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I find it difficult to put into words what Shinsekai Yori actually is. The feelings it evokes are complex, but what I can tell you for certain is that this is something that you need to experience! This is just one of those stories that will move your heart and get you thinking, leaving you a changed man in the end. It might be hard to grasp what to expect when looking at it on the surface level, but believe me, Shinsekai Yori is definitely worth it!

You can see how it has been branded with many genres and I think all of them are quite ... apt. However, suspense horror is probably the most accurate descriptor. Don't get it twisted, this isn't some supernatural tale about ghosts and monsters haunting the innocent, it's something far deeper and far more real than that. Shinsekai Yori explores a world where humans have acquired immense psionic powers and the effect that this has on a society. How do you tame this power? How do you live knowing that any other person could be a walking weapon of mass destruction? What if the person goes mad? There's a lot more to it, but I want to avoid detailed spoilers. The best word I can think of to describe the feeling of the anime is "unease". At any moment, you can't shake this feeling that something is wrong, that something horrible is about to happen and often this turns out to be true. But the source of that misfortune is something you cannot predict and that keeps you on edge from beginning to end. You don't know who or what you can trust and this tension just keep building all throughout.

The horror however is just the backdrop for the real story, because at its core, Shinsekai Yori is a societal commentary, a musing on human nature. The thin line dividing good and evil, making sacrifices for the greater good, the responsibility that comes with power, societal casts, the role of love in the bigger picture, etc. In many ways - the strive towards utopia, the pleasure driven society, the distinction between civil and savage - it draws parallel to Aldous Huxley's iconic novel Brave New World. Given the similar titles, I think this comparison is quite intentional and the inspiration quite obvious. In line with a lot of recent things I've been reading, I've been getting acquainted with the idea of the "anti-utopia". The way I understand it, a utopia is an ideal society where interpersonal issues have been resolved and we focus on the greater good, a pure dystopia is one where you can tell at a glance that the world is fucked and nobody is trying to hide it, but an anti-utopia is a flavour of dystopia, where things are well and truly fucked, but the powers that be and their followers are trying to convince you and themselves, that they in fact live in a perfect society and that all of the horribleness around you is just necessary sacrifices for the good of all. Shinsekai Yori definitely fits that last description and the questions it explores through its universe are deeply engaging and very poignant.

Criticizing the details will be a bit tricky, but I'll do my best here. I firmly believe Shinsekai Yori is one of the most finely crafted stories I've seen in anime. The only downside is that it's presented in a bit of an odd way that some may find confusing. Multiple timeskips, multiple perspectives, plenty of heavy symbolism and stories told out of order are just some examples. It's one of those series where you really have to flex your brain folds and pay proper attention. Every moment matters and minute details revealed in one episode might become of huge importance ten or more episodes later. While the anime takes the effort to remind you of important things, it's still vital to keep your eyes peeled for these tiny details that build the greater narrative. This isn't Haruhi Suzumiya where it was made by a schizo on shrooms, the narrative absolutely makes sense but you need to be vigilant to piece it all together.

The story itself was, in my opinion, amazing! I loved how the line between good and evil was razor thin. The characters were all believable, realistic and engaging, having fantastic and believable relationships with each other that all had tremendous depth to them. The micro of their interpersonal stories mixed with the macro of the tension of the greater world beautifully and all the elements tied together into the central themes awesomely! They also all feel like real people, often making brash, emotionally-charged poor decisions, but guess what, we all do that, so it all makes sense for who they are as people. Being that this is based on a novel and there's lots of heavy worldbuilding, the series is very dialogue heavy, but this was handled very well and it never felt annoying or clunky. Every conversation was filled with tension, emotion and intrigue that made it engaging.

On the technical side, the anime was quite well executed. Overall the animation was of very high quality, everything looked really beautiful and the characters were lively and expressive. The music and sound design were also really well executed, adding a lot of tension and great atmosphere to every moment. The fact that the anime also technically doesn't have an opening made it feel that much more eerie and immersive. The voice acting was superb, fitting all characters really well and handling the age differences masterfully too. There are some criticisms though. Firstly, the pacing, especially at the beginning, was also a bit slow, while also feeling like we jumped into big plot events a bit too suddenly. Regardless after the first third, things really pick up and it's all gas from there. As a lot of people have mentioned, the animation is a bit inconsistent. Most of the time it's good, but it does get stiffer or the artstyle might shift a bit in weird ways, for no apparent reason. It's not some dealbreaker, but it is worth noting. Lastly for the visuals, while I thought they were great and I actually applaud them for avoiding conventions and having a horror story take place almost entirely in broad daylight, I still think that the bubbly colours and somewhat generic anime style were not the best fit for this kind of story. I get that it's also part of the subversion of expectation by having these cute characters in such a dark narrative, I still feel like a more realistic and grounded Monster-esque visual style would've been a better fit. I get that this is from 2012 and we didn't have the animation we have today then, but I still have to mention this.

Right, I think I rambled on long enough. If you felt that the descriptors were a bit vague, I apologize, but I did my best to not give away any plot details as I think that will just spoil the experience for you. I hope I managed to convey that this is a thoroughly engaging story that you need to experience and one that will get you thinking about a lot of stuff afterwards. Shinsekai Yori is a knife through the heart in the best way possible. A lot of stories try to be dark and/or philosophical and a lot fall on their face, becoming cringey, boring, pandering or confusing. This is none of those things. This is a dark setting done right and its commentary on human nature, society and morality are woven masterfully with a deep, emotional drama between believable characters, showcasing their believable development as they grow up. It's a twisted and macabre story that feels bleak and dreadful, but there's a strong glimmer of hope through it all that culminates beautifully in the end. Once you experience this tale, I guarantee you won't be able to stop thinking about it for days and its implications will live with you for the rest of your life. So don't be shy, jump into the New World!

P.S. To my good friend who recommended this to me, a sincerest thank you! You know who you are. I get it now, I see why you enjoy this so much and why you didn't say anything about the story itself, you just insisted we check it out. And it took me a lot less time than the other guy to get to it and then finish it! Ha!

The best way I can describe this anime is as follows - I'm not sure what the hell I just saw, but I am sure that I liked it! Bang Bravern is just a bundle of fun dipped in weirdness so if you just wanna kick back with some giant robot fun, look no further. You've heard of cute girls doing cute things and (hopefully) also of BIG MEN DOING MAN SHIT. Well, this can best be described as BIG MECHS DOING MECH SHIT.

Right, you know how the saying goes that if you took Fist of the North Star and dipped it in pure unfiltered ... uncontaminated Gay, you'd get JoJo's Bizarre Adventure? Well, if you took Gundam and gave it a homosexual treatment of comparable potency, you'd get Bang Bravern. I have no idea why this anime is so aggressively gay. I don't mean that as a criticism by the way and I'm not calling this woke or anything. It's just an objective observation. I can definitely tell that all the gayness was included because the creators felt it appropriate, not because of some ulterior motive. There was an actual boys love anime airing the same season as this and it got outgayed by Bravern. It must be some cruel joke that the creators filled this anime with many cute girls and then made every single male vehemently gay. I really don't know what else to say about this, it's just what it is. Take of this what you will in whichever hole you prefer.

On the story itself, I always like to say, in order for anything involving mecha to be good, it has to be built on the fundamental concept that giant robots are fucking cool. I can confidently say that Bravern fits that criteria. It's evident that the creators of this love mecha and are very well acquainted with a lot of the cliches and stereotypes about them. So instead of fighting it, they embraced it and went full ham. They made the mechiest mecha show ever and added enough humour to show that they're self-aware about it. The show relishes in its own absurdity and that's a huge part of what makes it so fun. Plus, the bond between a pilot and his mech is a common topic among these stories, but I don't believe I've ever seen one about the mech and the pilot being gay lovers that are into each other and the whole thing playing out as some unholy mix between saving the world and saving a relationship. Points for originality I guess. The story at times is very stupid in the best of ways and at others it somehow loops back to being somewhat poignant somehow. Whatever it is, despite the experience intentionally riffing on cliches, it actually stayed shockingly unpredictable from beginning to end, keeping you on your toes both for its plot twists and ridiculous punchlines.

On a technical level, the anime is superb. The animation is top quality, using some spectacular 3D animation for all the mech stuff and some nice expressive 2D for the character moments. The two also blend together really nicely. There's some really competent direction here too with some great shot composition, transitions and scenes. Almost every episode has some throbbing action to keep the adrenaline and other fluids flowing and each action scene was executed very well. Sounds are adequately punchy in that characteristic sci-fi way. The music was pretty awesome, especially the opening and ending, which will both definitely get stuck in your head like gay propaganda for months to come. The voice acting is stellar too. From the crisp homoerotic chemistry of the main cast, to the bombastic taunts of the mechs to Lulu's autistic screeches, it's all perfect for the story. I loved Mechjiro Tsuda, he was my favourite.

Overall, if you're coming in here expecting a serious, philosophical tale about war and collaboration, boy is this gonna be a rude awakening. Bang Bravern is just a new unique twist on what we all know and love about mecha anime, embraced to the fullest. When we imagine our dream mecha in our minds and what it can do, we imagine Bravern. Well, probably marginally less gay, but I digress. Point is, this anime was designed for fun first and foremost and at that it succeeds with flying colours. Rainbow colours probably.

CyGames are showing once again that despite mostly animating utter nonsense, they are a shockingly competent studio with loads of talent and skill under their belts. Just thinking that this studio is gonna bless us with the peak that is Kagurabachi soon makes me quake with anticipation. Godspeed, you fabulous bastards!

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BUREIVAAAAAAAAAAN!

Wow! Just wow! I was already hooked on Dr. Stone from the word go, but damn, this season (or half of a season or whatever it is) was pure peak from start to finish! It was all gas, no breaks and it had some of the most powerful story moments from beginning to end.

The first half of this season was already cooking hard with the surprises, plot twists and character moments and the new faction introduced a whole other layer of tension to the whole ordeal. The Science Team were put against the ropes and really had to struggle to get out of this ... one. Ibara, even though I hate his fucking guts, is an insanely well written villain and although his motivations may be a bit lacking, he is superbly cerebral and intelligent, so much so he can basically negate the technological advantage that Senku and the others have over him. He is genuinely terrifying and it feels like he can end the whole journey right at the first stop.

Also, since we're on the topic of Ibara, can we talk about his design real quick? Ibara has to be one of the greatest examples of the strength of character design I've ever seen. Like, the millisecond that this Jafar-looking motherfucker struts his shriveled ass on screen, without him saying or doing anything, you just KNOW he is evil! Immediately and intuitively. I know that this is kind of odd, since basically every other Dr. Stone character is much more nuanced in their alignment and morality, but you can't deny that Ibara is just really fun and engaging to watch!

Thanks to his strength as a villain, the last few episodes, culminating with the final confrontation between Ibara and Senku, were just absolute art! Incredibly clever thinking, deep multi-layered strategy, insanely high stakes, outsmarting of the outsmarting and the strength of genuine bonds and teamwork overcoming terror and fear. Literally and figuratively, it was a battle of ideals and morality that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Well done!

It's clear that we're entering the big leagues of Dr. Stone and with the revelations shown in the last episode, the stakes and scope of things are gonna skyrocket real quick. And boy oh boy, I am ready for this! This arc was one of the highest highs we've had so far and I have a distinct feeling it's only going to get better. So if you haven't started Dr. Stone yet, DO IT NOW! The journey AND the destination are both worth it!

Man, exploration is fun, isn't it? Who doesn't love a globetrotting adventure? Well, I personally do and to my delight, that's exactly what we get here, a far journey on an old wooden ship, recapturing the essence of the golden age of exploration. And what an adventure it was!

Having everyone on board the ship and acting as a crew only went on to help the already amazing character chemistry shine even brighter. The way everyone works together on the ship and the moments where, for one reason or another, certain characters are unavailable, really go to show how they all rely on each other and ... how the whole is stronger than any individual part. Senku and Chrome the clever scientist. Kohaku, Magma, Kinro and Nikki the muscle and strongest fighters. Ginro. Kaseki the master carpenter and genius engineer. Taiju the tank with his ridiculous strength and limitless stamina. Yuzuriha the master craftsgirl with her magic hands. Ryuusui the captain and navigator. Gen the sharp tongued manipu...I mean diplomat! Everyone has their own strength and unique skills, thus making each and every one of them irreplaceable. Except Yo. We should've left him petrified (I don't like cops).

Beyond that, there isn't much to say besides the fact that the quality only keeps getting better. Visuals, sounds, music and voice acting remain cream of the crop. Story is incredibly engaging and only gets more intense with the introduction of the new location, its history and the new cast of antagonists. We're not playing with sticks and stones no more, things are serious now!

Honestly, all I can say is do yourself a favour and dive in! Dr. Stone is only going from strength to strength and the quality has only been going up. Get in here and explore science! The Stone World is our oyster!

*SNAP* "HA HAAA!"

Ah man, Ryuusui is such a shithead and I love him. The man is such a main character that he manifested an entire one hour special dedicated to him, something nobody else has gotten prior or since. He even gets to have my 60th ever review! This man is so cocky, he just bends destiny around himself it seems.

There really isn't too much to say, as it's just a longer episode to bridge the gap between seasons. It presents all the goodies we've come to know and love about the Dr. Stone anime. Great character interactions, good mix of serious work ... and humour, awesome visuals and sound design and a fantastic sense of togetherness and cooperation with the entire cast. Once again, the new characters introduced slot right in like the pieces of an ever growing beautiful puzzle and they have great chemistry with everyone. Except for the fact that we reinvented capitalism, bet Tsukasa is gonna love that one once he's out of the freezer.

Being a special, the episode also stands out with having a little bit of extra effort put into it than the usual anime does and you can definitely tell the studio pulled out the special sauce for this. Francois probably made it for them. The visuals in particular are even better and we got some absolutely spectacular moments, especially during the balloon flight. The art direction was impeccable during that too.

Dr. Stone was a masterpiece till now and it keeps going that way. So if you've gotten to this part, then it's really more of the same goodness with just a little bit of extra oompf to the mix. So come join us on this journey and let's explore together! The destination is worth it. Trust me, a sailor's instinct is never wrong. HA HAAA!

Dr. Stone is back and it just keeps going strong. I said about the first season that it's one of those rare gems where there's nothing to complain about and it seems this is how the whole series is shaping up to be. Music to my ears personally, because this is quickly becoming one of the most engaging and fun anime stories I've ever seen. But before we progress science further, we must defeat an ambiguously gay muscular communist and his definitely gay eugenicist boyfriend. Let's go!

The way the Science Team progress through the technologies continues to be incredibly exciting. I also love Senku's bold ... approach where he just goes "nah, fuck it" and skips like 200 levels on the tech tree to make something super advanced directly. And with enough effort and intelligence, it works out. Seeing everyone work together is pure pleasure and the high stakes and narrow time limit add tension to the whole ordeal. As things go on, we are introduced to more and more new characters but despite this, the mantra that all of them are amazingly deep and engaging and also have magnificent chemistry with each other holds incredibly true. It's a true testament to writing prowess that you can have a cast this large where nobody feels redundant or forgotten about and all interaction between any combination of characters is consistently fun.

Dr. Stone is a Shonen Jump property, but honestly it doesn't feel like one and I mean that in a good way. As the name of the season tells you, this is a war arc and it ends in a predictably epic mass confrontation between everyone involved that is sufficiently epic and bombastic. And while there's more than enough hand-to-hand clashes to go around, you'd expect the big fight to end a war arc to have a lot more punch fighting and stuff, but this isn't the case. This is a huge part of what sets Dr. Stone apart - the battles are won more by wits, quick thinking and teamwork. In that sense, this war feels a lot more like a real one as it holds true that preparation and strategy have much more impact on the outcome than individual strength or pure numbers do. Even so, when the characters do square off in straight up fights, the action is stellar as always. The last few episodes were pure gas and gave us many iconic moments.

Overall, Dr. Stone started strong and is only getting better. I won't go into more detail because it's just not necessary. There's so much to love here and there's something for everyone. You're doing yourself a disservice by ignoring it. I'm ten billion percent sure you'll enjoy it, so jump in now!

It's quite rare to find something you have basically zero complaints about. Something that excels at basically everything. Dr. Stone is one of those rare gems! This is an anime that delivers on so many fronts, remains consistently engaging all throughout and delivers astonishing quality. It also succeeds in the daunting task of making bucketloads of real world science fun and interesting without becoming drab and boring. I think this should be on the watchlist of anyone, because there's so much to love about it, I'm ten billion percent certain anyone, regardless of their taste, can find something to latch onto here.

On a purely technical ... level, the anime is done exceptionally. The visuals are vibrant, expressive and gorgeous to look at. The animation is smooth, dynamic and full of energy. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Boichi and his instantly recognizable artstyle and the anime managed to handle the daunting task of bringing his outlandish drawings to life perfectly. The visuals even switch effortlessly between a more detailed and realistic look to something much more stylized and cartoony to fit the tone of the specific moment. The sound design and music are awesome too and contribute flawlessly to the experience. The voice acting on hand is also some of the best I've heard. Over the top, yet always on point for what's happening and each casting choice fits the characters perfectly. Their exaggerated deliveries fit perfectly with the wacky Boichi expressions. It truly helps the characters come to life. The pacing is also handled really well, it stayed engaging from beginning to end and never felt rushed or overextended.

For the story itself, Dr. Stone is quite unique and if you just told me this premise, I never would've thought it would work so well. A science focused story in a primitive world is certainly creative and the way the progression of story follows the progress of inventions and innovations is really satisfying. They even managed to capture the big explainy pages from the manga really well, without going into overt exposition dumps. The characters feel genuinely intelligent and creative (or not when it befits them), their decisions all make sense for their respective personalities and they all have awesome chemistry with each other. You can take any pair of characters and observe how they have a unique relationship with each other, their respective traits adding unique layers and nuance to the whole deal. For this reason, one of the very few complaints I have is that I kind of wish that the original quartet of Senku, Taiju, Yuzuriha and Tsukasa stayed together and worked together for a little bit longer before the split. I really liked their dynamic and I wish we got a little bit more of it. Regardless, even the way things turned out works really well and that part was just something subjective about how I felt about it.

Senku himself is an awesome protagonist with lots of layers to him. He isn't just a walking exposition dump and his ambitions make sense. His wacky yet entirely logical Spock-esque approach is also engaging and unpredictable. Not to mention that his and Chrome's genuine love for science is truly infectious. If you're a science nerd, this show will scratch that itch really well for you. Learning all these real world phenomena in a fun and entertaining, story relevant manner is just a blast and it makes you feel very smart whenever you actually know something and go "Hey, I've seen that before" when they show it.

Beyond that, the entire experience is just fun in such an unexpected way. The series comes from a shonen jump series, yet doesn't feel like it. While there is action and some great fight scenes, they aren't the focus, yet that never detracts from the overall feel The conflicts feel real and believable without being overdramatic. Seeing characters that disagreed before actually reach mutual understanding is really fulfilling to see. There's plenty of poignant interactions and every moment has meaning, there's no filler to speak of. There's lots of humour too and it's balanced really well with all the serious moments. Also, I want to mention that it's also really refreshing to have a series like this, especially one that is de facto post-apocalyptic in nature, have such an air of optimism and positivity. There's this really strong feeling of hope that permeates everything, in a very tangible and non-cheesy manner. It truly feels like a celebration of humanity's accomplishments, of the power of collaboration and of our resilience. Even if the whole planet turns to stone, it's good to know that all it takes is one onion-headed turbonerd to save us all from extinction. The dinosaurs perished, but we will survive! Don't get me wrong, I love a good dystopia, I engage with those all the time, but given the times we live in, it's great to get some genuine, non-sugar coated positivity from a story.

In conclusion, Dr. Stone is just a blast and it's a very unique show. With its awesome cocktail of action, humour, clever science, engaging story and fantastic characters, I believe anyone can find something to love here. If nothing else, you can come and see what happens when we give caffeine to a primitive boy and watch him become a hyperactive berserker for a few minutes right before violently shitting himself. That alone makes this worth it.

I'll definitely be diving right into the next seasons to see where this goes. So go and watch this now! I'm ten billion percent certain you'll enjoy it.

Right, I have no idea how this review is going to come out, since this show is basically like getting a lobotomy. If I were to take an IQ test now, it would come back negative. So if what follows here makes no sense, now you know why.

Azumanga Daioh is one of the animes of all time. It is definitely of of the animes ever. Of all the animes to come out, this is certainly one of them. There seems to be some kind of consensus that this is some groundbreaking masterpiece and some zenith of storytelling, but I honestly can't see that and mainly ... because the story is so nonsensical on many levels. I mean, when you're so absurd that you make Asobi Asobase and Daily Lives of Highschool Boys make sense, then you're really on something. It's all over the place, it's chaotic and my brain has been fried ever since. It takes me all my mental fortitude to just form complete sentences at this point. Characters say the most random things, stuff just happens out of nowhere and after every ridiculous scenario, there are these long long pauses, as if the show itself has to buffer a bit to process what the hell just happened. The connection from scene to scene is often just a hair's breadth away from just being disjointed sketches. If this anime was a 4chan board, it would be the hidden board /trash/.But through all that, I still found it pretty funny and I definitely wasn't bored. So, it's good, but not that good.

There are some things I genuinely dislike though. The animation is really cheap, even for the era when this came out. A lot of times characters barely move, if at all. And even when they animate something semi competently, they'll be sure to use it many times over to make it worth their while. I mean, the two specials are actually better animated than the main show. If that weren't enough, the story basically loops on itself three times - three school years where the same events happen in the same order. They happen differently, but it's still the same plot threads repeated again. And not to mention, the characters basically don't change in three years, so it's not like it's some grand character arc either. Beyond that, there's some characters that are just grating (I don't even mean Tomer, her tendency to give into intrusive thoughts was always hilarious). One of them is whatever-her-name-is, the one who's sole character trait is being aggressively lesbian and crushing on Sakaki Norastuneimu. She's one beat and the joke gets old quickly. Seeing her suffer was the only redemption. The other is Kimura. I mean, I know Japan has their thing for perverted jokes that is very hit or miss, but Kimura has to be one of the worst cases. Who the fuck thought putting a literal pedophile in a show about underage girls would be funny. The scenes with him are always stilted and annoying. And no, having a kid and picking up litter on occasion doesn't excuse being a literal kiddie diddler. Don't make me rev up the woodchipper! Oh, and to top it off, I don't know what kind of cognitohazard the opening theme is, but the lyrics make what remains of my brain ooze out of my ear canals and it instantly makes me want to cosplay as a chandelier. Ending theme was alright though.

Now, I bitch a lot, but I'm trying to be honest here. Plus, as you can see, I still recommend this one. It's completely moronic on many levels, but I was laughing my ass off basically all the way through. Now, I don't know if I'm laughing for the reasons the creators expect me too, I don't know if I'm laughing with the show or at it, but the point stays that I was entertained. At the end of the day, falling ass backwards into something fun is far far better than being painfully uninteresting like most slice of life tends to be (to me at least, I'm sure the bread slicing arc was fire, SOL-bros). It was the brainrot of its time and we have to praise it for still feeling fresh and unpredictable even today. The way it's constructed gives it a kind of timelessness that makes it endearing no matter how old it is. Plus it kind of captures the microcosm of the dawn of the new millennium in a charming kind of way. I don't know about you, but I think that if you go into the series not expecting some awesome poignant story but instead just to giggle like a moron at stupid shit, it works awesome. It's great show to watch drunk. Or high as a kite. Not that I would know anything about that.

In conclusion, Azumanga Daioh exists. Should you watch this still? Yeah, sure. It's funny, an incomprehensible mix of predictable and unpredictable, it's random and nothing really compares to it. Some of the characters are pretty endearing and the stellar voice acting does a lot of the heavy lifting to compensate for the cheap animation. Storywise, I think I know what Azuma was going for here? It seems like it was meant to capture those cherished childhood moments of just goofing off with friends, entering adulthood and that dreadful moment when you graduate and not only have to cope with taking on the responsibilities of life but fear that you may never see your old friends again. But you still can of course if you put in the effort to stay in touch. But I feel this kind of message is a bit lost due to how random and nonsensical everything else is. Plus, the fact that it repeats itself three times for the three years only goes to prove another more definitive truth - how repetitive, tedious and stupid school life was. The Japanese and everyone else really need to grasp the simple fact that school was not what a lot of overly nostalgic people crack it up to be and for all intents and purposes, it's just the drawn out, overly complicated and mandatory tutorial to life, which only begins after you get out. Honestly, if you believe you peaked while you were at school, you've failed and life and need to pick yourself up ASAP and make something of yourself! If a tard like Oskar can make it work, you definitely can too!

So, uuuhhhh, yeah, it's ok I guess. Lobotomy/10

What an absolute joy this anime was! I love it when series present a simple premise and just execute it to the best of their abilities and this is a perfect example of that. It tells you exactly what it is from the title - cute girls and awesome tanks. You know exactly what you want it to be and that's exactly what it is.

This anime really has that 80s action movie charm of having a simple and straightforward story that is nonetheless engaging all throughout. Really, it's not anything you haven't seen before, but it doesn't need to be. The story is easy to ... follow and the characters are all super charismatic and loveable. With the bare minimum of backstory on them (you get more than that of course), you're already invested in them and rooting for their success by episode 2. There's conflict, tension and excitement and there are many satisfying character arcs that get resolved by the end. There's some surprisingly interesting worldbuilding too, like with all the tankery tournaments and the fact that the schools are all on massive floating cities built on top of aircraft carriers. How do you even come up with this shit? I love it! The pacing is also great and the anime doesn't overstay its welcome. I wouldn't have minded if it went on longer, but hey, that's what the sequels are for. This season I feel was the perfect length and it told its story perfectly within the standard 12 episodes. The fact that this is an original tale and not an adaptation definitely helped too.

The tanks first of all are of course represented flawlessly and are all legitimate historically accurate models. This cute and fun story is so well crafted, it can actually trick the average person into accidentally learning a thing or two about all these tanks and what it was really like to operate them. I am both proud and ashamed that thanks to the ungodly amount of hours I have in World of Tanks, I recognized most of them. Hell, I've even owned most of them at some point. The tanktakus out there will definitely be satisfied and will blissfully dream of real women that understand this stuff to the same levels as the girls in here.

The star of the show by far is the action though. Honestly, I didn't expect this anime to be as action packed as it is, but damn am I happy from what we got. While some watchers may flinch at the mention of CGI in anime, especially from the time when this came out, here the use is perfectly implemented. The battles are fast paced, tactical and thoroughly exciting. The use of realistic military strategy mixed with just the healthy dose of anime absurdity. It's an absolute spectacle of explosions and steel crashing against steel that is just the type of controlled chaos you expect on the battlefield. The way the girls operate their vehicles also gives it this mecha anime style feel of military strategy juxtaposed with shonen power of friendship malarkey. The way the CGI is handled also gives it an almost Initial D style edge of the fast vehicular mayhem. It's positively glorious. I never dreamed I would see tank battles this good in an anime but I am just overjoyed I did.

On a purely technical level, the anime is perfectly executed too. Great, vibrant visuals that contrast the colourful high school life with the gritty military vibe fantastically. The animation is smooth and expressive, the music is great with all the energetic war marches (although I would've have minded some eurobeat during some fight scenes) and the voice acting is superb. They really did their best. I can't think of a single thing that could be done different to make this better.

Overall, Girls & Panzer is exactly what it needed to be. It's action packed and those scenes are done to a superb level. The story is simple, but always engaging and all of this makes for a very easy and entertaining watch. You'll never be bored and the show will keep you hooked from beginning to end, without taxing your mind with unnecessary bullshit. This isn't some deep philosophical quandary about war or society and it doesn't need to be. It's cute girls in tanks fighting for honour, valour and pride. The creators knew what you wanted and they delivered on every front. Their main goal was to entertain and to that end they passed with flying colours. The only downside I can mention is that this might make me want to install World of Tanks again.

Right, this'll be a bit of a weird one, but I'll do my best to put into words how I feel about this show. In short though, it was a really fun anime that got better and better as it went on. Nonetheless, it has some issues. Here we go.

Let's just get some of the obvious stuff out of the way. The animation for this series was just not there. All the characters looked plain and uninspired, the posing and movement was stiff and lifeless, lots of reused scenes and no visual flare to speak of. A lot of times, characters lacked expression too, which ... is very important in a thriller. Seriously, it feels like for the most part, they did the absolute bare minimum to get the point across. So expect a lot of by the numbers shot-reverse shot dialogue sections, lots of still frames and minimal movement outside of action scenes. The studio can be damn thankful that the story is more than good enough to make this worthwhile and that the music and especially the voice acting did A LOT of heavy lifting to make this come together. Trust me, were this a lesser story, this anime would've been relegated to a dustbin right away.

Right, let's get into the good stuff though. The Fable is another awesome entry in the growing genre of "former Yakuza/hitman tries to live a normal life, but his past keeps catching up to him" alongside other series like Gokushufudou or Sakamoto Days. It's also great how, despite sounding very similar on paper, all of them have a very different approach to their story and are very distinct from one another and any other series out there. The Fable is absolutely brilliant in the way that it manages to balance comedy, action and tension. There's lots of jokes and many scenes got a good laugh out of me. Despite this, it also weaves a fantastic yakuza crime thriller in there too and both aspects only serve to enhance each other. It's a very delicate task to try and make your audience laugh, while also consistently keeping them on their toes at all times but dammit, it works! The fight scenes are also handled very uniquely, without prolonged exchanges of blows but instead were these physical games of chess, focused on very cerebral decision making between highly intelligent characters. Without gratuitous inner monologues, we get battles of wit punctuated by lighting fast John Wick-style showdowns. In a battle of professional assassins, the outcome can be decided in the blink of an eye, so every moment counts.

This brings us to another of the core strengths - the characters. It's often a slippery slope and quite hit or miss when anime try to have highly intelligent characters. However here, this is done wonderfully. Characters who are meant to be clever actually feel that way and the decisions they make are logical and creative. The outsmarting going on is very engaging and adds to the great sense of anticipation during every direct conflict. The way Fable also uses his genius in his field to handle every situation while keeping his promise not to kill anyone is thoroughly fascinating. Beyond conflict though, the characters are also all very charismatic, engaging and interesting. All of them have depth and a mixture of realistic, believable flaws, all sprinkled with just the right amount of exaggerated absurdity to make them slot right in with the overall comedic tone of the story. They absolutely steal the show and this makes this overall very dialogue heavy series never drag or feel dull and as I said earlier, the fantastic voice acting carries a lot of the weight in order to make the whole experience come together well. I mean, both Kenjiro Tsuda and Takehito Koyasu showed up, so we've checked all the boxes of making a proper yakuza thriller.

Overall, I enjoyed what I saw from this anime, but there were definitely glaring flaws. The story is excellent and unique and the characters are easily the greatest thing about it, but I can't lie, the really cheap visuals detracts greatly from the experience. The stiff and janky animation makes the emotional scenes less impactful than they should be and the dull, generic, bright colour palette used detracts from the cool neo-noir atmosphere that I feel befits this kind of story. Were this tale less exciting than it was, this anime would've been given no more than a 5 on here and it would've been swiftly forgotten about.

My final verdict is that this is still an enjoyable experience overall and still worth a watch, but I'll definitely be deferring to the superior manga for the full story. If and when this gets greenlit for a second season, I would very much rather a different more passionate studio be given the job.

TLDR: Божката пука/10