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Haikyuu!! To The Top 2nd season did not disappoint. It was real Haikyuu. And Haikyuu is absolutely incredible.

The 2nd part of To The Top was basically the payoff of all the training done in the 1st part. Let me go through the players 1 by 1.
Hinata made the most impressive strides. The ball boy arc was amazing, I really don't understand why so many people thought that Haikyuu got worse because there were not as many matches. Hinata learned so much about volleyball. It was so exciting and emotional witnessing Hinata receive that ball in the last match, it showed so well how much ... Hinata has progressed. Just compare the current Hinata to Hinata in season 1. He is so different now, the only thing that didn't change is his burning passion for volleyball.
Kageyama was always amazing as a volleyball player, his skills were fantastic. However now he became a way better setter - he learned to track his teammates conditions, motivate them by forcing them to do their best (basically how he did in the very start of the show) and also was motivated not only by his rivals (Atsumu) but also by his teammates (Hinata). And let's not forget the last block, made by Hinata and Kageyama. This block really showed their growth throughout the whole show, a great callback to how they were at the end of season 1, when they lost this way.
Tanaka was always one of my favourite characters because he always works so much, during matches or not. His effort finally really got recognised, I absolutely love his character, the cross and straight shots he did were so cool!
Nishinoya also had great moment of overcoming his fears, let's of course not forget Kinoshita who helped him. The synergy between players in Haikyuu is wonderful.
Tsukki was a great blocker as always, but he really was more motivated at this match than ever before, tried his best even when he was extremely tired. What is more, he actually recognised Hinata's new skills.

Inarizaki had amazing players as well, but I just want to mention 1 moment. It is when Inarizaki's captain, Kita, had his speech about "geniuses", that the Miya twins aren't just good from the start, it's because they work and train and think about volleyball all the time. This is a really great message that applies not only to them, but to most players in Haikyuu and actually to most people irl as well. Also, Kita's speech after the match was great, made both the players and the viewers emotional. I love how every time a team loses in Haikyuu, the players are so wholesome and supportive, it really makes you feel for the team.

The directing in this season was good, but definitely seemed lacking when compared the previous 3 seasons. And although this made some moments seem not as important as they really were and the pacing was off occasionally, this is really the only major drawback in this season.

The animation was iffy at times, especially the outsourced parts, and the change of the art style isn't really to my liking, but overall the animation is still great. There are still moments when the animation immerses you in match and makes you FEEL the power of the jumps, spikes, serves and blocks.

Let's not forget the OST - one of the best parts of Haikyuu imo. Yuki Hayashi is an absolute legend and does an incredible job each season. His tracks just elevate Haikyuu to another level, both in hype and emotional moments. The OP and ED were great. The OP was hype, but it's not one of my favourites. The ED on the other hand is amazing and I love how it shows little Hinata at the end, watching the match on the TV.

Haikyuu is the only anime that manages to keep me smiling throughout the whole episode and makes me feel this hype. This adaptation could have been better, but it still was a masterpiece in my mind, since it's extremely difficult for Haikyuu not to be great.

This show is absolutely beautiful and with this review I'll attempt to express my love for this masterpiece.

Violet Evergarden is an episodic show with most episodes containing a separate short story. However, all of these short stories are very well-written and emotional thus many viewers get attached to or empathise with the characters featured only in that episode. Many of these stories are about people affected by war, specifically how their relationships and emotions were affected. These changes in people's lives are portrayed realistically, therefore the viewer can empathise or at least sympathise with the characters. However, this show also contains stories about various other ... emotions, situations and relationships. This aspect of Violet Evergarden is my favourite, because it lets you experience all these diverse emotions.

Some people critise Violet Evergarden as having "bad characters", but I think that couldn't be further from the truth. Most of the characters that are featured in only 1 or a few episodes are characterised realistically and usually have quite a lot of great character development, relative to the time they were in the show. Nevertheless it all ties in as this show is mainly about Violet and she receives incredible development. Violet vicariously experiences the emotions of people whom the stories are about and progresses as a character. In the course of the show, Violet is constantly changing and evolving, starting to understand her and other people's emotions better. Starting as a "war tool" and knowing no emotions, she develops into a very human and empathetic character.

Futhermore, the animation and music in this show are both exceptional. First, the animation. It is gorgeous every single episode, in my opinion it is one of the best animated non-action shows of all time. But the music is even more remarkable. Violet Evergarden has a huge assortment of original and absolutely beautiful compositions. Many shows have one great piece of music or their OST is average with no songs that stand out, however in the case of Violet Evergarden almost every track is a masterpiece.The animation and especially the music immensely amplify the emotions experienced by the viewer, thusly perfectly fulfilling their purpose and more.

This show is not for everyone, as many people drop it in the first few episodes because they mistake the show's worldbuilding and character introduction that take place in these first few episodes as the show being "boring". And although some people think that throughout the whole show, I believe that most people would find at least one of the various stories emotional and touching and at least appreciate the show for that. As for me, I loved every single episode, although obviously some affected me more than others. But all in all, Violet Evergarden is an absolutely beautiful show, not only in the animation and music, but in the story and characters as well.

10/10

Haikyuu is still as amazing as ever.

I was a bit skeptical about this season, mainly because of the change in artstyle, also because the director changed, but looking back I don't really know why.

It's Haikyuu. Haikyuu can't be bad.

This season retained the Haikyuu spirit. The OST is incredible and not only that, but it is always used at the perfect moment, making the viewer feel hyped or emotional. The character development is exceptional as well, the Karasuno team especially, but others as well are constantly growing and improving, both as players and as people.

The sakuga moments are still there and in the 2nd cour of ... this season, the animation will probably be even better because the staff will be more accustomed to the new artstyle, which bothered me for an episode or two, but now I can't really say I prefer the old one, the new one is great as well.

Also, I wanted to address one point - a lot of people liked this season less than the previous ones, mostly because this season focused on training, setup for the matches and character development, but most of these people are just "adrenaline junkies", who only appreciate Haikyuu for its matches. However, without the setup and development, the matches wouldn't matter as much and wouldn't have a big impact on the viewer. But in Haikyuu these setup episodes are very well executed and extremely enjoyable, that's why Haikyuu is the best.

Haikyuu is the most enjoyable show I've ever seen because every aspect is carried out exceptionally. I love it.

10/10

Review contains some spoilers:

This is going to be a short review/rant about Babylon.

I remember when the first 3 episodes came out everyone was impressed since this show had amazing cinematography and direction, a dark and thrilling atmosphere and the story was executed seemingly very well. It continued to be quite good until the 7th episode, then it had a long break and everything went to shit.

Babylon would have been great if if was just a political thriller with mystery elements. But the suicide law going worldwide and the law in general ruined the show. It is just very unrealistic that people would react to this ... law in such a way (similar laws already exist), the politicians are portrayed very poorly and every decision made in the 2nd half of the show just makes no sense. The discussion that occured in the summit was portrayed as "deep" although it really wasn't, politicians should leave philosophy for actual famous and talented philosophers. Magase is obviously the actual danger, that can bring doom to humanity, but she became just a subplot for most of the 2nd half.

The main aspect of this show - the suicide law just fails as a plot point, since it really doesn't matter because Magase Ai can just persuade literally anyone to kill themselves.

All in all, at the start this show seemed quite profound and well-executed, but really it was pretentious, extremely unrealistic and absurd. My and many people's expectations were shattered by this show, but I'd still recommend watching the first 7 episodes. One or two eps were pretty exceptional, therefore I'm giving Babylon the rating of 3/10 - overall it's a really bad show, but has a few remarkable moments.