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Mar 18, 2020
It is hard to not compare the manga version of Kotonoha no Niwa (Garden of Words) to its anime counterpart... especially since it is my favorite of all anime in the world. I will try my best, but some comparisons will need to be made.
Story (9) The story is simple, yet elegant. It is not deep, but it tells a story of two people that are lost within themselves and how together they learn to take steps forward into their futures no matter how difficult they may be. There are changes in the story from the anime version that brings the romance aspects of the
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story into clearer focus and the ending is different as well... I will not say how it ends to avoid spoilers.
Art (9) I love the art. It is not something that you can compare to the anime, but there are things that are in the manga that deepen characterization. When the female lead blushes, it hits me straight in the heart and it is not something that you see in the animated version. The art is clean and wonderful to look at.
Character (10) The only characters that matter in this story are the male and female lead. They are delicately handled and better realized in the manga than in the anime. The feelings they express feel genuine and I love both of them to bits. This is the kind of world I want to be in.
Enjoyment (10) I love this manga, perhaps even more than its anime counterpart. It is a wonderful work of art and I am so glad that I found out that it existed, for the longest time I thought that Kotonoha no Niwa was just animated.
Overall (10) This is among the best that manga has to offer. It is a tender romance and a coming of age story for both the male and female leads. If you love manga you really owe it to yourself to read this story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 24, 2019
Written January 24th, 2019:
This is just brief thought and ratings for the first season of Baby Steps. My full review on the series, seasons 1 and 2 are on the page for the second season.
Story: 9 - Well written, occasional pacing issues, ie. dragging out the tennis matches forever.
Art: 6 - Lots of reuse of the same footage over and over. It was not terrible, just noticeable.
Sound: 8 - Sold voice acting. The opening/closing music is great, the FX? Okay. Sounds like tennis.
Character: 8 - Very good, some of the secondary characters are weak, the main ones shine.
Enjoyment: 9 - If it were not for
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the reuse of the art assets and pacing issues, would be a 10.
Overall: 8 - I love this show, I hope there is a season 3, but it would need to be announced in 2019, or it is unlikely.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 14, 2019
I'm of two different minds of Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. On a pure enjoyment level, I think it was great. I loved the characters and loved the twist and turns on their path to love. I just wish that the creators had taken the story seriously.
Dissecting the story though, shows flaws that towards the end I could not ignore. The opening was totally idiotic. Someone wanted a yuri harem series, so instead of doing it in a mature way, they come up with a really stupid alien angle. A ship crashing into a mountain, killing male Hazumu. Their alien "space science" is able to restore
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him, but for some reason comes away from it as a girl. That is stupid, sorry creators, you could have done better. The ship crashed like a lawn dart. Come on! If a ship that size had really crashed, there would have been a crater the size of that entire city.
Next, the comedy was unnecessary. It distracted from things. I swear, it is like they took Brock from Pokemon, made him even WORSE, and transported him to this anime. He is Hazumu's best friend and when he becomes a she, is super conflicted in Brock fashion, over how he feels. It could have been done SO much better had they just treated Asuta like a real person and not a cartoon character. The teacher was stupid, she should have died 50 times. The space aliens... stupid. They were a contrived add-on to check some sort of comedy box that the anime creators have and use. Her parents were stupid. Her father was a pervert verging on being a pedophile. I kind of liked the mom, because she kept kicking his ass.
Ok. That was long... and if you are still reading, thank you. Now for the good stuff.
Story: This was a lovely story of love and growing up, learning and maturing. All of the main characters (minus Ayuki, the most tragic character of the show) become more than they were at the start and they all find their happiness and it often is not what we think it was going to be. Love is love and is not limited by gender, race, job, etc. True love for someone is timeless.
Art: I didn't like the art on this show. It was too comedic for the story. The exaggerations and the poor line quality and lack of any sort of subtlety really is a letdown. This story deserved a lot more from the art. The creators really let us down.
Sound: Nothing to write home about. I liked the intro and end music. I didn't really notice the music during the show, so at least it didn't get in the way. The voice actors were ok, no one stood out to me, but at least no one was distracting in a bad way. Overall, it was serviceable.
Characters: The girls were good, maybe even very good. They all had their own motivations, reasons, and they stood out from each other. They had their own reasons for loving Hazumu, which I appreciated. But I didn't like Hazumu. I consider him to be a crappy friend and a worse potential partner. His indecisiveness constantly hurt the girls, and his obliviousness about how his friend Asuta felt is criminal. As I said above, I consider Ayuki to be the most tragic figure of the show. Her refusal to "step on the stage" freezes her in place. She starts and ends the show exactly the same, even though I am certain that she was the third girl that loved Hazumu. Despite that though, she just does... nothing. It should have been developed and was a missed opportunity. But in the end, with all that salt set aside, I loved them all. Wipe all the comedy and other stuff away and it is a good cast that could, again, have been great had the creators taken the story seriously.
Enjoyment: I know I have trashed the show a lot above... but I really enjoyed this series. I rooted for everyone. The stories tore at my heartstrings constantly and I find myself really passionate about the show. I am even considering writing a fan-fic recreation of the show as it SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE. Damn, I'm salty.
Overall: I have been flickering between a 6 and a 7 since I started writing this review. I eventually went with a 7, because I honestly love Kashimashi, despite all its flaws. It told a beautiful love story with the twists and turns that love can take... and like I have said many time, I just wished the creators had given this show the love and subtlety that it deserved. With good art, better music, and several more drafts of the script, this could have been a masterpiece. Perhaps in another universe...
PS: This review takes in account the 13th episode, the OVA. It is the real end of the show and changes a lot. PLEASE watch it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 13, 2019
This was magical... it had my heart tingling all through it... I know, that probably sounds weird, but it is honest at least.
It was such a delicate movie... such a tender relationship. There was a connection between the two that went beyond labels... it was not love, it was much more than just friendship. She opened his eyes to the world and he gave her the peace and grounded her when everything was going wrong. It was sad... but it was magnificent.
Story: I mostly talked about that above. I do not want to give out spoilers... please watch it, the story is just so...
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don't know what I can say without going even more overboard with hyperbole.
Art: I loved the work... the light whispy lines, the subtle changes in expression... Sakura's smile. It is a joy.
Sound: The music was wonderful and always appropriate. It was better than just about anything I can remember. The voice work was even better. It made them so real... ugh... my heart. I just finished this a few minutes ago. :'(
Character: Beyond wonderful... Sakura was light hearted and free spirited, just what the sullen and isolated Haruki needed to be gradually coaxed from the shadows that he lived in and become a full and realized person. Kyouko was such a good best friend, a bit violent but it was obvious from the start that she would kill or die for Sakura. Takahiro was a good "friend" for Haruki... this is just the best.
Enjoyment... this is my favorite anime movie of all time. If you live romance, or need a good cry, watch this. It is glorious.
I know I've just gone on about how much I love this show... and I might change that pov a little once I see it a couple more times, but no one can go wrong watching Kimi no Suizou wo Tabetai.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 3, 2019
I don't get the value that some people on here place on comparing Bunny Girl Sempai to other animes that it supposedly "stole" from. So what? Ignore that. Did the anime make you happy? It did make me happy. I thought that everything about this show was wonderful, except that it ended after only 13 episodes. If indeed there are other shows out there that were stolen from to make Bunny Girl Senpai, well that is awesome to hear. It will be other chances to be happy once more. If you love romance, if you love... love... be it romantic or family, then Seishun Buta
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Yarou we Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai is totally worth your time. What in this world is original? Not much... all that matters to me is that at the end of it, I am happy. Stop tearing down this show for what it lacks and cheer it for what it has... this show has a lot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 28, 2018
I just finished Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) and my heart is still beating fast. I am fairly new to taking anime seriously and Your Lie in April makes me wish that I had taken up anime years and years ago.
It is a story of loss and despair, surrender and perseverance, love and hope.
The Story (8)
Your Lie in April is enchanting. In turns it had me laughing and it had me crying. It made me root for everyone, enemy or hero. Strike that, in the end there were no enemies, everyone was worth loving. The ending was heartbreaking. I wish it
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could have been different, but in the end it had is shone with hope for the future. I wish I could revisit these people. At points during the series, it could have been pared down a bit, eliminating some of the periphery stories to focus on the main story. Also, some of the time, the pacing in the middle to the late episodes slow and dragged, when if it had been paced faster and segments made shorter, the main storyline could have been developed ever farther. That being said, I loved the story of Your Lie in April, and the way it was all brought together in last couple of episodes was magical.
The Art (8)
Simply put, I loved the art. I've seen better from bigger budgeted shows, but the art of Your Lie in April was spot on for what it needed to be. It always matched the mood, from the sparkling lights of the high points, to the pastels used in the middle points, to the unsaturated colors of the low points. It was magical (sue me, I like that word) and I must give props to the animators. Speaking of animation, it was generally very smooth. It was not always the best, but it was always good.
Sound (10)
I can't see how the music could have been any better than it was. Yes, it was classical music, but if you did not realize that, going into this series, a series about a classical pianist, that there was going to be classical music... well, you are kind of hopeless. The song choices always fit the people playing it at the time in the story that it was being played. It made my heart beat fast when it was supposed to be beating fast. Truly, this music was perfect.
Character (9)
The characters are almost perfect. Some of the periphery characters were anime tropes, but the main cast was sparkling, given depth that took them above and beyond standard fare. I loved all of them, as everyone had good motivation and were relatable. I am in love with the main trio and I will be coming back to see this series again so that I do not forget them. If it were not for the trope periphery characters, I would have given this category a 10, easy.
Enjoyment (10)
I loved this show from episodes 1 to 22. I have never had such a good time getting my heart torn out, just to have it rebuilt in the next scene, just to have it done over and over. There is no way I can give this category anything less than a 10. Will watch this series many times.
Overall (9)
Ugh... I hate not giving this series a 10. I love Your Lie in April. I am going to be buying the DVD and all of the manga. I wish I could exist in the world with these people... and how can any show ask for a better response than that from a viewer?
This is my first anime review, I hope it passes muster. Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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