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May 6, 2024
Well this was quite fun. Watch this with your friends for maximal enjoyment. You shouldn't take the first episode too seriously — it gets way more comedic later on, with the "themes" becoming watered down in jokes. The plot isn't great, so you shouldn't care. The characters are one-dimensional, so don't bother. The wannabe-serious side of the show gets more and more preachy, and I don't think you need an office worker-turned-survivalist to tell you that you should "follow your dreams", so enjoy in how absurd all of it is.
I recommend this: watch the first two episodes, and if the comedy is solely enough for
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your enjoyment, watch the whole thing. Though the author's propensity for poop jokes gets way more obvious later on, the style stays mostly consistent, and most of all, usually quite amusing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 6, 2024
This was more of a mixed bag the more it neared the end. Mostly I would absolutely recommend it: very good animation (... there was one wonky episode), interesting and memorable soundtrack, but mostly solid in the story/worldbuilding department. This is pretty much the reference anime for the genre of "Mystery": the story starts in medias res and the audience spends a lot of the time pondering how the accumulating information fits into the bigger picture, slowly piecing together the nature of the world Tengoku Daimakyou drops our characters in. This kind of clue-evaluation is made fun and engaging, the only minus I would mention
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is that it doesn't all pay off in the end — as the manga is still ongoing, this should be expected, though it does feel somewhat jarring.
I would've given this an 8 and listen to it's opening for weeks to come (I probably still would, it's a banger), if not for a recurring situation where the series grinds to a halt to acknowledge how wacky it is. Throughout the first two thirds of the show, a solemn tone with a lot of gravitas is established: we are supposed to take our characters and their stories with grave seriousness. This is done masterfully and really works wonders, as it completely immersed the audience in a world quite unlike our own. Then it proceeds to, more and more, pull the rug from under you, with ever increasing comedic situations. This turn for the worse is especially bad in episode 10, after which the series doesn't recover. Even in the final episode, an attempt at some sort of authorial self-deprecating humor is made. This broke my immersion and investment, which is an absolute shame.
Also, as a side-note: if you feel strongly negative feelings about depictions of rape in media, you should probably skip this one. Though the time spent on such themes is short, it is plot and character-significant, so view mindfully.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 15, 2023
So my experience with Nichijou was pretty lukewarm in general, so here's to a lukewarm review. In as few words as possible, I would describe it as "a mediocre comedy with incredibly high production value and some golden moments interspersed between otherwise tryhard and sometimes tedious jokes".
As this is a comedy series, the jokes and comedic timing and such are criteria by which to judge its quality. Well, on that front the thing kinda flops for me, at least. Most of the scenes are far too drawn out and rarely feature a satisfying punchline, but you mileage may vary. Nichijou does try an interesting approach
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to comedy, which is certainly not to everyones tastes (even if it is, I don't think it's executed consistently well), so to get a general feel I recommend you just watch the first episode. If it doesn't seem boring or downright annoying, you'll probably get to like it a bit more down the line. Even though there is no bigger trans-episode narrative, there is some plot development and it does get more enjoyable once you get to know the characters (even if at the cost of the jokes becoming stale and predictable). The episodes are separated into distinct bits/scenes, which do thematically reoccur across the series, some more often than others (if the Hakase/Nano/Sakamoto parts make you feel as squeamish as they made me, be aware that they feature in about one fifth of Nichijou, if not more). So really, as a bottom line, watch the first episode and trust that you'll probably get to like the comedy more, though in my experience not a lot more.
As mentioned, the production value if off the charts. If you have a specific like for consistently well drawn frames and smooth, fluid animation, this is one of those series where no expense was spared in that department (often it even feels as if the animators had too much time on their hands and just went at it). The art style is also quite unique to this series, so bonus points for that. The soundtrack is decent, though the sound design is very good.
So if you like screaming high school girls with temper tantrums drawn with extreme diligence, and have a soft spot for this particular style of Japanese comedy, you'll probably enjoy this series a lot. Otherwise, might as well watch a curated compilation of best scenes or something similar, no one should fault you for that. If you find the jokes too drawn out, I recommend Teekyuu as an antidote, it sure helped me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 22, 2022
What immediately hooked me was hearing the voice actor for Kakushi Goto, the main character, being the same as Araragi Koyomi. What later surprised me was that he isn't even the only one from the Monogatari series, Nadila, a supporting character, being voiced by Katou Emiri, who previously voiced Hachikuji Mayoi. But it doesn't stop here. The entire cast is filled with well-accomplished voice actors, and it shows: the voice acting is incredible. Heck, we even have Merry from the infamous pillow-tugging anime Makura no Danshi, here in the role of Kakushi Goto's editor Tomaruin Satsuki.
The style of comedy ranges from light word-play and Nichijou-style
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overreaction to otherwise everyday events, to various verbal misunderstandings between characters having humorous consequences. I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone still uninitiated to Japanese humor, as it's presence is quite strong here. It never goes so far overboard to sound unbelievable, leading to quite grounded scenarios. Each episode has a similar structure, generally about Kakushi Goto's everyday: Kakushi's daughter Hime is doing something that either might uncover her father's secret of being a mangaka or is otherwise doing something where Kakushi feels he must intervene. The stuff that happens afterwards is the sauce of the show.
The original manga was written by Kumeta Kouji, probably best known for Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and the artstyle is very much intact in the anime adaptation. The ending theme looked like it was drawn by kogecha/bard713, who I'm a big fan of (as far as I know he was still alive then).
This anime does something special with its format I've never seen before. It solves the problem most 12-episode anime struggle with, where an interesting plot premise is established in the first episode, only to reappear in the last three episodes (or even less), the episodes in-between being nothing but filler. Kakushigoto by definition doesn't have this problem, as its plot is interspersed among all episodes, each having a short segment dedicated to an ongoing (more serious) storyline very much related to the otherwise comedic everyday happenings. The watcher therefore gets satisfaction on both fronts.
To just quickly address why the scores I gave aren't higher. The story was OK, nothing too deep or interesting, what makes it above average even is presentation. Sound-wise this is also average, if not for the choice of ending theme. The characters are fun and definitely pump up the enjoyment but don't stand out too much themselves, most of them have pretty shallow personalities (not to sound pretentious, they don't have to be super deep and multi-faceted, but they shouldn't be one-trick ponies either). But, luckily, the whole is greater than the sum of it parts, and even though it's, at least on paper (minus the art, the art is amazing in its own right), slightly more than mediocre, I still happily binged it.
From reading the synopsis, I never thought this would be so enjoyable: even though it's gimmicky at the core, the execution is superb. All in all, this felt like an anime made for people like me. The father-daughter moments were made sympathetic, without being overly sentimental. The comedy was funny. The art-style was modern and refined, quite similar to studio SHAFT's works, which I am a fan of. The characters felt well-characterized and each fulfilled a fitting role in the cast. I never skipped the opening or ending theme. If still unsure, I suggest you to just watch the first episode, it's well-representative of the whole anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 30, 2019
The rating is entirely arbitrary. I can't rate this on a scale of any sort, and I'll explain why. This kind of story would fit better into greentext format, but we'll see.
I noticed the show as it was airing with like 2 episodes already up. Seemed pretty meme-worthy, so I watched it with a friend of mine at the time, we synced and talked over teamspeak, if I remember correctly. Lets call him Friend with a capital. Had some great fun watching those first few episodes. It was one of those shows that could only be fun with a friend. So I thought, but I
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was wrong. We once got together and watched the show with some other dudes, and we had a blast, but it just wasn't the same as when I enjoyed it with Friend. What confused me even more was that I could enjoy it more through teamspeak and all than with others in person. These were the thoughts that rolled through my mind passively as the weeks went by (as I see now, it had been airing for two months and a half, as I remember it happened so fast). At the time it was like a weekly ritual for me and Friend, and I liked it. I think he did too. Out of a coincidence, into which I shouldn't delve deeper, he appeared at my doorstep, explained the mentioned coincidence and asked if I wanted to hang out. It's been a while so I was glad. We played some Smash, watched some youtube, the usual shenanigans. Then he mentioned we haven't yet watched the latest 3 episodes of makura no danshi, which happened to be the last 3, together, so we did. I loaded it up on the TV and we huddled up on the couch. It was at this viewing that things got strange. Now, I had always maintained myself to be heterosexual, but Friend looked at me a few times jokingly, mimicking the anime characters, and I laughed, but I was also undoubtedly aroused. He also happened to pick up on this and made "advances" on me, getting more and more serious. We ignored the TV at this point and as he seemed to be more assertive than myself, I accepted my first time to be witha man, fully glad at this change I found in myself. At that point, Friend undressed slowly, pants first, getting me excited for the dick. At that moment, SHE shows me what I don't want to see, what I don't like. SHE tells me that SHE has never liked her biologic gender and that I really made her feel like a woman. At this point, I threw her out into the rain, and made sure she knew that sluts aren't allowed in my bed. As I stood there, at the door watching her run away in disbelief, I was erect. Erect and alone.
TL;DR I could finally have a girlfriend, but I'm gay.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 22, 2019
This is not an objective review, as it is a very subjective movie. I would never objectively give a piece of art 10/10 objectively, trust me, so the rating is here only for orientation. There are also no spoilers, though I don't think you can "spoil" anything.
Regarding the rating, I initially gave it an 8 and raised it after viewing it again. The firat time around I took up the task of simultaneously translating for a younger sibling of mine that is not yet fluent in English (I watched it subbed, of course). Therefore I stress that you should get yourself comfy and experience
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the film unburdened by other concerns, you'll get the most enjoyment out of it that way.
This is a work of atmospheres and emotions, portraying certain human traits through the lens of japanese people living through their WW2 period. If you are worried that this is another war movie that tries desperately to garner sympathy for the nation at stake, you can rest at ease. The only thing it tries (and achieves) is your understanding of the situation the common folk goes through in times of greater crises.
The film doesn't limit itself here, the themes can be extended to our everyday personal struggles as well. War is only the backdrop, as you'll see. There is also great rewatch value to be found through finding symbols and noticing how the characters connect in interesting ways.
If I were to write anymore, it could dissolve into an endless ramble, so let's summarize. It's a film I thoroughly reccommend to anyone with enough patience and time to spend watching. The film may leave a positive mark on your life, but even if you dislike the plot, the artistic merit and sound-design should make the experience wholy enjoyable just on their own.
It's really all in the execution.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 22, 2019
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER not in the first half though.
And so concludes the season. Now that we have all laid on the table I can pull no more punches. If you are interested in the nitty-gritty details, there is a spoiler section as well, but first, a spoiler-free review for hard-awaiting viewers:
As far as the season goes, the plot is satisfied, meaning there are little loose ends. Most of the setup is concluded and works well in the constraints of the season.
The fighting choreography is astounding in this one, visually pleasing, clear and action-pcked at the same time. The few continuity slips can be
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excused, as it would otherwise mean Araragi being naked from the onset, and we don't want that do we. While on the subject of fights, could Hanekawa just learn already? She is present in almost every one from the beginning, only to screw with Araragi's concentration and the natural flow of combat between immortals (as I imagine it anyways).
Art and sound is the same as before, nothing changed there if you expected any more or less.
As for the characters, I'm now determined that Kizumonogatari is the place personalities go to die. Read the spoiler for the rant.
Overall I enjoyed this the least of the three because all of the expectations I previously witheld and left for the end now became unfulfilled. If you are watching this early on, not like me watching it in airing order after Owarimonogatari, you won' get disappointed I assure you. But for me, the gentle hints and mentions to events of "that Golden Week" kept piling up through the roof, seriously building hype for this season. Thereis simply not enough information offered to the viewer for further thought. I almost feel ashamed that I wanted to know now. It's just like one of those restaurants you've never gone to but heard how great it is, only to one day go to and find out the food tastes like boar-urine.
If you don't want to read my rant anymore, this is a good place to stop. You can read a short summary at the end as well.
Now let me guide you through all the specifics, spanning the entire season, through some SPOILERS of course:
The exposition doesn't make sense. The lingering question has been throughout "how could Kiss-Shot be so easily beaten", and the answer given is Oshino stole her heart. Yes. Supposedly he, very sneakily, just took it from her, as if stealing candy from a loli. She was in her peak form at the time and a vampire still seems to feel pain. Hell, suppose he could with some unholy technique take her heart, what does it matter to her? A vampire's power doesn't seem particularly tied to a certain organ, just like it doesn't seem to matter which part of Araragi gets torn off. It could be the exception, bit that's just speculation on my part.
Funnily enough, this was a question raised by Araragi himself, and he was satisfied with the answer, in the typical Japanese fashion of "oh he's just that strong, I'm amazed". Though it is true that power levels are rarely measured in the Monogatari series, I feel this is really too big to not notice. For now let's just have in mind that Oshino can be godlike if he feels like it. Another issue Araragi brings to Oshino is how could the three vampire hunters steal her limbs if they otherwise just evaporate when cut and regenerate anew. He of course doesn't answer this directly as well, completely avoiding the question and instead explaining the reason why they would want her limbs. The reason given is that they want her power for themselves. To method to obtaining power from those limbs is never mentioned again and, needless to say, begets another endless pit of inconsistencies, too numerous for me to describe here.
Let's talk about Hanekawa. In a similar fashion to Oshino, she also seems to have directorial powers, executed through some sort of clairvoyance. Three arguments to this I can find: she is present almost everytime Araragi fights, she knows how to beat Episode and notices Kiss-Shot is throwing the fight against Araragi. None of these "moments of brilliance" are explained, as before, she is just that awesome. Her characters seems to, more and more, mimic a prostitute or a nymphomaniac, let me elaborate. Let's not forget how she met Araragi and how she seemingly fuels her desire to speak and meet with him: his perverse reactions. She likes when he looks at her underwear, reads pornographic material based on her image and swears to never return her panties. Maybe it's just that Araragi is the only Japanese man to ever be so perverse, so maybe thats just her kink. Strange thing that they aren't a couple afterwards.
I have a lot to add regarding the gym storage room scene, and I feel I really should, but let's end here for brevity. Don't want this to become a novel. Also let me know if anyone made it this far, I'm greatly curious.
TL;DR: It's a suiting end for the season, artistically and sonically on a similar level as before. The most startling concern is that it doesn't tell us anything more about the overarching plot and in my eyes only opens up unnecessary plot-holes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 22, 2019
Continuning the first episode we have Nekketsu-hen. Let me start with a bit of sass and assert that there is nothing "hot-blooded" in this episode (a better fit for that would be the third). Riding on the wings of the exposition of the first, Araragi just continues the fight already forecasted. The 3 introduced antagonists don't get the backstory needed to at least "become characters" of their own. If your curiousity was peeked after the post-credit scene of the first, you will be disappointed, as it doesn't evolve from there.
The art is equally stunning as before, though the "wow" factor has already worn
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off considerably. Sound is a bit better I think, though maybe that's just me looking for merits. The ending stays the same throughout.
The pacing is the same if not worse. Let me spoil a bit by exponging on this point. Araragi beats the first two of three quite soon, having us believe the third stays for the next episode. Nope. The fight happens in a flash in the closing minutes, begging for impact because Araragi somehow "sacrifices his humanity".
Back to spoiler-free teritory, let's talk a bit about the characters. Everyone from before is the same, except the two lifeless dolls of main characters try to have some sort of relationship and Hanekawa basically becomes's Araragi's abusive sex slave (which would make her one-tier down from Kanbaru, as it goes these days in the slave business) with even less of a husk of a personality than before. Araragi tries to wiggle out of her lewdness but inevitably falls in her trap (of being lame and one-dimensional). This is really a shame because Hanekawa has otherwise proven herself to be quite interesting in and out, so this just baffles me.
Funnily enough the most interesting character is Episode, which is no regret since he gets time to shine elsewhere in the series (depending on where you put Kizumonogatari on your watchlist, for me it was mostly in airing order between Owarimonogatari and Koyomimonogatari). The fight with him is quite good I assure you, and he also almost accomplishes to kill off a certain disturbing factor from the movie, but nevertheless.
The story was quite nonexistent I must add, besides from the Character Development (huh) and a bit from a few words from Oshino, who mostly just strokes his ego and quotes himself. It almost feels as if this is a fanwork of the original series, but I digress.
My overall enjoyment was still quite high as we do get some interesting scenes worthy of viewing, if you'll only excuse the poor dialog.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 21, 2019
This begins as the first of three episodes of the Kizumonogatari season, and let me write this very clearly: it's a season of the anime. I say this because one would assume the pacing is different from a regular TV series which is sadly not the case. This actually happened to be my greatest issue with this 3-parter, which is its pacing, though I'll only mention this here and explain on the last episode. Furthermore this review will try to cover only the first episode. Now to the actual review:
The season starts with a solid beginning, as it is the first time we see our
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beloved characters in high-budget animation. This means better lighting, soothing skin colour, great wavy hair, rich movement etc. It' actually quite extraordinary to see to what extent SHAFT can go if only given the proper funding and production time. Illustrating my point is a certain scene when Hanekawa appears for the first time, showing off how agile and jumpy her movements can be if only provided the proper amount of shekels. Many people that I've seen complaining about this movie also complain about this scene being too jumpy and in your face, but I think it effectively capitalizes on the stronger SHAFT can offer through this medium. If I were to conclude based on their previous movies such as the third Madoka Magica movie (the last fight in particular), this jumpiness is their way of doing exactly what they did in Madoka, but with Monogatari's pacing and character focus.
While on the subject of the art department, I should raise a somewhat secondary concern: Hanekawa's breast size. I will be brief, I swear. Besides as is in this season, Hanekawa has always been hailed as the thick queen of Monogatari with her considerable bust surplus compared to other heroines. Though this has fluctuated at points (her cat form vs the shower scene with Senjougahara) but this is just too much. And it's not even "only fanservice", it's a detriment to her character, but I'll expand on this on the last episode, as it has a certain scene which beautifully illustrates my point.
As it stands, the visual element is the strongest and most refined in the season. The colour pallette is truly beautiful, the movement is fluid, and fire is incandescent as can be shown on screen. Following that is the sound.
As far as the OST goes, I couldn't spot a track that would be particularly memorable, save for the tracks originally on the Bakemonogatari Music Collection, such as the drum and chime track (it is called Shugendou, I believe). I value the tracks here as isolated listening material, such as is Kill La Kill's soundtrack. As far as the ambient is concerned, the music is good enough, on a level similar to other seasons, as it is all Satoru Kousaki's work. Voice acting was well enough, though I think Araragi's VA maybe went too far on some screams and shouts, to the point it got even a bit uncomfortable. All in all there is a lot of agony in this season, so if you have sadistic tendencies you'll feel right at home.
The characters (in the first episode mostly only Araragi and Hanekawa) suffer greatly from shallow personality disorder. This gets worse as the season progresses, though I expected it to get better. Because Araragi supposedly has no friends yet, he can only talk to himself and Hanekawa, who I guess only began talking to him on a whim. This means he lacks the perspective and insight he later attains with conversations with various different people. In a way this speaks of an immense personal growth later on, but in Kizumonogatari he is just plain stupid sometimes. Hanekawa for some reason seems to have lost her brain mass as well, though in her case it is safely stored somewhere else on her body.
The story has major pacing issues, as it treats one 60 minute episode the same as a 20 minute one, maybe having even less content. For comparison, Bakemonogatari spanned 15 episodes approximating to about 5 hours of runtime. In these 5 hours, we could get to understand the backstories of 5 people in detail. Through this perspective, Kizumonogatari spits with an episode long enough to explain the world, yet only briefing us on the uneventfulness of everyone's life and trying to "spark" our interest with the first scene of the episode.
As this was the first of three, I still held generally high expectations for the season as a whole, and the movie is still highly watchable on its artistic merit alone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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