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Long-running battle shonen adaptation spinoff movies have a number of inherent limitations caused by the very nature of their existence. Because they are attached to an adaptation despite being original works, they are functionally filler arcs and cannot do anything that would change the status quo, and any sense of genuine peril to said status quo loses all tension as a result of this.

The first movie knew this very well, and so was as much of a fanservice movie as it could manage, focusing on fun character moments and action sequences, and framing it all around a story theme that not only builds on but ... also improves the lore of the Hero Academia universe. Ultimately, it was one of my favourite movies of its kind.

This movie does not fare as well.

A lot of this movie centers around its villain, Nine, who is a much more present threat than the villain of the first movie, whom despite my near encyclopedic knowledge of this franchise I can barely remember the appearance of, let alone their name. Nine is essentially an off brand All For One, being able to steal up to Nine quirks (hence the name). While he is somewhat generic he works fine within the context of the movie, and is an active agent in the plot and a plausible threat.

This movie's best accomplishment is getting all of class 1-A to be relevant and actually have something to do, some of whom have their best fights in the franchise here against Nine and his subordinates. And this movie really does go all out on these action sequences, not only having some of the franchise's best animation but also some of its best choreography. The coordinated team attacks by the members of Class 1-A are the highlight here and also give some of the less powerful class members a chance to do something useful. This is accomplished through a very awkward logical leap in its premise, however, in that the entire class has been abandoned with no supervision on an isolated island with no superpowers, this being in spite of everything that has happened to them in the series so far and them regularly highlighting on several occasions the importance of security.

Being that this is for some reason set a lot later in the manga than where the anime has currently adapted up to at time of release, this could potentially be chalked up to the Hero Commission knowing the League are biding their time until spring, but that's still a significant stretch.

There's going to be some significant spoilers from here on out, so consider yourself warned.

The biggest development in this movie is the final battle twist, wherein the seemingly undefeatable Nine is taken down by Deku transferring One for All to Bakugo, and the two of them both using it in tandem. While it doesn't drive the plot the same way that the first movie's theme did, the main theme of this movie is the rivalry between Deku and Bakugou, and this is not only an inspired solution to an otherwise unwinnable battle, but also resonates excellently with the main motif of the movie.

Unfortunately it absolutely does not stick the landing.

Being that the status quo cannot be changed by this movie, it's obvious that One For All had to go back to Deku in the end. However the way this was accomplished was incredibly hamfisted - the excuse they give is that Bakugo passed out before it could transfer, which makes no sense given that he was still able to use it immediately (that in of itself being something that strains the suspension of disbelief) or possibly just that it was the will of One for All itself or something to that extent, which is a tremendously cheap copout. It's left intentionally vague exactly why but either answer is insultingly bad, which is made worse by how obvious the best solution to this conundrum really was.

Bakugo should have voluntarily returned the quirk.

This would have been a much more logical resolution - Admittedly they would have had to handwave why Bakugo's quirk wouldn't transfer along with it, but that'd be much easier to sell than what they actually did. This would have been an excellent way to resolve the character drama between these two throughout the movie, and certainly a much better resolution than Bakugo simply forgetting the whole thing happened.

The tension in the final battle is also undermined by the characters repeatedly receiving major injuries that are totally forgotten about and vanish entirely - sometimes in the middle of the battle, such as the shot through the stomach Deku takes, which heals up (clothes and all) immediately afterwards. This goes against what I've always considered to be one of My Hero Academia's great strengths, that despite some degree of artistic license the battle damage taken is generally realistic and permanent.

Ultimately the problem with this movie is that the tension is irrelevant for any change that you know will go back to normal, and in order for it to work the plot has to resonate on an emotional level. And despite that landing in some places, broadly, it doesn't.

If, like me, you're a big fan of My Hero Academia, you'll still enjoy this movie (which, for all its flaws, I did have fun watching). But if you're not invested enough in the characters to care about their side stories, odds are this movie will not do anything for you.

Beastars setting is that of a world in which anthropomorphic animals, both carnivore and herbivore, live amongst each other in a society closely resembling our own. In that sense, it has essentially the same premise as Disney's Zootopia.

Where Zootopia used its setting as a direct allegory for real-world race relations, however, that metaphor starts to fall apart if you take a moment to consider the implications of it. As such, Zootopia is a movie that uses its premise only for surface-level allegory and aesthetics - it's not something that wants you to think too hard about any of the fucked-up implications of its setting.

I mention ... this because Beastars is the exact opposite - anything unsettling, dark, uncomfortable, or just plain weird about its premise, it dives headfirst into and makes into its comfort zone.

The plot is primarily driven by the strained relationship between carnivores and herbivores, and the concessions made by their world for them to coexist. However, it touches on many smaller details - how each species' unique traits effect their roles in society, the social hierarchy between specific breeds of animal, what they eat and where it comes from, and many more. The worldbuilding in Beastars is truly excellent.

Rather than just the level of detail, however, what really makes the setting work as well it does is how these details effect the characters.

Our three main characters - Legosi, Haru, and Louis - are all defined by an inner conflict with their perceived place in the world. Legosi, a wolf, expected to be bold and fierce, is instead shy and reserved, fearing his strength and predatory instincts. Haru, a rabbit, struggles with an inferiority complex brought on by her helplessness, and by her common breed. Louis, a deer, is determined to achieve greatness and prove himself above carnivores. The bulk of the plot rests on these three, but broadly every character is in some way driven by how society defines them by their species.

The show leads with an immediately engaging murder mystery hook after a student is devoured, but the focus quickly shifts to the relationships between the three leads, in particular the romance between Legosi and Haru. Legosi's character arc throughout this is compelling, navigating his confusing feelings of both love and predatory instinct. Despite the fantastical setting, the drama is very grounded and human, albeit taking an odd left-turn towards something more action-oriented towards the end. If this show has a major flaw it's the odd clash of tone here, but ultimately it's not so jarring as to be a significant detractor. The only other complaint I could really make towards this show is that it's very much only the first season - it's still very open ended and nothing has really been resolved as of yet. Even the murder mystery from the first episode has yet to be solved. This is quite easily overlooked, however, given that we now have confirmation of a second season in the works.

Even in spite of this clash of tone, though, the focus is always squarely on how the events affect the characters and their relationships to each other, making sure to keep its greatest asset at the forefront.

Beastars is also very impressive from a technical perspective, being a rare example of 3DCG animation that is stylized and aesthetically pleasing. Where full 3DCG in anime is usually used as a cheap alternative to 2D animation, here it feels like it was chosen because it was the best format in which to tell the story. The cinematography here is excellent, using unique and creative shot compositions and pseudo-camerawork to emphasize characters emotional states, draw symbolism, or emphasize the traits of various animals and the differences between them. While it'd be easy to be put off by the nature of the animation, the only time it sticks out that you're watching a 3DCG anime is when it's doing something impressive with the medium.

All in all, Beastars is an impressive not-quite-human drama with a well-written and entertaining cast of characters and a strong visual flair.

Story/Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Animation/Art: 9/10
Music: 7/10

Overall: 9/10

For Fans Of: Aggretsuko, Houseki no Kuni

With CloverWorks splitting off from A-1 Studios, there was reason to hope that this season of the Ace Attorney anime might right the wrongs of its predecessor. Having gained the independence to make their own decisions and not simply be A-1's B-studio, they might have been able to take the series in a new direction. And with PVs showing revamped character designs, and the fact that this season was to adapt only one game (Trials & Tribulations, the third game in the series), and the show even starting with a good first episode, things were starting to look hopeful.

Sadly, this was not to be.

If you've ... read my review of the first season, you'll see I've already detailed there what a disaster this anime was from a technical perspective. There are some improvements to be found here - the colour palette for the character designs was improved from the undersaturated tones used in the season prior, although the facial proportions are still odd. The courtroom has also been revamped to something more closely resembling that of the games (although the defence and prosecution are still on the wrong sides of the court for some reason). Most importantly though, the CG court gallery, whilst not removed outright, has been made much less obvious. This anime even looks good at times - but it's extremely uneven. In some episodes it looks completely fine, but in many more there are constant and severe animation errors. The animation may be slightly improved, but it needed much more than "slight" improvements.

As before, this takes a streamlined approach to the games, cutting a lot of incidental dialogue. This actually works wonders for its opening case, The Lost Turnabout. This was originally the first case of the second game, Justice For All, which was left out of the first season - Understandably so, as it serves mostly to reintroduce the main cast, which would have been quite out of place in the middle of the previous season. That case has some fun contradictions, all of which are preserved here (for once), but it suffered from having an extremely irritating main villain whose main characteristic was rambling and ranting. The streamlining of dialogue cuts this out, leaving a much more enjoyable case as a result.

However, this approach is detrimental to the entire rest of the anime. In particular this damages the characterisation of two of its most central characters - Godot and Mia Fey. Godot serves as the primary antagonist for this season, a mysterious masked man with a grudge against Phoenix. While Godot is probably the least capable rival Phoenix has ever had in the games, notable more for his characterisation than presenting a direct threat, he was still a competent prosecutor in the source material. Here, however, he fails to present a single decent argument.

And Mia Fey comes off even worse. Prior to Trials & Tribulations/Gyakuten Saiban 3, she had been a mostly one-dimensional character, having been killed off quite early on and serving more as a ghost mentor figure to Phoenix and a part of various character's backstories. Here, however, we are treated to two cases set before the start of the series in which Mia Fey is the protagonist. Sadly she doesn't differ much from Phoenix in this adaptation, as both were strongly characterised by their inner monologue - the game's version of Mia is the sassiest thing on the planet, but that is completely absent here. Similarly, the anime totally changes the romantic dynamic she had with her mentor, making her obviously flustered in place of the more subtle dialogue that was used originally. It's a clear downgrade, and takes her even further away from her excellent game counterpart.

Those two cases are adapted more faithfully than much of the game - presumably since as they are more closely linked with this series' overarching plot. However while the events themselves aren't changed much, the sequencing of the cases is bafflingly rearranged. Turnabout Memories, originally the first case of the game most of this season is from, is moved to around the midway point, directly before the other prequel case, Turnabout Beginnings. Given that the plot threads set up in this case are vital to the dramatic core of this entire arc, and help to build intrigue in some of the later cases moved before it, this rearranging of the cases damages the narrative somewhat. While it isn't devastating, it's still maddening that they would arbitrarily make such an easily-avoided misstep.

A similarly bizarre decision was to add an entire four episodes of filler (including a brand new anime-original case, Turnabout Express) when such a substantial amount of canon content was trimmed out. Save for the aforementioned Lost Turnabout there isn't a single case here that couldn't have used more runtime. Somehow, even the filler case manages to feel rushed, and wastes some ideas that might honestly have made a good case (although possessing some obvious flaws, like the killer's identity being one of the franchise' most outplayed tropes).

Fortunately the series does make a significant jump in quality in its second half. Turnabout Beginnings in particular manages to preserve if not outright improve on the eerie tone it sets, with its very premise spelling certain doom for most people involved. Even the animation here is noticeably better than usual, and many of the presentation choices in these episodes do a superb job of emphasizing some of its most key emotional beats.

Most importantly of all, though, this season adapts Bridge to the Turnabout, the indisputable masterpiece of the original Ace Attorney trilogy, if not the entire franchise - and manages to not completely bastardize it. While it does make some errors in its first half (in particular bungling the initial hook of the case), in its second half it fares far better, not only giving the events the due space to breathe properly, but also featuring some uncharacteristically excellent directing in places. This case is an absolute masterpiece of detective fiction, managing to create an incredibly layered mystery that weaves together an absurd amount of narrative threads so perfect a puzzle that it defies belief. It creates a perfect mystery while also managing the feat of tying it all into numerous threads laid throughout both of the previous games, and grounding it into the conclusion of compelling character arcs for much of the main cast. It really cannot be overstated just how good Bridge to the Turnabout is, even if the execution here is flawed in places.

Overall this season is a significant improvement over its predecessor, but it's really too little, too late. While the production is better than its predecessor (what isn't?), the improvement is owed more to having better source material than the previous season.

If you have not played the games, and have already watched the first season, I am begging you not to watch this one. Please go play the games instead. They are available on so many consoles at this point that there's no way you don't have something that can access it.

Story/Plot: 6/10
Characters: 5/10
Animation/Art: 3/10
Sound: 5/10

Overall: 5/10

For Fans Of: Detective Conan, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni

Ace Attorney, alongside Pokemon and JJBA, is one of my absolute favourite media franchises. I have spent countless hours playing the games over and over, producing fanworks, and discussing them at essay-length. So, as much as I appreciate the need to be objective and focused in my review, I feel that it needs to be said:

I hate this anime. I hate it so fucking much.

Sono "Shinjitsu" Igi Ari is an adaptation of the first two games in the series, and right off the bat we've hit a huge stumbling block. Each of these two games would be more fit to a full 24 episode anime ... in their own right than being crammed into one cour each. Unsurprisingly, a lot of content was trimmed in the process of fitting both games, and what content survived the cull is rushed through at breakneck pace.

The dialogue is cut down the most, and being that the source material uses mostly text-based storytelling this is a huge blow. Losing so much dialogue not only robs the series of much of its charm, but also does serious damage to its characterisation. Phoenix in particular is characterised mostly through his constant snarky, quipping inner monologue, which is almost entirely absent here.

We barely get to know most of the characters, making it difficult to be invested in their character arcs - and that's just the ones whose arcs were actually shown in the anime instead of being skimmed over. Many characters are stripped down to the barest of plot relevance, and others are reduced to nothing more than a cameo appearance.

The bread and butter of Ace Attorney is its contradictions, the solving of which drives the murder mystery plots the series revolves around. Even these are changed, however, in the name of this streamlined approach. Twists are replaced with simplified, obvious alternatives that not only remove the satisfaction of seeing the more obtuse mysteries cracked, but also make you question the logic of everyone responsible for presenting these flawed arguments in the first place, making it much harder to take the prosecutors seriously as competent opponents.

The trimmed-down dialogue also cuts key context on evidence used throughout the series. One of the most important principles of good detective fiction is that all clues used to solve the mystery should be clearly shown - that the audience should have all the necessary tools to solve the mystery themselves. While the games did this by sheer necessity of the medium, the anime makes no such effort, making the resolutions often feel cheap and unearned.

This pacing severely damages the presentation of the anime, sacrificing any attempt to preserve the dramatic tension of the games - most contradictions are resolved almost as soon as they come up. And even outside of issues caused by the pacing, the presentation suffers. The quality of the art and animation here is appalling. The errors are constant and glaring. The animation is often comically sloppy. The character designs also stray from the original designs to their detriment, going with an oddly wide-faced look that gives the characters strange facial proportions. Also, they can never quite seem to get Phoenix's hair-spikes right, with them changing shape every time we see them. There is also an excessive overuse of CG animation to cut corners, most obviously in the CG court gallery that has, for whatever reason, been made so much more visible than it was in the source material, as if deliberately trying to highlight how poor the animation is.

The effects used for dramatic emphasis are cheesy, and adapt the tone of the games poorly - the more abstract effects of the source are replaced with literal auras and dramatic gusts of wind.

The voice cast is similarly poor, featuring many miscast or noticably inexperienced actors. The entire cast seems to either underact or overact with little middle ground. The only notable exception is Yuuki Aoi as Maya Fey, who seems intent on stealing every scene she is in.

The anime handles Maya well in general, especially in comparison to its treatment of many other characters. Not only is her character arc left more or less intact, but the animators emphasise her goofy and hyperactive nature far better than a set of 14 sprites ever could.

On the subject of things the anime did well, most of the anime-original content is quite good. Ignoring whatever logic lead A-1 to add anime-original content whilst also cutting game-canon content, the additional focus on Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Larry's shared backstory, and adding the Signal Samurai motif that represents their friendship (as well as giving some background to Edgeworth's secret love of Super Sentai series) enriches the dynamic these characters have.

The cuts made do sometimes work to the series' benefit, too. Turnabout Big Top, which is considered by many to be the worst case in the franchise (which it isn't, by the way - fight me nerds) benefits from reduced screentime on some of its more irritating supporting characters, such as Trilo Quist, or that fucking clown. There does seem to be a rule of inverse quality in this adaptation, though - the worst cases are the ones handled the best, whereas the cases that were the series highlight in the source suffer the most from these alterations.

It's hard to say what the point of this anime is. It was made by A-1's b-team (now CloverWorks, a seperate studio) with little care or attention put into it. At worst, this was a shoddy adaptation by a studio looking to make a quick buck. At best, this was a misguided attempt to adapt a great series by people who have a fundamental lack of understanding of what made these games so good in the first place.

One way or another, this is an awful adaptation that should only be watched by people who are already fans of the series, and are more interested in seeing another interpretation of the story than in seeing a competent adaptation - and even then, they should go in with low expectations.

Please don't let this be your introduction to the franchise.

Story/Plot: 3/10
Characters: 3/10
Animation/Art: 1/10
Sound: 3/10

Overall: 2/10

For Fans Of: Detective Conan, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni

(Side note: Yes, I'm using the English names. Get fucked, weebs.)

Before this, I would recommend reading my reviews of the first two seasons of Boku no Hero Academia. Many details that explain my opinion on this series in a broader sense are already covered there.

This season picks up where the previous season left off, with the students preparing to go to an inevitably doomed summer training camp. The plot takes a much darker tone this season, with The League of Villains newly-emboldened by Stain's actions in season 2, and full of fresh faces. The first arc of this season gives the new villains a chance to show off what they're made of, and set up ... the league as a more immediate, tangible threat.

Without spoiling too much, the following arc goes even further into developing The League of Villains, finally introducing their leader and revealing his true plan. It also sets up for a changing of the guard for both the heroes and the villains, building towards Deku and Shigaraki becoming arch-enemies in the vein of their mentors.

While these two arcs excel due to their establishing a greater cast of villains and creating a sense of genuine threat, the following arc doesn't fare quite as well. The Provisional License Exam arc doesn't serve much purpose in the overarching plot other than to get the story from point A to point B. While there is some exploration of Todoroki's grudge against his father, this isn't anything we haven't already covered elsewhere. Ultimately, without it being as firmly rooted in the emotional journey of its characters, it has a lot less substance than the other arcs, and feels awkward and transitionary.

This is exacerbated by some uncharacteristically bad pacing for this series, with two filler episodes sandwiched into it along with some added scenes and dialogue, presumably included to make sure that the season ended at a good point rather than smack in the middle of another arc.

While one of the two filler episodes (technically three, but the first was a start-of-season recap) follows a similar idea to season 2's surprisingly good filler episode, in covering events that happened offscreen to secondary 1-A characters, the other is a completely unnecessary waste of time that accomplishes little more than plugging the movie. And even the better of the two fails to repeat the same success of season 2's filler, partially because while the previous one came as a breather episode inbetween story arcs, this one directly interrupted the plot in progress. It also doesn't help that Tsuyu is a better character than Yaoyorozu (fight me, nerds).

The writing is also noticeably worse during filler, in particular for Uraraka and Bakugo. Uraraka gets a lot of screentime in additional scenes, but almost all of her dialogue in these scenes revolves around her uncertainty around her feelings for Deku, something we had already established and which didn't need repeating ad nauseam. Bakugo on the other hand plays up all his worst character traits in the movie-plugging filler episode, but where his recklessness in canon is usually due to his anger and frustration with Deku, here it's pure idiocy.

Once the exam is over, however, the quality immediately picks back up. And whatever disservice the filler may have done for Bakugo, it's easily forgotten after he gets some long overdue character development. While Bakugo was never a bad character, he wasn't a likeable one either. But Bakugo's character arc has been long in process - with his entire worldview being flipped on its head the moment Deku gained a quirk, Bakugo has been challenged with the thought that he's no longer superior to everyone around him - a belief that he had always taken for granted until then. This season finally takes this setup and brings it to a conclusion redeeming an oft-maligned character in the process.

Overall, while the quality of this season does take a noticeable dip during the provisional license exam, even then it isn't bad - just underwhelming in comparison. Outside of this arc, it matches (and in places exceeds) the benchmark the previous season set.

And for any mistakes the series may make, it still manages to retain investment in both the ever-evolving setting and its quirky (pun not intended) ensemble cast, the latter in particular benefiting not only from more character arcs, drama, and development, but from increased downtime letting us see more of these characters outside of their roles in the plot, fleshing out more of their personalities and character dynamics.

With the series ending on a foreboding note, Hero Academia promises great things to come - but for now, Hero Academia 3 is an impressive, if uneven, entry in the series.

Story/Plot: 7/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation/Art: 9/10
Sound: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

For Fans Of: One Piece, Naruto

Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Die Neue These stands in the unenviable position of being a remake of one of the greatest and most beloved anime ever made. The original OVA series commands a passionate and loyal cult fanbase, to whom the slightest fault or deviation is tantamount to a personal insult.

Considering the baggage this show is carrying, it can be difficult to judge it by its own merits. Which is a shame - viewed in a bubble in which the OVA series does not exist, Die Neue These is not a bad anime. In fact, it's quite a good one. It is, however, ... a bad remake, and a bad adaptation.

That it is a bad adaptation is curious, as this serves as a more faithful adaptation of the source material than the OVA. But the problem lies in that adapting Legend of the Galactic Heroes into a visual medium is nigh impossible, and it's a small miracle that it was done successfully once. The original novels are so dense with description, backstory, context, lore, and philosophical navel-gazing that to adapt only that which is shown is to adapt around a third of its actual content.

While there is minimal narration at the start of each episode, Die Neue These otherwise ejects the narration that was so frequent in the first adaptation in favour of showing rather than telling. "Show, don't tell" is a good principle in theory, but here it doesn't work in practice, resulting in the loss of vital information, important context, and thematic weight. This leads to a lack of emotional investment in certain major battles that the significance of is not made clear, and character moments that echo historical events not shown to the audience. In some instances, the lack of information can simply be baffling - a notable example includes a mob being dispersed by the activation of fire hoses, which in turn automatically alert the fire department. However, these fire hoses are only previously shown to be sprinklers, and their function as fire hoses is not explained, nor is the fact that their activation alerts the fire brigade - as such, it looks like an angry, bloodthirsty mob dispersed because they got a little bit wet.

Likewise, without the room to explore their motivations, many minor characters come off as one-dimensional strawmen, whereas their reasoning and motives, whilst usually misguided, were actually grounded in some kind of reasoning or principle in both the OVA and novels. The worst example is Maximillion von Kastrop, who in the original OVA punches a couple of subordinates towards the end when his impending defeat becomes clear, and only when at wits' end. Here, he is characterized entirely by punching everybody who speaks.

Aesthetically, the overall design of the FPA and the Empire's societies and uniforms are excellent, sticking close to the design of the original series, and showing a clear divide between the European-styled aristocracy of the Empire and the modern metropolis of the FPA. The ships are similarly well-designed, with a mechanical, utilitarian feel to them that suits their role. By contrast to the rest of the series' design, the much-maligned character designs stick out like a sore thumb. There is a very shallow variation in the character faces, and whilst not quite samefaced, it would be hard to tell most characters apart by face alone. This would not be worth comment in most series, but in Legend of the Galactic Heroes this presents a unique problem. To compensate for the similarity in faces, focus was put into giving the characters unique hair, as this was not possible with character costumes due to 95% of the cast being in uniform. The problem is that this leads to many of the characters having very over-the-top and elaborate hairstyles that are unfitting of military personnel who doubtlessly do not spend an hour every morning fixing their hair up. It's a distracting feature that breaks the immersion of a series otherwise grounded in realism (It is also worth noting that the original series managed to give most of the cast distinctive hair without the need to overly stylize any of it). Similarly, many characters appearances are otherwise ill-fit to their lifestyle and personality, such as Fahrenheit and Schenkopf.

For all the errors that Die Neue These makes as an adaptation, however, it still retains a great deal of what made the source material so excellent in the first place. Legend of the Galactic Heroes follows a dual narrative with protagonists from both sides of a centuries-long intergalactic war, in which both sides are almost as bad as each other. The Galactic Empire is a fascist autocracy in which nobility are an oppressive ruling class, whereas the Free Planets Alliance are a corrupt, failing democracy, controlled entirely by politicians motivated by greed and self-interest. The Empire's side of the story is a slow-burning tale of political intrigue, while the alliance's story focuses on scathing social and political commentary, both of which are pulled off excellently.

This divide between two sides of the story also shows a dichotomy between its two leads, Yang Wenli of the Alliance and Reinhard von Musel (later Lohengramm) of the Empire. Where Reinhard is a character wronged by the empire, determined to exact his revenge and take over the empire from within by any means necessary, Yang is a scholar at heart, only joining the military to gain a history scholarship he couldn't otherwise afford, and was drafted into the military when his tactical prowess came to light. While both are extremely skilled, they otherwise offer a direct contrast in temperament and motive.Their combat ability also brings to focus grounded and realistic battle tactics ripped straight from the pages of history.

It's this, along with Yang's fascination with history, that lends LotGH a tone of a historian looking back on past events. Yang often wonders how the events of the present will be regarded in the future, whilst comparing them to those of the distant past.

This gives LotGH an excellent sense of scale, which is also shown in how war is perceived - shown not only in the bigger picture of grand victories and defeats, but focusing on the human element of it all. It's made clear that for every one of the many ships that sink in this series, thousands of lives are lost. It even goes so far as to explore the societal impact of war, focusing on the effect on the economy and standard of labour.

Unfortunately, Die Neue These - Kaikou is only the prologue, a taste of things to come. It was never going to achieve greatness in of itself - even the original adaptation was only able to do so much in its first 12 episodes. However, Die Neue These gets enough of the core elements of the series right in spite of some issues in execution that it's a solid show unto itself. It is somewhat hard to recommend, however, as the original series accomplishes almost everything this series does just as well, and more. The only things DNT has to offer in comparison are slightly better pacing, and an excellent score by Hiroyuki Sawano. But if it didn't have an older sibling to be compared to, Die Neue These would no doubt be considered excellent.

Story/Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Animation/Art: 5/10
Sound: 8/10

Overall: 7/10

For Fans Of: Mobile Suit Gundam, Monster

The original Ashita no Joe is often regarded as the anime medium's first true masterpiece - in spite of some key flaws that prevent it from truly being one. As such, it is exceptional more for its time than anything else. The same cannot be said, however, of Ashita no Joe 2, which is an improvement in almost every regard.

The most obvious reason for this is that when the original series was airing, the manga was not yet complete, resulting in a slow pace and an abundance of filler to avoid catching up with the source material. This sequel, however, aired long after the manga's ... conclusion, resulting in it being far more concise and focused.

Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the first arc of the series, which covers the same story arc as last 25 episodes of the first series, following the events of the manga faithfully so as to preserve continuity (as the events of the two are significantly different in execution). If so inclined, one could skip directly from episode 54 of season 1 to episode 1 of season 2. The plot here is a marked improvement on the previous attempt, not only clocking in at half the length but also providing a significantly stronger character arc for Joe during his recovery from the events of season 1.

It also does a considerably better job of establishing Joe's bond with his new rival Carlos Rivera, an instantly lovable rogue with a similarly playful attitude and tragic backstory to Joe's, both of which immediately cement them as each other's counterparts. The only omissions are elements of Carlos' backstory specified only in the first series that fleshed Carlos out slightly more, but this isn't as important when compared to how well this series builds his chemistry with Joe.

The sequel has also made a tremendous improvement in all technical aspects. The first season was legendary director Osamu Dezaki at the start of his career, and while it was artistically rough around the edges, even then they showed an incredible artistic flair and introduced techniques never before seen in anime, pushing the envelope and crafting an aesthetic that made the show visually striking in spite of its technical limitations. This series shows Dezaki ten years later, at this point a seasoned professional who has over the last decade mastered his craft. Ashita no Joe 2 is one of the most visually spectacular anime of its era, with polished and fluid animation that nonetheless retains the rough, sketchy charm of its first season. The fight scenes have fantastic choreography, even going so far as to for each boxer to have a distinctive style of fighting. Even outside of the boxing matches, there's a clear emphasis placed on body language and character movement. The only major technical fault is in the voice acting - more specifically the Engrish. Most of the Engrish in this is to a surprisingly high standard with most extras and minor characters sounding plausibly American. The exception is José Mendoza, by far the most significant English-speaking character in the series, and the only one whose actor clearly does not speak a word of English despite it being José's only spoken language.

While corners are cut in the name of cheaper animation, as with all Dezaki anime this is achieved through the use of clever techniques that improve the dramatic presentation of the anime rather than marring it. Most common amongst them are repeating the same shot three times to great dramatic effect, use of obscuring shadows, and the "postcard memories" technique, wherein a detailed watercolour painting is used to portray dramatic moments in favour of animation. All of these contribute to the exceptional cinematography present throughout Ashita no Joe 2. The music in this series is similarly excellent, albeit dated, and with certain tracks being overused. However, Dezaki often does more with the absence of music, creating an eerie and tense atmosphere, often combined with his signature long takes and wide shots exemplifying his masterful cinematography.

The new filler-free approach that Ashita no Joe 2 takes leads to substantially better pacing than the original, keeping an exciting and fast pace compared to the slow burn of the original - and the presence of Joe's fanclub of children has been significantly reduced as a (welcome) result. There is a slight lull in the middle episodes, however - some of this is well-utilized for character development, but there is a brief stretch of its run in which Joe faces a series of opponents who contribute little to nothing to the plot and are noticeably flat characters compared to the usual high standard this series keeps - most notably Harimao, who was awful in every way, sticking out especially due to how over-the-top he is both in personality and boxing style - he feels like he comes from another show entirely.

He is the exception, however, as Joe's supporting cast is otherwise excellent. Along with Carlos, we are also introduced to several other new rival boxers, most notably Kim Yong-bu (the debut role of now-legendary seiyuu Norio Wakamoto) and José Mendoza (who is built up from early on to be, in essence, the final boss of Ashita no Joe).

But the standout is, of course, still Yabuki Joe himself. Joe's character arc is the pinnacle of Ashita no Joe's primary thematic focus - character growth. It's remarkable to see Joe go from where he was at the start of season 1 to where he is at the end - the changes in how he views himself, his friends, and boxing. Even moreso because of how subtle his development is, being slow enough as to never seem forced whilst still being a clear and pronounced change.

Ashita no Joe 2 is by no means perfect - along with a few aforementioned flaws, there is a major plothole regarding Joe's weight class, his struggle with which is a major plot point during the Kim Yong-bu arc but which is immediately dropped without explanation the moment this plot thread is over. However, in spite of its imperfections, Ashita no Joe is absolutely worthy of its legacy. It's a compelling story with exceptional directing and characterization, one that pushed the bar for what anime was capable of and left a tremendous cultural impact - the final shot of the series going on to be perhaps the single most parodied and referenced scene in anime history.

Story/Plot: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Animation/Art: 10/10
Sound: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

For Fans Of: Slam Dunk, Megalo Box

This movie is a beautiful mess.

Going into "The Night is Short...", a movie that has the same staff as The Tatami Galaxy, the same distinctive artstyle as The Tatami Galaxy, starring a pair of nameless protagonists (Senpai and The Black-Haired Maiden) as per The Tatami Galaxy, is adapted from a novel by Tomohiko Morimi (of The Tatami Galaxy), shares the same fictional universe as The Tatami Galaxy (featuring several of its characters), and features a theme song by Asian Kung-Fu Generation for good measure, you'd be forgiven for expecting this movie to be The Tatami Galaxy 2.0 (and if you haven't seen The Tatami Galaxy... ... what the hell are you doing here? Go watch The Tatami Galaxy). For all it shares with its predecessor, though, The Night is Short is unmistakeably its own movie, taking the fast-paced energy and absurd visuals of Tatami and dialling them both up to 11.

The Night is Short is a manic sugar rush of a movie. It eschews any traditional story structure (or rather, won't sit still long enough to have one) in favour of introducing a colourful cast of drunken, exaggerated, morally-degenerate losers, introducing a couple hundred different plot points, and then throwing them all in a blender. The characters each have their own plots, intersecting at random, resulting in a chaotic storm of subplots. The premise, despite this, is quite simple. It revolves around a single night of binge-drinking during a Kyoto University festival. Fittingly, the movie is a dizzying, disorienting, drunken mess of an experience, with surrealist animation and a constantly shifting plot complete with mile-a-minute dialogue and narration further befuddling things.

The animation is completely gorgeous, as is standard for Yuasa Masaaki, with a unique and psychedelic colour palette, goofy and free-form animation that in many ways recalls the rubber hose animation style of the 1930s, and a beautiful representation of its setting, strikingly adorned with maple trees, lanterns, and darumaka dolls. This is a movie that never sits still, demanding that you don't look away for even a second. In a way, the setting is the greatest tool this movie has at its disposal. The colourful nightlife of Kyoto is shown in vivid detail, and the intersecting plot points and cast members acting independently makes the city feel like a living, breathing thing, assisted by an eclectic soundtrack full of symphonic music, tango, rock, and baroque pop.

The presentation is something that's uniquely Masaaki, with interesting camera shots, pans, and angles all over the place. There's a lot of symbolism, surrealism, and absurdism to be found here. The environment shifts to exaggerate the thoughts and feelings of the characters, there are sequences shown entirely in the minds of our characters, and the night the movie revolves around follows a series of events purposely far beyond what could ever happen in a single night. The narrative is less direct and more of a stream-of-consciousness blur.

It can't be overstated just how unique a piece of work The Night is Short is, even in spite of what it shares with previous Yuasa Masaaki works. It's a movie that seemed desperate to cram every random thought it could into its runtime, common sense be damned. To demonstrate, here are a few things that happen in this movie, entirely out of context. An impromptu series of musical numbers in the second act. A tornado of fish. A black market for rare literature that competes for books by eating spicy food. A cold that infects the entire population of Kyoto within the space of a few hours. A loanshark who trades exclusively in pornographic woodblocks. Sure, you could consider these spoilers, but it's hard to spoil a movie that has absolutely no commitment to telling a coherent narrative.

To say the least, The Night is Short is not a movie for everyone. There are people who will be turned off by its eccentric art style, its unique writing style, its hectic pace, its unrelenting dialogue, its refusal to adhere to a structured story, it surrealism, its absurdism, or all of the above. Additionally, with the sole exception of The Black-Haired Maiden, the cast aren't traditionally likeable people, and are all drunken losers, which can also put people off (though the point, of course, isn't to empathize with them - in any other series every member of the cast would be the sole comic relief character).

But for those who can get past all that and are willing to let any ideas they have about what anime is supposed to be, The Night is Short is a brilliant, abstract, chaotic mess of frantic, frenetic joy and wonder. It's a mere hour and a half that packs in more content than a full-length series. It's a manic, incomprehensible mess of a movie, and a worthy debut for studio Science Saru.

Story/Plot: 6/10
Animation/Graphics: 10/10
Music/Background: 10/10
Characters: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

For Fans Of: Mind Game, The Tatami Galaxy

Boku no Hero Academia is often said to be the new Naruto or One Piece - the next smash-hit action series. Season 1 laid the groundwork for that, but at a mere 13 episodes, it couldn't truly demonstrate why Hero Academia deserves to be considered THE new great action series. But with season 2 comes a solid 25-episode run, giving it the chance to spread its wings and prove that not only is it a great successor to the old genre greats, but in many respects improves on them.

A big part of why this works better than the first season is that where the first ... season could be slow at times, season 2 is perfectly-paced. It moves at breakneck speed with barely a wasted moment, even despite the presence of a single (surprisingly good) filler episode. This makes Hero Academia an excellent binge-watching experience.

Season 2 covers three key arcs from the manga, the first of which is a tournament arc (in true battle shonen spirit) based around a school sports festival. Throughout this arc, the fight choreography is utterly exceptional. Bones have always been a studio known for their impressive production, but even by their standards the animation is jaw-droppingly good, made all the better by mangaka Horikoshi Kouhei's unique sense of style. Even the directing is a notch above their standard, averting the usual use of lazy panel-to-panel adaptation that is excessively common in this genre in favour of more elaborate compositions that can only be achieved because of the change of medium.

But though the Sports Festival arc excels for its action, that's not the reason this arc stands out. Instead, it's because at its core is a strong character arc for Shoto Todoroki. The arc ultimately becomes less about who will win the tournament as whether Todoroki will overcome his inner demons. While there's nothing wrong with a standard tournament arc, this turns it into something greater, using our investment in not only Todoroki but in Izuku to create some of the series greatest emotional highs and compelling moments.

This represents one of the greatest tools that HeroAca has at its disposal - an ensemble cast of lovable characters. The characters we were briefly introduced to in season one are all given greater detail here, with their motivations, personalities, and friendships with one another all built upon (especially in the third and final arc of this season). With only these few simple details, the writing builds the characters laconically, giving even minor characters strong personalities while allowing the core cast the screentime for full character arcs.

Another such character arc comes in the story immediately following the tournament, revolving around Tenya Iida. After a traumatic event, his sense of morality is shaken, resulting in a story arc that sees him come to understand the meaning of him being a hero.

This is all brought about by the biggest masterstroke that Hero Academia has had so far - Hero Killer Stain, this arc's primary antagonist. Where the previous villains of Hero Academia are more outright evil, Hero Killer Stain acts in rebellion against society, against the nature of heroics in the universe of HeroAca, where people become heroes out of greed and pride rather than for truly noble reasons.

His presence in the story is brief, but the ramifications of it are huge. Stain's moral code turns the focus of the series onto the morality of heroics - what makes someone a true hero. Alongside some of the darker elements of hero society introduced into this series, this fleshes out the setting, sowing seeds of discontent with the world as it is and bringing an element of social commentary into the fray. The conflict from here on out isn't just one of heroes vs. villains, it's a conflict of change vs. the status quo.

But the most interesting change to the conflict in HeroAca isn't the external battle, it's the internal one. The question of what makes someone a true hero turns the development of the main cast - especially Izuku Midoriya - into more than just one of becoming stronger physically. It becomes a story about growing as people. With every step that Deku grows in power, he grows as a person, becoming one step closer to being a true hero.

It's the slow growth of Deku's character that forms the emotional core of the series, and the newfound focus on moral codes helps us become even more invested in him and the rest of the cast. This turns Hero Academia into something more than the standard shonen fare whilst keeping everything that made those series compelling to begin with.

With this, Hero Academia has become one of the greats of its genre.

Story/Plot: 8/10
Animation/Graphics: 9/10
Music/Background: 7/10
Characters: 9/10

Overall: 9/10

For Fans Of: One Piece, Naruto

My Hero Academia is regularly billed as "The New One Piece" or "The New Naruto". There's certainly some truth to that - even setting aside meta comparisons like its status as Jump's new cash cow, it clearly draws inspiration from both, with its distinctive cartoony character designs and action scenes owing much to One Piece, and its school setting and ensemble cast resembling early Naruto.

But the important thing is what's new.

It'd be easy to dismiss Hero Academia as another soulless clone of its predecessors (and there really are so many), but in some respects HeroAca marks a progression from usual genre conventions. The first and ... foremost example of this is in the protagonist, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya.

One of the biggest and most frequent problems with battle shonen protagonists is in the origin of their powers. Goku, Naruto, Ichigo, Yusuke, and many other such protagonists are all born special. The growth of these characters and their abilities ultimately breaks down to unlocking a series of contrived powerups.

Deku, however, is born powerless (which in the setting of HeroAca is quite unique). But as he idolizes heroes - especially All Might, who is considered the world's greatest hero - he devotes his life to the study of heroes' abilities. Perhaps because of this, Deku develops the virtues key to being a great hero, is recognized for this by All Might himself, and is granted powers of his own.

This is one of Hero Academia's strengths - there's an emphasis placed, not just on becoming the strongest hero, but on becoming the *greatest* hero. On what it means to be heroic. HeroAca is a series about character growth, but it's about their growth as people as much as their growth in skill.

The battle system also benefits from this, as their powers (or "Quirks" are they are known) are always simply what they are. While Deku's increasing ability is a core part of the plot, the roof on his power level is set from day 1. His progression is only him learning to use it. This keeps the series grounded, ensuring it doesn't devolve into a string of powerups. Better still, every step taken to gain control of his abilities is logical and earned - there's no deus ex machina at work here.

That we're able to empathize with each step of his journey keeps us invested in Deku, which is the core of why this series works. The contrast of virtues also makes for an interesting and colourful supporting cast. each with their own reasons for becoming heroes. This is helped by some exceptionally distinct character designs courtesy of mangaka Horikoshi Kouhei's unique sense of style and aesthetic. There's no mistaking HeroAca for any other anime.

However, while all this applies to Hero Academia as a series, both to the manga and later instalments of the anime, to speak solely of this particular season of the anime, it suffers from being a 13-episode season. Not only is this season absurdly slow-paced compared to the source material (most likely as an attempt to neatly end with a complete story arc), but it ultimately leads to a lack of actual content. As a result, there are alarmingly few hot-blooded beat-the-shit-out-of-each-other fight scenes, considering that these are practically mandatory for this genre.

At the end of the day, My Hero Academia is a prelude for things to come. It's the beginning of a long story. The first act. It's a very solid foundation to build a great series on, but that is all it is - a foundation. HeroAca is definitely a good show and worth watching, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.

Story/Plot: 5/10
Animation/Graphics: 8/10
Music/Background: 7/10
Characters: 8/10

Overall: 7/10

For Fans Of: One Piece, Naruto