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Shingeki no Kyojin

The synopsis is rather easy to understand: a post-apocalyptic setting where the human group we follow is stuck inside a big city, cut off from the outside world, which seems to be overrun by giants that operate on the level of infinite-energy zombies.
Its simplicity, while having the vice of not providing an overly intriguing setup, gives a good foundation for the story.

The plot follows certain characters in the city as they struggle for ultimate survival against worsening odds. The city is besieged again and again, giving the characters enough challenges to struggle and strive through

These characters are relatively simplistic, each having just one ... or two characteristics, but they remain true to these traits throughout, with their backstory and circumstances provide reasons for these characteristics.

On the surface, it is a well-set-up story, complemented by good music, well-made shot compositions, and high drawing quality. The series also excels in creating an oppressive and dread-filled atmosphere, effectively capturing the despair and tension of humanity’s struggle against extinction."
But my compliments end there.

The worldbuilding does not go into detail in any part, to the extent that it even withholds information necessary for the plot. Now, it could have an excuse that it only reveals as much information as the main character knows, but that method only works if we get the worldbuilding through character interactions and dialogue; we don’t! Almost all worldbuilding is done out of universe through narration or info cards on the eyecatches. (You often need to pause because they sometimes present a wall of text — one time literally about the wall, funnily — that you’re supposed to pause and read, or somehow absorb in about three seconds.)

With this method of delivering information through out-of-universe sources, it should be mandatory to provide the viewer with the information necessary to understand the plot. But this just doesn’t happen, leaving huge gaps and unanswered questions about certain elements that the anime does not answer at all.

The plot does not have much to offer. It is fairly simplistic in its portrayal of war and humanity's struggle for survival, aside from one aspect: (almost) all the characters are brain-deficient, incompetent morons.

It feels as if whatever created this titan epidemic also reduced every human’s IQ by half. Characters make the worst decisions without any reason to justify them. Plans are made while conveniently forgetting half the information they possess, causing these plans to fail in the most predictable ways possible. Humans throw away their lives through incompetence at record rates (outside of a couple who do have genuine talent in certain areas, but just get bogged down by everyone else). And the worst part? These characters are introduced and regarded as the best in their craft.

Spoiler section:

At first, I wondered what stopped them from making radial walls to create separate structures (baileys?) within each ring, or why they didn’t just fortify or repair sections of the walls. But again, either the epidemic halved their IQ and made them forget how to build, or the wall itself was crafted by some higher entity (one infocard on an episodes eyecatch section did suggest the latter). We don’t know much about their structure or technological level, which is emphasized by the fact that their level of technological progress is inconsistent. They seem to possess technology that is almost dependent on other technologies they haven’t “researched” yet.

While most plot problems can be explained by the simple statement that all characters on the protagonists’ side (the city) are incompetent buffoons, it makes me question: why not replace them with competent ones? Or, as I ultimately concluded, perhaps all people inside the city are idiots to such an extreme degree that they brought death upon themselves. (You could say they deserved it, though I prefer to use “deserve” in a more moral sense, which they aren’t guilty of.)

My third issue is the anime’s attempt to be edgy and “big-boy” (somewhat like X-Men 3: The Last Stand), but this approach quickly loses its impact. At first, I started to get invested in two characters as they showed some potential for development. But no — Boom, they’re dead. From that point on, I knew the next two characters with potential would be the next to die - Right on the money. Then the anime introduced new characters to invest in, but by then I had already recognized the pattern - Sure enough, they died soon after. You cannot pull the SAME rug out from under people more than once anime, and quite honestly, it’s offensive that they tried. At first it might offer some shock value, but the repetition quickly diminishes its emotional impact.

The fact that the characters’ incompetence makes all the flaws in their plans obvious to the audience ruins any suspense. Instead of being gripping when their plans fail over and over, it’s just basic pattern recognition — something they seem to lack. By around the 16th episode, I found myself rooting for the mass-murdering antagonists responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people, because at least they possess basic competence.

7.35/10

Quickly summarizing it, this feels like it is written by someone who has seens stories before, but has no idea how to create one themselves.

The world-building is virtually nonexistent. There is something, a couple elements that are cosplaying as such, but that just aggravets how badly it is written.
The isekai element is literally only there so the writer can skip on introducing the world, but he/she completely forgets to then introduce anything as he/she just though that making something isekai just gives an automatic 'get out of jail card' for the writer, and makes them able to skip wroldbuilding as a whole.

The plot is ... as basic and cliché as possible. Scrappy group of heroes getting better as they learn to coordinate and situate themselves better for their predicament. Nothing much happens elsewhere. They are not even feel fully autonomic as they just mechanistically following the path the story puts them on, without even thinking about deviating, which partially circles back to the problem of the worldbuilding. They get (isekai'd) there "just because", they are shown the one path the story wants them to take "just because" , they follow that path as good little lemmings "just because". Not even one question or explanation about how objective oriented the whole world is just for them to follow the route the story needs them to take.

The characters are basic as well, but at least the original (cliché) that Grimgar copied from is competently written. There are some good, there are some bad. The entire structure is ridiculously predictable as every character is more or less a cutout of cliché characters. But the MC, the ?love?interest girl, and some side-characters' arc are entertaining, because the archetype arc is entertaining.

Of course there are some worse ones, one of them acts in such a way that I was halfway convinced that it is the matrix and he/she is just a tutorial NPC to start the characters in their journey.
In fact the entire story could've gotten a Matrix (it's just a simulation) coating, and it basically would've made it better and more coherent.

To summarize the experience itself this whole story was like a badly/more badly written SAO if we would've followed Klein's group, but they were boring/even more boring; and they would've been stcuk in a pocket dimension without even being to communicate with Kirito or anybody else.
[The most obvious machanic is to show them interact with other groups while questing, and the author even missed to include that, which just made the world even more barren and feel like just a simulation / something artificially written to vaguely resemble a story.]

5.1/10

Somewhat of a letdown for me after S1.

The Worldbuilding got a little bigger, still as an SoL it doesn't need huge work and it is not in the focus of attention, but it was a competent and nice plus.

Plot continues the story relatively well moving forward, sady it rushes too much which means a lot of changes are drastic and important parts are basically just skipped over. Especially problematic in that it even happens with the inciting conflict of the show, the teaching of the girls. That entire plotline jarbled and half-assed.

Regardless of that, the Characterwork is maybe the biggest flaw of the season. Some ... got nice arcs, even if certain ones subjectively can be little repulsive, but they are true to character.
There is a complete 180 in almost every sense of relations, but teenage girls do that, so while it is really weird it is realistic.
One of them I cannot describe any other way than 'being a manipulative cow' using people in their lowest for her selfish needs (worded like this to avoid spoilers). This wouldn't be a problem if she would've got punished for it (like the first example with the 'repulsive one'), but she didn't. The person knows that she used her, but hasn't retaliated yet or made her responsible. It can be a card to play later, but waiting for the opportune moment could've created a big issue with another problem (it sorted itself out, but it was a huge risk). Without knowing the end of that plotline I cannot really know how to rate that scene, but treating it open ended (for S2) it is a huge issue for the story, which has a huge negative stamp on the entire story.
The last Nakano just amazed me to the point that I cannot describe what she did other than being the master tactician. Even thinking back at it, she did have the first confession, she did sneak in the first kiss on cheek, and she grabbed the first kiss on lips of the MC, all while cheering and helping her rivals.

It is somewhat weird, but true to character for her to be this cocky, and if she "wins" it does just coming out as savages, but she has every right to it.

It is both a bonus and a flaw that S2 does almost needs everyone to continue with the story, on one hand because there were a lot of unfinished sub-plotlines, some which should have been at least partially resolved, but on the other hand because of how masterfully the anime plays with mysteries.
There were parts where it might've been too far (onsen), but most of the time it does balance it fairly well.

The MC is still really good, all the praises from S1 still stand of him being realistic, believable and acting as a logical human would, which gives heart to the story and makes it engaging.
Some problems did arise though, where the inability of him to act or decide cost him and his friends, most of them are at least partially believable and understandable, still it should initiate a character growing moment where he realizes his flaw and try to amend it, which didn't happen yet (as of S2).

Which does circle back to the plot, and what makes some reason out of universe wise for the anime to rush, but does damage the story. Events wise too many things happened, and those weren't 'unfolded' satisfyingly. But in terms of character growth, it lagged behind.
To signify it in numbers the 12 episodes enclosed 8 months of plot in 12 episodes, but only 4 months of character.

The highs were relatively high (higher than S1), but the lows were really low. At one point (I think E3
) reminded me of Mando [S1E3 specifically, but entire Mando] of how bad that moment was. It is a really damning sign if some story elements scoop to the 3-4/10 of Mando [S1].

In its entirety:
7.6/10
master tactician girl, repulsive actions girl and girl at last ep kinda saved it from being a disaster (compared to S1).

Technically one of the first SoL, Romance, Harem I've seen, so it is hard to really get a hold how to properly measure it.

As with a Slice of Life the WorldBuilding is not something that's needs an overemphasis, this time I do find it that they play fast and loose of how similar the twins look like. This doesn't break anything but creates a question as sometimes people easily mistake them and sometimes, they don't even notice that they look alike so must be siblings.

Characters are really nicely done; it is paced really well. The rate of us learning about each person is efficiently done, ... which radiates competence from and confidence for the story.

The plot is somewhat haphazard, but it does work in tandem with the character arc, so even if a lot of minor parts are shuffled over, all of the important elements remain in focus, which makes little mistakes negligible.

Somewhat of an example, but mostly as the entire media hinges on him, I'd highlight the MC.
His interactions with the world and the other characters are nicely done, his own actions are mostly competent and logical of a human so it always feels lifelike. When he makes mistakes, they are believable and well-reasoned, which just makes both the comedy/embarrassing and the romantic elements hit real.
That 'realness' of him that makes his interactions with the Quintuplets really engaging and entertaining.

In summary (again without anything really to compare) this does feel like a standard for SoL Romance stories. The characters are well rounded, believable, act by their logic, consistent and feeling real. Their actions are coming from their characteristics and they are well reasoned.
The whole story has the atmosphere that it very well could've happened, and this is the diary of it. Which goes phenomenally well, especially with its Slice of Life genre.

8.1/10

Spy x Family always did a great job about balancing interesting plot elements, comedy and wholesome character moments, which was more or less true for Season 2 (Part 1?) as well.

The worldbuilding and already established characters did not get expanded or worked upon in any major ways, the focus was much more on side characters.

My personal favourite is Ep2 where we got a new character (a teacher) who was instantly pretty well characterised and the three stooges (Damian and his two friends) got an amazing amount of character-work and all in just one episode.

Unfortunately, not all episodes were that solid. Ep1 had one joke getting ... abused to oblivion, it was already tired at the 2nd minute, but you had endure it for 15 more, fortunately the last 3 minutes (and unironically Anya) saved the episode.

The episodes that weren't that lucky were 7, 8 and 9; (almost) complete nothingness. Some WB and Yor did a 360 turn (with slight motivation changes), but it was mostly just extensively boring.

To summarize the Season / Cour it was obviously made to expand the existing side characters which it made a pretty good job of. We got some World-Building (mostly about the powers of Bond), but thinking about it, I don't think plot-wise anything happened. (Maybe the Forgers getting closer with Becky.)

I would still recommend to watch it, and while can see someone calling it filler. There was that slight motivation change that could be referenced later, and if for nothing more than the beautiful work on several side-character by itself, it deserves a watch (if you liked S1).

7.1/10

Knight's & Magic
If I had to describe the show with one word it would be: Competent

The world-building is fundamentally a baseline on how to do a fantasy setting right, everything is correctly built up, we get more than enough info of both the world and the magic-system so it is fully logical, understandable and intriguing.
I made fun of the base premise*⁠, but it was an effective and necessary setup for the story to be told this way.

The characters are really well done, all have their agencies, several of them have their own arcs, and even their own lives and thinking are completely logical and intelligent ... so they feel relatable and human, even their flaws come from their base character so even when they fail it is sympathetic.

For the plot I just go back to the word of today's review: competent. Sadly, it is mainly the base element I can criticize, especially as it felt like the story, they wanted to tell would've needed more than 13 episodes, but as they only got that many, they tried to cram everything into those 13 episodes, which contributed to a lot of time-skips and rushed plot-lines. The story was kind of predictable for a more experienced eye, but it might just be a routine issue. [When a racer can predict the second half of a racecourse, just by how the 1 half went.]
Still, it was really engaging and full of twists and turns that kept the interest always high, with new elements and challenges for our heroes to overcome.

To summarize I'd say that competence is the main element, but it does feel as if it was written by an AI. Everything is designed to a mastered textbook level, but there were really few peaks of quality. In numerical terms there was no moment that went below a 7, but there was no moment above a 9 either.

8.6/10

Subjective parts: I don't like CG, but it was nothing egregious, and maybe it is a hot take, but although I like Rie Takahashi, and she did manage to make a 10-12yo boy voice, for the latter part it was really weird having a 15-17 boy/man still having Rie as a voice actress.

*2017 isekai show about a successful company-man getting reincarnated into a young fragile body, where he uses his knowledge from his previous life and integrates it with the magical elements of the new settings, because of that he quickly climbs the ranks and becomes a child prodigy, but with every promotion the situation just gets more and more dangerous for both him the team he gets to lead [which was specifically granted/created for him by the country's leader].

It was awful, the only positive thing that I can say that is was competently and not offensively bad. The creator wanted to tell a story. and 0080 told that story, the problem was that their story was terrible.

I think the fact that the title says 0080 (after the peace treaty) but the show takes place during 0079 (before the peace treaty) already tells a lot about the world-building. It's like if they'd call a movie 1946 Recovery from the War, but it would take place in 1945 April during the Siege of Berlin.
Second big problem was with the power-levels, the mobile suits get defeated ... like it was nothing, which makes a really huge contrast with the base concept of Gundam, making Mobile Suits devastatingly superior against conventional weaponry.

The characters were both really cliché and templated, which based on how few characters got any characteristics was such a shame, but nothing was worse that the MC. Who contrary to Gundam habit wasn't 15, but 11 who acted like 7 (although at least he was shown to be quick-thinking and street-smart). The habit Gundam still retainted (I wish it wouldn't) is the terrible parents, I don't think I've a single great parent in the entire franchize yet.

The worst offender is clearly the plot, you can see every thread a miles away, it tries to be emotional, but fails at almost every point, because of how cliché and artificial it feels, and most of it just doesn't make sense. Most characters act in a way that is at best only partially natural, and worst completely moronic, just to advance the plot in the direction the writer wants to go. Which (to emphasize my previous point) makes the entire thing brutally artificial and takes away most of the emotional effects.

3.8/10

Season 3 is the first 'mixed bag' of Overlord, which started to have cracks and becoming mundane, without the thrill we'd been used to.

The first aspect where the problems started to show themselves is the World Building. The presentation and implementation of the Bamaruth Empire was pretty much flawless as worthy of Overlord, but other aspects and certainly power levels began to radiate minor inconsistencies.

The problem transmitted to the Plot as well, but it wasn't its most garish aspect. Most of the 13 episodes were centered around Characters who we do not really care about, or who were either stationary or not in danger. While ... it wasn't a flaw character-wise, it meant that there wasn't much stakes as it became obvious that the developed legacy characters weren't in mortal danger.

That aside, there were characters who got developed further and it was done pretty exemplary. Both their actions and arc were sound and logical, based on their characteristics and information, even the better parts of the World Building were tied to them.

On a more personal side, the CGI is still very ugly, which was amplified and evinced by the overzealous action scenes.
Also, the overuse of a certain joke regarding the knowledge and wisdom of Ainz quickly became really jarring and old, not to talk about the inconsistency problems it could create if the trend continues.

I would still recommend Overlord as a whole, but mostly because of the merit of the previous season, while I hope III was just a rocky road between II and IV.

I would give it a 7.4/10.

A solid second season, which was built well on the foundations of the first one, advanced the established characters and even introduced new ones. But it not just achieved everything that a good sequel should, but kept the overall story of Overlord interesting to keep the hype up for the third season as well.

The world building is as solid as it was previously, but unfortunately it inherited the slowness and murkiness as well. After 26 full-fledged episode, we still have little knowledge about the world, the factions, the power levels and the magic system. While it is no way a bad thing it has a ... sour aftertaste, an ominous feeling, that it is this slow by the sole intention to be used as the main tool to keep the potential interest above a certain level, instead of leaning on the characters.

The plot would be the aspect that is obviously somewhat of a downgrade from season 1. Not much is happening, and while there are stakes, most of it is centered around !side! characters.

What the show maybe lacks in plot it balances in characters. The character-work is awesome, we got a lot of side characters, that have their own actions, motives and characters, making the world lived in and dynamic on a level that even exceeds the likes of Re Zero. Everybody acts on basic competency and logic, what makes overcoming obstacles a real thrill.

While this season didn't have much of stakes, if this trend continues it could be a potentially masterclass of culmination. Clearly worth of high praises.

Sadly some plot conveniences and plotholes got introduced as well, one of the most grave is (without much of a spoiler):
"One of the side characters happens to run into someone who is a relative of another character whom the main character is indebted to. And that incident is what puts the whole story into high gear."

Although I liked it very much that the obvious traitor is recognized by the heroes at an instant. [Looking at you Revan(the book)]

Overlord Season 1

If I had to describe the anime in one word it would be "interesting".
The premise, while overused, had enough unique elements to make it special. The world-building is fair, nothing out of the ordinary in either way.
The story takes its time, so around ep7 when there are two ways it can go, the course is still uncertain.
The characters are almost all stationary, but they are that by design, so the entertaining element is not in the direction of their arc, but in the learning of their character.

The culmination of those things is Overlord's biggest catch, and its biggest flaw at the same time.
It's ... enough to pique interest, to learn about the uncertainty of the world, plot and unknown characters, but as neither seems to be capable of evolving ever further. Once you reach the point where your curiosity is satisfied, the anime does not offer much more to keep you hooked.

Of course, no matter how slowly the story progresses and how slowly you are fed information I can see this point being much further than Season 4.
Season 1 was felt like a demo for the story, a glimpse of what it could offer and what is the utmost point it would be able to offer.
Currently I would guess in its entirety it is around a 7-8, the first season achieved everything it set out to do, but other than that, it did not offer anything astonishing.

The visuals were fine in most places outside of the fight-scenes, which were atrocious looking CGI.
Because of that the fight was not just bland, but in a lot of them the characters moved much less than they should to save money, but that caused some problems with the narrative, power-levels and the working of the magic system, in that way a somewhat subjective flaw caused objective problems which cannot be overlooked.

7.6/10