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Jul 13, 2024
YoruKura is an anime that was incredibly close to being a solid recommendable show. Sadly, the final few episodes felt messy and ended up detracting from all of the good themes and ideas it was building up along the way. This was a result of failing to utilise its characters effectively, sidelining positive plotlines and pointless pandering.
The art and animation quality is the one positive thing which remained throughout this anime, with a unique style. However, the music is subpar for an anime that is meant to be partially about music, and none of the songs particularly stand out as memorable. In most cases,
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this would not count as a negative, but given that music is a big focus in YoruKura, viewers should expect to at least have one or two songs that resonate with them for the show to be counted as successful within its genre.
The characters have a level of complexity, although this is not always to the benefit of the anime. It is a recurring feature of YoruKura for characters to question their ways of thinking, indicating that they may be on the verge of developing, and then miraculously ending up almost exactly where they started. It is not necessarily an issue if character development is slow, or even non-existent, but where YoruKura fails, is where it appears to pretend that the characters have come a long way and developed, when in reality, they end up with an almost identical mindset that led them into a rough spot to begin with. Many of the side characters are clearly designed to appeal to certain niche audiences, which has the potential to alienate viewers outside of those communities. This is not inherently a bad thing, as having a solid target audience requires a certain level of exclusivity, however YoruKura doesn't follow through on key character moments in most cases, leading its characters to be used as a form of bait for its audience, rather than actually creating a meaningful narrative that can truly connect with the viewer emotionally.
The storytelling, alongside the character writing, ends up completely stifling any possibility of a satisfying conclusion. The two central girls, who the story sets up to support one another, ultimately don't really do anything for one another in the final act, leaving rest of the main cast to pick up the slack, which otherwise, could have been used for some emotional character growth. Subplots are introduced and seemingly forgotten about by the end of the show. The theme of creating art for the dopamine effect of 'number go up' is seemingly presented as something to be overcome with some greater purpose, however YoruKura fails to come up with any proper alternative idea for its story to cling to as a good moral. This ultimately ends up feeling shallow, and despite spending a large portion of the anime searching for it, its unclear what the main character's purposes for creating really are, and how they have evolved from where they started.
If you aren't a part of the niche audience that this anime tries to pander to, it is likely that you will find the characters become annoying, as they fail to truly grow as people or deal with any of the core issues which they intitially face. If you are a part of that niche audience, you have a chance of enjoying the anime, however its failure to land cleanly at the finish line may still leave you disappointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Apr 6, 2024
This review will be broken down into sections on story, characters, and aesthetics. For the purposes of convencience I will refer to the series as 'Bokuyaba' throughout this review.
Story: Bokuyaba is a simple story following the the slow developing romance of its two central characters, Yamada and Ichikawa. Events within the story often revolve around seemingly coincidental interactions between Yamada and Ichikawa. Particularly the early interactions happen in or around the school library, where both of the main characters spend their break times for their own seperate reasons. The story relies on the quirks of Yamada and Ichikawa to drive their interactions, which sometimes results
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in a funny, cute or heartwarming scene, and sometimes results in a moment of typical anime romcom cringe. The cringe moments however, are to be expected given that the characters are inexperienced middle-schoolers, who are both socially inept in their own ways. Ultimately, the cringe wears off as Yamada and Ichikawa become more familiar with one another. A big bonus for some viewers is the use of the unusual height difference between Yamada and Ichikawa. Many vertically challenged male audience members who like taller women will undoubtedly be willing to excuse Yamada's faults to indulge in various self-insert fantasies. Overall Bokuyaba uses the designs of Yamada and Ichikawa to its advantage in its more intimate scenes.
Characters: Bokuyaba is primarily a story driven by its characters. Ichikawa, being the socially awkward main male character, is clearly designed to be a self-insert character for viewers of a similar disposition. Early on, it is emphasised that Ichikawa has something a little bit more wrong about him in the head, with an obsession over the topic of murder, almost framing him as a potential yandere in the opening episodes. This character trait, whilst occasionally relevant, does die off over time, which is overall a positive thing, both for Ichikawa and the series as a whole. This character trait goes underused for the better, however it does raise the question of if it was really necessary for his character at all in the first place. Overall, Ichikawa's introduction is subpar, and he only becomes a likable character after the first 3 or 4 episodes, when his more relatable flaws start to recieve more focus over what is shown prior. Ichikawa does show himself to be a decent person who is just very insecure and low in confidence, however for many viewers, the damage to his image may already be done within the first few episodes
Yamada is subject to a very similar issue at the start of the story, where her eating obsession and general low IQ are overemphasised to a point that will make her initially come off to the viewer as annoying unless they are really into girls who are, quite bluntly, stupid. Yamada does remain a complete dork throughout the majority of Bokuyaba, however after the first few episodes, she starts to actually appear to engage her brain to some extent. Some viewers will likely find her endearing from the start, whilst others will find her annoying, as some of her more low IQ actions are unrealistically dumb by the standards of a reasonable human being.
The side characters are nothing special, but some of Yamada's female friends do play minor roles in ways that bounce off of Yamada's character well. Despite them being very different to Yamada in lots of ways, it is believable that they are friends with her and genuinely care about her.
Aesthetics: The character design is fitting for the main cast and the art style is appealing to the eye. Other than the opening music being decent, there is not much to say about the music. It neither significantly enhances nor takes away from the viewer's enjoyment of the show.
Overall, Bokuyaba gets off to a rocky start, which may spoil the investment of many viewers early on, however, whilst the anime does occasionally do things that will make many viewers cringe, these moments decrease over the runtime of the show. Generally, outside of hardcore romance anime enjoyers, many viewers will likely fall off Bokuyaba quite early unless Yamada is really their type, or if they strongly relate to some of Ichikawa's less concerning character traits. That said, if you can get through the first few episodes without being completely turned off by Bokuyaba, it only gets better from there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 13, 2023
This review will be broken down into sections on story, characters, and aesthetics.
Story: The anime itself is generally uneventful but thoughtful. Sousou no Frieren opens up on quite a heavy story beat, however it quickly turns into a relaxing experience with the heaviness of the opening lingering about in the background. There aren't really any 'hype' moments, and even the action scenes provided don't seem to be made with the intention of getting the viewer's adrenaline running. Despite this, the show is easy to digest, and has a mixture of funny, heartwarming and thoughtful scenes which create a different type of impact that somehow
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feels a lot more fulfilling than anime with far more eventful plots. Even those who don't usually enjoy these slow burn type of stories may find themselves in a comfortable lull whilst watching an episode. That being said, it is possible that younger viewers or those who crave more violence and action may not appreciate the steady pace and quiet fashion in which the story is told.
Characters: The main character, Frieren is endearing and has a very clear path forwards for development in understanding her emotions. Despite her older age, Frieren is written to be somewhat emotionally immature and gives off the impression that she is slowly undergoing a coming of age arc despite already having a significant amount of life experience. This may sound annoying to some readers, but Frieren's perspective on life is presented in a way which can be empathized with. The supporting cast doesn't have any characters who are notable in their own right, but Fern and Stark have potential to grow into their roles, and other cast members are well utilised to further our understanding and experience of Frieren's journey. Ultimately, Frieren herself is the centerpiece of this anime, and the viewer's enjoyment is quite strongly dependent on their investment in her charater.
Aesthetics: Sousou no Frieren is animated to a good standard. The art style is clean with a well selected colour palette and fits the type of story that is being told. The music is not offputting, and whilst the opening theme by YOASOBI is arguably not befitting for the story, it is still an enjoyable listen. The ending theme is also strong and will likely lead to many to keep the episode playing until the last second before clicking off.
Overall, Sousou no Frieren may be the anime of the year for 2023 despite only having 6 episodes out at the time of writing this review. There is almost zero hype but each episode has the potential to leave the viewer satisfied in ways which words would struggle to explain. This anime is strongly recommended, especially for a more mature audience looking for a slower paced story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 6, 2023
This is a show for the romance anime lovers, but not for many beyond that. There is definitely an oppertunity for viewers to relate to the characters if they have ever felt like a burden towards someone they loved or cared about. The sections of this review are written in order of their significance to the overall viewing experience.
Characters: This anime focuses on its main duo (Natsukawa and Sajo), and most other characters appear to be used for gags or minor plot points. Despite this, there is potential for some characters to be expanded upon if given more screen time in future. The main duo
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strike a good balance between show & tell, as Sajo gets a lot of his thoughts across through dialogue, whilst Natsukawa's thoughts and feelings are largely conveyed through her expressions and actions. Overall character interactions are not realistic, although some aspects of how the characters are portrayed makes for an interesting fictional representation of how people may feel internally in certain scenarios. Natsukawa in particular stands out for many of the right reasons that you would expect from the main girl in a romcom: She is cute and genrally has likable personality traits.
Storytelling: To begin with this anime can feel a bit jumbled up and the order of scenes does not flow particularly well, however as the story comes together, this problem becomes less apparent. Whilst most of the concepts and themes are simple, the pacing and scene transition choices make this anime hard to follow whilst turning your brain off completely. With that being said, 'The Dreaming Boy is a Realist' is also not a highly intellectual show. Some scenes present good ideas in relation to the themes, but are not as dramatic or emotional as they could be due to a lack of build up and suspense. Whilst this anime is listed as a comedy as well as a romance, comedy is a very minor aspect of the show.
Audio/Visual Experience: The character design is mixed overall, and some lazy choices are made at times. Despite this, Natsukawa's character design is good and her cute appearance generally stands out above the other female characters. The music and voice acting are both average. The animation is basic, although not offputting.
Final Remarks: The core elements of a romance anime appear to be covered reasonably well, although this show is not the peak of the genre. It is therefore only recommended for those who particularly enjoy highschool romcom anime. For people in that category, it is worth watching. For others, whilst it is not a bad show, 'The Dreaming Boy is a Realist' should be a lower priority anime on their plan to watch list.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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