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Ore Monogatari is a sickly sweet view, it doesn't feel the need to introduce drama and focuses on the slowly growing relationship between Yamato and Takeo, two incredibly dense teenagers. When it focuses on the relationships between them and Takeo's childhood friend Sunakawa it is at it's best. Sadly towards the end in has some awful story lines with some awful characters. Some people may enjoy the stalker sub-plot and the adult who decides he has any part in Yamato's life- but these stories being the final two (and the final 4 episodes) ends the series on a sour note. While they are adapted accurately ... from the manga, the fact they ended the story with these characters instead of taking the manga's final arc feels like a slap in the face to the cute vibes built throughout.

7.5/10

Sakurako-san is a brilliant anime that would have excelled had it simply chosen what it wanted to be; a series of short one off mysteries set in the same town with re-occurring characters, or a dramatic clash between two intellects with a similar yet conflicting interest in bones.
Credit where it is due, the music is brilliant and kept me invested or built suspense where it was needed. Some of the visuals were brilliant if insanely underused (Sakurako surrounded by her walking bones blew me away every time, especially with the swell of music accompanying it.) The detail the bones was fantastic and I found myself ... almost being drawn into the subject in real life. There was clearly passion put into the visuals and the sound.
However it is let down by the story, which I enjoyed most of the time. The first half has a more mature tone with the descriptions of death and the accompanying grief. In particular episode 2 "Where do you live" which has a bitter ending that I wish I'd seen more often. By the latter half it seemed to devolve into feeling more like a soap opera. You don't tune into a first episode where a character looks at two bodies and describes being drowned and expect it to end with teenagers screaming at each other about a bald man they all love.
If it had been that from the start I would've enjoyed the build up to some sort of confrontation, but instead the sting for a second season feels sad because you know that will be the focus instead of inspecting bodies to solve people's sorrows.

A film that could have been better if an hour worth of scenes were removed and an hour worth of scenes were added. What I mean is that the pacing was awful. Despite this I find myself enjoying it because of what it does well.
The exploration of grief is always interesting to watch and I enjoyed the character progression, but that story line directly conflicts with the Beast storyline. There is no thematic or character link between the two stories which makes the Beast storyline useless when viewing.
Meanwhile the Beast storyline is rushed and feels like it was forced into an already complete script. The ... chemistry between the pair is rushed and I feel there is disconnect between the characters. The ending feels rushed and undeserved, doing the serious subject matter disservice.
However the music is brilliant, especially the last major performance song where the larger crowd joins in. A majority of the singing segments take place in a well animated 3D world that avoids uncanny valley and ends up adding a creative flare to the performances.
In the end I find the parts I enjoy outweigh the mess of the story. Quite frankly if rushed or nonsensical pacing ruins a viewing experience you may not enjoy this. If you can look past that there is something good buried here.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (aka Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun) is a victim to it's own success, in regards that without the will they won't they element of the couple(s) is the main draw to the show. It's a great watch and I would watch it over again as the comedy is good at getting an unexpected laugh out despite shoujo romances not being my preffered genre. However I can say happily that the romance element of the will they won't they is extremely lacking.
Sakura is a short artistic student who has had a crush on Nozaki-kun since she met him on one of their first days of ... school- but when she confesses she (for some reason) says she's a huge fan. He gives her an autograph and she finds out he writes extremely cute shoujo romance manga despite being oblivious and masculine and haha, what a twist and blunder. Now she has to work with her crush on the manga, something she is more than happy to do as she gets to be near him. Meanwhile the people around Nozaki-kun and Sakura are drawn together, pairing off into equally cute, funny and unexpected couples.
Sakura and Nozaki-kun (SPOILER) don't get together, none of the couples do. Understandable when the manga is still dragging out this painful dynamic. It's because of this that I'm thankful the anime is only 12 episodes, or the comedic "Sakura confesses and Nozaki doesn't get it" moments would get far away from endearing and into painful. While the manga has always had some suggestion that Nozaki has at least a fleeting interest in Sakura, the anime gives no such hint. This can make the ending extremely frustrating to a person who watches it expecting a cute romance with a happy ending. Personally I don't mind this ending as there is a blank space in the final scene of the two where you can assume Nozaki does say something about his feelings. But again, this is a personal opinion and is only made off of my vague memories of the manga.
Honestly, I'm torn whether to recommend this to people 4 years down the line. Since 2014 there have been series that also reach an open/ambiguous ending that have been praised. But my feelings are also soured on this as it's impossible to say- if you want that happy conclusion read the manga. Gekkan Shoujo essentially built itself on the premise that the author is big on the will they won't they chemistry of it's characters, however it's become so dragged on that the negative bias I have has seeped onto the anime. I would say, however, that if you enjoy fanfiction of comedy you should watch it, because at least the ending doesn't hit such a sour note in that case.

All You Need Is Kill is a built with a great premise. Humans are locked in a losing battle with aliens, when one soldier- a weakling called Keiji- 'dies'. But then he wakes up to find himself in a time loop.
When this was adapted into the American Film it was called 'Groundhog Day with Aliens' which was such a baffling comparison that I ended up watching the film in the cinema. If you did watch "Edge of Tomorrow" then I can see that mistake being made- the film way basically that. But the manga builds an empire on this premise. Without the westernisation of the ... story All You Need Is Kill is a gore filled tragedy. The main character finds himself faced with his mortality and facing the understanding that no matter how perfect a soldier he becomes he will never be able to face the insurmountable odds. This isn't an allegory for war- it is war and it's painful, cruel and sad.
The Story: 7/10
Keiji Kiriya is a new soldier in the United Defense Force, an army armed with exo-skeletons who fight an invading alien species called the Mimics. Unprepared for the horrors awaiting him he is pushed out onto the battle field, dying in his first battle after killing a Mimic that is different in appearance to the others. Then he wakes up. Then dies again. Again and again, he is brutally killed and resurected all the while he gains skill. A female soldier named Rita- renowned for being the best a soldier can be, is revealed to have faced an identical fate. Through each loop he trains, gains access to her weapon until she recognises, in one loop, the situation he is in- realising she needs to help him.
The Art: 9/10
Art in manga means very little to me these days, One Punch Man and Mob Psycho both show art doesn't have much effect on the experience. However All You Need Is Kill have some stunning panels. When I saw the Aliens on the battle field, the detail was so incredible I felt sickened but in awe. The image of Keiji in his exoskeleton on the battle field- covered in blood and out of breath shocked me in it power. The expressions can be janky at times, sometimes even a bit generic, but the use of expression to show Keiji losing his will to live is almost makes up for that in my mind.
The Characters: 9/10
How do you design a character who constantly dies, no matter how well he does? How do you make his personality develop, or regress? The character development of Keiji from a terrified boy, to a man miserable with existence and unable to stand living, to a soldier with honour and pride is so well done that you never stop and say "Well that was a jump". Every character in this develops, even when they never have more than a day to do so. However the main emphasis of character is put upon Keiji and Rita. Is this a bad thing? Not at all, rather it allows us to explore the unique horror of a situation where you are trapped alone with a fate worse than death. Keiji's character arc watched him face insurmountable odds, he looks into the void and he hates what he sees.
All You Need Is Kill is honestly one of the saddest things I've read- dealing with issues such a self-worth, sacrifice and mortality. Very much worth the read four years on.

I cried watching Shelter, emotional big fat tears. So why am I only give it a 4/10?
When I first approached it, I had a slight bias to a 1/10 review I saw a few days ago. Then when it popped up on my recommended I was like, maybe it's not bad? So I found it and sat there, then I cried. After a cup of tea, however, I re-watched it. As that kettle boiled the steam rose then vanished, much like any lingering emotions I had attached to the story. So upon this re-watch I focused. I didn't let myself get caught in recalling those ... emotions, instead I sat down and watched and I thought.
These are my results:
Story (No spoilers)
The story follows Rin, a young girl living in a world that she creates around her from her room/ box. That's the Shelter of the title. Through the story, to the music, she creates the worlds and explores these colourful creations to the music whilst waiting for a message. At the start she hasn't received a message in 2,539 days- that's about 6.98 years. Then she begins to experience glitches in the system as her memories outside the Shelter begin to flicker back.
Now this is a nice concept, they've taken the lyrics and made a cute story (or maybe vice-versa). But when I was re-watching it all felt so... done before? Like, I'd seen this story a hundred times and had been given the chance to actually, you know, get to know the characters? Not great, I'm going to have to give it a 2, I know that's harsh but there isn't a story, just things to make you sad.
Art and sound (Lumping them together)
Very well done, if there's anything to say about the length, it's that it flies by when you're distracted by the stunning visuals and the really pretty dope music. The art and sound dragged this up from a 2 in my opinion. I'll very likely download this song on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever, and listen to it without the lame generic story dragging behind. Truthfully, I wish I could take the artwork from some of the scenes and put them on the walls to liven up my house so that it balances out the Yuri on Ice posters. But without joking, the art style is amazing for the backgrounds of the worlds she creates, and if those concepts were put into a full series I would likely just watch for the art style haha.
Character
Like, what can I say. I wasn't expecting a full blown character or character arc from a six minute music video. But it would have been nice if she had some uniqueness to her design, perhaps less of the generic unique sparkle. Imagine, after watching it, if you will, that her design had some link to her past. Some memory in her appearance that a second watch through makes you appreciate. Also the second character, not spoiling here dw, had a super generic design for an anime character who did the same things as him. Like come onnnnn I get that you don't want some exaggerated neko with purple hair to appear, but give the guy a colourful tie, or a keepsake, or I don't know... (SPOILER) Make the message he writes in advance to Rin not be the most generic thing that ruins all emotion because first you have to translate it the you find out its basically the book of "I love you, I'm doing this for your sake" buzzwords. (SPOILER END)
Enjoyment
I didn't enjoy the first time is the problem. I was so busy being emotionally manipulated by the weak story into crying that I didn't watch it and missed the song blowing my nose. The second time I watched it all I could think was, damn this music video is getting over hyped. Now I'm listening to the song without the video playing and all I can think is, yeah good song. There's multiple levels to enjoying something. I can enjoy the music but if it's being sold as a full package including the plot and characters then I'm going to judge it like that.

And while the song looks like a beautiful man (or woman), all I can see if the vomit stain of a contrived and forced plot down the jumper.

How do you appropriately adapt a game into a film? The UK/US market have been highly unsuccessful, but this adaptation shows the key to making a good video game film- a love of the source.
Layton Kyouju to Eien no Utahime, aka Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, was my first flirty encounter of films from groups other than Ghibili. Since childhood I have been a passionate fan of the games, and I feel that passion came from the creators. The soundtrack of this film, the key focus, is perfect, inflicting nostalgia within each piece- that includes the original key score!
Nostalgia is nurtured inside the heart, ... growing with each recollection of a scene or song. It blooms into a fond memory you frame and cherish. To anyone who has ever played the game the songs are instantly recognisable. The music box puzzle song, the haunting violins that swoop in victory and curl your toes in delight. If the games soundtrack (aka The Curious Village) would be called the CD album, the film plays with the vinyl. The rich sounds, the beautiful vocals, the haunting melodies. Professor Layton is a series built on its puzzles, it's true- but the movie understood that the atmosphere that comes with the orchestra was the key.
As it is based on a puzzle game, you have to look at the puzzles presented in the film. The first puzzle on the ship teases you delightfully with logic, tugging at the strings of your heart, tiptoes up the ridges of your spine. True, the puzzles are easy to solve, but even so you feel triumphant.
The story compliments the Layton name, it is delightfully ridiculous and so gloriously extravagant that you recall the absurd plotlines of the game series, the strange meanders and twists. While it's not the most complicated plot, it serves alongside the other elements to highlight the key focus.
If, somehow someway, you haven't played one of the games or watched the film, go play it. Let it sit, crawl into the recesses of the mind and the heart, burn into your memory until that warm feeling rises with the crescendo of the violins. Then watch this film.

Tate no Yuusha is disturbing, and it shows an issue that most seem to avoid discussing. The main character is a disgusting pervert at the end of the day, with little to no personality that the viewer is encouraged to relate to due to feeling bad for him.
"What do I mean, he's a pervert?!" People cry, anger rising in their veins as they try to defend their precious raccoon girl x grown adult ship. Plain and simple, his (main) love interest, Raphtalia, is ten years old. Oh, she looks and acts like someone the main characters age, but in terms of physical years spent in ... the world? She's ten years old. The way her 'species' dynamic work mean she physical ages up as she levels up, so she's a ten year old who looks like a twenty year old. "She's mature for her age," the pedophiles on TCAP say.
Melty, Fido, the main character collects a veritable harem of magical loli girls. But good for him, only two of them find themselves trapped in the delusion of Stockholm Syndrome. Good job, Naofumi, 1/3 not being manipulated through slavery ain't that bad.
It feels bad that this is the Isekai that's drawn the most attention. Admittedly the genre is repetitive, but the fact this is the one that stood out?
In terms of story: I can get behind the idea of a main character getting screwed over by other people and entering a path that leads him away from his humanity. In fact, several of the manga I've read in the past (lost to my memory for the most part) have shown this dynamic brilliantly (Dungeon Seeker, Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu). In fact, I actively routed for the main character at the beginning. If there's any compliment to give, it's that the anime is brilliant at making you hate everyone else. Unfortunately once I realised who the obvious romantic flavor of the evening was I found myself so disturbed I couldn't enjoy the plot. The plot of him growing further from the side who destroyed him is brilliant, but it kinda pushes him towards the Chris Hansen seat.
Characters- what else can I say about them. As soon as you begin to question what the author was doing (making several children part of his harem) you see how bland they are otherwise. Goodness, the main character was so boring that I missed Kirito! If the only thing you can say about a character's personality is that it's reliant on the plot, guess what? He doesn't have one!
Overall I can see why people enjoy it, I guess. I'm not saying not to watch it or that you can't enjoy. But, I can't understand why there aren't more people concerned that the underaged slave loli might set a bad precedent for anime in the future. Everyone has their own thing, no judgement. But don't gloss over it or make it pretty- it's Stockholm and it's a nasty base for a main character.
4/10.

Summer Wars, and please don't attack me for saying this, is the most over-rated thing I've watched. My friends all talked about how great it was, sang it's praises. Why? I was baffled so when one of them offered to watch it with me on DVD I jumped on the opportunity. I would rather have jumped out the window, a trip to the A&E would have had more interesting people and the reason everything was happening would be clear.
I genuinely disliked most of the characters, why should we settle for complimenting these bland as bread people? Every refers to the aspects of family in this, ... the only one I feel that applies to is Granny and Shota (Good Lord Shota, I have never been so frustrated at a character and I watched several episodes of SAO). The others were forgettable, not because they were bland, but because they were all designed to be unique and quirky.
The romance sucks, by the way. I'm sorry, I have to say it. It's not well developed, I didn't feel chemistry and the whole set up was so painful forced that I sat there thinking, goodness this girls a tad pushy isn't she. I certainly wouldn't let myself get dragged along by such an obnoxious girl just because she was cute, like our mayonnaise protagonist does.
I just remember how angry I felt watching this, mainly because of those same friends. They recommended this over 'The Girl who Leapt Through Time'? Piss off, it feels a bit like an awful prank. I went into this expecting to feel like it was Kimi no na Wa but left wishing I'd watched the live action Dragon Ball.
Am I being a prick to a film I know other people like? Yes. Do I think the film deserves me ranting incomprehensively at it? No.
Problem is, I didn't get enjoyment out of it, I sat there passively watching, getting angry occasionally.

This anime contains various scenes that will induce seizures! If you have epilepsy there is a lot of flashing imagery that will trigger seizures!

When it comes to Netflix's original content, it can be a real hit or miss situation (Though it can often land deep into the miss category and more often that not it does). I avoided Aggretsuko thinking, their hit was Violet Evergarden, there's no way this won't suck. Then when browsing late earlier this evening with a cup of tea, bored out of my mind, Aggretsuko appeared. "Well, I'm bored and if it's trash I'll have some wine and read some manga," ... I thought to myself, clicking on the anime.
What proceeded was a binge session I enjoyed every moment of. I know many people will find Aggretsuko as their first foray into the world of anime. That's great, the comedy throughout is refreshing when most comedy these days seems bland, repetitive and leaves me stone faced. Of course not all jokes will land well, but that's comedy isn't it? It won't always be tailor made to the individual. I'm going to go over the most important aspects.

Story-
The story follows down trodden worker, Retsuko, stressed by her rubbish boss and her coworkers. She wonders whether she should quit her job whilst finding solace in death metal karaoke and new friends. Each episode is a delightful package, containing long standing gags alongside quick jokes that produce a chuckle. The tale of being in a job you hate with a s**tty boss is one most of us can relate to, made enjoyable by the ridiculous levels of escalation. Retsuko goes through a lovely arc of self-discovery, finding her self-worth as she struggles through life. Overall a charming narrative that frames itself well.

Art-
The art grows on you, you can't approach thinking it looks tacky then stay unwilling to adapt. The simple character designs work well and the change from cute Retsuko to Rage Retsuko makes me giggle everytime.

Sound-
The death metal in this death metal anime is pretty decent, not amazing but if it went too hardcore I believe it would have scared away casual viewers. I honestly appreciated the character voice, the voice actors did brilliant jobs with getting characters personalities through.

Character-
Haiba is best boi, I will fight anyone who disagrees to the death.

Enjoyment-
I binged the whole thing but kept wanting to watch the next- this isn't something I tend to do when wathing anime, especially comedy.

I'm glad I gave this anime a shot, I found it a fun watch and will probably watch it again in smaller chunks to appreciate it better next time!