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B: The Beginning Succession is an underwhelming sequel to the original show. The first season did not exactly set a high bar either, with incredibly poor pacing at the start but overall contained a decent story. Succession suffers from the opposite problem, where the pacing is good but the story itself is rather uninteresting.

I re-watched the first season just before starting the second so that I could better judge this show as a sequel.

This review will assume you have already watched B: The Beginning (the first season).

Story:
We are introduced to many new antagonists but we are never told clearly why they believe in what ... they are doing. There is also little to differentiate between the antagonists so they all feel like a generic 'evil' person. There are some highlights however, like when the audience gets more information about Erica and Keith's background.

Art:
The original season of B had some good action scenes and minimal use of awkward CG. Succession unfortunately, seems to have cut down on the dynamic feel of the action scenes. There is also a lot more 'car CG', which is infamous for looking especially bad.

Sound:
They kept the same eleven-second opening from season one but replaced the ending. I do not like the second ending because it does not sound unique and identifiable like the original one did.

I watched the show dubbed and each role was cast well. Special mention goes to Brianna Knickerbocker for no reason in particular, I just really like her voice work in general.

Character:
This show gives us a lot of development for Keith, which is something the first season only got around to at the end. This season covers a scenario that is used in many trashy shows, romantic feelings between two adoptive siblings, and addresses it from a mature and reasonable perspective.

It's a shame that Keith's development lasts only one episode, because that is genuinely the best part of this season.

Lily is also more marginally more plot relevant in this season than the last despite being a main character in both.

Enjoyment:
Apart from the one episode about Keith and his long-buried feelings, the season is pretty boring. If you are not interested in learning more about Keith, I would suggest avoiding this second season.

The Hero is Overpowered but overly Cautious is a very entertaining read for those looking for something a little different in Isekai. The story is told from the perspective of the Goddess who summons the hero and comedy thrives from this point of view. Instead of taking the typical path of joining the adventurers guild or hunting monsters to level up, the hero betrays both the readers' and Goddess' expectations and does his training in private in the Goddess' room. The Goddess and subsequently the reader do not always know what the hero is capable of, and that is how the comedy in this show ... is developed. This novel has also been a well-appreciated break from all the Isekais bloated with harems.

If this broad description sounded intriguing to you, I encourage you to read a sample or pick up the light novel yourself.

I have read the first 5 volumes. The first two volumes, also known as the Gaeabrande Arc, introduce us to the our main two characters and we learn a great deal about their personalities. The first volume is filled with wonderful comedic moments while the second volume takes a sharp tonal shift near the end. With the way that it's written, there is a good deal of foreshadowing and the "twist" doesn't feel awkward. Elulu and Mash are also wonderful supporting characters and the story feels rather lighthearted.

For the Gaeabrande Arc, I would give an 8/10 for my deep enjoyment and satisfying emotional investment.

Volumes 3-5, the Ixphoria Arc, deviate greatly from the light and occasionally serious mood of the prior arc. The world described by the authors in this arc is extremely dark and would definitely be rated R if adapted into anime. There are the usual comedic moments between Seiya and Rista in these volumes, but they often feel uncomfortable given the circumstances they are put in. I also believe that the supporting cast is much weaker, consisting of strange yet unintriguing characters.

Volume 3 has this bizarre revelation at the beginning, only to be nullified, and then restored 'halfway'. The reasoning and outcome of these events feel inexplicably confusing but did not heavily impact my enjoyment of the novel. The grim setting of Ixphoria is really pushed by how Seiya also treats other humans worse (knocking old women unconscious) than he did in the first arc (threatening shopkeepers). I will commend several emotional scenes for not feeling forced or out of place.

The reason the darker theme for Ixphoria arc overall doesn't work well is because the struggles feel less meaningful. In the Gaeabrande arc, Seiya would rarely struggle because, well he's 'overpowered'. As a result, whenever he struggled there was a lot of tension. In the Ixphoria arc he is ALWAYS 'struggling', and it doesn't invoke the same emotional tension.

In volume 4 especially, all the tension is obviously fake. The story in this volume particularly feels like a playthrough of Fire Emblem where the characters barely move and they are just turtle-ing to finish every level. This is very much an in-character strategy for Seiya, but there is much less enjoyment to be had.

edit: the following portion of my review has been rewritten after reading volume 5

The structure of volume 5 is very reminiscent of volume 2 with how Seiya takes a very active role in saving the world and contains an emotional plot twist near the end. Unfortunately the foreshadowing for this twist is lackluster and left me dissatisfied upon reading it. However, I do like how the author used the plot twist to give greater emotional tension to the situation (I like how it was used, not how it was set up). Volume 5 also concludes the Ixphoria arc on a satisfying note and setups the next one rather well.

For volumes 3, 4, 5 I would give a 6.8/10 largely due to the theming issue I mentioned previously but the fifth volume redeeming the arc.

Another thing I would like to discuss about this light novel is HOW it is written. The author very effectively keeps the characters moving between locations at a good pace. There isn't a massive amount of time used to describe intricate details and there is never too much dialogue on one page. For example, you are never told what "Atomic Split Slash" or "Maximum Inferno" do, but you can easily assume just based off the names what kind of skill they are. You also aren't bogged down with stats like attack, defense, hp, etc. particularly in later volumes.

Essentially, this light novel is a pleasurable read and prioritizes progression over information appropriately.

All in all, I would give this Light Novel a 7/10 for its wonderful first arc but a somewhat bumpy second arc.

Nihon Chinbotsu or Japan Sinks 2020 is probably the most appalling non-ecchi show I have watched this season. The show's tone fluctuates massively and often even every episode. The beginning is built up to be a struggle-filled journey for survival. This is further compounded with very events that show the characters suffering emotionally. However, this grim tone is heavily undermined by all the poorly executed humor and lucky coincidences that get the characters out of bad situations. After weeks into the disaster, the group is suffering and some new characters are added and they work together to survive. Unforgettably the entire setting is hilariously neglected ... when the group of characters finds LITERALLY PARADISE. It is at this point where the entire setting of "Japan Sinking" is put on the back foot while creepy non-sensical fantasy elements are introduced and the characters are dancing around. Overall, the story is filled with loose ends, bizarre transitions, absurd coincidences, and more appalling details.

The art is practically the same as Devilman Crybaby. If you could tolerate that art-style, you can watch this. For those who have not watched Devilman Crybaby, know that the animation is very rough but still captures emotions well.

Sound is similarly reminiscent of Devilman Crybaby. For those who have not watched Devilman Crybaby, the soundtrack really sounds like experimentation.

The main character, Ayumu, is emotionally damaged by the tragic events around her and suffers from an injury. However, while her emotional state is well resolved her injury has almost no mention throughout the series. That being said, Ayumu is the most interesting character in this show due to her receiving the most screen time and showing distinct change in character as the story progresses (also she makes stupid decisions and learns from them). Most of the other characters aren't shown enough to be interesting characters (Koga/KITE) or just don't seem to really be fazed by the disaster (Go).

I expected a gritty fighting to the tooth and nail survival story from the synopsis but only around half of the show could be feasibly be considered a survival story. My biggest gripe was that the characters' situation fluctuated from dreadful to optimistic far too much.
Did I come into the show with pre-concieved notions? Absolutely, and I think this greatly affected how much I enjoyed the show.

If you come in watching this show with the mindset of a slightly cheesy adventure story, then you can enjoy it much more than I did.

Absolute Duo is a show I never planned on watching, but I found "some" free time and thought I'd find some guilty pleasure or enjoyment out of an Ecchi Harem show. Now the way I usually watch light-hearted shows like these is by listening to the dub and playing a game or doing some work while it's going on. I "watch" shows this way because I had a general idea of what kind of show it would be and I could probably guess what was going on at any point. However, for this show I actually made an effort to keep my eyes on ... the video itself. For the first 3 episodes, the buildup was quite nice and thought I might be in for something more. However, episode 4 onward (to when I dropped the show midway through episode 8) just felt depressing. I really disliked how the overall plot was hardly developed and how random ecchi moments were just scattered with seemingly no care. You would have serious battle situations that suddenly lost all tension because one of the girls thought he panties might be exposed to the male protag and panics. Now my gripes with this show primarily come down to my personal sense of humor and standards. I am sure that there are plenty of people who would enjoy a show like this. But as someone who has watched anime for many many years, I think this show has aged very poorly due to the overall rise in quality and harems in shows executed much "better".

Story:
The male Protag's intentions for coming to the blaze academy are revealed slowly but it suffices for a motivation. However, the other characters' intentions are hardly explained. Julie allegedly has a reason similar to the male protag (:O SHOCKER). Gold hair apparently is just stuck up and was bored. Miyabe seems like she doesn't want to be here. Tomoe seems determined to learn what she can... whatever her reason may be. The real problem comes with how the overall plot is revealed, tiny tiny pieces of foreshadowing are given throughout the first few episodes but almost nothing of importance actually happens. To avoid spoilers: one character does something very very bad but then all is well the next day no questions asked. The plot after episode 3 just feels kind of pointless, nothing of much significance really happens. Basically the reason I don't like the story is because they mix foreshadowing with pointless drivel.

Art:
Not pretty not ugly, the animation is passable. Notably the camera is very frequently zoomed in onto one of the female characters' breasts for some inexplicable reason. I'm serious, there are so many boob shots in this show that I got bored every time there was an ecchi scene. By the way, there is no nudity as miraculous streaks of light and hair cover the body parts. I don't have much more to say about this.

Sound:
The dub voice acting was solid, but some of the lines were so unbearably corny. Neither the OP or ED is particularly memorable. Fights sounded like fights, I wasn't terribly engaged by the music or sound effects.

Character:
Male Protag: Same as every other ecchi harem show
Julie: Flat-chested and naive (innocent) girl
Blonde Hair: Not flat-chested and openly sexual girl
Black Hair: Not flat-chested and serious girl
Brown Hair: Not flat-chested and shy girl

If most of these characters sound boring to you, then I think you should avoid this show. These general descriptions describe their entire personality throughout the entire show. And yes I'm not kidding, their breast size is relevant enough to be considered a personality trait.

Enjoyment:
I got bored very very quickly

I'm writing this past midnight because I just dropped the show and the game I wanted to play still hadn't loaded. But I've been switching between writing this review and playing the game so it took me a while to finish. I feel sleep deprived and will make a blog post later if I feel like anything I wrote should be modified.

This anime has probably been one of the strangest shows I have ever watched. I am aware of unpleasant stigma surrounding "imouto shows" and yet I found NAKAIMO to be a genuinely nice show. Regarding all the tags the show is labeled with: Comedy is only from interactions with the harem, Ecchi a very appropriate tag considering the bizarre abundance of nudity and fanservice, Harem is well self-explanatory but there are only really 3 girls so rest assured, Mystery is probably the most relevant tag since there is actually a decent amount of intrigue that is built up, Romance is honestly not really developed like ... in most harem anime, School is self-explanatory around 98% of the story takes place in the same city. NAKAIMO isn't a typical imouto show, it subverts those tropes rather well but falls I admit it does indulge in very common harem tropes.

Story: 7 (Better than I expcted)
It's quite a mild story, but it does not create BS elements that change everything. It is fairly linear, following the protag's analysis of each girl and determining whether or not if they are his sister. However there are patterns you can observe and thus deduce who the culprit is. Major plot events have a decent amount of emotional and subtle foreshadowing behind them. All in all, the story will honestly surprise you as it differs greatly from conventional harem anime.

Art: 6 (A bizarre amount of nudity?)
It greatly baffled me when I saw the first slice of nudity from this show. Most of the nudity isn't even used for ecchi moments, just when the girls are in a bath/shower. The weird thing is that sometimes you would see nudity in these scenes whereas others featuring the exact same character wouldn't. They probably should've tried to stick hard to one demographic, either adult or adolescent but the story would probably be more enjoyable for an adolescent. The fan service is usually pretty short and obviously embarrasses the girls in various "cute" ways. Regarding character or background design, nothing really stands out too much. I will probably forget the names of most of the characters in a few days.

Sound: 6 (Falls into harem tropes)
The music played at any given point will usually indicated to me what was going to happen next. For instance, it was really obvious when a girl was going to walk in on the protag's accidental molestation of a different girl. The OP is pleasant and probably the best musical part of the show. Didn't really watch much of the ED.

Character: 5 (Sometimes? more depth than you think)
Of all the main characters, only protag and one of the girls (not listing cause spoiler) gets thorough development. Both individuals learn about each other and form many friendships with other students. The other students however, are typical school council or harem tropes unfortunately. Protag's mom is barely in the show and all the businessmen he talked to are pretty much one-note. You would think that harem shows are usually character driven, but this show doesn't follow that trend.

Enjoyment: 7 (Overall enjoyable)
Although stale at many points in the last few episodes, this show was able to keep me entertained through revelations in the story. Some loose ends are probably intentional left unfinished but the ending was passable. If you're watching this for the ecchi, this show probably won't do you much good. If you want to watch a harem, this show is unique enough to provide you with a different experience (I've watched quite a few harem anime up to this point). Comedic parts of the show are pretty lacking, often relying on tried and tested rom-com scenarios (shopping for clothes, falling on each other, etc.).

Overall: 6 (Good if your standards are low)
NAKAIMO is my no means a must-watch anime and I honestly wouldn't recommend watching this show if you are trying to enjoy some anime or are getting into it. If you've watched a lot of anime and know what to expect from the "harem", then this show will be a good time waster. If you want some soft-hentai material, this will probably suit your tastes (it has nipple shots but nothing else). This really feels like a show that is made for horny teenagers given the premise of the show and how horny every female character is towards the protag. The protag's scenario can't really be related too and you'll probably forget bascially everything about this show a few weeks after you watch it.

GATE features an engaging story that is unfortunately ruined by the presence of atrocious main characters. These were my sentiments after watching season 1 but I held hope for improvement given since both seasons were rated quite highly. The 2nd seasons failed to create any sort of intrigue behind the main characters since the protagonist, Itami found himself in the same formulaic scenario throughout the show.

Story: 8
The story line behind this show is honestly the basis for any interest you will ever have. The nation of Japan encounters great difficulties coming to terms with the newly discovered empire. Heavy political, military, and moral dilemmas ... are presented and they are usually resolved in a very satisfactory manner that shows the people making the decisions have some sort of conflict over the matter. The moral problems however, are extremely predictable in how they are solved and almost exclusively involve Itami. Whenever one of these moral issues occurs, the supporting characters actively point towards Itami for it to be solved. Of course, he always helps whatever issue the poor woman must deal with despite every other character hinting at massive repercussions for his actions. The reason this occurrence becomes a problem is because this is how all moral conflicts are solved in this show, the solution is always to do what you want to do.

Art: 7
The show features a small amount of CGI that would've been socially unacceptable 3 years ago. But watching this show in 2019 when CGI has been more commonly accepted, the action scenes that use CGI to render tanks, planes, and other vehicles can be well appreciated. This show doesn't impress with a variety of gorgeous scenery or locations, rather it keeps all the events in the story confined to about 5 different settings.

Sound: 5
The OP isn't terribly enjoyable if you have watched other OPs with heavy electronic music. I can't really say much objectively about this part of the show since sound is very much up to interpretation. From a comparative standpoint (I have watched around 150 shows), I found the music to be rather average. Hence why I have scored this part a 5

Character: 3
This is the part where minor spoilers may come up about the main characters. I'll leave a spoiler-free TIL at the end of this section.

The order of the following characters is determined by how dreadful I found that character to be.

Piña:
Piña Co Lada, the princess of the newly discovered empire, staunchly pushes for the peace talks to go through after witnessing the immense power of Japan. The show follows her persistence in convincing her father to pursue an alliance and her vain efforts to protect Japan from the dictatorship. As she is the character that is most in tune with the main story line, she is far more interesting to witness than any side-plot with Itami and his harem. The show also chronicles her fall to despair and dread, showing that her character adapts to what has happened in her kingdom. She is the most developed character out of the entire main cast.

Tuka:
Tuka Luna Marceau, the only known survivor of her elven village, has to deal with a serious mental condition. She resorts to a believable coping method but one that would be very detrimental in the long run. However when confronted with reality, she adamantly denies it. The problem with this character comes after she has accepted the truth but keeps using that coping method anyway solely for comedic and pandering effect.

Lelei:
Lelei la Lalena, a 15 year old wizard girl, is an extremely dull character. Very similarly to the first season, her initial role in the story is purely translating/transcribing. Only about half way through the season, she leaves this post (with Itami of course) to go out for reconnaissance. After they complete their main objective, they go to her hometown and we get to meet...her sister and her teacher. What follows is an awful scene where her sister is jealous of Lelei's accomplishments and ponders about Itami's marital status. You can probably guess what the girls around his argue about for about 30 seconds and then never bring up again. What might have saved Lelei's character from being exceedingly monotone would've been her speech at the master's promotion ceremony (I don't remember the exact name). She was pictured to be holding various books after coming back from Japan and one was about chemistry (she called it philosophy). If her white robe thesis speech would've made an intriguing connection to the science of our world, it would've made me believe that she was an interesting character. Instead the viewer is greeted with scene 1: "You got this Lelei!" to scene 2: "How did it go Lelei?"

Rory:
Rory Mercury, the apostle of the death god, is a complete travesty of a character. She is a thousand year old goth loli (because anime) and behaves like a cliche teenager for the audience's amusement. Despite being among my most disliked characters in the show, I can't find better words to describe Rory than "generic". In both seasons, she is an invincible killing machine that follows Itami wherever he goes.

Itami:
The protagonist himself is easily the worst of the main cast. He is presented as an die-hard Otaku, a detail that is scarcely brought up unless the author needed it for comedic effect. The problem with Itami is how his behavior remarkably mirrors that of a cliche harem protagonist (oh wait he is one). Watch any number of harem shows and you will have a good idea of how to describe 90% of them with one sentence. Itami is no exception to this trend and it is a tragedy he was chosen to be the main character of the show. Even the story told from the perspective of even one of the soldiers under his command would've been more interesting.

TLDR (Spoiler Free)
The main cast turns in to a generic harem rom com except Pina.

Enjoyment: 4
I continued watching to enjoy the development of the main plot, I was thoroughly impressed with the direction it took but I despised the time that was used on Itami and his harem.

Overall Rating - 5

Grancrest Senki was a magnificent political drama that I enjoyed watching to the end. Both story and setting were excellently crafted and character development was very well done. This anime poses deep ethical questions on the morality of decisions made for other people instead of oneself. The ending is rather abrupt but it still provides a wonderful conclusion to the 24 episode series.

Story: 9 - Elaborate and Pragmatic
Grancrest follows the duo of Theo and Siluca on their quest to instigate rapid political change in the interest of the commonfolk. They find themselves with many allies and many enemies who (mostly) all will play a vital ... role in the conclusion. Explaining more would spoil too many vital components of the plot for the viewer to truly enjoy the experience.

Art: 6 - Decent at Best
Being a political drama, there is quite a lot of action whether that be on the open field or inside of a stronghold. The action scenes were the least enjoyable parts of the show to me because of several reaons. The primary one being the awkward use of CGI to animate the masses of armies. The soldiers would often look quite slow and ugly compared to the fights of the characters that were not animated with CGI. Outside of action scenes, the animation meets the bar. This anime does not impress with high graphical fidelity.

Sound: 7 - Simply Good
There isn't that much to remark about in terms of sound quality or even the music used in the opening/ending. I leave my rating as "simply good" because I never felt impressed by it, nor do I recall any bad experiences with the sound. Concerning the voice acting, I only watched the dubbed version and can confidently say that the actors did an excellent job with conveying the attitude and emotion of the characters.

Character: 9 - Profound
The majority of characters in this show are portrayed to have strict moral guidelines that they will follow. And because it's quite difficult to change someone's firmly held beliefs, conflict arises. Each major character is given enough screentime for the viewer to understand the motivations and goals that they hope to achieve from the conflict. As the conflict grows and attracts more people, those already involved will be influenced by each other.

Enjoyment: 9 - Very satisfying
This anime captured my attention and never insulted my intelligence with arbitrary plot points (maybe at the end?). I can't really say too much about what I enjoyed about the anime without spoiling too much. I'll just leave this off by saying that the characters made decisions that made me feel all sorts of emotions watching it.

Overall: 8 - Quite Good
This is will definitely be one of the anime I will remember fondly and will cherish should I decide to rewatch it. It isn't outstanding in any way, but is nonetheless a great anime.

Rec is a short series that captivates the heart despite its nine 12-minute episodes. It does this by being centered on the conflict between our two protagonists. This conflict being whether or not they can continue living together since their professions are closely tied and foul rumors may spread among employees. I won't into too much depth about their conflict since it is what kept me interested in the series and what I highly recommend you pay close attention to should you watch this.

Story: 9
The story can best be described as a rom-com without the com but that isn't to say that the story isn't ... funny. What I hope to convey through this metaphor is that the series focuses on the two central characters and their interactions.

If you are unsure about watching this show, watch the first 2 episodes first (Duration wise, it's like watching the first episode of a regular anime).
The first two episodes present the complications of their relationship and why their living situation could become a dilemma. These first two episodes are what made me forget about the rating on MAL and conditioned me to really pay attention to what was happening in the show.

Episodes three-eight solidly build on their relationship and how that could bring negative reception from their employers. They do a great job of building up tension and investment for the characters.

The last episode is a sweet ending, nothing more to be said.

Art: 7
I have much less to say about this topic. It's a 2006 anime, you shouldn't expect high quality artistic talent on a project like this. Compared to other shows I've seen from this time period, it's definitely middlingly average. Most of the characters' faces or designs aren't really memorable except for Onda.

Sound: 9
The voice acting is nice, nothing sounds off-mood or breaks the tone of the show. Onda especially shows change with her voice as she progresses through her career and it was very heartwarming to watch. The opening is cute but the lyrics sung, oh man, those give you a vague idea of what's to come and they powerful. I won't analyze the entire opening as that would require a video and a lot of editing, but I will tell you that reading the lyrics every time you start the episode will get you the full experience of sadness and happiness that made me cry.

Character: 10
While not too many are present in this anime, the main ones are very well developed and carry much emotional investment by the end of the series. Onda is a young eccentric girl who is a rising voice actor. The conflict between her rise to fame and her relationship with Matsumaru make for a tear-jerking viewijng experience. Matsumaru is an older man who has largely given up on finding a better life and tries to make the best of the situation. The conflict between his relationship with Onka and what he believes she wants also make for an emotional adventure that is sure to invoke feelings inside of you as well.

Enjoyment: 10
Onda is adorable and and worthy of one of your 10 favorite character spots. That aside, what I really enjoyed about this show was the ending. As they are adults in the workforce, they act like adults in the workforce and there is no hiding or confusion of feelings. They speak what they believe and they answer truthfully. Nothing more can be said without spoiling the show.

Overall: 9
Rec is a great show for any lover of the romance genre, the emotional payoff heartwarming and it explores obstacles that are non-existent in High School anime. If you feel the need to spend time on anime, I advise you to watch this. It's short, sweet, and will make your heart cry.

May Contain Spoilers!

This anime is a beautifully directed story that tugs at the heartstrings you didn't know you had.

The small details and changes to characters show how they develop through the story by meeting one another.

Story: 9
Every single encounter was interesting and unique. While some outcomes were predictable, the buildup was certainly was gorgeous. This anime has changed the way I feel about games.

Art 10:
... Character models and their changes are one of the greatest things I saw in this show. The animation is beautiful as well with no parts that seem lacking or dull.

Sound 10:
The voice acting is fantastic (even in dub) and the OP is gorgeously crafted.

Character 10:
Every relevant character is explained in depth without dragging on too much. Characters' actions can be sympathized with and bring about great emotion.

Enjoyment 10:
Death Parade was an extremely interesting anime to watch, at times it would be funny by making light of the deathly situation. Other times it would burden the viewer with heavy emotions that can be understood.

Overall 10:
This show has changed how I view life and death.

I personally have never found harem anime to be too interesting.

This was one exception.

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

What I liked:
The recurring jokes in the anime don't run out of substance.
The show kept me intrigued at the end of every episode
Subtle parts of english in the dialogue
... The last OP


What I didn't like:
Plot was way too predictable
Most character motives don't make sense
Parents are used purely to bring out exposition or push their child into a relationship
The abundance of fanservice
The way only women interpret things sexually or romantically

Story 5: Nothing new & very predictable
Art 8: Very beutiful
Sound 7: Appropriate sound for every occasion
Character 7: Some actions and traits are confusing
Enjoyment 9: Comedy was amazing
OVerall 7: Probably won't watch again

This is my first review so..... I hope I'm not humiliated or anything by this.
I know I'm repetitive very freq