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- BirthdayJul 21, 2001
- LocationUK, England
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Dec 28, 2024
Blue Lock season 2 was overall a pretty big disappointment for me.
Hang on, you may be wondering. I can clearly see that this review says "Recommended", why should I read the writing of someone who doesn't even understand the difference between "Recommended" and "Not Recommended". Well fear not, I am about to explain to you how this anime is both a disappointment and still something I recommend at the same time, because I'm cool and quirky like that.
First we must address the elephant in the room. The animation quality. Simply put, there wasn't really any animation. Watching this season of blue lock was more like
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watching a VN that you left on auto play, and this lack of quality seems to be the thing everyone is talking about - at least as far as I've seen, but then again that may just be the voices in my head taking a break from telling me to walk deep into the forest and start a new life as a hermit who makes friends with the local wolves.
Anyways, I completely understand the complaints about the animation; all the points are generally valid, however people are complaining a little too much about it. They hear everyone else crying about it which makes them start crying as well and all of a sudden within the first few episodes, Blue Lock has been rated a 6/10 on mal fighting for top 40 in the season against Loner Life.
FYI If you haven't watched Loner life, then don't (nice little review in a review for you there, don't say I never treat you to anything).
Regardless, unless you are the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci, this lack of animation does not ruin the whole series and make it completely unwatchable, and honestly if you are his reincarnation then you probably have better things to be doing than watching anime anyway.
The animation did reduce the hype factor that the first season had but in my opinion was not even the biggest problem this season had, it was just the one that's most apparent and, realistically, I was still able to follow exactly what was going on and even use my tiny tiny brain to imagine the flow of movement. Basically, it felt a lot like a manga.
So what do I think is the biggest problem this series had compared to season 1, which made me drop it an entire two points, from a 10/10 to an 8?
Well to first set the stage, I don't rate many things a 10/10; a 10 is something I consider to be one of the best in its genre and I don't think I could have enjoyed it more, whereas an 8 is much more common for me and, while is something I did enjoy watching, this two point gap is quite a significant drop.
What caused this? Its not as Hype. Its that simple.
Season 1 of Blue lock was a high intensity hit of pure hype straight into your veins. Blue lock isnt something you come to for a deep emotional story, its just some dudes kickin' a ball, so it needs to get your adrenaline running. Some sports anime do have lots of build up and then have a payoff episode but season 1 of blue lock was pure action the whole way through, and somehow managed to make it actually work.
Unfortunately, season 2 just was not able to hit these levels, and yes animation quality was a factor as I mentioned above, but the main reason for this lack of hype was Isagi did fuck all the entire time.
The first season Isagi made a lot of impact, his "devouring" of Barou for example was a major scene that showed his thought process as everything connected into one great moment...but this season there was just none of that. We got a lot of Isagi thinking but ultimately he didn't actually do anything but occasionally pass the ball around and get blocked. Most of the time we were focusing on some other character who gets to show off their cool gimmick, being all like "look at me I can run fast" or "I can dribble", before they never touch the ball ever again and we move on to the next guy. (Though I will say the Nagi goal was amazing and really shows the heights this season could have reached if it were executed that well consistently).
Even the final scene where Isagi manages to score, which should be a super intense moment, just kinda falls flat because there's no build up to it, Isagi is just suddenly there and scores. The entire match all the characters on the pitch are talking about how Isagi is the main mastermind behind everything but it makes no sense because he does literally nothing except score one goal at the end, where we don't even see him until he kicks it.
Oh yeah also before the Under 20s match starts the anime was also pretty meh but I don't really care about that because it was all build-up to the big match anyways. Should a proper review discuss all aspects of the show and not focus on only one part? Yes, however I never guaranteed quality, only that I will share my opinion and potentially even proof read my work if you're lucky.
So, if for whatever reason you've read all that then firstly what is wrong with you, but secondly thank you (unless you disagree with what I've said in which case fuck you, my opinion is right and I am in a deep committed relationship with your mother).
I will finish this review by addressing something I mentioned right at the very start, why do I still recommend this anime? Its probably something you're thinking about more now I've just ranted about the negatives of the season this whole time, yet proceeded to still rate it an 8/10 - a reasonably high score overall.
Well the reason for that is because the bad parts stand out the most and so are the parts that are easiest to talk about. However, like I said, I found season 1 of this show to be a 10/10 and a lot of the parts that make it enjoyable still remain. Its fast paced action and the edginess of being the number 1 egoist just works. At one point I thought Rin was going to realise that friendship is magic only for him to say its disgusting and go on some sort of rampage shortly after, and it was great! Screw friendship, Fairy tail is overrated!
Overall, Blue Lock is a good anime and people are hating on this season way too much. Is it noticeably worse than season 1, Yes. Is it something that was still a good watch each week, also Yes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 24, 2023
Warning!!! this review will contain spoilers. I usually don't like including them since what's the point of reading a review if you haven't watched the anime yet but in this case if spoiling you on the show stops you from watching it then i've done you a favour.
Now there's a lot wrong with this anime and I'm sure the other reviews will go in depth about all the boring things, stuff like all the characters are bland, the animation sucks and the story isn't great etc. But who cares, that's not why I'm writing this review. No I have a holy mission, a divine passion
...
that I must obey.
I'm writing this review because to put it simply the main character of this show really pisses me off.
So spoilers but the story literally ends with the mc beating the antagonist and acting all high and mighty that he saved him from this evil curse. Not a particularly original storyline and honestly barely even counts as a spoiler because a child could have seen that coming. Anyways, here's the catch though, everything is all entirely the MCs fault, he's a massive dick who basically ignored the antagonist after making a promise to go back to their own world together, which is what causes the antagonist to get possessed by an evil curse and subsequently turned into a yandere who wants to destroy the world. He then acts all high and mighty after defeating the antagonist, doesn't even apologise for breaking his promise or anything, and the antagonist just gets blamed for everything that happened even though he deserves like 50% of the blame at best. If he just kept his promises or at least talked to the antagonist seriously it all would've been avoided yet he gets away looking like the hero while the antagonist pays for it all. To make it worse the show tries to play it off like he is a true hero and there's a scene where the antagonist is all like "oh wow you kept your promise after all" but he literally never did at any point.
I cannot stress enough how much this annoyed me. Everything about this anime sucks but it sucks in a way that's really generic and not really worth thinking about. However, them making the hero such an absolute mouth breather while trying to pretend he's so badass and cool is what motivates me to hate this anime. In a way I have to be impressed though because its rare that I've ever wanted to actively root against the main character that we've been following the whole series, so if that was their goal (it wasn't I imagine whoever made this could not write a Christmas card correctly) then they would have passed with flying colours and I'd be giving this anime a 10/10 and your parents would probably love you.
Obviously we don't live in that world though and that's why I'm here and you are reading this. Regardless, I hope my realistically quite irrational hatred of this random guy from a mid at best anime has entertained you or at the very least convinced you to not watch this anime if you have not already. If the opposite has happened then I strongly advise you seek professional help.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 26, 2023
Chances are if you are reading this then you've already watched every previous episode of Yowamushi pedal and so there's really no reason you shouldn't watch this one. I mean come on, the last season ended on a cliff-hanger which this season then picks up so it would be really weird to not watch this season too.
However, just because I'm saying you should watch this anime, that doesn't mean I have only positive things to say. In fact its quite the opposite. Firstly, half of this season is just flashbacks that feel more like filler to kill time than actual good content, and honestly they
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probably are since this season didn't have enough content to make it 12 episodes otherwise. Many times when a sports anime is usually trying to set a hype atmosphere, Yowamushi pedal ruins it by cutting to a flashback of someone and then the next episode returns to normal as if nothing ever happens.
As well as this, there feels like there's no real payoff this season. The final tense moment of the race isn't particularly built up, it just kinda happens and someone ends up winning. I never really felt particularly emotionally invested like I did for the first race all those years ago now.
Having said that, if you enjoyed the other seasons of Yowamushi pedal then there's still no reason you'll dislike this one. While I have only listed issues I have with the show, and honestly I could probably list a few more, I simply don't need to list the things I enjoyed about it because these factors have been a constant throughout all the other seasons as well. Its the same character cast, same racing, etc.
Is it a great anime? Not really, but is it what you would expect from a Yowamushi pedal? Yeah pretty much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 6, 2023
This review contains no spoilers.
First things first, you may be wondering why has someone written a new review on a show that aired over 2 decades ago.
Put simply, I dont particularly expect many readers however for some reason after completing this anime I cant stop thinking about things to say about it, leading to where we are now. Why exactly this is I will try my best to convey to you in the following review.
I did not like this anime. I gave it a 6/10 so I dont hate it, but I cannot by any means say I enjoyed the overall experience either. In
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fact, it took me a little under a year to even finish all 24 episodes and I have been known to binge 100 episodes of shounen or sports anime within a matter of weeks. I will admit neither 90s anime or Sci-fi shows are particular interests of mine, but I do not hate them either so my opinion of it at the very least isnt innately biased against it.
Despite not liking Outlaw star, I find myself thinking more about this anime than I do for the vast majority of other anime ive finished, even ones ive rated significantly higher on my list. The exact reasoning for this is very difficult to put into words but in general it all comes down to the atmosphere of the show. The anime manages to convey the feeling of how big the universe is and how many adventures await, creating a wide variety of characters and making you look back somewhat melancholically once you've finished it. The ending especially leaves a poignant feeling that is hard to describe. It ends with the quote (this is not a spoiler),
"The adventure never ends...
We'll set off on a journey
Sometime somewhere
To the stars again.
And the new adventurers will begin."
Which without putting it in explicate words, conveys exactly my feelings towards what the atmosphere of a sci-fi space adventure should be.
However, that is where my praise for the show ends.
I mentioned how it conveys certain feelings, however this is only at some points of the anime. The general middle chunk of the show basically feels like filler with the only purpose to loosely develop the world and characters. Additionally, the ending leaves me with especially mixed feelings. I could see the intention to make a profound ending that would blow the viewer's minds and make the whole adventure worth watching, somewhat similar to how space Dandy ended, however for me this simply failed and worse yet it was an all-for-nothing gambit which meant I was ultimately left disappointment when it didnt hit as it should. This is partly what led to me being left thinking about this otherwise uninspiring ending after it finished - the idea of missed potential.
I simply have a sense of disappointment about Outlaw star. It had a lot of potential to be something really great but ultimately just failed to reach those peaks and ended up being rather mundane and uninteresting. It sparks more interest in me than other shows I consider better because of this great potential it has, and it even had moments throughout the anime where I was engaged with what was going on, however it just failed to keep it up for the vast majority of the episodes and didnt pull off a very ambitious climax that it had been building up for the entire course of the story.
However, considering how old it is and that it very likely paved the way for so many other great anime that could follow in its footsteps and achieve the potential Outlaw star possessed... well theres a certain level of acceptance that comes with that way of thinking.
Moving onto more concrete aspects. The artstyle of the show is what you would expect from a 90s anime at the beginning. However, about halfway into the anime I can only assume the budget ran out because the art started degrading rapidly in quality to the extent where it was clearly noticeable even to me, someone who doesnt pay much attention to the subtleties of animation quality.
The characters as well were average at best. The anime seemed to want to suggest they were all growing closer as a team, however I didnt feel like any significant development was really being made and they more resembled a group of people who were all just acquaintances, even by the end of the show.
Finally, the plot was mostly episodic with an overarching story that was only actually developed within the first and final few episodes, with the rest being uninteresting episodic adventures about the cast travelling to different worlds. This is what caused me to spend almost a year finishing this anime, as during these episodic parts I felt no desire to continue watching.
On paper Outlaw star was very unremarkable. Ultimately, I cant recommend that anyone who at least really into the genre and concept should watch this anime and I dont think that the fairly high score this show has on MAL is accurate compared to others with similar ratings. Having said that, if you want a 90s space adventure anime then this is by no means completely unwatchable. I couldnt rate this show any less than a 6 as it had moments where I genuinely enjoyed watching, but overall I was left thinking the anime was just ok and so it would feel wrong to rate it any higher either.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 20, 2021
This review will contain minor spoilers - however this isnt a particularly plot driven anime so it really doesnt matter.
Fruit of evolution appears like it attempted to be a generic and average isekai, the type you usually see at least 2 of each season, and yet somehow it failed to copy and paste the same standard formula that all the other clique isekai have adopted.
Now full disclosure, I personally enjoy trashy isekai. I know I will go and see a doctor eventually. However, even my underserved love for the standard isekai traits could not make me actually like this anime. In this review I will
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explain why.
Firstly there is no plot, this isnt particularly surprising for a trashy isekai but it would've been nice to see one nonetheless. Instead the protagonist just seems to wander around almost randomly building his harem and abilities as he goes. Those two aspects in particular will be the focus of my criticism as they are the key aspects of most trashy isekai.
The harem itself is unique to say the least. This anime, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, put an unexpected twist on his harem.
He marries a gorilla.
Yes she turns into a beautiful woman later on, but he fell in love with her before she did so. He also gets a Donkey that turns into a girl but that wasn't even surprising at that point.
As well as this, there's none of the satisfaction of him getting a harem. The girls just immediately fall head over heels in love with him the moment he sees them. For example, the only human girl officially part of his harem (in the anime at least) is meant to be a loner who purposely keeps away from people and yet seems to fall in love with him about 5 minutes after meeting with no actual actions from the MC himself.
Its not worth writing too much about how OP the main character is. As per isekai rules he becomes outrageously overpowered almost instantly and without any effort, yet infuriatingly he keeps complaining about his new powers despite there being literally zero negative consequences. Obviously, he never uses any of them effectively but still manages to slay the most powerful monster in existence, so there's no need to worry if he's the strongest or not.
Moving on from the plot, the studio itself didnt do the anime any favours. The animation quality is terrible, something which doesnt work well when trying to animate cool fights with magic flying around, and the music/ost was forgettable at best. That said, if the animation and music was incredibly high quality then it would only feel out of place considering how low effort the actual story was, but that doesn't justify the end result.
Moving on from classic isekai traits, I will mention the other main focus of this anime, comedy.
Comedy is meant to be subjective so I wont go on an egotistical rant about how my taste in comedy is superior to anyone who likes this anime, however I personally found it was very hit or miss, miss being the most common result. I will begrudgingly admit, though, that I chuckled at a couple of jokes but the overall quality of the comedy was about as good as everything else.
So... since ive been insulting it so much, why have I given it a 4 and not a 1? Firstly, as previously mentioned I have an irrational love for trashy isekai and although I hated almost everything about this anime, it was still an easy way to turn off my mind for 20mins. I never found myself actively dreading each Monday when I would watch it like I have for some anime.
(*cough* See my review on Seven deadly sins dragon's judgement *cough*)
Furthermore, the anime knows that it is low effort and this works in its favour. Some anime attempt to be a high quality and well done masterpiece and it only makes it fall harder when it ultimately fails to reach that standard. Fruit of evolution simply doesnt try and doesnt raise your expectations as a result. You know you're going to watch something trash and you get what you expected.
Overall, do I recommend you watch this anime?
Of course not, this show sucks. There is literally no reason to watch this, there are better things out there that exceeded this anime in all qualities.
However, I was able to make it through all 12 episodes without any major negative symptoms so if you read this and still really want to watch it, im not going to try to stop you.
Thanks for reading my review!
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 29, 2021
Watching this anime was pure pain and, minus the odd 5 minutes once in a blue moon, I hated every single second of it.
So, you may immediately think to yourself "so J, why did you finish the entire series then dumbass".
Well there was one reason and one reason only why I finished this anime, the soundtrack is fucking amazing! Sawano has an ending song which is always going to be great but even the openings absolutely bang.
Unfortunately, by the time I was about 10 episodes in and realised the soundtrack had lulled me into a false sense of security, the sunken cost fallacy
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had already taken a firm grip on my mind and it was too late to drop it. I also did not expect this complete trainwreck of an anime to get 24 episodes you cannot imagine how devastated I was once I saw it didnt end after episode 13.
But besides the soundtrack, why is it so bad?
Well they spend the first half of the anime in the main arc that the previous seasons have been leading up to, thats totally fine. The fight was overall pretty boring but whatever. However, for the latter half of the season they decide, for whatever reason, to cram in a whole other arc about "chaos", which they've never mentioned before by the way, leading to the absolute genius idea to use 3 episodes to have not just a boss fight but also a whole character arc for merlin.
Needless to say this did not go well.
Furthermore, the animation quality was also just subpar compared to the first couple seasons with half the characters attacks not even being properly animated
Realistically, the anime just fails to get the viewer invested due to certain scenes of terrible writing - they did my boy Escanor particularly dirty this season. The ending blew my mind for being spectacularly bad but I wont spoil you in case this review has filled you with the burning desire to watch it for yourself...
(If that is the case please consult a doctor immediately)
Basically this is the worst anime I've ever actually ever tried to finish and I deeply regret all my life choices that have led up to this moment. That said, I'll give it a 2/10 instead of a 1 because, as previously mentioned, the soundtrack was very good and I have just about survived watching every episode.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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