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Apr 18, 2020
I want to start out by saying that I don't endorse bullying of any kind, in the context of which it is typically doled out. I sympathize with people who have been on the receiving end of it irl, and those whom have trouble dealing with stories involving it should stop considering reading this one right now if you were planning to. Now that that's out of the way...
It's always been amazing to me how many people who post reviews at this site don't really grasp what reviewing a series is all about. A review here, with very few exceptions, should never be about the
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subject matter of the material being reviewed: Saying the series is bad because you didn't like what the story was about is very similar to going into a restaurant, ordering food that you specifically don't care for, and then writing a review stating that you didn't like the food. Perhaps a category of "bullying" should be listed as a tag for this series, for the unwary, but the term is in the title, as well. This series is still ongoing at the time of this submission, so I must point out that writing a review after reading a handful of chapters is woefully inadequate for this slow-burn of a story.
Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san (Please don't bully me, Nagatoro) starts off as a rather straightforward story of a first year girl, Nagatoro, encountering and then viciously verbally abusing her second-year senpai, whose name is not even given in the beginning, in a high school setting. This continues to the point that the poor guy is brought to tears; but it's pretty clear that Nagatoro has found something very interesting about "Senpai", so her daily routine of hanging around and bullying him continues from then on, sometimes to intense and/or comedic levels.
After some time, the dynamic of the story changes up some, in either a positive or negative manner, depending upon one's expectations for progression. We're introduced to each of Nagatoro's friends, all of which have very distinct personalities, and all of whom end up bullying Senpai in their own ways. I must stress here that it takes quite some time for things to look up for our bewildered MC, but despite the continued abuse, he grows and evolves as well. Other than some filler material here and there, the story itself is pretty solid, a 7/10 to me.
The background art is typical, but very nicely drawn, however probably the strongest element of this series is the incredibly diverse and expressive body language each character displays. It's just so easy to gauge what someone is thinking just by observing how they look and move. This category is a strong 9/10; it would be a ten, but the art does at times come off a little too 'cartoony'.The characters are also great; though some of them fall into well established templates, each is nicely fleshed-out, and none of them are particularly similar in mannerisms. Nagatoro, even though she's more like an antagonist, is so interesting that it's easy to overlook her rotten attitude, lol. Her antics are the most noteworthy aspect of this series. Senpai is pretty bland, and more like a self-insert for the reader, but even he has some intriguing facets to his character. I rate the character category as a very good 8/10.
For my own enjoyment, this score fluctuated a bit, starting at a decent 6, and working up to a current 8 out of 10. The treatment of Senpai was a bit painful to watch at times, but once several things became apparent to me, I was able to appreciate it much more. I still think there could be some improvements and clarifications, but I'm really liking it so far.
Overall, this comes in as a nice 8 outta 10 for me. It manages to blend elements of sadism, cruelty, and sorrow along with cuteness, comedy, and pure badass moments. There's certainly romantic parts, but rarely does it seem clichéd. It's a fun read if you can endure the tide, so to speak.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 22, 2014
I've seen a lot of hate reviews for this anime, mostly due the actions of (or lack thereof) the characters therein. True netorare in my mind presents a realistic, or at least believable scenario where the main protagonist's significant other is taken from him by means of gradual seduction on the part of a rival male character. The scenes where this takes place and how it goes about should be something that we, as viewers, can relate to, or at least understand. The most important element of a good netorare story is that the characters involved Must behave in a way that we can empathize
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with; if you constantly find yourself thinking "WTF did he/she do that for?", you're not watching good netorare action. Ultimately, True Blue does not even come close to a good netorare story.
Story score: 3
Okay, so the main male character, Kurusu Akito, has been in love with his childhood friend and next door neighbor, Kanzaki Aoi, for a long time. She obviously thinks the same way, but downplays these feelings a lot. He and Aoi argue at times, but otherwise have a strong bond with each other; she wakes him for school all the time, hangs out with him after school, etc, etc. Both characters are virgins, at this point. Sounds normal, typical, right? Enter Shoda-sensei, a lecherous brute who also happens to be both a member of the Discipline Committee of the high school where Aoi and Akito attend, and a PE coach. Shoda sets his sights right away upon Aoi, and the story progresses quickly and predictably from here.
The entire rest of the show consists of Shoda dominating and violating Aoi in many places, and usually in a degrading way. Poor Akito bears witness to this activity a number of times, but unfortunately, for one reason or another, is unable/unwilling to do anything about it; he often sulks about what he encounters, but doesn't think even once of pursuing legal routes to put an end to this unacceptable student-teacher relationship. If Akito was considered a school delinquent, or otherwise someone that could not be trusted or had a bad reputation, I could see him having apprehension at calling in the authorities; however, there is no evidence that would place him in this category. He is content to try and take matters into his own hands, but fails miserably, over and over again. Overall, the unlikelihood of some of the sex scene placements, as well as the lack of story development beyond just Akito's occasional generic monologue grants this anime a pretty low story score.
Despite its bland, routine storyline and very predictable ending, True Blue does manage to set the bare minimum of groundwork for the next installment, True Blue: Gaiden. However, if I had not already known that the next story existed, I might have given a lower score.
Art score: 4
There's nothing particularly remarkable about True Blue's artwork design, though it did kinda remind me of the old version of Kanon, produced several years earlier. Sometimes though, the bodies of the characters were shown with odd proportions or curving at odd angles.
Sound score: 4
The BGM of True Blue sounds like it was borrowed from other sources, and doesn't really add anything significant to the scenes taking place throughout the story. The incidental and sex action sounds were done fairly well though.
The characters were voiced pretty well, but it's nothing you haven't heard many times before.
Character score: 2
This is where True Blue takes the biggest hit. Though the character's basic personalities were believable enough, the way that Aoi and Akito reacted to what was happening to them is so far outside the realm of what a normal human would do, that it is practically comical.
Kurusu Akito, a devoted baseball club member, has a typical wannabe shounen action hero attitude, but when that kind of mindset would matter the most, he becomes completely ineffectual and bewildered. He'd rather wait for Aoi to pull herself out of the situations she's placed in, rather than do anything proactive--aside from punching Shoda-sensei, a man much stronger than he, and then getting curb-stomped. I guess his personal vow to always protect Aoi at any cost doesn't count when she's getting raped.
Kanzaki Aoi is the school's idol; though outwardly demure, she knows she's beautiful and deliberately wears clothing to accentuate her figure. She is polite and responsible, gets good grades in academics, and is a tennis club star; she seems to be an all-around "good girl". However, Aoi is highly susceptible to sexual stimulation, causing her to lose all sense of morality and judgement when she's on the receiving end. She also flip-flops regularly between her desire to stay as Akito's girlfriend-to-be, and Shoda's plaything.
Shoda-sensei is the most believable character of this series; he uses his authority, physical prowess, and sexual experience to rapidly mindbreak Aoi into his willing sex slave. His aims do not waver, and continues to do what he wants, wherever he wants with Aoi. He also never seems to change his clothes. Though a thoroughly unlikeable character, at least his personality remained consistent throughout the story.
There are a few other minor characters, and actions between them and those listed above help to set the foundation for the next series.
Enjoyment score: 2
Because I found myself laughing more at what was going on, rather than feeling passion or arousal, I didn't enjoy this series much; the ridiculous character behavior just kills it. Unless you're looking for tie-ins to the next series, True Blue has very little rewatch potential.
Overall score: 3
This is not an anime that I would particularly recommend to anyone, unless you're a hardcore netorare fan, and want to see everything produced in that category.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Aug 6, 2012
Archaeon and Lucena have both written very explicative summaries of this series epilogue, and so I'm not going to focus on ideas that they've already covered. Having watched the entire Kara no Kyoukai series, including the special, over a span of a few days, I found that the epilogue both answered some questions I had, and posed a few more. This style of giving moderate definition to events and history, but not all, has been present since the beginning of the series; I would not see this as a reason to rate it with a poor score, however. For all the complexity of characters,
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mysticism, and selective background information presented in the original stories, expecting everything to be plainly defined, as some have indicated, doesn't seem feasible here; and would undoubtedly detract from the mysterious appeal of said stories. That being noted, I would venture to say that being familiar with the author's other, later works (ironically), certainly goes far in helping one to understand the intricate method in the storytelling style of what they have seen here (and in the original series).
Though this story starts off low-key, proceeds slowly, and ends just as ponderously, I believe that it does well in showing the oft-hinted at deeper understanding that Ryougi Shiki and Kokutou Mikiya really have of each other. Character interaction on the purely social level is present in the parent stories, but it rarely went to the deep, philosophical reaches as it does here. Mikiya's responses to Shiki's explanations are, of course, typically (and irritatingly) brief, but he still manages cram a lot of insight into his simple observations.
The latter part of the epilogue left me wondering about the true boundaries of Shiki's power and abilities, but as with the rest of the stories, this is not an uncommon theme, and therefore didn't bewilder me; the same thing could be considered about Aozaki Touko, for example. Despite the possibility that the relationship between Mikiya and Shiki could suddenly become a whole lot more complicated, this story ended quietly, with the idea of "we like each other just as we are, so don't change".
Ultimately, I really enjoyed this and the rest of the series. I wish the epilogue could have lasted for a solid hour or more, with some changeups in scenery and more ideas shared; these are the only reasons why I didn't give it a perfect score.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 8, 2012
The users before me have provided very thorough reviews on this anime series, but I believe there is one area that could use some enlightening. Having watched the first season and enjoying it completely, I found this one lacking somewhat in character progression.
I'll try not to write too much of a spoiler here. Each included story, as has been said, details the afterevents some months further along, of the main protagonist's (Tachibana Junichi) choices in selecting each of the first series' heroines. While I found nothing particularly thrilling or disappointing in the stories themselves, I thought it rather confusing that, after being in a close
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(very, in some cases) relationship with most of the girls for an extended period of time, why they (mostly Junichi) still behave as if they barely know each other? The awkwardness, shyness, nervousness, and general elements of inhibition were typical and expected in the first series, as Junichi got to know each of the girls, but why are these feelings replayed almost exactly the same way again? This is particularly evident with Junichi; in this respect, I found his behavior almost unbelievable, and definitely unrealistic. Perhaps with only two episodes per character, there's just not enough explanation.
That being said, I really did like the way that some of the visual novel endings based upon the first series, that did not appear in the anime of said series, found their way into this anime series. With both animes watched a few times, my ideas about the best girl for Junichi haven't changed: Kaoru.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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