Ever since the start of Kara no Kyoukai, it was a tale of Shiki being trapped in various figurative forms of prison with the help of Mikiya’s pacifistic investigation. We’ve been through 7 chapters solving murder incidents and puzzles made of black magic. After that twisted journey, not only did we abolish the invasion of the magus unleashed by Araya but we finally gave Shiki the freedom she wanted despite her failure we see in Chapter 7. This chapter is where we meet her light. This is the final chapter of this series. …but also the most complicated and/or controversial one at that and I’d
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imagine it would be very difficult for me to piece my thoughts on it together. Despite being the last chapter, this is the biggest hit-or-miss Kara no Kyoukai has offered. On one hand, it does wrap everything up as it’s the introduction of Void, the third personality of Shiki which is unleashed after slaughtering every evil that is sighted around her surroundings. But on the other hand, the story presentation is very complicated.
You either like or hate it depending on your personal view, whether you’re a fan of the Kara no Kyoukai series or not. For me, personally, I wasn’t so sure how I would feel about it and that is before I get into it. Based on the summary of it, I was kind of expecting that it would be this series’ infodump saved for the end. But after taking a closer look at it, I’m starting to like it a lot more. In fact, this might arguably be the best chapter this series has ever created right after Chapter 7. There’s a lot of personality and soul put together in this quote-unquote “epilogue” than one meets the eye. Hell, contrary to what others would say, this isn’t really an epilogue all things considered. It’s more of a true ending since Shiki doesn’t really show her full happiness until she disintegrates every evil she sees on sight.
If you start Chapter 2 through a chronological watch order of the series, the snowy road right from the start was where Shiki and Mikiya met for the first time. Since then, Mikiya studied the beauty and mystery of Shiki while Shiki herself studied the faults and twists the world had. Their results have been fulfilled regardless of their mistakes throughout and here, this is where they reunite on the same road we see right from the start. From here, they start talking about the philosophies and connections between the surrealistic reality and Shiki’s existence. Like I said, this is really hard for me to talk about. Despite its short runtime, there are a lot of things to pay attention to. This movie shows how Shiki ventures throughout the world and how she studies every single mystery and ideal involved. Not to mention, all of this also relates to the relationship between Shiki and Mikiya. Their relationship, for the most part, was very non-linear. They are love couples but they also point out their characteristics, all while they find out figurative patterns in what scenario they’re in.
After some rethinking, I think I finally found my personal answers. Part of why this is a brilliant addition to Kara no Kyoukai comes down to recapping not only the features and flaws of the magic invading the series but also the personal details of Shiki. This does a fantastic job of recognizing the philosophical identity of the series by having Shiki explain and visualize every encounter she met when she ventured around. She points out how the black magic caused by Araya swarmed around with visceral questions as well as putting her in various tests regarding her characteristics and abilities. Alongside those things, she herself is an enigmatic figure in the sense that she learned a lot about developing her personality to begin with. Based on my observation throughout the whole series, she’s probably the most skilled in that department for better or worse. The reason that is is how hesitant she can be when it comes to developing magic.
The fact that Shiki had issues when she learned all of this was what caught Araya’s attention in the first place and this perfectly communicated with his tragic and twisted past and ideals. If you think about it, Shiki viewed death as something valuable while Araya is the opposite. Void was actually created prior to this chapter but because of the black magic surrounding the world, it remained hidden until everything was cleansed. Speaking of, let’s talk about Void. The reason why Void was created in the first place is because it represents what Shiki really aims for: personal happiness. It embodies what Shiki wants throughout her entire life. This part is handled extremely well because not only does saving this element for the very last makes so much sense but it gives off a very bittersweet and cathartic impression of how Shiki was holding her light back until she achieved her freedom. It also conveys the dynamics between Shiki and Mikiya greatly, especially when considering the fact that Mikiya was studying what Shiki was capable of.
And that’s it. I don’t think there’s much for me to say about it since it’s half an hour. Honestly, say what you want about this chapter. The animation may have dipped slightly compared to the first 7 chapters but at that point, I don’t care. This isn’t an epilogue but more of an ending and what a phenomenal ending it is. It quietly yet poetically celebrates the freedom of Shiki and Mikiya and represents their conclusions very well. It may not be the most exciting thing ever but I don’t think it has to be. What matters more is how it handles its context and again, that context is truly right on the spot. So in my opinion, not only is it a fantastic ending but it’s arguably the best ending in the entire industry.
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Feb 18, 2025
Kara no Kyoukai Movie 8: Shuushou
(Anime)
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Ever since the start of Kara no Kyoukai, it was a tale of Shiki being trapped in various figurative forms of prison with the help of Mikiya’s pacifistic investigation. We’ve been through 7 chapters solving murder incidents and puzzles made of black magic. After that twisted journey, not only did we abolish the invasion of the magus unleashed by Araya but we finally gave Shiki the freedom she wanted despite her failure we see in Chapter 7. This chapter is where we meet her light. This is the final chapter of this series. …but also the most complicated and/or controversial one at that and I’d
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Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 17, 2025 Recommended Spoiler
It’s about time… Shiki has reached her final destination in the form of the continuation of Murder Speculation. We have been traveling around through lots of mysteries and absurd scenarios from 6 chapters at this point. We’ve been speculating both the murder cases and the reasonings, the manifestation of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, tracking down the 2 culprits who happened to be victims, hunting down the true culprit himself who has a tragic vision, and even regaining memories. But one of these things still has yet to be continued. The speculation of murder hasn’t been completed yet and we’re still finding the answers,
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so where on earth do we find those? That, my friend, is where Chapter 7 arrives for. While Chapter 5 is the conclusion of the Magus conflict (at least specific to this series), Chapter 7 is the conclusion of Shiki going through hell while risking a major value in order to reach her light. In my opinion, this is easily Kara no Kyoukai’s best chapter. …but why is that? Is it because of hype? Is it because of the music? Is it because it’s simply the last destination? Well, it’s time we dig a hole…
As mentioned, this is the continuation of where we left off in chapter 2. Shiki has faced dozens of gauntlets at this point and even Araya isn’t as much of a difficulty spike to her. What will be, however, is a virtual hint to the murder case questions and this is where she finally reaches her limit. The story of this chapter starts off with Shiki chilling in her apartment while Mikiya gives her soda. However, a new string of murders has lured in and that string is a very long one at that. Funnily enough, those murders aren’t really caused by Shiki. She may have caused a handful due to her unstable personality, but that is nothing compared to the mass streak run by the final culprit we aren’t aware of until now. Who could that be? But while we’re at it, Shiki has gained a final objective and that is to not kill a single person. That final objective will calculate the results of how far Shiki has come with learning what life and death mean in multiple ways. To me, saving the answers for the last gauntlet stage was a great idea because the previous gauntlets put Shiki to the test, especially because of how strategic she was in fighting against her opponents. Anyway, as for how the movie itself started, it’s surprisingly very strong. Shiki has defeated Araya and his arsenal, so how come she still feels like she’s in prison? She and Mikiya still have to take the murder cases from Chapter 2 into account and here, they’ve been extrapolated. The newest addition to the crimes is the enhanced cannabis created by Araya which is believed to be hella more potent than marijuana. Because these cannabis are now given to certain victims, it’s even more difficult for both Shiki and Mikiya to deal with these cases. The reason why this start is really good is due to how much depth and care they put into the interactions between Shiki and Mikiya. Even though they’re couples that love each other, they also point out their surroundings as well as being aware. Shiki has studied the philosophies of life and death and she still shows mad violence regardless of what kind of enemy she sees. Mikiya, on the other hand, wants people who enter their hell phases to go back to normal so that things won’t be hectic. This truly adds to Shiki’s final test very well. Let’s also not forget that her other objective is to keep Mikiya alive. It’s not the best thing out there but there’s a lot of heart found here. But this series’ best chapter? Where did that come from? Well, it’s time we enter this next part. After Shiki has dealt with multiple drugged servants sent by the culprit which damages her goal progression all while Mikiya is on the investigation of a strange mess, she has finally confronted the culprit himself. That murderer is none other than Shirazumi Lio, the guy who Shiki rejected a few years ago due to his incompetence and he was Araya’s first victim. Every other victim alongside Araya is a small scratch, but Lio is a whole different beast. Lio wouldn’t hesitate to kill literally anyone he sees but wasn’t so sure if he could kill Shiki (and/or even Mikiya in that case) due to his relationship. However, Lio also manipulated Shiki into thinking she would be the real killer after he took a look at Shiki’s unstableness in the past. Lio is a strange character because of how weird he acts with his obsession towards Shiki which explains why he looks like her but I think he’s a genuinely compelling final antagonist in the sense that he’s a perfect puzzle for Shiki. He will still force Shiki to enter his own delusions. Shiki is still pissed at him for his disgusting actions but will nonetheless try to remain relatively tame on him for the sake of her final goal. If you pay attention to the post-credits sequence in Chapter 6, there was this one scene where Lio broke down crying after being rejected to the point where he performed cannibalism on a bully for him to show more violence and Araya sees him as an apex predator which made Lio his depraved puppet. Another thing that makes him a great villain is how he pretends to be a spirit of male SHIKI. Because male SHIKI died in exchange for giving Shiki her powers, Lio trolled her into thinking the male personality is caged inside him (although at least from what I see). This puzzled Shiki so hard that she didn’t know if she should take him seriously or not. By that, what I’m referring to is if she even thinks he deserves death or not. Lio is not only a brutal killer but he’s also a liar and even though he’s not amazing at lying, he still finds ways to get away with shit. Hell, he even used most of his advantages against Mikiya. He didn’t try to kill Mikiya, though (...for now). He calmly spreads rumors before losing his sanity after being pointed out multiple times. While watching the scenes of Lio talking to Mikiya, one detail I truly appreciate is how good he is at mimicking male SHIKI as a whole. Despite the male personality being unstable, there’s still a lot of good involved. Unfortunately for Lio, it won’t last for long because Mikiya needed to find a solution. Lio has been regarded as either a flat or unnecessary character but I disagree with that, he’s great because of those things. This transition is amazing because, after all that investigation, Shiki and Mikiya face massive challenges that would corner them for eternity. Even if they’re smart enough to find their solutions, it seems impossible and that’s all because of Lio. Despite being Araya’s victim, all he wants is to have people view him as extraordinarily competent. Touko stated that there’s no cure for Lio due to Araya’s complex and potent black magic. And this only gets even better from here. In Shiki’s second confrontation against Lio, this is where she reaches her dead end. Lio is a massive obstacle that will take ages to move aside without hesitation, but oddly enough, her other obstacle is Mikiya himself. But that’s because he warned her about that one rule. This is even harder for her when considering the fact that Lio has gone too far with all the nasty stuff he caused to Shiki. Sure, there are scenes that are difficult to watch but even then, this sequence greatly conveys the flaws of Shiki when she tries to overcome challenges. She has a hard time valuing herself when she takes this test. Nothing’s more difficult than keeping an insane victim alive. Of course, Mikiya isn’t free from Lio either. As mentioned, Mikiya wanted victims to turn normal, and to turn Lio normal is like taming a cat by feeding it with dog food. But as always, Mikiya had the balls to do so. His entire philosophy is that victims aren’t really fully on their faults and still can be forgiven. This may sound silly but I always adore Mikiya with how he spreads it. His progression may look like he makes dumb decisions but in truth, they add life to the story as he’s one of the few things that perfectly contrasts with Araya's tragic yet twisted influence throughout. And this is one of the reasons why Shiki has always been a compelling character throughout the entire series. Of course, he still points out flaws like a true human being and this is where he hits the road for the worse. When Mikiya continues to point out how monstrous Lio is, Lio got insanely pissed that it injured Mikiya’s left eye. Oh, and Lio’s uncontrollable rage perfectly shows how massively unstable he is. ‘ahem’ After that, he shows Shiki that Mikiya is “dead” and this is where Shiki has had enough. After struggling with her final objective, Mikiya has always been protecting her with everything he has, and with him supposedly “gone”, Shiki had to sacrifice her progress of completing her final objective, that being to value how many people she kills, in exchange for cleansing the growing evil, and that leads us to such a formidable conclusion. Shiki definitely forgives Fujino and Kirie because of how much suffering they’ve gone through but for Lio? Despite being trapped in the same hell, he’s going to be sent to a worse one because of what he did to Mikiya. The only real cure for him… is EXTERMINATION… After giving Lio a brutal beatdown, Shiki finally wins… but also loses… She wins because evil in the place she lives in is no more but she also loses because she broke the one rule that would evaluate her perplexing journey. By process, she indirectly failed her late male personality. Shiki has never been this sad in her entire life. Mikiya wakes up after being heavily injured and slowly slithers his way if Shiki and Lio are okay. Luckily for Shiki, she’s alive. But unluckily, he had to look down on her because she failed to complete the last objective. Despite this, both still have their happy ending because they’re back to seeing a beautiful light. This ending, even though we still have yet to see the real ending in the next chapter, is just really heartwarming and compelling simply because it shows how flawed Shiki and Mikiya are with their strategies and ideologies while still overcoming their challenges until the end of their destination. All of their progression has led up to this moment and what a fantastic result it is… Shiki has always been one of my favorite protagonists ever, even right from the start. She’s an anti-hero who builds and spreads her philosophies the more she ventures into her adventure while also overcoming the biggest of obstacles with both her characterization and the amount of tension involved. Even if her philosophies appear to be the bare minimum, she always finds clever ways to conflict with both the ignorance of the world and Araya’s influence. And that’s ignoring her amazing chemistry with not just Mikiya, but with most characters throughout, although her relationship with Mikiya is definitely the biggest seller here. Her entire characterization, development, and catharsis in every chapter (except 6 but she’s still really good in there) have always spoken the word ‘brilliant’ from left to right but Chapter 7 is truly her magnum opus. This takes all of her development and writing and adds a phenomenal conflict to fully reflect her advantages and disadvantages. Not only is she a divine character but she also perfectly reflects TYPE-MOON/Nasu as a writer in general. We can’t forget about Mikiya either. He’s also one of my favorite characters in the entire TYPE-MOON franchise. Even if he couldn’t fight back, he’s such a complex and endearing character because his detective skills truly make him look like he solves a lot of puzzles while also spreading his wisdom of how fighting isn’t the only way to face evil. Like Shiki, his ideals aren’t really the brightest but he’s still smart enough to lay a finger on a villain’s influence/ideal without causing a bit of physical harm, even if it would cost him his life which is what we see with him getting injured by Lio. Oh, and speaking of Lio, I know he is an arrogant dick but despite that, he’s still who I fully admire as a character and one I empathize with how much suffering he goes through. Yes, he is a weirdo with how much murdering, stalking, and other shit he caused but even then, it’s not like that he grows to be a doomsday device. All he wants is to be complimented. In my opinion, he is the best of Araya’s victims as a character with how much contrast he puts on Shiki and Mikiya. Before we close this review, let’s talk about other things. The animation and spectacle are only always getting better the more we progress through each chapter. The fight between Shiki and Lio in two rounds, while not as impactful as Shiki vs Araya, is still massively impactful. As far as character designing is taken into account, Lio looking like discount Shiki is a genius move as it perfectly reflects his lust for her. The voice acting… Don’t get me started on that part… SakaMaaya and Hoshi Soichiro really went all out voicing their respectable characters with the sheer amount of personality and reflection put together. "...And so, the part of me that still holds the old Lio Shirazumi quiets and fades. I'm sorry, Kokuto. It looks like the part of me you believed in has now finally disappeared." I can’t praise this chapter enough. This easily cements Kara no Kyoukai as my favorite TYPE-MOON series ever. Not only did we come full circle with how Shiki and Mikiya met together alongside started their journey but the amount of writing, directing, and character writing are just pieced together amazing. I think this was the moment I really fell in love with figurative storytelling in any industry and honestly, maybe even TYPE-MOON as a whole. While admittedly, it is confusing, there’s just no denying that the psychology, themes, and so on are thought out really well. To this day, I can’t think of anything made by the franchise I personally like better than this one (and Kara no Kyoukai as a whole). Hell, throwing in the entire anime film industry, it’s still among the best. For me, it’s only just beaten out by Liz and the Blue Bird and Revue Starlight’s movie sequel. But even then, it’s extremely close. I’m sure there are more points I have missed while talking about this chapter but all I can say is that I want to Nasu for writing Kara no Kyoukai…
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 1, 2025 Mixed Feelings Spoiler
TYPE-MOON has made quite a lot of polarizing titles regardless of time. But nothing is ever as polarizing as Kara no Kyoukai’s 6th chapter. Now, I’m just going to say this right off the bat Kara no Kyoukai as a whole is one of those anime series I’ve been admittedly defensive towards. While it is hard to get into, the writing and direction still shouldn’t be underestimated. The series doesn’t try to take itself seriously while still becoming one of the deepest and most impactful series ever. But if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that this chapter is the weakest of
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them all. It doesn’t hold the same impact as all the other installations do. But… does it actually deserve the slander it gets? Well, enough of this introduction and let’s begin yapping.
This series starts with a new incident appearing after the death of Araya Souren. Kokutou Azaka is now the main focus here. While she was technically a main character in almost every other chapter, she wasn’t necessarily as focused as the others until we got to Ch.6. Azaka studies in an apprentice academy alongside Shiki where she can perform her magic. While they’re at it, though, they’re also on an investigation. Another strange mystery lures in and is trying to lure the main characters into a bad situation. These consist of fairies and they’re not the ones you would normally think of. Perhaps this has to have a connection with the previous magus dealt before. Right off the gate, this is a far more important addition to the series than what others may realize. Sure, this type of story may look off at first but it adds to what makes Kara no Kyoukai in general special in the first place. Each installation has an entirely unique plot line to itself and all of them are special thanks to how they connect their major gimmicks to the central storyboarding of the series. So again, what is actually something good about this? Chapter 6 serves as a nice bridge between chapters 5 and 7. Since 5 is the story’s climax and 7 is Shiki’s climax, chapter 6 is a nice buildup to the series’ finale. This trilogy had two main priorities and one of them was exploring the dark magic lurking around in the series. Chapter 5 concludes that part since the magus league was the central antagonist that further spread the puzzles since Mahoyo (‘ahem’ chronologically speaking). The other is Shiki and her personal relationship with both the overall atmosphere and her challenges. While this chapter technically doesn’t have much of that, it still provides a nice continuation of how Shiki has an impactful relationship with the chapter-specific key characters, and that brings us to this chapter’s main focus, Azaka. As much as I love Kara no Kyoukai’s character writing, Azaka was pretty bland and was more of a plot device overall, so it’s nice to see her getting the spotlight she deserves after being easily replaceable by any of the major characters involved. Azaka serves as a unique replica of what Mikiya normally does throughout the series’ narrative which makes sense since both of them are siblings. Azaka’s motivation here alongside Shiki is to find out the culprit behind the school they’re studying in and regain their memories that are stolen. Again, this is quite relevant to the central plot when you consider that Shiki can be clueless sometimes. But sadly, like all of you, it’s time I complain about this chapter. For starters, the exposition could be better. This chapter spent a bit too much time on buildup proportional to this chapter’s length so there’s barely any tension involved. That’s not to say long buildups are bad, I do in fact like them. Buildups in every other chapter in this series are also long but those also get straight to something like drama or action to spruce their stories up. This one felt a bit too much of a slice of life than what it intended to be. Another problem is that the mystery elements aren’t particularly great. On the surface, the fairies are actually well-made. As mentioned, they play a very important role in the series and they’re connected quite well. One neat detail for example is how Shiki also wants to regain her memories because she mentions herself in chapter 5 that she was a murderer when that’s not really the case for her anymore now that chapter 4 concludes that. But again, compared to every other chapter, they aren’t necessarily used as much. They’re potentially portrayed as gimmicks when this chapter has other things that aren’t really as important. Yeah, they’re important and interesting, but what else is there to these things? They’re mostly (or virtually) used in the later portions where we see Azaka’s final climax which is nice but they could have been applied in other portions as well. Still, though, they’re nice to have in the entire series. They could be complimented more if they’re used more. Now for characters which might probably be the weakest aspect. First things first, we have Shiki the protagonist and the stoic girl who studies death, and Azaka the sister of Mikiya who is the main detective. Let’s cut to the chase. This movie is absolutely carried by Shiki. To be fair, she has been stealing the spotlight in every single installation, albeit for good reasons, but every other chapter still has a lot of compelling characters to themselves whereas chapter 6 only has one. Now, this is definitely the weakest rendition of Shiki’s character development but she’s still pretty great. She has most of the charm in her other appearances and such. As for this chapter’s focused character, Azaka… yeah, we have a lot of talk about here. Azaka being the main character here is a good thing because she gets more important aspects she should have gotten ages ago and we get to see more interactions with Shiki and for the most part, those interactions are pretty good. However, that’s also a problem. She’s still the same annoying tsundere she was in all of her other appearances so unless you’re able to stomach her annoying moments, good luck with that. On top of that, though, her relationship with Mikiya is quite off. That’s not to say that siblings loving each other is bad but this relationship is rendered as romantic which is out of place. Add on that she’s still the weakest main character in the whole series and I think she falls short. Still, though, she’s an alright character regardless. I see her as Kara no Kyoukai’s replica of Tsukihime’s Tohno Akiha, both being passable main characters but annoying and not much to offer. Kurogiri Satsuki, the chapter’s focused villain, sucks, though. It’s nice to see another twist villain around but compared to someone like Araya Souren, he’s absolutely irrelevant. Oh, and Ouji Misaya is there, I guess. Before we end here, the animation like every other chapter is amazing. The movements still remain to be very consistent and over-the-top. The action still looks clean as ever, even if the fight itself isn’t necessarily one of my favorites. The music is outstanding. In fact, it’s probably my favorite OST in this series alongside chapters 1 and 7. The voice acting, while not as good as the others, still has their charms nailed very well. Not a big fan of Fujimura Ayumi as Azaka but she’s decent nonetheless. So while I do unironically like this chapter, I can fully understand why it’s poorly received even amongst fans of this series. It really has a lot of interesting ideas going for but they aren’t used as properly as they should have been, the exposition is quite off, and the key character of this chapter could have picked up much more development. It’s mostly seen as a stepping stone to chapter 7. But honestly, I was expecting worse. Yes, what they offered is problematic but I won’t lie to you all, I think this was more amusing than frustrating. Now, it’s still Kara no Kyoukai’s worst chapter but it’s not really one of TYPE-MOON’s worst. Compared to the real failures like DEEN/Stay Night or Fate/Apocrypha, the plot still remains pretty consistent and there’s still a handful of character development to be found. So while it could be a lot better with just a few tweaks, it’s still above average.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 12, 2024
Bocchi the Rock!
(Anime)
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If there’s a series that drastically changed my perspective on slice-of-life forever then my vote would go to Bocchi the Rock. This series managed to shatter my expectations so hard when I first got into it. To put it in perspective, it takes all of the aspects most other SoL anime have and puts them to newfound heights. That isn’t to trash on the others, it would obviously be unfair if that’s the case, but BTR is on a completely different level for me. From the storytelling, directing, music, and character writing, there’s just so much gold and diamond to be found in the mines.
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Not only does it massively stand out from SoLs/CGDCTs, but it also hits the point where it’s my personal favorite anime of all time.
The series starts with Gotoh Hitori (will be shortened to “Bocchi” from here) who rarely has any friends and lacks communication abilities. She plays a guitar and has wanted to join a band since her middle school years. But again, she doesn’t communicate as much so she practices guitar by herself. Eventually, though, she uploaded videos of her being a guitarist as well as joining Kessoku Band right after. This series already has a rocky start since it sets up its story. We already see how Bocchi is written throughout the story. She has been a loner despite how skilled she can be at playing her guitar. She tries to make new friends but the problem is that her communication skills are flawed, even now with the help of Nijika, Ryo, and Kita. BTR surely had a very strong start and it’s only getting stronger from here. How the entire story is built may look relatively simplistic at first glance and while that still may be the case, in this respect, everything about it is very comprehensive and profound despite how short its runtime can be. Contrary to popular belief, BTR isn’t really about relatability. No, no, no, whoever says it misses out the whole point. While the whole relatability aspect is indeed important and plays well in the show (even if I could personally barely relate to any of the characters), the main messages of this series are both the complicated nature of communication and how friendship can be healthy regardless of troubles. Communication is both explained and portrayed very well for a few reasons. Bocchi is an introvert and in this respect, she has trouble trying to make friends properly. Even with the success she gains, she’s still kind of unstable and for the most part, she will tend to have quite some trouble. This isn’t the most accurate display by any means but it still shows us how communication is difficult well. Communicating with people, especially when making friends, is relatively hard. You still need to practice how you talk and how you manipulate your body expressions. The best part about this is even though Bocchi will not be perfect at talking to people, she still slowly improves over time with the help of Kessoku Band. As for the friendship aspect, it’s also amazing. In fact, it intertwines with the “communication is hard” element super well. Looking back at how Bocchi slowly gains confidence because of Kessoku Band, the reason for that is how dedicated the members are. Not just with music (which we will go over later) but also with how they develop communication all together. We have two introverts and two extroverts, the former being Bocchi and Ryo and the latter being Nijika and Kita. Nijika and Kita (although mainly Nijika) wanted to help Bocchi and Ryo with talking to people but those two still have their own weaknesses. Again, Bocchi still has trouble with communicating while Ryo prefers to be a loner. Either way, those two are still learning how to find improvements. Despite this, Nijika wouldn’t dare to punish them. This aspect is equally as well-explored because Kessoku Band members are friends with each other and they point out their highs and lows. The series doesn’t take any of it seriously because neither of them would find their meaning if they stuck with one mindset. It isn’t just amazing, but also narratively healthy in that regard. So how do these two elements succeed in all of those processes? The answer is direction. The direction is the sole reason why the story keeps on getting stronger. We already talked about how the communication aspect and the friendship aspect are presented excellently. The direction of the series goes through the other important aspects just as greatly. We also see how Kessoku Band was made in the first place. Kessoku Band’s name may be a pun but its entire existence has both a compelling history and presence. Nijika is the founder and she designed the whole band because not only does she want to show people she makes friends with how communication can be answered depending on your personal success but also to show what music means to people. The exploration of the band is fantastic because of its history, its legacy, and how its members communicate with each other. The band isn’t the only amazing part of the direction, though. We also see how other characters approach both their lives and their purposes very nicely. Some examples include how Seika (and even her adult friends) monitor over Kessoku Band. The comedy also plays a very crucial part in the show. Now, I should admit that the humor is arguably the weakest part but that doesn’t really mean it falls short. Not even one bit. Hear me out, the comedy isn’t always reliant on being relatable and is presented in a way that even extroverted people can understand and laugh at. The humor here shows how introverts have a hard time talking to other people properly. Some examples include how the moment Bocchi shows her meme expressions, which also shows that she would have trouble trying to talk normally. This doesn’t seem too great at first. When I first watched it, even I was confused with how the humor was constructed. But looking again at how it goes, there’s a lot of value to it. The point about BTR’s comedy is that it actually shows how making failed attempts (or struggling ones) can be genuinely funny and once again, this is handled very well without too much trouble or any bit of offense ‘ahem’ at least imho. Comedy is always subjective, even in comedic stories, but BTR manages to make its humor a crucial element in the best ways possible. Lastly, we can’t forget about music. Music in slice-of-life anime (at least ones whose themes focus on musical bands) is weird. Some use music to its high potential, others rarely gave a shit about it. But BTR not only gave the music aspect a chance but is also dedicated to investing in the tracks, mainly the performances. The music performed by our main band is entertaining and heartwarming, but most importantly, it narrates one of the story’s main points to newfound heights. The music is proof that the Kessoku Band members are very dedicated to one of their main objectives. Even if they’re not perfect at making music, they still show so much heart and so much passion. The performances are a result of how the Kessoku Band members care about each other, share their sweet moments with each other, and how they point out their individual skills. It’s also proof that music in general is more than a piece of entertainment. Music can also be something like a comfort zone or a lesson. Now, for characters, starting with Bocchi the introverted guitarist, Nijika the extroverted drummer and leader, Ryo the introverted bassist, and Kita the extroverted singer and guitarist. Bocchi is an excellent protagonist. She’s a very valuable example of how introverts have trouble while still finding a bit of improvement. She’s shy and clumsy, and yet, she’s still skilled at playing a guitar. What makes her a compelling main character is how she learns from her main friends. Even though she’s still on her introverted side, she slowly gained confidence by having loads of fun and enticing communication. Hell, not just with the main cast but also the side cast, especially Seika, PA, Kikuri, and her family. That being said, she’s actually my least favorite of the 4 main girls. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still well-written. She has great characterization, development, and chemistry with any character. After all, she deserves to be named after her own series. It’s just that we have even better characters coming right up. Speaking of, Nijika is extremely compelling. Her energy, her dedication, and how she designs her band alone already make her very profound. But again, there’s far more to her character. Her interactions with Kessoku Band as a whole are amazing. Showing them how band members are always determined with their skills based on their individual instrument choices no matter what trouble gets in their way is both cathartic and inspirational. Her relationship with Seika also adds to her character greatly as they want to help each other but also point out whether things are going nicely for them or not. Sure, it can also be comedic but most of the time, it still narrates Nijika’s development well. A similar case can be said with Kita. Although not as compelling as Nijika, she’s still a fantastic character for similar reasons. Fantastic chemistry, fantastic development, and fantastic catharsis. Not much needed to say here honestly. But if there’s one character I adore the most, that would be Ryo for me. Ryo is by far the biggest standout out of the 4 main girls for a few but massive reasons. For starters, she actually has a dark history with how she was with a band prior to moving to Kessoku Band. She wanted to perform more and more with that band but ended up leaving due to creative differences with her former members. She’s now a loner and she chose that, even after gaining confidence from the other Kessoku Band members. What makes her such a brilliantly written and developed character is her relationship with the cast. She can act goofy but it adds to her character and how she occasionally needs it for her personal progression. The best part about her is that she has two perspectives. She shows how selfish she can be at times, even if admits it, and how she observes and analyzes the pure creativity of a band. Ryo is sarcastic but she’s also wise and reserving with both her personal knowledge and chemistry with any character, and that’s why she’s the best character in the whole series. We can’t forget about the side characters. Even those people have a lot to show and add to the main cast very well without being close to plot devices. You have Serika, PA-san, Kikuri, Bocchi’s family, and many more. They’re one of the reasons why the character writing is very strong and why the main cast has such profound development and catharsis. Serika is a great example of this. As mentioned, she monitors Kessoku Band and has a complicated but also very believable relationship with Nijika. My personal favorite side character, though, is Kikuri. Kikuri is hilarious in how she approaches the band members and the adults that monitor said band. Sure, it can be awkward but it still gives me good laughs. But also, that makes her greatly written, even for a side character, because of her personal knowledge of a band and she’s an OG bassist. The animation is surprisingly solid for the most part. Not groundbreaking or anything but it was straight to the point. The movements when the main girls perform a band are very nice, to say it, albeit heavy-handed at times. The character designs are criminally underrated. The school, even though it still requires you to wear the exact and intended uniforms, gives you the freedom to have the extra choice of clothing, giving any character more personality and recognizability with both their silhouettes and how they wear something that matches their interests. Bonus points for the extra worldbuilding. The music that isn’t connected to the performances is just as great. Each track conveys each sequence very nicely. The same can be said with the sound design which is also well done. It’s no wonder why some of the most iconic scenes around Bocchi losing her shit became beloved memes. Lastly, the voice acting is amazing as each voice actor nails each of their character’s characteristics and sequences amazingly. Some of my personal favorite performances include Hasegawa Ikumi as Kita, Mizuno Saku as Ryo, and Senbongi Sayaka as Kikuri. All voice performances are equally great, though. Say what you will about this series but after these talks, I can proudly say that Bocchi the Rock ruined anime for me. Not just slice of life or CGDCT but in general. It’s the jack-of-all-trades and master-of-all, a combination you rarely see in the industry. It’s filled with cohesive passion with how it directs its storytelling, comedy, and character-writing. Even if one of those is the weakest, that being the show’s humor, every aspect is equally nailed so brilliantly. I don’t know what else I could say, it’s just amazing in every sense of pattern. That said, BTR isn’t for everyone. Even with everything I say, you will still find this show awkward depending on your perspective. But as to how I personally view it, there’s no way I would absolutely let go of this unforgettable masterpiece. Not even close.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 6, 2024
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby
(Anime)
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One of the better Gacha adaptations in my opinion is Uma Musume. Technically, it’s not a Gacha adaptation since the anime came first before the game but I supposed the anime is used as a potential buildup for said game. Uma Musume is very interesting for surprisingly a lot of reasons. From the looks of how the series designs its characters; it’s another animal girl show in the modern years. Like, you have girls that have horse parts, mainly the ears and the tail. But don’t be fooled about that part, it has an interesting history where it’s based on real times. With that in
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our heads, how does the show tackle its ideas? Well, only one way to find out.
The premise behind this series is intriguing. It’s about horse girls who work as both students and idols and race during horse race events, as well as win in order to appear as icons. The school they study in is called Tracen Academy which is located in Tokyo. The main horse girl we’re following here is Special Week. Her goal is to be a top horse girl in order to spread her popularity and promise her mother. Something interesting to note here is that this is based on the history of Japanese horse racing from 1998 to 1999. The horse girls are based on Japanese horses, looking at both their silhouette and their color schemes, and certain of them based on this season’s choices appear as they’re also based on their IRL counterparts’ histories. This is interesting because of how this show presents its own take on horse-racing history. The horse girls are students on certain things they’re assigned to and they’re idols while they’re still based on their IRL horses and therefore, racing each other in order to reach their spotlights. How well does this show tackle these things? To that, I answer, very well surprisingly. Sure, it’s quirky and comedic but the first season of Uma is both competent and relatively philosophical with its own ideas. Uma Musume shows the tension of racing. The horse girls will try their damn best to keep on getting stronger until the day they enter a competition. There are two different types of racing events. One is normal racing which, while it still results in who will appear on top of the leaderboards, is still a testament to how strong a horse girl can get. The other is grand racing which will serve as something like an assessment of how skilled and competent you are in a race. You need to work hard if you want to appear on top. If you lose, you need to wait for weeks or even months until another grand race will happen. These races are executed well because not only are they fun but they also show both the fighting spirit and knowledge of each horse girl. Not only that but it also wants you to prove how worthy you are at racing. Even if you lose, you can still work harder. Another aspect that has been done well is the worldbuilding. The direction of this season is consistent. It shows us the buildups of events and what a character will do in there. The touring in Tracen Academy is very endearing, to say the least. We actually see what the academy looks like and how each location serves its purpose. We have the main building, cafeteria, library, training rooms, you name it. While they seem basic from initial looks, we actually see certain character buildups before they perform the big stuff like racing each other, allowing for consistent character writing which we’ll get into later. The years in the school are kind of confusing but then again, every character doesn’t really have a confirmed age (and we’re not counting the ages of IRL horses here) so that’s kind of a whatever. The racing places look sick and I don’t think I would touch on that more since I already tackled the racing aspect. Not just those but we also tour around other places where we see our favorite horse girls do what they like to do in their casual times. There’s one major flaw to this, however, and that is how this show uses comedy. That isn’t to say that comedy in this series is bad or even run-of-the-mill. The comedy here is actually very good. There are jokes that are handled well. My personal favorite of the bunch is Rudolf cracking up dad puns for a living. It’s just that Uma uses it a little too much for how philosophical its storytelling is. It’s not overwhelming per se but somewhat half of the time, comedy is this show’s secondary tool whenever the story sometimes runs out of ideas. While it doesn’t hold the series back, it’s still a relatively big problem we need to address. Another problem is, surprisingly, the racing. Going back to that aspect, there’s something a little wrong. Again, the racing in this series is handled well. It’s just that there isn’t a lot of strategy to be found. There is almost little involved which is still okay since a lot of the horse girls can have the same type of strategy depending on their individual pros and cons. So while the racing is still engaging and directed nicely, it can be a little repetitive at times. Also, the idol aspect is a somewhat important addition to the series and sadly, it’s not utilized to its full potential. There are some idol performances and they’re great but for the most part, it’s treated as fanservice. Then again, though, Uma Musume as a whole is about showing the ideals and messages of how complex and enticing racing can be so I guess this aspect doesn’t matter as much. Let’s talk about characters which might be the weakest aspect of this season but that doesn’t matter since it’s still solid. We’ll start with our main horse girl, Special Week, who’s determined and wishes to appear on top of the leaderboards. Spe is a good protagonist and better written than people would like to admit. She shows how dedicated she is to her journey, she has good chemistry with certain characters, and she’s a great introduction to how competent the series is with its cast. She also does the "protag who knows nothing about the world" trope done right. Just one problem, though. Her obsession with Suzuka is kinda annoying and this is shown in most of the middle portions of the show. Speaking of, Silence Suzuka, Spe’s racing mate, is also a good main character for similar reasons, although she’s a little better written than Spe could ever be. The side characters are decent. You have Teio, you have Rudolf, you have McQueen, and so on. They fulfill their characteristics well but the best side character here is Gold Ship. In fact, she’s arguably the best part of the show. She’s quirky, she’s wacky, and yet, she’s very dedicated. Even if she’s written as a side character, she’s more developed than any other character in this season because of how much fun this season had with her. Shoutouts to the duo of Vodka and Daiwa too. Those two characters are also very endearing with a very good chemistry with one another. Now then, what about the animation? The animation for the most part is well done. It’s not groundbreaking but it’s straight to the point with how it conveys the action of racing. The character designs, even for this series’ standards, are criminally overlooked. The aesthetics lean towards a great blend of simplicity, style, and how they fit well with each character. The music is also underrated. Each track nicely matches with each sequence. And who can forget about the voice acting? Most of the voice acting is great, with the best one being Gold Ship’s energy. And those are my thoughts on Uma Musume season 1. I’m sure there are more aspects I can talk about but I elected to discuss the ones that are the most important. The first season is overlooked. It has more things about its story that aren’t just cute horse girls thingy. It shows the complexity of racing, it has great worldbuilding, and it shows respect for its characters. The only problems are that it can tone down comedy just a bit, it would have opened more variety of how the horse girls race, mainly picking up more strategies, and it could use more on the idol aspect. But alas, the first season is just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll talk about season 2 at another time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 30, 2024 Recommended Spoiler
Kara no Kyoukai chapter 5, here we fucking go. Paradox Paradigm might be the most critically acclaimed of the series’ chapters/movies but also arguably the most divisive. It’s a movie that combines plot twists, symbolism, dialogue, and choreography very well but its own combination is so complicated that you wouldn’t really know if it’s good or not. In a way, I really wouldn’t blame you for that. This movie, even to this day, is confusing (albeit intentionally). It creates a handle of symbolism that isn’t written or designed literally. It will mess with you if you try to understand it literally. But generally speaking, this
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whole movie, despite how serious it can be, wasn’t meant to be serious to begin with. As I keep needing to say this, it’s figurative. And it’s not just figurative, it’s arguably one of the best figurative stories ever created. With how it’s written and directed, there’s so much charm to be found.
This movie’s plot is relatively unique compared to the others. The 5th chapter of KnK starts with a boy named Enjou Tomoe (not to have his looks confused with Emiya Shirou) who has nightmares about his personal fears in the past, all of which are repeated and narrated by a magus named Araya Souren. Enjou gets bullied by certain kids until Shiki comes into play and Shiki thinks it would be a good idea to invite Enjou into her apartment. Both of them talk about how their relationships would go and what kind of mysteries they discovered in their personal lives. Meanwhile, Araya and another magus, Cornelius Alba, are plotting in their mysterious hotel, which Enjou used to live in when he was parentless in his teenage years, about how death should be viewed and portrayed. Kara no Kyoukai has an interesting and endearing start because we’re only in for a few minutes and we already see a perspective of Enjou’s life and past, instead of reserving it for the last parts. That backstory of Enjou isn’t fully fleshed out just yet but we’ll get to that later. From here, we encounter this film’s first symbol, that being personal fear. Enjou fears that his mistakes will be repeated today. Simply put, this is portrayed because Enjou as a human being is very flawed, even if he really isn’t on the bad side. He never learns about his responsibilities and he wants to be free from consequences. This, however, is far from the truth for him because Araya knows this. Araya has studied and pointed out the highlights and flaws of I believe every single human being. This eventually gave Enjou repeating nightmares about said flaws. Enjou will truly need more than heavy thinking to escape from this kind of curse. This is one of the best beginnings in any series because we initially see a perspective of how a character would be portrayed for the rest of the movie. This beginning gives a lot of substantial characterization to Enjou and thus, succeeds at making him a character we would truly sympathize (or empathize with if any) from the start despite how awkward he can be at certain times. All of this progression is to allow him to explore what he has done before and how he can overcome the problems he causes that turn him into one of Araya’s victims. Another thing this movie really succeeds in is how it explores the concept of paradoxes. I didn’t mention this until now but paradoxes in this movie are mysterious magic that holds certain secrets and how they toy with them. They hold a handful of symbolism such as the one we talked about before. These symbols also contain death, imagination, knowledge, and so on. The paradoxes coincide with the symbols very well because one of the selling points of Paradox Paradigm is how it uses confusion and the spirals use that advantage to play as a perfect foil to the protagonists. Symbols aren’t the only things the paradoxes hold. They also contain certain analyses of a specific human being and how they point out your strengths and weaknesses as well as puppets that will fool you completely. The paradoxes will lure you in if you dare to learn about them and use your memory to fight against your soul. They will punish you if you don’t recognize their very complex patterns. Araya designed all of this so that he could progress toward his goal of cementing the concept of death with his own vision further. They’re used as some sort of puzzle to challenge said protagonists and this is handled excellently, regardless of how heavy dialogue is involved or not. Going back to symbolism, fear isn’t the only symbol that’s handled very well. We also have relationships, fatigue, observance, etc. Those symbols explore the challenges of Shiki and Enjou enticingly as well as consistently exploring worldbuilding. Notice how the hotel we talked about is mysterious, hence the lack of a parking lot for a very big building. That’s where the black magic came from. Again, those are used to weaponize against the two protagonists by having them progress all the way until they realize that they’re analyzed and then trapped, especially Shiki who temporarily became Araya’s puppet. However, the best symbol in my opinion is contrary. It’s a symbol that shows a clash between Shiki and Araya. This symbol is especially amazing because it shows and narrates how much Shiki has gone through analyzing death with her own philosophies, those being how it’s a nature of responsibility whereas Araya’s philosophy is that death is pointless. Both of them, are trying to fight over what is more reasonable. They’re a very interesting yin and yang. And speaking of yin and yang, this movie’s overall portrayal is absolutely amazing. As mentioned, Shiki and Araya are trying to clash with each other so they can reach if they’re able to establish what death is. This whole death argument and battle isn’t the only thing about the movie’s portrayal of twisted balance. Enjou virtually fights alongside Shiki against Araya because he wants to prove that he still has the mind, heart, and soul of a human being despite the fact that he’s no longer human. Enjou figures this out by gaining help from Mikiya, whom he suddenly encounters, but chooses him because Mikiya has been with Shiki since the beginning. Mikiya empathizes with Enjou by pointing out that even though you failed, there’s still a way. In Enjou’s former house, we get to see a complete backstory of Enjou and his irresponsibilities and he knows what causes him to be puzzled. Enjou finds his answers and this weakens Araya by addressing what he has done. Remember how the paradoxes are black magic? This can actually be fought against by acknowledging and addressing your problems. This is a great twist because Enjou finally learns what it means to start from scratch. Araya tries to establish his philosophies which are actually well-written but his biggest mistake is overriding why humans are flawed without realizing that humans still try. By extension, this also freed Shiki. Heck, even Touko knew this since she knew Araya and his feats very well. After all, she also analyzes the people involved in a certain yet major chaotic event. The story of this movie has always been brilliantly told simply because it finds its way to present a figurative story. It takes the idea of confusion and surprisingly uses it as a valuable advantage. We see how both Shiki and Enjou (although mainly him) fight against their own nightmares. They actually have a great relationship which we will go over in a bit and they help each other figure out where their nightmares come from. They finally meet their culprit, Araya, and with that, both of them try to fight Araya not only with their strengths but with Enjou’s growth mindset as well. Even though this isn’t very realistic, you can solve puzzles made from black magic by observing the surroundings you’ve faced and acknowledging where you went right and/or wrong. This is what Kara no Kyoukai did and it’s not only beautiful but also heartwarming. The whole exploring and then solving with strategy thing and how it’s portrayed here is one of the best plot twists of all time. Now enough of that, let’s move to characters. Starting with Shiki, the protagonist and the stoic girl who studies death, Mikiya, the reserving detective and Shiki’s boyfriend, Touko, the main magus and therapist, and Enjou, the feared puppet. Shiki, as always, is a very compelling character despite her screen time in this movie. She still shows her philosophies very well, even though they’re not direct, and she still develops her relationships with the cast. She’s also a fantastic match for the yin-yang clash alongside Araya and thus, one of the best parts for the story’s climax. Mikiya and Touko are very good characters too. Mikiya being the professional empathizer and Touko being arguably the best character for this story’s worldbuilding as she explores and coincides with her relationships with the other mages. But you all know who made this chapter-exclusive story. Enjou. Enjou is this story’s highlight. In a way, he narrates the extended concepts of fear, relationship, observance, and contrary. He’s the boy with an inferior complex who wants help from others so he can explore what and where he went wrong. The reason why Enjou is such as fantastic character is his personal struggle. He tries to fight against his repeated flaws and nightmares by developing complex relationships with Shiki and then Mikiya. From the start, he’s some sort of wimp. But as the movie goes on, he not only learns about his highs and lows but with the help of those two characters mentioned, but he also proves that even if you fail, you can still try again and think about where you want to start and then tackle with. His death is the best thing that could happen in this movie because by proving the statement of human improvement, he also virtually weakens Araya for how he’s in the wrong and frees Shiki for his relationship with her. Araya, the central villain of Kara no Kyoukai, is also an amazing villain. He toyed with Enjou, Shiki, and other characters he has conflicts with by using his own ideals and storytelling magic. Araya is compelling because even though Enjou was more on the right, he still has a point. He tried to state how death isn’t something that shouldn’t happen and how the human race is flawed. Personally, he’s especially an interesting character in how he conflicts with Touko since both of them are dedicated mages who have known each other for a long. Also, even though he didn’t interact with Shiki as much, their clashing with each other is still interesting because again, they twistedly resemble a fight between the yin and the yang. Alba sucked, though. His only highlight is his beef with Touko and even that isn’t enough to compensate for his ignorance and incompetence, especially as a magus. Even though this doesn’t apply to the overall quality, we still can’t forget about the amazing spectacles. Knowing from Ufotable and their passion for animating TYPE-MOON content, we never expect less. The movements are both over-the-top and balanced. Not only that but they also animate some of the best choreography of any TYPE-MOON series. Character designs are also amazing. Striking a perfect combination of simplicity, elaboration, and style. The music in this is just legendary. Each track perfectly blends well with each frame and sequence while giving a lot of heart to the themes. Lastly, the voice acting also deserves special mention for being dynamic. Enjou’s voice might be my favorite role from Kakihara Tetsuya of all time. And… that’s it. I don’t know what else I could say here. Kara no Kyoukai is just fantastic. It knows how to present figurative storytelling, it knows how to direct its chapter-exclusive ideas, and it knows how to flesh out most of its characters (keyword, “most”). Chapter 5 pretty much proves that and with some of the best conflicts and some of the best twists, it stays a special place in my heart. Even though it’s not necessarily my favorite chapter, it’s still up there for being a visceral masterpiece.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 25, 2024 Recommended
JoJo part 2 is one hell of a ride. Whether you take this part seriously or not, there’s no denying that this is very fun to sit through. The craziness as well as how it fiddles with exploration in the best ways possible is what makes this part unique. Not only that but it further extends the variety of the franchise’s writing since part 1. While part 1 is a good introduction to the franchise and is far better than what people give credit for, part 2 is on a different level with how it extends the charms part 1 has.
What is Battle Tendency? It’s ... the part that comes after Phantom Blood. Since the death of Jonathan Joestar and the supposed “defeat” of Dio Brando, Erina is now a Joestar and took good care of Lisa Lisa and George Joestar II, both of which eventually took good care of Joseph Joestar until George died which eventually led to Lisa Lisa leaving the family while Erina takes care of Joseph. Speedwagon now owns a company and his goal is to explore the Pillar Men, the inventors of the stone masks. Joseph is kind of left unaware until he faces his first opponent which makes him discover the Pillar Men the same way as the Speedwagon Foundation. This part, again, is more substantial compared to part 1 because whereas part 1 portrays the stone mask as a cursed and mysterious decoration, part 2 finally shows us the answer about how the stone masks are made. That’s not the only thing that makes part 2 special, though, it also works more on worldbuilding. Going from New York to Mexico to Italy, all while finding clues and battling unique foes in each location adds more to the franchise’s adventure aspect. We get to see how Joseph likes to fool around and still does but also needs to progress from place to place to solve each problem alongside his sidekicks. It gives the progression more life with how it presents how we go and execute each scenario from point A to point B. Even if it’s a battle Shounen, it excels at mystery-solving. Notice how Joseph has Hamon arguably not as potent as Jonathan’s yet is more substantial at fighting with finding more strategy. Not just utilizing Hamon uniquely but also finding the available resources to make up for a lack of strong punch. While some tactics can be off-putting, and I will get to that, it makes for great fight scenes, both in style and in substance. Another thing the series does a good job at is how it still further extends the Joestar bloodline. How it portrays the bloodline is actually tragic. George II was a great soldier who fought in a war and was married to Lisa Lisa. Both of them were a loving husband and a loving wife respectively to each other, despite Lisa Lisa training hard to master Hamon. Eventually, however, George II was slaughtered by the last zombie made by Dio and Lisa Lisa had no choice but to risk and kill that zombie which temporarily turned her into a wanted person. She was forced to abandon Joseph so as to not give him a weird reputation. Can you imagine how tragic it is? Lisa Lisa wants to be a loving mother yet faces so many consequences that she needs to leave her son to have him protected. Again, there are some problems that I’ll get into but nonetheless, this portrayal is beautiful. The same probably cannot be said for the Zeppeli bloodline, however. It’s nice that there’s more extension to it, especially with a good backstory, but it felt rather underutilized and we only get to see some substantial moments of it. It’s understandable that the Zeppeli bloodline needs to end right here but give us more of it. There’s no way it was intentionally treated as some sort of plot device for something. It’s kind of disrespectful. Now, the characters. Starting with Joseph, the second JoJo, and a professional trickster, Caesar, the bubble-making avenger, and Lisa Lisa, the mentor and mother of Joseph. Joseph is a very good character. Not only he is fun to watch, but he’s also a genius when it comes to finding a strategy. He isn’t your typical protagonist who relies solely on powers. He finds other ways in order to win a fight. His chemistry with any character, especially Caesar, also makes him substantial. Just one problem, however. Some of his tricks are absurd and can considered to be asspull. Some examples include the grenade trick and countering Kars in the final fight. Now of course, JoJo is a series that isn’t taken seriously but even for that standard, those tricks can be too ridiculous for their own good. Nonetheless, Joseph is still pretty great. Caesar, he’s alright. His chemistry with Joseph is the best part about his character but other than that, he’s lacking. He does show his history with his family and how he sets his things but neither of those aren’t explored fully. He also can be a little hypocritical for the wrong reasons. Lisa Lisa is a disappointing character. It’s nice that she has a dark history with the Joestar bloodline with how many consequences she faces and how she contributes as a main mentor but in the later parts of the story, she almost becomes a damsel in distress. She showed little with what she’s capable of which is sad. The side characters are probably the best part of the cast as they showed more character than the main sidekicks, especially Stroheim, despite his history and troublesome actions. But the Pillar Men are the weakest parts of the cast. Satana is there, even though he introduced us to the concept of the Pillar Men. Wamuu is an exception, though, as he’s an honorable warrior who fights fair and square. While he doesn’t have that much characterization, he’s still a good villain. Esidisi is just annoying. He’s way too expressive with his emotions and doesn’t do much at all. Kars is pretty okay. He has a great backstory but he doesn’t hold the same charm as Dio. Half of the time, he’s almost a Gary Stu. Kars seeks more power and he doesn’t have any unique features for that. Now, the last main part I want to talk about is the finale of Battle Tendency. It’s relatively weak. Sure, seeing Kars turn into the ultimate lifeform looks hella awesome but that’s more of a spectacular display than an actual part of a story. The plane fight, while great on paper, is nothing too much to talk about. It makes sense that Joseph has to run away from Kars but there aren’t many special contrasts for the two of them to clash with each other besides finding a way to hit a mark nicely. It gets worse when they launch themselves from a volcano, though. How in the world did Joseph manage to brute force Kars out of the Earth? Even for this series’ standards, it doesn’t make any sense, unless you consider the Red Stone as a hyperreactive and unstabled source of energy. The art, just like part 1, has aged well. It gives more detail and expression to both the environment and the cast. Fashion choices are even better here. Battle Tendency is just fun in a lot of ways. It’s crazy yet it’s enjoyable enough to not be annoying to watch… for the most part… Both the story and the worldbuilding are great and the characters are charming. But if we’re being honest, this part is far from a masterpiece. Even if it intentionally isn’t serious, there are some inconsistencies that tend to be a flip-off. Some characters are underdeveloped and some strategies could at least be elaborated a little more. But until then, if part 1 isn’t good enough then part 2 is a well-deserved step up.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 25, 2024 Mixed Feelings
Let’s talk about JoJo’s first part. Phantom Blood is definitely the simplest of all JoJo parts in terms of how the story is built but also one of the most complicated when it comes to how we view how it goes. Now, it’s clear why it’s the first thing that JoJo has ever created and therefore, the simplest. It reminds you of the simple, classic tales you learned or heard about before, most notably in this case, vampire stories. I, myself, like vampire stories, I think they’re fun but at the same time, though, it can get a little stale with writing whenever they tend
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to run out of ideas. JoJo part 1 is similar to that but with a bit of unique magic injected into it. This has been regarded as JoJo’s weakest part and while I do understand that assessment and agree that it’s flawed, I don’t think it’s bad or even mediocre either.
Now, what’s the story of Phantom Blood? As the first installment of the franchise, Phantom Blood slowly introduces quite a lot of interesting features, surprisingly enough. It’s about two men in the United Kingdom who go by the name of Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando respectively. Both Jonathan and Dio possess the same determination yet are polar opposites of one another. They have a very complicated, competitive, and hateful relationship with each other. While they’re at it, both of them equally explore the stone mask, a mysterious artifact that will turn you into a vampire and once discovered by an Aztec tribe. The stone mask may look like a simple doomsday item at first but it holds a lot of questions that need to be answered. How does the mask affect you? Will it be carried any longer in the future? Or hell, shall it be destroyed for the better? That’s where we talk about the story in practice. The story, while simple, is a little hard to think about. The first few parts of Phantom Blood are surprisingly solid. Sure, those may be that bizarre contrary to what the title says but they slowly build up well. From there, we see both Jonathan’s and Dio’s introductions and how they interact with one another. Jonathan represents courage, heroism, and honesty while Dio represents selfishness, dominance, and lies. Even if they’re introduced as children from the start, the story tackles their personal symbolism nicely as they treat them as brothers who fight over who will be on the hills or below. It’s also nice how they keep the stone mask a secret for a little while. Portraying it as a decoration until both Jonathan and Dio fight each other in a mansion and afterward, Dio’sbit of blood after his defeat suddenly activates the mask. The slow build-up of how both Jonathan and Dio discover the mask on their own as now adults is also pretty good. Again, we still see how the story develops on how the two represent. After Jonathan finds out what Dio is plotting, Dio has no choice but to reject his humanity. Dio figures out the true potential of the stone mask embraces the greater evil and, by extension, kills Jonathan’s father. Jonathan lost nearly everything but he still avenges his ruined family. This is the best part of the story personally because not only did we see a major cycle of two people interacting with each other, finding out mysteries, and starting a major clash but also the consequences Jonathan has to face, whether it’s his fault or not. Despite his beef with Dio, he wants him to know better even with his gentlemanly acts. Their contrasts with each other only motivate them more and more. This, however, is slightly bumped down with the introduction of Hamon. Hamon is a power that is channeled after practicing outdoor martial arts. It comes with a variety of moves depending on how anyone who learns it fights. Hamon is actually a cool power system but since it was utilized, the story from here doesn’t necessarily have the same charm it has before. Now, it still extends the compare and contrast between the two main characters but we’re going slowly from here. A vampire that creates a zombie army is sick as hell, even if it’s not the most unique type, but with the focus on zombies, it becomes your everyday battle Shounen. That being said, the story still holds potential but aside from the penultimate battle between Jonathan and Dio which is the most interesting part of the Hamon arc, it can feel a little too stiff for its own good. I mentioned before how this part resembles a lot of the classic and simple vampire stories. The use of Hamon pretty much proves that. Thankfully, though, the final clash with Jonathan and Dio where both of them indirectly embrace each other at the end despite their characteristics while Jonathan successfully saves Erina is the saving grace. Now, for characters. Starting with the main cast consists of Jonathan, the first JoJo and a gentleman, Dio, the main villain, and an invincible vampire, and Will A. Zeppeli, the man who first showed us Hamon and is Jonathan’s mentor and companion. Jonathan is kind of an endearing protagonist, contrary to what one would say. His will to be a gentleman and motivation to protect both the world and his future family not only is pleasing but also add to his character. Sadly, however, he can also come off as quite bland. He’s a very honest and honored person with a few silly moments of him being a dork, especially before the time skip, but that’s much about what he could offer. He’s still a solid character but he could have done more with his development, especially as the JoJo of this part. The main villain of this series is, funnily enough, the true protagonist. Dio pretty much carries the whole series. He’s the villain that started it all. What really makes him special is how he gets away with things as long as he wants to reach what he wants. He has a tragic backstory where he lives with a poor and foul family and he admits what went wrong with both his life and his doings and yet, he doesn’t care because he wants to be known better. Even after becoming a vampire, he’s a great villain because of how his evilness is portrayed. Not only that but even though he wants to lower Jonathan (although he respects him more as the story goes on), he also uses him as a tool because Jonathan shows some kindness to him. He’s a despicable and loathsome character done right in my books. Will A. Zeppeli is a little disappointing. He may introduce the concept of Hamon and is a helpful sidekick to Jonathan but he could have developed more. He could have explored more about the future of his family. A similar case can be said with the side characters. They help Jonathan but that’s about it. Yes, Speedwagon is one of the most important characters in the franchise as he’s the future of the later JoJo parts, mainly with his legacy, but aside from that and the memes, he still comes off as a little flat. Nonetheless, he’s still decent overall and the best side character in this part. The art surprisingly aged well. Even though some of the body proportions tend to look off, the art is very unique and differs from a lot of anime/manga art styles. It gives more detail and expression to both the environment and the cast. Fashion choices are good too, although I’m not a fan of Dio’s second vampire outfit. And that does it. Phantom Blood has its flaws but it still shows more heart than you would like to admit. It can be slow despite being the shortest part but it’s still a good introduction to the franchise. The story and characters could have done better but they still manage to show their own unique charms. The whole part isn’t too great or anything but even then, it still should not be skipped all things considered.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 12, 2024
Shingetsutan Tsukihime
(Manga)
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Not Recommended Spoiler
Hey guys, let me ask you a question. Do you like Tsukihime? Do you think it’s an engaging, complex, and well-narrated series? Do you think it manages to address the general flaws of the TYPE-MOON franchise? Hell, do you believe it’s TYPE-MOON’s best work? Because I personally don’t and I think there are a lot of errors that manage to body this series so hard. To be fair, though, I appreciate how ambitious and influential Tsukihime is, mainly as a piece of memory in the TYPE-MOON franchise because of how it’s the bridge between Kara no Kyoukai and the iconic Fate series. As an actual
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piece of story content, however, it’s something I just can’t get behind with. Although there are some good parts that I will get into, don’t get me wrong, almost all of the time, its storytelling falls very short.
So what is Tsukihime about? Like most TYPE-MOON works, describing Tsukihime is honestly hard. It’s about a boy named ‘Tohno Shiki’ who was surrounded by black magic and was unable to regather his memories. He was told that he encountered a car accident which led him into a huge mystery and while we’re on the topic of mysteries, he had and still has an ability that allows him to see mysterious lines. Because of that incident, he was sent away from the Tohno household and was given to someone to be aided by. Years later when Shiki was in school, his father who was the head of the Tohno household, died and Shiki was sent back to said household by Akiha. However, Shiki needed to protect the secrets he discovered, especially the one part where he met a mysterious lady named ‘Arcueid Brunestud’. I’m sure that Tsukihime has more things on the table but nonetheless, this is a very complicated yet very pleasing premise overall. As for how the actual story goes, let’s start with the good parts. The start of Tsukihime is arguably the best beginning out of any TYPE-MOON series. Whereas nearly every other TYPE-MOON series needed to rely a little more on magical giggles for the sake of explaining their respectable chaos before they get a little more serious, Tsukihime was a little more human in exploring its characters initially. Sure, it’s not that amazing but it was straight to the point. It shows us how the characters would set things up. But wait, that’s not the only good part about the series, we have yet to observe the world-building. The world-building is interesting in the sense that it not only explores the settings well but it also connects nicely with the power system. Again, it initially shows Tohno Shiki's capabilities. It’s decent and while I still prefer the world-buildings in other TYPE-MOON series more, it at least manages to live up pretty nicely. These, however, aren’t really enough to cover the series’ fundamental flaws and it only goes downhill from here. It’s time we talk about why Tsukihime fails to create a story. For starters, the scriptwriting. You know, I find this to be weird because most other series tend to be dialogue-heavy but still manage to piece things together well in addition to excelling at the ‘show, don’t tell’ rule. But Tsukihime’s dialogue is awful for the simple fact that it tries too hard to be philosophical while also being epic. While the ideals behind the story figuratively make sense and can elevate the plot, the plot itself takes them too literally to the extent that it manages to make them pretentious. Seriously, though, the mysteries regarding the relationship between Tohno Shiki’s visceral journey and the black magic invading reality are unique yet they’re told as if they’re M&M creepypastas coming to real life. It’s as if the series injected fanservice (not the kind you think of, mind you) each between character arcs. And speaking of character arcs, where’s the consistent connection for each and between them? Non-existent of course. Now, to be clear and to give some credit, Tsukihime’s main story elements are meant to be indirect, giving each main character their own unique story which is good on paper. The biggest problem, however, is the exposition of each character arc. The beginning of Tsukihime may be nice but starting from here, the pacing sure as hell aged like milk. There is too much exposition for each. Most of the time, each arc just spends their time on surface-level character buildup instead of explaining their narrative capabilities and even if they get there, they look like they don’t discover each of the mysteries. They actually do but how they explain each of those reduces them to raw shock value, it’s ridiculous, to say the least. The character writing isn’t any better. Let’s start with Tohno Shiki, the boy who can magically see lines, Arcueid, the mysterious princess, Ciel, the… um… let’s just say she’s a blue eggplant and Akiha, the current head of a family Shiki was born from and Shiki’s sister. Starting with Tohno Shiki, he’s one of the least interesting/impactful of TYPE-MOON’s protagonists. While he arguably has the most interesting backstory out of the main characters in the franchise, it doesn’t help that his whole character is not only unimpressive but also cringe-worthy. There’s this nice pattern where he explores the mysteries with both his powers and his relationships with the other characters and while they look great at first glance, neither of those in practice even carry his character at all. If anything, they make him look more pathetic than even funny. Shiki’s development is so overexaggerated that he might as well be classified as some sort of NPC for the vast majority of the story. Moving on to Arcueid, she’s the worst character in the whole series. She may be the key heroine and she may have the most important key elements but as far as overall characterization goes, she has the most convoluted contribution to the plot. She exists excessively to add as many dramatic scenes as possible every time the series wanted to unfold her personal mysteries. Her character is focused on how much crazy shit she can present while ignoring her actual writing. Hell, her interactions with Tohno Shiki only make things worse as their chemistry with one another makes no sense aside from how they started their chaotic journey at the beginning. The way her dialogue is written here makes her look like Captain Marvel became a weeaboo. It’s a shame with how it goes because her characteristics are interesting and her “development” only makes her unintentionally stupid. Next up, we have Ciel. The best thing we can describe Ciel is “boring”. Yes, she does have her importance but aside from that, she’s just a one-dimensional, gimmicky character who solely exists to “shine” every time Tohno Shiki is involved. While she actually has her unique quirks, when you think about it, those quirks aren’t really fleshed out and are only noticeable whenever the series virtually gets bored. Most of the time, her character is favored towards interacting with Shiki and Shiki only. The worst part about this gimmick is that it’s dumb and it feels forced. Both Ciel and Shiki don’t really have much to coincide with each other aside from cliche romance. Eh, at least their chemistry is still better than the chemistry between Arcueid and Shiki as they aren’t too convoluted. Lastly, we have Akiha. This is a strange case where, unlike all the other main characters, she actually isn’t so bad. Her contribution to the plot is explored just fine. She actually kinda helps Shiki with how the mysteries can be explored. As for her chemistry with Shiki, I think it’s pretty fine. Both of them coincide with each other kinda well, especially when we take the whole Tohno situation into account. Other than that, though, her character still isn’t good enough to be compelling. Her connection with the rest of the mysteries is still fairly underutilized and development can still be forced, mainly with how her tsundere personality is treated. Nonetheless, though, she’s an alright character and might be the saving grace of Tsukihime. Side characters also suck. They don’t really do much and they’re just there in case the series needs more “background” to show off. Now, you have some standouts. Some characters like the maids in the Tohno household, Len, and the chronological return of Aoko do have okay development. Again, they still aren’t utilized at their maximum potential but they’re side characters so I guess they aren’t too much to worry about. The villains are worse. You would think that they would make some good twists but no, they still exist for raw shock value. Even Nrvnqsr Chaos wasn’t used properly. He has similar gimmicks as the likes of Kotomine Kirei and Araya Souren but with none of what makes those villains good in the first place. He’s… just there and that’s all… Now the final important element to talk about is the ending of the series. Honestly, endings in most TYPE-MOON series in general are pretty underwhelming. Sure, you have some epic fights before but afterward, there are conclusions that just remind you that time will shift when moving to a new installation, nothing else. But this is just stupid. Seeing how this ending became THIS anti-climatic, even from a figurative viewpoint, is unacceptable and doesn’t feel like an ending at all. The chemistry between Shiki and Arcueid was already bad enough so seeing how they ended with nothing but a cheap cliffhanger doesn’t really help in that sense. It doesn’t even bother to cover other important aspects, let alone address what happened in the story prior to the end. There’s no way in hell a series this big doesn’t have enough room for other things to cover either, and it's not even close. I don’t know what else I could say, this ending is not only rushed but also contrived for no apparent reason. Alright, enough talking about stories and shit. What is good, however, is the art. Even though it can look a bit generic in some parts, the visuals, for the most part, are consistent, and the character designs are organic and recognizable, especially with Arcueid and Akiha. There are more flaws I want to cover as well but this review is getting very long so I’ll just stop right here. Tsukihime is probably my least favorite TYPE-MOON series ever barring most of the FGO era. It may have the most interesting ideas out of any main title in the franchise but it’s watered down by horrible pacing, half-baked dialogue, insufferable ending, and an atrocious ending. It tries too hard to be deep but in the end, it results in being a nigh-trainwreck. Now, of course, I wouldn’t try to deride you from liking the series. If you have a high chance of liking and/or enjoying it then go for it. It’s one of TYPE-MOON’s most iconic titles after all. This doesn’t stop me from personally beating up a dead horse, though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Aug 25, 2024
Violet Evergarden
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Violet Evergarden is one of KyoAni’s most critically acclaimed series ever. It’s a show that represents harsh truths told to people who aren’t aware of what’s happening (or what happened) until now. It’s been loved for its drama and storytelling. While I completely understand the hype revolving around it, I personally cannot say the same as others did. Aside from the admittedly amazing art and sound, I just can’t bring myself to resonate with or like what the show offered in practice.
Before we dive into my personal problems with the series, I’ll first explain what Violet Evergarden is about. Violet Evergarden is an episodic story ... about a stoic girl who roughly fought in a war and now works for a postal company as an Auto Memory Doll, basically sending letters to people she’s assigned to. Her goal is to write letters and send them to her clients to make them resonate and feel with what happened to their pasts and/or relatives. The premise behind this is actually really good. It’s not too amazing or anything but it can show how characters connect to recent events and relating to them is an art of creating melodrama. Of course, you make that premise better if you combine it with a very consistent pace of character build-up and show you when the drama will occur. Sadly, however, this isn’t the case for how the show turned out. You see, the show had a pretty decent start with Violet Evergarden herself learning about a beautiful-looking world covered with harsh truths and how she starts her job to inform her assigned clients about how everything created nicely will never be the same. This series really had potential, it’s just that it’s been reduced with how rushed its scriptwriting was. Like we keep needing to come back to, the show’s attempt at showing a harsh reality to people who didn’t know they lost something/someone valuable until now is really nice. The dialogue and drama together, on the other hand, are the biggest cause of this. The biggest issue with this series is that the build-up for character interactions and such is surface-level which isn’t too bad until the series unironically triggers a big shock just because. This is honestly embarrassing, to say the least. The characters when Violet Evergarden is around don’t really have much going for them aside from displaying great ideas in mind. All they do is do a lot of talking which doesn’t carry the storytelling and the next few moments, they cry and feel very story. This is more comedic than emotional. Let me clue you in again, the dialogue in this series is as wide as an ocean but deep as a puddle, and yet, we immediately get ourselves to a big drama that doesn’t really compensate for shallow build-up. If you want to make heavy and good drama, at least make the characters have interesting chemistry with each other before you start a crying party. The story for the most part is just too melodramatic for its own good. I’m not saying have minimal drama but don’t add too much drama. It’s not remotely bad if you’re very melodramatic but because Violet Evergarden draws more quantity of drama than Rohan Kishibe draws manga panels, it’s hard to tell if the show even makes a point. The intentions behind it make sense, sure, but they’re executed poorly. One of the most infamous examples is episode 11 where Violet beats up a bunch of bad guys and writes a letter to a dying innocent soldier and his family. We don’t really know much about the soldier aside from being Violet’s next client and a few minutes later the other characters cry so much for him. I don’t think I’ll elaborate further on how laughable this is. Again, very surface-level interactions and big drama occur when some random-ass soldier who doesn’t add up dies. Speaking of soldiers, let’s talk about this show’s other important feature: its iterations of war… Yeah, it’s also mid at that. The war aspect in Violet Evergarden is actually very interesting. Y’all know how Violet was once raised by soldiers, most notably Gilbert, and was commissioned to be one. When the War technically ended, Violet left while being armless as well as leaving Gilbert dead. Violet then lost most of her emotions and as an Auto Memory Doll, she would be traumatized or even sadder every time someone near her mentions something about war. This would be a nice edition if not for the fact that this series has the tone shift from a tale of ghostwriting clients to a silly save-the-world plot. Stopping bad guys is definitely understandable but why would you add save the world elements to your story if you’re starting to run out of ideas? That kind of defeats the purpose of showing people sad truths. You’re not really ghostwriting for your clients anymore, you nearly effortlessly became a hero held by people you met after defeating some evil soldiers. Not only does it feel like filler but because this is implemented for the last 2 (3 if you count the notorious moment where an innocent soldier dies) episodes, this makes for a bad ending. Okay, enough of that. Let’s move on to characters. Starting with Violet Evergarden, the protagonist who sends letters to clients she’s assigned to. Violet is not a good MC. In fact, she’s probably the worst part of the whole show. The purpose of the story is her ghostwriting for certain characters to resonate or feel with what’s going on. While this looks like it would make her a compelling main character at first glance, in practice, she’s very dull and only shows gimmicks to keep the plot going. She’s essentially a plot device who presents interesting ideals only to leave them on the floor, never having them touched ever again. It doesn’t really help that she became a save-the-world hero archetype at the end where evil soldiers are brought up as we mentioned earlier. Such a shame because she actually has a really interesting backstory, just that her entire character falls depressingly short. The side characters are better written than the show’s protagonist by default but they’re yet another flock of mannequins with admittedly functioning brains that I don’t really care for. They do their stuff but they don’t add enough to their character. Like Violet, they exist solely to keep the series moving forward. Most of the side characters are used for either the sake of showing what Violet does on a minimum level or outright comedic purposes just to keep the show far from being too boring (it’s still boring, to be honest). The villains are all ass and don’t do anything to the story despite what they did in Violet’s backstory. Despite this show’s shortcomings, there are some things I think we can all agree on. For starters, the art direction and production value are amazing. I’d say this show is on the levels of Kara no Kyoukai, Fate, Liz and the Blue Bird, and Revue Starlight for the best animation and visuals in anime ever. Violet’s art has a perfect blend of simplicity and complexity. The details are shiny without making things look like plastic. Of course, it only gets better in episode 7 where we see the lake scene. The sound design is also great. The music is calm while also connecting to the plot very nicely. The voice acting is my personal favorite part of the series barring the visuals and production value, with the best amongst the cast being of course, the iconic Ishikawa Yui as Violet. Although I dislike the whole series, I don’t really hate it either. In my eyes, it’s a bland and boring show that tries too hard to be deep and philosophical. I’ll admit that I occasionally had fun with how silly the drama was but for the most part, the show’s approach to its premise isn’t really the best. It wants to present something really interesting but most of it is filled with weak drama and some parts feel like filler despite the intentions behind them. However, it’s saving grace besides the amazing art and animation while it’s really dry, it’s not practically offensive either. Despite the inconsistencies, it doesn’t necessarily take the farthest things possible. Even some of the most absurd episodes don’t really try to overstay their welcome. Because of its relatively short runtime, it’s not very painful to watch so there isn’t too much trouble going on. Regardless, this series sucks.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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