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Oct 15, 2024
A disappointing waste of a really neat premise, a great cast of characters, and an intriguing power system. The manga never again reaches the peak of the Shibuya Incident arc, and by the last third of the story, abandons any and all forms of character development for the sake of long, drawn-out fights that focus more on spectacle and word salad than a coherent fight. It's a series that seems to run almost solely on "aura" and hype for characters that usually never actually amount to anything. Even if the ending wasn't the most anticlimactic Nothing Burger ever written in the history of Shonen, I
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still wouldn't have been satisfied due to the direction of the story post-Shibuya heading in a way that just wasn't engaging or fun. I denied it for the longest time, but deep in my heart I knew that the story had fallen off; the culling game arc just dragged on and on, and fights got increasingly convoluted to the point where the 2 questions I usually asked were "what is happening" and "why should I care about any of this".
My personal biggest gripe with this series however is how Gege builds up so many characters, gives them great designs and makes (well, most of them) them interesting, and then kills them off unceremoniously after their first big on-screen fight. For the Shibuya Incident arc, the number of deaths was fine, it drove home the point that shit got real, but then he just kept killing off more and more and more characters until basically all the characters I cared about were dead. It's the same issue that a series like Akame ga Kill! has, killing off all the protagonists for no reason other than shock value is just so lame and boring. There's no one to latch onto, and I stopped being a spectator, gripped by the story and conflict and became a mere passerby who views whatever's going on with disinterest.
At the end, this manga just reminded me of how many better manga I could've been reading, because this takes clear inspiration from a lot of other manga but doesn't live up to any of them. I wanted to be generous with the score and maybe give it like a 6 because I really enjoyed the first half, but the more I think about the latter half, the more I dislike this series because of how much potential was wasted.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 16, 2024
Even by the standards of ecchi anime adaptations this was pathetic. I genuinely can't think of a single factor that was handled even remotely well in this. Some of the worst CGI I've seen in an anime, muted dull color schemes, voice actors that do not fit their characters in the slightest (I like Maaya Uchida but Tenka should've been voiced by Maaya Sakamoto instead), extremely poor pacing that made watching this a total slog, and the fight choreography was painful to watch. The manga, by no means perfect and more of a guilty pleasure than anything, at least has a distinct style and personality,
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and the anime fails to capture any of it. Avoid at all cost, even the ecchi scenes are lame.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 19, 2023
The greatest pleb filter since the second half of Full Metal Jacket.
Vinland Saga is a masterpiece of a manga, and one of the greatest works I have ever read. Every arc is wonderfully written and full of incredible character development, but even amongst the other highly lauded and acclaimed arcs, the Farmland Arc stands out for its slow burn, maturity, greater focus on characters, and the analysis of the human condition, basically a stark contrast to the brutality and nonstop action from what is essentially a very long prologue. There are still plenty of brutal action scenes in this, but make no mistake, this
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season takes a completely different direction and tone from the first season.
The standout of this anime is obviously Thorfinn, and the growth that he experiences is both profound and progresses at a natural pace, so much so that even having read the manga beforehand, I'm still floored that THIS is the same character from S1 where he was basically a feral brute. Thorfinn states that he was reborn in the final episode and that's the best description possible because at this point he is a completely different character. The other characters are also fantastic additions and feel like genuine, layered characters instead of being forgettable, one-dimensional NPCs. Einar starts off as the foil to Thorfinn, but as Thorfinn begins to change, Einar’s role gradually shifts into becoming a brother to him, and despite being the more optimistic of the two, Einar also has moments of blind rage and recklessness. They complement each other and their bond just felt incredibly genuine and their brotherhood is one of my favorite parts of the series. Canute also returns, and like Thorfinn, is also unrecognizable from the first season, as he goes from a spoiled, cowardly kid into a hardened and pragmatic King who would even target his own family members in a bid for the throne. We see his struggle with his belief that war is the only way to bring peace and that despite his hatred for his father he becomes more like Sweyn every day. He replaces Einar as the foil to Thorfinn and I loved their interaction and their clash of philosophies in life.
The production is also of highest quality; the direction is fantastic, the artstyle is gorgeous, the fight scenes themselves are very fluid and appropriately brutal, the music is incredible (I particularly love River, visually and musically it just hits all the right notes for me, and it’s one of my favorite openings ever at this point), the voice acting is immaculate, and the CGI, while still noticeable, is also handled much better than the first season imo. Overall, S2 is a masterful humanist tale that transcends the excellent S1 in practically all categories, and I really couldn't have asked for a better adaptation. Truly exceptional, inspiring, and emotional, this is the best anime I've watched in years. High hopes for S3.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 8, 2022
It would be so easy to continue talking about the flaws that Netflix' handling of this anime has (mostly) caused. The inconsistent animation, the batch releases killing most discussions, the disappointing way that certain scenes were adapted, or the dialogue being incredibly repetitive and cringeworthy at times, even when knowing it's supposed to be exaggerated and ridiculous. Very easy to look at its flaws, and I was seriously considering just writing a review that focused on the negatives, especially since Part 6 isn't a part I love compared to 3, 5, or 7.
But then all of that went away the moment Emporio started tearing
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up in the final episode, and by god I started tearing up with him. It is easily the most emotional scene in any of the JoJo anime parts so far. This is the end of an era, and I cannot express how grateful I am to have been a part of this and to have experienced it fully. Thank you, Hirohiko Araki and David Production.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 11, 2022
Pretty disappointed with this, honestly. Maybe not the worst One Piece film, but it's a huge step down from One Piece: Stampede.
Like every other One Piece film, the plot is as generic as they come. There is an important item, a certain someone gets ahold of it, and is now threatening the entire world and it's up to the Straw Hats (and honorary Straw Hat member Law) to stop them. I'm used to it by now, and it was something I expected going in. But what I didn't expect was how shallow and cringeworthy the writing and characters would be.
Animation was simply on par with
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every other One Piece films. It's not better just because it has more color, and it honestly feels wasted because this film doesn't have ANY good fight scenes. Literally the best fight scene imo was a 2 second clip of Fujitora dispatching random, powerless civilians. Now if that isn't a bad sign, I don't know what is.
Fanservice has never been this blatant and insulting. Half the characters that cameo make absolutely no sense as to why they would appear and they contribute nothing to the plot. Oven did nothing (btw out of all the Big Mom Pirates members, why him? And I guess he forgot about his grudge against Luffy? No way he wouldn't try attacking the Straw Hats on sight), Bartolomeo did nothing but just use barriers and act like a fanboy, Blueno and Kalifa I guess were reinstated as Cipher Pol members at some point but it's so obvious that Blueno only came back because they needed his Devil Fruit ability, and once he exhausted his usage, he is literally turned into a chibi version and is sidelined for the remainder of the film. Kizaru and Fujitora do nothing yet again, Akainu stands around looking mad again, and the Five Elders spout exposition while looking more like incompetent buffoons than ever before.
I'm also pretty tired with the Straw Hats being incredibly useless in fights, all they do is shout attack names and repeat that over and over again. It's very disappointing to have Zoro, Sanji, and Jinbe only really be effective against waves of fodder and not have any choreographed fight sequences. They also tried making Usopp look useful for once by having him magically power up his Observation Haki to Katakuri's level and it just looks like an asspull. Even worse, when the Red Hair Pirates show up, they just stand around and let themselves be attacked because they don't want to hurt civilians. Can't one of the most notorious Pirate crews in the world at least take some kind of gray moral action? At least have them fight the Admirals!
As for the big bad, Uta is legitimately one of the most evil characters in the entire One Piece world. I don't care that they gave her a generic sad backstory that anyone could see coming a mile away, she literally almost succeeded in killing 70% of the world population. In fact, the garbage plot twist about her knowing what she did makes her actions even worse. She is without a doubt the worst part of the entire film and was written in such a poor way that it's impossible to sympathize with her at all. They tried so hard to fit her into the timeline and they failed miserably. Her dancing was also in CGI and it looked awful.
Overall, a disappointing One Piece film that goes overboard with the fanservice, has atrocious writing, makes a laughable attempt at making a lunatic look sympathetic with daddy issues., and reveals nothing about the Red Hair Pirates that we didn't already know, literally the main draw of the entire film. Extra half star for Ado's incredible singing, her voice is absolutely addicting to listen to and yeah I might be biased as an Ado fanboy but in my opinion, without her, this film would have been nothing. The music is really the only aspect that I don't have anything negative to say about.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 15, 2022
This anime has no right to be as good as it was. To me, Cyberpunk 2077 was the most disappointing gaming experience I have ever had, and when I had first heard about an anime adaptation (or at least an anime in the same setting) I had zero faith it was going to be anywhere even remotely competent, but I found Lucy's design to be pretty interesting so I decided to check it out, and I was blown away by just how much fun I had with this.
The story is straightforward but to me, it was much more engaging and interesting than what was
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present in the game, and it was paced in a way so that it never felt like it dragged at all. Of course, the breakneck speed might be have its drawbacks but on the whole it showed what it needed to show and it never wasted any time with meaningless filler.
Studio Trigger is known for their amazing art and this anime is no different. They nailed the atmosphere of the technocratic nightmare that cyberpunk is famous for, the character designs are faithful to the games and look absolutely stunning, the fight scenes, shoot outs, and gore are so fun to watch, and the colors are vibrant and ooze with style. They also incorporated the UI from the game such as the text messages, quickhacks, and the map with markers and all and that was pretty cool to see as well.
Sound is also very well done, voice acting was on point especially from Lucy, Rebecca, and Maine. Soundtrack was absolutely godlike.
The characters are probably the weakest aspect because the fast pacing means not every character gets developed, but I still found a good portion of the cast to be great fun to watch and connected with a lot of them. The two main characters have great chemistry with each other and their relationship felt shockingly natural with how fast it developed and I was honestly impressed with that. They also had clear motivations and believable personalities, and the MC in particular is very similar to V but he's just written so much better, and the FMC is fantastic, loved every second she was on screen. The side characters are hit or miss but Maine and Rebecca were the GOAT. The villains are admittedly cliche with their constant backstabbing and general mustache-twirling behavior, but they did justice to one of the big bads from the game, and turned him from a joke boss fight to a genuinely intimidating killing machine.
If you like the cyberpunk genre in general, this is 100% worth a try, and if you are someone who liked the game, even more so. If someone like me, who dropped the game because of how shoddy and disappointing it was found this to be a bloody good time, there's a very good chance you will like it as well and you'll appreciate the little nods and cameos that this show has. Really, the best compliment I can give this anime is that it makes me want to revisit the game because this proves to me that the game's setting has potential that has clearly been left untapped. Not Studio Trigger's best (that goes to Kill la Kill) but this is a very solid entry for them and it's honestly one of my favorite animes of the year so far.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 12, 2022
I am now deathly afraid of how the Steel Ball Run adaptation is going to turn out. The second batch of episodes manages to mostly capture the energy, wackiness and bloody violence of the first batch and more, but the way this part has been handled is seriously one of the biggest displays of incompetency I've ever seen in this medium. Aside from the mass release of episodes killing weekly discussion and hype, Netflix didn't even bother to add in a recap in episode 13 despite it being NINE MONTHS since the last episode, and made no efforts to promote this release in any way.
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If I didn't see a reminder on the JoJo subreddit I would not have remembered that it came out.
Story - With this batch, I am reminded why Stone Ocean wasn’t as interesting to me as the other parts until after the prison break in the manga. A lot of the arcs in this batch are just not very interesting and while seeing these scenes animated does make it a bit better, it’s still by far the weakest aspect in part 6, and the writing does not help because some of the dialogue is very bad and even ironic enjoyment isn’t enough to overlook it. At least it ends on a strong note. As a fan of Christopher Nolan’s Memento, the last two episodes are one big reference to that film and I really enjoyed watching it.
Characters - Jolyne remains in my top 3 favorite JoJos alongside Jotaro and Johnny. She is just so badass and her design and Stand are just so sick, and her brash personality is very endearing and fun to watch. Ermes is given more backstory and her fight with Sports Maxx, while not the best looking, I found to still pack a lot of emotional punch. Foo Fighters is the highlight for this batch, and her struggle with identity and consciousness was very poignant and her fear of losing them was very relatable and sad. Anasui is finally given a chance to shine and he is… quite an interesting character to say the least, and Diver Down is an awesome Stand as well. As for Enrico Pucci and Whitesnake… It's incredible just how menacing, cold, and calculating the anime made them both look, and he’s now one of my favorite JoJo villains.
Animation - The animation quality overall is... honestly incredibly mediocre. Whether it's because of the pandemic or Netflix's tomfoolery or a combination of both, it just looked super off. Faces, animation, CGI, background, you name it, it was super shoddy and very noticeable and a considerable step down not just from other parts but the first batch. It does get much better for Planet Waves and Jailhouse Lock at the very least and the fights for those arcs were given justice, but everything else was just so off-putting. I have a feeling the blu-ray comparisons are going to be very noticeable this time around.
Sound - Ai Fairouz as Jolyne is literal perfection. Nothing more to say. Ermes and Foo Fighters sound great, Daisuke Namikawa is perfect as Narciso Anasui and he seems to have a particular talent for voicing hot but morally questionable men (I forgot just how creepy Anasui was lmao), Tomokazu Seki as Enrico Pucci is simply incredible and is honestly on par with Koyasu’s portrayal of DIO, and even minor characters such as Kenzou, Miu Miu, and Viviano Westwood, etc. all sounded fantastic as expected. OP and ED are a banger as usual and I don't skip them ever. Sound effects are done very well and add to the brutality of these fights.
Overall, despite major issues that I had with the animations, I think David Productions did a pretty serviceable job with adapting the weakest overall aspect of Stone Ocean, and I am looking forward to the third batch because that is when things will truly escalate into batshit insanity and it will be glorious to witness. I just wish Netflix cared more and hope that they will approach Part 7 in a very different manner, because otherwise we're in trouble.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 17, 2022
(Slight spoilers I think?)
This is a boring time-waster that doesn't even have good ecchi scenes where you can literally check off all the tropes this anime crams into each episode. Annoying MC who happens to have latent overpowered abilities, a childhood friend who treats him like crap but is secretly in love with him, a mustache-twirling villain, a mature sexy lady who acts incredibly seductive but becomes very meek when the affection is returned, it has it all.
The story is told in a way that fails to capture even the slightest interest in whatever is going on. It is so incredibly generic and predictable
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that there is 0 tension to be had, and it's extremely easy to guess what exactly is going to happen in the next episode.
The art is fine, character designs are good for the most part but Vermeil's proportions seem to change every time she appears on-screen. The fight scenes are nothing special and lack any real punch and the backgrounds also look really weird as if there's a filter that's been put over them, but it's not overly atrocious at least. Sound was whatever, voice actors did their job. ED is not bad though, I'll give it that.
As stated above, Alto is a pretty insufferable main character. A flawless and naive do-gooder who manages to attract almost every single girl he interacts just by being nice to them, has incredible magic abilities and manages to ace all of his classes except one which the audience is supposed to sympathize with, and has that insanely annoying trait where he still manages to be meek with Vermeil despite seeing her naked multiple times and having initiated kisses himself. Lilia is the most generic tsundere I have seen in a good while, and her crush for Alto is so blatantly obvious that Alto not noticing only serves to make him look even dumber, and that scene where she sneaks into his room with the invisibility potion was just so incredibly uncomfortable to watch. The student council characters try to look super badass but just come off as corny and lame. The villain (up to episode 6 at least) is evil for the sake of being evil. Vermeil at least is somewhat interesting to watch, but her romance with Alto just feels so bland.
So with the only positive aspects being Vermeil (and that is only partial because the ecchi scenes just feel so safe) and the soundtrack and everything else making me cringe or check my clock every 2 minutes, I would not recommend it to anyone unless they're fans of generic ecchi animes. I cannot believe I watched this far honestly.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jul 24, 2022
Fantastic. I was worried about Summer's lineup not being as strong as Spring, since the only show I've been really invested in was Call of the Night, but I'm glad this anime proved me wrong. Similar to Ya Boy Kongming, I was expecting to drop it after getting bored of the novelty of the premise but it's turning out to be the best anime of the summer so far.
The story is the only part that isn't amazing, it's not some deep thought-provoking masterpiece but it's interesting enough to keep viewers hooked and the other aspects of this show more than make up for it.
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I also really like the pacing, it never lazes around or drags its feet, the action scenes get right into the important parts and it genuinely felt refreshing to watch.
Animation is fluid and beautiful to look at. Character designs are really nice. The action scenes are fast-paced and fun to watch, a lot like John Wick or Equilibrium, and while the scenes like strafe-dodging bullets might not be realistic, the way the characters handle the guns certainly feels realistic.
The characters are by far the strongest aspects of this anime. Best friends being foils to one another will always be enjoyable to watch, it's why I like Gon and Killua's relationship or Jon and Damian from Super-Sons so much, and Chisato and Takina are another great example of this foil relationship. Their interactions are so sweet and fun to watch and make the slice-of-life aspects a pleasure instead of a chore to sit through. (Chisato also likes Terminator, Die Hard, John Wick, and Con Air so as someone who shares her tastes in films it makes me like her even more lol)
Sound is also pretty great, the OP is awesome and the voice performances are phenomenal, it's Chika Anzai's best performance by a country mile, she really sells the cheerfulness of Chisato. They also hired VAs that can actually speak French so it didn't sound weird when Chisato spoke French with a couple of tourists, which I am glad for since a lot of other anime don't seem to do this. As much as I love Kaguya-sama, that scene where they speak French was really cringe to listen to.
Of course, all of this can change because it's new and an anime original, but this left a strong enough impression on me that I decided to write a review before it finished, which I usually don't do. This has a lot of potential and I am eagerly looking forward to more episodes in the coming weeks.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 23, 2022
An epic tale that culminates in THE most shocking nightmare fuel sequence in manga history.
I've only read Berserk quite recently, but it already replaced Steel Ball Run as my favorite manga ever, and this adaptation mostly captures the amazing story that Miura tells. Seeing the Band of the Hawk's rise to glory and their 100% winstreak, the schemes, the politics, the rescue, all of it I found very intriguing to watch and never really felt like it dragged.
Every character sounds exactly like I imagined when reading the manga. The soundtrack, especially Guts' theme, Behelit and Murder are all phenomenal, and the characters are
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all amazing. Casca's complicated relationship with Guts growing over time and blossoming into a genuine romance felt natural, Judeau is such a likable side character, and Pippin despite not having much to say still gets you to like him. As for the main two characters, it's very simple: Guts is one of the greatest protagonists in fictional history and Griffith is one of the most despicable villains in fictional history. There is no depth that he won't sink to in order to achieve his dream, and with the various flashbacks, it does such a great job at making you empathize and admire Griffith until that infamous scene.
This adaptation also nails the atmosphere, from the medieval castles, to the intense battle sequences, and of course the sheer terror and dread of the Eclipse. You can feel the endless despair and confusion from the character's face when faced with this incomprehensible scene. It really makes you feel utterly betrayed and completely helpless, and even with the abrupt ending, it was such an amazing sequence to watch.
The main issues I have with this adaptation, however, are the dated artstyle and the numerous scenes they cut from the manga. I will admit, it feels unfair criticizing artstyle from the 90s and it adds to the atmosphere I talked about above, so I'll be lenient with that, but the cuts are an issue to me. I'm not complaining about Wyald being cut: he is one of the most despicable characters I've ever read and I NEVER want to see him in action. But when Skull Knight, one of the best characters in the manga, is completely absent from this, we have a problem. I also wish the Kushan assassins were present, one of Pippin's best moments were against them and that was cut which sucked, and they cut the scene that revealed the Midland King to harbor an incestuous desire for his daughter Charlotte, which explains why Griffith seducing Charlotte was such a big deal.
But overall, this is a fantastic adaptation and it's a shame that this still remains the best adaptation of the manga to date.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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