(First of all, let me state that I assume that you, yes you, who is currently reading my text, knows what happened in this season. If this isn’t the case, then beware of spoilers!)
*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS*
You know, there was a special anime once. No, a really special one. At first I actually didn't like it at all, and I also found it quite confusing and uninteresting. A “run of the mill shonen”, isn’t that what they call it? At least I thought that it was something exactly like that. But the longer it went on, the better it got, and with a
...
certain second part of a third season it reached its absolute climax. It was so good that this anime almost had legendary status for me. And then I sat there, shocked and eagerly waiting for each new episode, watching one twist chasing the next and seeing how it became greater with every single episode. But of course even that season had to end once, too, and I couldn't wait to find out how the story would go on.
Then I heard it: A final season was announced. I could hardly believe my luck, finally the time had come. But the first trailer unsettled me; was that still the anime I knew from back then? The first episode aired, and I watched it with doubts but also with great anticipation. And shall I tell you something? I was disappointed. My god this use of CGI, how could they do that? My beloved anime was destroyed by a single studio! Other people thought the same as I did, and a wave of hatred spread across the internet. And even though I single-handedly wanted to set the studio on fire, I kept watching. What choice did I have, after all? Week after week I waited. I waited for it to finally end so that I could find my redemption. It may sound like an exaggeration, but I've literally given up and lost faith that this show could still be saved in any way.
But then I noticed it: My own stupidity. Judging an anime only by animation? Complaining about glimpses of unsightly scenes? Yes, of course it's true, using CGI that often wasn’t the nicest thing to look at. However, to think that this can completely destroy an anime is not true. My feelings were deceiving me, and so, to pay respect to the anime I loved so much, I decided to watch that season again from the beginning. And oh boy, there’s a lot we got to talk about.
And yes, you guessed it right (which probably wasn't that difficult), I'm talking about the one and only: “Attack on Titan: The Final Season”.
To start things off, and furthermore to find a good introduction to the topic, let's talk simply about the aforementioned first episode. The episode that I thought was so bad, awful, terrible and whatnot. But in truth, it offered us, the audience, everything we could’ve asked for. Nothing big happens in terms of the story, but it’s characterized by the facts that 1. we get a look at the other side of the world for the first time, and 2., old characters return and new ones are introduced. Falco and Gabi, those who play the biggest role of those new characters in the later course, are perfectly represented by their words and deeds in that episode.
Gabi, a girl who, driven by her hatred, wants to wipe out all people (especially our Eldia devils) just to make her family proud and to free her people from oppression. She doesn’t think about situations herself, but strictly obeys her orders. Without weighing what might be right or wrong, she simply believes what she was told from an early age. The will to inherit the Colossal Titan from her brother is made increasingly clear by her, and shows how important all this is to Gabi.
Interestingly, to make a connection to real events, I think Isayama was kind of “inspired” by Hitler, his ideology and the events that came along with him. Because Hitler, as it should be well known, used the racial idea to accuse an ethnic group of evil acts, which they, as a matter of fact, never committed in the past or in the present. But people didn't care about that, because as long as you have an enemy, or rather a scapegoat, to whom you can assign everything bad in the world, then it's pretty easy to find approval as a result. It’s not necessarily the same case in Attack on Titan, but this blind hatred, which was given to all children from an early age, can be transferred here. For just as the children of the Third Reich despised the Jews, just as all of Marley's children despise the Eldia. Even the Eldia, as we remember Gabi, hate their own bloodline, but of course only the bad ones from the island of Paradis, since they are particularly depraved. The absurdity of this matter is easy to grasp, but unfortunately that's never enough. Once such a situation has arisen, it is difficult to resolve it again.
Let's talk briefly about my boy Falco. His protective nature, especially when it comes to Gabi, becomes clear very quickly, e.g. when he tries to save her after she has thrown a grenade, although he puts himself in great danger. Wanting to sacrifice himself, Falco even wants to inherit the Colossal Titan, just so that Gabi doesn’t have to die. That shows what Gabi means to him. That being said, it’s even more unfortunate that he’s actually permanently nothing more than her appendage, and has to take blows all the time, just because Gabi had done something again. Both have quite a unique relationship to each other, but this gets clearer later in the anime.
What this episode is about mainly, however, is basically the same as the main theme of this season: War. Fighting another nation and willing to infiltrate it, Marley lives up to its name again. They didn’t even have a specific reason, because the two nations in fact didn't have a conflict with each other. The other nation only heard of Marley's failure on Paradis and took advantage of this situation mercilessly. In our world today, nations wouldn’t be attacked directly if they were in a phase of weakness. In contrast, this clearly shows how the world in Attack on Titan works. Dominated and destroyed by violence, all parties are fighting a never-ending war and, in the end, no one benefits from it. Maybe the winner achieves something, but even he has to fear for his supremacy (as seen in episode 2, that's one of Marley's problems too). And as we know, this wasn’t the last war Marley has to fight.
Btw, not everyone, unlike our friend Gabi, thinks of war as such a great thing. Reiner's sentence: "I'm sick of walls by now" when he jumped down from the airship shows how much he wants to end these wars. Even if some Marley folks are so proud of their military achievements, I'm sure a lot of people, e.g. Falco, feel that way. Anyway, just wanted to mention that.
To close the circle for that episode, I'd like to highlight how good the very start of that season was. There we saw Falco, looking at the sky and watching the birds flying away, how they lived in freedom without any obstacles, in complete contrast to his situation. This was a pretty nice analogy to the very first episode of Attack on Titan, where Eren, lying on the grass, saw the birds soaring over the walls. This makes it clear once again how similar both sides, i.e. the Eldia from Marley and the Eldia from Paradis, are. Nothing distinguishes them in their hearts, only the desire for freedom and redemption slumbers in them. After all, that's one of the big themes of this season, more specifically the whole series.
Moving away from the battlefield, we realize how much Reiner suffers from all of this. He blames himself for many things and finds it difficult to conclude with his past. Especially the scene when he told his family about his time in Paradis, or his nightmares about Mikasa and Levi, who tried to kill him, certainly show how the things he had to do left deep wounds on him. His near suicide proves how destroyed he was inside. Overall, I have to admit that he's really become the character I feel most empathic with. To sacrifice so much for the betterment of one's family, to have done and experienced bad things, without achieving anything and still to find oneself in the same hell over and over; I think this complexity is what makes a great character.
In addition, when we were shown his past, it ultimately became even clearer why he would also like his sister not to inherit his titan. Reiner himself once believed that the world was divided into black and white and that everything would get better as soon as he only served Marley. That this, among other things, resulted from regaining his father, who had run away, shows his desperation. And be it Reiner's desperation or Gabi's hatred, ultimately both are so similar as one could hardly be. Reiner recognizes his younger self in Gabi, and therefore, he doesn’t want her to walk down the same dark path as he did.
But I don't think that Reiner was the only one who was desperate of something at the time. Marcel, Porco's brother, was also only someone who was worried about his brother and tried to protect him. Likewise, his death made Reiner, Annie and Betholdt even more desperate. They were all eaten away by it. The whole world was eaten away by it. They only knew one way out, and that was to raze everything to the ground. The three of them were practically born with this hopelessness, which is why their actions were nothing but understandable. However, the fact that they still felt pity for the killed proves their humanity, which makes them more complete characters overall. In terms of character writing, Isayama proves that he’s undoubtedly one of the best.
But wait, there was someone else whose development had knocked me off my feet. And who could this be other than the so-called "hope of mankind" (laughs in genocide): Eren Jäger. At the very beginning of Attack on Titan, I thought he was nothing special, just a complete sucker who can’t do anything else than rushing blindly forward whilst shouting. Keeping that in mind, I've probably never seen such a change as in this fourth season though, that may be the biggest turnaround I've ever experienced. Some said he just came back with more anger, and now he’d be the edgiest character out there. That, to be clear, is bullshit. Because Eren hasn’t gained any anger, no, he gained something else, which is much more important than that: Clarity. In truth, Eren has shed his hatred and is now aware that there actually is no real enemy. As he talked with Falco, he said how much that world is plagued by hatred and violence and that this must come to an end. When he finally met Reiner, there was no malicious intent behind his actions. He admitted that they were the same, sharing the same fates. When he said he "will go on until he wiped out the enemy," who said he was referring to Marley? After we learned that his and Zeke's goal is to kill all Eldia so that the world could finally find peace, we were certainly all surprised. We assumed that he was a psychopath who, driven by his god complexes and his hatred, wanted to destroy everything, really everything. But there is more to it than we think, and the fact that he is such an inscrutable character, whose actions and intentions can never be predicted, makes him a truly great character. Here, too, Isayama has once again outdone himself, and I am curious to see how he planned to continue the story. Maybe we'll get a Code Geass like ending, who knows?
To go into it more detailed, episode 5, the episode in which Eren talked to Reiner and interrupted Willy Tybur's speech with his transformation was undisputedly glorious. The tension that resulted from the conversation between Reiner and Eren was very noticeable, and when he followed his words with deeds, I was really amazed. The fight against the titans, when the survey corps came to help Eren, when Reiner and Zeke stepped onto the battlefield, etc. All of this was incredibly well animated, despite the CGI. It's a real shame I didn't appreciate this until I watched it the second time, but that's just the way things are. Above all, Eren's cruelty becomes apparent once more when Mikasa said to him: "Eren, do you see what you've done?" as he showed almost no reaction to it. The leitmotif of this season comes to the fore again.
Besides that, Gabi's hatred and anger emerges once again. No wonder when you watch all your friends die with the enemy right in front of you, little else can be expected. So she sneaked onto the airship with Falco and killed Sasha. Everyone was mad at her, but she felt the same way about those devils. Nobody tried to understand the other side, and hatred is known to only create more hatred. The never-ending cycle of war is portrayed by Isayama in a very straightforward way, whereby the cruelty reappears. Once again. It never seems to want to leave this world. This moment shocked me deeply and I realized that it had to come this way. Because that's how war works, and that's how our characters had to understand it, too. Once again a very meaningful scene, which was perfectly incorporated into the anime.
When Gabi later lived with Sasha's family, a development of hers became visible. Like Reiner as a child, she thought the world was black and white, but her eyes were kind of opened then. Kaya, the girl who knew about Falco's and Gabi's origins, contributed a large part to all of this. But the forgiveness of the Braus family, or rather that Sasha's father forgave Gabi, this was the keypoint at which I think her attitude changed. A very beautiful and very realistic course of things, which was definitely necessary to see the world with different eyes.
One last thing I would like to praise about the story is the political systems. Keeping track of it and aligning your story so that everything makes sense is a real art. Military governments, diplomacy, and rebellions (see the Yeagerists) have been excellently brought together this season in a way that is easy to understand. Chapeau to Mr. Isayama for this writing.
I guess I could go into Zeke and his background, but since I don't have more to say about his actions being understandable if you know his past, I think I can leave it at that. The Yeagerists are an interesting group, from which I still hope for a lot, but it was clear that at some point Eren would attract fanatical people like Floch who would cooperate with him. So here too there is nothing more to write about.
Overall, to summarize what I've wrote so far, the story and characters are great. Many twists, unexpected and shocking moments, as well as impressive fight scenes were incorporated. I didn't expect anything less, and although I was disappointed at first, Attack on Titan won me over once again.
I intend to say something briefly about the animation. Tbh, I really couldn't stand the CGI Titans when I first saw them. I thought they looked like a pile of shit. And because I focused so much on them, I became a pessimist myself and ignored how beautiful everything else actually looked. The color scheme was appropriate, the character designs were very good, and they were also following the lines of the manga. I know that this case isn’t always a good thing (cries in Haiykuu), but it fits perfectly here. Many of the scenes were drawn in great detail, and all in all the animation was also good. The Rotoscope animation was a bit strange at times, but okay. And later on, I didn't find the CGI titans so bad anymore. Except for the monkey titan, because compared to before, he really didn't look good. Overlooking this, I would like to express my great praise to MAPPA, who unjustly endured a lot of hatred and anger. I am very happy that such a great studio as MAPPA has animated this season and I look forward to the further work of the animators and draftsmen!
The soundtracks of this season are in-fact very well done. It’s not overbearing during scenes with heavy dialogue. Furthermore, some of the fight scenes in the anime are accompanied with incredible songs that just get you hyped. Many of Hiroyuki Sawanos’ tracks were reused, which was a great decision, because these were sensational in many ways. Also the opening and ending songs are pretty special in their own way, but it certainly fits perfectly to the mood of the anime. The voice acting is really good, too, and that’s no wonder, because many experienced voice actors and talented people worked on that show, so it had to be great.
So what should I say what I haven't said already? This anime is truly a masterpiece, and the story and characters are also very well thought off. To think that we were given the chance to experience such a show is a blessing from the gods. I’m looking forward to the REAL final season, and hope that we’ll get it as soon as possible. Till’ then, I wish you a lot of fun watching anime!
Cheers🎶
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Apr 5, 2021 Recommended Spoiler
(First of all, let me state that I assume that you, yes you, who is currently reading my text, knows what happened in this season. If this isn’t the case, then beware of spoilers!)
*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS* You know, there was a special anime once. No, a really special one. At first I actually didn't like it at all, and I also found it quite confusing and uninteresting. A “run of the mill shonen”, isn’t that what they call it? At least I thought that it was something exactly like that. But the longer it went on, the better it got, and with a ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 26, 2021
Jujutsu Kaisen
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Many of you probably won't even listen to my words after having seen the score that I gave to this anime. Many of you probably think: "What a f**king retard, the anime he's been talking about is a god damn masterpiece! How dare he?!" And many of you probably haven't even read further than these first three sentences. But in case you'll give me a chance to explain my score, let me give you a closer look into my thoughts, and let's see, why I didn't like JJK as much as other ppl did.
Story – 6/10 First things first: The story starts off right away with ... our main character, hanging around at school, giving us the first insights of him and his personality. Also, with the death of grandpa, his motives of doing good things in this world and becoming some kind of a “hero” (that’s technically the false expression, but you can see it as a place holder) are revealed. And here’s the first problem in my opinion, which isn’t the really the fast start of the anime itself, it’s actually that Yuuji’s personality, and more or less his only motivation to keep going on this whole journey, consists of his grandpa saying: “You’re strong, so help people”. To admit, this would’ve been completely fine if some of Yuuji’s past was revealed, and if the author decided to show how important his granddad was to him. Just Yuuji saying that he was the only person that was there for him isn’t enough, and in the end this simple motive, which honestly offered some potential to develop and to grow, just becomes a dull somewhat, which clearly can’t carry a whole personality. Focusing on the storyline again, Yuuji’s not the only character that gets introduced in the first couple of episodes. Basically the whole main cast with Gojou, Megumi, Nobara, Sukuna and the aforementioned Yuuji shows up in a truly short period of time. Being honest with you, that in particular went a little to fast for me. The mc showing up in the first episode is a really common thing, but so many characters at once destroy the opportunity to explain their motives, and who they are supposed the be in this whole construct. And those vague glimpses of their pasts that I’ve seen don’t give the viewer a sufficient understanding of those characters. But if you understood what the motive was, again, it’s just the classic "I have to save people because person xy affected me back then" kind of thing. Using the same pattern over and over, and changing it a little bit isn’t really a creative way of constructing motives. But hey, we’ve gotta work with what we’ve got, don’t we? So there they are, our team on an endless mission of fighting evil spirits to protect the world. Although this concept has been covered in many, many shonen anime (the most popular one would be Bleach), JJK did this quite alright. The ranking systems for the monsters, as well as for the jujutsu sorcerers make it easy to understand if a situation is dangerous or not, or if the character is likely to have a chance or not. Thanks to that, the viewer gets invested easily into the matter, which furthermore makes this show uncomplicated to watch. What I like indeed, is how the show progresses from those missions to a battle against a big enemy, which has a threatening plan to take over the world. Even though this might sound as cliched as possible, it’s in fact well-done. The characters themselves play a big part in this, but I would want to get into that later. What the author did right in that regard was building the bridge between of the first and the second arc. In the first 6-7 episodes, everyone was just kinda playing around, and that phase was used, as I said, to let the viewers “find their way” into the show. 2 or 3 twists were built in, which had a surprising effect. The unexpected situations which it resulted in personally entertained me and gave the show a refreshing aspect. After that, Junpei, an intriguing and relatable character was presented to the audience, and he marked the beginning of the new arc. Through the newly formed cooperation between Junpei and the antagonist Mahito, there maintained a constant tension, because one does not know whether Junpei will give in to his anger or resentment, or whether he will decide to follow Itadori and turn to the good side. This situation only resolves when it comes to the showdown between Mahito and Nanami & Itadori. This actually created new tensions, because, if you’re willing to see it like that, Junpei’s suffering and hatred devolved to Itadori, and Itadori himself now holds a grudge against Mahito and his allies. Thus the author succeeded in a clever way to give Itadori a reason to hate the enemy from the bottom of his heart, with which a new enmity was born. In that regard: Chapeau! But what could come next? Oh yes, there was something that shouldn’t be missing in any shonen anime: A tournament arc! Although it wasn’t a complete tournament, I assume that you can count it as one, at least it was originally planned out to be a tournament. Funny moments, tragic flashbacks, good fights, and my personal highlight, the friendship between Toudou and Itadori makes it all an enjoyable watch. The infiltration of Mahito and Hanami was pretty obvious to see coming, and that they also get away with it wasn’t surprising at all. In pretty much every other shonen anime that also had a tournament arc, the process was always the same after all: 1. Group A competes with Group B, 2. Enemy attacks, 3. Group A and Group B fight together to beat the enemy, 4. Enemy escapes, but actually reached his goal. THE END. Well, not exactly like that, but it’s often the case. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, it’s just kinda overused after hundreds of anime adapted tournament arcs in that way. So, what have we got after all that? Intriguing characters? A refreshing story? I wouldn’t say that those aspects weren’t covered in the anime, it’s just like something inside me wants to tell me: “Hmmmm, haven’t we already seen this somewhere?” Maybe I’m just stupid, maybe I’m just not able to appreciate the “greatness” of this show, but in the end, I don’t see a reason to praise this as the next big thing. I’m one hundred percent sure that JJK gets big, I mean, it’s already massive now, but imo it doesn’t differ from the most shonen anime, of which some also have an equally interesting concept as this one. It’s done well quite in fact, that’s to say. Still, the idea it tries to develop already had a limited potential right from the beginning, and since it didn’t manage to pass that limit, the story’s sadly just slightly better than average. Characters 7.5/10 Maybe I was pretty rubbish about the story, I’m sorry ‘bout that. In contrast, what I have to admit is that Jujutsu Kaisens’ characters really are something very special. Or at least some of them. Let’s begin with our protagonist, Yuuji. You may be surprised, but along with Megumi, he’s probably one of the least intriguing characters, at least I see it that way. Yuuji is like vanilla ice; some kind of eatable, but nothing special in particular. His motive and goals are too simple in my opinion, especially the relation to his grandfather could’ve been extended to give his motive more importance (I mentioned that earlier). He’s kind of a funny guy, and isn’t cringe in any way, which makes it bearable to watch him. He also sometimes has his moments where he’s able to shine, and honestly, seeing that is quite entertaining. However, after all he’s like a typical shonen mc. You know, wanting to protect his friends, believes in the power of friendship, actually isn’t the smartest guy in the world, never gives up and believes in his goals and motives, etc. If you’re the author, ofc you can whatever you want with your characters, but I would’ve wanted to avoid any kinds of cliches, because nobody genuinely likes them. And if they suit the character well, they have to be executed in a really really unique way, which I haven’t seen often in anime. So yeah, he’s ok as a protagonist, develops like you would’ve expected it, and does the things you would’ve expected from him. Jumping to Gojo now, what I like about him is the harmony that exists between him and Yuuji. They’re just a perfect match, because their personalities are very similar to each other. The bullshit I’ve heard that he’s just a bad copy of Kakashi from Naruto isn’t even close to reality. Gojo is a totally different character, and apart from his blindfold and his strength, he shares nothing with Kakashi. Kakashi is more the reserved kind of character, who calmly observes a situation and then makes some intelligent moves to defeat his opponent, whereas Gojo loves to fool his enemies. As seen in the fight with Jougo, he loves to play with them and teasing them, before revealing his real skills and finishing them off. His goofy personality fits perfectly in that regard and makes it understandable why so many people love him. He’s just the guy you have to like no matter what. Nobara and Megumi do an alright job as serving as Yuuji’s companions, but nevertheless, they’re also good as standalone characters. Nobara has some typically girly traits, e.g. liking fashion a lot and caring about looks, but she can also get very serious, or sometimes even silly or funny. The same goes for Megumi, even though he’s more the quiet and thoughtful type of guy. But hey, that means more diversity, which serves to make this anime more than just a one dimensional show. Both of them also have their pasts, which shall create their reasons to keep on going, as same as it was for Yuuji. Sadly these “motives” are as boring (if that’s the right word) as Yuuji’s was, and that was clearly some wasted potential. On the other hand, I think they don’t have to be perfect, and perhaps everyone else says that the development they go through, which is directly connected with their background is perfectly done. I can’t judge about that, I only say what I think, just to make that clear. Dicucssing the other guys from the school in Tokyo, at the beginning I thought it’s supposed to be a bad joke. A talking panda? A dude who permanently repeats the ingredients of a meal? I honestly thought that the author wanted to prank me. No, really. But what shall I say, even them I started to like. And one by the name of Maki impressed me much more than the others, she could even be a better character than Nobara. If you look at her strong and independent personality, you’ll notice that she’s really an exceptional person. In general, the female characters differ a lot from the standard weak and useless, often oversexualized girls in other shonen anime. Another compliment to the author at this point. By the way, the same thing as for the characters from Tokyo also goes for the ones from Kyoto. But there’s one character, a certain man who stands above everybody else, in terms of likability as well as in terms of fighting skills. And who could be other than my boy: Toudou. My god, I haven’t seen such a cool dude in a fairly long time, and it was so invigorating to experience him in action. At first his well-known question seemed dumb to me. Why would you ask something like that? But in his craziness, he literally searched for his one and only brother. And when he found Itadori and both became like best friends, it was just so much fun watching them fighting together. And therefore I want to say: Toudou, actually you aren’t being hated, everybody f**king loves you! So that this essay comes to an end soon, let's talk briefly about the antagonists, or rather the two most important ones: Sukuna and Mahito. Sukuna kinda reminds me of Gilgamesh (Fate) with his arrogance combined with his powers. His line: ”Know your place, fool” just fits perfectly to his character and makes him standing above all the other curses. It was mentioned that e.g. Jougo is technically stronger than him, but his presence makes the difference in the end. And that’s the thing: He’s the king. He rules all those other weaklings who think they’re strong, but only are small fishes compared to him. Sukuna also gives of a mysterious vibe, especially when he’s talking about Megumi, because we all know that he has some plans with him, which makes it even more interesting to watch. Mahito in comparison is more the likable kind of guy. He may have done cruel and bad things, but because of his often shown goofy and funny personality, I can’t take these actions even serious anymore. I think I actually sympathize with him, just because of his character. Now if that’s a good thing or not to sympathize with the villain who eventually wants to destroy the world is left to be seen, but I can't help admitting that he's a great character and that I hope for seeing even more of him in the future. Art & Animation – 9/10 The fight scenes go hard. Because of each individual's diverse abilities, there’s relatively more tactics and strategy that go into them than your average action anime, which makes them a whole lot more interesting to watch as it’s not just punching each other, and winning through willpower. It’s a mostly consistent art style, and if you saw just the style you wouldn’t be able to differentiate it from any other anime, but the studio didn’t skimp out on the elaborate backgrounds and set design. As for the animation itself, it’s smoother than a baby’s bottom, with constant angle changes and fast paced movements the scenes come to life, but also aren’t so crazy as to prevent you from being able to focus on what’s happening and not be able to enjoy it. The animation of everything from Cursed Energy to rushing water was great to look at. I loved how parts of the animation style occasionally changed, such as water and the backgrounds when movement was increased. Personally, I quite like the character design, though some people have said it's alright compared to its predecessors. Both the people and the curses character’s looks are deliberately well suited for their personality and skills. Some of them just look cool too, nothing too deep or thought out, just, yeah, looks cool. That's honestly about all I have related to the animation. It's simply extremely good! Sound – 8/10 The soundtracks of Jujutsu Kaisen are in-fact very well done. It’s not overbearing during scenes with heavy dialogue. Furthermore, some of the fight scenes in the anime are accompanied with incredible songs that just get you hyped. It's not a crazy good in a way to where it sticks out in the genre but it does do a great job fulfilling its role. Also the opening and ending songs are god damn sensational, I haven’t heard such great songs in a while. The voice acting is really good, too, and that’s no wonder, because many experienced voice actors and talented people worked on that show, so it had to be great. Enjoyment – 5/10 Now it almost hurts to say that, but I honestly couldn’t force myself to like that show as much as I should have. You know, I’ve already watched quite an amount of shonen in my life, and while watching this anime, I only thought: “Bruh, that’s so boring, I’ve seen this millions of times”, even though it’s not the case. I wrote down why this show’s so great, and tried to convince myself to like it, but something inside rebelled against that. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and I really would’ve loved to like that show as a whole, but it didn’t work in the end. Btw, this doesn’t mean that I disliked everything of it, I certainly had moments, where I felt like: “Man, the shit’s about to get crazy!”, but in the next moment, the feeling was gone again. And that's how it went throughout the anime. Well what do you wanna do? Overall – 6/10 All in all, from the objective perspective, it’s a must-watch for shonen fans, even though the story might be boring sometimes. I probably would’ve given it a higher score, but I couldn’t detach myself from my inner feelings about, so I’m really sorry. For everybody reading this review, I hope you had a great time while watching Jujutsu Kaisen, and I also pray to the gods for a seconds season, because maybe my feelings will change then. Cheers🎶
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 30, 2021 Mixed Feelings Preliminary
(4/12 eps)
So generic, so often seen, so clichéd...and yet so fun to watch. 'SK∞ The Infinity', a disappointing and at the same time highly interesting show, of which I think that it not only offers something for fans of the shounen or the sports genre, rather something for every person out there that loves anime.
Story - 4/10 Firstly, I have to admit that the idea of a skateboarding anime for sure is revolutionary, because until this show started airing, no other anime featured skateboarding as the main topic. But after all, you could also say that it's just another sports anime with comedy elements. And the concurrence ... in this genre with the likes of 'Haikyuu!!' or 'Kuroko no Basket' is pretty big. So is this show able to offer something that hasn't been there yet? In terms of the story, sadly not. You have your funny moments e.g. when Langa tries to learn some tricks and fails, you have your epic moments when Langa pulls off some cool tricks, you have your sad moments when some flashbacks kick in, and so on. And even though I've seen many scenes like this this in different anime, many shows managed to deliver these moments in their own special way. SK∞ relies on something that has been shown so many times in the past, that the effect that it wants to create touches the viewer on such a platonic level that they e.g. may smile about it, but do not really find it laughing because of the lack of creativity. And this is such a shame considering what a writer like Ichirou Ookuchi (Code Geass) is able to deliver. Everything seems so simple and ill-considered that one or the other viewer might even be bored. Apart from the individual moments that I just mentioned, the story as a big construct isn't really any better. Almost everything is predictable, the actions of the characters, what they are going to say, my god, I could have told you the life story of all of them without knowing anyone. As I said, from someone who created something like 'Code Geass', probably one of the most intelligent stories that were ever written in the anime universe, this right here is a big downfall in terms of complexity and dramaturgy. Skateboarding for the male audience, hot & cute boys for the female audience. This anime tries to appeal to everbody while at the same time failing miserably to be something innovative or special. And of course are a massive amount of people likely to be drawn to the familiar, but lovers of a well-considered and clever plot are less likely to be satisfied with the story that this anime offers. Characters - 5/10 Talking about the characters, they show almost the same problem that the story suffers from. And this is, how could it be otherwise, the extreme simplicity of their personalities. Reki, one of our protagonists, is the loud and slightly dumb kind of person, which also has a strong sense of justice (as seen as in the end of episode 3). The cool dude, which is loved by everyone, apart from the villain of course. You know, the kind of guy that never gives up and believes in the power of friendship. Does this sound familiar? Well, if you think about the fact that characters like this have appeared hundreds and thousands of times in older anime, it's really no surprise at all. The same goes for Langa, because even though his rather quiet and thoughtful personality might feel a little refreshing for the viewer, this isn't something new, too. Langa serves as the absolute contrast to Reki, which shall create an effect of diversity. The chance that the viewer can relate at least to one of the protagonists is much higher now because of this diversity. And I want to point out, that those character personalities could have suited the anime very well, e.g. 'Diamond no Ace' does this wonderfully as a sports anime with Sawamura and Furuya, who are constantly fighting for the starting position in their baseball team. However, if the characters have as little depth as Reki and Langa, this can't work. Both seem to be a mixture of clichéd character traits that typical characters of a shounen anime do possess. The writers try to balance this with the enthusiasm for skateboarding, but just like a story, nothing can just replace a personality. And like our two main characters, the personalities of the supporting characters are also as intriguing as a blank sheet of paper. Adam as the main villain doesn't differ from those "I want to rule the world for the sake of it" kind of idiots, even though his mysterious appearance gives him at least a little extra in terms of personality. Shadow's appearance as the bad guy who's actually not that bad, Cherry Blossom and Joe as the ones with some kind of rivalry, which just exists to entertain the fans and doesn't have a real meaning at all, Miya as the tsundere, which the viewer is intended to sympathize with, because of his 'sad' past, etc. I can only say the same thing again as before: None of the people in this anime have anything that sets them apart, that makes them stand out, that makes them special. The roles are clearly distributed, and the fact that I'm able to recognize roles isn't really a good sign, because that means that a well-known pattern has been used here, in which everything is represented as standardized as possible. And something ordinary, something familiar, something worn out can't entertain anyone, can it? Having said that, after digging through the personality issues, however, I have to give the developers credit for the fact that the character designs are really exceptional and outstanding. The outfits are pretty cool, a crazy and wild style, which perfectly reflects the theme of skateboarding. Of course, the characters have been designed from their natural appearance in such a way that they correspond to their role model. Although I may have complained about classic role allocations, this fits here perfectly; especially Reki looks exactly how I would imagine a skater (in an anime). But also people like a Shadow or Miya are so well designed, that you can tell that the people who created them actually put some love into their amazing work. These are some great looks right here! Art & Animation – 8.5/10 And since we were speaking of character designs, I have to admit that the art and animation in general are in a class of their own. I may have complained a lot about the story and the characters, but that is especially well done. Let's start with the setting: The island of Okinawa, on which our story takes place, is perfectly represented by warm and pleasant colors. I've never been there, but this classic island feeling is conveyed very convincingly. A scene that convinced me in this regard was when Reki and Langa were practicing tricks and then having an emotional conversation with each other, while the sun was going down in the background. Sitting side by side, both were looking at this beautiful scenery, which highlighted the scene in a wonderful and pleasant way, marvelously illustrating the mood of a perfect summer. In contrast, the skateboard races and the underground world have a rather dark and dodgy atmosphere. This creates a more exciting mood, very different from the relaxing feeling that is delivered by the setting of the island. But that's exactly how it should be, because through a charged atmosphere, the anime can pull the viewer more into the spell during a race, if the colors had been chosen as with the island, it would not have worked. The rough, which emanates from this other world, fits perfectly. In general, a wide range of colors has been used in this anime, which adds charm to everything. Using these colors correctly and not just painting around wildly is an art in itself. In this respect, it can be said that creative and inspired people were definitely at work here. Imaginative, special, colorful, lively, so many words could be used to describe all of this. To get to the point: Great! As for the animation, it's not a single bit worse. And this can actually be demonstrated in every scene, and not just in the key moments. And that, my dear friends of good animation, is a feast for the eyes. The characters' movements are flawless, no budget cuts have been made in the skateboarding races, and even the CGI is so damn good that the viewer doesn't even notices it. And apart from 'Ufotable' there are a few exceptions that have managed to do this in terms of animation. And 'Bones' has definitely done this in the past, see e.g. my personally beloved 'Mob Psycho 100'. To keep this short, the animation is wonderful. There is basically nothing to complain about. Of course it can still be done a bit better, but that would cost so much money and time that this is absolutely secondary. And in that sense, this anime does everything right in that regard. Sound - 7.5/10 Even though this aspect is often ignored, good soundtracks and songs are irreplaceable for an anime. Well, it seems like this anime solved this in a perfect way. I don't intend to write a novel about it, so I just want to say that the tracks always underline the scenes very nicely. The mood of the individual moments is reflected excellently in combination with the art and animation; this mostly funky style goes perfectly with the topic and in principle doesn't go wrong. The opening and ending songs are sensational, especially the opening song is one of the best I've heard lately. All in all very well done and in tune with the anime. Enjoyment - 7/10 Now one or the other may be wondering why my 'enjoyment' score is so high, even though I was pretty rubbish about characters and story. Well, I'm also only a human, and that's why the cool skateboard races impress me like everyone else. And although the story isn't really creative (I won't change my mind), this show gives me a strong sense of nostalgia precisely because of its similarity to so much anime that aired in the past. I remember my childhood and anime like 'Naruto' or 'Dragonball', which really shaped these shounen cliches. In this respect, 'SK∞ The Infinity' probably won't satisfy lovers of an intelligent story, but I think it still entertains all those who grew up with such shows. Sometimes you shouldn't think too much about something and detach yourself from your objectivity. Anime like the aforementioned 'Code Geass' may impress the individual much more strongly and intensely, but that can't be the reason why one should only regard such anime as the only ones that are good. Because even something as simple as this anime can make the viewers happy while watching and, even though only for a short time, let them feel very, very entertained. Overall - 6/10 What should I say what I haven't said already? This anime is far away from being a masterpiece, and the story and characters aren't also that well thought off. But after all, being a dude that simply loves watching all kinds of anime and not trying to be too objective, I quite enjoy watching every episode of it, and I think that many people can understand me very well. So I believe that even if there exist better shows than this, 'SK∞ The Infinity' knows what it is, and because of that, everybody out there can watch it without feeling bored. Cheers🎶
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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