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ReLife… For some unknown reason, I’ve been overlooking this anime for quite some time now. Solid 8,00 on Mal, heard a lot about the manga being great, the premise seemed right up my alley, since I was somewhat a NEET myself, but I never took the first step to watch it. Until now, it’s corona time, and that means anime all-nighters! And I’m honestly glad I finally made this first step. Even though it has been 6 years since the anime came out, and almost 10 years since the manga release, the story and art style has aged quite well. To shorten it: Nice art; ... great story telling; probably the realest characters I’ve seen in while in this kind of a genre. That’s ReLife.

Art 8/10
I’d put it lower, but for it’s time, it was pretty good, and perfectly fit in with the narrative. The character designs were nice to look at and, as I like to say, complimented the character’s personality. It was nice to see some amount of detail, like the mole on Hishiro’s neck, matching earrings of Kariu and Oga, and the symbolism of Kaizaki’s loose tie.

Story 10/10
Everyone caught themselves thinking about what it would be like to be back in high school. Although mostly these thoughts are focused on our already experienced high school life, that’s where ReLife comes with its original twist. It covers some very interesting existential issues like harassment, our thoughts trying to constantly compare us to someone else (disregarding our own self-worth), as I call it: the “liquid sand theory” (once something fucks up, you try even harder to get out the pit, but the more you struggle, the more you descent), living with regret and most importantly what it truly means to be an adult. I personally think it’s the most real execution of the High school genre, since it covers important issues high schoolers have to go through, and on the other hands, we consume these problems through the eyes of an adult, even though adult society might see these problems as pathetic compared to issues of the “real world”. Every problem is carried into this “real world” where the scale is a bit higher and so are the consequences. A lot of the times you see the creators making up random drama just for the sake of the plot, however in this one, every drama portrayed seems real and justified. Even though this anime doesn’t own up to the “Comedy” tag, this anime can be fucking hilarious sometimes. Mostly accompanied by a chibi art style, our favorite over exaggeration and all of this comes out of the perfect character dynamic I could only compare to Bokura wa Minna Kawai-sou. In case you’re not a fan of Slice of Life, don’t hesitate to give this anime a chance, it’s very eventful and every scene has its purpose. Trust me, you won’t get bored.

Sound 5/10
Now, this is a bummer. Such a real, dramatic and emotional anime is accompanied mostly by a goofy and simple piano music, and the same notes are used in both comedic and dramatic scenes, so you don’t even know if you should laugh, or feel sad. I thought I’m just overthinking it, but once I saw a near climax, sweet and innocent scene and heard upbeat drums and a seducing female voice singing: “Hey baby, wanna make love? Wanna make love” I seriously thought I’d sue the music team for ruining that moment (If you’ll get to that point, tell me if it had the same effect on you too). Huge disappointment. Although the voice acting saved it from a much harsher score. All the voices were picked well and as a cherry on the top they featured Noriaki Sugiyama (the voice behind Sasuke Uchiha)

Characters 10/10
As I’ve already mentioned, one of the realest characters I’ve seen in a while in this genre. The characters mostly don’t overreact and if they do, it is most certainly justified. The best example is Kariu. Yes, she can be a bitch, and some say our true personality comes to light once we are under pressure or in a stressful situation, but who watched ReLife knows that Kariu is truly a kind girl who was pushed into anger by her surroundings and her depressing experiences. She is the main example of the “liquid sand theory” I’ve talked about earlier. She tries so hard in everything and yet she always seems to be the second one. It almost seems like her hard work goes nowhere, but she doesn’t realize that her hard work has already made her better than most other people. Being second isn’t a bad thing, and it’s nicely portrayed that it’s hard to see the greater picture, when you’ve been focused on someone else’s back for so many years. Hishiro’s character is very similar to Shiira Mashiro in Sakura-sou or Kotomi from Clannad. She’s unsociable, picks up random phrases from circles and uses them in the weirdest way possible (“Fight on!” for Hoshiro, “What the heck.” or “Oh, if it isn’t ____” for Kotomi) For comedic purpose in the anime) and they all hit that weird blissful adorableness. It’s refreshing to see a strong main character once again. Yes, Kaizaki has his overly embarrassing moments, he can be nervous around the girl he likes, but he takes action and doesn’t get overly stuck overthinking. He’s righteous, honorable, considerate, and actively tries to make himself and his surroundings better. The supporting characters are all important and are contributing to solve any current issue immediately, which I think is one of the main messages this anime tried to deliver.

Enjoyment 10/10
I feel completely satisfied. I was hooked from the first episode till the beautiful end. I’m of course talking about the separate four-episode final season’s ending. Don’t need to say anything else than: Watch it!

Overall 9/10
10/10 is out of the question, because the sound completely ruined it’s chances, and I think this adaptation deserves a slightly higher score on MAL than 8,00 (like 8,35), so my 9 is now born. I’d definitely recommend this anime to anyone who seems to be lost in the adult life right after graduating, it might leave an even bigger imprint than on other people, just like it did to me.
Give it shot, you won’t ReGret it!

Wonder Egg Priority… It has been a while since I’ve watched this show, but I can still vividly remember my thoughts about it, which is a sign of a good show in my opinion. This anime immediately caught my eye with its colorful art, heavy story and the fact that it was supposed to be an original series, therefore not an adaptation of an already existing work like manga, light novel or visual novel. Coming out in the winter season of 2021 together with giants like Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season, Horimiya, Yakusoku no Neverland, Dr. Stone, Re:Zero, Beastars, and others, it was obviously ... in a great disadvantage from the start. It had pretty much no hype, because nobody knew what to expect, and yet it now has a large group of fans behind its back, and I can easily see why.

Art
False advertising in its purest form. It’s interesting to see extremely heavy and heart-breaking topics being portrayed with bright colors, bosses looking like they were designed by a 12-year-old with ADHD and acted out through cute anime girls. It uses a lot of easy to figure out play on words, which in my opinion puts a little more depth into the story. I personally loved the OP, the first time I’ve seen it, I thought to myself: “Is this just another scene from the anime with some song in the background, or is it the OP?” It was completely unique, its atmosphere perfectly complimented the story and was overall just a treat to hear every episode. The animation was fluent without any cheap 3D, beautiful bright colors and character designs. I mean, have you ever seen an anime with this many people with this much swag? I certainly have not.

Story
Cute girls doing cute stuff. Have you ever heard of this popular genre before? Oh you did? And you liked it? Well, this is the same concept, except every single character in it suffers from crippling depression. This show loves its contrasts, and I love it for it. Every presented trauma offers multiple points of view and mostly some kind of way how to treat it. It starts off presenting you with a fictional reality, it doesn’t explain why it exists or pretty much anything else, but as you watch, the backstory slowly starts to unravel and makes you crave for more. Especially the first few episodes are pretty high on the “weird scale”. A lot of weird shit happens out of nowhere, with no explanation. When I saw the first episode, I thought to myself: “Damn, the writers must have had the worst acid trips, and combined them into an anime.” There’s plenty of moments where pretty much nothing is happening, which tickles my love for slice of life shows. It’s just our four heroines experiencing some heartwarming friendship moments for the first time in their life. Its ending is pretty open, advertising the sequel coming out in the summer season, and I’m hyped as fuck to see where this story goes. I think it’s inevitable to see this sequel being rightfully one of the most hyped series of that season.

Sound
I’ve already mentioned my affection to the OP, but the ED doesn’t lack behind one bit. The melody and energy compliments the whole artistic theme of the show and the subtle change of art-style is refreshing and beautiful. The voice acting is phenomenal. It makes me feel hopeful for the future, since none of the starring voice acters haven’t been featured in any other big shows, and I hope to see them present their talent in other future shows. The soundtrack is also great, I personally loved the use of electronic music during most of the fights.

Characters
Multidimensional, likeable, and elaborately written. As I’ve already mentioned, the characters have so much swag, you can’t even comprehend. You could easily figure out any girl’s personality just by looking at their style, but it was mostly just pleasing for the eyes. You might have seen some pictures already since Ai, the main character has been turned into not only dozens of memes, but also into a fashion icon. One of the best things about this anime is that it really makes you feel for every single character in it, not just the main protagonist. A lot of the episodes are focused on solving trauma of its side characters, and each and every one can be in some way relatable, therefore it strengthens the connection between our main four girls, but also with you, the viewer.

Overall
I’m waiting for the conclusion to consider giving it 10/10. This anime was a pleasant surprise. I rarely watch airing shows, unless it’s something big, and I’m glad I made an exception with this show, since I might be witnessing a birth of something big.

Suzuka… I was really surprised to see that this manga had a better score and more readers on MAL than Fuuka, since I completely adore Fuuka, so I was really pumped to see what this manga had to offer, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It was another manga that made me feel frustrated with the way how its characters acted, and frustration is one of the most unwanted feelings I want to experience while reading a manga. However, it wasn’t as bad as in some other works I’ve read, so I was still able to enjoy it for what it ... was. It’s a shame I didn’t read Suzuka before I read Fuuka, because both of them would leave a bigger impact on me that way.

Art 6/10
It didn’t really stand out to be honest. I can’t remember a single panel that would make me go: “Wow, that looks good.” It was like eating food without any seasoning, it works, but it could definitely be better. However, my degenerate heart stopped at the first chapter, where I found out that Seo-sama’s ecchi signature was completely uncensored in this one. The raw uncensored nudity was a gem in the Art side of things. Seducing poses, great details, and of course a fitting character design.

Story 7/10
This was a bit of a letdown. I loved how Fuuka portrayed a strong romance story, even though the main plot was about building up a successful band. I was hoping for something similar when I read the synopsis, a few volumes, and knew some revealing details from Fuuka. It had a lot of things going on, but the most pushing element was Yamato’s and Arima’s rivalry. I was really pumped to see this rivalry develop and experience Yamato getting to the top through his hard work, but then it completely fell flat. Eventually the romance took over the whole manga, and because I wasn’t really interested in this particular duo from the first place, I was pretty much left with nothing enjoyable.
The romance drama was the biggest flop of the manga. It’s pretty much on repeat. Yamato does something (mostly nothing bad), Suzuka lashes out, calls him an idiot, stops talking to him, then Yamato apologizes (seriously, I haven’t seen a character use the word “sorry” more times than Yamato), and then Suzuka either lashes out again and goes for another round of ignoring, or she explains some ass-pull reason why she ignored him, like she was too shy or something. If someone is ignoring someone because they’re shy, they don’t give them angry looks or scream. That’s just not how humans work in my opinion and when you read through this premise over and over again, it really starts to get on your nerves. Even though I only criticized the story till now, it wasn’t all bad. Especially the first few volumes were really enjoyable, without any giant flaws. And most importantly, it delivered a satisfying ending, which is probably the most deciding factor for me.

Characters 8/10
I despise Suzuka. She pretty much blames Yamato for anything that goes wrong, and fails to communicate with him in the most crucial moments. She goes through some character development, but it didn’t seem gradual enough. She pretty much just stopped being a bitch at a random moment. Normally I’d say how I can’t understand why is Yamato trying to be with this girl, but since I was in a similar relationship, I can understand. Sometimes looks and the rare cuteness completely overpowers the stuck-up attitude and lack of communication. Love can just be illogical sometimes, and that’s what I think this manga tried to show. Yamato might seem like a 2D character, but I was able to see a lot of depth in him, which might just be my overthinking nature, but let me explain. He seems like he has no other drive in life other than chasing Suzuka. He starts doing track just because he wants to be with her, and whenever their relationship gets problematic, he questions why is he still doing it. I wish it was made a little bit clearer in the manga, but that slight realization Yamato experiences is kind of powerful. He sort of realizes he’s running because he’s grown to like it, and not because he’s forced. He might seem confident, because of his goals and persona he’s developed in front of other people, but he gets overwhelmed by the expectations and believes Suzuka that he’s the reason for everything wrong in their relationship. He beats himself in secret for not understanding her feelings, but because he has such a low self-esteem, he doesn’t see that Suzuka didn’t offer him any information that could possibly make him understand. I liked Hashiba because of her caring nature. I personally think she liked Yamato, but she never tried anything dishonorable to be with him. Instead, she tried to be helpful to him and be a good friend, and that’s why I pronounce her the best girl of the manga. Yasunobu was a dick, acting like he knows everything about relationships, and giving Yamato stupid advice. He’s portrayed as Yamato’s best friend and yet he adopts the same bitchy attitude as Suzuka, calling him an idiot anytime he gets a chance. And lastly, I just liked the buff captain character. He was a source of a few good laughs and believed in Yamato no matter how many stupid things he did.

Overall 7/10
Yes, I might be disappointed, but did I enjoy reading it? Definitely yes. Even though it wasn’t as good as Fuuka, I’ll still treasure this manga, because without it, Fuuka would never come to be. I love how Seo-sama tries to connect his stories. The appearance of characters from his other works makes your heart stop every time. It’s just like finding an easter egg in a game or a movie, and it just makes you more invested in the story. It also makes me want to read all of his other works, so I can understand all of these easter eggs. I’d recommend this to some more experienced readers, because the frustration you might feel with Suzuka might discourage you from finishing it, but if you’re willing to see the good sides too, you definitely won’t regret picking up this story.







*SPOILERS SEGMENT*



*REAL MAJOR SPOILERS FROM SUZUKA AND FUUKA, DON’T READ THIS PART UNLESS YOU’VE READ BOTH OF THESE WORKS*
Seriously, what is the deal with traffic accidents in Seo-sama’s works? Suzuka must have had some terrible luck to lose her first love and eventually her own daughter like that. It feels a bit cheap when the “tired truck driver” card is used more than once by an author, especially if the works share the same universe and characters. But at the end of the day, it’s not that big of a deal.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AT THE END

Death Note... To be honest, I tried watching it in my early anime days, but put on hold because it didn't really catch my eye, and I had some other shows I wanted to watch. After long 4 years, I decided to give this legendary anime another go, and realized how right other critics were. There's no doubt about it, Death note is a masterpiece and even though it's pretty old, it aged really well, so present anime watchers can enjoy it the same way others did so long ago. I didn't think I would write a review ... on it, but after watching it, I wanted to give some of my thoughts on it. So here we go!

Story
Absolutely genius premise. This is why anime is such a different media than just mainstream media. The story is full of Japanese culture and lore, which to us foreigners brings a new perspective and way of thinking. The first couple of episodes are extremely calculated and smartly written, but after a while it seemed like they didn't have enough ideas, and the exchanges between L and Yagami didn't seem as calculated as before. They pretty much set up a story from for example L's perspective and then just said that Yagami predicted all of it, even though Yagami used to think in detail about his plans, so his plans were bulletproof. But after a while, even the fans can see through his plan and realize how many things could have gone wrong. It's hard to explain it without saying spoilers, but if you watched it, I think you know what I'm talking about. If you however, purposely overlook such details, just for the sake of enjoying it, it's still a masterpiece, and these nitpicking mistakes won't pull you out of the experience. The most mind blowing thing about this anime however, is the fact you're following a story of a mass murderer. At first, you can somehow sympathize with Yagami, but as we go further, he starts killing innocent people, just because they're in his way, which is really fucked up, and the most fucked up thing is you're cheering him on. You somehow want him to succeed in killing his enemies, and once he does, the show makes you feel horrible for doing so.

Art
It excels at creating the right mood. Scenes of Yagami's madness are accompanied with oversaturated hair and eyes, while other colors are really grey and shadowy. Animation is clean, and also excels at setting up the right mood. I personally really enjoyed Mikami's "delete" scenes and facial expressions. It kind of reminded me of Inio Asano's works like Oyasumi Punpun, which I thought was impossible to adapt into animation. All of the Shinigami were designed perfectly.

Sound
Once again, great! Perfect at setting up the mood. I personally really liked the first op and ending themes, giving the show that sinister and mysterious feel. However the second ones were a giant misstep for me. Overly metal songs didn't fit the mood at all in my opinion, and it just made me skip them every episode.

Characters
There's no doubt Yagami and L are geniuses. Perfectly calculated and extremely skilled in human psychology. The chemistry between these two characters is probably the what makes this show what it is. The constant challenging of wits, double checking and caution keeps you at the edge of your seat and once the episode ends, you crave for more. The other characters are not so deep, but they are really believable. Showing of Aizawa's daughter makes you see how much he has to lose, and yet he still tries to do the right thing, putting his life on the line again and again. Yagami's father has a strong sense of justice and holds onto it until the end. Misa might seem annoying to some, but I think she was a core character in this story. She might seem stupid, but you soon realize she can also be really calculated with her actions.

Enjoyment
The show was extremely interesting at the start, but lost its drive eventually. It was still fun to watch, but it didn't have the same energy as before. Which is acceptable, I think it's impossible to keep the same insane energy going for 37 episodes, just saying.

Overall
We all know how much of an impact this show had. Even though I wasn't able to enjoy it the same way, when I tried to watch it for the first time, I stand by the popular opinion of recommending Death Note as someones first anime. It shows why anime is so great, showing of a completely different culture, and ways of thinking, accompanied with fitting art, animation and sound. Death Note is still a masterpiece...


*SPOILER SECTION*



I can see why they killed of L so soon, it was probably the only way how to defeat Yagami. Him getting cocky after interacting with Near made him less cautious which ultimately lead to his demise. But as I've said, the chemistry between L and Yagami were what made this show so great, and it felt a bit weird watching it after L's death. That was the time where the show lost 50% of its original energy.

Fuuka... I've read the manga first, because I knew how society viewed this anime, and once I finished reading the manga (which I reviewed as well), I immediately jumped to watch the adaptation, expecting disappointment, and to be honest, I expected a lot worse.

Story
The first I'd say half of the anime pretty much follows the manga, which was fairly pleasant. I was starting to enjoy it, looking forward how they might adapt some future scenes. However, the studio probably knew beforehand this wouldn't get any more seasons, so they had to make a full story in just 12 episodes, so I can see why ... they had to change a lot of things to make the anime feel complete. But I'd say, this approach wasn't as good as they might have thought. I'm really trying here to be unbiased here, because I really loved the manga, but I guess I can't really help myself in some ways. There is a really major plot twist in manga which sets up to story for the whole series, and pushes its characters to grow, but in the anime, this plot twist is completely thrown out of the window and replaced with a forced cliche romance drama without any foreshadowing. It's a red flag in all entertainment medium to make characters act differently than their personality directs without any explanation or character development, just for the plot, and that's exactly what this anime did. It made up a character, presented its personality, and then just made the character act like a completely different character, and if you'd have read the manga, you'd be utterly disgusted how much they have butchered this character, just for the sake of plot development.
I'm glad they cut out some of those stupid "falling face first into boobs" scenes, even though not all of them.
I really liked the ending. If I wouldn't read the manga, I'd feel completely satisfied, and I think having a nicely wrapped up story at the end is a crucial element for a good ending. Even though we didn't get to see all the hardships the band had to go through, it's nice to see how they ended up.

Art
Pleasant to look at. It's not anything remarkable, but I'd say it worked out well. The concert scenes don't have a lot of choreography in them, but for example the drums are animated nicely.

Sound
I was really looking forward to hearing those songs I never had a chance to hear in the manga, for a few exceptions, there weren't even any lyrics, so I was wondering if they'll somehow match my imagination, and they actually did. Songs were really drum and guitar heavy, giving you the sense of hype, which is so important in the manga. However, it felt a bit weird to hear Fuuka's really high pitch voice when she talks and then suddenly change into a grown up woman who has a deeper voice than some males out there. And then there is the background music. I don't know if I would be happier if there was none, but most of it were just generic melodies you hear in most of your rom-com series, which was a bit disappointing considering it's a music anime. It didn't really pull me out of the experience, but I guess I just had my expectations way to high. Also, I couldn't keep up the count of how many times mostly Haruna said "huh?". That's what I call a shitty dialog script.

Characters
Because they chose to change the main plot twist which forced the characters grow, there isn't much character development. Haruna does get over his phone addiction and makes friends, but he's still that wimpy crybaby he was at the start. Mikasa is still kinda cool, but we didn't get to see some of my favorite scenes with him, because of the story line change. Nachi is Chad, just like in the manga, so I have no complaints there. He actually seemed like he was most passionate about the band, so that was a nice addition. Sara went through the most character development I'd say. From being rude, to talkative and kind, and from loving Haruna, to not giving a single fuck about his love life, which was a bit confusing to see actually.

Overall
It's really hard to be unbiased here. I don't know if I'd enjoy this show without reading the manga first, but I'd say the adaptation could have been way worse. It's a shame they didn't have the budget to make an adaptation of the whole story, but hey, that's the anime industry for ya. I hate to say it to you only anime watchers, but read the fricking manga man...


*SPOILER SECTION*

Even though I hate the change of the main plot twist, it was nice to see an alternative universe in which Fuuka stays alive and gets to live a happy life she deserves with her precious band and Haruna. If I wasn't thrown off by all the bullshit that happened, it would maybe even make me cry to see her so happy.

Fuuka… What a fucking journey… I didn’t know anything about this manga, before I started reading it. I saw some clip from the anime, and Fuuka Akitsuki immediately caught my eye. I heard the anime adaptation kind of butchered the manga, so I thought I’d read the story first. What a good call. I never imagined a romance manga could be this epic, even though the romance genre isn’t the main story line, it was still really strong. No other show, manga, or any other medium was able to make me tear up from happiness, while having chills go down my spine.

Art
At first, I ... didn’t really like it. I thought the main protagonist Yuu Haruna looked more like a girl, and it wasn’t really that special compared to some other works that were out at the time. However, I quickly got used to it, and even though it’s a simple looking art style, it gets the job done well. Some concert scenes might feel a bit repetitive after a while, it uses the same premise of a wide shot of the band, and then either disgusted or completely blown away facial expressions of the audience. But when a show is somehow special, the manga delivers big time. In the most important concert of the manga, you feel like you’re there, the hype and excitement completely takes you over, and it makes you forget that you’re not at a concert, you’re just sitting in a chair, staring at a book.

Story
It’s a complete journey of an upcoming band portraying the excitement and hardships you have to get over, if you want your dreams come true. It’s a story about strong will, patience, resilience, tragedy and love (love for music or your significant other). It brings up a really nice philosophical message. Even though a lot of things aren’t going your way, it’s important to not dwell on the past and look forward. If you really love something, you can’t just give up once something doesn’t go your way. And even if it doesn’t work out at the end, you have to focus on the good you’ve experienced on your way. It was also pretty progressive, putting in a homosexual character and a few really powerful women. Although I’m personally not a huge fan of these tropes if I feel like they’re forced, but this manga was a huge exception. All of these characters felt natural, and fit perfectly in the story. The story had a few “asspulls”, which I will review later in the *spoilers* section, just letting you know. And one thing I hated about this manga, were some of the ecchi scenes. It felt really fucking forced sometimes. You know those types were the protagonist trips on nothing and somehow falls face first into some girl’s boobs. These moments just pulled me out of the experience and were completely unnecessary. Luckily, they weren’t as frequent as in other shows I’ve watched or read, so I’ll let it slide. The romance aspect had a nice progressive flow, and felt really satisfying.

Characters
At first, Yuu Haruna felt like another useless and annoying character. However, the character development he went through was so fucking beautiful to witness. And even though I said he felt annoying at the start, it was extremely refreshing to finally see a guy who isn’t an asshole when it comes to picking a girl. He is loyal, and considerate, and just because of that, the romance aspect was so fun to read through. And don’t worry, even though I said he’s loyal, it won’t spoil anything to you, because even if you think you know who’s he gonna pick, it still makes you tense and hopeful. I also really liked Mikasa for no reason (: Fuuka was just overall loveable character, no need to say more. The other supporting characters all had their personality, and it never felt like they acted against it just for the sake of the plot.

Overall
Having chapters just 18-20 pages long was probably the best decision the author could have made. Every chapter was either ending on a cliffhanger, or it was a nicely wrapped satisfying ending to an arc, which made you really want to read more. “Come on, I can do another one, the next chapter is short, it won’t take a lot of time.” You think to yourself, but then you realize it’s 2AM and you have to work tomorrow. The flow this manga has is just phenomenal. This, the story, philosophical message, tears, epic journey, and likeable characters wrapped up together gives you the manga Fuuka. A manga which will most probably stick with me for a long time. And for that reason, it gets a 10/10 from me. It’s not perfect ofc, but the enjoyment from reading it, is just way too great, and it overshines all the little mistakes. Now I’m gonna watch the adaptation, and I feel like I’m gonna be really disappointed, but who knows. After that, I’m definitely reading the other side stories, and I hope to feel the same enjoyment.

*SPOILER SEGMENT*

*SERIOUSLY, DON’T READ THIS UNLESS YOU’VE READ THE WHOLE STORY*

The reason I love Mikasa’s character is because he’s not a wimpy girlish homosexual character. He’s really cool, and If I was gay and read this manga, I’d feel like I have to be proud of who I’m. However, the plot twist where he gets together with his female teacher, revealing he’s actually bi, felt like a huge asspull. We didn’t get a lot of information on Mikasa’s thoughts during the series, so I feel like it could happen IRL, but pull something like this without any foreshadowing just felt unnecessary. Especially when it had literally no impact on the story. Another asspull was the last arc. It felt a little too extreme that a business female would go that far to destroy a minor band, just because they caused a little trouble at their concert. It feels even more extreme when you realize that Funbook actually didn’t suffer from it at all, if they still won the competition. Also, the Fuuka’s double wasn’t really my cup of tea. It made me feel nostalgic and sad, yes, but the explanation of why she did it felt once again, a bit extreme to me. Another one was Fuuka Aoi blaming herself for Akitsuki’s death. And the last asspull, “The legends”. Somehow, every single person that works with Fallen Moon or Blue Wells is a legendary something. First the Hedgehogs, the president of the company, then the music engineer, then her best pupil, and last but not least, out of nowhere appears the legendary Pa team, which was under their noses the whole time. But as I’ve said in the review, these are just mistakes, that are overshadowed by the enjoyment I’ve head reading this. At the end I’d like to express my thoughts on Fuuka’s death. The aspect of having to get over a loss of your partner, that was present surprisingly throughout most of the manga just gave it an extra depth. The grieving process Yuu had to go through felt really natural, and him realizing it doesn’t feel right to ever love someone else than his dead girlfriend was truly saddening, because I knew he deserved to be happy. Finally, after a while he realizes that he does deserve to be happy, and that he can’t live a full life if he stays hooked up on the past. As I’ve said, this whole storyline gave the story a lot of depth, and I can’t express how much I loved it (even though I was sad as fuck when she died, it really feels weird to say that I’m happy she did).

*END OF SPOILERS*

Yep, I’d definitely recommend this manga to anyone who loves romance or music. I’ll probably remember this manga for the rest of my life.

This show had so much potential... It's such a shame we probably won't see the whole story, because I'm sure it would be one of those shows, I'd recommend to my friends as one of the best romance shows I've seen. I've written a full review on the source material, so I'll just add some details here.

Voice acting
Absolutely perfect. Usa's and Ritsu's voice actors did a really good job. As I've read the manga, I had some voices made up, and the anime completely exceeded my expectations. Usa's is perfectly fit for the comedy scenes, and Ritsu's just overall CUTE AF!!! The only offsetting thing ... is Sumiko's voice. After finding out, her voice actor also voiced Satsuki from Ichigo 100%, I just couldn't see my favorite anime grandma the same way as before.

Art
Art is most of the time the hardest part to adapt, and this adaptation did it once again perfectly. I'd even say, Bokura wa Minna Kawai-sou is comparable to Shinkai Makoto's Kotonoha no Niwa, which is the best looking anime out there (my opinion). The overused beams of light might be a bit offsetting to some, but they really worked for me. I was really scared how they'll adapt the comedic chibi scenes, and once again, perfect. Even some simplistic original animations made the scenes even better than in the manga.

Characters
The crucial chemistry between them was once again adapted perfectly.

Sound
Not remarkable, but it worked well.

Overall
The only reason why it didn't get its righteous 10/10 is because we didn't get to see the story's conclusion. I truly hope, someday we'll get a second season, even though it's highly unlikely. Now at the end, I beg of you, go read the manga. It's an easy, fun and refreshing read, and you won't regret it.

Bokura wa Minna Kawai-sou... First of all, I have to say, what a refreshing read. Heartwarming wholesome romance, hilarious comedy accompanied by beautiful and fitting art. I personally enjoyed every second of it.

Art
Every character is drawn according to their personalities, which is a nice cherry on top of the character design. This manga is pretty heavy on comedy, and the use of chibi art style is more than fitting. I’d say the art forms 70 % of the comedy in this particular manga. And if you’re looking for some cute wifus, the kawai complex presents plenty, especially close ups of certain female character’s facial ... expressions will make your heart skip a beat (mostly Rit-chan’s).

Story
Even though I said Kawai-sou is a wholesome romance manga, it doesn’t shy away from showing some adult or ecchi topics, like masochism, alcoholism, sex, or women hunting for men, just to show superiority. However, it portrays these topics in a comedic way, and it’s not trying to overwhelm you with some pointless drama. It’s not trying to be deep, it just wants you to enjoy the ride. The main “couple” goes through a lot of character development over the series, and the relationship development is natural and realistic. The key reason why I enjoyed it so much is the chemistry between its side characters. None of the main side characters feel like they’re left out of conversations, and because of their unique personalities, every single one of them has something funny to say, giving every conversation a nice twist. The only “complaint” I have is about the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but I feel like it was a missed opportunity, to have this long build up, and then just end it with a one panel, but that just might be my opinion.

Characters
I said a lot about the characters in the previous paragraphs, so I’ll keep it simple. Characters were realistic, unique, and thoroughly thought through. The chemistry between them was the best thing about the whole manga.

Overall
The only reason why I didn’t give it 10/10 is the slight disappointment hidden in the ending (it was really slight, don’t get discouraged to read it. It was still a good ending), and mostly because I haven’t read a lot of manga, so I don’t have much comparison material. However, I’m sure I’ll come back some day, and give this manga the righteous 10/10. If you want something easy and heartwarming, definitely give it a read. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Ichigo 100%... Some of you may have stumbled on this manga from Pewdiepie, Daidus, or TheAnimeMan who also called it the best purely romantic manga of all time. First of, I didn't read a lot of manga as of yet, but I've seen a shit ton of romantic anime, and boy oh boy, if this is the best out there, romantic manga reading is going to be a rocky ride.

Art
Some new fans of the otaku culture might naturally want to stay at the more modern works, because the art might not really be appealing to them, and Ichigo 100% sticks a knife right ... into their foolish brains, because the art is gorgeous. For the degenerates out there, the ecchi scenes are beautifully portrayed, however you won't find any full on nudes in here.

Story
What I liked about the story was its dedication to the romantic genre. Character's in it don't really deal with anything else, ofc except for their future, but these troubles about the future neatly tie back to the romance pentagon. The always recurring curveballs keep you on your toes until the end, so you never know, which girl is going to end up with the protagonist. However, the main character's personality traits force the story to be extremely dragged out, boring, and tiring. Cliches aren't necessarily bad, but they have to be balanced, and lead up to something either unique or enjoyable, but this manga uses cliches to cause psychological pain to the reader. If you're not professionally trained to tolerate cockblocks, this manga is NOT for you. Cockblocks might be funny and can fit the story well, but this manga uses them so much, that the author probably ran out of the fun cockblocks, and had to use the cheapest of the cheapest ones (A flickering light?! How would that ruin a mood for 2 virgins?!). After probably 30 chapters I really wanted to drop it, but I grid my teeth and finished it, and I'm so glad I did. The ending is probably the most important, and god damn, did this manga deliver a good ending. I think that no matter what your opinion is about the majority of this manga, you'll feel satisfied at the end of it.

Characters
The main character is annoying. There's no doubt about it. Haters might say he's realistic, which might be true, but that still doesn't eliminates the fact that he's annoying, indecisive, and overall a pretty plain character, except for his passion for movies and desire to help others even if it means he'll get beaten up. Junpei is probably the main reason why the story was so dragged out. Even though he evolves a little bit at the end, he still remains the least evolving character in this manga. Which is a shame, since he's the main character.
The side characters however scored some bonus points. They're funny, cute, supportive in their own ways. They all steadily grow, and learn from their experiences, change their relationships, and eventually learn what it means to be more adult.

Overall
I understand this manga's influence in the manga industry. A lot of authors probably used Ichigo 100% as an inspiration, and a lot of now popular romance tropes might have been created here. That, the beautiful art, the satisfying ending and interesting supporting characters saved this manga from a low score. I wouldn't personally recommend this manga to new readers, but if you're an experienced otaku, give it a try. After all, it's a piece of history, and at the end, you'll be happy you finished it.

Are you sick of your typical high school romance anime? Are you sick of waiting 11 or more episodes for seeing that physical side of relationships like kissing and even something more? Kuzu no Honkai has you covered fam! But don't get me wrong, it is not a story for someone who's looking for some optimistic energy and laughter. Some people might disagree with me, but I think that Kuzu no Honkai is one of the most realistic anime out there, and that's exactly why it's not a laughing matter. Sometimes life just dangles a lollypop in front of your face, and just as you're ... ready to lick it, life smacks you across the face with it. This show does something similar. It dangles happiness and sattisfaction, and just as you think it's gonna be alright, it just smacks you. Many shows do the same thing, but a lot of them make up bullshit reasons, just to squeeze certain emotions from you, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. It always seems really realistic and calculated. Yes, maybe illogical, but realistic (Except the marriage part, that felt kinda forcefed)

Art was unique. My words wouldn't make it justice, so you'll just have to see for yourself.

Sound wasn't that memorable, maybe if I'd focus on it more, I'd find out it was better than I actually remember. But when sound design is really good in a show, it just hits you, it's impossible to miss, so that's why I gave it a "fair" score.

Characters were really interesting. It is rare to see that even the side characters have some significat influence on the main protagonists. Here every side character had it's meaning and their backstories or motives weren't forced.

This show made me feel horrible at times, and that's why I enjoyed it so much. If a show makes me cry, it is a unforgettable show for me, and Kuzu no Honkai got me on verge of tears multiple times. I hope people will enjoy these kinds of shows, so we can get more of these realistic relationship stories in the future.