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I'm sorry, I could not get past the first 30 to 40 minutes. I tried to watch it with my sister, and she thought it was tolerable, but I could not.

I love Makoto Shinkai's Your Name; it's really one of my favorite anime movies. However, I had many problems with every aspect of this movie except the visuals and base concepts. At first glance, every Shinkai movie is visually stunning. The concept of closing doors to prevent chaos is cool. But here comes my first initial problem: that concept can probably get severely repetitive. Sure, it's aesthetic, but it's not much of a plot-heavy ... idea unless there is more to it. I hoped there was more to it, but we only got a man and an evil cat. [Again, I'm just judging based on my impression of the first 30 min of the movie, which I feel is justified enough b/c a viewer should be sucked into the story by then if it was good.]

Now, I'm gonna get critical. The characters were some of the driest, most unrealistic personalities I've ever seen. The man has no personality, and good thing he was a chair because that became his personality. The girl is just wack; she is inconsistent and makes so many unrealistic decisions as a 17-year-old high-schooler. You're telling me she followed a man (stranger), he turned into a chair (she didn't question that at all; I suppose people turn into chairs sometimes), met a talking cat (also did not question that because cats talk all the time supposedly), and just vibed with these crazy situations? I have a real problem with brainless characters that do not question wacky situations because viewers are left confused for a huge portion of the movie until it's addressed [I dropped the movie before it was addressed; I was not even curious at that point]. You can call me picky all you want, but if Shinkai is writing a story based on the real world, I expect realistic characters. Also, their relationship (romantic?) was really unnaturally forced. And the cat? The cat and their motives just didn't make sense to me. The plot scenarios jumped everywhere, randomly and nonsensically. I was exhausted and it was clear the story was trying to add too many things at once. The early ridiculous scenes should've been replaced with the girl and boy talking about what the hell is going on, please. But either way, none of the interactions felt genuine, and the pacing was so off.

I was told by my Japanese friend that this movie is good because of the Japanese myth/lore/past event context behind it. I stand by my opinion: I do not think an audience should be required to have prior knowledge about a certain subject to enjoy a movie that is being promoted out of its own country. That, in itself, to me, degrades the movie because it literally leaves out a meaningful experience for a huge chunk of the audience.

Shinkai's films are mostly motivated by themes rather than characters or plot, so he needs to try something new and while he's at it, improve his character writing.

*sorta minor spoilers beware

I remember I watched this movie when it came out and was VERY dissatisfied. The only thoughts I kept having during it was: "I hope this isn't going in the direction it's going," and unfortunately, it did. Don't get me wrong, I love Violet Evergarden. The anime holds a special place in my heart, but I constantly smacked my head with frustration during this movie because her character development was thrown straight into the trash. I'm beginning to think many anime/manga creators love doing that near the end of their series! (I'm being sarcastic).
Here is the issue. Violet Evergarden is about ... grief, acceptance, communication, and, most of all, learning what "love" means. This movie absolutely cancels all of that and instead turns into Violet chasing after that said "dead" person for an hour, so what was the whole damn point, man? She was supposed to be a changed person, but she's returned to square one. Wasted grief, no acceptance of his death, no concise communication, and I don't know if it was just me, but his character was also off because of that. It's almost like the movie creators didn't really know how they wanted him to act because, clearly, he changed and seemed to have moved on.
It was exhausting to watch her and the way she behaved. Look, writers, the past is an obstacle to overcome, not something that necessarily has to be solved. Especially if the solution is nonsensical.
SO here's what I envisioned would've been enough to satisfy me: she helps a person who is similar/went through a similar situation as her (as simple as having lost a beloved and becoming numb because of it), she finally comes to terms with/faces Gilbert's death, maybe visit his grave or whatever, and narrate/write a whole-hearted letter about how much he shaped her view on life, her growth, how she's going to live on with his influence, and most importantly, what she learned love was.

This was a really fun anime because the concept was one of its kind: maid cafes x gang/mafia. The great dichotomy between those two concepts in itself is hard not to make iconic when merged into a story, so the real issue I had with this anime was the execution.

Pros: The characters had distinct, comical personalities (although a bit stereotypical). The plot was also fairly decent, but it was mostly so funny. It's so damn hilarious to think that cute maid girls are actually gangsters. I laughed a lot at each episode because of how ridiculous it was, and many scenarios were quite memorable. ... But I'm not going to lie; there were many eyebrow-raising moments because it just didn't make sense/came off as unnatural.

That goes right into my cons: the plot execution was so messy. It really affects the viewing experience about halfway through the season. I can see that at the beginning of the series, there was a clear vision the creators had: to shock viewers when cute maid girls suddenly kill each other like gangs. I think they were also going for a meme/gag aesthetic. But this began to get severely repetitive, and the weight of death wasn't there at all, with no consequences or realistic emotional damage, so they had nothing more to work with in later episodes as it happened over and over again. There is such a thing as TOO MUCH killing sprees and character deaths, especially when it's either used as a brainless solution to all problems or absolutely meaningless and constantly placed in similar situations.

The ending was nonsensical and did not make much sense; I think I constantly questioned, "Why am I still watching this?" at that point, but you know, I like a happier ending than a sadder one. They got the main message across pretty good as maid's are defined by their duty to bring happiness.
This was a decent, turn-off brain series to watch, so if that's what you're looking for alongside good laughs, I recommend it. If you hate messy, nonsensical stories to the point that it exhausts you (i was indeed a bit exhausted) don't watch it.

this manga is refreshing.
I've been looking for a romance manga and this one actually has a good plot. It's mysterious and suspenseful and the characters actually have brains. I read this in one sitting because it was compelling, but like every story it is by no means perfect. I do notice some disjointed moments where the author seemed to purposefully make certain scenarios/misunderstandings occur to make the story move along but it isn't anything that degrades the whole quality immensely.
The atmosphere is great, i went in thinking it was going to be a fluffy story but was surprised to see it has darker elements ... to it. The romance is good, it's normal, not fast or slow or brainless. I mean, maybe it can be a little slow but I find it more sweeter that way.

Love all the characters especially because they seem like real people with motives and own will. I loved the "2nd lead" just because he was intelligent.

Setting is fun!! I love old time Japan and I haven't seen a lot of manga explore the early 1900s and if they did, it probably didn't appeal to the target audience I'm in. Themes in this one include identity, arranged engagement, freedom, complexities of love...
This series is an isekai but it isn't those dumb one where the dry MC has to make the hot duke or whatever fall in love with them to survive. She's actually wondering why situations happen to her and is actively trying to figure out a way to go back using her own self. I have high expectations for the story, and the plot twist (hopefully there is one and I'd actually be very disappointed if there isn't one), but so far this manga has been one of the better shoujos I've read in a while.

I'm going to keep it short despite having a lot of feelings about this anime.

ending was ass but I won't deny that this anime is going to be remembered forever as an iconic piece of work.
It was an immensely ambitious and unique story that would've been very hard to execute well had it been written and created by someone else other than isayama, so I commend his brain. It's just... I feel this series justifies just how important endings are for stories. Characterization and character development was butchered in a span of an hour. Plot holes and unanswered questions were also prevalent. I ... wouldn't feel so strongly about these flaws had the story been mediocre, but everything in totality was pretty great.
Also, the animation was so wonky near the end of the series (i personally didn't care but it can get distracting sometimes). Actions scenes were still great.

If you don't care about endings for stories, watch the whole thing.

ending was ass.

Started this in middle school and now I'm in college and I loved this series until the last maybe five or four chapters.
It really felt like lost potential. Noragami was sooo much fun, art was beautiful, and the story was so different. Problems were complex and made you wonder how everything was going to get solved. Now I'm thinking the author themselves didn't know how to solve them. Characters were all interesting, full of personality, and lovable. But character development dissipated into the air like gas with the brainless solution to all the problems they were facing at the end and ... japan really needs to ban the [minor spoiler--------!!!] amnesia/forgetting everything trope. It's a cheap cop out. I see people trying to justify the ending and yeah, maybe it wasn't horrible, but I had high expectations because the story was that good.

Now if you don't care about how stories end, this series is for you.