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Whether you like it as a romance or not is debatable, but as a comedy this is pure gold.

Just as the anime has done so many times, let's talk a little about the studio. Bibury Animation perfectly understood the meaning of the word "adapt" when making this anime. The studio understands that 100 Girlfriends is a story that can be told in a very free way, because everything is allowed. They weren't satisfied with simply adapting the manga linearly, trying to make the jokes from a printed medium work in an animated one. They go further, trying to create their own version of 100 Girlfriends, ... so they aren't afraid to modify, cut, or delete scenes. Despite all the modifications, the anime never loses its charm or essence; it always feels like a faithful representation of the source material. Furthermore, they understood that this work is something they can play with, let their imaginations run wild, but even more importantly, it's something they can laugh at themselves with. There are jokes unique to anime that can only work in this medium. Those small additions are something that made me respect Bibury as a studio. They looked for a way to leave their personal mark on the production without trying to overwrite the original manga's personality.

The comedy is absurd, silly, and referential, but it's never dull or flat. There always has to be at least one joke or reference per episode that makes you smile. The animation is of a high standard and never lags, and they have a tough time because the characters on screen only increase as the episodes go by. They aren't afraid of the difficulty of making an anime with an extremely demanding premise. Now, as a way to promote the manga, it also works very well. With the breaking of the fourth wall, and with the characters being aware that they're in an anime, they're constantly sending you to read the manga in a direct, blatant, and inorganic way that totally works. They're not lying to you, they're telling you straight: we cut X content, if you want to see it, go to the manga. I have no doubt this has convinced more than one person to read the source material.

One of the best comedies we've had in recent years, and it's here that we understand the importance of being genuine.

The consolidation of the best video game-themed anime.

This season seeks to expand the story's vision of video games. Sure, it gives us a progressive continuation of the main story, but even the narrative itself works just like a video game. The story within the main game remains interesting: the hunt for the 7 Supremes. In the purest JRPG style, before any boss fight, there will be a thousand things to do, a thousand dialogues to read, and all that lore is just too enticing. The entire season was spent fighting two of them, and we're nowhere near beating them. Since this whole journey can be ... overwhelming at times, the anime takes us on a break from this game to try to spend some time in other genres. This is how our protagonist takes us through a mecha combat game and a traditional fighting game. ShanFron knows his market, knows who he's talking to, and the more he presents, the more the affection he has for the video game industry becomes evident. It's not just about the games, but the players as well. Seeing all the different player classes is a great experience because it will lead you to forge a bond with the character who has a playstyle similar to yours.

Everything in the story is very well-crafted; when someone tells you that someone is strong, it's clearly demonstrated. They don't do it with a brutal display of strength, but rather with the complex gameplay mechanics you must employ to defeat your opponent. No major enemy is defeated in the same way, which adds a lot of dynamism to the fights. You won't see two identical strategies, nor two identical bosses. As the story progresses and experience accumulates, a sea of ​​new variants, tools, weapons, classes, and subclasses opens up, enriching what we see on screen because everything is constantly changing.

ShanFron is establishing itself as the best in the video game genre. This could be attributed merely to its animation, which never falters, but it's a story that is naturally charismatic. This should not be a recommendation but rather a requirement.

Medalist is something I didn't know I needed, but I'm grateful it was given to me.

Initially, I thought this would have a very heavy dramatic weight and I would have to suffer and cry with the characters. I did end up crying, but not because of the exaggerated drama, but because of the conviction and determination shown by each and every one of the characters in Medalist. The story focuses on children; they are the main focus of this story. When working with children, everything becomes more complicated because you have to make childhood problems seem truly worrisome. To do this, it focuses on issues ... we've all experienced: personal insecurity and the desire for change. These are two things that, as adults, we can resolve or continue to struggle with, but at the age of the children in this play, these are feelings that constantly haunt us. By presenting something we've all experienced, it's impossible not to empathize with, even if it's just one of the skaters. On the other hand, these aren't just children's problems; we also have adults with their own situations. From a coach who was denied the opportunity to fulfill his dream and now tries to motivate a girl with the same dream as him, but without resorting to trying to live vicariously through her. An overprotective mother who wants the best for her daughter but doesn't know how to achieve it. Everywhere you look in this story, you'll find a conversation, a scene, a gesture, a movement that you'll empathize with whether you want to or not.

In the sports section, even if you know nothing about ice skating, everything you see will seem beautiful. I had no confidence in how ENGI had used CGI in previous works, but here they decided to take it seriously. Every choreography, every jump, every spin feels extremely fluid and delicate. This is something you don't appreciate until you see it a second time, because the first time you saw it, you were most likely enthralled by the routines. One very positive thing is that Medalist doesn't resort to the image of the arrogant, overbearing, or rude rival. It manages to generate and create rivalries between the children on the rink, but a genuine friendship off it. The anime tries to explain everything very well before starting a routine, and I can tell you, it's not necessary to have understood anything, because you'll still enjoy every move performed to the rhythm of the music.

Figure skating never disappoints, and Medalist only reinforces that belief of mine.

Solo Leveling is a drug that entertained us this season.

In terms of entertainment, Solo Leveling fulfilled its function as an anime. It was an anime that we looked forward to every Saturday simply for a weekly dose of action that didn't require wading through a vast lore before each fight. Frantic, fast-paced fights with good animation. It's an anime that knows how to provide small respites, whether comedic or dramatic, between arcs so we don't have an epileptic seizure after each fight. The protagonist carries everything there is to bear and takes responsibility for everything until the end.

It's an anime that fulfills its function of ... entertaining; talking about the story is a completely different matter. I could write paragraphs about the problems with Solo Leveling's story, but I'd like to assume that's something we're all aware of. So, on the negative side, I'd like to highlight the decision to adapt Jeju Island in so few episodes. This was supposed to be an important arc, but it felt like just another arc, where the rest of the characters were just cannon fodder while the protagonist entered the scene. The quality of the fights diminished as the story progressed. We went from having understandable choreography and movement in detailed environments to being treated to a light show with pointless stage destruction.

There are many good and bad things we could say, but I don't want to spend too much time on Solo Leveling. I'll just close by saying Solo Leveling was never an RPG; this was always a gacha because Powercreep is insane.

This anime fails on so many levels that it ultimately betrays its own synopsis.

The ultimate scam, it sells you a product you're interested in, only to deliver something completely flawed. We were supposed to get a story about a receptionist for an adventurers' guild in a fantasy world. One of the most recognizable but least explored figures in the genre. The guild is one of the most iconic institutions in any fantasy world, so getting to know its workings, structure, and hierarchy, with a bit of added comedy, was what it promised. It ended up giving us yet another One-Punch Man clone of the super-strong ... protagonist who defeats everyone with a single blow because no one else can. On top of that, as if it wasn't generic enough at this point, they add a romance that no one asked for and that takes time away from the receptionist's work. The story is afraid of being different, of telling a little-explored story, which is why it falls into the error of resorting to the most clichéd elements of the genre. The script wasn't prepared to withstand this change, so it ends up weakening to the point that any element you review will fall apart at the first attempt at analysis.

The receptionist character ends up being wasted because more time is spent in dungeons or fights than at the reception desk. Customer service issues are minimal, if not nonexistent. The supporting characters are inconsequential; they have no weight in either the plot or the fights. The power system is designed for the protagonist to fight alone, but she's tied to a team that's much weaker than her. This ends up being an obstacle rather than a help. Despite having an established power system, she constantly seeks to break it in order to make the supporting characters a little more competent. The enemies are flat; their motivations don't generate anything in you; you don't hate them, you don't pity them, you feel absolutely nothing towards them. The administrative issues surrounding the receptionists are completely hidden, and instead of showing them working, they only show them complaining. Complaints at one point are pointless because you never see them working, so if they never work their normal shift, it's obvious they'll have overtime.

The best thing to do with this anime is to read the synopsis, imagine the exact opposite of what it says there, and if that catches your attention, then you can give it a chance.

The perfect demonstration that even if you follow an established formula, you can always find something to improve.

Tensei Ojisan may give you a rather strange first impression because the premise of a 50-year-old man in the body of a teenager is naturally odd. Even so, the story doesn't seek to explore this world from a morbid perspective, but rather from a more paternal point of view. The villain isekai subgenre has a pre-established formula that all anime of this style have followed without trying to innovate or improve anything. Tensei Ojisan shows us that even with the most clichéd elements, your story can be entertaining, ... engaging, and interesting if you know how to use them.

The villain becomes the good guy, and the protagonist of the game/novel where we reincarnate becomes the villain. An overused resource, which they try to delve a little deeper into here. Explore the villain's family situation to understand the reasons for her bad attitude, the reasons and attitudes that make the protagonist worthy of that role. Both characters could work perfectly well if only the enmity factor weren't there.
The male harem, who are always mere window dressing to give the villain love interests, are truly human. Here, you really feel them as people. They are characters who, with a few scenes and dialogue, build real people with virtues and flaws, but the main thing is that not everyone falls in love with the villain after the change. Some see her as a friend, others as a supporter of the empire, and some as a potential romantic interest. The protagonist isn't tied to having to relate to just one of the boys. The story understands that there are different types of relationships that can coexist within the same group.
The fact that it's the world of a video game, in this case. This element is usually forgotten, that we are in the world of a medium we used to consume in our previous lives. The anime perfectly understands that this is an aspect that can take full advantage of the world due to how little used it is. The anime plays with two perspectives: that of the villain, who sees her world as a real world with nothing really different about it, and that of the family of the lord who reincarnated as the villain. The family is the one who shows us and reminds us that this world is a video game. They tell us the lore of the story, the changes the lord has made now as the villain, the events, the menus, the interface, the gameplay. They tell us absolutely everything.

This brings me to the most important aspect: in other works, they never take into account who the person was before being reincarnated. In Tensei Ojisan, they very clearly define who Grace (the villain) is and who Lord Kensaburo (the reincarnated one) is. They are two completely different entities, and you never forget that they are two different characters, and the story even has elements that take advantage of this duality of personalities. It is thanks to Kensaburo's experiences on Earth that he is able to help improve Grace's life within the academy. It's Mr. Kensaburo, through a fatherly perspective, who shows us that adults aren't the villains in the story, but rather that they simply don't know how to communicate with teenagers. Mr. Kensaburo is the cornerstone of this story; without him, this anime couldn't be told.

To say I liked the anime is an understatement. This anime has so much charisma, but above all, it's made with so much love, and it feels that way. The world-building is so well-crafted that it's impossible not to immerse yourself in this story. One day, I hope to be half the person Mr. Kensaburo is.

The best thing about this anime is the character design... and that's it.

Another fantasy harem story hitting our screens. I'd honestly like to try my best to find at least two or three reasons why you should give it a chance, but I can't list more than one. That's the biggest sign that watching this anime might be more of a waste of time than a pleasant afternoon. The first two episodes try to be a story with more blood than average, but the blood only lasts in those episodes. Later on, this aspect isn't relevant. The protagonist starts by giving us something different, having ... to reshape his body to get used to the powerful abilities he's acquiring, but once again, this only lasts in the initial part of the anime.

The highlight and the only good reason I have to recommend it is the character design. Whether the character is a main character, a supporting character, an NPC, or a villain, the design naturally draws the eye. It's very likely that the only reason you'll stick around to finish the anime is because you like one of the girls, but other than that, there's nothing truly engaging about the story.

The conflicts are resolved too quickly, the villains carry no weight. On top of that, the fights are over in seconds, so you don't even get a feel for the bad guy once he's defeated. Continuity is a big problem as the story progresses because you feel like you're skipping two or three chapters. The beginning of one chapter has nothing to do with the end of the previous one, and characters arrive at locations from one scene to the next, meaningless because the dungeons are supposed to be secret, but the main character seems to have direct access to every single one.

If you're looking for something visually beautiful that doesn't require much attention, you'll probably like this. Still, I'd recommend looking for something better than this.

Bless my brain, the day it decided to forget we read the Dr. Stone manga.

Dr. Stone seasons are always characterized by some kind of race against time, which unleashes all the adrenaline possible. This season's race has been the most exciting yet, because the scientific kingdom finally found a worthy rival. Senkuu and company's strongest weapon has always been science, but what would happen if the rival has the same or greater scientific power than our protagonists? This is precisely the scenario in which this first part of the final season places us.

There's little to say about the scientific kingdom; it's full of charismatic characters ... who, to a greater or lesser extent, always have something to contribute to the plot. As for Xeno's scientific kingdom, that's where we should focus. Xeno arrives to be Senkuu's greatest antagonist, along with his most faithful ally, Stanley Snider. Both characters truly feel like a threat because they're a perfect combination of intelligence and military strength. This opens up many possibilities to see our characters engaging in aerial combat and seeking out a sniper position. This season, the danger feels real because the odds are even; any misstep, any miscalculation would be fatal for either side of the conflict.

Of the new characters, I highlight Luna, the cold, capable woman. Characters who bring some kind of catchphrase with them in this anime, you know they're going to contribute something, whether it's comedy or an internal monologue. Luna, along with her two companions, are a great addition to the comedy this season. Having a naive girl, who believes herself to be a femme fatale, trying to win over Senkuu is a guaranteed laugh regardless of the context.

Dr. Stone is a story that I enjoy every episode as if it were the first time I've seen it. I will always be grateful to my memory for giving me this opportunity.

The Shark Tank of anime.

Trillion Game brings a fresh and new story to a market rife with magical fantasies. A corporate comedy/drama in the purest Shark Tank style, where the most compelling aspect is the negotiation strategies. We have the story of our protagonists, whose goal is to generate a trillion dollars. From there, a chain of events begins where we see how acts of good faith can synergize with deception and blackmail. Our protagonists, besides being very good friends, are also a representation of Yin and Yang. They are complete opposites in every way, but that's why they can work together to successfully move ... an emerging business forward in a sea of ​​​​vipers, such as the corporate world. The story is an exaggeration to show us the shortest path to success; things will always turn out well for the protagonists and badly for the antagonists. Beyond seeing it as a bad thing, I can see it as a narrative device to show us the interesting side of this world of entrepreneurs.

There are negative things, but they're not in the story; they're in the art. My goodness, at first, it's hard to see the characters because to say their design is ugly is an understatement. The character design is quite uncomfortable to look at because it looks like art stuck in antiquity. The chins are the strangest thing; they're the most out of place on the characters' faces. This artistic decision often makes it difficult to immerse yourself in the story because you don't believe the descriptions you're being given of other characters. When they tell you "so-and-so is the most beautiful person in the country, look, she's dazzling," and when you, as a viewer, see her, all you can think is "but she's uglier than having diarrhea with a cough." As the episodes go by, you get used to the art, but it still seems ugly. If you're a visual person, you'll likely find it uncomfortable most of the time.

Trillion Game is definitely a breath of fresh air. If you're looking for a story that breaks away from current market trends, this is a great option. It's funny, it's entertaining, it has comedy, drama, a bit of romance, but above all, it makes you believe it's possible to earn a trillion dollars by doing the craziest things.

Ao no hako, in times of content oversaturation, manages to do something truly important. It manages to evoke feelings in the viewer.

Anime knows there's no reason to rush things. A well-told story is better than one rushed just to reach key moments. The first season focused solely on building. Building Chii and Taiki's relationship, building the supporting characters for their future arcs, building a specific supporting character with whom the story would close out its first season. The production knew how to take advantage of the space it had to tell a realistic story, but above all, one with which everyone can empathize. High school ... could have been your best or worst time, depending on each person, but you have memories of that time. Ao no hako manages to revive those memories within you, and you unconsciously become emotionally involved with character X or Y because that's what you would have done in real life. The script of this anime is so well executed that you feel a real connection with your favorite character or characters. In fact, if you could pick up your phone to send a message of support to any of them, you would do it without hesitation.

A season that made us feel, and to talk about feelings, we have to talk about Hina Chono, who was a central character in the middle. Regardless of which side you took during the season, it's impossible not to feel something at the climax of this character's arc. A polarization was generated in this event, where the discussion unexpectedly wasn't on Hina's side but on whether the protagonist did the right thing or not by doing what he did. The polarization generated is just a good example of how well written the work was. Very few audiovisual media have such a significant impact on the audience's emotional side as to defend and even emotionally support a fictional character. Ao no hako knew how to take advantage of the elements of an animated production to enrich the source material. The voice acting, the animation, the soundtrack—everything is there to enhance the key moments.

Ao no hako managed to be its own version without being a carbon copy of its manga version, but it also works as a great promotion for that material. It's a promotional effort because it organically makes you want to turn to the manga to find out what's next. At the end of the day, that's the main goal of an anime, and we can say that Ao no hako has more than achieved it.