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Welcome back to “A Woman With No Reviewing Skills Watches A Low-Rated Anime Just To See How Bad It Really Is”! Seriously, though, this is the second time this year I’m reviewing a low-rated anime only to reiterate what everyone already knows. From what I can tell, though, “Waza no Tabibito” doesn’t seem to be even on the level of infamy that “Spectral Force” is; at the very least, less people have watched the former than the latter. Maybe it’s because it’s not based on an Idea Factory game this time, or perhaps it’s just that it took way longer for it to even get ... the English-subbed treatment by fansubbers. Either way, it’s probably for the best that Waza no Tabibito has largely gone unnoticed by the anime community, because even though it’s not quite as bad as Spectral Force, it still sucks a lot.

In the post-apocalyptic world of Waza no Tabibito, there is a group of people known as the Wazabito. These people live out in nature and train their hearts (whatever that means) to control a kind of power known as the wazans. One such Wazabito, Techni, is a traveling warrior who, one day, saves a little girl from a biological weapon known as an Oxylic. The girl, Ruri, comes from a city that is in search of more Patia, an energy source for the people that has also caused many problems for the world, such as civilization not progressing any further. Does any of this really get explored? Nope, because the anime is too busy throwing Techni’s boobs and ugly CGI animation in our faces!

Look, I’m not going to knock on the fanservice, since I knew going in that it’s an ecchi anime, but that fanservice is attached to one of the most generic fantasy stories I’ve ever seen. Not only that, but its 31-minute runtime leaves no time to explore the world or its characters. I could barely follow the story as a result; I hardly remember what “wazabito” or “Patia” are even supposed to mean. Also, as a result of the lack of time to explore the characters, I couldn’t get attached to any of them. I couldn’t care less about Techni, despite her not being particularly unlikable, and the exact same thing could be said about the rest of the cast. This could have been fixed if Waza no Tabibito was a 12-episode series instead of a 31-minute “film” (I refuse to believe this ever played in theaters), but alas, ‘tis not.

….On second thought, it probably would have been better if Waza no Tabibito wasn't a series if it was going to be animated like this. Think of the ugliest CGI-animated thing you've ever seen in your entire life; I guarantee you that the animation here is worse than that. I respect Shun Matsuena for his work on "Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple", but any amount of hard work he put into this was absolutely wasted, and the animation was a showcase of that. One positive thing I can say is that there are some sort of nice-looking establishing shots, but that's not really saying much when the backgrounds don't look that impressive the rest of the time. Oh, and it bothers me how inexpressive the characters could be, especially Fuku, Techni's owl companion; aren't animal sidekicks supposed to have more expressions that what he displays with his little owl face?

Honestly, the most positive thing I can say about Waza no Tabibito is that the voice acting wasn't as terrible as the animation, but that's not really saying much. Techni is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, a well-liked voice actress who even I have a lot of respect for, but even though she doesn't give a bad performance here overall, it's clear that her heart wasn't really in it, resulting in this being one of her weaker roles. Again, the same could be said about the rest of the cast, including Tomoko Kawakami. I feel bad for saying so, given that this was one of her final voice roles before her 2011 passing and especially that there was a short tribute to her at the end, but I can't really say anything about her performance, given how insignificant her character was. Speaking of the end of the anime, I guess there was also an ending theme ("Anata no Tabi wo" by Sora Yuizuki, to be exact), but I pretty much forgot about it as soon as it ended.

Overall, Waza no Tabibito was 31 minutes I will never get back, and I'd recommend you to spend those 31 minutes you could spend watching this on something else. Even if you're a Kenichi fan, you're just going to come out of it disappointed. Now, I wonder what other bad anime I'm going to end up reviewing this year.... (Don't say "Spectral Force Chronicle Divergence". I've already watched it, and I'm not rewatching it.)

It's been a while since I've sat down and read a book that's not a manga, so why don't we change that? Yeah, that sounds nice. Curling up and reading a good book, possibly with a cat taking a nap nearby. Speaking of cats, the debut work of Makoto Shinkai, a renowned anime director known for beautifully-animated films like "Your Name", is a short OVA shown from the point of view of a cat. This OVA, known as "Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko" or "She and Her Cat", would later get a novel adaptation written by Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa, which expanded the small world ... of the original OVA; even later than that, the novel was translated into multiple languages, with the English translation, in particular, being done by Ginny Tapley Takemori. Of course, I didn't know any of this until recently, but I did find out quickly enough to request it as a birthday present this year and, by some stroke of luck, actually get it. After reading through it, I can guarantee that cat-lovers will love She and Her Cat: Stories, too!

The original "She and Her Cat" OVA is shown from the point of view of Chobi, a cat who has special feelings for his owner, and the first chapter of the novel, "Sea of Words", is, for the most part, the same way. I say "for the most part" because this chapter, much like future chapters, alternates between the points of view of a cat and their owner - in this case, Chobi and his owner, Miyu. From Miyu's perspective, we get to see more about the problems that she is going through in the OVA (assuming that "She" and Miyu are truly the same person), which is something we don't get there. Of course, though, this insight does make the ending even sadder, as the deeper connection the reader may have with Miyu as a character may give them a stronger sense of just wanting her to be happy. Chobi feels this way for sure, and you can definitely feel the love he has for his owner on the page. Well, it does feel weird when Chobi refers to Miyu as his girlfriend, but at least their overall relationship remains wholesome and there are no signs of Miyu wanting to screw her cat, unlike in some anime I know of. (Looking at you, Beheneko!)

"First Blossoming", the novel's second chapter, shifts the spotlight onto Mimi, another cat you may recognize from the original OVA. A character who doesn't appear and thus wouldn't be recognized, however, is Reina, an aspiring painter who commonly feeds the stray Mimi. Being a kitten at the beginning of the story, Mimi's worldview is a bit more childlike than that of Chobi, which leads her to acting in a way that may annoy some readers; however, I did find her character development interesting. Meanwhile, many people may relate to the struggles Reina is going through, although she does come across as a little arrogant at the start. This is also the first chapter that really felt climatic toward the end of it, with real stakes and everything, and I did think it ended on a heartwarming and satisfying note.

Perhaps the chapter that has stuck in my mind the most is chapter 3, "Slumber and Sky". Not gonna lie, I've got mixed feelings about the chapter's human protagonist, Aoi; although she does get some good character development, her backstory doesn't really paint the best picture of her as a person. I don't want to condemn her too much, though, as through her, we see a heartbreakingly realistic depiction of depression and how detrimental it can be to a person's life. (Aoi isn't explicitly stated to have depression, but based on the symptoms she displays of the unnamed mental illness she is stated to have, I get the impression that she has anxiety and depression. I'm not qualified to diagnose that for sure, though; it's just a feeling I have.) This chapter, however, also shows how pets can really help with those who suffer from depression through the bond Aoi gradually forms with its cat protagonist, Cookie. Cookie is also a kitten, and her cute antics, as well as the bond she and Aoi slowly form, are pretty heartwarming.

Finally, we've got the fourth chapter, "The Temperature of the World". Unlike the rest of the book, this chapter is told from a third-person point of view instead of a first-person point of view, yet there are still a "she and her cat" whose perspectives we see to a certain degree, those being an older woman named Shino and a stray black cat named Kuro. There is also quite a bit of focus here put on Jon, a dog who acts like an advisor of sorts to the cats; he gives off a bit of a mysterious vibe, and the philosophical musings he occasionally goes off on add to it. The ending to this chapter, in particular, was pretty heartwarming, especially since it ends up involving a certain other cat owner. (You know exactly who I'm talking about.) I just wish there was more about the bond between Shino and Kuro, as the focus does shift more to another human character about halfway through. After this chapter is the novel's epilogue, which I'd say ties everything together quite nicely.

Of course, I haven't read the original Japanese version of this novel, so I can't comment on how accurate Ginny Tapley Takemori's translation is. However, I will say that the prose was nice and easy to understand, and you know, if the Japanese prose gave off the same nice and gentle vibe that the English prose did, I'd say it's a translation job well done! Each chapter also starts with some gorgeous illustrations done by artist Rohan Eason. This illustrations are way more realistic than that of the original OVA, and I think there is merit to both styles. We get the adorable anime-esque Chobi in the OVA and the more realistically-drawn (but still cute, of course) Chobi in one illustration in the novel; I see this as nothing but a win!

Overall, She and Her Cat: Stories is a pleasant set of short stories that I'd happily recommend to any cat lover. I'd also recommend it to anyone who wants more "She and Her Cat" content outside of the original OVA and the short series, Everything Flows. I'd even recommend it to my own cats if they could read; maybe they'd relate to the cats in this story quite a bit!

One might glance at the cover of "Not Lives" and think it was a manga that involved dating sims more than it actually does. Believe me; that's what I thought when I first picked the first volume up at a certain bookstore back in 2016. Although the actual content of the manga wasn't exactly what I expected, I did enjoy it enough to buy the second volume later on. For some reason, however, I ended up stopping collecting the volumes there, and I never got around to reading the rest of the series....until now. I mean, just like how a lot of gamers like to ... 100% their favorite games, I've got to 100% a manga that I at least thought was decent, right? Anyway, I bought the last eight volumes and read the entire thing from the beginning. Now that I've cleared this manga, what do I think of it? Let's find out!

Not Lives primarily follows Shigeru Mikami, a high school student with a deep love and appreciation for video games. He doesn't like just playing games, however; he has developed quite a few games of his own, even a mobile game that his childhood friend had been playing without even knowing he made it. One day, while gathering research materials for a dating sim he was requested to develop, he stumbles onto a disc for a game called "Not Alive". One finger press to the middle of the disc later, he has taken control of a girl named Kyouka Amamiya, an avatar in a mysterious real-life fighting game. From there, Shigeru and Kyouka must work together to clear the game....which turns out to be a real fight for survival.

At the start, Not Lives seems like the kind of manga that would follow a specific formula. Shigeru and Kyouka get challenged to a fight, they win, and onto the next. However, sooner rather than later, the story starts getting into longer story arcs that actually introduce player-avatar teams that aren't just there to be an enemy to the main duo. Unfortunately, the supporting characters aren't too memorable either way, and although they seem like they'd serve a real purpose to the story, they aren't utilized to their fullest potential. It's even worse for characters that aren't a part of the game, such as Shigeru's aforementioned childhood friend, Itsuki; not having her somehow get caught up in Not Alive was a mountain of wasted potential, and her obvious crush on Shigeru never got properly explored, either.

What does get explored quite a bit, though, is the relationship between Shigeru and Kyouka, as well as their own characters. Okay, maybe not so much for Shigeru, but that doesn't stop him from being a very likable character; I really enjoyed his determination and his passion for games. Kyouka is, by far, the character who gets the most development; we get to see what her family life is like, her skillset in and out of battle, and bits and pieces of her backstory. In the end, there is a major reveal about who Kyouka really is, and while it definitely took me off-guard, I can at least say that it was properly foreshadowed. The relationship that forms between Shigeru and Kyouka, while not particularly substantial, was ultimately very sweet.

The battles in Not Lives are very fast-paced and well-drawn, although it can be a little hard to follow for those who are not seasoned action manga readers. The way the battles are drawn definitely adds to how fun they are to read through. Something that particularly interests me about these battles - well, the first two real battles, specifically - is how the defeated avatars are removed from the game; the way those scenes are drawn really utilize the medium of manga that the story is being told from. Another thing about the art that I liked is the character designs; Wataru Karasuma really has a talent for drawing cute girls and not-too-bad-looking guys. Yeah, that's all I really have to say about the art.

Overall, Not Lives isn't a game-changer of a manga, but it's a fun read nonetheless. I recommend it for anyone in the mood for a manga that gives off the same energy of fighting games. At the very least, you should read it for the bonus chapters at the end of some volumes, which pay homage to beloved titles in a way that a manga with a true love for video games can!

Who knew that such a renowned meme among the anime community would come from a manga where one man urinated in another man's butt? Moreover, who knew that that meme would lead to that manga getting a PG-13-rated anime adaptation nearly 40 years later? Well, that's just the reality we're living in, so accept it already. I've accepted it, even though I was disgusted by the original "Kuso Miso Technique" manga when I first read it in 2021. I mean, if Alice no 100°Cc was going to gross me out, why would anyone think I'd be any more okay with reading Kuso Miso Technique? Nevertheless, ... Kuso Miso Technique has achieved meme status for its facial expressions and the quote, "やらないか?" (Yaranaika?), or "Shall we do it?" in English, and on April Fool's Day of 2023, an anime adaptation called "Shin Yaranaika" was announced, releasing exactly a year later. One additional year after that, I have watched "Shin Yaranaika" and will now review it. (I mean, it's March 31st where I am at the time of writing this review, but I mean, it's April 1st elsewhere in the world!)

Shin Yaranaika, also known as the Junichi Yamakawa Collection, begins when Masaki Michishita, an ordinary student at a prepatory school, runs to a public park in search of a restroom. There, he locks eyes with a man sitting on a bench. The man, Takakazu Abe, proceeds to zip down his jumpsuit, reveal his privates, and ask Masaki, "Shall we do it?" Thus, they go to the men's restroom together and....well, I don't think I need to explain how the rest of the Kuso Miso Technique section of this OVA goes. I say the "Kuso Miso Technique section" because there is actually more to the story beyond here, with those elements being based on other one-shot manga drawn by Junichi Yamakawa. Well, I don't know how closely the OVA follows those one-shots (and honestly, I don't really want to know), but it does all come together into one insane ride!

Since Shin Yaranaika isn't an adults-only story like its manga counterpart, you aren't going to see any explicit sex or butt-wetting (I said what I said); those moments are censored with more pleasant images, although you can still hear the main characters' dialogue over those images. One of these images references the "Nice Boat" meme, which really hammers in the fact that this anime is little more than a meme that shouldn't be taken too seriously. Of course, those scenes being censored isn't much of a surprise, but what did surprise me was how the anime developed its two main characters. We actually get a short scene of Masaki's prep school life at the beginning of the OVA (which was a weird but sort of amusing scene, but I digress), and Takakazu has a backstory that is shown in the story and even sort of comes into play later on. Their relationship to each other is expanded a little bit beyond what is shown in the original manga, too, and while whether or not their relationship is actually believable is debatable, it does seem to me like they actually care about each other, more than the original manga did, anyway.

Having previously watched Maki Itou's "World, Before You End", I knew that the animation in Shin Yaranaika was going to be trash before even watching the trailer. Unfortunately, I was proven correct, although in this case, it actually kind of fits in a weird way. Even though I can't, in good faith, rate the anime higher than I am because of the animation, I can easily see the poor animation in this OVA being a meme in and of itself, especially the 3-D animation. As for the sound....well, it's not too bad. The voice acting is okay, with Maki Itou's voice actually being a very good fit for Takakazu. The music is very stupid-sounding, but it's a very good fit for such a ridiculous anime.

There isn't really much I can really say when it comes to how I feel about Shin Yaranaika, but I can at least say that it was never boring and that it was a more worthwhile experience than the manga it came from. I do feel like it's best to watch it if you've already read Kuso Miso Technique, since you might appreciate the ridiculousness of it all better that way, but those with a good amount of familiarity with Japanese meme culture could probably also enjoy it. Just remember to not take this anime too seriously, since it is, after all, a meme.

It's kind of funny how this story about striving to make a wholesome dream come true came from someone with a wholesome dream of their own. Tsurumaikada, a doujinshi artist and fan of voice actress Natsumi Haruse, once declared on Twitter that they wanted to one day draw a figure skating manga that would get an anime adaptation starring Natsumi Haruse. If that were me, I would have left it at that, saying that that would be nice, but Tsurumaikada actually took steps to make their dream come true, even taking ice skating classes for research. This all resulted in the serialization of "Medalist", a ... manga that quickly gained the adoration of readers and even won some awards, including the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2023. This year, Tsurumaikada's dream finally came true with the release of the Medalist anime, but was pursuing this dream really worth it in the end? Let's find out.

Medalist begins when Tsukasa Akeuraji, a former ice dancer whose dreams of being a solo figure skater never truly got off the ground due to him starting late in life, starts working as an assistant skating coach at an ice skating rink. There, he meets Inori Yuitsuka, a fifth-grader with figure skating dreams of her own. However, due to her mother not letting her pursue figure skating and people her age being considered "too old" to start, anyway, Inori doesn't have the self-confidence to go beyond secretly practicing at the ice rink. Tsukasa sees great potential in Inori, however, and not wanting to see her give up like he did, he agrees to become her coach. Together, they overcome various challenges and work toward Inori's ultimate goal: to become an Olympic gold medalist.

The story told in Medalist is a very inspiring one with a strong message of "It's never too late to go for your dreams". Not the most original message, I know, but a good one, nonetheless. I've never had any interest in figure skating - I struggle with roller skating, so forget figure skating - yet seeing Inori and other characters skate almost makes me want to try; that's how inspirational it is. I do have one major gripe with the story, and it's a time skip that happens partway through the series. It made me feel like I skipped some episodes with some really important plot developments, although I guess adding the events that were skipped might have created a repetitive storyline.

I said that Medalist is an inspiring anime, but I don't think I would have said that if the characters were unlikable. I absolutely loved Inori as a character; the way she was so hard on herself in the beginning was very heartbreaking (and sadly relatable), which made it all the more satisfying to see her gain some confidence and really come into her own. Plus, her interactions with other characters, especially her fellow figure skaters, are pretty fun. As for her coach, Tsukasa, I also really liked him and the coach-and-student bond he formed with Inori, and the parts of his backstory that we get are pretty sad. There are also a plethora of supporting characters who are varying degrees of likable. Even Inori's mother becomes more likable as she becomes more supportive of her daughter, and she actually has an understandable reason for her initial reluctance to let Inori pursue figure skating.

When I found out that Medalist was being animated by ENGI, I'll admit that I was a little bit concerned. As some in the anime community know, ENGI isn't exactly known for producing high-quality anime; even their arguably best-known work, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out, is okay at best animation-wise. (Same goes for other aspects of that series, but that's not the point.) Luckily, the animation quality here is very good. Most of the series is 2-D animated, and it looks very colorful and well-animated. However, during figure skating routines, CG animation is used for whichever character is doing the routine, which may scare some people off; I would like to bring those people back by saying the CG animation is very fluid. It is jarring when the series switches from one animation style to the other - which it does quite a bit to show other characters' reactions to a skating routine - but it's not too bad once you get used to it.

So, uh.... I may have mentioned Inori's Japanese voice actress at the beginning of this review, but since I could only find the English dub when I searched for Medalist on Disney+, I had to watch that version; thus, I can't really comment on Natsume Haruse's voice performance or that of the rest of the Japanese cast. Maybe I should have just watched it on Hulu.... Anyway, it turned out to be a mostly solid dub, with Madeline Dorroh being a suitable enough fit for Inori. However, I would like to advise Grace Lu, the English voice actress for Hikaru Kamisaki, to be more careful about where she records her lines, as there was a scene in episode 2 where her voice sounded echo-y in a way that felt unintentional. Her other voiced lines sounded fine to me, but that particular scene seemed like it was supposed to be more impactful than it was for me due to the echoes in Hikaru's voice distracting me.

Given how figure skaters perform with music playing, it's reasonable to expect the music in Medalist to be good, and luckily, it delivers. The opening theme, "Bow and Arrow" by Kenshi Yonezu, is a beautiful song that has an icy and mystical vibe to it; meanwhile, "Atashi no Dress" by Neguse, the ending theme, is as cute as the visuals that are shown while it's playing. (That is to say, very cute.) The background music and the insert songs were also very good. My favorite is probably "Go For The Gold"; the scene where it was first played was probably the most captivating scene in the entire series, and the song played a large role in that with how absolutely gorgeous it was. With how good Medalist is already, that's an incredible feat.

Although it doesn't feel right for me to rate it higher than I am, I can't deny that Medalist is a very good anime, and it's a worthy result of all of Tsurumaikada's hard work to make their dream come true. If you want a good coming of age story or just want to (at least partially) fill the void that the Yuri On Ice movie left with its cancellation, I highly recommend it. Let's just hope that the upcoming second season can keep Tsurumaikada's dream going strong!

Do you remember your first anime? How has your discovery of that anime and the medium in general impacted your life? For some, watching anime has led them down an artistic path, whether it's just drawing pictures, drawing manga or comics, or working on new anime for others to fall in love with just as they had. Sometimes, an anime about just making animation could be the one that makes that impact on someone. Zenshuu, MAPPA's latest anime original project, is such an anime that could influence someone to go down the path of an animator. When I started watching it, I was disappointed to ... find out it was an isekai anime and unfairly judged it to be like all of the other generic isekai anime that have come out in the last few years (with prettier animation than normal), completely expecting myself to drop it after a couple of episodes. 12 episodes later, I've found myself to be glad I gave it a fair chance.

Zenshuu starts off with Natsuko Hirose, a young and talented animator who has already directed a successful anime series, struggling with her latest project. One day, after eating an expired clam lunch that her boss brought in and didn't throw away herself (for some reason), she collapses from food poisoning and seemingly dies. However, she wakes up and finds herself in the world of "A Tale of Perishing", her favorite anime movie and her inspiration for becoming an animator in the first place. In the world of "A Tale of Perishing", creatures called "Voids" are out to destroy the last of the "Soul Futures", crystals that keep the world alive, and a group of soldiers known as the Nine Soldiers must protect the people of the Last Town against them; however, the story is fated to come to a tragic end. In an effort to change the world and characters' fates, Natsuko fights alongside the currently surviving Nine Soldiers with the power of animation....or, to be exact, the power that she gains to summon a magical animation desk and make her drawings come to life.

As I mentioned toward the beginning of this review, I was disappointed to find that Zenshuu was an isekai anime, but over time, I came to understand that alongside other elements of this anime, it was just a part of the celebration of what makes animation special that the series displays. We don't see too much of this world outside of the Last Town, but the name of the town should make it obvious why, and even despite that, the series does do an effective job at worldbuilding. The overall story, though, does remind me a little bit of a fanfiction someone writes to "fix" the worst parts of a story, in the same vein as someone who writes a Persona 5 fanfiction that changes a certain part of its story that happens between the fourth and fifth Palaces. (If you have played Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal, you know what I'm talking about.) I don't mind that too much, but these "fixes" make the story feel not it's not flowing as well as it could, at least in the first half. The second half of the series does improve the story's flow by a lot, though, leading to an open yet still satisfying ending.

When it comes to the characters, we first have to mention the protagonist, Natsuko Hirose. I can imagine that not a lot of fans will start off liking her, as her personality does come off as a bit selfish to start with. We can especially see this in episode 7, which is primarily a flashback episode told from the points of view of people who have interacted with Natsuko in the past; although the determination she shows in the flashback scenes to become an animator is admirable, she does also come off like she doesn't care much about other people, which can get on fans' nerves. However, she does get a good amount of character development as the series goes on, eventually getting to a point where she's able to work with other people instead of insisting on doing everything herself. It's nice to see this amount of growth from her.

That doesn't mean that the other characters are slouching in the character development department, however, even though they're not quite as interesting as Natsuko. One notable example is Memmeln, an elf girl who is one of the Nine Soldiers. She starts out possibly being the least interesting of the Nine Soldiers, but without spoiling too much, her immortality leads to her starting to go down a dark path, which led to me being more interested in her character; after she regains her will to live, she ends up being a lot more likable, even if the reason for that is kind of silly (but also serves as a nice representation of a portion of the anime community). Another character of note is Destiny, who was once the love interest of Luke, the leader of the Nine Soldiers; although her romance with Luke is no longer a thing in this version of "A Tale of Perishing" (and for good reason, too), it doesn't make her any less charming, especially with the direction her character takes in her debut episode. Speaking of Luke, he's also an interesting character with some pretty good development, and although it took me a while to really buy the direction his relationship with Natsuko was going in, it ultimately made sense. Finally, I just want to mention that Unio reminded me a bit of the mascot characters you would find in a lot of other fantasy anime, including how annoying he could be at times, which I think was the point of his character.

When talking about Zenshuu, however, there is one thing we must never forget to address, and that is its incredible presentation. Sure, the voice acting is very good, with Anna Nagase (Natsuko) and Rie Kugimiya (Unio) having especially outstanding performances. Sure, the music is also very good, both the background music and the opening and ending themes ("Zen" by BAND-MAID and "Tada, Kimi no Mama de" by Sou, respectively). However, the undoubtedly best part of Zenshuu's presentation - as well as the overall series - is its gorgeous art and animation. The backgrounds are nice to look at, the character designs are great, the more downtime-like scenes are very well-animated, and the action scenes.... My compliments to the chefs who were cooking those up! The way Natsuko's drawings brought to life are animated are pretty reminiscent of anime storyboards, too, which I feel is a nice touch. If I were in charge at MAPPA, I would be making sure the animators who worked on this were paid a lot for the amount of work they put into this, but hey, I'm sure they're getting paid fairly for this, right?

Right, MAPPA? You're paying your animators fairly for this, right? RIGHT?!?

Ahem. Anyway, Zenshuu turned out to be a pretty good anime in the end. Those who appreciate animation as an art form may get a kick out of this, even those who aren't isekai fans. Maybe it might even serve as some kind of inspiration for you, like "A Tale of Perishing" did for Natsuko!

Remember "Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto"? The Winter 2025 anime season gave us another Sakamoto, one that you're more likely to have heard of, given that he's from a popular Shounen Jump manga. I sure had heard quite a bit of the manga in question, "Sakamoto Days", even before its anime adaptation was announced; I've even read the manga's pilot one-shot, "Sakamoto"! Unfortunately, the anime hasn't been received as positively as anticipated, seemingly mainly because of the animation. Can "Sakamoto Days" still be considered good in spite of its hiccups, though? For its first half, at least, I'd say so.

In "Sakamoto Days", the titular Tarou ... Sakamoto is a legendary assassin who was renowned in the underworld for being immensely powerful....until one day, he gives it all up to be with a convenience store clerk named Aoi. Five years later, he has married Aoi, had a daughter with her, started running his own convenience store, and - perhaps the most shocking change of all - is now overweight. Don't be fooled by his change in body type, however, as Sakamoto's strength has not diminished at all in the past five years. Good thing, too, because a large bounty has been placed on Sakamoto's head, and as a result, all of the local hitmen want a hit on him now. Alongside his new employees, clairvoyant ex-assassin Shin Asakura and mafia daughter Xiaotang Lu, Sakamoto fights to protect his family while also trying to respect his wife's "no killing" rule.

Normally, I save talking about an anime's animation for near the end of a review, but in the case of Sakamoto Days, it's an elephant I should probably address now. Yes, the animation can feel a little stiff in some places, but I can at least compliment how cool and well-paced the action scenes are. TMS Entertainment did as good of a job as they could, especially considering that they were also working on season 4 of Dr. Stone - another well-known Shounen Jump series - this season. There is also some really good background music during the action scenes, which really helps to elevate them. Speaking of music, the opening and ending themes - "Hashire SAKAMOTO" by Vaundy and "Futsuu" by Conton Candy, respectively - are both solid songs, with the former going especially hard and being a good fit for the series.

I don't know what possessed me to stick to watching the English dub for the entire first half of this anime, especially since the Japanese cast seems pretty solid - Sakamoto is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, for crying out loud! - but I did, anyway. Luckily, Sakamoto Days has a pretty good English dub. Most of the English cast gave good performances with voices that matched their characters well; Matthew Mercer and Dallas Liu, the respective voices of Sakamoto and Shin, did especially well in their roles. The only exception I'd say there was in terms of good voice acting was Rosalie Chiang as Lu; not only was her voice not the best fit overall, but something just felt a little off about her performance. Well, maybe I can just chalk it up to inexperience in voice acting and - wait, what do you mean, she voiced the main girl in "Turning Red"?!

Ahem. Anyway, what role could voice actors play in an anime's production without a cast of characters? Before that, though, I want to touch on the story that these characters are in for a bit. On the surface, Sakamoto Days just seems like a simple slice-of-life comedy with some action thrown in for good measure - and to some degree, it is - but the whole bounty thing that I mentioned earlier does ensure there is an actual story arc going on. Honestly, there is a part of me that wishes that there was more of the slice-of-life stuff, but the story we get here isn't bad at all. It doesn't end on a particularly satisfying note, but that's what the upcoming second part and however much of the manga the anime doesn't end up covering are for, I suppose!

Sakamoto is probably the most interesting character here. He's not a very talkative guy, with most of his dialogue coming from Shin reading his mind, and even aside from that, he's got a bit of an air of mystery to him that not many other characters have. Characters would talk about his past as an assassin, but what was he really like back then? How did he even get into that life in the first place? I just can't help but wonder. That doesn't mean that none of the supporting characters are interesting, though. The antagonists are all various degrees of menacing, and Sakamoto's allies are all fun to watch, whether it's because of their likable personalities or the cool action scenes they participate in. Shin, in particular, is especially notable in that regard; his banter with Sakamoto is always fun, his backstory is interesting, and although the ways he uses his mind-reading powers can get a little predictable, he does use them in clever ways. I do wish that we saw more of Aoi Sakamoto, though. Of course, given the kind of character she is, it wouldn't make sense for her to participate in the action scenes, but I would have liked to see the development of her relationship with Tarou Sakamoto besides the montage we get in episode 1 and a bit of backstory in episode 2.

Overall, Sakamoto Days may not be taking over the anime community - and understandably so - but it is off to a good start. I recommend it for people looking for action-comedies with middle-aged protagonists. Wait, never mind, Sakamoto's 27.... Well, I still recommend that you watch it as soon as you can in order to catch up for part 2, which starts airing in July!

If you've fallen as far down the anime rabbit hole as I have over the years, you would know about some really bad anime. Two anime largely considered to be the worst of them all are a pair of OVAs known as "Mars of Destruction" and "Tenkuu Danzai Skelter Heaven". Personally, I still think "Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo" is worse than both of them, but I can't deny how incomprehensibly bad both are. Before those two bad anime could run, however, Spectral Force had to walk. Like Mars of Destruction and Tenkuu Danzai Skelter Heaven, Spectral Force is based on a game from the ... video game company Idea Factory, and like the idiot I am, I decided to watch this as punishment for incorrectly guessing that the upcoming "Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san" would be streaming on HIDIVE. I don't even know how to begin with this one, though; it's just that incomprehensible.

Spectral Force takes place in Neverland (not related to Peter Pan or The Promised Neverland), a once peaceful land now caught up in a power struggle between humans, demons, and gods. Although it seems like the demons are winning, things take a turn when a hero named Chiffon finds a sword called the Tenmaken, which he uses to kill the Demon Lord and give humans an edge in the war. Right before this, our main heroine, the half-demon and half-human princess Hiro, is sent away with a bunch of mercenaries, and right when they come back is when her father is killed. Now, it's up to her to avenge her father and end the war, and during that process, she somehow comes to trust humans, who she hates due to an incident in her past. At least, that was what I interpreted the plot to be.

I apologize if I summarized this anime wrong, but can you blame me? The story isn't that easy to follow in terms of how it's structured and in how entertaining it is. Throughout the entire thing, I was either bored, confused, or some weird combination of both. The characters don't help make the story any interesting, either; they're all typical fantasy series characters with no real characteristics that could make them stand out from one another. Not even our leading lady, Hiro, is all that interesting; her whole thing of being a not-entirely-human who hates humans has been done multiple times before in more interesting ways, and the way she eventually comes to trust humans doesn't feel organic, either. I'm sure the story and characters are expanded on better in the original Spectral Force game, but whether it has an English translation or not (seems like it doesn't, despite the fact that the third game did get an English release in 2008), I can't be bothered to play it and know for sure.

For the first six minutes or so, I was watching Spectral Force in Japanese with English subtitles, and the voice actors for the Japanese version didn't sound too engaged in their roles. However, due to some circumstances that I don't feel like explaining, I was forced to switch to the English dub for the rest of the series. On that note, I just want to question ADV Films's choice to even give Spectral Force an English dub really quick. I can't imagine the original OVA earned a lot of money when it was released in Japan, and it's very easy to see why; why in the world did ADV Films decide that something like this - something that would very likely cause them to not make any of the money they must have spent on licensing, dubbing, and producing the DVDs back - was a good anime to dub into English?! The quality of the dub certainly didn't help matters; perhaps it was due to having little experience with voice acting at the time, but it saddens me to hear English dub voice actors who have shown incredible talent such as Chris Patton and Jessica Calvello give such lackluster performances. Well, at least the background music and ending theme were okay; they fit the fantasy vibe of the series well.

The worst part of Spectral Force is, without question, the animation. To be fair, this is the first Idea Factory anime that ever came out - God help us all for what was to come after - so the animators probably weren't entirely sure of how to animate at the time. With that being the case, however, they could have gotten some more experienced animators to help them along so that the end product didn't end up being as much of a mess as it is. There is a lot of ugly-looking CGI animation in the first episode that I'm sure nearly made my eyes bleed, but luckily, there isn't as much of it in the second episode. The 2-D animation, however, is consistently bad throughout both episodes. From characters seemingly glitching out in the middle of a walk cycle animation to lips not moving when they're supposed to and even one scene in the second episode where a soldier literally slid into frame, everything about Spectral Force's animation should be the subject of a study on animation disasters. Well, at least they were able to improve on this terrible animation with Mars of Destruction and Tenkuu Danzai Skelter Heaven, right? (It's been over a decade since I've watched either of them, and I'm not going to rewatch either of them just to answer my own question.)

Overall, Spectral Force is a terrible anime, and I implore you to not watch it. If you did, you would have to suffer longer than you would having to watch both Mars of Destruction and Tenkuu Danzai Skelter Heaven. Question is, though, is it worse than "Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo"? I'd say it's not, because I can confidently say this about Spectral Force and not the other one with a long title; even though I don't do drugs, I can see people enjoying this if they got really, really high and watched it with equally high friends. I would prefer it if people didn't do non-prescribed drugs, though, so....yeah. Don't watch this.

They say that evil never sleeps, but that's not always true. Whether it's spent sleeping, eating ice cream, or watching pandas at the zoo, even villains trying to take over the Earth need some time off from all of that. That sentiment is best demonstrated in the anime "Mr. Villain's Day Off", the subject of today's review. I didn't watch it back when it was airing, but I had been hearing about it quite a bit; thus, I eventually decided to give it a watch. If there's one thing I can take away from this anime besides the whole "needing to take some time off" ... thing, it's that pandas are cute, although that's something I already knew.

The premise of Mr. Villain's Day Off, or "Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san" in Japanese, is pretty self-explanatory. The titular Mr. Villain is a general for an evil organization plotting to exterminate humanity and conquer the Earth in the name of their home planet (which I don't remember if it was even given a name), fighting against a group of Rangers who aim to protect the Earth. (Yes, Rangers as in Power Rangers.) However, most of the anime doesn't focus on these battles between the Rangers and the organization; instead, it is a slice-of-life focusing on the general's time off of work and how he spends it. A common way for him to spend his days off of work is using his annual pass to the local zoo and watching his favorite animals there: pandas. In addition, we sometimes get to see his interactions with other characters whether at work or on his days off, including those with the Rangers.

As you can see, it's the kind of anime that puts a character who is normally in a villain role into that of a protagonist. That being said, to sort of steal a quote from the movie "Wreck-It Ralph", just because he's a bad guy doesn't mean he's a bad guy. He doesn't want his work and private lives to intermingle, he can't help but take multiple pictures of cute animals at once, and he just wants to spend his precious time off of work relaxing; I'm sure we can all relate to all of that. Plus, he has displayed multiple acts of kindness throughout the series, such as when he helps the Red Ranger - who is his enemy, mind you - find his way on the multiple occasions when he gets lost. I think Red Ranger's nickname for the general, "nice guy from the Evil League", really says it all.

In regards to the other characters....well, it's not like I'm not quite as interested in how they spend their times off as the general, but none of them are really bad characters. Sora and Mugi, a pair of twins who combine together to make the Green Ranger, have a pretty sad backstory, so there's that, at least. There's also Trigger, one of the general's coworkers who has a grudge against him, and I'm still not entirely sure whether he amuses me or annoys me. One character that I wish we got to know more about is Hiroki, a child who the general meets at the zoo. His dream is to become an animal doctor, but his mom tells him that he can't do it; I really wanted to see him show his mother that he really is capable of what he wants to accomplish. Other than these characters, I was, unfortunately, not too invested in any of them.

Right there, in that last sentence, lies the main problem of Mr. Villain's Day Off; it's not incredibly interesting. Sure, it's a slice-of-life anime that is not meant to have a real story to it, but you could at least make the supporting characters more memorable than they already are. Although I wouldn't say I'm a tokusatsu fan, it's also a bit of a disappointment for tokusatsu fans who want to see some cool action scenes between the Rangers and the evil organization and don't really care for what happens inbetween the battles. That being said, if anyone who's like that is able to sit through the entire series, they are rewarded with a full-blown battle scene between the Rangers and the evil organization in the final episode. This battle scene doesn't have spectacular animation, but it's campy enough to be a fun watch regardless.

What I said about the animation for the final episode's battle scene can be said about the animation in the rest of the series, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP worked together to give viewers some solid animation with some solid color design; it's nothing thrilling, but it suits the vibe of the anime very well. Speaking of vibes, I have to mention the opening theme, "Yuuho" by Ivudot; the backing track for this song sounds to me like it could be heard on a lo-fi hip hop playlist, and the vocals are pretty good, too! Oh, and the ending theme, "Kyuusoku Juuden" by GLASGOW, is pretty good, too. Even the voice acting was pretty good, and I especially want to give a special mention to Nao Touyama, who voices a convenience store clerk named Yamano who appears a few times in the series; she does a good job at making her sound enthusiastic!

I may have said some pretty negative things about Mr. Villain's Day Off, but I do think it's on the higher side of average. If you want a nice slice-of-life anime to watch on your day off, you could do much worse than this. At least you'll get to see some cute anime pandas!

Weekly Shounen Jump is probably one of the most cutthroat manga magazines there are out there. If you’re unable to keep readers engaged for each chapter you release of your manga to the magazine, you could be faced with an early cancellation. Its digital counterpart, Shounen Jump+, is the same way; many manga on this app/website have had their final chapters published when they haven’t even been publishing for a year. One such manga is the subject of today’s review, Magokoro Scramble, which ended today after first being released in October of last year. When I found out Magokoro Scramble was being cut short, I ... figured I might as well take the opportunity to read through it while I could; it’s not like I can read much else on Manga Plus, given the fact that I cancelled my subscription for its subscription service after Oshi no Ko ended and have no intention of resubscribing any time soon. Why was Magokoro Scramble cut off so soon, and just how much was its story affected by the 17-chapter length? Can’t hurt to find out!

Magokoro Scramble, subtitled “What Lies In Your Heart?” in its English version, is a romantic comedy about Koharu Sanada and Yuki Yatsutase, two high school students from very different bloodlines. Koharu’s bloodline carries the trait of reading minds, which has been a source of grief for our scary-faced hero; it has even led to him swearing off love. Everything changes one day, however, when he meets Yuki after saving her from a group of thugs. Yuki may seem like a quiet girl, but she is very excitable inside of her mind; as a result, when she inevitably falls in love with Koharu, he can hear her internal declarations of love loud and clear! From there, although Koharu initially decides to make Yuki hate him, it only leads to him getting more entangled with her and other people who come from bloodlines that have their own unique abilities that come with them.

In my opinion, the biggest piece of missed potential that Magokoro Scramble displays is the whole “bloodline” thing. Honestly, I feel like the only character whose bloodline power is fully established is Koharu’s. His mind-reading ability is, of course, an integral part of the story that is used for both comedy and drama; plus, although it’s not important to the overarching story, it’s established in the first chapter that his father can also read minds, proving that it is, indeed, a bloodline thing. With other characters and their bloodline-related abilities, however, they’re all either not explored as much as they could be or just plain pointless. There is one character whose bloodline allows him to see the weights of objects and people just by looking at them, but it didn’t really feel like there was much of a point to it other than to give an excuse for why this character does something the way he does. Honestly, even if the shortness of the manga didn’t allow for much exploration of the bloodline abilities, that one is just plain stupid.

Before all of that, though, Magokoro Scramble is a romantic comedy, as I have mentioned. How are the two romantic leads, though? Eh….not too bad, but not terribly engaging, either. Koharu is kind of a typical “delinquent-looking dude who isn’t actually that bad of a guy” character who wasn’t a particularly engaging protagonist. I did kind of like Yuki, although that’s just because of how amusing her internal thoughts can be, especially when compared to her outer personality; otherwise, she’s not that much more engaging. However, I can at least appreciate the character development Koharu goes through because of his encounter with Yuki, eventually being able to open up to her at least a little bit. While the two ending up together was a foregone conclusion, it’s at least a little satisfying when they do.

As for the art….well, it is the kind of art you would expect from a newbie manga artist submitting something to Shounen Jump+ for the first time. Not too bad, but not particularly great, either. I wasn’t entirely sure about the way Koharu’s face was drawn, but if he’s supposed to have a scary-looking face, I suppose Satoshi Taninaka drew it pretty well. I do think the way he draws Yuki in her more energetic inner thoughts is quite cute, though. Yeah, I don’t think I have much else to say about the art.

Overall, Magokoro Scramble may not be the most satisfying of manga out there, but it’s not that bad, either. I’d recommend it if you have Manga Plus and want a quick rom-com to read on it. It may get you interested in whatever Satoshi Taninaka’s next work may be; hopefully, he’ll be able to flesh things out more!