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Blue Archive the Animation is more of an anime project for fans of the game than a stand alone adaption. This is mostly due to a lack of world building and sometimes poor story. You should give it a try if you play the game or have had any prior exposure to Blue Archive.

There is very little world building so anime only watchers will be left with lots of questions. Core concepts (like why they have halos, why are they immune to bullets, and where are all the humans) are completely ignored. Plot points, characters, and other content from the game is mentioned, but never ... expanded upon. For fans of the game it's fun to see content adapted, but anime only fans will be left with a hollow experience.

The plot is decent, but the story was poor in some parts. Several times enemies were introduced as being "unbeatable" just to be stomped with little resistance by the end of the episode. Mercenaries and soldiers suddenly had terrible aim or completely stopped shooting when main characters would rush into the open or needed to carry out a conversation mid-fight. At one point a character whispers to another character, leaving the audience questioning what they just spoke about, just for it to be explained 2 seconds later. I would imagine that in game sometimes you do run into enemies that take several attempts to beat, and when characters do have conversations in battles it is not blatantly obvious that they are in the open. IMO they did not adapt it well, but those are also just common story tropes so whatever.

Overall, it feel like an anime where cool OCs (original characters) were created first and shoehorned into a world and plot when it was time for storyboards. Personally I only enjoyed things that I had prior exposure too (Unwelcome School and thunder thighs Yuuka), and sat stone faced or impatient for everything else.

**Minor Plot Development Spoilers**
Drama masquerading as a romance where side characters refuse to move on from unrequited love. Tries to present itself as a deconstruction of the genre, but still falls into the same cliches.

--Plot--
The three main heroines are the "losers" in a relationship, they were not chosen when the love interest had multiple choices. As the show progresses we follow the three main heroines as they try to overcome their unrequited love. Each heroine is given an arc where they try to overcome their feelings, but they never actually move on. A decent concept, but poorly executed because it doesn't feel like the characters ... undergo any development when they are content with the status quo. We do get to see them develop relationships between each other and the MC becomes less lonely as he breaks out of his shell (which he was content with staying in and caused no issues), but that is not a romance.

--Romance?--
None, nothing is directly implied. Where a normal series would have the heroines fall in love with the MC as he helps them overcome their issues, the heroines in this series are too fixated on their unrequited love to move on. They become friends with the MC, but it is not implied that they see him as a romantic interest.

--Characters--
All the main heroines are cliche, and Chika is the only one who seems to grow during the story. The side characters and love rivals are more interesting than the main cast (crazy how they got chosen). The main character originally presents himself as a self-aware, subversion to your typical harem MC, but also falls into the same cliches later in the story.

Why do they have 4 bows and why does Lemon tan her feet?

--Animation/Art--
Both the animation and art are amazing, * but its what should be expected of a major studio like A1 in 2024*.
*edit* A1 is good, but I redact my statement after checking some of their other works. The only other works (that I have seen) by A1 that come close to the animation/art quality are Kaguya-sama and Lycoris Recoil. Makeine is a "movie quality" production for A1 and you can tell a lot of work went into making it visually appealing and expressive.

--Soundtrack/Design--
Same comment as animation: good, * but to be expected of a powerhouse like A1*.
*edit* Same statement as my other edit. I personally was not as amazed with the soundtrack as I was with the animation, but it is still above average.

Overall a mediocre story compared to traditional romance and drama, but a lot better than the romance slop that has been coming out (probably why everyone is rating it so high). Feels like a setup for a second season which has not yet been confirmed.

*edit* If it wasn't popularized "Romance" it could slide as a drama, but now we have to compare it to actual romance series.

General consensus: You will either relate to the high school content and be transported to your youth and laugh along with the story or you will hyper focus on the series shortcomings and make fun of it's episodic mediocrity.

Komi has extreme social anxiety and wants to make 100 friends before she graduates high school. Tadano is the first friend that she makes and is the possible love interest for the series. The series starts off strong by introducing this premise and teasing the idea that as this series progresses we will get to see Komi build more friendships as she overcomes her social anxiety. I ... was hooked from when the opening first dropped and teased the series. I watched every episode 2 times, until episode 7 when I realized that it was just going to be an episodic comedy with romance elements. To be fair, some of the jokes are ok, some of the episodes attempt to develop Komi (but nothing really carries over), and the romance is alright. However, a good majority of Komi is lackluster.

A good portion of the jokes rely on "funny" new character archetypes and Komi being treated like a goddess. The problem is that they don't work that well. "When everybody is special, nobody is".

Now comedy is subjective so feel free to give it a try, but don't expect some amazing well written character driven drama. This is a Shounen Jump series that would rather reach a quadrillion chapters than tell an amazing story.

PS. I liked the opening before the series soured it and the animation was alright I guess

TLDR: A good series that scratches a certain niche but can be hard for everyone to enjoy. No the ecchi content is not bad.

My Dress Up Darling is a good series but tends to get a bad wrap from people who can't relate to the themes or hyper focus on the ecchi content. If you enjoy romance, cosplaying, themes of self expression, and watching characters grow to achieve their dreams you should give it a try.

-Romance-
A decent romance series that does a good job at building up the relationships between the characters. It's a lot more prevalent compared to the ecchi content, but still lacks ... in comparison to the thematic and cosplay content.

-Cosplaying Niche-
There is a heavy focus on cosplaying. It does an amazing job at diving into why people enjoy cosplaying and the process of putting a cosplay together. It goes especially in depth on a lot of cosplay tricks and can 100% teach you new stuff. If you enjoy cosplaying you will have a lot to relate with in the series and defiantly need to give it a try.

-Themes-
Several somewhat complicated themes are expressed in the series. For example, there is a heavy emphasis on "self-expression" and "sharing your interests". Gojo is a timid guy who is afraid to express his interests in doll making because he doesn't want to get made fun of, while Marin is outgoing and loves to talk about her favorite series. As the series progresses more characters are introduced and have different ways of expressing or having issues with expressing themselves.

-Character Growth-
Several characters grow and develop throughout the series, but Gojo does the most. From the beginning we are introduced to Gojo's dream of becoming a doll maker and as the series progresses we get to see him hone his craft and creep closer to his dream. It is also refreshing to see him break out of his comfort zone and build relationships with new people.

Top part is a normal review, bottom part is about Jun Maeda & me ranting about what went wrong

Overall the series has a good concept, but fails at the execution. I can really only recommend it as something you should try, but can't encourage you to finish it.

It starts off strong, the idea of a omnipotent god warning a group of kids about the end of the world, then just plays with them is goofy. However, as the story progresses it starts to derail. It looses sight of the message it wanted to convey, weird plot devices start that could have been used differently, ... and towards the end it completely destroys the MC's decision making process. With all the copium in my body I could go back and find some better explanations for what happened, but I think the series was an disappointment.

Jun Maeda & rant

I can't help but feel disappointed with this addition to Jun's portfolio. If you don't know who Jun is, he made the story for both Charlotte and Angel Beats, and he worked on a bunch of the other Key stuff. Angel Beats had one hiccup, but is amazing. Charlotte rushed the plot, but had an amazing concept and characters that I enjoy a lot. If you finish Kamisama, go watch both of those shows and anything else made by Key.

Dude took the food out while it was still cooking. If this is supposed to be a time of precious memories, why is the daughter and father plot a part of it. The hacker just felt weird and did not need that much development or side plot. In the second half the MC's decisions made me mad as he acted like a complete buffoon. Not only did he do stuff that obviously was not working or made him look like a clown, but it also feels unnatural the way he reacted when he saw her again. Kamisama as a concept makes me sad, but the execution made me bored and upset.

Good comedy series that sometimes plays around with cool concepts. You should expect to laugh. You should not expect any epic battles, intense drama, or heartfelt emotional moments. What Saiki K does in comedy, and it does it the right way (most of the time).

Most of the humor from this series comes from the characters and their interactions. It is divided into shorts that normally take a bit to build up to the reveal of a big joke or have several jokes revolving around one concept. It does not use a lot of slapstick humor or repetitive stuff you would see somewhere else.

This series actually ... does reference humor the right way. It makes direct references, sometime calling out the name exactly, but doesn't make the reference the entire joke. This allows people who wouldn't get the reference to still understand the rest of the joke.

Trigger did an amazing job with this adaptation, it is a must watch for fantasy fans.

Masterclass in world building and development. The beginning feels slow and boring, but that is only because it is laying the foundation for what is to come. There were several "holy crap" developments that worked only because of how well the series builds on its ideas. There were several concepts that I thought were going to ruin the series (like people being able to revive), but every single one eventually became the coolest part of the series for several reasons.

Most, if not all, of the characters are well written and ... watching them interact is both a joy and sometimes intense. At one point it seems like one of the groups is going to kill another as soon as they see each other, but when they actually meet we get to see a different side of both groups. Some of the characters also develop in cool ways.

I am not a fan of the overall cooking concept because of how much time it takes away from the other stuff. However, without the cooking we would have less creature development. It also serves as a break from the other intense stuff that happens in the series.

The animation and sound design is also amazing.

*spoilers at the bottom of review*
Amazing book that excels and expands beyond the scale of a traditional mystery novel. The murder mystery itself is good, but takes second place to the overarching scale of the nonsense main character and ingenious cast that he interacts with. Nisioisin did an amazing job at creating a well rounded story that has a logical conclusion, but leaves enough ambiguity to entice readers into the sequels. Just when you think all the pieces have fallen into place, the epilogue flips the puzzle and reveals the full scale of the novel.

For people planning on reading this, or for people who have ... but are confused, here are a few things to think about.
What defines a genius? How much does someone who know everything actually know? What does it mean to be a nonsense user?

If you enjoy mystery novels, are a Nisioisin fan, or enjoy deciphering the hidden meaning behind meaningful dialogue and actions, give this a try.

---The Cool Stuff--- Below here is all the cool stuff I couldn't fit into the review.

The cool stuff is where Nisioisin shines as a writer. I love how the series tries to define what a "genius" is. All the people that surround the MC are "geniuses" because they excel in one field, but many of them also lack something in return. The MC is not a "genius" but it almost seems like he could become one if he applied himself or if he wasn't compared to the other people.

It has been a while since I read, but I don't think the MC has a name, which is nonsense.
There is a person who can "see everything". The execution of this character is amazing, her interactions with the MC are hilarious and the scale of everything is a mystery.

---Minor Spoiler---

The person who can "see everything" can only see up to a certain date and she believes that is the date when she will die. This is cool because it sets up later books.

---Epilogue Spoiler---

During the epilogue it is revealed that the main character did nothing of value at all. He was able to solve the mystery, but failed to understand that it was a case that would have been resolved without any additional murder. The actual detective, who was unable to show up before, finds the mc and literally beats him up then tells him he is a looser (which is hilarious). The reveal does so much to develop his character and build on the overall theme.

As a die hard fan of the series (completed the LNs and re-watched the series 5 times), I feel like this season has fallen off in comparison to previous adaptations and the source. It watered down what made the original series so endearing to focus on quick jokes and visual gags that make it feel like your average comedy.

At its core Konosuba is a goofy, adventure series that follows a group of close friends as they stray around in their silly world. It hardly took itself seriously and often meandered in its writing as it slowly built up to plot developments or jokes. The original ... adaptations (s1-2 and movie) do a good job at adapting this vibe. They progressed through the story, but made sure to include slow moments where the characters meandered. They did a good job at building up and executing the comedy, and even added their own flare that worked (pause gag, star wars text slide). They made sure to think about the characters and how they should interact with each other.

In comparison, the new season forgets most of what made Konosuba Konosuba, It rushes through the plot and skips a lot of the meandering and nuance from the LN. In ep1 alone they try to adapt 2 skipped chapters from previous arcs, then quickly start the arc at the end of the episode. They didn't even have an opening for the first few episodes as they wanted to push more plot. Comedy in this season is mostly quick jokes and visual gags that require no build up or character nuance. Due to the comedy being like this, most of the main cast is simplified or has skipped development.

For the average viewer, you will probably still enjoy it. For the psychopaths like me who actually read the books and understand what the series is about, this adaptation pales in comparison.

This has got to be the anime equivalent of shoving a bunch of random ingredients into a blender then shoving is down someone's throat as fast as you can.

Throughout the three episodes that I watched random elements would be introduced and never built on. For example, in episode 1 alone; cyborgs, 12 magical tools, middle school drug ring, Siesta's super speed, Siesta's blood bullets, secret evil organization, and secret good organization are introduced and either completely forgotten or never used again. Like why do we never get to see another cyborg? Those are cool magic tools, how were they made and how do they work? ... What happened to Siesta's supper speed during the chase in ep1? WTF do you mean middle schooler drug ring? It left me with lots of questions that would never be answered.

I can understand trying to keep the story exciting but it felt like a melting pot of ideas that never worked out right. Like why is that guy called a cyborg when it looks like he has a ghoul Kagune? They could have just given him a super hearing aid and a cyber machete, which would have still allowed him to cause havoc on the airplane and be used for hearing the shared heart plot point later. How about the 12 magical detective tools? Is there a reason why the legendary detective couldn't use a lock pick instead of the skeleton key or stairs instead of the feather fall 3 boots? Every time one of the tools is brought up it is only to conveniently explain or advance the plot.

Along with the random, half-cooked elements the pacing is bad. The three year time skip was ok, but the week long skip where the MC trained to become Yui's fan so they could literally rush into the 2 minute idol show was jarring. Multiple times the plot will randomly skip to the next scene with very little context on how they got there. It felt like random clips from youtube on 2x speed. The most offensive part is that when it gets to a point where the plot would actually be fast paced they forget about the main objective. Why in the middle of a chase to catch the middle school drug dealer did they stop and dress up/take pictures?

I think that if they had decided to properly choose their ingredients and taken the time to cook the meal could have come out a lot better. There was some ideas and scenes that I genuinely enjoyed, but they were all quickly ruined by the content that followed.