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TL;DR: Started off great but unwrapped plot points and rushed ending ruined the experience for me.

First and foremost, this is the first-ever review that I have made that does not recommend the piece of media. With that said, this review is going to be split into two parts, one part a spoiler-free review of the series as a whole, the other being a rant on the myriad of plot holes shown in the series which will most definitely spoil everything. Read it at your own risk.

The world god only knows is truly a world that only god knows about, this is because, the massive amounts ... of plot holes and storylines that are left incomplete, leaving a very sour taste in my mouth.

It truly pains me to do this as the first half of this series was so enjoyable to read. Watching Katsuragi conquer the girls with his extensive knowledge of dating sims was such a unique premise that it kept me hooked. Additionally, the fresh humor and strange comedic circumstances provided a truly enjoyable experience in tandem with the unique story. Throughout the first half of the series, character development was at an all-time high, providing an interesting backstory and context to why the characters acted in a certain way, giving reason to their strange mannerisms, while simultaneously trying to fix the characters’ biggest flaws and help them overcome whatever obstacles that they were currently facing. It would be great if the review stopped there, considering only the first half of things, I would’ve rated this series a solid 7/10, maybe even an 8/10.

However, this is where the fun ends. Starting with the latter half of the series, roughly when the Jupiter sisters arc begins, all reason is thrown out of the window, a confusing conglomeration of chapter after chapter throws at the reader a bunch of different concepts and ideas with no justification whatsoever as to why things are the way they are. This problem became increasingly obvious as I progressed in the story, with each chapter feeling increasingly rushed, culminating with the final volume being a complete and utter mess of an ending that failed to wrap up some important plot points. Additionally, it felt as if the author had no grand vision of the direction he wanted his story to go in, introducing major plot points without any foreshadowing preceding it. It truly felt as if the author just wrote what he felt like writing on a day-to-day basis, changing the entire story on a whim without any previous build-up.

Overall, if one were to read this series, I would stick to reading only the first half, maybe even to the point where vintage is defeated but no more than that.

Spoilers:
This is the point where I’ll be going on a little rant trying to point out the myriad of plot holes and unjustified actions, read at your own risk. I’ll also additionally be pointing out which girl “won” so please don’t continue reading if you don’t want to be spoiled.

- You pretty much never hear from the other girls that Katsuragi conquered that weren’t the hosts of the Jupiter sisters. Giving a maximum of a panel or one line to justify where they are.

- Akari is one of the characters with the most plot holes in them. It is never revealed why the spirit sensor detected a presence inside of her when she didn’t harbor one. Her quest in order to create the “perfect being” is never justified and never comes to fruition (I was thinking that she would create a kick-ass robot). It is later revealed that she was actually the sister figure (not the actual sister, I know) of Elucia and was working in collaboration with the homeroom teacher (who we’ll talk more about later), which begs the question, why didn’t Elucia recognize the sister that she idolized so much, or at least had some minor foreshadowing ex: hmmm that person looks strangely familiar. Rimyuel (Akari was Rimyuel’s alter ego) then 10 years in the past literally bashes her sister (Elucia) as she was flying through the sky without any previous explanation whatsoever Elucia just brushes it off as if it was nothing and it didn’t occur. Like what?

- In the latter half of the story, Katsuragi literally teleports to the past, and no reason as to how this happened or why it happened immediately after the group defeated Vintage.

- There is an event when Katsuragi teleports to the past and tries to go into his school and it just so happens that the school has a “magical gate” preventing the people not from the school to enter it. Due to this, Dokuro’s clone (?) (Who also happens to be Katsuragi’s homeroom teacher) isn’t able to enter the school premises. But then, as that arc is finishing up, Dokuro just sees Katsuragi, rips apart the “magical gate” and enters the school. Like what in the actual fuck? The best part is that the only explanation that she gives is that she “didn’t want to interfere with Katsuragi” and he just accepts that without batting an eye. I’m sorry what? How does that make any sense?

- It is revealed that Tenri knew about the events of the future but it was never foreshadowed beforehand

- Where the hell did Urara go? The author shows that Yui and Mio used to be her friends in kindergarten but when her grandfather appears (because Katsuragi changed the past yadda yadda yadda, don’t try to understand) there is literally zero mention of the girl.

- The parts where the group defeats the MAIN ANTAGONISTS both Vintage and Satyr conclude their battles in two pages. I’m sorry you just don’t have that sort of build-up while also having one of the most anticlimactic endings possible.

- Haqua is shown to harbor romantic feelings towards Katsuragi but that never gets resolved.

- In the end the homeroom teacher, Also happens to be Dokuro, is hinted to have romantic feelings towards Katsuragi, this is also completely out of the blue and left hanging

- You never get to see what happens to Fiore after she is captured inside the bottle.

- Hell is shown to be in the midst of an energy crisis but that never gets resolved.

- At the end of the series, it is hinted that Nora and Haqua, have to rebuild hell from the ground up. While this is technically not really a plot hole I would’ve at least liked to see hell fixed.

- Heaven feels like it’s only comprised of the Jupiter sisters as they are the only heavenly beings that we see in the series, even though we know that other heavenly beings exist. We never get to see any other angelic figures or even what heaven looks like.

- It is revealed in the end that Katsuragi likes Chihiro, this confession comes out of the blue, with the author only giving one line explaining why he chose her instead of The six Jupiter sisters which, by the way, are deep in love with the guy. Like seriously, you chose the one person who he said was the literal definition of normal and boring instead of the six Jupiter sisters who are so unique. A guy with such high standards relegates himself to 2nd place. This action was completely out of character, which such little justification that it made me die inside.

- Around the first quarter of the series you see hints that Elucia might harbor romantic feelings for Katsuragi, however, later on, nothing is ever shown.

- There is no explanation as to why the Jupiter sisters chose to inhabit inside of the hosts that they chose. It is an inference that Katsuragi based it upon a whim with no real reason behind it. Katsuragi says that the Jupiter sisters must have chosen a conquest target that was near to Katsuragi (meaning that they were in the near vicinity to him, for some reason they couldn’t have chosen someone older or younger than him or someone far away from him.

- Now where do I even start with Elucia? Her character has more plot holes than Swiss cheese. To begin with, why has she been chosen as the buddy to Katsuragi? It is shown time and time again that she is completely incompetent only really being useful because of her magical cloak and her cleaning abilities, something that I’m sure that other people in the spirit squad could’ve been of much greater help to Katsuragi. Additionally, it is showing that she just happens to be the big bad boss at the end of the story, and the reason why she didn’t go on killing everybody was because she had been reborn multiple times under Dokoro who trained her to become a kind-hearted spirit and whatnot, which again is shown in one line. This isn’t even the worst part upon returning to the present Katsuragi finds out that Elucia just so happens to become his actual sister and somehow erases the memories of both Haqua and Nora.

I think that this list is just about every single plot hole that is shown in the series, and my god is it extensive.

PS: Best girl Yui Goidou

Bloom Into You or Yagate Kimi ni Naru is a great story that, while is a romance, I personally feel like it is mostly a story about self discovery.

The main focus of the story is about how both protagonists discover where they belong in the world. That cute innocence that you have as a high schooler, not really knowing what you want to do in your future along with the qualms of being a teenager figuring out how you feel about someone else, is something that is portrayed with great accuracy.

One of the biggest strengths of this manga is just how relatable the characters ... shown throughout the story are to the reader. A lot of people can relate to Yuu. We have read about love, we have all learned about how love is something that elates that person, something that "gives you wings". But just how many of us have truly experienced something that they can call "love"? Or maybe, you can relate to Akari, liking someone only to find out that they are already in a relationship? Regardless of your sexual orientation, everyone is able to at least relate one of the characters in the play.

Another major strength is it's well written characters and the interactions between them is what makes this manga is really able to shine. The story puts great emphasis on finding one's identity. As the plot progresses, the people involved grow and learn more about themselves. This series is able to portray this change in a very realistic light, showing how people can grow from experiences and does not shy away from showing the ugly side of things. It doesn't hesitate to show how those awkward and emotionally painful situations can allow someone to grow and eventually move forward, becoming more complete than they were yesterday.

In life, Things are rarely black and white, the people that you interact with, the experiences that you have, the goals that you strive to accomplish, are all things that, if turned into binary decisions, would make this journey through life that we all experience, bland and honestly boring. However, the author does a great job at creating realistic personalities with true depth to their characters. This was accomplished by adding delving into their hobbies, ideals, goals, and futures.

I personally thought that as the cast of characters began to expand, I thought that there was no way in which the author would be able to juggle all of them without dropping some of them or creating these shallow and 2D personalities. But to my surprise, I got invested in the entire cast. While some of them stuck to traditional character archetypes, their memorable personalities and complex cast allowed them to stick to my mind and helps create a true sense of realism, something that many other manga fail to do.

But enough rambling on the character development, Bloom Into You at heart is still a romance. So how does it hold up against to other romances? Does it make your heart flutter? Well to put it simply, it does an excellent job. The story talks about how Yuu, thinking that she is incapable of falling in love does so. In a true poetic fashion, the love interest Touko, through her displays of affection is able to show Yuu that she is indeed capable of something that she initially thought she wasn't able to feel. This is why, I believe that it is a story about self-discovery hid behind a romance. All of the characters have some sort of flaw, and through their interactions, they complement each other in such a beautiful fashion.

All in all, "Bloom Into You" is a story that encapsulates the teenage years of most people. Their journey of self discovery and the quirky features of young love.

When I was first recommended this anime by my friend, she told me that if I ever wanted to feel emotional about any story, this should be the go-to one that I should watch. Obviously coming from after watching "I want to eat your pancreas", "A silent voice" and "Your Name". I thought that there was no way in hell that I would cry more than in those movies.

Boy was I wrong.

After a few days, contemplating whether or not I should boot up this series, I just thought to myself, why not? It's not like I have nothing better to do anyways. So, I ... went on Netflix and began watching it.

The show immediately hooked me in, this girl who was trained to become the ultimate weapon in battle, had to adapt to a post war society. Thus begins her journey to find out just what exactly is "love". Throughout the series, you see her endure hardship from everyone around her, as she discovers the beauty of human emotions and just how complicated they can truly be.

This in itself was a pretty interesting topic. It's not like it was a novel idea, but it was definitely enough to get me initially invested in the characters and the plot that surrounds them. However, Violet Evergarden chooses to express character growth and development in a new light. As she begins to write letters as a "doll", the audience is able to see her character better understand her own feelings and the world around her. By introducing a new set of characters in every episode and receiving insight on their personal lives through Violet's letters, it creates truly immersive worldbuilding and gives the viewer a real sense of happiness for the people that are helped by her letters.

The way in which all of the characters were depicted really drew me in and I quickly got emotionally invested in them. While the premise of each episode is quite simple, the masterful way in which they are portrayed allows the audience to empathize with the all of the character's pains, struggles and grievances, something that enhances the feeling of pure joy that you feel when that thing that has been gnawing away at them is finally been put to rest.

This is where, after seeing the characters deal with their pasts I began bawling my eyes out. I mean, it got to the point that I had to get a towel for the amount of tears that I was shedding just in order to keep them in check. It's just that Violet Evergarden makes it so easy to just feel what the characters are feeling in that very moment. While the vast majority of people have never experienced war and the hardships that it entails, death, loss and regret are all fundamental things that all humans experience to some degree and can easily relate to.

The art and the music is also nothing to scoff at either. The beautiful melodies are something that are sure to stick around your memories, at least for a little while. In the same vein, the art, while it doesn't have that hyper-realistic scenes that anime like "Your Name" have, it's still very high up there. The cute but also aesthetically pleasing scenes in the series provide an extra layer of immersion. Both of these factors in tandem with one another allows the viewer to truly dive head first into the world and experience it like nothing else.

All in all, the joint effort of the music, art, plot, and character development all coalesce into forming what I now consider to be be one of my all time favorite animes.

This is one of those manga that you never really give much of a thought to until you read it.

When I was first recommended this manga, the name instantly turned me off. It was long and weird names (I mean seriously, who even names their manga: "I sold my life for 10 000 yen per year" if it's not an isekai). Nevertheless, I find myself here after having read it, giving it a proper review and all. This is genuinely one of the best hidden gems that I have ever read in my life.

The premise of the story is simple yet deeply thought ... provoking. I mean, who hasn't ever given a thought to their life's worth? It's natural to have these sorts of thoughts after being around for some time, and while the story doesn't give a concrete answer to this question, it does however, point you in the right direction. The three things that increase your life's value are: how much you helped other, how many acheivements you have yet to accomplish and how much happiness that you have yet to experience.

Already, these three statements are enough to have a long thought on one's life, yet what makes this story truly a genius one, is the pure and unadulterated character growth and progression that leaves a massive smile on your face. You see a man with no motivation or future whatsoever learn what it means to live, what it means to love, what it means to be free.

It's short but sweet premise combined with the lovely character progression allows one to reflect on their life choices and try to just be a better person bit by bit. It shows us the ugly truth and tells us that not all is lost. This is a message that I feel quite a few of us need to hear.

All in all, if you are still on the fence about reading this after reading this reveiw, go read it now! Anyyways, this short read is something that I will forevermore continue to recommend to people, even if they aren't fans of manga or anime because it will allow you to reflect on your life choices like never before.