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With themes of reflecting on and dealing with grief, regrets, loss, healing, and understanding, I highly recommend this as an anime for everyone to watch. It is a really bittersweet ride, but I think everyone can take something from this. The ending has really stuck with me and that last scene hit me hard. I don't want to spoil it because it is most potent when you go in blind.

I honestly can't recommend this enough. There might be a time when you need to cope like these characters do and I think this has a great story of learning how to.

I had high hopes for the anime since the art looked really nice and I've read the manga, but it just didn't hold for me. It moves even slower than the manga and the story beats were identical, so I was more bored than anything else while watching it.

If you've read the manga, you don't need to see the show. Natsuo's character isn't improved upon at all either. His way of dealing with the situations that occur is infuriating at times. I can reason that it he is a teenage character who is impulsive and confused, but it still doesn't settle right with me.

Again, I ... think the manga was a better experience for me personally. There still are issues I take with the characters, but the show was still alright.

This show is so unique! If I had to equate it to anything, it's like you're watching animations of someone's fanfiction stories, jumping around between chapters and oneshots of the same pairing. I've never seen a show do that before, so it's quiet a novelty to experience.

I find it really nice that the opening and ending songs introduce you to these two being actors in a subtle way and styling the title cards also add to it. Additionally, not only do the cute lyrics show the bond the two actors have, but it just feels good to listen to! It makes me feel happier ... just listening to it!

The episodes are really short, so after a couple, I found it easy to adjust to the flow of jumping around. It's nice not knowing what to expect and being surprised. The episodes very from humorous to cute to heartbreaking, so there's a little bit of everything to love. Every so often there are longer episodes and they usually deal with heavier, more complicated themes. I found myself looking forward to those longer episodes as well as the storylines the show would revisit. I ended up liking even the ones that I started out with no preference for, excited even when I got a sneak peak of the next episode. That made me really appreciate the show. Making me care about storylines/characters I didn't care for before really impresses me so it has my praise.

Additionally, for as many genres as this show touches, it does them all surprisingly well. From daily life to supernatural to fantasy, the show really explores the themes just enough to make it work without putting too much to break someone from the experience. The art style really helps with those switching themes as well. It is simple, cute, and beautiful, emphasizing only what is really needed. And even though the show is based around two actors paired in several different projects with varying roles, you can still get a good idea of their individual personalities, which was a nice touch.

Overall, this is a great show with a very interesting way of telling its story. I would highly recommend picking it up to give it a try!

This show really exceeded my expectations! With beautiful animation and entrancing opening music (I really like the Chinese one), I knew I was in for a good time, but wow! It really built off the previous season and took it over the moon!

The plot built up more naturally than the previous season. Not as fast paced and really focused on the characters in a way that I was always wanting to know what was going to happen next. The characters also felt more developed and flushed out than they were before. I found myself caring about characters I didn't really have an opinion on in ... the first season and started caring more about the leads than I did before. Speaking of the leads, their relationship is built up nicely over the season and didn't feel forced. I don't want to say too much in fear of spoilers, but I really like how they grow together!

The only qualm I have is that some sections are flashback heavy. Though it's done tastefully, it goes on for a bit and I found myself skipping forward at parts. Additionally, there's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end that had me really disappointed when I found that the plans for a following season was canceled. I hope it gets picked up again because I want to see if Duanmu Xi (Tanmoku Ki) can complete his goal.

Though I prefer the Chinese dub with how the voices fit the characters better in my opinion, the Japanese dub is still good and it doesn't shy away from as many scenes as the Chinese dub does. I'd try both, but if you're looking for the more BL scenes, go with the Japanese dub.

Again, this was a really good show! I'd highly encourage giving it a watch!

I cannot express how highly I recommend this show! The story is unique and draws you further and further in with each episode. Even though the pacing is a little jarring with the transition between the first episodes and the rest of the season, it more than makes up for it with it's beautiful animation. The characters are expressive and lively with such smooth animation that I couldn't take my eyes away. I rewatched several scenes because I was so mesmerized by the animation. There are wonderfully animated actions scenes throughout and the music is perfectly matched to heighten the experience. So much of ... this show is gorgeous.

As far as it being a BL, I actually didn't get that feeling about it until after looking more into the source material. It is definitely subtle, but it builds over time. It's easier to see it when you're looking for it. I dived into the show blindly and even showed it to my boyfriend who doesn't like BL, but really enjoys this one. It's really a show that everyone should give a try at.

The only barrier is that if you're not familiar with the source material or donghua, the elements of the world and sects can get a bit confusing, but it falls into place after a bit. I definitely recommend diving into the novel or manhua (Chinese comic) if you enjoy the donghua.

P.S. - The studio has all the episodes of this season and the next on YT!

I just finished watching Dororo and I absolutely loved it! It's something you definitely want to go into blind since it really is the best way to experience it. The only thing you need to know is that there is a bit of bloody gore. It's not too often, but it is there if that's something that unsettles you.

Other than that it's a great, cohesive story that immerses you in its world and will leave you on the edge of your seat! It did get a bit episodic with the "monster of the week" troupe in the middle, but it quickly escaped that and ended ... better than I expected it to. Definitely recommend giving it a watch while the episodes are still on YT if you don't have Prime!

This anime really had a lot of potential with a good first few episodes, but it just felt so rushed with having such short episodes that are typically about 10-15 minutes of actual show, if that. The story held itself together enough to make the episodes make sense, but the interactions between the characters were so rushed, it felt like some things were just getting forced into place rather than having it feel natural. It made it feel like characters feelings for each other were just there for the image of a romance rather than having one culminate with actual reasons or causes for it.

Overall, ... I was pretty disappointed with how this anime was handled. It's okay for when you're bored, but it's just going to get your hopes up for nothing.

The anime is very visually appealing and though the plot is kinda loose in its direction, it holds itself up pretty well between the character's interactions. Its premise is pretty simple, but I think it has enough interesting elements to make it worth a watch. And though I'm not that into cooking anime, I found this one appealing enough to get through since, again, the characters interactions are really what does it for me. Most of the characters are a bit flat since most of the characterization focuses only on a 2-3 core characters, but that was really all the story needed to keep ... the plot moving.

Overall, it's a nice medieval slice of life with a few moments of high tension. I do hope for it to get renewed for a second season, but even if it doesn't, it's a nice show to casually watch, especially with such a charming opening song.

I was really excited for where this story was going to go at first, but in the end it turned out pretty average. The pacing is a little awkward and the ending leaves much to be desired since there are so many loose ends let unresolved or untouched. At the same time, I guess it kinda suits it. The plot is a bit jumpy and the main love interest goes back and forth, but sometimes real life can be like that too, so out of this anime's many faults, I can't list that as one of them.

I just wish there was more done to explore ... the characters to give some of them a bit more dimension. There quite a few that felt like they weren't characters, but just distracting background noise that didn't help move the plot except for one moment, and that was only when they were first introduced. Again, this is a pretty average anime that's best to not get your hopes up about when watching since there's some tension that builds up, but never gets resolved and more or less forgotten about a couple episodes later.

When I first heard of the situation surrounding Studio Ponoc's founding and the release of their first film, I was really excited for it. I know there can be no one that replaces Miyazaki, but I looked forward to what people with his influence could do on their own. I grew up with Ghibli's classics and seeing their evolution over the years, I can see where some of this new studio's inspirations are coming from for this movie.

Visually and stylistically, I can see influences from Howl's Moving Castle and When Marnie was There. The magic makes just about as much sense as it does in ... Howl's Moving Castle. It's wondrous and looks amazing, but there are points where things don't make much sense. The animation of characters and backgrounds remind me of the style of When Marnie was There, with it being more modern and more noticeably digitally animated. It's definitely not a bad thing though. The characters are appealing to look at and feel like they belong to the world of the movie.

The only complaints I have of it is that there are points in the animation where characters feel more 3D than their environments, especially in the early sections of the movie. Mary seemed to be separate from her environment in some parts, so it was a bit distracting for the moments where this happened. Additionally, the story feels a bit incomplete and has some awkward pacing. It feels like they sacrificed work on the story for animating flashy sequences. I say this because the story feels rather linear and predictable. I could tell where the story was going quite easily, so a I feel like it could have been more than what it was. It was good and enjoyable, but I feel like it could have been better flushed out.

Overall, Mary and the Witch's Flower is a pretty enjoyable movie. It has it's faults, but it's not bad by any means. I think it's a great first movie for this studio, though I hope they don't rely too heavily on being from Ghibli or on Miyazaki's influence as time goes on.

I think an important thing to know before you watch this movie is that though this was made by people who worked under Miyazaki, it's not the same experience. It's new and different and they are stretching their legs to see what they can do and be in this new beginning. Yes, they are influenced and inspired by Miyazaki, but they are their own thing. They shouldn't be compared to Miyazaki as if they should live up to his legacy. They are creating their very own new legacy and I can't wait to see where they go from here!