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We all have biases, so I came into this anime wanting to fill the void after I had just watched another harem rom-com, OreSuki, and the timing couldn't have been better, since the ringtone for the MC in OreSuki is quite likely a reference to this anime. But OreSuki is a parody of the harem rom-com genre, while OreShura, being published five years earlier, is definitely in the generic class through-and-through. So it was a bit nice to go back in time in that respect.

But what I really enjoyed about this anime was that I could almost "see" the author in the work. I ... almost want to say that it is peak wish fulfillment, as I feel like he has spread out different parts of his personality among the MC and the girls and developed them around some of those traits. For instance, he really lets his "chunbiyo" flag fly, and its a major comedic trope and character trait for THREE characters! (Also, one of the girls is a big Jojo fan). Something like that made the work feel down-to-earth from a writing angle, and I enjoyed the author indulging in his freedom of expression and seeking out what is fun for him. Those kinds of things are inspiring for a writer like myself.

That's way too meta though, isn't it? Well, that's why I said we all had biases.

Sound:
I was honestly charmed from the opening scene. Lately I've wanted to pay more attention to soundtracks, and so I was surprised when this anime had such a relaxing tune from the very beginning. While the OP and ED weren't my taste, the OST was very good throughout. To continue with praising the audio, the VAs were also very enjoyable (Chiwa's was my favorite). (8)

Story:
There actually is some logic to the events in the show (as in clear cause and effect, and consistency, and not just random events to throw the character's into certain situations). However, although the characters have their own motivations, there isn't really an overarching narrative, and the plot is really more relationship based over having a clear theme or goal. (6)

Art:
It was fine, but I didn't enjoy the style of how they drew the side-profiles. (5)

Character:
The biggest points here come from consistency, especially Masuzu, who is truly the best argument for a character driven story. It was a nice change of pace that the MC isn't actually the flawed one here, but most of the character development is for one of the main heroines. Unfortunately though, it's only 12 episodes and a crowded cast, so the other girls, although introduced more or less quite well on their backstory, didn't receive much direction or development other than their obvious role as harem members. (6)

Enjoyment:
I did laugh a lot. The OST is something to revisit, and overall, if I ever wanted to write a harem romcom myself, which I almost felt inspired to do because this anime seemed so approachable, I would definitely check out the light novel of this series. (8)

Overall:
7/10 is quite fair, and it is exactly it's average rating for all users as of the date of this review. A straight up solid 7.00. That's pretty amazing.

The first few chapters will draw you in because it will be exactly what you were expecting: Comedy Ecchi! But then the later chapters, although still interesting, will start shifting towards Drama and Romance. But unfortunately, I don't think it's impact reflects the same sort of momentum that the story began with. The middle chapters especially, I found the dialogue between characters tip-toeing around the issues quite often and it was confusing to follow (perhaps just an issue with translation) and slowed the pace of the story.

It was great that each character gets their spotlight for backstory/development, but nothing substantial was truly achieved by the ... end of it in my opinion. It's like, they only just confirmed what they already felt, thus the story only budged slightly. Furthermore, too many details about the characters are left out to really connect to any of them. You understand their emotions because they are reinforced through the dialogue (or inner monologue), but you don't actually get a real event and greater context to really make these emotions believable to the reader. Show, don't tell!

The art style was pretty great and the characters/outfits were cute. I just had some issues with composition (occasional small text boxes that were hard to read). Overall, quite a strange manga, but of course, I don't regret reading it. If you truly like traps, a low score doesn't even matter. The focus and care that went into this production is a small treasure in its own right, so find in it whatever will be useful to you.

We watch Isekai for the awe and wonder of fantasy worlds, but Grimgar isn't necessarily about that; it's about people. Yes, Grimgar does very little in terms of world building, or even delving into why people are transported there in the first place, but that doesn't matter to the characters in Grimgar.

No, what only matters is that they are here now, and they must fight to go on until the next day. The Grimgar party aren't grinding levels just to be stronger, like we do in traditional RPGs. They are seriously grinding to survive. And instead of some grand plot to defeat the demon ... lord, the story's drama is a human one, demonstrating the highs and lows of a group of strangers learning to work and live together.

And yet, the best part of it is that all the gritty action this show has to offer is beautifully backdropped by watercolor painted scenery, making Grimgar one of the best looking anime series I have ever seen. I also thoroughly enjoyed the opening and ending scene music and accompanying animation.

I wish I could comment on the OST, but truthfully, this anime put me into a vibe where I found myself with nostalgia for Secret of Mana. And that is precisely the power of Grimgar's pacing and story telling.

Grimgar doesn't really tell you everything, perhaps some details being left out as it is an adaptation from a light novel, but in some way it does reflect reality. If you don't speak up, it's hard for others to know you, which leaves them having to observe and assume things about you instead.

This anime shouldn't be given a perfect 10, but I believe for its genre, it does indeed do a perfect job of filling me with awe and wonderment of another world.

It's possibly a cultural thing in Japan to be derivative of your predecessors in an effort to outdo them. Since this series is the grandchild in a lineage of isekai novels, starting with Tsukimichi, and then Reincarnated as a Slime, I feel this author tried way too hard to differentiate itself from its inspirations, creating a really ambitious story and even more complex method of story telling (non-linear, intersecting timelines), but its execution was rather poor.

If this was a western series, the TV adaptation would have no issue with telling the story differently, but since this is Japanese, the anime is just an advertisement for ... the light novels/manga, and the lack of care displayed in the production issues the anime suffered really demonstrates taking your already invested audience for granted.

But even without attributing malice to ignorance, the story just had a habit of overstaying it's welcome, and I'm not just irrationally hating the human side of the story, but even with the spider's monologuing, and although her voice acting is generally charming, left going for too long, the high pitch noises became really grating.

I will give the studio credit for making original opening/ending music for the show, even though I enjoyed the second half's music better. The spider's story was generally entertaining, but ultimately, the pay off just isn't sweet enough for all that you had to sit through for its resolution.

I would love to give the author another chance if they decide to write another story after this, but since this one was self-published, it would have truly benefitted greatly from treatment/mentorship from someone more experienced overseeing it.

Final Score (starting from 10, counting down)
-1 Poor integration of side story/characters
-1 Spider's main story drags on in some spots, I found myself spacing out or turning down volume when actress got too loud.
-1 convoluted plot
-2 Poor animation

*** 5/10 ***

I watched this right after "Demon Lord, Retry!", and I have to say unfortunately that this one is slightly better because it sticks to the harem-isekai formula. However, that prevents this anime from going any further than a 6. It's quite basic. The art, music, plot, and characters are all very simple. Just something fun to watch to pass the time, that's all.

I also wanted to clear up that the "two waifus" didn't hold this anime back at all, as they were actually worthwhile and balanced the entire time and didn't fade out and become decorations like other harem anime. And even though the ... MC is OP, he does have some obvious irl weaknesses (like social anxiety etc.), and it's presented fairly, albeit surface level.

The voice acting wasn't bad, I especially liked Shera's japanese voice. I saw a bit of the first episode in English, and Rem seemed very good, but I switched back to Japanese because the Demon Lord sounded better there. One voice that annoyed me though was Alicia's, as it was too stiff (in JP, I didn't get that far in
ENG). Probably because she is a knight, but it just didn't really match her look all that well. Edelgard was really cute in her design and dialogue.

This anime did help me understand the Isekai genre a bit more. It's so popular because the target audience is usually big gamers, so they enjoy the concept because it gives them an opportunity to be rewarded for the one actual skill they have in real life, which is gaming. That said, a lot of the connection between irl and the fantasy world is lost in this one, as most of the comparisons are made between the fantasy world and the MMO the MC comes from, so it's too layered to actual reveal anything substantial about the MC outside of the game. However, getting too psychological might be outside of the formula of course. I did watch this anime to completion, so it did it's job.

This was almost a 6 because it has a trap character in it, but nah, it definitely belongs in the average harem isekai anime bin. There was a part of me that found the business aspect of the MC's goals as unique, but then I realized it was completely unrelated to the main plot point, and I really started to get bored with the show at that point. The main character's inner dialogue writing is really clever, and I like him a lot, but there's still not enough meat in the show to overcome the dryness of him being overpowered and too many side characters ... that degenerate in personality. However, By the end of it I still wanted to see Season 2, but that's only because I'm biased (read the first line again). Ja-ne!

In a nutshell, Toradora is about a group of good people wanting the best for each other, specifically in finding love, but "no good deed goes unpunished", so things get complicated. There are lots of heart-warming and relatable moments, and you'd be surprised how much depth the story has, especially when it starts to unpack family issues. Some of that stuff really hit close to home for me.

The music is also quite amazing (10 Sound), and there is an epic fight scene and other creative moments and welcome appearance changes for the characters (9 Art), as well as some real quote gems sprinkled throughout the ... show!:
"Adoration never leads to a balanced relationship."
"When you trip while running in the hall, you get a nose bleed. When you trip in life, you cry."

But, of course, it is an 8/10 overall for me, end of the day, even though Episode 24 is definitely going down as one of my favorite anime episodes of all time. I enjoyed Toradora, but I'm okay with it being my little treasure, but I can't go around saying it's a must-watch because the second half of the anime did drag a bit, and the ending was good, but let's just say it gave me the feeling that a woman wrote this story, and I looked it up afterwards and it's true.

Like a woman, this anime does enjoy leaving hints sometimes when it really should be a bit more direct, especially when it came to developing its side characters. We never really got a Minori episode, for example. Sometimes we got a little too much of drama when we really needed progress and closure, but I guess that tactic sold more episodes in the end (7/10 for Story and Character). This problem could also be exclusive to the anime, and manga/novels might be better.

But, that said, good show, you'll probably like it. If you're interested, do it. If not, you don't have to.

My expectations for this was a fresh, new story that was brave enough to use a complex topic like a rental girlfriend to seriously handle the issues of love, loneliness, and money, but also be intelligent and lighthearted enough to be a rom com, a favorite genre of mine, after all. (If you want a real Rom-Com, watch Kaguya Sama: Love is War!)

Obviously the show started out this way, and I enjoyed seeing the comedic way of how exactly the main character and the rental girlfriend were going to be bound together beyond their initial contract. That was great, and I was excited for ... the show. But then, the tactics used to extend this bond became quite cheap, annoying, and unrealistic (they jump the shark at Episode 4).

The average person who is going to rely on a rental service like this is most likely already down on their luck, so I truly don't understand why this anime is going out of its way to make us dislike the MC beyond his circumstances. We as an audience were supposed to lose respect for the MC because of his use of the rental girlfriend, and possibly feel sympathy for him when we see that although he wants to stop using the service, he can't.

Instead, the MC is presumptuous and volatile, who you will soon find out is not at all a loser by accident, which is a relatable trait to most guys, but a loser by choice, with the incessant lying he does to dig himself a deeper hole, and then the self-deprecation he uses to manipulate the people he hurts not to leave him. You will also see that his perceived good deeds and traits are merely over-analyzed, excused, or projections from others, when in reality the MC was merely serving his own self-interest.

The story could have become more complex as well by adding more of the perspective of the rental girl herself, and any possible moral implications there could be for manipulating men, and specifically the MC, for their money. The other supporting cast had potential too, like his friend Kibe, which could serve as another great source of drama through their doubt or jealousy which leads them to eventually expose the relationship. This could still happen, but the fact that this anime is also on its way to becoming a harem anime, I doubt the male friends will achieve any relevancy in this anime at all, which is an extremely overlooked fact since loser males actually only have male friends.

For those who say that anime is supposed to be fantastical and should not be critiqued for its logic, they simply haven't realized that they could only enjoy a show like this because of the eye candy. But luckily for them, thinking with their other head is actually a trait they share with this horrible MC, so I guess this anime is grounded in reality after all.

The Fourth Plate was not only the hardest challenge for our heroes, but also for the writers. It is THE gauntlet arc, comparable to the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super, where every encounter matters, as any setbacks will have lasting effects on the overall mission. Since the title of this anime is "Food Wars", although "Fourth Plate" played out very differently from the previous seasons, due to the context, everything before has been building up to this moment: an entire season of Food Wars, back to back, to back.

Did they deliver? Well, the show is still extremely hilarious, and epic in it's ... directorship, giving this season a 9 in the Art and Enjoyment categories. I have not read the source material myself, but I will go out on a limb and say that they truly brought to manga to life, which sounds obvious, because it's animated, but let me explain. In certain manga, since the shots are still, faces can be exaggerated to convey more emotion to compensate. In the anime, characters like Soma are allowed to occasionally walk around with the same silly and exaggerated faces, which makes it feel like he is a 2D element in the 3D world, which works well because of the comedy.

Secondly, during the erotic taste-reaction scenes, in a manga there would be a still page that you could look at for a while if it really caught your eye, and the anime played with this idea as well. There were moments when the camera would drag down to the bosom of an overstimulated judge, pan back up to her face, but then slide right back to the real meat of the scene. Tongue-in-cheek for sure!

However, Fourth Plate really struggled to integrate all of the new characters, and tried to give them all compelling backstories instead of focusing on the food. In the past, we were able to learn about a chef's cooking by seeing their training in the kitchen as they worked to express themselves with their final dish, but in Fourth Plate, the level of cooking is so high, unfortunately this factor was taken for granted. Dishes were just expected. Through the flashback scenes, we merely got the new character's past on the plate, but it wasn't a a gift in the present.

To make matters worse, even the original cast weren't supplemented well through this season. Character development was either minuscule, or outright foreign or contrary to what was previously developed for the character. This would all be excusable if the ending bout was juicy enough, but in fact it felt so rushed that it made beefing up the other characters pointless. Since there were so many battles with so many dishes, none of it was very memorable in the end. Fourth Plate is a blur of food, flattening it's Story and Character scores to a five.

The opening/endings aren't that great either, but the music in the show is still quite saucy, landing it a 7 in the sound department, and with all the other scores in tallied up, the fourth season of Food Wars gets an average of 7 as well, which I must round down to a 6 since my enjoyment of the foodgasm scenes might be inflating the real score. In a nutshell, still hilarious for the fans, but not one you'd want to show to your friends.

Konosuba having this opportunity for a movie is well deserved in my opinion. And the best part is that all the events are completely canon! So fans of the series will feel absolutely refreshed and satisfied with their viewing. Not only does the film keep up with all the quirks that make Konosuba great, but it also expands the series in a variety of meaningful ways, in plot and character development.

It's well worth the watch, but it isn't a perfect 10. Although it is a movie, the art isn't completely a class upgrade from the norm. That said, when you need it the most, ... which is for boobs and explosions, Konosuba delivers, massively. The story also might seem a tad bit convenient, or pieced together, but it's still relevant to its roots, and despite a few leaps in logic, the pacing is quite good, and the characters are quite consistent.

But due to the criticisms, the score is at an 8, but that's because I like to work my way down from 10 instead of the other way around. But please be reminded that the humor and enjoyment is still all here, even outside of the main cast, which I was very impressed by! The last warning is that since the story is about the Crimson Demons, Megumin and her clan get a lot of screen time, so I can't really want to deduct a point for Darkness and Aqua taking a bit of a backseat in this one, but be warned about that if you are fans of them.