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Oct 11, 2024
Shou Shibamoto's beautiful, intricate and completely singular artstyle should be reason enough to give Pandemonium a read, but if it isn't, it's far from the only thing that makes it a masterpiece in my eyes. The post-apocalyptic setting is bleak, bizarre and hauntingly beautiful, and every single character's personality and design ("variant" or otherwise) is equally unique and compelling even down to the dozens of background variant villagers that make the world feel real and alive. But more than that, Pandemonium tells a timeless love story of two complex characters in complex situations gradually becoming drawn together despite the societal barriers, distrust and ulterior motives
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standing in their way. Domika and Zipher's relationship builds so gradually and so tentatively, as both are hesitant to make first contact for their own reasons, that you can't help but be drawn in yourself.
The only real complaint I can make is that I wish there were more of it, as there are only two volumes, but that's not an issue of pacing-- I just enjoyed it so much that I'm sad I'm done with it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 5, 2024
First of all, let me just say it is TRULY refreshing to read a manga that's willing to use the L word and grapple with the baggage that unfortunately comes with being gay in a straight society. It may just be my preference, but I find it more gratifying to read about ugly realities than fictional perfect worlds, and I can relate better to the characters involved.
The age gap turned me away from this one when I first heard about it, I admit, but after giving it an honest try a few years down the line (once I had exhausted enough of my backlog that
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I stopped being as arbitrary), I think I found a gem. To start with, I really love all the characters and how they're drawn-- the art and character design in this one is just great. The messy, complicated dynamic between the two leads felt so real compared to the tired motions of standard romance meet-cutes that I couldn't put it down until I read the whole thing. It does still have its (over)dramatic moments, of course, but in general it felt true to life in a way that really captured me.
If I had to pick criticisms, Hiroko's repression surrounding her ability to pass as straight at work, while realistic, drags on a little longer than is fun to read and yet simultaneously feels like it's resolved too quickly and neatly in the end. Additionally, the size of the age gap does still ick me out just slightly even if they are both consenting adults (which, to be fair, is more than can be said of a lot of other age-gap yuri). With those concerns aside, though, I would absolutely recommend this manga to anyone looking for a realistic lesbian romance who doesn't mind (or even prefers) one that's a bit on the heavier side at times.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 2, 2024
Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki, while not bad by any means, is difficult for me to wholeheartedly recommend. Yuri-- even yuri focused on adult relationships-- is no longer a sparse genre by any means, but is certainly not yet prolific enough that I feel great about scorning an entry whose worst offenses are poor prioritization of focus and a weak endgame.
There are things I could praise about it. The art, while not exceptional, perhaps, is still sleek and pretty. Character designs are distinctive yet realistic (at least in terms of the main couple; side characters do tend to blur together). There aren't any annoying jealousy arcs, misunderstandings
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or other sorts of pointless manufactured drama. It does have some genuinely cute moments, which is admittedly a low bar to clear, but still worth praising.
Miyako, one half of the main couple (and titular live-in landlord), is a cute character. I liked her quite a bit. Asako, the other half, ends up feeling a bit underdeveloped, with a flimsy background and personality outside of her work-- which itself doesn't come up more than once or twice. The manga really revolves around Miyako-- or rather, around her unwieldly cohort of former colleagues, superiors, friends and fans. More time is given to characters who are tertiary at best and entirely forgettable than the main romance, with disastrous results for the emotional development of the main couple in its latter half. Interactions between Miyako and Asako feel rushed, obligatory, perfunctory; even important, tender moments such as a first kiss. With no time to showcase their growing attraction properly around the incessant Miyako farewell concert side-plot, the main couple begin to feel more like actors half-heartedly following a script than genuine lovers. Eventually I started to feel like I was only turning pages out of obligation, too.
The progression of MNO's chronic side-character-itis only really takes effect around chapter 20 or so. I enjoyed the first half, more or less, or I wouldn't be recommending it at all. Even so, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with anything appealing in their backlog.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 28, 2024
Are deer funny?
I don't know if I'd say they are, personally, but this anime seems to think so and will beat you over the head with deer-based absurdist humour ("random" humour, if you're feeling less charitable) until you either give in and go along with it or give up and stop watching. This isn't its *only* joke, of course, though I can't say its others are much funnier or more clever. You have a former delinquent trying to be prim and proper for her high school debut, the seemingly obligatory siscon character, the boke, and a slew of one-note or no-note minor characters.
With the criticism
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out of the way, it doesn't entirely fail either. It has a fun atmosphere, plenty of silly moments and can be funny if you turn your brain off and go with the flow. I would definitely recommend giving it a watch at least while it's still the flavour of the month and you get some additional "meta-value" from feeling included in a trend, but once it's no longer current, I'm not sure its particular brand of nonstop inanity really justifies the time spent on it unless you're *truly* hungry for some low-brainpower comedy to half-pay attention to.
The OP's definitely a bop, though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 26, 2024
The anime adaptation of the first two arcs of Wataoshi, not surprisingly, has all the same problems as those same arcs in the manga. Rei's obsession with her titular "oshi", Claire, and total disregard for her boundaries still reads as more creepy than cute. Claire acting freaked out and violated multiple times every episode when Rei does or says something transgressive and everybody else laughing it off only makes me feel sorry for her and disgusted with the protagonist-- not to mention how unearned the first-act talk about homophobia feels when Rei acts exactly as creepy as she's supposedly stereotyped to be. In all fairness,
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their relationship does start to feel more natural and less skeevy in the latter episodes, and the metatextual knowledge that this is ultimately a yuri romance and Claire will warm up to Rei as the genre demands makes the early episodes slightly more bearable, if only just.
It doesn't particularly help that of the two arcs covered by the first (hopefuly not last) season of the anime, I consider the second to be one of the weakest yet published. The first establishes the ongoing tensions between commoners and nobles in the world of Revolution, the game into which the protagonist is transported, and as the name suggests, this becomes a running theme throughout all later arcs. The second, unfortunately, is your standard jealousy arc in which a too-perfect rival arrives and threatens to steal away the love interest. It baffles me why these arcs continue to feature so heavily in romance media, as they are without fail a painful slog to read or watch through. Wataoshi's own jealousy arc is certainly no exception despite its somewhat "twisty" resolution.
Keen-eyed readers may have noticed that my overall rating for this anime is still an 8. I did truly enjoy it-- admittedly, mostly with the foreknowledge that it gets better with time and will continue to improve in future seasons. As it currently exists, however, I'd struggle to recommend it to most people asking for a new anime to watch, at least without mentioning the caveats above or promising that the first few episodes do not set the tone for the whole season. In the manga, these two arcs only set the stage for the much better ones to come. The anime, unfortunately, must be judged by its own merits. In that light, I can't recommend it with anything but mixed feelings.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 20, 2024
As a detective drama, Remote is competent, even fun. Its cases are interesting and varied, and their solutions, if sometimes contrived, usually have an internal thread of logic that can be followed as a reader to guess at the conclusion yourself before its reveal-- not quite as coherent a thread as any particular Sherlock Holmes novel, perhaps, but still enough to make guessing worthwhile.
As a romance, Remote is... less competent. Kurumi's connection to her detective partner Kouzaburo certainly feels more romantic than professional by the end, but the problem is that I sort of hate her for it. She has a fiance, you see, and
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while I kept waiting for him to ditch her or her to ditch him as stringing him along felt increasingly cruel and dishonest, that moment just never comes. This is never a major plot point and is treated more for laughs than drama, but it's really just not easy to enjoy a budding romance when you spend more time feeling sorry for the too-loyal sap she's cheating on the whole time.
Everything surrounding these two main threads makes Remote even more difficult and unpleasant to read. A reader of this series can expect consistently amateurish art, nonstop egregious fanservice in the form of upskirts and downshirts and unnecessary nude scenes (to say nothing of the chapters in which the plot degenerates into bad hentai) and on top of it all, constant grating misogyny throughout. The way this manga treats women-- our main girl Kurumi in particular-- is spectacularly awful even for the 2000s.
Kurumi is completely incompetent. She's ruled by her emotions. She cannot fire a gun until Kouzaburo cajoles her to shoot (and then she'll almost always miss), she cannot walk without tripping (expect an upskirt every time), she refuses orders if she thinks they're too scary and shuts down until Kouzaburo consoles her, she constantly walks into danger any thinking adult should be able to spot and needs Kouzaburo to put together plans to bail her out, she cannot add 2+2 until Kouzaburo tells her it's 4. She is completely, hopelessly dependent on Kouzaburo for everything, and this is supposed to be romantic.
If this wasn't bad enough, well, Kouzaburo is "complex". Due to a traumatic incident before the events of the story, he is left "unable to feel emotions". As a result he is brusque and unsympathetic arguably to the point of abuse at times and of course only Kurumi can endure his hostile behaviour long enough to get to his true loving self-- only she can fix him! This is not an interpretation and barely even a paraphrase of what is said to Kurumi to keep her with Kouzaburo. She stays, obviously (they're the main couple of the work, after all) and is eventually rewarded with the loving partner she deserves and that so many women in this exact sort of relationship never get. From a moral standpoint, the arc of this relationship leaves a taste of bile in my mouth even if it technically turns out sweet in the end.
Ultimately, who is Remote for? Readers more unconcerned with all this may find it a fun read for the crime mystery aspects. Readers looking for a less "intellectually" enjoyable read will probably find the fanservice ruined by the crude art. Readers looking for a romance really just have better options.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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