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Aug 2, 2023
Jagaaan is... a mixed bag. The first half is off-the-rails crazy. Our main character is a homicidal maniac, working as a police officer in the hopes that he can shoot up people he deems as scum to society (whether that's a comment on police brutality or not is up to interpretation). And then magical frogs rain from the sky, people turn into horrifying monsters, and our beat cop gets the superpower to turn his dominant hand to a gun as a result.
The early chapters are slow, but it sets the tone for what the series was supposed to be. Twisted people turn into manifestations of
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their desire, and it's really not pretty. The body horror is drawn beautifully, creating just the right mix of ugly and cool. And our main character is thrown into the mix, because he has to fight other monsters to retain his humanity.
How? He gets his magical bird mascot character to eat their frog-hearts and shit it out, then he snorts said ball of dung like coke. It's incredible. Like a magical girl from my fever dreams.
Unfortunately, symptoms of Jagaaan's problems start to pop up this early. The series like to introduce side-characters that we focus on as a sort of B-plot, and none of them are even remotely enjoyable even as a "break". The first one is a rapist who probably only exists as an excuse to draw sex scenes. The second one is a guy stuck in a woman's body who probably also only exists as an excuse to draw sex scenes. You get the idea.
After the hilariously named Deader Land arc is where these issues start to worsen. I heard the artist injured his shoulder, so it's not something I can really blame him on, but the art does take a noticeable quality dive. The unique art style and its ugly, inhumane expressions gradually fade away to something more generic. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the designs of the monsters; while still cool, they really don't retain the same level of body horror that they used to have.
Somehow the B-plot continues to be stupidly meaningless, and everything is tied up rather haphazardly by the end with some trite philosophical debates and monologues about the meaning of life. Still, Jagaaan's strongest points are its characters, and they truly do continue to leave lasting impressions right until the end. That said, I liked how dumb the final arc was, and I mean that in the best way possible. Jagaaan had an incredible start, a rough middle, and a decent ending that's probably a little too happy for me.
Overall, it's... fine, it just didn't live up to what it could have been like early on. If you want to turn off your brain for a little and watch people with cool bioweapons shoot each other's heads off while flying in the sky, this is a good way to pass the time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 17, 2022
tl;dr if you like KR W you will love this, if you haven't seen KR W then I HIGHLY recommend watching that first
Are you a fan of Kamen Rider W? Are you itching for more of it? If the answer to even one of those questions is yes, then this anime is for you. It's essentially an all-new story that is set after the original series, featuring the cast you know and love.
But first, for those who are unfamiliar with Kamen Rider W: I highly, highly suggest watching it first before you go into this. The anime just assumes that you've seen all 49
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episodes and 2 movies of the original series from start to finish, so it does a little amount of effort in refreshing your memory. Some major things are just straight-up unexplained because they've already been touched upon in the tokusatsu, and there are a lot of plot developments and character motivations that will go over your head if you haven't seen the original series at all. Certain scenes also lack emotional impact if you don't fully know the context behind them. Obviously, you're still free to try if you want—the chief producer has said that the anime is indeed made with newcomers in mind, but from what I have seen so far, it feels like the opposite. I imagine the anime will be so much less fun and more puzzling/confusing if you go in blind.
That said, if you're already a fan of Kamen Rider W or at least have fond memories of watching it, then you will love this anime. Fuuto PI is both a sequel and a love letter to the original W with a ton of neat little callbacks and references to its tokusatsu predecessor. The story is just what you'd expect from W: A thrilling supernatural mystery with some occasional light-hearted moments. It takes place in good ol' Fuuto, and the anime makes use of it really well. Many characters from the original series, no matter how minor, make appearances here and there in the story. A lot of iconic sets are featured as well, such as the Narumi Detective Agency which has been unfortunately demolished in real life. Both of these things combined make the windy city feel alive and familiar, almost like returning to an old home.
Henshin effects are also recreated in a much more flashy fashion than in the live-action, but the anime keeps certain trademark sound effects to remind you that you are still watching the same Kamen Rider you know and love. Some of the music is basically even just 1:1 renditions of the original series' soundtrack and it WILL hit you in the nostalgia bones.
It's based on a tokusatsu series, after all, so action-wise, the anime will not leave you wanting. The animation is solid, smooth, and slick—and thanks to it, we get the kind of action that just isn't possible in a weekly live-action drama medium. Dynamic fast-paced fight sequences, bike chase scenes with no regard to Japanese traffic safety laws, et cetera.
The only downside I can think of is that the voice actors might take a little while to get used to. The seiyuus do a fine job in bringing the characters to life, but it's going to feel a little jarring compared to the original at first. Just don't go in here expecting to hear Renn Kiriyama and Masaki Suda.
(But at least the ED song is sung by the actors of Eternal and Skull, and it SLAPS.)
Overall, it's a good, enjoyable anime—just one that is geared toward a very specific audience. If you are interested in watching the original series but don't know where to start, feel free to reach out to me. I'll be more than willing to help out!
(A repost and slightly minor edit of my previous review, which had 46 votes at the time of deletion.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 28, 2022
A visual spectacle with a script that seems like it's missing a few pages. The show tries to tackle modern, sensitive themes, but fails to do so with any substance and the ultimate payoff is that the core issue driving the plot forward does not get resolved in the slightest. Despite music being a huge theme, the songs are rather bland and forgettable, though they do serve their purpose very well and they accompany certain scenes beautifully. Overall, it's unthinkable how this movie got a whooping fourteen minutes of standing ovation -- at least according to Wikipedia. It's a decent watch, but one that might
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leave you feeling unsatisfied in the end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 2, 2019
Now, if you're reading this you're either a Symphogear fan like me or someone completely clueless, wondering "why the hell is this thing rated so high?", "why the hell is this literally nothing anime topping the charts of Summer 2019 for almost every week?". Hell, at the time I'm writing this, it's even in the top #50!
...If you belong to the latter, then this spoiler-free review about the series as a whole is for you!
With one of its taglines being something as cool (and dumb) as "Believe in justice and a determination to fist", this show's gotta be good, right?
YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT IT
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IS. It’s got magical girls that kick ass, it’s got catchy as hell songs, it’s got concert choreography better than idol anime (and hell, even better than /real/ concerts), it’s got M A R T I A L A R T S, it’s got toku references, it’s got mechs, it’s got giant monsters, it’s got gay rights AND isn't subtle about any of these!
tl;dr WATCH SYMPHOGEAR IT'S GOOD
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Now, let's go to the basics. What the hell is Symphogear? I'm gonna try to explain it as simple as I can: It's an over-the-top show about magical girls punching the shit out of monsters with mecha fists while singing songs LIVE. Basically it's like if you're watching some hot-blooded shonen anime alongside Precure, Kamen Rider and also Gurren Lagann all at once. If that's still not enough to convince you then I don't know what will.
Jokes aside, it's... exactly that. I know that sounds like an abomination of mix-and-matched genres at first, but trust me - Symphogear makes it work in the coolest possible way. Like its main character, God bless her, Symphogear is a show that always punches through its limits, and it does so in such a stylish and confident way that it's hard to not accept it.
But that doesn't mean Symphogear is all style and zero substance. No, it's all style AND all substance. Great animation and amazing fight scenes aside, Symphogear is a roller coaster of emotions. I rarely, almost never, get moved to tears while watching stuff, but with Symphogear I've lost count of how many times I've shed tears. Either from the hype, the heartwarming scenes, or the legitimately sad ones... This show punches your heart HARD with a fist full of feels, covering the entire spectrum of emotions that a human being can experience. It's just THAT good.
Let's get to the story. The plot is pretty typical - it's not anything groundbreaking, but it's nothing repetitive either. It /is/ dumb, for sure, but in a good way. It is, however, carried by the amazing character writing. I don't wanna spoil anything, obviously, but this show really goes out of its way to make you like every single one of the characters. The character development is also plain to see with each new season, and goddamn does it feel good to see your faves growing up as you continue to watch the show. You will cry with them, you will laugh with them, and you will love them in the end - even characters you thought you wouldn't like at first.
Symphogear is pretty heavy on the music theme, and it shows. That said, it also delivers in the music department. I mean, freaking Nana Mizuki sings the openings. This show also has the best use of character songs out of any other anime I've seen in my life. I mentioned this earlier, but the characters sing their songs live during battle. As in, the songs they play aren't pre-recorded! You can hear their voices crack a bit when they take a hit, or you cry tears of hype when one of the girls just freaking screams the lyrics of her character song as she delivers the final blow to an opponent. With such great usage, there's also a variety of genres that the songs come in, each character having a unique one. From Celtic music, to traditional Japanese music, to techno darkwave, there's a lot of variety in here. Not all of them works, obviously, but most of the time they do and it freaking slaps.
All five seasons of Symphogear cannot be rated individually, they have to be taken in as a whole. Yes, it's flawed, season 1 especially, but that's the toughest obstacle you have to overcome and power through. It's a slog, sure, but everything beyond it is so, /so/ worth it. Besides, whether something is a flaw or a strength, a curse of a blessing, that just depends on how you view it! But it's undeniably true that Symphogear has a strong message to convey, and it presents that message in such an entertaining and engaging away that it's hard to turn your eyes away from the screen even for a split second.
XV is the final season, and while it didn't exactly give me what I wanted, ultimately it was a satisfying journey - one that I highly recommend to other people. If you're a fan of the magical girl genre or shows about Karate Bugmen, then that goes double!
Fun fact: The only reason I decided to pick this show up was because a friend of mine promised to give me 60 bucks if I did. But you know what? Symphogear is worth way more than a mere 60 dollars. It's... an experience that just can't be valued in money. It's an amazing experience I urge you all to try.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 27, 2016
Kaguya Wants To Be Confessed To is basically just the battles from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, except the goal is not "I have to defeat the enemy and his/her Stand!", it's "I have to make him/her confess to me!".
Kaguya Wants To Be Confessed to is a comedy/romance manga, that bases most of its humor off the over-the-top styles of action in shounen manga. Saying something really minor dramatically! Reciting an entire paragraph in one's mind in just a milisecond!
I actually didn't go into this series expecting to really like it - I'm not really a romance person, y'know? But I must say after giving
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it a shot that it's a lot, lot better than it initially appears.
Story: 10
The chapters are episodic, and features the two main characters trying to get the other to confess their feelings first. It's overly exaggerated in some parts, but that's what makes it fun.
The actual writing is the kind that keeps you hooked and wanting more, and I have to say that the author is a genius at at building up suspense - both for drama and humor. The jokes are great, and they always land on the right moment.
Art: 9
The art is pretty good and consistent in quality, with very few glaring derp panels - and even if there's any, it just helps to make the situation funnier. It's a gold mine for reaction faces too, so that's a plus.
Character: 10
And here's what makes the manga so special to me, what really makes it stand out from the rest - the characters. Sure the story's great, and the art's good, but the endearing characters are where Kaguya-sama really shines. Even the characters you didn't like at first will definitely grow on you and next thing you know you love them just as much as you love the others. The characters are really fleshed out, and just like real human beings, they grow as the story progresses and oh *boy* the character development in this manga is simply amazing.
Except Chika, I guess. She's a demon who only exists to cockblock others and god do I love her too.
Enjoyment: 10
Everything is enjoyable, be it the over exaggerated monologues of the characters, or just some (un)expected character ruining their plans unknowingly. Even the dramatic, more serious scenes are written really well, no matter how awkward they may be.
tl;dr: 10
Kaguya-sama is a romance comedy that's guaranteed to make you bust your gut, never getting repetitive with the kind of unique witty dialogues the characters say and just all-around great writing. I mean, honestly, I really cannot recommend this manga enough. Give it a try, even if you're not a fan of rom-coms.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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