Back to Oreo_Cheesecake's Profile Oreo_Cheesecake's Profile

Out of the Winter 2021 lineup, next to Redo of Healer and TPN S2, Mushoku Tensei is probably the next in line when talking about controversial anime this season. The content that this show covers clearly involves some of the most sensitive topics out there, and whether it succeeds in presenting these topics is extremely debatable. On the flip side, the show manages to produce some of the most astounding representations of an isekai world I have yet to see. While it is difficult right now to pinpoint a score for this anime, I will try my best.

The story of Mushoku Tensei is really mediocre. ... It is a plot structure we have seen yet and yet again where our middle-aged shut-in protagonist gets transported to another world. However, while it is overdone, the show manages to compliment this structure in a unique and vivid fashion through it's art style, as well as its colourful imagery. Shots are beautifully composed in such a way that creates incredible amounts of catharsis and emotion, and the animation style is one that I have not seen much in other anime. This comes into play the most when paired with the opening theme performance. Each episode allows us as viewers to take a look into the lives and atmosphere of the locations, and is probably one of the most astounding factors at play towards carefully worldbuilding the scenery around the cast. This idea will hopefully carry forth into the next season as more and more of the world will be explored.

My issue with this show, however, comes (unsurprisingly) with the characters. Where do I even begin with the characters? That the protagonist is an actual pedophilic asshole? That the Greyrat family hierarchy contains some of the most disgusting and vile characters in the story? That scenes of underaged sexual abuse is played off for laughs? No matter how I look at this, there isn't a single aspect about the many of the characters (with certain exceptions) that I would say redeems the character in any way, shape or form. I can only hope that the characters can improve as the story continues, but as for now, there really isn't anything likeable about any of these characters.

Honestly, I am torn by this show. On one end, it's a show filled with breathtaking imagery and animation and extensive and impressive scenes that leaves me absolutely floored. On the other hand however, it's a show that completely goes out of its way (not in a good way either) to make sure you would h a t e characters in this story in such a way that the impressive animation doesn't even matter. As of now, the story of Mushoku Tensei is leading me to believe that there is so much more to explore for future seasons, but as long as the characters, and the executions of their actions stay as the same, it is hard to say for certain how much this show can actually improve.

Overall score range: mid 5 to low 6

Pokemon has long been a part of my childhood. It inspired me in so many ways and created so many unforgettable memories. That being said, Gotcha! was one of those works that I just don't get. Sure, some of its aspects were absolutely breathtaking, but on the other hand, so much of the actual music video was just a disappointment. Maybe I put too many expectations when I watched this, but at the end of the day, although I enjoyed it, I can't say that this rekindled my nostalgia for pokemon in any way.

Story: 4

This is honestly already a high rating for this animation. There ... really wasn't any real story that was told, but it did show glimpses into some of the most memorable moments throughout each of the pokemon games. At the end of the day, this section is pretty bare-bones and honestly boring and disappointing.

Art: 10

Oh god, this was beautifully made. The animation was some of the best I've seen in a while, and watching the fluent depictions of each of the fights was magical. The retro effects added so much aesthetics to this piece of art, and honestly, it made this music video so worth it for me. It helps me forget about the non-existent story or anything else that I found less than satisfactory about this work.

Sound: 5

Hot take, but I don't really like the song. I'm not really familiar with the artist behind it either, but at the end of the day, the song was just extremely generic. Considering that this was a music video, I was heavily expecting something outstanding in the music department but was left disappointed by what I've received. However, the music does fit the ideas that were shown in the video, so at least the music works. It just doesn't do anything exciting.

Character: 9

What else do I say about this? Some of my favourite characters from video games compiled into a music video is definitely something I've been wanting for a while. Sure, I may be blinded by nostalgia for this part, but at the end of the day, these are definitely were definitely a welcomed return.

Enjoyment: 6

I was really torn between the fantastic animation and characters, and the subpar storyline and sound design. At the end of the day, I found it good, but nothing extraordinary.

Overall: 6

As stated in my enjoyment category, I found this work good, but it was held back extremely by the song and story. However, it is a well-deserved music video that expresses the nostalgic values behind the decades of memories created by pokemon for millions upon millions of people.

I have never felt so disappointed in my life.

Madoka Magica was an absolute blast of a show that shocked the world with its rather *dark* themes, drawing the attention of many anime viewers, and resulting in a trend of dark magical girl shows. However, Magia Record is nothing like that. In fact, ironically the show's themes are less dark than many of the other dark magical girl series inspired by the original Madoka. At the end of the day, after waiting so long for a sequel, I just want to bang my head against the wall in utter despair and shock.

Story: 3
Oh god, what ... happened here? Episodes 1-10 are literally character introductions. CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS. I don't understand why the creators thought to have 13 magical girls, as well as attempting to connect the show with watered-down older characters sound like a good idea. Nothing of value happened in these episodes, and the last two were literally just revamped knowledge of already known information told in the original series, but with a twist of a cult of magical girls (that I don't care about) attempting to find a solution towards not killing witches. As a result, the story was insultingly bland, and putting it anywhere near the original Madoka makes me noxious.

Art: 9
I have to give compliments to the show where its due. The animation team really carried through with this one, and the animation feels original, and interesting, with Shaft's distinctive art style. Felt like some people really cared about this show's appearance. Too bad that didn't carry over to the others working on this project.

Sound: 5
There really was nothing wrong with the sound design. Some of the songs paid nice homage to the original series, and the OP and ED were ok. It didn't really try anything exciting, but the sound design got the job done.

Character: 2
This hurts to think about. I never have seen a group of characters with such terrible chemistry before. This is worse than listening to fingernails on chalkboard, this is like finding the highest frequency of possible on a piccolo, recording it, and amplifying the sound by 100, and then listening to it on 100 volume with the loudest headphones on the market. Hertz my ears and my eyes if you ask me. The characters are absolutely terrible, and each is defined by 1-2 character qualities, and a singular issue apiece. Except for that one magical girl in episode 1 that was NEVER TALKED ABOUT AGAIN. Don't get me started on how they absolutely wrecked the original characters. Why is Sayaka alive? Why is Mami mentally broken AGAIN? What's Kyoko's role in all of this? None of these questions were ever answered, and the Mami-Sayaka duel at the end was just deplorable fanservice. I grew to distaste every single character of this show as the episodes went on, and by episode 11 when the plot finally HAPPENED, I already didn't care about any of these characters. It makes me want to just cry at the corner of my room.

Enjoyment: 1
As a fan of the original Madoka series and movies, this was the equivalent of giving me a Lambo, allowing me to drive it, but removing the brake system, resulting in me crashing into god knows what at 350 km/h. Heck, I'd argue that this show is just the crash in slow motion. An absolutely dreadful disappointment, I can't give this show anything higher than a 1.

Overall: 4
The only reason why this isn't lower is because the art style was actually really exceptional. Even then, however, this was just insulting to me. As a wise person once said: "No anime is better than bad anime." (someone, I don't know when). Overall, this was painful to watch in every regard, with only the art style and mediocre sound choices drawing me in. However, I am hoping against all odds that the second season manages to be SOMETHING. But then again, that's just wishful thinking, isn't it?

I don't understand why this show is rated under a 6.00 average. Sure, the show has problems, and I *did* rate this a 5/10, but it's definitely not a *bad* movie in any sense of the word. At its worst, the show felt a bit cliche and predictable, but at its best, it does pose some fairly interesting questions (none of which however I would say it answered to a good extent). However, at its core, this movie is fairly underrated, especially for a show with a 5.85 average.

Story: 6
The first few scenes absolutely drew me in. A society in which people can't die, ... a sci-fi setting that speaks volumes by itself, and a social structure that could've easily been analyzed further? To me, this was absolutely enthralling to watch. Heck, the first time the audience meets the protagonist was already rather creative in itself and aided in the viewer in understanding the complete scope of how the fictional society functioned. The main threat within the story felt a tad bit cliche, but it was an idea that could've easily been explored bit by bit. However, further analysis of these themes was never really present, and much of the later half delved into a lot more boring, and predictable territory. Felt like a waste of an interesting setting and themes.

Art: 7
I actually kind of liked the CGI art style. In many cases, the art style was rather breathtaking, even if it was CGI, and contributed greatly towards my enjoyment and understanding of the film's settings and characters. The paintings in which the protagonist drew were highly expressive, and contained much thought towards the mental state of the protagonist. Pretty much the high point of the film. Pair that up with the interesting setting, and you have a story waiting to be told.

Sound: 5
The sound was rather forgettable, but it served its purpose in the film. Nothing else really to say about this section.

Character: 4
Now, this is where I personally have my issues with the film. With a proper setting, artistic style, and themes to dive into, this film honestly had so much potential. Its characters absolutely broke that potential faster than putting a melting ice sculpture into an oven at 250 C. Every single one of the characters were incredibly cliche, which meant that most of the dialogue were also incredibly predictable. In fact, during part 2, there was a confession sequence of the protagonist that was laughably bad because it came out of nowhere. One moment, he was talking normally, and the next he was on the ground having an existentialist crisis. Incredibly disappointed in this section with the film.

Enjoyment: 5
With all of the interesting themes, setting, and social structure left mostly unanswered except for a few simple explanations, as well as dreadfully boring characters, and a story that gradually sprialled into mundanity, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed by the end. However, the intro section of this film is rather interesting, and had made me interested in this film long enough to finish it. Overall, disappointed, but still enjoyed it.

Overall: 5
I know that some people working in this project put some amount of thought. However, the film just turned into a mindless show attempting to act smart by posing questions without ever having interesting solutions to the questions. Meanwhile, I still believe that this film is underrated as of the moment. Overall, the film started off rather strongly, but absolutely fell apart in the later sections. I give this film a mid 5/10.

This was a hard watch. The film itself felt like an odd mixture between the aesthetics between Your Name, and some random melodrama. Overall however, the entire film was incredulously boring, and honestly uninspired.

Story: 4
This was an incredibly uninspired story, with many contrivances, and a particular deus ex machina sequence that made me literally want to cry for all of the wrong reasons. Furthermore, the presentation of the story felt incredibly off due to its constant montage sequences. Through these sequences, the film felt more like a summary of a film, rather than a film itself. Overall, generic, boring, and honestly uninteresting.

Art: 7
The art ... in this film was acceptable. Some of the shots were actually quite well done.

Sound: 4
The soundtrack of this anime was just generic j-pop music. Never really tried or attempted anything interesting, or further thematic with the film, making this soundtrack bland and boring.

Character: 3
This was honestly the worst portion of the show. The characters themselves, outside of a few set hobbies and the basic structures of a personality, had some of the worst chemistry ever. Most of the scenes felt like listening to chalk on a whiteboard.

Enjoyment: 4
Nothing really to say here that I haven't said above. Incredibly boring and generic.

Overall: 4
This was incredibly tiring film. With character writing that made me literally want to scratch my eyes out and sequences of events that constantly made me feel disappointed, this film gets a low 4/10.

I really tried to like this anime.

Danganronpa has always been one of my favorite games of all times, each of them creating an exquisite, and eccentric experience that no other game could achieve (other than Ace Attorney). When a Danganronpa anime was announced that recreated the events of the first Danganronpa game, I had such high hopes for this anime to be a smash hit among its audiences, and create newcomers to the Danganronpa community. Unfortunately, my optimism soon turned to pessimism after watching this show.

Story: 3

Don't get me wrong, the original story Danganronpa has been phenomenal. Although the original story still had issues, these ... issues are uncomparable towards the issues presented in the Danganronpa anime. This anime shows these ideals in many different ways that infuriates me to no end. To begin with, they decided to fit a game that takes roughly 30-40 hours to complete into a 13 episode series, meaning that much of its content is completely erased in this series, resulting in an incredibly rushed story that barely provides the suspense and hopelessness presented in the original series.

Art: 6

Nothing much to rant about here. Nothing is really bad enough that hinders the enjoyment of this anime, but at the same time, it doesn't provide any groundbreaking visuals either. It's just average, and I honestly don't have much to say about it.

Sound: 7

Considering most of the tracks originated from the original game's killer soundtrack, there honestly fine with me, but the over reliance of using original music indicated a lack of creativity in the music department. Sound design was mostly on point, but overall average.

Characters: 4

The characters are literally cardboard cutouts. Looking back at the original game, every characters had their characteristics, likes and dislikes, and personal relationships completely flushed out due to being in the form of a game. However, here, the characters don't have the same time to express these characteristics, resulting in rather rushed character arcs, and game elements that decimates even the best of characters. As well, while Monokuma in the original game was incredibly menacing, messed up, and on point with its jokes that puts even the best of Cursed Comments to shame, the Monokuma in the show, in comparison, is bleak to a degree that these two individuals seems like completely different beings. Overall, utter trash characterization, and doesn't hit any of the reasons to what made these characters intriguing. When you somehow make Makoto seem more boring and uninspired than in the original game, you know you've screwed up.

Enjoyment: 1

Considering how badly this show butchers the original characters, settings, plot points, and character developments, I completely hated this anime.

Overall: 4

Giving it a 4 was giving it too much glory. In my opinion, Danganronpa the anime feels like a "toy car." The toy car still presents the shape of the car and most of the features of an actual car, but it doesn't have any of the functions that made the car "work," not to mention its smaller package, and edged down nature to make the car more "friendly for all ages." Unless you don't have time to play the original, don't use this anime as a starting point of the Danganronpa series.