Back to Britannian13's Profile Britannian13's Profile

Today I'll be giving my thoughts on Netflix's second attempt at a Godzilla anime, Godzilla: Singular Point. This show is an utter mess, and I'll get into why in this review. Let's get into specifics.

Story: 1
This category is where most of the issues with this anime lie. To be blunt, this is probably the most confusing piece of entertainment I've ever witnessed. I'm convinced you need to have an exponentially high IQ in order to comprehend what's going on. The reason this show is so confusing is the piles of techno-babble words used in every episode. Your average viewer won't have much of an idea ... what many of the terms used mean, let alone how to apply them in the context of the story. In broad terms, said story revolves around the appearance of strange & dangerous monsters around the world and how they could bring an end to the world as the characters know it. In more specific terms, the show involves ideas of dimensions unseen, events that shouldn't be theoretically possible but happen by means of said unseen dimensions, predictions from decades past, electromagnetic waves, an element that requires questioning the fabric of reality to rationalize, and much more. If those concepts alone are too much to wrap you're head around, I wouldn't exactly blame you, as I can barely understand them myself. Because of all this, the pacing of this show feels like one one a minigun, firing on all cylinders with no let up to gauge what exactly is happening. The nature of this show also creates a conflict of interest, as the nigh-incomprehensible concepts create a lack of interest while the rapid-fire pacing makes not missing even a single line of dialogue a priority. Also, I find it hilarious that this show has a post-credit scene in the last episode as a form of sequel bait, as if anyone who watched this would want more.

Art: 6
The animation of this show is, without a shadow of a doubt, its best aspect. Unlike Netflix's previous attempt at a Godzilla anime, this show is very vibrant and lively in its presentation. However, that can come to be a fault at times, as the color red will take over the screen in some scenes. Also unlike the previous work, the human characters are all hand-drawn rather than CG. This leads to the characters moving fluidly, as one would expect. However, not everything in this show is animated in the traditional sense, as all of the monsters and the robot, Jet Jaguar, are computer-generated. This CG isn't too bad, but everything animated like this moves a bit more janky and at a lower frame rate compared to the hand-drawn parts. The opening is very aesthetically pleasing and cool. I can't speak for the ending, as I never watch it since Netflix automatically starts the next episode a few seconds after it starts.

Sound: 6
There isn't really much to say about this category. The sound effects sound as you'd expect them to, but they don't sound spectacular by any means. The monsters' roars also sound fine, but many of them I believe are recycled from previous, undoubtedly much better Godzilla works by Toho, including the titular kaiju. What elevates the sound from average to fair is the awesome opening, in case... by BiSH. It's very upbeat and catchy, just overall a good song. I have no opinion on the ending song, Aoi (青い) by POLKADOT STINGRAY, since, as previously mentioned, I never stay for the ending. The voice acting is also good but unremarkable. All of the voices fit the characters good enough.

Character: 2
The characters in this show really aren't that great. They have little to no development as people and act more as vessels to drive the story forward than human beings with their own personalities and feelings. The closest this show gets to giving any character any semblance of development is having one of the characters have a daughter. Other than that, this is really the bottom of the barrel in terms of development. At least the characters the audience is supposed to like are likable throughout the duration of the show and vice versa.

Enjoyment: 2
This anime started off decently enjoyable to watch at first, but then completely fell off the wagon with all the pseudo-philosophical jargon that bashes the audience over the head in every episode. Once the show becomes as confusing as it'll stay for the majority of its run time, it becomes an exercise of patience. You'll hope that the topics juggled around in this show will eventually attain a suitable level of comprehensiveness, but, if anything, the show just gets more complicated as it trudges on. By the end, the only facet of enjoyment that is salvageable from this mess is the cool kaiju and the havoc they cause. After all, it's pretty hard to mess up something as easy as a cool monster fight, at least in concept. But even then, Godzilla doesn't even show up until the show is halfway through and doesn't make as many appearances as I assume audiences would like from their piece of Godzilla media.

Overall: 2
Despite very occasional redeeming factors, Godzilla: Singular Point is an utter trainwreck of kaiju-sized proportions. Characters are pathetically lacking in development, animation and sound are generally nothing to write home about, and, above all else, the story and the interactions that encompass it would even throw the heads of the likes of Stephen Hawking and Thomas Edison into a tailspin. For the second time, Netflix has tried and spectacularly failed at delivering a Godzilla story worth the time and mental effort of fans via making them unnecessarily complicated and multi-layered. There's only so much that needs to be done in order to make a Godzilla work enjoyable and Netflix has twice now gone above and beyond to a fault. I cannot, within any realm of my sanity, recommend this anime to anyone that values their time or appreciates a show they can fully understand. If anyone is daring enough to brave the choppy waters of this anime, it is available exclusively on Netflix.

Today I'll be giving my thoughts on Bushiroad's newest media project after BanG Dream!, D4DJ First Mix. This show is really great, and I'll get into why it's so great in this review. Let's get into specifics.

Story: 6
Since MyAnimeList hasn't really done a proper synopsis of this show, I'll do it myself. The show follows a high school girl named Rinku, who has just recently moved back to Japan after living in Africa for years. The high school she attends, in a deviation from the standard music-centric anime, is big on DJs rather than idols. Rinku becomes enamored with DJing, meeting an unpopular DJ at ... her school named Maho, who begins to teach Rinku about DJing. Rinku and Maho eventually get together with 2 other girls at their high school, Muni and Rei, to form the idol group known as Happy Around!. The show follows the group of girls as they try to rise up the ranks of the school, along with their interactions with other school DJ groups Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden.

The story is pretty standard as far as music-centric shows go, as it doesn't too anything exceptional. However, what it does is still quite solid. It revolves around Rinku and the gang climbing up the ranks of DJ groups in their high school. It is a pretty straightforward plot, but it still manages to be engaging through the music and character interactions. It's pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of the plot, but there are some drama elements sprinkled in. These drama elements are pretty good and add some more flavor to the plot. The story manages to back in plot, character development, and music in each episode without feeling off in the slightest. The pacing is good, however, for some reason, the first few episodes would sometimes have moments of silence or lingering on the same shot for too long, which was pretty jarring. Luckily, the studio behind this show, SANZIGEN, seemed to have realized this early on, as that is really only in the first few episodes. The concept of a DJ anime intrigued me into watching it and it most certainly delivers on that interesting premise. The show gives actually good insight on DJing. I learned things about it that I never knew. I bet this show will get some viewers interested in DJing.

Art: 9
I know what you all are thinking: "A CG anime having great animation? What is this guy on?" I'll admit, I too was originally concerned by the fact that this show is 3DCG animated, but all my doubts were put to rest by the very first episode. The CG is really great, probably the best I've ever seen in an anime. The characters move very fluidly, not looking janky at all, unlike many other 3DCG anime. The characters' faces are super expressive, perfectly displaying a wide range of emotions. The CG is especially impressive during the music sequences, as the animators go all out in making the dancing look authentic, the lip movement match with the lyrics, and the lighting look very visually appealing. The only gripe I have with the animation is the very little instances of traditional animation. They contrast quite a lot with the CG characters.

Sound: 10
Now this is probably the most appealing aspect of this show. To be blunt, this show has some of the freshest and sickest beats I've ever heard in an anime. Unlike idol music, which often sounds somewhat rinse-and-repeat, every DJ group's music is uniquely crafted to their image. All the group's music is easily distinguishable from each other due to their defined styles. This also allows for viewers to more easily pick favorites, but honestly, all the music is so good that I can't decide what my favorite group is. All of the music is very catchy and just a great listen. I personally listen to music from this show very often because it's so good. Even the background music is good, having the same techno cues that the main songs do. As for the voice acting, it is also of high quality. All of the voices have a unique sound to them and are very expressive. As for the opening and ending songs, they are very good. The opening performed by Happy Around! themselves, Guru Guru DJ TURN!!, is a very catchy and upbeat tune. The same goes for the ending song by Airi Amano (Nana Mizuki) and Shano Himegami (Raychell), titled, and this is a long one, WOW WAR TONIGHT ~ Toko ni wa Okoseyo Movement. I found myself never skipping these great songs.

Character: 8
The character development in this show is also quite good. All 4 of the main characters' personality and emotions are well explored. You really get a sense of how these characters feel and you begin to care about them. This show also includes 8 side characters, 4 from Peaky P-Key and 4 from Photon Maiden. While they obviously receive less development from the main cast, some of them are still well developed. Kyoko and Shinobu of Peaky P-Key and Saki of Photon Maiden have especially good characterization out of the 8 side characters. All the characters are filled with expressiveness, making their interactions with each other a blast to watch.

Enjoyment: 10
This is some of the most fun I've had watching an anime in 2020 (and a bit of 2021). I often found myself with a smile on my face while watching it. I looked forward to each and every song and character interaction every week. Watching it was a fantastic part of each Friday it aired.

Overall: 9
Even with a few small gripes, D4DJ First Mix manages to be an entertaining ride, jam-packed with great visuals, good characterization, and absolutely sublime music. Giving the music genre a fresh DJ twist, it keeps you entertained throughout the entirely of its 13-episode season. I highly recommend anyone to watch this show. This show is probably the most accessible one I've watched, as it's on a ton of different services. For North Americans such as myself, it's available on Crunchyroll, Funimation, HiDive, Anime Network, and even YouTube for viewers worldwide.

Today I’ll be giving my thoughts on the newest entry into the Love Live franchise, Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. This is quite the good show, albeit it has some aspects that are questionable to say the least. Let’s get into specifics.

Story: 7
This show doesn’t really have a main story that the show stays with for the whole season, but it doesn’t really have to. It’s actually probably better to not have a central narrative in an idol show besides the idols pursuing their dreams of being an idol. What is there serves its purpose fine. Most of the episodes are episodic ... in nature. Each idol has their own episode dedicated to their character and its development, which is a very good structure for an idol show. My all-time favorite idol anime, The iDOLM@STER, has this structure as well, so it was nice to see it in this show. I’d have to say that some of the drama elements fall a bit flat. Also, because of the plots of some of the episodes, some of the insert songs just happen in the open rather than a formal performance on a stage. It just feels awkward. Just because it’s an idol show doesn’t mean every episode needs an insert song. This show also carries a tradition of many idol shows, that being the characters talking like nobody on planet Earth would ever talk. It is pretty dumb, but it’s in almost every idol show so maybe I should just get over it.

Art: 9
This is a different art style from the past 2 Love Live series, School Idol Project and Sunshine!!. However, it is, in my opinion, a change for the better. The character designs don’t particularly look unique to the show, but I personally prefer this look over the look of the franchise’s predecessors. One thing that hasn’t really changed, though, is the signature look of the eyes of the characters. While it is still there, it is toned down to a degree. The art style as a whole is just more simplistic, which is great in my opinion. CGI is used during the music sequences, and it is surprisingly well done. It retains the art style of the traditional animation very well and, aside from the smoother movements, the CGI is almost indistinguishable from the hand-drawn stuff.

Sound: 9
The songs in this show are fantastic. Each character gets to sing their own song at one point or another in this show, which allows the viewers to decide what their favorite idol is for themselves. My personal favorite is Karin, but everyone will have a different favorite. As for the quality of the songs, it is great across the board. Each song sounds fantastic and the production quality for the videos that play with them is top notch. Both the opening and ending are sung by the club itself. The opening, Nijro Passions!, is quite catchy and is overall a nice, upbeat song. The ending, NEO SKY, NEO MAP!, is more forgettable but it is still a pleasant listen. I often found myself staying during the end credits to listen to it. The voice acting is very good. Everyone puts out a quality performance as their respective characters.

Character: 8
I watch idol anime for the characters more than I watch them for the music. A show like this lives and dies on its characters. Shows like The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls failed to properly develop its large cast, which is why the show itself isn’t too great. If you don’t care about the characters, then what’s the point? Thankfully, this show actually develops all of its characters. Every idol’s personalities, aspirations, and struggles are different from everyone else, but they all have each other’s backs no matter what. This show uses its episodic nature well, taking a character I didn’t care about at all and making them much more unique and interesting, all in the span of only 1 episode. This show really only has 1 side character, and while she obviously isn’t as developed as the main characters, she ends up helping in the development of one of the main characters. However, even though every character is developed, not all are developed equal. Some characters have much better character development than others when all of them are on pretty much the same level of importance throughout most of the show.

Enjoyment: 8
This show is really fun to watch. The only thing that made me angry was the random insert songs in a few of the episodes, but this show is a blast for the most part. It’s so fun watching these characters develop because they make you actually care about them.

Overall: 8
While this show does have a few flaws, it doesn’t hugely detract from how great Live Live Nijigasaki High School is. With an old but very effective episodic formula, this show does what is imperative for every idol anime, that being making us care about the characters. On top of that, the songs are fantastic. I’d recommend every idol fan to check this show out, and with it being 13 episodes long, it wouldn’t take too long to do so. It’s exclusive to Funimation if you want to go and see it.

This is my first review on MyAnimeList, and what a good choice for my first show to review. I am here to review The Millionaire Detective- Balance: UNLIMITED: This show felt like a breath of fresh air. This show had me looking forward to a new episode every single week. Let's get into specifics.

Story: 7
The story of this show is pretty good. Some might say it's nothing to write home about but I believe that the story was good for the narrative the creators wanted to pull off. The first few episodes are sort of in an episodic nature, with just a case-of-the-day sort of ... setup, but the actual story picks up after that. As per what you'd expect with a detective show, the story has a good amount of mystery and twists that keep the viewers intrigued from start to finish. The concept of Daisuke's unlimited balance, hence the title, lends itself to very interesting, unique, and fun occurrences. When they're doing detective work, it's interesting to see them uncover clues and put the pieces together. The action is well done, and while some may see it as a tiny bit over-the-top because of Daisuke's James Bond-esque gadgets and obscene amount money, I think it's great in the context of this show.

Art: 10
I absolutely loved the art style of this anime. The best way I'd describe it is quasi-simplistic. Everything in this show is animated with just a little bit less detail than a traditional anime, which gives it a quite unique art style. It really stands out from other shows and just looks really great. As for the characters, they are all animated very smooth and well. There are some instances of CGI in this show, mainly just with vehicles, but it doesn't distract from the show.

Sound: 9
The sound design is well done in this show. All the effects sound like they should. As for the soundtrack, it is sublime. The soundtrack has a soundtrack reminiscent of buddy-cop shows and movies that helps to set this show apart from others like the art style does. It uses more brass-sounding music that just sound really good. This show also has really good opening and ending songs. This is one of the few shows where I never skipped the opening. NAVIGATOR by SixTONES is a very good song that is also quite catchy. It's more clean-sounding to reflect one of the main characters, Daisuke Kambe. The ending, Welcome My Friend by OKOMATO'S, is also quite good, although not as good as the opening. I often found myself staying for this ending, something I usually don't do. This song has more of a rugged-sounding effect to reflect the other main character, Haru Kato. Voice acting is also very good. Daisuke Kambe is voiced by, as far as I know, a newcomer to the voice acting business, Yuusuke Oonuki, as this is his first and only role listed on MAL. He does a fantastic job. The voice fits the character perfectly. That is the only voice acting I felt like specifically mentioning, but the rest of the voice acting is really great.

Character: 8
The characters are done quite well in this show. For starters, the main characters are very likeable. Daisuke and Haru have great chemistry. Even though they often butt heads over conflicting ideals, their reasonings for doing things are perfectly understandable. Also, they are very entertaining together. The development the main characters receive is very good, as well. I won't delve into it to avoid spoilers, though. I won't spoil who the villain is, but I will say that the reveal was initially a little confusing, but once I put more thought into it I understood it fine. The side characters, while they don't add too much to the story, are still quite entertaining. It was always nice when they were featured in an episode.

Enjoyment: 10
I couldn't get enough of this show when it initially aired. It was so much fun watching a new episode and seeing how the intriguing story progresses. It was also fun to see character interactions and how they bounce off each other.

Overall: 9
Despite some minor flaws, The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED takes the detective genre and gives it a fresh twist that manages to stay very entertaining from start to finish. From the characters to the music to the art style, everything in this show is well done one way or another. It really sucks that this show is on the short side, as it only clocks in at 11 episodes, but that just gives you more of a reason to quickly check it out. I'd highly recommend seeing this show for yourselves. It's exclusive to Funimation if you want to go out and see it.