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This anime was the recommendation. I was sold pretty much by synopsis read on MyAnimeList and how my friend described it – along with a video excerpt. It looked and sounded like it would be a very interesting decent fantasy romp but it failed in all the right places in the wrongest of ways.

You've probably read the synopsis. Interesting, no? Well, that’s all Crime Edge has going for itself.

First of all, as interesting as the story is, it manages to seriously hamper it’s fresh plot with cliches and plot devices one can normally see in 3rd-rate Shounen anime and manga. The setting is basically for ... a ‘survival game’ so you know this is a Seinen production. Not only the characters but the plot devices also have some of the mos ridiculous names I’ve ever heard even by Japanese standards. One of the main characters’ name is Mushiyanokouji. Why? The weapons used by characters are called ‘Killing Goods’. Ew. And the Killing Goods have their own stupid names: ‘The Sledgehammer of Decomposition/Obliteration’, ‘The Fucking Name of the Anime’, etc. What is going on here?!

The concept of the show is interesting for a survival game but the plot is all sorts of fucked up and not fully thought out. Contradictions in the plot here and there are very obvious. Melodramatic scenes are shoehorned in for the sake of plot advancement but it instead just devalues the characters motivations for participation. My biggest problem with the show is that at many points the MC is shown to be having a conflict with his urge to kill (caused by his Killing Goods) but this is massively shat on in the second last episode when he powers up and gives in to his urges but… his new power is augmented pain. Talk about an anti-climax.

The characters also cast a huge shadow on the worth of this show. They feel like mannequins that are easily manipulated to go out of character to suit the show’s emotional ‘twists’. There’s barely any fleshing out of the characters and development is almost non-existent.

The animation is decent. Nothing special. Though I guess this is the place to voice some idiotic design concerns. The scissor the MC uses (his Killing Goods) has to be the lamest weapon I’ve ever seen. They are the bluntest sharp object I’ve ever seen. Making it scissor-COMB was also a dumb also. You’re telling me a murderer went around cutting up people with a damned scissor-COMB? What? And the MC is practically hopping all over the place cutting enemies up like a samurai.

Also, the fan-service is annoying. Jiggly breasts, domination, lewd blood transfusions, sensual hair cutting, LICKING HAIR, and a 5 minute scene with a bandaged naked loli playing around with a bare Mushiankhsadhkaswhateverthenameis. I don’t mind fan-service (and most of the time even welcome it) but this is just tasteless.

The music is also pretty meh. I guess. I don’t know. Half the voices in the show were as squeaky as a rubber duckling so paying attention to the background music felt like a chore.

Anyways, I rate this anime a 3/10. Except for it being somewhat interesting, it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

This will probably be the shortest review I’ll have ever written.

GJ-bu, or Good Job Club, is a plotless no-aim slice of life comedy about a guy and his harem in a highschool club where they don’t really do anything. It’s kind of like Shitposting: The Anime.

To be the honest, there’s really no reason to watch this anime. It’s your basic slice of life but the jokes aren’t really funny. I only chuckled at like 3 gags and I’m not even exaggerating.

The characters are just an ensemble of cliches and stereotypes that somewhat click well together, I guess.

This anime is a 4/10 for me. There are ... many moe-blob slice of life shows out there that are much better than GJ-bu. Prime examples are Lucky Star, Nichijou, Kill Me Baby, and Yuru Yuri. Go for GJ-bu only when you’re bored out of your tits and have already seen the aforementioned shows and some. Maybe you’ll like it more than I did. Comedy is subjective, after all.

After the disappointing trash that was GJ-bu, I was in a supreme mood for a good comedy to help me find a reason to live (again). After a few minutes of debating with the pink monkeys in my mind on whether I should re-watch the first season of ‘Working!’, I suddenly remembered the little white shirted brat from some show called ‘Barakamon’ people could just not get of back when it released.

Thank you, white shirted kid who I thought was boy but I turned out to be a girl who kind of sounds like the son of a helium container, Barakamon was downright hilarious.

As the ... synopsis shows, Barakamon is a slice-of-life comedy with just a tad bit of drama to start things off.

Handa is a brilliant and arrogant calligrapher who has won many prizes. One day, after receiving harsh criticism from an oldie calligrapher, Handa goes haywire and decks him withe rage of a thousand ones and a half. He is then kicked onto a remote island by his dad so he can reflect on his actions. When Handa arrives at his new home and meets the resident rascal, white shirted Naru, he can’t even imagine how loud and crazy his life is going to get.

And that’s pretty much it. There’s no over-arching plot or any visible goal that the anime’s story wants to go towards. Even though this is slice-of-life to a tee, the setting is somewhat unique so major props to that in an industry where slice-of-life comedies are as common as atheists in a Neon Genesis Evangelion forum.

There are no melodramatic events or scenes that reek of cheap laughter. Barakamon is a finely thought-out comedy centered on a creator’s re-invention of his style and the environment that helps mould his transformation. The gags are creative and plentiful. They don’t feel like they’ve been set up for laughs: they occur naturally as how they would in real life. A kid performs kancho (butt-stabbing) on Handa when he arrives at the village and gets told off his dad. Naru’s misunderstanding and repetition of bad words she hears the people around them say. Handa sulking childishly in a corner when he loses a competition. They feel real and illicit genuine laughter out of you. So in the comedy compartment, Barakamon excels with flying colors.

The many different events that happen over the course of Barakamon develop and flesh out the characters and the village as a whole so the storytelling is also top-notch. Even the very minor subtle things happening in the background of various scenes tell you a lot about the characters and the way they interact with other.

Speaking of characters, the cast of Barakamon is absolutely lovable and the characters reel you in very quickly with their debut appearances. Well, except for the kid who does kancho on Handa in the first episode. The supporting characters are based on stereotypes but are fleshed out so well and given individual attention so much that they don’t even seem like supporting characters by the end of the show.

Handa goes from a downright narcissistic busybody ‘no fun allowed’ impulse driven man-child to a lovable person who deeply worries about and cares for the people around him on the island – while growing as an artist and learning about the joys and pains of an unrestricted life. Naru is boisterous and mischievous to the core and really enjoys annoying Handa and making him play with her while Hina, Naru’s friend, usually cries and is rather clumsy.

The children feel like they are actual children. From their voices to the way they behave with both each other and the grown-ups of the show, you know a lot of heart and soul went into them and also because they are voiced by actual children – who have actual voice acting talent! They are VASTLY different from the usual fare of kids present in most anime.

Even the three teenagers of a rowdy girl athlete, a fujoshi, and a mature guy who is somewhat worried about his future after highschool are extremely fun and their personal fears, craziness, and quirks are given a spot in the light.

The animation is done by Kinema Citrus studio of ‘Tokyo Magnitude 8.0’ and ‘Yuyushiki’ fame. It bright and vibrant with a nice and warm contrast with colors and the backgrounds. The animation can go from very detailed to chibi-ish depending on what’s happening in a scene. It’s good stuff.

The background music… well, I don’t remember the background music which is kinda weird since I binged the show last night. I guess that means it was forgettable. The moody country-esque Opening was a delight to listen to. The quite straightforward Ending that sounds like a blast from 2001 highschool rock bands takes some getting used to – which isn’t a bad thing since the warm watercolor visuals are just calming to look at.

I really REALLY enjoyed Barakamon and it’s now in the top 15 of my list of anime comedies to recommend to people when they ask for suggestions. The problem I have with the show is that Naru should have had a much larger impact on events and more screen-time in the last two episodes (describing this in last paragraph as it’s a spoiler). Because of that and the thing with the background music, Barakamon is a swift 9/10 show for me. Highly recommended.

(In the last few episodes, Handa leaves the island out of the blue without saying goodbye and then returns in the same fashion. During his absence and after his return, Naru’s presence is pushed back to that of a background character’s. She gets relatively very little screen-time and the few lines she does say don’t have as much impact as they should for someone who was the main force in aiding the change in Handa’s calligraphy in personality. I feel she should have gotten a much more major role in the last episodes since she’s very important to Handa and vice versa. Just saying. This doesn’t mean that how the ending is handled isn’t bad by any means. It’s actually very good. It just could have been… much better, in my opinion.)

I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job.

Yep, that’s the English name for the bullet train sized Japanese name of the anime I’m reviewing right now right up there in the blog post title. Geez, what a mouthful.

After waiting two whole years to hear some news on whether ‘The Devil Is A Part-Timer’ (highly recommended) would get a second season or not, I finally went crazy and decided to go on a hunt for similar anime. Luckily, it was pretty much just 5 second Google search and around 10 seconds of me reading the synopsis on MyAnimeList about this anime, ... which I’ll call ‘Yuu-ni’, to come to the conclusion that I had hit the jackpot and would thoroughly enjoy the next 4 hours or so.

The very first thing I have to say about Yuu-ni is… TITS. Like, no. I mean, yes! Tits. Fully exposed jiggly wiggly bosoms dancing around on your screen hilariously 3 minutes into the first episode of this anime. I did not expect this to be an ecchi show. Well, not THAT ecchi. The Devil Is A Part-Timer had plenty of ecchi. But, most of it was rather contained and there weren’t any fully bare breasts shaking up a fleshy storm almost every 4 minutes. So, be warned that if you can’t stand fanservice then it’s best that you just stop reading right here.

Now let’s get to actual meat of this review!

Raul is a strong and uptight cherry-boy that couldn’t become a Hero because the Demon Lord had his ass handed to him right before Raul’s Hero qualification examination. The Demon Lord-less world meant that there was no need for Heroes anymore and so, many current and aspiring Heroes and the industries involved with this work, like armories and weapon blacksmiths, were devastated and had to look for another source of income. And that’s why Raul is stuck reluctanly working in a magic shop. That is, until one day the Demon Lord’s daughter takes up a job at Raul’s shop and he’s stuck showing her the ropes while his life, his dreams, and his way of working are all turned upside down with each passing day bringing them closer.

And that’s the plot. Well, that’s the plot until the last 3 episodes where a major twist messes things up and actual non-ecchi action (relatively speaking here) takes center stage. Up until the twist, Yuu-ni was probably a 5/10 in my view. When the show ended, the rating went up to an 8 in terms of enjoyment and a 7 when considering the show objectively.

Since Yuu-ni isn’t a show I’ll ever recommend to anyone, I will discuss the twist and the ending and urge you to watch it if you’re looking for a fun ecchi show that knows what it is, takes pride in itself, and does not half-ass the things it wants to do.

The twist is that Fino, the Demon Lord’s daughter, is forced by some shady demon guy and a couple of Heroes to become the next Demon Lord. Fino ain’t want none o’ that shit. She justs want to be a normal salesperson and open up a magic shop in the demon world. So, a bunch of betrayals, fight scenes two or three levels below that of Fate’s, and a load of wittiness later: Raul saves the day.

It’s a pretty hectic end that ties up the starightforward story quite well. So where does the 6/10 from before the last few episodes come from? That would be the world-building, characters and the dry dramatic scenes. Let’s talk about Yuu-ni’s world first.

Is it a game world? The characters talk about being drained of HP and use game terms so, is it? Are the human world and the demon world different dimensions or in the same one? There’s a mountain that can either take you to or is the Demon Lord’s lair in the human world so, what gives? Why didn’t the Heroes try to jobs as cops or join the military? Surely, there’s crime and humans are morons so there must be conflict amongst humans as well so, why? SO MANY QUESTIONS. NO ANSWERS. At least the jokes are funny. Somewhat.

The dramatic scenes can get too dramatic. Like crying for a very ‘why are the hell are you even crying?’ reason is something I despise. Especially in comedies. Over-passionate speeches and edgy monologues are things I let slide in non-comedies but here it’s a big ‘NO!’ from my side.

As in most comedies, it’s a one-dimensional harem paradise ensemble of cute ladies and two guys. Add in three more guys by the ending because who else is better suited to play the villain to cuties than two frustrated men and a thousand years less inexperienced Orihara Izaya? Raul gets some development over the course of the show. Fino is jolly smiles and doesn’t know the meaning of ‘sexual restraint’ until that twist. Other than for the fanservice, the rest of the cast is forgettable – well except for Searas, the boss of Raul’s shop, who is a joy to watch especially in battle where she’s selling goods from her shop. Real neat-o!

The animation is the actual highlight of the show. I just wish it focussed more on the action scenes. It’s still wonderfully fluid and suffers from no drops on quality, though. But it sometimes be too bright for me.

The sound… nothing special. Forgettable.

Overall, the score is a 5 out of 10. It was fun.

After a 5 or so hours of a losing streak in DoTA2, I’d gotten tired of it and decided to watch something. Tekkon Kinkreet, also known as Black and White, was the first thing I saw in my anime folder so I went that. By the end of the hour and 50 minutes movie, I was glad to say that my fervor for anime has been revived.

It’s kind of weird that the only reason I had downloaded Tekkon Kinkreet a long time ago was because I had found a song titled ‘Aru Machi no Gunjo’ by Asian Kung Fu Generation which I loved to bit ... and then discovered that it was the ending credits song for Tekkon Kinkreet. It’s a rule of thumb that if an anime has an AKFG song somewhere playing during it’s run-time then that anime is bound to be good.

And, by God, Tekkon Kinkreet sure was something.

3 minutes into the movie, I had realized very quickly that I was in for a ride of surreal exposition when I looked at the very doodle-ish character designs over highly detailed eccentric backgrounds. Ping Pong The Animation being very high on my list of favorite anime, I had readily recognized that Tekkon Kinkreet was the brainchild of Matsumoto Taiyo – a mangaka whose art is considered to be akin to that of a Kindergartner’s but brimming with life and whose stories have that sublime to feel it that remind of you of a mild acid trip.

The story is pretty simple. The synopsis covers it all so I’m not going to go into it. What I will state is that I liked it very much. It’s just that I’m not sure how much I liked it. Sometimes it’s a lot and sometimes it’s like a ‘meh’. I guess you could say my feelings for the movie are kind of like the movie itself: moody.

The characters are the selling point of Tekkon Kinkreet. If you have seen Gintama then you would know that the life of Gintama is it’s city called Edo where the entire cast of the show mingles with each other both negatively and positively giving the city a solid shape. You could say that the city is alive. This is the same case with Tekkon Kinkreet’s Treasure Town. For me, Treasure Town is one giant character who has its many different moods displayed by the cast.

The real defining treat for many when it comes to characters is Black and White, older and younger brother respectively, and the relationship between the two and the town itself. Sure, they are the main point of Tekkon Kinkreet: balance and chaos and how it affects everything around us. But, for me, Tekkon Kinkreet’s side characters are what make the movie so special. If we only talked about the scenes regarding Kimura and his boss then I would quickly tell you that those scenes are the defining moments of the movie – well, besides the last 25 or so minutes of the movie when Black’s crossroad moment where he has to decide whether to plunge himself into his dark nature or back to his brother White who keeps him in check.

The animation is just… wow. The backgrounds are fantastically detailed and incorporate symbolism from many different cultures. There is a giant clock-tower that has Arabic calligraphy painted all over it. When the big-hand strikes 12, a statue of the Hindu god Ganesha comes riding out of the face of the clock.

Some people, who probably aren’t aware of Matsumoto Taiyo’s art style, claim that the character designs are bland and lazy. I, and majority of those who have watched Tekkon Kinkreet, heavily disagree with them. The loose doodle-like nature of the designs is what makes the characters stand out, quite literally, from Treasure Town’s own quirkiness. Michael Arias, the director (Animatrix), and the key animators and background artists have done a phenomenal job with the animation and cinematography. Kudos!

The voice acting is as Japanese as it gets. Sounds just like how your average Japanese person would on the street. To be honest, it doesn’t even seem like voice acting. Nevertheless, it works quite well with the art style.

The background music is simple yet cozy and quite energetic. Acoustic and electric guitar strumming accompanied by bells and soft drums at times. Plaid has done a neat job with the music. And, of course, the ending song by Asian Kung Fu Generation is awesome as well.

To end, I highly recommend Tekkon Kinkreet. I don’t really know what to score it but all I know that it is obviously above or equal to a 7. I’m going to have to spend the next few days recalling scenes from the movie and trying to justify a proper rating for it. Help me…

I was supposed to watch Jinrui, also called Mankind Has Declined, about more than a week ago. It was a recommendation by a friend. He said it was pretty interesting and so, I took him up on the suggestion. If you go by the synopsis available on MyAnimeList, you really can’t deny that Jinrui sounds just as advertised by my dear buddy.

Now if you have a habit of judging things by the cover then you’re in a bit of bad luck. I went into Jinrui expecting it to be a somewhat fresh take on the post-apolyptic shitfest genre with a sprinkle of comic moments here ... and there ala the style of Steins;Gate. It actually turned out to be way much more different than I thought.

The very first thing you should know about Jinrui before starting it is that the story does unfold in chronological order – unlike the original Light Novel. Most of you will be thinking, “So what?” And, well, yeah. So what? But in my honest opinion the story is more enjoyable if watched in proper order. You’re still free to watch it in broadcast order, though.

Chronological order:
11+12 (Watashi’s flashback to the past/backstory) > 10 > 7+8 > 9 > 5+6 > 1+2 > 3+4

Jinrui’s story has no conclusion. I don’t mean that it ends on a cliffhanger: it’s just not meant to go anywhere. The main purpose of the story is to crack silly jokes while giving a pretty witty commentary on social issues varying from consumerism to the well-known edginess of kids wanting to be alone in school due to their arrogance. As such, if satire is not your thing then you’d best avoid Jinrui because it could be a chore – which it was, at times, for me.

Most of the events taking place in the story are quite random. You’ll have a time-loop caused by fairies in an attempt to fuel their need for sweets and also a battle initiated by a giant cat piloted by a sentient space probe. So, rest assured, Jinrui can get weird a lot even for those who inhale comedies like air.

Coming to the writing, Jinrui really does a neat job. All of the random-ish things occurring are so succinctly chained to each other with such finesse that when the dialogue is delivered, you feel like it’s from the bloopers collection of Chris Pratt from Parks and Recreation.

While the dialogue and general writing is pretty great, there’s also the downside, as a result, of proper thought having gone into the world of Jinrui. The facts that exactly how mankind has declined and just what exactly are and how came to be are never really explained. This grinds my gears to no end. For most, this would be but a slight inconvenience but I like my comedies to have proper world-building if they are set in a fantasy setting. If the world was fleshed out in detail then Jinrui would have been an instant 9/10 for me.

What really makes the show are the characters. The main character does not have an actual name: she’s just called Watashi which means ‘I’ in English. She may appear all sweet, kind, and caring at first but over the course of the show, you’ll find that she’s a hard cynic ready to shoot quick quips of banter, mostly to herself, whenever the opportunity arises. Considering the nature of Jinrui’s story, I can assure you that she fires witty responses at a rate of 3 wr/m. That’s quite impressive.

The rest of the cast is equally… eccentric, to say the least. Watashi’s Grandfather seems quite strict but can be rather aloof when he wants to be. Grandfather’s Assistant can’t speak but is the source of most of the visual gags in the early episodes. Y, Watashi’s friend, is an arrogant raging Fujoshi.

And finally, the Fairies. Oh, the Fairies. One second they’re cuter than two kittens snuggled together and then the next moment nihilistic thoughts begin to surface. The Fairies deliver most of the non-banter witty playfulness of the dialogue. Don’t try applying any sort of logic to them, though. You’ll only end up with a new friend called Bafflement as a result.

The animation by AIC A.S.T.A is superb. The lush watercolor style with bright colors and clever play with shapes is very fun to watch and suits the show well. The brightness could be tad too high on occasion, though.

The voice acting follows a whimsical tone with nobody (well, except for Grandfather, I guess) sounding even remotely normal. Just perfect for the show. A job well done by the voice actors.

The background music is rather forgetful. The OP and ED are catchy. You will probably end up putting them on loop in your head after the 3rd episode if you’re infected by them.

Despite my praise for the top quality dialogue and characterization along with appreciation for the colorful animation, Jinrui still falls short in a number of areas – the two largest of which concern the world of Jinrui itself and it’s tiny sugar-junkie inhabitants. It’s a matter of wasted potential, to be honest. A 7 out of 10 for Jinrui!

This review is from my blog and that's why it starts off weird.
Also contains some spoilers.

After been completely turned off of anime for about month thanks to a recommendation by a friend, I was finally able to muster up enough strength to break one of my rules and drop the aforementioned anime. It’s name was Heroic Age. It wasn’t bad per se. It was just… really boring. The characters, the setting, the animation, and the everything. I tried watching it, in vain, three times but I always fell asleep.

Anyways, after a string of many lost games in League of Legends last night, I finally decided ... to get back into anime again. I spent a good while thinking about what to watch. Then, suddenly, Kiznaiver came to mind. I wanted something good. Something interesting. I knew Studio Trigger would deliver. Good or bad, whatever they make at least has you interested.

Unlike most people who went into Kiznaiver thinking it to be another Kill la Kill or Inferno Cop (lol), I watched it knowing what to expect. Quite a number of people who watched the show while it was airing complained that it was rather slow, never went anywhere, or the characters were one-dimensional. Hell, some viewers even lamented the fact that it was nothing like Kill la Kill. Absolutely no fan-service whatsoever.

Kiznaiver is Trigger’s first attempt at trying something different. All of its shows till now have been either parodies, focused on action, or both. Even Little Witch Academia follows this. I, for one, am glad that Kiznaiver is very different from Trigger’s usual works.

Simply put, Kiznaiver is a mild case of character study. It doesn’t just lightly touch it’s subject matter nor does it go fully into psychological territory. It is very apparent from the second episode of Kiznaiver that it is a show meant for fun with a bunch of melodrama here and there. Exactly what I thought it would be.

So how come, you would ask, Kiznaiver interested me so? Well, other than the characters themselves, it was mainly because of the huge plot device that is known as the ‘Kizuna System’.

The Kizuna System is basically just having surgery performed on the seven main characters so that if one of them has pain inflicted on them then they all feel. Over the course of the show, as the Kizuna System progresses, if one of the ‘Kiznaivers’ feels any strong emotion then that emotion is felt by all of them. Then we go into reading the heart. Interesting concept, no? But, like I said before, the Kizuna System is just one big plot device. Without the Kizuna System, the anime would just have been an over-dramatic slice of life. This plot device helps create a balance – giving you the false illusion that something evil is afoot. This helps keep the oddities of the characters and their behavior in check and helps the anime not into Korean soap-opera territory.

Now, to the meat of Kiznaiver. The characters!

Katsuhira Agata is the main focus, in regards to the characters, of Kiznaiver. He is devoid of emotion and cannot feel physical pain. An emo without the trademarked black look. Along with his childhood friend, Takashiro Chidori, he and a six other students from his class are abducted and chosen for the Kizuna System experiment. They are told they have to expose themselves to each other for the sake of the experiment. For the sake of world peace.

A point to note: no matter what angle you analyze the Kizuna System from, there is no logical explanation for HOW it will help attain world peace. Even the show doesn’t explain how. So, while being an effective plot device, the Kizuna System is also one of Kiznaivers biggest cons.

Anyways, back to the characters.

Tenga Hajime is the thug who secretly has a huge heart. Yuta Tsugihoto is the spaz who pretends to be what he’s not – an arrogant tool. Niyama Niko is an eccentric Hollywood blondie who pretends to be eccentric because she thinks she isn’t (whewie). Maki Honoka is… well it would be a spoiler. And, finally, Hisomu Yoshiharu is a masochist in denial who, in my opinion, is the most rational character in the show.

All of these guys and gals are gathered by Sonozaki Noriko who is adamant in proving the success of the Kizuna System for it has already failed before.

Seeing of all these characters interact with each other and step out from their single dimension into the third is a fascinating treat. With grounded and witty dialogue, the characterization comes out just great. Exactly what it feels like when I talk to my friends. Yes, even Nico.

It’s a shame that a lot of viewers just went with the first judgment of the characters and deemed them to be caricatures till the end of the show. Kiznaiver is slice of life disguised as action (but there is no action at all) so a lot people were left bored during the middle of the show which was just character development for the finale. I’m not really sure if this is a fault in direction, script, or Trigger’s image itself. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Kiznaiver’s music is OK, I guess. The opening ‘Lay Your Hands On Me’ by Boom Boom Satellites which bloody amazing for me since that kind of electronica and rock usually doesn’t sit well with me. The ending wasn’t bad – just that I’ve heard a lot of songs like it so I just skipped it. As for the background music, nothing special. The hard violin, techno and beats certainly suited the show but overall, nothing memorable.

The animation is gorgeous. For once Trigger got its budget under control and created a show with no slacking in animation. The character designs are a neat break from the usual fare you see in modern anime. Light and long bodies with a lot of curves and fluidity topped by a bright color palette. Good stuff.

If Kiznaiver had a thorough quality check for its plot then it would truly have been something special. But, the Kizuna System’s flaws and the contrived wishy washy ending deal a serious blow to it’s overall goodness. Also, the world building needed some polishing too. No matter how good the characterization in a show is, without a properly fleshed out plot you’re not going have many heads rolling and that’s a damn shame.

Right as the show ended, I thought it was an 8.5/10 in my book. But, today after giving it some thought, I think it objectively deserves a 6/10 at most. But it’s a 7/10 for me thanks to the fun I had watching the characters grow. Since this is a review, I'll input the 6.
Recommended for those slow nights when you suddenly feel like ringing up some friends but can’t because they’re busy. Or if you don’t have friends and feel like wanting to make some.

I will be comparing this movie to the original manga quite a fair bit. Spoilers are to be expected.
As I wholeheartedly recommend this movie, you should watch the movie first and then read this review.

Koe no Katachi. Written and illustrated by Yoshitoki Ooima.

I started reading the manga right before the last chapter published. The rave reviews and the constant mentioning on MyAnimeList is what brought the manga to my attention and, boy, I’m sure as hell glad it did.

Koe no Katachi broke my heart, mended it, tore it out again, sent it to the cobbler, only to have him trod on it mercilessly, summon a ... magical fairy to fix it up again, and then left it with a bunch of scars.
Almost two and a half years later, the anime movie adaptation released to Blu-ray and I had to go through all of THAT again.

First thing to note before I dive into the specifics is that I really love the movie. I was very skeptical about it when the movie announcement was made.

“How could they make a 60+ chapter story into a movie and make it work, lol?”

And, well, they did. Kudos to director Naoko Yamada and the rest of the crew. They knew exactly what to add and cut to make the on-screen version of Koe no Katachi such a flawed yet extremely satisfying watch. I am glad I waited the two and half years for this. This movie will probably make it into ‘classics’ lists after some time. B-believe it!

Now to get digging.

The Koe no Katachi movie starts off like any other contemporary Japanese movie would. Slow bells and chimes. Lots of panning. A number of cuts. Swoosh-in and swoosh-out. Wax on, wax off. Disregard the wax.

Though, unlike most of Japanese cinema, Koe no Katachi made fantastic use of ‘My Generation’ by The Who to set the perfect tone and pace for the movie. Yep, that’s an English song. By The Who. Who could have imagined? And it fits so well. Yikes.

We see Shouya Ishida, our main character, wanting to jump off a bridge and kill himself. Why, though? Because he bullied a deaf girl way back in middle-school, got called out and collectively blamed for being the only one to make the poor girl feel like a piece of shit, and then he was made into the class’ new harassment toy in her stead after the balance was tipped.

Well, OK. But is he dead? Did he kill himself?

Nah. Suicide is badass. He’s just not cool enough. Well, I mean, pathetic enough. So he decides to get in touch with the girl whose life he helped ruin and set things right. Live for her. In some way, any way, try to give her back the childhood she missed out on.

This sets up the beginning of the movie and the rest from here on is a story about redemption, acceptance, self-searching, and a teeny bit of love.

Speaking of love, one thing to realize, though, is that Koe no Katachi is NOT a love story. It has a romantic sub-plot but that’s it. Nothing more. I know that a lot of people were turned off by both the manga and anime not giving a proper conclusion as to the relationship between Shouko Nishimiya, our local deaf cutie, and Shouya. To be honest, it’s not even really needed. The movie fixes this by not making this a part of the main plot at all – while the manga completely butchered that aspect of the story in it’s sad attempt at an ending.

Maybe the manga was axed? Maybe the mangaka got impatient? I don’t know. Regardless, that ending should not have happened. And this is probably why, despite all of the plot related shortcomings, I prefer the movie more.

Anyways, the movie is an excellent package of creative cinematography and a quite decent musical score by none other than Kensuke Ushio (who did the wonderfully upbeat sounds for ‘Ping Pong The Animation’) pulling up a heart-wrenching story onto a platform of a greater height. Viewers will most likely end up liking the movie a lot but will complain about the several plot holes which, by the way, can be easily remedied by reading the manga. A pretty neat-o advertisement, no?

The viewers will ask, though, “Why read the manga when I just watched the movie?”
Well, even though the Koe no Katachi movie would feel complete to some viewers, it is actually missing a whole lot of content that was in the manga. Most of the side characters don’t get explored much. Actually, they don’t get explored at all. A number of events that stir up trouble within the recuperating group of teenagers, who want to be friends but are too socially inept for that bees-wax, don’t happen.

Like, for fuck’s sake, one of the characters is called Kawai. She’s one hell of a fake princess who always keeps shifting blame onto others and pretending to be a white lamb. In the manga, she gets a verbal trashing from her prince charming, Mashiba, and that is one of the most satisfying scenes in the manga for me. Too bad Kawai is just a bitch in the movie. Nothing else. Oh, did I mention Mashiba? Yep, I did. Mmmhmmm. He barely gets any lines and is just a throw away character.

So, yes, while Koe no Katachi’s movie is superb it still fails quite a bit in the characters department. But, I guess it’s to be expected. I don’t see how they could have crunched all or most of the sub-plots into just 2 hours. Maybe a 3 hour movie, eh? Nah, people would have complained.

Before I wrap this up, got to get into the animation and voice side of things.
The animation has been well above the standards Kyoto Animation has set for itself. Many different colors blending quite nicely in the light color scheme. Great use of lighting and abstract scene transitioning make the animation really smooth and a delight to watch. I usually watch anime at 1.5x playback speed but not this time, hehe.

And to the voice-acting. The seiyuu casting was almost perfect. Especially for Shouko. Damn. I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle her mumblings and attempt at speech but her seiyuu, Saori Hayami, was up to the task with finesse. I was mightily impressed. The seiyuus for the other characters did a good job as well. Some characters sounded differently than I had imagined them whilst reading the manga but, they were fitting voices, Brent. My only qualm was with middle school Shouya’s voice. He sounded less coherent than Shouko at times. Not a good job there.

My enjoyment of the movie was a whole 10/10.
But, from the objective side of things, the score would be close to an 8.5 or 9, I guess.

Flip Flappers. Yep, Flip Flappers. An anime about… something. With a name like that, Flip Flappers could be about a number of things. Most people would think it’s some sort of children’s show. But anime are children’s cartoons anyways, hurr durr. But, is that really so?

Well, this original anime by Studio 3Hz, which did Dimension W, that ran from October to right before the New Year of 2016 is a mash up of many genres. While MyAnimeList lists Flip Flappers as comedy, adventure, and sci-fi only; it is not actually so. I don’t even know why it’s being touted as a sci-fi anime. It’s not ... sci-fi.

Anyways, this little 13 episode monomyth has basically got it all. Drama, yuri, comedy, horror, and you name it. Many people have resorted to describing Flip Flappers to be: “‘Inception’ met ‘FLCL’ and they both had gratuitous threesome sex with ‘Kodomo no Jikan’ in a liquor-fueled one night stand to produce this coming of age story about two middle school mahou shoujo probable closet lesbians”.

Yeah, I was paraphrasing up there but I bet I caught your attention with that. If not, then, go read the MAL synopsis again.

If you read the synopsis and thought that Flip Flappers sounds like any other mahou shoujo anime then you, sir, are horribly wrong.

Let’s first talk about the story.

Being compared to Gainax’s actual magnum opus, that is FLCL and not that trash Neon Genesis Evangelion, one would expect a lot from Flip Flappers – especially in the department of ‘God, I have no idea what’s going on but I sure am loving this!’
While FLCL and Flip Flappers do share a lot things in many departments, the story is actually the place where they are the least similar.

FLCL had a distinct style of relaying its story that heavily relied on comedic exposition through visuals and saucy dialogue. Flip Flappers adopted style and slightly changed it into an episodic format friendly one. With each episode, the style metamorphosed just enough to let each individual episode come off as its own unique portion that subtly builds on the world of Flip Flappers through creative use of varying scenarios in the anime’s rather flip-floppy plot device (maybe location in this context?) called Pure Illusion.

To be honest, this way of story telling is very confusing for viewers who aren’t used to noticing every teeny tiny detail in a scene. Bring subtitles into the picture and the viewer tends to miss out on even more details. That means to fully enjoy Flip Flappers, at least second watch should be essential for most. I know I will be rewatching it as I think I missed out on a major plot point. And, if I didn’t miss anything then Flip Flappers has a giant plot hole. Either way, not going go discuss that part due to fairness.
This also shows the kind of issues prevalent with stories like the ones Flip Flappers and FLCL have.

At times the pace might be really slow and then accelerate matters into full gear in five seconds tops. For an anime like this, that isn’t really a problem unless if the areas of snail-hood go into filler-like territory. This is, sadly, something Flip Flappers tends to do a lot. While Flip Flappers is director Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s first full-fledged work, he still has had a lot of practice with anime greats like Dennou Coil, the Fullmetal Alchemist movies, and the second season of Space Dandy. He did a good job with Flip Flappers but, honestly, he could have done a bit better.

Other than these points, Flip Flappers has an engaging story with a somewhat satisfying conclusion that’ll require you to fire up some neurons to actually understand the story. It’s nothing mind-blowing but you still get that warm feeling like the one you get right after an intriguing puzzle.

In my opinion, the greatest thing about Flip Flappers’ story is that everything is in the anime itself. You won’t need to go online or harass your neighbor’s weeaboo pet dog for answers. In the case of FLCL, pretty much most of the story was almost entirely up to one’s imagination. That thing was cool chaos in animated form but it didn’t help itself by butchering it’s coherence.

Now onto the characters.

For a coming of age story, the main character has to be great. Coconoa is not. She is just okay and that wouldn’t have been a problem if she wasn’t the worst character in the entire anime’s cast. Even the two twin villains, whose most recognizable trait is that they repeat the one another’s line, she routinely goes up against are more interesting that her. Maybe if Coconoa was just a bit less emo for her age then she would have been loads better. It’s true that she is empty and the anime is about her finding her identity but she wasn’t handled well in that regards. The biggest moment of these to not is when she blows fuses a couple of time for tiny reasons which is something her character isn’t supposed to do at all.

In comparison, Papika was handled much better better. While she was still a tad one-dimensional at first, she quickly rose up to shine as having the most and best character development by the time the last episode hit the credits. Going into detail about Papika would require me to spoil the story but I will say that she should be paid closer attention than Coconoa. The same goes for the rest of the characters. While being heavy cardboard cutouts, they each had their own funky charm. Hell, the Goddamned pet rabbit of Coconoa had more personality than her.

Nearing the end~

The character designs and the fun use of many saturated colors provide the animation with kind of spunk and whimsical intensity a show like Flip Flappers need. The animators knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the time to fully realize their goal so many corners had to be cut.

As usual, I watched the anime in 1.5x playback speed and noticed a number of places where the color was missing and things like a character having an item in one hand and not having it in the next were very common. You shouldn’t be noticing things like these in visually heavy anime at increased playback speed. I’d be damned if I don’t say that at times the animation had many frames missing and it felt like I was watching at reduced speed…

The background music was fun. I may snag the OST sometime soon. I didn’t like the OP. The ED was just perfect.

Voice acting is same as most stuff. The crazy scientist was the summit and all of the times Papika goes on her usual ‘coconoacoconoacoCOnoaCOcoNOAAAAAAA’ spiels was downright fucking annoying.

To end, I’m going to say that Flip Flappers is a 7.5/10 in my book.
Ignore the rating and still watch it. It’s a fun ride I’d recommend to anyone. Except for lolicons.

You ever open up the first episode of a show and you immediately get the sudden feeling this will be something truly remarkable? And right after you’re done with finally getting to experience what most have called a ground-breaking classic, you realize that the show is just decent at best?

Well, that’s what happened with me and Cowboy Bebop. The story was just OK; the characters, while interesting, were also not THAT great; the world building left quite a bit to the imagination; but the music and animation were beyond excellent. Still, I was very disappointed with it. It did not blow me away at all.

After ... that, I watched Samurai Champloo. It is another work by Shinichiro Watanabe, who directed Bebop up there, which many have hailed as another classic. Now THAT was something. It shone brightly in all the departments where Cowboy Bebop did not excel. Samurai Champloo was a blast from the beginning right till the end. Even the filler episodes were absolutely well crafted.

Going back to the questions I asked in the beginning of this review; I felt like that with Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and a couple of other shows too. Like Bebop, a number of them failed to deliver upon that feeling. And, like Champloo, the rest went directly into my list titled ‘Annoy the crap out of people who haven’t seen these so they finally crack and be subsequently amazed’. You can guess which light novel I got inspired from.

Michiko to Hatchin (‘to’ – as in ‘and’) gave me that aforementioned feeling. But the catch here is this: did it also deliver?
It did. Mostly.

Other than my talk of that ambiguous ‘feeling’ I kept on about, the first thing to note about Michiko to Hatchin is that it’s a lot grittier than both Bebop and Champloo. While Shinichiro Watanabe was involved with the anime, the actual directors are Murase Shukou and Yamamoto Sayo. There are a high number of shootouts, dead bodies, decisions taken by characters most viewers might not expect, and other ‘whoah’ factors. For an anime I’d like to call ‘the South American Bebop’, it is the perfect combination of setting, theme, and tone. Take a Tarantino flick and turn down the eccentric-ness of the scenes down a notch and you wouldn’t be far off with Michiko to Hatchin.

Hell, the very the first episode will bring out your rage when you see the kind of crap Hana, nicknamed Hatchin, is pulled out of when Michiko gets her hands on her. Think of the Dursley’s treatment of Harry Potter and multiply it by ten.

As the episodes flow by the rage will subside very quickly and you will, being quite honest here, end up feeling a range of emotions from annoyance, genuine happiness, and a lingering sense of threat; to actual disgust. There’s action. There’s comedy. There’s a thing for just about everyone. One episode is basically a chapter from the traditional South American soap-operas we all are so familiar with. Michiko to Hatchin grabs all of these ideas and adds its own sense of bloody yet wacky style giving us a, to my knowledge, authentic Latin American craziness.

It is plain to see from all this praise that Michiko to Hatchin has a story that we won’t forget anytime soon but, it’s still not perfect. The anime starts off really slow and it often feels things aren’t really going anywhere. You’ll see Hatchin and Michiko arguing about menial matters in the fourth or so episode and you’ll see them do that again a few episodes later. It almost feels like they don’t really learn from their time together until way later in the story. While this doesn’t affect the story itself as much (things are always kept interesting) but the pacing and having most episodes start with our main duo arguing and making up in the end can feel a trite tiring. It did for me.

Another thing to bring attention towards before I move on to the characters is that plotholes in Michiko to Hatchin are plentiful. There are around two or three in the first episode itself. Exactly who was/is Hatchin’s mother? Just what exactly did Michiko do to get ten years in prison? If there was a third then I recall it, I’m afraid. Keep your eyes peeled deeper than an American stabbing Avocados for all of the other plotholes. It would make a neat treasure hunt, ehe.

The characters, in my opinion, are the real meat of the anime. Discussing them for even just a bit would mean revealing major spoilers so I’ll just briefly go through the main four.

Considering all the crap Hatchin’s put up with for close to ten years while living with the unholy priest’s family, it’s fair to say that she is very different from most kids her age. Haughty, demanding authority, and law abiding (because she ain’t havin’ nunya dat shiet) make for one interesting non-shounen child character. She gets the most development in the series. Though, that’s only in the first episode. She doesn’t change or reflect on her actions even a little over the rest of the anime’s duration. Which would normally be well and good if it weren’t for the fact that the trait of ‘ora?!’ she keeps on pulling with everyone she meets, causing arguments, wasn’t treated like some cheap gag.

Michiko is… Well, she doesn’t change much. Not much to say here. Keep an eye out for buddy cum nemesis Atsuko, though.

Hiroshi gets extremely shitty development. It’s just all over the place. We barely get to know anything about him in episode 1 and and by the end of the last episode, we still know jack shit. He’s treated like some mysterious macho-kindness ejaculating machine when he’s really just very poorly written.

And, finally, Satoshi (Hiroshi’s once best friend). My favorite character of them all. The most interesting. You know you’ve done great with a character when he’s properly depicted as a male African in anime as we all know how black characters usually get treated in our weeaboo productions.

Except for a few, the rest of the characters are far from not being one-dimensional but they still manage to be interesting and fit in cozily with the brutal world depicted.

Finally, technical stuff. Yippee!

The animation is standard for the period. Some episodes have great detail while some look like the budget went into pockets of the designer who thought up all the many different hip threads our dynamic duo adorn throughout the anime. What all the episodes have in common is the wide range of bright color and pretty neatly choreographed action scenes. I reckon more than 23 testicles are demolished by all of the female characters.

While the soundtrack doesn’t have many tracks, it still keeps things exciting and ears perked. Instant entry into the music library~

My original score for Michiko to Hatchin was a 9 but seeing as it’s been a couple of days and the plot holes keep bothering me every now and then, I brought it down to an 8. I didn’t really care about them while watching the show but now they’re being a pain. Nevertheless, I still highly recommend Michiko to Hatchin – especially since virtually no one seems to fucking know about it. Sad, I know.