Back to Remster20's Profile Remster20's Profile

Not much to say on this one that hasn't been said a million times over, as of writing Frieren has been comfortably sitting as the #1 Anime on this site, which I personally think is a *bit* much but there is for sure a reason for the hype.

This is an anime all about its characters, the plot is very simple and the action scenes, while pretty good, are not numerous. We do however, get a tonnnn of time spent watching Frieren and Co. walk and talk.

Throughout her latest (often meandering) journey Frieren will reflect on her time with the party of heroes, and we ... get to go with her on these nostalgia trips, share in her feelings, and see how these experiences changed her. I think the anime does a great job highlighting that for Frieren, time is much less valuable than it is for humans ("A mere 10 years?!"). Properly illustrating this adds a lot of great context to understanding her mindset and makes those emotional moments have more oomph.

Frieren and Fern seem like really flat characters at first glance, I remember my sister referred to Fern as "the girl who's face never changes", but their more subtle actions are where they express themselves and where we see their character growth. Fern is especially quiet at first, but when she does develop her sassiness later, or do her silly walk after getting a stupid spell, it makes you go "Oh wow I didn't know Fern was chill like that B)". Similarly, on re-watch I forgot how the start of the anime really hits you hard with all of Frieren's grief around losing Himmel and later, Hieter. It's that contrast of knowing how cool she usually is that WHAM's you when she's not.

I don't think this anime is bulletproof though, Stark is a mildly whiny baby who doesn't do much in the story (hopefully he'll get more spotlight next season), the season definitely has a bit of a midseason lull, and the reoccurring gag of Fern getting mad at various things is tired. It worked the first time when it gave Sein space to mediate and we could see Fern and Stark resolve a misunderstanding, but after that it feels like a meh joke that eats up screen time.

Also as a final piece of criticism, I feel like the Himmel flashbacks have grown too sappy as the season wrapped up. In the beginning we got some insight into his character and humor, but it feels like the latest Himmel flashbacks are treated like Jesus dropping quoteables in New Testament Era - like oh brother gimme a break. I always liked Eisen better than u.

But overall Frieren is pretty good, crazy what anime can be if it isn't constantly trying to shove fan service and other lame anime-isms down your throat; it goes a long way just to have good taste, humor, and dialogue. I do like the slower, sorta slice-of-life episodes, and hope these more character-driven stories stick around, but I also hope next season we get a more action as well; I wanna see the badass magic!

♫ Theme Song Review ♫ : Nothing too insane going on here honestly, even with Yaosobi handling one (or both?) of the OPs. I like the visuals of the 2nd half more than the 1st half. I'll give it like a 6/10.

I was not super crazy about season 1 of Oshi no Ko, but I think this season has laid out more groundwork that gives a better idea as to where this story is going, and I liked it more than season 1. This anime does a really awesome job showcasing acting as both a job and a craft - we get to see some of the nitty-gritty on how theater works (like the conflict with the scriptwriter and mangaka was super interesting); but Oshi No Ko also drops some insight into the mind of an actor; how they think and prepare, their struggles, and has ... a lot of creative visuals that illustrate what it's like to be "in the zone" on stage. The first half of this season is the highlight to me. Like last season, I think Aqua's acting career is a lot more interesting than Ruby's, even if his character is a bit too edgy for my liking.

But unlike in season 1, Ruby gets some significant development in the latter half of the season, and I am excited to see her take a bigger role in the next season, as Aqua (hopefully) takes a bit of a backseat. I do find the Idol work to be less intriguing, but seeing the main narrative around Ai's killer move forward is always exciting. Still not sure how I feel about the Isekai-ish rebirth thing, I'm still 50/50 on it being either an interesting plot point or shoehorned in b/c it's trendy; I just hope it'll have a decent payoff later. The other characters are kind of just around, I do really like Akane's character even if her relationship with Aqua is less than healthy. I pray the powers-that-be have something in mind for Kana beyond just being a love-triangle piece for Aqua, she has a lot of personality (even if it's semi annoying), and it'd just be a waste.

♫ Theme Song Review ♫ (some minor spoilers here) :

Oshi No Ko is continuing their hot streak for their OP/ED songs, I give both a solid 8/10; but I think the end song is especially worth highlighting this time. The super distorted/noisy guitar with the drums are a great kick off for the track; and I loveeee all the subtle foreshadowing about Ruby's role this season, with the crows, the hospital door, and the very quick flashes of the charm. You watch this end song all season (if you're like me at least) but unless you're really on your P's and Q's, you don't catch all the meaning behind it until the very end of the season, where you finally get to connect all the dots and THEN the full Ai charm is revealed at the end of the song. It's a really awesome detail and I love stuff like this.

Has a neat premise at first, and although it was clearly never going to be anything too special (in my opinion at least), I found the beginning to be entertaining enough. Some slightly silly characters, mid romance bits, etc etc. But around halfway through the anime we get a major plot development that made me double check if there was a second season I didn't know about or something (there wasn't). It's like Charlotte kicks what it has going for it in favor of trying to do wayyy too much in the like 6 episodes they had left (especially the final episode like what a ... mess lolol).

I don't know what the story is on the manga front, if there is a manga, or if this was a case of "was supposed to have x amount of seasons but-"; all I know is that it's not very good overall, but if your in the mood for a mid potato-chip anime it's not too bad. I really like the logo, that font is cool. This isn't really a spoiler, but it's hilarious that Nao really only ends up in a pickle like one time and they make damn sure to have her only in her undies in a full body shot for like 10 seconds and never again. We almost went a full season without fan service lol classic anime nonsense.

Theme song review: yeah the track is lame and I don't even care for the visuals all that much. booo.

"Mixed Feelings" is pretty much always how I feel about Made in Abyss, on one hand it's world-building is incredible, Tsukushi fills the abyss with so many creative creatures, vegetation, foods, and locations, it just makes the manga brim with life that is so much more intriguing than the usual anime fantasy stuff; and this is all supported by his great illustrations that are just detailed enough to flesh out the abyss, but still rough enough that your brain can kinda fill in the gaps (if that makes sense). I guess some people may not like this sort of art, but I really appreciate how ... his style lets the work breathe and really lets your imagination run wild in a way the anime can't quite pull off.

The plot is for sure weaker than the world, I think most fans of the first season of the anime (me included) thought Made in Abyss was going to be a real mastapeaceeee b/c of how much potential it had, which is not to say it's like bad now or anything, but the issues are now a bit more clear. Sometimes the pacing is too fast, especially when it tries to sell friendships/rivalries between characters that appear briefly, and sometimes it feels like the manga is dragging it's feet.

Made in Abyss is gory/grotesque at times, and even though the whole "aaa cute characters but oop it's a little darrrkk" shtick is a bit tired, I think it adds to the story for the most part: the abyss is a dangerous place, and we get to see why. It is a bit extra sometimes but as long as you don't have like any sensitivity to that sorta thing I think you'll be fine.

The weakest element so far has to sadly be the characters. I generally like most of our cast, but it feels like Tsukushi doesn't really know how to write them, at the current point in the story Riko still feels like the exact same character she was when we started, and even though this is a plot-centric story, it just feels like the characters are a little lacking.

Now by far the most off-putting part of this manga is the fact the author is a pedophile. There is no skirting around it, niggas love to pretend it's for character growth or whatever but all that crap is copium and I'm telling you straight up. Luckily it really doesn't impact the manga itself very heavily, sometimes you'll get the smallest scent of fetish, but for the most part you can just enjoy the story; except for in the "bonus" panels or whatever this nigga wants to call them where he taints the book with art I'd love to remove. Always obnoxious when you have to turn owning a manga into a moral battle, I wish Tsukushi would just keep that junk on his twitter. I'd say maybe just read this one online, or if you're sure you won't feel any type of way about it buy a copy (I am a physical book sorta guy I get you.)

All in all it's still mostly enjoyable, and I recommend it if you can ignore the things stated above.

A wonderful little manga about a little girl named Yotsuba & her adventures with whoever she's with and whatever she's doing (hence the name "Yotsuba&") I have been working on this series for about the past year and a half and it's been such a nice slow story to come back to. There are no annoying anime moments or sexualized characters or anything of the sort. I forget where but I read online that someone called this the "Calvin and Hobbes of Manga" or something along those lines. I wouldn't really say that's ENTIRELY true, I think Calvin and Hobbes is much funnier and more ... clever, but Yotsuba& is still a very nice light read with alot of cute moments and likeable characters (like Fuuka and Jumbo).

I'd say give maybe the first 5 volumes a read to see if it's your thing, and if you like it it really only gets better as it goes on (although some volumes are a bit more exciting when everyone goes on a big trip or something). If you do like it I'd recommend you take your time with it like I have, I think it's great as a slow burn, and it's looking like Mr Kiyohiko Azuma is taking a while to release volumes nowadays, so enjoy it while it lasts!

Solanin is a short but sweet manga about some of the challenges in young adult life. I saw a meme online recently with a comment that said "nobody warns you about the post college depression," and this is basically Solanin. If you are in your early 20's you will probably find this manga very relatable, it was for me, I see a lot of myself in Meiko and Taneda, like in moments where they face the fact that boring jobs may just be a part of life; or realizing how quickly they've aged into the people they thought were old in college. This book kinda ... scratches on some of the existential dread that first breaking (or attempting to break) into the workforce can give, that feeling of aimlessness and uncertainty, the general boredom of "grown-up" life; but also the happy bits where you say "well maybe it's not that bad."

I will say the main event that occurs around the middle of the book is my least favorite part, it feels a little cheap to me, but not enough to really ruin my enjoyment of the book or anything. The 2nd half is better than the 1st, with a lot more direction (well for an Inio Asano manga at least). The characters are all pretty good, Meiko and Rip especially, and I rarely have moments where I find a character to be especially irritating.

If Goodnight Punpun aggravated you or put you off, I'd say try and give this one a shot instead. It's still in Asano's usual slice-of-life, more character-driven style, but it's MUCH lighter on the fake-deep feeling diatribes- with characters that are more relatable and less constantly depressed. I'd say it's somewhere between a 7 and an 8 for me. Good read.

I've actually really been looking forward to season 2 since seeing the first season, now 2 years later and Nagatoro is back with more of the usual tomfoolery you're expecting if you watched the first part. I'm not sure why anyone who didn't like season 1 would return for more (actually some people on here are miserable I guess I could see why), but this anime is a nice fill of classic anime romcom crap that I fiend for; Nagatoro is still annoying, Senpai (who's name I still don't know) is still a wimp, but the gimmick is still cute and I enjoy Nagatoro's constant ... harassment (most the time).

Season 2 or 2nd Attack's (w/e you wanna call it) best parts to me are when they bring it outside the art clubroom, which luckily is alot more than last season; it's just more interesting seeing the characters actually like do something rather than the usual ("I'll model for you"-->fanservice.mp4-->"aa creepy creep"). My favorite part this season is probably when they go to the zoo, but the school marathon, judo tourney, and round 2 of Tekken were also pretty fun as well. The Judo "arc" would've been one of the highlights of this season had the anime had any sort of real animation budget, it's easily the most exciting scene(s) but god it's like watching a slideshow. It's kind of a wasted opportunity all around, Nagatoro's big secret being "I quit Judo because my fellow student beat me one time" is just stupid, but Nagatoro is an annoying rat so I could imagine her doing something like this, but even when she has her redemption I feel like it's kinda brushed over, like yeah she rejoins the judo club and stops being a baby about her L so I guess there's some resolution, but I think it would've been a great chance for her to show some growth in her character by befriending the chick that beat her, or at least giving Senpai a bit of an apology for being a dick when he tells her she's acting foolish about the whole situation. It just feels like it needed an extra something, I know the entire thing is only like an episode and a half long but I don't think it's asking too much for a couple more lines of dialogue.

In general it's good that season 2 tries to build on Nagatoro a bit more, we get to learn about her sister, her hobbies, and it's teased that we'll find out what she'll want to do for college/her career so hopefully season 3 will have some more good stuff to come. For general nitpicks: I think it's lame they took away Senpai's glasses plz give them back to him, the president boob gag is lame I'm glad her sister replaces her (hopefully she isn't as lame), trying to give Senpai friends in the skiing episode out of nowhere was sudden not sure how I feel about them, and I really don't like the whole sappy light effect thing they do whenever something cute or romantic finally happens, as if to say "LOOK GUYS IT'S WHAT YOU'RE WATCHING THIS SHOW FOR" it's obnoxious and always leaves Nagatoro with her mouth open in some retarded pose to gloss-ify her lips like aaaaa it'd just be so much better if they just let it play out as normal we don't need to highlight the moment ALL the time (although when they did for the "practice" date it was kinda cute.)

Lastly the romance in general doesn't really advance THAT far this season (minor spoiler alert) like yes I know Senpai finally asks her on a date and all and having the friends cockblock was just sooo anime and cheap but whatever, but even the aftercredits scene, like YES THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR, and it's a *hug* like nigga cmoooooon man. More like "niggatoro don't toy with me" amirite (cuz she's slightly tan harharhar). Still as embarrassing to watch as ever but it'll probably grow on me. looking forward to 3rd attack.

THEME SONG REVIEW: 7/10 for the theme song review, it was gonna be hard for them to top last season's OP it's probably one of my favorites on my list, but the guitars riffs are still pretty good, and I like how they synced up the bit with the glasses to the music that's always nice. Big fan that they kept all the hand-drawn effects from the last OP (to a lesser extent) in this theme, I need to learn how to do that in After Effects. I'd actually say I like the ED theme better than the opening this season, but not by much. I just like guitars.

It's a hot mess!

Well it ends in a hot mess. I liked most of Wonder Egg Priority, I thought the concept was really creative, with the Wonder Eggs taking characters to a dream-like world where they help a random girl resolve some sort of trauma they had before their deaths. Well "resolve" as in "beat-up-bad-guy-le-epicly-anime-style" but I think it works as a contrast to their pretty regular lives otherwise. The fights are also pretty colorful; this is a colorful anime in general I like the contrast between Ai's yellow hoodie and her blue hair it makes my eyes sing. The symbolism/metaphors in the egg world ... aren't anything too deep or complex but if you aren't a real stickler about that stuff it's fine. Could be better but fine.

The characters are the real strength of this show I'd say, all four of the girls Ai, Rika, Moemoe, and Nieru (who reminds me of a Younger more anime Katara) are all pretty interesting, and all have their own unique struggles and trauma that brings them together. It sets up a nice dynamic between how their business in the egg world relates to their personal lives. I cautiously say that each character is complex, within reason of a 12 episode anime of course - you aren't going to get any Breaking Bad level characters here (I've never seen Breaking Bad.) Rika is the only one with a real completed "arc" here I'd say and even though her character is a bit obvious I still would say it handled her well enough.

The ending is where Wonder Egg Priority dropped from a "man this is kinda cool" to a "bruh 3/10". The anime affords having interesting characters by building them up pretty slowly, which left me with a very familiar feeling at episode 9 where you wonder how they are going to wrap this up in the span of 3 episodes, which is absolutely solidified in episode 10 as the anime begins introducing more and more crazy stuff as if the main plot was just beginning and everything you've seen so far is just a buildup for season 2- but jokes on you mah boy there is no season 2! Episode 11-12 continues on that trend of raising the stakes and introducing plot elements despite the show concluding (especially episode 11). By the end Ai has been very clearly rushed in her character arc and nothing is really concluded yet. Disappointing for sure but whatever 5/10 right?

But then you find out there's another episode, a "special" which is essentially a 40 minute attempt to conclude the entire show, and it's the disaster you'd expect. Without diving into details it'd be like if when Akira Toriyama was writing Dragonball Z he finished in the midst of the Frieza arc and released one more episode where he rushes to tell all of the Cell and Buu saga in 40 minutes, with the first 20 minutes being a recap of what you've already seen of course. I've read online that this was the result of a disaster behind the scenes, with remote Covid production and general overwork and all that which I definitely believe. There's no way the original creators meant for it to go down like this, unless they were literally making it up as they went along. I wish we above all else got to see a proper resolution with Ai's arc, her situation was particularly concerning but it never really gets explained in the detail it should.

Wonder Egg Priority ends up feeling like wasted potential for a world with alot of mystery and intrigue. I would've preferred that the show was just was left unfinished, because it'd at least leave the rest to the viewers imagination, but with the rushed ending it sets everything in stone. Now watching you can clearly see the cracks where it's like "huh they didn't explain that" or "that doesn't really make sense". 3/10 may be a little bit dramatic because the first like 9 episodes are still pretty enjoyable if you take them for what they are, but ya boy is very disappointed that an anime with such a cool title was wasted.

THEME SONG REVIEW: 4/10 on the theme song I wasn't too crazy about it. I think it's kinda boring honestly. Very default anime theme song singing that starts and ends pretty lowkey with a mild orchestral buildup in the middle. Or at least I think it's orchestral. Keep in mind I don't know what I'm talking about. The visuals are nice. I like the part where they splice in the real life photos with the anime.

I wasn't aware that Mr Miyazki himself had made a manga, but I guess it's not too surprising. The new Hardcover bookset is absolutely gorgeous and far and away the best way too experience the story (and is really the only reason I bought it). I wish more manga would follow suit, there is something satisfying about having 2 huge solid books versus like 8 small softcover books that will yellow and fall apart much faster.

Nausicaa of The Valley Of the Wind has a slightly sluggish start, but eventually picks up as the war begins and we get to see the plot start to ... take shape. Nausicaa has the same Ghibli style we are all familiar with, with some of that same whimsicalness and charm in the art and character interactions, but I think it is actually pretty exciting compared to some of the other big Ghibli films (Howls Moving Castle, Spirited Away, etc.) with a lot of war combat and ship flying that I didn't really expect to see in a Miyazaki book (although to be fair I'm not like a Ghibli expert or anything). Nausicaa also has really awesome worldbuilding, there is so much care put into explaining how these new environments and ecosystems behave, along with the creatures that inhabit them; and The Doroks and Torumekians stark differences in culture and traditions make them feel like very convincing people groups (and the wormhandlers designs are so cool.) I am usually not too crazy about how much is left to the imagination in some of Miyazaki's films, too many unanswered questions and loose ends is very unsatisfying to me. I think here Miyazaki strikes a balance I find more acceptable, although the book still does have that air of ambiguity, it's more reasonable with how vast and detailed the world is; and alot of the mysteries that drive the story are addressed. I think this is the advantage of having read Nausicaa Of The Valley of Wind before watching it as a film. There is naturally more time to explore and interact with a story's world and characters in a book; I'm sure the film will still be enjoyable whenever I watch it, but there is no way to fit 7 volumes worth of material into 2 hours without losing that depth.

As far as characters go, Nausicaa is pleasant protagonist, very driven and determined but gentle. I like that as the princess to The Valley of The Wind she is a badass, she has to protect her people and be prepared to eventually lead them as the chieftan, but still has the nature loving hippy side that defines her character. I do think sometimes the story leans a bit too much into that side of her character, like she's not Jesus guys she just likes insects, but for the most part it works. Kushana is essentially Nausicaa's opposite, as she is far more violent and aggressive as a war general, with her princess-like qualities being way more understated. I'm sure this was intentional as a whole "two sides of the same coin" type thing but I'm not getting into all that. There are of course other great characters like Master Yupa and Mito but once again I'm not getting into all that.

Overall I think this was a very nice read. The story definitely does have it's lulls, but with worldbuilding this good it's a minor fault in what I think is a really refreshingly different manga in the abundance of Elves and Goblins and Guilds that we see today. Master Yupa is a real cool dude that's for sure. An underrated classic from Miyazaki himself I don't know how this flies under the radar when so many people worship the Ghibli films, but yea good book I recommend.

The Finale Baby! Spoilers below

I am very happy with how this season turned out, it feels like a return to form, not to say that season 2 was like a major dip in quality, but it wasn't as funny as season 1 and the episodes in the middle were kinda meh (-minus the shojo bit that was funny). Season 3 however, is back in it's bag, zero dud episodes, and if not funny is at least entertaining 89% of the time.

I like that it picks up right where season 2 left off, so there's no reintroducing or minor time skipping or anything we just get ... back into the action. I think some highlights of this season for me were the 10 yen coin game, the arm wrestling bit, the return of the ramen dude, and the rap learning/video bit was also good. The language barrier always makes non-english hip-hop sound off for me b/c I can't really bridge the lyrics in English and sound in Japanese if that makes sense, but the mini rap video they made with the fisheye lens and all that was so cool so I'll just assume my nigga was spittin bars.

Love is War always had alot of references in it but the Silent Hill/Resident Evil bit in Episode 11 was funny, and the entire end of the anime being a Persona reference was speaking to my soul, it's like this anime was made just for me; I have to be the only person on the planet who both watches anime and plays video games, truly kind of the mangaka/storyboarders/animators to tailor so much of this anime to my liking.

Now for like the main spoiler, last chance to stop reading... -------> okay I'm pleasantly surprised they actually "confessed" this season. Like this is the peak of the show we've all been waiting for I didn't think it'd come this soon, I was really convinced we'd have at least another season stretching it out but I'm happy they didn't b/c dragging it out doesn't really pay off 99% of the time to me. At first I was like "no way Kaguya's not gonna do it she's a punk" but once Shirogane reveals he's gonna skip a grade to go to Stanford I had the anime zoom in on face *bwwwwrrrmmmmm* moment and it was like "holy moly she's running out of time" and I think throughout the School Festival Arc they keep that sense of urgency without like sacrificing the tone of the show; things don't get Ultra Serious they get Ultra Romantic ;))))))).

The actual moment/kiss itself is very anime cheesy but I've once again fallen for the trap where they've built this up for so long now that I don't even care how corny it is I'm just foaming at the mouth to see this kiss happen. The heart balloons like enveloping the clocktower under the starry night sky is so over the top for a high school romance it's ridiculous, but I'm eating it all up anyway. They have given me a 20 pound serving of anime-mushy-romcom mashed potatoes and I ate like it's light work. Shirogane playing as a phantom thief and like setting up a mystery with calling cards for Kaguya to solve, while warding off Fujiwara simultaneously is a great mind-game finale, and at this point Kaguya is about to have war with me b/c I'm tryna kiss this man for sneaking so much Persona 5 into my anime :^* .

I guess nobody technically confessed in a verbal sense but at the same time they both kinda did so they're doing some real mental gymnastics to feel like they didn't lose, and I can respect some good ol' self delusion. Covering the kiss from us the viewer with the balloon is kinda lame but I still think it was satisfying enough. Ishigami also had his like side romance parallel to Kaguya's which wasn't bad but I care about Kaguya's astronomically more, I just thought I should acknowledge it. Fuijwara still best character.

Not really sure where this leaves the show now though, the main schtick is basically over, unless they really plan to have them verbally try and confess for another season but that seems stupid and like a deflated version of the show thus far. Ishigami's romance hasn't been properly wrapped up but I for one don't really care, and while Fujiwara didn't really have an arc I don't think she needs a romance, but idk maybe they have something else in mind. They can go the Clannad route and do Kaguya-Sama: Ultra Afterstory and kill off our main cast but let's hope they don't do that lolool. The narrator says "the end" and all but as far as I know the manga is still ongoing so I'd be surprised if we don't see another season. Not sure what they'll do but I hope they don't screw it up.

Do I think this was #1 of MAL good? Nah not really but who cares does FMAB really still need to be up there after 10+ years? Like we get it guys it's pretty good.

THEME SONG REVIEW: 9/10 on this one cause I'm really feeling it. I cannot be a good critic I am too easily pleased by everything. Once again they got that dude, Masayuki Suzuki. I'll put respect on the man's name b/c all the themes have been good so far. This is my favorite one yet, it goes Season 1< Season 2< Season 3. I am really bad at like identifying instruments and all that so I can't really explain why it's dope, but I'll try anyways. It starts with those horns and that bussin beat and the groove is just so solid already, then it transitions to the title screen with the girls' vocals (I think her name is Suu?) and I'm feelin saucy. Then okay okay we're strippin it back a little bit with that silky smooth bassline and those little hints of electric guitar in the mix and it's feelin good; transition to President looking out the window and the thing I assume is some sort of drum walks back in and the energy is back on the up and up, then creeps in Suu's backing vocals, then the guitars, and BOOM we're back to that groove! Kaguya is running through multiverses but at this point I'm already out my seat dancing so I don't even care and the vocals sound excellent and AAAAAAAA. Good song 9/10 would listen again.