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"Devoting time... Getting to know their behaviours, voices, unconscious habits, would you not say that is love?" -Quintuplets' Grandfather

This has been a ride. Gotoubun no Hanayome, a.k.a The Quintessential Quintuplets, has and is an truly unique take on the harem romance genre. Does it revolutionise the harem genre? Probably not, but it sure does bring some breath of fresh air into this stacked genre. The very first chapter I've read this manga, I knew it was going to be something, and with this review, I'll tell you my thoughts as to why, I think this is a manga series that YOU, should not pass out ... on, albeit with a small caveat that I'll talk about in the finishing thoughts.


Story / Character -9-

The absolute reason why Gotoubun no Hanayome is this fantastic. Full of turns and twist, the story revolve around our male protagonist, Fuutarou tutoring the newly acquainted quintuplets, and as the story goes on, each quint starts to fall in love with Fuutarou. Unlike most harem, we have been told in the very start that the MC will choose one quint as the bride, and us readers are to figure out the identity of the bride. And the fun part of the story? Each quint is so well developed that you will find yourself scratching your head, constantly figuring out who might she be, and with the subtle hints Haruba Negi brilliantly put around the story as the icing on top of the cake.

As for the characters, they're also what contributes to such a dynamic story. Fuutarou, whom seems dense, actually picks up on things considerably well, he pays attention to the smallest details even though he doesn't show them, pours his heart out to help out the quints even though it may mean that his grades will worsen. Now to the quints, Ichika, the eldest sister is your 'Ara Ara' nee-san who constantly teases Fuutarou, which often times brings us the most interactive and engaging conversations. Nino, your classic yet unique tsundere, she is bold, she is always in your face, whatever she wants she will go out her way and get it. Miku, she's shy, she's subtle, she's also one of the best. The silent killer, she doesn't do much on the outside, but she puts all her efforts in the background that makes you uncontrollably cherish her hard work. Yotsuba, your 'Genki' outgoing girl, all she wants is everyone to be happy, and that includes you too, her action throughout the manga can never fail to make you 'aww'. Itsuki, the youngest sister, but she acts as though she is the most mature, and she is! As one who looks to become a teacher in the future, she does pour in extra effort to ensure she becomes one.


Art - 9.5-

Haruba Negi’s art is nothing less than phenomenal, and in Gotoubun, it very much shows. Each quint is drawn distinctly beautiful with an unique accessory to help us readers identify them. All characters look clean, the flow of the panels are well drawn out and are very easy to your eyes. Nothing much to say about the art honestly, the work proves itself.


Caveat

I’ve given the series a 8.5/10 as a whole, and most of the points come from the start of the manga till the very end of it, which is the last arc. (Mild spoilers ahead so do beware) The choosing of the quint and basically the entire arc felt very lackluster, as compared to the previous arcs. Where the previous arcs thoroughly developed all quints equally, this arc essentially destroyed the development and foundation of each quint to give way for the winner. What does that mean in one word? Rushed. The ending was inevitably rushed, despite the fact that the last 100 chapters were so well done I would’ve rated it a perfect 10/10 score, the ending arc was a hit in the gut. Not to mention the very last chapter of the series as well, nothing in the chapter was coherent, the ideas were painfully obvious that it was all over the place. Had this series been given another volume, it could’ve gone down as IMO the best harem series of all time, but as the fact stays, this ending is nothing but disappointing.


Conclusion

For someone who has literally followed the series from the very beginning, it has been one hell of a ride. Every week I would look forward to the release of the new chapter and keep thinking of different theories on who would be the winner, discussing it with friends and stuff. This manga had me so invested into the series that I could feel in on a personal level, and I’m sure many will feel that way when reading this manga, and that unfortunately will also mean that many will too, be disappointed in the series when it comes to the ending. Here comes the question, do I recommend this for people looking to read a Harem/ Romance manga? By all means yes, the development of this story for the grand scheme of things has been fantastic, terrific even. I do want to emphasize that, despite the lackluster ending, the reason I still think it's worthy of a 8.5/10 is because a few bad chapters does not and should not overshadow the great work that is the majority of the manga. It has been such a great read, and I will wholeheartedly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good manga to watch.

‘’If you come into Hatena Illusion without any expectations, like me who came in knowing absolutely nothing, you might actually come to enjoy this show more that you think. If you do expect this show to be up to par for its genre tags i.e. Ecchi, then you might be disappointed, but other than that, Hatena Illusion has been frankly, rather good for what it currently offers.’’

WELL BOY O BOY, that was what I wanted to say after watching the first episode, but damn, the following episodes were just, disappointing, there is just too much flaw compared to what the first episode’s premise showed ... us, and I’ll explain in detail with the following.


Story / Character -5.5-
A pretty generic plot, our MC Makoto Shiranui, as him name ‘Shira(不知)nui’ kinda suggest, is quite dull, but he is ambitious enough that he travels all the way to Tokyo in hopes to become an apprentice of the famous Magician, whom coincidentally is his childhood friend, our female protagonist’s father. Her daughter, Hate… Oh I mean Kana-chan, your typical tsundere, actually is quite a likable character (maybe I’m just biased to tsunderes) other than the times where she kinda 180 degree turn her emotions too fast, well it is to be expected, though surprisingly Hatena does have quite a bit of self-consciousness and do apologize for her mistakes, which is kinda a nice touch. Story starts out with Kana-chan mistakenly thinking that Makoto-kun is a female since younger age, and when she realizes it she becomes extra aware and cautious, especially when she founds out that Makoto has a ‘Artifact’, which are items created by Kana’s mother which posses actual magic power. However, many Artifacts has been stolen and Hatena wants to reclaim them back as these magic powers could cause great disaster had they been on the wrong hands. Then comes the more standard ‘Good’ vs ‘Bad’ action scenes, relationships between our both main protagonists deepen, and more plot points get reveal.

Personally I don’t mind such a plot, but the problem with the show is that it feels like they are trying to cramp too much info into a single episode, which ultimately leads to pacing problems, and it really does show on almost all episodes after the first. The show honestly could benefit a lot simply by extending the dialogues and make the interactions between character longer, instead of having each character saying one important line, and the story just progresses. One can barely even be invested into the characters if they don’t even have enough screen time to start with.


Art -6-
By the studio that goes by this ridiculous name, Children’s Playground Entertainment, certainly not making this show as children friendly as they sound. Animation was pretty good for the first episode, following few are mediocre at best, where there are scenes that are rather janky, especially the face expressions, pan out shots of the scenes really suffers from the ‘6-year-old drawing’ look. For an ecchi, it really doesn’t show much of this genre throughout these few episodes, there are some here and there, well they do look decent on the times when they do show it, but nothing phenomenal. There are also scenes where it kinda makes me have flashbacks for my sister is a writer anime, well, let's hope it doesn’t go down that route.


Sound -7-
The better part of the show, parts of this show does get salvaged by the fact that they have quite good OSTs, and most importantly, one of my favorite OPs this season, Magic Words by a debut singer, Liyuu is absolutely fantastic, very catchy, and I really like the rhythm and the light hearted feel to it. Voice acting is very good, as expected for the master VA for harem Matsuoka, well also not belittling the other VAs, again, probably the saving grace of this show. Following the same trend, the first episode had really good sound designs, then the next episodes just went downhill from there.


Overall -6-
This is your average ‘goes under the radar because it is generic’ show of the season, if you can look pass the very cliché moments of the anime, well I certainly could recommend you to watch Hatena Illusion as of the episodes aired until now, assuming that you have free time on your hand and don’t mind watching something that isn’t that unique. For now, there is a lot of room for the show to improve, and I do hope that the story goes more in depth as there are quite a few interesting plot devices that the show can really dive in more in the future episodes, but as the story stands now, it really is kinda underwhelming after what I would consider a great first episode.

What exactly is love? Is it a feeling of trying to protect someone you treasure, or is it a feeling of gratitude for someone you deeply care about? There’s no exact answer for it, but everyone has their own ideal of how love is, and with this idea adding a sprinkle of yuri, may I introduce you, Yagate Kimi Ni Naru (Bloom Into You), a show focusing on our two female protagonist, Koito Yuu and Nanami Touko, and their journey onto finding what love, truly means.

Story / Character -9.5-
Within the first few minutes you get greeted by our first protagonist, Koito Yuu, whom ... is heavily obsessed in shoujo manga, and looks forward to having a heart pumping relationship, in which feels seemingly distant and unreachable for Yuu. Now being a high school student, Yuu was chosen to help out with the Student Council election. While trying to find out where the club is, she stumbled upon our next protagonist, Nanami Touko whom was being confessed by another male student. Having seen Touko rejecting the student, with the ‘excuse’ of not wanting to go out with anyone just yet, Yuu decides to consult her as Yuu herself too, is being bothered by the fact that her best friend confessed to her, and she didn’t feel the ‘spark’ she initially thought she might have. Thinking how Nanami senpai might’ve help her settle her problems, with the turn of the tide, Nanami suddenly confesses to Yuu, leaving Yuu in absolute confusion. What comes next are lovely moments that will surely make you go ‘awww’.
Character wise, unlike what you see in most romance anime, the dominant one usually is the older ones, or the male lead (in this case it’s irrelevant). However, Touko albeit being a third year, is constantly showing her weaknesses, lowering her guard when she is around with Yuu, whom is younger than her. Even though as affectionate as Touko is, Yuu has convinced herself that she wouldn’t fall in love with Touko (or is it (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖) and in return for Touko’s feelings, Yuu tends to be more kind towards her, and allows her to cling onto her even though Yuu doesn’t plan on returning her feelings. Other character such as Saeki senpai and the teacher adds the depth for the story, making the story not necessarily just about Yuri at its core, but also people finding the true meaning to their life. Quite a simple plot to understand, everything you’d expect from a shoujo ai but with a touch of uniqueness to the dialogues and monologues.

Art -9-
This is a great adaptation from the original manga series, characters look on point, animations are very fluid. One unexpected part that totally blew me away was the use of camera angles, some scenes were literally breathed life into them, and some made the scene extraordinarily dream-like. All in all, Troyca has done an exceptional job on adapting this manga into anime, and I think it’s very commendable for making this anime such an enjoyable one.

Sound -8.5-
Most of the voice acting are done pretty well with some rare occasions where I actually found them to be slightly underwhelming, but not average enough to take a point off from the overall voice acting, so nothing to complain about here. The opening and ending are also quite good, I personally prefer the ending more than the opening, as it has a catchier vibe to it, and is sang by the two main protagonists. Soundtrack wise is sort of a mixed feeling (mostly good), what you usually here are ambient sound, like literally life-like ambient sounds, not many fancy soundtracks are going on throughout this anime, but they convey the feelings very well and tend to fit in the scenes. I personally just wished there was more to it, other than mostly being ambient.

Overall -9-
Bloom into you is a must watch if you’re a big fan of the romance genre, taking the slower, gradual progression for the plot makes you more invested into the characters, and I think that is a great way to catch the audience’s heart. Even though the plot is rather simple, the way it was executed through good directing and writing really makes this anime all the better. The conclusion for the anime isn't necessary what I thought it would've been (in relation to the manga that is), but was still a very wholesome nonetheless. If you want something that can hit you home, look no further and hope onto the feel train, and let the anime Bloom Into You.

‘I live life everyday hoping that I’m a slightly kinder person than I was the day before’ - Makinohara Shoko

If you thought this show was about literal BUNNY GIRLS, boi should you be prepared to be bamboozled by the most misleading title that you mightve ever come across. I was watching the first few minutes of the first episode expecting something probably as ecchi as it seems on the cover art, but hot damn did I got hooked by the quirky characters, mainly the interactions between our main protagonists. This show within the first episode reminded me of Bakemonogatari, which till this date I ... still think has one of the best monologues and dialogues, and now at the end of it, I think we have a great contester to dethrone the monogatari series, and here I present you, Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai.

Story / Character -10-
Revolving around the idea of ‘Puberty Syndrome’, this story mainly focuses on how our male protagonist, Sakuta settles this problem for the ones undergoing this syndrome. Albeit totally supernatural, there are sufficient backstory and explanations relating to quantum physics and what not (if you can understand that is), in which I think is always a great touch to the story to not let the audience sit in confusion. Puberty Syndrome is where you might find random bruises or cuts throughout your body, or having a juxtapose of yourself that takes your rightful place etc. However, because the setting of this story is actually in high school, it can be very relatable to some due to the fact that the problems usually are involved with gossiping, bad mouthing or simply falling in love. Consequences of not properly solving Puberty Syndrome can lead to severe problems, just like in real life, one wrong move and it might cause you the win or lose.
Now moving on to our protagonist, ladies first, and it is our best girl Sakurajima Mai senpai. Humorous, bold, outgoing, what more can one ask for, it’s an all in one package here for your service. Sakuta, again humorous, kind, and mostly perverted. With the encounter of Makinohara Shouko, Sakuta starts to treat others kinder and is the core of why Sakuta helps (perpetually) everyone out throughout the story, because he wants to be kind. As of the side characters, imouto, kouhai, thicc af girl IN LAB COAT, theyre all really great and likeable characters, with each of them having their own unique personalities. They also contribute a lot to the story, making this entire show a very wholesome one. Catchy settings and directing is what makes this anime stand at the top against the others this season, maybe even the year of 2018, you get so invested into the characters by the first episode it is hard to just not love this anime.

Art -10-
Cloverworks ( A-1 Pictures) nailed the crap out of it this time. The art style is really smooth to the eyes, and looks a lot like Oregairu (which is definitely an extra point), animations are fluid and some compositions are seriously on point. Subtle emotions are well laid out on the characters and they really add up to the feelings and they convey well to the audience.

Sound -10-
Another big part that contributes to the wholesomeness of this show is the voice acting and the OSTs. The opening which at this point everyone probably knows how to sing, is hella catchy, and is like a blackhole sucking you in, once you heard it, theres no turning back. Same goes for the ending, every character had their own uniquely designed ending, just like how the monogatari series has the VA sing the OP for their respective arcs (in which case is the same here). Voice acting is top notch, whats better than having a quirky conversation? A lively and energetic one. And its all here in this show, cocaine for your ears my buddy.

Overall -10-
Definitely my top pick of this season (year as well), if you haven’t watch it, please do so already, you really don’t want to miss out this show, even if the cover art turns you off (or the otherwise ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) You want some fun time watching some slice of life-y anime? Check! You want some home hitting feelings or tear jerking moments? Check! Having doubted this anime at first was my single worst mistake Ive ever made, because this series has proven itself worthy of being one of the best animes possibly out there. With an movie adaptation for another arc in the future, I can safely say that everyone should be looking forward for that, just like how Sakuta looks forward getting teased by Mai everyday.

'With fewer colors, you might come to understand some important things. '

If you were given the chance to use magic, what will you do? Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara, aka The World in Colors, is truly a beautiful show on the levels of Violet Evergarden and some films as well. But what breathes color into the show itself is the story, directed by Toshiya Shinohara, I have high hopes for this original written anime, and thus far it has been delivering quite well. Without further ado, lets dive right into this review.

Story / Character -9.5-
Set in a world sixty years from now, ... people living in the future have been utilizing magic to ease up their life. However, our female protagonist Hitomi hates magic. The beautiful colors everyone sees turns monochrome for her, nothing enlightens her and she seems to have no friends. Her grandmother, Kohaku, knowing well of Hitomi's situation, decides to send her sixty years back to meet her younger self, in hopes of helping Hitomi to overcome the situation. After some strange interactions, Hitomi finds herself in a stranger's house, and escapes from it. A few encounters later she starts making friends and has found her grandmother and even her great grandmother, albeit at that time they might as well just be their sister and mother. However strangely enough, she notices she has dropped her important azurite, an equipment (?) from the future, and sets out to look for it. Coincidentally, it was dropped on the stranger's house, whom she found was drawing. As she approaches him, she saw colors that she has never seen for ages starting to come in life surrounding her. But when Yuito, the stranger himself stops her, the world goes back to monochromatic.
With all these being said, this original story has a lot going for it at this point, the world building and the characters are very likable, and what enhances it by a LARGE MARGIN would be the art that im going to talk about next.

Art -10-
PA Works just outdone themselves, this show looks literally like cocaine but for your eyes. The background art is literally one of the best you can find in anime, the usage of colors and some indeed very unique camera angle really makes this show stand out from the rest this season. Character animations are very fluid and looks natural. Absolutely one of the best looking anime overall.

Sound -10-
As much as I want to give more credits to the voice acting on this show, what really steals the show is the OST, Opening and Ending. From the first episode I was already blown away from the soundtrack. The OST used are almost certainly beautiful, just as the show itself is. And as aforementioned, the OP/ED really isnt something I cant find myself ever skipping on, not only they look good, which Ive already strongly emphasized, but the song itself is, too, very impressive, especially the ED by Nagi Yanagi, one of my favourite artist.

Overall -10-
If you are still wondering what you should be watching for this season, this show has got you covered good. With an interesting premise this show I have really high hopes for, and I personally can see this show ending with a lot of ninjas cutting onions behind the scenes. As someone who draws, this show is like a godsend for those who appreciates art. By all means, I really hope this show gets to more people with this humble review as I feel as of now this show is seemingly unappreciated.

I really hate to say this, but this show, it really had its potential,but they really messed up, big time at it. Having praised about how I looked forward to every episode of this show's release, every episode onwards from my first review had been a downfall ever since then. The show is still quite decent, not that its actually THAT bad, but it really couldve been much better than what it is. So, what exactly went wrong? Lets dive right in.

*This review contains spoilers*

Story :

FRANKly speaking, it was quite good in the first arc, as in that it actually made sense for how ... the story was going. The show had an actual depth to its story, the world building and such. We were curious as in how did the world became that disastrous, why did the klaxasours invaded earth, or who are the mysterious 'papa' and why aren't there adults etc. It had a lot going for it, especially the characters, their story was actually properly laid out, given proper explanation for each and everyone of them. It was great, until episode 18 and onwards. They spent way too much time dealing with sub plots, they didnt have time to develop for the major plot twist in episode 20, which ultimately lead to utter disappointment, very VERY DISAPPOINTING in fact. Ever since episode 20, everything felt rushed, nothing makes any more sense at that point, nothing from previous episodes lead to that major plot twist, pacing was bad, everything was just poorly written. Another thing that originally was going for DITF was that how they developed the characters, the hints behind every slight twist for the characters in the story was actually quite rewarding once u find out, for example how innocent the characters was, the fact that they didnt knew what was love and how they eventually learned about it. It was quite fascinating, but gradually it just seemed like a plot to push the story forward, instead of actually being something interesting. I was really hoping that they wouldve kept doing what they was doing in the first arc, but it didnt, and the story eventually just crumbled.
6/10

Character :

This was a HUGE thing going for the series, why? Because they actually gave proper back story for every character, they had episodes dedicated for them so that even the side cast was properly developed. Yet again, after episode 18 (and onwards), it just became pure garbage. The motives behind every character became unclear, it seemed like every character was clueless as what they were doing, and do they expect us audience to understand them when themselves dont even? Every character from the first arc was ACTUALLY like-able, from how they were actually kids to how they resolved the conflicts between themselves are mesmerizing, it was good. But after that everyone seems to be irritating, the overused recap scenes of Zero Two and Hiro, love triangles, everlasting arguing of the casts, it was just poorly scripted. If anything, if they had made the series less of a story of human fighting against their fate and actually trying their best to survive and eventually developing their emotions, it wouldveDEFINITELY been much better than what it had become.
6.5/10

Sound :

Soundtrack on the other hand is pretty much the exact opposite from the others, at the first arc is was just 'meh', and on the 2nd arc and final arc it became substantially better, the ost became something memorable, not something that just fits into the background. Opening was decent, there were 6 different endings and all of them were very good, no complaints here. Voice acting overall is very good, seeing as some cast are still quite new at voice acting, they really made the characters sounded ever so lively, something worth praising.
8.5/10

Art :

When Trigger did the first 15 or so episodes of animating, it was nothing less from a studio known for making things vivid, smooth. Fight scenes were astonishingly good, the use of different angles and perspectives made the fight look much more intense, and the motions were on point. But what really TRIGGERed me was the part after Trigger's, A-1. A-1 really never seem to learn, from the front, everything seems okay, but if look ever so closer to the details in the back, it really falls behind, even actions scenes look so much more choppy, so unrefined, just plain bad, but hey I mean, its A-1, what do u expect?
9/10 (Trigger), 6/10 (A-1)

Enjoyment/ Overall :

I still enjoyed the show, since I was actually emotionally invested to the characters. Would I recommend this show to anyone looking into it? By all means sure, go ahead and watch a few episodes of it, people might actually like it, as Ive seen people being fine with most part of the show including the major twist. But is it worth while for someone that is seriously looking into a good show having high expectations? No, don't. You should probably stay away from this, if anything, Evangelion might suit u better if u havent watched it, or even Gurren Lagann. To conclude this show, again, as aforementioned, it had the potentials, it had a lot going for it, before it was premiered there was so much hype surrounding it, the show delivered for the majority of the first arc, but crumbled into pieces since then. Its quite surprising on how the people behind the show managed to mess up so badly, and its just a disgrace for us who were willingly giving so much support for the show. If anything, I really wanted this to be my favourite show, just too bad it turned out like this.
6.5/10

Are u sick of all those high school setting romance show? Did u just finish ur job feeling tired trying to find some refreshment? Look no further as Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii (Wotakoi) has got u covered. This is a very laid back show, if youre already have enough of the action shows this season provides with us, heres one that ill highly recommend for anyone who is up for their time.

Wotakoi is a very well done rom-com series set in modern day Japan, covering our fellow otaku MCs, and otaku side characters. As aforementioned, our MCs are otakus, they like anime, ... just like we all do. The story starts of with our female MC, Momose getting (almost) late for her new job, whilst being scared that her identity as an otaku will be found out by her new coworker. While being shown around the new environment of the office, she found herself coincidentally bumping into her old friend, Hirotaka, our male MC. At first the characters might turn u off as they seem very dull, but youll soon realize that they are just normal, very normal to a point that its like real life, a slice of life indeed. Its fun to watch as the characters start unveiling their little bits in life, how the progressed through their 'hardships' and stuff, the show is very engaging, and occasionally throwing references here and there, which ultimately leads into a far more enjoyable experience.

Artstyle of Wotakoi is not impressive, but still very clean, polished, its smooth for ur eyes, I doubt anyone will complain about how it looks. I mean, as bad as how sometimes A-1 screw themselves over very badly, this here isnt the case. OST wise, the OP and ED is something ill never skip, they are just too good for not listening/watching. The songs are very good, but mostly the animation in the OP, absolutely fantastic. Its one of those very creative OPs youll ever bump into every now and then, like how the characters rotate with the camera angles, those transitions are just seamless, cocaine for ur eyes. Soundtracks in the anime itself thou doesnt have much of an impression left in me, either I was paying enough attention because of how well the anime is, or they were just there to compliment the show, nothing that memorable, but nothing to complain as well. Overall a very good and clean presentation.

Now before I conclude, I rate the shows I watch MOSTLY by enjoyment. If a show is enjoyable, ill give it 8 and above, and thats probably why u might see that I have quite a high mean score for the animes Ive rated. As a 10/10 that Ive given, this is one of the shows that I think will undoubtedly be enjoyable for all, a very simple story, very likable characters and catchy OP/ED, all adds up to a great show overall. This is one of the shows that ill anticipate for every week, like how when youre 6 and eagerly waiting for the ice cream truck to come by every weekend. Even if rom-com isnt your taste, by all means give it a try, maybe youll poke into a region youve never experienced before too.