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Nov 4, 2022
First thing's first: Romantic Killer is quality. The animation, art, voice acting, and pacing are absolutely fantastic throughout, and the plot is surprisingly good too. It's also very logically consistent - and what i mean when I say this is that everything within the story makes sense. Everything is pretty well explained, and you can tell that the author put the time and effort into thinking about and crafting a genuine and authentic story.
The characters are very likeable all-round, and overall it carries this wholesome energetic atmosphere throughout; but it also knows when to tone itself down for actual character and story development too
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- and it does so without any over-the-top drama or nonsense. It's doesn't present some ultra-deep and emotional story - but you will be surprised at the fact that this anime actually has a respectable amount of substance.
At first, I was a bit skeptical about the direction the show was going in the first half - but the author impressed me by actually executing things well when it felt so easy for things to be done wrong. So, kudos to the author for throwing my skepticism back into my face.
On a purely personal note - I didn't like a certain character's development in the later half of the show - but I can totally acknowledge that there was nothing wrong with it objectively speaking.
Honestly though, my biggest criticism (which isn't actually big) is that the MC is a bit too perfect. She's supposed to be some female loner/nerd - but she has very few flaws. For starters, she is a great friend, and knows how to interact with people a bit too well - and she's also quite smart. And that's great - but I feel like it doesn't leave much room for character development. So far, the MC hasn't really made any mistakes and so I'm not really expecting anything from her in terms of growth (- but the author might surprise me in the next seasons to come, i guess). Either way, I would much rather have an MC like this rather than an incompetent, dense, and annoying MC that you find in many other rom-com and harem anime. So for this to be my biggest issue with this anime says a lot about the lack of flaws in the first place.
Overall, it's a strong 8/10. I have been pleasantly surprised by Romantic Killer - and the only reason I wouldn't rate it higher is because, despite the fact that there's very little to complain about, there's also nothing about it that absolutely amazes me. It's very good - but it isn't amazing or great (if you know what I mean). But in the same vein, I think it would be disrespectful to claim that it's just 'alright', 'okay', or even just 'good'. Rom-coms just don't have the potential to be an overall 9 or 10 in my eyes - but as far as rom-coms go, it's certainly a 9/10 within its genre.
It's certainly entertaining and amusing too - but it's just not funny enough for me to laugh out loud by myself in my room as I binge watched it. But atleast it's not cringe and it doesn't try too hard - so the humour is very respectable, even if the humour doesn't impress me.
Although, they fucking trolled with these otome game CGI scenes that they liked to throw in throughout the episodes. It was such purposely bad CGI that it was fucking great - and I'd be lying if I didn't look forward to them popping up as frequently as they did lol. I personally thought that it was a subtle but clever joke at least.
I can't think of any good reasons to not watch Romantic Killer. I recommend! Enjoy!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 22, 2022
So... where to begin? First of all, the art, animation, soundtracks, characters, and world-building are all GREAT. The world feels complete and everything within this world feels very consistent - and it makes you expect a really fleshed out story.
But that is not what you get with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, unfortunately. It has a STRONG start. The pacing is fast even from the beginning - but the first 5 episodes are an easy 9.5/10, but it almost feels like the first half is just there to set you up for dissapointment...
This series should have been a LOT longer. The anime immerses you into a
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world full of substance in the first 5 episodes, which gets you really excited and interested to explore the Cyberpunk world and its characters - only for it to present a story so shallow and mediocre for the final half - and it just left me feeling hugely dissatisfied and frustrated by the end.
One thing that I cannot stand in a lot of Anime is a lack of dialogue or communication between characters and Edgerunners is a victim of this too. When David (the MC) first joins the crew - this is understandable of course - but once he's built a good relationship with his peers, it is just so frustrating to watch each character avoid any meaningful interactions. It makes such wonderful characters feel incredibly shallow and hollow, since you never get to discover what's on their mind or what their reaction to each other's feelings might be.
Furthermore, the two main characters each have slightly weird character development. By the second half of the anime, they both feel very different from the characters that they were introduced to us as, and because of the lack of communication/dialogue, you don't ever really get to explore why each character behaves in the way that they do either.
In the end, the whole story felt kind of pointless, unfulfilling, and depressing. Like as if I just meticulously watched someone paint the most beautiful picture ever - only for them to suddenly stop 70% of the way through and let a toddler finish it off with some crayons.
The stage was set beautifully, and I could think of 100 different stories that could have been told with such an amazing setup - but instead we were given something kind of convuluted instead, which is a massive shame.
Overall, the anime is worth a watch - but I'd advise going in without high expectations - and just to watch out of pure curiosity rather than in search of actual enjoyment instead. But yeah, everything about this anime was good aside from the direction that it took in the 2nd half - and I'm sad that things ended the way that they did.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 2, 2022
I'll leave this review kind of vague - but at it's simplest, Inuyashiki is an uncomplicated but beautiful story. Yes the plot sounds crazy - but at its core it is a show about what happens when 2 men are given crazy amounts of power and abilities. One of them could not deserve this power anymore if he tried, and the other is the total opposite - someone who should never be given it under any circustances.
The MC (Old man Inuyashiki) is by far one of the greatest MCs in all of anime. A simple, humble, but great man. Truly refreshing to see. There was
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only one or two parts of the writing that bugged me - but they weren't massive plot holes, and otherwise the story is sound.
Also, the voice acting is GREAT. Seriously. Especially Hiro (other MC). The art and animation is great too - apart from the fact that a lot of people will hate the CGI. But personally I've never ever really had a problem with CGI in anime. It certainly does look very goofy at times - but I kinda like the style for some weird reason and it's never put me off personally - but I can acknowledge that this will be considered 'absolutely trash CGI' to 90% of anime fans.
it's not a sci-fi that strives to be realistic at all though. Suspension of disbelief is required and you will not receive any explanations pertaining to the 'how' of the 2 MC's powers (apart from the origins). But honestly, it is just a great story. Something that i've never personally seen before - and it's quite meaningful and deep.
To me, a good anime is one that leaves a mark in your psyche. Something that kinda sticks with you - and Inuyashiki certainly does that. It's interesting and makes you think about things you neccessarily wouldn't if you hadn't got to experience this anime. It blends a very weird theme into a very normal story very well. Well worth the watch if you're not an overly critical anime-snob that has to poke holes in every single aspect of a story.
It's not a typical anime and I don't think you can compare it to more mainstream anime at all. It's just one of those great unique stories that take you by surprise. 9/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 19, 2022
Ahhh… I was so excited for FLCL, but despite it’s energy and enthusiasm i’m afraid it just misses the mark.
It’s a shame because the setting is good. The premise of the story is good. And the characters are interesting. It literally has the ingredients for a genuinely good anime - but it’s so focused on sending a series of messages indirectly that it forgets to actually slow down and provide anything of actual substance.
You’re going to get told over and over again that “You just don’t get it!!” and that “It’s all metaphorical! There’s a hidden meaning behind every scene!” - but I
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just don’t buy it. FLCL makes an incredible amount of REFERENCES - and that’s all. Yes, I get the fact that there are supposed to be metaphors about sex, the coming of age, and this ‘alien’ women that flips his life upside down.
But there’s no real meaning behind any of it. None of it actually adds anything to the story other than some nice background commentary on some facts about puberty. I just don’t get what’s so brilliant about that. Nothing that we’re interested in is ever really explored, and there’s very little coherence for the series of events that we bear witness to. There’s no specific reason why the story unfolds in the way that it does.
To be honest, I didn’t even make it halfway through, and I couldn’t care less. I’m sure some of it makes more sense when you get to the end and rewatch it - but this isn’t something fun or enjoyable to watch. It’s a puzzle. A series of moving images that needs constant Freudian levels of analysis to appreciate in any regard.
For me, that is not a ‘pro’ of FLCL. Sure, it’s different and unique - but it’s not always better. Some might call me ‘unintelligent’ for this - but I would not agree. It’s not really a metaphor if the manifest content (the face value story) is nonsensical and only the latent content (underlying tones) mean anything. Most ‘intelligent’ stories at least have a face-value story that makes sense on its own to keep you distracted and engaged with something else - and then upon revaluation you notice certain hidden meanings and themes which were not apparent at first. But without a superficial layer, you’re just peering into a bunch of ‘ideas’ that don’t really come together in any meaningful way.
Instead of this manifest content distracting us from the hidden meanings, it is the complete other way around. It’s like there are so many ‘hidden’ ideas and themes shoved down your throat that you’re distracted from realising that the actual story that you’re supposed to be watching bears no relevance to any of this nonsense that you’re trying to figure out.
Other than that, the art and animation can go from piss poor to extremely impressive in a matter of seconds and can add some charm to an otherwise highly cartoonish show, the soundtracks are nice and very well placed, and the character designs are really cool and interesting. It’s just a shame that all of the most important foundations for a good story were thrown out the window in preference for sending a ‘message’ which isn’t even anything groundbreaking or unique in the slightest. Like how can someone seriously say “The way that FLCL describes a young boy starting to mature so brilliantly and amazingly is impressive” with a straight face is beyond me. I just don’t get what’s so brilliant and ingenious about describing puberty through a series of metaphors.
I really don’t get it. But hey, if that’s your thing then go for it. I guess it’s like marmite - you either love it or you hate it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 18, 2022
Overall, Erased is a pretty good anime. However, it certainly peaks in the middle and slightly falls off in the end.
It doesn't have a dreadful ending, but so many anime fall prey to the simple mistake of rushing it. There are admittedly a small handful of situations that sort of made no sense to me and could have been resolved easily - but the fact that you just have to 'accept' 1 or 2 things wasn't enough to ruin it for me.
However, there are many things that Erased does very well. My biggest highlight is that the bulk of the story is
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very wholesome. It was nice seeing a man get transported to his younger self without perving on little girls - and there's no echi fan service that attempts to acquire cheap bonus points for the anime at any point.
The MC isn't annoyingly stupid (but I wouldn't say very intelligent either), and he isn't surrounded by annoying characters. The build-up to the 'mystery' is very good (but the revelation of that mystery is slightly lack luster in comparison). Aslo, there are a few characters that are very likeable - like the MC's mom, Aira, Kenya, and Kay (after a few episodes of meeting her) - and they help to make the story more interesting.
It's a straight forward show that doesn't suffer from any major pitfalls, and it's an enjoyable watch that I highly doubt that most would regret. Whilst there are frequent displays of subtle emotions, I wish more emotion was shown in general (and believe me, this is not something I would usually have to request to see in an anime. But for a story all about 'digging-deep' it's not as 'deep' as it could have been - which is something I was looking forward to in this anime).
I realise I've been quite critical in this review - but despite Erased being a pretty good watch, it did have the potential to be even better - so I am slightly dissapointed in certain aspects. Regardless, it would be hard for me to hate on such a wholesome story with good pacing, a good supporting set of characters and a beautiful art style. 8/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 10, 2022
This review is going to contain some mild spoilers because I just can't explain my feelings about this show accurately without referencing specific things.
I'll start by saying that I'm kind of dissapointed after watching this anime. It starts with a few wild episodes - but the potential is there from the beginning so it was easy to get into. Then, the first half of the anime is great. Amazing, even. I was ready to give it a 10/10 for being a masterpiece within its genre.
And then... idek what to say. It's like the writer wanted to get you excited to the idea of a
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wholesome story where the MC picks himself up and turns his life around - only to force you to watch a slow moving train wreck for the last half of the show.
I was excited for the romance, character development, and interesting dialogue - but instead we got none of that. Despite actualy somewhat making progress in escaping his hikikomorism life - the MC actually becomes LESS likeable further on into the story. He's so uninterested in anyone or anything else that it's painful to watch any interactions which are supposed to be meaningful - because he's so apathetic that he just doesn't care or try to say or do anything meaningful itself.
I mean, a large part of the MC being a hikikomori is the simple fact that he is PERCIEVED as a hikikomori. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. He just makes the constant choice to act in a way that aligns with how others see him rather than just being a person. He acts in a certain way 'because he's a hikikomori' - not realising that this is simply what is causing him to be a hikikomori in the first place lmao.
He obviously does have some issues (and it's not uncommon for people to be their own biggest enemies) but it's sad to see very little growth in character throughout the anime. Especially when he IS actually improving - only for him to revert completely back to his old 'self' half-way through. It was actually so cool to see the person that the MC had become in the 'beach' episode - only for us to never see that side of the MC ever return again (even if he did kind of 'lose' himself from a very traumatic experience).
Like, during that beach episode, the MC is nasically at the finish line. He's made a lot of positive changes to his attitude and he's grown a whole lot. Then he goes through something horrific and decides that he's a loser again - at which point he just follows a downwards spiral all the way until the end. Imo, the show would have been wayyyy better if this was a turning point where the anime actually became super wholesome and positive - a direction which it had been suggesting from the very beggining (but one that it never actually truly follows).
One big thing that perplexed me is that the male MC likes the female MC a LOT at the start of the story - they even go on a date and kiss, and they're both happy - but the male MC is scared of his feelings being taken advantage of. Now this is kind of understandable and can be an interesting plot choice - but from that point forward the male MC just becomes disinterested in her and their relationship actually takes multiple steps backwards for the rest of the story.
Like, wtf? Early on he fantasizes about being with her and how amazing she is - and then she starts to care for him more and more but he just decides to completely reject her for seemingly NO reason at all?! It's not like he was even conflicted over rejecting her - he just stops thinking about her entirely. She's not even a subject of interest to him any longer. Just, why??
Also, I didn't get the whole conspiracy thing. I think it was supposed to be something that the male MC uses as a coping mechanism for when things go south - but instead it's more of an irrational paranoia that actually CAUSES things to go south instead. I feel like it was completely unnecessary and subtracted from the story rather than added anything to it. Like, is he schizo? If so, that should be a pretty big part of the story that is addressed at some point - but it never is.
Even worse, his delusions are used in the final episode as some sort of weird thing that's supposed to 'help' another character - but i'd argue that it's actually some weird 'enabler' thing for both of their behaviour rather than something that is positive at all. Like, it actually seems really unhealthy if anything lol.
I'd say give it a watch - but don't allow the anime to fool you into getting your hopes up. It certainly deals with some interesting topics and realities - but I would say the execution is very poor. My problem with the anime is with how easy it is to see how great it could have been - but instead it just refuses to deliver time and time again. If I had to choose something, I'd say that the lack of good dialogue is what really lets this show down. The only character who ever really had anything worth saying was the male MCs best friend later on in the story - and even then none of it pertains to the anime's most interesting ideas.
I'm not angry - just dissapointed. Truly. I did really like the flute soundtrack that played a lot of the time though lmao.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 9, 2022
Let me start by saying this. I've watched over 50 anime now, and I typically find MAL scores and reviews quite harsh with a lot of less popular anime - and I typically enjoy anything with an interesting synopsis and a MAL score over 7.
But this is by far my most regretful watch of them all. There is absolutely no substance to this anime, the story, or the characters - despite how optomistic I felt about it within the first half of its 12 episodes.
It actually has an okay start. You know it's going to be a weird anime right from the beginning -
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and so its easily something that you might mistake as interesting. After the 6th episode though, I'd already realised it was straight trash because of the boring generic characters (especially the MC), the uninteresting setting of the anime, and also the lack of any real plot (which forces very perculiar writing choices just so that we can all pretend that the anime actually has a reason to exist).
Anyway, I thought "I'm 50% there, I might as well make it to the end"... And then I literally dropped it half way through the last episode. I'd gone 95% of the way, but it was just so uninteresting and bland that I just gave up with only 10 minutes to spare. I don't care how the season ends, I don't care about what could possibly happen next, and I don't care that i'll likely never ever find out.
My advice? Don't even bother. I've never been this critical with an anime before and that's despite enjoying a lot of stuff a lot of anime which can often be objectively described as just 'mediocre at best'. I don't neeed an anime to be particulrly impressive to enjoy it - it just needs to not suck ass. Unfortunately I'm unable to say that I think that this anime does not suck ass without deeply lying to myself.
Watching this anime will be a waste of your time. I'm conviced 99% of the decent scores given to this anime are purely for the presentation of this idea of a 'cute anime zombie gf' - because I seriously can't imagine anyone praising any other aspect of this show beyond that. You have been warned lol.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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May 23, 2022
NO SPOILERS: So, I'll start by saying this is a pretty good and enjoyable anime to watch that I would rate an overall 8/10 - and I think a lot of the reviews here are wayyy too focused on certain minor aspects which makes them unreasonably critical of this anime as a whole.
Now i'll move on by telling you what D-Game isn't: It isn't some super well-crafted world that has a 'scientific' explanation for everything. What I mean by that is, a certain level of suspension of disbelief is required - and you just have to accept that the game operates in a certain way.
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Whether the 'how' is explicitly mentioned or not.
Furthermore, I would say the way the game works is pretty simple, and the way players operate within the game is pretty consistent. So I don't know why other reviews are saying it's complicated - I think they're just making it complicated. It's a game (even if it does occur in the real world).
You don't need to know how the game protects you from law-enforcement, or how the general public are unaware of the events that they bear witness to, or how sigils (abilities/powers) are 'powered', or even how the teleportation works. But those are just consistent mechanics of the game that you should accept if you want to enjoy watching this show (and honestly, I don't know why you would be so anal about something like that in the first place. Anime is not real-life lmao - isn't that the whole purpose of it? To enjoy the fantasy/fiction which we are unable to experience in real life???)
What D-game is though is a fairly well put together enjoyable death-match anime. The MC has pretty good character development in the first season, and the clan members he acquires along the way are pretty likeable.
The game isn't balanced. I mean, it's not supposed to be - it's literally DARWIN'S game. It's survival of the fittest. It's a juxtaposition of the real word where things are more egalitarian. This is supposed to be about natural selection. But whilst the MC has a pretty good 'sigil' (power) it's more about how he uses it more than anything. There are players with just as good (if not better) sigils if utilised correctly - and there are also characters whose sigils are just straight trash when it comes to combat (but can help with other things).
Anyway, the MC recieves the pretty typical MC treatment, and sometimes he escapes situations he probably shouldn't be able to at the beginning of the season - but he at least admits his luck. This is acutally touched on pretty well by another character, as they tell the MC that you can only recieve a lucky opportunity if you survive long enough for those opportunities to present themselves. I mean, the show isn't completely non self-aware of this trope I guess.
It's just a fun and enjoyable casual anime to watch. There's no deep lore or a crazy well-written story. Just take it at face-value and there's little to complain about. The art and animation are pretty good, most characters are atleast semi-interesting, the pacing is good and there's no constant annoyances. The only thing I will say is that during the first half of the season certain directions of the story can feel more 'convenient' than logical - but I would say that's just so that the MC can experience some shit first - after that, I would argue that it becomes more logical and more immersive to watch.
There's no real plot-twists, and the show is pretty straight forward unlike something like Future Diary/Mirai Nikki (which I also similarly enjoyed but would say is inferior to this as a whole). What you see is what you get - and I liked what I saw. I don't think anyone who isn't pretentious would regret watching this through - and I am excited for a second season since I would say that I'm happily invested in the story (even if it's not majorly complicated or deep).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 19, 2022
3 words to describe Guilty Crown: Tragic and blunt - yet enjoyable.
I'm not going to go into huge amounts of detial, and this review will be spoiler free.
Guilty Crown starts off with some good concepts and foundations to build a story based around. The characters seem likeable to begin with (but does not last long), and honestly there were a couple of characters that I enjoyed watching, namely Scarface and Hare. Both Shu and Gai had their moments too.
Shu was by far the most consistent character in the series - but that's about as far as consistency goes for this anime. I
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liked what the plot what was centred around, and I liked the direction of the story - but the journey through it was VERY bumpy and rough around the edges.
Admittedly, in the last few episodes, a proper backstory is fleshed out and as far as Guilty Crown goes - it was reasonable. But maybe that's because I was tired of acknowleding all of the holes within the story once I reached the end, and perhaps I was just willing to accept anything at that point.
The show had huge amounts of potential, especially considering all the good soundtracks (and when those soundtracks were played) and the impressive art and animation for a 2011 anime.
But it made watching it that much more frustrating. So many things vaguely explained just so that convenient things (in terms of steering the plot) can happen without need of an explanation. All of the characters being completely unreasonable to the MC and ostracising him - which cause him to make a number of mistakes that lead to almost all of the tradegies within the story. A lot of events and interactions between characters feel both expected yet forced at the same time. Etc. Etc.
To put it simply, there are a plethora of aspects of the anime that are easy to criticise - but at the end of the day, despite being frustarted the entire time - I actually found the anime to be enjoyable to watch. This show is an absolute oxymoron that somehow both dissapoints and impresses - and for that reason I have to give it a fairly decent overall score of 7/10.
To summarise, I think the show's greatest flaw was that it was far too ambitious - and in the midst of all that ambition it failed to get the simple things right. I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending either - but it's kind of personal preference and I don't want to get into spoiler territory. Because I'd decided to watch Guilty Crown from a more casual perspective by the end of the story, I honestly wasn't too invested in how it played out - and I honestly didn't like many of the characters enough to care about how they all ended up.
However, I cant end this review here without actually highlighting some of that which actually makes the show enjoyable. The pacing is good. There is always an immediate purpose to everything that is going on in the show - and nothing feels dragged out. Again, the MC's (Shu's) consistency made it easy to understand the story from his perspective. The MC's power also felt quite authentic - despite seeming quite gimmicky at the start. The ending felt sort-of well-planned (but did feel rushed in the last episode, so it perhaps would have benefited from one more episode). And despite the writers clearly having trouble with managing the ambitious themes and concepts within the story, they were admittedly unique and interesting enough to keep me captivated until the very end.
I would say it's a show that had poor planning, but great execution. It's good enough for a casual watch - but becomes more frustrating to watch the more you try to get involved in the actual substance of the story. Make of that what you will lol.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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