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Oct 12, 2022
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, an unearned, incoherent, and unexplained mess.
As a pretext, I thought the first two rebuild movies were great. Super amped up animation, great song selections, and a much needed improvement on some of the flaws of the original series. One in particular I loved is how they made the three main characters more enjoyable. Asuka was less of a total psycho, Shinji wasnt just crying all the time, and Rei was becoming human. It truly felt like Anno was taking the criticisms found on the original series and improving on them to make the story a lot more solid for the Rebuild movies.
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Then Evangelion 3.0 came around. It wasnt bad per say, it just changed the entire story. This wasnt really Evangelion anymore. EVA vs Angel fights turned into super galactic ship battles between NERV and WILLE. Overall, it was fine for being a mediocre film because it was expected to be setting up an epic final conclusion movie.
Boy oh boy was I wrong. The first hour of Evangelion 3.0+1.0 is actually really good. The first act in the village is some of the best Evangelion I have seen. Asuka and Rei get major character development, while the minor characters of the original series get screen time as well. It felt like the coherent story telling that came in the 2nd movie.
From there on after they leave the village, this movie is really bad. I am not sure where to even begin. The fights manage to get even worse than the ones seen in 3.0, and the CGI isnt very well done. Characters who we do not care about at all are given the spotlight instead of the main characters. Like honestly, why is Touji's sister given more screentime than Asuka in the 2nd half of the movie?
Oh and then there is Mari. Mari deserves her own section of this rant because of just how much of an impact she has on bringing down the Rebuilds. Evangelion 2.0 introduces her in a mysterious way that makes the viewer somewhat hooked. Then the timeskip happens and shes just fully integrated into the team without any explanation. This character gets no backstory, no character development, and has hardly any actual dialogue. So for her to NOT ONLY BE THE ONE TO SAVE SHINJI IN THE END, BUT BE THE ONE AT HIS SIDE IN HIS NEW WORLD IS INSANE! Who wanted this? Nobody.
tldr; I would not suggest watching this movie if you enjoy the original series for the complex story it is thanks to our 3 main characters and their inner thoughts. Evangelion 3.0+1.0 goes too far off the rails to tell a grand, epic story that instead just comes off as fanservice paradise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 22, 2022
Studio Trigger took a huge (risky) creative leap of faith with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. In return, they got easily the anime of the season and possible an award winning series. For me this series should fall under the avante garde genre of anime, for how well it breaks down the human mind while also deconstructing so many of the typical tropes/themes of anime. Night City is a miserable and insufferable place, and this is shown so well through the characters of Lucy, David, and Maine. These three characters in particular are written to be tragic heroes, and so beautifully are they writen.
Netflix every year has
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that one anime that is a complete home run. That is Cyberpunk. A Japanese anime that feels extremely America due to the gore-fest and goofy but well executed dialogue. The dub was far better than the sub (a rare case) and not a single characters VA felt off. A 10 episode ONA cant give a ton of time to characters other than the MC, however Cyberpunk did a really good job of using what little time was given to each character to make them memorable and well liked. To me, no character particularly stands out as being above and beyond the rest (like Lelouch with Code Geass) however Lucy and Maine are my favorites.
Cyberpunk never takes a step down. Not in the intensity, not in the excitement, not in the gore, and definitely not in the animation. You can tell so much thought and precision was put into every single scene for all 10 episodes. The way such small details like the background storyboard are nailed just shows that this is not your average anime pushed out as quickly as possible to turn a profit. This is Studio Trigger's best anime yet, and will without a doubt reach out to people even beyond the typical anime fan base.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 19, 2022
What is holding back Anohana from being a classic in the Slice of Life anime category? Two major things.
1. The Wish
The entire premise of the plot of Anohana is that Menma has returned to the Earth, hoping to have her one wish granted. Over the course of the show, you as a viewer start to try to guess what the grand wish would be. Jinta going to school? Nope. Peace Busters becoming friends again? Too cliche..
How about.... Jinta cries. Yep. Thats what they went with. Truly one of the worst ways the wish plot question could have gone. It would have made much more
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sense if it was more vague like " Jinta opens up to others". The problem with the wish they went with is, the entire rest of the cast is useless. They serve no purpose to this wish. Not including the group of six within Menma's reason for coming back was a huge miss.
2. The Romance Pentagram
I cant believe more people dont critic this part of the show. Six main characters, with five of them having some type of feelings for another of them. The unrequited love of Yukiatsu and Anaru worked extremely well, and the emotional appeal was there. However, it just became corny and borderline hard to watch when they started just throwing in random love interests. The shy girl with the glasses had no reason to be in love with Yukiatsu. Menma also had shown no true feelings for Jinta over the course of the show, so dropping the " i wanna be your wife " was unrewarding.
Anohana up until the final episode was amazing. The animation was something of the most consistent, high quality I have ever seen in an anime that isnt ufotable or kyoto. All of the songs throughout are memorable and emotional. As with a lot of A-1 Productions however, the ending fell flat. The final couple minutes were great and all, but that doesnt excuse how laughable the first 10 minutes of the final episode were.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 11, 2021
Just over one year after starting the original Naruto series, I have gotten through all 770 episodes. Although I did not get to experience it in the way many others did by growing up with it through the many years of its airing, in a way I lucked out because I did not have to spend months watching weekly fillers. I personally believe reviews/ratings by people who watch a show later after it has aired are a lot more reliable than ones that are given immediately after a show finishes airing. Peoples expectations and bias towards a show often cloud the reliability of a seasonal
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show's rating, especially when its a preliminary rating (no idea why people rate shows before completing them).
But thats beside the point. Naruto is arguable one of the most entertaining series not just in anime, but in entertainment ever. Its ability to captivate an audience and blow them away was put on display numerous times. Whether it was the opening arc of the Land of Waves, the Chunin Exam, or Pains Arc, it told its story in such an interesting and fun way. Even though Naruto isnt exactly known for its complex plot or characters, theres really no anime that comes close to it in excitement.
Fillers suck, yea we get it, try to go a day without complaining about the Naruto fillers challenge (most of you would fail). Naruto Shippuden has some quality filler arcs compared to the original series, particularly towards the last half of the show. Great filler arcs that come to mind are the Kakashi, Itachi, and Kaguya background ones. If people would look at filler as extra content instead of waste of time, then they would be able to enjoy it a lot more. Its like DLC!!!
Damn... the characters in Naruto Shippuden... are something else. Pretty much every main Uchiha character is awesome, along with Team 7, the Kage, and some of the Konan kids. Naruto's character is the highlight of well, the Naruto series. His character isnt exactly complex. He doesnt go through much character "development" per say. But watching his story, and his dream, play out its hard to put into words the feelings you get from that. Hes such a bright, uplifting character and it makes viewers so happy to see everyone around him not only acknowledge him, but follow behind him as their leader.
Focusing on the bright side of an anime series is what people in this community should always do. You can critique Naruto for its many filler arcs, or for not putting lots of effort into animation. But the show is still the most popular and impactful anime of all time for a reason. It has that IT factor that makes people of all ages want to watch it. No other show will ever be able to do what the Naruto franchise has done, and hopefully nobody tries. The thrill and hype moments Naruto brings are forever cementing in Anime history.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 20, 2021
People who hate on this movie because "they wanted a more epic final movie" or "they preferred a different partner for Naruto" are so cringe. If you go in with nothing more than understanding that this movie's purpose is to build the relationship between Naruto and Hinata, then you will realize how much good the movie actually does. Sure, the action and villain in this aren't the best, but the plot canon-wise does make sense and is plausible. Kurama is great as always, and the movie is best at adding extra character development to the main characters (Hinata and Naruto) as well
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as to the side character in a way that might go unnoticed (Sakura, the Five Kage, and kinda Sasuke).
The movie is decent, pretty good in terms of shonen anime movies.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 29, 2021
The first season of Clannad will forever in my eyes be superior story telling than Clannad: After Story. While After Story may have more emotionally heart-tugging moments, it suffers from a few mediocre beginning arcs and ultimately rushing the conclusion-climax of the story.
In comparison, Clannad begins its story with a beautiful story in Fuko's starfish/wedding arc. Im glad this arc was given the most episodes out of all the school arcs, as its conclusion episode (episode 9 I think??) was among one of the best single anime episodes I have ever seen. Fuko's character and humor is hit or miss, and fortunately for me
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I found her to be a great comedic relief. Kotomi's arc in the following episodes is decent, a bit slow, but at its core it helps build the bonds between characters. Speaking of which, man does this show have some 10/10 characters.
Tomoyo and Kyou. Enough said. I understand that the story couldnt go with any girl other than Nagisa, but man do the other two girls carry the show when they are on screen. The chemistry these two have with Tomoya stands out. I am surprised they never did more with the Alternate World stories the two characters got, as both of the OVA episodes were masterful. Tomoya is of course a great MC, and Akio and Sanae are goals.
At its core, Clannad's first season is just a solid character building story. It uses the numerous fantastic characters it has to portray beautiful mini-stories with even more beautiful animation. While I can point out a few minor flaws I have with After Story, its hard to find anything wrong with its first season. It is simply an emotionally driven, fine crafted high school story focused around characters that could almost all belong on your MyAnimeList top 10 characters list. Like seriously, its not fair that I cant put like 4 of them on there
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 12, 2021
I started this show around midnight, and stayed up until about 5 am in order to finish the complete series in one sitting. Very few shows have that "it factor" like Another does where you just dont want to do anything but watch the next episode.
As people do with every single anime, they go into it with expectations and judge the anime based on how it compares to their expectations. With Another, people see horror and assume that it will be some super scary show and that anything different is a failure. Another steers away from the horror aspect after the first few episodes, but
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makes up for it with how suspenseful and thrilling it is.
Another has you on the edge of your seat every episode, and gets you engulfed into the series in such a short amount of time. The development in the relationship between Mei and Sakakibara is great, and the introduction of the other classmates into the story helped shift the story from just a two person performance. Most beach episodes are cringe, but the one in this show is gr8
So many great animes are butchered with bad endings, or are rated highly without even having an ending (COUGH COUGH HXH AND AOT). Another is one of the few popular animes that is given an amazing ending, finishing with a cliff hanger that perfectly captivates how well the show is able to create suspense and shock. The shift the show takes in the last two episodes to a more chaotic, bloody theme was not the best way they could have taken it, but it still worked regardless. Easily one of the most rewatchable shows out there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 13, 2021
I have never found myself skipping through an anime's final episode the way I was with Mob Psycho's final episode.
Going into Mob Psycho 100, I was completely oblivious to anything related to what the show consisted of, other than that the animation is outstanding. Sadly, even the animation was a bit of a let down. Organization was the downfall of this show that had the potential to rival its brother, One Punch Man. The story jumps around far too much, and the story lines are pretty bad. The mini arc with the student council and its corruption was truly pointless, as Ritsu's character development
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he got from that storyline went nowhere. The rescue mission started out extremely interesting, and it looked like the show would end with a sick final boss fight like OPM does.
But that twist in the last two episodes... WTF? The boss man comes in, does some stupid con-artist stuff... and saves the day? Who wanted that? Such a let down.
There were so many interesting ways the story could have gone. A battle between brothers, an epic show down brothers vs claw agents. But no. It fell hostage to trying too hard to be comedic like One Punch Man was and pretty much just threw the entire series down the drain. Was still somewhat enjoyable to watch tho, wouldnt rewatch ever again
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 13, 2020
Here I was recently doubting whether the MHA anime series really was deserving of being one of the best all time...boy was I silly to let all the great anime released recently fog my memory. This 2nd My Hero Academia solidifies the series as being far and away the best modern day shounen.
Canon or not, this movie does everything you want from a MHA side-story movie. It also does things that the 4 seasons of the show had not gotten to do yet, and did them to perfection. Once the action begins (after a slow start) it only ramps up and intensifies.
The plot
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is the weakest point of the movie, as its a pretty typical shounen movie story line. Regardless, its fun to see Class 1-A on their own, out in the real world. One of the best parts of Heroes Rising is how the movie is able to find a way to make nearly every student useful. In the show it sometimes feels like its half a dozen people being useful and the rest are just supportive or dead weight. Not only does every character contribute to the fights in an impactful way, but they find unique ways to pair characters that you wouldnt expect. One example is towards the end when Uraraka and Tape man (sry) are paired together and use their quirks to fight. It was done in such a brilliant way, with two characters youd never expect to team up in a fight.
And of course, the moment the entire show has been building up to, the tag team of DEKU AND KACCHAN. SO HYPE!!! The movie was obviously advertised to be focused around the two but man does it blow expectations out of the water. Even after season 4 MHA where the two characters finally seem to be building towards something, it never felt like Bakugo had changed in any positive way. He was always still annoying and loud and rude. But the movie finally shows a different side of him, an actual hero side.
The final fight with the villain and the two is by far the best fight of 2020. The animation I cant even begin to describe. So many beautiful and contrasting colors are thrown around in a way that can only be described again as...HYPE. The movie also takes on a bold move to use music over the sound effects in the final few minutes of the fight. It worked, and was captivating. All of the emotion of the scene so perfectly captured in one song.
Idk why but in reviews I tend to focus a lot more on the flaws of a show/movie while vaguely pointing out the positives. Thankfully, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is near flawless. It is easily one of the most rewatchable movies in anime and adds so much to the story even if it isnt directly related to the main arc. Any anime fan should at the least enjoy the excitement the movie brings.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 26, 2020
After looking through a lot of Angel Beat's reviews on this site, its very apparent that a lot of peoples issues with the show stem from aspects outside of the actual show itself. Far too many anime fans make the mistake of setting a bar for every anime they go into watching. Theres always a number of reasons people tend to do this, but in the case of this anime, people looked at who created it.
Everyone see's Key and KyotoAni worked on this anime, and immediately set it up with high expectations and expect another Clannad. Angel Beats does have a Clannad-esq feel to
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it, but it is its own show and deserves to be critiqued fairly. For me, going into every show with minimal knowledge on the show almost always leads to the most enjoyment.
Angel Beats purgatory plot story is alongside Death Parade as being one of the more creative concepts in anime. The idea of an afterlife that is before actual afterlife, in which conflicted people enter, was the thriving part of the show. After the first couple episodes you would have never expected there to be so much drama and emotion inserted into the story.
The vast cast of characters is typical for a high school setting, which seems to always either be a couple characters or dozens hahah. The wide scope of personalities within the "Battlefront" makes every episode enjoyable whether its humor or drama.
Sadly, only 13 episodes were given for Angel Beats, which is where its few issues arose from. With such a large group of characters, and how intricate the plot was, lots of things had to be left out. A good chunk of characters are kinda just left out of the ending, which actually worked as best as possible. With over a dozen supporting characters, there was no way they could all get closure. The stories of Iwasawa, Yui, Hinata were enough to understand just how much every character was going through, and what they needed [resolve]. The life story of Otanoshi was honestly one of the best backstories I have ever seen in an anime; I was glad he was given a large portion of two episodes for it.
The story is extremely good through Yui's story conclusion, and I was really hoping the last few episodes would follow in its footsteps as being more emotionally driven. The whole "shadow" villain thing felt like wtf and was unnecessary. At times the show really could have taken a step back from the action scenes and focused more on the main characters. The last episode kicks it back up with the drama, and delivers so much in only ~20 minutes. In fact, although a tad rushed, the show accomplishes so much in each episode amazingly.
Angel Beats gets unfairly overcritizied because of the comparisons it draws. The animation and sound are amazing as it goes without saying. The characters and action make sure the show is always fun. And the structure is done so there can be a balance between drama and comedy. Angel Beats isnt amongst the best ever, but its definitely better than mediocre. HxH is mediocre, bro.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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