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Sep 22, 2021
This one's going down as my disappointment of the year - my 2021 award for 'highest concentration of squandered potential'.
The core premise of Seirei Gensouki is *SO COOL,* you guys - it really is. It's so cool that it is absolutely heart-rending that the anime that presents this premise is just such shamefully self-indulgent uninspired harem trash (and I'm no harem-hater, there are legitimate amazing harem anime, but this deserves the 'trash' label wholeheartedly).
When I say "Isekai where the guy from our world doesn't just magically reincarnate, but actually has his soul and memories fused into a pre-existing person from the 'other world', forming essentially
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a new person with the memories of both and a personality that combines the two", do you get excited by that prospect? Does the interplay being discussed there fascinate you? Good - it should! It's an absolutely wonderful and at least partly-original premise, and could be an amazing way to liven up the now-stale isekai genre.
...but how would you feel if I told you that this premise results in a character best described as "Mom can we have Kirito?" "No, we have Kirito at home.", in an anime whose animation, dialogue, embarrassingly transparent audience surrogate wish-fulfillment, and "down-time events" seem to all borrow heavily from that disasterpiece 'Master of Ragnarok'. If you know, you know.
Doesn't feel very good, does it-
No, and after suffering through all that, do they deliver on that cool central concept the first few shockingly well-written episodes sold you on? ...A little bit. In a post-credit scene after the last bleedin' episode of the season.
I mean, it gives me hope that maybe this first season was just a dumping ground for all the author's bad ideas and obligatory 'fan service', such as it was, and that perhaps this next season will focus more on plot and less on loli imoutos wanting to wash the audience-surrogate-MC's back... but I want to be quite clear here. You could watch the first 3-4 episodes, some clips amounting to -maybe- another episode's length all stitched together, and then the final after-credit scene on the final episode... and you're honestly pretty much caught up with the plot. Literally everything else is just the MC being absolutely perfect in every way, being lavished with gifts by the elderly, respect and praise by the adults, jealously by the young men, and adoration (and barely disguised lust) by the young women - all in a constant neverending stream.
If you think a legitimately interesting reincarnation mechanic is worth putting up with all that, then by all means this is the show for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Nov 11, 2020
So I'll get the ratings out of the way first:
Story - 8
Art - 2
Sound - 5
Character - 6
Enjoyment - 6
Overall - 4
And now, allow me to explain. The reason so many of you have noticed the absolute atrocity that was this season's animation, is because - while Studio Deen is indeed the name on the label, they actually subcontracted out this season of Seven Deadly Framesofanimation to studio Marvy Jack - now MJ is a decent studio... for tweening and cleaning, post-processing, and other large-scale busywork that needs to be done for a well-animated show to look properly polished. What Marvy Jack are NOT decent
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at is keyframe animation - that is to say, actually creating the original animations from scratch based on Deen's stoaryboarding. This is only their second time doing keyframe animation... EVER... and the prior show wasn't as full of action and particle effects as NnT. This was totally new ground for them.
So you really can't blame the animators for this mess - this was all on the studio executives. It's on Deen's executives twice over, first for accepting the task of animating a show they knew off the bat they didn't have the staff for at the moment, and second for contracting it to a studio that has almost never done full keyframe animation before. And it's also partially on Marvy Jack's executives for accepting the commission, frankly. Who it ISN'T on is the poor animators who were thrown far past their depth for this and were forced to just make it work and do so on a time limit and with unconventional restraints
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 16, 2020
Yes, I gave this a 10/10. No, not because of Nux Taku - I don't really care about him whatsoever. No, not because I think this show is the equal of something like Brotherhood or Gurren Lagann...
...it's because of what this show represents. You see, I don't give 10s to shows on here just because I think they're good - the best and most competent shows I give 9s to, for the most part - including Brotherhood, actually. I reserve my 10 scores for shows I think are not actually perfect, but are instead *necessary*. Shows that elevate the medium, and do something nothing has
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before them... and Ishuzoku Reviewers has done something both new and necessary for our favorite artform.
Not only has this show taken a step towards normalizing explicit sexuality in the mainstream, not only has it depicted its female characters as sexually competent adults capable of making their own decisions and having their own desires, but it also takes a very un-japanese (and frankly unamerican) sex-positive view on both the institution of sex workers and on the topic of sexuality in general, as well as not shying away from trans and intersexed characters (one of whom is even among the main cast). Kinks and paraphilias are never seen as objectively bad things, boundaries are always respected (with the exception of the obvious comic relief straight-woman), and the gang constantly open themselves to new experiences and accept that their minds may change about things they wouldn't otherwise think they would like. Now, have other shows before this tried to approach those topics? Yes of course - some even gaining a greater measure of success in maturely addressing them than Ishuzoku has... but do YOU know what they are? No. You've probably never heard of them, because unlike this show they faded into obscurity where their messages of positivity and self-love are lost to time. The thing this show does that deserves a 10 is not merely bringing up these topics in a competent fashion, but specifically bringing them to mainstream attention - normalizing them, in part.
Now as for the anime itself... it's actually legitimately good as well. I caught myself several times loading up an episode- not for the titillation of its subject matter, or the desire to dryly observe and critique its legitimately valuable message - but just to see what the next plot point would be outside of the sexcapades... because underneath all the raunch and lewdness, there are real characters here. Stunk and Zel in particular get a lot of establishing scenes that hint at a larger story behind them that we are rarely explicitly told, but rather piece together Dark Souls style from their environment and behavior for the most part - and I just absolutely love the hell out of that and wish more anime did it.
The animation is very tight - in several senses of the word - and clean, in very much only one sense... I definitely recommend the uncensored versions of the episodes for this and several other reasons.
Honestly, despite the main characters themselves being incredibly juvenile in their attitude, this is an incredibly mature show that handles difficult topics surprisingly well and puts out a very positive message of acceptance and curiosity for its audience. And you know what? That juvenile attitude of the characters is okay. People can be juvenile about sex irl sometimes. They can be awkward, and funny, and a little too shy for the mood - or sometimes not shy enough for it - all of these things happen during real sex, and are part of the experience of it, and these characters go through that as well. They are not porn actors, flawlessly executing one uncomfortable position after another for the benefit of a camera - they're people trying to have a good time, sometimes competent, sometimes fumbling and getting in their own way, always trying their best... just like the rest of us.
Give it a look, if you're old enough to already watch this sort of thing. It might open your eyes a little.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 16, 2020
Honestly this has possibly the largest point-spread by category of any show I've seen
From worst to best:
The story gets a 5 - While the moment-to-moment plot reveals are definitely engaging and competently written, it's incredibly formulaic to the point that it practically becomes a singalong. Add to that, that plot points come and go like targets on a shooting range - this show is incredibly fast paced, but we'll come back to that at the end of the review. Not that it was bad, mind you... but it was *aggressively* average. Boilerplate. It was competent, but did nothing special.
The characters get a 6 - there's
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a lot of people here who end up throwing you for something of a loop, either because they were expected to be evil but ended up more towards the good half of 'morally complex', or because they ended up being SO cartoonishly evil that it defied expectations in the exact opposite direction - either way, there's some engaging people here who were written fairly believably. That said, this is no Your Lie in April. It gets a pass, that's all.
The sound design gets a 7 - music matches the tone of the moments it's played in, the actual fighting effects are weighty and have that meaty hit sound to them, and the special effects play off my nostalgia for Yu Yu Hakusho a little bit so I might be biased there. Also, the OP is an absolute TUNE and I will hear no arguments to the contrary. This goes beyond base competency and into 'actually pretty good' territory. It won't blow your socks off, but it's better than average for sure.
Enjoyment gets an 8 - what can I say other than that I'm typical shounen trash, and I love me some Magic Punch Boys beating the particle effects out of one another until they discover the power of friendship and scream themselves to victory. This category is 100% subjective and your experience may vary - please consult your doctor if you experience any of the following effects: elevated blood pressure, extended cranial piloerection, uncontrollable screaming, and elevated power levels exceeding 9k or more on a standard readout. These are signs of a serious side effect, and you should stop taking Shounen Action and consult your wise old medical practitioner immediately before continuing.
Art gets a 9 - but then, it's MAPPA getting help from JC Staff, I'm not sure what you were expecting. This stuff is gorgeous in motion, and the fight choreography takes direct cues from real tae kwon do and jiu jitsu as well as several other fighting styles. I will say, the fight choreography AND artistic direction are significantly better in the first act before the power escalation, where it was basically just all kinds of real-world fighting styles pitted against each other. Not only did we see some awesome choreography, but also studio MAPPA delved into some really gorgeous mixed-media scenes like inkblotting and oil-on-glass, kinda reminiscent of what Bones did with Mob Psycho 100 - and that's high praise if ever I've given it. Just a shame that that ended up getting binned about halfway through in favor of ki beam spam and Personas - oh well, it was still gorgeous. 9.
And of course, 5-9, 6-8, and 7... all average out to a 7, obviously, so there's your overall score. It's good, it's not amazing, I recommend it if you're shounen trash like me and you have some spare time on your hands (and let's be honest - it's 2020. You have spare time).
I will say that these scores all become irrelevant in the face of the original manhwa, which apparently was MUUUUUUUCH larger and more detailed than the anime. From what I've seen of comments from Manhwa readers, Crunchyroll apparently ordered MAPPA to cut out *massive* chunks of the original as part of this anime adaptation, which also explains the recklessly breakneck pace of the plot mentioned in the first part of this review.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 10, 2020
My personal score is a bit skewed here, as I'm REALLY into the supernatural in general, and Onmyoudo in particular, so take this from that perspective - if you don't really go nuts for that kind of stuff, I'd say this show is more objectively closer to the 6 - 7 range. If paper talismans, a broad representation of traditional youkai and ayakashi, and buddhist mantra with hand signs get your blood pumping though, I think you'll definitely agree with me on a solid 8 for this one.
Honestly? If you liked Kekkaishi, you'll like this.
If you liked Kekkaishi but thought you'd have liked it better
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if it was set in a historically accurate Heian-jidai japan instead of the modern day, then... well, hello Studio Deen, thank you for reading this review.
...and if you happen to be one of the five or so OTHER people who might have thought of and enjoyed that concept, then enjoy your instant 10/10 because this show is slavishly devoted to the mannerisms, clothing, and political structure of the Heian period of japan without letting that distract from the plot. It actually reminds me strongly of how Rurouni Kenshin handled the Meiji reconstruction era, putting in the care and detail that made the setting come alive, but always keeping focus on the story at hand.
The action is handled about as well as other shounen anime from the early and mid 2000's - dynamic, but predominantly power beam spam consisting of colored photoshop filters following a hand-drawn mask - Inuyasha comes to mind (for more reasons than that, but still). I will say it's a bit more competently directed than its brethren though, as many of the actual full-phrase spells actually have relevant-seeming effects ("Hidden warriors, formidable soldiers, assemble and take formation against the enemy" always creates a barrage of orderly spirit projectiles, for instance).
The character writing is a bit tropey, but it's in that kindof adorable way that old anime could get away with because it wasn't as worn thin back then. The MC is a sweet self-sacrificing Neutral Good type, his grandpa is the wise old Crouching Moron not-so-Hidden Badass, and we're in yet another universe where any capacity for competence or basic self-preservation is apparently carried on the Y chromosome for some reason *coughlazywritingcough*. All that said though, like I mentioned before, the flaws are just so much more forgivable in that unique early-2000s aesthetic where we can all remember back to things like Escaflowne and go 'yeah, not everything has to be Ulysses - this is fine'.
An enjoyable ride overall, catering to a highly specific audience that will absolutely ADORE it when they find it. Ending annoyed me a bit, but only a bit. You'll see.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 26, 2020
What do I even call this? It's what happens when you take a shoujo slice-of-life protagonist and her best friend, and put them in a shounen battle anime. Is this moe? I can't tell! She has a smile that protects *itself* - how are you supposed to classify this?
As 'cute', that's how. Bofuri is cute as all hell, and that's all it really needs honestly. 'Cute Girls do SAO Things' isn't the anime of the season, but damned if it isn't in the top 10 easy.
The basic premise is your typical RPGsekai fare - full-dive VR, medieval fantasy constructions, labyrinthine skill trees, etc- and our
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protag, having been dragged into this by her friend while knowing NOTHING about videogames in general, ends up just dumping every single point she has into Vitality (which determines defense and max HP), to make a character that can basically do no damage, but also never get hurt by pretty much anything, accidentally breaking the game and basically giving herself immortality. Frustrated with her inability to hurt much of anything, she tries to bite an enemy... and learns the [Devour] skill, which instakills an enemy and can teach her skills related to it. Thus an absolutely adorable monster is born.
Now people will complain that the underlying game is poorly designed, and that the skills are unbalanced... and yes, these are all true. This game is absolutely BUSTED from a design perspective - if it existed IRL, the playerbase would be gone within a month and it wouldn't even make its starting development budget back. The reason this show still gets a 7 though, is that balancing the MMO in the show's premise would actually inherently take away from the show's -actual- core engagement, which is split between watching Maple's increasingly insane power creep, like a hyperaccelerated shounen series, and just watching her hang out with her friends and be cute. Removing the tension of 'will the protagonist overcome the challenges before her', much like One Punch Man before it, allows us to focus more on the character of Maple and just how damn cute she is, and how sweet her interactions with her friends become. A big highlight in this show over time, is how everyone really is just playing a game, and outside of big PvP events it's totally fine to make friends and hang out with people you were locked in death battles with only hours ago.
Overall, Bofuri is like a mug of hot apple cider with a shot of fireball sitting at the bottom and some whipped cream and nutmeg on top-
Sweet, then warm and comfy, and finishes off with an exciting kick.
If that's your jam, then so is this - cheers!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 20, 2020
Story: It's a relatively basic supernatural battle royale setup, with a little bit of RPG and a little bit of ARG using the character's phone cameras and map apps. What elevates this above the general seasonal fodder from 'offensively okay' to 'hey, that's pretty good' is the shadowy cabaret of affluent gamblers and socialites watching the bloodsport like a flock of wealthy romans watching arena gladiators, and betting on the outcomes. Also, as is becoming fairly rote in the genre, every player gets their own Jojo-stand-like unique ability (called a sigil), whose finer details I won't spoil here, but if you start the show and
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go 'these are NOTHING like stands!'... give it a bit.
Art: The relatively new Studio Nexus makes their 5th major showing with this anime since their founding just this past decade, and while it's still clear they're getting their feet under them, the show doesn't look bad by ANY stretch, and you can even wring some sakuga out of a few of the episodes if you've a keen eye for animation. It's not amazing, but it has my hopes up for what Nexus may publish in the future
Sound: Good stuff here - the environmental sound design was really immersive when chains were taking chunks out of concrete while bullets pinged off of psychic forcefields and all that jazz. No slouches in the seiyuu department either - the character of Wang in particular is a standout performance by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka of recent Inosuke (Kimetsu no Yaiba) fame.
Characters: I'm gonna put this up on something of a pedestal it may not deserve, here, specifically because of how much I see people ragging on this show's characters - specifically, its MC, Sudo Kaname. Let me tell you folks, I have SEEN bland protagonists. I have seen cardboard and mayonnaise sandwich characters on the middle of an anime's launch poster. Even when the show STARTS, Sudo has at least enough personality to be something a little more flavorful than that - call him, Idunno... miracle whip, or something. Either you embryos have never seen some of the crap that we had to deal with back before anime went mainstream, or my fellow old fogies are starting to show their failing memories regarding all of the wallpaper-flavored dross that 80's and 90's anime could come up with.
Moreover, that's just Sudo at the -start- of the show. This character undergoes something over the course of the story that's practically unheard of in niche anime like this... an arc. Like... an actual character arc. He changes, as a person, due to the events of the show. I know the absolute deluge of good anime in recent years has made that seem less special, with all your Re: Creators and your Tokyo Ghouls - but take a helpful eyeful of perspective-bleach by looking at something ACTUALLY bad, like Masters of Ragnarok, and you'll quickly remember that decent writing is not the universal feature it might seem in these enlightened times.
Beyond that, here are a few brief descriptions of the supporting cast- A CS:GO character. A future-predicting computer. The anime Wondertwins, if both of their powers were water. Goth-loli Kratos. Yeah it's not the MOST original scooby gang I've seen in one of these, but it's damn well up there - it sure as hell couldn't see the worst ones through a glass-bottomed boat, if you catch my meaning.
Overall: This was fun. It was a fun ride, through an interesting setting, following cool people through a well-told story. Will it blow your socks off? No. That's why this is an 8 from me and not a 9. But it does enough well, and consistently, that just giving it a 'good' seemed downright unfair to it.
If semi-cerebral unique-power smash ups with a dollop of edge are your thing, Darwin's Game should not disappoint. If that's not your bag... that's fine too - it's not a show for everyone.
Now, all that said... if I have to see one more innane comment about how this show relates to some kind of 'evolution' of its characters, or is the 'survival of the fittest', I swear I am getting loli Kratos to carve them up like rare Who roast beast. Pay more attention in high school. Be better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 13, 2020
Imagine the Scooby gang... now replace them with a group of professionals with proper equipment and religious leaders. Put them in a setting where yuurei and yokai are real, add just a tiny sprinkle of edge, and you've got Ghost Hunt. I say this because, rather than being horror (as the cover art may lead you to believe), it's actually a mystery series where the clues are various tidbits of japanese mythology, and the perpetrators are vengeful spirits or malicious magic users.
Frankly, this has no right being as good as it was - I came in expecting a good ironic 4/10 hatewatch, but came away
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with a genuine 7/10 enjoyable time, elevated by some really excellent sound design and audio effects when the really cool stuff starts happening. Mai, our main character and rather insulting point of audience reference, is that special kind of endearingly annoying that you can only get in anime writing - constantly zipping between achingly moronic and mystery-solvingly prescient in a way that gave me mental whiplash... but didn't actually get me too down on her, for some reason I'm still not sure of. I will say, nearly every other character in the show is better-written though. Monk is best boi.
If you like the supernatural, and you've already watched Another - here's 25 episodes of spoopy goodness that should tide you over nicely for a bit. B+ recommendation from me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 10, 2020
Story: The classic 'small town man/boy dreams of seeing the wider world, only to become embroiled in its conflicts once he does' is a trope as old as storytelling itself... but what happens AFTER that, especially in the latter half of the show, is pretty damned original. If you've somehow managed to become an anime fan without seeing this modern classic, don't spoil yourself on it - just stop reading my stupid opinions and go watch it right now. What I WILL say about it is that the TV series was forced to end before the story was done the way they wanted it to
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be, so they had to throw together a rather hackneyed and unsatisfying ending. To remedy this, I recommend stopping -and this is not a spoiler, without context- once they finish their interaction with the moon... and then picking up at that same spot in the plot of the movie Lagann Hen - a film made to recap the 2nd half of the show's plot with some slight differences... such as the true intended ending of the TV series, which is lightyears more satisfying than what we originally got. Do yourself a favor and watch it in this manner - you won't be disappointed.
Art: Studio Gainax in its absolute hayday, right before the split into Trigger - need I say more? The style is a unique beast beholden only to itself, and only episode 4's guest artist managed to ruin it - and even then only for a single episode. This is the art that launched a thousand memes - go partake. Your eyes will thank you.
Sound: I'm no expert in sound design, but my god does everything sound absolutely perfect. The mecha sound chunky and metallic, the screams of victory are hot-blooded and manly (even from the women), and the seiyuu are clearly enjoying their jobs. I will say... avoid the dub. Kamina was voiced by the same actor as the dub of Goku, and while he's a skilled VA, his higher-pitched voice just does NOT suit the character at all, and made it difficult to watch. Keep to the sub on this one.
Character: to avoid spoiling, just accept the 9/10 as my point here. There were some real questionable folk among the background cast, but the main characters are all some of the best-written in action-fantasy.
...It's no hyperbole to say that this show saved my life. I was in a real bad place when I first watched it as a teen, but this tale of the triumph of the human spirit against literally impossible odds - of refusing to ever back down no matter what, getting back on your feet every single time regardless of how hard you get beat down, and moving forward a little more with every turn because that's how a drill works... that message made me decide to keep on going when nothing else could. If you're ever in a proper funk, and you don't know if you can go on... Watch. This. Show.
The drill is my soul!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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