealism to Monogatari’s visuals, and a ton of energy to its animation as well as directing.

The soundtrack also stands out as brilliantly done with well composed tracks, ranging from fun and cartoony to intense and eerie. But of course, the best thing about the music in this show, is its openings. Each arc gets a separate intro, performed by the voice actress of the arc’s focal point girl, and they are all great songs with catchy, memorable melodies, and well written lyrics, perfectly fitting their respective girls’ characters.

The voice acting also leaves nothing to be desired, with Hiroshi Kamiya, Chiwa Saito, Emiri Katou, Miyuki Sawashiro, Kana Hanazawa, Yui Horie and Takashiro Sakurai all perfectly embodying their characters' personalities and emotions and making them come to life beautifully.

CONCLUSION:

Bakemonogatari is an excellent anime both as a stand-alone and as the beginning of a larger story. It does a phenomenal job introducing us to Monogatari’s world, themes, and characters. Makes for a wonderful start to something truly special.

Noir is a by now rather obscure action series, which began the Girls-with-Guns trilogy. Three shows produced by Bee Train that were not connected plot-wise, but all had similar themes and set-ups (the other two being Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja). None of them are particularly highly rated on MAL, the critical reception of each of them seemingly fairly lukewarm. So are they underappreciated gems that deserve more recognition, or is there a good reason as to why they’ve been forgotten over the years?

Noir is somewhat similar to the much more popular Cowboy Bebop in a way that it presents its ... narrative. Most of the show is very episodic, focusing on the one-off adventures of the assassins Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura. Unlike the other series however, there is a link between the episodic stuff in Noir, but what the link is exactly would be a major spoiler, so I will not say here.

I found the vast majority of these episodes to be very enjoyable and well-written. Most of them are fairly simple and straight forward but they still offer good action and interactions between characters. It is during these episodes where the strange and interesting relationship between Mireille and Kirika grows. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dynamic similar to the one between these two in any other anime. Throughout the show, they are mostly just tolerant of each other but not much else. Their circumstances and personalities don’t allow for many particularly friendly interactions. And yet somehow, there is still chemistry between them. While they are few and far between, the show does nonetheless allow the leads to have brief moments where they seem to genuinely appreciate each other’s company. Quick scenes where the two simply have a normal conversation, where one brings a smile to the other’s mouth. Those little moments built upon each other and managed to become something that felt genuine and it made the way the two characters developed off of one another believable. Which was important, seeing how their relationship is the backbone of the series.

The main story developing in the background of the episodic adventures is also interesting. The villains actually ended up having a genuinely intriguing backstory as well as worldview. Especially the series’ main villain, Altena, whom I find to be one of the most compelling anime sociopaths of all time (as well as one of the most underrated ones). She is cruel and ruthless with deeply twisted morals and views, yet she brilliantly hides her nature under the calm, motherly exterior, as seen in her interactions with the leads, as well as her apprentice, Chloe. It is this contrast that makes her so unnerving whenever she is on screen. And yet she is not purely evil. It is implied that, in her own creepy way, she does genuinely care for Chloe and even Mireille and Kirika to an extent, and in the end, she really is simply trying to do what she thinks is best for the world. And those “positive” traits made her even more disturbing. She really was a villain I simply adored to hate.

It’s hard to talk about Noir without bringing up Chloe, the secondary villain and Altena’s right hand, who is just as complex as her higher up, but far more sympathetic. Chloe is a strange character and I mean that in the best way. There are times throughout the series where she seems almost sweet. Her moments with Altena (whom she views as her mother figure) as well as with one other character later in the series show her as affectionate and loving towards the people she feels close to. A contrast to how she behaves throughout most of the series. A cold killing machine. This duality is what makes Chloe complex. She is not an evil or cruel person, but Altena’s upbringing has twisted her morals and caused her to have no qualms about killing in the name of her beloved mentor-mom. You can see how, if it weren’t for Altena’s influence, she could have just been a perfectly normal girl. Chloe’s character is deeply tragic due to the fragility of her psyche that hides beneath the cold and collected exterior. It all also does a good job making the character of Altena all the more deplorable to the viewer.

The soundtrack is up to the usual standard one would expect from Yuki Kajiura. The woman who scored shows such as Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online and Madoka Magica (my all-time favourite soundtrack). The voice acting is solid all around. I’ll admit that I watched this one dubbed, but it is a good dub. Shelley Calene-Black, Monica Rial, Hilary Haag and Tiffany Grant all portray their characters very well, truly making their personalities and emotions come through. And the supporting cast is mostly just plain serviceable. Not very many of them really stand out, but I don’t recall any particularly bad performances either.

Unfortunately, the aspect of the series that I can’t quite bring myself to praise is the animation. It’s not awful it’s just a bit…clumsy I suppose. A lot of the time it feels like it lacks detail which becomes especially apparent during the action scenes. While they are well put together and entertaining, things such as the lack of blood become quite noticeable. Sometimes it kind of looks like, a character drops dead upon just having a gun pointed at them.

If I were to nitpick, there are a few episodes that feel a bit weaker than others, as well as an occasional forgettable villain-of-the-week.

Overall, I consider Noir to be a great and highly underrated series. While it’s undoubtedly flawed in the animation department, it is an incredibly well put together story filled with interesting and memorable characters and spectacular music. As I’m concerned, it was a solid start to the Girls-with-Guns trilogy.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou is a seamless blend of a slice of life and a post-apocalyptic story and as a result, it represents the absolute best of both worlds.

The story follows an episodic narrative as our two protagonists, Chito and Yuuri make their way through the ruins of the world. Each and every single one of the episodes brings something different and unique to the table. Some of them focus on the duo doing something relatively mundane, like attempting to make rations. These episodes are made good by the well written comedic dialogue and good slapstick, as well as the very enjoyable personalities ... and believable chemistry of the two leads. Chito is down to Earth and non-nonsense, while Yuuri is goofy, weird and slightly sociopathic. They play off of each other very well, in addition to having a very natural feeling bond. For as much as Yuuri annoys Chito, it is clear that they care about each other deeply (even if they themselves may not entirely realise that). It’s an endearing relationship that is a joy to watch over the course of the show.

Another things that definitely adds to the less serious episodes is the setting itself. It provides a very unique spin on the cute-girls-doing-cute-things aspect of the series. Even in the less serious episodes, there is this slight sense of sadness, as all the hijinks play out against the backdrop of a devastated world, focusing on the characters, who are just trying to survive and live in it. It’s not enough to make the episodes any less fun, but it does provide an interesting take on the slice of life genre. Because these two’s everyday lives are very different from those of, say, the K-On! girls.

Then there are the more serious episodes. Those hit all of the emotions that they are meant to hit, as well as touching upon some fascinating and surprisingly deep concepts that one wouldn’t normally expect a slice of life show to touch upon. Questioning the worth of religious faith and asking what it truly means to be alive are only some of this show’s fascinating subject matters.

It is through these themes that Chito and Yuuri grow, as they learn and think about all these new things and concepts that they are being exposed to. Sometimes they react differently based on their personalities and worldviews, which just makes it all the more interesting. The last episode brings their shared character arc to a touching and highly satisfying conclusion, but again, you’ll have to watch the show to know the specifics because seriously, I am not giving it away here.

There are a few supporting characters and they are all very memorable and with a good level of depth, in addition to bringing more interesting concepts to the show.

On the technical side, Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou is an absolutely gorgeous series. One would think that with a colour palette largely consisting of black, grey and white, it would get boring to look at fairly quickly. But the series uses it to its advantage as it only helps to create this overwhelming and wonderfully bleak atmosphere. Especially with the brilliant use of wide shots that go on for just long enough to allow the viewer to become truly immersed in the environments.

Another thing that keeps the series from looking dull is the moe aesthetic of the characters. It provides a good contrast to the backgrounds without looking out of place. They do still look like they are a part of the world, due to the very well-done character designs as well as the fact that the environments themselves don’t actually look overly realistic. It’s all-around great art direction.
But of course, it’s not all black/white/grey. The show does occasionally have scenes featuring a dark blue-ish night sky, a red sunset, bright yellow sunshine etc. And whenever such scenes do happen, the only word to describe them with that comes to mind is “stunning”.

The sound is just as good. It represents the show itself perfectly, featuring tracks that do a great job adding to the fun goofiness and ones that bring tears to the viewer’s eyes. Nowhere is this any more noticeable than in the OP and ED. Both are simply impossible to skip due to how catchy and fun to listen to they are, but once one starts paying attention to the lyrics, they are actually quite bittersweet (especially once you listen to them after having seen the entire series and having all the context).

The show is also great at using silence. When it wants to just let the atmosphere speak for itself, it can do that with only the visuals and a few small background noises.

As for the voice acting, Inori Minase perfectly portrays Chito’s reserved, yet irritable nature perfectly, bringing a somewhat similar energy here that she did to her performance as Chino Kafuu (Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?). And Yurika Kubo as Yuuri is just incredibly entertaining, delivering an energetic performance that’s just a joy to listen to. The supporting cast are also all very good in their roles, nailing their characters’ personalities and doing a great job bringing them to life.

Any problems that I have with this show are nit-picks so outweighed by the positives that they are barely even worth bringing up. Like how the show occasionally uses CG and it does not look all that great. But it does not use it often enough for me to really care.

There is also that one moment in Episode 3 that had me questioning a certain character’s logic. I’d have to go into spoilers in order to properly explain it, so I’ll keep it vague and if you’ve seen the show, you’ll probably know what I mean (if you don’t want to read even a very vague implication at a spoiler, skip this next sentence). In that moment I just kind of thought to myself “couldn’t he have just taken photos of those maps?” But again, it doesn’t really matter. The moment still hit.

At the time of writing this review, Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou is my favourite slice of life series. It is a wonderfully weird idea, with a stunning execution that I whole-heartedly recommend to everyone, regardless of their general stance on moe.

Note From the Author: This review is a bit outdated in a few places. Not to mention, I’m not a fan of the way I wrote a few things here. If you want to read an updated and better worded version of this review, I recommend you check out the one on I have on Anilist (link: https://anilist.co/review/9162). Anyway, whichever one you choose to read, hope you enjoy!

Akame ga Kill! is one of those shows that everyone seems to have completely different thoughts and opinions on. For every one person who will proudly proclaim themselves a fan of the series, there will be someone ... else who will call it absolute garbage. Unfortunately, this review will end up falling into the latter category.

The story follows a young warrior named Tatsumi who ventures into the Empire's Capital hoping to earn money that would help save his village. Due to various whacky hijinks involving a family of psychotic sadists, Tatsumi learns about the corrupt and deeply sinister nature of the Empire, the ruler of which is a nine-year old child who had to assume control after the demise of his parents. Unfortunately, his young age makes him easy to manipulate for the despicable Prime Minister, Honest.

Tatsumi ends up being forcefully recruited by a rebellious group of assassins known as Night Raid, whose main objective is to kill the Prime Minister and bring light back to their bleak world.

This is a generic set-up but on its own it's harmless. The problem lies in its frankly embarrassing attempts at nuance. While it is true that not every AGK villain is purely evil, the show never once even tries to showcase the actual benefits of living under the current regime or the negative effects of Night Raid's actions. Whenever the innocents are suffering the perpetrators are always the Imperial goons and the assassins are always the good guys. This would not be such a big deal but this show really does genuinely make attempts to get the viewer to sympathise with its antagonists even though it makes no effort to make their cause worth sympathising with instead of being entirely on Night Raid's side. The Empire is pure evil. It is as simple as that. The conflict that AGK presents is a totally black and white and uninteresting one.

Perhaps there would be more time to flesh out the more subtle inner workings of the war if the show was not trying to cram the story that could easily go on for 50 episodes into just 24. The narrative of AGK is just beyond rushed and because of that character development is essentially non-existent. And even if someone does develop, it is handled poorly and breezed through (e.g. Bulat's character development in Episode 8 ultimately came down to a bunch of exposition being screamed over a fight scene). As a result, it becomes impossible to get truly attached to anyone. Which is a shame because there actually are some characters in this who had some potential. Most were completely worthless. Just a bunch of bland (Najenda), unlikeable (Chelsea), annoying (Lubbock), shallow (Tatsumi), underdeveloped (Leone) cardboard cut-outs. But among them there were those select few bright spots. For example, Run who did actually have genuinely interesting ideals and motives. Or Seryu, a severely psychologically broken law enforcer who takes a great deal of pleasure in enacting """justice""" upon anyone whom she considers evil. And her definition of evil is pretty damn broad. Characters that really should be far more interesting than they ended up being if only they got some more development. Coming back to the examples listed previously, Run's motives go unexplored beyond just establishing them and he never gets to affect the story in any meaningful way. And Seryu, while pretty entertaining in how insane she is, is never developed at all. We get to learn about what made her the way she is and after that she is just a purely evil character.

And then there are the likes of Esdeath who are developed, but very poorly. Her arc is mainly done through her getting a school girl crush on Tatsumi. And the viewer is supposed to find it funny and charming even though Esdeath is a raging psychopath whose favourite pass-time is torturing people. Yeah.

Another issue with how the show handles its characters is the rapid pace at which it's killing them off. The fact that after a certain point there is at least one major character death every episode or two, not only made it hard for them to resonate individually but it also made them very predictable (and yes, the weapons that the characters use, the Imperial Arms do have that rule placed upon them that when the users clash at least one has to die, but quite frankly that rule did not need to be there. It added to nothing, outside of serving as an excuse for the characters to get axed off faster).

On a more positive note, there actually were two characters in AGK that were handled somewhat competently. The titular Akame (who really should have been the MC instead of Tatsumi because she is just better than him in every way) and her sister Kurome. They were intriguing individually and their relationship and shared history was the only truly compelling and even remotely well fleshed out part of the series.

As for the animation and visuals, Akame ga Kill! feels largely uninspired. The landscapes and general location designs are incredibly generic and forgettable making the world feel rather bland and not immersive. The fact that there is next to no lore to speak of beyond just a story about how the Imperial Arms came to be that was explained in an exposition dump does not help.

Most of the fight scenes are either way too overblown and all over the place to have much tension and using some largely underwhelming choreography or borderline feel like slideshows with some music played over them (e.g. the Zank fight in Episode 4 mostly consisted of static images).

The soundtrack on the other hand was quite good. The track that in particular comes to mind is the second opening theme, Liar's Mask which is epic, fast-paced where it needs to be and slower where it needs to be and perfectly encapsulates many of the show's core themes. In a way, it kind of does a better job telling the story than the show itself does.

The voice acting (for the English dub) was all around decent even if there were no true stand-outs.

Overall, Akame ga Kill! has little good to offer. With its badly developed cast of characters, terrible plot, uninspired visuals, forgettable action and just general bad writing this one is difficult to recommend.

Note From the Author: This review is a bit outdated in a few places, as I no longer agree with some of the things I say here. Still, if you choose to read it, I hope you enjoy.

Little Witch Academia is most certainly not the most original story in the world. It does follow a lot of overused tropes that you would find in a million other stories. However there is just so much charm here that it manages to somewhat make up for the show's general predictability. It never feels soulless and that is largely due to its incredibly likeable cast of characters.

... Atsuko Kagari is a generic yet lovable protagonist. It is easy to get invested in her ambition and drive, but she is not the perfect hero at all, being incredibly clumsy and well...not exactly the smartest character out there. That said, it never gets to the point of being annoying or unsympathetic (in fact I found it largely entertaining) making her overall worth rooting for.

The supporting cast is mostly solid as well with standouts including the entertaining sociopath Sucy Manbavaran, the intriguing badass Ursula Callistis and my personal favourite Diana Cavendish, whom I found to be easily the most fascinating and well developed character in the show, whose efforts and dedication were truly admirable. Additionally, Little Witch Academia features an excellent villain, who managed to strike just the right balance between delightfully despicable and genuinely sympathetic.

Sadly, it is not a perfect cast. There are a few characters about whom I honestly did not care much for. Like Lotte Yansson, who just did not offer much outside of being the token cute one. Diana's two friends were unbearably annoying and unlikeable and most of Luna Nova's staff members were rather forgettable (with some obvious exceptions like the previously mentioned Ursula).

On the technical side, the show has a lovely soundtrack. Can't comment on Japanese voice acting because I have only seen the dub (please don't sue me) but it is actually mostly good.

As expected from Trigger, the art style is absolutely gorgeous and the animation is excellent (when it's not a bit choppy). The shot composition is rather spot on too, with the vast majority of the shots giving the viewer something interesting and/or nice to look at making the anime a very visually appealing one.

Overall, Little Witch Academia is a lot of fun. Far from a masterpiece but it is just such an easily lovable show. I highly recommend watching it if you have not already. Especially if you are a fan of magical school kind of stories, but that goes without saying.