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My scores are reflective of my enjoyment of shows, not necessarily a neutral observation on the quality of various aspects. That being said, the art direction, stylistic choice of car textures/their animations and the overly heavy reliance on nostalgia regarding Eurobeat, are all middling to low quality, it looks cheap. That's before the several boring Gary Stu characters and the unnecessary/boring B-plots.

Season 2 of Initial D's successor show continues to be a continuation of the failed formula of the first season, its main issue being that it's a sanctioned street race with full lineups of cars, instead of 1 vs 1 street racing, meaning the ... focus is all over the place and you get reactions from the ENTIRE CAST (racers, commentators, audience, race girls, mechanic, support staff, support staff of other racers, organizers, live-in family members and more) instead of a couple of people, regarding what's happening.

The problem here is that the audience only has so much attention to spend on something and the more characters you have, the more thin its spread.

There are no meaningful struggles, only the handicaps that the protagonist is saddled with, which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that someone WOULD sponsor him based on his sheer skill, on his first performance (it may be literal sponsors are not allowed and that it's a story point, but he should have no trouble getting significant upgrades).
Add to that the increasingly awkward racing girls and the way they're focused on/portrayed and you have a show that you'll be skipping through just to see if something interesting happens.

The short answer is that our protagonist overcomes nothing (he already started at 100, there's no growth beyond him learning how wonderful it is to eat cheap Japanese snacks and offal) and the pace is predictable, full of forced and unfun drama. Even the most terrible isekai slop shows are fun, have an interesting idea or at least *do* something with their characters, but all MFG has is contrived tension.

Finally its major hangup is that it's not distinct enough from Initial D to be judged solely on its own merits. There are so many references to Fujiwara and the Trueno (86) and they are so constant, that MFG lives in the shadow of its predecessor. That means that it can't be judged by the audience, as its own thing.

What a stinker.

4/10 - Looks good, but has nothing else going for it.

There's nothing to spoil, because nothing happens in it.
It's a fighting anime with people having different motivations and ways of thinking (obviously, but it's central to the writing), but essentially it maintains a sort of status quo where there is and always will be violence happening in the streets, of which the school the main character goes to, essentially several rival schools of delinquents, are protecting everyone by beating up hoodlums, punks and harassers.

The fighting itself, is excellent. The animation is great, the angles and shots are great, the attention to detail ... is great... but throughout it all everyone who fights is largely miserable and everyone who enjoys it, does so for the wrong reasons and boy does the show love to waste your time with exposition telling you all about how and why, in indirect meandering ways.

Wind Breaker commits the worst sin of all, which is to be boring and it uses its flashy violence to excuse it, because they understand that this is what you want, while feeding you the excruciatingly slow and uninteresting exposition.

If you read the positive reviews about this show, you'll come across a couple of repeating points (besides the Tokyo Revengers comparison, a show I have not seen):
1. It's not stereotypically macho (which flies against the theme of the show)
2. People praise the show in a meta sense of why they think it's good, but then also admit how the story kind of isn't - That doesn't mean it's actually an entertaining show.

There is depth and thought put into this show, such as there being no responsible adults to handle all of the delinquents, I think that's entirely on purpose and the young men (there are no young girls, because they're not relevant to the psyche of the students) and how they deal with their inadequacies and issues is what the show wants to talk about. The problem is that it's written for testosterone deficient boys and girls who've never raised a hand to anyone in their life, not for anyone who has legitimate anger issues.

This is not therapy, it's pathetic indulgence in the analysis of the thing, rather than being the thing!

Every analysis of the characters is an idea of the analysis. "You don't fight for anything, that's why your punches have no weight" is meaningful, but the way the show tells the story is drawn out and boring, trying desperately to add weight to its own story instead of relying on the very simple message. You understand the quote I wrote in its entirety, I don't have to repeat to you that it's about missing motivation and a lack of appreciation of the things and people around you, that you're doing something just to do it and therefore are doing a half-assed job, no matter how talented and/or skilled you are. You intrinsically, even if it's subconscious, understand all of that!

It is absolutely fine to explore feelings and ideas, but you have to nail it and make sure every minute of the show is focused on that, because if you fail, you just look pretentious.

6/10 - You know what's worse than a bad show? One that doesn't live up to its potential.

Kaiju Nr. 8 has multiple great premises.
1. The setting is ala Pacific Rim in the sense that Kaiju are a part of living in this modern day world (but is taken and treated as much less seriously than in Pacific Rim, almost laughably so).
2. The equipment of the Kaiju hunting squads are based on materials made from Kaiju with a great story point in that they're only as effective as how well the person uses them or are compatible with them.
3. The main character's powers are ... handled well, there's a great sense of mystery, it becomes a story point that he has to contend with what he is and the extent of his powers are only revealed as necessary, since he can't really practice his form.
4. Interesting Kaiju and opponents, for the most part.

The quality is extremely high, it has great animation, well choreographed fights and has a lot of thought put into things. Honestly the effort put into this is wasted on quality of the writing.

It suffers from a lot of issues. Exposition (aka wasting the viewer's time), unnecessary and frankly boring dialogue, an excruciatingly contrived and toe-curling start that constantly rags on the main character, as well as contrived situations to drum up unnecessary drama and reactions that are equally contrived, just to make things tense. The show takes every opportunity to linger on scenes, in an attempt to make you feel like it's thrilling, when it's not.

It also has too many outright bad characters. They look uninteresting and when they're not generic, they're awful and unlikable.
The prime example is the twin tailed Kikoru, a small blonde who's arrogant, ludicrously overpowered without any impactful reasoning to back it up, hostile and combative.
Good writing doesn't just let the story go on without push back and consequences, but too often the show feels like that's all there is and writers are way too scared today to just let characters have some wins where everything goes well. Even worse, if you DO go down the route where things are scary, dangerous and full of consequences, YOU DON'T LET A CHARACTER LOOK LIKE HE'S ABOUT TO DIE, REPEATEDLY, AND THEN NOT FOLLOW THROUGH!!! Absolute cowardice and a total ripoff.

The main character similarly has issues. The writer struggles to make him make up for the goofy and dumb behavior. Part of the problem of how much he's ragged on, makes you want to actively dislike him, because he starts to deserve it. It ruins the satisfaction of seeing the few wins he does get.

That's why I can't outright recommend this.
Too many give it too a high score, it's genuinely overhyped.

9/10 based on my enjoyment of the show, not meant as an 'objective score' - The novel concept of following an unfortunate high schooler's trials through bullying and social media (YouTube or 'NewTube') is fun and interesting, full of fun and flawed character types and while the show isn't episodal, it plays on mini-arcs (why shows still insist on cliffhangers when we have the internet now and don't have to tune in, no one knows).

It's nice to see a story that revolves around the classics, working towards something, satisfying moments and getting (along with) the girl. The YouTuber aspect of it is interesting, albeit not ... that realistic, the concept of monetizing bullying and fighting might've been possible 15 years ago, but now these sites are so strictly regulated that we very rarely get anything that isn't completely censored, monetized or not, even on less savory sites.

Regardless, it's a good story and while the fights are hammed up, they're entertaining.

I don't know if I was watching fan subs, but someone's decided that the English subtitles should use the Korean names of the characters, while the Japanese voice acting uses different names, which is very confusing. Maybe this isn't an issue with official subtitling, but I suspect there are localization shenanigans going on.

Please make sure to vocally oppose localization and contemporary references, language and activism. If you pay for sites like crunchyroll or funimation, be sure to email them a complaint with specific examples, to let them know that these things are a detraction from the show.

Second season of the top-slop isekai with another banger intro by 'Syudou' (check out another of their songs "In the Back Room").

Second verse, more of the first, the show continues to be decent, but seems to suffer from poor handling of the adaptation. There are a lot of mini-arcs that don't really deliver on the impact and significance of what's going on and they spend a little too much time explaining things. I think there was supposed to be a grand plan enacted, that we never got a pay-off to, which seems to be left to continue in the third season.

Regardless, Tsukimichi is a ... decent "Protagonist is overpowered" isekai with elements that make it interesting and some fun character development that isn't about saving everything, rather our 'hero' is quite unwilling to get mixed up in things and is quite entertaining when he is.

Ultimately I feel like it could've been a lot better, which is its own sort of disappointment, even if it's a decent watch.

The waifu opening is literally the reason I kept coming back to watch this show. The first 25 seconds bring me genuine joy. I don't do 'waifu's' even in the slightest, but it's just too adorable.

Anyway, it's isekai slop, this time with the protagonist coming from one generic fantasy world, being summoned to... another generic fantasy world, with a slight focus on interspecies politics, without going very far into it (apart from the main character's romance, which is IMMEDIATELY spoiled by the opening). If you don't like isekai, skip it. If you've developed a taste for the slop, then this is just 'fine' as a ... little-of-this, little-of-that and slice of life sort of show.

The majority of the story is pointless, a lot of the characters are not worth following and there's not really a payoff on them, in fact you'll be wondering why those generic women are around all the time. Maybe there's a game tied to it in Japan? I have no idea.
I will give it props on its villains, however, which are fun.

All in all a little boring, but the quality is surprisingly good.

A 'distracted protagonist' isekai that balances the character's power with a genuine disinterest in fighting, being much more interested in magic itself as a subject as a supreme spell caster with an unusual amount of mana, not unlike the genius 'gunpla' protagonist of "Knight's & Magic", who's main passion is creating medieval mechs.

While the formula of isekai is wearing thin and there really isn't much point to this being a reincarnation story, the show itself is entertaining and has impressive fight scenes as well as decent humor and a bit of fun fan service.

The show lags towards the end and abuses exposition and distractions from ... the main content, instead of spending its time more wisely which knocks this down from a 10 to an 8 (being the fun I had, not meant as an objective score).

10/10 - This score is based on my enjoyment with the show, not meant as an objective value of the quality, although I will say as an objective score it's pretty much up there as well, in my opinion.

First up, it's a 3D anime done right and the animators have utilized the advantages of the animation style very well during action scenes. Toriyama's cartoonish style translates well into the visuals/textures and while it can all get a little game'ish occasionally, I think it looks great. Unlike the vomit inducing visual disaster of Trigun Stampede, the frame rate and animation is smooth throughout.

Sand Land is a ... timeless adventure show and shounen of old, it's full of wonder, fun and well rounded characters with easy to understand morals without being shallow and fun storytelling that varies in themes from lighthearted to some fairly dark stuff.

Probably the single best thing is that the one season contains two main stories without dragging anything out, with so much going on that it's never boring. It's like being back in the 90's again where the quality is the focus, sans the brain dead marketing that keeps trying to milk an adaptation for as long as possible. This is, in my opinion, something you should get on hard media and pass on to the kids and their kids, I really think this is an instant classic.
That means that my bias is also in play, that this is a review based on my dissatisfaction with most anime made today that rely too much on irony, tropes and narcissistic drama, while Sand Land is wholesome, relies on visual gags and whimsy.

I had to force myself to not binge the episodes, it's too good of a mood enhancer to waste in a single setting.

Score 7 - This score is based on my enjoyment and not reflective of an 'objective' evaluation.

I actually really quite like the show and if there's something I enjoy about the in-his-40's something protagonist Sasaki, it's that he behaves not just like an adult, but he goes so much out of his way to be a sneaky drone in the most cordial way possible that you'll feel like pulling your hair out at how insipid and mild mannered he comes off, when in reality he's just a calm person who thinks things through and makes measured decisions.
On that note, while things do pan out for ... him when he does something, he doesn't come off as some sort of genius, he just does his best.

Meaning... Sasaki's just a good dude that you enjoy getting ahead in life for once. Good on you Sasaki, now what's that thing you did saving a person's life? You have powers? You've been recruited by the state as a field agent.

The story's progression and mix of themes is ludicrous, you have him traveling between worlds, exploiting modern technology in a medieval world, taking people back with him, a powerful magical mascot pet, magical girls, espers and many more things. It sounds like a mess but the story takes its time and doesn't just jumble it all up.

Hopefully this all sounds great to you, so here's why it's a 'mixed feelings' recommendation.
It's one of those 'they don't have the budget/skill but they try hard' kind of shows, where the visuals are choppy and often bad, but what they do with them looks fine. They're just barely scraping by, making important visual/action scenes just good enough.
Audio's fine (nothing special) and the music is bland, which is a real shame because if the music is on point it can elevate a show more than most animation can.

Where the show drops the ball, is that some of the developments just aren't interesting and especially how long one particular story drags out (saving a friend who just hasn't been set up well enough). The way it's resolved is fine, but it's a true missed opportunity where you could've had some real character development and have had Sasaki loosen up and get emotional over someone, rather than 'I must do the right thing'.

Finally, you have to take all of this with the fact that I'm biased in favor of it. The isekai portion is... okay, it's not as sloppy as it could've been, it actually plays a decent role throughout the season, but it's also not great and that's the feeling I get when reflecting on the show that I really like it, but it's just not great, in any way, and that might leave you wishing you hadn't seen it.

Personally? I want another season of this over stuff like the Classroom of the Elite S3 that we just had, because at least Sasaki and Peeps has some heart.

Score: 5 - More of the same, but worse.

Nothing in this season has stood out to me at all in any other way than it just not being as good as the previous two seasons.

The reveal of Ayonokoji's true past and a completely one-sided and uninteresting rivalry between him and Class A's leader does not do much for the story. The same can be said for Horikita's relationship with her brother which started out with an initial insane introduction and then deflated into nothing across three seasons, giving her some arbitrary growth but keeping her annoying personality. I can respect them for ditching the ... initial impression of their relationship and going another direction, but sadly it didn't become more interesting.

There's a huge drama about a student elimination and it begs belief that the classmates care so much and kick up such a fuss about it, one student becoming practically a PTSD psychopath over it, another spending absurd amounts of money on it. The special exams feel like a kick in the nuts, much of it being overcomplicated and then boiled down so hard that all tactics for the viewer fly out the window with extremely unsatisfying results.

Finally there's a bigger overarching plot and another hurdle placed in the way of our protagonist which also begs belief. Apparently the best and most prestigious school in the country is just incompetent on all levels with no fail safes, no invested staff to sound the alarm or intervene in any way.

Stories like this need positives to keep the viewer engaged and this season really lacks it. If there's a fourth season, it has a lot it needs to salvage.