Back to Panda_Roll's Profile Panda_Roll's Profile

Gegege no Kitaro is a manga first published in 1960. Kitaro is the last of the ghost tribe, a link between humans and Yokai. He is not one nor the other but stands on the line between.

The manga and the anime (which the latest was the sixth iteration aired in 2018) hardy allowed more than one chapter for his backstory (manga) and the anime decided it was so iconic that it didn't even need one, it was just rehashed in one of the OPs visuals.

The movie starts before this as Mizuki, a reporter, is sent to the countryside to investigate a story. This ... turns into a murder mystery ignited via a dispute over inheritance with supernatural elements hanging over the tale.

Story is great, animation is amazing without the use of CGI.
It has some dark elements which include Incest and body horror so something to be aware of before going in.

Do you need to know anything about gegege no Kitaro to watch this?

Honestly, no. The only link is that the ending is the iconic birth of Kitaro that is the starting point of the manga but that's about it.

I do think fans of horror, hand drawn animation & yokai will like this. Fans of the show will love it though the usual cast barely make a cameo as this isn't their story so don't go in expecting to see them much.

Overall a very atmospheric movie.

The Hero's party defeat the demon lord ushering in a era of peace to the world.

A decade later the demon lord is resurrected (in chibi form) and is off to find his great hero... who is now a bum has-been living in filth. Refusing to give up on him the demon lord settles in to make a hero out of him once again!

You know, I think someone had a lot of love for the source material. While the animation budget did seem tight in spots a lot of care and attention was given to the artwork. Mostly though this was just a very cute ... and sweet show.

Someone who was past his prime, who got stepped on by life, and yet.

From the promo I worried about the loli aspect of the demon lord but thankfully it wasn't that.

The characters sweet, the plot fluid and the jokes land. I might have laughed a little too hard at a recurring "The Ring" joke to be honest.

I think if the show had a flaw it would be taking the setting from medieval times to modern japan in just the span of a decade. Seems a bit fast but they were clearly trying to tell the story of someone past his prime just needing a little support to try again.

JJK is so famous at this point that it needs no introduction. Going in I kept watching and watching waiting for awesomeness to hit, there just had to be something about a show so loved.

Answer is yes... and no. The show is a painfully average Shonen with rather bad writing, this is covered over by both the cool factor and grade AAA art & animation.

(no) PLOT = 2/10

This is badly written. The magic system, Oh excuse me jujitsu... no wait wrong series, jujustsu clearly >DON'T SUE< is random. There is no rhyme or reason for the powers and might as well be "quirks" from MHA. ... They are literally whatever fits in the moment. No system in place or limits.
It's the same regarding the plot, just whatever is cool in the moment and sprinkle in some shonen staples along the way.

(no) CHARACTERS = 4/10

I mean, we all know it so lets put it out in the open. It's the author's favorites from Naruto.

Gojou = Kakashi sensei + sex appeal
Then the three mains as the kids with Yuuji being born a super human Naruto. The only difference is that they have the character depth of a teaspoon. The show keeps questioning their motivations to be a sorcerers and it so flimsy that the show feels the need to keep asking again and again.
Because the show is so focused on the action scenes it's a bit jarring to see them in the ED-song and after credit breaking character so much. Almost like it's a separate slice of life show.

(yes) ART & SOUND = 10/10

Made by studio MAPPA the art & animation is top tier. This is probably the secret behind the show's success. It's so nicely animated that in the moment you forget how bad this is plot and character wise.

(yes/no) Fun Factor = 6/10

The action scenes are loads of fun. Some characters even add in the cool factor so you do enjoy seeing them on screen. However because the characters are so shallow and the writing so bad that enjoyment went down the longer the series went on. Also a lot of cheap emotional tactics were used that sorta took me out of it after the bullying arc.


OVERALL = 5/10

The show borrowed characters and elements from the most popular shonens and just gave them some branded clothes. While I could overlook it at first because of how nice everything was it just kept going and going with the flaws in the writing becoming more apparent. By the end it was just so boring I had to force myself to finish it.

While it wasn't for me I can see it appealing to a younger audience.

A cancelled "newtuber" decides to run her own channel. She comes across a yuri vampire and strikes a deal. She'll give up all her blood in exchange for reaching a million subs.

Blood in this case and the next being a euphemism for Yuri.

TLDR = Bad writing, Masaki is a pill and the payoff is not worth it. Skip!

There are a few issues with this show. Lets start with the SMALL ones before moving to the elephant in the room:-

1. It's a show about youtubers. The persona they show the world not the people behind the screen... fun right...

2. No research was put ... into this. It's literally lets do a variety channel and someone will watch something. Because obviously the more successful channels aren't targeted or specialized.

3. Whenever there's an emotional moment the show feels the need to undercut it by something asinine, oh we learned that viewers prefer authenticity over an over polished product? Well obviously leaving the little goofs in the vid isn't the answer, it's to force the girls to bath naked on camera... slow clap...

4. The moral of the show, and this is word for word from the finale (no spoiler), is that trolls exist and content creators shouldn't take it personally...


Ok, with the SMALL ones out of the way lets tackle the biggest issue this show has.

number 5. Masaki.

Sometimes a youtuber will say "do it for the content, this is for the content." Masaki is that one sentence personified.
Her one and only personality trait is teen shoving his phone in your face to be on his tiktok. Then bad mouthing you because the vid didn't do well. Also why can't she exploit you for her vids?! You're so not making any sense right now. Obviously her content and views are all that matters in this world.

It would have been fine if she started out that way then learned her lesson but nope, beginning to end. If anything the show rewards her with views any time she acts that way.

Another part of the asinine writing is how unbelievable the interactions she has are. The story starts off because she punched a co-star during a stream. It's shown like a playful thing but since the internet didn't like it her co-stars kicked her out of the channel... on stream... without telling her... bad mouthing her to hell and back...while living in her house. I'll note that she's the editor and promoter and they don't have someone else to replace her. Oh wait they'll even leave the expensive cameras and equipment behind, because someone that makes videos for a living doesn't need those right, they just need their phone.


Let's say this is your source of income and you ran into the person that did that to you randomly. would you:-

a. Tell them off.
b. Gloat that you're doing even better now.
c. Avoid them, you don't need that in your life.
d. Allow them to film you drunk while they antagonize you into getting physical then ok the footage for upload, footage they will be editing.

There is a saying, Don't give the oars of your boat to someone trying to drown you. I think this is more you drilling a hole in the boat yourself at this point.

Every second Masaki is on screen is a pain. While the vampires are literal blood suckers she somehow manages to top them and drain any ounce of enjoyment out of the show. SKIP IT!

This is one of those ideas that sound good until you think about it for 3 seconds.

The Guild receptionist wants to live a quiet life and achieve tenure. She just happened to have a super duper 1 in 7 billion power, so she uses that to solo final bosses if adventurers take too long.

I don't usually do this but let me list the problems with this very premise:-

1. Just be an adventurer then. She doesn't even collect the drops for cash THEN complains about having a 30 year mortgage. I think those mega super hard to get boss drops you're ignoring would put ... a dent in that!

2. Why would it lead to over-time? Her job is to process the quest requests once fulfilled, if they're not getting fulfilled what is there to process.

3. She's anti-social by nature. Why is she working in customer service?!

4. Once she feels like she's stronger than someone she starts treating them like trash and disrespecting them. They automatically become beneath her. So why does she cling to her low status job? She clearly likes being on top.

5. Lastly, she hates working over-time, that's the whole premise. Yet she moonlights as an adventurer in her off-time, that's work and it's unpaid. It's literally the same thing only unpaid.

The anime is a bit muddled. It's clearly wish fulfilment for someone in the service sector but at the same time it doesn't really do anything with either premises. The service sector part is ill researched, the adventuring part is zero research!

I admit the MC is cute and some of her struggles with over-working is relatable, it's why I kept watching. But the writing is atrocious and it just kept getting worse as it went.

The anime brought me here.

Getting Isekaied into an Otome game as the villainess is turning into it's own genre at this point. The hook here is that the MC is a middle manager in his 50s.

Stop. Just stop. I know what you thought and it's the opposite. Kenzaburou, our Isekaied soul, has two defining characteristics.

1. DAD. This man looks at the "romance" options and sees children. His view is always that of the supportive parent though he's not above playing matchmaker (so long as they're dad approved that is!).

2. Older Otaku. He is actually proud of that, also of the fact ... that his wife is former cosplayer and his daughter starting down the otaku road! A family man to the core and loves the medium even if his knowledge of it is more on the retro side.

In short our MC is just a gentle soul that found himself stuck in a genre he doesn't really know much about. He's general otaku knowledge saves him so he's not clueless but he's not cheesing it either.

While he does try to play the villainess role he just sees children working hard and trying their best so physically he can't bring himself to do it. It's a very wholesome series and surprisingly interesting with a well written plot.

DDD was the most hyped anime of the year. On first glance the reason why is obvious.

An amazing OP, Bright colors, great animation and loads of action.

It's a spectacle for sure... but that's all.

The format for the show is action scene, action scene, action scene, fan service, action scene.

The characters never get a proper introduction so even after a full season I don't feel like I know them.

... There is no plot either, just a series of action scenes with some prize at the end if they manage to clear the level, yes like in a game.

DDD is great on the surface but scratch that surface and there's nothing below it.

For example the show has two major side characters. One only gets introduced half way through the season while the other shows up in episode 11, literally just before the finale!

Also for an action anime that "finale" was so lame.

Personally, I did not like this show. I do value good characters and plot over everything else so this wasn't for me. I do think it was carefully calculated to appeal to a young demographic though. Just wish it actually had something to say... other than "BUY ME" that is.

It's nice to see that Isekai is evolving from "press the reset button" to "New game+, now with orcs!"

Salaryman is a bit of salesman power fantasy, just a grounded one. Our MC is summoned to another world to do exactly what he has always done, negotiate with foreign clients.

The gimmick is in the hook itself. This wasn't a random gatcha style summoning where he gets an OP power, the maou actually has his CV and specifically selected him as negotiator since this world has multiple races that he wants to unite under his banner.

I call this a salesman power fantasy because the actual negotiation and ... tactics are done off screen in each and every episode so far. Most of the screen time is dedicated to showcasing the "client" and then the gratitude our MC gets from smoothing things over.

There is aways this... odd... bit where the MC visits his mind palace and it's an Izakaya, only he always seems to get the solution from there so I'm rather confused by that part.

The art and animation or ok, the cost cutting isn't too bad.
The characters are serviceable though it seems every woman is just throwing herself at the MC.
Music... I think the balance for the OP is a bit off, it wants to give that "marching on" vibe but the voice volume is so low it's like he's whispering it.

Negatives:-

It's boring. Plain and simple. The interesting parts are off screen and solutions to the problems are very blink and you'll miss it, the main focus here is the power fantasy aspect for one single demographic. If you're not in that demographic your milage might vary.

Overall:-

Solid idea to have someone use their own skills just in other setting. I question the wisdom of having them do so off screen...
I really struggled to get through the third episode so I can't really recommend this one. It's just so... boring.

There is a joke that at the age of 30 if you're still a virgin then you turn into a wizard. In this universe this joke holds true and Adachi discovers it on his birthday.

Among the sea of annoyed voices there is one that reaches out to him and floods his sense with adoration. Trouble is it's another guy, Mr. popular at work too so... huh?!

The title is a bit atrocious however the show itself is rather adorable. Also it's one of a rare shows where the romance actually progresses beyond the hand holding stage!

The characters are all adults and act like it... ... mostly, they are "wizards" for a reason.

My one critic would be that the writer side character spoke like a total neckbeard in the english dub which, ew. but overall the stories were nice and the characters cute.

I think this Manga is tagged shounen-ai so it was strange that the anime chose to go all in on the romance. That ending was beautiful though so it gets an extra point for sticking the landing.

After being engaged to the crown prince for most of her life, working hard to train as the future empress, the MC wakes up in her "villainess" life as the prince is publicly denouncing her and breaking the engagement in favor or a generic heroine character model. Refusing to despair she rushes into the arms of the final boss as a method of self preservation as he is the one destined to kill her.

Wait...

Oh sorry that's the plot to (I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss) that came out in 2022.

Considering the light novel and manga came out in 2017 ... and 2018 respectively while 7th loop light novel was first published in 2020 it's safe to say someone was "inspired" lol.

The differences here are to the detriment of the show sadly =

1. The MC is not a Villainess. Only reason to have that in the title was because in the "suspected" inspiration material she 100% was.

2. The OG follows the formula of a girl getting reincarnated in an Otome game, here the 7 loops serve the same function as an isekaied soul with one benefit that is really a negative. See difference 3.

3. In each of her lives she learned one new skill and made connection with the right people. Basically she'll mary sue this one instead of actually doing something.

4. Because the focus is on her skillz from her past lives NOTHING from this one is taken. All her hard work to be a lady, the connections she had to maintain, the etiquette lessons, the knowledge of the inner circle and it's gossip/relationships, All of those are meaningless.... apparently. (Taming) made full use of those so you actually saw a noble lady weaponize what she already had.

5. The MC is incredibly passive. In each of her lives she finds a man, has him take her under his wing and go with the flow from there. Not really female empowerment if she has to stop being a woman for it AND needs a man... Also things are always happening to or around her instead of because of her, it's rather boring to watch.

Honestly, this was the first time I watched a show that made me go back and give another one a higher score. The artwork in 7th loop is nicer though starting from the third episode the animation REALLY suffers, still it's a carbon copy of another show that actually had an empowering message with a pro-active MC that used her own skills and intelligence to change things. Meanwhile 7th loop somehow decided to take a step back and say "hey, find a man to support you OR become a man to have any value. Oh but be domestic as well, girl power!". ew...