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It's incredible how bad this anime is. Mini-character spin-offs are usually nothing remarkable, but they're not particularly bad either. At most, you can expect short jokes and simple plots to pass the time. On the other hand, Petit Eva delivers tasteless and incredibly poor humor (there are even poop jokes). Sometimes there aren’t even actual jokes, just generic situations that aren’t funny at all. As if that weren’t enough, some episodes recycle plots by showing them from other perspectives.

As for the cast, there's nothing to say. They're the same characters from Evangelion, but here they obviously lack depth and development. There are no dialogues actually.

Visually, ... the anime features clumsy 3D animation, environments that look like they’re straight out of an old video game, and many textures that look downright awful. As if that weren’t enough, the series uses blank models with identical faces for background characters. This may have been intentional for comedic purposes, but it only accentuates the show's poor production quality.

The soundtrack ranges from awful to generic, with perhaps a few redeemable tracks. Additionally, there are some overly strange tracks (both in instrumentation and composition) that feel completely out of place in their respective scenes.

Personally, I find Petit Eva to be a uniquely astonishing case. This anime had an extremely simple goal, yet it still manages to fail in every possible way. I wouldn’t call it the worst anime ever made, but it certainly ranks among the worst.

Kage kara Mamoru is a funny and enjoyable comedy. Throughout its twelve episodes, it mixes ninjas and school comedy in a wide variety of situations, always handling the comedic moments well.

One of the main strengths of this series is its well-suited characters for creating funny situations, and in this regard, the female protagonist stands out. Yuuna constantly gets into trouble, is quite slow, and behaves with unrealistic optimism. However, she's not the only standout character—Mamoru is also a solid protagonist, particularly because of the contrast between his ninja and student personas. The rest of the cast consists of female characters who also get involved with ... Mamoru in absurd situations. To some extent, it feels like a harem, as most of the girls have feelings for Mamoru, but the series doesn’t focus on this aspect. It's not a complex cast, but all the characters are entertaining without being irritating.

As for the visuals, the animation isn't bad, but it could have been more dynamic during the action scenes. On the other hand, the music is good, and in both the ridiculous and action scenes, the soundtrack complements the events perfectly.

All in all, Kage kara Mamoru could be considered a recommendable anime that doesn't deserve a very high rating. It's an unambitious series with a ridiculous premise and character development that isn't meant to be taken seriously, but it's very funny. However, this anime has a disastrous ending. The last two episodes try to create a dramatic conflict, and there's much less comedy than in the rest of the series. This abrupt shift in tone significantly hurts the show's overall enjoyment. Furthermore, the whole situation is overly dumb, poorly written, and lazily concluded, so it can't be considered a well-crafted serious conflict either.

If it weren't for the last two episodes, I'd consider it a good series. That said, it's still a very funny anime.

This manga is in the same vein as Monogatari Series or AoButa: a boy must help several girls with their personal problems, and there are supernatural events happening around them. However, Girls Go Around, unlike other similar stories, is truly boring and forgettable.

The main reason this manga fails is that it has flat characters with generic personalities. Also, the girls' problems are pretty absurd and simple, so the manga throws away any chance of major conflicts, tensions, or depth. In fact, the protagonist solves the problems very quickly, with extremely obvious reasoning or a couple of words of support.

The main character is also pretty ... uninteresting. The problem isn't that he's an average student, but that he has few facets and little depth and development. It's like his repertoire of emotions and actions is too limited, and even at the beginning he doesn't seem too surprised by the supernatural events.

Overall, there is no moment in the manga that is well executed. The story starts off abruptly and unnaturally, and then develops through generic and unfunny situations (there is some comedy, but it is rather weak and predictable). The plot takes an interesting turn in the last few chapters. However, the ending is presented in a rushed manner, and is unsatisfying.

The best thing about this manga is the art, and it's not even outstanding. It's good, but it's not like it features great character designs or extraordinarily drawn backgrounds.

If I had to describe Girls go Around, I would use the term “very mediocre” instead of “bad”. However, I don’t see any reason why I would recommend this manga to anyone.

Kabu no Isaki is a good manga, but all of its aspects could have been better executed. What is most interesting at first is the location and atmosphere, as it is a huge science fiction world where there are large uninhabited spaces. It may seem empty, but it works quite well for an Iyashikei, because, although there are few characters, they are all friendly, which reinforces the immersion without making the reader feel lonely. In addition, the settings consist mostly of natural locations: meadows, mountains, or simply the sky. The artistic section supports the feeling of spaciousness and relaxation, as the backgrounds occupy large pages, ... and they are very memorable and expressive despite being minimalist.

The problem with the world is that it gets little depth, and by the end of the manga, there are many questions that remain unanswered. Despite all the adventures our protagonists have, the mysteries of the place where they live end up unclear, which is bad, since it was an enigmatic world with a lot of potential.

As for the characters, their designs are nice, especially for the size of their heads and their shape. The cute aesthetics support the enjoyment of the work quite a bit. As for the writing, all of them have well-defined personalities, and it's fun to follow them throughout the story. There are few dialogues, but these feel natural, in addition to supporting the atmosphere quite well, being simple and dealing with everyday topics within their world.

However, with the exception of perhaps Isaki, the characters have zero development. The interactions between them remain static throughout the story, and each character could have been better developed. Considering that the cast is very small, the work with it is rather incomplete, and the characters end up being quite unmemorable. The characters lack conflicts, so they do not necessarily have to be very complex, but there are opportunities to develop them or give them more nuances, and these are wasted.

If I had to choose the best character, it would definitely be Shiro, because, although she is enigmatic, you can see interesting traits of her personality through her actions, which contrast with her relaxed nature.

Lastly, the ending is forced, somewhat anticlimactic, and feels like a big reveal was intended, but without proper build-up. When you finish reading the manga, you feel like instead of being a solid work, it's just an incomplete piece of something bigger. Maybe this was a deliberate decision, but I don't think it was a good idea.

Being a 6-volume work, Kabu no Isaki could have done better things with its characters and world. I recommend reading it if you want to relax. Take it as a pleasant experience without expecting too much.

Arslan Senki is an anime with a lot of wasted potential, and its quality slowly declined. On the technical side there aren't too many flaws. The music was good and adequate. As for the visuals, it's fine for a 90's anime. If I had to point out something, it would be that the animation in the last two chapters is inconsistent with the others (in general the animation in chapters 1, 2, 3-4 and 5-6 are different from each other, but in the last two it is more noticeable).

There are major flaws in the narrative and writing. First of all, many scene changes were abrupt, ... both in the transitions and in the tones and atmospheres. This is not the only problem with the pace, as in addition to being too fast, it is inconsistent. The first episode presents the characters and the world well, it has an adequate pace and a good distribution of time for each conflict and situation. On the other hand, in the following chapters new elements are incorporated, new characters are added, and the series becomes a mess with the time dedicated to the events and the characters. In particular, the last two episodes are even chaotic due to everything that is shown. However, the main flaws are how the story is told to us, because at the plot level, the events are well constructed and related.

Aside from the fact that the pacing is a mess and the medieval fantasy elements are fairly typical, the world building is well done. It is noticeable that the OVAs do not show the whole world with its fantasy elements, but this is not necessarily a flaw, as they simply adapt a part of the novel. However, if I had to point out a questionable aspect of the story, there is a certain element that is introduced suddenly, and is shown to be something very transcendental, but ends in a disappointing way. Other than that, the fantasy elements are fine. The magic is not invasive, although it led to small plot conveniences, but not in a serious way.

As for the characters, there are too many, and that's normal for a war story. The problem is that several are superfluous and don't contribute much. Added to that is that, as I said before, the series doesn't have a good pace, and the time in which each one appears on screen is not well managed. On the other hand, they all have a well-defined personality and are fairly well-developed. As for development, it's quite little, but it's clear that the OVAs cover a small part of Arslan's entire story, so asking for more development and depth from the characters it’s unnecessary.

Overall, Arslan Senki is an OVA that is not easy to watch, but it is not terrible. The worst thing would definitely be the pacing, which affects the characters and the plot and lowers the quality of the anime too much. As for the best, although there is no aspect that stands out in a special way, the world building and music are quite competent. I recommend this anime to people who like classic fantasy and war stories.

K-On Highschool continues in the same style as its predecessor. Starting with the art, we have cute and very expressive characters, as well as simple backgrounds. A simple style, but effective for this type of manga. The designs of the new characters also meet this and are easy to differentiate, creating a visually varied cast.

Now, as for the story, K-On was a moe festival, and "Highschool" continues with the same type of comedy as K-On. The focus of this manga is, once again, the daily lives of the Light Music Club members, and there is no goal or plot. You should not expect anything complex ... or incredible from this work, but the least you can ask for is that it be entertaining… which it does not quite achieve. Of course, there are gags at every moment, but it is not as funny as its predecessor for one simple reason: the characters.

To start with the main cast, we have Ui, a responsible and caring girl. She was funny in the original K-On manga, mainly because of the irresponsible-older-sister/responsible-younger-sister dynamic she had with Yui. In Highschool this dynamic is lost, and frankly there are almost no memorable moments with her. On the other hand, Ui's personality is not made to be one of the main characters.

Jun is more of the same. She complains a lot and can be lazy, but these traits are not properly exploited. Let's compare her to Yui: she was not only dumb, she was VERY dumb, and most of the time she did or said things that showed it, and funny situations were created around this. Sure, she could be considered a character with little complexity, but this is K-On, the idea is just to have a good time.

Regarding the new characters, we have Nao, a student who is clumsy but studious. The other new character is Sumire, who is shy and insecure. They were not memorable characters either, although at least they have some development and depth.

Lastly, there is Azusa. It cannot be denied that she had development and new aspects of her were shown, having to assume a leadership role and carry on the club. On the other hand, one might think that she would be just as funny as in the old K-On... but she is not. The funny thing about Azusa was how the rest of Hokago Tea Time interacted with her, because they treated her like a little girl while she tried to be responsible and reasonable. That is to say, Azusa was not funny on her own, but because of those around her.

And this last thing is also relevant: the interactions between the characters are not that funny. Occasionally Azusa scolds Nao, or Sumire acts scared in front of the group because she thinks she screwed up, but it all just ends up feeling more bland due to their weak personalities. Also, there are no extroverted characters like Ritsu or Yui to balance out the new group made up of mostly introverts (having only introverted characters isn't bad, but for a comedy of this type, it's not the best cast).

As a result, the manga has much weaker jokes and situations than any original K-On volume. Since there is no plot, K-On must rely on its characters, and sadly this manga doesn't do the best job in this aspect. Even the ending could have been somewhat more special. Sure, K-On never had a plot beyond playing music and drinking tea, but it missed the opportunity to show some more powerful or memorable event.

K-On Highschool isn't a bad manga, but it's pretty forgettable compared to its predecessor. I recommend this work to those who really liked K-On, especially if their favorite character was Azusa.

This manga starts off in a very stupid, forced and rushed way. Hajime Suzuki's daughter gets beaten up by a rich and unscrupulous student, who is also a professional boxer. In revenge, Hajime (a salaryman) decides to reasonably go to the bad boy's school to stab him. However, our clever protagonist goes to the wrong school, and takes an unrelated student hostage, threatening his group of friends. Instead of being scared of the man, or calling the police, the group decides to help him in his revenge: now the salaryman will be trained by Soon Shin, a Korean with experience in combat.

After this succession of ... incomprehensible events and stupid decisions, this manga surprises with a fairly competent development, especially considering how short it is. The training scenes give rise to good character development and exploration. Soon Shin is a young man who has been dealt a hard life, but as expected, he has a good heart and a soft side, and gradually develops a friendly relationship with Suzuki. As for our protagonist, we see him getting stronger little by little, showing progress not only in his physical condition, but also in his attitude towards the future combat. We have to admit that, although his goal was presented in a bad way, it's easy to empathize with a father willing to protect his daughter. Hajime's daughter is shown occasionally, and we can see how she copes with her condition after the abuse, also showing development. In addition, we can see how Suzuki's wife reacts to everything that happens.

Unfortunately, the ending is also somewhat stupid: there is a questionable plan pulled out of nowhere, and the reactions of the people were not the most reasonable either. The final battle could have been better, but at least it manages to close Suzuki's arc in a satisfactory way.

As for the art, even this aspect is better during the middle part than at the beginning. There are some unnecessarily grotesque or somewhat mediocrely drawed panels, but fortunately later on the drawing style becomes competent, especially in the training and fight scenes.

It would seem that this work has more flaws than virtues, however, I am not exaggerating when I say that it has one of the worst beginnings I’ve ever read. On the other hand, the revenge plot is not that great: it feels somewhat generic, and could have been developed on a less absurd basis. I think it is an average work, rather than a remarkable one. Anyways, this manga is recommended for readers who enjoy stories of self-improvement.

There are a lot of Japanese animated shorts that can be strange or abstract. However, despite being confusing, they usually try to give a message or show something original and interesting. And even if a short film has a non-existent or too simple/minimalist message, it can at least be aesthetically appealing and possess a special style that makes it authentic in a good way.
That being said, Utsu Musume Sayuri doesn't fall into any of the above categories. It's impossible to find a value or the intention to communicate something: none of the events that we see makes sense. And let's not even talk about the ... visual style: looks horrible, with a too simple background, many colors on screen and deformed "characters". It doesn't even have music, there are only sound effects and voice acting (which is mediocre and uncomfortable to listen to).
Some people can say that Utsu Musume Sayuri is comical. How? There are only grotesque beings (which are more terrifying than funny) and stupid dialogues (which are embarrasing). By the end there's a sexual situation -too uncomfortable- that I don't even know how to describe. Is it supposed to be funny because of how random it is? No, it's not even absurd humor: it's not humor, it's nothing.
Utsu Musume Sayuri is an empty short film with no purpose to exist. The only reason anyone would enjoy watching this is because of some weird fetish.
(Anyway, I feel stupid for writing a serious review for a work that probably exists as trolling. I think an ironic review would have been better. Besides, it's very easy to say bad things about this).