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This review does not have any spoilers for the upcoming manga portion, but as a manga reader myself, it has my opinions on the adaptation. Also, I’ll be updating this review after every episode to incorporate my views of the same.

Note: the section-wise ratings are subject to change as the series progresses. '?' means I would add the score after it'd finished airing.


Story (?/10):

The section Season 4 Part 1 (assuming it lasts 16 episodes) covers isn't the strongest arc SnK has to offer, but is important and well-written in that it sets up for the final arc very nicely.

We are shown the current situation in ... Marley – the decreasing military advantage of using Titans as the world starts developing anti-Titan weaponry. The oppression of Eldians continues, except for the families who are awarded the Honorary Marleyan status whose youngsters inherit one of the Titans currently in possession of Marley.
Reiner remains traumatized by his experiences within the walls. Gabi, his cousin, is the favourite candidate to inherit his Armoured Titan, while Falco wishes to inherit it so as to save Gabi from having her lifetime shortened to 13 more years.
With Titans no longer providing a secure future for Marley, and only a year left for Zeke to retain the Beast Titan, it becomes necessary to capture the Founder from Paradis. The Tybur family, possessors of the War Hammer Titan, have been called to Marley.

The Paradis characters from seasons 1-3 will appear some episodes into the series. How that will happen is a spoiler, but it is a major point in the story where the plot picks up pace. The focus will shift to Paradis Island itself later on, and the story only gets more exciting thereafter.

The pacing leaves nothing to complain about. Some minor important scenes have been removed, and several unnecessary ones shortened, but it conveys everything that should be, and hence isn’t a problem. Some sections have been reordered for better flowing episodes, and that’s totally fine.


Art & Animation (9/10):

MAPPA does it well, the art and animation are both very good. It is a change from the previous seasons adapted by WIT, obviously, so here’s my views on these changes:

What MAPPA did better:
1. The characters’ facial expressions and designs are very detailed and their movements are much more fluid. The WIT designs were simplistic, not bad by any means, but the MAPPA versions suit SnK better.
2. The colour palette is much more suitable to the tone of the story, and sets up the atmosphere perfectly for this season.
3. The CGI is better in MAPPA’s adaptation. The Armoured Titan left nothing to complain about, and while the Beast looked kind of weird at times, it was still better than WIT’s Colossus from the Shiganshina arc.

What WIT did better:
1. The clarity was better in WIT’s adaptations, while MAPPA’s scenes feel foggy or blurry at times. One may argue that it suits the darker, murkier atmosphere of the Marley arc, but I believe that could’ve been done without compromising on clarity.
2. The direction, choice of points of view and camera angles was better with WIT. MAPPA doesn’t leave anything to complain about it, yes, but WIT had used it cleverly. The points of view and focuses changed with the changes in what the scenes were trying to portray, and added a fantastical feel to the world of SnK.

Overall, I’d say MAPPA is doing a wonderful job animating SnK – obviously with pros and cons when compared to WIT but overall is much more than satisfactory.


Music (10/10):

MAPPA really excelled in this department; the music is downright awesome. The opening seems weird at first but grows on you eventually, and perfectly fits the tone of what this season will be all about. The absence of scenes which hold potential spoilers is an added bonus. The ending itself is very beautiful as well, and you should read its lyrics.
The OST is wonderful as well. The score by itself is not that unique or epic, but the way it blends with the scenes and the atmosphere, and sets up for the events on-screen is totally beautiful. It manages to convey the right emotions in the right intensity for whatever scene it plays alongside.


Characters and Voice Acting (9/10):

When comparing character designs between MAPPA and WIT, the latter felt more moe/childish than what a story like SnK should allow, but they can’t be blamed since they re-designed the characters since Isayama’s (SnK manga author) artwork wasn’t that good back then. MAPPA’s realistic and detailed character designs are both closer to the manga as well as suitable to the raw, gritty, and dark atmosphere of the story.

Here’s my views on some of the major characters (in order of appearance):

Falco: Kind-hearted kid who doesn’t want Gabi to inherit the Armoured, or better, doesn’t want her to die 13 years later. He doesn’t believe that becoming an Honorary Marleyan in exchange for inheriting a Titan is a fair deal. His VA doesn’t leave anything to complain about either.

Gabi: Boar-headed, impish, and ambitious. She is the favourite for inheriting the Armoured Titan, and is prepared to wipe of the devils on Paradis Island. Her VA is perfect, and she definitely is the best adapted (new) character as of yet.

Reiner: The design for his 4-years-later version suits him very well, and he seems grown up and yet the same ol’ Reiner that we all know. Traumatized by his experiences on Paradis, he doubts whether the devils on Paradis Island were actually the devils he had been told they were or not. He doesn’t want Gabi to inherit the Armoured either. His voice actor has managed to convey this new phase of his life wonderfully, and we can almost hear in his voice all the emotions he is feeling and the dilemmas he is facing.

Zeke: His new character design seems shaggier (both human beard and monkey hair), and his VA is just as good as in the previous seasons. With 1 year left in his term, he is willing to plan an attack on Paradis to capture the Founder. His experiences with Levi still haunt him, though (obviously).

Eren: He appears a few episodes into the anime, and how he does that is a huge spoiler. I’ll suffice to say that his character design leaves nothing to complain about either, and his VA did a great job portraying the Eren of 4 years later, with all the changes that happened to him during that time.

The rest of the Paradis gang has yet to appear, but given the quality of the above mentioned character designs, and the fact that their Vas were pretty good during WIT’s adaptation, I have nothing to worry about.


Overall (?/10):

The adaptation more or less lives up to the expectations of both manga readers as well as the anime-only gang. I expect the animation to improve in the further episodes, and I hope the quality of art and OSTs is maintained. These first few episodes will be confusing and perhaps relatively slower-paced, but things are about to spike up soon. Keep watching, and start watching if you haven’t yet!

We all yearn for something genuine - relationships, emotions, feelings - but while doing so, we end up creating fakes.
The question that remains is - where is the line separating the genuine from the fake, and who gets to draw it?

Before going any further lemme say this - Oregairu is one of the most emotionally complex, deep, realistic, and thematically well-written story I've ever read.

On the surface, it seems to be a clichéd love-triangle (or even harem) romantic comedy, a stereotype further amplified due to the anime unfairly selling it as a harem-styled story, with skewed focuses on the characters. I expected nothing special when ... I started watching it, but I found something completely different and wonderful. Neither romance nor comedy is the prime focus here. The story is very deep and well-structured, and deals with themes that I haven't seen explored in any of the anime I've seen or manga / light novel I've read.


Story:

A simple and generic sounding plot it is, but it eventually grows much deeper and more complex. The progression and development of the story is steady and well-paced, things don't feel rushed or drawn out at any point. It has its fair share of anime and weeb-culture tropes, but those are now a part of the aniverse, and do not, in any way, jeopardize the quality of the story.

The most prominent theme here is fake vs genuine, the conflict the characters face when they seek something genuine in their relationships whose foundations themselves are fakes.

Further, questions arise as to what is it that you can call genuine, and what can be branded as fake? who gets to decide what emotions, feelings, ad relationships are fake? This theme is prevalent throughout the story, not only for the main trio's, but for many side-characters' situations as well. The ending (light novel) properly wraps up everything, and is a great thematic conclusion to the story.


Characters:

The characters are the highlight of this show, because they have many layers to them, and are very well written. The character motivations, thoughts, and developments are very well written - sometimes subtle, sometimes drastic, but always beautiful. These developments are in sync with the core theme of the story, which makes them much more endearing to watch.

Popular opinion out there is that this is the one of the most emotionally complex story in the aniverse, something I agree with, compared to others that I've read / watched. What the characters say, what they are thinking, what their motivations are, nothing is presented easily for the viewer to just accept, one has to to put effort into thinking about stuff to understand, comprehend, and appreciate it all.


There are many interpretations that can be drawn of some scenes and conversations, and there is plenty room for misinterpreting stuff, which I've seen many people do. There are also people who didn't understand the depth of this story, which is a possible reason for the relatively low score of the (insufficiently adapted) anime has on MAL, while the light novel is ranked at #15.


Overall, Oregairu has possibly the deepest, most intricate, and beautiful story out of all the anime I've watched or manga / light novels I've read. When reading this, keep in mind not to rush, and not to jump to conclusions. The story and characters have many layers to them, try to think about and understand them. It is a great experience, a very thematically intricate and wonderful story, one with pretty valuable life-lessons and an emotional impact that won't be fading away anytime soon.

One of the best mangas I've read, and one that I genuinely feel everyone should read. The title and the synopsis might mislead you into never starting this, the first few chapters might make you want to drop it, but if you stick with it, you'll be experiencing a truly wonderful story.

The manga is relatively short, but it jam-packed with plot developments and emotions. The second half of this manga is an absolute feelz trip, you'll feel happy, sad, excited, and even numb at times. One of the strong points of Onani is that it evokes strong emotions in the reader.

There are four central characters, ... each with their own important contribution to the story. It is Kurosawa, however, who develops the most throughout the story. We see him face himself and others, we see him atone and redeem himself for what he does wrong, and grow as a person throughout the story.

Beneath the bizarre events and strong emotions, Onani Master Kurosawa has a beautiful message that it expresses through a simple theme : misunderstandings. The whole story revolves around how people are quick to misunderstand people, situations, and emotions. It explores how misunderstandings arise - how people are quick to judge others, how people project their assumptions onto others, how people sometimes just don't put in the effort to understand others, and how people's biases and emotions sometimes render them unable to think rationally. The story and the themes are very well-wrapped up in a very satisfying ending.

Like I said before, I really feel everyone should read this masterpiece, and not be turned off by the premise. This will certainly be, if not one of the best, one of the better mangas and stories you've experienced.

Before starting Chihayafuru, I'm sure most people wondered how interesting a Japanese card game based Anime could be. Much to our delight, Chihayafuru 1 and 2 made us fall in love with Karuta and the Hyakunin Isshu, along with all the characters. While they both were pretty good Anime themselves, Chihayafuru 3 is better than the previous seasons by a huge margin, in every department - the Karuta, the romance, the character development, and the overall feel of Chihayafuru in general.

(Spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 ahead)

Story : 9
The story picks up where Season 2 ends - with the High School Tournament over, Taichi and ... Chihaya heading for the Karuta Camp at Fujisaki, and the Meijin and Queen Qualifiers looming in the near future. The storyline in Chihayafuru 3 is WAY BETTER than the previous seasons, and a ton of interesting and important stuff happens. The tension throughout the series is extremely high, and every episode gave me an adrenaline rush. And the ending was great as well, a wonderful wrap-up to this season.

Characters : 10
The character portrayal and development is where Chihayafuru 3 shines the most. I'll go into detail regarding the characters which I felt went through prominent development throughout the 24 episode run :

Taichi - Those who have seen Seasons 1 and 2 know the burdens Taichi bears - maintaining the morale of the Mizusawa Karuta Club as the President, keeping up with studies, being pressurized by his mother, trying to improve in Karuta despite not enjoying the game itself but the emotions and relations he has formed playing them, an above all, trying to contain his feelings for Chihaya and the resultant urge to defeat Arata. In Season 3, his feeling intensify, and the Taichi has to face it all. Watching him deal with everything, and watching how it affects him through the Anime was what I loved the most about Chihayafuru 3.

Arata - Unlike the previous seasons, Arata has a lot more screen time in this one. His relations with the people around him, as well as his grandfather, are explored, to make him a prominent character. What he feels about Chihaya and Taichi is also portrayed, and how it affects him and his Karuta playing.

Suou Meijin - Surprisingly, a portion of the Anime focused on the Meijin himself, his playing style, his character, his personality, and things about him that he has kept secret from the public.
While not extensively dealt with, it was a very interesting factor of the Anime.

The other characters are well developed as well. While Chihaya herself didn't have any special character development that was different from the previous seasons, other characters - Sakurazawa Sensei, Queen Shinobu, and Harada Sensei - have been well fleshed-out. Overall every character is very realistic and relatable in some way or the other, and shines whenever given screen time.

Animation and Art : 10
While the Animation is very fluid and natural, the Art is also very vivid and beautiful. The imagery, character art, etc. are all very well drawn and animated. Chihayafuru 3 maintains the high standards set by the previous seasons in the Art and Animation department.

Sound : 10
The soundtrack itself is beautiful, however, it is not excessively used, and there are portions where, appropriately, no music or scanty soundtrack is used. The OST accurately reflects the situations in the Anime, whether they are tense, happy, emotional, sad, or joyous.

Overall : 10
Chihayafuru 3 is a gem, one of the best Anime I've ever seen. Though a part of a much bigger series, these 24 episodes are complete in their own way, a set of unified and intertwined arcs for all characters. The ending itself hints at more things to come, and left me wondering what was gonna happen, given how the Anime ended, enough to pick up the manga immediately.

Chihayafuru 3 is a must-watch, one of the most tense, exciting, and enjoyable Anime out there, in terms of both it's Sports, Romance, and Slice-of-Life elements.