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Jan 21, 2025
The ending of the series felt like a fairly good conclusion to me so I wasn't exactly sold on the idea of a sequel movie but after watching it, wakarimasu.
The revues are back better than ever before thanks to a movie budget, symbolism is cranked to 11, references are thrown at your face at every corner and we get focus on the whole cast. Needless to say the whole movie is a big love letter to the fans.
The movie is there to answer the question of what's next for the stage girls, to resolve lingering issues between characters and to even include more much needed
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backstory. As someone who wasn't entirely sold on Karen from the series, I now see her differently after this.
I'm very happy that the tone from the better half of the series is present from the very beginning. Tragedy is a key theme once again. Fate is another huge theme present and the way it's presented was one of the better things about the movie, the Penguindrum vibes were not even subtle and I was all about it.
I don't think the movie is without its issues though. The structure is pure fan service, meaning we jump from revue to revue in a fairly breakneck speed, closing out page after page in character resolutions while sprinkling the backstories in between. While I adored the revues this time around and the choreographies were beautiful to behold, I do wish there were other ways to storytelling shown too.
The whole thing is one of those things that didn't need to necessarily exist, but everyone who watched it are surely glad it does.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 21, 2025
Everyone has probably had those dreams of making it big and becoming a big star on stage. Most people however don't ever even try to pursue this dream. But in Revue Starlight, we follow an ensemble cast of high school girls and their daily lives in a highly prestigious theater academy, honing their love for the medium and reaching for the title of the top star.
The show starts out very straightforward but very quickly establishes an element deeper than the surface may have initially suggested; the revues. Sing, dance and battle. Who has the highest desire? As a mysterious giraffe observes, the girls go head
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to head. But only one can come out on top and reach the stage of their quite literal dreams.
While the show has an ensemble cast, it mostly focused on the pairing of Hikari and Karen. All of the girls get featured in revues but personally I found many of them a hit or miss. Sometimes because the revues themselves were too underwhelming, short or just done off screen because of the cast size restricting the appearances. Other times I also felt that there was a bit too much melodrama for my liking or that resolutions to some of the discord were sudden and too easy.
The first half mostly deals with what I just discussed, which is by far the weakest side of the series. It's a real shame though because I have a feeling a lot of people drop the series early on but things do actually get way more interesting and polished after the halfway point. That is, because we have Episode 7. Now without going into spoilers, it certainly made me see the series in a new, good light. While the reveal wasn't the most original thing, something liked it needed to happen.
However, I felt a bit disappointed at how the development of that aforementioned Episode 7 was handled later, making the focused character from it seem like a plot device for Hikari and Karen to have their grand spotlight.
Another thing I want to touch on is the music, it's a big theme in the show after all. All the revues have their own designated songs performed by the girls acting in the scenes. They absolutely elevated the revues but as someone who isn't a huge fan of musical stuff, the songs themselves were mostly a miss for me.
While the series had a good amount of cinematography, some of the choreographies in the revues could have been better. Quite a lot of still shots and static camera going on.
My nitpicks aside I was still pleasantly surprised to see that the show had some real depth to offer and it kept me interested all the way to the end after the halfway point.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 16, 2024
Saishuu Heiki Kanojo, abbreviated to SaiKano is a tragic tale of love in a world on the brink of collapse. An innocent and full of life young girl named Chise just wants to live a normal life and experience true love with her boyfriend Shuuji but unfortunately for them, happiness was never on the menu in this universe. Shuuji finds out the truth about the body of his beloved and the story begins.
So if it wasn't obvious already, SaiKano is a sad and dark series that barely shows any glimpses of happiness, far from your typical romance anime. The show begins with a fantastic opener
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episode that immediately sets the tone and lets the viewer know what they signed up for.
However, I found the series to not always hold the quality parts of the tragic plotline, especially around the middle. Some episodes are just fully focused on trashy behavior and dialogue from characters, both main and support cast. Another issue I had is that the series has a lot of tragic events throughout but for most them I didn't really couldn't feel for because most of the side cast didn't receive enough screen time and or development.
And by far my biggest gripe with the series is the horniness. My god, the amount of lewd scenes and dialogue made it feel like the thing was written by a boy in puberty just discovering intercourse for the first time. And to wrap up my grievances, Shuuji's voice actor is a seemingly random dude with no other credited roles and it shows. His performance for the most part was just bad.
The best parts about the series to me was the emotional struggle of the characters wanting to continue living their normal lives and hoping for the best in a very obviously horrible situation. Chise in particular goes through so much turmoil you can't help but get your emotions all riled up.
The storytelling makes decent use of the show, don't tell style too. We don't get to see a lot of the conflict parts but everything is still somehow presented in a way that at least personally I wasn't bothered by the lack of information but rather, found myself actually more interested in everything specifically because we were lacking the information. Although worth mentioning the 2 episode OVA series is a fantastic supplementary work to the series which opens your eyes even more after the series. I highly recommend those after you are finished with the show.
And finally I have point out the OST. It can be a hit or miss depending on the person but I personally loved all the pieces using electric guitars. They significantly boosted the emotions going on in many scenes to a new level.
SaiKano overall worked for me. As I mentioned I definitely had some issues with it but found myself invested regardless. It's like one of those horrible accidents you just can't look away from.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 12, 2024
I consider myself somewhat of a sports anime enjoyer however I don't have a particular interest in the martial art of judo. Yet I found myself binging all of Mou Ippon! in a single day, so that should be a testament in and of itself.
Don't get me wrong. The sport, judo, was definitely portrayed well and some matches could definitely be put up there next to some more well respected sports anime battles. But in my opinion where the show really shines the best is not that. It's the characters. And more specifically, the interactions between the characters.
I wouldn't say a single girl of our
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main cast from Aoba West high school stand out on their own but together, it makes all the difference. I had a very fun time just watching them get to know each other better, coming from different background and levels of age, judo and friendships. And most importantly, it felt organic. The show is believable and that's why I really enjoyed it.
You don't need a masterclass in writing or a plot that is deep if the story you are telling feels good to experience. Even the matches felt real and they weren't throwing around deus ex machina for the sake of making stakes higher. The show is mostly comfy and a feel good experience but it's not afraid to get serious too and it manages to handle the tones for both well.
The animation also pleasantly surprised me. It was mostly very fluid with great uses of camera angles to add that extra oomph. But while I enjoyed the judo matches after getting used to it more, I still wish they would have expanded more on the actual workings of it. Lots of terms such as points and technique names are dropped constantly but never do we actually get proper explanations for anything.
Drama in the series was pretty elementary and some of it felt a little forced but it wasn't bothering me too much overall. And the ending of the show feels almost like only a prologue finishing so I definitely was left wanting more. Hopefully it gets another season some day but as is, it's still a fairly self-contained fun show that just works.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 13, 2024
I went into this blind and thought I was in for a cozy travelling show so I was surprised pleasantly to learn that Kino's Journey is something much deeper than that.
The show follows the titular character and her motorcycle Hermes as they travel a fictional world and its various countries, experiencing their culture, history and ways of living. The show is very episodic, featuring only a single double parter, otherwise always changing the tone each episode.
Kino and Hermes are supposed to act as the observers. Because of this, the show feels more like a collection of short stories rather than an actual adventure of the
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main characters. Although sometimes Kino ends up taking a very proactive approach to a place she visits, which in my opinion is when the show actually gets less interesting. I didn't really care too much for the action side.
Personally, I love the show when an episode gets full on philosophical and thought-provoking. It's not afraid to give you grim, reality checks. In fact, most of the show probably feels very familiar to the viewer, handling commonly explored dystopian themes, especially those that reflect our real world. However, I still found the philosophy a hit or miss. When it's good it's amazing, but sometimes I felt like it missed the mark and it was like someone's first attempt at writing this kind of material.
I loved the eerie vibe the show has going on, feeling almost like a horror series sometimes. This is paired beautifully (pun intended) by the haunting OST. There are no happy tracks in the music whatsoever, but not overly gloomy either. A perfect fit. The show also has this odd CRT like filter on it which I have mixed feelings on. It's good for the vibe but sometimes a bit jarring to look at.
Even though I still preferred a more passive approach from Kino herself regarding the different countries, I still wish we got to see more of her story too. We get a backstory of how she got started but that's about it. Would have loved to have learned more about her Master and all the time between her childhood and current situation.
The world building feels slightly off, since we don't get to see Kino really move between the countries a lot, everything just ends up feeling very disconnected from each other, which is a shame since it's a fictional world and I think there was a lot of room for some greatness in this aspect.
While the show is short, I wouldn't recommend binging it all in one go. I think it's better to let the message of the episodes sink in for a while and actually take it in. Scoring this was hard since it's far from perfect but there were times I loved the show and overall it's still a quality piece of anime that deserves its status as a classic.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 11, 2024
Sora yori mo tooi basho is a very surface level show about self-discovery, wrapped in a fun adventure. But even though a story can be simple, it can still grasp the audience if executed well.
A small group of high school girls from Japan take on the most ambitious task of their short lives while learning more about each other and most importantly, themselves. Along the way, we encounter moments of sadness but the show ultimately feels very hopeful. It doesn't have twists and turns but rather, provides some much needed emotional catharsis that peaks towards the end.
The direction and pacing both feel good. The show
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establishes itself adequately in the first three episodes and rides the expectations well until the end. It doesn't overstay its welcome and is a fairly comfortable binge.
I can't think of many things to complain or nitpick about. Aesthetically the show is passable, nothing too out of the ordinary for better or worse. Music does the job, although personally I found them overusing the same insert songs a bit too much.
If anything the one thing I felt missing was exploring the main cast more. We get the bare minimum about them but I really wanted to get to know them better as they seemed fun but outside of Shirase, we don't see a ton sadly. Oh and speaking of the characters, the voice acting cast at least is very stacked.
There were moments where I felt the drama became a bit too melodramatic for my own tastes but most of the time it felt real in a positive way. I definitely felt emotional during several scenes but also experienced things like comfy vibes during the more adventurous parts.
While the show wasn't an instant hit for me, I can see why it became such an original hit. It's a short and tight, well written original package that doesn't require a crazy amount of thinking to understand the message of.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 25, 2024
Alien 9 mixes the mundane with a creepy, psychological horror twist. The short, 4 episode OVA series follows three young school girls who are tasked to join an exclusive club for capturing alien lifeforms invading planet Earth. Armed with zero knowledge, rollerblades, lacrosse sticks and their very own body juice sucking alien buddies, the girls are thrown into a cruel new life.
On top of the aforementioned line, even the viewer is mostly clueless regarding lore and background info. Almost nothing is explained and the viewer is supposed to come up with conclusions themselves, which will certainly divide enjoyment among viewers. Personally I found the series
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handling the mystery in an interest piquing way.
The characters are a mixed bag. We have the crybaby Yuri who is clearly ill-suited for the job, the level-headed and reasonable Kumi and the bratty yet hyped for her new job Kasumi. Despite Yuri's constant crying being fairly annoying, I still appreciated the characters feeling flawed in a realistic way.
However the series isn't without issues at all. The biggest problem is that it's way too short. We barely established anything by the time it's all over already. And to make things worse, it ends on a huge cliff hanger which basically demands you to check out the source material if you want any kind of closure.
Although the short runtime did probably help in one side of the series, the art and animation. Despite being over two decades old, it still looks great and has some really impressive, fluid animation mixed in the action scenes. Even the small use of CGI doesn't feel jarring and actually adds to the eeriness of the alien lifeforms.
Overall I still enjoyed the series. I just really wish it was longer because it could have been amazing. As is, two hours just flew by watching the whole thing. Recommended for anyone not bothered by a sudden stop and wanting an interesting horror experience.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 15, 2024
Dezaki Osamu is my favorite anime director. I still haven't seen everything from him but now I got around to Aim for the Ace!, somewhere in the middle in terms of how well known it is among his works. His most known works tend to be more lenghty so let's talk how a more simple show about a girl discovering herself via the world of tennis played out.
The premise itself is simple. We follow Hiromi, an innocent girl joining the tennis club of her school Nishi High because everyone including her admires a girl there known as Madame Butterfly aka Ryuzaki Reika. We also immediately
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get introduced to Munakata Jin, a former professional as he is assigned to be the new coach of the tennis club. Then throughout the two cour runtime we see these characters interact, grow, form rivalries and much more in between.
The characters for the most part are well written although maybe not always the most likable. There's a good amount of development for the main cast and even for some seemingly unredeemable side characters. However, I personally felt there were a bit too many plot conveniences revolving around Hiromi. Many of them get resolved later but they still gave me mixed feelings.
The show actually is more of a drama than a sports show. Every episode has something dramatic happening. And when I say dramatic, I really mean it. Unfortunately the show suffers from the really old trope of overly dramatizing even mundane things that Shoujo anime from back then had a habit of doing. So as someone who isn't a huge fan of melodrama, this was probably my biggest issue with the show. That being said there were a lot of good drama too so it's not all bad!
And on the topic of the show being very old, visually it sadly hasn't aged super well. Most of the time it wasn't an issue for me as I've seen quite a bit of old shows so I'm used to it but during the actual tennis matches I definitely felt it. Janky movement, stills, stock footage and bad sound design galore.
Regarding the ending of the show, I thought it was a fitting conclusion but at the same time it felt abrupt. I know there are other entries too (a remake possibly?) that might go even further on the plot but I was hoping for a bit more conclusive of a feeling after finishing. Still a decent finish overall.
Overall I enjoyed the show despite my issues with it. Although it would go on the lower side of Dezaki's shows to me. For anyone wanting a sports themed shoujo with some meaningful character growth, you could do a lot worse than Aim for the Ace!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 11, 2024
The author is the one who decides how a story goes, their will is absolute. But what happens when a seemingly insignificant part of the story is given an important role by a sudden twist of fate? That is the story of an innocent little duck. Princess Tutu explores a very unique way of telling a story among stories where the line between fiction and reality is blurred and where not even the author themselves has control over the ending.
The series follows the narrative of an in-universe story titled The Prince and the Raven. A classic fairy tale about a battle between the good prince
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and the evil raven. However, the author of the story never managed to finish it before dying and it's up to the characters to reach the ending they desire. Thus begins the journey of Ahiru, also known as Duck and her quest to reach a happy ending.
The characters of the series are great with different, lively personalities. Among them stands out Drosselmeyer, the actual narrator and author of the fictional story the characters live in. This directorial choice for a character adds a whole new layer of depth to the plot, without becoming confusing still.
Duck herself is a great main character, someone you really want to root for. She is a total klutz but has a pure and gentle heart, only wanting happiness for others. Another character I loved was Fakir. He initially seems like an arrogant ass kisser for prince Mytho, but as the story progresses and we learn more about him, we really see just how deep characters can be developed in this story.
The music while not exactly to my personal tastes was regardless a perfect fit for the series. The classical pieces matched the theme of the show excellently, be it during light hearted or tragic moments or anything in between. However, my knowledge of ballet and classical fairy tales is not amazing so I couldn't fully appreciate the parallels unfortunately.
Visually the show has aged surprisingly well, although I did notice some very pixely frames here and there but mostly it looks good still in this day and age.
My one big gripe is the mid point of the show. While the pacing itself feels good, mostly having plot progressing episodes over episodic ones, after entering the second act it loses the charm it had prior to it. Luckily later it gets back on track again but I did find myself losing interest a little bit during the middle.
One thing I didn't expect to enjoy or even witness in this series with my little knowledge beforehand was about the comedy. I'm sure there are a lot of opinions about how well it fits the series but I'm on the side that liked having funny moments mixed in between. They were never really placed poorly to ruin a serious moment, rather giving you some breathers to take in everything that has happened meanwhile.
All in all I really enjoyed Princess Tutu. Sometimes you don't need a crazy plot to have an engaging story if the way it's presented is masterful. I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a bittersweet story done in a unique way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 6, 2024
Cute horse girls racing for their dreams. That is Uma Musume in a nutshell. A very easy-going show with hardly any drama that just focuses on the journey of a group of girls.
Now despite the show having an ensemble cast because it's a gacha game adaptation, the show mostly focuses on two of the girls, Special Week and Silence Suzuka. I think they work fine as the main duo, I even liked their relationship even if it's nothing deep.
However, most of the other girls sadly miss out on good development because of this direction choice. Now, maybe people that play the game already know enough
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of the other girls but as someone who is anime only I seriously struggled to even remember the names of half of the other girls. Also I wish they at least gave Trainer-kun a name, even if he is meant to be the player self-insert.
Oh and Uma Musume isn't just a sports show. For some reason they also have the girls do idol performances after the races..? I suppose Japan really loves their idols but to me it would have been better to focus on one or the other rather than trying to mix them up. Granted in this show, the idol stuff was hardly present so it's only a minor gripe at best.
The pacing of the show is a bit too fast to my liking. Granted most of the races that get glossed over with just mentions don't seem to be very critical to the plot at least. Although the progress of Special Week felt rushed to me. It's a bit hard to fathom all of the stuff that happened actually happened in just a one cour runtime.
Now to mention something good for once; The show doesn't just randomly name the girls, they are actually based off of real life counterpart race horses that have existed and reading through discussion threads of people that are into this sport, it was cool to see that even a lot of the races were parallel to real history. Albeit some smaller and bigger liberties were taken to make the story more engaging and I'm okay with that.
I had seem some people say visually the first season doesn't hold up well and even if the latter seasons improve on it, I have to say I think the show looked fine. Sure, some of the CGI wasn't all that pretty but the races were mostly hand drawn anyway. Sound department was solid too, the gallop during the races made things more tense.
This show to me is the exact same how I felt about Girls Und Panzer too. Cute and wholesome girls duking it out in some kind of weird fantasy sport setting. It's all face value and no depth and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just not a mix that I can personally get that into.
PS Gold Ship was probably my favorite.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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