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Shows like this don't tend to get much attention. On MAL, we tend to pay more attention to the anime aimed at an older audience, and the only way a series aimed at a younger audience tends to break through is if it was part of our own childhoods like Pokemon or Digimon. So by that standard, Gegege no Kitaro 2018 is astonishing for even finding an audience in the first place. And part of that is the fact that while it's a children's anime ostensibly, it has plenty here for an older audience as well.

Gegege no Kitaro is a very episodic show. It ... has overarching plots that vary in how prominent they are, but the meat of it is individual episodes. And luckily for Gegege no Kitaro, those are consistently good with occasional real standouts. There's a good number of episodes I'd probably recommend to watch even outside of the series just because they are legitimately great, even fantastic in some cases. There's also a good number of episodes that are enjoyable, but don't leave much of an impression. But rarely episodes I outright despise. But the fact that at it's highest points the episodes are so good is a reason why you'd watch the series. One of the episodes legit made me cry, and I think I can count on one hand the number of anime that have done that.

The second reason you'd watch this is because of the Yokai lore. The series is kinda fascinating to me just hearing about these Yokai and sometimes even connecting that to other bits of Japanese culture I've heard about. There's a handful of Yokai that I'd heard of through other places like Zashiki-warashi and it was interesting hearing a bit more about them here.

As for why the series might not appeal, you still can tell in most cases it's aimed at a younger audience. Not like in a way where it talks down to you, but more so in how it uses action which is often not that interesting and the generally static nature of the characters. They do change a bit, but some characters really could've used with more development over the course of the series. (I am looking squarely at you Ratman)

Overall, I'm really glad I watched this series consistently for close to 2 years. I'd say it's really good if you want something that can both surprise you but also be a kind of simple enjoyment at times. It's not a series I'd recommend to binge, but rather one to watch periodically. I guarantee you'll find at least one episode that was worth the trip.

So, apparently the recap finale to "That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime" is now listed as a separate thing and the original show is down to 24 episodes. Fair enough, if a tad odd, it's not like Slime is the only show to have a finale be a recap (Hi Clannad: After Story) but seeing as it is it's own thing, let's roll with it.

So while I'd rather talk about the content of the episode, I think we first need to discuss where the episode falls in the show. The big problem is that Slime has been listed as 25 episodes for ... a while now, and to have it end up being 24 episodes (arguably 23 since 24 is almost an OVA episode) is definitely disappointing, especially if you were looking forward to the new episode. Couple that with the fact that the end of a season is a really odd time for a recap. I get having one before a new season for those who haven't watched it in a while, I sorta get one in the middle as a stop-gap to allow the team to get ahead a bit, but the end of the season? Why?

But ignoring the fact that this episode has terrible timing and was generally communicated poorly, how good is it itself? And it kinda depends. The weirdest thing is for a recap, it really doesn't... well, recap. It's mostly Veldora and Ifrit having a conversation in the background that sometimes vaguely connects to what's being shown. In terms of reminding you of plot points, it really only hits a few major ones and generally the way it does so, it's not really showing what they mean. So as a recap, it's not very effective. However, the general running dialogue between Ifrit and Veldora is honestly quite entertaining and *arguably* worth watching for that. Veldora is the best character in the show and it's a travesty that he got discarded after episode 1, so seeing more of him here is great and Ifrit provides a great straight-man to Veldora's dialogue.

Taken in isolation, it's a decent radio drama with irrelevant animation playing over it for the most part. Whether that's enough or not depends on the viewer. I personally don't regret watching it, but I wish I knew this is what I was getting instead of episode 25 of the series. However, down the road when people are watching this show for the first time and aren't expecting it to be 25 episodes, I think those who choose to watch this will be satisfied enough. But as of right now, the disconnect between what we expected and what we got really looms over this episode.

When it comes to isekai series, a lot of people despise the common tropes, and to be honest, I get why. A lot of them are wish fulfillment power fantasies where we get to see the main character win over and over without ever facing real challenge. And here we have another one in that vein. And yet..... I don't hate it? It's not perfect, and I can totally see others despising it as another example of that trope, but personally, I think throwing it in that bucket and leaving it behind is a tad unfair for one main reason, this is not a show ... that expects you to engage with it seriously.

Now I'm not saying That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime is a comedy. It has some great comedic moments here and there, but if you're here for laughs, you'll get a few, but nowhere near enough to keep you coming back. What I mean by it doesn't expect you to take it seriously is it's not a show about massive character arcs or hyped battles, it's a show about building your community, helping others, and trying to make your life and the life of others better. It's the sort of show you tune into to just feel relaxed and good, rather mindless entertainment. And while the fact that that's all its trying to be means I can't say its any sort of revolutionary show or masterpiece, there's a place for that sort of show in my heart. I'd almost call it fantasy slice of life, although with a few more sudden dangers to everything that probably weren't necessary.

Part of why I think it works is the characters, while not that complex, are engaging enough and likable. Rimuru steals the show and really, if he wasn't such a fun character to watch, the show wouldn't work at all. What makes him fun is in his slime form, he's wonderfully expressive and bouncy, and when he gets a human form, he still has a sort of swagger and confidence, while at the same time being equally prone to expressions of "uhhhh, yeah, that was intentional.....". Which is also a good way to describe his personality. Since he is so powerful and has so many looking up to him, he tries to maintain an air of being in control, but being privy to his inner monologues, it's quite obvious that half the time, he's lying through his teeth or bluffing to high heaven. No, this doesn't make him complex or really that multifaceted, but it makes him fun to watch. And while they aren't as important or interesting, the other characters work well enough in their various tropes both playing them straight or subverting expectations. The only ones I found annoying were the female Oni who fought over Rimiru which I felt was probably the most extreme moment of wish fulfillment in the series.

Speaking of, let's talk about that aspect. This show definitely leans into the power fantasy to a pretty good extent, and while it's less the adolescent fantasy of having power and women fawning over you while being dark and brooding and more the middle-aged fantasy of being perpetually able to help others and being important, it is still a power fantasy. It does enough for me to keep it from feeling pandering or like it's sacrificing character to allow anyone to slot themselves into the main character (actually, I'd argue of everything this show is, letting you self-insert really isn't one of them) but it is still a fantasy. And in terms of criticisms, most every time it tries for a more serious action arc, it's not particularly interesting. The series is not equipped to set up real stakes for Rimiru, so every time it starts leading to an action moment, it can be flashy, but ultimately hollow. And sadly, it really tries to push this in the latter half. The Charybdis arc is the worst example of this.

Whether you enjoy this series or not really is going to be a question of what you want. If you're looking for a serious story or intricate characters, look elsewhere, you won't find it here. If you want something fun and not serious, you'll probably be satisfied enough. The biggest problem is the show repeatedly tries to put on the airs of being a grand epic when it really isn't. This is the "I've had a long day at work and want something to watch" show. Which has it's place, but that place is not standing as one of the greatest shows ever.

Wow. Just wow. I'd heard this season of Yami Shibai was bad before I started it, but I didn't expect it to be THIS bad. If you asked me to tell you what not to do in a horror series, this would be the first thing I pointed to. And knowing that the previous seasons ranged from okay to actually pretty good makes this season's failings more baffling.

So for starters, the first thing you'll notice watching this, especially coming off the previous seasons, is the narrator. The narrator originally existed to give basic context for the setting, and they had someone with a distinctly ... creepy voice to do so, setting the mood. This one misses both of those marks by having a different narrator each time, and each of them not being that creepy, but also by having the narrator NARRATE ALMOST THE ENTIRE STORY. This by itself kills a lot of tension since you never are able to really get drawn in when every 5 seconds the narrator says "and she felt nervous". And the worst part is literally none of it is necessary. The characters could say what we need to know and we can infer from visuals a lot of this. In fact, it'd be better that way because we're using our imaginations to fill in the gaps and terrify ourselves. That's actually what the previous seasons did. But no, the narrator says almost everything that's happening in front of our eyes like we can't see it.

That might have been passable if the scenarios were legitimately creepy, but most of the time they aren't. When the series is trying to pass off the idea that footsteps outside a bathroom stall are creepy or that someone drawing chalk lines inside a school is creepy, you've hit rock bottom. And even settings that might originally have promise like an abandoned mansion get squandered when the scares themselves aren't creepy at all. Half the time the creature that appears just ends up not really doing anything and the other half I have barely any idea what I'm supposed to be scared of. In fact, some of the stories just straight up are confusing. I have no idea what they're getting at or what's even going on by the end, and in a way, that's impressive to manage given there's only 4 minutes of animation per episode and the entire thing is being described to me.

The artstyle sucks too. While this was a problem in previous seasons, I don't like how each episode has a different artstyle so it doesn't feel like a contiguous series. And it's not like the artstyle works well for each individual story either. One of them tried to pass off 30 something moms as middle schoolers. I know in anime age can be very misleading, but they looked nothing like that age, even for this series. And then there's all the cuts to live action, usually any time the main character holds something in their hand. I legitimately do not know why those are there, they are horribly out of place, they don't make the scene more disturbing, it's just.... there. It pulls me out of the experience every time, or at least it would if everything else didn't already do a wonderful job of that.

Oh, and as long as I'm tearing this show a new one, let's talk about that ED. Yes I will be this petty. It sounds like an ending to a shonen series. Yamishibai EDs have been a little J-poppy up to this point, but usually kind of off in some way as to still feel like it fit with a horror series. This one just does not at all, so you end up going straight from "was I supposed to be scared" to just straight up laughing because this song removes any tension that might've been left.

It amazes me that a series could fall so far so fast. While I'll say I personally believe each season got a little worse, they still had moments that were really effective and enough to them that I could say "there's something there". This one does not. Almost nothing about this season works. Some story ideas had potential, but get squandered by everything else I mentioned. The only reason you should watch this season is if you want to see a perfect example of everything just being wrong. Not funny wrong or over the top wrong, just regular wrong. That's ultimately what this series is to me. It's just wrong.

There's really not much to say. If you liked 3-gatsu no Lion (March Comes in like a Lion) and you liked the music to the first opening, you'll probably like this. If you like the song but not the show, (or have no opinion on it) you might still like the extended song, although the imagery won't have any impact. If you don't like either, this isn't for you. For a 5 minute music video, it manages to capture so well what makes the show so great. The imagery is all very evocative, most of it is new, some reused, but it all fits so ... well. I think my only big complaint is how much it seems to push the HinaxRei ship, which while that's kinda there in the series, it's not as much a focus as this would have you believe. But otherwise, for a 5 minute music video, it's great.

(Talks about both Clannad and After Story) With shows regarded as classics, there's a certain expectation that comes with them. If it's held up and still remembered for close to 10 years, it means there's something about them that has not only stood the test of time, but hasn't really been replicated. And with Clannad, that is true. I just wish that the moments of this were more than like 6 episodes out of a 49 episode series (including both another world chapters)

Okay, fine, that's a tad unfair, but for a vast majority of the series, I felt it was.... competent. There's some really good ... moments and arcs, both in the original and After Story, but also plenty of moments that either dragged on or didn't have quite the impact that I think it wanted. Fuko's arc as well as Sunohara's hit pretty well, Nagisa's was alright, while Ichinose's and Yukine's didn't do as much for me. So we have what I'd say is a textbook 6/10 show, some good moments, some bland, overall a fine watch, but nothing I'd say I needed to see.

Then comes the main After Story arc. Which all I have to say is, here's where the classic part of the series was hiding. This is bar none the strongest part of the entire series, and it's a set-up and execution I don't see nearly as much of in the earlier parts of the show. It's interesting, it has great character moments, I love this part and it should've bumped the series up to a 7 or an 8. But I didn't give it that. Because at the last moment, the ending screws everything up culminating in one of my least favorite anime endings of all time, and that's saying something. This ending basically killed any chance I had of loving the series. Of ever really wanting to see it again. No, it doesn't kill the show completely, it can't take away the good moments that the show had, but oh dear lord did it piss me off.

This show dragged me all over the place. I can see why some love it, and I cannot without lying say it has nothing worthwhile in it, but it's hard for me to recommend it fully given that for about every minute of genuine good or greatness, you've got about a minute of fine or blandness. And given it's comparatively longer than some other series with a similar reason to view them, I find it difficult to say "watch this" over other shows.

This is possibly the most underappreciated show I've watched. For how good it is, it is criminal that more people have not watched it. If you want to know if you should watch it, the answer is yes. It's consistently funny, the characters are charming, it has enjoyable action, really in most senses it's a worthwhile trip.

The premise is every 80s JRPG ever. Evil lord is risen, go slay it hero! And this series is a deliberate parody of those, from occasionally shifting to a pixilated art style to mocking the tropes of said genre to even the fact that there's 4 elemental swords ... to collect. (Gee, an epic RPG where you collect four items representing the elements. I've never heard that one before) And while it definitely spends a lot of time mocking those tropes, that's not the only trick in the shows bag of jokes. Trying to describe why the jokes are funny kinda defeats the purpose, but suffice to say they consistently are. I won't say every joke hits bullseye, particularly the ones about bodily functions that pop up every once in a while tend to miss, but there's lots of great ones.

The real meat of the show is the characters, and these two leads are adorable. They both are insanely likable, with Kukuri, the heroine, being more innocent but having a kinda immature streak, but also being really fun and hard to get angry at, and Nike (or Hero as he's called 99% of the time) being a bit selfish and cowardly, but also earnest enough that you love him, and the romance between the two leads is adorable. And then the side cast..... honestly, they're all great. Violent priestess Juju, cynical Gipple, inventor Toma, and perpetually useless Old Man North North are all great. And almost every episode had me with a huge grin on my face, just from watching these characters bounce off each other.

The action is the weakest part of the three I mentioned above, but it's still cool enough to be fun. The best part is how bizarre and unconventional a lot of the fights can be. Like Kukuri's magic manifests in kinda strange spells that are surprisingly effective, and Nike never plays by the rules. Usually the fights are more excuses for comedic bits, but it is genuinely satisfying to see them beat up their opponents.

I'd say the biggest criticism of the show is it's pacing. The show condensed a lot of material into 24 episodes, and there's definitely times where you can feel it. It's rather quickly paced, and while it never drew me out, it can be a bit distracting. Although you never miss plot points because of it and it's MILES better than having everything drawn out forever.

Magical Circle Guru Guru is a great show that got overlooked because.... probably the artstyle, and that's a shame. This is much better than a lot of what I watched this year, and not just that but is something unique and not redundant like so many other shows. At the very least, TRY THIS SHOW. It deserves more attention than it got upon it's initial airing.

Juuni Taisen is not a good show. It has good moments in it, and the occasional character I liked, but it is not a good show. Yet for the entire 12 episodes, I was never forcing myself to keep watching it.

Let's start with how it's not a good show. At first, it kinda sets itself up as a battle royale with no main character and as such is just a "pin your hopes and see who survives" sort of ordeal. However, if you know about the Chinese Zodiac, watch the end credits, or have basic pattern recognition, you will know the order of deaths ... and who will die. Okay, then maybe it's the sort of show where the appeal is not what will happen, but how it will happen. Except that for the most part, for a battle royale show, the battles aren't really that interesting. There's a few moments, but generally this show doesn't go for big climactic moments, but more understated deaths, usually to its detriment. Then maybe the characters pull it through?

Actually, that's probably the closest answer. The characters aren't great, but seeing how and why each of them is in this is actually kinda interesting. There are some characters I grew to like or find their motives interesting enough to keep watching, but the basic pattern recognition mentioned above comes in here, as the death order is the order in which characters give their backstory. Consistently.

So why did I keep coming back? Well, I can unreservedly say I found the last few episodes actually legitimately good, partially due to developing a character that I found really engaging and partially due to some of the twists, but what kept me going through most of the series was actually the how. Just seeing what the characters had planned even if we knew they wouldn't be around to execute it was kinda cool honestly. But even then, this is the sort of set-up I want someone to take and just do it better. A battle royale with no clear protagonist is cool, but it's undermined by a different way of predicting deaths. Some of the characters have interesting motives, but it's cut short by the fact that by the time we hear them, they're close to death. I want someone to try this again and learn from what this show did wrong and make it better.

Overall, Juuni Taisen gets a critical score of 4/10 with an enjoyment of 6/10. Technically, it's not a good show, but I had a decent bit of fun with it, and did want to see what happened. If it sounds interesting and you're willing to put up with many flaws, it might be worth your time, but there's much better shows out there and nothing here you have to check out by any stretch of the imagination.

Hoo boy... this is going to hurt.

So when starting this show, I saw some promise at points. This anime is based on the works of Edogawa Ranpo, who himself is influenced by Edgar Allan Poe. And that does intrigue me, seeing as I enjoy Poe well enough, especially the Telltale Heart. And boy does it fall flat.

So let's start with this as a mystery. Mystery stories can work well in two ways. 1, giving the audience the clues to solve the mystery, or 2, having the story behind/of the mystery being incredibly engaging. The first just simply doesn't happen, so it tries for the ... second. But the big issue is that most of the criminal motivations episode per episode feel incredibly contrived and so far detached from human reason to be taken seriously. So one time characters are often horribly developed, and then the main characters are... better, I guess... but still not great. Most of them feel like they have their personality established at the beginning, and never really grow or gain depth. Main character, I am looking squarely at you.

Beyond just the mystery, it tries to create a dark tone, and the animation does work really well for that. The animation is often full of deep colors that sets a tone that would make for the type of story it wants to tell, if only it ever actually utilized it. The tone can shift sporadically with many moments just being completely immersion breaking and again, detached from reality. That's really the underlying issue here, everything feels like it's detached from reality.

Ending is not much better. I won't spoil it, but this is an ending that while not unfinished like so many anime that are out there, is just incredibly unsatisfying.

Now to reprieve for a second, there are a couple of things that work. Episode 5 is actually very well done, easily being the best point in the series. Also, this has a really good soundtrack that fits well with the tone it's trying to establish. And I must mention this, the ending theme is one of the best ending themes I've ever heard. I'd honestly say it's worth it to check it out on it's own, since it's very well done. And the opening is also good, although not as much what I like. However, none of this is enough to save the show by any stretch. At best, it's a guide to what is worth checking out in this show, if anything.

Overall, this is a show that just fails so hard so often. And while I can't say it has nothing worthwhile, you could have an ounce of gold in a pile of poo and I still wouldn't recommend digging through it.

Like many people, I grew up with the Pokemon anime. And even to this day, I can still enjoy it well enough, but it's obviously aimed at a much younger audience, and at times it not only limits my enjoyment, but I feel it limits the stories it can tell. Well, the answer to this plight was the Pokemon Adventure manga series. If the anime is aimed towards 6 year olds, the manga is aimed more towards a young teen audience, and it really helps.

Now, I'm not going to say this is a story for everyone. If you have no nostalgia towards Pokemon, no ... real connection to the franchise, at best this is a decent manga aimed towards a younger audience than most manga readers are used to. While it's aimed at an older audience than the anime, it's still not particularly aimed towards late teens. However, if you do have a connection with the franchise, this is definitely worth checking out, as it arguably one of the best ways to experience Pokemon.

So the Pokemon Adventures manga is a retelling of the games, so most of the time it follows the major moments within the games. Most of the time, but not always. It uses the games as a template for the story, but weaves it's own events in, establishing a greater variety of characters and encounters. Speaking of characters, that's one of the most unique parts of this manga. Each arc is based on one of the series of games, so you have the Red/Blue arc, the Yellow arc, etc. And each arc focuses on a different set of characters. This minor detail avoids one of the major pitfalls of series that go on for a long stretch of time, namely massive power creep and characters inexplicably needing to learn the same things over and over (hi Ash). And not only that, but each arc's characters are rather unique. While early on the characters greatly resemble the original archetypes from the TV series, the later arcs have characters with much more diverse personalities, even including aspiring comedians and pokemon directors as main cast.

The other main strength of the series is how it portrays battles. Battles in this series are dangerous for the trainer. Taking on a crime boss like Giovanni is not just a matter of pokemon battling each other, but the trainers themselves being in the thick of combat, where targeting the trainer is fair game. Trainers can act as bait in a darkened room to lure the attack away from his pokemon in order to provide an opening. The battles are much more intense than just simply a trainer giving orders to a Pokemon.

Now this series isn't perfect. First up, some arcs are noticeably less interesting than others. Particularly the remake arcs (Firered/Leafgreen and Heartgold/Soulsilver) leave a bit to be desired. Also, as I stated, while it's not aimed towards the same audience as the anime, it's still aimed for a younger audience than most manga. And every so often, plot points can get a bit silly. But for anyone who wanted more from the anime or just more Pokemon, CHECK THIS SERIES OUT! You will not regret it.