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Jan 17, 2020
So I NOW own both seasons of this show on Blu-Ray...I also own the Alice Cartelet figurine as well. When starting off, I only watched the first 3 or 4 episodes of the show and then quit hard. After forcing myself to give it another chance, all of that stuff happened. I also read some of the other reviews on here before posting mine. Here goes nothing...
**STORY**
I have to say that this show starts with a more "story arc" and narrative feel to it, but uses this as a backdrop for context moving forward. We're introduced to WHY there is a little blonde English girl
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in freakin Japan, which to their credit (looking at the naysayers) is a LOT more than we get from other anime. So kudos to the Kinmoza team for actually putting in the effort instead of plopping characters into high school and going from there (something even Azumanga Daioh is guilty of to a certain degree). It's a Slice of Life Comedy and is quintessentially the "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" anime genre in a nutshell. I am going to go into WAY more detail on this in the "Character" and "Enjoyment" sections, so I'll wrap this section up now. If you don't like CGDCT, just don't watch it...simple as that.
**ART**
The art is fantastic! The girls are super cute and the environments look great. I couldn't point out anything "stylistically" different, so this gets a 9 which is perfect in terms of quality. The low-quality expression-heavy animations are also cute, but this is common in other anime as well. The show is very GIF-able though!
**SOUND**
Voice acting seems good (I watched the sub) and I LOVE the music for Season 1 OP and ED! I'm lumping Seasons 1 and 2 together on this, which is why it's a 9. The OP and ED were weaker for Season 2, not bad just not as good as Season 1's. Voice acting still seemed good in season 2 though.
**CHARACTER**
I'll let this be the first hop into the "You don't 'get it', apparently" tangent which will be fully-explored in the "Enjoyment" section. Just let that statement simmer as it may apply to the naysayers of this series...
I could write for hours about the girls, so I'll try and keep it brief and do it in paragraph instead of broken-down form. Alice is an adorable character, you love her to death and just wanna hug her. The relationship with her and Shino is really touching in episode 1, you get why they become friends and it's super endearing. You're introduced to Karen later on who grows on you a lot (quickly as well) though she has a rocky start. Yoko and Aya start off bland, but just need time to develop and you end up loving them too. Sakura, their teacher, is also quite lovable in the end.
"Yeesh, not very detailed and sounds too positive" is probably what some folks are thinking. Remember that comment about "Getting it"? Here we go...
**ENJOYMENT**
If you don't like SoL comedy or CGDCT, I don't know why you are watching this to begin with, but this isn't aimed at you...though reading this might change your opinion on the show regardless.
When I watched this the first time (remember my first paragraph? I QUIT this show hard after 3-4 episodes) my problem was that I didn't "get it" and I think some of the reviewers didn't either. I thought the show, and in particular AlicexShino, was nauseatingly sweety sweet to the point of making me want to vomit. The ironic thing is the show is absolutely aware and that's the joke. Maybe it's getting lost in translation, but the schtick is that you're laughing at how over-the-top Alice and Shino are, it's meant to be COMICAL. Once you realize THIS, it's like you're watching a completely different series (and I mean that, I rewatched the WHOLE thing).
With that in mind, it's in essence making fun of sugary anime, the show is intensely more enjoyable. To think it's not would be like defining Kimura and Kaorin from Azumanga Daioh as a serious romance, or Konata's obsession with anime/manga as a serious psychological problem to be explored. You're completely missing the humor. This is also a feel-good anime, so while it's self-aware and comical it's also meant to be healing at the same time. I can never understand dissing a show for being exactly what it advertises (and even poking fun at it, as well).
So with that in mind....
**OVERALL**
I love the show quite a bit, but for some folks the aesthetic might turn them off even though the show is fully aware of itself. I ran into the same thing with MLP Friendship is Magic (season 1, that is). If you can't get past the aesthetic, that's fine, but it's not a factor outside of personal preference. As another example from Western animation, the Powerpuff Girls also fits this. If the subtlety is lost on the viewer, they aren't going to see the humor in it. With that in mind, the show is great. Season 2 (Hello! Kiniro Mosaic) was also very enjoyable. It felt as though it picked right up where the other left off, unlike other anime. If you like season 1, check out season 2!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 17, 2020
It's probably been years since I've written a review on an anime I watched, but here we are! This one moved me enough to want to rate and discuss it. It may seem unorthodox or unrelated to some people, but I'll be contrasting this with Monster Musume (Everyday Life with Monster Girls), and I'll explain why in the review.
I watched this one based on a suggestion from a friend and then running across a compilation of scenes from the show on Youtube. His synopsis wasn't a very detailed explanation, but the preview bits sold me on checking it out, and I'm so glad I
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did!!
**STORY**
Honestly I like the premise a lot. It's far more realistic than some and the show attempts to go in the same vein as M. Night Shymalan's movie Unbreakable. We're discussing what people perceive to be the supernatural, but could have a scientific explanation for it. The show doesn't try to push this theme too hard, but it makes for a good change of pace from time to time.
Now with a good premise like this, you could even explore a lot of the typical HS anime tropes with a fresh perspective. It does feel this was the initial idea, and exposition about the girls feelings is well-done with them coming to Tetsuo for advice at times. For me, the only reason this isn't walking away with a 9 or 10 is the dialogue was a bit bland. This could just be the Crunchyroll sub that made it that way, but it just seemed like rather weak dialogue for the characters. Still, the show pulls through and delivers a solid first season. Very glad I gave this a try! What does this have to do with Monster Musume?
**ART**
I'm not much of an artist, so I can only give surface-level critique. It looks good, but nothing seemed to deviate too far from the status quo. In my opinion, a 9 is a perfect score for quality, but you'd need something unique or creative in terms of style to get a 10. This is in no way a diss on it, the show looked great and it was quality work by talented people no doubt.
**SOUND**
I usually lump in the dub with this rating, but since I'm basing this on the sub I also have to factor in music. As far as sound quality, the voice actors seemed great and their voices suited the character designs. The OP and ED along with incidental music wasn't bad, but it wasn't very noticeable either. Blended in, but didn't really stoke my attention. As I said, nothing was bad, just not remarkable enough to warrant anything past "good".
**CHARACTERS**
This section could get huge, but I'll keep it simple since I'm breaking it down for main characters:
-Tetsuo: Definitely a +1 to your typical harem male protagonist. He has a realistic purpose for existing and his interest in the girls is not shifty or weird. The "oblivious guy" trope gets overdone a lot, but being a science nerd (albeit a very BUFF one for some reason...) it makes sense.
- Hikari: Ok, yeah she's not THAT original of a character but you still love her to death. She gets most of the showtime out of the girls, but you still like her so it doesn't feel unnatural. Her situations and quirks seem plausible, making her a good character to explore and learn about.
- Kyouko: She's a nice character as well, though I will say she's the one who gets sexualized the most out of the demi students. Her breasts are WAY more prominent than the other girls and since she's a Dullahan, there are some things that get a bit questionable about how Tetsuo interacts with her (just..you know, laying a teenage girl's disembodied head in your lap), but she at least seems to have pure-ish intentions for a young woman. I don't think the hints at her wanting to progress a relationship with Tetsuo fit the tone of the show, but it wasn't egregiously racy.
- Yuki: The one who arguably got the least attention of the 3 demi students. She has the least explanation for her supernatural abilities, but she also seems to get little character development as well. She's also another super "polite" character, which Kyouko kinda falls under as well. Would have been nice to see her be a little more Tsundere (being a snow woman, figured that's a good pun), but she's still likeable. Maybe with more screen time she could get developed better.
- Sakie: Ok, I feel they just really hit it outta the park with this character (and it's not her succubus powers influencing this!!). While the dream power she has is rather implausible, the intense aphrodisiac effect she has seems very plausible. The fact that she tries to conceal it with clothes and lack of contact is just perfectly done. They could have easily turned her into a lewdfest, but they didn't and she's just the perfect amount of sexiness to make her character believable as a succubus. The touch thing seems a bit overboard, but was done in a funny manner. I feel the "jiggle physics" gag was perfectly done, as it's something that most assuredly would catch a guy's attention and have that effect. Even up to the last episode, they kept this character very classy and could have gone overboard, but didn't. I'd have to say she's the best-written character.
**ENJOYMENT**
My metric for this is always "How hard was it to turn off?" and I can say this one was quite enjoyable. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole here. While some of the characters might have room for improvement, the music wasn't anything to write home about, and the dialogue could be vanilla at times, the show is funny and enjoyable to watch. I'm usually not a "laugh out loud" person, but this show made me choke on soda a few times mid-sip. The combination of everything is just very well done, like a quality cheeseburger...it doesn't need crazy flavors or outlandish ingredients to be good, it just needs to be quality ingredients with love and care put into preparation...and it shows with this anime. I watched the whole first season in two sittings. The first 8 in one sitting, then the last 5 after that. I liked it!
**OVERALL**
You can tell the people making this liked what they were working on. There's an endearing quality to the whole thing that's hard to pinpoint. Like with other great shows, it's something you just sit and enjoy. It's not trying to throw you narrative curveballs to feign originality or toss out tacky fanservice to cover a bad story/characters. It handles the content well, and even with the slight gripes it's more room for improvement rather than pointing out something that's "wrong". The most I could toss at this show as far as negativity, is that in some things it tried to be too "safe". Being quite honest, it's hard to find that unreasonable as their approach these days with how expensive and risky animating a series can be.
"So what does all this have to do with Monster Musume?" you ask? Well I saved this for the end because this is rant-ish but very relevant to Interviews with Monster Girls...I'm no prude and I'm honestly VERY anti-censorship because censorship is not a voluntary thing, that's forcing YOUR morals on others without their consent. I also watched the entire Monster Musume series a couple of times, so I did finish it and watched it more than once (the Crunchyroll TV version). So I don't want that series censored or for it to not exist, but please keep that preface in mind when reading the rest of my comments.
M.M. was basically softcore hentai and beneath that was SOME good writing, (will cover that in a review) but the focus for the show was the loud fanservice. The monster-ness of the girls was more along the tangent of getting to a girlfriend archetype than their actual differences from humans and how that plays out/exists. Not a literary sin itself, but more like misappropriated potential. If the lewdness was turned down, I would have liked M.M. a lot more. I also had the same problem with Ichigo Mashimaro, though it's to a much lesser degree than MM. There was much better writing in Ichigo Mashimaro but the sexualizing little girls was rather aggravating and bothersome to me.
Now here's where Interview with Monster Girls comes in. Here we have a great show that explores the concept with much more richness and detail, without over-the-top fanservice, and I certainly hope it explodes and is as successful as MM was, or maybe more. I believe both should exist, but it's annoying to see good writing get overlooked for lack of fanservice. BOTH should exist in this world, as the writers intended, but a series shouldn't have to toss that in to be good. I would feel awkward watching MM with ANYONE, but I'd feel comfortable watching Interviews with Monster Girls with nearly any anime fan. It's done in a classy way, and I certainly hope that it gets regarded for its good writing, and isn't hindered for its lack of lewd.
/RANT
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 19, 2017
Don't have much time to watch anime? Love chibis and cats to an unhealthy degree? Have a huge affinity for overused character tropes with almost zero character development? Then you have found your muse right here...
So really there isn't much of anything to the story, but that's because the episodes are TWO MINUTES LONG (including the OP) so anyone would struggle to get much of any content in with that timeframe. This is probably the lowest score I've given because considering the length, it is the laziest writing that you could do. We'll come back to that later though...
Art was decently good. The cat girl
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chibi thinga-ma-doo's are cute and everything, but most of the art is nothing great or groundbreaking in any way. With a series this short, you could at least do something unique or stylistic (like Space Patrol Luluco) but it's just the same stuff you see in nearly all anime.
Voice acting and the music seemed fine, not much to comment on but the stuff that was there is fine. Not much to comment on really.
And now we're back to that story thing. With only having to write for a 2min (including OP) episode, you could probably get away with more unique characters than we're given. Since you don't need to make up hardly any dialogue to finish the series, you could take more risks or do something different to stand out. The MC is bland, the cat chibi girl things are cute but stock personalities, and the other cat loving girl is like a Miyuki clone from Lucky Star. For a normal length series, you can understand having to hover around certain archetypes and such since there is a lot to pad out. There was almost zero deviation though, the characters couldn't have been more stock.
Believe it or not though, for what was actually there, I enjoyed it. It just seemed unsatisfying since it was so short (again, TWO MINUTES PER EPISODE INCLUDING OP), it almost felt like more of a waste of time since it was so short and didn't go anywhere. Beware though, the sugary cuteness is strong with this one...might give some of you guys diabetes if you aren't careful. Maybe that's why it's so short? lol
Ehh, this is definitely a skippable anime, but doesn't eat up much time if you wanna give it a try. If there's nothing else to watch or you're like really into chibi cat things then this may be for you. Just very mediocre...
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 15, 2017
JUDGEMENT REVIEW MORPHING!!!
So what do you get when a Middle School girl named Luluco just wants to live a normal life, but finds herself living in a city full of aliens and drafted into the Space Patrol? Well, you get Space Patrol Luluco.
The first thing that needs to be said about the story and the show in general, is that it's INCREDIBLY short. Each episode runs about 7.5min long and that's INCLUDING the OP and ED...so you will burn through 13 episodes very very fast. The story is meant to be just like the speed of the anime, fast paced, exciting, and sort of
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confusing. The show reminds me of the Nickelodeon cartoons from way back in the day, like Ren and Stimpy, that had many random and wacky plot twists around a central purpose that is usually pretty flimsy on its own. It is what it is and it can lack consistency, but this is really meant to be comical and fast-paced, so taking this too seriously is a mistake. Despite its random nature, it still deserves the 8 that it gets for its originality.
The artwork is standard-fare anime style, but that's only if you're paying attention to the foreground alone. The backgrounds and other artwork are pretty intense, and you can tell THAT'S where the lion's share of effort went into. A lot of the ships and cityscapes are really well done, so you have to pay attention in this fast-paced anime or you could miss it. A lot of the action shots will have great effects and artwork on them as well, but again you have to stay on it to catch a lot of this. Because of that fact, it falls short of being a 9.
On sound, the theme song was pretty catchy and got you in the mood for the show. The voice acting seemed good and suited the characters. Not much else you can say about it, it was good but nothing I'd call groundbreaking.
The characters were really hard to get a feel for because of the fast pace of the show. You felt like you were just getting to know Luluco and the show was over. The more outrageous the characters, the better you understood them. The Chief was AWESOME and Midori was pretty cool as well. Nova was rather bleh, but the ending makes sense and explains why he's that way. Luluco was cute as could be, you can't help but love her and her lame middle school lovey dovey obsession.
This was a very enjoyable anime, but the lack of slower pacing made it seem like it was over too quick and didn't make much of an impact compared to other anime. Don't let that keep you from watching it though! It was a genuinely good anime and I wish there was just MORE of it. I get that it enables Studio Trigger to put more into the artwork when the show is not so long, but at the same time it felt like a series of cartoons they play between shows on other networks. You could sit down and blaze through this whole series in one sitting, EASILY. Redeeming factor is, you'll have fun doing it :)
I'd check it out if you like fast-paced anime and something with cute humor to it. I think a few swigs of Mountain Dew or Redbull are in order beforehand though, you may blink and miss half the episode ;-)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 23, 2017
[Visualize Fry meme here]
Not sure if shoujo ai, or just bestiality...
To spoiler-free explain the storyline, an average software programmer woman helps out a dragon (yes, you read that right) who is near death. The woman offers to let the dragon (Tooru) stay with her and says she needs a maid, so that's exactly what our dragon who can magically turn into an attractive young woman (with horns and a tail) does. As time goes on, more and more dragons find their way into Miss Kobayashi's world and do like Tohru. There we have the base of the story.
The story got an 8 because, while
...
the SoL episodes are funny and very enjoyable, the serious bents they get onto in a few episodes are often dull and uninteresting. Some of it is backstory, but many times it's backstory that only has to do with Tooru and some strange interaction she had years ago...many times to no avail as it concerns the actual story arc of the show, or minimally so. This is a minor gripe, but what really sunk it was the random, yet somehow boring, finale episode. Again, no spoilers here but it wasn't even a bad ending, just seemed random and not entertaining. It attempted to ask a deep question, but had elements that were unnecessary to explore that tangent. Like I said, everything ended fine, but being such a weak finale really made me disenchanted.
The art is great in this, with a good mix of classical anime styles along with some of the chibi artwork we see in the ED that's very cute. The more realistic dragon animations and some of the combat was pretty neat too, almost up there with Chunibyou, but not quite as stunning on the visuals (hence the 9 instead of a 10). However there is something that is more assuredly worth mentioning, it gets its own sub-section! (see below)
*"D" is for "Dragon"*
The ecchi is sooooooo strong with this one. One of the first things you'll notice about the female dragons is all of them have ridiculous boobs (especially Lucoa) and it's not like they don't want you to notice. The anime is littered with closeups and even has boob "sound effects" as well. I felt it was pretty forced, even on a comedic scale, so to me it sort of cheapened it as possible joke material. It was just sort of worn out towards the end and just made you roll your eyes. If you're uptight about it, you may dislike this a lot, but most of it is done for comedic value and not JUST for fan service.
The sound in this anime was great. The voice acting was excellent and the music was great too, really don't have much to say other than that I loved it! Seemed like the voices matched the characters quite well and the OP end ED were both very catchy and enjoyable. Ironic how it's hard to comment when an anime does something really well!!
Kobayashi is a decent main character and I think she is supposed to be sort of dull by design, to show that having Tooru around makes her life better and more enjoyable. The supporting characters are definitely where all the flair comes in, though I would classify Tooru as a main character rather than a supporting. For me, Tooru was pretty much my favorite character and was quite well-written. Just watching her do things in everyday life was entertaining as it was (talking about how she was going to obliterate the dust as she's cleaning the house lol).
EVERYONE loves Kanna, but Lucoa and Elma were great characters as well. Poor Shouta seems destined to die the death every man would pray for...suffocation by Lucoa's boobs. Sometimes it got a little over-the-top with Lucoa, but many times the comedic potential was used well (the Christmas play!!). Elma was actually very funny and interesting, but she received very little development outside of just being the foodie. It was a cute schtick at first, but that's ALL they did with her. Fafnir got some exploration as a character, and it was good to see him changing and progressing through the series. Kanna was definitely adorable and deserves the notice that she gets. She was a great addition to Kobayashi and Tohru, but that brings me to my next point...
So was it enjoyable? Yes it was, but this suffered from the same problem we ran into with Ichigo Mashimaro...super uncomfortable loli sexualizing. Riko Saikawa is one of Kanna's classmates, and eventually becomes her friend. She is waaaaay attracted to Kanna and even times like when their chests touch, Saikawa practically loses it. This also happens when Kanna eats something off her finger and we get the typical super redface and omg reaction. While they didn't seem to do anything past that (no ecchi stuff or comments on their bodies), it went from being a "liking her" to something of an uncomfortable level when suggested body contact was made. That doesn't bother some people (I'm sure of that), but to those like me just a heads up. Barring all of that and the ecchi madness, this anime was funny, cute, and very entertaining. Just like with all the good ones, you go "NOOO! It's over already???" at the end of the episode. I could see this one have a lot of replay value, though you MAY want to be careful who you watch it with.
If you like SoL comedies and don't mind a ton of boob fanservice and some ecchi as well, you will probably like this show. Get past the creepy loli sexualization and you have a fantastic show. Just watch out for the tail meat...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 20, 2017
Chuunibyou is back and it's...well, I hope you really liked season 1...This picks up right after Slapstick Noel (a Christmas special episode, very cute!). Yuta and Rikka are an item (Lover's Contract or something like that) and so hilarity ensues. She even lives in the same place as Yuta!
The story got a low score, and while I'm probably being rather harsh, I'm comparing it to the caliber of what was in season 1 storywise. Where Rikka was an interesting character before, she is reduced to a whiny, jealous little girl over time. Despite Yuta practically being a SAINT to her through all her crap,
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she just makes you dislike her more and more over time. By the end of the season you almost want them to break up. The finale is touching, but by then you almost want Rikka to disappear. On the plus side, we get THE funniest Dekomori + Nibutani episode of the entire two seasons during this series. Trust me, you'll know it when you see it. Aside from this, the first episode seemed to have a lot of promise but it just falls flat after that. Where's the emotional content of the first season? Where's the mix of comedy and serious that makes you respect and love the characters? Not here...but unless you REALLY liked season 1, you probably won't finish season 2.
Art is great, same as before. Very crisp and imaginative, not much else to say that I haven't said in the original review. They got a perfect score on this for continuity and for it being so rockin' to begin with.
Eh, theme music wasn't much better than the previous one. Voice acting was ok, but Sophia's cackle made me want to scream and cover my ears. It was definitely a good job, just bits here and there that stood out. Not much to say regarding this as it's about on par with season 1.
So here's another lower score. While we do get a great Dekomori episode, not much happens in character development, Rikka more or less regresses to the point of disliking her towards the end. Sophia is an interesting character, but exists as a sort of strange anti-antagonist. Her mere presence and friendship with Yuta drives Rikka nuts to an unreal level. The whole "past love" trope is to be expected, but even though Sophia couldn't be more supportive of Rikka than she is, it still turns into argument fodder for Yuta and Rikka. You almost want an episode devoid of either of them just to get a break.
While there are many marks against it for me, it was still watchable if you are a Chuunibyou fan (I have Dekomori and gothic Rikka figurines if that tells you anything lol). We do get some good episodes here and there, but not as consistent as the first season. Even the serious parts towards the end of season 1 were still enjoyable and good because you cared about the characters so much. Season 2 ended up like an anime version of Saved by the Bell for 24/7 cosplayers. Gross...
This season has some SUPER funny moments, but compared to the previous season they are too few and far in-between. Some humor instead of cliche shoujo romance trash would be great. I'm not opposed to Shoujo Rom-Coms either, I loved Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun, Kuragehime was fantastic too! This show just took something it was and forsook it to try something it wasn't, the great blend from season 1 just isn't here. It's still worth watching if you are a big Chuunibyou fan, but I don't recommend starting here. The progress between Yuta and Rikka is nominal at best, so just tell yourself they get closer and skip it if you don't have time to devote to this season. If you're a Dekomori fan like me, watch the episode where Nibutani is running for class president (if I recall correctly), it's worth it. Might want to pass on the rest though. Could have been way better, best kept to hardcore fans.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 29, 2016
4 Girls in High School start a band...what's not to love???
So K-On! is our journey into Sakura High, where the "Light Music Club" is in need of a guitarist. Yui, who wasn't expecting any of this from the club, suddenly finds herself in a band and cranking out tunes on her lovely Gibson Les Paul.
The story arc is there, unlike some SoL comedies, so that was a big plus for this one. It does a great job of balancing out the main story with happenings and little side stories that add to character development. It's also a fairly good pace since everything being about
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band struggles would make the story go stale kind of quick (been there, done that). Some of the tropes used in all animes are there, but the show is masterful at how/why they find themselves in these locales. A rehearsal space that's at a beach house is much better than just "Lets go to the beach because...reasons!!" as an excuse to see the girls in bikinis. It has the common elements, but with enough of a twist to make them more believable.
Art was pretty good, but seeing more of the girls playing along with the music would have been nice. It was cool when it did happen, but on a few scenes you felt kinda slided when they would skip the performance. It's not a super big gripe, but I felt it detracted enough from the show to mention it. The instruments all look great and the music videos are so cheesy that they are just freakin awesome....but I'll save that for another section.
Sound...the acting and of all things the FREAKIN MUSIC is AWESOME in this anime! Yeah, the OP is a little poppy, but a lot of the songs have a kick to them and are well-composed. I would argue that the ending theme "Don't Say Lazy" is perhaps one of the coolest songs from an anime I've ever heard (even better than "Between You and Me" from Kuragehime, my previous favorite). To get off that for a moment, the voice acting seemed pretty good in the sub (which I opted to watch instead of the dub). The girls personality and cadence shines through despite the language barrier for me, so it makes the sub pretty enjoyable to watch. I'd highly recommend skipping the dub on this one, not sure how they handled the songs they performed, but that may be interesting to watch (I'm guessing they just did them in Japanese). The song titles are hysterical as well (My Love is a Stapler!!), but I can't talk enough about how much I like "Don't Say Lazy", just do yourself a favor and jam out to it when you get a chance.
Characters were neat and enjoyable, though the mix on some of their personalities seemed to be strange choices (Mio is a scaredy cat?). I really thought the dynamic was fine from the get-go with all the girls, but later on Azusa seemed to be a pretty useless addition IMO. She's kind of mousy and quiet like Mio, but without as much focus on success or artistic brooding. They tried to take Mio and mix her with some Yui moe elements, but it feels like she gets in the way all the time. Why mess with something that already works? It's like making Pinky and the Brain and Larry...all you are adding is more characters for a couple of moe jokes that just felt useless. Every time I look for merchandise, I always want it with just the original 4 girls. Azusa aside, all the other side characters seemed to fit and felt natural. I'm a bassist so I think Mio is cool, but I really do like all the girls (except Azusa).
This show totally deserves a perfect score on enjoyment from me. The music is great, the stories and jokes are enjoyable too. The band elements and musical jokes/references make it all the more entertaining for me since I play bass and guitar as well. I'm sure the story arc has been done before, but it felt more unique than many of the SoL comedies I've seen before so it was a welcome change of pace. You get excited to watch the show and it makes me want to pick up my bass or guitar afterwards and jam!! Definitely puts me in a good mood.
All in all it's a great show, definitely worth watching if you are into SoL comedies and a MUST see if you are a musician in any capacity. Get ready for the songs to be stuck in your head for days on end, but the thing is you enjoy having them in there! I'd say the only negatives are the performances they skip in the show and the addition to Azusa which I felt was the big blow to this anime. Without Azusa being in there, I would have given this show a 10 overall, which I don't give out lightly. She'd make a better side character or perhaps a fill-in or sub for Yui in an episode or two, but making her a main character just felt like dead weight. It's a shame, I really wanted to give this show a 10. Don't let that keep you from watching it though, I loved it so much that I bought a t-shirt!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 27, 2016
To quote Strongbad in his "Fisheye Lens" video, "That makes me uncomfortable!!!" My thoughts exactly on Ichigo Mashimaro Encore...
Well with only two episodes to comment on, it's hard not to talk much about the story. It kinda melds together with the OVA and they came in the same DVD set that my sister bought for us to watch. The first episode had Miu taking a trip to the afterlife, which was in some ways hysterical, and in others pretty discomforting. Miu's one-liners were hilarious ("Taxi!!"), but lifting up Ana's skirt was NOT. It's a common theme with the show, very funny and cute stuff with
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really disturbing lolicon crap added too. Just look the other way...these episodes felt more original and unique than the OVA did though.
Art was done differently, just didn't look as sharp or well done as the original or OVA. Ranked it lower because of that.
Voice acting was fine, but the theme songs weren't that great. Lower score because of that too.
Characters were themselves and then some, really kept it true to the original series. On this part, they will not disappoint!!
It was enjoyable, but you have to sit through the lolicon stuff that makes you really uncomfortable. It's a shame too,the entire series would be so cute and still very funny without all of that crap.
Still a decent "2nd season" to the show and worth watching if you liked the first. The jokes are funny, just try and ignore the loli stuff and you'll be fine. Worth a watch for sure!!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 23, 2016
Can't say much that I haven't already said in my Ichigo Mashimaro review to be honest, so this one will be pretty short.
Stories in this one were along the same lines, but had even less drive to them than the other series. Not a real big deal, it's SoL so it really doesn't need a knockout storyline. Still, some of the previous series' ones like Nobue getting a job were pretty funny and fresh, with only 3 episodes to make you'd think they could do more of that.
Art's the same as before, pretty good and consistent. Girls are animated well and the environments
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look pretty good too.
Voice acting was the same as before, pretty good from what I can tell. However, the OP and ED are pretty crappy. Wish they would have kept the original one or done something better. The "Sour, Round...Hazy Girls" made me go "What series am I watching again??" lol
Same characters, delivering the same style dialogue. Not much to say here, it's the same as the regular series. Feels like going from Lord of the Rings to The Hobbit, not really a big disconnect here.
It was fun to watch! Obviously if you liked the other series you'll like this one since they are super similar. I was HOPING that some of the uncomfortable stuff involving the little girls would be nixed, but it wasn't. Too many close cutoff shots of the girls wearing too little clothing or whatever, and of course Nobue being her creepy self with Ana and Matsuri *eye roll*. Overlooking all that, it was fun and cute.
If you liked Ichigo Mashimaro, definitely watch this one. However, just skip the OP as it's really not worth sitting through LOL
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 9, 2016
Remember Kindergarten Cop? Well Kindergarten teacher part aside, this isn't really like that at all...
Tsuchida is a typical bumbling guy, he's awkward but somehow has a real knack with kids. He decides to become a kindergarten teacher and meets the daughter of his high school friend. Funny thing is, little Anzu-Chan takes QUITE the liking to our main guy Tsuchida. Surprise surprise, she's also one of his kindergarten students!!
This show is a strange mix of slice of life comedy, and in a REALLY weird way, a romance love triangle as well. Tsuchida falls head over heels with another teacher at the school, but little
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Anzu-Chan doesn't like that scenario at all. The show is a mix of short 10-15 minute "episodes" within an actual episode of the show. While Anzu tries all she can do to win Tsuchi over (despite the glaring age gap), Tsuchi tries to keep from hurting her feelings all while trying to confess his love to Yamamoto. Hilarity ensues, and boy does it ever...
Art is nice and I'd like to point out something I felt was very responsible of the animators. My sister pointed out that the padded-out clothes for the girls was a way to ward off crazed lolicons, something I found to be an excellent choice. Now the grown ladies are most ASSUREDLY where the fan service comes in, there were plenty of bouncing chests (ample ones at that) to go around. I'm glad there wasn't any focus on the little girls like that, but I do feel they tried to use a loophole. In several scenes Anzu will either imagine or talk about herself as an adult. We are now transported to scenes where she is a busty young woman and trying to win over Tsuchi who still looks the same. A little awkward since her voice really doesn't change and you get that sort of mental image like in Big with Tom Hanks, it's a child trapped in an adult's body. That part kind of irked me, but other than that everything was spot on. You have to check your ego at the door and admit that the kids are cute as hell in this show, they did a real good job making them lovable and adorable. You wanna just pick em up and give them a hug!!
Watched the subbed version, which seemed good enough. Voice acting seemed fine and the music was pretty good as well. Not much to comment on, got a 9 since nothing musically REALLY stood out to me (it's not K-On!, ya know?).
Character was a tough one to call...lot of them aren't very original characters, but you love them anyways. The kids (like Hiiragi) really saved the rating on this, because the adults tended to be what drug the show down. You liked the adults anyways, but the kiddos could honestly have run the show all by themselves. Comedic elements of blending the adults and kids was used well, it just got bland when it was the adults and nobody else. Archetypes are nothing foreign to SoL comedies, but a little deviation would have been nice. As I said, soooo glad the kids are as fun and animated as they are.
This totally deserved the 10 on enjoyment, it's a romping good time and I can't overstate how heartwarming the show is. The Anzu obsession with Tsuchi borders on creepy sometimes, but her coming over to take care of him when he's sick and other episodes are really sweet, kinda wish that was the focus of it more than some of the creepy innuendos. It's a great show to just sit down and watch, I could see myself watching it over and over again much like Azumanga Daioh. Not the manliest show to admit liking, but come on, real men can enjoy a show full of cute kids and still feel like a man.
A really cute show that's funny and easy to sit down and enjoy. If cutesy stuff isn't your thing, you probably want to skip this. Not a lot of super deep storylines or action sequences, it's meant to be enjoyed like an Atari game. You don't need to invest a lot of time to sit down and have fun with it, and you can pick it back up again at any time. I think they toed the line with some of the Anzu grown up scenes, but for the most part they seemed to do well "protecting" the kids in this, nothing really uncomfortable comes up. It's also refreshing to see a story like this, a guy who feels he's a loser but his kiddos think the world of him. If you're a person who has kids, nieces/nephews, or little sibs this will be a nice thing to watch. If it's not your thing, I'm sure you can find an episode of OnePiece to watch ;)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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