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Oct 4, 2024
Makeine is easily one of the best animes this season, though honestly not something I would put as Anime of the Year. A lot was done extremely well with the show, but some aspects were lacking that made me less inclined to keep watching weekly and just wait to binge watch it.
Much like many MANY other A-1 shows, it peaks at the first couple episodes and slowly decays throughout the season till the last episode. You can tell most of the focus was on the introductory arcs of the "Losing Heroines" as these are actually some of the most beautifully scripted scenes in entertainment as
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a while. So much care and nuance is put into the each aspect of their introductions you get a strong understanding of who they are as characters and how they each uniquely fit into the world despite essentially being tropes of harem characters. Despite seemingly being characters you could find in any other trashy harem show, each heroine has distinct character and humanity that makes you really feel like they're working through a history that happened off-screen and we are now seeing the climax of their unrequited romances and the aftermath.
A lot of this anime is "show, don't tell" with shots lingering on something important in the environment or an action a character takes without explaining it or making comments. Putting it on the viewer to figure it out and come to their own conclusions makes the world and characters feel alive, because much like real life, not everything needs to be said out loud for you to understand what is happening.
As for the character arcs, they were good. I wouldn't say they were blow you away or leave a deep impression, but they were very solid and delivered on everything the show promised from the start. I won't even say it's a negative since it really does depict the everyday drama of high school life and anxiety fairly well with some scenes feeling like they were probably ripped from the writer's past experiences.
Overall I'd say this is worth the watch even if only to see what good storytelling and character writing looks like.
8 out of 10.
TL;DR - Good show, very solid rom-com with some deep cuts. Highly recommend if that's your thing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 22, 2024
Wistoria is about as good of a true fantasy anime as you'll get nowadays.
There are no game mechanics. There are no menu screens. There are no power levels--- sorta.
If that alone turns you away from this show, thats a shame but probably for the better as you can get that fix from half a dozen other shows every 3 months. But if you want something a little different and more reminiscent of a magical school fantasy from the 2000s, this show is where it's at.
The plot and premise isn't anything original or novel, loser kid in a magic school tries really really hard to be
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cool and special, but the presentation is grounded and well-executed and what sells the characters and story. When characters are introduced the dialogue isn't suddenly changed to be an exposition of who they are, their life stories, and them shouting their names and motivations; their names and some identifying information is presented in a quick banner while the scene progresses smoothly in the background. This means the story can continue without being interrupted to make sure everyone gets a turn to go around the circle and share their name, year, and something interesting about themselves like the anime equivalent of an icebreaker. By just this simple decision, it makes the character and world building feel more natural as you get drip fed information on characters based on their actions and conversations with other characters, and you can mentally build a profile of the cast over time instead of being told who they are and what you should think about them.
Now to make sure you remember this show is a shounen they did include a system to judge the strength of each character: class ranking and school credits. This is a surprisingly simple and straightforward way of having a power hierarchy without making it feel hamfisted or over-dramatized since very obviously in a school where knowledge tends to equate to power, those who perform better tend to be stronger. There's no need to make an unnatural power system for characters to judge each other on since there's a very reasonable and natural explanation for the social and power hierarchy and dynamics.
And the selling point of the entire show is that despite all of the above the story and characters take themselves seriously. Yes, a lot of the show is 'cliche', some may even call it 'cringey', but there is something refreshing about a story and show able to present itself as it is without needing to break the tension or serious moments with a joke. Moments and scenes are played out with all of the melodrama and seriousness they need to be engaging and exciting, and aren't afraid to let them play out to their conclusion instead of making a quip or joke to break the tension every time.
There is still comedy, mind you, but it is used to brighten some scenes instead of as a crutch to hide terrible writing.
Also, and this may or may not be a negative for you, fan-service is very limited with this show. I personally enjoy some tasteful booba when it doesn't get in the way of the show, but surprisingly the showing cleavage and pantsu has been pretty dry and tame, and I honestly respect it. To me, the fact that I found this show as enjoyable as it is without the need for going for some cheap dopamine hits says more about quality of the show and writing than anything else I can put in this review. I will say though that the one scene where a shirt comes off did a couple things for me: one being surprised they actually drew nipples, and two being surprised there were nipples in a scene that actually has quite a bit of solid verbal and visual character development--- and no not in the dirty way either.
I'd say the best way to summarize the show is it's Harry Potter meets Mashle with a more shounen-ified story.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, it's great as a blind recommendation to both new and veteran anime watchers. It's entertaining from every aspect from its story, to visuals, and even dialogue and audio. It won't wow you other than a couple moments, but it that doesn't mean it isn't a good show.
7/10
TL;DR Solid fantasy magic academy show with great visuals and presentation despite the cliches and seriousness that some may find 'cringey'.
Be warned ye who prefer Brain Rot content
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 29, 2024
Stop reading reviews. Go watch it now.
Like a hot piece of meat off the grill, the more you stare at it before digging in the worse it gets. Do yourself a favor, watch an episode or two and then come back if you still want to see others' opinions.
Trust me, you'll thank me later.
Or you'll need bleach for your eyes. Same difference but clearly this show wasn't your cup of tea if you couldn't handle what is essentially pure MANLINESS distilled into anime form.
Only weak men, and women, can't handle the pure unadulterated love and passion shared by two men and a robot.
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So if you are weak, you should probably not watch this show and instead go watch some isekai harem fantasy show to fill your scrawny-armed needs.
From this point onward, only those who also believe anime needs to start having nipples drawn on men being a common practice are allowed to continue reading my (rant) review.
No exceptions.
Now why is Bravern a good show? Everything, literally everything. If you grew up watching shows and anime from the 90s and early 2000s, this show feels like a throwback to those days. But now with homoeroticism and Zoomer-Humor. Main characters shout special attack names, friendship and love solves all problems, and the opening has sound effects twice as loud as the song playing underneath. Every aspect of the show shouts "We love anime and giant robots" and I cannot properly put into words how awesome the show feels because of it. The whole staff knew exactly the kind of show they wanted to make and what fans of anime and 90s weeb culture as a whole loved and pander to your every expectation.
Even the attention to detail is there. For example, the show starts in Hawaii, and when the characters are ordering a beer, they actually order an honest to god real-life Hawaiian Beer with the logo ambiguosly slapped on. That scene encompasses the entire vibe of the show, which is it's made for adults, and the more you know and pay attention the more you'll enjoy it.
Characters and interactions can be a bit one note and simple, and side characters are side characters. But let's be honest the show is called Bang Bravern Bang, you aren't watching to see what happens to miss Air Controller in an AWACS with 2min of total screen time. You're watching for the big explosions, giant robots, and big explosions. And that is all you really need to care about from this show. Though you can tell there is nuance to the world and side characters that isn't being fleshed out as big homo robot with his own theme song is more entertaining. Personally I think this is a fine choice since the show keeps it simple and refines that simplicity to a high quality.
For recommending this one, absolutely--- if you don't mind having people question what the hell you are watching. This is such an underrated gemstone of a show that I almost hope it remains small and niche to preserve the fanbase. But recommend it to your friends since this is such a fun show to watch with your friends.
8 out of 10 with a B for Bravern.
TL;DR - Watch an episode first, then read reviews. This is an underrated gemstone best enjoyed blind.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 15, 2024
Entertaining and interesting, but lacking and shallow.
Sasaki and Peeps is the perfect show for when you're mid-flight on Southwest airline going from coast to coast in the US on a Boeing 747 that may or may not have had its emergency exit door blown off a month ago due to "mechanical failure" and "poor maintenance". While in the middle seat between an egregiously overweight couple who are spilling over into your personal space, covering you in their tricep sweat, you can snuggle up comfortably in your warm moist cocoon as you place your phone on your laptable next to your peanuts and coke to immerse
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yourself in the wacky and wonderful world of Sasaki and Peeps.
Why is it the perfect show for such an oddly specific and mildly nauseating situation? This is because neither you nor the couple sandwhich you find yourself between will be able decide whether funny bird cartoon is more interesting and attention-grabbing than the latest news article about another critical mechanical failure on a Boeing airplane.
With the trauma dump over, let's cover the show.
To start, the first episode is a double length feature which covers all of the basic world and character building you need to begin understanding what is happening in Sasaki and Peeps' lives. While this might be a turn off for some, the length is necessary and actually very well-paced as it perfectly lowers you into what is a chaotic mess of a universe. Imagine having to explain a fever dream to a friend where you have a magical talking bird from another world take you under their wing to live a dual life in said other world while teaching you magic, only to come back to the your own world to be recruited by a secret psychic organization that polices other psychics, all while being hunted by magical girls with a vendetta against psychics. That's not an easy task and the production team somehow managed to do all of that while sneaking in nuanced bits of future story and character developments to keep you coming back for more.
However, from Episode 1 on the pacing never really changes and the emotional Rollercoaster of trying to figure out where the hell all of this is going mellows out into a comfy isekai-but-also-not-isekai show. It is mildly disappointing since now there's a fairly large disconnect between the two main worlds of the series, Isekai and Not Isekai, since it's not realistically possible to tell a cohesive story or plotline in either without devoting several episodes, making it all feel like an appeal point than a crucial plot device. That's not to say it isn't well-written and interesting, it's just that there's so much density to the information and story that I think even the Light Novel, having not read it yet, probably struggles to contain and organize it all.
But given all of this it is a breath of fresh air that the characters are written fairly competently and make rational decisions in such an unrational setting. Everyone has a goal and role that they play with different tools to achieve them, and a lot of their scheming and machinations when revealed show no major illogical leaps purely for the sake of progressing the plot. My only complaints are that the limited screen time make a lot of them feel one-note in personality and desire, and everyone is written like how a middle-aged man sees them and hopes they act.
There are no major deviations from expectations which while grounding the story does take away slightly from the excitement.
Now as for recommending the show, I do. It's entertaining and intriguing enough to want to see what happens next, while just strange and normal enough that the strangers on each of your shoulders don't get what's going on but think "The pink bird with a star is cute". It's a little more on the closeted weeb side of the anime spectrum, but sits comfortably in the "I wouldn't mind if my parents walked in on me watching this" section.
6/10
TL;DR - Show about funny pink birb with a bad Italian accent is entertaining and chaotic, but lacks in certain areas leaving a lot to be desired like the middle-aged business man's receding hairline
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 16, 2024
Have you ever thought to yourself "Hey, this manga would be great as an anime! Why hasn't it been done yet?"
That was me with this show--- about 5 years ago when I first started reading the Manhwa.
After completing it I can safely say it absolutely FLOPPED and did not live up to expectation like with Attack on Titan or Mushoku Tensei. But looking back on it, the signs were there and realistically even with better animation or editing this was about the level of quality to be expected.
I will put it here if you don't want to read the following ramblings: This is show
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is not very good, is kinda boring, but provides a bit of entertainment if you like Isekai, Fantasy Academy stuff.
I can't comment on the Manhwa since I only read maybe a hundred chapters years ago and honestly don't remember much about it, but I think that in and of itself says something.
Minor Spoilers, if you couldn't figure it out from the title, the main character of the story is Desir, a magician, who goes back in time to save his friends(?) and his magic and his use of it is abnormal, special even one could say. Now, as it sounds this should be a fairly standard I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Isekai fantasy story that feels like an Isekai because of the aforementioned premise, but there were a few points to it that make it, or would have made it, a more interesting story.
First, the protagonist isn't overpowered, sorta. Much like many other stories from Korean authors, Desir isn't overpowered because of some God-Given Gift or power but rather his own intelligent use of his abilities, skills, and knowledge.
Second, he is returning to save people who had died rather than for some self-serving purpose. Instantly makes him a more likeable and supportable character whom has their own autonomy.
Third, a harem. You know it. I know it. We watch these shows because it tickles that little funny part of our monkey brains for a nice dopamine hit. However, this show spices it up by making it a more pseudo-harem feel. Like in his eyes he loves them, as his kids, and not as romantic partners so it doesn't feel weird and makes it more wholesome while having fairly legitimate reasons for them to interact the way they do.
Now putting that all together you get a show just as interesting as you reading me list out all of the interesting things about the show. It's bland, tasteless, but also exactly what you came for while knowing it may or may not have something fun or exciting to read.
Did that blow your mind?
Don't worry, I only noticed after I had written out that entire dissertation and realized it truly encapsulated what the show felt like.
If this review bored the crap out of you, there's your answer. I personally slept through 2 episodes before I noticed and ended up having to rewatch them only because where I woke up at seemed interesting and I had hopes it would eventually get better. It did not.
However, If you found this review piqued your interest in the show or found it mildly informative, then you may like the show. It had its fun points and may scratch that fantasy itch
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 4, 2023
If you close your eyes and breath deeply through your nose, what do you smell?
Air freshener and the faint scent of musty sheets? Axe body spray and unwashed gym clothes? Flat Mountain Dew Code Red and stale Ranch Doritos?
If any of the above apply, consider cleaning your room. Your time will be better spent than watching this show. If not, consider scouring your corners for dust bunnies as you will have a more exciting adventure moving your furniture around and searching for dirt than watching the main character Earth and his attempts to be the coolest anti-social, but actually social, mid-life crisis gamer.
The show
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reeks of wish fulfillment, which is not necessarily an issue if used properly like in shows like Mushoku Tensei or Welcome to the NHK, and has writing and characters that feel like a 10 year old narrating the epic battle between his Godzilla and Hulk Hogan action figures as they smash plastic tooth and nail to shiny pecs and stache. The first episode is all about building up Earth as not a show off and is bullied for picking the bad skills that are secretly really good. Now this wouldnt necessarily be terrible given this is a wish fulfillment show, but he and everyone else have the IQ of dirt, probably why he's named Earth, with none of their actions or thinking being very reflective of anything someone can actually self-insert over unless they turn off their brain or are grossly out of touch with how actual people and/or MMORPG players think and act. It's like if the author could have, he would have written an entire arc about how the MC was the very first to ever think about breathing and because no one else had ever thought of breathing before and now he is teaching them how to he is the coolest most smartest kid in school. On top of that he is not actually a hardcore gamer because hes actually a working man who can only game 3hrs a day, but is still super cool and doing things in the game no one else has done before.
No words can truly describe the amount of brain-rot I felt trying to wrap my head around what the author was thinking or feeling as he wrote this story. None of that makes sense, and quite frankly being able to sit down and game 3hrs EVERY day as a late career adult is a dream, but I guess to each their own and their responsibilities. It goes beyond fantastical wish-fulfillment and deeply embeds itself in the muck of delusions for the incompetent/ignorant. The least the author could have done is write a character and story that you can actually self-insert in if they were going to write this kind of story. Even if you try, there are so many incongruencies that you'll be ripped out of your fantasy a couple min later by some nonsense only conceivable by those who don't bother to do any research or story planning before putting pen to paper.
Do yourself a favor and don't even bother with this show.
It's not even a funny bad watch, it's just dumb and rather infuriating since it could very easily be salvaged into some palatable junk food anime if they even just followed the formula of every other fantasy mmorpg story instead of this garbage they put out. They already had the premise of junky anime, so how did they mess up the basics? That just points to bad/incompetent writing.
3 out of 10
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Nov 22, 2023
"Reign of the Seven Spellblades"
But the main cast is six characters.
This is how I knew what to expect from this story.
In all seriousness, it was an interesting enough show for about the first four episodes. You had all of the interesting and exciting world building and character/relationship establishments occurring. Lots of seemingly nuanced combat and power systems that would later be explored or explained. And more!
What caught my attention was how they described their swordplay in tempos since only people who have actually done sword sports will have probably ever heard the terms before. I was waiting for them to start describing the
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difference between probing actions and committing actions, and utilizing multi-tempo or chained actions into dynamic distance situations in off-tempo manners, but they never delved that deep into the swordplay. And that made me sad. Everything they seemed they seemed to be building up to got tossed to the wayside to make space for crap. So much crap in fact that they had to extend the show by 3 episodes to fit it all in.
I had high hopes when it seemed like the writer had done their research and built an interesting enough world and cast. But by the halfway point it became apparent they had done just enough research to make it seem interesting and sophisticated but not actually be anything more than a somewhat poorly written fantasy story with plot lines pulled seemingly at random to whatever sounds good at the moment. An over-arching plot line is created along with some possible interesting character interactions and relationships, and that gets shoved to the side for a crappy generic plot line that cant seem to even keep it's story elements properly in place.
I'm more disappointed in how good this show and story could have been if the writer had spent more time developing the main storyline and combat system than chasing shit storylines and characters that really only serve to distract from how poorly crafted everything actually is.
I'd still watch it since I can pretend the last 11 episodes never happened, but that might not be what everyone else will enjoy.
6/10 since it is entertaining at times, but honestly deserves a 3/10 for poor execution and crushing my dreams of having an anime with well-explained swordplay
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 22, 2023
This is the perfect 4 out of 10 show that I only have a vested interest in because I want my friend who is an actual ESports Caster for Valorant, @endercasts, to VA in.
If you have connections, he is interested and willing to take a role. No cap
That aside, where to begin.
This show sucks. Like really sucks. Like your bottom fragger is a squeaker who keeps peaking their mic telling the team to Rush B... while on defense.
But somehow the strat works because the other team is just brain dead enough to run that play every round even as you buy Odins
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and demolish them. And now you have a 9yr old as your shot caller and IGL in your new ESports team.
That is the kind of vibes the show has
The premise is okay, not anything to write home about, but just the right amount of drama that you can maybe eke out a few drops of emotion from the stone cold hearts of the gamers who'll actually watch this show, maybe. I mean there really isnt much to comment, it's like Code Red Mountain Dew and Cheetos: junk food for gamers, except the Cheeto dust doesnt get stuck in your keyboard but instead coats it completely as your cat knocks the two litre bottle over and fries your PC. You know how the story is going to go, you know it's not good, but you watch it anyway.
Characters are lackluster, but honestly true to form, sorta. MC Shu refusing to take a shower is probably what saved the entire cast since that single quirk made them feel believable. He's a true gamer so much so that you can almost smell the stench of Gamer Gunk only present at anime conventions, Yugioh Card Shops, and local LAN tournaments. 10/10 character quirk, but otherwise a soggy piece of public restroom toilet paper without it.
Everyone else is whatever, though I love how everyone just accepts there is a socially awkward older man who inserts himself into a group of teenagers like it's nothing. That part kind of bothered me, but at least nothing too weird has happened so I can ignore it
As for the good, they at least got the maps right and know basic gamer terms. That's cool. I guess.
Oh and they have a love triangle with the milk toast MC in it. That's pretty poggers.
Yeah, that's about it.
I'm enjoying the show, and you might too, but much like the hot spring episode just don't take it seriously and ignore the details and you'll probably have fun with it. Just ignore how everything was done on MS paint by some dude they hired in Uganda off of Fiver and you're good.
For that I double my score: 8/10 show.
Do not recommend unless you are gamer enough to handle it
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 19, 2023
This show was a perfect 8/10.
My friend and I decided this was going to be the show we watched together on our weekly anime sessions.
It worked out perfectly as this show's release schedule also coincidentally coincided with our schedules as well.... in other words sporadic and infrequent.
Would it have been better with a consistent schedule? Probably.
Do I fault the studio for their delayed releases? Absolutely No
Was the amount of episodes released per month good for the time we had for watching anime? Most Definitely Yes
The best way I can describe this show is like a unmarked bag of MSG: great for seasoning and flavor, but
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terrible for your health and requiring you to taste it every time you want to add it to make sure it isn't salt or sugar.
As much as I think I would enjoy downing this whole show in one sitting, just an episode here or there was just the right amount for me to have a good time while avoiding heart failure. And quite frankly, it got really meta when I realized within the show it took almost a full year for them to reach the last memory they watched, and my friend and I also took almost a full year and several dropped discord calls to finish the show as well.
Overall, good show. Would recommend if you also dump out all of your seasonings into different containers and forget to mark them.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 1, 2022
If you are reading this chances are you either either looking for validation for your own feelings about the show or are looking for reasons to continue after Season 1.
Either way I will give you what you want--- this show is easily one of the best shows I have seen in the last half a decade, including Attack on Titan.
Where to start, there is so much right about this show that summarizing it in a relatively short review is fairly difficult. Zombieland Saga: Revenge builds upon the foundation of the 1st season and makes everything significantly better.
From the characters to the music to
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the visuals, you can tell every little detail of this show has been finely tuned and detailed to the point where subsequent watches will let you notice other smaller details and tidbits you didn't notice before. For example, in one scene when all of the characters are leaving the house you can spot the main character peaking her head out of the front gate and checking both ways on the street before leaving because in Season 1 she was hit by a truck after running out of the house without looking. This is such an insignificant detail, but the fact that they are willing to put this little bit of characterization into an short 3 second scene just goes to show the level they will go to for detail.
Even considering how there are only 24 episodes thus far in the series, the characters and world are so well fleshed out that is hard to believe that this is an original anime with no source material. Little idiosyncracies that even minor characters have are consistent and have relevance to the story or lore in some way that it is impressive they were able to Chekhov's gun in so many details without bloating the visuals or stories.
Going a layer deeper too, yes it has all of the bells and whistles of a typical idol show, but considering that the characters are all dead it poses thoughts, questions and answers on a level that are slightly different from your typical "work hard and you'll be rewarded" message these kinds of shows tend to convey.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but with all of them being dead the struggle of them becoming idols has more weight because realistically if they don't become idols, what do they become? Without overtly stating it... too much, the show conveys that if they don't achieve their goals they become what they actually are: zombies. I feel like it is conveying to its audience that if you give up on what matters to you, even if you have life you are a zombie only existing for the sake of existing, and considering many people spent the last 2 years in COVID times doing just this, this sentiment resonates even more. This show essentially says that life is meant to be used existing for what you want to become, and trying to figure that out is a blessing for those who are able to do so. Then it also posits just motivation and enthusiasm aren't enough to be successful, and that even if things are going well, what is required to make a change, an impact, and be successful is to put the time, thought, and care in to prepare and ensure it works out.
I could keep going on about how cool the themes of the show are, both musical and other, but I would be rambling more than I already have.
This show resonates in a way that is rare and more weighty than what should be possible for a trashy idol show, and quite frankly whether you watch this show with your brain on or off, it is a really good time. It just oozes character, love, and care from the people who produced it, yet at the same time I can fully believe it is just a paid ad to get more people to visit and move to the Saga prefecture.
I cannot recommend this show more than I already have; And quite frankly I hope in the future we get more original animes that are of this quality and caliber.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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