Back to Infatuate's Profile Infatuate's Profile

Spy x Family, a good show that in my opinion gets too much praise for what it provides: Lukewarm comedy, contrived wholesomeness and a plot that is more an excuse for all of this to happen than an actual driving force in the show.

But that's not a bad thing. This anime is just a feel-good trip, but why do I perceive that it tries to be more than that?

So we have a cold war setting in here. Our main character, Loid AKA agent Tasogare is a master spy undertaking Mission Strix, an attempt to prevent a war. And how? by becoming close with a ... very mysterious political person who only lets himself be seen at school meetings for some reason. Of course there is no better way to do this than to form a pretend family with a fake wife and an adopted child in order to infiltrate the school legally! So going forward, Loid (who pretends to be a psychiatrist) acquires child, named Anya, who happens to be a mind-reader. Later he acquires fake wife, named Yor, who happens to be a cold blooded assassin. Both Loid and Yor are oblivious to either of their respective backgrounds, with only Anya knowing who they really are because duh, she's a mind reader.

So there's the overall premise, kinda random but okay, it at least gives an unexpected twist to an otherwise average plot.

Once the pretend family has been set, Loid slowly tries to raise little Anya into a proper candidate for school, while Yor helps. This is later achieved after going through many hardships that are portrayed in a comedic fashion, and so the show progresses as Anya, now in school and aware of his adoptive father's plan, tries her hardest to get close to the mysterious person mentioned earlier, by befriending his son (who is in the same class) or by becoming an elite student, either of which would grant her (and Loid) the right to attend the same elite meetings as that politician. Needless to say things don't really go as planned, but that's the core of the show so far with a new season in the horizon.

Throughout all of this we get episodes that highlight Loid's skill as a spy, his growth, the stakes of the operation, the power of both organizations involved, Anya's antics and her school life and a bit of Yor's character and her clingy younger brother.

There are a lot of things that the show does well. It's entertaining, the story is alright and is more elaborate than your average slice of life show, the art is great, animation is also great, the music is good, the voice acting is superb, both opening and ending are very stylish and thematic. It's after all done by Cloverworks and WIT studio, two renowned studios in the animation industry nowadays. It's a very safe formula and it works well enough.

But of course, being the cynical person I am, I just had to find some flaws or more like pet peeves in this didn't I? It's only fair to balance out the massive hype and popularity that SxF has going.

First off we have the characters:

Loid / Tasogare is the ideal spy, a master of combat and disguise who never really makes any mistake when executing his mission. He is the main character and yes, he is cool. I don't have any complaints about him.

Anya is a child through and through (unlike most anime depicting children). She's adorable, her VA does an outstanding job and her faces are meme fodder. The only thing I can criticize here is that an actual 6 years old child wouldn't know how to keep her power a secret as well as she does, where one small slip-up would be enough for her very skeptical father to notice something is off. But hey, suspension of disbelief, it's just a comedy anime yadda yadda.

Yor. By far the weakest character. As fun as it is seeing her kick ass (literally), there's not much going for her compared to Loid and even Anya. With her main gimmick (being an assassin) only played for laughs whenever Anya catches her having the most bloodthirsty thoughts one can imagine. While every episode we get a glimpse at Loid's spy life be it a new mission, contact with HQ or his informants, arranging details, or gathering intel, with Yor, aside one brief sequence where she's shown assassinating an entire floor worth of people at what seems to be a hotel, we never really see her true occupation anymore. There's the implication that she still does it regularly but not much more than that. We -don't- have to see it, but it's nowhere nearly as expanded as Loid's spy background. Maybe it will come into play at some point in the future.

For the other side characters we have Anya's schoolmates. Unlike Anya though, none of them really act their age and instead resemble more 10-12 years olds. There's also Yor's younger brother, an absolute nuisance but at least he has some plot significance, seeing how he's part of the secret police, basically the biggest threat to Loid's mission.

Then in second place we have the pacing:

This is not just a run of the mill slice of life comedy where nothing is going on. There's a story. However I felt in many cases that indeed not much seemed to happen at all. A whole ass episode where I was like "that's it?" with nothing of significance taking place. I'm aware this is not a show with a focus on twists and narrative but the way it cares enough to actually develop a setting as a mean to explain this mission's purpose, it begs to suggest that there should be something happening to move the story forward even a little every episode. Some episodes take place across several days, some others take place over the course of one evening. The ending of the season itself is as mundane as it can be, it could have easily been a mid-season episode. I'm probably alone in this, but it affected my viewing experience a bit.

Lastly, we have the plot holes. I might be an idiot to bring up the existence of plot holes in a comedy anime but like I said, it seems to take itself seriously enough to follow a storyline, so it needs to continue making sense until the end. When you watch something clearly ridiculous and over the top such as Kill-la-Kill, the plot takes a backseat to the action. That anime makes it evident that it doesn't take itself very seriously. I don't get that vibe in here, I don't feel like SxF is trying to be super wacky to the point where viewers are supposed to forgive things that just don't make sense.

Whether it's the impossibility to meet the mysterious person outside school meetings, or the fact that he's known to frequent those meetings somehow, or Anya casually mentioning that someone is drowning behind at least 3 walls of distance and Loid never bringing it up again, or Yor, seemingly a normal homely woman being extremely deadly in combat while in front of Loid SEVERAL TIMES yet never being suspected for it. I get it, it's a comedy anime right? But come on, don't do this stuff and expect people to be okay with it. Make sense damn it.

As a bonus I'll mention the comedy. It's not really that funny, I at least didn't find myself laughing out loud like I would with other shows. It's heartwarming, wholesome, it makes you go 'dawwww' at best. Some parts are okay enough to get a chuckle out of me but they aren't that common. I must say that the show got a lot better after Anya made it into school however.

The wholesome sections are indeed very feel-good like, almost to the point of making it seem like they were designed for this sole purpose. Anya is extremely cute, an ideal child minus the icky parts that are kept off screen. I heard somewhere that this anime is Japan's secret strategy to tackle the declining birth rate issue, and even if that's a joke, it wouldn't really be a bad plan honestly.

Overall, SxF is a show that is entertaining, but at times it seems to bite more than it can chew, it's not reinventing the wheel, it's not the funniest show ever and it's certainly undeserving of the massive praise it has received, to the point of me having to give it the dreadful and infamous 'overrated' label. It's still good, and I have to admit that it might be hard to balance out a war plot with a comedy tone, a childcare tag and supernatural elements, but they're trying, and it's ultimately a worthwhile effort.

*This review marks a spoiler section and assumes you have watched the 2006 series, while also being clear enough for newcomers*

Back at it once again with another review after years! This show must've been either really good or really terrible for this review to exist, wonder which one of those is it? is it?!

Bad jokes aside, Higurashi Gou was entertaining, flawed but at least passable. This review is mostly addressed for its 2nd season: -Sotsu- the sequel that ultimately turns this entire franchise into a laughing stock full of nonsense that should never be considered canon.

The 2006 version had the infamous Studio DEEN at ... the helm, this one has Passione (Interspecies Reviewers). Amazing. For the most part they get the job done if we look past the weirdly revamped character designs and comically bad bloodbath splattering scenes. What's not acceptable is blatantly REUSING scenes from the first season that aired earlier this year. This happens constantly throughout Sotsu, and while I understand that not every studio can pull off a Kyoani's endless eight, being this cheap is never a good look for obvious reasons.

The voice actors are back for their respective roles and they pull them off perfectly even 15 years later. The OPs and EDs (for both seasons) are decent with the ED stills being particularly beautiful. No complaints on that front except for some minor foreshadowing.

Now, onto the real juicy part of the review. The characters, their development, the story and the overall reason for this sequel to exist.

Let it be known that the Higurashi franchise did not need a sequel. The original 2006 anime was adapted well enough and had a very adequate conclusion with a proper payoff at the end. Yes, the story was completely finished, an HD remake was not all that necessary (as originally advertised) much less a completely new sequel that disregards and trivializes the ordeal that the main cast had to endure in the original.

Yes, these whole 24+15 episodes were supposed to be just a remake but I guess that word has a difference meaning for Japan. What we got instead is a completely new sequel that spoils major plot points of the 2006 version by the very 2nd episode of Gou and not happy with that, promises to bridge Higurashi with Umineko, the other 'When They Cry' series. A very ambitious goal that even if misguiding and seemingly unnecessary at first, still managed to spark curiosity. Just how do they plan to do this? Will the finale be as good as the OG? Does Ryukishi07 (the series' creator, who also co-wrote the 2021 ver. script) still have it in him?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The following section comprises most of my review and will include heavy spoilers for both the original, and the 2021 version.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 'When they Cry' series are visual novels. They come with 'Question' and 'Answer' arcs. This is evident in both 2006 and 2021 adaptions with their respective seasons: original / Kai for the former and Gou / Sotsu for the latter.

If we think about the original, we have a plot that starts as a nonsensical murder mystery and slowly develops into an amazing story by gradually delivering bits of information to the viewer and "answering" all the confusing parts soundly by the end of it. A story centered around an endless cycle of tragedy, mystery, and with a side of gore. Well fleshed characters, excellent villains and a nearly perfect conclusion.

For this 2021 version it's sadly not the same. It's a cheaply made attempt at a sequel that screams cash grab. The story is reduced to a torture porn gorefest with a one note altercation that could be easily resolved, and the way the mystery works is already obvious for old viewers while still proving unsatisfying and extremely confusing for new ones. It really begs the question, especially as you draw near the final episodes: Why does this exist? Not only did it not need to exist because, as previously mentioned, the original had a proper ending, but also because the entire reasoning for the resurgence of this old franchise boils down to one plot conflict:

Satoko hates studying.

In the original, it took everyone's strength to overcome the fate that Rika, the secret main character, was cursed with. In this 2021 version we throw that out of the window and once again return to the year of 1983 in the story. Back to the murders, torture and gore just because Satoko fucking hates studying.

In the original, we have a thrilling story of mystery, conflict of interests, legacy, friendship, some comedy, a bit of sci-fi and an overbearing eerie atmosphere surrounding the Hinamizawa village that will keep you guessing until the answers show themselves. Here, Satoko wants Rika for herself (no yuri undertones at least) and will sabotage, torture, kill everything and everyone, friend or foe, to achieve that.

That's it. The entire conclusion and epilogue of the 2006 story where Rika can finally go to a city academy to study is overturned because in this sequel Satoko (who also joined Rika in that academy, persuaded by her) couldn't keep up with her studies and grew jealous of Rika, while also somehow being physically unable to ask Rika for help. Yes, that's the main plot point, the crucial problem that caused the massacres to return to Hinamizawa. No conspiracies, no scientist pride, no secret organizations, no myths or nothing. Just good ol' little Satoko who felt slighted by her best friend, doing what she thinks is the best choice to bring that friend back: Torturing, gouging, mutilating her across several time repeats until Rika finally gets the message across. Not even her own group of friends were safe.

I don't want to start rambling but at this point things are so stupid that there should be nothing left to say to kick this show down even further, but there is a lot left still. A LOT.

So then, let's start with the overly abundant gore. In the original, violence only reached extreme levels when the plot called for it, in the climax of each of the multiple mini-arcs. Here, a lot of the mini-arcs aka time loops are compressed. While they would normally last 3 to 4 anime episodes, in some instances in Gou / Sotsu they're shortened to fit multiple different time loop conclusions in the span of ONE episode. This means that across one episode we see our lovable cast of main characters, including poor Rika (who in case you are a random reader, has the physical appearance of a 10 year old girl) violently beaten to death, stabbed, having her guts spilled, shot, drowned, etc. MULTIPLE TIMES for NO reason. This is why people say this is fucking torture porn. It's too much, it's senseless. It doesn't affect me but it just serves no purpose.

Understandably some arcs needed to be compacted because they only wanted to show how many more times Rika was willing to tolerate her harsh fate, but that is in itself a failure. The beauty of Higurashi was reaching the bloody climax in each arc and learning something in the process each time. A couple more details that allowed you to figure out the who's and why's. The fact that at some point, 2021 version arcs are mashed together and only her fateful end is shown means that there was NOTHING to show. There was NOTHING we could've learned as the viewer because everything was already known and the loop only had a symbolic purpose.

A new entity is also introduced, a plot device called Eua, a Goddess who shares a resemblance with a major Umineko character. She appeared, gave a teenager Satoko time looping powers and conveniently explained to her (and the audience) how everything worked. Satoko then proceeded to literally spend over a hundred years inspecting time fragments to learn every little thing about Rika in order to torture her better back at the village. Hanyuu happened to lose her powers for some reason and randomly reappears in the fragment space whenever the plot calls for it too.


The rest of the main cast that isn't Rika or Satoko become side characters. They really don't do anything. This is a Rika and Satoko anime (who also bear a striking resemblance to two major umineko characters).

What's left is a story devoid of mystery, full of senseless murders, a childish main villain and absurd superpowers.

"Wait... superpowers?" you may ask - "did you misspell something?"

No, I did not.

I never really asked myself if there were sharks in the river where the wataganashi takes place, but there are, and boy trust me that they have been JUMPED. On episode 14th all logic was forsaken and Rika / Satoko decided to fly in the sky while shooting each other with laser beams. These are regular elementary / middle schoolers. There are literally no superpowers they possess outside of endlessly returning to life in case they perish. So why the fuck are they flying in the sky in the real world and tossing fridges and junkyard waste at each other while Satoko screams at the top of her lungs "I HATE STUDYIIIIINNGGGGG"?

You can't make this up. This isn't even "it's so bad it's good". It's legit trash. It's one of the worst conclusions to a show I've ever seen.

Fast forward to a couple mins later, Rika is punching Satoko with all of her strength for at least 20 times (did not get knocked out) while shouting that she (Rika) will not give up on her (Satoko). They didn't really make up but kind of agreed to stay distant. Bitch, she killed you in cold blood for so many loops, is this the best you're going to come up with? You STILL want to bring her along to the academy and stay near her? She can kill you whenever she feels bored you better hire some bodyguards or something.

Of course, there's also Satoko in the middle of all of this. A lovable character equally chased by misfortune and tragedy in the original series reduced to a basic evil Yandere type bitch who no longer acts her age for this stupid sequel. No point delving deeper into this at all. They ruined her character and made her murder her best friend for a pathetic reason.

There are many more instances that have a severe lack of logic like:

- Satoko not using part of those 100 years to study or cheat in tests and learn all the answers to keep up with Rika, instead deciding to use that time to look for injectable drugs, guns, how to shoot a gun, creative ways to get others to kill Rika, etc.

- On the topic of injectable drugs (Lv.5 Hinamizawa syndrome), there's no way you can inject Mion while she's standing up and she won't notice it. Come on show, at least TRY to make sense.

- The very convenient arbitrary rules of: Rika not remembering who kills her in the loops (except when she eventually does), or Satoko being able to jump to the same time fragment with Rika ONLY if Rika dies first in the previous fragment (Satoko never died first apparently despite brawling with Rika on episode 14/15 for over 15+ times).

- Satoko getting sliced in the neck by the sacred sword and not dying right then and there. It wasn't even referenced anymore in the subsequent battles. It didn't even matter.

- 'Evil' Satoko personality taking over and then peacing out at the end to leave original Satoko in her default body.

- Anything related to Eua / Featherine.

- Takano being reduced to a very minimal character, with her character conflict reduced to a non-factor even though Hanyuu is no longer in the mix.

and of course last but not least, Satoko never taking the chance to have a serious conversation with Rika at the academy and TALK like a proper human about the dumb problems she had going on. Nah, that's cringe. Let's just repeatedly kill her and her friends instead.



End of spoilers

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


All in all, this show failed catastrophically in most aspects. The only thing that is free of criticism is the VA work and most of the OPs / EDs. This will forever be seen as a joke series that failed to bridge Higurashi with Umineko and while it was nice to see the old crew animated again, I wouldn't say it was at all worth it.

Let Higurashi rest in peace already. Ryukishi07 you HACK.

I'm always astonished at how big of a franchise this actually is. Not many anime series, especially as non-mainstream as this one, can proudly claim 5 seasons over the span of 7 years. Quite impressive for Senki Zessho Symphogear (Symphogear from now on), and that is precisely why, as the third season was airing at the time, I decided to check it out.

[Review / opinion will cover all Symphogear seasons with really insignificant spoilers - but spoilers are irrelevant for this series]

At first I had trouble grasping what this show was all about. Death, blood, hatred between cast members, new found powers and some music. ... An overall serious and why not, edgy, tone that quickly starts disappearing in the following seasons in favor of a more slice-of-lifey nature with a somewhat repetitive yet effective formula. I had the wrong idea, and from that misconception, it led me to put it on hiatus for 2 years after finishing the second season.

I'm glad that I came back and I'm somewhat sad that it is now supposedly over.

Symphogear is hard to label within certain tags. The official ones indicate sci-fi, music and action, yet there's also comedy, mecha, slice of life, mahou shoujo and a spoiler tag for this last season as well. It is important to understand that this is not a battle shonen let alone a show where things follow a logical path or conclusion. This is a hard point of understanding to come to, because of how misleading the first season is.

What makes this show enjoyable is a combination of everything that constitutes what it is. This anime at some point tried to take itself seriously, but the more I watched, the more I realized that if you're here for the overarching story, you will probably hate it. Satelight also became self aware eventually and I thank them for that. Shoutouts to the fanbase as well, ever so persuading and incredibly devoted to their singing goddesses.

So then, onto the actual review:

SYMPHOGEAR SYNOPSIS:

One (six) young girl(s) continuously saves the world by using the power granted by ancient relics in the form of shards hanging from a necklace. These rocks react to the girls' singing, and in return provide them with miraculous mecha-like armors that seemingly can increase their power level at will, using it to ultimately defeat the bad guys after having initially lost to them earlier in the season.

-We have our main character, Hibiki, a girl with a troubled past that invoked the power of deus ex machina from the first episode of the first season! From that point onwards you should know that she's powerful as fuck, and that she will probably win fights with the flick of a finger... or a single punch if things get too heated. One Punch Woman, if you will. Despite having this serious advantage over others, she often questions whether she should use her gift in battle, because she also enjoys talking a lot, and you can't really talk while you fight singing.

-The stoic and serious Tsubasa, a blade with no feelings that sometimes does concerts because singing is her thing.

-The former enemy Chris, a boyish girl that loves raw firepower and has a backstory that involves losing both of her parents.

-Maria, one of the main antagonists from the second season, a girl that lost her sister... see where I'm getting at? We have 2 freaking former enemies (so far) as part of the main character cast.

-Lastly we have Kirika and Shirabe, unfortunately the former didn't get much of a personality while the latter had half an episode for her development in the 4th season. These 2 along with Maria share the same backstory of being lab rats looking for atonement for what they did.

-Then there's Miku, a normal schoolgirl. Hibiki's best friend just because. The blandest character in the series perhaps as her only contribution boils down to being a damsel in distress and screaming Hibiki's name very loudly. Oh and she also fights sometimes.

I guess I should mention that a new recruit and crucial member of the supporting characters is technically the main villain from one of the seasons. You see what I mean yet? This anime rivals DBZ with the whole turning enemies into good guys shtick. This is another reason why you shouldn't take this show too seriously.

I mentioned comedy earlier. I legit have a hard time figuring out if most of the stuff I laughed at, was designed with comedic value in mind. All the times 2 of the girls joined their breasts together (with the subsequent zoom-in), all the times one of the girls got knocked the fuck out whilst singing so that her song abruptly stopped, all the times the command center asked themselves in awe about what they just witnessed and someone explained it with absolute certainty, or how about a ninja extending his prowess on inanimate objects... it doesn't happen often, but the delivery is always great.

The voice actresses are all big names in the industry, and pretty much all of them have great songs at some point. This is a huge incentive to watch for some as the music is superb and core to Symphogear, and while not every song is remarkable and some are repeated at times, it's still the driving force of this show. Every opening was sung by Nana Mizuki (Tsubasa), much to everyone's delight while every ED had Ayahi Takagaki (Chris) in charge. It makes me think the existence of this animation is just as a mean to advertise the vast amount of songs that exist, much like the Love Live anime, and that probably is right and obvious to most, but I don't know it for sure.

The animation is excellent as well as the now iconic transformation sequences. Studio Satelight really outdid themselves from the second season and onwards. Character designs are vibrant, the abilities and fighting styles each of the girls (and villains) have is unique as well as their facial expressions. I don't think I spotted any QUALITY animation frames after season 1 but there probably are some. One minor criticism is how they rehash the transformation sequences a bit too much throughout seasons to skip some runtime, but since they look good I'm willing to forgive them.

At it's core, Symphogear is ultimately a show about young girls fighting the villain of the season with the power of deus ex machina transmuted into hype songs. The animation is great, the sound is great, the voice acting is top notch. That's all it really matters.

Is it entertaining? Yes it is.

Will you find several instances where you ask yourself "why didn't they do X earlier" or a similar sounding hypothetical thought? Yes you will, unless you're the kinda guy that enjoyed Mirai Nikki unironically and couldn't physically see anything wrong with it, then you will never notice anything.

Should you care about this? No. Laugh it off dude, and this is coming from someone that can't stand asspulls in shows at all. Symphogear makes it enjoyable because of its self-awareness and because the value of the show is located elsewhere.

Trying to make sense of why stuff happens or how something is solved will get you nowhere. This is one of these shows best watched with your brain turned off, a negative connotation that some anime get; the radical difference in this case is that Symphogear is not trying to be something more than it is. You're getting exactly what you signed up for (bar the 1st season). That's not to say things are completely random or 100% make no sense, there is some continuity and reasoning in the way all of this works, it just happens that most of the times it is too contrived and convenient to take as a valid explanation for the events on screen.

This is -not- a serious anime that failed in its premise and therefore can only be enjoyed with your brain turned off so you can ignore the flaws. This is an anime DESIGNED to be watched with your brain turned off from the get-go. That is a huge difference, and it's not a bad thing.

Sit back, and enjoy watching 6 mecha divas wreck havoc as they sing the cheesiest lyrics at the top of their lungs. It's the peak Symphogear experience, and it's one that I dare say not many other shows can replicate.

A-1 Pictures is back at it again with yet another adaptation that caters to the lowest common denominator. It's like they don't even try to hide it anymore.

I originally started watching this solely because I've been craving some good old CGDQT, and found out Sora Tokui was in the cast, so it seemed like a no brainer to give it a shot. I'm glad I did, now I can move on - shame that I didn't get to see her character in action.

This is supposed to be a comedy. I'm sorry but I do not find excessive shouting to be hilarious, otherwise I would ... be watching Black Clover. I find characters like Dino to be the most annoying pieces of work one can come across when watching anime. Other than that, despite having very few moments where one may smirk, the comedy as a whole falls horribly flat. Turns out relying on cringy otaku humor gets old after a while. Yes I get it, he stays up watching anime until it's late, and she likes going to the arcade, yes she has a mean glare and utters words that happen to luckily fit the 'sadistic' shtick. It's cool. Don't get me wrong though, it can work with proper timing, better characters and a better straight man / tsukkomi, but that doesn't happen in here.

This is supposed to be a slice of life. I cannot think of a single interaction in this show that was realistic. Not one. From the way they hire people, to the way the characters behave and react to pretty much anything. Yes I know there are actual weeb cafes in real life, but I'm not talking about that. Nosebleeds, violence, manager getting yelled at by everyone, clients receiving garbage food and treatment yet enjoying it, sleeping in ones lap, manager passing out all over the place and people sitting / stomping on him, having dates and giving presents after knowing each other like a month at most. It all adds up until it kills any suspension of disbelief, something that is quite an achievement considering this is just a non-serious slice of life show, it still manages to do it. Congratulations Blend-S, you've done the impossible.

Characters are tropes, that's fine. They're alright for the most part. Maika is the 'normie' and her sadistic trope gets overplayed to extremes in just 5 episodes. Kaho likes online games. Mafuyu is a deadpan loli with the classic 'looks 10 but is actually much older' character "trait", she likes mahou shoujo. Miu(?) writes doujins. The green haired guy is probably the most bearable of all the characters. There isn't much to say about Dino. I didn't like Ouran High, and he reminds me a lot of the main blonde dude in there, who I also didn't like one bit. Seems petty, but I honestly find that kind of "humor" very annoying.

Most of the times it will be:

1. Female character (mostly Maika) does something.
2. Dino gets swoon in moeness from it, proceeds to do something weird.
3. Insert any of the other characters playing a rather poor tsukkomi role.

It really gets tiring.

Art is great as usual, A-1 pictures pays extra attention in making the characters have their conversations in the dressing room. I'm no SJW so I don't care if they show skin, but damn, I do hate getting treated like those are the things that are supposed to get me to watch these shows in the first place. It's jarring and insulting. Add the usual jiggly physics, sexy costumes and interesting camera angles, and you have an A-1 pictures anime! Even if it doesn't fit the theme at all, they'll feed it to you, forcefully.

Sound, OP and ED are... ok. I like how the ED seems to be updating as more characters are introduced. Voice acting, it shows that Maika's VA is pretty much a newbie. Much like Dino, she's always almost-shouting, and her delivery seems very inconsistent. I'm no VA expert, but that much I could tell at least. Other characters are alright.

I bought into the hype, guys. I thought this was gonna be an interesting ride but boy was I mistaken. To be quite frank, the humor present in many of the shows that I actually enjoyed mostly wasn't laugh-out-loud worthy, but at least it was bearable even at the times where the jokes fell short. Why? because the characters actually carried those shows. I don't recommend watching this, even if you're a Sora Tokui fan.

This review contains no explicit spoilers. If you're the kind of person that doesn't appreciate even the slightest hint or foreshadowing then avoid reading this.

The story starts when our main character, Otonashi Yuzuru, wakes up in what seems to be a high school... but is in reality the afterlife. There, a bunch of students, led by an obnoxious girl, have formed a club to rebel against God. Their reason? the rather cruel and unfair way in which each of them passed away in the real world. As long as they rebel, they will not pass away for good in the afterlife, and so they decide ... to keep doing their thing.

It is also worth noting that this is a KEY adaptation of sorts. So obviously the main character has amnesia. Never gets old.

I will forever say that Angel Beats! had the potential to become one of the best anime shows of all time. However, something went horribly wrong in the process, and what I was left with is nothing more than a mix of overused tropes with very little redeeming factors.

So what is this thing that went wrong?

Pretty simple: Angel Beats! should've been a 2 cour show (22-26 episodes).

Many animes can pull a believable story with endearing, well developed characters in 13 episodes, but AB! isn't one of those. I wish I could keep going on about how amazing this ride could have been, but sadly I must rate this anime for what it is. That's not to say that the plot is perfect, because some concepts are pretty silly and devoid of logic, but still easily overlooked had the overall story been properly executed.

From the very beginning we're introduced to the fact that in this afterlife people cannot truly die, a fact that doesn't stop our beloved SSS (the name of the club rebelling against anything God-related) from constantly shooting and opening gun fire against Angel (student council president IIRC), who in their opinion is their enemy... wait what? Yes, they have access to an arsenal of weapons crafted underground, for some reason. Like that, there are many factors in this show that don't really make sense, but it's alright, stuff doesn't have to be 100% reasonable in this fictional and weird high school setting, right?

What is actually unforgivable is the terrible pacing and overall pointlessness of the story. It's supposed to be a SoL but it happens to be overloaded of other disposable mini events. Music, fishing, fighting, superpowers, pc programs, etc. are among some of those. There never seems to be a clear focus on where the story is headed, repeatedly switching back and forth, dropping relevant plot points to start new ones. It's not advised to do that if you only have 13 episodes at your avail.

And then we have the extremely poor and rushed character development (if present). The SSS has easily more than 15 actual characters, with a focus on maybe 5 or so. Why? Outside the main characters, there's the violent guy, the calm guy, the mysterious girl, the geek, the weird one that says random stuff in english... yes, that's as memorable as they get. The main ones are "lucky" enough to have a semi-proper backstory composed of lazy flashbacks, but what about everyone else? They're just living tropes with no real input in the plot.

The humor is a hit or miss. Most of it relies on the repetition of the same jokes, so if they didn't stick on you at first, then you'll likely end up cringing at them.

Anyway, a few plot twists deprived of any build-up or character development, and a few illogical ass-pulls later, the show ends. I can see how some people might have been severely moved by it, but I could not help but shake my head in disbelief.

Like with most overrated shows, the art and sound are usually really damn good, and in this case it's no exception. Animation, character designs and backgrounds are nothing short of amazing. The same can be said about the voice acting and music, with the insert songs being great and the OP / ED just magnificent (especially the OP).

A shame that art and sound will never be enough on their own...

-----------------------------------------------------------

General:
Atmosphere 5/10 --- Nothing made it look like this was the afterlife.
Characters 3/10 --- Even the few that got development are average at best, especially the SSS leader aka Haruhi ripoff.
Story development & ending 4/10 --- Focus and pacing all over the place, ending with a senseless twist.

Technical:
Art 9/10 --- It's PA works.
Soundtrack 9/10 --- Really good!
Voice acting 9/10 --- No complaints. I'm a bit biased because Kana Hanazawa is here too.

Personal:
Priority (How eager I was to watch the next episode) 7/10 --- Okay hype.
Memorability 8/10 --- Hard to forget the anime that I'm pretty sure has the most reviews in this site.

Final score:
5/10 --- Mediocre

-----------------------------------------------------------

Most of the glaring issues could have been fixed if this had 22-26 episodes. I can just imagine each (or at least 90%) of the characters having a proper backstory and closure, as opposed to just 5. Would have also helped greatly in making the mini-arcs seem as something brief, instead of them taking 25-33% of the entire run time.

This was one of the first animes that I watched, and even so I could still not get captivated by it, when my taste was only starting to take shape. I apologize if some fact might be wrong, it's been more than 2 years since I watched this!

Recommended audience: There's 0 fanservice, only some blood and the plot isn't really complex so this should be pretty easy to watch for any age 12+

I hope you enjoyed this review!

PS: I have not watched any of the OVA or whatever Starway to heaven is.

This review contains no spoilers.

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui, or in short Watamote, is a comedy anime about an otaku girl with null social skills and her attempts to become more popular now that her high school life has begun.

What started as a fun show filled with hilarious jokes and awkward yet relatable situations (albeit exaggerated to the extreme) quickly turned repetitive and monotonous as more episodes came in. It's one of those times where wrong expectations can kill an anime: I actually expected character development. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Let's start with the characters. Tomoko is our main character, a ... girl with abysmal social skills or self confidence that is addicted to anime, manga and videogames. Her younger brother, Tomoki, a 'normal' guy who always has to put up with Tomoko's weird behavior, often putting a dent on his patience. And finally (yes, already), Tomoko's middle school nerdy female friend, Yuu, who not only did a 180° turn for high school, but also grew up noticeably in many ways. Note that she's not in the same high school as Tomoko anymore, however.

Three characters and a few episodic ones not worth mentioning, and that's it. Most if not all the episodes revolve around Tomoko's attempts to becoming more popular through a bizarre and ineffective method (often using her otaku 'knowledge') that always seem to backfire, much to her dismay. The other half of the times she's feeling out of place and lonely... and that's it.

It was funny at first but then it became tedious to watch. The delivery is just too similar every single episode, nothing really happens or improves. Watamote is filled with parodies (probably one of the better aspects), delusions and awkward situations that in the end turn to despair. While the mix of sadness and comedy was nicely done most of the times, it also grew thin as the series went on. Like I already said, if I knew from the start that I should have NOT expected any development, maybe I would have liked Watamote more, yet I kept waiting for something to happen and in the end I was only disappointed time and time again.

I enjoyed greatly the first 1-3 eps, then the enjoyment decayed a little more every episode up until the anti-climactic finale. You know something's wrong when by the final episodes you keep checking how much time is left until it's over, or when you start to fall asleep while watching.

Animation, voice acting or sound. Nice job on those, got no complaints. Though the OP is a little overrated and unfitting. Those chains are never broken in the actual anime.


Detailed analysis GO!

General:
Atmosphere 8/10 --- Successfully showcased an otaku's life, although exaggerated for laughs.
Characters 5/10 --- Too few, too little development. Tomoko was likable at first but she became a little annoying over time (because she never really changed and kept expecting different results).
Story development & ending 2/10 --- You could start watching any episode and not be able to tell if you're in the beginning, the middle or by the end. By episode 11 she greets her teacher in the exact same way as it happened in episode 1, that basically tells you that NOTHING actually changed, not one thing. The ending was also pathetic

Technical:
Art 8/10 --- No complaints.
Soundtrack 8/10 --- Okay OP, cute ED and a fitting soundtrack.
Voice acting 8/10 --- I think Tomoko was done greatly. I couldn't picture her sounding any different.

Personal:
Priority (How eager I was to watch the next episode) 7/10 --- I never watch airing shows. I prefer to watch them once they're completely out. At first I would be hyped about a new Watamote weekly episode, but halfway or so... not that much.
Memorability 4/10 --- Really didn't care when it ended. I won't be remembering this one.

Final score:
6/10 --- Okay


Overall Watamote is a decent comedy anime (especially if you can somehow relate to how accurately they represent Tomoko's problems) and if I had to rate only the first 1-3 episodes I'd give it an 8 or even 9, but sadly taking into account the entire show I must drop it to a 6, and even then I think I'm being generous (If I had to rate the last 6 eps alone... heh).

Tomoko is not a saint, so expect some slight sexual themes and minor fanservice. I'd rate it for 12-13 years teens and older.

That's all I got for now, I hope you enjoyed this review!

ef: A Tale of Memories. An anime that I had never heard of yet somehow made its way into my list.

In my abruptly deceased quest to find a show that could move me, I stumbled upon this gem. It was a coincidence really, I can't remember clearly but there it was, in the MAL top user recommendations for a certain drama anime that I enjoyed.

So I got curious, checked out the synopsis and art. Looked good. Checked some scores and they were even better. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, everything did.

Now with the uninteresting prologue finished, I'll move on to the actual review.

We are ... introduced to a fairly small cast of characters, split into two different and simultaneous story arcs that never connect between each other despite having characters of the same family in both.

The first arc, is about a love triangle between a manga artist, her newly found obsessed girl who is all over him, and a childhood friend. The second one is about a girl with a condition that prevents her from remembering anything at all for longer than 24 hours, and how she meets a guy named Mr. Plainy Plainster. There are a few other support characters who have a story of their own I guess... none of them are worth mentioning.

About the first arc, it's your overused love triangle. No, there are no special twists. The male main character is as plain as you can be, with his only defining trait being his talent for manga drawing. He lives in the house of a female childhood friend (who is sister of the girl with memory problems in the second arc) that is also in high school. He then meets an apparently popular and perfect-on-the-surface female, and chaos ensues.

And if you thought there were few characters in the first arc, allow me to introduce you to the second one. Two characters total. The girl that can't remember things for longer than 24 hours, and a male lead that makes Kirito from SAO look like an interesting man full of virtue.

The story (or, stories) had some potential, but sadly always failed to be anything more than a laughable attempt to be deep or metaphorical. It would be less embarrassing if a mediocre show didn't try so hard to be something it's not. What I'm trying to say is, that this was made by SHAFT, so expect flamboyant and unnecessary animation. The artsy environments and overused symbolism are present everywhere, and they can be amazing additions to amazing shows, however they can also be a double edged sword if the content it tries to enhance simply fails to meet any expectation. This was the case with ef: a Tale of Memories.

So little happens in the actual anime that trying to delve deeper into the story arcs would probably spoil the minimal plot points that ef has to offer, so I won't do that. Just know that this anime was based off an eroge, so needless and random sex themes are around just enough to break any possible immersion. Oh, I forgot that supernatural themes are also present for no damn reason too!

To conclude, the only things that you'll find in ef are: the worst kind of melodrama, unnecessary fanservice and suggestive themes, pointless supernatural elements, hilarious attempts to make this disappointing anime seem deep (through different means), and a very diverse cast of boring, bland and whiny characters.


Detailed analysis below:

General:
-Atmosphere 2/10 --- This is a lackluster tale about teenager love. The repetitive 'cute' backgrounds and symbolism are simply out of place.
-Characters 1/10 --- Completely unlikable cast of characters. I couldn't feel ANYTHING at all for any of them.
-Story development & ending 2/10 --- I laughed at the ending. And I don't have a heart of stone or anything, like I said at the beginning I started this because I wanted it to toy with my emotions, and the only thing it did was to toy with my laughter. Unexpected results.

Technical:
Art 7/10 --- The actual animation is nice when it isn't trying to be 2deep4me
Soundtrack -/10 --- I actually didn't pay any attention to the sound. And the version I watched lacked any opening sequence so I won't comment on this aspect.
Voice acting 3/10 --- Whoever did Chihiro, aka the girl with defective memory, needs to quit voice acting.

Personal:
Priority (How eager I was to watch the next episode) 4/10 --- To be honest I was expecting for something to happen...
Memorability 7/10 --- I'll never forget the worst show I blindly ventured myself into.

Final score:
2/10 --- Horrible

I wouldn't recommend this piece of anime to anyone... maybe to some enemies? It was the first and last time that I actually take MAL's user recommendations seriously.

The themes in here can be quite inappropriate even though this show seems like an innocent tale about teen romance. Out of place scenes and dialogues that do not fit with some of the characters' traits are included just to be faithful to the source material, I suppose, which added to the overall hilarity. Not recommended for 14 y/o or younger.

There's also a second season or rather, a spin-off called ef: a Tale of Melodies. Based on the minor characters of this one. Needless to say I didn't bother to watch it, nor will I ever do it.

This has been my second review, which was more in the verge of becoming a rant, but it had to be said. Don't watch this.

This review contains no spoilers.

With a newly acquired and unique future-predicting diary function attached to their cellphones, twelve people spread all over the city get involved in a battle royale to death organized by the current decaying god, in which the winner will become the new god of this world. And so our main character (who happens to be one of the twelve), an ordinary teenager shut-in named Amano Yukiteru, begins his journey accompanied by a mysterious female classmate that seems to know a lot about him. Which one of the Future Diary owners will rise victorious in this bloody thriller where toying with fate ... is nothing but child's play?

Most synopsis for Mirai Nikki (The Future Diary in english) fail to be clear enough in depicting how amazing its possibilities were in terms of plot. What we get instead is an averagely entertaining show that is best watched with your brain turned off because its flaws are just too hard to overlook. The story, while apparently engaging at first, quickly devolves into nonsense that conveniently spawns one plot point after another. Even the whole constitution of the show (Cellphones that foresee the future and even your own death with some anticipation, while also getting you instantly killed if someone happens to destroy yours) is too far fetched and weak on it's own.

The main character is a loner with zero redeeming qualities who is afraid of everything and the female lead, Gasai Yuno, is an annoying and sick murderer (that somehow possesses top notch assassin skills despite the fact that she's in school) who is pathologically attached to the main character. Oh she's also another Diary owner. While I understand that any normal person would be afraid in these circumstances, it is no excuse to have such an unlikable and WEAK male lead. It deserves to be mentioned, however, the fact that the main character does a 180° later on in the series, over the course of 1 episode or so, which adds to the overall hilarity.

The rest of the cast (the other 10 and some random characters) are hard to describe. They are mostly stereotypical characters with a unique trait or two, some border so much on the ridiculousness that it really becomes hard to take seriously in the context of this show, not to mention that most are obviously discarded as the show advances due to the nature of the plot. While some are sort of interesting (and certainly better than the main two) they are not enough to save the character aspect of Mirai Nikki.

Sound and animation are solid. Special mention to the first opening because it fits the mood and initial tone perfectly, definitely one of the best I've seen. The rest of OPs and EDs were alright, just like the voice acting and soundtrack. Animation was fluid, I have no complaints on that matter either.

But anyway, it is a widely known fact that sound and art are not enough to save an anime.

So fast forward to needless fan service, decisions and plot devices that lack any logic whatsoever, plot holes, ineffective comedy and EVEN the inclusion of homosexuality; Mirai Nikki simply fails to deliver the strong storyline that it seemed to have at first glance. That's not to say that MN epically fails in every aspect though... the action scenes despite being brainless and devoid of any realism / logic can still be entertaining, the female lead's twisted behavior can be amusing at times (generally when she's not being annoying as hell) and the sound and art are good. Kinda sad that those are all the positive things I've got to say about Mirai Nikki.

So onto the detailed analysis:

General:
Atmosphere 7/10 --- Nothing stellar, I guess it's hard to build the proper mood for a battle royale filled with whiny teens for the most part.
Characters 3/10 --- Disappointing and obnoxious. Secondary characters aren't that much better.
Story development & ending 3/10 --- Weak and inconsistent. Despite being a free-for-all, at no point it stops being an episodic battle of the main characters against every single of the other 10. Also plot holes galore.

Technical:
Art 7/10 --- Good, no complaints.
Soundtrack 9/10 --- Background music I don't know, but the OPs and EDs were great (mainly the first OP)
Voice acting 7/10 --- Annoying, but that's how the characters were supposed to behave, and they did a good job at that.

Personal:
Priority (How eager I was to watch the next episode) 6/10 --- Caught my interest sometimes, not gonna lie.
Memorability 4/10 --- I didn't care much when it ended, I didn't care much when I heard about the OVA release. Forgettable.

Final score:
5/10 --- Mediocre

In closing, I can see why some people enjoyed Mirai Nikki, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to put up with the glaring plot holes and lack of logic present in almost every point of the show (I can somehow do that for other animes though). The characters and story pacing obviously didn't help much with that, either. Mirai Nikki is an entertaining anime if you are willing to turn your brain off at all the flaws it has and still manage to enjoy it, it has a powerful synopsis and it sure showed potential but in the end, like it happens many times, the execution was poorly done.

Mirai Nikki is certainly not for kids! The themes it touches can be disturbing and the content itself is a little too explicit. I'd rate it for 16 y/o and higher.

This was my first review, I hope you enjoyed it!