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We've all felt it at one point during our lives; that lethargy that grips us and doesn't let go, leaving us in a bumbling state where our basic motor functions just don't want to cooperate. The very prospect of moving makes us groan, and every surface suddenly becomes a veritable pillow. Our thoughts drift off into space, and daydreams abound. Whether you're taken in the middle of a class, trying to be productive in an office, or are simply kicking back in the garden with a beverage in hand, a state of listlessness has surely came about at least once. It is the antithesis of ... productivity, yet one can do little in the face of it, for it laughs at those who try to escape its grasp, denying any and all attempts to break free. Once caught, the only course of action is to accept one's fate and go with the flow. But it is that very state of listlessness that serves as the basis for this story, Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge (Tanaka-kun is always listless).

The story is but a simple and modest one. It follows the life of teenage highschooler Tanaka, denoting his attempts at merely existing each day, and his interactions - or lack thereof - with those around him. Not much is ventured here; it is a barebones premise that, most surprisingly, ends up being highly entertaining because it leaves a lot of room for imagination and creativity. At first glance, it might seem somewhat uninteresting - after all, what enjoyment can be derived from a series where the main character can't be bothered to do anything? The answer to this rhetoric is a positive one - despite his unethused self, Tanaka manages to find himself in many a comedic situation brought about by his nature, in no small part thanks to his friends and compatriots.

It is these very friends - and Tanaka included, of course - that enable this series to stand tall and blast away any doubts one might have about its apparent lacklustre premise. This series is a comedic one, mixing humour with a relaxing air to itself. It is like a constant, slow-burning candle; each episode moves along at its own pace, drawing you in, bringing many a chuckle and smile on the way. Not much happens in each episode, and yet not once does it feel like the 20 allocated minutes are being dragged out. They all centre around the highschool they go to, and so the accompanying events are naturally school-themed, such as participating in the culture festival, or having mishaps with misunderstanding classmates. However, unlike other school-themed comedy series such as Seitokai Yakuindomo or Nichijou, Tanaka-kun does not rely on sexual content and fanservice, or exaggerated ridiculousness. It is mundane to its core, but with a highly positive spin. Cast away your negative connotations of mundane events, because it brings these down-to-earth events to life in a most refreshing manner.

For our main character Tanaka, listlessness is a perpetuity. For his own reasons, it is a state he cannot fight. It dominates his being, and is reflected in his every manner. He doesn't struggle against it - for that would contradict his very nature - but simply approaches life in the most easy and effortless way possible. Much to his chagrin, however, his days of school life are far from easy and effortless. He alleviates this by relying on his best friend Ohta, a man who can only be described as being the broest bro that ever broed. He is - in an almost literal sense - the backbone for Tanaka. He's there by Tanaka's side to help him through whatever each day throws at Tanaka, to the point where he even physically carries Tanaka to and fro wherever he needs to go. Yet not once does Ohta admonish Tanaka; he merely offers encouragement as he stoically goes about his duties. He's the ideal friend, one who accepts Tanaka for who he is and stays by him nonetheless. His abiltiies are such that even when shopping with Tanaka, Ohta attracts the attention of the ladies, resulting in their cries of "I want an Ohta too!"

The dynamic duo aside, there are a handful of other characters who make up the main cast, each filtered into the story episode by episode. Miyano - affectionally dubbed Myaano by her senpai Echizen - is a go-getter who finds herself mesmerised by Tanaka. In an ironically contradictory and humorous manner, she tries her utmost to emulate Tanaka's actions, wanting to be carefree and listless in the same way he is. She's bright, enthusiastic and well-meaning, but also naive, evidenced by her ignorance towards her efforts to be effortless.
The aforementioned Echizen is a girl from another class, who has a fierce and imposing exterior but is actually a kind maiden at heart; this juxtaposition serves as another point of comedy because she tries to act as a punk but can't truly deny her kind side. One can't help but smile when the terrifying senpai berates Tanaka and Ohta but then goes googly-eyed as she gushes over Myaano, the affectatious nickname she gifted upon Miyano.
Shiraishi makes up for the 3rd main supporting character. She's the class-rep, who, unbeknownst to everyone else, has an identity crisis. At school, she's a bishoujo who has top grades, flawless looks and graces everyone else with her presence. Such is her stature that she has a group of followers akin to groupies who dog her around and accost any who would dare converse with their Queen. But when nobody is looking, she cuts loose, tying her hair up, slipping into casual and comfortable clothing and popping her nerdy looking glasses on. She has issues with her self because it's so different to her appearance at school; she isn't vain but merely tries to fit in. She also finds herself enamored with Tanaka, but in a romantic manner, as opposed to Miyano's inspired one.

These 5 make up for the main cast, and it is their hijinks which are the source of the great entertainment Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge has to offer. They all interact with one another in different ways, bringing their own uniqueness to the table. The persiflage between Echizen and the rest keeps them on their toes; Myaano's adorableness mixes well with her go-getter mindset. Shiraishi finds solace in the group since they accept her for who she really is - even if that itself is based on a highly comedic misunderstanding. All three of them would appear as oil to Tanaka's water on the surface, but they flow together surprisingly well, and Tanaka is better off for them; he does occasionally try and make an effort for their sake.

Where the art is concerned, it fits very well for the series' tone. The character designs are all fairly simple, without overly much detail to them, yet they still manage to capture each character and their personality, from Tanaka's large eyes which look dull and tired to Echizen's imposing and intimidating features which make her look like someone you shouldn't mess with. They all look distinct, and the colours are all light and cheery. It is a colourful series, one filled with brightness that lifts your spirits. It really shows that you don't need the intricate detail of Berserk or the gorgeous and endearing art that KyoAni is known for in order to bring characters to life. The listlessness of the series is perfectly encapsulated with simple designs and bright colours. I'll also add on a personal note that Shiraishi's design quickly became one of my favourites; there's just something about her that makes her stand out in my mind.

With all that in mind, I can safely say that Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruga is a series that subverted all of my initial expectations. I only picked this up in the first place because I like to watch the vast majority of seasonal anime. I really can't say that I was overly interested in it or had any high hopes for it to be decent. It seemed rather droll at the onset, but I can quite confidently say that this quickly became one of those anime that I was most looking forward to each week. It is a testament to the writing of the series that such an uninteresting premise could end up being so funny. It is entirely a character driven show, and it is those very same characters where this series shines. The cast is varied and all bring something different to the table. This is an anime to be put on after having a bad day, something where you can really relax and have a laugh all the way through. Stress is relieved by the smile that will inexorably find itself on your face.

Being unable to discern the difference between fantasy and reality is a fear that many a critic of games and other fictional media frequently purport. You see it on the news every now and then, how someone committed a murder that mimicked an event they saw in a game, and that violent fiction spurs one on to commit villainous deeds since they don't realise that it actually has some real life consequences. Yet little do they touch on the other effects that it might have; they only latch onto and showcase the most awful examples in an effort to definitively prove their case. Netoge no ... Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? (And you thought there was never a girl online?) is a fun little anime that touches on this in a more positive spin. Centring on a group of highschool gamers going by the online monikers of Rusian, Ako, Schwein and Apricot, Netoge explores - in an albeit exaggerated and comical fashion - some of the other issues and events that might arise should one struggle to separate their gaming world from the real one.

After deciding one day that the four of them should meet up in real life, they're all shocked to discover that not only do they all live in the same area, but they all know of each other already, as they go to the same school and share many classes. Whilst making their initial meet-up both awkward and somewhat easier to deal with (it's less daunting to meet and talk with people you know than with strangers, after all) it brings with it a slew of issues and problems, the biggest of which is immediately brought to light - Ako, the Guild's newbie healer, cannot separate fantasy from fiction. It is first seen in her naming convention - Rusian is called Hideki Nishimura in real life, Schwein is called Akane Segawa, Apricot is called Kyou Goshouin, and Ako....is called Ako Tamaki. Unlike the rest, she has not bothered using a different online name because she doesn't consider there to be any difference between Legendary Age - the game they play - and the rest of the world. To make matters yet more problematic, Ako and Rusian are married in LA, which she then considers to be carried over when they finally meet up, immediately clinging to his arms and addressing him in a far more intimate fashion than people usually would.

This provides the basis for the vast majority of the content that follows. Ako's inability to discern between pixels and reality becomes a focal point for the group, as they all decide to form a gaming club to try and help Ako out of her problem. It is not so easy as that, however, since Ako is undescribably dumb. This is also where my opinion on this anime split - whilst it managed to be somewhat entertaining and comical with all the misunderstandings and problems that Ako made, it also served to act as a point of contention because her idiocy was at times excessive, and completely halted the plot from advancing. This was especially prevalent in the relationship between Ako and Rusian; Netoge really had a huge chance here to separate itself from other harem-esque highschool anime much in the same way Rakudai separated itself from Asterisk - they could have went for an actual relationship, but decided that Ako was so deluded that she already considered herself Rusian's wife and therefore didn't need to accept a confession of feelings from him.

I felt really quite disapppointed at this particular aspect, because the relationship route is seldom tread in this type of anime and thus is one which I absolutely root for - pun not intended. The flipside to Ako's delusions, though, were many of her other actions and misdeeds - such as assaulting her teacher when she mistakenly believes Rusian is cheating on her with their sensei in the game, or how she was completely non-plussed when Rusian walked in on her when she was naked - Hell, her reaction was actually brilliant in that particular scene because she was happy about it. It ends up being an arbitrary toss up between which scenes I enjoyed and which I didn't; at times her delusions were handled in a funny manner, but other times it just seemed overly exaggerated and dragged out for the sake of it.
As far as all of the characters go, they're a mashup of previously seen tropes but have their own little spins on them for the most part. The aforementioned Ako plays the role of the romantic main girl, as Nishimura the person, not Rusian the character develops feelings for her pretty soon off the bat. She's rather ditzy, and refuses to accept things for what they are. Everyone else bands together to try to help her out of her predicament.

Rusian is the lucky male who gets to spend all of his time with his female guildies. He's fairly typical as far as male harem-esque MCs go, but one thing that sets him apart is the fact that he is actually true to his feelings and confesses (multiple) times. It was a breath of fresh air to have a high schooler who wouldn't just freak the fuck out over even the thought of confessing.
Schwein plays the role of the textbook tsundere character (who bears a striking resemblance to Lieseharte from Saijaku). However, in the game she is a very self-confident player; she refers to herself as 'ore-sama' and her overall gaming persona is vastly different to how she acts in person.
Apricot - dubbed 'Master' by the rest of the crew since she is the guild leader - is the student council president at their school, and is considerably wealthy. She uses that wealth in order to be one of those pay-to-win filth by buying all the best gear, weapons and consumables. Her family's success also leads to them having many properties, including their own private beach; all of these residences she owns become, at one point, a staging post for them to try and wean Ako off of online gaming. In this respect, the obligatory beach episode actually makes a lot of sense since there was some context behind it. It made the inclusion of such a cliché much better.

Naturally, since there's a beach episode, you can expect lots of fanservice, and there's a healthy amount of it throughout the anime. The handling of it, however, is a positive thing from my perspective - a lot of that fanservice felt either very natural or was used for comical purposes. The natural fanservice occurred in the game. For anyone who's ever played a fantasy RPG, you'll know that female gear is typically quite revealing, and much of it is like that in LA too. Apricot's entire top half is uncovered, aside from two lines of fabric which cover her nipples, the rest of her boobs spilling out around it. There're other times when the characters show a lot of flesh, such as Ako being found naked by Rusian - yet despite how that trope normally plays out, Ako's reaction was "Please, be gentle with me!" The little twists on the typical tropes and clichés made it a fair point more entertaining than what it would otherwise be.

The fanservice was also bettered by the series' art - it certainly made all the characters look cute and attractive. It reminded me a lot of Aishen Qiaokeli-ing, what with how huge the eyes of Ako were and the colour palette in general. It worked much in the anime's favour because of the decent aesthetics. However, one of my personal issues with the art style is the way that the bottom lip for the female characters is drawn on but the top isn't. The result of this is that everytime the characters have their mouths closed, it looks like their bottom lip is being pulled over their top lip, and once I noticed it I couldn't stop seeing it. It seems like a small thing, but when the characters are supposed to be attractive, seeing such a weird-looking lip ruined the effect to a certain extent.

With all that being said, it brings you to the question of "Should I watch Netoge?" I'd say for those that like harem-esque anime the answer is a yes. It might include a lot of the stereotypical traits of other anime of this type, but it's got enough of its own unique touches to stand aside on its own two feet, and if you like those tropes anyway then that's even better. It doesn't have an overriding plot such as saving the world or fighting off an evil organisation that plagues many other similar series either; having it revolve around a bunch of gamers make it feel a lot more natural, even if it's still exaggerated. But it's not without its own problems. As previously mentioned, Ako's issue of being unable to discern fiction from reality was both funny and annoying. I became rather disappointed in the middle of the series when it could have progressed, but instead decided that Ako was such an idiot that absolutely nothing could be done to salvage her. In that regard this series could have been much better, and I would have been inclined to rate it higher. It still remained funny and light-hearted throughout, though, and for gamers it's somewhat relateable. You can have those little chuckles to yourself when you see the similarities in the anime to stuff that's actually happened to you before, such as how Ako is the token useless female who's only in the guild because she's in a relationship with one of the main players - oh, that brings back many an argument...

But it was a fun ride, even if it could have been better. Attractive characters (if you can ignore the lips), comical situations and throwbacks in gaming. A fairly standard series that has a few little perks to separate itself from the rest of the pack.

Musaigen no Phantom World is an anime which could have been really, really good. Its premise had the potential to make this something memorable, and to have an actual plot. Sadly, it decided to throw this away in favour of episodic and unconnected episodes, cardboard characters, general harem clichés and fanservice.

An unexplained event sometime before the anime starts resulted in people seeing aberrant creatures, known as "Phantoms". These phantoms range from harmless inanimate objects which have manifested themselves into personalities, to dangerous creatures capable of murdering dozens of people.
Given the potential danger these phantoms can pose, you would think that there would be a special ... force set up designed to banish these phantoms as soon as they appear - after all, having scores of people murdered by rampaging giant monsters is not exactly something desirable.
Instead, the story follows a group of high school students (it's always high school students..) who are training their powers in order to combat the phantoms. From right here you can see something doesn't add up - why would the defeat and capture of dangerous mythical creatures be left to the hands of emotional, untrained teenagers and kids? This particular side is never addressed. It's just seen as the norm for non-adults to take care of everything, whilst the teachers and other grown-ups just stand by at the sidelines, doing nothing but watching events unfold.

There's no real plot to speak of. Each episode starts up with Haruhiko breaking the 4th wall, telling the viewer what the episode is going to focus on and giving some trivia pertinent to the events about to unfold. It is entirely episodic, too. Each episode focuses on a different character - one episode about Mai, one episode about Reina, one episode about Koito; so on and so forth. There isn't any progression.

The characters themselves don't really have any defining personalities. Haruhiko is just the regular MC. He occasionally helps out. He's a nice guy, lending aid to people whilst being beaten up and slapped by the members of his harem when the tired old tropes and clichés appear, such as him tripping into someone's panties.
Mai is one of the two primary focuses of the fanservice; she has to rub her tits and other parts of her body whilst chanting in order to activate her powers.
Ruru is a Phantom who exists purely for fanservice. She does nothing else. For instance, in one scene Mai and Haruhiko are talking. Rather than focus on the talk, the camera zooms in on Ruru and we simply watch her doing leg exercises, whilst the conversation carries on in the background.
Koito, Kurumi and Reina play the role of the kuudere, the loli and the shy one, respectively.
All of the characters get an equal amount of screentime, and contribute an equal amount to the events that unfold. Each are given an episode in the spotlight which focuses on their problems and their past.

The art and animation is the absolute high point for the series. Say whatever you will about the rest of this anime; the art cannot be faulted. Simply put, it is gorgeous. Even without the fanservice, it is nothing short of pure eye candy. The art is crisp, and the colours vivid. It makes it a pleasure to watch, even when one finds themselves uninterested in what's actually happening. The animation is top-notch, too. This is especially apparent where the phantoms are concerned. The effects used on them - such as the particles emanating from some of them, and the way they flicker as they move around - look awesome. You can tell a lot of effort has been put into it - nothing less expected of KyoAni.

It is a shame, then, that it is only the art and animation that has had a lot of effort put into it. Each episode consists merely of tropes, clichés and all the regular things associated with fantasy highschool harem anime. If you're a fan of this particular genre, then you will probably enjoy Musaigen no Phantom World. It brings everything we've seen before, but with the art and animation cranked into overdrive. I will mention that the fanservice is reduced in the quantity in the later episodes. It is not nearly as prevalent as it was at the beginning.
But if you're tired of the same old, then avoid this. There's nothing new about this. There's no particular reason to prioritise watching this over any other highschool harem.
I gave this a 4/10 overall. There was no real reason for me to feel invested or interested. If not for the amazing art I would have rated this lower. It isn't bad; it is merely uninspired. If nothing else, watching this was made easier when I stopped thinking about what was happening and merely enjoying the aesthetics.

Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru (from hereon HaruChika) centres on Chika Homura being reunited with her childhood friend from many years ago, Haruta. They both wind up in the Brass Band club, and face the issue of the club not having enough members to properly function. They wish to end up playing in professional places as a club, but the initial tournaments they set their eyes on require having 30 members as a minimum. This results in them trying their best to recruit new members each week.
That's about it as the story and plot goes. Other than for the addition of new characters, each ... episode is unrelated to the previous one.

My issue with the story, however, is that despite the premise being about a music band, there's very little in the way of actual musical performances. Rather, it focuses mostly on unpuzzling mysteries and solving issues and problems for other characters. The music serves as nothing more than a plot device in order to throw new characters at us each week. Rather than having the members make do and performing smaller pieces together as a group, we only get to see the occasional practice here and there. Other than that, the music side of this is thrown completely to the side, which is rather strange, considering it's all about the music club.

Additionally, this anime is incredibly repetitive and formulaic. Each week, a new character is introduced. This character shows an interest and / or skill in playing a musical instrument, but always has a reason for not wanting to join the band. Be it due to a negative life experience in the past, some sort of currently occurring issue at home or other reason for holding them back, there is always without exception something wrong with them. Due to this the episode follows the same pattern and routine : the character is introduced, the musical instrument of their choice is deduced, and then a minor amount of backstory and exposiiton is given about why they are not interested in joining the club. In the last 5 minutes, Haruta then pulls a large amount of reasoning out of his ass and suddenly solves the mystery and figures out their problem. It is almost solely conjecture; as a viewer, I find myself every single episode pondering "Wait, how exactly did Haruta know that?"
There isn't any real logic being presented; there aren't clues presented throughout the episode which lead to a solid conclusion. There's simply a few tidbits given and then Haruta explains it 100%, like he somehow knew all along. This ruins the mystery aspect of the show. There isn't any time being given to let us try and figure anything out. It's all presented and solved in a 10-15 minute time frame.


As far as Art goes, it is fairly average. There's nothing really to write home about, with the exception of the way the eyes are drawn. There's quite a lot of detail put into their eyes, with unique patterns on many of the characters. It does make them stand out, and it adds personality to each of the club members. Overall, I'd give the Art a 7.

The sound is decent as well. There's nothing specifically great about it, but it serves its purpose. The OP is upbeat, and the occasional musical performance we're treated to is decent. But other than that, it's the same as Art : there's nothing that stands out. I give it a 6/10.

The characters is where this anime fails the most, IMO. Due to the episodic nature, we have a new character introduced each week. After their allotted episode has finished, they fall to the wayside and offer very little else other than the occasional remark. It's almost akin to a harem, where the MC gathers a new girl each week.
Despite having an entire episode dedicated to them and their problems, I found myself forgetting what character had which problems because there's something else every week. I stop caring about what issues they were facing because it's just going to be the exact same thing in the next episode.
Chika is upbeat, happy and doesn't let anything get her down, for the most part. She also plays the role of the dunce, often making silly mistakes and being the butt of many japes and jokes.
Haruta knows everything and anything, deducing things in an instant despite having very little basis from which to do so. He's also kind of an asshole; he has no issues invading other people's privacy, spying on them and even going so far as to stalk them to different towns and places.
The teacher, Kusakabe, occasionally appears each episode to give a little advice to the main cast in order to help them solve whatever issue the newest addition is facing.
There's also a little love rivalry going on between Haruta and Chika, with the teacher being the focus of their affections. It feels quite dumb because they are taking it seriously, as if some random high school kids would actually have a chance of getting with their teacher. It is never going to go anywhere at all, but they occasionally use it as a genuine point of contention between the pair of them. I find it rather difficult to take seriously.
All the other characters are inconsequential, since once their time in the spotlight is over they don't do much else.
I'd give characters a 4/10 overall.

As a whole, I'm giving this a 4/10. For me, that denotes a show which is below-average. This isn't a bad anime by any means, but my enjoyment went down each week because it's just the same thing every time. All of the characters apparently have massive problems, Haruta solves them in the blink of an eye, rinse and repeat.
The music isn't the main focus; the mysteries aren't very good because they're introduced and solved in the span of 10-15 minutes. In the entire course of the 12 episodes, we got to see one singular musical performance - and even that felt lacklustre and far from genuine. Rather than feeling like the characters were playing their instruments, it seemed too obvious it was just an orchestral track played over the images of the band playing.
This anime tried to do too much, putting too little effort and attention into everything. The romance was silly, the characters were one dimensional, the mysteries were boring, the music nonexistant. There was never a reason to feel invested in what was happening.

"I'm an advocate of true gender equality, a guy who has no problem with doling out a drop kick to a female opponent. Don't think I'll go easy on you!" -Kazuma Satou

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! KonoSuba. God's Blessing On This Wonderful World. An anime that has taken so many people by surprise, at how tear-inducingly hilarious and amazing this turned out to be. After an insipid and uninspired first episode, I was not the least bit interested in this. I had thought this was going to turn out to be just another one of those generic fantasy series that comes out every season, ... with no particular defining quality or trait. Just another one of those anime whose only remotely memorable feature was the length of the name - and it isn't even that long by LN standards. Nothing interesting at all.

Boy, I've never been so wrong. I'm so glad I don't drop things after a single episode, because I would have missed out on the absolute gem that KonoSuba turned out to be. The second episode took me completely by surprise. By the time it finished, I found myself questioning whether this was the same anime whose first episode I had watched a week prior. The hilarity came out of nowhere. The last thing I was expecting was for a single episode to completely revert my initially negative impression.

But anyway, enough with my monologuing. KonoSuba's premise is a simple one - after a very eccentric and ridiculous death, Kazuma Satou finds himself before the self-proclaimed Goddess Aqua, with the option to pass on to the afterlife, or be reborn into a new world where his mission would be to defeat Demon King in order to return back to his old life. He's also given one wish to be granted by Aqua in order to aid him in his endeavours.
This is where we begin to see the way in which KonoSuba breaks away from the mould. Kazuma's brilliant idea is to wish for the Goddess Aqua herself to accompany him - why stick to a singular wish, when he could simply take the wish-granter herself along with hiim? This more practical manner of thinking begets hilarity after hilarity as the anime goes on.

The story is a simple one. Defeat the Demon King, and go home. That's it. There's no grand, overlying scheme; no complex themes one has to scrutinise in detail in order to understand what's going on; nothing more than the simple premise for which everything takes place. This works in the anime's favour, because having such a loose goal means they can pretty much do anything they want inbetween, so long as it in some way takes them even a little closer towards the ultimate defeat of the Demon King.
As the episodes go by, more characters are gradually introduced. In order to kill the Demon King, Kazuma and Aqua need a stronger and bigger party. This leads to them encountering Megumin and Darkness. From here on out, their adventurers and encounters are nothing short of zany, bizarre and ridiculous. Aqua the Goddess, Megumin the ArchWizard and Darkness the Crusader - all of these are exceptional people, holding classes and abilities which the common person could only dream of having. But despite their apparent prowess, it would not be possible to have a more dysfunctional party.

Characters.
It is these characters and their interactions which make this such an amazing comedy. Kazuma is the glue that holds everything together. It is his cynical, practical and down-to-earth mentality that acts as the wall to the antics of the rest of his party. Without him, they would all fall apart; if not for him then achieving anything would be impossible thanks to their ridiculous flaws and inability to do anything without hazard. His reactions to all the misfortunes that befall him thanks to them never fail to entertain.

Aqua possesses no qualities one would expect of a Goddess. She is selfish. She is greedy. She's a gold-digger. She is lazy. She is demanding. Her first concern is herself; she has no other concerns. She can use a few anti-Undead spells, but is otherwise nearly useless in combat. She also has a knack of making everything worse, causing unnecessary damage and shifting all of the debt she incurs onto Kazuma.
Megumin suffers from a mild dose of chuunibyou, and excels in one partcular magic - explosions. She lives and breathes for them. She knows no other magic, as she does not believe any other magic to be needed. So long as she can blow something up, nothing else matters. This sounds good on paper, but she's only capable of casting one explosion before fainting from exhaustion.
Darkness is the Crusader - the beefy tank that takes the enemies' attention and soaks up the damage. She wields a massive sword capable of cleaving men in two... That is, assuming she can hit them. Her accuracy is shoddy if one were to describe it generously. Furthermore, she's a hardcore masochist. She loves being abused. Being pinned down and attacked - be it by friend or foe - is her creme de la creme.

When it comes to taking on quests, the 3 main girls are nothing short of useless - a fact Kazuma never fails to mention. His comments, interjections and general abuse hit them all right where it hurts. He never fails to remind Aqua she's a useless Goddess. He desperately tries to encourage Megumin to learn other magic. He's genuinely disturbed by Darkness' fetish. These problem-riddled girls provide an endless well of entertainment as Kazuma tries his utmost to simply get by each day without falling into debt and despair.

Art & Animation.
The art and animation is the worst aspect of this series. The art is quite plain and sometimes off. The eyes of the character seem a little too spaced apart. Whilst not being bad, the art really could do with some improvement. The animation is occasionally wonky, too. This was especially prevalent in one particular episode where boob-physics were quite...Fascinating, shall we say.
However, this was never able to detract from my enjoyment because I was too busy wiping the tears induced from laughing out of my eyes to care about the art. I'll also point out that Megumin's explosion sequence in particular actually looked really good. It is apparent a lot of effort was put into that; considering how frequently we saw her explosions this was a massive boon.

Conclusion.
KonoSuba - God's Blessing On This Wonderful World - was most certainly a blessing. This subverted every single opinion and impression I initially had. It very quickly - nay, INSTANTLY - rose to the position of my favourite anime from the Winter 2016 season. This is hands down one of the funniest anime I've ever had the fortune of watching. Kazuma is one of those rare male MCs who actually manages to steal the spotlight from his harem. His reactions, his methods of coping, everything he does makes this anime better. Without him acting as the sole voice of reason, those girls would have destroyed themselves. The contrast between his rationality and their insanity made for never-ending hilarity.

Should you watch this? Abso-fucking-lutely! Comedy is entirely subjective. Not everyone will like it; that's only natural. But give this 3-4 episodes before deciding. Wait until all the characters are introduced, because they all bring a different dynamic to the table. Their sole similarity is their uselessness. If you still find yourself unamused, then that's a shame. But otherwise, you're in for one Hell of a ride.
The one and only problem with KonoSuba is that it's only 10 episodes long. Aside from this crime against humanity? KonoSuba has ran away with my expectations. I loved it. Hopefully you will too.

This... Wasn't a very good anime.
Consisting of only 4 episodes, with each of those being just shy of 8 minutes each, Tabi Machi was a show that was intended to evoke feelings which arise from going through the different stages in life, saying goodbye to people you know and meeting new ones to replace them.

There wasn't a story to speak of; each episode was an individual one which had different characters in different settings. The only similarity was the theme they all shared, of 'endings and goodbyes' as the synopsis puts it.
The problem was that none of the episodes were long enough to make the ... viewer care. When you have less than 8 minutes to tell an episodic story, there's only so much you can do. There's no time to develop the characters; they're barely even introduced. It severely hampers how much one can become invested - and seeing as it's meant to be a bittersweet show, if you aren't invested then the entire point flies right out the window.
The short time allotted was further worsened by how slow a lot of the dialogue was. Many of the characters spoke really slowly, and the conversations were punctuated by unnecessary pauses and silences.

As far as the art was concerned, it was okay. It had a homely feel to it, which was fitting for the theme. However, there wasn't that much animation to speak of. It was almost like a picture drama, so as fitting as the art was, it did feel a little boring at the same time.

The sound was okay too. It had gentle background music present throughout; as with the art, it was fitting, but it was also rather repetitive.

My overall enjoyment was a 3/10. The anime hinged itself on evoking bittersweet feelings, but with slow dialogue, no character development, and incredibly short episodes, there was no reason to feel invested in it.