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"Timing is a tricky thing."

There is beauty in repetition. A routine can be beautiful, no matter how many times said routine is conducted. A movie you've seen a million times, a performer dancing a ballet they learned years prior, an artist repeating a stroke, an artist singing their breakout hit to thousands of fans, etc. Yuru Camp△ is one of those things. They go camping, they cook, they visit a hot spring, they experiment with new equipment, they hike, they text each other, they bask in beautiful landscapes, and I will never grow tired of it.

It's amazing. A cozy blanket that never fails me. I'm ... happy.

"If that high-maintenance, unpleasant half of Kaguya Shinomiya... were to receive a kiss from Pwesident... I'm sure we'd die of happiness."

-- the following is a discussion on love and life, my personal take on it and how it relates to kaguya as a whole, as well as my overall thoughts. slight spoilers concerning how our leads handle love and a late-movie conversation b/w them. reader discretion is advised. --

Love isn't an easy thing to commit one's self to. There's a reason why the shiftiness of marriage or settling down or a simple label is so prominent in media: it's real. Even if your partner is ... a perfect fit and every circumstance is accounted for and the sun and the moon align in the sky, there could still be hesitation. Committing yourself to one person goes far beyond just being exclusive, it's presenting imperfections, the nooks and crannies, the parts that you're ashamed of. We're all far-from-perfect when it comes to self-reflection, there's always one thing you wish you could change regardless of the situation. "I should've worn black today" to "damn it, I need to focus!" to the simple statement of "I wish I wasn't me." It's hard being yourself, there's no shame in realizing that. Yet, when you've found someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with, the want is to have even that neglected side feel the warmth. Even if that you is imperfect, which it most certainly is, it deserves to be loved just the same.

Kaguya doesn't think she's a good person. She's carrying the baggage of a troubled past full of regret and hatred and misinterpretation and more, and thus, when she falls for Shirogane, she tries to be more open. Yet, there's still that past weighing you down. We all evolve, we all get past those hard times, but it's still apart of you. The burden continues to persist, we can't escape it... it's us. Kaguya is the opposite of Shirogane at this stage. He, too, is afraid of the self hidden from the world but he's also resisting the exposure. While she believes that for their love to start, he needs to accept and embrace the nasty, he believes that the nasty will scare her away. There's a beautiful moment near the end where Shirogane notes that without him being the over-the-top President persona, Kaguya would never notice him. She agrees with the shift, saying that he probably would've lost interest if she remained completely closed-off, but only to an extent. She refuses to accept the idea that that means the less-than-pretty side should be hidden forever. They should share that with each other, even if he's only willing to do so slowly. This difference in character creates a thrilling story presented in the Ice Kaguya arc - two people madly in love with the other, handling it in their own way - and makes me excited to see what comes next.

Although failing as a true 'movie' experience with segment cut-offs being incredibly obvious (even showing end-of-chapter transitional panels), and the cutting out of content that should be crucial to this arc, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: First Kiss wa Owaranai was a blast to watch and could be my new favorite part of the show. It blends that humor / romance that the entire series has excelled at perfectly while also delivering the best drama thus far. A1 continues to prove that they were formed to adapt Kaguya, Masayuki Suzuki was destined to hold Kaguya OPs at chokehold, and that these VAs couldn't have been cast better. God, I need to read the manga.

Oh and I got to see Kaguya's "how cute." on the big screen, instant classic.

"I'm a devil hunter with Public Safety. You have two options: I can kill you like a devil, or I can keep you as a human."

-- the following is a discussion on why denji is easy to root for and how the adaptation was handled. slight spoilers concerning an ed are contained within. reader discretion is advised. --

Life is hard. I find even myself rolling my eyes at that statement, but the truth is the truth regardless of how oversaid it is. Life is hard. The struggles people face day-to-day vary from person to person, but everyone has experienced misfortune in one way or ... another.

Denji's position on the spectrum is thrown in the worst possible side: a starved, malnourished, lonely, overworked orphan. The only solace present is a little dog with a protruding chainsaw head. When we lose something we love, we crumble, it hurts, but we get back up. Denji gets back up, but only at the assistance of others and conditions that most people would scoff at. The basic things many of us take for granted: food, water, shelter, warmth, companionship, etc. being offered at a tremendous expense: devil hunting. Thrusting oneself into peril without a care in the world, treating pain as part of the norm, for the bare minimum of existence and acknowledgement.

Acceptance. Denji accepts his position. Those around him question his methods, why go to these lengths? Why be a plaything of Public Safety? Well, when compared to his earlier position, the present is paradise. And that's why it's easy to root for him. We want him to succeed, we want him to prove his metal and have his social status rise. He's from a painful background, an unloved individual finally getting a social outlet, being able to form connections, and finally being treated as a living thing. One might wish for more, to be treated like a human, but for Denji, the bar is low... very low. I wish him the best and will continue to support his ventures. Sounds like I'll invest if he starts a business... Denji's Drug Store... nah, Denji's Dermatology... oh, a way more fitting avenue would be like Denji's Dild-

Fujimoto's creative, masterclass Shounen is adapted incredibly well by MAPPA. Jaw-dropping animation with few and far between odd translations (where is "I'm talking about nut shots"!?!) and CGI usage, the cons are heavily outweighed by the pros. The biggest advantage given here is the decision to give each episode a unique ED. It gives a great chance for a wide variety of artists to not only share their expertise with a large audience, but for them and the animation team to create something that encompasses the episode in question as well as the series as a whole. My favorite is easily "In the Backroom". A fantastic track with stunning imagery, it showcases the current situation with repetition and frantic character movements, and the series as a whole with a variety of horses and blood splattering. Contrast it with something like the Power ED, a more lighthearted sounding track with a more fun visual style - each ED offers something different and tries a multitude of styles, ideas, etc.

A great way to end the year.

"We've made it this far, so let's go."

-- the following is a discussion on how time is discussed in the yama no susume series and a look at this season in particular. a spoiler or two lies within. reader discretion is advised. --

Time. Time passes whether we like it or not, a constant that consistently chugs away. Sometimes the clock seems to be moving in slow motion as we gaze at it longingly, and that gaze is repeated when we wish for more of it, a fun event draining it at a rapid pace. This change is only present in the eye of the beholder, ... one's perception.

Encouragement of Climb is all about the perception of time. Not only with how it moves, but with how we spend it and how it looks at different moments: past, present, and future.

The first season explored the idea of transitioning from alone time to group time. Aoi, now in high school, has been cooped up and spending every waking moment alone. She finds joy in solitude, happiness working on various crafts in the fortress of her own room. She gets pulled out of her comfort zone for the better, discovering newfound happiness through climbing and, more importantly, being in a group. The second season continued this transitional trend with focus on responsibilities and a growing social group: time to grow up. The third season took a look at the past, present, and future the most with the relationship between Aoi and Hinata being put to the magnifying glass. Those promises from the past, how much do they bound the present and without a longstanding promise, who's to say what lies in the future?

Season Four, Next Summit, is all about persistence, dedication, keeping it up, and acceptance. Who knows what comes next? Let's just keep walking, one foot after the other. Aoi has grown a lot. She spends time with a variety of people in varying situations, sharing her passion with others and learning about others'. She's able to speak up in a crowd, comfort her senior, be an upstanding employee, and, finally conquer Mount Fuji. Keep going, just keep going, and through pure will, good things will happen. It's all just a matter of patience, a matter of time.

Stellar animation, quality VAs, it's got all the works. I love shows like this that really dig deep into the activity - it puts you right there with the characters and it's motivating to get the viewer into the same mindset. In fact, the reason I didn't finish this day of was because I was out hiking this week on vacation!

It's very unfortunate that the first few episodes had to be purely recap with odd gaps (which made them completely obsolete and unhelpful), but given that every season prior had twelve minute episodes and this one doubled that length, I can't be too upset I guess. Another quality season overall!

"Well, your happy little fairytale future... doesn't exist!"

-- the following is a discussion on how the landscape of not only anime, but animation itself has been altered. reader discretion is advised. --

Names that frequently fill the minds of people when they think of "animation" vary from person to person. Whether they be founders, directors, artists, voice actors, or anything in-between, the pillars of this industry aren't agreed upon universally. With something as subjective as media, it makes sense for there not to be one individual at the top of the totem poll... well, until now.

Shouta Aoi has crafted something once deemed impossible with "Endless Love", ... a show that'll be recognized from here on out as a milestone in the medium. Frequently, new shows emerge that are expected to attracts fans from far and wide, crowd-pleasers, but never to this scale. Aoi has taken something many "visionaries" before were afraid to tackle, the subject of time. Time is a daily occurrence. It's passing as I type this, it's passing as you read this, and who possibly could be monitoring it? Well, I hope it isn't the fiends at Time Patrol, the evil doers who're trying to control time! It's a flow, something that should go on without any outside intervention, but the Time Patrol sees it as something to be harnessed, to defy the law of time itself. Imagine a world where time isn't left to exist independently, a world where time is monopolized and treated like something personal when, in fact, its universal. Luckily, Aoi is here to put a stop to these meddlers. Equipped with his signature pocket watch, dastardly good looks, and a killer voice, nothing can stop him. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force, or so they say because I haven't seen Aoi stop yet! He can transform into a being of otherworldly proportions, a hero we need but don't deserve. Selflessly chucking himself into the heat of danger, there's never a dull moment or emotion wasted. Your heart will yearn as he defends the innocent, your fists will pump when he puts the bad guys behind bars, and your eyes will rain tears when it finally ends.

... and that's how I feel now. Aoi wasn't around for long, he left too soon. All good things must come to an end. Nothing great lasts forever. We can just be happy that it happened. Thank you, Aoi. From me, on behalf of everyone, thank you.

Now what the hell is a "Poputepipikku"?

"I don't even know how I feel."

-- the following is a discussion on how a rushed, mediocre manga ending can be made worse and why that ending fails to deliver. acts as a discussion of the whole series, intended for those who have already finished it. reader discretion is advised. --

Have you ever heard "The Distance" by Cake? It's a wonderful alternative rock track that came out in the 90s' by a band that deserves more recognition for being incredibly creative and fun. The song is about a relationship. A racing junkie, spending time practicing and practicing, neglecting his lover. This obsession destroys the idea ... of 'them'. He's unable to do the right thing, but still "thinking of someone for whom he still burns" and she's "hoping in time that her memories will fade". The inability to admit wrongdoing, to make things right, and the irony of doing something so fast that something else slowly decays and dies, alone.

That's how I feel Quintessential Quintuplets went. After a heartwarming, enjoyable build-up with great character development and believable bonds, it feels like there was just a finish line that had to be reached - that the moment every character showed an interest in our lead, an ending had to be right around the corner. That progressive creation of attachment to a story and the characters within was thrown to the side in favor of a blazing dash. A loving story was built and an ending was rushed, the speed of the last lap tainting it overall.

The adaptation problem comes from that blazing dash being fit into a single movie. The first season handled the first thirty-two chapters and the second continues up to chapter eighty-six... with some basic math, this movie covers over thirty chapters in a roughly two hour runtime. Everything that goes on in the manga can't be conveyed in this amount of time AND doesn't fit in a movie format. I read the manga earlier in the year and had no clue how they would structure a movie competently with everything they had to cover - encompassing the school festival and the aftermath could've probably been done, but there's quite a bit before: giant character development for Yotsuba and a comedic visit to the pool that's the first event after Fuutarou (and the audience) realizes that they all like him and have different motivations for doing so.
Yotsuba desperately needed this time to shine, giving her background and filling in the blanks of events shows that not only was she the first to fall for him all those years ago, but that despite that, she continued to support her sisters and bottle up her own feelings in a desperate attempt to keep harmony - a harmony she threatened by teenage angst. Bits and pieces of this are shown throughout, but by not presenting information in the same way the manga did, Yotsuba lacks significant depth. I think that a lot of people didn't understand why Yotsuba won by just watching the show and then reading who won. It's true! Yotsuba, out of every Quint, has the least character development and before this explanation (which occurs RIGHT after season two ended), I wouldn't believe it either. I was lucky enough to not know who won when I read the manga, my only information was that Nino and Ichika didn't win. After this segment, I finally thought that Yotsuba was a worthy candidate. Sure, it's harder to root for her when her sisters received more things to do, but I thought it worked. By withholding this information by either completely ignoring it or saving it until later, it's harder to swallow who wins.
The public pool visit is probably one of the last, complete parts of the story that fits with the tone and feeling built beforehand. It ups the jealously and shenanigans and it's very fun. I would talk about it more, but the movie decides to diminish this entire event to an opening, music-driven slideshow. That's how we'll fit everything in!
By altering where information is placed, contracting and failing to include events in the favor of presenting a movie experience, 5-toubun no Hanayome Movie completely fails to capture the magic and instead presents a boring, by-the-numbers, badly-paced need-to-finish.

The overall problem however is the source material's decision to end. In an industry with series that refuse to conclude, it's always painful seeing something not take the time needed to reach a satisfying stopping point. The quote utilized to open this review is from Fuutarou, he says this to Ichika when asked who he'll choose. Later in the film, she declares something along the lines of "you always knew" which I totally believe, but that hesitation is a clear indication of well, hesitation.
Yotsuba gave him the motivation to become who he is today, that single day meant the world to him. There's precedent, a long withstanding impact and being indebted to one person for providing it, but new bonds sometimes trump those. The strength of new information and new experiences can lead to the past being sidelined, tastes change, and while that doesn't mean an unappreciation for what came before, it does mean a bias towards what matters now... and this point is EVEN illustrated! An old childhood crush comes to visit the school festival to see Fuutarou, and he defends the Quints and how much they mean to him, showing an obvious bias. After spending so much time with everyone, I can't see such a decision being reached so quickly purely based on finding out who was the Rena who changed his life.
Itsuki spent time with his family, showing the most appreciation when it came to what he was doing and relating heavily to his family situation. Nino was the most forward in her feelings through a learning curve: he wasn't an obstacle but rather a caring individual, someone to be embraced, a catalyst for learning that new is okay, and by being the most upfront, gave Fuutarou his first blatant, eye-witness experience with love (a big push when you're that dense). Ichika helped him understand how each Quint operated and encouraged the romantic feelings to fly, while he had a similar impact by ignoring his studious instinct and urging her to do what she wanted even if it was non-educational. Miku worked up immense courage, breaking out of her shell to express love and admiration for someone that wasn't family, but also towards her family members by becoming more comfortable in being herself. I'm totally fine with Yotsuba winning, as stated previously I think that those first chapters in volume eleven truly flesh her out and give her a lot more to work with. She was the one that gave Fuutarou that initial spark and she continuously showed support verbally and in action to not only her sisters but everyone around her as well - an incredibly selfless person.
They all have their pros, all have their cons, and the immediate Yotusba decision is harder to believe when the others weren't sitting on their hands, they were active and multi-dimensional. And many of these 'active' characters had their development rushed just for the label "finished" to be thrown on (Itsuki's is the most offensive). I understand the want to put a fire underneath the ass of the characters, high school is almost over and everyone will be splitting up doing their own thing (and that's already being shown in the story), let's go forward. Yet, doesn't the idea of continuing during the beginning of those career paths seem like a logical next step? A stepping stone for more shenanigans, more one-on-one interactions, and more chances to delve into what makes these characters tick? Visiting each other in different cities, different elements, introducing each other to their new lives and showing that love holds out in these situations... eh, crying over spilled milk.

As one can tell, The Quintessential Quintuplets means a lot to me. It was the anime that got me into the medium and has led me to find more enjoyable experiences - where SAO failed to make me a fan, Quints succeeded. It'll always have a special place to me, a guilty pleasure that I think is well-written and very enjoyable. It's not perfect at all, a lot of imperfections exist and it isn't for everyone, but not everything we care deeply for is.

Beautifully animated. This OST has always been soothing and fitting, the VAs do a fantastic job, and despite all my complaining, there are genuinely great moments here. I smiled and felt the warmth, but via a much weaker flame emerging from a significantly weaker package.

A bad adaptation of the worst part of the manga. They didn't even animate that panel of Itsuki yelling.

"Sorry, honey. Mama lost her courage for a minute."

-- the following is a discussion on how poor animation and misunderstanding can ruin something previously fun. very brief run through of events to illustrate bad pacing. reader discretion is advised. --

I've been late to the party for most recent anime events. I started my days with Sword Art Online around its release, but that's the only hype train I was apart of back then. In the years following, I frequently saw The Devil is a Part Timer shine brightly on Netflix pages and never gave it the time of day. I tried a few other shows ... and didn't really get gripped by the medium until last year, realizing how popular the original is. And, noticing that a second season was coming out, I gave it my time.

I really wish I didn't give the second season my time. It felt like Stockholm syndrome for the first few episodes. "It's not as good, but I don't understand why everyone else is complaining" was what I said to a friend those first few weeks. Then, it clicked.

Animation. My god, is it just oozing laziness out of every line. Characters are more like mannequins than actual living beings that the audience is supposed to feel something for. There's a close-up and someone is speaking. Yeah, it doesn't look great, but their mouth is in-sync so we've hit the lowest bar, great. The next frame has a different character speaking in a group shot, showing the other characters nearby. They have no life. They don't blink, they don't react, they simply exist to show that they're present for this dialogue. The entire frame was drawn once and each subsequent one in that scene has only the character speaking being altered. Even when there's a "lol funny reaction" expression, it takes a few seconds for the character to pump it out. A bunch of old animatronics that should've been sent in for maintenance, but have been left to rot for seven years. The action is brought down too with the all too common anime mishap of giant blasts of light and fights lasting mere moments - at least in the original there was a layer of comedy and stakes.

Misunderstanding. What made the original a lot of fun was character interaction between our two leads as well as the antics the entire cast found themselves in - light fish-out-of-water story with some serious beats lurking in the background. This season is way too convoluted and goes at a breakneck pace, leaving the fun behind. So much just 'happens' that we accept and move on to the next event in the blink of an eye. Hey we have every character acting as a shell of their former selves with their personalities boiled down to one or two aspects, whoa now there's a KID, raising them sure is hard (and we're her parents!??!?!), let's go to an amusement park, Emi's co-worker likes WHO!?!? (let's not talk more about that at all until the end of the season now please), another angel is here to kill us, oh he gave up but now MCRONALDS IS REMODLEING? HOW WILL WE MAKE MON-, oh a beach house to work at, hey that's a bird, the bird is now gone, let's work at Chi's family farm, another angel now, WAIT MY MOM!??!, let's buy a TV, it's over. What? Okay. That happened. Sure, maybe some comes from my inconsistency in keeping up, but binging a few episodes back to back I was surprised with the amount of stuff happening but also how... useless it all feels. I 'guess' Maou and Emi are closer now through Alas Ramus, but that's really the only development that happens and even THAT is insignificant - it doesn't feel different at all.

At least the original VAs came back, giving these robotic imitations some convincing material. I'm not actually against the idea of Alas Ramus, I think she's a decent addition that I at least can't recognize shortcomings with since she's brand new. I laughed a little, I think they're preying on nostalgia a bit too much with varying levels of success (ex: ED goes well, OP fails), and the episodes went by quickly.

I'm cheesed, this sucked.

"It felt like she was telling me that one didn't need to be family to share in the pain."

-- the following is a discussion on everyone's favorite mc and character underuse. --

I feel like Rent-a-Girlfriend gets a mass amount of hate for simply being what a lot of its contemporaries are too - a romance with a weak male MC.

There's a reason why Kazuya is so hated, even by people who just have a general idea of what this show is. He has an innate ability to make situations more awkward and his inner-monologues don't really help. Whenever it seems to be going a little ... too well for him when it comes to Chizuru, he seems to throw in a "is this okay given our provider-client-relationship?" and other interjections which bring his interactions to a grinding halt. Every time a heartwarming scene takes place, there's a mention of money, rent status, etc. Hell, the first episode has Kazuya saying he'll support Chizuru's dream financially by renting her more than before... being supportive is good, but it has the silver lining of being a mainly monetary investment rather than an emotional one. I have to admit that while Kazuya is growing as a character, realizing what other people want from him and being able to, well, understand human emotions a bit better, he's still a very unenjoyable protagonist to follow. It's hard to root for him in any sense and most laughs seem to be at him rather than with. Everything seems to always just fall into place to be almost terrible and then somehow work out. That isn't to say that he's completely devoid of usefulness. There are genuinely good moments not only centered solely on the female MCs, but also ones involving him. These several outliers though aren't enough to ignore Kazuya's failure as a MC.

I joked with my friend during last season that Sumi really isn't in the running at all. And, well, now this season it seems like her AND Mami are completely ignored. Sure, Sumi has a great episode near the end (probably the best thus far) and Mami is involved during the beginning of this season, but their presence compared to the other two is insanely disproportionate (Chizuru is the main, but having the other love interests be this underrepresented is a weakness). At least that by the end of the season, each female MC seems to have something going for them that could prove interesting in the future.

It's a standard offering of romance that fails pretty hard in the comedy department. There's good character design, the animation is usually pretty smooth, the OP and ED continue the pretty great trend (while the actual OST is decently varied), the voice acting is quality, and the scenarios that are depicted are enjoyable to witness. I think this whole series as a 'trainwreck we all can't stop watching' is an overstatement - more like two trains hurling towards each other, but there are a few redirects and five miles before collision. It's still not a great situation and doom is possible, but it isn't that bad.

"But hey, as long as they're happy, it's all good."

-- the following is a brief paragraph or two on my overall thoughts, followed by a conversation on how this show feels lifeless. reader discretion advised. --

Shikimori was one of those shows that felt like nothing right out of the floodgates. No pointless three episode rule or anything - completely dead on impact and a perfect example of how a slice of life show can fail.

Hidden by good animation, character gestures and boring frames show an inherent laziness. Not everything needs to have references or obvert goofiness to spice up the visuals, but having a ... unique quality like that makes everything seem so much more alive. A nice OP and ED (the one thing that benefits from the paper-thin plot) sandwich a mediocre middle.

The reason I found Shikimori-san to be a test of endurance is how everything seems undeserved. Moments are presented in grand, spectacular fashion as if they're animation crescendos, important scenes that'll be engraved for years to come... yet they come with characters that haven't grown. Scenes don't feel like an excuse to let the audience learn to love the characters by simply witnessing them, but rather convenient set-ups without emotional backbone, all for payoffs that fall flat.

A terrible decision is to characterize Izumi and Shikimori late into the season. The episode showcases their lives before each other which makes their motivations and fears and their, well, characters, all that more lifelike. Hell, starting with them already dating was a fumble from the offset. The two act as if they're lightly flirting with each other, but they've actually been dating for a full year. Of course there's a cultural gap and every show doesn't need to have the same romantic elements and things vary from person to person, but when the central relationship isn't believable, that's a problem.

Hollow. The comedic efforts of bad luck and badass didn't work and following their school life didn't appeal to me. Probably my least favorite of the season.

"I'm just a simple father trying not to stumble around too much as I protect my happy little family."

-- the following is a brief paragraph or two on my overall thoughts, followed by spoilers about the warm feeling this creates. reader discretion is advised. --

There's always a level of anticipation when it comes to new things. Spy x Family had the displeasure of being the most hyped show of the season behind Shield Hero's second outing, a role it soon took over as time passed on, and has luckily earned that spot at the top with an outstanding first season.

Spy x Family follows the spy ... and family duties of Twilight, an agent tasked with saving his nation. To do so, a makeshift familial unit is created with an assassin and an esper taking the roles of wife and child respectively. How this show succeeds with flying colors is the relationship between the three of them and how a façade slowly and slowly turns more into reality.

Anya and Yor training for her dodgeball game. Yor and Loid trying to convince her brother that they're actually married. Loid and Anya playing together in a giant castle, recreating her favorite show as a celebration. The three of them are perfect strangers, yet strive not only to keep the illusion up for personal safety but for an actual care for the other members. Every action could be described as a necessity, a have-to-do for the sake of one's cover, but the inner thoughts, expressions, diligence in practice is that of an actual mother, father, or daughter. By convincing the surrounding populace of their normality, they create truth. Loid buys a penguin plushie for Anya to show the neighbors his prowess as a guardian, but he knows that Anya loves them, spent time to get it, and could've done anything else - there's meaning in what could be described as a requirement for mission success.

Moments like these are why I found myself enjoying Spy x Family so much. The typical TV dysfunctional family, told with comedy and heart, with a slight twist on it that leads to great action and espionage. A satisfying, feel-good classic.