Back to Lovewyrm's Profile Lovewyrm's Profile

If you are, or were a drifter with some family sadness in your life as a youth/young adult, then this show will either be one of the best things, or one of the worst things.

To many, Bocchi, from Bocchi the rock are "literally me, fr fr" but to me, when I watched this, both Pacifica and Shannon were that to me.
I have a sister, we were both kind of unwanted, but I had a slightly better life, etc, not gonna write an essay on that here, but I'm sure you can imagine why this show would hit that spot in someone.

That aside, I really enjoyed ... the character designs, the music, the setpieces, and ....the color design. In fact, other than my own personal emotional connection, this show stayed with me for how the artists set up night to day transitions, as well as rain.
The color changes were always extremely moody, in fact, the show itself is full of that in general, but the nights, rainy days and the transitions from those to daylight stuck with me, big time, to the point where I studied them for my own art stuff.

The soundtrack is also one of my all time faves, it's nothing wild, but really fit the show, and I dig the melancholy of some of the pieces.
Pacifica no koudoku for example is something I learned on any instrument I ever picked up, which were a few.

The animation is decent, it does what it has to do, sometimes you get some treats animated on ones, but also lows like CGI beam spamfests toward the end.

Due to the emotional nature, it can get a bit sappy and sometimes even a bit artificial, where drama seems to come just out of thin air because 'that's where the fun of that show is' but I think it's alright, could be worse, could be honey and clover (loved that one too, but boy... the drama in that one often was just conjured up for the hell of it, imho).
Perhaps it is due to the fact that I only ever watched and watch this show in Japanese, might be more abrasive in English.

But yeah, I think the drama level is bearable, I have an extra connection to it due to my personal life, but that notwithstanding, it should be in the realm of 'acceptable'
(managed to make an 'annoying girl hating', anime picky eater female friend of mine watch that show and she pulled it through to the end...and that one usually only watches badass stuff, like Claymore)
So, yeah, if someone like that can stomach it, most could, I'd say.

Anyway, I think the show is really good, I think every single arc works out more than it fails, it's not perfect, there are some cliches, but it's 2024 and I'm writing a review for this, because it's a show I rewatch every so often, and that is reserved to a few select works in my vast library (not actually transferred to this site cause, aint got time fo dat)

So yeah, if you enjoy 'the drifter life of a little sister you want to protect' or are the little sister, or just enjoy that kinda stuff, then you'll like this show.
If you absolutely hate drama, slow burn action, and day night cycles (lol) then don't watch this show.

Oh right, I never really cared about the religious or symbolism part, it's Japanese, it's more about being cool than making sense. Don't get hung up on it. It's not Maria the Virgin Witch or whatever.

Watch it for the drifter feel, the doomer feel, but only if you have a hopeful heart.

An okay show that does not deliver on the hype I was exposed to.

"Great worldbuilding"
Some things are nice, but also not new. Like dragons using their teeth and all that to generate sparks... similar things were done in "Flight of the Dragons" an old ass cartoon about dragons.
A certain creature laying eggs inside another creature to then make sense when the lifecycle is complete.

And that was it, that was the extent of what I liked.

One of the more egregious worldbuilding flaws, in my opinion, are the androgynous/girly elves.
For a show lauded on details like "fingerless gloves for the thief" the elves I consider just straight ... up constructed for effect, and the effect being "what if they're all girly, that'd be neat".
But to me, this makes no sense for a humanoid race that goes to war against other humanoids, which of course have a concept of "kill the men, and grab (or spare) the women"
Any time such a thing happens, it does the women little good to look virtually indistinguishable to men, since losing women hurts reproduction a lot more than men, since you need to serialize the women (aka more of them) to produce more offspring 'at one time'.
And even with magic, if elf women have to birth big brained, big headed humanoid babies, then their pelvises will be different, and all that, which, in a setting of all equal training/fitness, will put them behind, even if it's just slightly.
Thus, looking like men, when they are, all things being equal, are weaker, does not benefit them. It's just for 'effect'.

Likewise, the often lauded "body diversity" I could not really see. I don't think I've seen one actually slender, big busted, wide hipped woman with a feminine face anywhere.
The leads sister comes almost close, but she's only faintly feminine looking...
There are also very few strong men, the dwarf stands out a bit...but reminds me of Turkish oil wrestlers.
The lead male to me, is the worst of the bunch, can NOT take that guy seriously and was ALWAYS taken out of it by his "Yaoi FMA Tumblr" face. Those sleepy ass eyes, the nose, even the dashed sideburns could be straight out of a tumblr comic.
I can see him and Maes Hughes kithing any time.

Marcille is cute but also, eh. Anyone else is ...a weird 'butch' like character or just not that feminine in general.
I know plenty of girls who, even with a loose pajama, would still put some outward dents into the top and the waist.

in fact, I consider femininity so rare in that show, that I actually laughed out loud at that one shot with Marcille laying belly down on that bed with one (1) clearly defined, tight ass shot.
I laughed cause it stood out like someone snuck it in illegally. I wonder how the artist got that past the committee, a bloomered (dunno the name of the garment, ruffly) actual womanly looking ass.
And one very brief panty shot where one might actually think there's something womanly in those knickers.

Not that I always have to have that, it just stood out to me, in a laugh out loud way. Whoever snuck that in is 'very naughty'.
And sure, there was the bath scene... but ...bros... that was just some milquetoast teenage straight girl action.
Breasts are secondary characteristics, and most people (and especially babies) like them. Ranma 1/2 was more wild than that. Way more. Ultra super extreme more.

Okay, weeb degeneracy aside... the plot I also found lacking, at least so far. I fast forwarded through 13 and 14 cause after what'sher face got whatsherfaced (sorry I hate the protag so much that I can't even remember his name, and his sister I only remember as Farfarilla...) and it switched back to the now suddenly elite party with the blue eyed black guy who got owned before. What?

And then Marcilles twist, and the dungeon cooking is just...it's just scavenging... nothing special.

In fact this was really forgettable and cannot hold up to my personal classics like Lodoss War and the like.
The best character to me was Chuck...something. Skipchuck? Slipchuck? Woodchuck? No..that's from Lodoss and that guy alone styles on the entire cast of "this is okay for normies age 20 or something who also happen to have a tumblr account " that this show is.

I mean...briefly coming back to degeneracy... I grew up with a French Japanese educational coop production.
"Once upon a time..." And it had things like "once upon a time...life" or "...humans" ...or space...

And that show routinely featured bare breasted women with nipples and everything, and that show was aimed at children, and not in the evil 'current way' thing, but just ...normal humanity.
"When a woman goes barechested, she usually has mammaries with a nipply thing at the end"

Anyway, I give this show a '5' out of 10... and would not recommend it to anyone male over the age of 30, unless queer in some way, or really boring.

The lower your standards the more this show will pop. I won't watch it again. I'll watch Juuni Kokki 10 times again before I come back to this.
Perhaps the manga is better, and I was promised a 'catgirl' but I checked her out...
She looks like L from Death Note, man... and she apparently hates being a catgirl so what ever....
For that, I'll just rewatch Ruin Explorers - Fam and Irie. Or even Escaflowne or something...

"Eh"

I'd raise this show to 6 even if nothing changed but its a 5 because of the hype... I'm not a tumblr user so I'm not impressed by all this """""""diversity"""""" in body and the like.
If I want strong women, I watch Claymore, or Seirei no Moribito, or Juuni Kokki, or Mahou Senshi Louie or Lodoss, etc.

Not this show.

Story is weak, although it features some core human things that some media makers have forgotten.
In other words, despite it being ecchi, it's not a loathsome abomination like "Big Mouth" et al.

The chicks are into the guy. The guy is into the chicks. The chicks are pretty hot. There's fighting.
Not always extremely smoothly animated, but, it's at least laid out and visualized in an appealing way.

The opening has a nice tune, the ending, too. The concept art book is great (although that is of course a side thing).

All in all, quite good anime, for visuals. Very appealing designs. And I don't just mean ... that they're revealing, but the proportions and shape language is very appealing.
(This would be true even at smaller bust and ass sizes)

Certainly not a show with runts in it.
Turn off your brain, sit back, and enjoy something nice. Cause ironically, it's not even that gratuitous. It's very blatant, but not excessively gratuitous.

It's like sitting on a bench and a buxom, yet svelte yoga chick stands nearby. Not much left to the imagination, it's blatant.
But it's not 'pig tier raunchy'. That chick would look sexy doing most things, all with passive physicality.

It's good, for what it is, and that's why I'm giving it a seven, but only on its own, with minimal comparisons to other works.