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Storytelling in a 4-Koma is tricky to pull-off. One may think, with the format being dominated by Comedy, that the primary goal of a 4-Koma is to make the reader laugh. In that respect, Acchi Kocchi enjoys lukewarm success. The series, fails, however, in a pivotal way: it spreads itself too thin.

Story
Acchi Kocchi follows the misadventures of a group of highschool students. Within the halls of their classrooms, the characters get into all sorts of mischief. The tone is warm, although the premise is quite conventional.

The series' weakness is in its lack of focus. Its central romance lacks the progression and tugging-of-heartstrings present ... in series like Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko, while its comedy lacks the creative punch of Kill Me Baby. The end result is a series with nice moments suffocated by tired humor.

Art
Art in the series is simplistic, but appropriate for the series. Some standout designs are Tsumiki, the female protagonist with a catlike aesthetic, and Mayoi, her crazy best friend. The stubby characters add a visual flair to the comedy. It doesn't impress, but it complements.

Character
Most of the cast of Acchi Kocchi checks boxes but little else. You have the resident tricksters, the innocent girl, the ojou-sama, and other comedy staples. The characters struggle to distinguish themselves from their crowded archetypes and feel more like props than characters. Some of the later characters feel like straight-up wastes of space, representing a few traits that would be better represented in pre-existing characters.

If there is a selling point to the series, it would be the relationship between Io and Tsumiki. Whenever these two are involved, its as if the series itself gets a second wind. That being said, the series oscillates between teasing romantic progress and throwing out jokes, resulting in inconsistent satisfaction on all fronts.

Enjoyment
There was a time when I enjoyed Acchi Kocchi. It was when I just getting into 4-Koma manga. The series successfully skims the surface of 4-Koma-style Romance, Comedy and Drama, making it a good introduction to the format. After reading other, more focused series, however, I found that Acchi Kocchi had lost much of its charm.

Overall
Acchi Kocchi provides a comprehensive introduction to the 4-Koma format, but struggles to distinguish itself from its competitors. The end result is a jack-of-all-trades manga that leaves few veterans satisfied.

As a spin-off to one of the most popular shounen of the post-Big 3 Generation, Illegals needs to fill some big shoes. The world of BNHA is large, large enough to accommodate a variety of stories. The author, however, decided to tell the story that could have been the most poignant: the story of illegal heroes. And yet, Illegals' story is not without its share of faults. Despite its adequate illustrations and character designs, Illegals fails where its parent story succeeds, hosting a cast of lifeless characters and a bipolar story.

Story:
The story of Illegals is the story of the forgotten. Behind the glamour ... of the pro-Hero life lies an underbelly of unlicensed heroes taking justice into their own hands. Some, such as protagonist Haimawari Kouichi (“Crawler”), use their low-power quirks to tackle crimes Pro-Heroes miss, while others, such as Haneyama Kazuho (“Pop-Step”), use their powers for personal gain.

It’s a story of potential, one that could have been taken in multiple directions, yet the story fails to pick a path and stick to it. The episodic story oscillates between sub-par comedy relying on tired running-gags and grim showdowns marred by shoddy writing and weird pacing. Through the story, readers are left wondering about the purpose of it all. Where is the work supposed to fit in the BNHA universe? Does it say anything new about the world of Deku, All Might and Best Girl <INSERT NAME HERE>?

The series does try to give some answers to these questions, especially when characters from the main series pop in. One thing that people may not know about this series is that it is a PREQUEL to BNHA in addition to being a spin-off. With that in mind, the story succeeds in providing some nice background to the Chisaki arc of the main series while also providing some nice moments in this story as well.

Characters:
Because of the plot’s inability to focus on the core message of the story, the characters suffer, turning them into puppets rather than people.
To understand this point, let’s look at the protagonist, Kouichi.

Kouchi is a college student who adores top hero All Might and wants to follow in his idol’s footsteps, but lacks the power to do so as a licensed hero. Thus, he decides to don his favorite All Might jacket and take to the streets as The Crawler. Beyond his drive for heroism, love for All Might and slight bitterness about his weak quirk, however, these isn’t much to Kouichi. There’s no reason to care about him. The stakes aren’t high enough for his actions to mean anything significant, his personality isn’t big enough elicit any laughs, and he isn’t even angsty enough for people to relate with him about his weaknesses. There’s no depth to his character, nor is he entertaining to see in action.

Such is the case for most of the cast of Illegals, with the except of (maybe) Knuckleduster. I will also mention that a certain popular villain’s origin story also takes place in Illegals, but the justification for his development feels so sudden and forced that I would recommend that fans skip those chapters all together. Thank me later.

Art:
The art design of Illegals is passable. The style itself is a tad reminiscent of Horikoshi’s western style for All Might, especially when the illustrator draws the muscle-bound Knuckleduster. Some of outfits seem more improvised than others, adding to a much-needed informality to the Vigilantes’ attire. A simple yet effective example is Knuckledusters use of a bandana, jacket and cargo pants. The bandana especially evokes images of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, adding a nice retro touch to the design.

Enjoyment:
If this series was clearer about what it wanted to accomplish, then I may have enjoyed it more. I did enjoy seeing the occasional parallels between this work and the main series, but they felt like Easter eggs rather than key parts of the story.
All in all, it was an inefficient use of my time.

Overall:
With a scatter-brained story and shallow characters, Illegals is a forgettable disappointment.

If you’re expecting for the perfect balance of comedy, drama and action that BNHA provides, you should look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a deep-dive into a particular part of the BNHA world that the main series doesn’t highlight, you should also look elsewhere. If you are desperate for BNHA content, no matter how bad, then maybe you can give this a chance.

But then again, maybe a story this bad is better off behind bars.

Amano Megumi Wa Sukidarake is a novel twist on the slice-of-life manga genre. Featuring both episodic chapter, a tiny cast and a copious amount of ecchi, it doesn’t fit snuggly into any sort of sub-genre. Instead, it is its own beast, choosing to sell itself not on witty dialogue or visual comedy, but with its titular heroine alone. The result is a sweet albeit unpolished series that relies on its winning formula to keep the audience reading.

Story: Amano Megumi has got a winning formula: combine the exaggerated visuals of slice-of-life comedy manga with a couple titillating shots of the heroine, Amano Megumi. Add in ... some bits of actual romantic potential between the MC, Maa-kun with the adorable Amano, and there’s a fun and fluffy read to be had.

Within its greatest strength, however, lies the manga’s greatest weakness. While the series tries to change up the stories in later chapters to kindle Amano and Maa-kun’s relationship, the manga is repetitive. Some of the settings and situations feel like nothing more than a stage for Amano to flash some skin. After marathoning through several chapters, don’t be surprised if you start to being able to call the beats of a chapter. “Oh, she’ll stick out her butt here”, “As I thought. A boob shot”, “And this is where Maa-kun tells her to cover up with a nosebleed.” Granted, other ecchi series suffer from these issues, but those other series have larger casts.
As such, Amano Megumi is more like medicine than entertainment. A few chapters-a-day. Be careful not to take too much or you’ll build a resistance to the meds. But if you've had a long day and need a break, pop open a chapter.

Characters: You’re here for Amano. There are other characters, like Maa-kun’s cousin, Maa-kun’s crush, Amano’s Mom, Amano’s friends. The reader, however, doesn’t get a chance to bond with most of the side cast because they’re just small parts of Amano’s story. They’re archetypes that help set up the ecchi and the comedy, which wouldn’t be so bad if the main cast was larger.

But it’s not, so reader will be stuck with two main characters for most of the series: Amano Megumi and Maa-kun. Amano is happy-go-luck girl with a busty figure, a passion for Kendo and a penchant for klutziness. Whether she’s accidentally ripping her Halloween stockings on a table, poking her butt out of a kotastu or taking off her pajama bottoms in the throe of a fever, Amano is simultaneously sexy and adorable. Her co-star, Maa-kun, is her childhood friend, a studious boy who struggles with Amano’s sizable assets. Many of the ecchi scenes in the manga are the product of Maa-kun’s lewd fantasies, and while he tries his best to look after her, he can only watch the plucky heroine so closely before he loses his cool.
The relationship between these starts as a friendship rife with unintentional sexual tension, but, in recent chapters, is starting to show signs of something more. Perhaps this development will charge this manga with a new energy to break out of its repetitive structure. Only time will tell, though.

Art: The character designs are simple yet effective. The art style itself emphasizes the ecchi, with the detail and quality of Amano’s ecchi moments contrasting the more blocky, basic style of the comedic segments. Maa-kun himself looks angular when compared to Amano’s curvy, plumb body. Although the manga uses archetypes that are similar to other series, the art style helps the characters stand apart.

Enjoyment: Like any comedy manga, the series lives and dies by its gags. If you don’t find its brand of ecchi-filled humor funny within the first few chapters, you’re not going to like the rest of the series. It can get repetitive, but the characters are nonetheless lovable.

If you’ve wanted to see a curvy, chubby girl screw with both her childhood friend and social decency, then you’re in luck. Caution: Meaty Goodness and Warm Fuzzy’s ahead!

With a name like “Mai-HIME,” you would have thought this series would fulfill all of the reader’s wildest dreams about princesses. I came in expecting to get my very own princess in a neat little box. I was disappointed. Well, to save you the disappointment I suffered, please enjoy this review.

Story
I came into this series expecting a decent harem-fighter. What I got was that, a little bit more and at the same time, a lot less.

You see, Mai-HIME’s central problem lies in its awkward pacing. Some of the earlier, less important fights last a few chapters, while later fights with significant build-up (*coughmaingirlshowdowncough*) ... are resolved over the course a few pages. To make matters worse, the time between arcs is too short and exposition is commonly dumped before the plot quickly rolls over to the next confrontation. The problems only seem to compound during the later parts of the story, thanks to the larger cast of characters and multitude of fights occurring at the same time.

Another of the key disappointments of Mai-HIME is how quickly it tosses out ideas that, if taken further, would have been fascinating. For all the series’ predictability, there were a few twists (especially after the half-way mark...you know, the same part where the series proceeds to implode in on itself) to the ecchi-fighter formula. Unexpected betrayals and turns toward a more dark and gruesome atmosphere are, ironically, flashes of light in the dark tunnel to mediocrity. Unfortunately, these flashes are so short-lived and sudden that they blind the reader, causing the reader to crash into the wall of the tunnel. By the last few chapters, the reader has to get out of their “plot” car and trudge the rest of the way on foot, only to get to an unsatisfying ending that the reader could see a mile away.

Characters
Like the story, the characters of Mai-HIME are typical for the genre and fail to be anything anymore despite bits of potential. Mai, the titular heroine, comes the closest to achieving “greatness” thanks her relationship between her and her brother, Takumi. Takumi himself is an anchor for the series, bringing his workaholic sister and her partners out of their world of crazy fights and love-triangle shenanigans and into a world of self-sacrifice and quiet desperation. The last quarter of the series utilizes this relationship in an unexpected way, but due to the rushed pacing, the execution is ruined, destroying what could have been a major asset. Other concepts, such as the protagonist’s dark past and the secrets behind the HIMEs, are left hanging.

In other words, you know that really cool sword girl and the buxom babe with the giant robot? Yeah, you won’t get to know what they’re all about. Sucks to be you...and me.

Art
While the story and characters do frustrate me due to their wasted potential, it is art that pushes story off the edge of mediocrity. As with all manga, the art is what first pulls the reader into the world of the work, so imagine my surprise when I see that almost a quarter of the cast has the same basic design, barring a few differences. I’m not talking big boobs with an hour glass figure with just different hairstyles. Fujino and the head of Ori-HIME look like twins and the members of SEERs have got be their long-lost cousins. Barring one emotional moment between the protagonist and one of the heroines, the art never goes above average and while the Child (think: spirit animals) and weapon designs complement the characters, they aren’t anything special.

Enjoyment
The series never takes a break plot-wise, making the entire work seem like a bunch of fights thrown together. The tiny bits of goodness within, be they comedic goodness or a dose of straight-up tragedy, are steamrolled by the work’s overriding desire to be another rushed waifu war between the two lead girls, character development of other eye-candy be damned.

By occasionally shooting for something greater, the series ends up as something worse.

Overall
Due to inconsistent pacing, repetitive art style, insufficient character development and overall lack of artistic direction, Mai-HIME fails both on and off the battlefield, leaving the reader with a sub-par blob with specks of potential buried deep within. Only read if you are dying from an ecchi-fighting fix. This is one HIME I don’t think anyone should own.

As Polonius of Hamlet once said: Brevity is the soul of wit. Sometimes, all we want is a little pinch of something before we've had enough of it. For KOF: Kyo, a pinch is indeed all that we get and that pinch, as brief and as flawed as it is, it just enough...but only just.

Story
The underlying conflict in KOF, centered on the struggle between Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi, is odd in that characters always refer to the struggle, but the reader is never really given the scope of the conflict until later in the short series. Those who have played the games would probably ... be the only ones who could understand the story, limiting the audience within the first few chapters.

The manga, with its grossly uneven pacing and extremely unsatisfying ending, does succeed in giving us a brief outline of what a shounen is all about: getting cocky, getting humbled, getting depressed, getting angry and then getting even. CHDAE...that acronym will probably never stick, but the point is that while Kyo's story is predictable, it is at least goes forward, albeit to lackluster ends.

Art
Character designs are one of the key strengths in KOF:F. Fighting games rely on interesting characters to entice players, and for this spin off, with the character designs remain mostly the same, KOF is a visual treat. Furthermore, the artist knows his way around the 90s era of shounen. From him, we get an art style that keeps with the spirit of the 90s without trying too hard, complete with exaggerated emotions and tense confrontations between rivals. Each battle between Iori and Kyo serve as a example how the intensity of video game fights can be successfully transferred into the manga media.

Character
The lack of originality is the issue I am least concerned about with this series, since it, like other 90s shounens, prioritizes style over substance. What bothers me are the lacking motivations of the characters, especially for Kyo himself. He lacks drive, and while the story tries to explain exactly why, readers are not given much to work with. All we get is a faceless love interest, a vague recap of the previous tournament and a general outline of his relationship with his rival, who is obsessed with killing Kyo because...he wants to? Kyo just loses his will to fight, but with the stakes unclear and/or worthless, I don't see a reason why he should fight either, which defeats the purpose of writing a shounen all about fighting. Other characters, like Benimaru, appear as cameos, while still others serve as simple tools for the main two fighters to use. Athena and Kensou are just wandering around, helping Kyo without developing themselves in any way. Vice and Mature come in later, their purpose only highlighting the fact that the story is incomplete. The only character who captures the passion and fulfills his designated role is Kyo's father, who challenges his son to be better like a good shounen dad should.

Enjoyment
It's turn-off-brain entertainment of the worst kind: looks pretty, but has no soul. Reading it was never a chore, but I also never looked forward to it. It's almost worse that I'm ambivalent about this series overall. Odds are that I'll forget about this series after a few weeks. That's a failure of a whole other sort.


Overall
Great character designs and fights are weighed down by empty characters and a story that, while conducive to fighting, is not conducive to fiery passion. King of Fighters: Kyo is a series where the cons and the pros are perfectly balanced.

All I can say about this manga is this: it is anything but the King.

Leave it to the sleazy villager to kill mankind's last hope! I'll make this short, a bit-sized review of sorts, just to get the main aspects of this work. After all, we MAL users are busy people!

Story:
+ Fantastic premise
+ Successfully makes fun of fundamental fantasy anime tropes
+ Has a plot that successfully guides the comedy into interesting directions
+ Utilizes extra 4-komas to both fill out parts of the plot and provide more laughs
- Suffers from unevening pacing, sometimes skimming over character development to get to the next punchline
- Starts off slow
- Not all the jokes hit
... - Can get a tad too repetitive


Art:
+ Ecchi illustrations are top-notch
+ Art supplements the comedy
+/- Character designs are safe, perhaps to drive home the parodies
- Average art quality tends to be sub-par

Character:
+ Touka Scott is a great blend of the cynical wise-cracker, the sleazy pervert and the sadistic thug characters
+ Cast interactions provide great comedy experience
+ Side characters and a few of the villains leave immediate impressions
- Character development is shaky
- Characters with signature jokes tend to utilize them often
- Some of the more interesting characters are forgotten or cast aside

Enjoyment:
Definitely for fans of ecchi-based humor and low-brow parodies of fantasy settings.

I personally started loving after I trudged through the mediocre beginning (chapter 1 was great, but the series doesn't pick up steam until later).

Overall:
This hidden gem might suffer from repetition and unsteady pacing, but when it hits the right spots, it truly shines!

7/10

How does this happen?

How can a series with so much potential just roll over and die, failing to achieve even the basic level of its premise?

Welcome to Overlord, the master at poor writing, completely soulless characters , gratuitous CG and lacking sound.

Where does Overlord fail? Does it have any redeeming qualities? Let's find out!

Story: Overlord sells itself as a story about a evil mastermind trying to cement his legacy. The lead character, Momonga, is a computer-gamer turned trapped dictator who wants to "learn" about the world around him and how its different from the game he used to know. The story is made up ... of small little arcs that have little to do with each other and feel more like side quests than anything. However, unlike other episodic series, Overlord shows you none of the culture of the world, none of its vivacity, and instead gives you a tour of a hollow, pre-made shell of a fantasy world. Along the way, viewers get complementary exposition dumps, random game terms and long strings of dialogue that succeed at only taking up precious air-time, all free of charge!

There is no meaningful conclusion, no real progress in the story. Furthermore, due to the sheer difference of power between Momonga's team and their foes, there isn't even any tension in the battle scenes. They (Momonga's band and their foes) just whip magic/skills at each other until one side gives up in the face of the undead might of Momonga's team.

What the show does succeed at (barely) is portraying a feeling a loneliness within Momonga. Being trapped in a game all by one's self should be a harrowing experience and the very few moments I believe Overlord got it right was when I saw the cracks in Momonga's ice-cold exterior and saw the human underneath...of course, the show never does anything meaningful with that and that possible character development is just conveniently forgotten.

Art: CG has always had a bad rap when it comes to anime and Overlord is a prime example of CG done...well, decently. The CG skeleton guards and dragons were not actually that bad, but the CG soldiers, on the other hand, are jarring against the drawn landscapes, which, by the way, don't show much variety. Iconic set pieces are extinct in the world of Overlord. Prepare for forests, forests and more forests. Oh wait, you like graveyards? We got you covered! How about castles? Castles IN your Graveyards? Graveyards IN your Castles? Whew. So many choices!

But seriously, the only aesthetically good part of the series are the character designs for Albedo and Momonga. Everything else is...well, empty. The animation is sub-par to downright ugly at times, even.

Sound: OP? Unremarkable. ED? Meh. BGM? What BGM? I literally took no notice of it. I actually tried to listen for it a few times near the end, but between all the dialogue, it got kind of drowned out. The voice acting was okay, but with subs, that shouldn't be a problem in the first place. The only character who I thought had an exceptional VA was Clementine, a minor villain.

Character: There is a massive cast although the majority of Momonga's grunts hardly get screen time for the important bits. Oh, you get Albedo. Tons of Albedo. Her and her obsession with the big bony MC himself...and that's all you really get from her. Oh, and everyone on his team hates humans. Why? Because they were made that way. Not exactly a compelling reason, is it? What do you really know about Nabe? Cocytous? Shaltear? Probably not much more other than their first, generic impressions, huh?

Behind the clunky, forced interactions of the various characters, unexplained backstories and other holes is one of the most empty cast of characters you'll ever see in an anime. You know they're loyal? And? What are their roles? What do they do? Some of them are on screen enough that one would think they'd development some how, but nope. It's like they're on a loop. "I love you, Momonga-sama!" "I hate humans!" "Momonga-sama is so powerful!" Seriously? Is that ALL they can say? They can't even pull of their generic roles with finesse. The filler girls from SAO had more characterization than that.

Enjoyment: Looking back, other than for a decent first episode, it's hard to recommend this series to anyone. The characters are completely hollow, the story is an clustered mess of generic spirit, the art and sound are barely decent and the premise itself does not come to fruition.

Inferno Cop was one thing, but Jesus Christ, how did this show even get the green light for production? That's about 6 hours of my life I will never get back.

I cannot, in good confidence, give this anime anything higher than a 3/10. It is a borderline failure as both an original work and even as a clone of SAO, which looks like ambrosia compared to this seething pile of sewage. Thank goodness it at least looks and sounds passable or I'd give it a 2.

All I can say is this: If you're looking for an evil mastermind, look no further than the staff behind this show. They're out to waste precious minutes of your life, one pathetic episode at time.

Minor spoilers ahead. Just skip to enjoyment if you want it completely spoiler free, although the amount isn't really that much to begin with.

Ecchi and action: a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, that's only the case if the proper set up and balance are created, which Taboo Tattoo does not accomplish. What it does do is it creates a visually sound action adventure of pervs, sadists, heroes and homosexuals.

Story: Right off the bat, the classic set up of "boy gets dragged into secret war between two sides" comes into play. Battles are not in short supply but are instead brief albeit brutal affairs with lots ... of blood and guts, which was somewhat surprising considering the manga can sometimes come across as juvenile with its copious amounts of fan service done is ways that disrupt the flow of the scenes and plot. That's not to say the use of sexual imagery is completely for fan-boners. Rape, suggested and not so, is used a source of shock value, as if the series is trying to prove its grittiness.

As for the series' pacing and tone, the first parts seem inconsistent, as breast fondles and sexual comedy happen while hearing exposition dumps and sometimes the manga goes out of its way to give more fanservice, changing entire characters just to pander to the readers.

Characters: On the subject of characters, almost everyone, from the protagonist, to the antagonist, fits into some sort of archetype, albeit some more snugly than other. That being said, some characters, like B.B, do a great job at fulfilling their roles, making the audience care about their struggles and pasts, while others, like the enemy Princess (who seems to be a kind of hyper-genius girl with OP powers), fail by letting the fanservice affect them. The antagonist especially actually has a decent reason for her objectives, but she loses credibility when she surrounds herself with a same-sex harem just for kicks and playfully molests the childhood friend of the protagonist after the later loses to her in a game of table tennis... As a whole, the characters are unremarkable except for a select few like B.B and Lurker.

Art: Art is meant to supplement the story and for the most part the artwork of the manga succeeds in this respect. Illustrations can have a sketch like quality on a few occasions, but the well-paced battles exhibit the artistic chops of the illustrator. The character designs and backgrounds are a tad on the generic and unremarkable side, made painfully obvious by the characters themselves.

Enjoyment: If the fanservice was dialed down or at least integrated more naturally, I probably would have enjoyed the series a lot more. Fanservice is not a pet peeve of mine, but if it interrupts the tone and pacing of the story completely, then it can turn a decent series into a lacking one. Characters are defined by their actions, not just their motivations, and this is where characters like the antagonist and other characters fall victim to the manga's immaturity. Those who like typical action manga's with guns and superpowers may find something to enjoy, but beware of the awkward tone and sluggish pacing of the first part. The series has some highs and I intend to finish it, but so far, it's below average.

Let's hope that the next few chapters fix the sins of its predecessors.

In an industry filled with idol and slice-of-life shows with just a pinch of music, it takes balls to go back to the basics, to actually pursue a less-tread path when the alternative has such a big and influential audience. Hibike Euphonium, however, is willing to take that path. But is its execution up to snuff? Yes. It is.

Story:

The story of Hibike Euphonium begins with the crushed dreams of one girl and the reemergence of another. From there, the protagonist Kumiko and her new friends join the band club, which has recently undergone some big changes. From the very beginning, the show lets you know ... what you’re in for: a show about characters overcoming their challenges to play music. It tries not to dwell on the personal, miniscule problems that plague the girl’s daily lives, but rather what stops them from being their very best. Despite the plot being very character driven, there is a clear direction in the progression, with occasional odd but at the same time necessary deviations. The pacing of the story is usually at a quicker clip, with events and backstories coming and going, not overstaying the welcome for the most part. A few episodes seemed to drag with pointless dialogues about cutesy-things and what not, but the show as a whole executes what it sets out to do quite well, portraying a thorough and believable story of personal growth in the face of challenges.

Of course, no review is complete without mention of the ending and it is, without a doubt, one of the best endings I’ve seen to a show. The emotions are right, the tension is there, the music brings forth emotion, and while the final outcome is predictable, the journey to get there and the execution, how it even echoes the beginning in a sense, is a lot better than I thought it would be. It really shows how far everyone has come from their beginnings, leaving a sweet optimism in the minds of viewers.

Animation:

The animation quality of the work is crisp and clean, with nice lighting and (usually) well-placed camera shots. It give the sounds of the band life and meaning especially, allowing both visual and auditory stimulation to combine to form a well executed final product. The character designs are not needlessly otherworldly, but they also aren’t just carbon copies of other characters. Personalities match appearances, and the setting, while ordinary, is brought to life with discipline and dedication to the kind of atmosphere the show aims to create.

Sound:

Of course, an anime about music is nothing without a good score. To start of, I must give credit to studio for portraying mistakes as well as triumphs. That’s a line that I feared would not be as honestly toed as it was when I first started this anime, but the show’s message includes the values of hard work. In other words, these kids aren’t prodigies, which is refreshing. Now, the music itself, both the BGM and the actually played songs, fit with the moods of the various scenes, bringing an extra layer them. The voice actors are also exceptional. The beautiful OP has a building intensity that shadows the show’s own plot progression, making it a very well made one. Unfortunately, the ED, while catchy in its own right, hearkens back to the few errors that the show makes when it temporarily forgets what it does well and focuses more on the “cute girls doing cute things because we like money” sort of thing.

Characters:

The cast as whole is pretty large and even if you only could the ones in the center, there are still 5+ characters. Unafraid of the sizable cast, the show is able to properly introduce characters that are imperfect and seek to better themselves in some way or get their priorities straight. Everyone at least tries to move on in this show. Some of the developments are more significant than others (Kumiko’s two best friends’ struggles weren’t particularly interesting to watch, as they were punctuated by the typical boy troubles of the show’s less-serious brethren) but others, such as Nakaseko, Kousaka and Kitamura, deal with their problems and don’t hold the plot back and, if anything, drive it forward.

Enjoyment:

Despite my apparent high-praise, I didn’t really love this show in its entirety. I saw the quality it had to offer and I saw that it was as a whole very well built anime. But this show isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I wouldn’t watch it all again, although there are some moments I would definitely rewatch (the ending, for one). However for those of you who are looking for a more serious music show or just want a nostalgia shot of high school band experiences, this is your show. I think people should be willing to give it a chance, especially if you a fan these kind of shows, but it is not a must watch.

Overall:

With a music-focused plot, beautiful visual, nice musical values, and awe-inspiring characters, Hibike Euphonium is a very good show. However, it is not perfect, as it still has the ghosts of the more-superfluous school-shows breathing down its creative neck, as seen in some of the female characters. It’s worth a firm recommendation, surely, but unless you really dig its blend of band music and school life, it won’t change any minds about the genre it represents.

I must give Hibike Euphonium the grade of a “wimpy 8”. Fans of the genre/studio will probably love it, and non-fans might learn to like it too, but for others, this anime might not take the gold it desperately tries for.

Being unique is hard nowadays in general, but it's even harder in manga/anime medium, which is infamous for utilizing stereotypes, cliches and genre-typical approaches for safely taking a specified audience’s money. For Inugamihime, a story about one young man and his dog-goddess master, readers will see just how damaging being ‘safe’ can be when set in a high-speed environment.

Story: Inugamihime’s immediate premise is an example of “everyday-man” turned “MC”, with an arrow going straight through Inuzuka Taroumaru’s head. He’s then forced to be a sacrifice for the village deity, but it turns out he’ll just be her ... servant instead.
From this platform, the story turns into a slice-of-life adventure as the reader is slowly introduced to the rest of the cast, which is decently sized for such a small series. The events of the story document the progression the princess as she begins to intermingle with society, causing confusion as she misunderstands words, discovers new technologies and even makes a friend or two. At the same time however, the princess also attempts to balance her powers and gain the trust of the villagers.
With this small background in mind, it is apparent that the story does not take any significant deviations from its competitors. However, what ruins what could have been at least a mediocre series is the pacing, which, due to short length of the story, prevents events from being fully explained and/or experienced. Over the span of 15 chapters, character relationships form, strengthen, break and then reemerge in almost a loop of sorts. People get hurt and people grow. Despite these developments, the effects of such developments are short lived. Even the true crisis in the story is resolved relatively quickly and the readers are barely even allowed to see the aftermath. The situations keep changing, leaving this series with a puddle of muddled events.

Art: From an art perspective, the artwork present attempts to blend together modern character design tropes with Japanese mythology, resulting in limited success. The main characters themselves don’t look much different from the multitude of black-haired girly or harsh but kind MCs. The action scenes, ranging from saving a girl from drowning in a pool to fending off a bunch of kamaitachi’s , were okay. Nothing really remarkable about this series visually other the neatly drawn dog mask, dog spirits and kimonos.

Characters: The characters of the series are, as I keep saying, “safe”, in that they assume their roles and tend not to stray too far from their first impressions. Inuzuka is the tough and caring servant who, while having a tendency to complain, continues to serve his master dutifully. Sazen is the extremely dedicated father-like servant who keeps a close eye on his mistress and the newbie. Aya, the Dog goddess, is the too-refined-that-she’s-clueless character with the pinch of tsundere that all master-and-servant relationships have in modern manga. Other characters also make appearances but they too are swept away by the lighting-fast-current of this series. Over the course of the chapters, we see these characters progress as they get closer, then drift apart before closing the gap yet again. Everything, from the banter to the faces they make, all scream “cliche”, but that in itself isn’t what holds the series back.
The true problem lies in how quickly these characters change, which is almost completely due to the pacing. Because of that, not even devoted fans to this kind of manga can appreciate the tropes when they see them because most situations usually last only a chapter or two. Even if the approach intended was quantity over quality, the brevity of the series doesn’t do it any favors.

Enjoyment: Due to its extremely quick pace, unremarkable premise and bland characters, I cannot say I enjoyed this series nor can I even recommend it to others. While it was a short read, each chapter felt too long, mostly because I wanted the predictable, rushed dialogue and rehashed scenarios to end. I felt nothing for the characters because they are simply replaceable.

Overall: Mediocrity is a dangerous position to be in in a business where it is so common. For Inugamihime, a series with terrible pacing that proceeds to ruin a setting that already seemed to an unremarkable, fame might reach it eventually, but for the wrong reasons. For those who came looking for a story about shrine priestesses, dog-girls, or just plain old-romance, this series offers a quick fix, but in the end, speed doesn’t mean everything.