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It's always the best feeling when a manga can defy the odds of being terrible based on the synopsis. Rokudou no Onna-tachi actually has a quite a unique set up, but the concept is so bizarre that I thought it would just fall into a bottom of the barrel type harem trash. Fortunately, even from the beginning, the depth of the characters and camaraderie shown really project a very wholesome story of a kid just trying to live in peace. This was the biggest surprise, how much character development each character receives. Of course, not all character development is created equal, some are very shallow ... and pass the bare minimum, while others like Iinuma, Rokudou, and several antagonists receive plenty. What keeps it interesting is each character's interactions and there are nice comedy bits spread throughout the manga. I would've preferred more of it, but I can understand why it wasn't the case.

It took a long time for the manga to have a clear direction, but everything leading up to it serves as a prerequisite to where it ultimately will end up. Keeping it vague so I don't spoil, but it will lead to more character development for MC and several others. Each arc thus far has been solid, nothing too crazy, nothing too dumbed down, but they were all over the top. Looking for reason and logic in your fight scenes? You should look somewhere else probably, since this has a lot of friendship is the best power. As I stated before, it is a very wholesome series with slight dark undertone at certain points of the story, but generally is a very happy go lucky series.

The characters are outstanding. Rokudou as a harem MC doesn't stagnate and is always progressing, albeit a little slow, but very fast as of the chapter read at the time of this write up (128). The surrounding cast is excellent and continue to grow along with our MC, at an even faster pace. The relationships between everyone is unpredictable since it's a story about delinquents, twists and turns are abundant in this. Colonel, Kachou, and Iinuma are some of the best bros I've seen in anime/manga, and they get a lot of screen time which makes the main group we follow a really compelling story. The girls also get good character development, but most of them are shallow. This is by far the strongest point of the manga.

Hard to imagine with a synopsis of MC getting a power to attract girls that a story with depth can be written. Gotta say, this is one of those diamonds in the rough and can rival some of the best series with school settings. Although I'm not in love with the art and where the story is going, the rare slice of life bits mixed with the harsh points in the story create a very well balanced dynamic. It lets the reader enjoy the pureness of the characters while anxiously waiting for a moment for them to kick ass.

Who knew delinquent girls can be so great?

I like Golden Kamuy. It has the slice of life charm with its episodic nature, there's great animation that works in tandem with the narrative, and most importantly, it is unapologetically itself. I think this show is unique, meshing Japan's historical periods together and bringing cultures to life. Golden Kamuy never gets away from what makes it stand out. There are witty jokes, there is great interactions between characters, each character is consistent in many different moments. There is the interesting mix of Japan's history coupled with very flamboyant characters and creates an interesting contradiction to what is typically shown on TV. What you can ... expect to get out of this show is twisted humor, animation that complements the narrative and interactions, and a whole lot of confusion.

Why I say confusion is that the narrative has a rollercoaster trend. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to always get closer, then farther, then closer, then farther. It isn't clear whether you can determine if the next episode will get you to the promised land or if we will see another hinna hinna episode, but frankly that is the charm of the show. I can feel the passion and charm of the characters when they just interact with each other over nature and survival of the fittest tactics. The down time really brings out the characterization and gives a nice break to high, fast paced scenes regarding the end game. All of a sudden, it is hard to determine each character's true goal and when the plot twists hit, they hit hard. They kept me on the edge of my seat and I started appreciating the seemingly pointless down time scenes because of the little things that we can see in characters. This confusion of the narrative actually made me enjoy the show more, because it diversified the content while also jumping themes/tones. I'm more of a fan of the light hearted side, where we can just learn the history of the Ainu and learn more about cultures we otherwise would've never hear of.

However, the animation overall is not part of Golden Kamuy's strong points. *CUE CG BEAR*. There are a lot of shortcuts with stills with slightly moving animated blood or things like that. The face animations are great though. Each character display their emotions and disgust so vehemently, it is hard to not appreciate them and just laugh. Some scenes were more gorey than what I expect from TV Anime, but they weren't as appealing as it could be. It got the point across though and I can appreciate why in certain areas in the narrative, they upped the gore. It displayed the stakes and importance of the respective scenes.

Golden Kamuy took me by storm, I wasn't sure if it was going to hit the right notes for me. But I soon realized how much charm and passion went into the writing, especially developing the characters, who carry this show. The plot is interesting, but loses steam in certain parts. It overall hinna hinna'd all over me though and I can't get enough of the witty humor, the stupid jokes, the idiocy of the characters, the food wars like eposodic episodes, and its charm.

Now onto the real review: Go read the manga.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Magi is good, could’ve been great, but Shinobu Ohtaka rushed the ending like crazy. Instead of announcing the an arc being the final arc, it should just end whenever one can see the ending. What we ended up getting was a convoluted plot with elements that came out the bootyhole and it splattered all over the first 2/3 of the manga. The art also became a lot less clear towards the end since so many things were happening. However, overall, I’m glad to have finished Magi because it really is one of the best shounen manga out there. It’s one of those ... series where you can look back at it in retrospect and appreciate the level of detail that went into each panel (up to the final third).

It's frustrating when a series can be consistently good for 250 chapters goes to horse poop in the last third/quarter. How can such a beloved work, with an interesting fantasy world, with interesting characters, on top of it being shounen, drop the ball as much as Magi did? I'll tell you why, I'm gonna blame a character that has no reason to be a staple in Magi when hes a staple in his own damn Manga. No doubt the weakest link in this whole latter third of Magi is Sinbad, who has some contrived reasons for creating conflict and has really disengaging dialogue to read. I'm more into Alibaba's style of being boisterous and naive, and Aladdin's reactions and jokes. Magi really dropped the ball after XXX kicks the bucket, because the world building, which Magi did a decent job of pretty much transitioned into something new that wasn't particularly engaging. I say that because it's so vastly different that I have to forget that old world and accept the new one, and to add to the problem, it wasn't even used to its advantage.

That’s enough about the latter third of the manga, which is the real reason why I’m making this review to begin with, but lets focus on the whole picture. Besides the sour aftertaste of finishing this manga, I would overall still recommend reading it, simply because it is one of the better overall shounen manga out there right now. The combination of good art, decent characters, enjoyable dialogue and banter, and execution makes the journey worthwhile. I also recommend watching the anime, as I feel the seiyuus used in it created a good depiction of the characters. It wouldn’t be the same without reading Alibaba’s dialogue in his stupid, nonchalant voice and Morgiana’s deadpan reactions. It’s not often you see an anime adaptation complement the manga as well as Magi does.

Original review:
To be fair, you have to have a high IQ to comprehend the inner workings of Egyptian culture present in this piece of art. It’s not everyday you come across luxurious fine details depicting what the middle eastern lifestyle is. I have no doubt Shinobu Ohtaka went through existential nihilist crisis whilst creating this piece of work because of the subtle references to Egyptian culture and Djinn myths. Not every scholar can follow the Quran to the letter like ol Ohtaka did, and her personal philosophy is extremely apparent, the way she can write Alibaba to symbolize every transcendent being on Earth. We also get to witness Ohtaka break barriers in terms of gender norms, creating Morgiana to be a metaphor for Cleopatra and promoting power of women. Only truly intelligent beings will be able to appreciate such detailing of Sand culture.

Quick review:

Do you guys like competitive "sports?" Do you get excited about seeing people compete with different ideologies and aspirations? Well look no further, you may or may not find that in Nana Maru San Batsu (which I will now call FFF)! It depends on what kind of taste you have. I personally would compare it to Chihayafuru because the concept of being the fastest in both respective sports is reflexes and finger speed. FFF surprised me with how well executed the journey is and how interesting a quiz bowl could be. I personally wouldn't do this at all, but I can see it being ... a really competitive thing and that's what matters.

What FFF does right is constantly developing the main character Koushiyama. Since he is the main character we are following, it is important that he doesn't get overshadowed by other characters, who are admittedly plot devices with no real development on their own. It's challenging to fit engaging characters throughout the whole run time due to the 12 episode constraint as well as obligatory rule explanations. However, FFF does it to a pretty good degree, putting characters in the limelight here and there and really showing their personalities. Koushiyama is undoubtedly the most developed of the cast, albeit perhaps a little too one dimensional. He has tremendous upside in the quiz bowl because he is a nerd to begin with. So naturally, he is rather decent at Quiz Bowl, but watching him develop into an above average player felt satisfying because the competitors all had more intense motivations and clashing ideologies about the sport. It made for an engaging narrative since there are implications like: do what you love and screw what other people say, move forward, relentlessly etc. It was really impressive for something that doesn't have a synopsis that'd pull much viewers.

The animation is okay, it sometimes used it to its advantage and visually show us the inner working of people's minds with decent symbolism. Other then that, nothing really stood out to me and the OST is likewise forgettable. Heck, I can't remember any track playing.

All in all, I came in with no expectations (as i usually do) and finished wanting more. It truly has potential and a longer run time would exponentially improve the development of characters. I really appreciate the passion displayed by these athletes, since I know the feeling of doing something nobody respected. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life folks.

Tsuki ga Kirei is like an embarrassing flashback to those days in middle school where you wanted to grow up as fast as possible and do things all the cool adults did. Remember that first time you fell in love from looking at someone, but didn’t know what to do or didn’t have the guts to try it out? Yeah, Tsuki ga Kirei is just a reminder what should’ve or could’ve happened for all those with regrets from their younger days. Tsuki ga Kirei is everything I wanted Kuzu no Honkai to be, the characters are brimming with ... personality, the visual storytelling is off the charts, and there is more to it than just a love story. Each character has their own aspirations and there is substance to why they exist. I’m glad the show takes its subject matter seriously, because there’s not a lot of room for comedic relief and gags in a show trying to express how difficult young love is. Characters have insecurities and can’t explain why they feel a certain way to specific people. Tsuki ga Kirei does a great job showing how young people can make relationships work without needing a reason.

First of all, the story is basically what the synopsis is saying. However, that is just a hair of what Tsuki ga Kirei is trying to express. It goes without saying that we are going to see these characters mature, as they are in their adolescence stage. But just the cringy awkwardness of character interactions and difference in personalities depending on settings just show that the writers care a little bit more about portraying the life of adolescent teenagers taking the next step in life. Besides even showing the romance between our main characters, (which I think is its weakest link) the development each character gets leads to satisfying results. The show doesn’t hold back in regards to losing out. No doubt by the end of this anime, we see characters mature and become their own person. The process of getting to that point makes Tsuki ga Kirei different from other anime in the romance drama/ coming of age anime.

The characters are all full of life and are definitely the high point of this anime. The character interactions in this are what you’d expect from middle schoolers ready to get into their naïve “we will be together forever!” stage. However, it’s a joy seeing how characters think about other things other than this character or meaningless gossip. Of course, gossip plays a part in the story, but there isn’t anything overly dramatic where it forces an interaction like for example the main guy saving the main girl from girls talking about her behind her back. What we get are characters listening to what peers say and coming to the realization that it’s not a bad thing to fall in love with this certain someone. While it’s really cheesy, the portrayal of these real-life scenarios is what really makes these characters shine. There ends up being a love triangle in this Tsuki ga Kirei, but instead of the really cringy “let things flow” that anime does, the characterization really shows through these scenes. Instead of letting it go, characters resolve themselves to see it through to the end and it just makes me feel so bad because it makes me regret seeing these young kids do what I couldn’t (it also makes me feel great). Seeing every character go beyond their roles is what gave me the most enjoy watching Tsuki ga Kirei.

The visual presentation of Tsuki ga Kirei was really breathtaking sometimes. It’s use of angles and scenes with no words but animation created powerful scenes. Accompanied with the music, it really brings out the mood and atmosphere of whatever scene we’re watching. Of course, the animation itself isn’t that great, there are instances of awful CG characters and some sloppy animating of the main characters, but all can be forgiven because the most powerful scenes were the best animated. Also, the music really brings out the charm in some of the romantic scenes. It’s excellent how the animations and music mesh together and it’s almost rare nowadays to see anime express themselves like this.
I also really liked the skits at the end of the first 7-9 episodes, they were funny to watch and just that little bit of screen time makes me think of characters I would otherwise not even bat an eye to after they’re off the screen. They were also just a slight, but effective addition to the overall narrative Tsuki ga Kirei is going for, so I’ll accept them.

Side Note: too bad Chinatsu was the weakest link in all this.

All in all, Tsuki ga Kirei impressed me. The setting and age of the characters leaves the anime vulnerable to pandering, but Tsuki ga Kirei went above that and elevated itself above most romance anime by taking its subject matter seriously and not making a joke of it. The empathy I got from watching these characters struggle is what lead me to believe that the writers didn’t joke around when it comes to adolescent love. The satisfaction I got from watching characters talk out their problems and resolving themselves for hard decisions is what really made me like these characters. The plot also has decent substance without using that much exposition, as previously said. The directing was very good and projected the characters emotions very well. The overall package of Tsuki ga Kirei created a very enjoyable experience for me and proves to me that anime can still be expressive and creative in ways live action movies can’t.

A catastrophic collapse and blunder is what the kingdom of magic can be described as. It takes a weird direction in terms of storytelling, character building and world building and centers it around a conflict that is brought upon due to mere selfish desires. The first season subtly built its world through political conflict, internal strife between characters, and eccentric disney like environment/setting. The Kingdom of magic deviation from it's predecessor seemed like a wild decision because any viewer can tell from the first few episodes that Magi was taking a new approach in how it continues to build the world and characters. However, it ... felt very superfluous because frankly, there wasn't enough screen time to continue meandering between characters and conflicts. However, the biggest fall was the central conflict because it developed from one's prejudice and was really underwhelming to create the abomination that was the enemy.

Now the story begins right after the Labryinth of Magic, which directly involves the 4 people we follow in the beginning segments of the show. Now my problem right off the bat was how much screen time there was between the side characters. It seemed to have a lot of unnecessary interactions and most of the time didn't yield anything directly related to the story. There is way too many side characters for there to be any time to devote to all of them while still keeping up with the main core which is Alibaba, Aladdin, and Morgiana. The story maintains its comedic nature, relying heavily on chibi mode and funny reactions amongst the cast of characters. It feels at some points that the show didn't take itself seriously with many tropes that feel out of place, such as blushing for no reason. I can't comprehend what the writers were thinking when they decided to take the route of splitting the main cast. Of course, due to the nature of the story, it made sense that they wanted to split but it was a tall order to get enough screen time to each of them. What we have left is a convoluted plot that has many plotholes as well as one minute wonder insignificant characters.

But it wasn't all bad, there is a certain disney charm that Magi has with good characters that mesh with the setting. Midway, the tone of the story changed from stopping a bad guy to a more inquisitive theme. It came out of nowhere, but it was handled well with a combination of humor and lightheartedness while also having an undertone theme of mythical beings coexisting with humans. It explores prejudice within civilization and questions which side is truly evil or good. I feel like it came out of nowhere though, because there was nothing like this in Labyrinth. Is self desire the true evil within every living being? While it's not directly answered, it does give viewers something to challenge analytical thought processes.

The characters severely suffer from superfluous interactions and lack of screen time. It's hard to say something like Magi wasn't long enough, because it was 25 episodes, the equivalent of 2 seasons. I believed that some characters got too much screen time, such as one in the beginning arc, and Aladdin's arc. It seemed like they just so happened to be there when the main core gets caught up in trouble. Although, they do provide internal conflict amongst each other due to difference of opinions and statures. However, my biggest problem was the splitting of the main core. The incredibly reduced screen time amongst them is the biggest change from Labyrinth and much of the charm of the show came from their interactions and resolutions. It seemed like a way to eliminate characters with a lot of screen time so it can focus on the main one. I really disliked that because the ending rolls around and we're left to assume that the separation of these characters built them up individually enough for the conclusion. It was a cheap tactic and I didn't like it one bit. However, the show still had it's comedic touch among the main core, which is great because it shows a dynamic relationship between each other.

I loved the soundtrack of Magi. It has a middle eastern like OST and what better way to implement that than a show that relies on its setting to continue it's story. There were many tracks that I feel is good enough to listen to as a standalone track and it overall enhanced action scenes, more intimate scenes, and brought life to the huge world. The sound effects are good and the voice acting is good, so no complaints at all from the sound department. Animation is good too, albeit a bit confusing due to it's grand scale of what's happening. There is just so many power moves that it can look like it's lagging a bit.

Maybe with the exception of Psycho-Pass and Darker than Black, Kingdom of Magic is one of the worst sequels to a good series I've seen. It's poor execution of it's story direction leads me to believe that the writers are catering a target audience that I'm unaware of. It's separation of characters is the most catastrophic decision that could've happened in a show like this, where the main core was vital to the success of conflicts. Labyrinth had a existential undertone theme that was only explored minimally in Kingdom, which I see as a missed opportunity. Kingdom is a disappointment from a character standpoint, and a hit or miss from a story telling standpoint. The pacing was incredibly lackluster and slow and it sporadically shifted to incredibly fast, which makes the ending more laughable. Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, failed to utilize what it had to make it a powerhouse anime.

When you were younger, maybe you heard drinking milk will make your bones stronger and make you taller. You drank so much when you were young so you could grow. Now in present day all of a sudden, you've become lactose intolerant due to the anatomy of your body. Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari is the result of this. No matter how tasty that gallon of ice cream was, or that quart of milk, your system will always suffer from intolerancy. This is essentially what Monogatari was all about, the start of a grand journey AKA the ice cream, then everything else which is the stomach ... problems, flatulence barrage and the diarrhea. But for a harem series, it wasn't the worst, I mean Kenshi was a beast, to a fault. While the first episode set a great foundation, everything after was the result of regurgitated tropes.

Now let me talk about the first episode, because it was pretty great especially for a harem tagged show. It set a conflict, characterization was serious, there were mysteries that you assumed were going to be unraveled throughout the course of the show, etc. It had things that make a show good, with this series being 45 minutes an episode, it basically is a 26 episode series, thats enough time to flesh everything out and set up a grand story. This first episode is basically false hope. It does things well, like action scenes, which were pretty damn good and fluid, give the MC some tension and urgency, as well as give decent characterization to the supporting cast (AKA MC's hoes).

That's where all the good stops though, because that was all just a mask to how shallow the story telling is, how one dimensional the characters are, and too much wasted time. Okay maybe the lore was OKAY at best, but it was utilized so poorly and at a point where it only became relevant because the story was unfolding right at the time of explanation. So after the first episode, most of the time spent after is building Kenshi's harem. Although there were many, with how much time was spent on it, you would've thought that the side chicks (AKA the main cast) would get more than just a front. You thought wrong, oh boy oh boy. Now it's to be expected from a harem, ecchi tagged anime, but why turn what should've been action galore into female galore. Pretty sure the fanservice people wanted to see was the action, I mean insert generic busty badass female into a fight and boom, you already appeal to the harem/ecchi audience while still progressing what was suppose to be action and lore dominated series. Alas, the writers seem to have gotten off at their own writing, since the same female interactions and redundant nature occur for 7 episodes, equivalent to 14 since these eps are twice as long.

I mean I enjoy harems just as much as the next guy, the fundamental flaw of all of them is how good the characters are. Unfortunately, every girl is incredibly shallow, bar Lashana and maybe one other. None are developed at all, none have a really good reason for liking Kenshi, and none are any help to the conflict honestly. This is also a fault of Kenshi, he is too strong. This dude might be able to rival Tatsuya from Mahouka, both are incredibly powerful and have no flaws. The first episode gave Kenshi great internal conflict, characterization, and flaws that could be used against him. All of that is thrown out of the window, instead that potential turned into a typical harem king trope. Lack of development of the main conflict also hindered a few characters. Kenshi was just too strong for the conflict to be of any importance, I mean it didn't even matter at the end.

Even more to the point of poor storytelling, there may have been as many plotholes in this as there were females that liked Kenshi. Everything the first episode established, like why Kenshi had the internal conflict (it foreshadowed something of a grand scale) was tossed over the Swan. Things didn't make sense, nothing was clear, except for the titties that were shown through the obligatory wet white t shirt scenes. Get off to that writers. There wasn't really a theme to this show either, like half of the anime consisted of running errands and you'll get ladies. Work hard gentlemen, maybe one day a female will see you and dote over you because of that. Maybe you can climb the empire state building in New York, USA when lovers start chasing you, like Kenshi.

Animation was good whenever there were heated battles. Kenshi's moments were especially fluid, but fights were incredibly shallow as well. Most action scenes didn't involve Kenshi and as a result wasn't as appealing. Did I forget to mention Kenshi is overpowered and we don't know why? Yeah and the sound was good. The OST repeated itself a lot though, like there weren't that many tracks. The opening is really good, I like the aesthetics and the song was good. More titties is not a problem for me. It was also really funny that I didn't realize there was a line in the opening song that translated to "it tickled to my little maternal instincts" and the background is quite fitting to say the least. It was hilarious but that damn well summed up what I watched.

This show is a wreck man, it was great at first but it overstayed its welcome with poor writing, shallow characters, and tropes out the a$$. If you are a fan of harem series, good news, you'll probably eat this up but lots of the fanbase for anime dislike harems. This is a must avoid if harems are not your cup of tea. I am indifferent, but everything is wrong with this that it needs to be addressed. Seriously, story direction could've been so much better, but that would've required a 360 turn from what was brought upon us. I think anyone that has watched this can agree that Kenshi is the king of harem kings. The lactose intolerance metaphor really nails what this show feels like.

"I pity the fool..."

This quote encapsulates everything Grimgar is about. It's a poor attempt at engaging an audience with oversaturated "emotions." Anime as a medium is known to depict emotions that otherwise would be impossible in live action series or tv shows. It's through the artwork and animation that gets through to the viewer, not overly dense scenes. Dense is somewhat of an understatement for this series, as EVERY scene seems to take AGES for it to progress because a group of what I assume to be adults can't move on from a certain scene. It's incredibly cumbersome to have everything revolve around this one ... scene and doesn't improve the characters or the story. Actually it stagnates the story while keeping the characters as bland as ever. There are some ill advised scenes too, that are so boring to watch that you may finish a game of solitaire before the scene comes back to characters interacting. An incredibly poor attempt at creating a mellow atmosphere and setting. Pity is a strong word for this series, mainly because if the viewer either feels this or doesn't will change everything.

One of the many problems with Grimgar is it's point of origin. Y'know it's common for MMORPG settings for anime to create a how and why for characters in a brand new world. Here everything is wonky and decides we're here because. Cool? Then it decides to have INCREDIBLY slow pacing. Scenes that are meant to develop the world e.g boring music playing in a slide show do not develop it. Showing different parts of the city doesn't help with knowing what it is sorry to break it to ya A-1. While the story moves on slowly, so do the characters. Grimgar has the slowest first two episodes I've seen to date. Unfortunately, the main cast of characters can't seem to move along the story because every interaction is one looking at another for 20 seconds thinking about what to say, and then "never mind."

As if the story couldn't be slower, one scene comes through and everything falls apart from there. Characters become awkward and stiff, interactions are at a standstill, story goes nowhere, and all the viewer can do is either pity the characters or shrug it off. Whether you fall into one or the other will determine how you feel about the series in general. The show tries to hard to get the viewer to make you feel some type a way. To center the story around emotions is NOT how you grab and maintain a viewer's attention. To make it worse, the introduction of a character increases the slow pacing, with trying to you guessed it, create a sad backstory that makes us pity the character. There really is no plot so to speak, more like separate character arcs that take time to solve. Time is Grimgar's biggest enemy, and I mean it's allocated time to certain scenes, certain arcs, and the uneven screen time of it's main cast of characters.

On the surface level, the characters of Grimgar have good characterization and distinct personalities, but the way they mesh together is awful. I mean there is a hole between the male and females that they can't even interact with each other because their some uncomfortable. "but it's realistic" may seem like an argument for this, but when the story takes itself seriously with the kill or be killed aspect of the world, having these failing relations is not very feasible in these circumstances. But anime fans are weird, whenever heart wrenching scenes happen, they eat it up and claim that the respective anime is great. These poor character relationships continue until the very end of the show, so expect a lot of arguing, disagreeing and trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. Everyone has a chip in their shoulder and everything comes back to "the scene." Ultimately, characters depend far too much on one character and everything is stagnant until the final arc, where the characters take a 180 degree turn in terms of resolve and personality. Essentially, the pacing is the issue which hinder the characters from being good.

The animation is good, action scenes aren't so abundant but they are nice choreographed and smooth. Transitions are good, settings are vibrant, gore is okay, and they add to the tension whenever there is. More often than not, there was no music playing but when there was it's okay. Nothing good, nothing bad per se but again, there were lackluster scenes with just music playing that tried to create a calm atmosphere.

Grimgar was a boring watch. It didn't have anything going for it besides a few characters and it was a mix bag even then. One could argue half the cast is good, the whole cast is good or bad, but ultimately the stagnant nature of the story and characters creates no attachment to them. Their dependence on one character stopped them from passing the threshold of good. Emotions also doesn't make a show good, it's okay to make the viewers feel bad for the characters, but doing it the point where it stunts the growth of them is a poor way to handle them. Deus Ex Machina doesn't help the show either. It may have been foreshadowed, but it was a weak attempt at it and the conclusion was ultimately a let down. It's just another one of the "MC is super awesome" moments where apparently the conflict is solved due to some BS nature of the MC. Overall, I didn't feel any pity towards the characters due to their lackluster interactions and thought process, none towards the "sad" story of Grimgar, and none towards whoever likes this.

"Some people want it to happen, Some wish it would happen, Others make it happen." - Michael Jordan

Haikyuu freaking second season. There's this term called escapism, it carries a negative connotation with it because the assumption is that one is running from reality through some medium. Lots of time, as anime fans, you may browse through endless sites saying "aw man anime is escapism" or some bullsh!t like that. However, sports can be looked at the same way and nobody bats an eye, very hypocritical of the world today isn't it? Many athletes, whether professional or recreational have a different persona when it comes to ... the sport they play, and it may very well be their true nature. Sports is something that one can participate in to forget about everything else, it clears one's mind. I like to draw this parallel between sports and anime as I watch Haikyuu because what I see from it is a great look into an athlete's psyche. Just like people watch shows, movies, play games, etc, to remedy boredom or stress, athletes take the same approach in their respective sport. As an athlete myself, everything about Haikyuu was amazing in terms of team, psyche, and attitude. Haikyuu does a great job at targeting a sports audience while keeping it simple enough a simpleton can follow. It doesn't take understanding of volleyball, although there is some implied knowledge, to get across to viewers. However, Haikyuu does suffer with a lot of meandering between characters, scenes, and in the worst moments as well.

So if you aren't aware, this is the second season, so if you're reading this I'm expecting you finished the first season. We start right after the loss to Aoba Jousai, and as you can tell the team doesn't look so great after taking that HUGE L. But fear not, these guys are motivated to no end because of that loss and we go on their little journey of going to nationals. Second season is definitely a lot less focused on the volleyball action, rather wayyyyyy more exposition than necessary for a simple plot. The problem with this second season is the crazy influx of characters, which many were significant for like 1 minute an episode. Lots of screen time was devoted to these imbeciles and often times it happened during the volleyball action scenes, which takes away some of the adrenaline and instead slows down the pace of the viewer and the show. This rather unrealistic approach is a turn off because many times, whenever a flash back occurs it's highly predictable the result.

This was a big issue throughout Haikyuu because these scenes could be upwards a minute, and that is just too much precious time to take away from the action. In the case of Haikyuu, there wasn't enough FANSERVICE. I'm talking not enough VOLLEYBALL! Too much thinking, too much spoon fed context that viewers can catch on with. It's good that we get to dive into what an athlete's psyche, but I believe Haikyuu took too much time to go into EVERY character. It's a little ridiculous because scenes late into second season are incredibly inducing, with extreme tension and then flashback boom: predictable and takes away from the experience. However, Haikyuu does a great job of bringing the viewer into it's setting, almost like the viewer can be at the bleachers watching alongside the fans. It's immersive and fun.

Characters took a nosedive that I didn't appreciate. A lot, and I mean A LOT of characters are introduced. And you can probably guess from that last statement that MANY were one and done. Many side characters seem to fill the plot convenience whenever necessary and it once again takes screen time away from the Karasuno team, who arguably is the most interesting team. Our two main slugs are no longer the stars of the show it seems, with lots of emphasis going on the side characters. This is a problem because the first season did a great job displaying how two polar opposites can come together and play a sport well. This season is...too lackluster. But there was great characterization for most characters, i guess due to the flashbacks that flesh them out. Also Yachi is like the most useless character ever. Her arc was just pathetic, I mean she is barely fan service if that's what the writers were thinking of adding her for. She's comparable to Nunally from Code Geass, just being plot device. She had some personality, but Haikyuu would be the same without her. Overall, the Karasuno group was a good cast to follow, with their chemistry together, the nice senpai's, the dumb and overreactive 2nd years, the polar opposite freshy (both pairs), and a playful coach to boot. They got a lot less screen time, but doesn't stop them from kicking ass!

Animation could be sooo much better, if the volleyball scenes were played out in succession. Many times its just different angles with the ball going down and someone diving for it. A bit repetitive in that department. The facial features were great though, whether someone was mad, sad, or indifferent was very distinguishable and comical as well. The character design is up to the viewer though, whether one thinks its good or not, but Haikyuu does a great job depicting volleyball as real as possible, although I can do without the pauses in midair. That just doesn't happen hate to break it to anyone interested in volleyball.

Sound is great. OST is amazing and sound effects are great.

Haikyuu is a great sports series, it has many elements to the show that makes it good like it's characters, storytelling(half n half), and charm. While the first season was stronger on focus and characterization, second season has more exposition for those that love the funny interactions between characters. It still is intense as it was in the first season and able to bring you into the audience. If you play volleyball, this is a must watch. If not, it's definitely try to get as much out of the first season because second season has implied terminology and diction. It's still informative, but don't look at it like its how to play volleyball because it's whole lot harder than it looks.

"I've failed over and over again, and that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

Gate is quite the fantasy journey. It is also maybe one of the most controversial anime to come out in recent years due to it's propaganda. With the tone of "Japan is super awesome", it's no wonder that many people can't stomach it, but that's just the surface level. The other side of the coin is the fantasy. The other world that Gate displays is very alive and basically fun to immerse oneself in. While the setting had a lot going for it, the sequence of storytelling may be the downfall of what could be great instead of good. It was like a double edged ... sword with it's pacing and which characters to focus on. I believed that the first season of gate was a show with good elements that didn't take the next or extra step. It tinkled with what it had and was ultimately somewhat of a let down. This second season manages to pick up where it left and continually build the world, but it suffers the same problems the first season did. Yet again, it manages to display some positive story telling but it doesn't go the next step, instead suffers from some fan service and awful arcs.

Now we know Gate was incredibly controversial due to it taking a nationalistic approach. All the butthurt people watching it immediately put it out as one of those government pandering and that xenophobic mindset is hindered them from witnessing a good piece of fiction. The story is incredibly more rewarding in the second season compared to the first because it takes on a more political level, albeit simple in nature. We get more perspectives of the different factions involved, the nature of the government if one decision is made and all that jazz. It's quite cringey in some moments due to some of the cast of characters, but its fun to watch. One thing that may have been it's downfall however is the lack of screentime the main characters get. Gate's drastic change in story direction is hit or miss, with a few plot holes and pacing issues especially towards the end. And the end is quite the disappointment, not really concluding nor foreshadowing anything in the future. It's a fun story to follow, but don't expect ghost in the shell 2nd gig.

Characters are not as interesting as they were in the first season. As previously stated, the screen time Itami and his gang got was diminished. They were pretty much the backbone of the show and without them, it was a lot of political jargon and more war. However, even with the little screen time they get, each of the characters get more depth to them and more meaningful. A lot of internal conflict drives the main characters, except rory who seems to be one of those characters that is there to appeal to the fans. Side characters even get some depth to them, although the half assed villains were quite the letdown. That might contribute to the poor conclusion. The storytelling may have been too ambitious because many side characters are still unknown and seem to play a key role in the main conflict. I liked following Itami and gang more so than the other political junkies because they have fun interactions, more meaningful relationships, especially because their bond is what the story is basically trying to replicate. Character direction could've been improved, but a twelve episode season was just too little for something as big as gate was.

Animation and sound is cool. The SFX for the guns and explosions were well placed, making the action scenes more inducing to the viewer. Expect lots of killing so even if you weren't a fan of what gate brought to the table in terms of story telling, you can enjoy the slaughterfest. Less emphasis on the sound, especially with that Apocalypse Now reference last season, this one was quite the letdown in terms of OST. Needed another epic battle scene with that kind of atmosphere, but hey it was there.

Gate once again could've been great but it just settled for good. Also PSA, people really need to look past the propaganda and pandering because in the end it's just fiction. Why would Japanese writers and studios want to do a project with something that undermines them? Had to get that off my chest because people will bash the series just because of that. Now the otaku pandering is a reasonable reason, but thankfully there's a lot less of that in this season. Gate is a really good fantasy, perhaps one of the better fantasy entries in the anime industry. It's handling of characters is good, the story is enthralling sometimes, and the animation is decent. It was a fun journey to be a part of and it's setting is good enough to immerse oneself in.