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Let's get this out of the way first. Whether you like Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete or not ultimately depends on one thing: whether you can tolerate the characters being 14 or not. If you are NOT comfortable with them being underage, this is not a show for you. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm saying this upfront as it's the most contentious part of the show.

For those of you who are okay with it: you're in for one heck of a ride.

MahouAko's anime adaptation is a mixed bag, speaking as a manga reader. Let's go over the bad points first:

- The story is ... nothing groundbreaking, nor is the premise innovative. It's an ecchi centered around magical girls, and while it does explore topics like sexual awakening, it's still an ecchi at its core. There's a caveat to this, but don't expect anything profound.
- The animation is lackluster more often than not. The art style also has a hard time emulating the manga due to the latter's top-notch use of shading.
- The characters are hit or miss. Personally I like all of them, but I can easily see some of them coming across as annoying to some. YMMV.
- The soundtrack is forgettable, though the OP and ED are quite decent.

If you want a riveting narrative or high quality animation, MahouAko isn't a good choice. However, it possses a lot of redeeming qualities:

- The story is well-written. It may not be innovative, but it makes up for that by being consistent. I'm not just talking the general tone, I mean this across the board. Plot developments are meaningfully addressed and are amplified through continuity. Characters experience meaningful arcs and their relationships naturally progress (at a swift rate, at that). The worldbuilding is straightforward, but that also makes it easy to understand.
Most importantly, though:
- The characters are not one-dimensional. Thank god, an ecchi that doesn't forget that its characters are people. Most members of the cast, even minor characters, are filled with personality. Utena is a shy introvert in one moment, a and a sadistic magical girl simp in the next. I do not say this lightly: she's Bocchi, but a closet perv. Where Utena really shines though is in how she comes into her own. As time passes, her dominant side grows more assertive while her shy side opens up. It's not a complete transformation, but there's a clear shift from start to finish. Kiwi is confrontational and possessive, but doesn't overplay her hand. Korisu is quiet and timid, but is also the most expressive of the bunch. On the whole, I'm satisfied with how characters are handled. They play off each other well, they manage to stand on their own, and they each posssess some loveable quirks. They're not the most nuanced characters in the world, but they're quite solid for an ecchi.
- This show has many flavors, both in terms of kinks and genres. Genre-wise, it balances a lot of themes be it CGDCT, Ecchi, Yuri, and Seinen. It flips between these as the story demands, but all of them are decently handled. The Seinen aspect struggles the most, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the show. Kink-wise...suffice to say that it manages to tick a lot of boxes. On average, viewers should have at least one kink that the show tackles, but again YMMV.
- The ecchi is bold, to the point where you'll sometimes question how even a censored version of the show aired. I can't go into spoilers, but when I say bold, I mean stuff you only see in hentai. To put this into perspective, the producer admitted to recieving complaints from the broadcasting staff for this exact reason. It really manages to push the limit, especially towards the end of the season.
- The show is funny, though I can't put a finger on why. Maybe it's the payoff and continuity. The iterative gags, the goofy shots...it doesn't go as hard as Bocchi, but the same spirit is generally there.
- The voice acting is quite good, ESPECIALLY from Fuuka Izumi. This is only Fuuka's second role on MAL, yet she absolutely kills it as Utena. She captures both sides of her personality well while rivaling Yoshino Aoyama's (i.e. Bocchi) level of expressiveness. This is a rookie with natural talent, so you'll definitely see her again. Beyond that, Aoi Koga works her Paimon magic as Kiwi while Yuuka Aisaka nails Loco. I'll also shout out Misaki Ikeda for her colorful work as Kaoruko. All in all, a great voice cast.

In summary: this is an ecchi that understands what it is and where it's going. It thrives in lewds and memes, but supports this through continuity and character development. Payoff is generally earned, comedic moments stick the landing, and the voice actors have a lot of fun. It's a lot like Blue Archive where if you can put aside the characters' age, the shenanigans are a load of fun. I can honestly call it a good show, though one with a specific target audience.

As for comparisons between the anime and manga: the anime is largely faithful, with some swaps and tweaks here and there. It struggles to match the manga's paneling (which plays a lot into the seinen appeal), but makes up for it by doubling down on lewder moments. I fully recommend the manga, especially for those who'd prefer a more serious version. Both the anime and manga are quite good though, so choose whichever you prefer.

Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete is a 7/10. It's certainly not for everyone, but it possses its own appeal while being surprisingly competent with its characters. Watch it to have fun, and remember: it's only fiction.

For a long time, Arknights has had a cult following; myself included. We praise the game for its worldbuilding, hold its characters near and dear, and cherish the game as a part of our lives. Why is it then that the anime fails to convey this appeal? Why is it that Perish in Frost, which is in many ways an improvement over its predecessor, is still so critically flawed?

The truth, put simply, is that it's a flawed story mixed with extraneous circumstances.

Now, I won't talk about gacha syndrome here, nor the limited episode count. These issues should be fairly apparent, and though Yostar has ... tried to work with them, they both tie back to the same problem: the problems with the source material. To give a few examples of what I'm talking about:

- Prelude to Dawn (Chapters 0-3) was poorly written across the board. Amiya gets a weak introduction, the first main antagonists (Misha/Alex) are respectively naive/insufferable, and most critical of all: Lungmen's issues weren't made apparent sooner. Reunion largely gets painted in a negative light up until this season, meaning that Prelude to Dawn lacked the nuance in its conflict that it desperately needed to convince viewers. By the time viewers finish Perish in Frost the story will make sense in retrospect, but it should never have been 'in retrospect' to begin with. Context clues should have been planted way sooner, and Yostar failed to make these adjustments to what is commonly perceived as the worst arc in the original game. You'd think that this wouldn't matter, but look at the viewership drop between seasons. No matter what Perish in Frost does, it can't change Prelude to Dawn's bad first impression. This gutted most broader interest in the anime, and it's unlikely to come back.

- The story provides very little payoff. Payoff can take multiple forms: visual results, character development, and callbacks to previous scenes. Where Arknights suffers is in its inability to make the conflict seem worth it. If the tragedy only gets worse, and there's no real light in the dark, what's the point of any of this? Why depress viewers further if there's no clear ray of hope? One could liken it to torture porn where, instead of things getting better, the situation somehow only seems to get worse for the mere sake of getting worse. Rhodes Island rarely 'wins'. Instead, it's constantly dealt pyrrhic victories that take more away than they give. If that's the precedent across not just one, but two seasons, why should viewers still care? Players may know the answer, but for anime-onlies it's more difficult. To put it one way, we live in a time where depression is more rampant than ever, and escapism is highly preferred. If your emphasis is on confronting reality, and said confrontation rarely yields positive results, then that's not enjoyable in the slightest. While it's from a completely separate genre, consider that part of the reason Bocchi the Rock is so popular is because it relates to and instills hope in its core audience. It tells introverts that the world isn't all darkness, and that if they take a chance to step out of their shell, they'll be able to pursue what they truly want. Arknights doesn't have a similar message, it's merely a surface-level commentary on discrimination and injustice. Considering that, maybe it's not such a good idea to tell viewers the truth insofar that injustice is a systemic problem, and it takes an eternity to properly address. Again, people don't want to face the grimness of reality, and that's exactly what Arknights is: the wrong story at the wrong time.

- Arknights arcs have too many characters. This is a problem that only worsens as the story develops, but for all of the intricacy of Arknights' worldbuilding, it gets too many faces involved. Gacha syndrome plays a part in this, but in general it's a mistake to focus on more than a few characters at a time. Character development takes nuance, conflict, and screentime. If you distribute your points across too many skills, you're not going to level anything. What's even worse is when the investment DOES happen, but the character is subsequently killed off. Suddenly we're back to stage 1 of depression, only now the viewer is left frustrated. Where is the win? Where is the hope? Where, in this godforsaken Earth analog, is a sign that things are getting better? Tolerance has a breaking point, and a failure to acknowledge this is a failure to keep viewers interested. Characters need to be meaningfully developed AND maintained for sake of continuity, otherwise it's a wasted effort. You could argue that in some cases a character's death is narratively significant, and in both seasons this is certainly the case. The problem is that there is nothing BUT death, leading to the aforementioned issues.

- To add onto the above, Arknights prefers the 'big picture' with its storytelling. It focuses on providing a broad view of all the main players, like watching chess pieces move on a board. This is great for building a comprehensive image, but draws the focus away from individual characters. Ironically, part of the problem is in situations where the seeds for payoff are actually planted. Without getting into spoilers, this season has more than one occasion where a character's arc is foreshadowed for later, preemptively justifying their screentime. This works if your viewers are already bought into the narrative, but when the story is already as flawed as it is, the biggest concern should lay in fixing the present; not setting the stage for the future.

If you take anything from all of this, it's that Arknights' story is too broad and overly depressing. It does a poor job in retaining viewers because there's little to be found in maintained progression. You can see the progression in recurring characters, but with gacha syndrome in full swing, those examples are few and far between.

None of this is to say I hate Perish in Frost. As I said at the start, it's mostly an improvement over Prelude to Dawn. The animation has improved, the fight scenes are (generally) better, there's more focus on fewer characters, and the central conflict has grown much clearer. Viewers can clearly see how Amiya, Ch'en, and even the Doctor have developed, even if Ch'en's arc was gutted through pacing. This season's antagonists are far more enjoyable — barring a certain little shit — and the emotional beats are starting to hit. There are still problems, namely when it comes to the pacing, soundtrack, and inconsistent censorship, but those are things that can be improved without relying on the source material. Unfortunately, the anime is crippled by its first season, as if gacha adaptations weren't scrutinized enough. It'll be a long road for Yostar Pictures from here, and with the mixed quality of future arcs (starting strong then getting worse), I have my doubts for future seasons.

Life lesson, folks: Don't screw up your first season. It'll undermine everything that comes after, simply because viewers won't view anything beyond it.

Ah yes, superfluous dialogue and a rushed plot: the authentic Arknights experience.

Going in, this adaptation was always going to have issues. Not only does it adapt the weakest part of Arknights’ main story, it was produced by Yostar Pictures. On paper, this makes sense: Yostar got burned when they trusted another studio with Azur Lane, and they’ve largely done everything in-house since. The problem is that YP is a small studio, which — lacking enough resources or staff — forced them to outsource to various studios (Studio Palette, Studio Silver, Candy Box etc.) for Episodes 2-6. Add in a first-time director in Yuki Watanabe and ... a limited budget — Arknights is profitable, but nowhere near the levels of FGO or Genshin Impact — and you have a recipe for disaster. So, given all of these restraints, how did it do?

Visually, the anime is inoffensive. Character close-ups are beautifully drawn, and key moments are clearly denoted by a sharp increase in dynamism and detail. There is some inconsistency present where characters at a distance are either drawn in a more pixelated fashion or animated with CGI, but this is the exception rather than the norm. The problem lies in the stiffness of the animation, particularly in fight scenes. For a game that doesn’t shy away from its dark atmosphere, the action in this adaptation is awfully toothless. Enemies will get shot, slashed, smacked, or stabbed, but in almost every case they’ll end up knocked to the floor at worst; seemingly unscathed. YP’s sporadic usage of blood is especially strange, adding it almost at random in a few moments across the entire cour. Some of this (e.g. characters that are burning to death or have been dismembered) may stem from censorship, but that alone doesn’t explain the strange camera cuts, mediocre choreography, lack of force, and questionable logic that summarize each battle. YP’s full inhouse production of Episodes 7 and 8 results in a significant improvement, leading me to wonder how much of the issue stems from a combination of outsourcing and budget. Either way, the result is a beautiful art style that is held back by lackluster animation for most of the cour. With a bigger budget and more staff I have no doubt that YP could deliver an impressive visual experience, but this adaptation isn’t that.

Of course, I’m not an artist. I’m a writer, and speaking as one: good grief, this storytelling is flawed.

Arknights' in-game story is notorious for having poorly written dialogue. This isn't a localization issue (Chinese players complain about this as well), it's the writers acting like they need to turn every sentence into a paragraph. The anime isn't much better in this regard — unnecessary padding is all over the place — but that isn’t the main problem. In a recent interview with YouTube content creator Dogen, Rafał Jaki — the creator and executive producer of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners — highlighted the importance of ‘the dramatic question’, noting:

“...there is a difference between the story and the plotline. Story being, ‘what happens if a family member dies?’ and the plotline is, ‘somebody is going to the funeral, they go to the city, and they have this adventure’...but without the question it has no substance, it’s just things happening to the character.” (Dogen 22:22-22:46).

Arknights’ earlier chapters are all plot and no story, failing to establish or explore a dramatic question. The closest I’ve seen to one was suggested by Reddit user scot911, phrasing it as “Is it better to work inside the system to reform it through diplomatic means or is it better to violently overthrow the system and start anew?” If this is the case, then Arknights does a terrible job of investigating this. Rhodes Island is implied to be restricted by Lungmen’s authority, but how often does that actually matter? Without getting into spoilers, nothing Lungmen withholds or demands from Rhodes Island hinders their ability to complete their mission. Things would by-and-large have happened the same way even if Rhodes Island had total autonomy, meaning that the penalties of ‘working inside the system’ are more superficial than anything. There isn’t enough ideological conflict between Rhodes Island and Lungmen to create genuine problems in their relationship, and this results in their partnership feeling rather uneventful. Meanwhile, Reunion’s perspective never gets the justification it needs in order to be legitimized. Whereas in Akira it is clearly conveyed that Neo-Tokyo’s government is incompetent and corrupt — needing to be overthrown for change to happen — Lungmen is largely presented as a normal city. This changes in later chapters of the game, but for the purposes of this season the viewer never gets the sense that Lungmen as a city might warrant Reunion’s methods. The discrimination that the government enables is barely explored, as is the police brutality of the L.G.D. Poverty and violence are implied to be issues, but the plot never stops to take a closer look. This is the true issue with Arknights’ earlier chapters: the plot never lets characters investigate the world, much less themselves. The writers attempt to compensate for this with philosophical monologues, but these fall even flatter than they already did when applied to a more visual medium. This results in a rushed, barebones plot that is only slowed down by dialogue-heavy low-points in tension. The sad thing is that even this is vastly better than the in-game story; the bar being that low. The anime incorporates multiple minor changes that contribute more substance to the narrative, and it’s a shame that YP didn’t attempt to push for more. As is the plot is still deeply flawed, which — combined with overwrought dialogue and poorly crafted fight scenes — creates a slow and uninteresting story that never says anything profound.

To note one more thing: characterization suffers because of the aforementioned issues, leaving most characters plain at best and irritating at worst. Amiya’s character development is indiscernible until the end of the season, with any payoff locked away in a second season. Speaking of payoff, it’s hilarious to me how the Doctor claims in Episode 3 that they’ll gradually become more of a character over time…only to be no different by the end of the season. Gacha game protagonists are notorious for this — even FGO’s anime equivalent of Ritsuka is relatively flat — but that’s no excuse for poor writing. If you imply that development will occur, then show it in the short term instead of assuming the viewer will stay engaged for the long term.

That aside, there isn’t much to say. Yuki Hayashi’s soundtrack is ambient and rarely gets a chance to stand out, capturing the lack of tension throughout the story. The OP and ED are nothing special, though admittedly this point is subjective. Voice acting — whether by members new to the cast or reprising their roles from in-game — is generally solid, but it isn’t enough to carry the story.

All in all, Prelude to Dawn is an adaptation with limited style and hollow substance. I brought up the comparison to lukewarm tea in my preliminary review, but I think that describing it as a watered down soda works as well. You can taste the flavor that was meant to pop in your mouth, but only just. It’s too diluted to amount to anything else, but hopefully — should Yostar receive an increased budget — this will be as mundane as it gets.

Not going to lie, I'm pretty sure that even Solomon with the ten rings wouldn't be able to fix this pacing nightmare of a film if he tried.

(MODERATE SPOILERS AHEAD, continue reading at your own risk)

Here we have the conclusion to Part 1 of FGO's storyline: 94 minutes of cameos, fanservice, and the absolute bare minimum of storytelling that Cloverworks could legally get away with. Going in I want to stress that there are at least two ways one can approach this film: as raw fanservice for FGO players, or as something more meaningful. If you're in the former camp you'll probably enjoy the movie ... solely from the cameos and animation alone, my review is catered more towards the latter camp.

My main problem with this adaptation is that the story not only feels rushed, it also feels painfully pointless and slow in some sections for no reason whatsoever. To give a few examples:

- Da Vinci explaining Mash's condition to Fujimaru even though he (and the audience by extent) knew about it already from prior films.
- Anything involving Lev Lainur, though admittedly I'm biased because I dislike his character in general.
- The horse riding scene where Mash needs to remind Fujimaru about why they've been fighting (as if he can't figure it out on his own) while stating for the 10th time that this is the end of their journey.
- Servants standing around doing nothing but looking cool; a certain someone's speech is the main culprit for this. This honestly wouldn't have been so bad if the movie had been longer, but it's not.
- Anything involving the Chaldea facility, because honestly just showing it under attack once is enough to raise the stakes and establish a kind of time limit; no need to reiterate after that.

Some of these might seem like petty nitpicks, but consider that when you're operating inside a ~90 minute timeframe (credits excluded) you need every moment you can get to properly flesh out the story and hit all your thematic beats. CloverWorks already had things stacked against them with the amount of fanservice they were expected to include, no need to worsen things by messing up the pacing as well. Imagine if they had saved even an extra minute of footage, and used said minute to highlight an important part of the story instead of stuffing it into the credits. That alone would have arguably improved things by a fair margin, but instead it got sidelined for Lev Lainur being an obnoxious PoS. The story suffers considerably as a result of this, so while certain moments are still included I don't believe they're given the depth or flair they truly deserve.

Granted, this isn't my only issue with this movie. Other, more personal frustrations include:

- The fact that Mash and Fujimaru get a cool car...only for it to be totalled almost immediately. Why even bother introducing and animating the car at that point? Just have them walk on foot and come across Lainur sooner.
- The fact that CloverWorks had the perfect opportunity to have Mordred and Artoria fight together...only to have Nero team up with Mordred instead. I get that it's a Saber of Red deal, but Nero already had a scene prior and the father-son teamup would have been far more exciting IMO.
- Speaking of which: the fact that CloverWorks ALSO had the perfect opportunity to have Gilgamesh and Enkidu team up, only for Enkidu to do all the hard work while Gilgamesh is staring off into space on some random hill like Vegeta in the first Broly movie. I understand that CloverWorks probably wanted other servants to have the spotlight, but given what I've heard about Gilgamesh's role in the in-game version of this singularity I can't help but be disappointed by his virtual nonexistence here.
- The fact that Lainur takes time to hype up all of the singularities only for them to get used as background art for the rest of the film. Again, why even bother? It's like CloverWorks had plans to use these concepts in an exciting manner but had to ditch them due to lack of runtime (same as the car, probably).
- The fact that Act 1 is filled with some really random quarter-second shots that make no sense and serve no purpose but to disorient the viewer.


Then there's Goetia. I like Goetia's design, but frankly he comes off underwhelming here. Part of it is because I wasn't impressed by the second half of Ars Almadel Salomonis's animation (the build-up was incredible), and another part of it is because comes off as way weaker than Tiamat due to how easily he gets injured. Honestly this is where I feel like the fanservice was at its worst, because by allowing various servants to chip Goetia down (even when he gets serious) you're cheapening his capabilities and making it even harder for him to stack up to Tiamat. Ironic how CloverWorks making Tiamat super durable backfired on them in the long run.

So we have several minor things that irked me, a slew of drawn out scenes that (when added up) take away a critical chunk of runtime that was desperately needed in the second half of the film, and a suboptimally executed final boss. Is this really deserving of a 4? I believe so, for two reasons:

1. This is meant to be the conclusion to Part 1, meaning that it had a high bar to meet (especially after the unprecedented success of Babylonia's adaptation) from an animation and story standpoint. Failing to meet this bar is deterimental to the entire story arc as it undermines everything that's built up to this point, especially when so many things get crippled by the runtime.
2. The poor pacing cripples the film to the point where I'd argue that even the fanservice is underwhelming. Look, this is meant to be THE climax of Part 1. You have several singularities, a large assortment of powerful servants, and all the FGO money in the world. If you're already going down the line of 'fanservice first, story second' then the least you can do is make it an absolute slaughter that fans could revel in. I mentioned Gil not having a prominent role earlier, but really you can apply this to most of the servants that get shown here. The majority of servant moments comprise of bodies being thrown at a problem with a few getting exciting animations here and there; no interactions, no comedy to lighten the mood, nothing. Endgame's best moments worked as well as they did because they interspersed a lot of brief, but meaningful interaction inside the climactic action sequence. You basically don't get that here, and that's pretty disappointing. I'd be willing to forgive it if the time was used to deepen the movie's themes, but given the poor pacing it didn't do that well either.

Again, there are things to like about this movie: the animation is pretty good, the voice acting comes through when it matters (namely from Nobunaga Shimazaki), and the fanservice is just that: fanservice. What will really decide your enjoyment of the film is whether you believe the fanservice and key scenes create a satisfying conclusion to the story, and for me it doesn't work. With another half hour and some fine tuning this could have turned out leagues better than it did, but it is what it is. All that's left to do now is accept it and prepare for Mahoyo.

This review contains spoilers; please watch the special before you continue further.

It's strange how of all the anime adaptations for Fate so far, Lord El-Melloi holds a soft spot in my heart. Maybe it's because I can relate to Waver, or because a bunch of factors play into the show creating a nice balance of drama and fun. I'm not good at explaining myself when it starts getting emotional, so suffice to say that despite its flaws I liked Lord El-Melloi going into this and was satisfied by this special.

If memory serves, the main issues with the main cour of Lord El-Melloi stem ... from issues with mystery execution and a step down in animation compared to the rest of the Fate franchise. I've always considered the latter point unfair since it inevitably involves comparisons to Ufotable, but I'm fairly confident in saying that the animation took a step up for this special. The emphasis on close-up facial shots was a bit off-putting, but everything else seemed smooth barring some brief CGI of familiars and a few scenes that felt a tad too fast (e.g. watch Gray open the book at the start of the special; she cracked that thing open in a flash!) I bet TROYCA was thankful that they only had to animate one particularly extravagant scene, because it certainly gave them room for polish everywhere else.

Now, regarding the aforementioned former: it's not just the execution of mysteries, but the idea that the series can be confusing to follow in general. Lord El-Melloi takes a deep dive into the mechanics of the Nasuverse, and I can think of at least a few times in the original cour where things just weren't explained well enough to keep the viewer in the loop. This is not the case here: the only thing the viewer really needs to understand is the general idea behind shell projection, and the parallels to virtual reality and 'bringing out one's imagination into the real world' did a good job of explaining the concept without spending too long on it. The mystery itself was also easy to follow, though I have a feeling critics would be frustrated at how telegraphed it was; what is a good mystery if it's too easy to solve? To that I'd respond as a writer that finding a balance for mysteries can be incredibly difficult, and that in this case the main point of the special wasn't the mystery's depth: it was the emotional arc for Camus and Waver. Torn down to its core, this special is a tragedy meant to demonstrate what Waver lost when he entered the Holy Grail War: a legitimate chance at romance. Not only is this just too fitting for Waver (forever a virgin, the poor lad can't catch a break), but it also reminds the viewer that even young Waver had his strong points: he wasn't just 'Waver the Failure' before Iskandar turned him into a man. He was hardworking, firm in his beliefs, and more than willing to stick up for others like him...including Camus. It's easy to see why Camus fell for him, and why her quest for revenge paled in comparison to her desires to revisit the happiest time of her life: the moments where she could see her Waver at his finest. She's understandable in that respect, though as with many things in anime you can clearly tell when liberties are taken to raise stakes. All of this could have been resolved in one meaningful conversation without Camus's whole scheme, but where's the fun in that? This lets us get more Touko, and I consider that an absolute win. There's nothing special about the conclusion of the emotional arc itself since it's exactly what you'd expect: bittersweet, yet optimistic that tomorrow will be one step closer to the ocean. If anything, it's just nice to see Waver continue to confront his past in a (mostly) mature manner, with the occassional goofball slip-up every now and then.

As a side note, I don't really know whether to consider Camus a villain. Her motive is relatable, but to take things so far as to get everyone involved in an eternal memory? It's made clear that for some that's a blessing, but for others like Waver it's preventing them from chasing their dreams in the present. Her relationship with Amleth is a bit cruel as well, though that's a given when you leave someone to die only to have them as your prime investor years later; be careful who you call ugly in middle school. Really, Camus seems more sympathetic to me than anything else: never noticed despite trying to confess (albeit in her own weird way), forced to suffer from some really nasty wounds for years, getting everything she could have wanted EXCEPT the one thing she actually wished for...it's like a part of her never grew up, and in a way you see that in Waver too. That isn't an excuse for her actions, but her actions aren't truly based in evil either; moreso regret.

Overall, this special appears to at least somewhat address the main issues with the original run of Lord El-Melloi while being entertaining in its own right (even if you haven't watched the main cour). It still doesn't pack the pure emotional punch that would burn it into one's mind, nor does it possess the 'perfect puzzle' that would satisfy any viewer with its approachability and entertaining complexity, but it nails the notes it aims to cover while hosting a majestic soundtrack to boot. All I can hope for now is for Lord El-Melloi to get greenlit for a second season, preferably with the improvements applied in this special.

No one:

Sirius: *slips on literally nothing and begs to be punished*

...Yeah, that's Sirius alright.

If Episode 13 of Bisoku Zenshin does anything right, it's demonstrating the 'broad' in Bisoku Zenshin's broad characterization. As in the main cour, shipgirls are introduced in a swift manner by showing them in action. In Sirius's case this is done by having her find every concievable way to fail an easy task, inevitably ending up in an erotic pose in the process. You might think that this is flanderization, but this really is her entire character in a nutshell. Smart move by Yostar to have her be in the BD-exclusive; ... people WILL dish out for fanservice incarnate.

Sirius's masochistic tendencies aside, there's not much to say here. Seeing South Dakota and Massachusetts was nice, but they were mostly sidelined for extra Sirius screentime. I'm also not sure why the writers chose to have another party when that was already the core theme of Episode 6; can't Sirius serve tea at a formal piano recital instead? The animation for this episode was consistent and clean, while the ED was a cute way of flashing back to the events of the main cour.

Ultimately Episode 13 is just more Bisoku Zenshin, and whether you'll like it or not comes down to your type. Do you like bashful, clumsy-as-can-be maids who like self-deprecation a bit too much? This episode has you covered. Otherwise? Meh, at least Starter Squad's antics are fun.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." — Yostar, probably.

The first adaptation of Azur Lane was a disaster. Poor pacing, inconsistent animation quality, bad writing reducing a major faction (Ironblood) to a minor role...gacha adaptations aren't known for their quality, but that didn't stop Azur Lane from sinking in the Sea of Disappoinments. So, what does Bisoku Zenshin do to avoid the same fate?

Fluff. Loads upon loads of fluff.

Where the first adaptation struggled to find a balance between action and comedy, Bisoku Zenshin doubles down on lightheartedness. Each episode follows Starter Squad on their adventures around home port, encountering other shipgirls along the way while partaking in ... wholesome activities. Sleepovers, amusement parks, chocolate making, open-aired baths...there is no identity crisis to be found here, Bisoku Zenshin knows it's Slice of Life and delivers in full. Now, does this mean that punchlines will have you laughing into next week? Probably not, but the formulaic routine is enough to keep viewers entertained without throwing them for a loop.

The production quality of Bisoku Zenshin is an interesting conundrum. Animated by the newly formed Yostar Pictures alongside CANDY BOX, Bisoku Zenshin's animation quality can best be described as less impressive, but far more consistent than its predecessor. Warm colors, cute facial expressions, lewd close-ups...it's about what you would expect from a Slice of Life, but a few shots (best seen through character stiches) offer a glimpse into what a more refined production pipeline could create once YP gains more experience. As it is, Bisoku Zenshin doesn't do much to impress visually (especially with only an 8 1/2 minute runtime, 6 1/2 minutes if you exclude the ED), but avoiding the issues of its predecessor by starting from scratch and setting the bar low is a reassuring sign for the future. It's even in the name: Bisoku Zenshin, "Slow Ahead"!

The characters of Azur Lane are its bread and butter. Where Bisoku Zenshin triumphs here is in broadly characterizing a larger amount of shipgirls than its predecssor while treating Ironblood as it is: A major faction. To put this into perspective, Niimi / Z23 was only given ~3 minutes of screentime in the original adaptation, whereas here she's a main character. Frankly, it boggles my mind how the first adaptation failed at proper faction representation (it didn't even include cameos from minor factions; Bisoku Zenshin does) so to see proper representation now is a relief. As for the broad characterization, it's just that: Broad. Think of it like being introduced to some potential waifu candidates every episode, except that you actually get an idea for their personality instead of being stuck with a brooding, OOC Enterprise for 12 episodes. The character diversity each episode brings is refreshing, and it's unlikely you'll go through the entire cour without finding at least one shipgirl you like.

What else? Sound quality is nothing special (some cute tracks here and there; OP and ED are nothing special), voice acting is authentic (same VAs as the game), storyboards use the manga as a base and splice chapters / add new content without an issue...that's about it. Bisoku Zenshin doesn't stray from the pack; its key goal is fanservice above all else. Does that mean it's bad? Far from it, especially when compared to its dumpster fire of a predecessor. It's simply a decent, niche title that will satisfy Azur Lane's playerbase and pull in an anime-only or two with its wholesome moments and diverse cast. What matters is that Bisoku Zenshin knows this, and that's all it needs to stand out from the original adaptation.

Oi, what are you doing reading this review? GET BACK TO WORK! YOU THINK LOUNGING IS GOOD FOR ANYTHING? WE'RE IN DYING BODIES, DAMN IT; EVERY SECOND COUNTS! WORK! FIGHT! HATARAKU, SAIBOU!

Going into this review, I asked myself: "What does Code Black do that sets it apart from the original Cells at Work?". The first thing that came to mind was the huge tone shift, but the second might not be what you would expect: The difference in narrative quality.

The original Cells at Work suffers from loose continuity, a lack of stakes (some serious moments occur, but due to the original show's mood you ... know it'll always end with a happy ending), and next to no character development. It's primarily fluff, and while this can be appealing it doesn't do much to ground itself in reality. Contrast this with Code Black, where not only does the main character go through a full character arc, but the setting of a neglected body is represented in full. Cells die en masse, veins are cracked and filled with plaque, morale is sparse, one crisis lays the groundwork for another...the situation is bad and only gets worse, so nowhere does Code Black neglect to encapsulate the reality it shows. One might argue that as a healthy body is not always happy, an unhealthy body is not always unhappy, but this is no ordinary unhealthy body: This is Code Black, the worst of the worst. The extreme portrayal matches the extreme reality, whereas the original Cells at Work struggles to deliver the darker end of a more balanced atmosphere inside a healthy body. It helps that Code Black has a stricter chronological plotline than its sibling, even if the latter attempts to remedy this in its B plot.

Nowhere is the difference between the original Cells at Work and Code Black more apparent than in Code Black's OP and ED. The OP portrays the protagonist as having a courageous dream before being nightmarishly forced awake by his alarm, setting the mood for the grim episode ahead. The deceptively peppy ED wraps up each episode with protagonist going back to sleep and dreaming once more, restarting the cycle. The ED in particular is genius, unsettling the viewer with its happy-go-lucky rhythm before leaving them with the alarm clock once more: The protagonist's attempts to make his dream come true will continue, as will his harsh conflicts with reality. Never before have I seen an OP and ED work so well as narrative elements before, and to me this represents how the solid narrative quality of Code Black. It's not a masterpiece (the core formula is still repetitive and will wear on the viewer over time), but I'd mark it down as an improvement over the original Cells at Work.

With all that said, whether you enjoy Code Black or the original Cells at Work more comes down to taste: Do you prefer healthy but bitter spinach, or relaxing but sugary junk food? For me, the tighter narrative and darker atmosphere of Code Black convey the core themes of Cells at Work better than the original ever could, but it's all up to personal preference.

As someone who loves Azur Lane, I'll be honest: This adaptation was terrible.

- Mediocre story featuring a generic plot, awful pacing, an OOC lead (Enterprise), forced yuribait, and an inconsistent setting. If the writers' goal was to sum up the in-game story so far, they failed spectacularly. No in-game events are mentioned or animated, and what context is presented is vague and never expanded upon. Enterprise is reduced to a one-note ration addict without common sense who can only be saved not by her sister (Hornet) or her dedicated repair ship (Vestal), but by Belfast because yuribait. One of the major factions in-game (Ironblood) ... is sidelined with their starter ship only getting ~3 minutes of screentime, and the minor factions are nowhere to be found. Episodes sporadically hop from serious moments to lighthearted ones as if the writers couldn't agree on the atmosphere they wanted to present. There are several more issues I can give (e.g. that one episode where it took ~12 minutes of ships slowly approaching each other before they actually started fighting, Akagi being stuck with the idiot ball for several episodes) but you get the idea.

- Inconsistent animation; compare the first and second halves of Episode 8 and you'll see what I mean. There's a reason Bibury had to delay the last two episodes by three months just to make them serviceable. Speaking of which...

- Terrible 'fight scenes' with no sense of choreography or intensity. Zooming around on planes and dodging bombs is not a fight scene, it's a snooze fest. Some fights were better than others (Enterprise vs Zuikaku), but for the most part they were laughable.

- Forgettable soundtrack outside of the OP/ED outside of one or two tracks.

- Dub was hilariously bad; the German accents were way too thick.

Now this adaptation wasn't garbage at everything, and it's true that viewers had low expectations going in since since Bibury is a freelance studio that normally does in-between animation instead of entire adaptations. However, the only redeemable things about this adaptation (e.g. most character portrayals including voice acting) are done just as well if not better by the game, the manga adaptations of the game, and even Azur Lane Crosswave (regardless of its controversial gameplay). It's disappointing, and I feel bad for both Manjuu and Yostar because they've put their heart and soul into the IP for years, but now they have to deal with the bad reputation of an adaptation that was clearly doomed from Day 1.

If you have not played Azur Lane, please give it a shot. I can guarantee you that the game is much better than this adaptation on all fronts, and that Manjuu & Yostar treat it with plenty of love and care. As for this adaptation...well, at least the Blu-rays remedy some of the animation errors.

March 2021 Edit: Yostar Pictures's adaptation of Azur Lane (Bisoku Zenshin) just finished airing and is far better than this adaptation was, so be sure to give it a look if you were hoping for something else. I've also edited this review for concision.