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Nov 14, 2023
Full disclosure: I did not watch the 39 episode anime, I watched the 30th Anniversary fan edit, which converted the 16+ hours series into a trilogy of movies of less than 6 hours in total. A lot of people who presumably saw both say this is the way to go, and I guess they're probably right, because this shortened edit worked very well as a "director's cut". And I can definitely see how the story would suffer from adding 10+ more hours of pointless filler...
The anime is not perfect (its age shows!), but it's very charming and full of surprise plot twists that kept my
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interest all the way through. So instead of complaining about the weaknesses I'll just applaud its strengths.
First and foremost, it's the charm that carries this show! The characters are very simple, but in an earnest and endearing way that makes you root for them, not in a boring way that just feels like lazy writing. And the art has all the charm of the hand-drawn anime of the era. It's less technically perfect than modern anime in all kinds of ways, but it also feels much more *alive*.
Watch this one if you're in the mood for a fantastical adventure, but only if a somewhat childish tone doesn't annoy you too much. In the beginning you very much get the feeling this was made for kids, with a goofy troupe of harmless villains reminding you of Team Rocket, but as the show goes on certain things happen that touch on more adult themes, the show is definitely not sugar-coated for preschoolers. With "adult" I don't mean sex, there's none of that, it just deals with some of the darker aspects of life and the human condition.
I'm being very vague on purpose here, since I don't wish to spoil anything. My intent with this review is to draw your attention to the existence of this anime, and hopefully tease you into giving it a chance. And as stated, tracking down the fan edit is probably the way to go. Folk wisdom says this show is a bloated mess in its original form, and folk wisdom is usually right!
I rated it 9/10, which is an unusually high score for me. Most anime has started to feel very samey and uninspired IMO, so most things I watch get 6 or 7 at best. But this one made me feel enthusiastic about the medium again. There's so many flaws I could write a book about it if I cared to, but none of it matters, because the MAGIC comes through unimpeded. And that's what it's all about, right?
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 25, 2023
A pretentious and "artsy" show about a bunch of teens who get lost in some kind of alternative dimension or something. It's really hard to say what's actually going on, because nothing makes any sense. Lots of weird and illogical things happen. And yet there's nothing of real interest going on. People stand around holding deep philosophical monologues. And yet nothing of real substance is being said. Some of the teens have random magic powers, and there are cats with magic powers too, and a talking dog, and they are exploring different worlds ruled by random metaphysical laws. And yet there is no sense of
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adventure.
The teens are stuck in a static limbo that lacks meaning, and so is the viewer.
To really hammer home the artistic vision of being stuck in a meaningless limbo, the art style is drab and colorless, and everything looks mundane and boring. The music is probably the best part of this show, but it too is meandering and lacks musical direction. It sounds "nice" without really delivering anything memorable, just like the show itself looks "deep" without ever making you think about anything.
I'm actually having a hard time remembering enough to talk about to reach the required number of words, so I'm just rambling now. The show made little lasting impression on me, and I forgot half of it because it was so boring I had a hard time getting through it at all. I would watch one episode, then have no desire to watch another, so it got left as a chore for later. It took me a long time to get through it all, mostly out of some kind of morbid fascination I guess. I had no idea where they where going to go with this, so I kept forcing myself to keep watching to find out.
The answer was, they went nowhere in particular. It just fizzled out and ended in nothingness. Which is actually fitting - they stuck to their grand artistic vision of creating the most boring show of 2021 to the end. Gotta respect that!
I give it six stars because I want to be nice. At least they tried. I mean, it's not a generic trash anime with bouncing oppai going "boing boing". But to be perfectly honest, I'd rather watch one of those than this kind of pseudo-intellectual tripe.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 6, 2023
RULE #1
A writer of fantasy fiction only has to follow whatever rules he or she makes up for him- or herself.
RULE #2
There are no other rules.
RULE #3
But you really really *really* need to follow rule #1!
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The creators of this show chose to ignore these rules completely, and that's the reason the result of their efforts belongs in the giant heap of trash anime that provides too little return on the viewer's time investment to be worth watching. The author's just made up shit as they went, and didn't care about following any kind of plot logic. When there is no logic there is no plot to spoil and no suspense to sabotage, so I won't ruin anything for you by giving a simple example:
Someone gets shot right in the chest and is left for dead lying motionless on the ground in a rapidly expanding pool of blood. But no worries, this character will be back up and fighting in a couple of scenes! No explanation is offered.
Not even "magic".
How lazy must an author be to not even bother to pull the "magic" card to excuse the worst plot holes?
That's just one isolated example, the entire show is like that.
Apart from not making a lick of logical sense, this show also has a bad habit of spending a lot of time in "comical" scenes with an ugly blob art style, to save money I guess. These blob scenes aren't the least funny, they're mostly just pervy nonsense that undermines any respect the viewer might have managed to develop for the characters.
I award five stars because all shows I manage to sit through get at least that. But bear in mind that I might not have pulled through if I didn't also practice my guitar while watching it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 1, 2023
The only redeeming quality I can think of regarding the protagonist Kazuya, is that he keeps telling us how much trash he is. That shows some self awareness at least, since he really is a trash character. What is there to say about him, other than that he masturbates a lot, and saves his virginity for some prostitute-who-will-not-have-sex (apparently this is a thing in Japan?), who will take his money but won't give him the time of day outside of "business"? Kazuya is that worst kind of simp who will keep throwing money at a girl who shows zero interest in him and treats
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him like shit, in the hope it will somehow win her over if he just persist long enough. Which it of course eventually does in this show.
It doesn't work this way in real life though, don't follow his rotten example! Don't be a simping beta orbiter who puts girls on a pedestal and treats them like goddesses in the hope they will one day deign you with a "hello"! Have some basic self respect!
There are four girls in this show, and neither of them is interesting or likeable. Will our simp hero choose:
1. The prostitute-who-will-not-have-sex and who treats him like dirt? She is a 100 % fake person who manipulates people by acting pleasant, and even though Kazyua keeps telling us how wonderful she is she has no redeeming qualities at all, not even his self-deprecating self-awareness.
2. Perhaps he will bounce back to his old girlfriend who dumped him and treats him like shit for no reason? She is a manipulative bitch from hell, and has no redeeming qualities, so she could be a good match for him I guess.
3. There is also another prostitute-who-will-not-have-sex who has absolutely zero written on her character description sheet. She has fallen madly in love with Kazyua for absolutely no reason, and keeps throwing herself at him. Her only function in the show is to give our hero the opportunity to heroically guard his virginity to save it for the first prostitute-who-will-not-have-sex, in case she ever wants it. I would personally pick this one instead, since she is at least not a sociopathic liar, just a regular psycho, and since she is actually putting out, and for free at that! But that's not good enough for Kazyua.
4. Finally there's a third prostitute-who-will-not-have-sex who is actually kind of cute. She is too shy to talk, and that's a wise choice when you're a one-dimensional cardboard cutout character. The other characters would also be a lot more likable if they would just shut up more. The less they show their terrible personalities the better!
This show is terrible not only because it has mediocre writing, but primarily because it tries to sell terrible life lessons! There is nothing to learn from these characters, and just watching the show acts as poison that seeps into your brain and rots it from the inside if you're not careful and actively say "hell no!" to every idea it has to offer.
I'm looking forward to the third season, but that's just because I love shit anime! I wouldn't recommend this one to any sensible people.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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