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Dareka no Manazashi (DnM for short) is a short film directed by Makoto Shinkai - if you're an anime fan in any capacity, you're probably familiar with some of the titles he's directed, such as Byousoku 5 Centimeter and the more recent Kimi no Na wa. His films are often described as bittersweet and sentimental, and this is also the case with DnM. However, the short length and consequential underdevelopent of the many plot points the film presents left me feeling underwhelmed - like this was something that had the potential to be emotionally touching, if given more time.

DnM is visually stunning, featuring vibrant colors, ... attractive character designs and skilled use of lighting to match the story's emotional shifts. However, the "near future" setting adds nothing to the overall story - it could have just as easily taken place in the present.

The voice actors portrayed their characters with conviction and heart. The music was soft piano for the bulk of the film and a piano ballad at the end, which fit the mood of the story well. All aspects of sound featured in DnM were pleasing but nothing spectacular.

The story of DnM centers around Aya Okamura and the evolution of her relationship with her family, and many focal points of this relationship are shown, past and present, ups and downs. The common thread between these plot points is that very little time is spent on any of them, preventing the viewer from establishing much of a meaningful connection with the plot or the characters portrayed in the story. Speaking of the characters, they've got a surprising amount of personality for the short time they're shown, but because we don't get to see that much of them it's hard to find yourself caring about their lives, day-to-day troubles, or relationships with one another. The themes of the story, in addition, are underexplored due to the film's brevity and quick switches from scene to scene.

I do have one gripe about a potential "plothole", which is strange for a film that isn't even seven minutes long - it has no impact on the events of the story, but left me slightly puzzled. Near the end of the film, it's heavily implied that the narrator is one of the characters from the story. However, this narrator describes events as if they were there from before their character was actually introduced in the story, which raises questions. Whether this was an oversight or just Shinkai taking creative liberties with the narration, I found it a bit odd.

Overall, DnM is a good example of an adequate film that could have been much better given more time to grow and develop. There's a lot here with potential that is never met, which is a shame, but the framework for a more solid film is present.

When it comes to judging the quality of series' I've watched, one metric I use to separate the wheat from the chaff, and one that I feel is overlooked far too often, is pacing. Good pacing, in combination with the other attributes of a series, is crucial to my overall investment in said series. Take The Tatami Galaxy for example; exposition seems to fly by at first, but the viewer is often provided oases of slower-paced, thoughtful dialogue to take refuge in and reflect upon what they've been shown or told. Another example of good pacing is Aria; the series proceeds at a consistently relaxed ... (read: kinda slow) pace, but this leisurely feel works in tandem with the series' soothing visuals and atmosphere to create a sense of peace and revitalization within the viewer. On the other hand, bad pacing can make a series hard to keep up with if it goes by too quickly or bore you out of your mind if it *really* takes its time to get where it's going. Occultic;Nine (abbreviated O;N from now on) falls into the former category, and therein lies my main issue with the series - it largely operates on one speed, and that's breakneck. In short, O;N lacks dynamic pacing, and this can negatively effect all of the aforementioned categories by which a series is judged.

O;N takes place in Musashino, Japan, where our nine (yes... nine) protagonists share a fascination with the occult or the science by which occult phenomena can supposedly be explained. Mysterious happenings start to occur in the city, and upon further investigation, the morbid truths surrounding these happenings begin to reveal themselves. This premise is interesting enough, but the rapid-fire manner in which the story is presented can often be vexing. Episodes skip from scene to scene and character to character without much warning, and the exposition dialogue can be quite difficult to follow if you aren't pausing once every few seconds to read the subtitles. Because of this scattered method of storytelling, you can discern that O;N is attempting to present itself like a set of puzzle pieces to be thoroughly examined and carefully put together, but instead of laying said pieces out on a table so you can get a good look at them, they're just kind of thrown past you, allowing you a fleeting glimpse of what they look like before they're halfway across the room. O;N would have done well to center its focus on one scenario at a time, allowing viewers to soak things in rather than be doomed to mutter a sheepish "I kinda get it" before moving on in the story. Watch the first episode for a great example of what I'm talking about.

The characters of O;N range from likable (Gamon, Moritsuka) to annoying (Ryo-tas) to forgettable (Sumikaze), but all suffer from the same problem that characters in similarly-paced series often do - you never really feel like you've gotten to know them. Gamon is the main protagonist of the series and thus receives the most attention, and we as viewers become comfortable with his spastic otaku personality; however, he never really seems to undergo much overall development as a person other than that, well, he knows more about what's going on as the story progresses and reacts in the way that you would expect a spastic otaku to react - with bombastic emotion. Ririka Nishizono, an artistic seer of sorts, is also a protagonist of the series, but we hardly ever see her, and as such almost no time is spent discussing who she is or how she feels about the events unfolding around her. When characters are presented in this way, as catalysts to events with little attention devoted to their personalities and backgrounds, they begin to feel like walking plot devices rather than human beings, and we can never really relate to them or find a reason to care about what happens to them. I will say that the dialogue between certain characters, especially when Moritsuka or Gamon is involved, is often clever and entertaining, one of the few things that kept me watching the show. The antagonists are a very generic bunch with very generic motives, and get around ten minutes of screentime total, which is pretty unusual and not a very good directorial choice if you want the viewer to root against them - personally, I couldn't care about them considering how little development they were given.

In terms of art, O;N is presented fairly well - you can tell the artists and animators involved are dedicated to their craft, there's few to no blindingly-obvious hiccups in animation quality, and the art does a good job of capturing the dark, brooding atmosphere the series is attempting to convey. O;N's sound is nothing to write home about - the voice actors play their parts well, but the music neither helps nor harms the series much, not getting in the way but not bringing much emotion to the table either.

My overall impression of O;N is that it's a 24-episode series attempting to tell its story in 12 episodes, which is generally a recipe for disaster. Dialogue moves too fast, there's too much information and exposition crammed into too little space, and none of the characters ever seem to develop much, at least when compared to most other 12-episode series. The story, setting, and characters feel incomplete overall - not because the ending was horrifically unsatisfactory or anything like that, but because it feels like a bunch of details that would have fleshed everything out weren't included. Sure, we get a bunch of technobabble about how some of the occult phenomena in the series work, but little in the form of development to get us attached to anything that's happening or the people it's happening to.

I want to make it clear that, unlike lost-cause shows that were doomed to fail from the start due to inherently flawed characters or stories, O;N had the potential to be interesting if it wasn't so tightly-packed. Rather than being able to immerse yourself in this series, you can only watch it go by at sonic speed, a blur of colors, sound and light, and imagine what it might be like if it just fucking stood still for a second.

Chirin no Suzu (or CnS for short) is reminiscent of classic, olden-day fables in the duality it strikes between joyful innocence and overwhelming sorrow. Notable for its subversion of the sugary, saccharine nature of modern children's stories, the film refuses to pander to children's base expectations or delicate sensibilities, instead encouraging them to think about the complex lessons and ideas that are illustrated within.

The film's protagonist, Chirin, is a playful, curious lamb without a care in the world until his mother is taken from him by a vicious, bloodthirsty wolf named Woe. Rather than cower in fear at the prospect of being eaten, however, Chirin ... chooses to strike out on his own and become that which is feared. At first, his intentions are fairly noble - to avenge his mother's death by taking down Woe - but Chirin undergoes a transformation of body and soul which reflects the new world he discovers, and CnS questions the idea that his newfound strength is cause for celebration.

All aspects of CnS are consistently fair to impressive in terms of quality and presentation. The art style and animation of the film are typical 1970's fare, which is to be expected, but have aged fairly well and are overall pleasing to look at. A dynamic and moody orchestral soundtrack follows the story's emotional ups and downs, giving them additional impact. Being a children's story, CnS features somewhat simplistic dialogue, but there's little cause for concern there as it still manages to convey the story's messages quite well.

Ultimately, CnS serves as a stark but necessary reminder that life is inherently unpredictable and that, rather than expecting this part of existence to disappear when we make changes in ourselves, we must accept that things won't always go according to plan.

Honobono Log is a celebration of human relationships and how, moment by moment, they change our lives for the better. The series' ten episodes present concise but meaningful interactions between couples, friends, and parents and their children, but there is a clear emphasis on romantic relationships.

HL is episodic and lacks a central story, so no form of continuity exists, and characters never stick around long enough to be developed. For the short time they're shown to us, however, these characters' personalities are likable and believable, and their interactions and chemistry are enjoyable to watch. Rather than hindering the series, HL's unusual super-short format is a ... boon in illustrating the extraordinary joy that can be found within ordinary, passing moments when they're spent with the people you love.

The art of HL is fairly crude and the animation is choppy, but there's not much movement going on anyway. Characters' faces are expressive and emotional, which is what's important in a series so focused on feelings.

To expect life-changing epiphanies from HL would be to miss the point of the series. The keyword here is simplicity. You're unlikely to come away from HL a changed person or experience any extreme emotions upon watching it, but if you learn to enjoy the moment, as the characters in the series do, you'll quickly pick up on the themes of togetherness the series presents and leave with a big grin on your face (and maybe feeling a little bit jealous if you're single like me).