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Solid ani-movie. Good action scenes and visuals. The animation feels a bit better than recent seasons. Some jarring CG still for large crowds. Several "skipped" fight scenes (understandably unimportant). Story wise it works well as a movie as it flows well, is directed well, and wraps up cleanly with a short cute after credit scene.

The new characters introduced are pretty cool. Solid development for some existing characters.

I watched in imax and the experience is not much better audio-wise. This isn't a great "surround sound" experience like normal films, but that is expected.

Enjoyment-wise there are many episodes in the tv series that i enjoyed a lot ... more. But the movie is still quite entertaining and is certainly a must watch for fans.

Rezero, higurashi, steins gate.
Time travel and thriller.
This series is very similar. But does not make me feel the same.
It was just too predictable. Full of cliche, not even executed well.
We did not care for the characters. They are too simple and forgettable.
There is no psychological element to this show, and I think that is the biggest miss for a "time travel thriller" series that the 3 series above executed well.

The fights and deaths are flashy and have good animation. But the writing lacked substance and everything was just convenient and short sighted. It kind of felt like a brainless shounen, and everyone had ... sub room temperature IQ with the actions they took. There were too many plot holes and oversight in storytelling for this to be called a good story

Nothing really felt "at stake" or "at risk" and put you on the edge of your seat. It just felt like some cheap mixed copy of one of the classic series.

If you never saw any of the 3 above, you might think this series is great.
But if you have, I think you'd be a bit disappointed in this show.

The ending reminds me of basic romance shows. It's very boring and cliche. The whole show is a cliche.

The weakest fights the strongest
This is the trope of this series, and it is enjoyable to watch. Like most action series, the story evolves into dealing with bigger and stronger villains/issues. But, the MC does not get any stronger. So it does have that charm.
However, the recent chapters are a complete mess. And certain characters are so out of place in the story right now that the story feels so messy. There are so many times the audience is probably wondering "who the hell is this", or "i remember this character from 50 chapters ago".
The author wrote a romance comedy before this. His current ... work, this action series, is trying to do too much. So many characters and plot lines. Unlike Gotoubon with romance between 5 girls and one dude, the author cannot handle writing a large scale story that tries to critique society and contains dozens of different characters you forget about every few chapters. It is just so messy to read. Some of the twists and scenes are still decent, so I do feel conflicted on this series.

This author is good at writing twists in his stories.
For this series, I could not predict at all what was going to happen next.
You see this title and read the first chapter and think it is going to be about a kid with a gun doing things in a school.
But the story evolves, the characters evolve. And by the end, I am left a little confused but somewhat satisfied.

There are plot lines and character subplots abandoned. The author tends to leave subcharacters heavily underdeveloped towards the end. It is a common thing in manhwa to only heavily focus on the MC and maybe 1-2 other ... characters. There are a lot of characters in this series compared to "Bastard", so I think this is what most affects the rating for me.

The ending definitely feels a little forced and writing was weaker than at the start. Which is understandable because the author needs to fit puzzle pieces together to make this a "prequel" that fits in with the "sequel", Sweet Home.
But I think the general rating reflects this. It is still enjoyable, just lacking compared to the author's other works.

One can say shows like death note, attack on titan, etc. have revolutionized anime.
They can also say shows like Solo Leveling is killing anime

Solo leveling is one of MANY products of mass produced "power scaling" manhwas from Korea.
Some say it started the craze, started it all. You can open up any random manhwa in this genre and realize only subtle differences from solo leveling. "It's just like solo leveling", said manhwa reader #99593258983.

Solo leveling's popularity is due to its genericness. You can think of it as the Sword Art Online of manhwa. Nothing really stands out, but it is fun to look at, and ... easy to follow. It is such a simple plot, a simple story, with the simplest of characters. Anyone can get into it , and quickly.

Weak guy become strong fast! And only him! See him get strong, see him beat up the bad guys. Such desires unfolding on television has always had heavy appeal to most humans. We want to see the underdog win, the bad guys lose. Even people that claim to only enjoy sophisticated, deep media - They still can enjoy this simple show fulfilling this simple desire. My only quip is that the anime under delivers compared to the manhwa by cutting much detail. "The book is better", you've heard many times. But I think it's particularly true for this series.

generic action anime. Appeals to young children mainly. You like solo leveling? Might as well watch this too.
It is just fight scenes and action scenes back to back. There is little to no dialogue. The only character 'development' is the MC is becoming a monster and losing his humanity I guess. The whole story is just human vs monster. But one (or a few) human strong!

It is still fun to shut your brain off and watch maybe. Nothing really to think about or pay attention to other than blankly gazing at the flashy projectiles, debris, and swords and stuff flying around. The MC is ... basic and pretty forgettable. I don't even remember his name. Sub characters are super basic and dry as wlel. What were their names? Generic blond twintail tsundere, super loyal kind friend, annoying angry guy with red hair. Like, no one stands out at all. Audience would not care at all if any of the characters die, that is how insignificantly they are written.

By the way, I saw this anime advertised in posters and collaborations in Japan and none of the Japanese or tourists seemed remotely interested in this series. There's just nothing in this series that really appeals to anyone.

I think I may skip this season and the next!
Once again Rudeus the MC proves insufferable and super uncomfortable to watch on screen. No development. Just pure perversion and creepiness!
The intense and thrilling action scenes from season 1 are yet to be seen in season 2 and in this part. (They do not exist and will not happen again apparently!)
Just another season of nonstop creepiness from a predatory middle aged man towards little girls! This show is recommended if you enjoy that sort of thing!!! 👍👍👍
Also all the girls fall in love with the old man! So much self insertion from the writer it is ... just unbearable to watch for any normal, healthy human being!

Starts out as a great thriller/mystery, with realistic characters and great pacing. Comparable to a 'Death Note'/'Cat and Mouse' type of vibe between multiple characters.

But somewhere along the road (literally speaking as well), it falls off significantly as the author keeps introducing more characters and subplots. The story continues to 'escalate' (higher stakes technically - but less interesting and more generic), but pacing slows significantly and the rapid fire 'panic moments' at the beginning are replaced with longer, drawn out interactions and events.

As it progresses, the actions of the characters/subplots start to make less sense and the things that happen seem more 'random'. The sense ... of urgency and danger at the beginning fades as the story progreses. It becomes a different story entirely, and slightly loses the thrilling charm it had at the beginning which captivated me. When it was just a friendly, unconfident salaryman into mystery novels willing to do anything to save his daughter and there weren't a million things going on at the same time.

every episode: puzzle pieces as symbolism fly off the head of characters 10 times an episode and it must be shown for our audiences to understand that the characters are 'putting the pieces together'

every episode: each 'soccer game' needs to take up 5+ episodes because within 30 minutes the time stops and internal monologue must occur 50 times in one episode

every episode: the characters evolve like pokemon and shock everyone else like shonen characters developing new abilities that make them stronger

every episode: the boys must say they are 'eating each other' out in a normal way because that means plot is developing

It's the journey and not the destination that matters
As much as you may hate the ending, you can't deny it's a great series and the ending makes the most sense.
The message is that people are meant to be stepped on and used so other people can be happy. It's a very sadistic message.
But that's the charm of the series. Unafraid to dive into human toxicity and explore touchy subjects like abuse and trauma.

The best part of the series is how authentic the characters feel. The trauma, the despair, and angst. It all felt real. As well as the scarce moments of happiness. Crushing those ... hopes of a fake, idealistic happiness is what makes the series a 10 for me.