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Jul 7, 2024
TL;DR: Not the fairest of mysteries and the mystery quality may vary, but the murder rooms are fun. I'd say read it for the plot.
Story: 8/10
Overall, the storyline is great and probably the main selling point. Even it it wasn't what I would call stellar, it was still pretty fun to read all the way through. Most of it is too much of a spoiler to add in here though. I can only say that it's a shame the final chapters got increasingly rushed, which I can only suspect are due to an impeding axe. I was really looking forward to seeing how the author
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would elegantly tie up the storyline, but I guess the wonderful journey was still worth the few loose ends.
Characters: 5/10
I would have like to see a bit more of was character development on the side characters, and even the main characters could have used more "emotional" exploration. The characters were definitely interesting to watch run around and a couple did have some backstory depth, but I realise now that I didn't connect deeply with any of them beyond the knee-depth level. There were hardly any character relationship explorations either, which is a huge missed opportunity when the story features a Watson character and even a few mini-rivals perfect for pulling this off.
On the other hand, the MC was pretty damn charismatic for an emotionless amnesiac who does nothing but solve mysteries for ~80 chapters without break. Every character was at least fun to watch and they do interact with the storyline well. Hence why I'm a bit mixed on this point.
Art: 8/10
It's nothing that stands out, but does manage to fit the setting and atmosphere perfectly. Simple, yet sufficiently detailed to be effective with both dark and comedic moments emphasised well for the most part. I have little else to say about it, but I guess that also means it's doing its job splendidly.
(Bonus Section) Mystery: 6/10
Although there was a fair bit of action, I did like that it was primarily mystery focused. The MC did a decent job at solving the cases and the logical reasoning is solid enough. However, I think it's more of a thriller than a fair play mystery for the reader, if that is specifically what you came for. You can expect missing or late clues for the sake of dramatic twists and the MC looking smart, though this also varies between arcs. With that said, you should be able to half-solve some of these as the clues come in, and at least a few tricks will be obvious even if a little ridiculous.
Also, don't expect any locked rooms. Despite it being the literal title, it would have been more accurate to just leave it as seven "murder rooms". They do share a few characteristics of common locked room setups, but they are actually just fancy settings that engineer "interesting spectacles" (given you admire them from a safe distance of 20km away). The closed room part is often ignored.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 30, 2024
I don't think I can recommend it even if you are here to see a catastrophe. Turn back now.
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Story:
I can summarise the first ~3.5 years of manga publication quickly, and probably spoil nothing of value (because there is nothing of value).
For the first 8 chapters (1 year), MC is introduced as a parry god with the twist that he downplays himself. This seems like a comedic bit, but the author is dead serious and it gets tiring after hundreds of pages. By the way, this sole character trait isn't even consistently portrayed. The extent of MC's backstory is that he can parry 1000 wooden sticks
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and something about poison resistance. Meanwhile the side characters are paid actors that can only talk about the MC. No one gets characterisation unless it is in service of the protagonist, and it's ridiculously mundane the few times they do.
It's plenty clear that each chapter was written with zero foresight as to what the next chapter holds or what the story should be, so each chapter just throws some new minor predicament at the MC just to keep the publication going a little longer. It's just... soulless.
For the remaining 17 chapters read (+2.5 years), the author runs out of steam. MC parries 2 weapons of mass destruction in 2 chapters back-to-back. There is some "plot", but really nothing happens. The same battle is still going.
Yep, that's it.
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Art:
I can only complement the art for being a cut above others... in the same genre. However, it hasn't been used to convey anything to save the story itself, like emotional depth, world building, etc etc. So no bonus points will be awarded here.
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Final thoughts:
There was never any doubt that it would be bad, but I couldn't have expected something this bad. Even by mass-produced power fantasy standards, there was nothing in this that could be of any worth. I couldn't even sense any of the intent or ambition you find in similar works that fall flat. Instead, this was directionless and purposeless from the start and won't be ending anytime soon.
Well, here's hoping the upcoming anime will at least be paced well enough I can laugh at it instead of pitying it the whole time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Mar 12, 2023
The art is fantastic. That's about where the good news ends.
To begin with, the manga is a bit of an isekai with magic and Saya no Uta abominations thrown in. An interesting combination, but you quickly realise the isekai part serves no purpose except to exist. And then there's an attempt at mixing in comedy, but then it also throws in action. The result of this is a mash up of a bunch of genres and trope elements that just sit there with zero synergy, serving no end goal, and amounting to nothing for the reader.
Meanwhile, you still have no idea what is happening in
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the actual story because no background context is revealed to you (and doesn't get satisfyingly established all the way until the arc ends). The pacing is throughly f**ked by this point by the sheer volume of "stuff happening" and genre mashing, but even the story itself gets rushed along. It's maybe 6 chapters in when you are finally given what you need to understand where this is set and what you are looking at. By the time the story figures out where it's headed, it gets AXED.
Honestly, I do believe it really had potential and that the story it tried to tell was somewhat interesting, but it kept on tumbling over itself. A great shame, but the series ultimately ran out of steam after blowing through all its ideas and revealing its full hand in the span of a mere 7 chapters and an extra.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Feb 1, 2023
This isn't just any gag manga. This is the pinnacle of cuteness. Every chapter brings me one step closer to a type 2 diabetes diagnosis and the demon lord is the cause.
First up, the art is adorable. This is the number one selling point for this series. There's not much to be said here, because it would be faster to just look at the front cover or read a couple pages and ask youself the following: does this not embody all that is cute?
On the content side, the characters get some nice development, even if it's also as slow as your typical gag manga. As
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for the story, treat the first half as comedy and cuteness with some light character development and the second as where the actual story takes the stage. The main story is decent and I enjoyed it but I feel like it would have benefitted from sprinkling it throughout instead of pushing it all towards the end. It didn't feel rushed, but you could definitely tell the pacing had sped up to a jogging pace.
I would have liked it if this series had lasted a bit longer to reach its full potential as I really liked the way it was going. But regardless, I can still recommend this as a solid and complete work with a very precious demon lord.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 12, 2023
This turned out way better than I expected from a "yuri tokusatsu". A short Yuri Hime serialization that hits all the beats of a Kamen Rider style plot line while parodying it. It's a comedy, so it doesn't take itself too seriously except when it comes to the main pairing and love. Good pacing and good art, too, with some good action.
I do wish we could see more of the suits, though. They aren't my favourite and the designs may be a bit too convoluted, but they are still fairly pretty. It's difficult to admire them in many of the denser action panels.
Also, poor Moe
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didn't get much time to shine in an arc that was practically dedicated to her and her search for her own identity. It doesn't have to be 50 episodes long, but a few more chapters could have gone a long way.
All in all, solid manga. Just wish it had more content to flesh out all the characters that bit more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 27, 2022
Well, this came out of nowhere.
This is another one of what I like to call "cute girls doing schüt things". That's right. This is what you get if you gave everyone in Shirobako guns. Despite the incredibly edgy sounding name (and even edgier description), I can say that this is a show that brings something fresh to the table while retaining its roots of it's predecessors. And most importantly, it's a fun watch I can get behind.
So, let's make this simple.
- If you liked Princess Principal, you will probably love this.
- If you are not a fan of girls going pew pew in an action
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comedy anime, then you best to look elsewhere.
Either way, episode 1 is fairly representative of what the show is, so I say give it an episode regardless.
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Now for some deeper, spoiler-free thoughts.
Voice acting:
The voice actors are godly. The smooth and expressive animation combined with said voice actors really made this show. Not to mention the script really brought out everything that the voice actors had to offer. But the single most important VA was by far Chisato. A playful, witty character with an accent more absurd than your local anime gyaru. It's not a stretch to say that she carried the show to success.
Writing:
The writing is pretty good. There's just the right amount of action, comedy and, well, wholesomeness for a perfect blend of genres. It's got that fast paced, lighthearted "fun" factor that made Shirobako work so well. The plot doesn't take itself too seriously, but still tells a coherent story that keeps you engaged the whole way through.
In terms of the minor issues I had:
- The majority of plot threads are held all the way to the last 2 episodes, so it does a little complex towards the end. I'm surprised they pulled it off, but it does show a bit.
- I don't feel that the "no killing" policy was well explained nor well hammered in. The payoff is pretty much that the villians get to come back for the n-th time.
- Some characters didn't get quite as much love as they probably should have. You would expect the ambitions of the central antagonists to be better developed, but it seemed a bit lacking in the end.
- Similarly, the show didn't do deeper philosophical stuff as well as its peers. Keeping with the lightheartedness of the show really limited the effectiveness of this, despite also being it's greatest strength in the end.
These are all still nitpicks in the end and barely affected my personal enjoyment at all. It's hard enough for an ambitious project like this to hit the ground running right from episode 1 and hold it to the end, so I would say it did splendidly.
Animation:
A1-Pictures really did just drop a small fortune into this project, huh. Needless to say, it's A1-Pictures at it's best, so you can expect a banger. Just watch episode 1 and you will get a feel for what to expect.
Music:
Music is solid. There were some hella good beats in the OST. The OP is not bad but it's not for me. On the other hand, the ED is where it's at. I should have expected that from Sayuri, after all.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 26, 2022
Turned out to be a very fairly decent adaption, but introduced some crippling problems as it went on. 6/10 for being legitimately enjoyable, but a little disappointing...
Disclaimer: I'm a fan of the manga, but have not read the original LN. So yes, this will be a "that manga guy" perspective.
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Cons:
My main issue with this adaption is a simple one. They rushed unnecessarily further than the anime could reasonably cover. And as a result, hey cut out a parts that provided necessary context to the later events for the sake of brevity or flow. Here's a list of notes I took, ordered from most severe
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(like plot holes) to the least:
- The entire existence of evil spirits and MC's first encounter with them were skipped, so they just came out of nowhere. Same with the purification and medicine buffing powers relevant parts being skipped. The MC just magically had that power.
- The Black Death arc worked for the most part, but holy hell that got compressed. It felt like they surgically removed 3/4ths of the medical parts, especially everything that let up to it. Like say, what Camus was doing instead of introducing him in the last episode.
- The cramming of events in the Black Death arc resulted in the squirrels being... not eradicated? Uhhh...
- They drastically undersold the actual challenges faced and impact of his phamarcy on the local people, turning the story into a very average isekai despite having one of the greatest potential for a genuinely good story.
- Relating to that, the immense unseen advancements in medical field should have come as early as the spread of the microscope, introducing a great influx of acedemic papers on reviewing old practices and research/formulation of new modern level medicine not directly made by the MC himself.
- Skipping the MC's experimentation and discoveries of his power left some scenes like the targeted seawater elimination part mostly unexplained.
- His relationship with his brother studying in the top nation medical college would have enhanced the story and made it less like a retcon added to patch up a plot hole in the Black Death arc.
- There was one notable bit (the suppository bit) that they likely skipped due to subject matter, which I suppose is expected since it would be worse if they had mishandled it or had it misintepreted by the general audience.
- We didn't see some things like the traditional practices (I'm looking at you, chicken dance), but that's honestly not a major loss since they did very briefly mention stuff about lizard eye concoctions and astrology in about 1 episode.
- Minor nitpick: The pacing was on the faster side which may affect enjoyability, though that isn't exactly a problem like the others.
While it would hard to get any better than this in 12 episodes, I think I would have enjoyed this more had they taken they time a bit more for all those details that make up the whole. Rushing the latter half that much to cover up to the Black Death arc was probably too hasty. Perhaps as a result of the above, I found that the action scenes didn't integrate into the story quite as well as expected. Oh and of course, this ignores the base problem of it being a fantasy isekai and a template introduction. But you know the drill by now.
Pros:
The continuity issues aside, the anime worked and could stand its own ground. The story and subject is genuinely intrguing despite being of the isekai genre, somehow covering something like medicine and covering it fairly well without exploding spectacularly. It's like what others have said: Ascendance of a Bookworm (but with an animation budget).
From a manga reader's point of view, many scenes were made even more beautiful simply with the addition of good animation, attention to detail, and a decent music selection. The characters felt alive, even if their development and relationships were rushed. I truly thought it was an enjoyable watch. And of course, this is one of the better shows this season (RIP Devil is a Part Timer S2).
Conclusion:
I would say I can still recommend this anime to isekai fans, but I would also much more strongly recommend reading the LN or manga first or instead. The latter I can especially attest to being comparatively godly.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 4, 2022
I mean it's a theatre manner animation like any other.
Story (2/10):
The presentation of the key points is pretty standard, but long and exhaustive to get across points that I'm sure any self-respecting movie-goer should already implicitly know. A simple list without the comedy would have done the job better, but I appreciate the effort.
Characters (6/10):
It's Shiro and Sora being Shiro and Sora. What more could one ask for? Steph and Jibril don't really add much. While the short was "faithful" to their characters, I don't know if I can say they stayed "true" to the characters' personalities the whole way through. Sora and Shiro should
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still be in shock.
Art/Animation (8/10):
The animation could have used a bit more work, but it's sufficient to get the job done. The real treat here is actually the attention to the character designs adapted into a manga-esque chibi form.
Overall (5/10):
One of the better ones in terms of manner shorts. But I still found something like the KnK manner shorts to have been more enjoyable and just better executed overall.
Who am I kidding. It's just a one-off, single purpose, 2 min short. Just watch it if you want.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Feb 28, 2020
This show is for F/GO fans who have completed the Babylonia chapter. You'll definitely struggle to get the full enjoyment out of it if you haven't played the game. Very faithful to the game, but gets a little unevenly clustered as expected when you shove a massive chapter into a standard anime formula.
In short: "It looks fine" - Scott the Woz
Story:
There are certainly pacing issues which take some of the immersion and emotional connection away from the story. The story is strong having come from one of the most fleshed out chapters in the game, but is WAY too packed for a standard ~21 episode
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series where certain episodes have to cover a whole arc. Unless you are a god tier director, you may be better off adapting Babylonia as a manga.
Art:
t's Fate. Maybe on the cheaper side compared to other Fate series, but it's still Fate. Wait til you see the episode 17 CG boss as a bonus.
Sound:
"It sounds fine" - Scott the Deaf
Character:
The characters are a bit shallow even for anime standards. Some characters are better than others, but some of the main cast suffers from typical the plot driven main character(s) with a lack of interactions. Oh, but the Lahmu are nicely fleshed out, rather ironically.
Enjoyment:
Surprisingly OK given my cynicism above. It doesn't drag or give you a migraine, it's just a regular anime series. Just don't expect it to be revolutionary.
Final notes:
Overall, it's nothing special outside of a pretty sweet fanservice reward for diligent players.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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