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Based on probability, if enough anime are created eventually a high quality and innovative title will be released. Made in Abyss is that.

For a one line zinger, Made in Abyss is a studio Ghibli film written by Gen the Butcher. It has gorgeous background art and a deliciously fantastical setting that is portrayed with a violence and rawness rarely seen with this type of setup. Ghibli has its share of dark moments no doubt, but Made in Abyss blankets the entire series in a nihlistic fog. It is made clear these characters are not coming back from their quest, and they are surprisingly ok with ... that.

This gives the entire descent to the bottom a wonderful tension. Each success only increases the likelihood the next encounter will end in failure. And when people get hurt you feel it. The series does not skimp on the blood, sweat, puss, and piss associated with gruesome life threatening injuries.

Made in Abyss literally and figuratively pushes humanity to the breaking point, and I am surprised how well the series communicates that extreme in only 13 episodes.

If I had any criticism it would be that the main duo is rather weak. They are both single-minded, yet enjoyable, protagonists whose lack of depth doesn't compliment the world. Given their situations I am not expecting this problem to be fixed. More interesting concepts and antagonists could easily make up for it tho.

Overall, an excellent series.

Score: Light 9

*sighs*

I will defend Bakemonogatori as an interesting and compelling piece of art. It is really good. Nise, however, indulgences in all of the previous seasons' worst aspects without any of the flair and impact. The plots feel aimless and drawn our, Karen Bee in particular. The fanservice goes past artistic right into cringe territory. The philosophical ramblings are far less coherent or compelling. The characters are more reliant on their defining characteristics. Nise feels like what a Bake hater thinks Bake is.

There is also the incest factor, of which the toothbrush scene is the climax. It is just uncomfortable. I do not really know how ... else to put it. I am not offended or repulsed, I am just left with a sense of apathy. Like why care about these characters when they are liable to molest each other at random points?

The character designs, art, and direction are dynamic as ever. But it does not feel as impactful without the other elements to back it. Also, as a second season its sense of novelty is also muted.

This series was mid enough I am not sure I will continue with the franchise. It has lost a lot of its spark. Damn shame.

Score: Strong 4 to Light 5

Horimiya is exceptional in its competence.

The romance genre suffers from a sever lack of quality writing. Most shows are carried by baiting their audience or by striking premises that are never properly developed. Horimiya's central gimmick does not have that large of an impact overall and the main romance develops at a satisfying rate. All of its characters are likable and well-considered, and they adaptation goes a step beyond in conveying the context and consequences of each scene.

It feels odd to praise a series primarily by what it does not do, but when a show leverages miscommunication as a way to immediately have a cathartic ... emotional moment in the first episode, it feels like this is just how every romance should be. Ideally something like Horimiya would be standard for romance anime, but in the modern landscape it is one of the that I can recommend without reservation.

The main couple is adorable, and their individual attributes are highlighted and criticized enough where they feel realized independent of their relationship. The side cast does not get as much focus as they deserve, but the time they do have is utilized well. Everything in the show is quality, so even if you are not as invested in a side couple it does not feel like a waste of your time. The overall momentum of the show falters in the second half, but never so much as to take down from the enjoyment of the series as a whole.

Horimiya is one of the most enjoyable 13 episode shows out there, and while the manga has expanded stories and a more conclusive end, I do not feel like reading it is mandatory. Hopefully, Horimiya will set the standard for romance anime in the future.

Score: Strong 8 to Light 9

On a technical level, JJK is about as good as shounen anime has gotten. The music is great, the animation is great, the voice acting is great, the openings are great. There are almost no flaws with the presentation.

JJK also has an incredibly likable cast of characters. They are not the most complex or dynamic, but they are enjoyable which is arguably the most important quality characters in a long running series can have. The villains can't quite match up to their hero counterparts in this regard but the series is young. The character interactions are also gold, with many hilarious side gags and insults ... being shared in a consistently endearing way.


The biggest issues with JJK are plot and consistency. There is a plot, things are introduced and characters take action, but it never has a sense of direction or momentum. Even in other shounen series that like to take their time, the beginning usually establishes some long term goal. We have the same here, but it is so weak in comparison to becoming the Pirate King or Hokage that it doesn't register. This flaw effects the characters tool. It seems like most of the cast is sitting around waiting for story beats to happen so their arcs can begin.

Consistency here is most relevant to the magic system, which just is what you think it would be knowing this is a paranormal shounen. Elements are introduced when the plot needs them and you things will be described as incredibly difficult or rare without any proper set up. The designation of 'special grade' goes out the window almost immediately. Domain Expansion is probably the well defined concept, but even then the characters weirdly do not discuss it out of combat.

With a strong, definitive adaptation JJK will establish itself as one of the most popular shounen, and THE gateway shounen, of this generation. It does not yet have the quality to back that status although I am surprisingly optimistic given reports from manga readers and the fact that its issues can all be fixed with better writing. The character foundation is so strong that if the plot and magic are handled better, all will be forgiven.

Score: decent 7

The Toaru franchise continues to be one of my guilty pleasures.

The flaws of this show are the same as the franchise as a whole. Weird obsession with sexualization in non-diegetic spots, endless philosophizing and techno babble to make everything seem more serious than it is, and an overall lack of definitive arc for its central characters. That being said, even taking into account that Railgun has always been the strong of the two main series (at least animated), Railgun T presents the best material of the franchise so far. This is especially true in the first 15 episodes which actually manages to tell a complete ... story that ends in a satisfying, if not lasting, way.

The animation and voice acting is solid A tier, its a shame Index does not get this level of care and patience, and the directing is a step up from what you would expect a seasonal show to have. The strength of Toaru has always been in concept and character, and both shine through in T. Mikoto, Touma, Misaki are all the best versions of themselves. Newcomers like Gunha do an excellent job establishing themselves and most of the recurring side characters are handled competently.

After the unambiguous win that is the Daihaseisai, Dream Ranker feels like a let down for the final 10 episodes. A manga only arc, it hits the usual beats of a Railgun original arc. Oddly enough, the Dream aspect gets dropped fairly early on, which is sad considering how unique of a concept that was for the series. Transitioning to another "bad scientists abuse power but are souls real?" storyline really hurts the ceiling of the show.

It is hard to recommend any aspect of Toaru, either its unique qualities are compelling enough for you to wade through the bullshit or they are not, but the highs presented in T make the investment feel worth it.

Misaka is still best girl, although Gunha is coming for that spot.

Score: Strong 7 to Light 8

One Piece Film: Gold is the third modern One Piece movie and the second post timeskip. At this point the formula for a One Piece movie has been set in stone, and it is most efficient to evaluate the film based on how it meets expectations.

From an aesthetic perspective the movie is basically flawless. The animation is gorgeous, the character designs are on point, and every costume change the case goes through is exciting and memorable. The film-exclusive character is far more memorable than most of her predecessors as she is an old girlfri- I mean accomplice of Nami's from her cat burglar days, and ... their dynamic is simple but effective. Getting the One Piece cast to do a heist film is inherently interesting given how batshit insane the characters are, and the genre-standard twists are handled well. There is a particular sub-twist that makes perfect sense in universe that was both inspired and hilarious.

The movie isn't flawless character wise. Like most OP movies the characterization is slightly off. Nami, despite having ample screen time, never comments on the fact that the kids enslaved by the casino are basically in the same situation she was in for a decade. Luffy seems unusually apathetic when a crewmate is placed in danger in the first act. Nothing is egregious, but it is enough to take notice. As for most modern OP films some characters are included for no reason other than to have them in marketing material. Still have no idea what Sabo and Lucci were doing. The gambler character introduced serves no particular purpose and just drags down the movie in the middle.

The main villain is compelling ideologically, but never gets quite enough attention to make sense. His devil fruit is busted to the point it is completely unbelievable, and the main confrontation between him and Luffy suffers as a result. Cool idea, but not enough spice to make him memorable.

Its a good One Piece experience, but outside the outfits and nice cuts of animation provides nothing to remember it by.

Score: Strong 6 to a Light 7

Probably would take less time for you to read the series than a full review. Its short, sweet, and poignant, but does not do anything fundamentally unique. Glad I read.

If you really like Wandering Sun by Shinkai, this has a very similar vibe. The truancy, sort of romance, and general wholesome vibe all come together quite nicely.

This author has certainly carved out a niche for these sort of stories, although the brevity continues to be a consistent critique of mine. My biggest issue with this and these types of stories is how predictable some of the emotional beats are. It is difficult to get ... fully invested in characters when their issues are so apparent before those in the story get a chance to discover them

score: light 7

From a technical perspective The Golden Sheep is basically flawless with effective art and paneling, great character designs, and coherent backgrounds. The story is a typical coming of age tale, which is the author somewhat specializes in, and it is here the negatives can be found.

Of the 4 protagonists, 2 have a satisfying, if quick, arc while the other two pull down the series. Tsugu in particular stands out for her optimism and sincerity, which puts here a cut above move teenage girl leads. The slight romance that develops with her is compelling and leads to some of the most effective emotional beats. Her and ... her otaku love interest are easily the best part of the series.

The sick one and the boxer on the other hand just never get in a groove. They do awful things repeatedly throughout the series which then gets 'resolved' in a series of tearful exchanges. There isn't much likability or arc to be found here. The boxer in particular just never earns the resolution the series give it.

The length of the series is a massive negative. A longer story would have given more time for the reconciliation to develop naturally and for the characters to face the consequences of their actions. The entire cast also leaves off in a very interesting placed, and volumes of material could easily be spent exploring things the characters just off-handedly mention in the last page.

Good, but not filled out enough to be truly impactful.

Score: decent 7

Psyren stands out from its 'long-running' battle shounen contemporaries by being relatively short. At 145 chapters Psyren tells a complete (albeit rushed at the end) narrative that accomplishes everything it sets out to do. There is not much Psyren does extraordinarily well, the art at times can be spectacular and character designs are excellent and some of the plot twists are well handled, but for the most part the series is just solid. Luckily it makes no egregious errors which is why the score is relatively high compared to my faint praise so far.

The power system is Togashi-esque with a baseline amount of abilities everyone ... has access and then individual powers suited to each characters personality. It doesn't have the depth or balance that Nen does, but the short story stops it from loosing the sense of wonder that gets from seeing new abilities. Psyren also has better female representation than the majority of shounen, the main girl at worst just as strong as the main guy for the entirety of the series, which is refreshing given how these types of stories tend to introduce cool female characters and then promptly push them to the margins.

Psyren is of, right now, my preferred recommendation for someone wanting to get into battle shounen. It hits all the beats fans of that genre expect while delivering a competent story. It was a breezy read with no real roadblocks, it just did not hit the same highs the more popular series of its ilk have achieved.

Score: Strong 7 to Light 8

This show has some nice character designs, middling character personalities, and a nice charm to it. What it does not have is any interest in taking those elements and building anything with it. Instead of being a series that "isn't about video game I swear" to a series that just plain is not about video games. Early on it plays lip service to them, but around episode 4 it drops that concept to focus on a run of the mill miscommunication based romance schlock -fest.

This series has charm, but there isn't really any reason to watch. Also finishing the series on a bath episode is ... bush league.

Light 4