Back to ShadowLight13's Profile ShadowLight13's Profile

Neither as atrocious as some might claim, nor the amazing twist to a Cinderella others would say, I find this series to be... middling. A perfectly serviceable anime that you can pass some time watching if you don't mind slower paced, more wholesome watches revolving around healing from times spent in an abusive household and making a marriage work out.

|[ Visuals - 7/10 ]|
While not egregious, I did find there to be some very minor inconsistencies in the characters faces - though, that could've just been me. On the whole the quality is pretty solid, some of the scenes are very pretty, but... ... I question the highlights in the characters' hair (was that even what it was?). The colour choices were so... dubious there. I mean, Kudou seemed to have purple (?) highlights despite having blond hair and it just doesn't look right. It looks like a mistake, but it's a mistake that is consistent and it feels so... off. He's not the only one either, and as the anime goes on, you - or at least, I - noticed it more and more. But that's down to personal taste, I suppose.

When it comes to how much it stands out... I really couldn't say. I think the character design stood out a little more than the art style itself, which strikes as fairly standard. Clean, pretty - except for the weird highlights - and I guess mostly fitting.

|[ Sound - 6/10 ]|
I honestly remember nothing of the sound, and the OP and ED were not, if I recall correctly, the best from this season. They felt quite... standard. It's hard to explain why, since I'm not an expert in sound design and music, but that's just my experience. Don't get me wrong, the intros and outros felt fitting, but they were neither emotional nor otherwise memorable to me. Maybe, given the series themes I expected something more cathartic sounding, but I wouldn't even know how that would sound in such a way that fits with the anime. None of it was terrible though, to my memory and the voices seemed fitting for the characters. At least in the dub.

|[ Characters - 6/10 ]|
Honestly? I just thought they had nothing going for them. The bad guys sucked at being bad, the good guys could barely manage being good, but it didn't feel that this was because these characters were nuanced. Mostly, I think there was just something lacking. A few too few commendable traits, an insufficient variety of characters and nothing bold enough nor endearing enough to stick in my mind. Considering this was supposed to be - at least given the other people's reviews - something of a Cinderella retelling you would think that the studio would take advantage of this being a series and give Cinderella a more well rounded personality. Instead, good ole' Cindy seems even more meek than her Disney predecessors. And, look, I know strength exists in more than one form, but c'mon.

I should add, that the character designs while interesting in that the female character is brown eyed and brown haired, , which is unusual for a female character in anime, is actually fairly common place for a Shoujo protagonist. So... nothing exciting. Her personality is "abused by family" and "endlessly grateful to Master Kudou, while his personality is "doesn't listen to his wife" and "cold but secretly caring. Thing is, I have no idea where Mr Tsundere/Kuudere really got his personality from - but maybe I just fell asleep in the middle of the relevant episode - or why he has multiple powers.

The world and power system is barely touched upon, which in turn only serves to make the characters more forgettable, because nothing seems to make enough sense. At most, there is a hereditary component to powers and powers evolve. Sort of like quirks, but in a more wishy washy manner. Oh, and the character motivations feel weak, the families are just in general very weird and underexplored, and the dynamics between them... they feel kind of dull?

I wouldn't say that the characters had nothing to them. Just not enough tot stand out. Certainly nothing that would suggest this reimagining of the Cinderella story needed to happen. But lately "old fairy tales but the FMC is more magical" seems to be a popular way of rebooting things.

|[ Writing - 7/10 ]|
I don't think in terms of set ups and pay offs (of events and twists) things are that bad when it comes to writing, but I feel that the character development and power developments feel a weak, and in terms of the latter unearned. Moreover, the pacing can feel very slow, and the world isn't really written with more in mind than "let's give the characters powers" because it'll look cool. Plus, the fight scenes are kinda' meh at best. That said, this isn't battle shounen, so I suppose this makes sense.

|[ Enjoyment - 6/10 ]|
Granted, this is a very subjective thing, but while it never dragged so much or felt so stale as to make me drop i, and I did remember some aspects of it. Certain parts even felt quite nice - like the sister's acceptance of the new bride, or the pretty flower trees. But it also felt lacking in places, and more than just a little bit. Moreover, it never felt as if, should I click out for just a second that I'd be missing anything. Exactly the sort of show you might watch when double tasking, not so much the show you watch to be at the edge of your seat and really feel the thrill or the emotions. And, to be fair, I think that's okay. In that sense, it makes for a perfectly "fine" series.

|[ Overall - 6-6.5/10 ]|
I was honestly debating whether to make this a six or a seven. Ultimately though, this show is mostly just fine. Neither so obnoxiously frustrating that I wanted to drop it, nor so exciting that it was at the top of my list of priorities.

I find it depressing how this is considered a 9/10.

People must have very low expectations to then rate this anime so high.

I mean, all this has going for it is consistent art and animation. The fight choreography isn't all that special, the ED was kind of dull, the pacing, while not egregiously so, will not be for everyone being as... relaxed... as it is, and the plot twists are a mixture of predictable and boring.

Of course Stark wasn't going the be the hero everyone thought he was, and of course he was going to return to defeat the dragon. Those sorts of ... twists exist A LOT in fiction. The various character archetypes are... pretty standard, as are the roles each gender plays. Females are the mages, males are the "warriors" (who also appear to have magic because there ain't no way that a regular ass human sans magic could create that much damage just with an axe and their "small" body (as Fern put it).

Nuance is lacking, development doesn't really happen, so much as it is shoved in wherever it is needed, and magic is a wishy washy thing that serves whatever is and isn't convenient.

Don't get me wrong, the world is cute.

The OP is catchy.

The art and animation is nice - though... nothing special. Maybe an 8/10? Down to a 7/10 in fights and with monsters.

The comedy just isn't. It's not what it's supposed to be -- funny.

The emotional beats is the crutch this show leans on. Deaths to make you cry. And, to be fair, it could've happily existed as 2-3 emotional episodes looking at the unfortunate side to being a long-lived elf that isn't really aware of what time means to humans. A journey through grief and discovery. Instead, it's been drawn out into this... ridiculously religious thing full of flashbacks and tired tropes, with no real twists and turns, or changes to the formula.

Worst though, is that fantasy still seems to rely on "big dragon bad".

We're supposed to sit through a show that kisses Frieren's obnoxiously oblivious ass and her simplistic answers to problems, including "must kill beast", "just let the apprentice deal with it" and "I saved up some money so we should be fine". As an animal loving low-income afab - supposedly some think that this show is actually a shoujo, to which I say "not a frickin' chance" - the way in which beasts are portrayed as basic threats to society and nothing more in episodes 5 and 6 is what made me lose interest, and the casual way money is treated, along with basic necessities is honestly stressful to watch.

And being that the comedy isn't funny, I've got nothing to de-stress with.

It was actually pretty good until episode 5, though. A better twist would've been that Stark had bonded with the dragon - because while it would've been basically HTTYD, it would've been still more uncommon than all those fairy tales in which the knight/prince/etc slays the dragon. If he challenged Frieren's view of the dragon and insisted that it would be beter to let it live than to kill it off, and did not join the adventurer's party based on the fact that the dragon trusted him but not really any other villager, it would've at least gone against the expectations put in place by the OP. Then we'd wonder why he was in there as much as he had been, to which the answer could be something further down the line.

Oh, and I'm only like episode 7 now and apparently intelligence is only gained to be better able to devour humans. God, how lame can you be with your world-building? Yes, the lazy, time unaware elf is apparently the wisest of them all, the greatest mage, etc. God I am so sick of this. And you know what? I'm done with Frieren: the irredeemable monster of an elf who is an absolute know it all. Shounens are alike in that way: we're always supposed to suck the MC's dick and believe all the they say, never questioning it.

Tell me when this anime learns some actual nuance. In the meantime, it is NOT worth my time.

I often disagree with rankings, but once in a blue moon, I can agree wih the majority on something being good. That something being Hell's Paradise.

___

[ Visuals - 8/10 ]

Having been created by MAPPA, a high score for this one was inevitable. The studio consistantly churns out well-animated and drawn out anime, and this is no different. However, despite not taking any dips to my knowledge at any point... I find that in terms of animation it rarely plays around with the visual stuff or editing. Besides, while I enjoy the opening it feels weirdly oversaturated and CGI. Sure it has it's good moments, and ... I love it nevertheless, but I feel like there are parts where more could've been done, or less colour could've been used. (Them choosing to cut away right after Yuzuriha complained about wishing they had a hot teacher straight to Shion, was pretty fun though, not gonna lie.)

As this series is an adaptation of the preceeding manga - complete now, I believe -, one might be inclined to claim that it did a visual disservice to the manga in all likelihood, because mangas tend to be more detailed. However, it seems MAPPA likes to choose specifically the chicken scratch drawing mangas which, though possessing a great story and characters, doesn't have much visual appeal, because it did it again with Hell's Paradise, as it did with Attack on Titan. Well, no, that was an exaggeration. The manga is nowhere near as scratchy as the AoT or JJK manga - it looks much cleaner for one - but what I'm trying to get at, is that they're not exactly trying to recapture the detail of the Dr Stone manga which had a separate artist and writer allowing for that quality of visuals. And they're not flailing around struggling to even keep things consistent, let alone pretty and unique, as Pierrot did whenever it tried to adapt a manga into a weekly anime. They made several smart decisions with this one, is what I'm saying, by having a short season and adapting a manga that was mostly loved for the story, allowing them to add to the visuals and make the anime both its own thing and a relatively faithful adaptation.

[ Sound - 7/10 ]

As with most anime, sound design here is largely functional. Sure, the OP and ED sound absolutely gorgeous, but in he anime itself, I think the sound is mostly carried by decently chosen voice actors. Decently, in that it doesn't feel as though Shion's voice fits the person - to me at least - in either sub or dub. Granted, that sort of opinion is not rare with me when it comes to my favourites, but even so.

[ Story - 8/10 ]

The overall plot appears self-contained, intriguing, and while it certainly takes inspiration from both things in real life and other pieces of fiction, it feels authentic and its own thing enough. The dialogue is solid, even if nothing amazing... and yeah, I don't have any major complaints. I should warn people though - this a retcon/flashback heavy show. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this fact and I know that for some people this is also obnoxious. I feel like the foreshadowing was missing in places.

[ Characters - 7/10 ]

The characterisation is more subtle and therefore seems a little less tropey, and the characters are varied enough among themselves, but I could definitely name you a few characters that strike me a lot like others. That's not inherently a bad thing - I don't strictly mind a Bakugo-With-Codependency-Issues, or The Mentor -, but it bears talking about for the sake of the audience who a) might not like tropes or b) might think they're somehow part of the elite for avoiding tropes when they're actually diving right into them.

There are characters I like more, characters I like less... but that's a subjective thing. You may find that you like them more than I do. Moreover, we learn more of the characters as the story goes on. But, predictably, in only 13 episodes, with so many characters, many characters end up being glossed over before being offed. It is a pity. Some are used more as tools for the sake of hyping something up, furthering the plot, upping stakes, whatever, but end up feeling less like people in the process - always sad when that happens.

There is a certain issue with fanservice - I thought there was basically none, that whatever sexual scenes were relegated the weird magic system they had going on, so this was a bit disappointing as it all unravelled -, but at the same time, not all of it is just shirtlessness, etc. and some of it is a little creative. Still not keen on shirtless moments, with guys or gals. Also, to me it comes to highlight a lack of body shape diversity - the only ones who deviate from that pretty norm are dead folks, by in large. Kill your uglies, I guess. And in that case, I'd be dead if I lived in the universe of Hell's Paradise by now. (Shion, for now, seems to be an exception, in the sense that his face /is/ scarred... and I guess there is something to be said about Yuzuriha's mucus, but let's not kid ourselves... it's probably reminding of someone's kink, and that's what keeps her alive.)

Speaking of Shion, he is one of my favourites in this anime. I guess, him being scarred, a blind badass and him being a sweetheart made that inevitable.

I'm maybe not as entertaining or intrigued by the villains as with some other series/movies.

I prefer the leads - Gabimaru and Sagiri - to many others (mostly because he's not a loud and obnoxious optimist and she actually seems interesting), but I wouldn't put them on top of my favourite protagonists list just yet.

[ Enjoyment - 9/10 ]

For all the places it is lacking in - character and sound wise - it is still an enjoyable show that I couldn't just put on in the background. It kept dragging me back to actually watch it, which is a sign of an attention-grabbing show, no matter how many issues I might have with it. It isn't excessively long, doesn't drag and makes good use of time, but it could take more time with some characters, and I think some could use more development/characterisation. Moreover, it occasionally dips into "shock-horror-edgy"... but then, I can sort of forgive it on the basis that most shows do.

Besides, it seems to balance it all out better than the likes of Berserk or JJK in my mind.

[ Overall - 8/10 ]

Personally, I would recommend this show. Don't get me wrong, it's not like "ThE-bEsT-sHoW-eVeR", it's not flawless, and despite my mistaken initial idea... it does actually have fanservice... I don't know why I forgot that about the manga. It might not be for those who feel uncomfortable with any sexual content, nudity, gore or lots of deaths. But it's a reasonably good adaptation that is easy on the eyes and it's only 13 episodes long so far. You're /probably/ not gonna die if you give it a shot so that you can form your own opinion.

Rather than praise this to high heaven just because the art is finally more consistent than in 100 out of 170 episodes in the anime series, I decided for a more... mixed, review, mostly because there were aspects of this which - I think, understandably - bothered me. And, so, my fellow weebs, I present you with a breakdown of my thoughts.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Visuals - 8/10 ]|
The higher rating here is not so much given because of the appeal of the aesthetics, but rather the augmented consistency of the art. I am not sure quite how much CGI was used to ensure this, or if this ... truly is the result of the studio having more time, but the art is undeniably more... consistent. Faces maintain the same shape, bodies the same height, width, etc. On a very basic level, I have to tip my hat off to this improvement. Does this place it on par with the likes of Violet Evergarden or A Silent Voice? No. Of course not. However, it is good to be reminded that Pierrot /is/ capable of such feats.

There is also a cleanliness to the art style, and a shine that sometimes pays off. (And sometimes does not.)

However, once the sparkle and shine is overlooked, there are things I notice that leave me disappointed. Firstly, I had a certain fondness and was grateful for the visual depiction of mana surrounding mages in the series and manga. I don't recall a single moment when this is represented fully, which takes away from the general magical feel. Moreover, there is something almost soulless about the art at times.

While some characters do look gorgeous in this - Rill and Dorothy for instance, for as short a time as they show up (we'll get to that in a moment) look very pretty -, but there are some designs I neither understand nor particularly want to understand. Princia Funnybunny is a walking eye sore, where some /genius/ decided green and pink go well together (spoiler: they do not). Her uniform looks ill-fitting, her overall design is forgettable and bland, and none of it matches her legion magic... which I find to be a terrible choice of attribute for anyone. The light novelist behind it must have suffered a creativity slump. The mask Asta wears is hideous. And, while Male Elsa Captain's design and powers aren't an eye-sore, they feel very lazy. (Sort of like Charmy's design, in that way.)

That is all to say that the visuals are generally serviceable and usually not an eyesore, but there are exceptions.

Aaand then we get to the animation. It seems more and more studios seem to think that followng JJK and torturing people's stomachs with wonky, jagged animation is a good idea. For me though, this style of animating things ages a bit like tiktok. Thankfully, it's done away with pretty soon into the movie, otherwise I might have not been able to complete it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Sound - 6/10 ]|

Perfectly serviceable. Most of the original voice actors were kept for the English dub of the movie too. However, I get the ever so slight feeling that either not all were, or some had an off day, because some characters sound as though their bodies have been possessed. Namely Mimosa and Secre.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________


|[ Characters - 6/10 ]|

No doubt everyone was excited to see their favourites - possibly, hopefully - return on screen. However, this was realistically not going to happen - in a single movie (not done by Pixar or some other more efficient studio), without cut corners, lost personalities, characters rendered to shadows of themselves, forgotten conflicts and more. Where, I think, even with her magic being aken fom her, characters like Noelle managed to still shine (main characters, characters who hav always had more screentime), those who had always suffered from being denied meaningful screentime (like Mimosa and characters that weren't the Black Bulls), and, who, though set up to potentially be meaningful characters - even complex ones -, usually get no pay off, and there are no consequences for them, or dialogue that would've helped improve things.

Yes, I am mostly talking about William, who had every opportunity to have a conversation with anybody regarding his deeds during and before the reincarnation arc - an apology, if nothing else, would have been nice -, yet it seems Tabata is reluctant about actually having his supposedly remorseful and sympathetic characters redeem themselves in any way.

However, this is also relevant to the "villains" of the movie. Now, I am all for villains who aren't just evil. Who perhaps start in a place of good intentions, but then those get twisted along the way, morphing into something unrecogniseable from where they began. But villains need character, motivation and a reason for doing what they do, whether they are sympathetic or not. And with some of these villains - like Jester and Ice Guy - I don't remember us being told much at all about their motivations. I don't know whether it's because my mind filled in the blanks or because Princia uncreatively and on no uncertain terms stated that Clover Kingdom had a problem with misogyny (which it does, unsurprisingly), but at least she and Conrad had more clear motivators. Not just for going against Clover, but more specifically, why these characters chose to work with Conrad, who, for all intents and purposes comes off like an absolute nutter for the first half of the movie. Their characterisation is rushed, in my mind and lacks subtlety, as though Pierrot and/or Tabata doesn't trust us as an audience to figure things out for ourselves. Which I don't really understand. This show clearly targets teens first and foremost and they're not dumb... as much as some people might claim otherwise. They can be impulsive and tend to feel emotions very intensely, but that shouldn't be confused with idiocy.

Even characters who are in some ways, essentially finished, in that they are as complex as they're probably going to get, of whom I wasn't expecting much - them showing up was surprising enough - ended up frustrating shadows of themselves. Mimosa ended up being rendered a waitress carrying trays with tea instead of using her immensely versatile magic for anything. This girl can create maps, can hijack other people's spells, can heal people on a massive scale, is capable of creating a giant flower that shoots bleedin' laser beams... and she's relegated to... not even a nursing position. As for Klaus, he too doesn't do much. Secre - while I can appreciate her new glasses -, doesn't even sound like herself. And there's something missing in Sally.

I understand that in a movie, corners have to be cut. Moreover, this isn't Pixar, neither Pierrot nor Tabata can subtly weave in so many traits and things into a single and I think that's down to how things are run, their workload and just... SO many bad decisions at the higher up levels. However, it didn't even have to BE a movie. It could have been a spin-off mini-series, or an arc to be slotted into the time period between the Reincarnation arc and Spade arc post creation (because if Miraculous Ladybug can get away with it, surely Black Clover could). However, if that's out of the question, could someone have not at least translated the frickin' light novel officially for all fans to see and read? Surely if the movie couldn't, maybe the light novels had more to offer in all directions? This movie is great promotion of it, surely, surely someone could see "oh, we could totally translate the light novels and start selling them now that everyone knows they exist because we've based a whole frickin' movie on them"? But I'm not seeing any light novels translated in English (officially - BlackCloverDatabase on Tumblr does have a fan translation for some of them and part of me hopes they'll be willing to do one for Sword of the Wizard King... especially if William features in the novel too).

So yeah, I feel disappointed. Sure, I love me some more William, Mereoleona, big sis Vanessa, Noelle - who, let's be honest, stole most of the movie. She had come such a long way, in trusting herself and handling things with so much more thought and sensibility than even then MC... it made me smile and laugh. Honestly, I think Noelle was the MVP here. Yuno was back to being his more likable self - on account of the Spade Invasion not having happened with all the stuff that happens there. But yeah, so much potential, but it fell short.

__________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Writing - 6/10 ]|

We move onto the writing...

... and this is where I thought I would drop the movie in the first fifteen minutes.

Those initial scenes were attrocious for multiple reasons:

1) Kaiser, as usual does nothing.

2) Yami, who is supposed to only be like 17-18 - because that's when he got into the Grey Deer, around the same time as William -, gets to fight alongside Julius against the big bad, who is supposed to be at the level of a Wizard King. Considering he's more of a rookie than even Yuno and Asta, since at this point Yuno and Asta /may/ have been the same age, but have been magic knights longer... I feel tempted to call BULLSHIT.

3) This technically falls more under choreography and visuals, but besides the shaky "camera", the fight scenes feel bland, and the shakiness feels horrible to watch in the worst way possible. Not in the "horrible because it's good" way.

4) The dialogue is, where it exists, horrible, and it continues past the prologue into the set up of the fight between Asta and Yuno (which doesn't make sense for multiple reasons, partly because this tournament has never before taken place and also because it's a waste of time for the magic knights who have better things to do and also because Asta shouldn't be there because he was exiled and, yeah, I get Clover citizens are terrible at noticing when people look sus because they didn't even sus out Nozel and Fuegoleon in their tan hooded cloaks, but this still feels like such weak writing that seems to reduce Asta's struggles making him feel even less like an underdog... but I suppose he never /really/ was one). It's so tacky, so cringe-worthy, creates more questions than answers, is handfisted and doesn't feel organic. It's like some AI wrote it.

5) William is not there? He's a Grey Deer, same squad as Yami. The excuse of him being on a mission has been abused again and again, all because, clearly, the writers and animators are too lazy to do more with him, because they're all used to animating unimaginative swordfights, instead of trying to make more use of the other attributes. (I mean, why else did Rill and Dorothy only barely fight? Why wasn't Mimosa fighting? Why was Noelle's grimoire rendered useless early on? I don't think it has anything to do with upping stakes, not having time, or anything else. I think the creators just couldn't be bothered.) It's not like they don't somehow have Mereoleona there - who by now should be in the wilderness because Acier is dead and she has little reason to stick around therefore. Not to mention, Kaiser - who is useless - is there, despite not even being captain at the time. (Presumably, unless he retired and then came back to captaining when Gueldre was found to be a traitor.) This lack of consistency and logic is down to a lack of understanding and rememberence of events before and after the one the writer was trying to set up, and it shows. It's bad writing at the end of the day. Then William again, is missing to begin with despite his squad being the one to commentate the tournament. (Why? Is it because they're the best commentators? No. Is it because they've previously shown to have aptitude for it? No. It's because they're the highest ranked squad in Clover and that's the excuse for everything. Apparently Clover Kingdom doesn't even have a sports commentator.) He's off on a mission. (Haven't heard that one before. /s). When he does appear, he's stuck fighting Princia's Legion alongside Charlotte and Jack. How the fuck does it take the three of them to do just that, when Mereo's fighting Princia off herself for the most part? I mean, Yuno's fighting alongside a drained Yami, Nozel and Fuego. It feels like the writers nerfed certain characters... and you can't claim they had their magic drained in a previous mission - Charmy's there!

The dialogue does improve a little bit, along with other things as the movie goes on, but the first bad impression doesn't go away. Consequences don't really exist in Black Clover, I suppose, conversations don't really matter, characters needn't have depth... but the potential for all of these and more is there -- and has always been there.

I feel like there is a degree of wasted potential here. I mean, we have corrupt Wizard Kings born from grief and discrimination, that have the potential for so much nuance and subtlety, and complexity. But then Conrad goes on to be like "Asta, you and I are one and the same" (not an actual quote, but he says something similar), which Asta obviously refutes, because it's a dumb fucking suggestion that obviously does nothing to make Asta waver because frankly, Asta hasn't had the same kinds of losses (yet). He hasn't known his mother, so can't grieve her. For all the discrimination he faced, he faced it with a loving family. He hasn't lost any squadmates, he hasn't even had much experience yet. And I think if we actually saw more of Conrad as a person, they'd come to have wildly different personalities... because, I mean, just look at the bastard.

That said, I can appreciate additional lore. This mostly filled in the blanks, so to speak. I mean, we've had 28 Wizard Kings and, up until now, we've only seen two: Julius and Lumiere. With this, we've now seen 6. 22 more Wizard Kings to go, people!

_______________________________________________________________________________

|[ Enjoyment 7/10 ]|

Despite all the complaints I have regarding mostly technical aspects of it that weren't to my subjective tastes or made the movie miss the mark, I did end up finding quite a good bit of enjoyment in it. For one, Mereoleona and William finally exist in the same room as each other once more, even though they basically don't interact; not really. For William this is refreshing because we rarely get to see him be around anyone really, besides Julius, Yami or some of his squadmates. (Mostly Alecdora and Langris.) However, there was potential for so much more there... and, as per usual, it never got explored. I really DO wish "Book of Yuno" got adapted into a mini-series spin-off... it would've been nice to see characters interact more.

I had a few laughs, a few moments where I appreciated the clean look of the movie, a few times where I thought the movie made interesting choices - like having Mereoleona occasionally fall back against Princia... but it was done in such a way that it didn't truly feel like continuous struggle, more like some weird tug of war, so I couldn't say I found it as thrilling as some people did. Plus, I didn't care for Princia, so there's that.

This rating overall is as high as it is because the movie surprised me. I thought William would only show up in a brief flashback or a single second. Instead, he did do SOMETHING. I thought Mereoleona, if she did show up, would a) do nothing and b) only being in scenes with Yami or Asta. That wound up not being the case at all. Nice twist. I thought Vanessa would be her drunk flirty self. Instead, she was her big sister self. (I still wish they gave her more clothes, but, I guess beggers can't be choosers...) As I said, I liked Secre in glasses. I liked protective adoptive brother Marx. However, for many reasons - some of which I'd stated - I can't raise it any higher.
____________________

|[ Overall - 7/10 ]|

This is a perfectly watchable movie, if you can put up with some weak dialogue and characterisation. The art is clean, they did try to shove as many of people's favourites as possible, which certainly must have taken effort. But I feel they could have - and should have - taken more time and perhaps even turned this into a short series instead. Knowing Nite Baron already showed some peeps that the charcters were supposed to have more to them that never got shown tells me this particular story might have benefited with a few more months of production and being split into a series instead. It isn't as though anime fans can't have a shit tonne of patience - look at Bleach fans; they've waited a decade. However, it won't be for everyone, and for lovers of the side-characters and good charactersation, this might rub them the wrong way occasionally... not to mention it'll probably fall short of some of the best episodes in the anime, or - for light novel readers - the light novels. It's consistency - where art is concerned - is commendable, frankly outdoing most of the main series with ease (except maybe a few peak episodes), but I'm not a fan of the animation at parts and if all you wanted was relatively consistent art, you could pick up the manga. (Though you would be missing some lore, admittedly.)

I've seen many shows that saw themselves as smart, and yet, I saw them as... "okay" at best. This is one of those shows. It's full of fake outs, retcons, and other elements that make you /think/ it's a smart story, but really, it's highschool level smart. Which, I suppose it's okay, because realistically speaking, this is aimed at teens. However, for me... it's just not enough. That's not to say it's a bad, or a boring show - I /did/ watch 23 episodes of it, after all. And that would not have happened if it were that bad. Actually it had several merits, but ... it's vaulting ambition ended up crashing and burning in my eyes. So let's get down to those merits and faults, shall we?

|[ Visuals - 9/10 ]|

It has a very distinct style, and saturated, pop-y colour palette - similar to that of "Words That Bubble Up Like Soda Pop" - which is pleasant enough to the eyes, while standing out against other anime. However, when it comes to character design and art style for characters... it's fairly standard. Clean, Serviceable, but nothing special. And, of course, bad guys predictably look a little worse for wear for the most part than the "good guys", with some exceptions. The main character's design is safe, as are most, but I suppose the grounded, more realistic designs do work for the setting. At times, however, it looks almost lazy, and in some scenes, I think it takes away more than gives. A general lack of detail replaced by colour that confuses the mind a little, can make certain shoots simply look off... but for the most part it works well, and looks good.

Plus, I can appreciate the cats, and the OP/ED.

However, some character designs, I question. One woman's design in particular, looks dubious, and I wonder if it's "diverse" or offensive, but, not being from that group, I think I'm not quite qualified to be the ultimate judge.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Sound - 7/10 ]|

Nothing much, if perfectly serviceable. The only stand outs for me are the openings and endings, and the voice acting is okay... but, I have to say, I hate how pretentious it is. The ED song doesn't quiiiite fit, I think; it was most likely chosen because it had "pretender" in it and was sung by a well-known singer. I can enjoy it for what it is, but it's not as clever as it thinks it is. I can appreciate the cats that acoompany it too, but still...

And the worse stand out aspect of it is the frankly ridiculous choice to have characters speak in foreign languages in some scenes fully, and sometimees donning only an accent. It's not "smart" or "quirky", it's just inconvenient and poorly executed. It's also inconsistent, and, frankly, sometimes seriously unneccessary, especially when everyone in the room is speaking the same language. Moreover, for those who struggle with written language - typed or handwritten - would it not be terribly ableist for these people to demand of them to have to read the subtitles to understand the languages spoken if they have not yet learned those languages? To me, it seems like a major oversight, and even though I myself do not have dyslexia, the inconsistent changing of languages ruins the immersion for me, rather than improving it. If I wanted to watch a series or movie in a foreign language, I would simply watch it with subtitles. However, as I prefer to multitask to make the most use of my day, I have to reduce the score for this part of my review because of this pretentious and frankly insulting decision.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Characters - 7/10 ]|

Nothing amazing, not the most choices of characters to root for, but good enough. None of them seem too exaggerated, but frankly, I'm having a hard time even pinning down their qualities except for "skeevy", and y'know, they all have some sort of sad backstory, but frankly.... there's just something missing to them. Well, at least they're not obnoxious or boring, they just won't be making my favourite character lists; that's all. Not exactly a tragedy, if you as me. Also, these are relatively modern day characters, but their wardrobes are so... same-y and basic. Which is a pity, considering if we're talking fashion, this time period is probably the most diverse, because with globalisation, everything's more accessible. You would think with the exciting, colourful artstyle, the fashion choices would also be a bit more... interesting. Unfortunately, no dice. It's serviceable, and works with the characters, but I guess since the characters themselves ain't much, predictably, therit styles aren't much either.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Writing - 7/10 ]|

Nothing too egregious if you ignore all the fake-outs and occasionally dubious dialogue. Moreover, this anime seems to have a problem with thinking that convoluted = good, when all it is, half the time, is confusing. Oh, and thugh I said the characters aren't too exaggerated, there are definitely tropes and cliches riddles throughout the story. Which, can be good, but there are times when it just doesn't hit. Granted, this is subjective, but still. This IS a subjective review, as are all reviews to some extent, so you know.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Enjoyment - 6.5/7 ]|

Frankly, due to some of the issues I had with this, half the time I was just waiting for the opening/ending to start, since those were the only times when I could have some carefree enjoyment of the series.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

|[ Overall - 7/10 ]|

Look, this anime is perfectly suitable for someone whose free-time is endless and all they do is watch anime. But I fit into neither of those categories, let alone both, so... I can't find the same enjoyment. Moreover, I want to watch the dub for the dub. Not to have to read subtitles anyway. I still don't hate the show and found /some/ enjoyment, but I wouldn't rate it as highly as others.

I might be one of the few people who was genuinely relatively satisfied with the ending - though more could have still been done with it - but here's my opinion on it:

[ Art - 9/10 ]

Very pretty, as is usual for manwha. I liked most of the designs and I appreciated the changes of clothing for the female lead. After all, as a noble she would have had more than one set of clothes and it just... feels more real that way. Also it gave more of a sense of time passing by. I do think that the first couple chapters weren't as ... well done... I think the artist was just getting used to the style, or something, but for the most part, the art is very pretty. I also like the fashion: I think it's tasteful, makes sense, isn't too revealing and gives the vibes of something inspired by history, even though it's not exactly accurate to any time period. Sure, the villains are very obviously not as pretty as the good guys, one of Allendis' hairstyles isn't to my tastes, but hey, visually it's a nice manwha.

[ Writing - 7/10 ]

I do not think the story perfect, no. I do question the decision to imply that Ruvelis had raped the female lead, as it makes it that much more difficult to drop ones disbelief on the female lead's decision to still end up with him. At the same time, you can't exactly ignore attraction and frankly, it makes sense that, considering she didn't feel a spark around Carsein or Allendis that she would not end up with them. They ended up being like her friends, her brothers, so the decision not have her end up with them was fair. Moreover, the Ruvelis we get to know in her new life is not the same Ruvelis... moreover, he had been poisoned and played by the Jieun, otherwise he might not have acted the way he had done. (He would have still likely been callous, but not so extremely cruel, I don't think, since the poisoning made him more temperamental among other things.) There is also the fact that the nuance is lacking outside of the main characters, and sometimes the chronology of events can be a bit confusing. Moreover, there are the characters and their writing to consider, which isn't exactly perfect. However, the story doesn't completely brush the female lead's trauma under a rug - thank goodness, and it takes time for her to heal and become a truly respectable person. There is some unnecessary ass-kissing that goes on and I do feel some later twists were bit unearned and out of nowhere - like the whole priest thing and Jieun being a priest, and her redemption, but, eh. I also don't really buy the need for the king to be so callous to his own son and I'm a little confused about how it ended up being the female lead's mother that was around the prince so much, of all people, but those are relatively small things, as these things still serve the plot.

[ Characters - 7/10 ]

The characters that aren't the father, the female lead, Allendis, Ruvelis or Carsein are not particularly interesting or complex... and actually, Carsein isn't either. What made getting through the manwha much more difficult was the constant praise Carsein got from the audience despite being as manipulative as Allendis. Less two-faced maybe, but he is an obnoxiously pushy guy all the same. Otherwise, I might have even liked him. Flaws are perfectly fine to have. I like flawed characters. What I don't like are guys with shounen MC energy who constantly force others to do as their wish, are extremely disrespectful, but it all gets overlooked by the audience while the flaws of the other characters are blown up. His design might be pretty, but he's not as pretty on the inside as he is on the outside.

It feels as though Ruvelis and Allendis at least get some development, realise things about themselves and then proceed to make changes in their lives, but Carsein doesn't really undergo any of that. And, despite what the audience says, Allendis isn't actually a yandere, nor an incel. If people could actually learn what these terms mean, maybe I wouldn't be here ranting about that. Yes, he is two-faced, selfish and does have a controlling side that has a tendency to proect. He didn't deal with his childhood problems well, and he does have a temperamental side. But he is not violent, unlike what Carsein remarks, I don't believe that Carsein is any better considering he tends to provoke Allendis, moreover he contemplates controlling communication between Allendis and the female lead (so does her father, who actually gors through with it... they're all manipulateive to some extent) and he is pushy and selfish with his affections, ultimately getting he female lead in trouble for it.

The dad starts off a great character, but a lot of my respect for him was lost when he decided to control his daughter and what was worse she was more or less okay with it.

Mostly though, I feel like their arcs got rushed and that more could have been done with Allendis.... I hate how he just up and left and then no news came from him.

Also, I wish Carsein and Allendis could develop more of a friendship. That was where their characters seemed to be heading - and it could have lead to character development on both sides, moreover it would have given them relations with characters other than their love interest or family members - and, I'm not sure whether it was because of the pestering audience or some other reason, but their friendship never fully became a thing. Which was a wasted opportunity.

[ Enjoyment - 7/10 ]

Overall, the read was enjoyable. Even meotional at times. Would've been more enjoyable without the audience, but...

[ Overall - 7/10 ]

Let me make this clear. the animation and art is perfectly fine, very standard for anime and frankly, I don't believe that with how messy, and poorly planned out and thought out the source clearly was, it deserved anything better. No, the fault is definitely in the story as set by the source material.

Frankly, I don't give a damn about a bunch of nobodies with an obnoxious attitude, or about just about any characters in this season of the show... save Levi. (And maybe Armin, and a bunch of dead characters, but...) That was why I kept watching, but it seemed the story seemed ... hell-bent on keeping the most interesting character out of it for several episodes and then his presence was spotty afterwards.

It's not like his or any other person's conclusion was going to be anymore satisfying in the manga (I mean, have you seen chapter 139?). Besides, let's be honest, i've seen the art in the manga - it's scratchy and frankly unappealing at every possible level... I really don't believe that the show could have done this series a /visual/ diservice if they tried.

A manga elitist might blame these failures on the anime, but, really, the fault lies with the source and has always lain. In much the same way you can't blame children for the faults of their parents, you can't blame an anime for the faults of the manga.

So, what do you know, they managed to keep the hype going for another season, at least, in my opinion. It's far from flawless and I can certainly see why some people would not be content with this season... but I personally enjoyed it well enough.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Art & Animation - 7/10 】||

The same quality as always. No complaints and no praises here either. It just served it's purpose.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Sound - 7/10 】||

Again, soundtracks, sound effects, all that fairly standard and fairly good. Voice acting is also solid here, though again with a few exceptions I can't say there were any terribly memorable examples. ...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Openings & Endings - 8/10 】||

Opening 1 - Honestly, this opening is almost certainly the most beautiful opening of the lot. It's so nostalgic and melancholic sounding, and visually it is so clean and nice. No scrappy titans to ruin a shot. Also... Levi. And have you noticed the particles flowing around Armin along with the music so prettily? It's honestly just such a refreshing opening.

Opening 2 - Doesn't tug as much at the heart strings, but I suppose we're back to the hype now. I don't think it's as iconic as Sasageyo, but... we still got Levi in the visuals; it's all good. Well, except that the overlays felt a bit confusing here, but okay.

Ending 1 - This ending is probably the better one of the two, musically and in terms of being able to see a lot of the characters - even if it is just the torsos. And it starts off more classical sounding and becomes more epic later on, which I think is a nice twist.

Ending 2 - I didn't really care for that one. It felt lazier visually and musically it was sending me to sleep.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Writing - 7/10 】||

In some ways, the writing does raise stakes and further the lore, backgrounds, etc, without slowing down the pacing much, if at all, but there are certain sacrifices that were made along way, including some that were not worth it for many in the audience but also... the ending is a bit anticlimactic.

Also, I prefer the fact that now, it's 100% humans vs humans, just in different forms. It gives it depth and conflict, and it makes it less of an ugly drag of a show.

I also personally think that emotionally, this season was harder hitting than previous ones - just a few words from Eren's mother were enough to make me tear up which is something the rest of the series had failed to accomplish. (And I'm a pretty emotional person, so I'm not sure if this shows more how low the bar was before, or how high it is now.)

Unfortunately, it's also blatantly obvious from the anime opening that Levi was supposed to have his backstory extend beyond what is in the main anime, but instead it gets shifted over into the OVA, in favour of less interesting stuff. The OVA is, to my knowledge, only in Japanese, which takes an English dub viewer like myself out of the experience. Considering Levi is one of the most popular Attack on Titan characters, you really /would/ think he'd get a portion of the main anime, but no.

... I think this might be the season with that Armin incident though - the one where he gets kidnapped instead of Historia, unless that was the previous season. Either way, that one was handled... questionably, imo.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Characters - 8/10 】||

I actually think the characters are a lot more interconnected in these seasons than they were in the last two, both between themselves but also connected to the world more. Characters and their personalities and attitudes are tested more, and even though I don't agree with a lot of them and sometimes want to smack some of them around in frustration over decisions - like Hange being unnecessarily bitchy to Armin among other instances - it adds to the conflict I suppose in a way that kind of makes sense? Well, kind of, if you don't think about it too much.

No character is innocent here and few do absolutely nothing and that, I suppose is a deal-breaker for some and something that sells the show more for others.

However, for Erwin being such an "amazing leader" and whatnot, I feel like his ideas and plans are pretty basic and minimal effort goes into actually turning him into that amazing leader that was so difficult to sacrifice. Of course, he has much less trouble making sacrifices, which I actually find quite interesting, but even so.. it's a bit frustrating hearing Hange screech on about how he's way better than Armin when he doesn't really think up anything that grand. Ever. So stop comparing him to a kid.

We do see/hear of some of Levi's backstory so it's not all bad, but not as much as we should have gotten in the main anime.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Enjoyment - 8/10 】||

I enjoyed this season, probably more than some and certainly more than the next. Sure it had it's ups and downs, but this is all still way more interesting than what it was when I first started watching it, so there clearly have been improvements, even if I can't pick out all of them.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Overall - 8/10 】||

Okay, but hear me out, now that we're rid of training camp, it picks up the pace and becomes better, especially with the various twists lying in wait... and, you know, more Levi. Still not perfect, but a bit more worth it, especially if you've managed to get through the first season.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Art & Animation - 7/10 】||

Same as in the last season, really. It's functional.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Sound - 7/10 】||

... Arguably, again, same quality. Maybe the voice acting is less obnoxious, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that. It does tend to happen with anime that go on for longer.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Writing/Story - 7/10 】||

I feel like things have gotten more interesting in this season, likely due to the various twists and mysteries from here on out. Granted, they, again, aren't that well fore-shadowed, but still.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Openings & Endings - 8/10 】||

Opening - Musically... it lives up to the hype, mostly. It's the kind of music that gets you pumped and ready for the action which fits with the visuals of characters getting ready to go into the field and whatnot. However, they're already in war, so... I dunno, I personally find it a bit jarring. Nevertheless, Levi's cravat sold it for me.

Ending - Well, even that non-existent streak clearly couldn't last because the ending for this part of the series was a headache and a half. I just don't care for it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Characters - 8/10 】||

I believe there is some minor character development here, but honestly, it's mostly that we got to see more sides to existing characters and the dynamics continued to be more interesting than in the first season. Oh, yeah and Sasha becomes less food obsessed and obnoxious here... don't think it lasts though. Overall, this season expands a little on the cast, but I wouldn't say that is the same thing as development.

Oh, yeah and Levi has to babysit in this season, especially Mikasa, who is far too reckless and Eren-obsessed to be trusted wih her own life. Unless i'm confusing this with the third season. Still, I'm all for more a more human Levi... and maybe becoming a part time babysitter is considered development.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Enjoyment - 8/10 】||

This is definitely an upgrade from the first season, as far as I'm concerned.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Overall - 8/10 】||

Let's be honest, I watched this for Levi, and you?

This anime is as fine as it is because Levi is hella /FINE/.

Unfortunately the other characters and boring/unfunny comedic moments do exist, and that's not the only things to put someone off Attack on Titan. But anyway, let's get into the details...

---

||【 Art & Animation - 8/10 】||

Maybe I'm one of the very few people not wowed by this. The animation is functional, but it hardly does anything beyond that, which is somewhat... disappointing considering it comes from a Studio that is apparently amazing. Don't get me wrong, the animation is still smooth and ... the art is largely consistent, but more could have been done visually with the show if it really were all that. And hey, don't blame me for hyping up the show so bad.

That said, on a personal level, and for the most part, I don't really like the art style. The Titans are drawn as if by a five year old, unless they are ones controlled by humans directly and something about most human faces in that style is just unsettling. Most of the younger cast suffer from this horrid style, whereas the older ones are better off for their less exaggerated features. And considering this is a darker and supposedly more "realistic" show, you would think the style would complement it. Instead it looks like, visually, the creators dipped their feet in a kiddie pool instead of creating anything worth the stupidly high amount of hype Mappa receives.

That said, when it comes to some of the greater action sequences, those do look cool, but everything else just looks comparatively lazy. I mean, really, do you expect me to believe they can just swing from one tree to another with that much space between them?

Also, I find the titans to be needlessly gross looking.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Sound - 7/10 】||

The sound, like in most anime was functional. Sure, thanks ot sounding more "epic", it did become more memorable, but at the same time, rarely did the scene deliver the kind of content to soundtrack promised, in my opinion.

The voice acting is... okay, I think. I don't believe it's the strongest -- let's be honest, I feel Armin, Mikasa and Eren's voice actors especially weren't all that great compared to some I've heard. But Dub Levi had a reasonably good voice, even if maybe not the one I'd give him, and I suppose Erwin's voice fit him. I'd say that the with main cast it feels like there is a little bit of over-acting, especially given the kind of anime SnK is supposedly trying to be, but on the whole it's not bad. It's just not stellar either.

Sound effects, to my knowledge are functional.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Openings & Endings - 7/10 】||

When you're constantly on someone's list of animes with great openings and endings, you can be damn well sure I'd have high expectations for you.

Opening 1 - The colour choices do add a little bit of creativity to it, and there are some interesting scenes and whatnot, with the music working well enough. But it also looks messy, and like something of a history powerpoint an over-eager student created. Which, I suppose makes sense in a way since it follows the characters as teans and is set in a messy world, but still... I'd give it an 8 - 9 without all those needlessly gross Titans. Also I find what it does show from the actual anime feels like it didn't need to be there.

Opening 2 - I just feel the music was both overdone and underdone, and the visuals were... nothing much. Saying that they did feature some Levi, so it wasn't a complete waste.

Ending 1 - Visually, it did look interesting, but there was little in it and it featured only characters I didn't care so much for so, even if it is biased, already visually it's just not that great, especially not for capturing my attention and stopping me from skipping it. Musically, it's... quite good but still skippable. The opening was less skippable.

Ending 2 - Visually and musically okay, but again, not that impressive.

They were all perfectly okay to listen to but I'm not sure I would have them on a playlist of the best anime openings and endings.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Writing/Pacing - 6/10 】||

Okay, so this is one of the worse parts of this season. Firstly, it feels slow compared to seasons 2 & 3. Secondly, the collection of characters isn't as well established so there is less keeping my attention there, which could be remedied by good writing, but somehow the writer chooses to undercut serious moments with weird humour, not foreshadow things and require explaining it after the fact (which is a crutch they lean on throughout this series and it really ticks me off), and makes their characters make dumb decisions only to be later considered special just for being idiots.

Fortunately when we are finally with the scouts this improves, because the collective of characters is just inherently more interesting, but even then... the questionable humour and retconning persists.

The premise isn't terrible, but I don't think the execution is all that great either. Also, being the MC you could tell Eren wasn't gonna actually be dead from a mile away, so there was really no suspense there, though clearly the series tried to make it seem like he'd actually died... it was never really gonna take that route so early into a shounen.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Characters - 6/10 】||

So, characters.

The peeps that can make or break a show for you. I mean, Levi was the only reason I decided to give this show another chance.

Except, Levi isn't the MC. He isn't the one we are mostly stuck with.

Thankfully, it seems that the mangaka did know that Eren could be downright obnoxious because they did take the opportunity to stick with characters that weren't Eren or around Eren for quite some length of time in some parts of the series. Much appreciated, that. Doesn't mean I'm gonna forget that Eren doesn't really develop this season, and nor does anyone else, not really.

At best, Levi shows a few different sides to him - The Badass, The Child Kicker, The Not So Secret Softy, Babysitter, Clean Freak, Tea Connoisseur - but again, none of these characters really change much in this season.

Is that inherently bad? No. Not every character needs character development to be entertaining to watch...

But it certainly helps.

Would've helped hear too.

It also doesn't help that for such a dramatic, gritty show as AoT seems to be trying to be, it tends to make a lot of its female cast caricatures and the guys aren't much better, honestly. Frankly, Sasha annoys me in this season, and though in concept Hange is interesting and her/their dynamics with Levi are interesting, she is basically just AoT's maniac scientist -- think Sally from Black Clover but with titans and stuff.

Really, once you've seen her type a few times, unless you're somehow into that, it gets kinda' boring. And yeah, its saved by those moments when Hange isn't just acting like her usual psycho self, but then it's ruined by moments when she's being a creepy/weird nuisance that isn't even all that funny. It's a pity though, because she and some other characters visually represent those of us who don't have those perfect faces with button noses and people who lack 20/20 vision. I like her design and the premise behind her, but it could have been executed better.

Mikasa coukd be so much more interesting if she were allowed to find independence away from Eren. But does she get that opportunity? Nope, not really. Same with Armin.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Enjoyment - 6/10 】||

Once you drag yourself through the first few episodes it does get better with the scouts but only if you like the kind of collective they have. My enjoyment of the series did improve over the course of the season but it doesn't make up for all obnoxious stuff I had to sit through.

It helps though, not to have people constantly crowing in your ear about how amazing the anime is. Once you get to just watch it in peace like any other, regular anime it becomes okay... just don't think too hard while you're at it, otherwise things will start annoying you about it, if you're anything like me.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

||【 Overall - 6/10 】||