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If I could think of one word to describe this series up to this point it would be: Monotonous.

I was interested in this series because it was one of the longest series I had never seen before, and it was popular to boot, so I thought what the hell, might as well check it out. I was under the impression this one followed a standard narrative from beginning to end, akin to other shounen tropes and what not. What I got instead was a series that feels like barely, and I mean, BARELY ANYTHING whatsoever has happened in over 110 episodes (including filler, even though ... I didn't bother to watch it).

I find it baffling how a series that up to this point has been able to make this feel so incredibly tedious and drags it plot points like they're boulders being pushed by Sisyphus. Basically, the structure of Inuyasha goes like this. The gang needs to get jewel shards, then they have an encounter with Naraku, the main villain of the series, who you will get sick of at some point as he's quite honestly not that interesting of a villain and has little depth to him. Whenever he appears Inuyasha or someone always says something along the lines of "OH BOY WE GOT YOU NOW YOU RASCAL!" but we all know that's not how it works. Anyway, after that, Naraku has some random minion that serves him that fights the gang for one or two episodes and dies shortly after. Naraku always gets away somehow

There are other points when slightly different plot elements are used (and heavily reused might I say) like Inuyasha's brother. He's a better antagonist than Naraku, and I enjoy his dynamic with this young girl that follows he and his minion around, but you could halve his appearances and not miss a thing.

The most mind-numbing part of this is how the same villains are reused over, and over, and over, and over. Like this sorceress that's a minion of Naraku, whenever she shows up she just summons a minion or uses a random attack then leaves, she feels entirely pointless, less like a character and more so padding incarnated as a character. The locales as well get quite repetitive, the four main locales you see in the series are 1. Grassy field 2. Forest 3. Rock field near a village 4. Castle; sometimes you see the human world, but it doesn't appear that often.

The main problem with this series is that each fight doesn't feel impactful or necessary. In other stories, fights are meant in their own way, tell a story between the two characters, allowing the audience to know the antagonist, or something knew about the protagonist, or allowing both characters to share some kind of trait. But, a grand majority of Inuyasha's fights are just fights, I get so tired of villains showing up, having a pointless fight with Inuyasha for no other reason than there just has to be a fight, then leaving to have yet another pointless fight. You could cut out a majority of the battles against Naraku's jewel shard minions and miss nothing. No character development, no cool action, no grand moments of showcasing character, it's nothing but Inuyasha swinging a sword while Kagome screams Inuyasha and continues to do absolutely nothing else when she has a bow and arrow she can use, but just decides not to use it most of the time.

It takes a lot to make a good world, to build up your characters, both good and bad, in order for both to feel grounded and important, to establish your rules and make a world that feels real, and to try and build a sense of a cohesive narrative that you want to follow at every step of the way. But in Inuyasha's case, you can simply go from the bottom stair to near the top, and not want to trek down the rest of the stairs.

I never thought an anime would come close in rivaling Clannad for me, in terms of pure character drama and emotional value, but Kanon managed to do that. I'm man enough to admit this got me more than twice, which is a feat that only four other anime can claim, Your Lie in April, Anohana, Clannad AS, and Assassination Classroom. Media that can make the viewer emote along with the characters is no easy task, and this series managed to rope me in this time.

The way the story is weaved together I love, while I absolutely love Clannad, I will admit I would have liked ... to see bit more continuity, and while yes I know it is adapted from a visual novel with different paths so it would be hard to do such a thing, Kanon is adapted from a Visual Novel as well and does it perfectly, every single thing feels important and adds to the character of Yuichi. I initially thought I wouldn't like some of these characters, such as Makoto or Mai, but without spoiling, the way their arcs were crafted in a way I never saw coming, and adored.

If I had any complaints at all, while the visuals are great for the time, it does feel mid 00's, but I do admire the period and it would be my heart was about to give out from all the emotion that I felt throughout this series, that's it. I'm usually one to find fault in everything I see, but with this series, I can see next to no flaws. If you didn't care for Clannad, then you likely wouldn't like this as it falls into the same format, but if you did like Clannad or haven't seen it and want to experience it without prior knowledge of it, I highly recommend it.

Sound:10/10 (The music used throughout is beautiful, along with the great voice cast)
Art: 9/10 (Some would definitely disagree on that giving it was made in the mid 00's, but I love the style of this anime, it truly does look beautiful for what it is)
Story: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Overall Enjoyment:10/10

I put this off for over two years because I didn't want to say goodbye to these characters, and I was afraid of what might happen to Nagisa and everyone. I adored this, it is perfection, 10/10. Usually, in any other series if something like Nagisa and subsequently Ushio being revived wouldn't sit well with me, however the way in which AS pulled it off was done so well. If it ended without this, it would leave on such a sorrowful note that would be too much for this series. I loved how it went full circle, with the images from the first op playing ... such a role here, the robot being stuck in snow, the girl in the white dress under the tree, the girl in the forest (who turned out to be Fuko), Ushio running through the field, it was an incredible ending, I also loved seeing how the characters turned out. Clannad so perfectly encapsulates the feelings of life, its sorrow, its joy, its troubles, its pleasures, which in turn plays perfectly into the theme of family. The only gripe I have, which is minor, is that Kyou and Ryou never got a real spotlight like every other character, I wish there was just a bit more to them, but that is the only flaw in an otherwise flawless series. A tragedy turned comedy for the ages, truly an unforgettable experience. It is again, the only anime to ever make me cry twice, this whole series got me four times, which I find incredible

"This is the greatest anime I have ever seen" they said
"This will change your life" they said
"This is so deep" they said
And, they were wrong, so, so very wrong.
This will contain a couple spoilers, be warned
I watched this anime about a year and a half ago, so why am I making a review now? No real reason, I just feel I need to finally get my criticisms out there.
To start, shinji, oh shinji, what even are you? Oh I know what he is, he is one of those most insufferable brats to ever disgrace my screen. He is so pathetic, so whiny, so much of ... a god damn crybaby you just want to punch him rather than feel sorry for him "well that's how it's supposed to be, he's supposed to be unlikeable, that's what makes him good!" Yeah no, no it does not. I've seen this done better in PunPun Onodera from Oyasumi PunPun, while there you follow PunPun's struggles, you can indeed relate to them and how he feels, at least in some ways (hard to explain without spoiling it). PunPun can be pathetic, and cry, but after many chapters, you can relate and even empathize with him. With shinji, I just stopped caring, it was just the same shit over and over "my dad hates me, I don't want to fight, why does asucka hate me", alright enough about shinji, let's move onto another character, like the beloved "mommy" shitsato.

I despise this woman, what a vile slut of a woman. Yeah sorry I don't find her hitting on a 14 year old funny and hilarious, it's just sick and twisted. All this bitch does is get drunk and sleep around and there for fan service, I don't dislike her as much as shinji, but that's merely by comparison. Now, why don't we get to my least favorite character in this entire thing.

Asucka Langley soryu, oh where do I even start with you? Yes, I know the reason why she acts so god awful, and you know what? I really do not care anymore, there is no excuse to take out her own frustrations on others, like rei. All she does is scream at people and yet we're supposed to feel sorry for her because of her sob story backstory, well boohoo I don't care.
I will admit, rei I didn't hate, but just found her really bland and boring, no personality to speak of, I actually did like the classmate characters, and shitsato's fuck buddy, but it's a shame they're forgotten about just like that to focus more on shinji and asucka, hoorah. Gendo I didn't care one way or another, he was fine. Let's move onto the real meat of this, the story.

Mother of god, how can a show go from being so formulaic and boring as hell, to a confusing mess so fast? Half of these episodes are "angel attacks, we need to stop it!" and then the other half is "I'm sad, feel sorry for me", what great storytelling. I'd much rather explore a post-apocalyptic earth, but oh well then; And yes, I know there's a "super duper deep meaning" to the second half, but it's too boring and nonsensical for me to care about. And of course I can't mention the story without mentioning, the ending. Yeah ok, I know the studio was low on money, but dear god what even was that? shinji cries and has a breakdown then suddenly everyone claps for him? Such genius! Wow! Anno really does ruin everything he touches, the same thing happened to Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, made by Gainax as well, and 1/4 of the series becomes nonsense and has godawful animation, thanks anno, thanks a lot! But back to the main story, I cannot find a reason to care about the "lore" when the characters that inhabit it for the most part are too insufferable for me to get past and want to learn more about.

The animation was fine, but dear god the amount of fan service in this show is abysmal, like really anno, you really wanted to have asucka and rei naked, that will surely get the viewers in, remember these characters are 14. None of the fight scenes are memorable, the soundtrack is one of the only redeeming factors, as it does fit what's on screen, but that's the only other positive I can give this.

If you want to watch this for yourself, go ahead, maybe you'll have my thoughts (I doubt it) maybe you won't, but I cannot recommend it whatsoever. I intend to stay far, far away from anything having to do with this train wreck of a franchise. And yes I did watch the movie, it sucked as well

Wow, even for a recap it has pacing that would make sonic blush!

It blitzes past the first season within the first third, then goes into the rest of season. I'll try to make this quick, as I don't want to reiterate what other users have said, but this was just a waste of editing and time on everyone's part, don't bother watching this episode, even if you're a diehard fan of season 2 you'd find yourself bored. It also reminds you of something better you could be watching, aka season 1, which is the only highlight I can give for this, everything else ranges from ... mediocre to flat out boring Story 4/10, Art 7/10, Sound 6/10, Character 3/10, Enjoyment 1/10, Overall 3/10