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Another is in a few interest stacks that suggest watching it on Halloween. I can see why, its genres fit in with All Hallows’ Eve’s celebration of the supernatural quite well. So, I took this as a recommendation and started watching this on Halloween, completing it a few days before mid-November came around. Culture places a lot of emphasis on these celebrations, mainly because it encourages people to invest in the general atmosphere of it. So, I decided to temporarily embrace the culturally grim and shocking notions that are associated with Halloween, as it is not a holiday pertaining to the birth or death of ... a Judean. Another upheld the spooky atmosphere of Halloween; however, many of the themes in the information section (gore and horror) are poorly shown throughout most of the anime.

The story is a bit of a drag since a lot of its mystery was either needlessly confusing or only present in the first few episodes of the story. The mystery is not very intriguing and its introduction rather generic, so it is best to keep it brief. Essentially, most of the mystery revolves around a supernatural school that kills off some of its students. Ever since the first student died, the school was put on a curse, and since then there has been an extra student. Most of the mystery boils down to which of the classmates are dead or not. If it is not apparent enough, one of these students, Mei, sticks out like a sore thumb. Usually the protagonist would be expected to do most of the solving, however with Another this is not the case. Since Mei is in the hot seat, this anime that likes to waste a lot of time, which is noted by the huge amount of filler. A lot of the filler involved learning about the background of the school, which is largely uninteresting but still has some degree of substance compared to the mystery.

Both of the main characters, Kouichi and Mei, did not have a lot going for them throughout the story which in turn made them quite bland. Kouichi is a pretty typical for a protagonist, the only way he differentiates himself in any way is that he is a bit clueless. Mei had a more notable impact on the mystery, since a lot of the mystery relies on her association with being dead or not. Mei was the only character that stood out, though, her only personality trait relies on the fact that she is mysterious. A mystery anime featuring a mysterious girl in it is quite fascinating; though, one might best describe this fascination with being half-sarcastic. The supporting characters did not matter at all, as some of them were only present to be killed off. The characters, while uninspiring, more so exist to solve the mystery.

There is one aspect of Another that is noticeably done well, which is its atmosphere. The scenery had a more dark and eerie feel to it which is more refreshing than the bright atmosphere most anime tends to have. As a more literal interpretation of being flashy, the only aspect that could be referred as such is the lighting. The OP is great as well, the singer has a great voice. In addition, the artwork of the opening ties in to what to expect from this anime, it fit into the spooky elements, but it was not scary.

Another would not be complete without its gore. The quality of the gore itself was fine, there is blood, but no guts or anything. There was a lot of it as well, expect some squelch sounds after a few arteries get cut. Its presence though could be comparable to Elfen Lied, which is a notoriously gory anime. Both of them include gore whose presence was more there to be shocking rather than move the story along. So, in other words, it was rather cheap. Many of the deaths were caused by a nonsensical series of events which made them hard to take seriously. A few of these deaths either felt like potential qualifiers for the Darwin Awards or winners of a death lottery. Most notably, there was one scene where one of the dead in question dangles like a puppet on a string, except the for the fact that the strings are tied together in a knot. A lot of people die as well, though none of them are important, there had to have been at least two dozen deaths from what I remember. It feels cheap, but it can be surprisingly effective when it comes to engagement.

While the interest stacks were right to label Another as a Halloween binge, it is not engaging enough to constitute it as anything other than a last minute watch. I generally do not watch a lot of horror, but I can assure you that there are pieces of media out there that are immeasurably better than this. For its atmospheric elements, it fits in with the macabre nature of the holiday. However, the mystery is not very engaging, and it does not play fair by withholding information only the anime would know. Mei is at the center of all this, and though quirky, distracts the viewer with filler and the occasional lore dump which at times felt like a word salad. Another’s enjoyment depends on the viewers niche, which excels in some aspects but fails to deliver on what (emphasis) should have been its most important aspect.

It has been a while, well, three years to be specific. With this long of a wait, it is quite easy to forget some of the details from the preceding two seasons. Beastars is not an episodic anime, and from the very first episode it had a ton of references to the events that happened in season two. A lot of it still holds up, and the final season served as a bit of a refresher for what to expect. Perhaps this is some weird form of recency bias but from my recollections of the previous two seasons, I found this season to be the ... best.

Beastars still holds on to its main premise on the relations between predators and prey. From the very get go, Beastars introduces a sub-premise in which Legoshi’s recollections from what he had done in the second season carry over into the third. The third season touches on more personal subjects such as identity and family relations. In addition, more of the plot focuses on the background focusing on the characters Legoshi and Louis, which adds to the theme of family relations but also adds the notion of familial expectations. The sub-plot that was introduced in the first episode makes the carnivores are more violent than usual. Legoshi is largely affected by this, and is expected to supress his desires. The cause of this undergoes thorough investigation through the help of the Beastar, who makes a debut. A bit of the story delves into the lives of characters more, which drifts away from the main plot. There’s also weird grunting noises throughout the series, whether people like it or not is up to interpretation.

The best part about Beastars are definitively the characters. The wide variety of characters all advance the plot in a meaningful way. All of them felt human, or I guess animal in this case. There are a few new characters, and all of them are just as memorable as the recurring characters, in both personality and design. The newer characters had some of the best voice acting as well, Legoshi’s grandfather is the best example of this, he sounds exactly like a grandfather. A lot of the newer characters’ traits were still pretty expected depending on if they are an herbivore or a carnivore. That said, it is not an inherently negative thing, a good chunk of their character is dependent upon offering the recurring characters a new perspective on life while still maintaining a personality of their own. The main characters are just as entertaining and refreshing to see. Many of the personality traits that made them likable in the previous seasons are back, and they are better than ever. Haru still beats us over the head with a hammer about how she likes sex because she’s a rabbit, or whatever. Most of the characters are still as lovey-dovey as they were in the preceding seasons, though this should not come as much of a surprise. All of this is in addition to the antagonist who, though a bit exaggerated, fits into Beastars’ theme on the cultural divide quite well.

The art was not as relevant as the story or the characters; however it was still on par with the previous two seasons. The OP was a bit of a surprise, it mixed some of the elements from season 1’s stop motion OP and season 2’s drawn animation. There was this one part where Haru gets hit by a flying piece of paper, and when it hit her it was on beat, so I thought that was kind of funny. Anyway, the art was pretty good, a lot of it reminds me of Odd Taxi. Besides the animals, I felt as if it shared a few characteristics with Odd Taxi. This can be seen by the art, it simultaneously had the visuals of being smooth and rough. The animation is also a more notable similarity, Beastars always had this sort of janky feel to it, Odd Taxi not as much; however the vehicles are practically animated in the same way. There’s some new elements to the story that from I remember aren’t present in the previous seasons, which are these artsy flashbacks.

The decision to watch this or not should be an easy one. It all depends on your opinion of the last two seasons. If you have watched the other two seasons, then I recommend it. If you didn’t, start from the first season first and go from there. Beastars as a series improves as it goes along.

Compared to the other seasons:
Season 1: 6
Season 2: 7

Don’t expect much from this anime, its plot summary is exactly that. Most of this anime revolves around Umaru harassing her brother and being nice around her peers. There is not even much comedy to speak of, most of the entertainment served as more of a time killer if anything. There are some “otaku culture” themes too, whatever that means, but most of it is just references to existing video games. It was decent entertainment all around, with its lack of comedy being made up by its cuteness. The chibi form appears to have done the marketing quite well, but surprisingly, I found the non-chibi ... to be better.

There’s not really much else to say about the story that wasn’t already covered in the synopsis. Himouto Umaru-chan doesn’t really have a story, but slice of life generally substitutes the lack of a story with comedy, so this is excusable. Most of the story revolves around Umaru upholding her appearance of a responsible person in the presence of her peers at school. Conversely, she acts in a completely different way around her brother. This is the supposedly the main gag of the series, Umaru changes her personality depending on who she happens to be around. There are scenes where her brother and friends would be in the same place, so she would have to sort of multitask her personalities. Most of the jokes focus on this premise alone, so it felt very repetitive. At first, her more bratty personality is showcased, which is a bit annoying, the later scenes of her swooning crowds helped balance it a bit, even though they too were underwhelming. There were a few scenes that were wholesome when she was not either a brat or a self described perfect angel, but overall the story did not have much to offer.

Since Himouto Umaru-chan really only focuses on Umaru, she is the only interesting character this anime has to offer. She can be fun sometimes, but much of her annoying nature is shown largely in the first few episodes. This does not imply that she undergoes any character development, instead the scenes that show her to be well behaved were simply more present. Besides Umaru, the rest of the characters are pretty bland and unremarkable. There is not much else to say about them besides a stereotypical personality trait. Most of these characters only exist to either give in the Umaru's demands or irritate her. The side characters include her wageslave brother, a shy girl, her admirer, and her rival. Due to the boring nature of the rest of the cast, this anime was largely uninteresting when she was not on screen.

One element of this show that is executed well is its artwork. In general, it is not particularly noteworthy besides the fact that it is all around good. Namely, the artwork features nice colors and smooth animations. Due to the nature of the gag which involves Umaru changing outfits, the character designs are done quite well. The girls in the cast are more notable, and it is easy to see that more attention was given to them during the design. Seriously, all of the male side characters look like they could be background characters. Anyway, Umaru’s outfits were certainly the best part of the show. Watching her designs vary depending on the scene she was in was quite nice. I had a personal preference for the design she wore when she went to the arcade since I have an affinity for hats. The OP was great too, it was clever with some of the video game references, with the music serving as a good enhancement to it.

In conclusion, Himouto Umaru Chan is a fairly decent anime all around. There is no noteworthy story or plot to speak of. Instead, this is substituted by comedy, which relies on one gag and gets repetitive after a while. Most of it relies on how cute Umaru's chibi form is, which can be annoying, and in turn make her non chibi form more appealing. The other characters in this anime are quite bland and lack personalities of their own so their character mostly involves feeling a certain way towards her. The artwork really saves the show here, which can be seen by how this show is presented, the girls’ character designs, and the OP that preceded.

Madoka Magica is the perfect example of “looks can be deceiving,” and indeed it was, when any other external factors weren’t present. What I mean by this is that its popularity and its reputation as an anime that seemingly misleads people to believe its made for little girls gives it its reputation as such. This is not to say that any prior knowledge or what to expect ruins the viewing experience of this anime, quite the opposite actually. Every piece of media has to have a selling point, and for Madoka Magica, it seems to sell itself as a subversion of expectations. Now, I have ... not watched any mahou shoujo up until this point, so I am unable to assess its quality as a comparison to another anime. Regardless, my expectations were quite high, not due to any expectation of what men are supposed to enjoy but rather expecting it to be a cliché portrayal of a genre made to target another demographic. At a first glance, Madoka Magica doesn’t seem like an anime that is good at attracting anyone other than little girls. This can be seen by the title’s cute lettering, the frilly dresses, and the girls themselves. Yet, even the last point has a niche other than little girls. However, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to no one that Madoka Magica is able to appeal to a larger audience to the nature of its dark themes. Deception is a huge theme in this anime, so we aren’t the only ones that are supposedly deceived.

Madoka Magica is depicted in a very typical setting with characters that aren’t out of the ordinary. One of these characters is Madoka, a kind hearted hearted girl simply going about her daily life. She comes from a loving family and has a good relationship with her friends. Much of the setting conforms with the mood of the characters. For instance, her house is a brightly colored contemporary house with lots of windows and mirrors that blindfully light. Once outside, and after a good eyeball nuking, she meets up her best friend Sayaka on her walk to school. Much of the school day is like any other, even with the arrival of Homura, a new student who is quite mysterious and has a knack for the whole school thing. However, this all changes when Madoka comes in contact with a cute cat-bunny named Kyuubey, who gives them the opportunity to become a magical girl. Homura crosses their path, and insists that she Madoka gives up the cat, insisting that she doesn’t know what she is getting into. Though, knowing Madoka, she is sympathetic towards the bunny-cat and carries it away with her best friend Sayaka. While doing so, she comes in contact with another girl, Mami, who goes along with the girls’ wishes to save the animal. Much of the story from this point on considers the dilemma of the responsibility of becoming a magical girl, whether it shall be a conscious decision or fate alone.

In addition to its school setting, there is also another world with a dark atmosphere that the girls find themselves in. A large section of the trance-like world has the same same eerie feeling as the school setting, but in every other aspect of its design, it is way more pleasing to the eyes. Its dreamlike atmosphere could also manifest itself as another definition of dream, that being a passion. Much of it would be like a father telling her daughter “you can be anything if you put mind to it.” What these girls do shouldn’t be completely unexpected, after all Madoka hopes to uphold this cultural notion of “goodness.” Goodness is just as dreamlike as any other concept that isn’t physically present. While not tangible, there’s a reason why goals and dreams are largely interchangeable due to their characteristics of being highly idealized and sought after. To fulfill this sort of “dream,” Madoka undergoes psychological distress for a good chunk of the entire series. Now this isn’t to say she did for the entire series, not at all. Quite frankly, for a show that emphasize suffering so much it couldn’t have been any more apparent that its ending was pretty predictable. Nonetheless, its ending made me good tired and weird sort of way, even for a brief moment.

The entire genre of mahou shoujo and its premise feels quite limiting given its typical target audience. Mahou shoujo is primarily based on the concept of femininity. The characters in these shows would be dressed in a manner that would pertain to what a female youth would desire to wear. More of this would gear towards more fictional aspects such as princesses. There are other themes present in mahou shoujo that would appeal to the general shounen demographic as well. A prime example of this would be a general concept of a fighter force consisting of morally righteous characters fighting against evil. The protagonist in both of these instances would be largely two dimensional, ideally so these youths could “self-insert” themselves as the protagonist. These concepts would help these youths follow society’s values, encouraging these youths to perpetually propagate them. Madoka Magica seems to stick with the premise of mahou shoujo wonderfully.

A lot of the evil present was included for the sake of having something for the magical girls to fight. Well, something had to be clearly defined, so the witches are a good example of this evil. They are neither the witches from western animation or anime. Instead, they are more so supernatural entities. It was a strange name choice, not the usual expectation of cute girls wearing hats.

Madoka Kaname makes the perfect magical girl and an all around good protagonist for a few reasons. Firstly, she is shown to follow the cultural notions of femininity. This is emphasized well with her strengths and weaknesses as a character. Madoka is shown to be a rather selfless and sweet girl that likes to help others. That’s a strength, there’s nothing wrong with that, even without its cultural association, helping people is a feel-good thing. Helping people is selfish, in the way that is something typically seen as a selfless duty in turn gives people an opportunity to get an ego boost. Madoka does not see the nature of helping people like this at all, since she is a self-sacrificing character. Much of her weakness as a character stems from her view that she sees herself as unable to help everybody, and is thus uninteresting. She neglects herself in a pursuit to selflessly help others. She is the type of character who sees herself as one who fulfills the roles of a magical girl rather than her own person, and is thus overwhelmed by the responsibility needed to appear as a role model. Madoka improves a lot as a character, and without going into major spoilers, makes more “logical” and egoistic decisions towards the end of the series while still having largely the same personality she had in the first episode. If fate had a strong presence it would be assumed that she was “destined” to be a magical girl.

Madoka Magica has a small selection of characters, only five, with all of them having distinct personalities and reasons for why they decided to become magical girls. The rest of the girls have more resemblances of personality, only because the lack of personality is one of Madoka’s weaknesses as a character. For example, her best friend Sayaka reflects a lot of Madoka’s benevolent personality traits in their happy-go-lucky friendship. She has the same heroic personality as Madoka, though less of a push is required for her decision making due to her being more assertive. A lot of the story and their character development is dependent on making them suffer. The story tends to rely on this, so feeling attached towards the characters is difficult when they suffer, since there is not much buildup. So, I wouldn’t really consider it as out right character development, but its much more like a new outlook on the situations that tend to come. A lot of their character development is just the delayed forming of their inevitable friendship. Kyouko, the pocky stick eating DDR girl, had the biggest change throughout the series. On the other hand, Mami was initially accepting of the girls from day one, so I didn’t really sense any strong change from her.

Kyuubey is cute, but utterly ominous. There was this one scene where he rolled over just like a cat, all I wanted to do was reach my hand through the screen and scratch their belly. Several close up shots on him depict nothing more than two beads for eyes and a squiggle for a mouth. Kyubey makes the perfect animal mascot, but do not be mistaken, there is much more to it than the outwardly appearance. Kyubey is known as the animal who negotiates contracts with the magical girls. Despite practically being a demigod, Kyubey sees their role as necessary and sees great potential in Madoka and Sayaka. Kyubey has a hard time understanding humans, and their only similarity they seem to share is their ability to communicate using language. Kyubey’s reasoning for making contracts for the girls was a bit humorous given their robotic nature compared to the rest of the girls.

Kyubey kind of does whatever is most convenient do him, and he is highly efficient in doing so. They don't hold the same values as humans, which may explain his atypical behavior, so his choice of recruits could reflect this. If it weren’t obvious already, Madoka Magica has no notable male characters. Well, “mahou shoujo” directly translates to magical girl. A simple answer to a question like that is no fun, so I contend Madoka Magica’s absence of magical boys as beneficial.

Society promotes the idea that boys should be less outwardly emotional than girls. A lot of this is encouraged by adults, but more so through peers teasing each other. This could be due to a deterrence towards following directions or listening to authority figures which leads them to behave in a manner more similar to their peers. Besides the natural tendency towards violence, this could explain why most terrorists are male, domestic terrorists act in a similar way to their peers even more so. Whether the teasing is in moderation depends on the context, in certain scenarios it may be deemed necessary to keep their fellow "bro" out of a locker. In more extreme scenarios, bullies were essentially big meanies that enforced normalcy, so that men a status below them could be prepared for future terminal brain damage. A lot of this behavior is brushed off under the notion that “boys will be boys,” which is usually encouraged by their mothers, who tend to fancy status. Kyubey shares the personality trait of being less outwardly emotional, as how a boy is expected so act. This could lead Kyubey could overlook boys in an attempt to understand girls more.

Girls have more of an expectation to look presentable, which would fit mahou shoujo’s transformation elements better. Men are also more typically shamed for the type of clothing they wear which is why menswear is quite boring. They typically don’t preen themselves as a mouse would. A combination of the cultural aspects of beauty and a biological tendency for women to be more selective when it comes to pair-bonding relegates them as status symbols. Throughout history these were referred to as trophy wives, their only merit being their appearance. A lot of Madoka Magica’s themes tend to center on this sort of breaking point. For one, emotionality is gendered. Women tend to score lower on conscientiousness and higher on agreeableness. These traits can lead people to be more altruistic and give in to other people’s desires more easily. Boys are also physically stronger, so magical powers are this sort of chance for the girls to feel powerful in a way they couldn’t before. Besides the previous considerations, perhaps Kyubey just wanted some eye candy, just saying.

One criteria I like to judge things on would be a comparison to what I consider as average. Madoka Magica’s strong point was undoubtedly its art, both visually and auditorially, which breaks the feeling of sameness in every conceivable way. Madoka Magica had a large focus on its cute artstyle without becoming excessive. The first thing people tend to focus on when communicating with other people are their eyes. So, as a small quirk, the characters’ eyes featuring these small diagonal black lines that made the eyes look like lightly scratched marbles were pleasing to my unscratched marbles. They also give the appearance of a shadow, which was a nice alternative compared to the stereotypically buggy anime eyes. Besides the eyes, the main thing to look forward to were its transformation scenes. After a quick design upgrade, the scenes where these girls fought witches had a neat avant-garde feel to it. Madoka Magica’s artistic elements come across as a combination between childhood drawings and a light drug trip. The story is comparable to a lot of its music in a sense that they both have a mysterious melancholic feel to it. I’d even consider the music to be better than the art, since it just fits in so well. Madoka Magica’s quick change of tone was quite the shock.

In conclusion, Madoka Magica worked well with what it was given. Disregarding its hook, a lot of the story fell short and was a bit of a let down. The fast pacing of it didn't help, which strifed some opportunity for character development. A lot of the elements in mahou shoujo appeal to youths, so its concepts would have to be simple to remain in the realm of mahou shoujo. This could include the themes on friendship or femininity which is why most of the story’s development was basically the girls warming up to each other. Most of the themes were conveyed well by a really sweet and likable protagonist named Madoka. Along with her friend group, she has the opportunity to face the world by becoming a magical girl. whether it be by fate or destiny. Thankfully, there weren’t any themes about her abandoning her femininity or whatever. Kyubey is the star of the show, he practically upholds everything, which could lead to the anticulturists detestment of such a being. The art was honestly the best aspect about Madoka Magica, which is unique but sadly overshadowed by a lot of the plot. Overwall, Madoka Magica’s good execution for its genre was made even better by the amount of fluff it had, which made it feel like a glorified CGDCT at times.

At a first glance, this anime might be easily to look over due to its premise of character designs. However, its stylistic choice, is well, just that. Odd Taxi is different from other “furry fandom works,” since it has no plot about any sort of dichotomy between different species of animals. Its choice of characters being anthropomorphic animals has little relevance to the show. The relevance that it does have plays a major part in resolving any lose ends or questions the viewer may have. There is one element these anime typically share though, which is some type of close connection between two characters. Odd ... Taxi doesn’t stray too far from this concept, though it would be best to leave this description as a vague semblance to these other “works.” Much of its thrill doesn’t come from the story itself, which is why watching watching one episode wouldn't be enough to satisfy some people. Its enjoyment is rewarded through uncovering Odd Taxi’s mystery as the story progresses. So, once the art feels familiar, the design choice of the cast should become ingraining.

Odd Taxi tries to be a lot of things, but it could essentially be boiled down to a mystery thriller drama. The nature of these genres leads to most of the plot’s trend towards spoiler territory. So, the plot in this paragraph is mostly the bare bones of it. The setting takes place in Tokyo, though not the wealthiest area, since everyone seems to be in financial ruin. Everyone has some sort of secret or goal that they want to pursue to escape the mundaneness of modern life. The center of all of this is a seemingly atypical taxi driver named Odokawa. He seems to be rather content with his job as a taxi driver, either due to apathy or his close-minded nature. Part of the interest in this character is seeing what motivates a man who is unmotivated. He is a man who suffers from some form of an unfulfilled mid-life crisis. A man, who in stark contrast with the other characters, draws attention to himself for the sole fact of his reserved nature contrasts with the rest of the cast. The nature of his job leads him to meet with these eccentric people who just so happen to drag him along. Encounters with these recurring characters, which may seem unimportant, leave behind details that make the ending feel more complete. Additionally, Odd Taxi provide smaller details as a reward for those who pay close attention. It is not one of those shows where turning the brain off is the best to enjoy it.

Most of its story relies on this characters, and much so to the point of its story more so being a series of events to show how these characters are relevant to the plot. Odd Taxi’s story is not linear, and entire episodes can be dedicated to the development of these characters. And much to their dismay, Odd Taxi does this quite well. Some of these background characters can be even more entertaining than Odokawa, whose schizoid nature could be off-putting for some people. Much of this though depends on how much screen time the characters get. Excluding the comedy duo “homo sapiens,” (they were irrelevant) I found these characters to influence Odokawa in some way. Many of the characters that largely annoy him, have the best, supposed “backstories.” One of them does so in the most petty and obsessive way after Odokawa inconveniences him. Other characters that did not get as much time to develop take interest in him for seemingly no reason. What makes him likable to me as a viewer doesn’t seem like anybody else in the story would like him voluntarily for who he is, sorry Capoeira girl. Perhaps I’m just as worn out as he is, but most of his interactions with her went over my head. Otherwise, most of the character’s intentions seem to be grounded in reality. I rooted for most of them throughout, because, oh Yaldabaoth, seeing these animals that slowly go insane and in turn make terrible decisions is hilarious. Perhaps Odd Taxi could have expanded upon these characters more. Though, how it could go about this is beyond me, since the pacing was already quite slow as is for an anime that is thirteen episodes. It is a lot easier to juggle three beanbags than five beanbags.

I feel like its art doesn’t get as much praise as it should. Odd Taxi does this just as well as its characterization. Again, its choice of making its characters animals was mostly a stylistic choice. The designs are nicely done, and each one is distinguishable from the others. I like Fuyuki’s design the most, his design has an appealing color pallette. Most of the colors in Odd Taxi are more dark and muted which stands in stark contrast with Odd Taxi’s bright character designs, which helps these characters pop out. Much of its background has a texture similar to that of a comic book or smooth sandpaper. Odd Taxi was lacking when it came to its animation, which could have been better. This is especially noticeable with the cars, but everyone's movements itself were a bit janky as well. As a final point, the music was nice, it fit the scenery.

Truthfully, Odd Taxi could not be considered a hidden gem anymore, since this anime was really well received ever since its release three years ago. Sure, it is still out of the public eye, but it pretty much did nearly the exact opposite of “fading into obscurity,” it got a spotlight, in the corner. Odd Taxi gives enough to hook people in the first episode, but not enough to the point where it becomes super engaging. Odokawa is an excellent choice for a main character, and the people he encounters vary in likability, which is largely influenced by the amount of screen time they have. Its art ties it altogether which makes it a more chill, standalone mystery/crime thriller for a pretty ordinary setting. Its slow pacing pays off at the final few episodes for those that notice the small details.

After some reflection, I believe that I was overly generous with my initial rating. So, I had changed a few sentences and republished this review. - (>ω•)

The main appeal of Elfen Lied going in was its reputation as being one of the goriest anime ever produced. Obviously, it would be naive to overlook the primary attraction of this show, which is where these high expectations were changed. The copious amounts of mid-quality gore and fan service is laughable, and my anticipation of watching something unsettling quickly disappeared. Even if there are scenes that depict violence against animals and children, I still found these scenes to ... be tolerable because the scenes meant to be disturbing were introduced too quickly after the first “real” shocker. This review may sound negative from here on out but I still found it to be enjoyable, at least in some aspects.

Right off the bat we are introduced to a gorefest enough to tip some people over the edge. Although this was introduced quite quickly, and largely the bloodshed caused was largely impressive for a floorpisser, the wreckage nonetheless was really twisted and intriguing. The main focus of the story revolves around a Diclonius with small horns named Lucy, who possesses the ability to switch between being a violent murderer and acting like an untrained dog. This second personality, “Nyu” was found by two cousins who take her in to their home. Meanwhile, other plots and flashbacks are introduced involving Kohta as a child and his memories involving the Diclonii, which were nice to watch. There are other character relations, including the romance sub-plot, which was so unnecessary and forced it doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned. I feel like its presence was used to distract us from the rather uninteresting story and concepts that were left largely unexplained. For example, the Diclonii’s mysterious powers and the inclusion of the invisible hands that felt like a random inclusion were bizzare. Nyu also transforms into Lucy at the perfect moment, isn’t that convenient? Most of the story revolves around the relations between these Characters, which is where the story starts becoming convoluted. And as for the theme, most of it revolves around trauma experienced by the Diclonii and how they are differentiated from humans. Feeling sympathy for the Diclonii was largely a choice. Oh, and for the gore, uh, it made up for it I suppose, but I’ll get back to that later.

The sole focus of this story remains on Lucy, and to be honest she’s probably the only character that really matters. A few of the other Diclonii were mediocre at best but they weren’t expanded upon at all. It’s hard to feel much for Lucy when a decent chunk of her character was used for that stupid romance subplot (I didn't mind the aspects of her character which were only used for nudity as much). Her tragic backstory was glossed over and was ruined by two characters, Yuka and Kohta (Kouta?). Honestly these two are so boring seeing them on screen was just awkward. Kouta has a generic protagonist-but-not-the-protagonist personality who somehow won the ecchi lottery (if you can even call it that, his harem consists of his cousin and a dog). The first episode is the best you’re gonna get, maybe if they were both actually likable it’d be better. Yuka was only there for the fan service and the occasional helper for Nyu. Looking past that, Lucy’s herself as a character could have been expanded upon more, since most of her character was used as her Nyu personality when she was fonding over Kohta for some reason. Lucy was bearable when Nyu was out of the picture, the scenes where she tortures the officers are funny to watch. Either than those three, everyone else either acted like cartoon supervillains or had no relevance to the story at all. So, the Diclonii were likable when they weren't infantile and the humans were really boring and one dimensional.

Something that I was certainly not expecting were the large buggy eyes. Yes, this is to be expected of in anime, but it appeared much different in artwork before I started watching Elfen Lied. The character designs were pretty alright even though they looked kind of generic. On the other hand, the background had some pretty cool visuals showing itself off in the earlier episodes. I’m not picky when it comes to art, mostly because I don’t have much to compare it to. Elfen Lied’s visuals weren’t amazing, but they were still all around pleasing to the eye.

The opening theme was great, and I liked the other tracks that helped shape Elfen Lied’s atmosphere. The voice acting was in the middle of the road, it was not particularly noteworthy. Though, Nyu can be a bit annoying, but then again, it’s Nyu. (I watched the sub)

The gore and nudity is as significant enough to warrant it its own category. I do not mind nudity and gore in itself, in fact, Elfen Lied could be improved if even more of the budget was be dumped into making its presence worthwhile. The nudity and gore were decent contrasting themes, ex. one showing the innocent site of humanity (involving Nyu) and the other being something completely unimaginable for someone childlike to do. I would have preferred if it stuck to this theme throughout because at most around half stuck to this theme, the rest was thrown in for the sake of it. My main gripe with this series was the quality of the nudity and gore in itself, not the large presence of it. Come on, the gore is not that shocking, if the first episode scene wasn’t already the goriest it wouldn’t be surprising to get over its tolerability quickly. For something to pride itself in being the “goriest anime you’ll ever see” I would have hoped to see people puking their guts out or seeing some exposed brains. Nope, Elfen Lied’s gore was mostly red paint and anatomy consisting of one large bone going in the center of their body. The gore was too clean, and too cartoonish, which made it a bit goofy at times. None of the gore had any psychological aspect to it at all. If Elfen Lied wanted to, make the deaths slow and painful, make it more human. Though humans are malleable and human nature does not have to be one hundred percent biological, morbid curiosity and the desire to see certain people suffer could be considered as a core piece of humaneness. The nudity that was present didn’t irk me as much. Thankfully, Elfen Lied advertised itself as mild nudity. It's just tits n' ass though, cool, though Lucy looked like a mannequin while she was nude. Elfen Lied cheaped out by putting the hypothetical holy light in most aspects of the nudity.

This is probably a good sign to disregard Elfen Lied’s story entirely, and watch it entirely for the gore and fanservice. If you’re looking for a story or characters to invest in, then Elfen Lied isn’t for you. The theme was quite good although some of the characters in these themes weren't really worth investint in. Otherwise, it's good for deriving some amusement from the hilarious amount of mediocre gore. I’m surprised Elfen Lied’s rating mentions mild nudity but not gore, neither felt real so might as well lump both of them in. Elfen Lied works great as an unintentional comedy.

I understand the negative reviews, but at the same time, I don’t hate it, it’s a mix between “good job on shocking people for some reason” and “meh, it was pretty mediocre.”

Watching this was a strange way to celebrate Trump's victory, but I digress. Most of the reviews are either meme reviews, or very strong expressions of disgust. I would like to go against this by saying this anime was all around okay. This two episode animation consists of Donald Trump leaves his political career to become a foreign exchange student that raps, and that's about it. None of the humor was political, instead most of it was cheap comedy. Why the Japanese consider bodily functions as humor is beyond me. The animation and the other characters weren't great, but on the other hand the music ... and rapping weren't that bad. Yeah, it's kind of stupid, but I chuckled, like once.

I rate this a 3 because giving it a 5 would disservice other anime with actual substance to it.

It probably makes sense to watch the OVA version first because I will reference it a lot, it came out first. - (>ω•)

After finishing the OVA, one may waddle over to the TV series in a state of confusion, mainly due to the OVA’s limitations with time rather than not being able to understand its symbolism. Given that their expectations are now more appropriately set, it could now possibly be twisted by the state of confusion regarding the OVA version. Black Rock Shooter is a very misleading title considering most of it was a school drama. This anime has little to do with one of ... the three firms that own the United States or Thomas Matthew Crooks himself. This does not imply that the title and the subsequent expectations formed based on it which were met are automatically good and vice versa. I found that the drama, in all aspects in this anime, to be at least somewhat entertaining considering the girls' drama was an over exaggerated mess. The action had some drama tied to it as well, which was a big improvement to the OVA which had less brutal fight scenes and was basically absent of dialogue. Most of the enjoyment stemmed from this anime depends on the background of the viewer, the characters could either be relatable or come across as an emotional wreck. The drama high school girls experience would be completely alien to someone who is their polar opposite. It made me rethink what kind of expectations to set when faced with unfamiliarity.

OK, focusing on the drama, since it better fits the theme of Black Rock Shooter than what is shown through its promotional art. Large parts of the story are not really engaging to be honest, most of it being set in the “real” world. Much of the attention is placed on stuff that, if altered, would not change this anime much. There were two metaphors that I received differently, one relating to colors and the other concerning the parallel world. The metaphor with the colors felt like it was added for the purpose of squeezing as much as they could into this anime, since the OVA was mostly for looks. Symbolism coming off as cheap is not much of an issue if it was mostly tied to the art instead of trying to convey some deep meaning. Black Rock Shooter is different in this regard, since the meaningless symbolism at least tried to convey something meaningful. There are a few more minor details that felt unnecessary as well, however most of is nit-picky and mostly trends towards the characters rather than the story. The parallel world metaphor is way more interesting because of the added drama to it. If their main selves didn’t go through enough drama, the parallel world exists as the sort of characterization of the girls’ personality traits (ex. one of the characters is Strength). Much like the OVA, most of the conflict is fought over Yomi’s friendship. The parallel world is a big positive of this anime because it allows for the character’s actions to be more understood to someone who views the girls as nonsensical at times.

The characters are both the best and worst part of this anime. Some of the characters in the real world make no sense and do not act in a realistic matter. Their actions have no consistency throughout the series, and this is not because they are overdramatic. The parents and teachers usually get angry at the kids for no reason and unreasonably take their anger out on them. One of the kids, Kagari is another good example of inconsistency, since she comes across as a stereotypically insane person who just so happens to be a brat. She could be described as “ring around the rosie” girl turned psych-ward patient. While this is entertaining, her bratty behavior is quite irritating when it comes to her being possessive. Her more-so childish attitude towards Mato was probably the most memorable aspect of her character. The other worldly characters were fine when they weren’t excessively emotional, otherwise they were quite boring.

Much of the artwork and scenery is of similar vein compared to the OVA. Both of the worlds aesthetic wise could be considered as polar opposites. The real world used brighter and more softer colors which were quite eye hurting at times. The design of this world was quite basic but probably expected of a school setting. However there were definitely a few scenes that were nice, such as the gloomy atmosphere of the night and the colorful sunset, which stood out from the rather dull school environment. The hollow world was much more visually appealing, probably because its features from the real world were basically amped up. I liked the gothic architecture and the checkerboard pattern in particular. The splash of color is nice as well, it had rich colors instead of being overly soft and eyehurting. The animation is more fluid in the TV series than the OVA, much of its choppiness was dropped to animate the fights. The visual effects and the voice acting that came with it were a great addition to it. Its hollow world being showcased more makes a lot more sense once the real world’s drawbacks are mentioned.

Yeah it has its flaws, and while it wasn’t bad there were significant portions of it that dragged on for a bit. The real world was a rather boring watch, but the other selves in the hollow world was where Black Rock Shooter did best. This anime would be a great recommendation to people who either relate to or enjoy over dramatic angsty teenage girl drama. It may also appeal to people who just want to see goth girls engage in some more drama and fight to shed a bit of blood. Personally, I had a preference for the latter.

Forgive me for I had to get some background information before finishing the OVA. I initially started watched the TV, but then switched over to the OVA, and then after that I gave the song Black Rock Shooter a quick listen two episodes in upon realizing it was released first. I had first heard about Black Rock Shooter from its title alone, mostly because it could have been a cool nickname for Trump’s would-be assassin. The art was what drew me in, mostly because there’s just something so undeniably cool about a girl wearing little clothing wielding a massive bazooka. So, the art was great, ... but what about the anime itself? Well, the art was more so bait for its promotion of the hollow world, I had mixed feelings about the school setting.

\The story, though largely unexplained, was easy to interpret and largely straight forward. It could mostly be summarized as two girls going through platonic relationship problems because Mato, the protagonist, is seeing other people. Mato, who is more outgoing, strikes up a conversation with a shy girl named Yomi, and while brief, it served as the catalyst for the start of their friendship. Nearly all of their free time at school is spent together, and as a sign of their friendship Yomi gifts Mato a gift relevant to the hollow world. Later, Mato forms another friendship with Yuu as they spend more time together in class. Fighting is a primitive strategy meant to obtain something, usually by overpowering the other, so the parallel world could be interpreted as some allegorical relationship between the girls battling over the human superficial need for friendship. I had mixed feeling about the school plot, while the drama was entertaining, it was mostly slow-paced. Instead, most of my enjoyment from Black Rock Shooter came from the world with the dark checker boarded aesthetic, which I expected to be more prominently featured considering its stellar (yes, even the astral definition) artwork. The two worlds do not show much connection until the final few minutes of the OVA.

There’s not much to add when it comes to the characters, considering most of their characterization was used to add more drama to the plot, with it difficult to do so otherwise in a 50 minute OVA. Nevertheless, all of the main characters in the real world came across as realistic and were not unlikable. Mato, though largely outgoing, has a more awkward side to her that is really prominent when talking to Yomi. Yomi sort of reflects this, since she tends to warm up around Mato. Yuu’s character was fine when it came to her parallel in checkerboard land. One let down from the fighter girls character wise was the fact was they all practically have little to no dialogue. Their other selves, though cool, were largely only used for the battles.

The artwork is definitely praiseworthy, as has been mentioned probably multiple times in this review. The two worlds design wise contrast well with each other. One one hand, the school’s scenery used brighter colors, while visually appealing, it was quite harsh on the eye hurting at times (I always have my brightness at 0 btw). There were a few scenes that showcased this well, particularly those set outside of the classroom, since the classroom setting was rather generic and dull. On the other hand, the hollow world had a more dark atmosphere to it, and was more appealing than the normal world. The dark colors, the checkerboard pattern, the dungeon like atmosphere, etc. were all incredible. The world makes it so bazooka girl and her enemies fit right in. The animation was a nice addition, and while the animation may not be as fluid as that of the normal world, it is still a significant improvement. Its “choppy” animation style enhances the battle scenes better and makes them more impactful. The sound was on point, but this anime comes from a song, so I can’t say I’m surprised.

I was going to rate Black Rock Shooter a 5, mostly because it’s only 50 minutes and the promotional art is nice, so I gave it a 6. If I gave it this low of a rating, it would also make it show up on the “They loved it, I didn't” thing, so yeah. The later released 8 episode series offered more of a satisfactory ending.

I am typically not well versed when it comes to CGDCT or comedy anime. I mostly started watching it for that one clip with Gab and a gun. Otherwise, Gabriel Dropout seemed generic by the looks of it. While some of it was, the added themes and art style made it worth giving it some consideration. Initially, I was unsure about how this anime would progress for the first few minutes, but as time passed I found myself just taking it easy and grounding myself in the present.

Gabriel Dropout’s story is of very basic premise and is seemingly typical for a slice of life anime. ... While it still pertains to a school setting, its main differentiator is the added mythological aspect of heaven and hell. The story revolves around distinct personalities of two angels (Gab and Raphi) and two demons (Satania and Vigne), whose characteristics largely contrast with the roles they were supposed to fulfill when sent down to Earth. As such, most of the plot will revolve around this gag. There is some semblance of plot progression and the passage of seasons which is celebrated through holidays, however most of it is reserved towards the end of the series. It is a basic slice of life that doesn’t require the viewer to give it their full attention. The simplicity of its premise allows it to be watched casually, though, I was pretty attentive. One minor complaint I have, unrelated to the comedy about the story, is how quickly Gab changes personalities versed in the human world. But even with this story’s basic premise, the main story was largely irrelevant.

Comedy is subjective so most of its effectiveness can be from what people thought of the first episode or two. Most of it either revolves around slapstick humor or the gag about the roles of angels and demons reversing. Despite this, I found that a good chunk of the humor just came from the dialogue. Gab had the funniest lines, even though most of it didn't seem to be intentional. Some of the comedy unrelated to the dialogue became somewhat repetitive while the series progressed, for example most of Satania's gags involving what could be called another side character and her attempt at acting demonic were repeated throughout the series. While these gags definitely are overused, it was not to the point where it became unbearable or anything. It served as a good way to derive a cheap yet “hit or miss” source of comedy if that is what these people are into these days. On a related note, the slapstick comedy was sort of interchangeable with the running gags. If I had to quantify the enjoyment I derived from this anime, I would probably say I chuckled anywhere between a few and a little under a dozen times. The comedy peaked between episodes 3-6, mostly because of the character’s relations with each other.

Gab, aka the best of the group, who was once a perfect angel at the top of her class, has now transformed into a lazy slob on Earth. Her angelic personality is displayed very briefly while she was first in contact with the human world. One she discovers the now daily aspects of a typical human life she becomes the opposite of what she once was. I wouldn’t describe her as much of a hikikomori as much as anyone else, although she was shown to be a hermit in a few of the episodes none of the other hikikomori aspects apply to her. Her sarcastic and apathetic attitude towards everyday life would make her unappealing were it not for some semblance of kindness and loyalty being directed elsewhere. This would be directed towards to her friend group. I found that the aspects of her which would be less appealing to the group were the most entertaining and the best part of the series.

Raphi is more of a bully than a slob, and is the meanest out of the group. Like Gab, she has taken her likeness to the human world and hopes to do stuff not allowed in heaven. Most of her character consists of doing evil deeds under the disguise of a thin veiled happy smile. She also has a good friendship with Gab due to both of them being angels and convincing Satania to do favors for them. This persists throughout the series, but Raphi is more known persistently teasing Satania throughout the series, and despite the teasing, most of it was light-hearted and entertaining.

Vigne functions more as a blank slate and the mediator of the group, and is the nicest out of the group. She is often seen doing favors for the group, such as cleaning Gab’s room or disencouraging Satania at appropriate times. This isn’t to say she is without faults or that this personality is always present though. For instance, she still acts in character when necessary to correct the rest of the group or receive something of value from Earth. Her relation with Gab is also nice in the episodes relating to Holidays.

Satania is basically the one who gets picked on the most. She is perceived as childish and immature by her friends. As a result, she is often teased by Raphi, who also encourages an animal to bother her. The routine harassment from the animal becomes a running gag in the series. Satania, much like Vigne, doesn’t act “demonic” at all, however this is not to say she acts “angelic” as Vigne would. Most of her character comes from failing to act as she is supposed to in hell. Her antics are more childish and directed at the angels, and much to their dismay, encourage this behavior because both of them outsmart her and find it funny to watch her fail. Truthfully, I thought Satania was annoying, her laughter, which can drag on for several seconds, gets pretty old after a while. The angels causing her a bit of distress was entertaining, and it was largely comedic without the intention of them bullying her or anything. This contrasts well with their more wholesome moments which was a better watch and a nice a nice break from the gag.

The art carries the series. Well, it is CGDCT, and the cutesy artstyle is supposed to be the main appeal. The characters are well designed, and this is mostly due to the vibrant colors that contrast between the angels and the demons. The angels were designed a bit better, mostly because Satania and Vigne have weird looking hair. I liked Gab’s ahoge, this series really missed out on giving Satania one. The background was nice too, although it was largely unimportant compared to the character designs, it was nonetheless of good quality. The voice acting is done well and characterizes the girls perfectly. The opening theme is also great and I didn’t find myself skipping through it much.

For my final thoughts, it was a nice and easy viewing experience. There is little story that could have separated it from other school settings. The entire series was running on the gag of the angels acting like demons and vice versa. Even with this premise not being expanded upon much, it was still enjoyable to watch and a step up from what could have been a pretty average anime. The comedy is hit or miss, mostly because the girls are either cute or annoying. Most of their likability depends on either their cuteness or how funny their gags are. This anime is largely character driven, and it does so well. They are all fun to watch, particularly when they occasionally put their differences aside and the strength of their friendship shows. It was a good introductory to CGDCT anime, and I recommend if you are looking for something more laid back.