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The original 2003 iteration of 'Fullmetal Alchemist' wrapped up its run in a sombre and emotionally lasting manner, unafraid to take things in a darker approach. It is one of my favourite endings to a series of all time, yet follows 'Conqueror of Shamballa', a movie that aims to be more than a last hurrah for these characters - rather serving as the 'true ending' of the show.

But the story it tries to tell here can only be described as completely underwhelming. The only thing to wrap up per se is the reunion of the Elric brothers, which without doing so serves a major factor ... as to why the original ending works so well, following the constant idea of 'equivalent exchange' that is mentioned in every episode of the show. In achieving this goal we are introduced to a further exploration of Nazi Germany in which Edward currently resides and the bunch of non-characters that reside in it.

I must say I do like alternate world Alphonse, but when you have more development into a fictional version of Fritz Lang over your main villain some things need to be reconsidered. Plus who even was the guy in the prelude? He's there for a display of typical show antics and then isn't mentioned again until the very end of the film?? As for re-occuring characters it's just a case of "woah look here they are", it works in the shows logic that to open such a gate between worlds sacrifice would be involved, but to just off a character such as Hoenheim like that I can only find stupid. Sure Wrath's death is emotional but he's back for all of 5 minutes before it happens, I think as an anime original character there was a bit more potential to squeeze out of him when his character has done such a 1080 since the last time we saw him in the show.

But I think the greatest sin here is Ed and Winrey reunite for all of 2 minutes before they're separated forever. She is the main love interest of this show, Edward talks about her in his sleep, yet all they do is hug, exchange a few words and Ed is ready to instantly throw everything out of the window again just to nobley close the gate for good. The gravitas of this invasion isn't really felt because of how little time the fight lasts for, we see one casualty and then it's just a piece of cake for Roy, Ed and Al to destroy the ships and send the villain back to Germany.

There is a ton of ways they could have written this to serve as a happy resolution to the Elric brothers journeys, but instead they wanted to keep this darker tone which results in this movie feeling like a royal waste of time that achieves nothing. Whilst they are re-united under the guise of brotherly love, it's quite astounding to think both of them can rationally so easily ditch everyone else in their life for good in an ending that only feels as to take away from the greatness of the original.

A strong display of emotional resonance; the second season of 3-gatsu no Lion manages to go above and beyond expectations to provide something of overwhelming beauty.

It’s a show of many acts; the first season—while boasting many heavy themes—is an elegant watch, which reels the viewer in with a soft mood, realistic characters and delightful interactions, but never hits you with strong emotions. The second season—filled with melancholic tones, depressing themes and powerful messages—gives the show raw emotional power to invest the viewer at full force.


Shifting from the focus of Rei’s depression, this season brings more focus to the different mentalities of the supporting cast, both ... in the real world and the back-drop of shogi.

The season starts off with a focus on Hinata, and the daunting problem of bullying. Bringing forth an insight into the mass hysteria it brings and the draining effects on the victims, and those caught up in the drama. This arc is nothing short of impactful, and although it’s heavy, it never becomes painful to watch, something many other drama-oriented series fail to accomplish.

What makes this so powerful is down to the commonly relatable topic of bullying, the powerful visual presentation and the amazing characterisation found in the antagonist Megumi Takagi.

Megumi’s construct as a bully sets her apart from other archetypical antagonists—in the sense that, there are reasons to her actions—she clearly suffers problems in her mentality, leading her to torment others as a form of escapism, giving her somewhat an ability to be emphasised with for the wrong reason. It’s even easier to empathise with Hina, due to her characteristics, with her helping Rei with his struggles and inspiring him to escape his depression. Rei feels the same on the topic of helping her, creating a close bond between the two, something that plays importance throughout the rest of this season.

Although the first arc is definitely in the lime-light of this season, the series continues to impress in its focuses on different characters. The character study of Souya Touji is a breath-taking display of a mind disturbed solely by the life-style of shogi, with stunning direction to show his inability to hear those around him. The shogi match between Shimada and Yanagiharai uses profound visual imagery to show the determination of both characters and the weight Yanagihara carries. And the pleasant moments with Hina give the show a relaxing and charming escapism from the heavier themes.


I don’t consider the cast to be merely characters, they feel human. From Rei to Nikaidou to Yanagihara; each one has strong human characteristics that allow for relatability and empathy for these personalities as we see into their differing lives.
Even though Rei has less focus this season, his role as the lead character is as strong as ever as he seeks a way to help those around him. It’s inspiring to watch, as Rei’s empathy drives him to assist in fighting the varying problems that arise for everyone close to him. His outlook and narration provide a strong connection from the viewer as he continues to improve his life which was once locked in place by his haunting past. As the main character, his journey is an impeccable experience and he is character of relatability and complexity.

This season exposes elements of characters unbeknownst from the first season, such as the extent of Nikadou’s illness, the pressure Akari feels being unable to help Hina and the different psychological and emotional effects each character experiences in accordance to their surroundings. Each revelation is equally as tense and creates stronger connection to the characters once their situations are understood.


Studio SHAFT empowers storytelling through visual motifs and stunning presentation, bringing everything to life with powerful imagery to reflect the mood each scene portrays. Every visual element is a sight to behold, with gorgeous backgrounds, varying styles and ability to speak many words through its delivery that bring out many emotions from the viewer.

This mood is only enhanced by the stunning soundtrack composition. Melancholic tracks reflecting the depressing yet elegant mood can easily bring you to tears, acting as peaceful additions to the stunning composition of visuals and story.


For a while now I’ve been pondering over the topic of depression, this in turn has affected the way I view anime titles, and what I get out of said titles. While Cardcaptor Sakura healed me from having negative thoughts, End of Evangelion’s existential elements blew my mind away so much that the thought of depression was no longer on my mind. But, I think the best form of escapism from a feeling like depression is facing it head on, and that’s exactly what 3-gatsu gave me; giving me personal affection to its elements.

To me, 3-gatsu no Lion is the epitome of human emotion, an experience rivalled by none. A show that has brought me to tears almost every episode, and something I hope many others can appreciate in the same way.

Ambition – the driving force of a goal.
There’s no doubt that season 1 of Love Live is a truly weak series. There was a lack of detail to characterization; the flow of the plot was all over the place: Shoving cute girls and memes down your throat and then ending on some of the worst melodrama present in anime at the end.
It would be easy to pass off the second season as equally irresponsible as the first; but oddly enough the second season of Love Live works wonders. This improvement in quality it ascends Love Live from being a trashy meme-fest into something of ... true emotion even if contrived at many points.

Go for glory; the goal set in mind for the group.
After saving their school and realising the little time they have left as a group with the third year students graduating; the nine girls of Muse up the ante by setting out to win Love Live!
A simple plot really, but what makes this concept work so well is the structure of this season. Character based episodes and moments of bonding help flesh out the cast well enough while still building the story up to its climax. The fun notion and diverse story of each episode and improved comedy makes the ride endearing; episodes centred on the girls watching romantic films; Honoka and Hanayo losing weight and other quirky concepts that make the show constantly engaging; even if to poke fun at. These episodes are mostly comprised of interaction between the nine main characters; and whilst still conceivably stereotypical, they enhance the overall enjoyment of the show. Achieving a much better structure than what the first season achieved.

This season also manages to be quite emotional with reminiscence of the journey the members of the group embarked on, the daunting realisation the girls feel as their final concert together as Muse draws near; all of it feels so content. The dedication; the journey, everything the anime throws at you has you rooting for the girls in one way or another. By the end of the anime there’s enough development into each area of the show; that you may be able to look back in joy and appreciation at the story as a whole, and the bonds with each member of the group. Sure there are many times where elements of the show become questionable and writing feels weak; such as certain road-blocks for the group, seemingly dumb character actions, and a focus too heavily oriented on appealing as a Slice of Life oriented series; but that feeling of bitter-sweet progression for the group through this season make this a wonderful and whole-rounded experience.


Of course the story wouldn’t receive this much praise if it was not for the development the characters received this season. In Season 1, many of the cast was under-developed with not much attention onto each characters ambitions and what holds the group together. In this season we’re shown brighter, memorable captivating versions of the group. With more attention to their ambitions; their relationships and bonds as the group “Muse.”


Honoka receives some of the nicest development in this season compared to her personality in season 1; she’s still quite obnoxious, ditsy and dumb. But her role as the leader of Muse becomes more important this time round, with the new-found position of student council president she matures slightly and ditches all hesitation: Leading the members of Muse on their path to victory while still managing activities brought on by being president. She’s not a character worthy of much praise in the grand scheme of things, but her drive and aspirations to win Love Live not only for herself but for those around her who have helped her get this far is touching.

Rin is the most noteworthy example of Love Live doing character development correctly. From an un-important side character from season 1; Rin evolves into a character that learns to stop doubting herself and breaks out of her shell. Improving confidence of her character and the rest of the cast is necessary to strengthen the bond between Muse; this leads to the group’s journey feeling more genuine, benefiting the show and Rin’s capability and likeability. Her development isn’t that special but the care into developing the cast members to create a more whole experience makes the show much more praise-worthy.

Eli is my favourite character in this show; and probably my favourite anime girl in the entire medium. I don’t think she is a great character overall. But, her appearance, and caring; knowledgeable and sweet personality make her special to me. Her character had great development in season 1, but this season it focuses on a different section of her character; her relationship with Nozomi.

In some-what of a yuri manner, the bond between these two characters is very close and they bounce of each other very well. Both clearly have a very strong relationship together; after spending a lot of time in the student-council. They are both a source of motivation for one another: as explored in Nozomi’s back-story of how they met and the affection they both share. It’s very sweet to see these characters interactions and tight bond with each other. They care for the group equally; especially Nozomi due to the loneliness she feels living on her own. Both are heavily endearing characters and are mature and beautiful.

To be fair you have to have a pretty high IQ to understand Nico: A fan-favourite of the first season; Nico develops even further from her character arc in the first season. A display of her Narcissistic, self-centred attitude wishing to be praised by her family, after feeling desolation for two years from a lack of being able to find those with the same interests as her. This character arc leads to some quite charming and funny moments with the members of her family introduced, and Nico continues being as expressive as ever with her existential catchphrase "Nico Nico Nii."

Regarding the rest of the cast; most of their development took place in season 1, in which they maintain their personalities throughout the shows run. Kotori and Umi support Honoka in her aspirations and are quite pleasing characters, without any heavy development centred on them; same goes for the first years: Hanayo and Maki. While not serving super important roles into Love Live’s structure or development; they complement the series very well.


As much as these characters do not contain much depth to them; this should not be a sign of them being bad. There’s probably gropes you can have with certain characters. But for the most part the cast serve the show well for what it is: A fun display of the idol dream coming to life with a quirky roster of school students.


As animation goes for Love Live; it remains pretty generic and remains quite standard through its run-time, although this is an obvious improvement from season 1. It still doesn’t reach excel in style outside of the dance segments. While the face designs between characters aren’t very different from each-other; one area that works well for the show is the facial expressions: The over-exaggerated nature of these works extremely well with comedic impact.
Love Live definitely doesn’t handle the switch between traditional and CG very well; something it has achieved later on in the franchise but at this point is still incredibly weak. While the dance scenes have pretty nice choreography and the scenes presented in the traditional animation style look wonderful the contrast between the two is quite jarring: The models being quite laggy and not blending in with surroundings very well.


Much like the first season the song choices included aren’t exactly the best of what the music front of Love Live has to offer; the most memorable and emotional song of this season is “Snow Halation.” A song that has quite a bit of history on the internet; and one that is quite peaceful yet exciting to listen to at the same time. Another good inclusion is “Aishteruze Banzai” which is sadly cut short in run-time from its true potential impact as a song, leaving in un-memorable. For the other songs of the show, the opening and ending are similar to that of season 1: Complementing the genre well but not being too heavily impressive. Much is the case with many other songs in this season; the general preference in songs seems to be those catering to the generic ideal style of idol songs rather than more emotional and expressive songs.


Love Live is a heavily captivating show; and it’s obvious how it got to the high point of success it did. Season 2 pumps out a lot of improvements to the characters, story and overall presentation making it a heavily enjoyable ride and something that will stick with me for a long-time. Watching the cast members grow is moving; the comedy is constantly hilarious. Therefore making Love Live Season 2 a show I wholeheartedly think is good even with its visible flaws.

I think talking about your favourite anime is quite a hard topic to ponder on; especially when you are so up taken by the features of the show to find any negative aspects that others hold against the show. Here is my example of this factor, a show that stand above the others and which I hold high on a pedestal. “Yo! Daitouryou Trap-kun”

Featuring the highly beloved main character Trump-sama, we get an insight as to what he would be like on a regular basis if he was the combination of Japanese, a high schooler and simultaneously a rapper. I found myself in disbelief when ... I first stumbled upon this title, why would this be made? But also at the same time I was joyful; this was a topic I was hoping for an anime to cover from the very start of Trump’s election campaign. We previously have seen Obama in the lime-light of anime but with Trump’s recent takeover of the position of president waiting for his anime debut was something that was a very tedious procedure; but I never expected to find such a thing in this calibre of entertainment. This anime is so strange but so entertaining at the same time. With such a weird concept presented in such a manner that everyone can get a good laugh out of it; even if they then proceed to then drop the anime and score it a 1.

As a vivid fan of a show such of this I hope one day that this can reach the highest popularity on MyAnimeList because if you haven’t watched this masterpiece you obviously are doing something wrong with your free-time. It only takes 1 minute and the outcome and reward of watching the show is well worth it. I really do not expect such an anime to grace us in the same way as this has and I respect whoever thought of this idea to have the balls to go and make this into an anime. Because what is more fun than poking fun out of a real person in such a way that can unite everyone together to laugh at it.

Now I will go over the surface of what to expect when entering this anime as although I have talked about its brilliance in the form of being a hilarious thing to watch, there are many other features being poured into this anime that make it so great. The art style does look terrible but it adds to the comedic effect. Trump is presented as being an idiot in this piece something that many people view him as; the art style is so simple and absurd it adds to the experience as something you can easily remember from the experience. In the sound department each episode grants us with a new rap performed by Trump with actual no meaning at all, they just put words in a hat at the studio and pull out whatever they find and cram it into a rap for Trump’s VA to sing I presume.

I love this anime for its absurdity, what more could you ask for than a short piece of media poking fun at Trump in such a crude fashion. I believe it is worth watching no matter what tastes you have in shows, as I’ve mentioned before it has a short length but provides high enjoyment all around and is something everyone should at least experience once. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this anime the same way I do.

There are a lot of things that factor into creating a well-rounded enjoyable anime title. It’s a combination of the story writing, uniqueness, sounds and animation poured into the creation of the work that produces that golden quality to it. But there’s another category that needs to be touched upon to create a good anime and that is characters. Smart intellectual characters and ones that strive from the common cheap use of stereotypes make a title memorable due to the unique ways these characters are presented through dialogue and interaction. Your characters are the fore-front in the anime, they are the lens the viewer experiences ... the story through, and so having them well fleshed out and smartly written enhances the experience for the viewer.

But contrary to my statement listed above, “Masamune-kun’s Revenge” brings nothing smart to the table. In concept the show is about some revenge plan thought out by a prepubescent child after getting rejected when he was about 6 years old, a “lovers” squabble that has lasted around a decade, why is he so angered that he can’t move on in life and accept fate? I doubt we will ever know. Our main character Makabe; is optimistic in his revenge plans. Accompanied with tedious actions and that cocky and cool attitude that make me want to fist the table in rage whenever he’s on screen, he makes Subaru look like the second-coming of Christ in comparison. Having a likeable main character should be what many anime strive to portray, this is the character we are supposed to be rooting for and hoping his plans go to success. (if we can scuttle through the ridiculous idea of the plan in the first place that is) stereotypes may piss you off after seeing that same trope rehashed over and over again over many titles of anime, but having a character who is un-bearable to watch due to his unintentional cringe aspects really burdens the show down a lot. His whole “revenge plan” is some of the stupidest shit I have seen in my life, who honestly gives a fuck if he was rejected years prior, his character just comes off as immature but not in the good sense.

Hey I’m sure immature characters can be enjoyable to watch at times but Makabe emits the entire opposite enjoyment of that, he’s unlikeable, unfunny and one dimensional all around, I really don’t see the appeal of having this guy being the perspective we enjoy the show through. Next we have the evil, misandristic; Adagaki Aki or better known as “text-book tsundere.” She’s the main target and antagonist of Masamune-kun’s Revenge. Though has more characterisation to her compared to our main character, and is overall a better more tolerable character to watch; even if she may just be pretty stereotypical. She is the stated “antagonist” of the show, but due to her past and better development in helping us understand her she becomes greater than Makabe. Overall the cast is a bunch of dumb, unlikeable assholes which are painful to watch.

Though I’ve only touched upon the surface of characters, alongside the two main characters we have some more terribly written side characters. Firstly; Yoshino Koiwai who is the most enjoyable out of the bunch; and no that’s not just because she is voiced by Inori Minase, she serves as the “master” role for Makabe and plans to assist him in his execution of his dumbfounded revenge plan. She’s cute, and funny at times that’s about it. Then we have Neko Fujinomiya who is another rich girl, but she’s mysterious, she knows Makabe prior, but Makabe does not recall ever meeting her. But to be honest I bet if you had an encounter with Makabe he would forget you within the next ten minutes of your conversation (evident in how he forgot of Yoshino’s existence entirely.) Then to top that off we have weird Lolita mom who tries serving Makabe food but whenever there is over a certain amount of calories he becomes extremely triggered by the situation due to him trying to keep up his muscular fit body to impress the ladies. Oh and introduced near the end we have this painfully un-needed and unlikeable fat kid and the SJW brigade who turn to illegal acts to stop the straights and turn Aki into a lesbian man-hater.

The weaknesses of these said characters is most evident in their interaction; there’s always an awkward pause mid-conversation. With Makabe’s one track mind on the path to revenge nothing said to him ever enters his mind and flies past him; he may have recollection of those words but prefers to ignore those after a while and snap back into his revenge mind-set. The drama in this anime is god damn awful as well; it is impossible to take seriously with the nature of the show and is just as awkward as every other character interaction; bland, stupid and un-meaningful. Most of it is started by Makabe’s dumb irrational attitude constantly messing things up; he can’t fix the problems because he is so mindless on top of that and the quite common “comedic” part where he falls over constantly.


Aside from this the show does have some redeemable capabilities that don’t drag the show down into devastation. For the most part the animation is pretty decent; it’s of course nothing special but the bright colours help with the lively atmosphere of some dumb-founded romance revenge plan, so it’s a pleasant sight to the eye for this factor. Its atmospheric shots are pleasant of course bringing light to sights that look pretty generic in terms of animation as a whole but work well.

For the sound department we are met with an “odd” soundtrack to say the least; nothing really stands out and sticks in your head; but overall it weirdly goes along with the shows sense of direction; the opening theme: “Wagamama MIRROR HEART” hypes up the show and creates brilliant anticipation; which is how I found myself watching this show in the first place, and contrast to the opening “Elemental World” provides a calm yet upbeat theme to lead out the show.

I understand that this anime is simply here to provide a romance comedy; but the problem for me is it wasn’t funny, compared to other romance comedies, the effect and experience I gained from this was weak, and of course mainly because of my statement against the characters of the show which drag down the quality. But even if this was intentional and I am just over analysing this; the show really did not work for me. The show is obviously enjoyable, even if I’m hesitant at watching each episode most of the time provides a decent experience with not the best enjoyment the show could have produced but not enough to create a bitter taste of disgust when watching. On top of that the show features an anti-climactic ending which I will not delve into here; but there’s a possibility that the show will receive a second season.

Overall; Masamune-kun’s short comings lie in trying to create a decent romance/comedy which falls flat due to its unbearable main character and generic side characters. But the side dishes to the show create decent sides to the anime which stop it from plummeting down into the abyss. If you want a bright show with some mutual redeeming factors and decent enjoyment, look no further than this show. There are of course many greater titles out there, but I’m sure if you are the average Joe who doesn’t really care much for the criticisms against this show you will find this for the most part enjoyable. If you do care about the above; I advise you to move on, as this offers nothing new.

Simple; yet thrilling, vivid enough for me to be addicted to this series. There are many ways I can express my love for this underrated gem of an anime. I never thought an anime such as this let alone a sports anime would give me this much enjoyment. I'm not a sporty type of person so I tend to avoid sports centred anime but I'm glad I watched this and watched it all the way through.

This anime is as I've mentioned before simplistic, it's a show about girls playing ping pong, no more and no less. It plays out like a typical sports themed show ... would about becoming the best and winning the main competition for that sport; and features the theme of typical 1v1's for a lot of the episodes; showing us the characters strengths and weaknesses and getting more in depth into that aspect. For a story premise like this it really doesn't sound all that interesting but there are many features that make this enjoyable. Mainly because it's cute as hell but also accompanied by these matches is a killer OST to accompany them; a feature I will go more into detail with later on in this review.
This season focuses on a build up to the national competition; with friendly matches and training up to the main event which in-toe is enough to keep you hooked. We get to see the main cast flourish well and their bonds with each other and also an opposing team which increases the enjoyment factor; but other than that this is all we see from this "first season" if the show is lucky enough to gain itself a second.
In all fairness while being cheerful and enjoyable a concept like this isn't too original, but works well for what it is.

The art presented is very cute; it has that charm that made me enjoy it the most, with a cute cast of enthusiastic characters the art style complements that feature well in many ways. It's very bright and stands out well; reducing the serious tones from most of the matches of ping pong and flourishing the fun side to sports rather than competitive. Again this is very simplistic in terms of anime but it catches the eye well and makes the vibrant show even more splendid to watch.

Now moving onto the sound; which I complemented previously in the story section of the review. The OST to go along the ping pong matches is glorious, up-beat, enjoyable and keeps you hooked into the intensity of the matches. It has a very electronic and modern vibe to it which fits the sport well. The ball hitting the racket in the SFX department is also satisfying to hear especially as the fight grows more intense and you root for your favourite character to win the match. Also I have to mention the stunning opening theme, which I loved so much that I bought it on CD. It's upbeat and also complements the show well. Overall, fit to my taste in music.

The characters are pretty generic, there's nothing too special that stands out for them other than the fact they are all passionate about ping pong and competitive to become the very best. I can't find much words to describe the characters but their enthusiasm and up-beat natures is always fun to watch. Which although not very good led me rooting for each character every episode.
I can't honestly pick a favourite character they were all so splendid to watch.
The character development between Agari and Koyori was also pretty neat to watch; but that's all I can really say for this part of the review.

Enjoyment-wise. I loved this show to death; I want more, it was always the highlight of Mondays as it was cute and feel-good to watch. This led this to being my favourite anime of the Fall 2016 season, it can't compare to other more well received titles, but it had enough charisma to keep me hooked and demanding for more. It wasn't hard loving this series at all for it's nice set of characters and entertaining ping pong matches; along with the prior mentioned gorgeous OST.

Overall. I'm scoring Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume an 7/10 (going enjoyment-wise mainly it would score an 8/10).
It didn't present much for it to stand out well in the crowd of anime, but for me it was a gem compared to many other anime's I've seen. If you are into cute up-beat and happy toned anime's. this is a 100% recommendation from me.
I have so much love for this series, and I am really hoping this gets a second season someday.