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This show isn't as bad as some people with agendas would have you believe, or as good as its champions would insist. I really enjoyed binging it, but I think it would have got tiresome as a week-to-week experience. Some of the fights are good, but some are really, really not. The fight with the Pope outright sucks because it's that old trope of fight, long conversations between party members, fight, another conversation, etc. It doesn't feel organic, but like friggin' DBZ, in a series where that doesn't quite fit with a lot of the more thoughtful elements. It honestly seems like the writers are ... least interested in the big battles, and so those parts are definitely the weakest parts of the series.

I would say my favorite stretches were just when Naofumi was traveling with Raphtalia and Filo, solving problems and pretending to be an edgelord while actually being a big softie just paranoid about being taken advantage of. gotta say, I'm a sucker for that type of character. And while some people have used this show for their weird, anti-feminist agenda, Naofumi is a Certified Women Respecter. the fact that there is a sociopath who uses a false rape accusation in the beginning threw a lot of people off, repelling some people who would otherwise enjoy the show, and attracting shitty people who Naofumi would fucking hate.

I think the production is solid but mostly unremarkable. It's weird watching this back to back with Bofuri, which honestly looks better and has better fights, but otherwise weak, tensionless writing. imagine this show with Bofuri's visual production values, lol. It's pretty solid as it is, but a lot of the big moments aren't as visually impressive as maybe they should be.

In terms of the characters, only Naofumi and Raphtalia have three dimensional quality. not a big problem for Filo and Melty, who are children who haven't experienced significant trauma, and are thus uncomplicated by nature. but it's an issue especially for the character formerly known as Myne/Malty. She's effective at being infuriating, but her actions are so outrageous, disproportionate, and malicious, it kinda demands more than "bitch be crazy" as an explanation. Ah, but no, she's just rotten. Glass is probably the only good antagonist in the season because even though her motives aren't fully explained, she's cool and intimidating in a way the aforementioned character is not. also she thrashes the three useless heroes twice, love to see that.

I kinda like that the three heroes are pisstakes on different, false ideas of heroism. Spear Bro blindly follows the people he perceives as the "good guys", the Sword guy fights monsters and does the cool badass thing, and the Bow guy plays at being a revolutionary with no consideration of the consequences.

definitely best aspect of the show is Raphtalia. it's a little yikes how quickly she matures, but Naofumi kinda daughter-zones her for the duration of the season, lol. The "Daughter Zone", a more dreaded place than the Friend Zone, more difficult to escape. I mean, he does obviously love her in a way, but if it does eventually happen, it will seem a lot more appropriate later. anyway, she's extremely cute and cool, and has a great character design. Really love her outfit in particular, it's neat.

also people have irrationally called this a "harem" but it's just...not. Naofumi kind of assumes a big brother/father figure role, which is a separate kind of fantasy, I suppose. The idea of a guy being virtuous by going around protecting a bunch of girls, and being totally chivalrous and not having any bad intent. In that sense I can see how it's popular both with men and women. Naofumi is kinda hot, ngl.

anyway this show is pretty mid, but fun if you don't think about it too much. 7/10 is probably generous, but giving it an extra point for Raphtalia.

this show is an ~experience~

It's not really something I could recommend to people in good conscience, because it's purposefully weird and impenetrable in an extremely anime way. It's funny because usually when you describe something as weird and impenetrable, you're thinking arthouse, like David Lynch or Alejandro Jodorowsky, but this is its own unique brand of bugnuts. I think some people watch it and go "this show isn't good at explaining itself". But it's pretty clear to me that you're supposed to be confused, and that a lot of what happens is even within universe difficult to explain.

the Black and White plotline is easily ... the weakest part, it kiiiinda works at the end, in that it gives Leo his big character moment and allows all the members of Libra to show off how awesome they are. but the meat of the show is outside of the supposed main plot, in the incidental stories. the insane, increasingly complex board game. the unlikely friendship with a mushroom man over burgers. an ill-fated lunch crawl. it's those smaller stories that make this show worth watching.

that, and it looks constantly amazing. it's a phenomenal spectacle. I can only imagine it would rule to watch while high.

also, not saying anything everyone hasn't said, but all-timer OP and ED. I will just go rewatch the OP on Youtube every now and then going forward. not only is it a great song and great visuals, but it does heavy lifting in adding a thematic resonance that the show itself frequently doesn't live up to.

and then the ED is just the most fun thing.

the style is garish, the taste is poor, the characters are annoying. Does a good core concept make up for having not a single relatable character, eye-searing visuals, and dodgy plotting? huh. There are very few popular anime where I don't at least comprehend why they have widespread appeal. but this? What am I missing? what. also there's really uncomfortable incestuous vibes between the brother and sister. eeeeew.

The only credit I can give it is the OP, which is unskippable and gave me good enough vibes to coast through at least the first few minutes of every episode I watched. but at a certain ... point I got a sour taste in my mouth too much. so far since I've gotten into anime, it'll happen occasionally, but in NGNL it happened several times every episode. so I quit before the last arc. I don't think it would've changed my low opinion of it.