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This is an adaption of an ancient Japanese tale about a war between two great clans that ruled the country during the 12th century. The plot mainly entails the different battles that took place and the gradual downfall of one of the clans, with an anime original protagonist and supernatural aspects that didn’t add much to the story; her and another character inherit abilities to see into the future and see souls of the dead respectively.

After tragically parting with her biological father, Biwa, our protagonist (apparently) meets the compassionate leader of the Hieke (Taira) clan, Shigemori. He decides to take her in as he ... feels responsible over what she had to endure. In the first few episodes, we witness a wholesome relationship between him and Biwa where they both relate to eachother due to their supernatural abilities, or otherwise curses; she sees him as somewhat of a father figure, and in his case as a daughter. This development helps the viewer form some level of attachment to them. However, Biwa’s failure to actually age, both visually and mentally, does unfortunately reduce the impact: we do not see any further progression from her or in regards to Shigemori’s feelings towards her, or vice versa. Its quite vexing how this is never once explained or alluded to, especially considering both her parents look like normally developed adults. I could not help but think it was lolicon bait, moe fanatic bait, or both, because at least 50% of anime has to appease the pedophiles I guess, a trend that refuses to die.

I went into this excited to see how Biwa would grow up, what she would become as a young adult, the influence she would have and actions she would take, especially within an ancient culture where women had little to no influence. Only to realise that in fact, none of this was about her in the slightest.

Soon, its fairly clear that her role as a spectator within the show was intentional. However, this was executed pretty badly and we are left with a very strange situation that I have not witnessed in any other anime before: A situation where no single character is possible to form an attachment to because no one actually matters, seems important or receives much development. The only two characters that came close to refuting that, could be argued to have been Shigemori and his sister Tokuko. The sister is meant to embody strength, patience and kindness on behalf of others in the story, this is reiterated throughout and we see her go through different stages in life; you could even say she had more depth than Biwa.

Biwa doesn’t get any meaningful character development beyond episode 4 and she is essentially a side character. Even as a spectator or future storyteller, she still could’ve had more of a presence rather than only being in the backdrop. It didnt quite feel like the story was being told from her perspective, she felt almost completely out of place, so I was left wondering: what was the point of her existence in this at all? it made no difference; she did nothing, had nothing done to her, no one bothered her, no one interfered with her, she says nothing meaningful ect. Yes, the anime was trying to capture the feeling of helplessness, but she could have gone through certain events or treatment to illustrate that even further. Is not that im asking for her to change the future, not at all, in fact, reinforcing the tragedy of her ability is a good thing, but its low impact when shes completely passive and practically invisible.

Most of the battles were very redundant, rushed and quite boring; despite getting the most screen time, they had less effort put into them than low-tier battle-shounen series. There was also too many long titles and names that came as fast as they went; this is another aspect that made the series feel more like reading a summarised history textbook re-telling with ADHD than watching an animation project with creative storytelling. While these battles took place, there are glimpses of a grown-up version Biwa narrating the events as she plays her instrument; you could argue that this way, she had some presence, especially since those shots roused mysteriousness and interest, but as it became apparent that we weren’t going to learn any more about her, those scenes started to lose impact.

Despite all of that, this show certainly has a strong Iyashikei factor sprinkled throughout several scenes in every episode, it is very aesthetic and sometimes very calming. It had some beautiful messages pertaining to forgiveness, prayer, hedonism and so on.

Buddhism is a prevalent theme in this anime with several characters choosing to become monks or nuns to either escape hardships or cope with losses. I found this to be quite interesting. Sadly, we do not get much depiction of any character’s life after they’ve made that decision or how it really makes them feel.

This anime had the potential to be great, seeing as how its a rarely represented sub-genre within anime, I so badly wanted it to be. It could have been emotionally impactful and even thought-provoking, but ultimately, it was too short and therefore did not have enough time. Due to the clutches of overproduction within late-stage capitalism, this is the final product that we are presented with.

This movie is nothing groundbreaking, but its an aesthetic and sweet, slice of life piece of media with childhood and countryside life among its main themes.

It depicts a wholesome and realistic friendship between two little girls while mildly exploring their girlhood throughout the film. Both characters have very distinct, likable personalities and are relatable. We get to see how their relationship develops and how they gradually open up to each other in the process. Our charismatic main character shows Kiko the meaning of friendship and helps her cope with the loneliness & insecurity she suffered both in school and at home due to her ... family circumstances. Life in this film is depicted in a mature, calming manner with no over-dramatization or emotional manipulation tactics. In my opinion, it utilises subtlety well.

Shinko and her grandfather have a strong bond and this is showcased by how much time they spend together, he is the adult who facilitates her daydreams; he gives her a lot of knowledge about what their hometown was like 1000 years ago, a fascinating topic for his granddaughter. Although more extroverted, it could be interpreted that Shinko was also lonely in her own way, as the ancient princess within her overly imaginative & immersive daydreams was also suffering from loneliness. However, Kiko came along and she was able to finally share & therefore experience her quirky daydreaming hobby with someone else. This attainment of childhood platonic companionship is also mirrored within the ancient story.

Its a calming film with beautiful cinematography and good pacing to make room for decent character development; well integrated into their environments and everyday lives, including their relationships with others. We see the children go through hardships & losses but it never tries to be too melodramatic or emotionally manipulative, which adds more realism and helps the viewer become attached to the characters on their own terms. The characters witness several adulthood experiences; they learn to cope with misfortune that befalls adults heavily involved in their lives. Their reactions and coping mechanisms are doused with hope and slow growth towards maturity.

Kiki is a witch only because she hallucinates talking to her cat and flying 11,300 meters in altitude; in other words, she gets high. Her mother appears to be more of a self-taught pharmaceutical scientist who is probably also an anti-vaxxer as well as someone who believes in free-range parenting, rather than a witch.

We are told about so-called “training” that Kiki will undergo, but we get nothing of the sort. The first nice boy she meets in an unfamiliar city, she decides to hate for unknown reasons. Perhaps it was her insecurity stemming from the lack of interaction with boys, or otherwise (more likely) ... not having enough magic mushrooms at that particular moment to keep her mellowed and grounded while kickstarting her witch alter ego.

She thinks the lady that took her in is exceedingly kind and pure; but we all know that she, blinded by capitalism, was ultimately plotting to expand her business and revamp her brand image because who wouldn’t love a cute 13-year-old happy-go-lucky witch and her tiny black cat? She saw a ripe opportunity to exploit child labour and she took it, managing to implement quick strategic thinking while pregnant no less! What a strong, independent woman. This was probably one of the millions of beautiful hidden meanings buried within this ghibli film.

A bit later into this, we are basically told (indirectly) that Kiki’s flying on her broom is comparable to art, yep, art. Nothing Kiki has ever done in this movie can be interpreted as artistic. Ursula, the painter, was the only remotely interesting character, and I’m just a little biassed towards her because I like birds and the idea of producing artwork of them, but that didn’t get much screen time. In the end, the protagonist barely goes through proper hardships or development. So it's not among the best coming-of-age stories out there.

This will either be really boring or relaxing depending on what kind of person you are and the mood you happen to be in. However, by no means would I call this forgettable, clichéd slog inspiring.

Upon finishing the last episode of this abomination, although I felt a hulking mass finally lift off my shoulders, my previously suppressed sense of sickness crept back up and magnified. Bile, combined with a feeling of existential dread, threatened to rise up my throat, and I thought that perhaps nihilism wasn't such a bad idea after all...

We are started off with one of the worst first episodes ever created, containing one of the worst fight scenes in the history of battle shounen anime: a zombie mini-apocalypse puppeteered by a lazy “demon”, it doesn’t get lamer than that. The episode offers absolutely nothing intriguing or compelling ... to make the viewer curious about what’s to come, just a weak regurgitated sob story about a teenager who apparently castrated himself in an attempt to repay his crippling debt. Yet fully preserving his sex drive because that's needed for the target audience to self-insert while watching.

The male lead is a boring, uninteresting, goody-two shoes bitch who barely seems to have any self-worth or self-awareness. His naive indecisiveness over Makima’s personality not being very far off from bipolar disorder symptoms. You gotta love how she basically tells him "you have to be a slave to us your whole life otherwise we will eliminate you because we dont see you as human", and he just couldn't care less, doesn’t even spend a minute pondering his situation. For someone who started earnestly paying his father’s debt from such a young age, you would think he had some actual goals or motivations, but no.

It must seem great to all the fanboys how this show perpetuates the idea that the source of any male’s motivation is ultimately their sex drive and the sexualisation of women. Denji’s sexual frustrations and lack of goals are shoved in your face, cracking through the screen every single episode, as “jokes”, essentially 12-year-old humour. Its all extremely low effort, trite and unfunny.

Denji’s shallowness and lack of exploration are so glaringly obvious that they could blind you. Any negative implications that (arguably) existed as a result his behaviour (or worldview) are never realised or felt by him at any given point; therefore no character progression is provided. The perpetually happy, golden retriever energy in which he presents himself plainly confirms this.

To call the backstories “emotionally manipulative” would actually be a compliment in this case, since that requires a little more effort. Every obnoxiously inserted “tearjerker” in here is vapid, shallow and clichéd. The character relationships are more superficial than any anthrophobe's or solitudinarian's bond with Siri and his visual novel romantic interest. Yes, even when considering he's stuck in "his" basement 24/7.

I'm not sure if people consider this a “dark” shounen because of the sheer amount of blood splattered on screen (which barely even provides shock value since by ep 2 you’re already desensitised) or because of it’s “dark comedic genius” indirectly providing commentary on the depressive state of 21st century weeaboo hikikomori men and their uncontrollable slobbering over any piece of media that allows them to self-insert in order to wallow in their perversions…

Of course the second male lead has a crush on Makima because superficial ”romantic” rivalry is another very crucial theme for the target audience. Almost all of the 20+ year old women in this are creepy yet the viewers are meant to worship them, thinking of them as “strong women”, why? because they use their sexual appeal to manipulate others of course! We barely see them actually engage in any proper combat. The action scenes have no build up and are all devoid of any technique, logic, critical thinking or imagination. Denji simply undergoes his irresistibly hot CGI transformation to swing his chainsaws around like a schizo, because that’s every 16-year-old male’s idea of masculinity and being badass.

I had to put half of this show on 1.5x speed and then kept wondering whether I actually did because it was so bad that it felt excruciatingly slow. If you thought the pathetic resurrection shenanigans were going to stop at episode one, think again. This show possesses something much worse than plot armour, with the characters, including the antagonists continuing to come back to life in each & every fight (not counting the times when they received blood to heal).

The whole thing with the devils’ contracts is pretty questionable because I have to wonder; why would any devil agree to become a human’s slave and be locked up in some underground sewers only to get a little bite of skin once a month (or whatever else), when they can just be on the loose and devour as many plebeians as they wish? Clearly the humans here gain way more.

If none of that convinced you, then at least avoid it for the badly-integrated CGI.

Unfortunately, this show turned out to be more childish than I initially thought. I was expecting more mature concepts, including heavier political themes. Instead, we have extremely repetitive action and fight scenes that were way too dragged out. The main villain is a very cringe-worthy concept, everything related to him was exaggerated into oblivion. Towards the end, some vague, philosophical bullshit is squeezed in to make the show seem more intellectual than it actually is.

The alchemy in this show essentially just entails a failed attempt at a resurrection and some magical explosions from our protagonist’s small palms here and there, occasional manipulation of objects/concrete, ... not very different from Drago Ball Z if you ask me. Basically, don’t expect any interesting, nuanced deep dive into the world of alchemy, creative possibilities in which it can be used or their implications, there’s nothing of the sort.

You can’t convince me that the action scenes were ever actually interesting when both the villains & the protagonists are absurdly & uncreatively overpowered, with the antagonists being very stereotypical and predictable. The fights became tedious, there was no genuine high stakes for Ed or his brother most of the time.

None of the villains, or any characters for that matter, were actually morally grey. Our protagonist is a happy-go-lucky, pure, kind teenager and the antagonists are just evil for the sake of being evil. Each of the seven deadly sins are powerfully corrupting yes, but ultimately they are weaknesses. However their misery, due to the ultimately negative/destructive attributes of each, is barely ever explored to allow the viewers to sympathise or empathise with them at any given point.

The only way to beat them was to perpetually & agonizingly engage in combat till they “ran out of lives” or until the plot decides its time to move on to the next overpowered character, very boring. The concept that these monsters are a personification of the main villain’s seven deadly sins was never addressed on a deeper level, it didn’t feel like they actually shared a bond with this comical “father figure”, because ultimately they were all cardboard cutouts and nothing beyond that. Everything is expanded to a degree where it becomes too convoluted and eventually meaningless.

This show only ever obnoxiously preached the most basic, cut-throat moral concepts to its audience, nothing thought-provoking or worthy of interesting discussions. And that is exactly why it appeals to so many people, its a simple, childish piece of media that ultimately stays sappy, cheesy and idealistic in a cringe-worthy manner, especially since none of the negative themes/characters are explored maturely.

I would have probably given this a 5/10 if my subconscious wasn't so viciously gaslighted by crazed fanboy culture to want to like it at the time of watching.

This is film is about a little girl who gets temporarily “transported”, for a lack of a better word, into a supernatural, fantasy world. Which is supposed to be both fascinating and frightening, but fails to be either.

To be completely honest, this film was quite boring and way longer than it should have been, perhaps it was trying too hard. It does a really bad job at making you care about anything or anyone in it. If anything, the characters’ sentiments and reactions all feel disingenuous. This “alternate world” is nothing more than obnoxious exaggeration. The so-called “deep themes” are only thrown in and never ... actually explored, which is why this film appeals to children as well, anyone can claim its deep and intellectual if they use their imagination hard enough. For some adults it simply appeals to their inner child, and for other adults it allows them to pretend it’s intellectual and profound in some contrived way, saying the meanings are hidden is just the nice way of say they’re ambiguous and too open to interpretation. There is nothing truly mysterious, thought-provoking, scary or amusing about it. The colorful and overcrowded nature of it is just a superficial distraction from how uninteresting and shallow it really is.

For a supposedly character-driven plot, the characters are completely shallow, bland and have nothing to offer. Most, especially the main ones, failed to leave any impression on me whatsoever. Their personalities basically don’t exist, we know nothing about them from beginning to end. Its clear that Chihiro was only ever meant to be a self-insert for child viewers. Whatever symbolism this anime had, it didn’t matter, because symbolism usually links back to the characters directly or indirectly. However, the characters are nothing but cardboard cutouts who didn't have a single noteworthy characteristic, so it would have never worked.

Even though the film is longer than the average movie, it didn’t feel like Haku and Chihiro had learned anything about each other (it doesn't help that they hardly spent time around each other). Their “strong bond”, platonic or otherwise is very unconvincing.

I don’t have anything against anime that doesn’t have a clear storyline or chain of events leading to a specific goal. However this film didn't have much substance in my opinion. It was a forgettable snooze fest.