Back to Eoussama's Profile Eoussama's Profile

Fellow Solo Leveling fans, we stay winning.

I still remember the early days of the quarantine, where we were forced to stay home and wonder. I for one, took on the Manhwa of Solo Leveling as a leisure activity among other things, and it made simple some of the best highlights of those good times. All the time throughout, dreaming about one day receiving a faithful Anime adaptation, it seemed so far-fetched at the time, and it’s so strange to have two fully animated seasons today. It’s surreal.

The first season received so much hype from the fans, it broke records and set a standard for other ... Anime-Manhwa adaptations to follow. Of course, the series was met with so much criticism and backlash as usual, and for a moment, a lot of it was justified.

Months later, season two aired, and oh boy were most of those shattered to the ground.

Season two was better animated, better paced, better voice-acted, and most of all, adapted what’s arguably the best portion of the story. The hype, the aura farming, the class, it has all.

From talking to a lot of non-Manhwa reader friends, I noticed a criticism they all had in common on season one was how little they cared about the side characters, thus, the constant switching and focusing on other non-main characters felt so off putting and vibe-killing, however, that was no longer the same with season two, clearly showing how better of a job the improved pacing did to make people love the side characters and care for them. The subtle backstories, the better dialog, the warmer interactions with the main character. It all was for the better.

The opening and ending of this season were somehow even better than season one’s, and by a long shot. TK killed it with that ending theme song, and the animators matched the energy as well.

This was one of THOSE sequels that really set the bar, not just for the series, but also for the rest of Manhwas to be adapted into Anime.

One side note though, this season more than the previous one made it clear that they were adapting the original novel, not the Manhwa, so there were some omition and deviations from the Manhwa which is understandable seeing how the Manhwa was deviating from the source novel itself.

Overall: 8.84/10.

Oh boy, this 6 months break will be remembered, if not for the void us One Piece fan felt with minimal One Piece content, it would be for the fact that we were gifted a remastered version of the Fishman Island arc, in the Wano style.

So many fans watered their mouths over this one when it was first announced, remastering none other than the cluster mess that was the Anime adaptation of Fishman Island, no other arcs needed a refresher more than this one.

I guess, we can only get so high, huh. The remaster was NOT all roses and flowers, it started pretty hype and ... promising, yes, but then, the half-baked edits were getting too frequent, hard cuts, non syncing sound cuts and way too fast pacing. yes, complain about fast pacing in One Piece, and with Fishman Island nonetheless. It was truly a bizarre case of Monkey’s paw.

This is definitely a celebratory edition not meant for first-timers, and more so for marinated old fans who are asking for more.

Overall: 7.3/10.

I'm gonna save you the time and say, this is another one of those occasional "Toei, why?" ahh moments. You know, when Toei feels like, would you guys be willing to see a special episode around Daifuku and his struggles to deliver the milk in time every other Thursday for the local milk sculpting contest that funds the orphanage on the outskirts? Actually, what the hell, I just came up with that on the stop and it's so sick and I would want to watch that shit everyday, but Toei will be busy realizing their below mid side-story that no one asked for anyway. This ... "movie" as it's categorized is such.
I'm not gonna spoil any further details on what it actually revolves on, the thing itself would only take you 10 minutes to checkout, that is, if your body doesn't deceive you that you might have a lazy eye just to sidetrack from the screen out of sheer boredom.
The reason why I'm extra salty during this review is because Toei has it soooooo easy man. One Piece is such a grand world with so much potential to explore, you've got cover stories, One Piece novels, filler arcs like they used to do pre-timeskip, heck, even Wano as recently as it concluded left so much more to explore and revisit, I mean, do I have to spell it out? If you managed to get a grasp at what I'm hinting at, help yourself to the cookie jar on the left (leave a few to the others). Zoro visiting Ryuma's grave, it's literally there, such a low hanging fruit that Toei is either so blind to see or too full for an eternity. I'll take the third option.

Exactly, there is no third option just like there is no excuse for Toei to not be better.
I rest my case.

In short, please go watch the short (calling it a movie is just taking the extra mile). I feel like this "movie" is the kind that everyone will suddenly relate to the Mandel effect and question if it even aired at all. So bizarre.

Overall: 3/10.

Of man, I have such an awful experience with these shorts, but honestly, lately, or at least last couple of ones really hit.
Picture Dramas really are the bane of existence of every completionist, thank Code Geass for that, but this review is for Shangri-La Frontier, and just like that one hit all the stress points perfectly, its shorts were not all that far off.

The bite-sized episodes (sub minutes long) were not invasive, they were cute, concise, and with strong punchlines. You now those "knock-knock" jokes? These were similar, short but slightly stalling, but the delivery was always satisfying, if not the humor then definitely the ... adorableness.

I dug the art style the most, they feel like those doodles you used to draw at class when you're bored, only livelier and with more character. Somehow the eyes in particular had so much life in them, almost more than the parent show in a sense.

Overall: 6/10.

To be fair, I feel like it’s slightly not fair to the recap to be in the position it was, this comes right after episode 14 of the first season, episode 14.5 so to say, which just happens to be right before the gang takes on Wezaemon the Tombguard, arguably the highlight of the season, which in part makes the material covered by the recap the weaker portion of the season. Your basic introduction to the world of Shangri-La Frontier, important cast introductions, early-game quests, all that jazz. Under a certain perspective it’s a very reasonable chuck to recap, as a lot tend to happen ... speeding through the early mid-game content, but that’s a disclaimer that needs to be given.

I really appreciated the fourth-wall narration by the cast here and there, the pacing was kept consistent and the build up to the Wezaemon arc was definitely solid.

Overall: 6/10.

The is always bound to happen that once in a blue moon, a gem goes under the radar, especially with many new series we get every other season. I can’t blame anyone for passing off most of them, because with quantity, quality is the tradeoff, but then again, at least on the surface, you might end up doing a very good show dirty, and turn over the page.

As such, of at least to me, Shangri-La Frontier was the case, even going by the name, the artwork, the genre, nothing about it seemed captivating or remotely interesting, that is, until a couple of season later when ... I was prompted to give it a try by a close friend of mine.

Shangri-La Frontier was just a blast to sit through and not worry about the passage of time.

It’s weird to see so many people pass it off as yet another cookie cutter Isekai show, we sure do get plenty of them nowadays, but no, it’s not even an Isekai by its own core, but it sure does a very good job trying to deceive you of the fact. think of it more like SAO, but better, more grounded and doesn’t take itself very seriously, it’s lighthearted but it got stakes that grab your attention, the cast is disposable but feel so charismatic and grubby, and the narrative, it doesn’t really matter, it’s more like a guilty pleasure shooter-looter that get you to sink hours without any sort of attachment, which is good because sometimes you gotta know when to stop.

The animation starts off very good, almost unbelievable for a show of Shangri-La’s likeness, but it does go off rails sometimes, however, it locks in once the situation calls for it, in fight, and during tense moments, it’s a very efficient way to manage resources.

The songs and themes, all OSTs were very exciting, they take a couple of re-listens to grow on you but once they do, that’s your new gym album. The voice acting is also good, especially the main cast, it’s soothing, fun, and enthusiastic.

My take away is, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, or title, of genre, or … actually, scratch that because that’s a very problematic advice, but sometimes it hits the mark, just not in Shangri-La’s case. Give this show a try, enjoy and relax.

Overall: 7.56/10.

Shaman King in 2024 is a very weird case, On one hand, the deep nostalgia of the OG really gets to you, those were undoubtedly unforgotten times, but then again, upon viewing the 2021 remake, lots of points were lost, what a horrendous adaptation that was for the most part, some very good highs yes, but also, some of the blended adaptations you could ask for, the ones where it would have been better off not existing. Cut a few years forward, we get a Boruto-esque epilogue series that tries to be something more than overstays its welcome, enter, Shaman King: Flowers.

Who asked for this? ... Seriously; We have seen so many times how the Boruto trend does not work well for the parent series, especially for stories like Shaman King where the previous show perfectly summed everything up into a well close-ended finale that did not need to branch into anything else.

Let's start with the characters, Hana, as a protagonist really differs from Yoh, while the former was calm and chill, this new mf can't take a break, he's angry all the time, very emotional, way too hot-headed, he's more like Ren than Yoh from a certain perspective, not to mention, the old cast, now being grown up, all seem very generic adults not contributing anything massive to the plot, almost as if the whole Shaman thing was child's play and their adult selves got no time to play and mess around like before, the new cast is even blander, aside from they whacky designs that stick out, they offer nothing impactful, not even a decent flashback.

I'll admit though, although from the start to the middle of the season, nothing felt like happening, it was as if everything was stuck in a time loop where the plot did not move forward, the same villain-of-the-week-esque vibe over and over again until some answers were given, and the scale of the story became clearer, and with the introduction of some new characters, it felt way more interesting of a plot, I'm not gonna lie, I wished for this trainwreck to end all the way up until the last few episodes were I wished there was a sequel already ready to be binged.

Yet again, animation and voice acting, both were so generic, felt so cheap, decent enough to keep looking but nothing to gloat about.
The OP and ED were fine I guess, but man, nothing else can save this adaptation, unless the plot continues on the track of the last arc.

Overall: 6.78/10.

You often see enclosing shows trying desperately to hang on to their fans after the story wraps up, perhaps to buy as much time and stay relevant for as long as possible in other to keep up the sales, often you see this materialize as cheaply made Picture Dramas, and oh man, I have watched a dozen or so to say that they suck like a stumpy toe.

This, however, was kinda cute to watch, for starter, they art style carries some weight, it feels like one of those expensive graphic novels, very Chibi but it screams of quality, the voice acting is cute and the ... dialog is somewhat funny, I definitely see the appeal, especially compared to those awful Code Geass Picture Dramas.

Aaaa yay yay, where to even begin!

I guess I’m not the only one who was driven to watch this by pure nostalgia, the OG show makes some of my biggest core memories that I just had to check this one up, whoever said “trust you gut”, that man was not cooking, at least applied to this scenario.

Calling this a flop doesn’t not even begin to describe the dumpster fire it actually turned out to be. The jokes did not age well, the plot was too slow at times, too fast at some other times, no consistency between comedy and drama, the animation is hilariously average ... for today’s standard, and I can keep going.

One thing I’ll give this adaptation is the voice acting, it was amazing, all the Japanese one and even the English and French dubs, they were outstanding, all on their own right, but only sound can’t help a visual medium, it can only compliment what’s already good.

I genuinely discovered new levels of boredom watching this one, I even stopped for a prolonged period of time before I resume to finish the last 12 episodes. However, even amongst this sleep fest, there was a high peak I never expected, the prequel arc of Mt. Osore Le Voile, it was spectacular in every other way, plot, animation, acting, twists, I think it’s the only solid saving grace that this adaptation provides.

Overall: 6.5/10.

From the title of the episode to the placement of it, to the actual content. This is literally a World Govt. propaganda screening to the core lmao.

Let’s forget about the unfortunate timing of the airing, literally sandwiched in-between the hype episodes of Garp’s invasion of Pirate Island.

It recaps all Admiral and important Marine officers (Sorry Smoker) and speeds up through some information and history of such, probably to hype up the stakes of the arc.

A realization that has caught up to me recent year is that, the best One Piece arcs tend to always have Navy heavily involved at a larger scope, probably which is ... why this recap really felt like a meal. It was a good watch and an entertaining one at that.