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Answering the question "Is the Jujutsu Kaisen manga good?" is a surprisingly difficult one. It obviously got an anime adaptation with a high production value. It has a great score on MAL, this should be an easy recommendation, right? Wrong. JJK has a few main problems. First, JJK is a story about its villains, not its protagonists which artificially constrains the story telling, while also keeping a lot of the main characters from really having the spotlight or really fleshing out the world building. Second, there are a lot of characters that feel underexplored, and it doesn't help that a lot of characters have similar ... sounding names. There's a character called Gojo and a character named Jogo. There's a character named Nanami and a character named Hanami. There are two characters both named Noritoshi Kamo, for crying out loud, which is weird even in the context of the story because the original Noritoshi Kamo is a notoriously bad guy, and his family named him that anyway. Third, the author tried to do an "edgy" story where we are always on edge worrying who is going to die next, but he could not really pull this off. Instead, multiple characters we were given the impression that had either died or were permanently out of commission make their triumphant return at the last second without anything leading up to it. If you choose to read this and get to the part where someone says "she just woke up a few hours ago", you'll know what I mean. Fourth the Mangas art style is of a very inconsistent quality. There are plenty of parts of the story where I said to myself: "I cannot wait to see this animated." but very few where I thought the art was great.

Which is not to say that JJK does not have its moments and positive aspects, because it does, but these positive aspects can only go so far. One fun thing about the beginning of the JJK manga is the integration of "slice of life" elements into the story, but none of these side-story storylines ever actually go anywhere, and this does not really happen anymore after the Shibuya Incident Arc. The trio of Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara produces some fun character interactions, but Nobara is absent for like a third of the story. The power system in JJK is probably the best thing about JJK, but it really only comes into focus how fun and crazy the fights can be in the last two arcs, and the author does not seem to really understand it himself as he keeps on changing his explanation of how specific powers were supposed to work.

TLDR: Read the manga if you want to know the ending, without waiting two more seasons, but the anime is likely to be better in every conceivable way.

I did not care for season 1 of Jujutsu Kaisen. I think I gave it a 6 on MAL. I did however like this A LOT. This makes a much better beginning to JJK than season 1. It does everything that JJK does well, better and avoids the stuff that makes JJK season 1 weak. The action was really good and thrilling. I felt more investment in the characters that were present in this film than I ever felt in JJK season 1. If you didn't think JJK was all that after the first season, give this a try. If you still don't like it ... after this, you probably just do not like JJK for whatever reason. JJK 0 is also a much better way to start JJK than season 1 as well.

This review applies to both seasons.
Every once in a while an anime adaptation comes along and really elevates the source material from what the manga was able to provide. Niskeoi is a perfectly fine story in manga form, but the art was not really that good. The anime is superior in every way except for completeness. I do not think the anime skips anything important, so a perfectly viable way of getting through all of the story is to watch the first two seasons and then switch to the manga if they need the complete story. Studio Shaft gave Nisekoi and Nisekoi 2 great animation. ... The character designs are good. The story, such that it covers, is good. Unfortunately, Nisekoi is a really long story, so not much happens in the anime adaptation, so expect more of a low-stakes, slice-of-life experience while watching the anime. The animation also does a good job of driving home some of the cartoonier aspects of the manga. This show is great for anyone who wants to watch something silly where nothing really happens and is okay with it likely never being completed as an anime.

I had so much fun with Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan. The first episode was great, and the show only gets funnier the more anime you've watched. Unfortunately, the show does not quite keep its momentum. If every episode in the series were as good as the first and last episode, I think the op would be as ubiquitous as "Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?", A good way to think about this show is that it kind of is the Japanese version of Spongebob Squarepants. I liked the characters. I thought the animation quality fit the style of the story, and sometimes there were ... noticeable changes to the animation where the story wanted to take a thematic turn, which was fun. I was always excited to watch a new episode each week, and I am sad to see it go. I would have preferred it slightly if the show had explored what was supposed to be the central tension of the show which was that Koshitan needed to put up with Nokotan's antics to prevent her from revealing her past as a delinquent, but the slice of life vibe of the show was still fun.

Since this is completed now, it makes for a good read you can just binge if you want. Frankly, the story is unnecessarily long. The best girl doesn't win (in this humble reviewers opinion). My favorite character was Rena probably. To the extent the show tries to be harem, (which it really isn't), it doesn't do a very good job of making you think it can be any girl in the end aside from Fuyuki. This is the ideal manga to read if you are planning a trip to Hokkaido and you want to know what you can do while you are there or if ... you just want a manga that is set in Hokkaido that isn't Golden Kamuy. The ending was pretty good. It also was not particularly funny, so if you want a rom-com look elsewhere.

I enjoyed Terminator Zero despite not really being a big fan of the source material. I have seen the first two terminator movies and I thought they were pretty good. I just never felt the need to watch any of the others. I thought Terminator Zero did a pretty good job taking the story in a new direction without contradicting the source material. The show had a few twists I did not see coming, and I thought the action and suspense were pretty good. I really enjoyed seeing the surroundings through the Terminator's perspective (like you do in the original movies) in an anime.

The ... biggest flaw with the anime itself is that, while not bad, the animation is not quite it. It can be a little bit off-putting at times, and feels a little subpar compared to what Production I.G. can do. Additionally, there is a big plot-hole in the story. Why did the computer scientist not simply bring his children to a saferoom inside the labs to begin with (or somewhere else with the same level of protection), if he suspected that technology was going to rise against humans.

This had really good action and animation. The characters, were, for the most part, pretty good. It definitely is a "product of its time" with respect to how "edgy" it is, which did not bother me that much, but it also did not really do much for me. I did not really enjoy the ending, because it didn't make me feel fulfilled having watched it. This is very much a "journey" anime and not a "destination" anime. My favorite part is probably the guy with the wasps/bees. This show is best viewed as a time capsule for people who want to understand the "edgy" 90's ... OVA era of anime, but there might be better examples.

Nisekoi is the first Manga I have read that made me wish that MAL subdivided ratings with a 0.5, because I would probably give Nisekoi a 6.5 if I could. There are a lot of fun and sweet moments throughout the series, and all of the characters are fun. On the other hand, it doesn't feel like Nisekoi ever really achieves its potential with it's premise. The series centers around two teenagers who are both the children of Yakuza gang leaders. Unlike say Spy X Family which never lets you forget that they are a Spy Family, while reading Nisekoi it is very easy to ... forget that the main male main character and one of the female main characters are the children of Yakuza leaders. The art style is broadly okay, but sometimes has insane jumps in quality for special panels. A lot of the jokes in the series are not constantly reinforced or referenced, so it makes it kind of difficult to understand some of the jokes if you read the series inconsistently or while reading others. The series is also really, really long for no particular reason aside from Shonen Jump wanting it to run for a long time (I'm guessing). Bottom line: I enjoyed my time with Nisekoi even though it took a while to read. I don't think it made me a better person or gave me a reason to reread it, but I felt like reading it was a pretty good use of my time. Also, in my opinion the best girl did not "win", but the epilogue chapter was fun.

This is a good isekai for people who think they don't like isekai (Which includes me). The animation is quite good. The character design is excellent and probably the best part of the show. It is also probably a better Suicide Squad adaptation than we got in either movie or the super-hyped-up video game. Clayface, who seems to be the only character who really understands what it means to be isekai'd, which can be pretty funny. Also, this depiction of Clayface is better because he retains his identity of Basil Karlo, a famous Hollywood actor, and is not just a monster. Problems with this series ... are that it has a pretty shallow plot, and there is never any real peril, but it is still a fun watch. I would watch a season 2.

This is hands-down the best sci-fi manga I have ever read. All of the characters are great. It basically has an ensemble cast, so each character gets pretty equal time. It was a quick read, but it did not feel like it was too short, and more importantly, it wasn't too long because I read it all in one night. I just couldn't put it down. I went to bed at 4 a.m. and paid dearly for it the next day at work (it was worth it). My favorite character was probably the high I.Q. genius guy, and the only flaw with the story, is ... how there are things the other characters figure out that he should have been able to.