IzanaSolos's Profile - Reviews

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Sep 19, 2024

Gimai Seikatsu (Anime) add

Recommended

"What are you doing, stepbro?"—a classic line that transcends media. Whether it’s the category it originated from or its spread into anime, the concept of "stepsister" shows isn’t new. Everyone’s heard of Domestic Girlfriend (DomeKano), the infamous trainwreck of a series. But Days with My Stepsister is nothing like that. While DomeKano keeps you on edge with its sheer absurdity, this anime is boring—and that’s the best part.

Now, don't tune out just yet. Seasonal anime come and go, with the industry throwing countless forgettable shows at us every few months. Believe me, I know. So when you come across a title like Days with My ... Stepsister, it’s easy to dismiss it. But if you do, you’ll miss out on one of the best shows of the year—and that’s no exaggeration.

This show isn’t what you think it is. So, what’s it about? If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be "realistic." Yes, a romcom about two people who suddenly become step-siblings and live under the same roof is realistic. Trust me. The show values realism above all else, making it the ultimate form of clickbait. It presents a fictional setting filled with fictional people, but in the most realistic way possible. It’s basically a mundane drama, which might sound boring, but it’s that very mundanity that makes it shine. Nothing extraordinary happens.

Outside the initial premise, everything is truly ordinary, and that’s the magic of this show. Of course, credit shouldn’t go to just the writing. Presenting such a subtle concept through a medium as over-the-top as anime requires top-notch direction, and thankfully, it got just that. More on that later.

The story centers on a small cast of characters, and since not much happens plot-wise, the characters need to stand out. Yet they don’t, at least not in the traditional sense. They’re well-written but never exaggerated.

The male lead, Yuta Asamura, and the female lead, Saki Ayase, are both similar and different at the same time. It’s a cliché phrase, but it’s true here. Both saw their families fall apart at a young age and came to the same conclusion: expectations lead to conflict. They witnessed people expecting others to act in certain ways, found it unreasonable, and decided to live their lives without letting anyone expect anything from them.

Here’s where they differ. Yuta preferred to be an ordinary, unremarkable person in the background, while Saki took the opposite route, cutting people off to prevent them from placing expectations on her. When the two meet, they recognize their similarities and start to bond, agreeing not to expect anything from each other. This becomes the core of the story: the slow process of these two characters dropping their guards and opening up to one another.

On paper, that might seem easy to pull off—just words in a light novel—but translating it into an anime is no small feat. Establishing all of this in the very first episode required focused, meaningful direction, and that’s exactly what it got. The series is directed by Souta Ueno, and given how phenomenal his work is, you’d think he’s an industry veteran, right? Wrong. This is his debut project, and he’s only been in the industry for about seven years. On top of that, the show has almost nothing to offer in terms of actual animation. Movement is rare and often stiff, yet somehow, Ueno made it work. He managed to translate the subtle, nuanced writing of the novel into an anime with almost no resources. Souta Ueno is a genius who clearly understands the source material and its appeal, presenting it with surgical precision.

I won’t dive into every episode—or even just the first one—because we’d be here all day. But know that from episode one, the show makes it clear what it's about: the mundane, everyday actions and subtle emotions of each character. Once that foundation is laid, the real story begins. The dynamic between the two leads is fascinating and constantly shifting.

Another fascinating aspect of this show is its dual perspective storytelling. Instead of being an omnipresent third-person observer, we see the story unfold from the point of view of the character we're following. Most of the time, we see things through Yuta’s eyes, and we only know what he knows. But occasionally, the perspective shifts to Saki—through her diary, as they call it—where we learn what Yuta doesn’t know. The same applies when we’re with Yuta; we aren’t privy to Saki’s thoughts. This back-and-forth allows us to watch their dynamic evolve from both sides.

The show features very few side characters. There’s Maaya Narasaka, the most romcom-like character, with her bubbly personality and bright red hair, injecting joy and comedy into the story. Then there's Shiori Yomiuri, another character weighed down by expectations. In the novels, she’s compared to the Yamato nadeshiko, the ideal of modest, beautiful, and dignified Japanese womanhood, though her actual personality contrasts sharply with that image. Despite the small cast, there’s a lot happening, and the anime conveys all these ideas perfectly while adding a few of its own.

The direction is consistently impressive. The aforementioned diary scenes, even on their own, look fantastic. They're presented in a fragmented style, much like a real diary, with long, lingering shots and realistic camera placements that give them an authentic feel. This, of course, adds to the show's laid-back, everyday vibe. I mean, at one point, there’s a full-on fucking lofi music video right in the middle of an episode… LOL. It was absolutely gorgeous to watch, but I won’t spoil too much—you’ll have to see it for yourself.

I’ll wrap this up by saying that this is one of the most uniquely written works in its genre and one of the best-directed anime in recent memory. It sets a gold standard for adaptations. If it wasn’t obvious already, I highly recommend giving it a shot—it’s truly incredible.

It’s not the kind of story about step-siblings you might expect. It’s just about a stepbrother and his days with his stepsister.

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Jun 28, 2024

Girls Band Cry (Anime) add

Recommended

Picture this: you're a nice little anime girl, wondering what archetype you should fall into, what show you should be in, and what kind of character you're going to be. You've got a couple of options. You could be a shounen girl and live the rest of your life with people on Twitter calling you useless until the end of time. You could become a romcom lead and enjoy getting paired up with an embarrassing loser with a cardboard personality. Hell, you could even go the isekai route and end up being girl number 912 in some weirdo's harem. But what if you don't want ... to do any of that? What if you actually want to have the spotlight in your own show and not play second fiddle to the anime boys? Well, in that case, look no further than joining an anime girl band. I think you can tell what this anime MC, Nina, picked. It's the name, Girls Band Cry.

There have been many girl band shows just this year, or hell even this season alone, from Doga Koba's iffy Yorukura, the production hell that is Sasakoi, or the beauty that is KyoAni's Hibike Euphonium. From that alone, you can tell this isn't a new genre or something fresh. When everyone heard the announcement for this, myself included, people thought this was just trying to ride the wave of success that was Fall 2022's Bocchi the Rock! But oh boy, were me and many others wrong about that. This anime is a shining example of the absolute best this subgenre has to offer. If you don't know what this is or what it's about, this is a Toei Production (yes, the people that made Dragon Ball and One Piece), and the premise is basically what you'd expect from all other anime in the subgenre: a bunch of Japanese girls meet and form a rock band. That's it. I never said they were reinventing the wheel here or anything.

First off, I'm sure you could tell by now from some of the clips you've probably seen on Twitter or other places that this show is done entirely in CGI. Now, that might instantly turn some of you off because most people see CGI and think, "Ew what is this, Demon Slayer Season 3?" But I promise you, this isn't that nasty CGI you're picturing. The show looks good, like surprisingly good. You just have to watch a few minutes of the first episode to realize that they knew what they were doing with the art direction. The facial expressions are dynamic and very much anime-like. The cinematography is well thought out and purposeful. And oh boy, don't get me started on the live performances. They look breathtaking. We've come a long way from the awkward-looking CG performances of Zombie Land Saga, that's for sure.

Everything about this show is just so well executed that it's clear this was a labor of love, with people actually putting thought into what was going on on-screen. Most girl band anime are scaled on a spectrum of either full cuteness, full drama, or a bit of both. I'd say this show lands itself nearing the full drama side, but even though it's not perfectly in the center, this show has the best balance of CGDCT and angsty melodrama. Most of that is thanks to the talented seiyuus giving it their all. If you didn't know, most are first-time actors in these roles, and they're better than half the seiyuus in the industry right now. Crazy.

This show checks off so many boxes of how to make a great anime. If you want great characters that feel down-to-earth, genuine, and human, it's got that. You want CG animation with as much expressiveness and detail as a Studio Orange production? It's got that too. What about ACTUALLY GOOD music that doesn't fall into the traditional stereotype of just anime girls singing on stage? Well, get ready to hop on Spotify right after, because my god, does the music slap in this anime. It's not just the OP and ED; the entire soundtrack, which I recommend you ALL GO LISTEN TO, is music to the ears. I don't want to spoil any plot details or anything, because I think people should just go watch the show and experience the peak for themselves. That leads me to the final box to check off. Do you want to watch this show? Too bad you can't, because that's going to be pretty hard to do, which leads me into my next topic.

While this anime is great, no doubt about it, if you don't live in Asia or some other place that's not in the eastern and northern hemispheres, or Japan of course, there's not really a "legal" way to watch this show. Girls Band Cry is in one of the worst positions that a show can be in. From my absolute praise you've seen me give for the past couple of paragraphs, you can tell that this show is really good and people clearly want to watch it. But there is no way to actually do so. This anime has not been licensed by any official company in the west. Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, Netflix—hell, I'd even take Disney+/Hulu or even Amazon Prime at this point. None of them have this series, which unfortunately makes actually watching it in a decent state a lot more complicated.

Now, I know what you're going to say: just go to one of the fancy, universally morally ethical unofficial sites to watch this series, and everything will be just fine. And you're right. But you're also completely wrong. You see, these sites don't get these subtitles for anime out of thin air. Those sites are not the ones making the subtitles for these series. Those subs more often than not, especially these days, have to come from either an official source like Crunchyroll or HIDIVE, or in rare cases, a group of fans dedicating huge chunks of their lives to fan translation. Thankfully for me, I understand Japanese at an N3 level, so I can understand the show with or without subs, but most people can't. And this show is in fact so good that it has spawned multiple different fan translations in the effort of bringing this series to the people.

What I'm trying to get across is that, yeah, this series is surprisingly accessible for something that technically doesn't even have a single company localizing the anime, but it's only accessible because fans cared enough to step in and do what Crunchyroll and HIDIVE couldn't. But therein lies the problem. This leads to issues like some degenerate rushing to process this series through MTL, a.k.a. Machine Translation, and pumping out their butchered release before anyone else on the day of airing. "Just don't watch them," you say. Well, unless you're a weeb like people like to call us and go on that one site that's the noise cats make in Japanese, then you're most likely watching those MTL subs because the "streaming sites" use them.

The real question I keep coming back to at this point is why. Why can't I watch this series? What would compel any of these companies to intentionally ignore such a promising and viral anime right from the beginning? Because it's really clear this show was targeted towards people in the west—the name's in freaking English for god's sake. Maybe instead of picking up literal garbage that not a single soul likes, someone like Crunchyroll could've gotten an actual product on their sites. But no. And Toei's not at fault either, because they obviously don't have any beef with Crunchyroll whatsoever; they air One Piece and Precure weekly simulcast, but not this. Ok. Hopefully in the near future, someone will pick up this show and people can watch it in all its glory. But for now, it seems these MTL and iffy fan translations will have to make do.

Girls Band Cry is incredible, it's an achievement, it's peak cinema as the kids say. And I'm going to jump the gun and call this an AOTY contender. It's that good. So what are you doing? If you haven't watched this show, go and watch it, bad subs or not.

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May 4, 2024

Ninja Kamui (Anime) add

Not Recommended

Well-written

Ninja Kamui, the latest offering from action animation extraordinaire, Sunghoo Park, promises intense, gritty close-quarters combat to the forefront. This comes as no surprise, as action of this nature is Park's forte. You may know Park as the director of both the first season and movie of Jujutsu Kaisen, as well as God of Highschool and Garo: Vanishing Line. Action runs in his veins, alongside the immense drugs he must be taking, because he seemingly shoulders single-handedly for almost every episode of this show.

Produced by E&H Productions, a studio founded by Park himself, the core team appears relatively small, with Park at the creative ... helm. Park's contribution to this show is mind boggling to me, as he's responsible for most of the action from both a directorial and animation perspective, in the ENTIRE SHOW. Remember those jaw dropping fights from episode one? Yep, all him. I could sing praises of the animation from just that episode alone all day, but there are numerous issues with the show, including the fights, which I'm about to get into.

The first few episodes, let's be clear, showcase some of the finest sakuga I've seen, but therein lies the problem. "The first few episodes"... so, what about the others? Well... Episode one boasted a high level of polish that gradually diminished. What went wrong? Well, to answer that, Ninja Kamui, an action anime, suffers from a lack of action animators. There was essentially one besides the 3D team and Park himself. Ninja Kamui essentially became a test to see how much one man could handle, and while Park can produce an astonishing amount in such little time, it's not without its drawbacks. There's a clear discrepancy in quality between the storyboard and animation departments. Meanwhile the level of polish steadily decreased, as is often the case with modern anime.

In short, Ninja Kamui went from being a spectacle of action animation to an average-looking show with above-average action. You may wonder if the mechs, which shifted the show from a sakuga fest to a CGI fest, eventually disappeared. Well, sort of... Near the end of one of the final episodes the mechs finally broke, leaving our two characters to engage in a fully 2D fight. What could wrong you ask? The execution was severely lacking, with rough rotoscoping and inconsistent character designs. The choreography was present, but the implementation fell short, added on by the obnoxious motion blurring. As well as, the show blatantly stealing an impact frame from One Piece, which made no sense in the context of the fight itself.

At this point, you might be thinking, "What about the story?" Well let me tell you, there is no story to Ninja Kamui. And if there is one, it's the most generic, boring revenge story ever. Half the time, our protagonist doesn't even seem to pursue his revenge, which is, you know, THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW. As for the terrible dub, if you didn't know, this show airs on Toonami, known for pioneering dubs in the past. Yeah no, this dub doesn't live up to that legacy; it's subpar and unnecessarily adds content.

All in all, what began as a showcase for sakuga and Park's unrestricted creativity devolved into one of the most lackluster shows I've seen in recent memory. If E&H were to produce another show in the future, count me out. Sunghoo Park's involvement isn't enough to draw me in anymore, especially if the man fails to show his full potential.

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Mar 29, 2024

Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata (Anime) add

Recommended

Isekai... a genre we all supposedly love, right? I mean, apparently enough people do because recently it was just added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Well, I don't. But apparently, Japan does. Every year, we're bombarded with at least fifty isekai series, and I'd wager at least forty-five of them are your typical "I'm so overpowered, no one can rival me in this world" nonsense. And that's precisely why isekai gets a bad rap. Historically, it's been labeled as lazy, low-effort, cash-grabbing, you name it (because, let's face it, they are). Words I completely agree with. So naturally, going into this one, I had the ... same mindset I have with every isekai: it's going to be garbage. And this one being a healing one doesn't make it any easier to dismiss, especially considering the other healing isekai that's "beloved", cough Redo of Healer cough. But watching this show, not only was it not like Redo of Healer (thankfully), truthfully... it was actually good.

Kurokata's Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata, aka The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, centers around this guy named Usato, who, surprise surprise, isn't the center of attention in his school; it's these two named Kazuki and Suzune, who are the smartest, hottest, basically anything that marks the definition of perfect. On one particular rainy day, Usato walks home with the two when all of a sudden they start to hear a bell ringing... except for Usato. Out of nowhere, a magic circle summons around them, and since Usato happens to be there, he gets transported with them as well into this isekai. And this king-sama says the typical stuff every king in isekai says, blah blah blah, defeat the demon lord, blah blah blah. Now, if it sounds like I'm describing every isekai ever made, that's because I am. They get their magic tested, and it turns out that forgettable run-of-the-mill Usato becomes the center of attention because he gets the rarest magic known to man: healing.

This show starts off like any basic isekai. There's nothing special about the first episode. In fact, you could read mine or the official synopsis and just skip to the second episode, and you'll miss nothing. Usato then starts training with a healing master, and believe me, when this shit came up, it brought a tear to my eye. You see, normally when an isekai MC gets new powers, he's like, "Oh, what is this new power? I have no idea what it is," and when up against a monster, they say, "Oh, it's like a video game, ain't it?" and then proceeds to wipe out the entire monster clan and the forest alongside it. I very much appreciate the time this anime takes to build up our MC. It's not much, but seeing Usato go through the training of hell, as it's LEGIT CALLED IN THE ANIME, and for a while at that, tells me that he worked hard for it, and so it feels more deserving when he pulls off the gamer shit.

It's sad we live in an age where competent writing is considered a good point to make in an anime. Like, don't get me wrong, credit to the author, you're great, but shouldn't most non-parody anime be like this? And you know the craziest part of this anime? Sure, there are females in this show, but you know what? They're not annoying. They're not weak. They're not fan service. THERE ARE NO BIG-BOOBED FEMALES IN THIS SHOW AT ALL. Wow, Kurokata, I gotta hand it to you, bold move. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but this isekai actually has good characters.

Usato, you'd think after being all "Oh, I'm a nobody loser no one cares about," would do a complete 180 once he gets his powers, but no, the guy who felt invisible all his life finds a new purpose as a healer in the rescue squad, as support to the heroes, his friends. He doesn't really act like one, but it's the thought that counts. Despite having the rarest magic, Usato is still humble, he still wants to learn, and he's still afraid of the unforeseen danger that awaits anyone who heals. You get it... he HAS FUCKING EMOTIONS. Who the hell thinks of this? Give healing magic to any of the isekai MCs, and they'll find a way to heal their anxiety. Fuck, is depression just a smile? It's moments like these sprinkled throughout the show that make it feel more grounded and unlike a stereotypical power fantasy.

I also like how they handle the side characters. Suzune is an obsessive, borderline perverted character who will do anything to go on an adventure. Why? Because back home, she was a sheltered rich kid who had her future set in stone. And the bond between the other dude who got isekaied, Kazuki, and Usato is just like a friendship from real life. You feel like it's a real bond between those two. It's small stories like these that get you invested in the characters, it establishes an emotional connection, and gives you a reason to want to like them.

Overall, this show surprised me in many ways I wouldn't have imagined. Now, do I recommend for you to start watching every isekai, or hell, just any healing isekai because of it? No. But I think for people who've never watched or are avoiding isekai, this is a pretty good show to start on.

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Mar 27, 2024

Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete (Anime) add

Recommended

Ah yes, the magical girl genre. A genre so wholesome and beloved, from classics like Cardcaptor Sakura to Madoka Magica. There's no way such a cute and wholesome genre can be hentaified, right? Well, Gushing Over Magical Girls is NOT your typical magical girl show if you didn't understand that bit. From the start, it lets you know that this is going to be vastly different than any other magical girl anime you've ever seen, and that's because this one is a fan service anime, and they let you know because it's ramped up by 10.

Now, I'm a huge fan of the whole magical girl ... genre, and it has been done very well in all of its different takes. You have the classic Sailor Moon, then you have shows like Magical Girl Site which represent the dark side of magical girls very well. There are also comedy takes, cute takes; basically, this genre has it all. And here comes Gushing Over Magical Girls, coming to do the never-before-done take on what this supposedly cute genre is about: ecchi and well, just basically fucking hentai, and I'm just like, "Wow." I'm like, "Wow," in the sense that this is as crazy as Inukai's Dog from last year, but this is 10 times worse.. but better at the same time.

This show follows Hiiragi Utena, and she's obsessed with magical girls in her town and wants to become one. One day, some Kyubey clone shows up in front of her and fulfills her wish of becoming a magical girl... except she's not; she's the one who goes against the magical girls. She obviously can't bring herself to kill them or really harm them that much because, you know, she adores them. So she does the second-best thing... sexually assaults them. I mean, this show has every hentai trope in the books, from vines, tentacles, you name it. Hell, there are even some unique ones poured in there here and there.

I will say the downside of this show is that these are kids... like MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS... nope, not even your normal high schoolers from anime, middle schoolers. So anybody who's an adult watching this realizes this shit is over the top and weird. This is for, I guess, younglings, but still, I don't think they're supposed to be watching this at that age either. But it's still like, you should have made them adults instead of doing stuff like this because it's like when you're an adult, and you're seeing stuff like this, it's not that good. Though this is more of a show where you just laugh at how stupid it is and NOT to well, whatever you do to hentai.

And hell, if the AT-X/Reward version that's out for the masses is THIS wild, I could only imagine what Asahi Production has in store for the Blu-ray... and speaking of Asahi Production, the people behind the anime, the animation is actually really good. That's the upside about this; the animation actually looks really good. Onto why and how Japan allows and likes making stuff like this whenever we get fan service like this with minors... it's whatever, though.

But yeah, overall, what a way to start the year, man. We had three ecchi anime just this season alone, and this one is just the KING and epitome of degeneracy. Hell, man, I don't know how you top this. Safe to say that Gushing Over Magical Girls will be forever remembered as an insane anime; I don't even know how it passes as one and not a hentai. This show is just dumb fun to watch to pass the time, and maybe watch it with the whole family; maybe they'll like it or something, lol.

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Mar 23, 2024

Yubisaki to Renren (Anime) add

Recommended

Well-written

Fans of the anime A Silent Voice, which also explores deaf themes frequently draw comparisons between this show and it. I have to admit that these two shows are very different even though. While A Silent Voice delves into the depths of depression and the journey towards appreciating lifes beauty, A Sign of Affection focuses primarily on the experience of being deaf albeit with less thematic complexity

A Sign of Affection stands out from the shoujo anime genre which is hard to find these days by straying from the clichés. This series adopts a novel approach by emphasizing the value of authentic communication especially through ...

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Dec 22, 2023

Hametsu no Oukoku (Anime) add

Mixed Feelings

I don't usually write many reviews, but I had to share my thoughts on this anime. "Hametsu no Oukoku," or "The Kingdoms of Ruin" – even the name, unrelated as it is to the anime, feels overly edgy. It ticks all the boxes of what makes an edgy anime, featuring a protagonist with black hair and red eyes. Let me be upfront: I just don't think this anime is good, and if you're over 18, chances are you'll agree with me.

Let me quickly break down the basic plot. God creates humanity, realizes it was a mistake, then creates witches and shares his powers with them ... to help humans, and they agree. However, when humans no longer need their help, they decide to purge all the witches. Here comes our edgy main character, Adonis, a human who despises his own race for their treatment of witches. Chloe, the witch training him, tries to change his perspective, but they get captured by humans using teleportation before she can say much. Apparently, we've become so advanced as a human race that we've mastered physical transfer technology, something even the witches, with the power of God, can't use. I know, right? The witches, who have the power of God, can't do something us humans can. Things unfold, and Adonis embarks on his emo arc.

You probably understand the show's central theme by now: humanity is portrayed as a big mess, and not a single human has ever stopped to think that mistreating the beings who once saved us might not be the way to go. But at least it gives Adonis a target for his resentment. Then there's Doroka, our deuteragonist, who is the complete opposite of Adonis. Witnessing two women fighting over bread, she doesn't advocate violence; instead, she selflessly gives away her own loaf to prevent another girl from being chosen as a slave.

The animation is surprisingly well-done for what seems like a trash anime with no substantial story. Though in the later episodes in does start to go down. I'm genuinely impressed by the quality of the animation, arguably the only redeeming aspect of the show—filled with intense, bloody scenes that's always on the screen. Here's a game for you: watch episodes 1-5 and count the amount of blood you see. Trust me, it'll be a lot. The funny part is that the show doesn't even attempt to establish a convincing power system. Adonis's magical abilities involve just thinking of whatever nonsense he wants, and it happens. Everyone else shouts random ability names, presumably to make it look cooler. The show doesn't try to conceal its primary target audience: a group of kids with short attention spans, likely influenced by TikTok. And you know what? I'm not above exploiting that audience either—use those attention spans all you want; it works. I'm just saying, if you're not in the right mindset going into this anime, you'll probably hate it. But if you are, you might just love it.

MAL gave this show around a 6.6, and I can tell you it's going to drop down HEAVILY after this review, but I give it a 6.

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Sep 24, 2023

Mushoku Tensei II: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu (Anime) add

Recommended

There's only one way I can explain Season 2 of Mushoku Tensei. If season 1 was about the exposition and the battles, the the true essences of season 2, is love! Rudy endeavors to move beyond his former love, wrestles and stumbles with newfound affections, all in the pursuit of unraveling what love truly signifies to him. Ultimately, he discovers love at long last.

This season was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. I was in awe by the character designs and their evolving personalities. Despite its fantasy scene, the characters exude a genuine humanity, flaws and all. The attention to detail in creating ... and describing situations is a standout aspect, making these seemingly otherworldly characters more relatable in comparison to other Iseakis. Objectively speaking, it excels in every aspect you'd say when seeing an A+ tier story, aside from its exceptional characters. The pacing, particularly in the initial episodes of season 1, where we witness the main character's infancy, maintains a steady and engaging flow. Although slow in some parts, it makes up for it.

One standout quality is how the story handles its morally questionable main character. The overarching theme of transformation and personal growth shines through, most notably in the protagonist's growing disdain for his former selfᅳa clear indication of significant change. The evolution feels natural, with occasional reminders of his origins and imperfections despite the substantial development he undergoes.

Moving into the latter part of the season, new characters like the endearing Fitz are introduced, and the interactions between Rudeus and Fitz are some of the most heartfelt moments in the series. Fitz's perspective resolves a previous concern about characters sounding too similar to Rudeus. Overall, the burgeoning relationship between characters is portrayed genuinely, with mutual affection blossoming.

This first cour surpassed my expectations. It elicited moments that genuinely took my breath away, perhaps due to my heightened empathy at the time. I already believed it couldn't get any better, fearing an inevitable downturn, but I hope the story won't veer into overly grim territory. I prefer my slice-of-life romance with intermittent plot development, and this series strikes that balance perfectly. The writing style and the character's thought process align precisely with what I desireᅳnot overly explicit, not excessively sanitized, not overly naive, yet not omniscient either. I am genuinely content at this moment.

All in all, Mushoku Tensei remains a must-watch for of connoisseurs of the isekai genre. Considering its enduring popularity even seven years after the light novel's initial release, it's hard to envision it losing its appeal. To those uncertain about the series, trust in your own judgment. Your viewpoint is entirely valid. While I may not see flaws in Mushoku Tensei, I respect those who do, and I hope for reciprocal understanding. It's a divisive series, but one infused with love and passion, and that's what makes it a masterpiece.

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Sep 20, 2023

Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou (Anime) add

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How did my life take such a turn that I find myself watchingan isekai about a vending machine? "Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon" is one of those anime series that prompts a serious thought. While people my age are settling down, starting families, here I am, immersed in a story about a guy transforming into a vending machine. What's even sadder is that I'm actually quite enjoying it.

You see, the thing about Japanese vending machines are that they are a lot more Japanese, and are a lot more advanced. This anime brilliantly showcases the impressive capabilities of Japanese vending machines—serving ... up hot meals, simulating motion, and even conjuring force fields.

Let me set the stage for you. We have our nameless protagonist, who one day, while riding his bike, comes across a vending machine in distress. seizing the moment, he leaps into action, and as a result, meets his demise, only to be reborn as a vending machine. The intricacies of the power system in this anime are best understood by watching it, as it can get quite complex at times. It operates on an isekai power system fueled by money.

Here's where our unnamed protagonist encounters his first challenge. He finds himself in the middle of nowhere, devoid of any intelligent life—until, wait, there's a person. Enter Lammis. She discovers him, famished and disoriented, and after sating her hunger, she attempts to communicate with our protagonist. The catch is, he can only utter phrases typical of a vending machine, such as "Please Insert Coin", "Too Bad", or "Thank you very much! I look forward to your next use!", is what women say to me in the red light district, but I digress.

Later, Lammis decides to name him Boxxo. She then carries him back to her village with ease, thanks to her extraordinary strength. Once Boxxo arrives in the village, that's when the real high-stakes, adrenaline-pumping action kicks in. This doesn't mean Boxxo doesn't embark on the typical isekai adventures; he just approaches them a bit differently. And that, my friend, sets the stage for Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon.

What really carries this anime is the vending machine character himself, Boxxo. He embodies the quintessential isekai protagonist—utterly average in every way. The only standout trait is his knack for pulling off Chinese scams. He went so far as to set up an entire Genshin gacha, and I'm convinced he rigged the outcomes, much like gacha games have been doing to me for years.

Then there's Lammis. Her main characteristic, besides being a kind and strong woman, seems to be her difficulty in controlling her punches unless she has Boxxo on her back, acting as some sort of aim assist. The characters lack the depth of real people; they feel more like marionettes being manipulated.

As for the background characters, I struggle to find the words. They might just be the most background characters I've ever come across.

Now, I haven't been overly critical of the anime so far, but it's time to address some glaring issues. The animation can be quite goofy at times. While it's understandable that they saved time drawing the main character, given he's essentially eight lines and a fill tool, they only went all out on the animation once. I also played a little game called "try not to spot a blurry background," and let me tell you, it was impossible.

Admittedly, the animation didn't bother me too much since I was in it for the entertainment value. That's the thing about this anime. It falters in storytelling, pacing, animation, character development, conflicts, themes—you name it. Yes, it's a subpar anime, but I found a strange kind of enjoyment in watching it. It was so bad that it circled right back around to being oddly good, only to loop back into being bad again. A pretty decent isekai if you ask me though. 7/10.

Thank you very much! I look forward to your next use!

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Sep 18, 2023

Masamune-kun no Revenge R (Anime) add

Mixed Feelings

Spoiler

My, My, My. I first watched the first season of this show a long time ago, and that's about the biggest complement I can give this show. Despite some bumps along the way, I found the first season entertaining, and long-awaited a second season. But, this is what we got?

Now that the whole story has been presented, I can't grasp the creators' objective. It had such an intriguing start - a male MC who wasn't the typical good boy, and a female MC who could have had more depth beyond just being a violent tsundere for the sake of it. Yes, we had the ... "childhood friend" of the MC with a disease that, while only relevant at times, I could still take her character seriously. But basically our main character, Makabe had a crush on the tsundere, Aki, when he was younger. Except back then, he wasn't in the best of shapes. So "Aki" rejected him and broke his heart. He's held a grudge ever since. Now his goal is to make her fall in love with him so that he could dump her.

But then what happened? The anime just stopped at a weird place and was gone and after five years it got renewed for a second season. So we dive into the second season of Masamune-kun no Revenge and, without my knowledge, the anime became stranger and weaker with each episode after the last arc of the first season.

Also remember that whole revenge thing that the narrative revolves over, well, this season, that premise pretty much resolves itself, but in the end, nothing substantial changes. I was hoping for a bit more, but I suppose I underestimated just how clueless Makabe can be. His lack of common sense really got on my nerves this season. For instance, in episode six, he takes Aki on a movie date and buys her two tickets for two different seats, simply because he wasn't sure if she planned on sitting beside him. On their date. Come on, dude, I know you're not that dim. At least now I understand what the "R" stands for in the title of this season.

I think the creators wanted to inject some madness into the show, introducing a plot twist and then going even bigger than the first, leading us to explore the minds of the main characters in just a couple of episodes before the finale. Perhaps that wasn't a good idea (and at the same time, I wouldn't have had faith in more episodes).

I also can't emphasize enough how fast-paced this season was, to the point that it did a disservice to all its characters. Consider this: the side characters received no development whatsoever, unlike the main characters. So, how am I supposed to become invested in one-dimensional characters? Each episode felt incredibly rushed, but that didn't bother me too much. It was enough to keep me engaged with the show. And believe me, the plot twists in the first season were so engaging that I couldn't help but race to the end! Only to be pranked. All the creators did was play with your emotions and retcon those final episodes.

I can't help but think that after deciding on the main idea of the show, the creators relied solely on the power of the plot twists until the end. And while that wouldn't be a problem in itself, the real issue lies in how the creators executed them. This show could have been one of those that I fondly remember in the future, but in the end, I only have a headache as I write this, with the hope of feeling better afterwards. I guess the takeaway from this show is every girl can be best girl, every girl can still be a contender right until the very end.

Overall: 6/10, I don't find myself ever going back to this show, just a show you can turn your brain off and laugh at how stupid the shit that happens in it is. In the end someone did get revenge, and that was the creators themselves.. on the viewers who wanted this to end differently.

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