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So I recently remembered how much of a bop the OP of this show is and, seeing the comments, I see mostly one of two outlooks on this show, neither of which I agree with. One is the "This show is the hidden gem of the season", "Only gets better", etc.. Now let's get real here. This show's plot makes as much sense as nominating Gibiate for best animation of the year. It is like essentially a fever dream in written form. The characters are as intelligent as the average SAO player. So I mean taking a look 'objectively' this show's plot and characters are ... pretty shit.
And so now comes the 2nd perspective. "This show is trash", "Plot makes no sense", "Awful show". I'd agree on those points, but being honest, this dumpster fire of a show is STILL a dumpster fire. And who doesn't like to see a good dumpster fire? I'm not gonna come in and actually analyze this show but I just want to give a perspective on what to look for when watching this show. This show is NOT good. But it's entertaining as fuck. This shows has as many twists and turns as a drunk baby driver on an Initial D racetrack. And it is so fun to watch.
I want to say this is a pretty unbiased as it's been more than a year since I first watched this show. I like to think memorability is a good indicator of how good a show was, and frankly, I don't remember much about the characters. Having said this, I DO remember many parts of the plot and some of the twists, which shows that they stuck with me. And most of all, I remember I had a blast watching this. It is a highly entertaining show to just sit back and enjoy. Don't expect nothing actually genius, but expect yourself to have your mind blown many times. You will never know what is coming next with this show, and to be honest, a stupidly absurd show beats a mediocre show many times over. I've watched my fair share of shows with no special qualities whatsoever, and I never finish them. This show was something that really grabbed me and engaged me because you never knew what was coming next.
So yeah, this show isn't really good, but it is highly entertaining and enjoyable. You might not like it if you're not looking for some casual entertainment, but I want to clear up that 1. This show's plot and characters are not good. 2. Just because it's not good doesn't mean it can't be highly entertaining. Sure, it's not gonna stick with you. You're not going to think about that show much after watching it, but it is a fun ride while it lasts. So if you're looking for some good entertainment, give this a watch.

Solo Leveling... The #1 ranked manhwa.. Does absolutely nothing new or innovative.
Let me explain.

Solo Leveling follows Sung Jin-Woo in your typical power fantasy story of "the world's weakest hero" turning into the #1 hero in the world. There are no deep themes, and it doesn't try to do anything new. It is exactly as it sounds. Just another power fantasy story. But this story is by no means bad just because it doesn't try to do something different. Now, is it the 28th best manga of all time and the number one manhwa ever created? No. Absolutely not. And it's puzzling to me why this ... would get such high scores and not something like say, Sword Art Online when they're basically the same thing. And so I went on to looking to MAL reviews for answers... and came with absolutely nothing.

The main points people in their reviews have made is basically that "This isn't your typical power fantasy" but then do nothing to reinforce their point. They just say "This story is extremely good." and leave it at that.

Now let me tell you that this manhwa is actually a good manhwa. Now it seems that I'm contradicting myself, right? Except not. I never said that this story is bad. It's the opposite actually. I compared it to SAO earlier but I gotta say that this is a lot better of a power fantasy story. This story does everything it tries to do extremely fucking well. The art is godlike, with full-colored panels to better understand and enjoy everything that happens. The hype moments of the previously weak guy destroying the top hunters are extremely well done and I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy power fantasy stories, then this is one of the best you can find. And this is why I changed my score from a 5 to a 6 after a second reading.
At first I was annoyed that this manhwa was getting amazing ratings when it was nothing more than an average power fantasy story. But after a second reading I realized that this story doesn't try to be a thought-provoking masterpiece or anything. It just tries to be your average power fantasy story, and the execution is perfect. So it's not really that average. In terms of power fantasy stories at least.
Oh yeah, don't try to argue that Sung Jin-Woo is a good character because at first he's the weak loser and then we see him rise and become the badass hero. I say that because I saw a lot of people just saying "Characters (10/10): We see the character as a weakling and we follow him as he becomes strong...". He's a perfect character just without the strength. He doesn't have any flaws. It's literally what everyone shits on SAO about and it's basically every isekai MC. It's not deep. Being weak isn't a character flaw. If a character's only flaw is being weak, it's not a good character. So yeah. Good art (10/10), a bit above average story just because the world has some original aspects (6/10), bad characters (4/10), high enjoyment cause of very well executed hype moments (9/10). Overall rating: 6/10.

CONCLUSION: If you want a geniunely good and innovative story, search elsewhere. But if you want a power fantasy story, you're in the best place you could ever be.

Side note: One thing I realized after seing this rare case of a typical power fantasy getting amazing ratings is that, generally, people don't search for stories with good writing. They mainly just want something they'll enjoy. And I think people started hating on SAO because a minority of reviewers were really loud about how bad the writing is and then, after listening to the points the reviewers made, the general anime community realized how bad SAO was and started shitting on it. But I think people actually enjoyed it. I know I did at least. But I also gave it a low score. Why? Because just because something is bad, doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. So when the anime of Solo Leveling releases, and the masses get a hold of it, I personally think it just might become the next SAO as in that everyone is gonna start hating on it. But who knows. This is just a wild guess.

Edit: K so this is me from the future and this review is very bad and extremely biased. I read the manga after watching a bit of the anime and when I realized how good it was, I started really hating the anime for its average production values, and so gave it a very unfair score just because the production did not do this manga justice. I still think that this adaptation should've gotten much better treatment but that is beside the point. The production itself is average, it is not bad. It shows the manga's story well and so as an adaptation, it is ... okay. It's just a shame that the anime didn't get a high budget or a great studio as this anime could've been something really special. The reason I'm editing the review and not just deleting it is that I think it's important to have this review up to remind me about my mistakes and to think about things objectively and not just give an anime a bad score cause the production is not as great as I expected. The best way to experience this work is in manga form ofc but the anime is a solid choice if you don't want to have to read the manga to experience this story. That's it from future me. If you want to read my cringe review, then by all means go ahead.

Original review:

Extremely dissapointed with this adaptation... I thought the art and animation were pretty bad but okay, y'know? And although this adaptation intrigued me enough as to make me read the source material, after actually reading it I can 100% say that this adaptation does not do the original manga justice. At all.

It's not extremely bad, don't get me wrong, and it will at least give you a feel for what the series is about if you don't particularly enjoy reading manga and want to check the story out. It's just, when actually compared to the source material, this adaptation is lackluster, and just looks bad. It's like if they adapted something like Fullmetal Alchemist into a run of the mill, mediocre anime about an OP guy who gets all the girls, and defeats the bad guys and stuff. Well, it doesn't really change the actual story, but the art and the actual feel of the anime just gives it a really cheap look and vibe, and with an anime that's all about art, and the manga itself having wonderful artwork, this anime just ends up being a dissapointment.

So yeah, not horrible, not a 3 or a 2, but for a manga this good, it is really dissapointing to see such a mediocre adaptation.

Mushoku Tensei is a highly controversial anime. Either you love it, or you hate it. But why? Well, it's complicated.

This series is a masterpiece. Everything about it is amazing. The reason I'm giving this a 9 is because It's barely getting started, but it's still remarkable. You can feel that the studio behind this anime, studio Bind, LOVES this series. The reason for this studio's creation WAS to make Mushoku Tensei. You can feel the passion behind this project. The soundtrack is inmersive, the characters are VERY realistic (I'll get to that later), the art blew me away... So why? Where did it all go ... wrong? Why do so many people despise it? Remember I said that the characters are very realistic? Well there you have it.

Mushoku Tensei's characters are incredibly realistic. I swear I've seen people just like Paul, the MC Rudeus' father. All of the characters are full of flaws, just like actual people. (minor spoiler incoming) Actually, in one of the episodes, Paul cheats on Zenith, Rudeus' mother, and the whole episode is just the family trying to resolve the issue and figure out what to do. But everyone makes mistakes, so we need to move on and learn from them. (minor spoiler over)Now as to why the show is so controversial. Rudeus was a shut-in in his previous life. He suffered bullying, got traumatized, and he couldn't go outside because he was too scared. He stayed inside watching hentai, playing dating sims, etc... He didn't even attend her mom's funeral. He was scum. The lowest of the lowest. But then he got another chance at life, which is great, yeah? No, because that doesn't suddenly mean the trauma and his awful self just fade away. He's still himself. He's not a perfect, charismatic, generic isekai MC. He's still a piece of garbage. And that's what this show is about. About a piece of trash rising and becoming a piece of *not* trash. A good human being even.

Mushoku Tensei's novels narrates Rudeus' life from beginning to end, and these 11 episodes where just the beginning, so he's still scum. But that's the point. During this whole first season Rudeus is a pervert. He almost even has sex with a 12 year old girl, when she isn't even keen on doing it. He's still trash. But as he grows in this new life, he will become a better person.
I'm not saying that those scenes were not awful. They were very uncomfortable to watch, but they are necessary. What this show tries to say is that it's never too late to change. Rudeus lived his previous life in the worst way possible and became garbage, but in this new life he will change. As the name plainly says: "I will seriously try if I go to another world", in other words, he will try to live his life to the fullest, and become a good human being. Become what he couldn't become in his previous life. Become someone people admire.

Review over. Extra stuff:


One very funny detail I noticed while scrolling through these low score reviews is that they all share something in common, that being they also disllike Re:Zero. So? What is Re:Zero about? The same thing, just a bit different. Like Rudeus, Re:Zero's MC has given up on life. So when he gets transported to another world, it seems as if all of the problems from his previous world are just gone. But that's far from the truth, as his horrible personality makes him fail once again on the new world, and he gives up. But in the last episodes of season 1, he starts to change. Thanks to a certain someone, he realizes how horrible he is and decides to change. He decides not to run away from the problems anymore and confront them head on. But when people critize this anime, they say the MC is annoying, and stupid. BUT THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT. In episode 13, he makes a fool of himself, instead of listening to his friends, he decides to not listen to them and just do what HE thinks is good for them, which is obviously a horrible mindset. But he realizes he's in the wrong some episodes later, and starts to change. And by the end of season 2, he's a man anyone can admire. Without sadness, there is no happiness. You need to make the characters flawed, so that when they change for the better, it makes it worth it and satisfying. But there's always a struggle, and that's what makes all of these types of anime interesting. But some people just don't seem to get it.

Note: This review contains spoilers, so if you haven't read this Kaiji part, do it, you'll thank me later.

So, the fifth Kaiji part. The climax to the whole Kazuya arc. This is my probably my favorite part. So let's get to reviewing it.

Story:

The plot of this part is very good. It has a lot of twists and turns, especially when Kaiji loses his life or death gamble, and you see how everything starts to fall apart. Kaiji misses safety net spin, and he starts to break down. And the way he is saved is not even an ass pull. It makes sense. I'll discuss this ... later when discussing the characters. Anyway, the story would be a 10/10, but it started pretty slow.

When I first watched Kaiji and started binging the manga, this was the part where I originally stopped. Not because I disliked it, but because It was very slow at the beginning, and nothing interesting was really happening, so I kinda forgot about it. But when I came back to finish it and arrived at the later parts, It was amazing. The strategies they come up with and the cheating is just perfect. So apart from the slow beginning, very good story.
8/10

Art:

The art is very hit or miss. It's even the reason a lot of people don't watch it, because the art is not very appealing. But even though it's not beautiful, this art style works in the manga's favour. The art allows the faces to be very expressive and makes the happy moments and despair-inducing moments that much more impactful.
It's not a pleasure to look at, but it really works in the story's favour.
8/10

Characters:

So the characters in this story are by far the best in any Kaiji part.
The main characters are Kaiji, Kazuya, Mario and Chang, and they all play a key role in the story.

First and foremost, Kaiji. Kaiji's whole character finally pays off. Kaiji has always been a trusting and caring person. He trusts in people a lot, and was sure to give back to the people that helped him, which in a way, makes him kind of childish, which also has its problems. But the important thing is that, in the past, Kaiji has always trusted his partners, and always did what was best for the team, not what each person deserved. He knew to set personal matters aside when it mattered the most. But nobody else did that. Nobody else had that trust. Over and over again Kaiji got betrayed. Andou and Furuhata in part 1 and Miyoshi and Maeda in part 3. And you'd think after that, Kaiji would become this loner who couldn't trust in anybody. But that's not who Kaiji is. He had and still has faith in humanity, and continues to trust in people.

Enter Mario and Chang. Kaiji saves Mario and Chang's lives in part 4, so they owe a lot to him. So when they bet their lives to save Kaiji, it makes sense. But it's actually a very important moment. Kaiji's trust in people finally pays off. Mario and Chang give back to Kaiji. So It's not "the power of friendship" that saves Kaiji's ass in that moment. It's his trust in humanity. And Mario and Chang's faith in Kaiji.

And lastly we have Kazuya. Kazuya is the complete opposite to Kaiji. He wants people to like him and give to him as he gives to them. But when he gets betrayed by some of his friends, he loses complete faith in everyone.
He starts running these twisted experiments which he writes about in his book that he shows to Kaiji back in part 4. He realized those experiments in order to find if people would actually give their lives to save someone, if such relationship exists. And he is faced with exactly that when he fights the trio of Kaiji, Mario and Chang. He first sees it when Kaiji decides to pay with his own hard earned money to save two complete strangers, these being Chang and Mario. He thinks Kaiji is just faking it. But during the One Poker game, he is told otherwise when he sees Mario and Chang are willing to bet their lives to save Kaiji. He reluctantly accepts the bet and what comes follows is the power of friendship destroying the big bad guy Kazuya. But the best part is that he's not even evil. He has just been exposed to so many betrayals that he can't trust in anybody. And this is what makes Kazuya such a good antagonist. He is what Kaiji could've become. A heartless, inhumane, distrusting monster. I'd spend all day talking about Kazuya's character, but I'm just going to continue with this review.
10/10

Enjoyment:

As I said earlier, this part made me stop reading Kaiji for a bit because of its slow start, but the later parts and the payoff are what make this part so enjoyable to read.
9/10

Overall:
This might just be my favorite Kaiji part, but because I haven't yet read the manga for parts 1 and 2 because I watched the anime, and comparing anime to manga is really hard, I'll just maintain that statement on hold.
The story starts slow but when it gets going, it really gets going. And I really mean it.
The art is good, and the characters are by far the best part, as it is full of incredible moments for each character.

9/10

Do I really need to talk about this series? I think this show's visuals speak for themselves.

Amazing choreography, perfectly developed characters, interesting plot, this anime has it all. The soundtrack is a banger with the man theme "CCW" expressing the tone of the show perfectly. The art is incredibly realistic, and sucked me in its world every minute of this show's runtime. The conclusion to the story is very satisfying but left me wanting more because of how good it is.

Although without a doubt the part in which the show shines the most is in its fights. All are incredibly well animated and thought ... out, with each character showing a distinct fighting style mirroring their personalities and experiences.
This anime is the definition of a hidden gem.

WATCH IT, NOW