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Never in my life have I experienced such masterful storytelling and character writing. When they were talking during the emergency meeting, I truly felt as if these characters were real. I relate to Glasses-san so much, it's almost as if the author knew me personally. The ending was a shock to be sure, and made me shed several tears. Egg-san and Glasses-san were definitely my favorite characters. The way Egg-san tricked everyone was similar to Light from Death Note. Truly a 200-IQ big brain moment. The art style was refreshing and well-drawn. The crewmates felt so real, almost as if I could squish between my ... fingers. The egg on Egg-san's head looked so moist and delicious.
My only complaint is that the sound effects were pretty meh.

Inuyasha is my second-favorite anime of all time. I watched it so young that I didn’t even know what anime was, I just thought it was a weird cartoon with flashy powers and cool fights. Even now, as a 20-year-old, I still enjoy the hell out of Inuyasha whenever I decide to rewatch it, despite its flaws in the middle of the series. So, when Yashahime was announced, I was ecstatic to see a beloved anime of mine brought to modern animation. I knew I shouldn’t have been too hopeful, but I couldn’t help it. Lesson learned, don’t always let your hopes get the better ... of you.

Yashahime is nothing more than a poor man’s Inuyasha. The real issue I have with the show is that the minute it gets interesting, everything goes downhill all over again. Throughout its runtime, I’ve rated this show everything from a 4-8, and since it kept shifting from interesting plot and character interaction to shit pacing devoid of continuity I just decided to leave my rating at a 5, though it may have to be lower once this season is finished.

Art: 6
The art is good, but not great. The OP’s shows a glimpse of how good Sunrise can be when it comes to animation, with great lighting and action and a bright color palette. But the show just doesn’t hold up to the OP’s. There’s almost always a dip in animation quality when things get serious, as showcased in the fight between Sesshoumaru and new-bad-guy-who-hasn’t-gotten-a-glimpse-of-development. The art style is reminiscent of Inuyasha, which is refreshing, but calling back to the greatness of the original series seems to be the only thing Yashahime is capable of.

Sound: 9
This is where the show shines the brightest. Yashahime both borrows from Inuyasha’s immaculate soundtrack and has a number of original tracks that are fantastic, both in terms of music quality and composition. Both of the OP’s are some of my favorites, especially when compared to Inuyasha’s shit tier OP’s (besides 1 and the final act OP), and I sometimes listen to them just for the hell of it because they’re so catchy. The ED’s are high quality too, bringing a slow tone after the faster-paced OP’s. The BGM just seems to fit every scene perfectly, exactly like Inuyasha. If there’s one thing this show has done brilliantly, it’s the OST. Also, VA’s are superb. Well done.

Story: 4
Yashahime’s story is incredibly dull and repetitive, making use of “filler” episodes to have oftentimes boring material in between the somewhat decent plot-based episodes. At first, the story was gearing up to be interesting. The main cast is MIA, the girls have no idea what the hell is going on, the demon slayers are grown up, and now the Tree is talking to them? Okay, cool, I’m down with this. Then, they forgot to tell the story. Many episodes consist of half-assed, terribly paced fights where the girls go to a village, find an issue with a demon, slay the demon immediately while Towa gets sixty new power ups out of nowhere and Moroha gets knocked out in one hit and never returns. I understand that the story can’t be explained immediately or in every episode, and that’s okay. But when a month consists of nothing but demon-of-the-week episodes that don’t even contribute to the development of the characters in a meaningful way, people are going to complain. Moroha’s absence of presence in the show is one of its worst qualities. Even the episode where we meet her master is rushed, and then she forgets all about it by the next episode, which brings me to my biggest critique of this show. THERE IS NO CONTINUITY BETWEEN EPISODES. Whatever happened last episode doesn’t matter, and you can hardly ever tell how much time has passed in between episodes unless they run directly into each other. It feels offbeat and horribly paced as a result, both in between episodes and during the episodes themselves. The terrible pacing leads to nothing having an impact. Every time they slay a demon, it just poofs out of existence immediately and then the girls dust off their pants and walk home. There’s no rhyme or reason as to why things are happening and nothing is allowed to sink for the viewers to appreciate before they cut to the obligatory “Moroha didn’t get her bounty” joke and then the episode is over. The show just doesn’t spend the proper amount of time developing anything, from relationships to enemies to fights, regardless of outcome. There is a lot of potential within the series, but none of it was capitalized on at all.

Characters: 6
Don’t let the score fool you, the three girls are actually decently interesting characters, especially Moroha. But, just like the plot, the show never capitalized on any of its potential. Moroha is often thrown out of fights only to be the butt of the no-bounty-for-me joke, Towa just sits there and doesn’t do anything until Setsuna is in danger, in which she pulls the anime classic of randomly learning how to do a new, powerful demonic ability in less than ten seconds. On top of that, she doesn’t even struggle with it afterwards. When Inuyasha was dealing with his demon blood overtaking his senses, it took several episodes to explain what was happening and why this power needed to be controlled in order for him to grow stronger. In Yashahime, Towa learns a new power and then just tucks it in her back pocket for future use. It’s a sad attempt at writing that I may have done if I were 13 years old writing a shit fan fiction. Side characters, aside from maybe Riku, and terribly bland and just serve the same purpose that non-unique NPCs serve in a video game; stand there and look lively (smile and wave, boys). The original cast is wholly absent even when they finally make their first appearances. Remember Kohaku, Hisui, and Kaede? Yeah, me neither. Remember when they accidentally met Miroku and then the show completely forgot about both him and Sango? I fucking do. I get that this show is supposed to be about the girls, not the OG cast, and I’m perfectly fine with that. It’s just easier to like the show when the OG characters are around because the staff can’t write for shit when the new, semi-interesting characters come around.

Enjoyment: 5
I mean, yeah, I enjoy it. It’s an Inuyasha sequel. I’m going to finish regardless of it’s quality simply because I loved the original. Now I know how Naruto fans feel. I’m so sorry for you guys, but we suffer together now by both dealing with a shitty sequel. I’m honestly not even sure what I’d do if this show got a second season, but I’d be surprised if it did. I know it’s reception is not very good. Should’ve had Rumiko on the storyboard instead of whoever is writing this boring work.

Conclusion:
Don’t bother watching this show unless you’re a big Inuyasha fan or by some miracle you rate it higher than a 6. If you do, good for you, enjoy as much as you can. I’m going to suffer through it until the 24th episode, and maybe I’ll update this review at that time, if the show gets any better or, god help us, worse. I want to clarify that 5 stars isn’t necessarily a bad score, in fact it’s completely average, and with all my bashing, it might seem like I dislike this show more than I’m letting off. Truth is, it has good moments that qualify it in the 8-star range for me, and then it has several more terrible moments that are a solid 3 or 4. I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can given the fact that it’s a sequel of one of my favorites, so I’m sticking it with a 5 because of its good qualities (soundtrack, OP’s, Moroha, interesting storyline that is hardly expanded upon). I just hope that it can be better. I want to like this show way more than I actually do.

Wow, I am appalled. I cannot believe there are so many high ratings for this movie. During my two hours watching this "Ghibli classic," I often checked the running time, only to groan at the fact that I still had a slow hour, fifty minutes, forty minutes, etc to go before I can be freed from this boredom. Princess Mononoke is a bad movie. There, I said it. I'm sure many will disagree with me, although I have no idea why, but let me start with what was good about this train wreck.

Firstly, I'd like to say I have never truly been disappointed by ... a Ghibli film. All that I have had the pleasure of watching so far have been nothing but great movies, classics that have endured the test of time. However, this was not the case with Princess Mononoke. But, this is Studio Ghibli we're talking about. They never fail in all regards. So here are some good things about the film.

Art: 7
The art and animation are top-tier for its time. Movement is smooth, visuals are stunning, and some character designs, such as the Forest Spirit, were not given little effort. Studio Ghibli has always had great animation quality, and Princess Mononoke is no exception. Nature was drawn amazingly in this film, from forests to rivers and cliffsides, each shot and scene felt epic to view. Angles were utilized well in the film as well. However, I can't give it a ten due to some boring character designs and the fact that the movie is older, and won't have the same animation quality of today's greats like Kimi no Nawa and Koe no Katachi.

Sound: 3
I don't have much to say here. The BGM was befitting of the mood of the scenes and the overall setting of the film, but it was nothing special. Now, before I begin to completely destroy this show, I will say that I watched the English dub. That could have an effect on my rating. Are you ready?
The voice acting and dialogue in this movie is god-awful. I found myself cringing in perpetual disappointment with each line delivered in the show. The VA's were seemingly incapable of emotion, and the sheer quietness of the VA's clashed heavily with the loud BGM and SFX so much that I found myself adjusting the volume in regular intervals to be able to hear the shitty dialogue while also trying not to go deaf from the speaker-blasting SFX and BGM. This was an incredible annoyance added to an already bad movie.

Story: 5
I'll give the story credit where it's due. The multiple conflicts in the show were portrayed well in battle, and the central theme of Mononoke is great. I interpreted it as a Man vs. Nature theme showing that technology and nature need not oppose each other, and that it is humans that cause the rift between the two. This is all too true in our modern world, and I think that Princess Mononoke did well in the execution of its theme. Studio Ghibli portrayed the push-and-pull relationship between man and nature in its usual magical and unique way, and that's how you can tell a movie is a Ghibli movie. The "antagonists" had morally just motives for their relatively morally unjust actions, and that gave the conflict complexity and realism that ordinarily would've allowed me to achieve a heartfelt appreciation for the movie's philosophical nature. However, the pacing of the film is erratic. Ashitaka is immediately kicked out of his village after saving their lives, and then we're rushed into the war between the Iron Town and the Forest Gods. Ashitaka saves a wolf girl for no reason, and then nobody can decide if they love or hate him for the rest of the movie. I don't think the overall story is bad, as the theme and conflict were well done, but I was just uninterested by how the story was told. Also, what was that ending? "Cool, we saved the day! Okay, bye!" How boring is that?

Characters: 2
Ohhhh-ho-ho boy, here we go. Every damn character in this movie is dreadfully one-dimensional and incredibly boring. Ashitaka had no thought put into his character. He is a traveling village boy who has the reflexes of a god and seemingly cannot die due to plot convenience. Pair that with a bad VA and a shit script and you're in for one hell of a terrible MC. San is just as uninspired. She spends the entire movie rambling about how humans are bad doesn't develop a bit. Her and Ashitaka's relationship to one another is left completely in the water and by the end you're not sure if they love each other, are just friends, or genuinely don't care either way. Their entire relationship arc was just boring and uninspired. As for the rest of the cast, they're all the same just with less screen time. Eboshi has one interesting thing about her, and that's the fact that she's using technology to save her people. She's not entirely a bad person, but perfectly flawed and human. Too bad she doesn't get any screen time. The gods of the forest are all the same.

How to be a Forest God in Princess Mononoke:
Step 1: "We hate hooman".
Step 2: *Cliche wise saying because we are gods*
Step 3: Die.

I did enjoy the second Boar god though, for his determination and conviction. The best character in the movie is Yakul by a long shot. All hail Yakul and his wonderful benevolence.

Overall: 4
As much as I wanted to love this movie, I cannot say I enjoyed it even a bit. My rating of 4 comes from nothing over than its reputation and few good qualities in its two-hour runtime. If you enjoyed this movie, that's perfectly fine, as I can see the good that could've come from this movie. However, the execution was just too poor. I am legitimately surprised that there aren't any low reviews for Princess Mononoke. I hope that my next Studio Ghibli film doesn't disappoint like this one did.

BNA is ambitious and thought-provoking. Or rather, it should've been those things. Instead, we were left with a fairly average show that doesn't quite capitalize on what it could do with its central themes.

Art: 10
I want to talk about the art & animation of BNA first because it is truly incredible. The color scheme is perfect and futuristic, the movement is smooth and satisfying, and character designs are honestly top-notch, especially when it comes to Shirou, Nazuna, and Michiru. I had no shortage of "Wow!" moments when I watched this show because of how beautiful-looking it is. That's exactly what I expected from Studio Trigger. ... Hats off to them for this piece of art.

Sound: 9
The soundtrack for BNA is also great, particularly when it comes to the OP and ED. BNA's OP, Ready to Start, may be one of the most hype and catchy songs I've heard in an anime opening. Pair that with fantastic visuals and that one scene where Shirou morphs along with the shadows, and you have a recipe for beauty. The ED is no stranger to being a banger, either. It's slow, but just as catchy as the OP, and again, the visuals are brilliant. I have no complaints about the VA's or the BGM either. BNA has fantastic sound direction.

Story: 6
This is where BNA starts to fall off. There's nothing particularly bad about its overall story other than the fact that it's wasted potential. BNA had the chance to seriously tackle some heavy themes, such as racism, poverty, social hierarchies, and even religion. However, each of these themes were more or less glossed over as the episodes dragged on. Instead, Shirou plays the hardass vigilante while Michiru plays the naive girl, and the plot never really amounts to anything. Also, the end plot twist was outrageously predictable. However, there are some great fight scenes in BNA that make you want more as each one ends. I'm particular to the final battle.

Characters: 5
To be honest, they're all simply boring and uninspired. Shirou plays the role of Wolf-Batman who shows no emotion. His character could've been built on around his backstory, but instead they just waited until the end to throw his backstory in your face. Michiru is a very typical anime protagonist. She dislikes bullying, always tries to help others, and then gets herself into trouble in some way. These are not bad characteristics to have, but it's all Michiru does throughout the course of the show. She could've been more interesting if they hadn't repeated this trope every episode. However, the Bears baseball team and Nazuna were interesting characters in their own way. The Bears were all lovable and comedic, while Nazuna was legitmately struggling with an identity crisis. Her struggle was fleshed out and more relatable than those of the rest of the cast.

Overall: 6
BNA is not a bad show by any means. I would recommend it anyone simply so they could hear the OP and jam out to it for the rest of their life. However, it was uninspiring and had too many flaws for me to not be a bit harsh with it. Definitely not one to forget, though.