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As someone who watched alot of anime like I mean alot, there are times when I question whether I'm getting bored to the same premise or genre over and over again. As of now, I am trying to watch more anime that involves heavy drama and psychological aspects. However, there is still a part of me that just want a simple story with a great animation. A simple story of an MC fighting evil bad guys with his/her friends, where the power of friendship and the teachings of the "sensei" inspires the MC to move forward to any situation. I literally summarized every Shounen anime ... out there. Am I tired of it? No. Why? This is because of one shounen that aired last year Fall 2020 which is Jujutsu Kaisen.

Story:
The story of Jujutsu Kaisen in all honesty is really not that unique compared to any other shounen anime or anime in general. Heck, I literally summarized it on my introduction and yet here I am going to write about it.
Even though Jujutsu Kaisen seems like your generic shounen out there, there is this excitement in my opinion to keep on watching and watching every week on how will the story unveil. Because lets face it, the story of Jujutsu Kaisen may not be unique, however you have to appreciate the execution of it. Unlike other shounens out there that tend to go long with so many heavy fillers and extra episodes, in Jujutsu Kaisen, I never felt that moment. This is probably one of the advantages of an anime having 24 episodes only whether it is shounen or any genre as it really focuses on the story, characters, pacing animation and many more elements to execute it well. Talking about the story, it is quite simple. We have our main protagonist Itadori Yuuji who, like every shounen mc, have unique strength and in some circumstances, he joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School to become a Jujutsu sorcerer and fulfill his grandfather's wish for him. There he is joined by a Sasuke-like character named Megumi Fushigoro, useful Sakura Kogasaki Nobara and their sensei Gojo Satoru. Together these three (well and other characters that Ill get into later) fights off curses whether they are small or big. I also think the power system of Jujutsu Kaisen is very intriguing. I will not go into it much further as it is such a spoiler however the simple explaination is curses vs curses. The premise is literally just like what I said, every shounen story out there however, there is a charisma or charm that makes Jujutsu Kaisen so enjoyable to watch even though the story is very simple. And it involves the characters, animation and the osts that I will explain further.

Characters:
There are things I want to say in general about the characters in Jujutsu Kaisen. First is that every character have their own charm and charisma. Most of them are likeable. Second is that most of the characters that are introduced so far have their own memorable moments. Of course the main characters like Yuuji, Megumi, Nobara and Gojo have some notable ones however, some side characters also makes the show really enjoyable.
Going by the characters, lets talk about the protagonist first which is Yuuji Itadori. Like I said earlier, he is your typical heroic protagonist however what resides him is the King of Curses named Ryoumen Sukuna. I believe Sukuna needs more moments honestly and he will probably have more as the story goes on. There is also Fushiguro Megumi who gives me Sasuke-like vibes but in a good way. Unlike Sasuke being a literal terrorist and literally hurting the protagonist Naruto in many ways, Megumi is literally a close friend to the protagonist and he himself is getting inspired by the development of the protagonist. That is why it is a good thing there is a big moment near the end of this anime where he truly shined more. We also have useful Sakura, Kugisaki Nobara. In all honesty, her trait of being so obsessed with modern things and literally Tokyo is really amusing that it blends well with Yuuji, making the anime sometimes comedic. She is not only a comic relief tho as she did some roles in the story and her past was really interesting. Then we have Satoru Gojo, who is the teacher or sensei of these three. Some say he is a Kakashi rip-off but I do not care because he is so cool and I understand why many people especially the girls simps for him so much. Thank MAPPA that Gojo is well animated people. Gojo is such a likeable character because of his traits. He is mellow, idiotic sometimes and fun as hell. Now going to the side characters, I will mention like three of them that really caught my eye and one that really impressed me was Aoi Toudou. He is probably one of the most out of place character in Jujutsu Kaisen. He is the literal definition of "Do not judge a book by its cover" and his tandem with Yuuji is just amazing. Next is Zenin Maki, which can only define as one word, charismatic. She can even be on par with Nobara. There is also Panda which is.. a literal panda who fights alongside the protagonist imagine that. Again these are just the characters that I totally liked in the anime. Other side characters have their own quirks and characteristics that makes them interesting. Overall Jujutsu Kaisen presents such diverse characters that makes you want to watch them develop as the story progresses even though the premise of the story is very simple.

Art:
I cannot stress enough how godly the animation is in Jujutsu Kaisen. It is the main factor that drives this anime for people like me who got tired of shounen already. I believe MAPPA have done an excellent job on the art/animation department as it made the animation for the fight scenes (especially Gojo's scenes) really amazing. Not only that but also the way they animate the curses are quite unique. They showed the terifying features of curses whether it is small or big in a hand drawn fashion and made the aura of curses and powers in a perfect fashion.

Sound:
This anime is probably one of the few that have both openings 1 and 2 that are equally good as hell. Even the full version of the songs live up to the hype of the series. Opening 1 however takes the crown for me as one of the best openings in anime last year 2020 as well as ending 1. Ending 2 have such a bittersweet feeling and it is quite appropriate after each episode of the second half. Along with the OPs and EDs, the osts as well are composed very well. There is one fight that got me vibing to the ost and it involves Yuuji and Toudo. The ost on that part have resemblance on the ost of Persona games and that made me so invested to the fight and ost.
The anime does not even hesitate to really give life to the curses by making such ominous sounds to them and it makes the curses really scary and you can sense a taste of disgust if you hear it. That is realism right there. Overall throughout the anime the sound production is amazing.

Overall thoughts:
To wrap this all up, all I can say is that Jujutsu Kaisen is such a great shounen anime. It really did not have the purpose of going beyond the shounen genre and I think it is okay because the main premise is literally very shounen. Some people will say it is a rip-off and all however, like I said it really did not try to be very unique in the terms of premise or story. It is literally another shounen that you can criticize for being generic for all I care. However, with the characters, animation, sound, pacing and many more, it really lives up to my standards. Some may argue that if Jujutsu Kaisen have shitty animation it will have lower score and I tend to agree on that. There is a chance people will just ignore it but thats just a theory and we are currently living in a reality where Jujutsu Kaisen is animated in an excellent fashion, directed well, have good pacing and likeable characters. And even though I tend to go away from my generic shounen trash, Jujutsu kaisen pulls me toward it again and I love watching this show. It is just an amazing show even though you could say the premise is generic. Overall I enjoyed Jujutsu Kaisen and I would rate it 9.5/10 but since myanimelist does not implement decimals I guess I put it as 9/10. I do not want to say it is an overall masterpiece as like I said the premise is generic however, everything makes it a perfect 9/10. Simple story but straight to the point, pacing is good, characters are amazing and charismatic, sound department is such a symphony worth hearing for and last but not the least, a work of art.

(Spoiler warning of episode 1)
Thriller, horror, psychological and mystery. These 4 along with some genres I guess makes excellent shows not only in the anime industry but also in other platforms. This is because of there uniqueness. There outtake of the story is unique with uncommon sceneries, settings, characters, plot and conflict. This Winter 2019 anime season, we were introduced into the world of "The Promised Neverland". A world where if you are a healthy young blood, you will never like this world. You will never hope that you will be a main character of some parallel world or something. With kids being the main ... characters of the story, you thought this will be your typical "slice of life" drama or comedy things that you enjoy. But it turns out, not every show that have little children as the main character can always be light hearted. It can also become your worst nightmare.

Story:
The story of "The Promised Neverland" starts off with little kids in the Grace Field House, which is an orphanage. The three eldest of the family of children are Ray, Norman and Emma. The three of them are seen as talented, skillful, agile and intelligent base on what we see on the episode. From Hide and Seek to playing Tag, this two excels on physicality. They are seen as big brothers (Ray and Norman) and big sister (Emma) to other kids. Of course, these three will not take care of the children all by themselves right? The main caretaker is their "Mom" in the orphanage. She is your typical mother-like figure who loves her children so much and admire them. Everyone seems happy. Everyone is having fun. "Mom" loves her job. Children love her back. Ray, Emma and Norman are having a normal life until a departure of a friend came to play. A girl named "Connie" was about to depart or leave the orphanage because so-called "parents" are now going to take care of her. It was a joyous moment. Everyone was happy for her to leave and finally have a family. Then of course she left something behind and Emma and Norman proceeds to give it to her back to the gate. The night was really dark and a tragedy will happen. What Emma and Norman saw was not a family reunion. It was a murder, done by supernatural beings a.k.a "demons" from the "outer" world. Turns out that Emma, Ray, Norman and every single living child in the orphanage are "livestocks", caged in an orphanage surrounded with walls and vegetation. This drastic change of tone and mood of the atmosphere was overwhelmingly good. Plot twist on every episode synchronizing the characters' goals whether to escape or not. The Promised Neverland story is really unique among any other winter 2019 anime this season. It provides us a fresh idea of escaping one's position whether it is physically or mentally. It also delivers well with the plot twist making us audience grasp for more until the next episode and the plot twists are not just there to make us say "Wow okay". It is there because it connects to the story of the anime. It is there to not only surprise us viewers but also provide us the ongoing intake and pattern of the story without affecting the overall goal of it. In the end, The Promised Neverland is a type of anime where you must get involve to with its unique capability of placing plot twists on each scenes and an intensifying story. With each season having different types of genre but less/few mystery and thriller, The Promised Neverland is a great anime to start-off the year and it is a masterpiece.

Characters:
In the first episode of the anime, the joyful atmosphere made the personality of the three characters especially Norman and Emma. Norman is the master strategist and the one who admires Emma. Emma which is the girl who never backs down no matter what and have more physical capabilities than Norman and Ray. Ray, on the other hand have that gloomy tone (edgy one which makes sense because his hair looks like Sasuke) but he is also a master strategist like Norman. All of them looks normally fine and happy tho in the first few minutes of the episodes. As the plot twist came along, character development and their change started to appear. They became more fierce, deceiving and strong. Not to mention, Gilda and (character) as well. These kids were the highlight of the show and it was enjoyable and thrilling to watch them get over with the trials Mama and Sister Conney (who is a vital character that presented the possibility of children coming from the orphanage/House). All of these characters contributed to one of the best anime this season to come out ever.

Art:
After I watched some few episodes of the anime, I can't help not to read the manga as manga readers kept on telling how good the manga is. Comparing the art of the anime and manga, they are the same on my perspective. The anime captured the thrill, chilly atmosphere and the characters expression to every situation that they fall within. The shock factor of the characters, the cries, the demons, everything was intense with the art at played and it synchronizes with the music as well. Overall the art was good for the shock factor. It is not your best art but it fits the theme. Of course I have to mention the backgrounds of the OP and ED as they both define implicitly how dark or thrilling Promised Neverland is and they did it well.

Sound:
Ohhh boyyy the opening is really a hit on my ears. The OP's song and transition with the background art depicting how events can turn unfold without explicitly showing it is just excellent on the sound. The excitement, the rush to the chorus, the saxophone on the starting of the OP, it is all perfect. I have to worth mentioning the ED as well because it is a good one (but the OP is better). Aside from the songs, the background music whenever I chilling moment comes really goes through my spine and felt the chills. It captures well to the scene and makes the scene more thrilling. Overall, sound is perfectly played on this anime.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
The Promised Neverland are one of the anime I am so engaged to watch on. It is mostly because of its engaging story. It captivates you to watch it more with its shock factor and plot twists on every scene. It makes me or you question "What is going to happen next?!" and once you get to know it, disappointment is not really there. Instead you will be fascinated how the author played out the scenes all correlating to the main conflict of the story. Hence, The Promised Neverland is a must-see show for those who wants to watch a thrilling anime that has no cliche or whatsoever. It is a fresh intake from the anime this Winter 2019 season and it is really really really enjoyable to watch.

"Never judge a book by its cover." - Some random person.

This Fall 2018 anime season, there are a lot of shows to watch on. Honestly, on my opinion, I enjoy this season pretty much more than any other seasons this year. From Goblin Slayer giving us memes and war, SAO back at it again with another season of Kirito OP-ness, to Jojos returning to TV screen with its title "Golden Wind", Fall season this year is definitely a must-see season.
Let us not forget the romance or drama genre of anime which are plenty this season as well. One of them, giving us audience a pretty ... much click-baiting cover is "Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai" or in short, "Bunny-girl Senpai". When I looked at the cover picture of the anime on its MAL page and its synopsis I was like "Oh... It is another typical and generic harem anime that the protagonist is always at the center of everything and he is not that lovable to the audience perspective I bet."
That WAS my statement until I watched up to episode 3 and kept going until I finished it. I was so damnnn wrong.

Story:
We follow the story of Azusagawa Sakuta to his daily high-school life. It was normal, until he met Sakurajima Mai wearing a bunny suit in a library. Weird am I right? But as the story goes on, we get to follow that Mai is suffering to a what is called as a "Puberty Syndrome" which incase for her, turning invisible to other people (except Sakuta because he is the protagonist).
This was the starting point of the story. We get to know so many types of Puberty Syndromes that revolves around Sakuta's girl colleagues not only Mai. Does this sound pretty familiar? Yes.. It is almost like the plot of the Monogatari series. In spite of that, Bunny girl senpai tends to create a unique atmosphere to the audience. It is more on drama, feels, romance and the sufferings of the girls along with Sakuta in the story, portraying real-life issues on our society. One of the girl suffered bullying, one suffered jealousy or envy, one suffered hatred on herself and not knowing how to act what she wants, one suffered ignorance to reality and wanted loneliness and one suffered one of the harsh reality of love. Every single bit of this issues complements the story's goal and the main protagonist Sakuta who really is the center of them all. But making him the center of it doesn't make it
as your typical and generic harem anime unlike other anime out there that the protagonist is the center of everything and the harem is very plain. In fact, it is not even labeled as a harem on MAL which totally makes sense because the vibes of it being a harem is not there. Instead, we get the vibes of every character's problems or issues they are encountering along with Sakuta which is totally fine for the story. Hence, Bunny girl senpai's story unveils problems or issues of teenagers to our modern society that make it more of a story foreshadowing this topics and having the audience learn from it because of the experiences of the characters.

Characters:
Speaking of the characters, there are soooo many waifus on this show. But let us talk about the one, the only, man of culture, Azusagawa Sakuta. Unlike any generic protagonist out there who cannot portray their real feelings in real life in front of a girl, Sakuta is different. He will say anything that comes to his mind whether it is a perverted one or someone that makes someone offensive. His replies to the girls especially to Mai-san always get me and say "How do you have the guts to say that?". In any case, Sakuta is one of the best male characters I've ever seen this season or maybe this year as well. Now for the waifus. My favorite Sakurajima Mai have like some sort of unique trait on her. She doesn't really care about what Sakuta is saying even it is something perverted. She is always composed but have the blush to protect. She have some little tsundere vibes but not that much unlike her little sister Toyohama Nodoka. Nodoka is like the opposite of Mai-san. She is your typical tsundere type of girl but her story gave us more details about their relationship as a sibling to Mai-san. Next girl is Koga Tomoe, which I think represents a girl that is a tryhard and wants to keep updated always to whats happening whether in real life or social media. She fears loneliness and because of that she tries to become like her classmates. Then there is Futaba Rio, the one who wears lab coats on every scene she is on and the one that advices Sakuta of the causes of Puberty Syndrome through the power of SCIENCE!. We can say she is a very smart girl considering her intelligence on quantum mechanics, physics and all sorts of mumbo-jumbo science stuff. But then like any other girl in the series, her fear or Puberty Syndrome complements to the story of the anime. It is something most of us wanted to do for the sake of others but we are unsure if we can really do it... and again because of love.. Of course we shall never forget the little sister of Sakuta, Azusagawa Kaede. Because of her I tend to like Sakuta as a main protagonist because Sakuta.. surprisingly... not in love with her little sister! Like how many times we get to see incest in anime. Like literally every season I guess? But here, Sakuta doesn't like Kaede hugging him while he was in bed and he even quoted this statement "Who'd get excited over their little sister?" Sakuta aside, Kaede probably have the worst type of Puberty Syndrome and it impacts Sakuta as a brother of her as whole as well. Even the parents of Sakuta and Kaede are devastated. That's why I can describe Kaede as Sakuta's challenge that makes him a hard challenger and never give up on her. And finally the little girl Makinohara Shouko is just a pure mystery to me. I mean this girl is someone important to Sakuta but there are circumstances that makes her a mystery and somewhat special. Overall, the characters are lovable to the audience that makes it entertaining to watch on every week.

Art:
On the art side, it is good. It is not that special or anything but it is indeed watchable and pleasant. the character designs are pretty much cute as well with their eyes big but bright. It is fairly a unique art style among other art style this season.

Sound:
Unfortunately, unlike the good OST of Monogatari, Bunny-girl senpai doesn't have much of that. The soundtracks are good and thats it. It just fits into the atmosphere but it is something that I will not put on my music playlist as it is not my taste. But... the opening and endings are veryy good for my ears. The opening have good sound that catches my ear and the ending portrays some sadness because..... the episode ended of course. But i said "endings" earlier. The endings have different characters walking in a beach. For example, if the episode is mainly about Futaba, you will see Futaba walking into the sands of the beach. The same applies to every character of each arc. Overall in terms of sound, opening song and ending song are likable while OST's are good but not for my playlists.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
Hence, Bunny-girl Senpai is one of those anime that makes the story sounds pretty similar to other genre or anime but its intake to it are unique. The fact that it implies some weakness or fear of teenagers makes it relatable to people and gives out feels to us. If you are looking for an anime that have a bunch of girls but have a good story and a well-narrated protagonist, this is it for you and I highly recommend it to anyone.

"The human body is the best work of art." - Jess C. Scott

Science is the study of everything around us. From the early stages of our universe, to the ancient civilizations in the past that leads us to our modern and technological society. Then we come to society. What makes a society even? The people. Humanity have transcended and evolved for generations and generations and will continue evolving like an endless cycle of life.
What does a human compose of? Cells, organs, organ system, tissues, atoms, molecules, ions and so on and so forth. This things, particularly the cells, are the ones that keeps on giving ... humanity life as we know it. From RBCs transporting oxygen throughout the body, to the WBCs fighting and defending our body against foreign invaders. Truly, the human body is indeed the best work of art. And then an anime based on this heroic beings finally aired this Summer 2018 as being one of the unique anime this season.

Story:
This anime "Cells At Work." doesn't have a chronological order in terms of the plot because, as we know it, the story of it is about the cells of our body. What they do against diseases, injuries and other life-threatening phenomenons that can happen to our body. Each character or cells of the story contributes on every episode because of their functionality. For example, the Blood Circulation episode which is of course mainly for Red Blood Cell, while the Thymocytes episode is about the childhood life of Killer, Regular, and Helper T Cell. We get to know on each episode how artistic, beautiful and smart the author of Cells At Work manga (which the anime based on) in plotting out different things about the cells different capabilities based on their real life counterpart. It is honestly very hard to make a manga or anime out of this characters as cells on our body are really hard to describe on, draw to different anime characters and have traits on them contributing to a anime world full of cells. For example, White Blood Cell (Neutrophil) is killing those bacteria, viruses or any type of foreign invaders with a knife and sprayin them afterwards. That is one of the smart moves I've seen that the author applied to be on an anime character because if they base it on the real WBC then it will just look.... weird and hideous as the WBC on our body actually engulfs and then digests the invader with enzymes, powerful enough to kill it (Phagocytosis). Another example of how the anime presented White Blood Cells' migration process to being like them passing through pipes and killing the enemy. Another smart move of the author is the settings and environment of the story. I love how each place whether it is the heart, lungs, or even the stomach have details that we viewers can understand and is accurate to the real life progression of this organs. From the heart being like a temple/shrine depicting how holy or important it is to the normal places where cells are on their apartment buildings, its easy to say the artist of the anime or manga really work so hard on this anime. We also cannot forget how the anime have some comedic elements revolving the adventures of the Red Blood Cell. This element is not that important but if you look at it, it does as it makes the show more entertaining not overall being a show to present only what cells are doing. It also have dramatic elements from the fight scenes and especially the Cancer episode. Who would've thought some of us audience gets pity on cancer just because how dramatic the scene was. Another great factor of Cells At Work is that it is an educational anime where everyone can watch it even though you have a failing grade in Biology or you just hate it. It provides small and summarized text about a certain cell, method, disease and pathogens which makes it very informative not only fun to watch. Overall, the story's accuracy comparing it to the real life cells and systems are just a masterpiece to look at as well as its representation of the cells on their role on any biological terms (or the episodes).

Characters:
In terms of characters, we get to see alot of characters here since this is literally about your body which comprimises of trillions of cells. Its diversity of characters, fitting them all together with no one being as important as any one because of their functions makes the show a worth to watch if you're interest is Biology. We have the RBC's who carry oxygen through our body, WBC that defends us from pathogens as well as Macrophages, T-Cells, B-Cell and NK-Cell. (there are alot more so I ain't going to list those cells). Then the pathogens either a virus, bacteria or even cancer have roles to the story depending on the episode where they shine to be the antagonist threatening our human body. What I like about the characters is that even though they all have different purposes, on some instances everyone needs to be there, working out together to counter either a scrape wound, virus attack or cancer. I can say as well that we humans are the hidden characters as well on the story. Why? Because if you take a look at the episodes of Cells At Work, on some instances, our cells cannot do anything on their own. For example, the heat stroke episode, where every cell in the body are already dying of heat and just praying for the heavens to rain and then suddenly a big tube coming from the heavens showed up to provide a solution to our body (Transfusion). Hence, characters in Cells At Work is literally just your heroic cells but turn into a more artistic view on TV.

Art:
Since the producer of this anime is David Production, which is the company that made Jojo's art phenomenal, I can see some instances that the art is reflected to Jojos'. For example is the faces of the Killer T-Cells and White Blood Cell, especially when Naive T-Cell turned into a bulky man. The visuals of the anime are really well-done and fits its theme. Who knew Platelets can be this cute?.. Aside from it being well-done, the art of the settings like I said earlier are a genius way to represent the human body systems in a manner that everyone can understand. Not like showing some microscopic things that we the audience that are not professionals on the field of Biology cannot understand at all. Its creativity on everything along with the character designs already a worth to watch anime.

Sound:
I cannot stress out how much I love the Opening and Ending of this show. The opening is really catchy. Having lyrics about the cells on how they work and work and we see them doing their functions on the opening is a great way to start or introduce the characters. The ending song is probably my most favorite by ClaRiS so far. It is a song where you can sing along (well you can try even if you don't know japanese) and it makes you feel really joyful. It is also a song to take away your stress. No issues at all on the background music as they all fit the sequence.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
As a student who loves studying Biology, I totally enjoyed this show. The fact that anime can transcend even into our bloodstream is just amazing when you look at it. I always have the moment of excitement when I watch this because I can relate some of what's happening because of Biology class. It is very creative, very well-done and a masterpiece. This shows that anime can literally make everything good. Overall, I really really love this show and it is such a fine work of art as well as a masterpiece. I recommend you to watch this if you like a summarize version of what's happening on our human body everyday.

"This is a diving anime... Yes.. Grand Blue is indeed a diving anime only." - Typical Grand Blue audience.

When you look at the comedy industry of anime, it is always topping-off the reviews, charts and everything. Why? Because either it has a good story with ton of great jokes, or the show is just very riduculous and have great humour. If you notice it, comedic anime are mostly in the school genre (specifically High School) which make sense because teenagers often goof up on school unlike adults who focuses on their life more. Then here we have Grand Blue, that is not a high school ... anime but college instead. Grand Blue is one of many comedy anime out there this Summer 2018 that offers us laughter that can relate to college students out there. And for some reason this anime offers diving (I guess) which I don't see pretty much often on anime (except swimming anime).

Story:
Grand Blue's story is not really chronological and like I said on my other reviews on other comedy anime, it doesn't matter whether it is chronological or not as long as it stays on point to the humor and characters. We have here Kitahara, Iori who will move to his uncle's diving shop as his home in college. Seems normal isn't it? Thats where you are wrong. The diving shop have tons of ridiculous, weird and extreme practices including naked Rock-Paper-Scissors and drinking alcohol while your naked is COMPLETELY normal on this shop (Heck, even the owner which is Iori's uncle likes to get naked and used to it.).Then there's the university where he attends to which have variety of characters ranging from an otaku, crazy upperclassmen, charismatic boys from the tennis club and those typical friends you get who are all virgins. Grand Blue is a show where the MC is not really treated as an MC. Each character have unique comedic traits that can contribute to the story in whole. Whether the character is an otaku or not, they can make the story humorous alot.

Characters:
The characters of Grand Blue is what makes Grand Blue one of the best comedy shows this season. If not maybe the best comedy this year as well. We have the main protagonists Kotegawa Chisa, who is a bit of a tsundere-type of girl and have so much love on diving. There's Kitahara Iori, who is the main attraction of all and probably a failure of a kind of college student. He is those characters that can adapt into any environment whether it is an environment full of titan-like men drinking alcohol or the under the sea environment. There's Imamura Kouhei who is the otaku of the diving club and the "rival" of Iori (There rivalry is actually very funny. Not those types of rivalry like Naruto and Sasuke.) and Yoshiwara Aina, who for some reason has the same attitude of Iori when he first entered the shop and she is probably the most normal one out of all the characters. This four for some reason are considered the main characters on MAL but in the anime, the other characters are almost treated as main ones as well. I say this because on every humour, its not only this four characters are contributing to it. The supporting ones holds the joke as well and thats what makes Grand Blue an anime that treats all the characters equally for the comedy and story.
For example, the two naked titans Kotobuki Ryuujirou and Tokita Shinji are the two characters that have weird but funny sense of ways of drinking alcohol with friends. Hamaoka Azusa, who is the only girl character in the anime that likes getting along with the guys (and Mr. Alcohol) and sometimes she even gets to the enthusiasm of being naked (not completely). Also she loves both yaoi and yuri and this trait makes Iori and Azusa's relation to one another funny as well as Iori have to bear with it since he is not a fan of any of those two. Then, the sister of Chisa which is Kotegawa Nanaka, who have a big secret towards Chisa and possessiveness towards her. Not to mention the other characters like the friends of Iori and Kouhei at the university each gave way for more comedic scenes to the anime. That is why Grand Blue was funny as hell because their traits as well as some misunderstanding towards one another make it even more funny. They are all perfectly synchronize even though they are different characters.

Art:
I can't stress out how the art and visuals of Grand Blue is stunning, funny and amazing at the same time. From the looks of their faces due to some scenes either shockness or anger, to the normal visual scenes and the underwater sea, Grand Blue tells you that this is not just a comedy show full of great humourous scenes but it also have eye-appealing scenes as well visuals of the characters and environment.

Sound:
If you take a look of the openings of the anime that aired this Summer season, Grand Blue is the only comedy show plus not a sports anime that has such a good opening that reflects on summer (correct me if Im wrong here.) this season and seeing the opening with all the diving and the hidden wonders of the sea is just so pleasant and beautiful. Plus it is actually a click bait of an opening as the opening just reflected the diving parts of the anime but not the humors and drinking of it. The ending of the anime however reflects how absurd, weird and funny the anime is (opposite to the ending) where we saw Iori seeing into some Karaoke and after he finished the song the other 3 males and him gets naked. Pretty absurd right? I have no problems of the background music or anything that is related to the sound system throughout the episodes as well.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
As you can see with my rating of this show, I totally enjoyed it. It is one of those anime this season that when you have a bad day or in a bad mood, just watch this show and you will be dying of laughter and releases your stress of anything. That's what makes comedy shows great in the anime industry and Grand Blue is one of it.

"WHERE ARE THE JAPANESE SHAMAN GIRLS LINTAHLO?!!" - Good Boi Leskinen

Back in 2011, we were stunned by the hit-anime named "Steins;Gate" with its unique story-telling of Sci-Fi, which is time-travel in the anime industry. The industry doesn't have many anime that focuses on time-travel conflicts. So far, the only time-travel anime I've watched were Steins;Gate and ERASED, which both made me amused, excited and thrilled on their unique, individual scenes. Now, this Spring 2018, we were hitted by nostalgia with the return of the Steins;Gate franchise although, instead of it having a sequel, we get a "midquel" of the original Steins Gate. Thus, we get ... to watch the phenomenal dark story of the franchise named "Steins;Gate 0". Just a brief reminder, before you watch Steins Gate 0, keep in mind this is an alternate story of the original. After Episode 22/23 of the original series, watch "Steins;Gate: Episode 23 (B), Open the Missing Link", where this episode leads to the episode 1 of Steins;Gate 0.

Story:
We get to follow the story of a man once named "Hououin Kyouma" but then he suddenly changed with a certain incident, changing him back to only "Okabe, Rintarou." Hence, "Hououin Kyouma" was no more in this world. We are looking into a broken-man named "Okabe, Rintarou". With him not finding the goal which is the Steins;Gate world line, he was stuck to be in the Beta World Line, where Kurisu sacrificed herself for Mayuri. This is a story where Okabe failed to reach a good ending and was now stuck in a world line where WW3 was inevitable. If you want to expect more dark revelations like what the original Steins;Gate did, then you are on the right series because revelations are breathtaking on each episode of Steins Gate 0. We get to follow an Okabe who wears a dark suit, not a lab coat, depicting how his mental state is. Here, we get to see how he, a once delusional man, is now a normal college student. But, when "Amadeus" (AI Kurisu) was introduced to him, the peace that Okabe was longing started to get disrupted. Basically, everything up to the last episode, was related to "Amadeus" keeping the plot synopsis in tact and the characters as well. What I like about the story is the originality of the plot rather than copy-pasting from the original anime. Scenes that were anime-original that cannot be found in the VN were some instance, were there as well. Another thing was that the story keeps becoming dark and dark and as it goes darker, the characters are developing as well making the thrill of the story fitting to the characters not only Okabe but the others as well.

Characters:
What makes a great anime is a ton of great and well-developed characters and the Steins;Gate franchise always impresses us, including Steins;Gate 0 with their characters. Take our favorite mad-scientist for example "Hououin Kyouma". We were so attached to him on the original Steins;Gate that seeing him being so broken and fragile on Steins;Gate 0 makes me (and I bet the fans as well), hoping the great mad-scientist will return someday. But even tho he was so broken and fragile, due to the story's progression, his character development progressed each episode as well. Then we have Shiina Mayuri, who shockingly have the best character development of all. She did something so courageous that is out of her character and made us fans say "Great Job Mayuri.". Of course we will not forget Hashida Daru. The perverted otaku and hacker who for some instance a dad, a caring friend and a scientist. If you finished this anime, you know why Daru really improved alot on this series not only on a romantic way but with Okabe as well. Then we have Makise Kurisu (Amadeus a.k.a AI Kurisu), again like Mayuri, Courage made her a great character in an instance even though she is just a computer version of the actual Kurisu. Or should I say, she is just a fake. Not to mention the "trap" Ruka to have some character development even tho her screentime is not that much. Along with Ruka (who is a supporting characters) are of course Mr Braun and Moeka. If you watched the original Steins Gate you would have known they are the villains (SERN's employees or like that) but it is a good fact that this two are allies of Okabe on this Beta World Line, so expect some revelations of villains ahead.
Then we are introduced with some new characters like Professor Leskinen and Hiyajou, Maho. Maho, who is a colleague of Kurisu back in America shows lots of character traits but one of them was jealousy. Then this trait was shattered as episode goes on and on and we see her having more confidence to herself. Then there's Professor Leskinen who just wants her japanese shaman girls Lintahlo!!!..

Art:
There's nothing to say about to visuals/art design of Steins;Gate 0 as it stays just what it was back in the 2011 adaptation of Steins;Gate, and of course I'm glad it stayed that way. However, if look at it, there are more action scenes on Steins;Gate 0 compared to Steins;Gate. If your an action fan you will be disappointed as the actions are pretty whacky and not so good. But since we all know Steins;Gate is more focus on the Sci-Fi and thriller stuffs, we can let it all slip. The visuals of the opening and endings are phenominal and matches the current state of the characters on the story. Not to mention, the Endings as well. But out of all those, the first ending which is entitled "LAST GAME" grabbed my attention both visually and musically. Its inferences and basis of Okabe and Mayuri to the first half of the story are all in that ED. Overall, the visuals are great.

Sound:
A good anime comes with good openings, endings and background music and oh boy..... Zero really made my ears feel the nostalgia back when I watched Steins;Gate and play the VNs. Aside from the openings and endings being good, the background music as I hear them some felt like I heard them before. Even tho they are reusing those background music, it doesn't affect the story and scene at all. It actually makes the scene more powerful and eye-catching with your ears hearing those nostalgic beats.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
In conclusion, if you are a diehard steins gate fan you wil love this 23 episodes ride of Steins;Gate 0. It actually felt like I watched a whole another anime which should be because if I felt that I just rewatched Steins;Gate, then Zero would have lacked uniqueness with its plot and characters. But thank god I didn't felt that and I enjoyed it at the same level of the original Steins;Gate. Even tho it is more dark, it should be and will always be a good anime to watch if you feel like Steins;Gate was not enough. If you haven't watched Steins;Gate, do it now and then watch this. I assure you. You will not regret it. El..Psy..Congroo..

At first, I thought this anime will be your typical girl show with no comedic element whatsover. Why did I expected that? The opening. Openings are always the one that summarizes the plot or the composition of the story of an anime. And I was definetely wrong. I actually asked myself "Am I watching this on YouTube right now?" because I got clickbaited really hard.... and I love it. Comedy anime will always be there this season. It is a rule already on the anime industry that at least 1 comedy show will be a talk on the anime community. One of them this season ... is "Asobi Asobase".

Story
The plot is not really chronological as each episode is divided by "content" or "parts". This is no issue for comedy shows for the past years as long as it makes the audience laugh out loud. The plot revolves on three stupid but laughable girls named Honda, Hanako (the unbelievably smartest one in academics but idiotic as hell), Olivia (that girl who looks like she mastered English through genetics but mastered Japanese instead), and Nomura Kasumi (The girl that has glasses... and... the one that has the serious face. sometimes). We watch this girl meet each other with misunderstood expectations, thus making the "Pastimers Club" where they engage each other with games... to pass time... (nice logic)... In the Pastimers Club room, we always see them sitting together, thinking of absurd activities to do from playing in an inflatable pool to playing a penalty-ridden game of sugoroku. Of course on every clubs there are chances other clubs will come by and have some absurdity (well in anime only...i bet) to one another. The Occult Club for example with Oka (the girl with the weird eyes and witch hat) had visited the Pastimers Club for some instance, as well as fights for the club room like the Shogi Club. Not to mention the involvement of supporting characters like the Student Council President, Maeda, Chisato Higuchi (club advisor), Olivia's weeb bro, Tsugumi Aozora and many more becomes part of the story's hilarity and madness with each contributing their characteristics to the story making it funny.

Characters:
The people/characters of an anime will always contribute to the plot's aim either to make us excited, laugh, thrill or horrify. Asobi Asobase have a wide range of well-done characters, each contributing to the show's aim... which is to be comedic. We have the three main girls of the series. Honda, Hanako, who is the genius as well as the idiot of the group who hates popular girls and such. Oliva, the blonde-hair girl who you think will be part of the cool kids/popular kids group but it turns out she is faking her accent and english and she's just your typical japanese girl. Nomura Kasumi, the only girl in the group that has glasses and probably the most dangerous one as her face gets serious, you are done. But on the other side she writes BL/yaoi novels making this her primary embarassment. These three makes the show very enjoyable. Let us not forget the supporting characters as well. The two teachers, the club advisor and the male teacher have both made some scenes funny. Tsugumi Aozora, whose gender still unknown picked curiosity to the Pastimers and so on some episodes, she was the focus. The Occult Club member Oka having a thrilling and mysterious atmosphere makes the vibe even stronger. Olivia's otaku bro who we thought that will be a handsome looking guy but it turns out it is your typical fat weebo (except his damn eyes were a beauty) and let us not forget Maeda. Maeda the best butler at the service of Honda Hanako that have anal issues.

Sound:
Ahhh the sound.. The Opening song's soothing, cheerful and playful music "really" introduces us what are we going to expect on the series. Actually, no it doesn't. I love how they made us think that this will just be your typical high-school girl anime because of the opening song but then we stumble to realize how clueless we are as we watch and then we hear the Ending song, instead of having those angel-like voices, it was replaced by demons now and I love it.

Art:
When I first look upon the visuals (like when I saw the first episode with the opening), I thought "Oh no.. The art is... not that good i guess?." but as I progress through the episodes, I didn't think of the visuals at all anymore. In fact, the visuals are okay on normal scenes but when the "shock" or "anger" scenes come, we can see how the art changed drastically going higher levels. Not to mention the Opening's heavenly-like visuals was damn false as we go through the episode and then we get a pitch black ED with some line drawings of the three girls. Visuals matches the anime perfectly along with the sound.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
I can't describe how much I enjoyed this series. There is no episode that wil make me giggle or make me laugh so hard. Overall, this anime is highly recommended for those who love the comedy genre like I do. And this is the type of anime that when you have a bad day, you can watch this and just laugh your heart out.

Isekai... The term in anime that I really want to avoid due to some anime being isekai and trash as well.. But I can't help reviewing this trash of an anime because I was also one of the few who reviewed a similar anime last year.. And coincidentally that anime aired in summer season of anime as well. Now, I don't have a grudge on all isekai anime (as you may know I love Overlord and Log Horizon), but this type of Isekai where the protagonist are just so generic along with his harem is just... bad. And this anime just transcended from the bad ... one to a worst one.

Story:
The story is simple to summarize. Guy named Yuuto got transported into a fantasy world filled with Norse mythology. Along him is his trusty sidekick named "Smartphone" where on the first episode, we were slammed already by him being the most important character in the world not even showing us how he did it or some sort. There we saw him winning and winning wars with other clans with his harem that is op which he collected by pokeballs, oh I mean which he collected by his "great" leadership or "handsome" face. Ever wonder how he wins wars? By searching through the internet by his smartphone! Of course there is a WiFi connection in the distant past. Very good story am I right? Along with wars we saw him getting harassed by his Pokemons by means of seducing him but at least he is loyal to his friend in the real world which he can actually talk to even tho he is on the other world already. Master Of Ragnarok And The Blesser Of Einherjar is a great anime for those who love those silly cliche types of things on a story. But as for me, it is not.

Characters:
If the protagonist sounds bad to you, well the others are as well, especially the girls. Looking at the MC, throughout the episodes I can only sense that... his a good person and thats it.. Development on his traits was not at all present or should I say character development is not at all present in my eyes. We know he is a teenage high schooler but still that doesn't state what he really is or his other traits are. Is he a psychopath that will kill anyone by his own hands? Is he someone willing to sacrifice his own smartphone in exchange to another girl? Maybe he is. And throughout the series we just see him gaining more and more girls even though it is so unnecessary already. Speaking of the girls, they are your typical harem anime girls that their attention is always on the lame MC and always praising how good, caring and great of a person he is.

Art:
If you are talking about great anime, meaning the anime have a ton of eye-catching visuals either from funny scenes, jam-packed actions or the environment. Ragnarok (or shall I call it MORBOE?), however, fails to please my eyes. Instead it gave me sore eyes with amateur art styles and low budget action scenes of medieval soldiers and horses fighting and stuffs. It was like looking into a 9 year old's coloring book. Not to mention for some reason the ecchi scenes are not really turning me on. Maybe because the eyes of the characters are too much of an anime eye or maybe almost all the girls have little-girl like figures. The opening is not that pleasing for me both visually and musically as well as the ending being topped off with the girls being naked to satisfy your ecchi needs... if you like this anime.

Sound:
Every anime fan have a playlists of anime openings or endings. Even include the OST's (background music) of the anime. Sadly, no music will go to my playlist from this anime. My taste of anime music doesn't fit the opening as well as the ending. Background musics are ehh.. I don't even bother anymore

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
In conclusion, Master Of Ragnarok and The Blesser Of Einherjar is an anime for those who love isekai trash anime like In Another World With My Smartphone. Heck this is way worse than the smartphone anime so if you like this type of stuffs, I recommend you to join Yuuto's quest on getting more Pokemon girls.

Summer 2018 had been a ride of an anime this year. From the unexpected Season 3 of Overlord, the return of a massive anime Attack On Titan, to the anime where summer is all about the fun as well as isekai shows that needed to be judged alot. This summer, we have plenty of isekai to judge on and one of them is "How Not To Summon A Demon Lord." where at first it looks like it is another isekai trash with uncapable of a protagonist, although at least it is not like that. Also, for some reasons, I call this show a lite version ... of Overlord. Lets found out why.

Story:
The anime starts off with your typical MC being so overpowered ingame that I don't even know how many times this scene was repeated on other isekai genre shows. Anyways, overpowered MC got transported to a fantasy world which is base on the game he amounted his life on instead of getting a college degree and get a job. Then his eyes caught upon two girls. An Elf and a Beast (cat?) girl. The girls thought that they summon a beast and that beast will be their "slave" (pet), but it turns out the magic is reflected to the two girls becoming them the slaves of op protagonists named Diablo. There, it starts all the threesome harem that every audience will expect on this show and the conflicts of having a slave that have internal conflicts.
Many people call this anime a lite version of Overlord because unlike many isekai shows, in Overlord and on this anime, the protagonist has an objective and personality, both we can see while we are watching. We get to know their interests as well as their uninterests on certain things. Though, this anime and Overlord share good protagonists, the harem and fanservice is still a nuisance to the story of this anime (although its pretty much ok). Unlike in Overlord where there's no fanservice and harem, it focuses more on how the protagonist will conquer the world.

Art:
Visuals will always be important on a show where harem and fanservice is part of the story. I mean, the whole purpose of fanservice.. is fan.. service... On visual terms, How Not To Summon A Demon Lord is an okay show for it. Its not that bad as well as not that good. The details of the spells are done nicely, as well as the environment, monsters and character outlines. Not to mention, the visuals of the OP and ED matches the show quite a lot.

Sound:
I, to be honest, not the fan of the OP and ED of the show. I always skip it although it doesn't say its really bad for my taste. It is just not my type of music. However, the background music where the anime runs is quite good. It matches scenes where either a battle is going on, or whether the two girls Rem and Shera cling on Diablo naked and Diablo overreacting on his mind.

Character:
Now here is the interesting part of the anime. Characters. I mentioned earlier how the main protagonist is similar to the Overlord protagonist where both shows personality that pick our interest to watch the show every week. I'll now talk about the other characters especially the two girls Rem and Shera. What I like about this two girls is that they are also not your typical harem girls to the protagonist. They also have traits and importance to the story that if they are not present, the story will not progress at all. Shera being a very important person to a nation becoming a slave is already a one big conflict to everyone and Diablo. Then Rem holding one of the most hidden secrets across the world that only Diablo and the high mage named Celestine knows. Then we are provided by supporting characters that not only shows the might of Diablo but his willingness to protect these two girls. The fights shows how he is willing to sacrifice himself to the girls knowing some battles are pretty hard for him but he always win anyways.

Enjoyment:
Isekai shows are not really that enjoyable as they are repeated always. Fanservice is always irritating and the story lacks elements that a story needs to be. However, this show, having a good protagonist, makes the story progress in the right path for the setting of the story. Making it automatically enjoyable for me to watch and making me wait for a week for an another episode.

Overall:
In conclusion, "How Not To Summon A Demon Lord." is like an upgraded version of your always typical isekai with harem and fanservice cliche that you always want. It's a good isekai to watch on unlike many others that have MC that is boring and have a pointless harem.

Video games have been part of our everday life. Either from anime and to our real world, this type of entertainment have grown massive for years and it is still growing until now. Back in Summer 2012, the whole anime community was stunned as the first season of Sword Art Online came.
With its mixed reviews saying it was either the worst or the best series, the whole community is divided until now even a season 2 came, along with the movie Ordinal Scale. Looking back to the past recent season which was Spring 2018, we were given a ton of new shows and sequels. Along ... came a spin-off that will judge anime fans, who have watched Sword Art Online. That is the spin-off 'Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online', which I am going to review on now.

The setting of the story is alternative to Sword Art Online 2, where we are first introduced to a virtual shooter game named GGO (Gun Gale Online). Alternative, meaning the characters will be different as well and the story, giving us a relief from the main problem of the original series, which are the characters.

The plot revolves around Karen Kohiruimaki (Llenn), who has a problem about her tall height. Her complexity have been her problems. From being jealous to cute, little girls and always knocking her head into a high platform, this has become a nuisance on her real life basis. But this complexity of hers is a good character quality. We, audience, have given a bit of a background of her issue which leads us speculating possible outcomes of her overcoming it and we audience are anticipating that. Unlike, the main character from the original Sword Art Online series, which is Kirito, we really don't know his past or characteristics in real life. We just know that he is a beta tester, concluding that he is good with the game SAO and with this we can speculate the outcomes that our main protagonist can get out of the game.

Here on SAO Alternative, we have a clumsy main character, who found her dream into the game of Gun Gale Online, which is to be a cute little girl (a loli). Though it sounds ridiculous, it was by chance that she got the avatar she wanted all along. We have seen her going through other games and still having that enormous height of hers. We've seen her struggle because of it making her log-out automatically. She was lucky she got the character she wanted. Another thing I want to point out to the main character of Alternative is that inspiration from the character is there. And that is her favorite singer 'Elsa Kanzaki'. This gives us another information that this MC is not really strong or confident in life (due to her complexity), that is except if she has any inspiration, which is the music of her favorite singer. This applies on real life as well. Each and every one of us have inspiration either to someone, dream or things that can support our works.

Then comes her game mechanics. On the first few episodes, I can already tell that she is easy to spot on or killed if she is not taking 'M's advices or go with him. The fact that she is so clueless to the game let us see what she can do. Is she going to be like the main character of SAO, who is so overpowered? Or is she going to be just a nuisance to the team? The answer is right through the middle. Although we see her with her sonic-like abilities, we have to agree that without strategizing, if she goes on to a team fight, she will just get shot to death.

That is why 'M' as the character supporting her in the few episodes have an impact to the situation of "overpowered characters" on anime. Unlike other characters from other series that have over the top powers, Llenn... is just a "The Flash" of GGO. A pro team can single handedly deflect her speed advantage and strategizing it to lure her and get the kill. Without M's guidance or knowledge on the first Squad Jam, Llenn would have been butchered by those "kids". Then we have 'Pitohui', the one who give Llenn more guidance to the game and her first friend. Pitohui's role on the story as a villain is quite good as for some reason her antagonistic traits comes part only at the final episodes. Her avatar does look like an assassin or a mercenary, which is have antagonistic traits, but on their first meetings, the two were friends. Though this friendship is tested by upcoming revelations throughout the episodes. Gun Gale Online's Squad Jam showed the viewers other characters but most notable supporting ones are the SHINC, which comprises of tall and strong women on the first squad jam. Earlier I talked about Llenn being useless or can easily be killed if she is not strategizing against a pro team. The SHINC made an accurate example of it on the final battle on the first Squad Jam. Then after their defeat, revelations of their real life self stunned Karen and actually made her more confident about her complexity which backsup to the 'character development' that a protagonist should have.

Along with her development and confidence on herselve in real life, we are shown by her strategic development in game on the second Squad Jam. This tells that experience is far more superior than power and along with Shinohara, Miyu (Fukaziroh), the second Squad Jam highlighted the 'Pink Devil' development. It is as if on the second Squad Jam, comparing it to the first one, Fukaziroh was like Llenn (the clueless one in the first squad jam) and Llenn was M (the one who knows what to do). This characters are very notable and unique which gives the anime itself on my opinion a better version of the original series. With its opening having the same singer from the season 2's GGO arc, to the pleasant and heart-warming ending of the anime, this show is really spot-on. Not to mention the art of this anime being simple but watcheable. Who doesn't like a pink loli going up against players and beating the heck out of them? And I am not even done yet. Like in the past, Sword Art Online was a massive, hit not only to the anime community but around the world, as its timing of its genre was very on point. With the launch of Virtual Reality and it being popular to the masses, Sword Art Online was like an intake to the VR world. Giving us questions like what are the possibilities of this technology be?..

Alternative does the same thing but not Virtual Reality but 'Battle Royale' games in a whole. For the past months, this type of games have been popular even if you only have PC, PS4, or XBOX, this type of game hits the masses. From H1Z1, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds then to Fortnite, this games have been trending for months on ever single websites on the internet. Even anime fans plays this type of games and coincidentally, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online came out April 2018 this year which was a month where Battle Royale games like Fortnite and Player Unknown's Battlegrounds are on the top list of online games. This anime deliver the 'Battle Royale' genre into the screen perfectly from tactics, weapons, equipments, team fights, and a whole lot more. Of course there are still some differences of the Squad Jam on GGO being different to the 'Battle Royale' games on our generation for example, the scan and it being virtual reality. Although, I could say it is very close to it and that is why Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online is a very entertaining show. With its great protagonist and antagonist which have character developments and backgrounds along with the other characters supporting each other from the action scenes to inspiration, Sword Art Online Alternative is a great show to give a try on if you dislike the original series' intake of characters and plot.

Story: 7/10
Art: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Character: 9/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Overall: 8/10