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Jul 12, 2020
Looking at the hype for the new season, I decided to rewatch the first two seasons, to refresh my memories of them and why apparently (including me, at the time) enjoyed the series so much.
And, I must say, I regretted doing so.
Also, mild spoilers ahead.
I don't really want to go in-depth on every aspect of Oregairu since art and sound are absolutely amid the standards of genre/time.
Instead, I found myself loathing the characters, their development, and their environment, thus that will be the top of my "review".
Beginning from the side characters, might it be that I've grown tired of the usual anime
...
tropes, or maybe I simply grew old, I absolutely abhorred characters like Saika, whose "trap-tropes" are so incredibly pushed to leap the ridicule to land onto the cringe-worthy. Shouldn't be necessary to say, it's not the presumed sexual orientation of the character to be the accused part. Hell no, the absence of a "real" same-sex relationship and its reduction to a "cutey" trope in this medium is something that I loathe. It's instead its representation and its usefulness only pointed toward shipping that hurts the series so much.
The "imouto" character, as always, is the "cutesy-speaks in a third person form" trope pushed so much to the limit to throw me out of immersion. As Komachi would be an interesting character, her speech pattern cuts off any interest I could have in her. Yes, she also kinda play on the stereotype, kind of joking with it, but that would be supported if the majority of her lines weren't, in fact, stereotypical.
Komachi isn't the only sister with issues, as Haruno's presence is beneficial only as a villainess. Let me expand on it. My opinion is that a villain is good when it's not announced, when it's moving things behind the scenes or acts as a deus ex machina, when you can empathize with it, when there is a reason behind its actions. Haruno fails on all these points. Her presence is always stressed by a change of mood, be it in music, visual, or characters' behavior. To stress this more, she's present in many scenes where her influence is minimal if not completely absent, while her actions appear to be pointed only to her amusement. If there is another reason why she acts as she does, it's completely obscure so far.
Even more so by the overuse of what I call the "riddle speech". That is, speaking broadly, saying something that means absolutely nothing, or it means something only to the characters in place. Might it be an issue with localization, might it be the humble-not wanting to hurt one's feelings in the Japanese culture, but Oregairu is filled with riddle speeches.
Not only Haruno, but also, if not mostly, the main trio, loves to practices this.
Hachiman and Yukino are probably the masters in this, whereas both the characters loath insincerity, stressing this issue more and more as the series goes on.
Yes, this is a plot driver, but having the characters act out of character to drive the plot is a complete no go.
In Oregairu, the largest plot climaxes are driven by "differences in points of view", that are usually nothing more than differences in wording, while the resolution of these problems is taken by big speeches that actually land into nothing, with no real resolution, and a shift to a happy ending.
I found the biggest and worst example of this in Hachiman's "I want something real" speech. As the speech goes on, you mature the idea that he's growing from his solitude and cynism to a search for proximity and affection, to be identified by someone as a friend, not as an issue. (on a personal note, I appreciated the character complete bluntness, as opposed to the usual politeness seen in manga/anime/novels)
The speech diverges more and towards its opposite, refuting statements said a moment earlier, apparently just for the sake of saying something smart and sympathizing and lands in a completely abstract sentence such as "I want something real".
From there, with the "I don't understand" said by Yukino, the shift in the characters' characterization becomes blatant. The sincerity, bluntness the both of them are looking for in people and for what they're known is replaced by the "cool guy and introvert girl" trope, landing to a pseudo happy ending with the search for an answer.
This is the point where my already low expectations of the series crashed, where the sympathy I had for the main cast died, and where I'll put an end to the review.
To sum it up, Oregairu is not a "bad" series per se. It's an average series at best, that could use (some) of their characters to create an interesting story, but in the end lands as the standard love school, harem, drama. I don't say I was looking for a realistic anime, it's escapism, in the end, but this anime doesn't deserve the praise that it has.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 21, 2018
Let's be honest. Even if you sugar coat shit, it will still remain shit. Even if they tell you how gorgeous it looks, how deep it is, well in the deep is still shit.
That's exactly what Mawaru Penguindrum is.
I arrived here from being suggested by a top list of "mature" anime, and between all the "Ergo Proxy", "Psycho-Pass" and "Ghost In The Shell", Maway picked up my attention, because of the look, the synopsis, and most of all, because it was the only one I hadn't seen yet. So I prepared myself for a nice trip on a colourful yet deep journey. Except
...
I found myself watching a painful trainwreck into, well, nothing.
I'll try to keep it short.
Starting with the story. There are surely interesting starting points, or better, most of the "arcs" start well, just to end with a big "puff", leaving nothing behind but questions. in this crescendo of absolutely nothing, you finally reach the climax of the last episodes, still wondering how did we get there, why did that happen, how the..."PUFF"
About the notable "symbolism", the "deepness" and what not... Apples and soulmates". Just sayin'
About the art... Surely it's colourful, animations absolutely interesting to see. When you see one, I mean. The more you go on with Mawaru, the more you'll just see still frames, or worse, the same animation repeated again and again. Don't know if that's because of production costs or whatnot, actually, I don't care, I loved Monogatari, in the end. But there was something solid, there, at least.
Loved the cardboard people, tho.
Nothing much to complain about the sound. Everything kinda fit...
and then you have Himari's voice. Should I write about her extremely cute pitch or the magnificence of her acting? "PUFF"
The characters are actually quite good. The 4 main characters have nicely defined personalities, all 81 of them. It's just important to remember that this is an anime, and in order to be part of the cast, is essential for the applicants to be the most idiotic and insecure retard as possible. Lesson number one, use the aizuchi as much as you can.
I would say that I feel like I lost a lot of time watching Mawaru Penguindrum, time that I could have spent better, like knitting a brand new chainmail for my pet iguana or vehemently stabbing my pinkie with a straw.
I'm actually still trying to understand just why I didn't drop it.
Will come back as soon as I get it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Oct 26, 2018
Ok, for once, I would like to do a review FULL of spoilers, just for the sake of pointing out everything ridiculous in this series.
I presume you know the Final Destination series, you know, that one where some dumb American coeds die in every whimsical way you can think of. You watch it and say "that's stupid", but still they were doomed from the beginning, so all's well what ends well.
Please add to that the typical "NANI??" antics of Japanese animation.
You'll get some dumb people, dying in every whimsical way, while thinking "what is happening???". All of that, just because.
But let's go to the
...
facts. And here we go with spoilers.
People dying in a specific classroom for 26 (twenty-six) years because there is a curse, whatever, and the "person in excess" kills some random guy. This is the background of this story. So. in 26 years, a lot of people die. I'd say, I would have been a tad scared to go to that school right after the first year, but no, apparently a few deaths just rise the value of the place. Maybe, after a couple of years, I would have dismissed the specific class, if I were the school president, or at least, I would have been forced to, due to a remarkable absence of new students. But, no, that would be stupid. You know, it's just people dying. In all of this, nobody would try to call the usual anime specialist of the sort, like, the police, or Ghostbusters. whoever.
Anyway, the death toll keeps going on for 26 years. Looks like that putting new students in the class and excluding (bullying) them, could be a nice solution. good.
More than that. Why the "uninvited +1" should kill A LOT of people?
There's one seat less, just let one random guy die, no?
So, we have an MC (the uninvited +1) that with literally every move he makes, someone gets killed. In all of that, he absolutely refuses to hold back a bit and even better, he never feels a hint of guilt. Probably the studio worked so much on his "shocked" expression that it felt a waste not to use it. You would think that someone would grow with this kind of gruesome experiences, but even at the end, he's just the same old useless (yes, he's completely useless throughout the series) kid that just wants to put his hands under his partner's pants.
The other MC (the former uninvited +1, the pants owner) manages to keep being a decent character for almost all the series. She's cool, she knows her place, and what not. A great character that apparently knows who the "killer" (can't find another term) is, right from, well, forever. Let's just point out that the spannung of "I'll tell you who the killer is... The killer is......" goes on for the last two episodes. Right, two episodes are kinda too much for me. Well, maybe it is for the fact that in the time the spannung is resolved ten people die (badly), a villa is burnt, slowly but steadily, but most of all in a really chilled way and an illogical number of thunders strike right the places there they are (thunders and umbrella are serial killers in this series). In all this vortex of events, she, literally, doesn't say a word. Still, the coup de thetre worked well, so kudos! A last memorable mention is her dialogue at the end
"since when did you know"?
"..."
"why didn't you say anything?"
"what for?"
With that "what for", I'll finish it here. I'd really like to write more. But let's keep this easy.
Just to point out the other details:
Story: see above, terrible,
Art: mediocre. Nothing special or new in design. While the animations were just ok. Well done for the deaths, not that good whenever else.
Sound: poor. The worst opening I've heard in years, but that's personal taste. The voice-over has some problems.
Characters: pathetic. A bunch of idiots, assholes or the two together.
Enjoyment: very good! I couldn't stop laughing a few times.
So, if you're looking for a good comedy with lots of blood this is your series.
But if you feel your heart ache and your mind explode while watching someone that in the middle of a fire stands, completely unscathed, takes his phone and makes a call, I'll suggest you to avoid it, and go to Another series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Oct 17, 2018
Sangatsu no Lion is a completely pointless series, revolving around a few more than flat characters.
I'll try to be as spoiler free as possible while pointing out what I think worked and what not.
Story: 3
In a few words, the story in Sangatsu no Lion is "playing shogi". For as much as I would like to say that it talks about a kid growing, fighting his fears, learning how to relate to other people, eventually understanding how to live one's life, all of this is just barely touched, focusing more on "what if I moved the pawn in A7 instead of B2?". In 22 episodes, absolutely
...
nothing relevant happens. No epiphanies, no events, no change, or if something happens, it's brushed off in an incredibly simplistic way.
We could think that since this is a Slice of Life, it reflects reality as it is, and oh, it does it perfectly. But please don't tell me that your usual, every day, routine lives are worth a series. Mine, is not.
Art: 6
For as much as I love shaft, the style here is pretty different from their usual. The colour palette, the watercolour-ish style, the animation itself were really pleasant to watch, as they give a warm vibe when it's needed, but doesn't work so well in the more "cold" scenes. Also, the classic shaft antics recur here as well, and maybe, they weren't so needed. What really bothers me here is the character design. From the beginning to the end of the series, the characters lose more and more punchiness and details, starting from a very specific character design (those mouths, really?) ending with a generic character from any other series of the last decade.
Sound: 5
Not much to say here
OTs and EDs are not so bad, but also not memorable. I finished the series half an hour ago and I already forgot what they sound like. Same goes for the background sounds and music. About the voices, the cast is galactic, it worked pretty well.
Characters: 3
Let's say you try to give an honest vote to your completely normal neighbour, or the guy that used to sit on the left corner in your classroom. That would be pretty hard, I imagine. The same goes here. The characters are completely normal people, but instead of having those many hues a normal person would have, they are just parodies of their "IRL" counterparts.
The MC is the usual "kind of problematic" character. Introvert, social issues, no friends, focused only on shogi. You keep watching him doing nothing, saying a lot of "I will whatever", then going back doing nothing. Just stupidly thinking about shogi. So much to forget to drink for days! Can you imagine that?
The female cast is the "obliviously-incredibly-good-and-sweet-girl-that-oh-so-love-to-help-you-for-whatever-reason-and-obviously-loves-sweets". As too often, the women in Sangatsu are put in the kitchen or related domestic areas, and those are the only moments in which you see them. Since it's a shogi anime, you could think there are also female shogi players, but no, the only one that you can see doesn't play anymore.
Is the rest of the cast worth mentioning? the fat but passionate kiddo, the cold and invincible player, the mentor, the blonde with weird haircut guy?
Enjoyment 3/ Overall 4
I think I said everything I had to, with very bad grammar and vocabulary, though, but since this anime has been so hyped up, I could not keep it in.
Sangatsu no Lion fails on every front. It fails in narrating a story, even a slice of life story, introducing elements that will be lost in the next scene, breaking tragedy or tension with out of place comedy, but still failing with both of them. It fails with its characters, with too good or too bad people that could exist in other genres, or using cliched characters that, as usual, follow the flow with no question asked. It also fails with the art, lowering the quality episode after episode.
So, there are a lot of way better anime out there. Go see them.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Aug 12, 2018
This series is so abysmal that I really think I should write a line or two about it.
TL: DR version. Shiki sucks so much that it made a 360 degrees turn and it ended sucking more. If you enjoy watching the worst characters ever made, please do.
Story: 2
I won't write a synopsis, there are already too many of them.
I gave a 2, just because the premise could be interesting. Pity is that after the 2nd episode you already know where everything is going to go, and I had to suspend my disbelief so much that it will probably have to repeat a year.
Nothing
...
that happens makes sense, with actions driven by dumb characters that will make you jump off your seat, just by how dumb they are.
Art: 1 I could probably have appreciated some of the backgrounds, or a few animations, but the character design has hurt me so much that I think I will have to look for someone's comfort. Feels like Yu Gi Oh plus JoJo, plus dead people, but worse. I won't say much about the animation, not incredible nor awful, but I really want to point out that incredible "NOOOOOOO" scene, that gave me the chills. Like, embarrassment chills.
Sound: the only thing that actually works in the series. the dubbing is good, except for the usual, annoying creepy laughter; the music fits the moments, and the OPs and EDs are, erm... ok, I think?
Characters: 1
By now, I thought I would be used to moronic characters that just actlike morons for 12 episodes. But usually there are a few of them, you know?
Handling with a whole town of absolute idiots, for 24 whole episodes, tho, is really proving.
Apart from the design, that makes you think that these guys spent way too much fixing their hair instead of thinking logically, there is absolutely no logic behind their actions.
Whenever you see a character deciding something, in the remote chance that this happens, it's a completely stupid decision. It's so incredibly impossible to be empathetic with any of them, that I ended laughing when anyone died while the others looked with shocked eyes. The hell, it's the hundredth death, you should have at least an idea of what's happening now, don't you?
Enjoyment: 2
I manage to complete the series and actually had lots of fun watching stupid people doing moronic things, but I presume that wasn't the meaning behind the show. No, that sucked, like, a lot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Nov 12, 2017
So.
I'll break my "no reviews policy" just to point out how dreadful, cringeworthy and mortifying this show is.
I managed to reach episode 6, hence all my points are based on this first half, who knows if it will get better, maybe this will become the show of the century, I don't know, and most of all I don't care.
story: 1/10
no zeroes in MAL, unfortunately, but Sho-Bitch would absolutely worth it.
There is absolutely no story in this anime, except for the proposal at the very first minute of the show. Every episode is centered around sexual puns and jokes. usually, you get a couple and you're
...
good for the week, you can go outside and think you're still a worthy person. Here you have erotic jokes literally every sentence. I'd like to say it's frustrating, but it's a tad more than that.
There is though a slight, small, thin, kinda invisible growth in the MCs. But you need to pay a lot of attention to notice it.
art: 3/10
ok, the art is bad. is pretty, pretty bad, but there are worse shows around, so I'll try to be good here. There are no good visuals, no good backgrounds, no good animations (gosh, it's already hard to find an animation, actually). But, still. It's not abysmal as (a few) other animes.
sound: 3/10
I swear I cannot remember a single note of the OP or whatever. And it would be nice to be able to say something about the background music if only I could recall background music.
characters: 1/10
There are actually just two characters in Sho-Bitch.
The first is a useless, idiotic, subhuman MC that you just want to kick from here to eternity, most of all because you (I) can't understand how could he want to relate to someone like the "heroine". But most of all, how come that he doesn't take advantage of the whole situation. Are you a friggin man or what?
For the second character. Well, it's like a conglomerate of horny women who apparently gravitate around the MC's dick in an endless fall.
Three, or four, completely identical characters that put you in the very hard position of hating them or just punch the monitor in front of you.
enjoyment: 1/10
I'll just say that finding the least enjoyment in this show is the most enjoyable part.
It's been very, very hard to get to the sixth episode, but I tend to give second chances.
Not here, not again
As a final note
If you're looking for something arousing, just skip this crap.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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