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I admit that I didn't expect anything from Aku no Hana, mainly due to the terrible reputation of its anime (made with rotoscoping), but after reading it, it became one of my favorite manga.

At first it is an uninviting story, as it contains elements that are not very comfortable for readers. The plot tells the story of 2 teenagers who start at 14 years old, and the manga has no ruler when it decides to talk about teenage idiocy, which ends up making the first act of the story a little heavy and even a little unrealistic for a manga that tries to get closer ... of reality.
But that's okay, all this hormonal stupidity is on purpose, because at the end of the day, this is a coming-of-age story, of moving forward and not forgetting the past, but learning to deal with its consequences.

It's a manga that I highly recommend, with a request for patience for the first chapters, as I know it won't please everyone.

An alternate history of Hataraku Saibou. Hataraku Saibou is softer and brings a light comedy, in addition to captivating readers with its charismatic characters. As for Hataraku Saibou Black....

Well, as the synopsis itself says, they are in a body in which humans drink alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, have a terrible diet, horrible hygiene, in addition to an addiction to masturbation.
A body in precarious health conditions, where, thanks to all this, diseases, germs, and serious health problems directly affect the main characters, causing many deaths and enormous psychological pressure on the protagonist, unlike Hataraku Saibou, Black brings a more "dirty" of the work and much heavier ... too, in addition to having small nuances indicating that it is for an older audience.

It wasn't something that surprised me, but it made me feel very sorry for the protagonist and think often about the conditions of the type of person they were dealing with. It's an interesting read for those who liked the first manga, but if you've never read/watched Hataraku Saibou, this isn't where you should start.

Just like Uzumaki, I feel that Gyo started out very well, perfectly conveying that feeling of strangeness, but little by little it was lost.

I don't know if it's us, the readers, who simply get used to the absurdity of ideas, but what I noticed is that Ito presents us with something we've never seen before and then makes it so absurd that we're not actually scared or uncomfortable, but yes, just admiring how quickly it escalated. Which for me takes a lot of the tension out of the scenes. In fact, that might be why I preferred the beginning of his manga.

I even had fun ... with Gyo, but for me, he wasn't as "charming" as Tomie or as bizarre as Uzumaki.

As someone who has been following the success of Chainsaw Man for longer than I care to admit, I can say that the One-Shots are where Fujimoto truly shines.

Here he has much better control over the proposal and the story, the author knows well how to start, develop and finish the plot.
He is also a great character writer, managing to capture their more realistic and reflective sides.

Look Back itself is another one of those mangas where personal interpretation reigns. In my opinion, the One-Shot story addresses our wound of “what if...?” . The way we regret, how we torture ourselves thinking about the possibilities ... and what we could have done to avoid the tragedies that happen to us. The way we go back to the past and try to rewind the tape of our mind, instead of accepting and dealing with what happens to us.
But well, the manga isn't here to teach us a lesson, it seems to me more like Fujimoto's purpose has always been to make us reflect. Although the title of the work is “Look Back”, what is recommended here is exactly the opposite.

Is Emanon a pretty unique manga? I can't say for sure, but yes, he does have charm. It's the type of reading recommended for a clear mind, early in the morning or at the end of an afternoon, as the entire story is basically two people talking on a boat trip. It's interesting to see a character who has a memory of billions of years and the way she deals with the weight of that and knowing that she will never die, at the same time as we see what her presence does to other people's lives.

Omoide Emanon is a reflective and contemplative manga. It ... won't blow your mind or anything, but it's an experience that can be enjoyable for some and boring for others. Unlike SASURAI Emanon, I recommend OMOIDE.

Okay, I admit I had hype for this anime when it was announced, but after giving it some thought, I was reluctant to watch it and definitely should have listened to myself.

First of all, it's worth highlighting that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a promotional anime, made to try to revive the hype of a game that was poorly received. It's like Diabolik Lovers, the difference is that Edgerunners has a better budget. Jokes aside, there are a lot of predictable things in this anime. The animation takes place in a cyberpunk world, and here we can already speculate the elements it will have in its narrative, ... namely: criticism of capitalism, social inequality, technology, lots of violence and nudity. Before watching the anime, these speculations were what made me rethink watching it, but I really thought about giving it a chance.

Starting with the story. Narrative is nothing new when we talk about a Cyberpunk setting. We have our protagonist, David, who suffers the consequences of living in a capitalist world dominated by technology, suffering first-hand the economic inequality that is what drives this reality. In this world there is a belief that the more body modifications you have, the cooler you look, however, everyone has a limit, and if you exceed that limit, not only will your physical health be harmed, but also your psychological health. David has above average resistance and this makes him believe that he is special and unique. In short: the story revolves around David deluding himself with the idea of ​​being different, when in the end he is just part of the mass of people manipulated by the thought of consumerism. I think this is one of the few decent points in this anime. Is it predictable? Yes, but I must give credit and say that it is considerably well crafted.

However, I can't say the same about the characters. They are all very generic, and no, generic is not synonymous with bad, but here they simply have a single face. I can illustrate this by saying that the screenwriter simply thought: “I need protagonists. This one is going to be strong, these are going to be crazy and this one is going to be beautiful.” They are all designed to fulfill a single function and that is all they do. We have the strong leader, the strong woman, the crazy brothers and the pretty girl who is the protagonist's romantic partner. Only. Don't expect them to be or do anything more than that.
In order to convey the message that no one is special, the anime kills most of these characters, but especially those who could add something. What's the point of extending Harley Quinn 2.0's participation, if she literally doesn't do anything or change anything in the story throughout the entire anime? That's it, the secondaries have no other function than to warn David that he is sinking. They have no development, and that's fine, I don't expect to find super humanized characters in 10 episodes, but they also don't make an effort to really be something, there is no charisma in any of them.
And while we're talking about David, why not mention his lack of personality? The character goes through tragedies, but he is so apathetic and indifferent that he only makes all the events that should bring some weight boring. “Ah, but this is to show that he is keeping everything to himself”, right, and for what? The point of David's """"development"""" is that he thinks he is something he is not, in the end his traumas were of no use as his mind would be corrupted anyway, plus he literally changes practically nothing in the character's destiny. There is nothing to say about him, or assume what he should be like, because he doesn't even have a personality trait.

What about action? This is one of the main points of this anime and I must say that it had everything to be quite decent, but it isn't. What happens here is the same as what happens in Junji Ito's manga, for example. I love the beginnings of your mangas, but the endings are always boring and leave a lot to be desired. This is because his stories are intended to be grotesque and shock the reader with their bizarreness, however, the author gives everything he has right at the beginning with the aim of catching the public's attention, and this means that as the story progresses he has no nothing more to deliver.
Edgenrunners is no different, they deliver so many striking action scenes right at the beginning, that there is simply nothing left that will impress you later.

This brings us to another point, I really think Cyberpunk hurt itself a lot by having 10 episodes. The animation doesn't have much to offer and it goes on so long that there comes a time when you simply beg for it to end. There are episodes that simply don't add anything, and if they do, it's for a mere 3 minutes. And why is that? The anime doesn't make a point of providing chemistry or strengthening the bonds of friendship between characters, that crude romance between Lucy and David is pitiful, and can be summed up simply as: "hi, you're very pretty, will you date me?". It's simply that, and it gets annoying how much they push the envelope trying to convey an image of companionship, an image that doesn't exist.
And speaking of Lucy, I must say that I laugh every time I remember her backstory. In one of the "reflective" moments of the animation, she opens up to David and tells him about her past and the reason for remaining so distant. What happens is that his backstory should give weight to the character, but it becomes pathetic when you realize that he doesn't even make an effort to be a little original. Where did I actually see children being exploited in laboratories and being the only ones to escape, whether by miracle or a revolution? Oh yes! Kiznaiver, Zankyou no Terror, that rubbish Darling in the FranXX and I can even take a risk by mentioning Classroom of the Elite. They all used the same backstory for their protagonists. Why am I citing this? Because it's hilarious how much the anime producers didn't even try to give depth to the animation.

To be a little fair, the anime isn't all bad, as for the production, we're talking about the popular Trigger. The animation is beautiful, the colors, the contrast, the neon (haha), it's all very beautiful and very reminiscent of BNA's style, which although I have my own controversies with, its beauty is undeniable. As for the soundtrack, I have to disappoint and say that I was so disgusted with the anime that I barely paid attention to it, but from what little I heard, I really liked it. The entire production, except for the direction of the episodes (there are even too many of them), is to be congratulated.

Lastly, I wanted to open up a space and say that I really like the criticism that the Cyberpunk world brings. He shows us a reality not so far from ours, where large corporations, seeking profit, create needs, as well as the solution to these needs, making society submissive to them. In this case, we are talking about technology, humans become dependent on it to survive, and we can see how much social inequality increases. If you don't have a thousand and one upgrades, or how to pay for them, you're nothing more than scum. It is a strong message about consumerism and a criticism of large companies that end up controlling society's lifestyle.
However, I want to emphasize that this is not the credit of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners or Cyberpunk 2077, it is something that comes precisely from the "subgenre(?)" Cyberpunk, which shows us a world where money buys technology and technology is everything. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate this review and everything.

Conclusion: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is not good at all, I would even say it is mediocre, but I also can't say whether it is fair to give this verdict for a promotional animation, where producers don't usually give their all. If they really gave everything they could... well, result: going back and doing everything from scratch because it didn't work. Jokes aside, I think it's a very average anime and doesn't even remotely deserve to compete for best animation of the year. I recommend it for anyone who likes action and just wants to have fun. More than that is overestimating.

Devilman Crybaby must be one of the most disappointing works I've ever seen. The anime tries to bring the classic story back and adapt it for a younger audience, but apparently all young people want to consume is violence and nudity.

Starting with the key point of the work, the characters. On one side we have Akira, the typical good protagonist who wants to help everyone, or at least that's what he should be. The anime does not give screen time to the "human" Akira, which may seem irrelevant, as he predominantly appears in his demonic form. But it is necessary to highlight the character's human ... nature before transforming him into a monster that goes against everything he was until then. This lack of attention causes Akira's change to be completely lost, neither he nor the people around him feel the impact of his change, as if there was no importance whatsoever in a sudden transformation that promises to change his life upside down. low. Furthermore, Akira's personality seems to be what suits the narrative. It doesn't seem like one nature really predominates in his character, as if he were "I have to disagree with this for the story to continue". Furthermore, we can't even understand how he feels about literally sacrificing his humanity to save humanity, something that the 1987 OVA, in just 45 minutes, managed to clarify much better.
Ryo, on the other hand, spends 98% of the time without really having any personality. I understand that one of the character's points is that he is free from any feeling of empathy or "humanity", but even when he discovers his true nature, or even before that, he doesn't seem to be someone taken by cruelty or everything that we might consider contrary of "good", he simply exists and lives, without seeming to like or hate anything (and please don't tell me that those 5 minutes of the last episode are revealing in a 10 episode anime) and if that is his purpose, to be empty, this was extremely poorly worked. Thus, we have 2 main characters who simply do not have layers or the minimum that a protagonist and his antagonist should have.
As for the secondary characters, I could praise them and say that they are what keeps the work charismatic, that minimal feeling of "I care what happens to this guy". And in fact, it's so interesting and fun to follow them during the first 5 episodes, until suddenly, they're no longer important, much less the focus here. I know that Devilman is one of those brutal works, which wants to show us that no one is special or something like that, but leaving the characters aside and then killing them in the most ridiculous way possible, doesn't seem like anything more than a "disposal ", now that we finally have protagonists who do something in the story (and I'm referring to the last 2 episodes).

Another thing executed in an extremely sloppy way is the proposal, the focus, the story. What exactly is the proposal of this remake? Does he want to show me the same lesson as the classic and tell me that humans can be more cruel than literal demons? Delve deeper into some philosophy or something similar? It seems not, since the only demonstrations of this are in the last episodes, done in a way that I could compare to trying to cover the holes in an already sunken ship, so that it doesn't flood. So maybe he wants to tell us about relationships, adolescence and growing up? Maybe I wanted to. The first 5 episodes are what I would expect from a disgusting soft porn, they are about 4 hours spent on excessive nudity and violence, the only contrast to this being the secondary characters developed to be thrown in the trash afterwards. And yes, I know that the classics are filled with this same disgusting thing, to show the reader/viewer the disgust right in front of their eyes. The problem is that the 2018 Remake shows us the disgusting part, but that's simply it, there is no lesson, there is nothing to take away from it other than a single sentence in episode 9, which is: "Humans are the real demons ". I should congratulate them for at least trying to rescue one of the main points of the work, even if in an extremely lazy way.
And what exactly is the focus here? The type of narrative? The first 5 episodes are simply soft porn, the next 3 suddenly take on the same narrative as any apocalyptic story and FINALLY in the last 2 episodes we see remnants of what this remake should have been.
The issue here is: the story doesn't decide what it wants to be, what it wants to focus on, it simply throws several elements into the air and tries to connect them in a way that makes the least amount of sense, but it doesn't happen. This did not happened. t. The development of this here is..."bizarre", or rather, the absence of it. It seems like nothing connects right and it seems like the story simply doesn't exist, until finally they remember that they are making a remake of a classic and they need to put something that reminds them of that, in addition to the lack of concern for details as simple as: literally no one cares that Akira became someone else overnight, not even himself. And speaking of development, that of the characters leaves a lot to be desired, we even have something to call “development”, but honestly I can only call it minimal.

Finally, there isn't much to say about the technical part, it's an anime made by Trigger, known for its visually incredible productions. What disappoints me is that Devilman: Crybaby uses the same experimental style as The Tatami Galaxy, and this in turn, takes advantage of the resources it has to provide us with a unique visual experience, full of different colors and elements. In the case of Devilman, it appears that the animation was limited to grotesque errors in proportion and basic anatomy. Fortunately the only thing to praise is the soundtrack, the opening is really eccentric.

My last point is that this anime focuses a lot on young audiences, giving them what attracts the most attention: nudity and a lot of brutality. The problem is maintaining this 90% of the time. It makes it seem like the animation is nothing more than big fanservice. And if indeed the proposal is to tell a new story, it would have been much better to have created something from scratch, not limiting itself to the roots of the first Devilmans and mixing aspects of the new with the old in a disastrous way. Shallow characters, bad story, lack of development, it's just a big compilation of randomness and unfunny scenes to keep you watching. But in the end you can't deny that it was a great success, its target audience was teenagers and young people and it was precisely this audience that welcomed it with open arms. I really can't see what can make Devilman: Crybaby the success that it is, maybe I'm just not part of its target audience?