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It often seems that, once an established trend forms in anime, it gets increasingly hard to remove the trend from the possible story pool. Mecha, the post- or slightly pre-World War II or similar setting, and the “transported to another world” genre as of late constitute a few different examples. During the last half to full decade the obsession with cute girls doing cute things firmly established itself, whether that be daily life, playing in a band, or piloting tanks.
Yuru Camp is very much a cute girls doing cute things show, with its ... unique distinguishing feature being a focus and even informative take on camping in the colder months of the year. With its unique selling point firmly established, Yuru Camp doesn’t so much dive into cute girls doing cute things as gently sidle up, wrapped in a warm blanket and carry cup noodles.
The animation can be split into two specific compartments of the actual art and the animation of the moving parts. The art is wonderful. The character art lacks extreme detail, but incorporates the same soft and comfy ideals the rest of the show revolves around. Many of the landscape shots appear slightly fuzzy, but still recognizable in their subject matter, and have a great personalized unique unique to Yuru Camp as a whole.
The backgrounds often consist of landscapes and other open areas where such things as individual trees and blades of grass are not important, but their representation gives a flair to the rest of the show due to the amount of care and stylization put into backgrounds. Buildings, structures, and other man made objects are still done in a softer, subdued color palate, but stand out from the natural backgrounds as much more detailed. The contrast blends well and helps distinguish different parts of each frame from one another and for their respective uses.
Actual animation is very average and contains minimal detailing. The difference and flatness of the cast and other moving objects causes them to be clearing distinguished from the background, but feel out of place against then more stylized backgrounds. The animation is by no means a detractor to the show as a whole, but certainly does not offer an improvements. Detailed and precise animation, while potentially the icing on the cake of an action series, is not particularly important for one like this where the fasts movement is the chop of wood or the eating of good, warm food.
Music often fills little purpose beyond filling in the background silence, but Yuru Camp absolutely excels in standing out from anime of any genre. The instrument choice in itself is unique, full of plucking string instruments and gentle strumming. The whistle and harmonica accompaniment really brings forth ideas of mountains, quiet streams, and bright days spent outdoors under the sun. The tone of the music also pairs nicely with the laid back nature of the show, setting the mood for weekends and holidays from work and school spent preparing for trips and setting off into the great outdoors.
The characters and their actions create the central draw of the show. Each character has an incredibly distinct personality that, while perhaps predictable based on appearance, interacts well with the other characters. Some are more accident prone than others, some are more experienced, and some have the capabilities to take care of, and teach from, the different experience newer campers face. The result is a situation of constant characters growth as each of the main cast is put in new situations that are not their strong suit and must learn to work with the others to have successful camping outings. Bringing all the characters together comes back to the central premise of cute girls doing cute things during their teenage years.
The main plot is fairly simple, building each episode upon the events of the last, yet each even being mostly contained in a single episode. Characters learn about camping, proper methods for the campsites, and how to deal with problems that arise during their trips. There is also a fair amount of information provided on real world proper methods, inviting the viewers to learn along with the cast and gain a greater appreciation for camping as a hobby. Events and experiences learned in earlier episodes are then exemplified and continued in later ones to reinforce the expanding knowledge of the main cast. The growth and increased capabilities of each character reinforces that passing of time and the growth of the character themselves.

Friend: “Hey, have you watched that anime series about the teenaged, dark-haired boy piloting a giant robot to fight against huge, mysterious creatures with the aid of a fiery, brightly-colored-hair girl and the more reserved girl with the cooler-colored hair and calm personality, and the whole thing revolves around innuendo and references to puberty or romances before going off the rails insane at the end?”
Me: “FLCL, Gurren Lagann, or Neon Genesis Evangelion?”
Friend: “No no, Darling in the FranXX”
Me: “eh, well, I’ll give it a look at least...”

I was, initially, highly skeptical of how Darling in the FranXX (DitF) would pan ... out. Based on the main poster and familiarity with common anime tropes based on appearance, predicting possible personalities and interests of the main cast seemed easy. The plot summary didn’t lend much hope for a series beyond another set of teenagers piloting another set of robots, with a single unique selling point of how awkward it must be to pilot with two people.

With expectations hovering somewhere between Infinite Stratos and Aldnoah.Zero, I dove in anyway and found that, at first, DitF hit almost all the same chords as other mecha anime with teenage pilots. Almost. And as the differences started to grow and take their own form I was pulled further and further into a character drama that stood out in ways I’ve always hoped a series might.

The animation quality of DitF varied throughout the whole series, but never fell to noticeably poor levels. Action scenes often had the least amount of detail as to be expected, but the slower scenes made up for that with well done backgrounds and consistent character animation. Splitting production and between two companies might have played into this as well, with the creative differences between A1 and Trigger appearing often. The styles for each studio were evident in almost every scene, but also managed to mesh so that neither overpowered the other. Fights got a bit hectic and the colorful palate despite some darker times definitely spoke of Trigger’s handle on the story throughout the whole series, with A1 often taking the more dialogue- and character-driven moments.

Character design appeared very generic with just enough variation to differentiate individuals based on facial appearance and voice. Overall form remained fairly similar as well, with only height appearing as a distinguishing characteristic for the majority of the characters. Characters even mentioned their own hair color occasional, and the acknowledged difference helped to further distinguish individuals.

Clothing is almost identical from character to character, and while understandable given the presence of uniforms. The lack of diversity among body type means the characters’ facial appearances often fall back on tropes to make personalities obvious. An argument could be made, however, that the uniformity is a purposeful endeavor, as it points to the societal structure of the show and makes an outsider easy to identify. Each group or faction utilises similar color schemes and design choices in their outward appearance, making it easy to remember or guess at alliances.
Sound design for DitF was the more generic of the technical aspects. No single track stood out as particularly well done but also never broke the tension of a conflict or took away from the affect of an emotional scene. The OP and EDs also lack memorable composition and were often an accompaniment to the more interesting illustrations behind the credits, if one bothers to watch them at all. Highs and lows appeared in their expected places and that works well enough.

Judging solely from the MAL cover photo, it’s easy to guess some of the personalities and eventual actions of the main cast. Here’s the hero, ready to be the best, the childhood best friend and all that entails, the annoying immature one, the nice one, the bookworm, and of course, the main character’s best friend. The best friend who might possibly one of the greatest gifts anime has received since 2007’s bro of the year.
With personalities established came the clashes between them. Characters rile one another up, skirt around their emotions, have talks about believing in themselves and their squadmates, and living to fight another day and other common themes from series about fighting a war. The first half of DitF is often painfully generic, to the point of lines becoming word for word predictable. Despite the lack of nuance in the first half, it is still an important section for firmly establishing the values of each character, even if their personalities remain stagnant.

Only when the pasts of the world and the main characters come to light does the cast grow and develop. Each character fully pursues their own agenda, shaking status quo in favor of their own goals and desires. The changes in relationships felt very human and showed actual character growth, rather than falling back into tropes and stereotypes. The cast reacted appropriately the situations that would bring out fear, jealousy, affection, or camaraderie, and those situations deepened the character whether the audiences agrees with their actions or not. Rather than stick with likable characters achieving reasonable goals, DitF has characters ready to focus on their own goals, for the better or worse of the team as a whole.
The focus on the growing and changing relationships stood as the strongest point of the whole series. The happiness of one might make for the pain of another. Friendship or opposition grows and wans over time rather than a single interaction defining how two characters connect. The constant shifting of alliances and relationships lends great depth to a seemingly stale set of characters, embellished with outcomes that felt reasonable, for better or worse. Even single-time team-ups could represent a change in the relation between two characters and point to a much more subtle shift.

Focusing on character growth and interaction might have carried a negative effect on the plot progression with regards to just how much information can fit in 24 episodes. From the established point of fighting giant glowing dinosaurs and suppressing raging hormones, a great multitude of questions appear that might receive barebones explanations that only raise more questions, if answered at all. Battle victories especially often rely on the power of love, friendship, and reconciliation rather than tactics and reason. These situations fail to receive an explanation afterward, when the characters are busy recovering from just barely winning again.
The system of powering up through inexplicable means works solely because the plot demands it. Very rarely is the science or abilities of the DitF work explained beyond lots of smart or determined people getting together and then solving a problem. A critical viewing would find more plot holes than story, especially in the latter half as stakes are forced to ramp up. Story extends just enough to cover why the world is in the shape its in, and even then only barely.

Time taken away from the more repetitive battle scenarios in the first half of the show and allotted to fleshing out the world might have helped reduce the reliance on moments of style over substance. This lack of time also affects some minor characters. Many characters go unnamed and are defined only by their brief role or the bit of exposition they provide. Also, while supporting characters received much more substance than usual, the main character might be the least interesting of all of them due to performing actions more expected of teen aged mecha pilot.

Despite the many faults and holes in the story, the ending came as something of a surprise. The ending provides a full, satisfying conclusion that addresses the fate of the cast and world at large. With just the right amount of over the top power that had come to be the norm, and a detailed, in depth epilogue that addressed both the potentially sweet and hard times the cast would face, the ending to DitF perfectly captured the major themes of the show. Hard work, facing overwhelming odds, overcoming through everyone adding to the team somehow, and the new, wonderful experiences to come out of that success all appeared in multiple ways that fit the whole main cast.

Too often does a series end right after the climactic finale and fail to give time to the fallout from the characters decisions, letting the audience know the exact benefits and detriments of the climax. DitF makes sure to allot the proper amount of time and capture the right moments to tie up loose ends in terms of characters and interactions. Special care is taken to have the epilogue be neither perfectly sweet nor traumatically difficult. Instead, the send off is infused with a message of hope, a fragile one requiring the skills and efforts of all the characters to maintain and nourish if it is to flourish.
Overall, Darling in the FranXX is a show about characters. Their struggles, their joys, their hopes, and their ever fluctuating interactions with one another. Nothing is set in stone for how they must act, and characters created paths that felt distinctly human. The story and plot suffered a generic and slow opening, and then from too many late stage stories and plotlines to properly wrap up. If one can forgive plot holes for the sake of interesting characters, Darling in the FranXX stands out in terms of mecha-drama series.

There’s been a complaint within the anime-watching community that too many shows lack a solid relationship aspect, most likely due the amount of battle-harem shows that flood the roster each season. It’s quite frustrating to watch characters skirt around painfully obvious emotions and never act on those emotions or see if their feelings are mutual. As such, it should be a bit of a relief to read a manga that very, VERY clearly shows a relationship commence and continue during its runtime, right? Well, Kimi wa Midara na Boku no Joou somewhat does that, but in the worst way possible.
Art for this series was ... completely average, perhaps even lackluster given the shortness of the manga. The entire series lacked detailing, whether on the interior of a building or in the few outdoor scenes. Walls were blank and bare, clothing minimalistic and impersonal, and furniture so standard it appeared to be part of a slice of life manga asset pack
Lack of detailing extended to the appearance of the cast as well, with the main pair looking similar to any number of other romance protagonists. Other supporting characters had maybe a single defining characteristic, such as hair fashion or inclination to wear suits. Side characters such as students or people on the street might even lack eyes and uniforms only lessened the differences between them.
Characters are similarly uninteresting, usual encaptured in two or three character traits to the point that the story makes a joke about few activities they actually partake in outside of interacting with one another. Of the four characters listed in the MAL page, only two appear for more than 4 chapters, and while other characters exist, their personalities are as expansive as their wardrobes as discussed earlier. Personality traits also appeared to have been on a premium, as even the main leads generally get by with a handful of interests, usually revolving around each other.
Finally, plot, oh the plot. Ecchi series rarely need much to justify the presence of borderline nudity, but when the entire plot focuses on either two people getting it on or a few things that get in the way of them getting it on, one can be sure new depths are being plumbed. A few subplots crop up around this main focus, but serve little more purpose than to temporarily prevent the main pair from being together. These minor inconveniences usually get through a few jokes through sheer absurdity, and then receive a conclusion either contrived or way to easy on the main cast simply to return to the status quo.
In conclusion, Kimi wa Midara na Boku no Joou is completely and utterly stupid in its intent and content. Without strength from either art, plot, or characters, the series might have been better off a full hentai and skip the rush of censorship and adding in other characters and subplots. This series is good solely for a laugh at how contrived situations the main characters can get into, and proves that just having an actual relationship on display does not excuse a lack of characterization or interesting writing.

The appeal for the Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (SSR) manga was rooted in a deeply dark and realistic take on a world where humanity had all but disappeared. The vast constructions left behind served as a haunting reminder of the fragility of civilization and humanity as whole, seen through the eyes of protagonists that were just as out of their depth as the audience felt. The audience's view might even have appeared more foreboding, seeing the machines of industry and war with an understanding of their abilities and destructive capabilities.

The SSR manga was very bleak, ... vaguely sinister, and almost oppressively atmospheric in its trek through a dying world, a far cry from the similar post apocalyptic anime series of recent years. The translation of the story from manga form to anime form was one that could have followed that same presentation of ominous yet wordless storytelling, but instead developed into its own story, oddly due to the sound design.

The focus of the series on methodical traveling and dialog rather than action and quick movement or varied crowds means the simple animation is perfectly serviceable. It’s not great by any measure, but remains consistent throughout most of the series. The animation also takes inspiration directly from the manga, which used the simplified art to increase the mystery of the world. The simplified art works well from a narrative perspective of the two main girls not being able to comprehend the entirety of the world around them, and as such see the world in a very simple light. Still, a greater amount of detail in the world would have been nice to flesh out the backdrops of the series.

There were slight animation hiccups during sequences where the the Kettenkrad (armored motorcycle) was shown moving from a distance. These sequences utilize some form of animation similar to CGI from the Fate series or the crowds from Re:Zero. The shift was a little disjointing, especially with how often the Kettenkrad is in use. Hand drawn or full CGI, consistent animation would have been ideal for such an integral part of the whole series.

The story of SSR doesn’t follow one overarching plot, but rather follows multiple little stories. These stories usually come on a per-episode basis, but will occasionally reference situations from past episodes. As such, each episode tends to focus on one idea or another: meaning in life, music, phobias, war, and eating just for examples. It’s an interesting reflection on what’s important both before and after the fall of civilization.

The only connecting aspect of the whole series is the constant journey the pair of main characters embark on. The origin and ending of their journey are both are unknown, and not really of importance to the story. The journey is the destination as the saying goes.

Along that journey does not come a wide variety of characters. The main pair, the dark haired, cautious Chi, and the eternally hungry and free spirited Yuu might go entire episodes by themselves. Their dynamic of straight man and comedy works well to oppose the barren and bleak world surround them, but sometimes feels out of place given how positive the characters can be on occasion. Otherwise, Chii and Yuu have consistent interests and personalities, and while their actions might be predictable it’s fine for exploring the themes of the series. It's also enjoyable to see just how each will react to the new situations they will encounter each episode, whether perilous or silly.

Sound design is an often overlooked aspect of digital media, but becomes very important for a series whose strengths lie in atmosphere, background storytelling, and establishing the tone of the series. The manga, of course, had only the background noise the reader would apply themselves, often inspired by vast landscapes and towering, abandoned, cities. As such, the inclusion of background music, an upbeat OP song, and a far lesser amount of atmospheric ambience gave the series a much lighter tone than its manga counterpart. Rather than it being the story of two people struggling through the crumbling remains of a city, its instead became “cute girls doing cute things” in a semi-perilous post apocalyptic setting.

The sound design might even be a deal breaker for anyone expecting a darker and more serious tone. Manga readers especially might have preconceived ways that the world sounded. The difference in tone almost creates two different stories: one about a journey that two girls are taking, and one about the final moments of a dying land and the few people in it. This anime is definitely meant to be the former, for better or worse.

It’s hard to give a reasonable score to something that achieves a goal of being extremely entertaining but under examination is incredibly stupid. Does one judge it as a completely entertainment-focused installment with the trade off of not thinking critically about the material? Does one go the exact opposite route, sticking to pure, cold, subjective criticism at the risk of completely overthinking the subject and losing the intended meaning. Either way, Keijo!!!!!! Is certainly unique in its subject matter, if not in its themes.

Animation for a show focused solely around boobs and butts generally isn’t stellar,but Keijo defies that notion with a feel much more ... focused on the guise of being a sports show. Plenty of scenes use colorful, flowing animation to show increases or levels of ability, more in line with an action series that one focused on ecchi pool battles. The effort put in to make signature moves unique and distinct between characters helped to emphasize there differences on a very obvious level that supported the overall progression of the show. As a sports series, the theme of growth and improvement actually went hand in hand with the increasingly intense coloring and animation techniques, giving a physical representation of the progress the main cast made.

Like the animation, the sound design for Keijo felt pulled out of shonen battle series rather than a sports show. The whole series is filled with upbeat and intense themes to accent the many competitions that make up the bulk of the series events. There are a few notably normal background songs used for traveling and city exploration, but otherwise Keijo had a very particular soundtrack that kept ramping up as the stakes of the show increased.

Character development and defining features was a large but welcome surprise. Each character is differentiated first in look and then in style of movement and mannerisms. It would have been easy to have each embody a single trait or simple personality, but the cast runs the entire spectrum of humble to arrogant, energetic to reserved, and capable to beginner in a fashion that allows for each one to have growth while also managing to hold their own unique style during Keijo competitions. Priorities for who gets the most development and screen time felt mixed based on those considered to be main or supporting characters, but more time for developing side characters ending up working out well in this case. A great degree of emphasis was placed on individual improvement, whether on or off camera, and it was refreshing to see victory come from hard work and dedication.

And the great sticking point of the show comes from the plot. Yes, the characters are well rounded and learn new skills to improve themselves. Yes there are a great variety of situations overcome with improvisation and individual assessment in a very believable session. There is even time alloted to the competitors to the main cast to make them sympathetic and present competitions as a fair competition of will and skill rather than a battle of good and bad. There is just one factor that drags down the rest of the otherwise well-executed story

Keijo is, without reservation, completely, mind boggling, cringingly stupid from the outset. It's a beautiful thing to see the straight faced attempt to make the sport seem like a serious event when its little more than an excuse to have fanservice in every episode. The special moves characters use also have a slow power creep from merely being names for moves to full on super powers and occasionally making things into a “who can scream the loudest competition” as characters smash their butts together. The effect is amazingly entertaining, but almost too dumb to bear. Keijo is a special case of something so bad it’s good, and is certainly worth a watch for the sheer entertainment value and as a lover of spectacle.

Super heroes sure have taken hold of the public interest over the last decade. Not super powers, those have been a staple of media for most of recorded history. Super heroes, the idea that one would purposefully use a supernatural trait for the betterment of others rather than personal conflicts and gain, have risen in prominence. As such, Boku no Hero Academia has had the good fortune of being a super hero anime during the genres hayday, and received wild praise and enjoyment all over the world.

The technical aspects of BHA certainly capitalize on traditional superhero themes. The soundtrack contains many over the top or ... inspirational songs to accompany action scenes, and never stands out to any great degree for dramatic effect. The music and sound serve their purpose, notable only for setting the tone for a larger than life story.

Animation also takes a few pointers from other cartoon-styled super hero works. While the series is certainly done in modern anime style, the movements of the characters take pointers from franchises like One Punch Man and some American productions. Non-action movements involve many cuts and panning or zooming with the shot angle. There is also the use of animation that is fluid but undefined, with arms and legs flailing or not making contact with the surface around them. It's a style that accompanied the genre well, making it feel like a super hero production rather than an anime with super powers.

Focus for characters went for wide rather than deep with only 13 episodes for the first season. The main casts consists of about thirty characters, and while each one is given a personality and defining trait or two, few are delved into deeply. The main character, his mentor, and two or three of his classmates are the only ones to receive more attention, but what is shown has promise.

Each character has goals and struggles, and none are completely invincible, so their respective weaknesses lend depth and methods to explore the motives of the cast, as well as the reasons for their personalities. Some stick a little unbelievably to certain character traits, even when faced with reason to change, but each one fills a clear role and does so well. Overall, the first season does a good job setting up a basis to interact with the whole cast, but has to focus time on engaging with the main story and main character, leaving side characters for later seasons.

The plot of BNA delivers an excellent coming of age story that diverges nicely from many cliches and frustrations of other similar works. The "hero" is neither handed great strength nor overcomes all the odds despite an obvious weakness, but rather succeeds through training, effort, and growing into being strong. The cast has moments of both triumph and defeat, strength and weakness, hope and fear, but none are certain or persistent indefintiely.

Since success wasn't guaranteed, moments of tension actually carried weight, rather having a lingering feeling that all would work out in favor of the protagonist. Sure there was a fair degree of "and they/he arrived in the nick of time" but all of the meantime was filled with action that made the future uncertain and powers that fought one another remained within their set parameters.

The biggest praise for the BNA storyline comes in how consistent the powers of the characters remain through the whole run time. There are no sudden power ups, new abilities pulled from no where, or power of friendship. Instead, powers are clearly defined and limited.

While some characters are seemingly more inherently powerful than others, greater importance is placed on how well one uses power rather than simple overwhelming force. A fun part of the series is seeing different powers interact or how seemingly niche powers can save the day.

Boku no Hero Academia is certainly worth a look for many different reasons. The hero's story is a nice change from ones of sudden power increases or planning so precise it borders on impossible, or both if you're Shiba Tatsuya. The main cast sets a nice stage for coming installments and has a certain charm in being both capable, yet often challenged. The overall setting is also a fresh face in the medium of anime that, while similar to things like the Index franchise, certainly has put in the effort and time to make a clear setting and world for itself apart from other possible influences.

I often find myself wary of series that received high praise during their run time and then disappear from anime discussions. It's not that I expect them to fail to live up to standards since it might just be niche appeal, but that fear of wasting time on something over hyped is always prevelant and makes it difficult to get started on well received series. Re:Zero is certainly above average, but doesn't fall into the realm of exceedingly great as the MAL score might imply.

The sheer technical aspects of Re:Zero work perfectly satisfactorily. The animation owes something to a combination of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and ... Rokka no Yuusha, and follows in that tradition in presenting mystery and action scenes with appropriate amounts of detail.

A few moments, especially in cities, would utilize a strange mix of handdrawn and cgi animation that stood out quite obviously, but these moments were fortunately brief uncommon. Some of the more intense action scenes would also sacrifice quality for fluidity, but it's an understandable trade-off. Otherwise the artwork sat somewhere between functional to very detailed, the with effort paying off in detailed, high quality cities and beautiful sweeping landscapes.

Character design in particular is nicely varied, ranging through all shapes and sizes for both the make and female characters. There was never any confusion on who characters were or their importance, even when many wore matching uniforms for certain episodes. Perhaps a few of the designs were a little outlandish, and characters obviously received effort respective to their importance, but overall retained enough variety to make be recognizable on sight.

Music falls into a much more subjective category based on personal preferences. All the light background music served it's intended purpose, but scenes of action or intrigue might bring with them stranger music that could either be called fitting as them emphaised the moment or jarring as the music suddenly became much more noticable. There were also occasions that used repeating sound effects to draw focus on related events and their significance.

The characters of Re:Zero provide the major draw of the series. As with their designs mentioned above, the characters are nicely varied, and each sticks to their unique views and interests. The conglomerate of different interests and motives generates a web of different relationships: some friendly, some of necessity, some of hostility.

The social dynamics made the show enjoyable to watch simply for trying to keep up with the different motivations and factions at work. Starting from simple person-to-person conflicts, there is a gradual increase in numbers per sides, and appriate rise in stakes. The tag of drama, interpreted as interests arising from inter-personal conflicts, fits Re:Zero on multiple levels and through the whole run time.

The plot of Re:Zero was the weakest point of the series, with the biggest flaw coming from the pacing. The beginning starts slow, with quite few events being gone over multiple times and suddenly rushing through multiple exciting scenes without much in the way of explanation. While all the events do flow one another and make sense, a more even distribution of high and lows would have been good for keeping up the first half to get to more important events would've been beneficial.

The other big probable might be one of a more personal interpretation, but should be addressed. It is fine for a series to have drama come from between characters, it's the point of series with the tag. An issue arises when that drama comes from characters refusing to communicate or understand the behaviour patterns of other characters. The first two thirds of the series include a fair amount of this lack of communication that felt out of place in an anime that wasn't a romance or comedy focused.

Finally, while there is a decisive and climactic end to the series, it's also quite obviously only an introduction to a much larger story. The last few episodes had ironed out a number of the problems of previous episodes, and l certainly felt I wanted more to continue where the story was going in the last episode.

Re:Zero certainly contains many positive aspects. The characters break many of the more common tropes and act with a fair degree of self awareness and more introspection than commonly seen in anime. The plot can be fairly shaky in places, but if one is willing to forgive the frustrations of the earlier episodes an accept it as build up and preparation for the rest of the series, those actions are a bit more tolerable and reasonable. Re:Zero might not be partciuarly brilliant or revolutionary, but is certainly unique in it's execution and could provide a good place to judge interest for the rest of the series.

I really enjoy Shaft animation, the Monogatari series in particular being my favorite anime series

I really enjoy the Fate series, having seen most of the main animated material and Zero being one of the first anime I ever watched.

So why don’t I like Fate/Extra: Last Encore, a Fate installment animated by Shaft?

In all fairness, many of the elements that make up smaller portions of the story work or present themselves perfectly adequately. Shaft animation might often appear in a trademark stylized way, but since the animation was fluid and reasonably detailed it certainly gains a pass.

Some of the scenery shots and images from the ... final episode very well make their way into wallpaper-worthy territory. Music, whether background, battle, or theme song, aren’t particularly stand out, but music is at least doing its job if it stays supporting the action and not interrupting it.

Characters have always formed the major backbone of the series, since all of events and themes revolve around the actions of key characters. Fate/Extra Last Encore falls more in line with past Fate installments rather than branching out into some of the wider Nasuverse characters.

The main character falls somewhat into the generic high school age MC with burgeoning intriguing characteristics, but lacks the originality of Shirou in Stay Night or the more mature takes on heroism seen in Fate/Zero. Tohsaka Rin makes an appearance and remains in the character expected from her earlier appearances in Fate anime. The other more minor characters come and go on an almost episode-level basis and barely do more than act as obstacles and opponents for the main character and his servant.

And the main servant, the Arturia Saber lookalike from the media, commercials, games, art, and ruiner of trying to learn anything about the Roman Empire, Red Saber Emperor of Roses. Saber Nero Claudius.... Why Fate has an obsession with genderbending is still unknown. She certainly adds an upbeat, optimistic outlook to the usually downcast Fate series, but the reception would vary viewer to viewer.

The largest sticking point for the series comes from the plot. The Fate series has always used the Holy Grail as its principle McGuffin, and while that is present in Fate/Extra, it doesn’t appear to be the focus of the main characters. Instead the plot wanders, passing through different and mostly unconnected stages.

Each stage wanted to discuss different ideas or the traits of the cast, but seemed to devote too little time while trying to balance action with dialog, and the series ended up not allowing for enough of either. Episode 7 stands out as something I personally rewatched multiple times and still failed to comprehend the reason for it and the point it was trying to make.

Some of the actions and abilities of the cast also seemed to be skated over due to a lack of time to explain their existence, but only poked further plot holes or raised more questions. Many lines of dialog seemed to try to explain what the reason for these abilities was, but became unnecessarily philosophical and lacking in focus to the point that it was more confusing than simply accepting "magic" as the explanation.

Fate/Extra: Last Encore falls as the weakest entry to the Fate series in the animated universe. The characters were functional, but failed to distinguish themselves, the technical aspects worked fine to well, but the plot left so much to be desired that the series as a whole is hard to recommend. Perhaps supplemental material helps Fate\Extra make more sense, but until then it seems fine to skip this entry in favor of Zero or Unlimited Blade Works.

I remember watching the original Dagashi Kashi series back when it aired. It wasn’t a particularly deep series, but I enjoyed the running gags throughout the series and the characters fit well into their setting. It never tried to take itself too seriously and reveled in being a lighthearted, episodic comedy. S2 could have followed suit, but tried to work with different forms of plot development.

Dagashi Kashi S2 certainly focuses more on having an overarching story, with multiple episodes following a single plot. Episodes usually had a unique candy to talk about, but the focus had certainly shifted to revolve around the characters rather than ... the snacks. This change in focus would prove fortunate for those looking for a more cohesive experience, but overall seemed to detract from the experience.

The characters of Dagashi Kashi are well realized for their setting, but that setting is in a candy store making jokes, not worrying about failure and deadlines. Perhaps it’s personal opinion, but the change in general feeling from lighthearted fun to more drama based interactions takes away from the overall light hearted and “fun” nature of the show. Not enough episodes centered around romping through the woods and hanging by the pier compared the number spent worrying about the competition for sales.

Overall, Dagashi Kashi is a nice little continuation of the series, especially true with the episodes being half the length of a regular one at 12 minutes. The second season lacks some of the charm of the first season, but delivers a fun revisit to dagashi shop by the river.

Talking to new people and making friends when one feels unsure of themselves often feels awkward and difficult, and most people have at least one experience where they have felt out of their depth socially. Komi-san wa Comyushou desu takes a look at a girl learning to interact with others despite her initially cold and intimidating appearance.

Often this sort of interaction is made into a comedy through cringe humor, something like Watamote for instance. Komi-san takes a different path by making the humor based around the main character, Komi, clearly work to fix her problems when dealing with people rather than remaining stony and stand-offish. ... Even in this short one-shot, the audience watchers as the other character, Tadano, comes to understand and communicate better with Komi. The humor value is more looking at how far Komi still has to interact with others well, even if she does incrementally better with each encounter

Due to being a one shot the story can’t do much more than showcase the potential of the story, but does manage to show progress and change, which I counted as a plus and definitely made me more interested in the longer story. The art is fairly average, save for the occasionally chibified or other stylization used to show how characters feel or the aura they’re meant to give off during the story.

Overall, this one shot does it’s job of creating interest for the main story, and provides a reasonable way for the reader to decide if they are interested enough to commit to a longer story.