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Completed Date: 4/6/2021

Despite having completed the Anime, and by at large the series, almost a year ago, I felt compelled to write a review on Bakemonogatari to encourage others to give the series a shot.

PLOT: (Very light spoilers)
As made clear in the "Bake" in Bakemonogatari, the Anime revolves around ghost/monster stories and other supernatural beings. The story is told from the perspective of Araragi Koyomi, a 3rd year in high school who just so happens to be a vampire as well. Without giving too much away, he encounters several apparitions through the personal hurdles of his female companions. He has to learn how to ... resolve all of their issues, and befriends each one of them by healing their trauma. The Monogatari series hinges on self-acceptance through its coming of age dilemmas. It is a beautifully intertwined narrative regarding personal growth and maturity, masked by satire.

TONE/ART:
The sheer ambience of Bakemonogatari is something to behold. Very few series capture that perfect supernatural feel of uneasiness like Monogatari does. SHAFT has done a spectacular job in showcasing the odd atmosphere of the show. From flashing color text of Kanji to abstract art, the show is constantly aiming to stifle your senses. The arts style and animation are crisp, without any complaints from me. The bright colors perfectly contradict the morbid realities the characters experience over the course of the series.

RECCOMENDATION:
Admittedly, this is a very slow series in terms of action. Rather, you get invested in the supernatural story and endearing and complex characters. And while this is a somewhat slow beginning, your patience will be rewarded the farther you go into the series. Especially towards Second Season.

If you like mystery plots, watch this show. If you like supernatural elements, watch this show. If you have too much time to kill, watch this show. If you ever find yourself stuck staring at the ceiling for meaning, watch this show.

Story: 8
Art: 10
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 9

Completed date: 5/5/22

Apologies if this review is all-over-the-place, since that's how my thoughts are on this short Manga. Reading Hideout is not unlike going to a fancy Italian restaurant and only ordering breadsticks. Sure, the breadsticks are great by-themselves, but there's nothing that differentiates them from any other restaurant. On top of that, you leave on an empty stomach. This sums up Hideout. Neither thought-provoking, nor shocking enough to afford being memorable.

The subpar plot lacks any sense of originality or intrigue to support the meticulously drawn panels. In fact, I'll sum it up for you: A man hates his wife, lures her into a mysterious ... cave, and attempts to kill her. He succeeds, but fails, but then doesn't? He's also a terrible dad, and him being "humanized," only justifies why the wife hates him (he didn't supervise his child, and he walked off their building, while he was working). How bad of a father do you have to be, in order for you to be this negligent. Anyway, man decides to stay in cave, writes a letter which somehow makes it to the outside of the cave (despite there being no exit to the cave), in order to attract fellow psychopathic husbands (at least that's what the author leads me to believe).

Any arguments that it's deep, due to it's usage of symbolism, is an outright joke. 'Oh, the monster child is an allegory of his own child, and the mother is symbolic of his own wife, and this displays how he's abandoning them again even in hell.' Do you think I was born yesterday? C'mon now. This is not deep. Throwing metaphors and symbolism so unsubtly in your face is not deep. Even a child could figure this out.


Story: 3
Art: 7
Character: 1
Enjoyment: 3
Overall: 2

Completed Date: 1/18/2022

INTRODUCTION
Higurashi, for some time now, has been hailed as one of those Anime horror classics. I'm sure anyone worth their salt on MAL has at least HEARD about the series. I personally, found out about it from old Watchmojo lists from the early 2010s (And yes, I used to watch Watchmojo, I was a moron, moving on).
Higurashi is a unique blend of psychological horror, blended with SoL elements. The SoL scenes act as a breather from the heavy plot, since the narrative itself is quite twisted.

EXPECTATIONS
I expected extreme gore, torture scenes, and devastating revelations. While there were all 3 of the above, ... the main reason why I held off on watching this for so long was because of my aversion to these topics (the first 2 obviously, not revelations). While I haven't seen the other sequel series', at this point (with the exception of one scene during Eye Opener), my motive to not watch the show was entirely unjustified. There's a lot of violence, sure, but the focus is more so on suspense and the gore takes a step-back.

PLOT
To sum it up, Keiichi Maebara moves to the quiet town of Hinamizawa. He joins an after-school club and immediately befriends Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, as well as Rika Furude. We'll call this the A point in the story. Higurashi is told in separate arcs, most of which start from this A point, however, as events go on they each follow their own distinct paths.

Each one focuses on a different side character in the club:

Demoned Away/Spirited Away by Demons (9/10) = Keiichi
Cotton Drifting (10/10) = Mion + Shion
Curse Killing (7/10) = Satoko
Time Killing (6/10) = Rika
Eye Opener (10/10) = Shion + Mion
Atonement (8/10) = Rena

And they follow this order, timeline wise:

Demoned Away ---> Atonement
Cotton Drifting ----> Eye Opener ----> Cotton Drifting
Curse Killing -------> Time Killing ----> Curse Killing

Although each arc is indeed separate, every arc contributes to the greater story of the plot. Think of them as Question and Answer arcs.

1st Arc (Demoned Away) - Why is everyone crazy? (Q)
2nd Arc (Cotton Drifting) - Sort of explains the crazy factor (Q + A)
3rd Arc (Curse Killing) - Explains what could potentially drive someone crazy (A)
4th Arc (Time Killing) - Starts to unravel the town's history (A + Q)
5th Arc (Eye Opener) - Flips the 2nd Arc on it's head and is "Eye Opening" (A)
6th Arc (Atonement) - Full explanation of the town (A + Q)

CHARACTERS
But enough about the plot developments, what about the characters? While each character is shown as 1 dimensional initially, I'd argue all of them are developed in their own way.

Keiichi Maebara: As I previously stated he starts off as kind-of an insert MC. He is clearly shown as very caring and helpful to the club members' efforts.

Mion Sonozaki: The club leader. Her family is one of the 3 ruling families of Hinamizawa. She also hosts the "punishment game."

Shion Sonozaki: Introduced in the 2nd Arc. She's Mion's twin. While Mion is the representative of the Sonozaki family, Shion is NOT. Rather, she's completely seperated from her family's affairs.

Satoko Houjou: The youngest of the club members. She loves playing pranks on the others. Her family, while not directly connected to Hinamizawa as Rika or Mion, does have an unfortunate history with the town. Her brother, Satoshi, ran away.

Rika Furude: *Nippah* Rika is honestly the most confusing of the bunch, as I still don't know much about her. Her family oversee the shrine, as well as the Cotton Drifting festival. She has some understanding of Hinamizawa and its history, that the other club members do not posess.

Rena Ryuuguu: "I want to take you home!" I love that catchphrase. Rena is an interesting case, as she used to live in Hinamizawa before moving away. Not too long before Keiichi moved, Rena moved as well.

I ESPECIALLY loved Rika, Shion, and Rena. Those 3 stood out to me.

TONE
Every arc starts off with your typical SoL school day, before gradually transitioning to some absolutely fucked scenario. I believe Demoned Away and Eye Opener, did a great job of capturing this sense of dread and 'no escape' feeling. These switches in tone perfectly mirror the nature of the town itself: seemingly accepting to outsiders, yet extremely deceptive and treacherous. In that regard, Higurashi nails (get it?) the atmosphere.

RECOMMENDATION
If you're a bit queasy when you see some blood and limbs cut off, I don't think you should be watching this (That's a drop in the bucket compared to other scenes). However, if you can muster the courage to drop all preconceived notions of the show as sheer 'torture porn,' then you probably won't regret it. As I gave it a 9, I don't think this is a universal masterpiece. Higurashi isn't for everyone, but if you're good with what I mentioned, I think it'll be up your alley.


Story - 10
Art & Animation - 7
Sound - 7
Character - 9
Enjoyment - 10
Overall: 9

To start with, if you're watching this alternate OVA, you really should have already at least started the game. It outright removes the entire elevator segment, rushes through character interactions, and ends on a cliffhanger. I imagine ZE fans are just glad the OVA exists, rather than objectively judging it for what it is.

Still, it leaves me with hope for a future where 999 and VLR are given Anime adaptations. Oh well...

Also there is a huge inconsistency with a gigantic spoiler from the game that is in the OVA, but I can't really fault them too much, as it would be rather difficult to convey ... that. Still if the game is adapted, I hope the whole thing is in first person and done correctly.

On the surface level, another hentai about rape and bad people.

PLOT SYNOPSIS
Chisato is basically in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend (Guy A), when another man enters the picture who appears to genuinely care about her (Guy B). Guy B walks in on them going at it in the bathroom, only to watch from the sidelines. Chisato gives Guy B the look, indicating to him that she knows he's watching and not doing anything. At the end of the scene, Guy A tells Guy B that he knows he was watching, and that he will screw her that night and there's nothing Guy B ... can do about it. Basically, Guy A does this to show he is the Alpha male. And Guy A goes through with this "plan," and invites his friends over to gangbang, while he takes pictures and sends them to Guy B. Guy B can only despair, while he masturbates to the photographs. An unprecedented time shift occurs, where Chisato tells Guy B that Guy A broke it off with her. Guy B proceeds to confess his love to her, they get "active," and then the hentai ends on a rather sinister note: Guy B briefly is displayed in the same light as Guy A was; i.e., someone who has power over Chisato. The hentai's closing words come from none other than Chisato: "I've found another."


ANALYSIS
These are the takeaways you can get from this hentai:

1) As soon as someone gains power (in this case, Guy B), they will drop all preconceived surface attitudes and become those they stole power from (Guy A)

2) For those of you who are unaware, a femme fatale "Fatal Woman" is a character trope which refers to a woman who utilizes her sexuality in order to gain power/to accomplish her goals. I make the case that Chisato, IS such a femme fatale. Think about it. Assuming that Guy A was in a similar position to Guy B, before becoming the Alpha male, it makes perfect sense. She plays the act of a submissive woman seeking to use the innocent men around her in order to satisfy her sexual urges. The line "I've found another," seems to all but confirm this. She's found another what? She's found another victim. Another male to ruin.

10s all across the board

Oyasumi Punpun was...a trip, to say the least. While I expected it to get depressing, I didn't expect it to go that far. This is psychological horror unmatched, it gets under your skin at times as well. Oyasumi Punpun, at least in my eyes, is centered around the pursuit of free-will in all aspects: Religion, independence, freedom of expression, freedom of thought (If that makes any sense), etc.

[b]FULL SPOILERS FROM HERE ON[/b]

Oyasumi Punpun is about Punpun Punyama/Onodera and the various stages of his life; each one spiraling more out of control, the farther into his life he goes. Beginning with age ... 11, Punpun walks-in on his dad assaulting his mother (Although later it's revealed that Punpun's dad took these drastic measures since his mother was about to kill herself) and is told that "a robber broke in" by his dad. Despite being too young to understand what was going on, he knew for some time that his parents weren't on the best terms. This is just background noise to him though at this point. What Punpun really has going for him are his buddies: Seki, Shimizu, Komatsu, and Harumi. As well as "God," who he can summon by saying "Dear God, Dear God, Tinkle, Tinkle, hoy!" Initially, it's not clear who God is. At first, I honestly thought it was his pedo-neighbor, but this proved to be very untrue the farther I got into the series. What God is in reality, is the manifestation of Punpun's darker thoughts, which quickly became apparent around his high school period. Religion is a big theme in Oyasumi Punpun, which I'll discuss later. One day, a girl named Tanaka Aiko transfers into Punpun's class and it's love at first sight for him. He and the boys find a porno which someone taped over apologizing for killing their family members in an old factory. The man claims that whoever finds the corpses, will be rewarded greatly. When he and the boys are planning on heading over to the factory, Aiko decides she wants in. At the factory, they don't find the corpses, but they get separated, leaving Aiko and Punpun by themselves. They pass out and awake to a beautiful starry night sky.

(I'll add-on more to this review later)

In the end, it's a story about the failure of free will. Think about it. Oyasumi Punpun makes the case, that we don't have free will, and that every action we do is dependent on our background. Let me elaborate with what seem to be the biggest cases for me:

-Punpun, himself. His father was abusive, mother was suicidal, and he develops these aspects later in life. Almost as if it was just destined to happen. Even stronger in the case of his uncle, Yuuichi, since he acts almost [b]exactly[/b] like that at certain points during his adulthood.

-Shimizu. It's established early-on that Shimizu, is well...a dumbass. Even in adulthood. He's always depending on others, since he can't think for himself. He doesn't have the ability to change, which ties back into free will. At many times, he's also seen as being "schizophrenic," in that he constantly imagines his dead mother is still living with him. His dependence of others is what causes him to join the cult.

-

Guys, Kite is not that great c'mon now. I know it's easy to dismiss it as an "intellectually-charged hentai" due to the loss of more sex scenes, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

[SPOILERS]

For one, I outright laughed while watching this several times. Apparently reaction time is non-existent. Obori has an explosion happen right in front of him, and notices 10 seconds later. This moment is worth pointing out as well 21:18 (Man really took 5 minutes to identify that Sawa was INDEED a female). The tv guy gets shot in the head and is still alive for a few seconds, as well. And ... don't even get me started on the pacing. There's a scene around the 15 minute mark, where Sawa and Obori are talking to each other and Sawa flat out asks Obori a question, he leaves for 2 minutes, returns and then STILL takes forever to answer the question. Also, that scene where Sawa fell from the bathroom...This is not how city infrastructure works obviously: She would have hit the ground; the car would not have broken through the subway and etc. unleashing this chain effect.




So why a 10? Once again, this is a HENTAI. Meaning it follows my different rating system. Most Hentai doesn't even have a plot at all, so for the plot here to be even vaguely decent is a major win here. Still, there are are some major faults within the OVA's logic: If Sawa knew that Kaine and dude who's name I already forgot were her parents' murders, why didn't she act earlier? Answer: Plot. There are many moments like this, where I'm just like -_-. I do really feel the ending saves it though. While to some it may seem like an asspull to have the kid on the street, who Obori interacted with for a second, actually be a spy; to me I thoroughly enjoyed the twist as it played into the theme that corruption is so widespread, that we can't distinguish it. Still, if you give this Hentai a score from 1-5 I am inclined to agree with you.




Story: 7
Art: 5
Sound: 5
Character: 5
Enjoyment: 5

I finished this show over the course of a few days, despite it's length, and I still can't get it out of my head now; this, of course, being the main reason why I prompted myself to write this review.

NANA is a josei about the downfalls of friendships and relationships, as well as the struggle to become independent in life. The series revolves around the perspective of two protagonists, each named "Nana:"

[Early (like episode 4) SPOILERS follow]

Nana "Hachi/Hachiko" Komatsu is a very carefree woman who values the concept of "love at first sight." Constantly in her life, she has fallen in love with countless ... men, despite only knowing them on the surface level. She is very childish and dependent on the support of others. While on a train ride to Tokyo, in order to met her boyfriend Shoji, she meets Nana Osaki. She's christened "Hachi/Hachiko" as a rather playful nickname ("Hachi" refers both to the Japanese Kanji for No.8, which comes after No.7 which coincidentally is written as "Nana (this implying she's Nana No.2)," but also from an old tale regarding an Akita named "Hachi," who waited for his owner 9 years after his death; this refers to her loyal nature as well as the fact that she is always relying on others).

Nana Osaki is the exact opposite of Hachi. Nana is a rather retracted woman from society, who values pride over anything else. She has a history of abandonment both from her mother, who left her when she was only four (raised by her strict grandmother), and from her ex-boyfriend Ren, who was a fellow band member who abandon her for the band "Trapnest." Her main struggle is that she's overly possessive of others in her life, since she still fears abandonment.

Both women share the same name, age, and apartment, as they try at making the most of their lives. They struggle, bond, and depend on each other in very different ways. This is why when one of them hits rock bottom, it makes it THAT much harder to watch.


It is very much an Josei, due to it's heavy adult themes and concepts that a Shoujo, just wouldn't have. I don't want to spoil anything else, since I firmly believe you should give this a watch. Hell, I'm even thinking of putting this on for my grandmother to enjoy IT IS THAT GOOD.

P.S. The manga was left on hiatus, and the Anime only finishes at the Manga's halfway point. If you want the full experience, you need to watch the series and then read the manga. This is my biggest complaint.







Story: 10
Art: 7
Sound: 10
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 10

Overall, a great hentai in every sense of the word. Animation? Beautiful. Story? Great. Hell, even the OST is good enough that I stayed for the entire end credits scene; I can't recall a single time I did that for a hentai, since Please Rape Me! I'd give this a watch if I were you.

Bunnywalker has done it again, after the success of Ijirare which rose to the charts of hanime. Ichiro Tani absolutely loves cabaret clubs and always splurges on them. One day, he was so drunk that he essentially went bankrupt by spending all the money his company made. In order to avoid ... tax fraud, he fled to the mountains. After his car fails to start up during a snowstorm, he is forced to go out and find help. Lucky for him, he arrived at Ishikan Inn. There, he met a widow named Ryuri Munakata, her daughter Nakoto, as well as a maid named Ren. The mistress Ryuri comes on to him, and encourages him to have sex with her daughter. It's then that Ichiro realizes Nakoto wears a chastity belt. After seducing Nakoto, he returns to Ryuri in order to see how he can remove the belt. She tells him that her late husband left two keys behind; one, which unlocks all the rooms in the mansion that she's generally familiar with, and another which she hasn't found a use for. She implores that the key might unlock the belt. When seeking out Nakoto that same evening, he accidentally wanders into the study. There, he finds Ryuri's late husband's journal; it's here that Ichiro finds out that Ryuri's family are all satanic. Before passing, the late husband wrote that if Nakoto has her virginity taken, the sacrificial ploy will succeed.

Sure, by Anime standards this is far from groundbreaking, but this is an exceptional plot for a hentai.

Anime Beats! is a great Comedy-focused Anime with some serious overtones.

PLOT:
The show takes place entirely around a high school (not counting flashbacks) inside purgatory, with its characters having suffered immensely before dying and having to ascend in order to leave. Enter: Otonashi Yuzuru, an amnesiac who can't remember the circumstances around his death and is rightfully stuck there. Another student, Nakamura Yuri, tells him to be cautious of the "tenshi" (An angel) that is the white-haired student council president. It's relatively easy to explain and the bulk of episodes follow the shenanigans that ensue from trying to ruin Tachibana Kanade's (the tenshi's) life. ...

CHARACTERS:
A lot of the characters are relatively one-off; they have one character trait and that's it (Shiina likes animals and is very focused, Noda hates Otonashi over a petty crush with Yuri, T.K. is a wild guy (Also THE BEST ENGRISH in Anime period), Ooyami is useless and borderline average human being, Takamatsu is a nerd who's ripped, Takeyama is good with computers, etc.). Thankfully, some characters have more depth to them and aren't just comic relief.

I really enjoyed Otonashi, Naoi, Iwasawa, Hinata, and Yui; I can't talk about any of them, due to spoilers though.

TONE:
Angel Beats! absolutely excels in the comedy aspect. It bears similarity to the low-budget humor of Saiki K, without the repetitive nature that'd you expect. All of the students are trying to mess with tenshi, but in the end they all end up enjoying their lives while trying to rebel against her. Episode 5 alone made me laugh, which no Anime has done since Carnival Phantasm and Nichijou. If this was a pure comedy show it'd be a 10/10 easily.


[HEAVY SPOILERS]
The biggest issue with Angel Beats is its ending which dropped this score from a 10 to an 8 for me. Around episode 6-7, Otonashi was revealed to be a depressed high schooler who lost meaning in his life after his little sister passed from cancer. He experienced a devastating train crash, which he, and a few others, barely survived. Trapped in the depths of the cave, he cared for other survivors at the cost of his own health. On his deathbed, he encouraged the others to make the most out of their lives by becoming organ donors. Otonashi offered his heart to donate, dying just as the cave opened. I actually quite liked this backstory, which helped me endear to the character. No, the problem is the finale. It's revealed in Episode 13 that Otonashi's heart was donated to Kanade in order to save her life, before she died. This is why when she stabbed him in the first Episode, she began to see him differently than the others. He also recovered his memory, since he was sleeping on Kanade's chest, which is where HIS heart is. Kanade confesses her love to Otonashi and she disappears leaving Otonashi to look over other future dead students in her place. Thematically, this is a fantastic ending. The only issue is THE BIGGEST PLOTHOLE i've ever seen: How could Kanade appear at the school before EVERYONE else, not to mention Otonashi, long enough to have seen countless students ascend before the main cast even appears there??? I have several of my own theories, but ultimately it should have been fleshed out much more. Maybe I'll look into the VN to get closure.