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This story would've worked exellently as a dark psychological drama, as a romance though, it is an abomination, and the relationship between the two leads will tell you exactly why

Let's start with Mei
Mei is an abuser, plain and simple, we can analyze why she becomes the way she is, and we will in a moment, but nothing excuses her appaling treatment of Yuzu

Now why is Mei the way she is?
The most likely catalyst is her being put in an abusive situation with her arranged engagement, on top of the already toxic family enviroment. Mei's abusive behaviour is driven by anger, anger towards her fiancé who's ... s******* abusing her, anger towards her grandpa for putting her in that situation by arranging the engagement, anger towards her dad whom she feels abandoned by, all of which she projects onto Yuzu as she becomes everything she most loathed, this is what's called redirected aggression

Yuzu on the other hand is the classic empath
Always putting others needs above her own, even at her own expence, always trying to fix people, and always taking on all the blame whenever things go wrong. She has also previously been in a toxic platonic relationship, making her a that much easier target for falling into a toxic romantic relationship

One scene where Yuzu is wearing a backpack with the word "provide" written on it is very telling of her character, as she's always providing emotional support for others while never accepting it for herself

Everything written up there would've made for an extreamly riveting exploration of the human psyche, but it is in no way behaviour that should be romanticized, which is unfortunately the direction this series takes things

A new chapter of Code Geass after half a decade and... i'd like to say it does not disappoint, but...
Let's say it's as much of a rollercoaster in how the story's put together as it is an emotional rollercoaster

As it kicks off to a not so great start, we're thrown straight in the deep end with a new plot, new characters, and barely any time dedicated to building up this new part of the story, making the very rushed plot twist come off as being there just for the heck of it and leaving the characters feeling flat or even, in Rozé's case, unlikeable

But around ... ep. 3 things start to take a calmer tone and it starts filling those holes left by the initial hyper-speed rush with the necessary character developement and ,kkkkkj988888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888sw ... my cat wanted to contribute

Where was i? Oh yes, the character developement and the missing details necessary to form a connection to said characters and to have an understanding of the current era of the Code Geass saga

This all seems to be going extreamly well, untill it's cut short by it's 1 cour runtime

The series unfortunately ends abrubtly right as we're getting a chance to get attached to the new cast, making the emotional buildup fall flat

After Akito and now Rozé, i'm more and more convinced Code Geass stories need at least a 2 cour season to do them justice

Anime Theme Roulette 🎰 Review 2 🎰 Gore

Yet another anime i have avoided like the plague cuz of it's abysmal visuals
But if there's one thing these anime watching challenges have taught me, it's that great animation is not everything... good storytelling and character writing however does come pretty close to that

Though Inuyashiki does set a good foundation for an intersting and engaging story, it fails on all levels to utilize it, favoring a "then this happens, and then that happens" plot progression with hero and villain just running around the city doing their thing over giving them a well fleshed out background to aid their ... developement

What could've been an endearing tale about good vs evil turns into an absolute mess, with the very inconsistent characterization of the villain being the nail in the coffin as it completely breaks immersion. These inconsistencies also lead to a very predictable ending

An interesting tale that'll both warm your heart and send chills down your spine

The way the mysteries unfold are quite predictable, but their layout is engaging and gives the show a flowing pace making it easy to binge, and although the animation is rather low budget, it's used in clever ways that accentuate the madness that's infused in the series, i especially like the subtle eye movements some characters have, it really intensifies the uncanny vibe of the town of Origon

Despite the exagerated nature, the psychological elements are pretty well done, giving us unfiltered access to the characters minds
There are however some scenes of which ... the execution borders on the fetishy which might bother some viewers, but rest assured the anime never crosses the line of outright glorifying unacceptable behaviour

Fascinating for all the wrong reasons

From everything i'd heard about this show i expected there to be great depth in character exploration as they face the many tough themes that are presented, and it did have the potential to be all that, had the execution not been so utterly atrocious

I swear i have never come across such a deplorable depiction of the human psyche

There is not one instant with a trace of developement, analysis, or critical thinking, all we get is a constant bombardment of the most repulsive conduct parents can possibly have as that and their kids trauma and psychological turmoil is used all ... for the sake of melodrama, and the disgraceful portrayal of human behaviour does not end there

*light ep. 3 spoilers ahead (no plot detail spoilers)

In this scene one of the soft tennis club kids is getting taunted by a school bully, the lil a-hole says a bunch of vile stuff, and so tennis kid proceeds to smash the other kid's head open with his tennis racket, simply put because of some very mean words
Now credit where credit is due, most of the team's reaction to this insanity is "what the f*** are you doing??" as they immediately start first aid, but not only does the MC side with his teammate (and is somehow more concerend of a broken tennis racket than someone's broken head), but their teacher, the person who's suppost to be responsible for them, educate them, protect them, is brushing off PHYSICAL ASSAULT like "well you were wrong to crack his head open, but he's at fault too for insulting you, so here's some candy", no suspension, no detention, barely a lecture and this teacher offers candy to the kid who just sent another kid to the ER... what... WHAT... WTF did i just watch???

This isn't just a normal school yard fight with a couple of scratches and bruises where you can say "you were wrong but i get why you lost your cool", there comes a time when you have to draw a firm line and whenever it's crossed it's unacceptable and that's it!
I don't care how much mom traumatized you, you don't get to use that as an excuse to harm others, and you certainly don't get to claim self defence against words

And no, this is not the only time this series uses mental health as an excuse to enable bad behaviour

Like i said at the beginning of this review, it's deplorable
This anime is a masterclass on how not to write complex psychological issues and is infantile at best disturbing at worst

Very interesting concept
The "not everything is as it seems" plot has always been one that fascinated me, and Loser Ranger, though not perfect, was off to a great start, with a flowing pace and wacky characters ready to pull you into their world, all complimented by the stunning visuals

I do have one major issue with this series though, and that is it's ending
The last 4 or so episodes were extreamly rushed, packing in so many character interactions, backstories, new introductions, to the point it just felt like a convoluted mess, i find this to be quite a pity

The Blue Keeper, who was becoming a fav ... of mine, had some very emotional scenes that would've hit so much harder had they taken the time to flesh out his character instead of condencing his arc to half an episode, and he's not the only character who would've benefitted from a longer runtime

This is definitely a season that would've needed a 2 cour release to reach it's full potential

An interesting premise coupled with beautiful art are part of a recipe for storytelling gold
Sadly, it is not enough to have only those two ingredients alone...

Sakura-hime's awestriking panels unfortunately quickly get overshaddowed by very chaotic characterization
In only two chapters character's motives, philosophies, and views have changed countless times, leaving no baseline for their personalities to be developed on and make them recognizable

I do appreciate the research that went into making this manga (there are very interesting behind the scenes notes scattered thruout the chapters), details like how to make Sakura's battle attire fit into the Heian era, how to keep the language modern enough for ... todays audience to understand but still have the feel of it's time (not something noticeable in translations, but nontheless admirable), but the way the story starts off feels like too much focus was placed on setting the tone of the manga while ignoring the character writing aspect of it

After coming off of the emotional rollercoaster that is Clannad and absolutely loving it, i couldn't wait to dive into After Story
I was told multiple times how After Story was even more heart wrenching, how it'd make you swim in your tears, and it was all that, but...

(From here onwards we're entering spoiler territory)

There's 2 major points that soured my watching experience

1) One of the most tragic parts of the show was caused in great part by Nagisa's irresponsibility

And that is her own death
...
Tell me why, knowing your own health condition, knowing you have higher risk of complications during child birth, would you insist against all rhyme or reason, to have a home birth??
I'm a very stubborn person myself, i don't really give a crap how stubborn you want to be, when it is souly your own life on the line
But here it is not only your life on the line, it is the life of your child whom you are leaving without a mother (not to mention, what if the baby wasn't able to come out? What if you needed an emergency c-section? What happens to your child then?), it is the life of your husband whom you are leaving without his wife, alone to look after a newborn during what will be one of the hardest times of his life
I'm not saying going to a hospital would've 100% guaranteed Nagisa's survival, nothing is 100% a guarantee, but when more precautions could've been taken to attmpt to avoid this situation, when you are told multiple times to do so, for your own safety, for your child's safety, and you still refuse to do so, i'm sorry, but that is extreamly irresponsible and negligent

2) Tomoya's grandma

We meet this lovely lady when Tomoya and lil Ushio take their first daddy & daughter trip together, and this is what she has to say about her son, Tomoya's dad, "At times he may have been strict or VIOLENT, but it was all to raise you well" ... excuse my language but what in the actual fuck??!!?
Witch! Your son caused permenant injuries to your grandson! You're son's violence caused permenant damage to your grandson's shoulder, now what if instead you're son's violence broke your grandson's back or neck? You know what permenent damage gets left with such an injuries, would you still pull the "he did it to raise you well" card if your grandson showed up in a wheelchair?
Don't give me this BS of "he did it out of love" "he had a hard life", this is no redemption arc, this is pure gaslighting psychological manipulation
My god, with a mom like that no wonder Tomoya's dad is a total and utter wreck

There are more tragic twist leading up to the end, but these were the main points (especially point 2) that brought a wave of disapointment, watching these scenes felt like watching a series that i love crumble into dust

As for the actual ending, it comes off as an asspull, they try the "was he dreaming or is he dreaming now?" "which is reality?", but it is executed so badly, instead of complimenting the heavy emotions that where dropped on us like an avalanche the whole second half of the show and bringing us in that state of dread and reliefe clashing with one another, it completely flops dulling every moment as it devoids it of it's meaning

At the beginning it seemed like this would've been a bit too melodramatic for my taste, but man did how the story develope completely take me by surprise!

Intriguing, engaging, riveting, and last but not least emotional

What starts off as seemingly just another shoujo drama slowly builds up subtle layers going beyond the main themes of romance and loss. Pay close attention to these delicately placed details and you'll find an impeccable portrayal of psychological turmoil, the lasting effects a toxic relationship can have on one, and how having a good support system could potentially make all the difference

A must watch for anyone who is fascinated ... by the human mind and the human heart

Visually, this is some of the best CGI i've ever seen in anime, the characters are expressive, with their movements feeling very natural and character designs that compliment the animation style
Worldbuilding is simple but effective, allowing a lot of freedom to play around with the psychedelic vibe the show has

However, this is a very clear case of style over substence
The gems personalities are quite stereotypical with little developement to them, this along with the weak storyline make the moments of darkness and psychological torment feel more like shock factor and melodrama

I feel like there was some wasted potential, the stunning visuals that could've been used ... to accentuate a story come off more as an art gallery showcasing new animation techniques

Overall something to watch if you don't want to think much and jsut relax(ish) in front of the shining screen, if this is your thing there's a few very adorable moments in this anime you should not miss