NOTE: This is a review for the ENTIRE Attack on Titan series from season 1 all the way until these last two episodes.
Well, it's finally here, and now, the big question is: did it end as badly as the manga readers said it did?
Fortunately, the answer is NOT QUITE, but it still did end badly.
I'll explain why the ending is bad later in the review...
Attack on Titan is hailed as a crowning achievement in Japanese animation! A brilliant homage to military dystopian fiction that subverted the zombie apocalypse genre in ways most people didn't think was possible! Though most people contend that Season 3 Part
...
2 is the best this series has to offer, I actually think that the first season is the pinnacle of the show, and that, generally speaking, it slowly got worse over time (with brief period of excellence here and there, such as Season 3 Part 2 to be sure!).
Attack on Titan's first two seasons highlighted the author, Hajime Isayama's, clear understand of military tactics and strategy, as well as his gift for world building, character development, and crafting unique and interesting story premises. In this first season, he built up a conflict between the human race and an unstoppable force, the titans! Giant, mindless creatures that devour human beings and trample everything in their path. He does an exceptional job emphasizing the sorry, impossible state of humanity struggling to survive against this threat, and it made for a surprisingly compelling and exhilarating narrative that took the world by storm! Even people who didn't like anime, loved this show when it first came out, and now, it's surpassed Death Note as the most popular anime ever made!
When the first season aired, it introduced its premise, its characters, and the bleak state of humanity, while adding these brilliant twists and turns, from Eren transforming into a titan to many main characters getting killed off right from the get-go, keeping the audience at the edge of their seats in constant suspense. The first season was an instant hit! A true classic in an industry oversaturated with self-insert wishfulfillment, and other fan-servicey, tropy nonsense. So, how did things go down hill?
If Season 1 was a must-watch, Season 2 was a mostly pretty good followup, and probably would have matched season 1 if not for the painfully short runtime as well as the terrible reveal of the colossal and armored titans identities. Season 3, on the other hand, struggled to finds its legs initially in the first part, primarily due to the tonally jarring shift from the human-titan conflict to a civil war within humanity's own ranks. Eventually, once the second part rolled out and the shift returned to humans fighting titans, it returned to greatness and gave us some of the best moments in the show! The final season, by comparison, is all over the place: the first part was an absolute disaster by this show's standards, and without a doubt the worst season we've had, while part 2 was the best part, and the last 2 specials being both good and bad. Where did things go wrong?
Honestly, I think the problem started with the basement reveal. Though many really loved the plot twist with the basement because it completely shifted the direction of the narrative and the audience's understanding of the world and what was happening, it ultimately took one of the most original zombie apocalypse stories ever made and turned it into a race-war epic that ended in one of the worst ways imaginable, at least for the manga. The anime is not much better (I promise, I'll get into that later), but one of the things that made this series special WAS the titans themselves! This overwhelming, mindless, mass-murdering menace overpowering humanity with a never-ending hunger for human flesh was terrifying and unstoppable at first. You kept wondering how these characters were going to turn the tide and it made the world so interesting, but by the end of the third season, as excellent as the second part is, the titan's stopped being the real threat. The real threat, it turns out, are the Marleyans, the humans beyond the walls, and the world isn't actually overrun by titans at all. In fact, it's much like ours. The people of Paradis live on a secluded island where they fight titans on their own while the rest of the world lives free of the zombie menace.
Back when it was just the titans, this show was a military story about humanity persevering against all odds. This is highlighted in similar military fiction stories like the original Halo saga (prior to 343 Industries taking it over) and starship troopers. Like these series, Attack on Titan made you feel like there was nothing humanity could do! THIS made the reveal that Eren was the attack titan that much more awesome, because it gave both the characters and the audience a glimpse of how humanity could win in the end! It was a hopeful story, but as soon as we learned what was hiding in Eren's basement, that the titans were minuscule in the grand scheme of things and the world was out to get them, that all started to change and not for the better.
The truth of the matter is, whether or not you loved or hated the plot twist with the basement, the war between the two nations was not as tense nor as well-written as the one about humanity's struggle to survive against the titans. The Marleyans PALE in comparison, especially strategically, when compared to the Scouts, and this is no less obvious than by observing how badly they miscalculated tactically in the first part of the fourth season! I won't get into all the details, but I have a review of Season 4 Part 1 that goes into great detail about all the battle flaws that Marley makes that makes it a badly written season, but I'll explain some of it. You see, Isayama, the writer, was obviously trying to set up for the big moments of later parts, these big moments that he really wanted to tell, like the rumbling and everything with Ymir, but in doing so, he had to force things into the story, like a time gap (5 years, if I remember correctly), or by making the Marleyan leaders stupid as hell!
Following the battle at the end of the third season, the correct military choice for Marley was clear: The Marleyans should have recuperated and sent its titans and an army back to Paradis as soon as possible to finish them off once and for all! This didn't happen because it was inconvenient to the story that the writer wanted to tell. Isayama wanted the story where Eren transformed in the heart of Marleyan civilization and became this god-like martyr, but to create that moment, he had to make Marley lose, and they lose in ways that should never have happened with even the most basic understanding of military oversight. This is disappointing given Hajime Isayama's strong grasp of sound warfare doctrine, highlighted in Season 1 and, to a lesser extent, season's 2 and 3, but what's more disappointing is how it all ends.
According to what is revealed towards the end, the best choice for the Eldian's and Paradis' survival, according to the author, anime, and the manga, was the complete annihilation of everyone and everything that lived beyond the walls! This is because, unless all non-Eldians are wiped out, the non-eldians will inevitably do the same thing to the Eldians and wipe them out instead. It's a vicious cycle, and there are clear historical reasons for this, as the show establishes in Season 4 Part 2, but the problem is that there was no middle ground and it makes a villain out of everyone! Eren became the mass-murdering timeless being who strived to create a future for Eldians that required the slaughter of 95% of the human population (for no reason other than because he wanted to), where the only future he foresaw that ended with Eldian victory was the one where he committed a holocaust against the rest of the world. Mikasa and the rest of Eren's friends, comrades, and former allies became villains as well, but not necessarily in the anime (definitely in the manga). This is because they betrayed their own people and signed their future children’s death warrant by siding with the genocidal Marleyans who would eventually exterminate their own people and their way of life-- they had to choose which genocidal maniac to side with and instead of taking Eren's side, they went in favor preserving the foreigners that so greatly want to exterminate their own kind!
For those that have finished the anime, but haven't read the manga's ending, you might be somewhat confused as to what I'm referring to with regards to Mikasa and the others selling out their own people. Well, in the manga ending, after Eren's defeat, Paradis ultimately gets destroyed by the Marleyans of the future and the Eldians are genocided out of extinction almost down to the last man, woman, and child! The ruins of Paradis and Eldian civilization is actually highlighted at the end credits scene of the last episode, but unless you've read the manga, you won't get the full context. This is both a bonus and negative for the anime because it’s confusing, but better than what was revealed in the manga. They obviously REMOVED this context from the anime (keeping it within the confines of the credits and very vague) because of how controversial it was when the final pages came out, and they removed several other things as well, including the fact that Ymir was in the tree. Yes, the titan threat didn't end with Eren! This final moment in the manga signified that the heir of the Ackermann bloodline, Mikasa's future offspring obviously and probably the only Eldian left, would reclaim the titan power and finish what Eren failed to do, perhaps by completing the rumbling and destroying all nations across the globe, getting Eldia’s revenge once and for all.
This is a world where no one is good. Everyone is bad, and while it meshes well with the bleak atmosphere that the show was trying to sell, it becomes so nihilistic and riddled with despair that, once you start really thinking about the messages and the themes the writer was trying to relay, the story becomes almost completely unlikable. This is why people HATED the last season of Game of Thrones, because in the end, nobody won. Everybody lost, and nobody was happy, especially the audience. The ending of the Attack on Titan anime is ONLY BETTER because this is not quite the case. It removed the worst details from the manga (or left it vague). But because they removed these details, several of the scenes in the anime adaptation have lost their context and will leave anime-only watchers scratching their head in confusion wondering what was going on in, say, the end credits cutscene, for example. Without me telling you all those details about Paradis' destruction and Ymir being in the tree, would any of you anime-only viewers have actually gotten that? I’ve asked six people who’ve seen it so far, and none of them have.
I love the first season of attack on titan! I don't just think it, it is OBJECTIVELY a masterpiece, and it BLOWS MY MIND that some people actually consider it to be the worst in the series. I also think season 2 is really good! It's a bit too short and the way Isayama chose to reveal the identities of the colossal and armored titans became the first of several major writing errors throughout the runtime, but overall it was pretty solid. Season 3 started off fine, but ended up being the most popular to date for obvious reasons, and as for season 4, well, it depends on who you ask. Some despise it, some absolutely love it, many are somewhere in between, such as me, but one thing is for sure. The masterpiece that this show started out as lost the magic somewhere along the way.
With all that said, Attack on Titan, overall, is still a solid anime! It did things that were unprecedented in the anime space and had some truly awesome and surprising moments along the way. I think if Isayama had stuck to the zombie apocalypse story he started out with, this show would have ended up being the greatest anime ever made! I truly believe that! But because the writer bit off more than he could chew, focusing instead on a race-war conflict, making Eren a timeless Titan god and genocidal freak, etc., it sidelined the titan menace with a convoluted plot and storyline that ended in a very underwhelming, disappointing, and ill-conceived way. I think that the show will have to settle for good, rather than the greatness it started off as.
Do I recommend this show still? Yes! I actually do, but with a huge asterisk attached! You must go into this knowing that the ending is going to be bad, just like with Game of thrones. Because of where the show ended up, I don't think I'll ever rewatch it again (unless a friend who hasn’t seen really wants me to watch it with him). As much as I used to love it, I loved the show about humanity struggling against titans, not the show about two nations fighting a race war against the other for their right to exist. Even despite the ending and flaws of later seasons, Attack on Titan a solid show, arguably better than the manga. It’s one that started off great, but was diminished by the hubris of a pretentious writer who clung to big ideas over cohesiveness and conciseness and sticking with what he had.
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Nov 6, 2023 Recommended Spoiler
NOTE: This is a review for the ENTIRE Attack on Titan series from season 1 all the way until these last two episodes.
Well, it's finally here, and now, the big question is: did it end as badly as the manga readers said it did? Fortunately, the answer is NOT QUITE, but it still did end badly. I'll explain why the ending is bad later in the review... Attack on Titan is hailed as a crowning achievement in Japanese animation! A brilliant homage to military dystopian fiction that subverted the zombie apocalypse genre in ways most people didn't think was possible! Though most people contend that Season 3 Part ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 3, 2023
Nagi no Asu kara
(Anime)
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(25/26 eps)
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SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
If I could summarize this show in a single paragraph, it would be this: Girl falls in love with boy, but boy is in love with another girl (or doesn't like her back). Girl realizes she can't have boy, no matter how much she loves him, so girl must move on and learn to change how she feels. Girl can't change how she feels, but that's okay. Now, multiply that by 3! Amazing animation, artwork, and music aside, a Lull in the Sea isn't as good as its cracked up to be, and that is for a number of reasons. The show isn't exactly terrible, ... but I believe it's got more negatives going for it than positives. That said, there IS a good story lurking underneath the surface, maybe even a great one! They have a solid writer and the passion, but I think many of the mistakes come from a mix of cowardice and too much self-indulgence. The writers do a good job developing the relationships of all the main characters, as well as SOME of the romances (Sometimes) such that when they start to fall in love, out of love, and then in love with different characters than before, its surprisingly grounded and makes the story much more compelling than it actually ended up being as a result. The problem is that the narrative has some serious plot issues, immature and over-the-top dramatization of young love, completely fails at trying to make the emotion of love in the context of these characters more meaningful than it actually is (namely, by creating the illusion of depth), and has some problems with female self-insert situation nonsense. If they took a step back to really critically examine their work, they probably wouldn't have put in half of the stuff they did, and maybe even given us a different ending. These flaws all overshadowed what could have been something truly special. If it had to be done differently, I think the first thing that should have changed is that Hikari and Miuna get together in the end. AND BEFORE YOU REACT TO THAT, let me be clear: I DO NOT CARE at all that Miuna didn't get together with Hikari at the end. It's quite the opposite in fact. I thought it was amusing that the writers blue-balled their fans by failing to commit any of its several love triangles such that only one pair ever truly got together and literally NOBODY else (maybe one other, but it's debatable). It would have objectively been better if three or four of the main romances got resolved at the end, but that didn't happen for reasons I can only speculate on. Ultimately, the blue-balling, as funny as it is to me, contributed to making this series mediocre at best, and from what I've seen on the discussion boards on this site and others, it looks like a lot of people ended up being pretty disappointed by the time of the show's conclusion. I was personally disappointed to learn that Mari Okada was at the helm writing this series, and even though she wasn't the only writer, her contribution was significant and should have helped make this series a whole lot better than it ended up being. If I had to name my least favorite aspect of the show, this would be it. Very unfortunate, but I guess even really good writers have their misses. Overall, this was an enjoyable, but seriously flawed show, and what good came out of it is no doubt thanks to Mari Okada's writing chops (despite dunking on her just now), especially from Episode 14 on to around episode 23 or 24, with Episode 14 easily being the best in the entire show. This is why I say this all with mixed feelings. I could even see myself recommending it to certain groups of people, but only with the warning that once the last two episodes happen, it all comes apart, and even the best episodes have their fair share of dumb moments.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 13, 2023
Suzume no Tojimari
(Anime)
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Recommended
While not quite the masterpiece that “Your Name” was, Makoto Shinkai’s second attempt at a Ghibli-esque motion picture surpassed not only his lackluster first attempt, but also his previous blockbuster, the disappointing mediocrity, “Weathering with You.”
Suzume is an ode to the survivors of the 3/11 tsunami disaster in Japan. To this day, many of the survivors of that tragedy are orphans who are not quite old enough to be called adults. This film is a monument to the struggles of these kids who grew up with the kind of inner turmoil that begets so many of the tragedy-stricken Japanese. Moreover, it has a surprisingly subtle ... amount of Christian (or at least, Classical Theistic) undertones that I wasn’t expecting, especially since this world is still penultimately a Shinto pagan one, at least on the surface. This movie has some flaws that hold it back from excellence. The pacing of the first act is rough. It’s a bit too fast and develops too quickly, but the second and third acts make up for it. (The interlude into the final act is also weak in my opinion) The voice acting is relatively strong, but poor in some places. It’s very obvious that this is Nanoka Hara’s first voice acting gig. Also, the deification of tragedy and spiritualization of natural disasters, though they’re fantastically written and add so much to this movie, were not fleshed out well enough for non-Japanese audiences to grasp what’s going on and understand what everything means. As such, a lot of people will come away thinking there are plot holes in specific places where their are none. (SPOILER EXAMPLE: Such as when Sadaijin suddenly becomes friendly after possessing Tamaki and fighting with Daijin) Overall, the story is really good. This movie includes some of Shinkai’s better written characters. Good characters are something this director has been historically mediocre at, so this was a pleasant surprise. The protagonist Suzume, in particular, might be his best written character to date across all his films! Unexpectedly, he wrote a surprisingly realistic 17 year old girl with the typical dumb emotional baggage and teenage angst and struggles that come with that, backed up by the weight of being orphaned after a tsunami disaster. Suzume’s trauma invokes a level of depth, emotional development, character growth, and proper dimensionality that make for a compelling female character. The scene where Suzume visits Souta’s grandfather was brilliant. Excellent dialogue all throughout. That scene alone was a 5/5. The final act, from the moment the 3/11 tragedy comes up and onward is excellent! Every scene with a door or gate opening up to cause an earthquake or tsunami was very good and the Daijin were excellent “villains” for this kind of a narrative. I hope they serve as mascots for Makoto Shinkai’s studio brand. Even though this isn’t anywhere near as good as Your Name, Suzume is still a very enjoyable movie that I think even non-anime fans will appreciate. UPDATE: Pretty much everything I said in my review still stands, but after seeing it a second time, I think this film is better than I gave it credit for. As such, I'd now give it a 9 instead of an 8. But I still think the critiques hold up, even more so than before. It's debatable, but I think this truly is a GREAT movie!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 24, 2023
Tenki no Ko
(Anime)
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Spoilers Ahead for WEATHERING WITH YOU and YOUR NAME!!
This is the second time I've seen this film since seeing it in theaters in Japan. The reason I, and millions of others, were so excited for this movie was because of Your Name. Your Name is not just one of my favorite anime films of all time, but one of my favorites movies period. So when Shinkai first announced this movie, everyone was really excited. All the trailers for it looked phenomenal and when the initial reviews came out, they were really positive! Unfortunately, when I and many others slowly finally got a chance to see ... this film, I left dissatisfied, disappointed, and painfully underwhelmed. So, I gave it some time before I saw it again (3 years, in fact) to test if perhaps I was hyping it up too much in my head because I was trying to compare it to Your Name. Now that I've seen it again, in spite of gaining some distance from the obvious comparison, it still left me disappointed and underwhelmed. Now, I know that a lot of people love this film. I know it was really popular when it came out. But over time, since the fog has lifted, though it still remains popular today, the film no longer has as high a reputation as it initial gained and there's a reason for that. In fact, on most movie platforms, most notably on Letterbox and IMDB, the ratings dropped a whole point. (On letterbox, the average cumulative score went from a 4.2 to a 3.6 out of 5. On IMDB, it went from an 8.6 to a 7.5 out of 10) Here's my take on Makoto Shinkai's second blockbuster hit movie, Tenki No Ko, also known as Weathering with You. First off, this movie is gorgeous! It's not just Shinkai's best film in terms of its animation quality and art design, but probably his best in terms of sound design too. Though I think the soundtrack of Your Name and Garden of Words are better overall, this movie still has a really solid soundtrack and includes one of the best RADWIMPS pieces, "The Great Escape." Stunning visuals and emotional music make for an excellent combination in any romantic animated film. It worked well for Garden of Words and EXCEPTIONALLY for Your Name, but for some reason, I don’t think it worked this time around (I’ll explain in a bit). Why did this movie not reach the same high that those movies had and why is the rating very slowly falling off over time? Why is it still falling? I was surprised that the second viewing felt so lacking even compared to the first. Don't get me wrong; there are powerful moments in this film, but as the story approaches its climax, which takes place towards the last 30 minutes of the film, the entire movie experience left me feeling so underwhelmed. I didn't come away being mesmerized by the story or blown away by how well-done the emotional elements were concocted like I did with Your Name, Garden of Words, and even 5 Centimeters per Second. In fact, when the two main characters, Hina and Hadoka, reunite at the end, I didn't really care. I almost forgot they were supposed to be in love. This movie simply did not earn its climax like his other works have in the past. The biggest flaw this movie has is its mediocre story in what is an otherwise breathtakingly gorgeous film. Though I understand what Makoto Shinkai was attempting to capture with the way he wrote this story, he failed to create something compelling beyond the fantastical elements and beautiful animation. There are also a number of plot holes scattered throughout this film as well as many unanswered questions that left me feeling like there should have been more. We never meet Hadoka's parents or really find out why he ran away from home other than he felt suffocated living in the countryside. We don’t even know what they look like, but they filed a missing persons report. That backstory was never resolved and was nothing more than a plot device to get the ball rolling on this story. The story's premise that there exist these mystical sunshine girls across the world who keep rainstorms from pouring down eternally destroying and flooding the whole world is also really goofy and so completely unbelievable that it breaks the immersion of the story (even for this kind of an anime); maybe it could have worked, but it wasn’t written believably or particularly well. All the side characters end up becoming little more than plot devices to help Hadoka rescue Hina in the end. While it was cool to see Taki and Mitsuha from Your Name, they were just there for fan service. There was nothing to justify bringing them into the plot. They did nothing to further the story at all, and I'm now disappointed that the Tokyo from Your Name is now a dystopian city submerged underwater in an eternally rising flood that may or may not ever end (or until another sunshine girl comes along to sacrifice her life to save Tokyo. I HATED this plot line) Also, I find it ridiculous that Hadoka finds a gun, points it at a bunch of cops and the cops NEVER shoot him before he can cause serious damage— you know, the sensible thing to do in that situation if you don’t want one of your cop buddies to get accidentally shot by an estranged street urchin. And these are just a couple of the issues littered throughout the movie! Moreover, there was no big "Aha!" moment in this film. There was not a single point where I felt this film EARNED its romantic climax. There was nothing to glue the romance together, and most importantly, there was no instance where it became clear the protagonists realized they were in love, or falling for each other, like in Your Name or any other good romance movie. There are a decent bit of brief time skips throughout this movie, so maybe they skipped over this part for some reason. After one of the time skips, Hadoka ends up buying a ring for Hina because he wants to spend his life with her; this had literally no development leading up to that whatsoever, and there’s somehow even less development on Hina’s side of this. Long story short, when he gives it to her, she reciprocates. Why? I've seen this movie twice now. I'm fast forwarding through the movie and I still can't find an earlier moment when Hina even hinted at genuine romantic interest in Hadoka. Until the very moment he puts the ring on her finger, his love seemed unrequited for pretty much 75% of the film, and yet they share this moment together in a hotel where Hadoka says he wants to be with her forever and she suddenly has feelings for him. But then after that, she prays, the rain stops, and she disappears! Then our protagonist has to rescue her. In many ways, this is functionally the same story in Your Name, only it's tweaked so it doesn’t look that way on paper while certain elements serve different purposes. But seriously, when exactly was the moment Hina fell in love with Hadoka? When was the moment? I want to know. Did it start when they first met? Did she realize it in the hotel when he gave her the ring? Did it happen sometime when they were making money during the sunshine girl job? Are we even supposed to know or did the director want this to be left up to audiences? If he did, this is a CASE example of bad romantic writing. You NEVER leave that kind of thing up to the audience because the audience WANTS to see it happen!! They want the satisfaction of the romantic buildup! The problem with not having that clear moment where they start to seriously fall in love in a story like this is that the viewer is unable to connect with that special moment such that they can engage emotionally with what’s happening on screen. The audience is left waiting for it to start and then it just happens and the writers expected something in our brain to switch on and get with the program. With Your Name, while there were subtle hints that the characters were falling in love with each other, we can pinpoint the EXACT moment when the lightbulb flips on and both Taki and Mistuha realize they had fallen for one another. That’s when the movie becomes a true masterpiece! I’ve greatly enjoyed sitting friends down to watch Your Name for the first time and watching their reaction when Taki tries to call Mitsuha, realizing this “coming-of-age” story was actually a romance. So many fond memories. They literally try to find each other afterwards. But Weathering with You, on the other hand, didn't have that "Aha!" moment and it DESPERATELY needed to in order for its story to be good and satisfying. What we are left with is an underwhelming, controversial payoff of two characters choosing to stay together at the cost of sacrificing Tokyo to a never-ending downpour that floods the entire metropolis. This film tries so hard to be grounded, but how is anyone supposed to be immersed in this film with concepts and ideas as outlandish and poorly executed as this one! I’ve seen anime with far weirder premises than this that were more believable because of how well they were executed. I understand that this movie was a blockbuster hit. I understand it made buttloads of money. I understand that it got incredible reviews when it first came out and that there are tens of thousands of fans who love this film. I know some who even prefer it to Your Name. And that's fantastic! To all those people, I'm truly glad you loved this movie, but just because this was a huge success doesn't change the fact that there is a reason why this movie didn't surpass Your Name at the box office despite the fact that it had way more hype surrounding it and much better marketing. This could and should have overtaken Your Name easily. But it didn’t because too many people decided not to go back to the theatres to rewatch it. And the reviews for this movie that came out following the honeymoon phase became more negative overtime, but by then, nobody cared anymore. Why do people still talk about Your Name to this day while Weathering with You just came and went? Why didn't people go back to rewatch this movie in theatres like they did with Your Name? It's because, at the end of the day, whether you loved it or were disappointed by it, there was not enough traction to captivate an audience to see this movie a second time in quite the same way as Your Name. Lots of people were either disappointed by this film or didn’t care enough about it to see it again. And this is supposed to be an amazing film according to so many people at the time. There are thousands upon thousands of people who have only seen Weathering with You once whereas those same people have rewatched Your Name over and over and over again. CONCLUSION: Though I understand what Makoto Shinkai was trying to do by writing this story, nothing about it was particularly compelling outside the fantastical elements and beautiful animation. The film is gorgeous and sounds amazing, but the story was so underwhelming and disappointing that it left a very dissatisfied taste in many peoples mouths. The side characters became plot devices, the romance wasn't compelling such that we, the audience, wanted to see them get together in an emotionally-packed grand finale. This movie has plot holes, major characters are left without backstories or barely have one, and the last thirty minutes, which were supposed to be the zenith of the movie, ended up being arguably the worst written part, or at the very least, the most disappointing part of the movie. After seeing this a second time, I can confidently say I don't care for it. I don't care for its protagonists. I didn't care if they got together or not. I didn't care if Hina disappeared forever or not. And that’s really, REALLY bad for any romance movie. I don't even think this movie rises to the quality of Garden of Words or even Children who Chase Lost Voices! Weather with You is a beautiful, but mediocre film that ultimately falls short of Makoto Shinkai's previous masterclass, Your Name.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 13, 2022
Mahoutsukai no Yome
(Anime)
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Recommended Preliminary
(7/24 eps)
The Ancient Magus’ Bride is unbridled female wish fulfillment and one of the few examples of one in any medium that is actually good. In anime, it’s the ONLY one that’s good. It’s got all the sappy tropes I normally hate except, to my surprise, it’s by an author who actually knows how to competently write a story. Solid characters, a well realized and excellent fantasy world and creatures, really good dialogue overall, competent world building and magic system, intriguing story and serviceable plot points, etc. I’m not saying this is comparable to the likes of Pride and Prejudice, Beauty and the Beast, or the
...
Notebook, but for anime as a whole, it might as well be.
My only major gripe with The Ancient Magus’ Bride is that it’s basically pedophilia in the exact same way as Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella (I think), and some other Brother Grimm style princess fairy tales of old (outside of the Disney adaptations) from which this show is clearly inspired. The show doesn’t endorse or support an adult having a romantic relationship with a teenage girl. In fact, I don’t think the author was aware of what she was writing at all since the “victim” is the character vessel through whom the author imagines herself being and whose character reflects herself; a lonely teenage girl whisked away from her dull, depressing life by her “Prince Charming” who comes into her life out of nowhere and also happens to be a powerful wizard who teaches her magic, takes her to a gorgeous cottage home, and regularly takes her on miraculous little adventures. I also strongly suspect the writer was a teenager or younger when she began creating this story, before she was old enough to get it published. Most girls who write this kind of story when they’re teenagers or younger dream of marrying either a prince, a wealthy gentleman, or a powerful wizard, but don’t realize the pedophilic themes invoked when they write from an underage girl’s imaginative perspective. One can argue it’s not really pedophilia in this case, though I don’t agree. This IS ultimately the author’s childish, self-insert romantic fantasy and it’s common with female writers to put themselves at their own ages in relationships with older men who are accomplished well beyond themselves, even outside the medium of anime and especially in pagan circles. I’m not mounting a defense of it; this is a disgusting trend, but it’s one that I’ve just kind of accepted at this point, which is probably not a good thing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 1, 2022
Deca-Dence
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Spoiler
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!!!
When I first saw Deca-Dence, I gave it a 7/10. I genuinely thought it was good. It's definitely whimsical and goofy at times so you have to suspend some disbelief to get the immersion, but the characters were strong, the plot was interesting enough, and the soundtrack and sound design overall were pretty decent. That all remains the same. What I also thought, until after I rewatched it recently, was that it had a flawed, but decent overall story and plot. I now believe I was mistaken. The biggest flaw with this show is its world writing, even though it’s world building is really ... solid (just hear me out.). The writers set aside a good bit of time exploring the world, the culture of the world and its people, and what happened to humanity prior to the present, and it's all interesting. What’s most obvious is that much of it is borrowed from other dystopian stories more or less. The world was ravaged by environmental disaster that wiped out 90% of the human race. Those that survived took shelter in Deca-Dence who's society is run by a secret group of digitalized humans who can go in and out of a “video game world.” (Not really, but the image is serviceable) They seek to prevent future catastrophe through the elimination of "bugs." Similar to the software term, "bugs" are human individuals who, for one reason or another, are deemed as dangerous to the system. They fall out of line with what is deemed "acceptable" and are capable of wreaking havoc on the collective. To keep disaster from befalling the human race again, all bugs are to be exterminated. This is all used as a metaphor about the evils of totalitarianism and discrimination. The issue is that it's very one dimensional and none of the motivations of the villains make logical sense. This video game world somehow utilizes data collected from everyone plugged into it to analyze who in the real world would cause the most harm, I guess (it’s not clearly explained what exactly “bugs” do). The key case is how one girl, the protagonist, when really young had a medical emergency (not gonna spoil what exactly) and was clinically dead for a short time. She comes back and then her data is erased from the computer... somehow. This makes her a "bug" since her record shows she is dead, even though she is still alive. But why? Why couldn't the record be changed? How does this suggest she will cause problems in the future? We're never told or shown what the range of "acceptable" standards are to Solid Quake's operation and are only given a few case examples of what bugs may be. The reason for its existence is so we know they’re villains and what they’re doing is bad and doesn’t work, but that’s not something an audience is going to need to be convinced of. We get it’s bad, but why? You’re terminating people who don’t deserve it and there doesn’t seem to be any justification for it. We can all see that. Maybe give us something that will allow us to understand the villains’ rationalization so that they don’t seem stupid. It also seems that there never was any core acceptable limit and that it was all done because of discrimination, but then we have a problem: what's the point of eliminating bugs if it doesn't serve the function of preserving humanity? Additionally, the digitalized video game world clashes tonally with the world of Deca-Dence. It's like watching two completely different shows. There’s also not much of an explanation as to why it exists. It just does because it’s cool… I guess. This was an issue I noticed in my first viewing, which should have been an obvious clue of the underlying world-building problems. As a result, even though it has strong characters (with the notable exception of the villains), the story is an absolute mess for all the aforementioned reasons and more. Lastly, the quality of the art is noticeably lacking even though the quality of animation is an improvement over the industry standard today. I still like the show, but I no longer think Deca-Dence is the underrated gem many people say it is. SCORE - Story: 3/10 (Bad) - Art: 5/10 (Mediocre) - Characters: 7/10 (Good) - Sound: 6/10 (Decent) - Enjoyment (Subjective): 6/10 (Decent) - OVERALL SCORE: 5/10 (Subpar)
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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May 24, 2021 Not Recommended Spoiler
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ATTACK ON TITAN AND BAD LANGUAGE!
This review is going to be a bit different for me. How I usually do things is I write a single review of all the seasons of an anime up to the point that I am done with it (that includes after dropping it as well), but even though I am not done watching Attack on Titan, there is a lot to say with regards to this particular season that I don't think a lot of people are pointing out that I need to get off my chest. Also, keep in mind that I plan on ... doing a review of all Attack on Titan seasons once the show has ended, this is more like a precursor or prologue to that review when it comes out because I won't be able to highlight many of these issues that need to be addressed in a full review while keeping it concise and coherent. The only major flaw that is highlighted by others above all else is the poor CGI and while I agree that it is a noticeable flaw, I found that people were get so caught up on one rather innocuous element that they may not have bothered to think about whether or not the show had far more egregious problems outside of the artistic side of production. Some people even say that the CGI is the ONLY major flaw of the season and in this review, I'd like to point out why that is not the case... but before moving on to the negatives, I want to highlight the merits of this season. THE GOOD: The creator of Attack on Titan has always been good at writing intense, over-the-top action sequences at precisely the right moments. Hajime’s sense of timing is solid and it’s no less obvious this time around. Since he also took a slow boil, build-up approach, the battles are used sparingly and only when necessary, which is great because there’s a lot more time for setting up the main climax of the rest of the show! The main battle of the season, while it has its flaws from both a writing and an animation standpoint, is heart-pounding and exhilarating to watch. The moment when we saw Armin’s Colossal Titan form for the first time was my particular favorite moment of not just the battle, but the season. The Colossal Titan has also never looked better. There is a lot of subtlety that went into writing this season that I appreciated. I remember when watching Season 3 Part 2 thinking that choosing Armin over Erwin, while a decision that makes sense emotionally for Levi's character, was a major strategic blunder on his part, and the consequences of that decision are clearly not ignored in this season. That doesn't mean it was badly written, quite the opposite; it totally made sense for Levi's character and set up potential problems later down the line. Ever since Erwin's departure from the show, the scout's have split up into factions it seems with certain members going rogue and making very questionable moral decisions in the aftermath of the previous battle. Eren's attack on Marley is one example, and the situation of an all out race war is rapidly approaching a point of no return that nobody in the scout regiment wants to cross. This is largely-- and obviously-- setup for the larger conflict of the next season, and while it is predictable, it does its job very well. The tension that builds up threatens mutiny and a potential civil war between the scouts and this could have severe repercussions down the line. A lot of the season is set up for many different eventualities in the next one and I'm curious to see how all these plot threads link up and what chaos ensues as a result. The way the writer developed the events that take place after the previous season and prior to the first episode of Season four was smart. It allows the flow of information to be delivered at precise intervals of time where it can be used flexibly and revealed at the most important moments while avoiding the trap of exposition. It also made time the writer needed to flesh out the new Marleyan characters and Marleyan society while also getting right to the meat of the show, which was necessary for the plot the writer clearly wanted to drive the story towards. While the CGI is admittedly bad, when the show uses actual 2D art, the show looks pretty damn good even if the art style is a departure from the one we’re used to. In fact, I believe this is the first time we’ve had a 2D Colossal Titan (EDIT: Never mind. I rewatched season 1 and the CT was 2D there as well), which looks better than ever. The backgrounds are well drawn and the characters are clearly realized. I think some of the people criticizing MAPPA haven't seen any of their other shows, but MAPPA is known for creating some awesome shows with spectacular artwork (see Dororo, Banana Fish, and Jujutsu Kaisen). This isn't a studio that makes the same mediocrity you see over and over again. The sound and musical quality overall is really good, as per every season of Attack on Titan. There is very little to talk about here as it's all largely carried over from the previous seasons. The voice acting is solid, the action is tense, and the emotional impact it carries is heavy, to say the least. There are other positive elements that are carried over from the previous season, but most of it is all very well known, and I plan on discussing that in detail when I do my review of the entire Attack on Titan series once the show has officially ended. So for now, that's where I'll end this part of the review. THE BAD: The biggest drawback of the season by far is the writing. I am truly surprised by how poorly written this season was especially after the last season, which gave us some of the best material in the franchise's history. The story immediately begins with a four-year time skip, which in and of itself, is a red flag, but more importantly, the show begins by not only throwing a bunch of new characters into an already extremely dynamic and complicated story, but by also developing these ultimately antagonistic characters in a span of four episodes before actually getting to the meat of the story. When I first saw these first four episodes, I mistakenly thought the story was being rushed because I assumed that this was the last we'd get of AoT, and with only 12 episodes left, I was concerned they'd wrap the story up way too quickly in the same manner that occured with the second season of The Promised Neverland, but the problem is quite the opposite. The story takes a slow-boil approach to develop characters that the writer very clearly wants the audience to connect with. This ultimately fails and contrasts badly with the place the previous season left off. Remember, one of the most vital elements to both Attack on Titan’s success and quality of storytelling, since the very first season, has always been its portrayal of intelligent, practical strategic military action. It’s been a driving force for the shows rising action and most of its major battles and political conflicts. The writer’s obvious understanding of decent military strategy is what made the show special and it’s a huge reason I fell in love with the series. Nowhere in this season is this element present. I will elaborate: In the span of four years, the Marleyans have completely failed to plan a second wave of attacks on Paradis Island. They have TWO officers with actual, actionable intelligence on not only the enemy’s home turf and the layout of the land, but Reiner also knows on a personal level how the enemy thinks. He lived amongst them, befriended them, and absorbed their culture and served under their military ranks. He knows how the scout regiment operates, THAT the scouts will almost certainly be the military force they'll be fighting against in the next battle, and he knows that Erwin, their greatest and most vital military asset, is likely dead, which gives them a very distinct strategic advantage. Any officer in any military with even the most basic understanding of military strategy would know what to do next in this situation: plan your second attack, gather your armies and all the titans under your command, make sure the attack takes place on the enemy’s home turf, surround the enemy and strike first before they have a chance to fully recuperate, recover their strength, and make their way across the sea and gather their own intelligence on your territory and your forces for their own attack, and then strike when the timing is right. If the Marleyans had sent its army and it's human titans into battle after a year of planning, it is likely they would have not only won most, if not all the major battles, but finished off the Paradis survivors and won the war. This was the obvious move to make, but that would have been too convenient so it was ignored. The biggest factor in deciding which side loses a war is not how smart you are compared to the enemy, it's not how strong you are compared to the enemy, or even necessarily how many soldiers you have in your army or what kind of weapons you use. It's what kind of information you have and are able to gather on your enemies forces and your own. You can fight an enemy with nothing but sticks and stones and even if they are using guns against you, if you have all the information and the enemy has none, your side will almost always win. Even if Reiner hadn't survived, Zeke knows the Paradis landscape well AND he fought a couple battles against the scouts. He knows their most important players, who their best soldiers are, and witnessed some of their battle tactics firsthand. This is far more than anything the scouts have, but now that the scouts have been to Marley, both sides have a relatively equal chance to win. By failing to act in the span of four butt-fucking years, Marley has given the enemy ample amounts of time needed for them to recover, gather their strength, cross the sea, and infiltrate not only the civilian population of Marley, but also their own military ranks and make their plan of attack without anyone growing wise to it. Hell, the Marleyans haven't even seemed to have planned or prepared an invasion strategy at all much less a defensive countermeasure in the event of foreign invasion. This all leads up to a devastating surprise attack in the heart of Marleyan civilization that claims the lives of several of its leaders, civilians, and one of its human Titans who's ability now rests in the hands of the enemy. This oversight is shockingly careless and utterly moronic, and coming from a show built upon smart military strategy, it's almost unheard of. In one single battle, the Eldians now have the upper hand and the consequences of the battle will likely lead to a massive war that will be disastrous for both sides. Nearly all the tension that had built up carrying over from the previous season and building up to the battle is lost as a result because we now know that the scouts are fighting an enemy that clearly is less intelligent, underestimates their enemies, and has far inferior long-term strategic planning. Here’s a question: why should I be invested in a war when the bad guys are idiots and will clearly lose especially since, now that we know the Titans aren’t even a practical threat anymore, there’s no real concern for the survival of the entire human race? The newly introduced characters are awful, and I mean Last of Us Part II awful. The leader of the Marleyans army, Willy Tybur, is the idiot who failed to plan a second attack on Paradis Island and allowed the scouts to infiltrate their ranks, and make their attack on the city he's supposed to protect. He's one of the first to die in Eren's attack and if you took him out of the story, very little would change. His younger sister, is secretly the War Hammer titan. Eren kills her and takes her titan ability. That's about all there is to her character. Falco is a weak-willed, timid boy who dreams of becoming the next armored titan, but is hopelessly smitten by Gabby, one of the other titan candidates because she's super masculine, strong-willed, direct, and somewhat attractive. She overpowers his decisions and he lets her because he can't help himself. Speaking of Gabby, she is the worst of the new characters. She is notoriously despised by many people within the AoT community, including the people that vigorously defend the season's drawbacks. Her entire character is based upon girl power. She is more active than her male counterparts. She’s stronger than her male counterparts. And she really, really HATES the "Devils of Paradis." She is supposed to serve as a foil to Eren and give us a stark contrast to the way he behaved in the earlier seasons as well as how he is behaving now, but the problem is that a) Eren's anger was directed, rightfully and solely, at the Titans (whom were little more than mindless animals) that invaded and destroyed his home, and b) Gabby's anger is clearly based upon reliably false, propagandistic information about a nation she knows little to nothing about. The only thing this gets across is that both Gabby and Eren were acting childish, which is something that everyone already knew, so the concept falls flat on its face. It's no wonder Gabby is as despised as she is and this leads us naturally to another major blunder with the writing. SPOILER ALERT: Gabby kills Sasha. Now, on the surface, this would appear to be a good thing. Killing off a major, beloved character that has been with us since nearly the beginning of the show in such a sudden manner would suggest that any character can perish just as easily and it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats worrying about who could die next. I don't have a problem with the fact that Sasha died or even that gabby did the deed. I have a problem with how she died because it should not have happened to begin with. Gabby was only able to kill Sasha because she commandeered a dead scout's ODM gear, used it to board their blimp, roll onto the ship, and fire the killing shot before anyone could stop her and without any resistance whatsoever. They literally leave the door wide open open for her. Even if the scouts weren’t worried about someone boarding, they should have been worried about a stray shot from a rifle potentially making it’s way through the massive open door, ricocheting, and hitting someone by mistake. They should have sealed the opening as soon as they started to make their retreat. The scouts are not stupid, so why was this mistake present? Going back to my “Last of Us Part II” reference, this is reminiscent of a very infamous death scene from the game as well. I won’t say what in case of spoilers, but they share the same problem. It’s admittedly not nearly as bad in Attack on Titan though. On top of that, nobody was guarding the entrance to the airship and even when Jean Kirstein is told by Sasha that she heard the sound of Gabby approaching, instead of taking the initiative to check it out himself, he instead tells everyone else, who was partying, to quiet down. Jean, of all the characters in the show, would have almost certainly checked on it himself to make sure everything was on the up and up. In my opinion, Sasha should have done so too, but that’s more debatable, I admit. This is one example of characters not acting like they would normally in previous seasons. I don't know if this was in the manga or if it was the anime making stuff up, but it's very clear that whoever authored the scene wrote himself into a corner and had to make up circumstances against the intelligence and behavioral patterns of his own characters to create the moment he desired, which is the death of a beloved main character. The new characters are given more time to develop than the old characters, and while that's absolutely necessary for the story being told right now, the new characters pale in comparison with the old so we spend all this time with characters that a lot of us ultimately didn’t like. It would have been better to just focus on developing Reiner, Zeke, and introducing the ranking military leaders of the Marleyans planning and unleashing an invasion of Paradis instead. Speaking of Reiner, his character has been ruined. This, however, was not— and should not— be a surprise to anyone since his character has been descending a slow downhill spiral after he revealed who and what he was to Eren in the second season, but after this season, it's almost reached the point of no return. Reiner, originally, was a badass brute of a fighter who many of the scouts looked up to as both a leader, a soldier, and something of an older brother. He was the alpha male of the tribe and a rock for others to cling onto, and his betrayal of the scouts, though the reveal left a lot to be desired, was a major turning point for the show and a huge blow to the scouts morale. Imagine if the scouts had to fight Reiner at his best; the brute, the warrior, the cold, badass soldier we know and love. How incredible would that have been! Reiner's character has since devolved from the strong, well-rounded, but naive alpha male soldier into a weak-minded, PTSD-induced, delusional shell of a man who can't even kill his enemy to save his own people even when said enemy is sitting right in front of him. I am, of course, referring to Eren who, in this season, makes a similarly foolhardy decision to reveal himself to Reiner as he is about to make an attack on Marley just to rub it in his face. During this precipice, Reiner, instead of immediately attacking Eren before he can transform and initiate his attack properly, falls on his knees and cries like a wimp. I completely understand that he's suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, but Eren is about to put the lives of his friends, his family, Falco, and his countrymen at risk and he does NOTHING to stop it! He doesn't even try! This is a sharp departure from the direct, quick-to-act badass that Reiner was supposed to be and should have always been. In fact, it's like I'm watching a completely different character. He’s entirely unrecognizable. Even in the previous season, Reiner would have acted differently. At this point, any chance at Reiner becoming the detestable, but sympathetic treasonous, piece of shit scumbag that audiences might desperately want to see turn away from the dark side and rejoin the light as much as they’d want to see someone put a bullet in his head and witness his stinking carcass buried six feet under, is lost. There are several other writing problems present. Eren escapes from a scout-regiment guarded prison too easily (nice to see the scouts becoming more and more ineffective as time goes on without Erwin's leadership. Good choice, Levi.), Gabby, one of the most stubborn characters we've seen, too quickly and easily accepts the idea that her original perceptions of the Devils might have been mistaken after seeing the damage her people did to one village on Paradis (Is indoctrination that easy to undo? Guess it wasn't that strong to begin with), and apparently Eren's newfound philosophy regarding the particular lack of free will based on genetic predisposition is so fullproof that neither Mikasa nor Armin can come up with a counter argument. Armin is wiser and much more intelligent than Eren, so he should have been able to argue from an opposing viewpoint, but he didn't. Most of these issues all revolve around the same source: the writer, before creating the events of the season already has an ending in his mind so in order for the story to reach whatever conclusion that will turn out to be, he is pushing-- no, forcing-- the story along in the direction he predetermined even if it means sacrificing the quality of the writing and the development and subsequent quality of the characters/portrayals in the process. I haven't read the manga past Erwin’s death, therefore I do not know anything about what's going to take place after the fourth season or anything about how the show will end, but I'm seeing signs from this season that the show is going to end badly, and I mean, Game of Thrones Season 8 badly. Right now, Eren has become the villain and is planning to commit genocide. To what extent? I don't know, but based on the way the season is written SO FAR, it seems to me the plot is moving in that direction and that Eren might actually succeed in the end. I'm praying that this is not the case, but I'm nervous about what the next season will bring. Anything that has been said about the CGI in this show has already been said a million times before, so I won't say much. Yes, it's bad and the action sequences in which the CGI is largely used suffer tremendously as a result. MAPPA was rushed to get the season out and this is what we got, so it's not surprising, but don't mistake that for a defense. MAPPA should have spent more time on the season to get the animation done properly, but they didn't. I've seen the many arguments used by fans to defend the CGI; none of them should be taken seriously. People rightfully shafted One Punch Man Season 2 for the downgrade in the quality of art, and Attack On Titan: Season 4 should be similarly shafted as well. Anyone giving this season a perfect score of a 10/10, or even an 8 or 9, is either being subjective (which is perfectly fine) or is lying to themselves because they want to believe that after S3P2, the show will only get better and better when it's very clearly getting worse. The season has the worst opening in the series' history. It's a pretty minor offense admittedly, and it's not particularly bad either, but it's noticeable considering every other opening sequence the series has had leading up to this one has been phenomenal thus far. Keep in mind, just because I didn't like this season, doesn't mean I think the show overall is bad. Even if the actual final season of attack on titan ends up being the worst season ever, the show is still heading towards a 7 or an 8 out of 10 overall. When the final season finishes up, I plan on revisiting this review to see what changes and I'll make my final Attack on Titan review, I just wanted to point out that this season has flaws, many flaws that people are overlooking with the writing in particular and I think it's because most people want to maintain the belief that Attack on Titan is always going to be amazing and that it's getting better and better with every new season. Even if you don't agree with me, I hope you can understand where some of the criticism might be coming from and why so many people aren't a fan of the season. CONCLUSION: Attack on Titan: The Not-so-Final Season is easily the WORST season of Attack on Titan ever. People don't want to acknowledge the season's flaws because there was so much hype surrounding this season that I think many people are still in denial, but I am also noticing that people are starting to wake up to the fact and are reconsidering their original opinions of the season. A once masterfully crafted series based on intelligent and precise military strategic action and the survival of the human species against an overwhelming enemy has devolved into a philosophical slog about a race war between politically opposed nations and the cycle of violence. The story went from amazing to bad in the span of a couple episodes, the characters have been shafted and dumbed-down to make way for the story the author truly desires to tell, the CGI ruins the immersion for most of the battles, and the plot has become so convoluted that the plotholes are starting to pile up. I had originally given the season a final score of 5/10, but upon revisiting it, thinking about it, and really weighing the pros and cons in order to write this review, overall, the Not-so-Final season of Attack on Titan gets a 4/10. It's subpar mediocrity compared to what came before and as a huge fan of the show, I'm very disappointed by the drop in quality and the direction the series decided to take. I hope the next season will learn from the mistakes of the previous and that the studio and writers can change the direction of this sinking ship before it crashes and burns. SHORT VERSION: - Story: 3/10 (Bad) - Art: 5/10 (Mediocre) - Sound: 8/10 (Really Good) - Characters: 4/10 (Subpar) - Enjoyment (Subjective): 4/10 (Subpar) - Overall: 4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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May 4, 2021 Mixed Feelings
I had actually planned on writing out a review Bunny Girl Senpai last year after I first saw the show, but for a number of reasons, I didn't want to. I know this show has its fair share of haters, and a pretty sizeable fanbase, but I am in no means writing this review to take a side, much less piss off the fans of the show. I didn't dislike it, but the truth of the matter is, from an objective standpoint, there really isn't much going for this show one way or the other. For that reason, even after rewatching the show to prepare
...
for this review, I had a really hard time retaining my attention and unlike most of my reviews, this will be spoiler free.
Bunny Girl Senpai is a a very well known anime. If you haven't seen it, you've probably heard of it. The show itself is a high school romcom with supernatural elements added in for dramatic flair. Most people that pass on the show do so largely because of the cover, which as you all know depicts a high school girl in a skimpy bunny girl costume, assuming the show is full of fanservice, ecchi moments, and raunchy scenarios. That’s hardly the case. So, if you're thinking about watching the show, but because you aren't a fan of ecchi, sexually-charged fan service, you just haven't pulled the trigger on it-- Please, don't pass on the show for that reason. There really isn't much fanservice here. That said, there may be other reasons for which one might want to pass on the show, because after watching it through all the way myself, I honestly would have preferred to spend my time either watching another anime or doing something else. THE GOOD: The best elements of Bunny Girl Senpai are the music, the art, and the general sound design. The art style in and of itself is solid, if a bit unoriginal, but the quality of the artwork and animation is very good. This shouldn't be surprising given CloverWorks' track record for quality animation, especially in the last five years, but it's still worthy of note. The music is decent. Nothing spectacular, and the sound design itself is solid as I have already mentioned. The supernatural aspect of the show's story is the key element to the story. In addition to the typical anime romcom formula, the show adds another layer to the story in the form of Puberty Syndrome, a disease of unexplained origins that relies largely upon poorly researched, watered-down, cliff notes version of quantum biophysics. The disease takes many shapes and forms depending on the issues of an individual and it reacts differently under difference situations and is observed differently by others. If you are familiar with quantum physics in general, the concept I am describing is not unfamiliar to you. The story itself is essentially about a high school boy (the male protagonist) who constantly finds himself thrown into the lives of other people who are suffering from the effects of PS, trying to reverse the damages and undo the disease itself. It's a neat idea for a story and the romantic plotline is cute and devoid of lots of the typical tropes you'd find in beta romance stories, which was both surprising and refreshing. THE BAD: The worst element of the show is the dialogue. Keep in mind that the show is a "romantic comedy," which implies both romance and comedy. The romance is definitely there. The problem? There really isn't any comedy at all. I can't remember a single joke from the show, much less a time where I ever cracked a smiled or felt the humor from a sarcastic comment, ironic encounter, or witty rejoinder. A lot of the "humor" is largely situational-- usually cliche and stereotypical-- and none of it is funny and none of the characters themselves even smiled during the shows rare, supposedly funny situations. The character's two main protagonists, Mai and Sakuta, who the audience is supposed to connect with and desire to fall in love, show little to no emotion throughout much of the show's runtime, even during many scenes or moments when it calls for it (there are exceptions). Much of the shows minor characters, such as Rio, Tomoe, and Saki have the same glaring issue. And the characters that DO show emotion, such as Sakuta's little sister Kaede, also happen to be the worst characters here. The one positive element that came from the issues is this: Because real, raw emotion is so rare, when any of the characters do have moments of genuine weakness, relief, or any other form of an emotional reaction, there is a lot more meaning behind the reaction and moment, and it's a lot easier to connect with the characters as a result. Many of the shows emotional, climactic moments would not have as much weight as they do if not for the fact. For that reason, these moments also happen to be the shows best. Add this to the list of pros... The characters themselves are mostly alright, but some of the shows minor characters, such as Kaede and Nodoka are subpar at best. Kaede is a stereotypical extroverted, high energy kawaii Imouto who has unrequited love for her brother (kind of). Her character is pure incest bait. There's little else to Kaede, even when she becomes a bigger part of the story later on. Nodoka is Mai's, the female protagonist's, sister. She dreams of being in an idol band because she wants to be like her sister whom she looks up to... that's about it. This actually serves as the catalyst for her PS episode. Overall, the story is bland, largely because of the weak dialogue, but also because of some pacing issues, structural issues with the narrative, and the typical cliches and tropes you'd expect from a shounen, romcom anime. Also related to this particular issue is that there wasn’t really any real driving force behind any of the story arcs themselves. Other than Kaede, Rio, and Nodoka, there isn't any purpose behind the male protagonist’s involvement to help anyone else, other than he’s just a really good guy. The protagonist has said before he doesn't care about helping people he doesn’t know, so why does he? It's because the story demands it and nothing else. That's bad storytelling. And the problem with Nodoka and Kaede's story arcs is that, even though it makes sense why the protagonist would want to help them out, they are the some of the show's worst characters, so it's hard to become invested in a story arc that directly involves the growth and development of these characters. If I had to put the story into one sentence, it would be this: a guy solves a bunch of girls' problems for them. While the supernatural elements do add an extra layer to the story that is sorely needed, the problem with it is that it is incredibly shallow. The scientific theories it uses were very clearly poorly researched prior to the writing of the story and nobody should take any part of it seriously. The show has a number of the same overused, done-to-death cliches you see in every anime nowadays. Incest bait, waifu bait, harem bait, kawaii idol band, an overly emotional confession scene in front of the entire school (kind of. It’s more of a remembrance than an actual confession, but it’s function is identical), a female love interest who's constantly belittling the male love interest, etc. There are admittedly some fanservice moments, but nothing particularly egregious or offensive. The worst ecchi moment isn't even a miniskirt or panty shot, it's a bunch of idol band members performing a skit for their virgin, betacuck audience in which one member "forgot" her panties, blushes, and gets embarrassed to arouse everyone. Nothing in the show is new. You've seen it done before in other shows and other anime especially, only it's a lot more bland and a hell of a lot less interesting for the most part. CONCLUSION: At the end of the day, there really isn't much to Bunny Girl Senpai that's worthy of mentioning, bad or good, aside from the really good artwork and animation. The music is fine, the sound design is pretty decent, and it has some good character moments with a sleuth of minor negatives that are barely worth talking about. If I were to describe the show in one word, it would be “shallow.” The characters are bland, largely because of the weak, emotionless dialogue, and it completely undercuts what should have been a pretty decent, if unoriginal story. It has good ideas, but doesn't execute them well. The story has some structural issues and the pacing is off at times. If you don't mind cliche romance fluff and the typical anime tropes, you might find enjoyment in the shows quality animation, supernatural elements, and romantic plotline, but if you're looking for something truly grand or original, this probably isn't going to be the show for you. I wanted to like the show, but I honestly felt like I wasted my time. Bunny Girl Senpai just wasn't that interesting to begin with. SHORT VERSION: - The Story: 5/10 - The Art: 8/10 - The Sound: 6/10 - The Characters: 4/10 - The Enjoyment (Subjective): 4/10 - Overall: 5/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 30, 2020 Not Recommended
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS AND BAD LANGUAGE!
NOTE: This review will be a full review of the Overlord series up until Season 3, which is the latest season to come out. It will not just be a review of the first season and I will likely not be updating it after season 4 comes out because I highly doubt I will watch it. Please enjoy the review! Well, this is embarrassing. After posting my review for Death Parade where I showered Madhouse with praise, I started watching Overlord not a day later. I heard good things about this anime and even though I generally don’t like Isekai, ... since it was a Madhouse show I thought, why not? The studio hasn't let me down so far. I thought that even if the show ends up being typical Isekai wish fulfillment, surely Madhouse would, at the very least, have solid artwork behind it. I was wrong. I'm going to try and keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, though I will be spoiling some things (mostly from the first season) regarding certain characters and events. Even though this is technically a review of the first three seasons, this review will be written with the expectation that you have seen all the way through Season 1 at least, so if you get don't understand something in the review, that may very well be the reason why. First things first, here's a brief synopsis for the show: Overlord is an isekai fantasy/action anime adapted from the light novel series of the same name developed by Madhouse Studio. The protagonist of the story is an evil lich-king sorcerer who goes by the moniker Ains Ooal Gown (or Momonga) and he is on a mission to take over the world. The twist of this series, which isn't really a twist, is that the protagonist is actually a video game nerd who ended up getting trapped inside his favorite game as his playable character right as the servers were being shutdown and the reason he's taking over the world is to find a way to escape back into the real world. To start off, I'm going to start by analyzing the good, then the bad, and share my final thoughts at the end. THE GOOD: Easily, the strongest part of Overlord is its world building. It has a really awesome world with tons of lore, monsters, races, spells, towns, and political intrigue and it slowly grows over time as the story progresses. The show has some decent side characters. Some of the better side characters of the show include examples like Gazef, Climb, and Brain. Each of them has motivations that make sense and decent dialogue and banter pretty much all throughout the story. They fight for their people and their tribe, they are noble, they have different methods of fighting, and different hopes and dreams. They feel like genuine characters in a world where most other characters are plot devices/stereotypes that largely serve only to make the protagonist look good. The politics of the empire, of the king, the nobles, and the soldiers is generally well written, decently developed, and is mostly interesting, especially in the third season. I'm genuinely surprised that many people found this aspect of the sequel seasons to be one of its biggest drawbacks. I do agree that it was the cause for the lack of action in the later seasons (especially Season 3) and it did admittedly bring the pacing to a crawl, but this aspect was necessary to develop the imperial legions in which Ains would find himself in conflict with. Could it have been better? Absolutely, but as it stands, it’s definitely not bad. The politics is solidly used to develop the world, the conflict, the lore, the minor characters, and the battles to come and I greatly appreciated Gazef, Climb, and Brain's parts in it. The way in which Ains begins his conquest of the world makes sense, for the most part. World domination takes a very long time and the methods by which Momonga achieves his goals are well thought out, if a bit too easy, and he utilizes those under his command properly and distinctively, as any leader should. The idea of Overlord is a solid guilty-pleasure for any video gamer out there. I must admit that while watching the show, I found myself entertained by the prospect of getting stuck in a virtual reality game and finding a way to get myself out or just fucking take over and destroy the world for shits and giggles, and I greatly enjoyed Momonga's conquest of the video game world in which he found himself trapped inside. The spells are awesome. The magic system is heavily influenced by the Dungeons and Dragons style magic system. They are plentiful, powerful, and there are new spells every other episode, which is fanastic. My personal favorites are Grasp Heart, Death Knight, Time Freeze, and Delayed Magic, True Death. The gore is solid, especially in the first season. One of my favorite moments in the show involves Ains slowly crushing the first season's antagonist, Clementine, to death in his arms while she is screaming and begging for her life. It was an excellent way to kill an adversary; one that is truly worthy of a dark lord. The soundtrack overall is decent and it improved with every season released. It's nothing you'll remember or go out of your way to listen to on Pandora or Spotify, but it does it's job fairly well. The sound design is also fine, especially the sound effects of various spells and the english dubbing is surprisingly well done. The backgrounds and characters are generally well designed and detailed. The backgrounds are easily the best part of the artwork and while the art style is pretty generic, it's not bad. THE BAD: Overlord is one of the most generic anime shows I've seen in a LONG fucking time! The biggest problem the series has since the first episode is that the writers are constantly finding ways to obtain, increase, and retain a massive audience by checking off boxes for various cliches, stereotypes, and fan service tropes pretty much whenever they can. It has gamma male wish fulfillment, fan service, lolis, badass spells, gore, boobs, hot women who are madly in love with the male protagonist and are always fighting over him and talking about how great and awesome he is, cool fight scenes, you name it. It doesn't matter if any of it makes sense with the context of the world or story at large, just throw it in there and stop asking questions! It completely breaks any and all immersion the show has for anyone paying attention. The series' protagonist, while he has his moments, is a mediocre character at best. He's a video game nerd who is dropped into a world where he is suddenly in charge and easily the most powerful thing in existence, and never once does he earn any of it or seem to even make a mistake. The world and everything in it serves only as a means to make Ains look cool, badass, and smart. He always knows what to say, where to be, and is constantly making a fool of everyone. This series has zero stakes involved and is painfully predictable. Most of the characters look cool, albeit generic, but besides that, they can hardly be considered characters at all. Many of them are badly written cardboard cutouts designed either to shower Ains with praise, become an enemy for him to slaughter later, or an ally to join Ains' army as one of his underlings. Almost none of the characters are interesting or relatable. Whether the motivations or actions made by any of the characters makes sense doesn't seem to matter at any point in time, especially with the primary female characters, Albedo and Shalltear, specifically. Albedo is one of the series' worst characters by far. She is a super hot demon lady with an admittedly cool design who exists solely to be in heat over the protagonist. The same is true of Shalltear, a loli vampiress who, at one point, actually came simply from Momonga's presence. The difference between the two is that Shalltear actually has moments of genuine badassery where she's brutally slaughtering entire squadrons of human soldiers and collecting their blood. Albedo, on the other hand, spends 90% of her screen time fawning over Ains or acting upon sexually-charged impulses with cringe-worthy banter. These are but TWO of the characters in the show that are constantly pledging their undying love and affection to Ains Ooal Gown, and despite all the attention he gets from women, never once does he make a move on any of them, sleep with any of them or anything. It's not for a lack of interest or a desire to retain his virginity till marriage, as we witnessed him literally fondle Albedo right in front of his highest ranking soldiers. He has all the power in the world, but lacks the confidence to make moves. He never commits to anyone or anything outside himself. And this is where the crux of the show's purpose for existing comes in: The protagonist is a pussy, yet he's somehow also a total badass who is better than everyone else at virtually everything. This is textbook gamma male wish fulfillment written by a man who's likely had very little success with women and is despised by better men. It's the same trope with which many have had to weather and suffer relentlessly in countless other stories, and it's not limited to the realm of anime. If you've read any modern/sci-fi books (especially ones written by John Scalzi or Robert Jordan of “The Wheel of Time” fame), you're very familiar with the trope already even if you don’t realize it and it's even more plentiful in those genres than anime. You'll even find it on occasion in historical fiction pieces and quite often in Hollywood movies now and again. The only reason all these people so greatly admire the protagonist is because of how powerful he is (which, I mean, fair enough I suppose) despite doing jack all to earn any of that respect or admiration from any of them. The circumstances for which the characters rank and social status begin have been made for him prior to the start of the show. Now, it makes sense. He’s become this powerful by grinding out on the video game, but it doesn’t make it any less uninteresting. The writer is very clearly a nerd. And whether you call them nerds, beta males, gamma males, or whatever else, what they all have on common is that they think they’re special and that they should be recognized simply for that reason without doing anything to earn it. They don't believe in adapting to survive and fit in with the rest of the world. They don't believe in asking women out or approaching them. They don’t believe in hard work or struggling to make a living. They believe that all these thing should be given to them; they believe in the world adapting to them. They believe in women asking them out instead. They believe that everyone else should change based on their idea of a perfect world and that everything should just come easy to them. If it doesn’t, it’s everyone else’s fault. It doesn't matter if the idea is realistic or practical in any way, in their minds, that's the way the world should be and since it isn't that way, the world is cruel and unjust in their eyes and everyone is out to get them. That is what lies at the foundation of these kinds of stories. It’s a way for them to escape reality and enter into a bubble of delusion and entitlement. The reason nerds create these worlds with these ludicrous scenarios wish because the protagonist is an image and/or representation of themselves. What that means is they can pretend and enter a world where they get what they want. They are the secret kings of their own make-believe worlds and are better and stronger than everyone else when that’s not true in real life— where every beautiful girl within a mile's radius of his presence is constantly horning over the nerd and can't stop talking about how great and attractive the nerd is, where all the men look up to him and admire how much smarter and/or more powerful he is than them, where the nerd always wins, where he always knows what to say, and where he can make a fool out of everyone around you. They release these to the public for the self-gratification of seeing many people praising their stories as well as thinking they must be special. Gamma male stories, such as Overlord, are so inverted and twisted from anything resembling objective reality that nothing about them or within them can possibly be construed as making any kind of sense or having any power of immersion or believability. Normally, I'd just fucking stop reading and move onto something else, but the problem exists everywhere nowadays so it’s hard to find a newly written solid story that doesn’t have it in some manner. This is the reason why this Gamma Male/nerd infestation is such a big issue because A) it's fucking everywhere, and B) in Overlord's case, the very events and variables that made the show even slightly entertaining and decent, such as the action and political development of the empire and world-building, are either built to elevate Ains or are swept aside in favor of absurd and cringe-inducing moments like hot girls infatuating over Ains for the 100th time or the men praising him and telling him that he's so smart and important and better than everyone else. I am so fucking SICK of these kinds of stories. I'm so sick of hearing all these good things about a show or story only to watch/read it and find it making the same damn mistakes over and over and over and over again. I'm sick of these overrated, badly written stories being propped up in their respective industry when they can't even compete with genuinely good stories, much less find themselves in the same league as any of the greats. And the most annoying thing about all this is that these writers-- these talentless hacks who've sold their souls just to get their name out there-- actually believe their own bullshit. They are so fucking delusional that they actually think they're great when they are so obviously not. Shows like Overlord are the reason why I was so hesitant about getting into anime because I knew the industry had trash like this! I know Overlord is considered one of the isekai genre's best works, but that's an extremely low bar. 99.9% of all isekai is horrible, and even if Overlord is one of the better trash shows, it's still trash nonetheless. I'm greatly disappointed that Madhouse chose to adapt this series, and am even more disappointed by the lack of quality art! And speaking of Madhouse, you might be thinking, even if the characters and stories are bad, surely the art and animation much be good. This is Madhouse after all and they've made some of the finest works in the industry! They've never done wrong in the art department, right? Wrong. While the background and character artwork is solid if underwhelming for a studio of this caliber, the CGI is absolutely atrocious! I know Japan is known for producing horrible CGI (unless it's for a video game like Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid, then they're fucking spectacular! :/), but this is really, really bad especially by Madhouse's standards! It's not quite Berserk 2016 bad, but it's pretty damn close. The CGI clashes spectacular with the 2D art and it's so noticeable it becomes comedic. It’s very hard to take the moments in which they are utilized seriously. Even the artistic elements that are well done lack a surprising amount of detail for a Madhouse show in 2013 (which is when the first season came out). If you told me Madhouse was the studio who developed this show before I ever knew who did, I would have called you retarded. I am genuinely shocked this was produced by Madhouse of all studios! CONLUSION: Nobody is perfect. Even the best fail at least once, and such is the case with Madhouse and their hit series, Overlord. I'm genuinely stunned that this show is as highly regarded as it, though the same can be said for a number of highly overrated anime shows such as Sword Art Online, Fairy Tale, or Domestic Girlfriend. This is the first blunder I've seen Madhouse make so far and though it is the first, it is a HUGE blunder! This show isn't even remotely good. It's horrible and nobody in their right mind should say otherwise. Overlord's first three seasons, as a whole, get a 3/10. The first season on its own gets a higher rating of 4/10. The other two share the same score as the entire series. If you're looking for a series with good storytelling, characters, and artwork, do yourself a favor and watch something else. Unless you are just looking for yet another guilty pleasure isekai series that satisfies your personal gamma urges, skip this show altogether and watch something else instead. You won't find good storytelling, deep and memorable characters, or Madhouse's quality artwork in this show. SHORT VERSION: - Story: 3/10 (Bad) - Art: 5/10 (Mediocre) - Sound: 6/10 (Decent) - Character: 3/10 (Bad) - Enjoyment (Subjective): 3/10 (Bad) - Final Score: 3/10 (Bad)
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Nov 30, 2020
Kyoukai no Kanata
(Anime)
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THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AND BAD LANGUAGE!
NOTE: Before getting to the review or anything that can be construed as spoilers, if anyone is reading this who has not seen the anime and is interested in the show and may need a push, go to this link right here and watch this trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjXyRLFLw-o&ab_channel=EpicRogue. This show was on my "plan to watch" list for months, and once I saw that trailer, I immediately went online and binged the entire thing. Even if you have already seen the show, I recommend watching the trailer at least once all the way through because it is glorious. Also, if you like ... what you see, please consider checking out some of Epic Rogue's other fan trailers. He's made some of the best anime trailers out there and is extremely underrated so I'm hoping he gets the exposure he deserves. Now, let us begin: Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) is a modern-day dark fantasy action series developed by Kyoto Animation. It's the first, and I believe only, dark fantasy series they've done (don't quote me on that. It's the only one they've done that I've seen) and unlike most everything else they've done up until that point, it's based on one of their original works as well. The show is split into 3 separate parts-- 2 arcs and 1 filler episode: the first part is the Hollow Shadow Arc, the second is the Fruit Youmo filler episode, and the third is the Beyond the Boundary Arc. Before getting to the actual review, I'm going to spoil some parts of the show right now to briefly lay the foundation for the review. If you want to skip to the actual review, find the section labeled THE GOOD and continue reading on. The protagonist of the series is Mirai Kuriyama, a klutzy first-year high school girl with pink hair and red-rimmed glasses. She is the sole survivor of an ancient clan of spirit warriors who possess a unique cursed bloodline that gives them the power to weaponize their own blood. In her case, she transforms her blood into a sword and uses it as acidic projectiles. Because of her bloodline, she is very heavily ostracized by other Spirit Warriors and has spent much of her life in solitude. The male protagonist of the series is fellow student Akihito Kanbara, a half-human, half-youmo who obtained some form of immortality. He has two friends who also happen to be spirit warriors themselves, the siblings Mitsuki and Hiroomi Nase. They are tasked with watching over Akihito for fear he might lose control and give into his Youmo side. What is a Youmo you ask (to the people that haven't seen the show and aren't worried about spoilers)? Let me explain. Youmo are creatures of various shapes and sizes with supernatural abilities that exist within a spirit realm that lies in tangent with the real world - our world. They are formed through the suffering and anguish of human beings. The greater the suffering and the larger the number of people that share the pain, the more powerful the Youmo. As aspects of the Spirit World, human beings are unable to see these creatures, but spirit warriors can. Now, spirit warriors are the descendants of ancient warring clans that have a connection to the spirit realm and with that, they have extraordinary magical powers that varies from person to person. In Mirai's case, as I've already said, it gives her the ability to use her blood as a weapon. In Mitsuki and Hiroomi's cases, they can project shields and magical barriers out of thin air. It is a Spirit Warriors job to hunt down and slay Youmo whether due to the fact that one is violent and a danger to those around them, for research purposes, or some other reason. This is a tradition that has been passed down for centuries. Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to the protagonists. The two protagonists, Mirau and Akihito, are introduced at the start of the show when Akihito spots Mirai hovering over the edge of his high school's roof preparing to commit suicide. He does not know who she is yet, but nevertheless he sprints up to the roof to stop her from going through with it. He goes into a tirade about how there's so much to live for and that she's too beautiful too end it all, finishing by saying he loves girls in glasses. For whatever reason she decides not to go through with it. Instead, she leaps over the several foot-tall chain-linked fence, constructs a sword from her own blood, and stabs him in the heart. Akihito smiles, in obvious pain, but somehow he remains alive and in good cheer. Mirai attempts on multiple occasions to find some way to kill him. Being unable to do so, she gives up and the two make up. What began as a game of cat and mouse between the two eventually develops into a close and unlikely friendship that slowly blossoms into love over the course of the series. Now onto the review... To start off, I'm going to talk about the good, then the bad, and then give a final conclusion. THE GOOD: So, for anyone that has seen a Silent Voice, you might have already noticed the show appears oddly familiar, especially the shows Pink-haired protagonist in the pink sweater-jacket and short mini-skirt. That's because they both utilize the same style of art and the female protagonist's design of this series is essentially plagiarized from Koe no Katachi's Shoko Nishimya. Subjectively, this art style is my personal favorite of any anime, manga, or cartoon out there! I love everything about it! The characters are beautifully rendered (especially Kuriyama), the backgrounds are detailed, the action is flashy, the world feels alive. Everything about the show's art is breathtaking, except that Kuryama’s design is unoriginal. Objectively, the art is still fantastic, but not exactly Kyoto Animation's best. A Silent Voice, which uses the same style, is noticeably more vivid and detailed and, for that reason, I can't quite put this show in the same category as that movie, which I consider to have a 10/10 in the art department. The soundtrack is really solid and the sound in general is just as good. While nothing is particularly original or unique, the composers expertly crafted some very emotional pieces that were utilized appropriately throughout the show. The sound effects are wonderful and they blend well with the show's art. The shows opener is also good as is the ending credits. The one issue I had with the sound is the english dubbed voice acting (what a surprise. I know). Now, for some characters it's pretty decent (such as Kuriyama and Ai Shindou), but for others it's atrocious (such as Akihito and Hiroomi Nase). The voice actress that played Mitsuki for the english dub, while a good voice actress, didn't really have a voice that fit her character at all. Mirai Kuriyama is a decent, albeit stereotypical MOE protagonist. She's shy, sweet, she's a badass, extremely cute, whimsical at times, lacks confidence, tries too hard, is socially inept at times, and seeks to right her wrongs whenever possible. She's charming and pretty much everything she does is cute or adorable, even when not purposefully done by the writers. She's clumsy as well; trips over a lot of things, gets stuck in stupid ways, makes silly mistakes because she's trying too hard. She's enjoyable to watch and it's fun to witness her growth throughout the series. Her motivations make sense, which I know should be obvious, but in the world of anime, that's a rarity. Her backstory I had some real weight behind it and the lore of her clan is interesting, even if it was never really utilized in the story, and that past trauma explains her behaviors fairly well. Her relationships with others are usually engaging (mostly on her end). She’s easily the best character in this show, which made her death scene at the end of the show all the more heartbreaking when it happens. Akihito, the show's male protagonist, is another character who’s alright. He's brash, passionate, sometimes impulsive, but he cares about his friends and is always fighting to do what's right. Sounds cliche I know, but Akihito develops into his own as the series progresses. The two protagonists have solid chemistry together and I'm glad they shared plenty of time together in the show because it's easily the most enjoyable part of the show. Speaking of the protagonists, the romance that develops between the two is one of the best aspects of the story. Akihito was attracted to Mirai pretty much from the get-go, but Mirai, while she developed a close friendship with him, didn't really realize she was falling for him until around episode 8 or 9 (and at first, she was trying to kill him). This isn't a story about a guy chasing a girl or a girl chasing a guy. It's about two misfits who don't really belong anywhere who just want to be seen as normal by everyone else. They find their solace in each other and that's where the foundation of their love for each other begins. It works. The side characters are interesting for the most part. Mitsuki Nase is a funny character with great rhetorical quips regarding the male characters immature behaviors. Her older sister Izumi Nase is a badass leader of Spirit Warriors with mysterious motivations. The cat youmo Ai Shindou is absolutely adorable and the show has a relatively solid villain in Miroku Fujima. The world surrounding these side characters and the side plots are all interesting. It's a world that probably needed more time to find its feet, but for what we got, it's not bad. One of the best subplots involves a side character by the name of Sakura who grew up with Mirai. When she was still little, Mirai ended up killing her older sister, Yui, in an attempt to save her life and since then, Sakura has devoted her time to hunting her down and avenging her sister. It ends pretty quickly, but it was decent nonetheless. The first arc is fairly well written. The first episode in particular is excellent and it has a great introduction to the two main characters that can easily ensnare new viewers. It's only 4 or 5 episodes long, but it serves more as the protagonist's introduction to themselves and the audience more than anything else and it does a good job of that. I feel that the characters were much closer than they should have been by the end. The action is flashy and well choreographed, especially the first and last couple of fights. The abilities and weapons wielded by each of the Spirit Warriors are awesome, especially Kuriyama's sword of blood and Sakura's Youmo-consuming chainsaw-naginata. The art and sound just makes it that much better. The battles are fun to watch and the strategy involved works even if it's pretty simplistic. I wish their were more fight sequences, but that's not really a negative. The show can be quite humorous at times. Admittedly, the humor is hit or miss. You'll get a chuckle at some parts, but more often than not, you will roll your eyes at how bad a joke was and/or get annoyed when you hear the same dumb joke over and over again for the 100th time. The writer had a really, REALLY good idea for a story! Kyoto Animation is sitting on a gold mine with Kyoukai no Kanata even now. The world, characters, lore, and pretty much everything else looked fantastic on paper, but it's execution left a lot to be desired. We'll get into that later. If KyoAni decided to reboot the series and redo the original story by making it more concise and devoid of the flaws, it would be one of the best battle anime's out there and I'd be shocked if it didn't make a buttload of money! Subjectively, I really enjoyed this show! In fact, I loved pretty much every part of it! I wanted this show to be better than it actually was and I believe it has potential to be spectacular if it were properly rebooted. For the first two episodes, I was wondering how a show like this could get a score lower than some genuinely subpar shows like Noragami, but over time, the show revealed it's flaws and by the end of it, they couldn't be ignored. THE BAD: For a show with a 12 episode runtime, my greatest concern was that the story would be heavily rushed due to the time limitation, and while it did end up being rushed, ultimately the 12 episode runtime would have been perfect for the story if it had been a single arc instead of 2. The show suffered from a serious identity crisis that began to develop around episode 2 or 3 and was never resolved. In fact, the issue flourished! Because this type of show is so different from anything else Kyoto Animation has done before, they understandably don't ever commit fully to the dark fantasy genre. As a result, the tone of the series is all over the place. The story tries to be dark when it can be, but it draws a line and never goes passed it, and by the end of the show, it doesn't really feel like a dark fantasy show, but more of an action/comedy/ecchi/drama/light-hearted slice of life supernatural romance. Beyond the Boundary's side characters had the potential to be solid, but almost none of them lived up to what could have been and that's putting it very mildly. While the show has a really solid female protagonist, several of the other characters are defined not by what they do or who they are as characters, but by some dumb, cringeworthy, one-dimensional stereotype. For example: Hiroomi Nase, Mitsuki’s older brother, is defined by having a sister-complex (i.e. he has a fetish for little sisters). Quite a disgusting fantasy and it gets worse with every episode. There are moments when he's stalking his little sister while she sunbathes in a bikini from beyond the gates of the pool and several more where he is making crude remarks or expecting her to say something that'll satisfy his delusional imouto fantasies. The biggest lull of this... it's meant to be a JOKE! What’s the punch line, you ask? There is none. He’s sexually attracted to his little sister and is obsessed with weird little sister behaviors. Oh, Himoori, you rascal. Will you ever learn? He repeats it over and over and over and over and over and over again throughout the entire series. There isn’t a single episode after he’s introduced where he isn’t behaving like a incestuous petard or being mocked for his complex in a matter that isn't really meant as a means of cessation. What’s more fucked up is that his sister, while annoyed by his creepy behavior, doesn't act like it's much of a big deal at all. She acts like it's normal for him, and even indulges his sexual fantasy every once and a while. What’s interesting about him though is that if you removed the whole sister-complex aspect from his character completely and developed him properly, he's a solid character! Hiroomi becomes a cool, calm, and collected badass spirit warrior that kind of does whatever he wants! He is strong and capable, and he shines in battle. He’s also protective of his little sister and watches out for her knowing she isn’t quite as strong as he is. He also seeks to slaughter anyone and anything that threatens her in any way (love it). He should have been a great character and it took a single massive blunder to completely ruin him. Take another example: Ayaka Shindou. She is a high-level fox youmo who allied herself with the spirit warriors. She appraises the value of youmo that are hunted down and killed. Spirit warriors from around the area seek out and acquire the remains of these mystical spirits and earn their living through her (a plus for developing the economy of the series by the way!). Ayaka is also a mysterious mystic of some sort and is very powerful, knowledgeable, and wise. She was actually one of the best side characters for a while, but then she ends up having a side gig as a lewd photographer! Not a big deal, you say? She takes pictures of underage, high school girls in skimpy outfits making suggestive poses and sells the photos to horny high school boys (such as Akihito!). And yes, she also takes photos of the female protagonist as well as nude photos of her underage Youmo companion, Ai Shindo (they have the same last name, but I don't think they're actually related) for her own… private collection. I don’t know what the fuck “private collection” means, but this immediately put me off. It doesn’t even have anything to do with the story or plot. It’s just there to provide some mild fan service and to create an excuse to dress Mirai up in a maid outfit or bunny suit to boost ratings (because they didn't have faith in the show's success on its own). Even the show's male protagonist, Akihito, isn’t safe from this major issue. It’s established early on that he has a thing for girls wearing glasses, which is fine. I like girls in glasses as well, but his bifocal fetish becomes yet another running gag throughout the show like Hiroomi's incest obsession. Every episode, there's always at least one moment where he has to drool over a girl in glasses (a bespectacled beauty he calls them). It’s not creative or funny and it just ruins the moment and hurts the character. This show has one of the dumbest filler episodes I've seen in any anime ever! I'm honestly flabbergasted that Kyoto Animation thought it was a good idea to have a goddamn FILLER EPISODE in the first place while having a 12 episode runtime, but it's there, it's terrible, it drags the show down a whole point it's so bad. The positive elements of the Fruit Youmo Filler is that it has funny moments. The fruit youmo, when threatened, blasts anyone near and washes them away in a river of yellow fluid. This happens four times throughout the episode and neither Mirai nor Akihito nor any of their friends are able to get near the being no matter what they do or how hard they try. Before the third blast, when they suggested doing a fucking idol dance routine to distract it, I almost turned it off, but when Mirai can't sing to save her life and the creature just blasts them because of that, I cracked up. Then, they go through with the full idol routine and I just about dropped my jaw on the floor. I couldn't believe my eyes! A fucking idol dance in a dark fantasy show! Are you kidding me?! I mean, how far from the mark can you be? And that's before they decide to dress Mirai in a very revealing, slutty outfit and had her strike suggestive poses for the creature as a means to distract it. Way to degrade your best character, KyoAni! Also, how is a Youmo that is so far from resembling any kind of humanoid creature be attracted to human women? This is easily the worst episode in the series by a mile! The show should have been one arc. Splitting it into two arcs and devoting a whole episode to fan service filler ultimately hurt the show's overall development. If the writers had introduced the conflict with the Hollow Shadow in tangent with the Beyond the Boundary arc and spent the first half developing the relationship between the protagonists and the friends, hyping up the antagonists, developing Miroku's plot to destroy the world, and then spent the second half developing this world-destroying youmo and the conflict with the Hollow Shadow and Sakura, 12 episodes would have been perfect for the story! But because it didn't, the show has plot holes. The majority of the plot holes are minor, but there are some that just make you scratch your head such as how a harmless fruit youmo is worth 500,000 yen while the super dangerous Hollow fucking Shadow is worth only 200, or how about when Sakura is given this badass chainsaw-naginata that grows more powerful with every Youmo she kills and she's a total badass with it. Um, how???? Where did she get the training? She wasn't even a Spirit Warrior to begin with. She said so herself. It was gifted to her by Miroku who sent her off to develop its power for him while he went off making plans to destroy the Nase clan, but he never taught her anything. He just gave it to her and said good luck. Maybe I missed something and if anyone can solve this riddle please comment on my profile and let me know (I really want to hear it!), but this was a HUGE writing mistake if there isn't any real answer to this. One example of a minor plot hole includes the moment when Sakura tries shooting at Akihito and Sakura as they are running straight up an escalator in the hollow shadow and misses literally every shot like a goddamn stormtrooper. You can say that's because she was never properly trained in how to use it, but they're right in front of her. They weren't even moving left or right or attempting to dodge the bullets, and based on the skillful way she fights, you can't even make that argument to begin with. Another one includes human interaction with the spirit world. They aren't able to see Youmo or the battles that are going on, yet Mirai uses metal poles imbued with energy as a means of keeping them out of an area where a battle is taking place. It doesn't make sense. I've read reviews and comments of people raving about how good the ending is. The ending sucks. While Mirai's death is emotional and heartbreaking; a worthy send off for an amazing character, it leaves so many plot threads that needed resolution completely open and unresolved. For some of those threads, the only way to get the complete story is, you guessed it, watch the fucking movie! If you have to go to another media source to find information that should have been in the original series to begin with, you fucked up. Here are some of the questions that never get answered at the end of the series: - Why did Mirai shatter and die when Beyond the Boundary was defeated? I get its apart of her, but it wasn't even destroyed. Akihito restored it to himself, so how does restoration and oneness lead to death? - How is it that Mirai no longer has a body since Beyond the Boundary is defeated? If that's true, how did she have a body before it was even a thing? - Why does Miroku want to destroy the world via Kyoukai no Kanata? If the world is destroyed, wouldn't he die. What's the point of this victory? What does he hope to accomplish? - What did Mirai mean when she said she isn't apart of the real world? She clearly was! She says she ceased to exist a long time ago. What? How! When did this happen? I'm assuming she meant she gave up on life, but since she's literally dying, how does this make sense? - How is Mirai suddenly alive at the end? - How did Akihito know Mirai was alive just from the ring disappearing in his palm and how did he know she'd be on the roof? - I get why Miroku fled the battle between himself and Izumi, but why is that the last we see of him? Why didn't he prevent Akihito from defeating Beyond the Boundary? Why didn't he show himself after her failed? What was the point in hiding anymore? The show reveals much of its lore and backstory through dialogue and exposition. Sometimes, the characters actually reveal it to characters whom already know the shit, which makes no sense, and is purely a means to give necessary information to the audience. Kyoto animation made a couple bizarre decisions during the animation process. One example is the scene in episode 4 (or 5, I forgot) as Akihito's youmo-half is taking over when Mirai lunges at him, hugs him, and tackles him to the ground as a means to stop him. The moment is solid, if somewhat undeserved as they characters barely know each other, but rather than using fluid animation, the moment is split into three stop-motion frames. One where she's charging at him, one where she hugs him, and one where they fall on the ground. It's not bad, but it doesn't fit the show's style of animation. If not for these moments, the show would have gotten a 9 for art. The Hollow Shadow, a feared and extremely dangerous youmo died way too easily and within an extremely short period of time after it's introduction. This creature was considered a huge threat by the Spirit Warrior guild, so much so that they were forbidden from engaging with it in battle and instructed to take shelter instead, but once Mirai finds it, she not only easily escapes it's illusory labyrinth, but slays it with a single strike of her sword. It took a single battle to do the deed. So much for that. Also, it's only 200 yen, which is absurd (I know, I mentioned it already)! If a youmo is that dangerous, it should be considerably more valuable to merchants. It isn't really explained why some Youmo are hunted and others are allied with Spirit Warriors. It's something that seems to have an answer, but it's never given. This isn't really an issue though. You can use your imagination, but it's something I thought I'd mention. CONCLUSION: Kyoukai no Kanata could have been great. It SHOULD have been great! It should have been not only Kyoto Animations most unique work, but one of their finest. Unfortunately, as it stands, due to a number of really, really dumb writing and character decisions made by the creators as well as a number of other flaws, it fails to live up to its potential. Subjectively, I loved the show, except for the god awful filler episode. I wanted this to be good, but as I thought about it more and more, and compared the positives and negatives, I can't say that in honesty. The show has a good story before episode 6, spectacular art and sound, an excellent female protagonist, a decent male protagonist, an awesome world, interesting and mysterious lore, good romance, and flashy action sequences. However, due to the studios failure to commit, due to the writing issues, the massive character flaws, the hit or miss humor, the plot holes, the filler, the perversion, the ending, the loose threads, the tonal inconsistency, and several other problems, the show is fundamentally broken where it mattered most. It pains me to say this about a show I genuinely fell in love with, but Kyoukai no Kanata gets a 4/10. This show had the potential to be dynamite, and it still has that potential! While I believe it is very unlikely, I believe it would be wise if KyoAni considered rebooting the series. All that is required is that they rework the original storyline, remove all the tropes and dumb humor, mesh the story into a single arc, bridge the Hollow Shadow and Beyond the Boundary into a single villain or a shared villain with a massive final battle at the end, and make sure it has more room to breath and develop and most importantly, develop the world and lore and explain the parts at the end that just didn't make any sense. Give Mirai a death that actually makes sense and bring out the best in these characters rather than the worst. I get it was Kyoto's first attempt at doing this kind of a show. They do amazing work so I'm not entirely unsympathetic to them, but based on what you had to work with, this should have been easy to get right. SHORT VERSION: - Story: 3/10 (Bad) - Art: 8/10 (Really Good) - Sound: 8/10 (Really Good) - Character: 4/10 (Subpar) - Enjoyment (Subjective): 8/10 (Really Good) - Overall: 4/10 (Subpar)
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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