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I would say, at the very least, they appear to be cooking something with the type of relationships inserted in the anime and the exploration of said relationship that happened but in the end, what were they even trying to convey in this anime? The central message or intent of the anime remains elusive. They threw out an array of diverse characters and it seems like there are attempts to impart a lesson but somehow, I struggled and failed to discern the actual message that they aimed to convey. I could be the only blind person here but it's evident that the narrative within the ... anime is either non-existent or vague as hell. It really felt like the characters were meandering without any clear sense of purpose, leaving this as the core issue with the anime. All the concepts introduced are not necessarily flawed individually. It's just that when these concepts in the anime are combined and presented; there is an absence of a cohesive and explicit underlying message. Even if there is an attempt at conveying a message, It comes across as jumble, muddled, and lacking in clarity. The overall storyline maintains a certain level of mediocrity-it's not terrible but far from exceptional. The storyline still has its plot and it manages to hold its own, while the characters are reasonably well-constructed enough to make one watch the anime, the real and main problem of this anime is that, as mentioned before, they do little to remedy the anime's primary shortcoming: the absence or the word I prefer, missing, of a definitive and lucid concept.

Turning to the characters themselves, there is nothing particularly detrimental about the character's portrayal in this anime. While there are some part that raises the eyebrow, these do not substantially disrupt the overall quality of the characters. Each character does in some way have their own respective role and performs adequately within that capacity. Of course, the characters lack the depth required to do justice to the heavy themes and concepts introduced in the anime. The lack of depth regarding the characters kills the quality of the story and it could have facilitated a more thorough examination of the anime's central themes. It would be better if the important characters had more going on for them to dig deeper into the topic of the anime. Ultimately, the characters were able to act according to their roles, ensuring and maintaining the semblance of coherence within the storyline.

Jumping on the bandwagon, I had certain expectations that this anime might follow the typical idol anime formula, emphasizing the spirit of an idol and the hard work they encounter journey toward their dreams. I once enjoyed idol anime(That was years ago) like Love Live, and I was familiar with the genre's conventions. However, after watching the first episode of Oshi no Ko, I sensed something different. It became evident that this anime was not the typical idol story I had anticipated. Oshi no Ko dares to delve into the darker aspects of the entertainment industry, specifically within the realm of idol groups, and it ... does so admirably. While I am not an expert in the field, it is apparent through logical reasoning that the portrayal presented in the anime may reflect some truths. This refreshing theme is a rarity in idol anime, as few productions dare to explore different approaches, let alone shed some light on the industry's darker side. They approach a general theme about the entertainment industry and the execution is exceptional, showcasing the various negative aspects of the entertainment industry. I hope that this bold approach taken by Oshi no Ko inspires other creators to explore new angles within the idol genre. The idol troupe in anime has grown somewhat stagnant in recent years, and it would be refreshing to see more innovative and thought-provoking narratives emerge.

When it comes to anime, characters play a crucial role in driving the story, and Oshi no Ko excels in its well-defined characters. Each character in the anime serves a purpose and represents a specific aspect of the entertainment industry, resulting in a more engaging, interconnected, and solid storyline. It is easy to grasp the intentions and motivations of each character, as they are effectively conveyed throughout the show. Every character shines in their own right, with none left behind. Each character undergoes development, allowing us to learn about their individual backstories. Furthermore, since the story concludes on a positive note, each character receives a respectful resolution. The narrative direction for the characters is skillfully written, with the dialogues and scenes feeling entirely natural and fitting seamlessly with the anime's overall vibe. The pacing of the anime is also well-maintained, with nothing detracting from its flow. Overall, each character in Oshi no Ko possesses a distinct concept and idea to convey to the audience, and they are seamlessly integrated into the anime.

The anime is remarkably free from major flaws, making it difficult to pinpoint specific moments that stand out. This overall positive experience has shaped my review.

Extra

The opening and ending songs for this anime are truly remarkable. The lyrics, music, and music videos perfectly align with the anime's setting and overall vibe, leaving no room for any off-pitch elements. The lyrics were thoughtfully crafted to capture the essence of the anime, as well as its themes and ideas. This attention to detail extends to the music videos accompanying the opening and ending songs. Although the anime eventually transitions into a school setting, it does not adversely impact the story in any way. There are hardly any episodes or scenes that take place in the classroom. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that constantly introducing new innovations can be a challenging task for authors. While it is not impossible, sometimes it is beneficial to incorporate and refine existing ideas to create something even better.

P.S. Personally, I appreciate the character designs in this anime, particularly because they portray a more realistic body size for teenage boys and girls, setting aside the typical exaggerated anime features like large eyes and elaborate hairstyles. It feels refreshing and natural to see characters that don't have oversized breasts or exaggerated thighs. The designs lend a sense of authenticity to the characters and contribute to a more relatable representation of teenagers.

When the trailer was published worldwide, it provided a glimmer of hope that this anime might be a good isekai anime, and I had high expectations for it. Upon the release of the first episode, I eagerly sat down with a bag of popcorn, ready to cherish the moment. To my surprise, this anime actually brought a smile to my face and provided the light of hope I had anticipated from the trailer. Consequently, I decided to give this series a chance. As the series progressed, nothing particularly stood out, for better or worse. However, when it reached episode 5, things took a wild ... turn. From episode 5 until the end of the series, it was far from an enjoyable experience. Despite the promising start in the first episode, which gave hope and expectations to some of isekai anime enthusiasts, myself included (though I'm not an isekai fan, by the way), it turned into a disappointment. It was a rollercoaster ride, starting off strong and eventually devolving into a subpar anime. This outcome left me thoroughly disappointed, as all my hopes and expectations were dashed without any chance of redemption.
The first episode ignited hopes and dreams for the audience. It started off strongly by introducing the protagonist(MC), Yuuya, as a fat and ugly character who was bullied by his classmates, despised by his younger sibling, and even abandoned by his own parents. The only person who loved and cared for him was his grandfather, with whom he lived after being cast away by his parents. His grandfather imparted the advice, "We must live to be kind to others, and someday life will repay you." However, tragedy struck when his grandfather passed away, leaving Yuuya all alone and inheriting his house. This tragic backstory was crafted to evoke sympathy from viewers. One day, he discovered a secret door in his grandfather's house that led to "another world" where in this alternate realm, he trained himself, earned money, gained power, and cut loss a huge amount of weight. I'll stop here and won't continue with the story. So, several questions and connections arose and stuck in my head. Who was Yuuya's grandfather? Why was there a secret door in his house? What was the grandfather hiding? One might expect these questions to be answered which can lead to a compelling twist in the plot, but sorry to say, disappointingly, these aspects became plot holes that haunt the anime itself and were completely ignored after the first episode. Yuuya himself never questioned these mysteries and continued to live his life as a model and a "superhuman" in both worlds. Even if these details were not intended to serve as a compass for the plot, it left a huge question mark on what it could be possibly meant and resulted in a sense of dissatisfaction. Overall the writing felt poorly executed.

Yuuya finally get what he deserved, some love and supports from people thanks to his good looks. He became a chick magnet, with every girl who led eyes on him, a majestic being immediately turn red, wet, and soggy, and felt like they wanna be f*** intensely so hard by him. Initially, this was completely fine, understandable, and acceptable, but as the series progressed, it felt like they forced this to the point of losing its meaning. What were they trying to accomplish with this? Is this "Lookism"? Was it promoting lookism? It was repeated so frequently that it became somehow stale and seemed inserted into the show solely for the characters to worship his ass. I'm not saying that this aspect is unnecessary altogether - it has it meaning and purpose but repeating it excessively throughout the season without any significant development and gain or consequences lost feels unjustified. Is it for the sake of creating a harem for Yuuya? Yeah, sure. At the end of the day, it deviates from what the anime intended to present to the audience.

Overall, the story suffers from poor pacing. What was even the plot? The story doesn't even seem to progress at all. They introduce two different worlds, but what is the connection between them? They somehow create the impression that these two worlds are somehow connected or related, but in the end, it's just two separate worlds for the MC to conquer and farm more p***y. Every episode seems to revolve around showcasing how life can improve after acquiring cheats from the other world. Take an example of the mall episode, this episode is set in a mall where Yuuya uses the magic he learned to save his friends from an arson incident. Oh wow, I have learned magic, Now I can use it to save my friends from arson in the mall. Like, what is the point here? Yes, sure he acquires new powers, but like what is the underlying message? I know what is the message, but the execution of the idea, particularly in terms of narrative, falls short. Oh ya, he did engage in some inhuman feats, such as single-handedly fighting a gang raid at the school, rescuing three girls from arson in the mall, and wrestling a bear. and even destroyed a volleyball court during a volleyball competition, but no one questioned it at all. It seems all of these feats are common occurrences in their world. I wish I also could wrestle a bear with my bare hand too. There are other aspects such as the "fan service", but discussing all of them would be an abomination just like the anime. You have to witness for yourself and experience it firsthand. Unless you prioritize other factors when it comes to anime, none of these issues would matter. They started off the series with a strong beginning but ended up baking a shit pie.

Characters

Do I even need to discuss the characters? Yuuya is portrayed as too perfect, and the princess... The heroine in the real world is a useless damsel in distress. It's all about Yuuya. Every character exists solely to further enhance Yuuya's spotlight. All the characters are a pain in the ass, and the only commendable character in the anime is the leader of the kingdom's soldiers. None of the characters truly stand out, not even Yuuya himself. None of the characters serve any meaningful purpose in the story. Perhaps it's because the plot itself is virtually nonexistent.

When one of my friends suggested me this anime and confidently say that this is a good anime, I had my reservation but I still believe him. It's typical to be the person that quickly judges an anime based on the characters on the front page and in this case, Little Witch Academia is full of Loli girls. Fortunately, I am not one of those people who believe that anything can happen in an anime. Even though the show was nothing that special compared to some other magic and witch-type anime, they deliver a good anime overall. There was some questionable stuff as the anime ... progresses on that made me think but I like it. What I mean by questionable is more about the direction of the story and the characters. It is nice when a show makes us, the audience think and use a bit of our imagination to understand the story rather than just showing the whole script on the screen. They are able to present good characters despite some lacking here and there but that doesn't mean much. The quality of the story was good and generally speaking quite inspirational as well. I will keep this review concise and not drag it to the family of the director. I will go through what is important and not going to enter too much detail or spoiler in the anime.

Story (9/10)

"A believing heart is magic" is a quote that was introduced in the first 3-minute anime and it is being used and shown throughout the anime. They play around with it well that it achieves its meaning and purpose at the end of the anime. Overall the story was great. The pacing was fine. The plot was good as well. They deliver many scenes that are meaningful to the audience and it goes well with the story itself. There was some scene that kinda ruins the mood and is anti-climatic but it is nothing serious that affects the overall story. The story is inspirational like generally but it still depends on you. Throughout the anime, the plot and the story are consistent with each other and it was able to deliver the message that it was intended. Again, the story was great except for some lacking and questionable scenes when it comes to the presentation but this only deals minor damage that it is neglectable.


Character (8.5/10)

In the grand scheme, they are able to bring closure for all the characters despite not having the justice they deserved. Even so, all the characters are well-built and develop throughout the series. At least each character has their own purpose in the show and they serve it well. It is questionable about some of the character's roles and intentions but this is just due to lacking some justification for the character. At the end of the day, it was not far fetch than their original role. All the characters are likable and every interaction is meaningful. The relationship between the characters is great and they also understand one another. Another great thing about the characters is that almost all the relevant characters face their character development and that is the most important part. Each character has their weakness and strength and they fixed their weakness while utilizing their strength well. All the characters are good and despite some hiccups here and there, everyone should receive the love that they deserved

Imagine a world where as a lonely guy, you are able to rent a girl to be your girlfriend and experience what it is like to date a girl of your choice. It is an interesting concept and how I wish to see it happening in real life. If only there is an anime that can show us this concept. FORTUNATELY, there is one anime name, Rent-a-girlfriend but UNFORTUNATELY, the anime sucks. It has such a cute character design, an interesting concept, and a character personality but a very questionable MC. I would like to say that he is a bad MC but if they ... wanted to create a loser MC, then they do a good job. His cowardness for not making a move on the girl is not really a problem but the fact nothing changes that throughout the season. An MC does not need to be perfect and having weakness is actually better( depending on storytelling) but there is no growth for him and he keeps using his ultimate move, begging. Every time there is a problem he faces, all he does is beg without actually trying to think of a solution. I mean, even a half-baked promise is fine. This is not really a problem but as I said, he stays the same for one whole season. His horniness is not a big deal at all, well at least for me but I somehow believe that most people including myself despise it. Nevertheless, it is intended to show him to be such a loser.

Characters: 6/10
Throughout the season, it felt like he was just delaying the story. The story dragged on so long that it is necessary. It doesn't feel like it has any reason behind it. Repeatedly avoiding the problem and all of his plan to actually like solve the problem is not being carried out at all in the whole season. Despite he did talk about it with the heroine, it was nothing but mere words to give some kind of fake show to the audience. I really try to understand what was the intention of the “delay”. Unfortunately, it really felt like there is no reason behind it or the direction that they are heading which cause it to be such a waste of time. One thing for sure is that if this is setting up for something for the next season or there will be something to make up for everything the MC did was something meaningful, then I guess it is acceptable. Every couple in an anime, even in real life, they have this special reason to justify their love which shows their strong relationship. In an attempt to show this to the audience in the anime, they used such bad reasoning as if they force it so much or it is a half-baked idea. You can ask yourself like this, If that person is not my lover or my potential lover in a life-or-death situation, would you leave the person behind and let him/her die? Are you saying you won't save someone’s life(if you can) even if the person is a stranger to you? It kept getting mentioned in the anime and it is not even that special. They are using that to show how special their relationship is and like why they should be a couple when it is not even in the question. A mold exists for an MC but the MC in this anime doesn't seem to fit into the mold. As I mentioned before, If this is the type of MC they wanted to create, then so be it but it felt wrong. Even if they wanted to create an MC different than the mold, they failed it.

When it comes to harem anime, it should not be obvious which girl is going to get the guy. It should be fair for every girl to attempt to get the guy to make the story more interesting as the guy should think more and more about development when he wanted to pick the girl. As always, it depends on the storytelling but this is like the template. As the anime progresses from EP 1 to EP 12, it is kinda one-sided towards only one girl. This kinda spoiled the show because it became much more predictable which girl is going to win in the end. If a show insists on doing it this way, then It felt like it is going to be an NTR type but even so, the story can still go great based on the creativity of the storytelling. I think every girl was “Ok” and what I mean by that is every girl is acceptable. Each girl does represent something in the story but they do have their own lacking and flaws in their own character. Among the girls, the main heroine is the one that has the biggest dent in her character. One thing that is very clear was that there is no sense of direction in her character. I tried my best to actually understand where her character is heading but it is so not clear. Maybe I am the one who was not able to perceive her character but I really believe that her character was written that way intentionally. Is it a bad thing? Not really. Despite this, it is not like her character is the worst in any way but without having any purpose could cause some confusion and also a lack of appreciation from the audience. Somehow it felt like the other girl is actually better than the main heroine. At least the other girl has their own direction or purpose in the story whether it is complex or simple.

Story: 4/10
I won't be talking much about the story since the character is already in a bad condition. The story is kinda cliche plus with the characters being the way they are, It makes the story bad. Having a cliche story is totally fine if you can make good characters and overall great storytelling but for this anime, everything just fell apart. The good thing is that the story is easy to understand but it becomes tasteless to watch the whole anime.

Despite all this, the character design for the girls is cute and if you like it, then so be it. If the MC is someone that you personally can relate to, then maybe he has more meaning to you.
What makes the anime wasted is that it has the elements and premise to turn into a great piece work of art but unfortunately it failed. It is a pity that this anime is the one that comes into existence. Surely there will redemption arc for the MC in S2.

Lycoris Recoil

I believe there are people who mostly believe that Lycoris Recoil is just another bait waifu anime but the only thing different is that they are holding a gun. Yes, a gun KKONA. When the anime was released, the anime suddenly get so hot that it was trending on Twitter. So I decided to watch it because if you take a look at the front page of the anime, it is quite clearly like another waifu material type of anime but to my surprise, if you actually understand the anime well, the story is actually good than most anime story(I don't watch that much ... anime yet so please don't take it too seriously). Well, at least they provide a more meaningful story than just characters doing their own thing in the anime without many purposes or thoughts. Starting from the premise, characters, and setting, the story is presented in a wonderful way and I really believe that the anime is a successful waifu type anime(not bait waifu anime).

Just a little bit of the story. The story has an organization called the DA(Direct attack) which uses orphan girls and trains them to be some sort of assassins and trained soldiers that keep the peace of the town silently. There are some heroes in the dark who ensure that the city is always at peace from any danger and trouble. What they did is to prevent danger from happening. Among all the girls, there is a girl name Chisato who is super talented in dodging bullets, and her partner named Takina. There is also an organization called The Alan Institute that provides help in terms of finances and any other needs to those talented people who face difficulties in their life and are unable to fulfill their talent.

Characters (8.5/10)

Starting from Chisato is the usual cute, energetic, cheerful girl type of character and she also has a cool side of her when she was battling with the bad guy. One thing that makes her interesting was that she was able to retain her cheerful personality even in combat which gives that very tasteful kind of contradiction towards the battle scene and they are able to show it multiple times in a proper way consistently without making it too boring. I know this is not something special but at least it is something interesting. She also has a good back story. It is not something that deep or dark but they're able to construct it firmly in a way she is a solid character. I know that are some missing details or questionable things here and there but this just barely scratches the character model. I speak this to almost every character and element in the story. From her being gifted with such amazing talent to her having a congenital heart disease to her being the person is she in the present day, everything connected well this is what makes her a good character. I won't write every detail about each character but I think you get my point. This applies to all characters including Majima, Mika, Kusunoki(I believe she is the character with the most not shown details but she is still able to serve her own purpose for the story to continue on), Shinji, and others. Based on what I mentioned before, overall the lack of small details of each character does not do much because they presented the major point of each character so as to say the foundation of the character is already strong. What did the character has that actually made the whole anime actually good? It is what they present in the anime. I will just say what each character presented in the anime.

Chisato presents the talented person who wanted to do what she wants to do and do good things, Majima a talented person who also wanted to do what he wanted to do but is "evil", Shinji( Alan) has a belief that every with talent should use it to serve the world whether in a good way or a bad way and DA who give purpose to the orphanage without actually having them to make their own decision with what they wanted to do in their lives. If you actually understand this, I can assure you that story will be more interesting ( pretty sure it is not for everyone)

Story (9/10)

With what I talked about the characters, I think it is pretty to understand where am I heading for the story. With each character presenting their own purpose in a good manner, all they need to do is execute the story well with the characters and THANKFULLY they did a good job out of it. I would not talk about every detail of the story but in short, the story is about talent is your purpose in life. Almost every character is like a chess piece that works together to get this story done and the message that it wanted to present was able to be understood. There is more than just waifu holding guns in the anime if you actually TRY to understand the story from each character's relationship and how they correlate with each other and also don forgets the organizations. Almost everything has its own purpose and not one gets left behind (Ya, ya I know there is some part where it is questionable but it is not a big deal). Not many anime that was created with the intention of presenting a huge message for us an audience to ponder and I believe this is what makes a really good story. At the end of the season, it is a question we can ask ourselves about justice, evil and talent.

I am not really the guy to talk about animation, sound, and music but if it is something special or stands out among other anime then maybe I will actually say something. All I will say is that the animation, music, sound effect, music, and voice acting are all fine. I think the opening song is good but the MV does not really do much overall it is still great. I believe there aren't many problems in this aspect. Me, personally, I enjoyed the story and I loved each character. The anime was a success despite the little missing pieces in the story, dialogue, character and etc.