Back to CaptainTexas's Profile CaptainTexas's Profile

A goofy, silly story about a girl desperately trying to escape the friend-zone. It's an interesting mix of zany, over-the-top slapstick punctuated by genuinely heartfelt moments that capture what it's like to be young and navigating your first crush. The adaptation flirts with some heavier B-plots but doesn't explore them quite as thoroughly as something like Horimiya might. The comedy doesn't always land in the way Nouzaki Kun does, but it's zany enough that you're bound to smile at something.

The art style works very well for the direction of the show and the action is well-illustrated. You can see the artists flexing a little ... in the first few seconds of the OP and do an excellent job of translating the action sequences.

It's a popcorn show; light, tasty, hits the spot without spoiling your appetite for heavier fare down the line.

This series is best thought of as a re-imagining, rather than a reboot, of the original series. The central characters and plot are there, but they have been reworked to tell a different version of the story. As a re-imagining, it's difficult to separate this series from the source material it takes cues from, both the manga and the original anime. That said, on its own, this series is fine. The visuals are pretty enough, with some rather well-done action sequences. The music compliments the visuals nicely, with fluttering orchestral music a nice contrast to the grim violence we see unfolding on screen. The series ... is dark and broody, with very little humor and quite a lot of melodrama. Fans of the original may not find a lot to like and newcomers wanting to experience the older version will find this new story line spoils the plot of the original quite a bit

The first episode of this show intrigued me with an interesting set of characters, a decent premise (wandering musician trying to deal with grief), and decent music that showcased an instrument that I didn't have much exposure to.

Unfortunately the rest of the series doesn't deliver on the promise of the pilot. We are quickly introduced to your bog-standard high-school setting that turns, rather quickly, into your standard tournament arc. The shamisen does occasionally shine but is often drowned out in unnecessary overly-expository dialogue or, worse, saccharine, see-how-hard-we-are-trying-to-tug-at-your-heart-strings?! background music.

The show sets up some interesting characters and character dynamics (our protagonist has an amazingly ... dysfunctional family) but fails to develop the cast enough for any one person to truly stand out. (The exception may be our protagonist's mother, whom is the kind of character we all love to hate.) The plot and tone meander quite a bit. The show seems to be probing the question of whether the art we create is for ourselves or for those around us but doesn't really get as the meat of that juicy philosophical steak, preferring instead to be content nibbling around the edges.

Annoyingly thought, I want a second season. The first season has built up plenty of characters and plot to explore and I would love to see how the writers use them to develop the themes they only hinted at in season one.

A riotously-funny that caught me off-guard and took me along for a side-splittingly funny ride.

The story, such as it is, is less of an arc and more a collection of vignettes featuring recurring characters. There's not a great deal connecting each particular episode, but you still find yourself oddly compelled to keep watching if for no other reason than to see what happens next. The voice actors are clearly having entirely too much fun with their lines, leaning so far into deadly serious that it circles back around to charming farce. The characters aren't particularly well fleshed-out, but that adds to the charm of the ... work. By denying us any significant backstory, we're forced to engage the weirdness of the scenarios head-on and not think too hard about why an ultra-violent yakuza would suddenly go domestic.

The art is the biggest flaw in the series. The series isn't really animated so much as it is a collection of lightly-embellished manga panels. I was originally put off by it, but grew to enjoy it and feel that it sort of adds to the surrealism of the entire work.

A comedic, cutesy, and somewhat idealized look at marriage.

Our leads get married in a rush after she saves his life from our old friend Truck-kun. They spend the next 12 episodes navigating life as a married couple, including laundry, cooking, domestic duties, and the scam that is the engagement and wedding ring industry.

This is, by and large, an average show. There's nothing really offensive (though some may take issue with the very traditional portrayal of gender roles on full display here) but it never really soars to great heights either. Pacing isn't bad, though the plot does feel a bit stitched together. The characters ... feel a little flat, but that might be a side effect of the flashes of development hinting at something much richer that we occasionally get. Married viewers will probably get some enjoyment out of this, as some of the dynamics between husband and wife are very relatable.

Overall, this is popcorn: a tasty snack, nothing rich or filling, but still satisfying.

A science fiction procedural seasoned with a bit of character drama that's really hard to review without spoiling. The series definitely hand-waves the technobabble, but it's not really important. The strong hook of this show is how the premise allows for mysteries to be told in a different and interesting perspective. The pacing is a bit slow but picks up dramatically towards the end. The twists have just enough foreshadowing to make sense without being too blatant. Characters are interesting and just shaded enough to feel like something more than stock cut-outs.

The soundtrack is solid and a few well-placed songs elevate it to somewhat better ... than I would have expected. The art is definitely janky in a few places but I found it didn't detract from my viewing experience too much.

Overall a solid stand-alone series that I would highly recommend to anyone who liked Inception or Criminal Minds.

This show has an interesting and somewhat ambitious premise of two scientists trying to understand the material conditions of the thing we call "love". The series starts strong, stumbles a bit in the middle, but ultimately sticks the landing in the last two episodes. The expository interludes do a pretty good job giving the basics of whatever scientific concept the characters are discussing.

The characters are interesting and feel like actual people, though I did find myself questioning how Inukai got accepted into the lab from time to time. Still, there's enough there to make the characters feel fleshed out and the little flashes of depth ... we get make the characters more than just one-dimensional archetypes.

Overall an ultimately enjoyable, but not outstanding romantic comedy that suffers from a sloppy writing mid-season and relies on forced drama to bring about its satisfying conclusion.

A light-hearted action comedy that starts out relatively grounded and then dives into the impossible. The artwork overall is fair, some episodes are better than other, and occasionally you can tell the studio went in for the cheap so they could save up for more cinematic fights later on. The storyline is interesting, but gets ridiculous by the end. Still, I found myself watching just to see what kind of shenanigans would happen next.

This is definitely geared towards a younger male viewing demographic. Some of the fan-service is ridiculous and bordering on uncomfortable, but I suppose it draws attention.

Overalll, an enjoyable tale about ... self-respect, courage, friendship, and learning to stand on your own two feet.

In summary, a character-driven sports drama about runners. I'm a runner myself so I'm probably more biased than other reviewers in my

This anime's primary strength is managing to balance the solitary aspects of running by using the Hakone Ekiden to justify the formation of a team. Yet, within that team, are 10 distinct and developed characters that feel real and genuine. While most of the focus is on running prodigy Kakeru and master-of-psychology Haiji, every member of the running team is given sufficient screentime to explore their motivations and what drives them all to do something as crazy as running the Hakone Ekiden.

Along the ... journey, the show explores such questions as "What is running as a sport?", "Do runners compete for themselves or for the prize?", "Should sports be limited to only the elite?" and "Why the hell do runners do this to themselves?" It never answers them fully, but it does provide possible answers that gave me something to ponder.

This show's other major strength is in creating dramatic tension. By investing me in the characters, it made me care about their journey. The small human-scale stakes of whether or not the running team will get anywhere are more understandable than world-shaking fantasy battles where civilization itself is on the line. I found myself white-knuckled in more than one episode wondering if a quirk of fate or just being out-classed was going to end this team's dreams forever.

Overall this is a great anime for anyone who's ever had a dumb idea that someone told you was impossible or for any runner questioning why the hell they put themselves through training when they could be taking a nap.

Kaguya-sama is an over-the-top rom-com romp adapted from a manga of the same name. The anime covers Chapters 1-46 of the manga and excises a bit of the filler along the way. Not to worry though, the adapted chapters are adapted faithfully and take full advantage of the visual and audio capabilities of the medium. The OP deserves particular praise here, pulling off a James Bond-esque visual sequence with music to match. This is indicative of the anime's biggest strength, its ability to enhance top-notch source material through visual direction and musical accompaniment. The soundtrack here would not be out of place in an action ... series and serves to highlight the silliness of the whole situation. Which of course is the entire point of the series. That's not to say this anime is without its serious or heartfelt moments. The general silliness provides the necessary contrast to highlight those dramatic moments and make them ring all the more true.

Voice acting is top-notch from start to finish. Everyone seems like they're having fun with their lines, but none more so than Yutaka Aoyama. His narrator is large, bombastic, and clearly enjoying the hell out of every single line he delivers.

The script is pretty tightly-written, but I do think there are some sections that could have been cut and others that could have been expanded on. For example, I think the end of Episode 11 could have been its own episode, relying on music and animation to make up for the short narration. Overall though, there's not a great deal of filler and even that filler is pretty enjoyable.

The animation is consistently quality. It does take short-cuts here and there but I really didn't notice it until subsequent viewings of the episode. The Episode 3 ED is amazing and if you know nothing else about this anime, you've probably seen that clip floating around on YouTube already.

Overall, this is an outstanding quality production. I enjoyed it for its characters, satirical humor, visual gags and Yutaka Aoyama's insane narration.