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May 16, 2020
If you want to watch a girl punch another girl so hard her ribs break, then you need to watch this show.
This show is a spin-off of the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha franchise, but that’s not important. It's really a mixed martial arts anime that gets brutally violent, which is made immediately apparent from the first few minutes of the show, when our feisty main character gets slammed over the head with a lead pipe and then proceeds to get the shit kicked out of her by a bunch of thugs.
Though not all the fighting is well animated, generally the fights are choreographed fine. You
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won’t get a whole lot of *teleports behind you* “heh nothing personnel kid” (unlike this show’s parent story, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid). There is magic in the show’s universe, but it’s not present in the actual fighting, since the story covers a non-magic tournament. Something you’ll notice right away are the sound effects of the punching and kicking. The sound effects really sell the idea that there’s actual weight behind the punches from these little girls. On top of that, when someone gets hit, you’ll watch their eyes widen in shock and pain. You’ll see them hacking up spit, blood, and teeth. You’ll hear bones breaking. It’s actually kind of funny how often you’ll see someone carried out in a stretcher in this show; it’s almost every other episode. I think you’ll also appreciate that not every fight has an obvious winner.
This show gets oddly detailed in some places, while missing the mark in some obvious areas that can ruin your immersion. For example, when one character carries out revenge on some punks, there are, shockingly, legal consequences for her actions. But how are there punks enrolled at a rich kid school in the first place? And the confrontation following the revenge is even less believable. I also think the character motivations are not totally fleshed out, which calls into question if there are any real stakes in any of these fights. And if you’re looking for a show that takes a deeper dive into fighting technique like Hajime no Ippo, you will probably not be satisfied, though that kind of thing doesn’t matter to me at all.
I do like that the show threw me some minor surprises every now and then. A cliché in shows about competition, such as Ping Pong the Animation, is the dichotomy between in-born talent versus hard work, and the prevailing of one over the other. A coach for one of the girls believes that only talent matters, while, supposedly, the rival coach believes the exact opposite and that only effort matters. In the bonus episodes, she explicitly denies ever holding such a viewpoint, saying that she agrees that there’s such a thing as futile effort, adding some nuance where I anticipated a one-dimensional take on the subject. There was also another instance where one of the girls starts talking to the other in the middle of a match. This isn’t actually that weird in the context of anime, so I was surprised when the round was over that her coach calls her an idiot and tells her that she’ll lose points because of it.
This show isn’t the greatest, but I never got bored watching it, and I think it’ll end up being one of the more memorable things I’ll ever watch. In retrospect, I may have inadvertently watched a show made to appeal ryona fetishists… but whatever.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 23, 2016
Re:Zero is not a bad anime, but it sure does give you a lot of reasons to dislike it.
Liking Re:Zero means accepting rushed plot points that often take giant leaps of logic through horribly incomplete development. It means ignoring the elephant in the room so you can admire the wallpaper. But I wouldn’t write it off completely, because the room called Re:Zero has some pretty fancy wallpaper.
You can tell there was clearly thought underlying the conception of various plot points, but they’re just spliced together in a really unpleasant way. There are so many times when it doesn’t feel like there was a satisfying, logical
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progression from one event to the next in the story. Perhaps it made much more sense in the source material. I don’t know the answer to that. If only the legions of web novel summary readers were here to grace a filthy secondary such as myself with their boundless and unending knowledge of the intricacies of why a person needs to be killed and revived three separate times before they even realize they’ve died, then perhaps I, too, would see why this anime is a perfect and flawless 10/10 masterpiece. I’m sure they could, but that’s missing the point. The bottom line is that the anime watches less like a proper, stand alone adaption and more like a vaguely interesting summary. Naturally, as a summary, details are left out, and in the case of Re:Zero, it seems that many of the details cut from the show were what held the logic of the story together.
There were a couple of red flags early on that tipped me off that the show would be, if nothing else, extremely careless. For one, Subaru is just way too easy to accept the fact that he somehow walked into a fantasy world. He doesn’t even question it, which makes the writing feel rather lazy. Again, I’m not sure how this was portrayed in the source material, but I know that in the anime it makes him look really stupid. But, all right, I’ll forgive it. I think a bigger problem is the point I brought up earlier.
I’m fairly sure that if an average person were brutally killed and then forcefully brought back to life as they were a few hours ago, they’d at least think something was a bit strange. Yet, our dumbass protagonist Subaru dies and respawns THREE different times before he wonders to himself, “Hmm, did I just die? That was weird.” It takes him that long to have the tiniest inkling that he has some kind of new power, or that something supernatural is occurring. He doesn’t even wonder if he’s imagining things or hallucinating, except for a single throwaway line, the implications of which he doesn’t bother pursuing. Instead, we’re forced to watch him bumble around like an idiot for what feels like an eternity. And it’s not that his memories are jumbled up; that’s simply not the angle presented, and if it was supposed to be presented that way, then the director fucked up big time. Normally a complaint like this would be nitpicky, but Subaru’s entire character (at least at this stage) is based in his knowledge of tropes, which the show leans heavily on for comedic relief. It’s just not believable that someone who has the wherewithal to complain that his “starting gear sucks” doesn’t instantly recognize that he’s respawning. It needed to be clear that his memories were being selectively erased, which was apparently the case in the source material. Otherwise, we’re just led to believe that characters are way dumber than they really are. This becomes a sort of pattern throughout the show, where characters seem unreasonably stupid at times, and it is undoubtedly an insurmountable wall to climb for many viewers, as demonstrated by the backlash toward the Re:Zero fanbase. After all, it’s almost impossible to become immersed if you feel like you’re thinking harder about the events of the story than the actual characters are.
Speaking of stupid characters, the introduction to all the candidates for the throne is rife with some of the worst characterization I’ve ever seen. The positions that the candidates present to the council to prove that they would be the best ruler are so one-note and cheesy: “I’m a greedy gal, I want to be richer and I want my own nation!” “I want you all to grovel at my feet!” “Burn it all to the ground!” The anime just chugs along and expects you to accept these seemingly comically stupid characters. Some of the candidates get a little more character development later, but unless your name is Kaiki Deishuu, it’s very hard to recover from an introduction as terrible as theirs. The source material apparently explains their backgrounds in detail, but the presentation in the anime just comes off as laughable.
The story also has some weird inconsistencies. For example, there’s a point in the early episodes where Emilia tells Subaru in private that her name is Satella, which would never make any sense for her to do so in the first place unless she actually were, since Satella is known to be a fearsome and dangerous half-elf witch. There’s a scene soon after in a different timeline where Subaru hadn’t yet met Emilia, and he naively calls her Satella out loud on the street. The crowd makes a huge scene, leaping to her defence and saying something to the effect of, “Don’t be a bigot dude, she’s obviously not Satella, #NotAllHalfElves.” Fast forward 12 episodes later and now suddenly it’s a huge deal since, “That Emilia half-elf bitch is OBVIOUSLY Satella, just look at her!” even though absolutely nothing had actually changed. I get that the writer was trying to drum up sympathy for Emilia by adding some themes of racism, but I feel like that first scene really contradicted that in a very odd way. (And, no, she wasn’t wearing her magic cloak to disguise herself in that first scene, you can check.)
The humor of the show sometimes lands, but it’s often distracting because of how it usually clashes with scenes that you’d think are supposed to be more serious. In particular, the humor revolving around Subaru’s trope recognition is sure to turn off many viewers because how out of place it feels, even if that might be the point.
I’ve ragged enough on the show; let’s take a look at the what it does well—the beauty of the wallpaper, if you will.
This anime is excellent at displaying raw emotions, even if it might not do the best job of building up to the situations that would genuinely lend themselves to these emotions. If you want to see characters explode in rage, keel over in despair, shrivel in shame and regret, or bask in the ugliness of their pride, you will get it. The voice acting definitely helps to sell these scenes.
The sound design overall was definitely the unsung hero of the show. There are some sound effects that are used to perfection to create tension, such as that creepy chanting that’s sometimes played when Subaru respawns, or when the entrance of the Whale is greeted by the most (intentionally) generic sounding ringtone ever, or, my personal favorite, that choral “Ah!” sound that’s played sometimes when there’s a discovery (it sounds like it was ripped straight out of Diablo 2, it’s great). And I would be remiss not to mention how the show often interlaces the ending song into the show itself to stir the emotions, which would have been very effective if I actually gave a damn about the characters.
And, while often the show seems to leave out too many details to make certain parts of the story believable, there are so many times when it is good at actually being subtle, rather than just abridged. Though not perfectly done, I think the anime does a great job at developing Subaru’s ugly pride as the story progresses, such as when he spouts arrogant and selfish lines that are clearly not meant to be comedic relief, or when there’s a quick cut to him grinning cockily when he convinces himself that he’s the hero who’s going to save everyone. I say it’s not quite perfect because I feel like it’s something that came up rather suddenly after the mansion arc, and it cheats a bit, since he never actually stops being prideful even when the show frames it in a way to try and fool you into thinking that he has changed (“You get a front row seat to seeing me become the most awesome hero ever!” in episode 19), and it seems more like a mistake than something intentionally written into the story. But I admire the effort nonetheless.
In fact, I think that’s really the best part of Re:Zero, how it slowly clues you in on Subaru’s relation to the Sin Archbishops, which seems to be an inevitable future plot point, and because of this, I’m still interested in the final destination of the story, should there be a continuation. But if it continues to have the same adaption problems, especially considering how anticlimactic the ending was (and how it contradicted the whole “pride” theme of the second half of the show), I can’t say I’m excited at all for the actual journey to get there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 24, 2014
Is it possible to like something that is completely unoriginal? According to Nisekoi, yes, it is.
When Nisekoi was slated for an anime production by studio Shaft, the fans of the manga were torn between elation that it was actually being adapted and complete terror that Shaft would be doing it. If you’re not aware with the common stereotypes of anime studios, a frank description of Shaft would be, “They do whatever they want.” Shaft has never been shy of putting their own... unique spin on their adaptions. And, hey, whatta ya know, it actually works.
The Shaft visuals are capable of turning a
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few heads, but they’re never overpowering as they are in many of their other shows, and the story and setting have an inexplicable charm to them despite the fact that literally every character and literally every situation has been done before.
Story: 6/10
The story of Nisekoi is not one of its strong points. I don't think anybody but the most diehard fans would even bother offering any sort of rebuttal here. It plays on almost every cliché in the book, from the childhood promise, to the fated encounter, to the downright absurd misunderstandings, even to the freaking beach episode, that I can’t help but think that this is all some elaborate parody of the harem genre. If it is, then the author did a damn good job because it certainly feels like one.
If you're looking for something believable, you won't find anything of the sort here. I realize that this is fiction, but there is a line up to where I'm willing to suspend my disbelief and Nisekoi clearly crosses it. I understand that we don't remember that much from our childhood, but do you really expect me to believe that a person would completely forget nearly every friend he had—not just their faces and names, but their actual existence? Is this where the “main character gets amnesia from an injury” cliché comes in?
I know every harem can get a little ridiculous, and I'm going to criticize it every time.
Art & Animation: 9/10
Typically there's not a whole lot of action going on in high school romantic comedies and harems, so the “Art & Animation” category is really just an “Art & Waifus” rating. Are the girls waifu material? (Alternatively, are the boys husbando material?) If so, 10/10, anime of the year, etc. Jokes aside, it's true that there really isn't much to say other than the art is pleasant. Everything is just solid and complement the scenes well.
However, I think this section deserves more discussion however simply due to the fact that Shaft is at work. As I've stated, many fans of the manga were worried that Shaft would take their style too far and that it would detract heavily from the source material, which many believe to be too inherently “normal” to be deflowered by Shaft's hands, but fortunately that was not the case here. Sure, you've got Shinbo's signature camera angles and a few strangely elaborate backgrounds (and some intentionally simple ones), but these don't define the show as they might have in Bakemonogatari or Madoka Magica.
Nisekoi is a Shaft show, sure, but it is not definitively so, which comes as a great relief to many, I'd imagine.
Sound: 7/10
The voices are perfect. That's all that needs to be said. There was not a single voice that didn't fit a character to the tee.
The soundtrack is neither great nor distracting. To be honest, I can't really pick out more than one song that I'd actually remember being played, and I usually am a huge fan of background music and pay a lot of attention to it. It all sort of blended in, and I'm frankly not sure whether that's a good or bad thing.
My only genuine complaint is that the opening and ending songs are just so generic. Though, now that I think about it, maybe that was the whole point. Regardless, I didn't really find myself liking any of them. ClariS didn't really try to make their tracks stand out from any of their others, and some harsher critics might say that none of theirs are ever original-sounding. As for the character songs: it's always nice to hear the characters sing, but the songs just weren't that great.
Characters: 7/10
If the story is cliché and generic, could it be possible that the characters rise to the occasion and present themselves as deep, fleshed out vessels complete with compelling motivations and relatable desires and realistic decisions?
Nope.
The tsundere main girl? Check. The “good girl” (a.k.a. the Yamato nadeshiko)? Check. The perverted best friend that gets his ass handed to him every episode? Check. There is literally no character that isn't a practically a carbon copy of a past character or at the very least a blending of two. On top of that, the main characters are dense as dense can be, which makes it so easy for the ridiculous misunderstandings to manifest.
So why would I give this an acceptable score of 7/10? See the next section.
Enjoyment: 9/10
All of my complaining might actually convince someone that I dislike this anime because of how generic it is. On the contrary; I find all of the enjoyment in reveling in just how cliché nearly every moment is. If you've seen even 2 or 3 harems (and I've probably seen dozens), you can call out just about everything that is going to happen in each episode and in each scene. It's that predictable. Yet, there is an inexplicable charm which pervades the series. Yes, I was literally facepalming at nearly every scene in the show, but underneath that palm was a gigantic smile that I just couldn't hold back.
Overall: 7/10
Nisekoi is not a groundbreaking anime by any means, but if it has proven one thing, it’s that originality is extremely overrated. All you need is a little charm, solid execution, and, of course, waifus. There's a reason that this story and these characters have been done before, and that's because they're enjoyable. Perhaps some of us are just in denial.
Here's for the inevitable season 2.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 4, 2014
Following the massive successes of the Madoka and Monogatari franchises, Shaft found itself a sizable new fanbase, awaiting with bated breath, eager to bear witness to their next big hit. This eagerness was answered with the adaption of the light novel Sasami-san@Ganbaranai. Were these new fans sated by their new weekly dosage of still frames and headtilts? Let’s just say that these fans are still holding their breaths. Unfortunately for Shaft, the reception was quite the contrary. To call Sasami-san merely a disappointment would be an unforgivable understatement.
Perhaps the main problem of Sasami-san, much like Hataraku Maou-sama, is that it
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suffers from an enormous identity crisis. Is it an ecchi comedy? Is it an introspective commentary on hikkikomori shut-ins? Is it a dark, plot-centric epic battle between the gods? All and none of the above. There are certainly points where it tries to be humorous and then inexplicably and suddenly decides to take itself seriously and somehow expect us to do so as well, particularly during the mother arc. And, occasionally, it will mix the two—rather inappropriately, I might add. As just one example, the art and animation shifts into a comedic style during what was supposed to be the tense, climactic finale. If this show was more decisive and chose SOME direction with the plot, either as a full-blown ecchi comedy or a dark and edgy conflict of gods and secret organizations, it would have fared much better. Some shows can handle having serious elements sprinkled with comedic relief, but Sasami-san clearly showed an utter incapacity to do so.
Like most Shaft works, the art is consistently inconsistent. At times I cannot help but marvel at the sheer beauty and creativity of the way some things are portrayed, such as the light filtering in Sasami’s room which makes it look like it’s done entirely by watercolors (I’m a sucker for Shaft backgrounds); yet, I can’t help but laugh at the utterly lazy and uninspired art and animation that occasionally found their way into some scenes.
This brings me to my next point: the characters. While the character designs themselves are not necessarily bad, I would not call them “good,” either. Most look average at best, while the worst offenders are dull blobs. Not only are characters superficially unremarkable, but the personalities underneath are nothing to write home about either. You can immediately guess the personality of each character simply by their designs. Some might consider this to be a success; however, I disagree in this case because, frankly, the personalities are disappointingly stale. Most characters are not original or interesting in the least, almost every single one being a generic rehash of established archetypes we see in every other anime. If you can predict a character’s every decision simply because of a strict adherence to their archetype, something is wrong. Beauty is not merely skin deep here.
Sasami-san is a show easily forgotten with virtually nothing special about it. It makes me worry about Shaft's upcoming attempt at the manga Nisekoi. Will it become a Monogatari, or will it, like Sasami-san and Dance in the Vampire Bund, join Shaft’s ranks of mediocre anime adaptions? Let’s cross our fingers and hope it’s the former.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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