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3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season
(temporary review; it may contain some spoilers or subjectivity)

In this season, Kiriyama Rei continued his struggles towards Shogi and personal life and he is starting to open-up on the positive-side of the reality. Based on the prequel, he has this miserable life because he lost his parents and was adopted by another family. Throughout his life, he has bad relationships with his step-siblings because of their inferiority complex towards him because their own biological father preferred Kiriyama more than them, so on and so forth...

What I like about this anime, specifically on this season, is that the story revolves more on ... his interpersonal relationship that made him more developed and became a stronger person to face the reality. Because of his effort to cherish people around him, he made a lot of friends, created a good relationship, and unknowingly discovered "intimacy". Also, one of the good aspect of this anime is that they covered a lot of realistic issues, like bullying: how it happens and how to deal with it.

What I might dislike about this anime is that the developers ended it with a cliffhanger. Also, some people might not like heavy dialogues or dramatic slife-of-life genre or some side stories that are not related to Shogi, so...

Overall, this anime is proven to be one of the best drama anime out there. It might be underrated or not popular but I'm hoping for another season...

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Technical Score: 9
Bias/Personal Score: 10
Final Score: 9.5 ≈ 10

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A final review of Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai!
(It may contain some spoilers, so be aware of it):

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"Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring, quite often the hard way." - Pamela Dugdale

Some people would say that 'the more you are fighting with each other, the more you are in a close relationship'. In a good way, that's quite true. It is because it serves as 'awkward-like' indirect communication to show some intimacy interactions to other people, just like a fight between siblings. Well, some of it might misinterpret that kind ... of fighting between siblings... Maybe you know what I meant here...

Based from a Chinese manhua, 'Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai!' is a short anime show on Spring 2017 that portrays the typical relationship between siblings named Fen (older brother) and Mao (younger sister) who always engaging this 'sibling fight'. Despite of Fen's mischievous behavior towards her younger sister Mao, he really cares about her sister. Well, not to the point that on that kind of situation that you can be viewed on a typical siscon/incestous anime show *coughs*. Personally-speaking, this anime is a 'hidden-gem' that must be discovered by an anime fan. With a touch of comedy, slice-of-life, school genre that gives harmony and balance to the enjoyment factor of the show.

Moving on, the plot-line of this show seems very interesting as an anime fan. As I mentioned above, it is a well-balanced show. According to the story of the show, they are poor and Fen (older brother) struggled to manage his responsibilities as an older brother who tend to take care of her younger sister's needs. Even though they fight with each other because of some several reasons, it is somehow shown that they care with each other when someone of them needs a help. There were also comedic scenes like those fights between siblings that are very good, in terms of comedy factor. Some scenarios are also very situational to a scenes with a slice-of-life genre. In terms of technicalities, there were some problems on how they allotted the story because of the limited time and episodes but it is still understable and enjoyable to watch.

In terms of art, it is quite good and has this kind of vibe that you can be seen on other chinese-based anime shows. I'm not really familiar on the animation studio named Fanworks who made the animation of this show, but that animation studio (based from MAL database) made also some short anime shows that were also quite good, in terms of art quality.

The VAs in this anime show are suprisingly well-casted like Nakamura Yuuichi and Amamiya Sora who were quite popular because of the high quality performance they provided in different anime titles. Furthermore, the opening song from an band/artists named Brian The Sun was also a great choice because they are also quite popular on providing songs on different anime titles.

The characters are also well-made and some of them have those kind of 'archetypes' you've encountered on another anime titles. The main characters are quite realistic, specially to their lifestyles. Furthermore, a theory named Individual Psychology by Alfred Adler would also tell the siblings' lifestyle were being influenced by the birth order. In relation to that, Fen (the older brother) tends to have more responsiblity to take care of his younger sister Mao, despite of his mischievous personality/behavior. Mao, who is the younger sister wants to be spoiled on her needs but they are poor, so the responsibilities of Fen became more burden to him. Because of that kind of realistic touch on the personalities of both siblings, the development of the story is also quite interesting.

In terms of enjoyment factor, it is very entertaining to an anime fan who enjoys slice-of-life shows. As I've mentioned above, the comedic situation between siblings is quite relatable because of its realistic touch on some scenes. You can also watch this show in one-sitting, so there is no major reason to not be relaxed or enjoyed while watching this show.

Overall, this show is really a 'hidden-gem'. Once you've found it, you will discover its greatness. For those who have siblings or even without siblings, you can really watch this just to enjoy the experience of having a close sibling. I really hope that I've encourage someone to watch this show. Also, for those who have already watched this show, please encourage them to watch it.

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Technical Score: 7.5
Bias/Personal Score: 8
Final Score: 7.75 ≈ 8

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A final review of Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
(Re-updated; it may contain some spoilers, so be aware of it):

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"If you are suddenly summoned to another fantasy world without any kind of preparation, what will you do?"

Some of the reactions of other people is that some of them would really panic and do not know what to do... but on Subaru's case (the main character of the story), he is 'trying' to rationalize his situation even though he experienced different kinds of despair and other negative emotions about his current situation and trying to adapt to his new environment. At first, he is trying ... to stabilize his mental state and too desperate about what will happened on his situation. After that, he gradually gained some information about his current situation. On the later scenes, he met this beautiful elf girl named Emilia who saved him on a unexpected pinch situation; more like a boy-meets-girl situation, and then... the wicked-like fantasy adventure of Subaru begins and how the lives of other important people who he met throughout the story that could affect his decision-making on his unfortunate situation. How can he survive?

This show, Re:Zero is one of the most interesting anime shows premiered on Spring 2016 that exemplifies the life of a certain boy named Subaru in a fantasy world and how he could adapt to his new environment. It would surely enjoy most of the viewers who like fantasy-themed or 'isekai-themed' anime shows to watch this kind of show because it seems 'not usual' to other similar-themed anime shows; it is filled with action, comedy, drama, and some thrilling and unexpected time-traveling and dark-themed scenarios... Wait... Time-traveling? Dark-themed?! How is it possible? Well, he noticed that he can not use any kind of magical powers but later on, he realized that he gained an ability called 'returns by death' when he was on a pinch situation. As the skill name itself, he can go back to a certain time and place where he could start again his adventure. Later on, he discovered that he has this kind of 'shadow(?)' magical attribute. Those mysterious ability and magical attribute are really helpful in his situation but also somewhat makes his situation more complicated or pain-in-the-ass because of its 'unknown(?)' origin. At first, the story-line seems confusing, depending on the viewer's perspective but it really gives dark/mysterious-vibe and cliffhanger scenes which surely gives us viewers more hype and thrills in this show! Generally-speaking, this anime is not the best but it is definitely one of the most interesting shows of Spring 2016!

Moving on, the multimedia and other aspects of this anime show are good, specially the character designs that really emphasized the unique traits of each characters in the story. If you know about the animation studio called White Fox (the animation studio of this anime show), it would really show that it has similarities on their animation style and forte on making their own style. If you know those similar anime shows they created, it would really increase the impact towards the entertainment of the show. In my opinion, there are some quality flaws in other animation stuffs like CGI and other designs on some episodes that are not really well-fitted or blended to the show. Nevertheless, those are not really a big negative factor to the show and does not really affect the quality and the development of the story-line. On the positive-side, I really like the animation stuffs like the point-of-view angles they emphasized on some scenarios on some episodes and it really follows the concept of the story.

The opening & ending songs are so great and also fitted to the theme of the show (e.g. the lyrics and the style of the songs), which I also like in this anime show. I did not expect that pop punk-ish(?) OP theme song was performed by Konomi Suzuki, and I do not know what would be my reaction towards that since her usual J-pop anime song styles are really not like that. In my opinion, the new anisong artist MYTH & ROID's mysterious-and-futuristic-style J-pop theme songs of this anime is better in this anime show compared to Konomi Suzuki's opening song. In addition, there are no really obvious and noticeable errors on the multimedia aspects of the show like audio timing etc. The voice actors and actresses are also very talented that they really portray to their specific character roles. Some of them are newly popular with the anime fans like the CV of Emilia (Rie Takahashi) and the CV of Rem (Inori Minase), which can contribute more to the audience impact of the show. In addition to that, they also performed some of the OSTs, therefore it really shows their professionalism towards the show. The BGMs are really great and it and fitted to the action and other scenes of this show, which also mainly contribute to the impact of the show.

The storyline of this anime show is one of the greatest factor that mostly contributes to the impact of the show, including those amazing plot twists in every episode. Even though the story was rushed, I really like how this anime show would try to show some important plot contents from Re:Zero's light novel, which the animators/creator(s) of this anime really want us to fully enjoy the every 20-min episodes. The characters are also great because they provided great character designs that could somehow adds to the entertainment value of the show. Personally-speaking, the light novel is a 'must-read' to those fans who want to fully understand what Re:Zero's plot is all about.

In terms of the character traits, it was somewhat positively contributed to the audience impact on the show that later on, it creates that 'waifu' war between cute and loyal demon/maid girl named Rem the beautiful elf girl named Emilia or called EMT by Subaru and the fans. Furthermore, most of those characters have their unique lifestyles like the like Subaru who has really unique traits and 'realistic-like' personality compared to the other main characters out there; he is more vulnerable and has this kind of 'irrationalism' that makes him more 'human' compared to other common and overpowered main characters with god-like powers that were mostly existed on other popular anime shows, therefore it creates a different kind of twist to the story. The supporting characters like Rem & Ram, Puck, Beatrice, and other villain characters are also very important to the development of the story; they have their own character developments and big involvement throughout the story, therefore they are also somewhat popular to the audience.

In terms of the show's entertainment value, some people would not really enjoy/appreciate the concept of 'moe' characters, un-emphasized development of other important characters because of limited time, some cliché elements like the concept of 'isekai' or other world with fantasy setting, and the unusual main character's behavior that were integrated in Re:Zero's story. It is because it ruins the seriousness of the story or it somehow deviates the norms and concepts of an usual fantasy or other related genre to the theme of Re:Zero. Despite of that, it is still interesting because of its uniqueness and somehow entertaining to the viewers.

With all those double-eged critics/controversies/rumors we've heard, this show is very interesting and breath-taking in each episodes, which is a big proof that this anime show is one-of-the-best anime of Spring 2016.I really hope that this review would encourage someone who does not any or little idea about this show to watch this!

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Technical Score: 7.5
Bias Score: 9
Final Score: 8.25

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