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“This work may not be popular, but I’m sure this will hit someone’s heart deeply.” — Yamada Ryo

Of course I’ll rate BTR 10/10 for some obvious reasons like “Bocchi most relatable MC” “OMG so good animation for a K-ON knock off” sth sth, but I think BTR won’t get such a high praise from the majority of watchers simply for that.
Bocchi the Rock is good because it lives up to the title, “Bocchi the Rock”.
Bocchi is alone. Yet she rocks. That’s why this anime slaps.

Throughout the 12 episodes, we basically see a lot of comedic fillers emphasizing on how socially awkward Gotou Hotori is, and ... everyone is aware of it. Yet everyone still accepts Gotou with her anxiety issues (not approving it, just accepting), and Bocchi replies this kindness with her only skill: a super powerful guitar performance.

There are 3 main lives in this anime, and I think they summarize the growth of Gotou and Kessoku Band very well. The first live in audition proves that Kessoku Band, after extensive effort in practicing and cooperating, is developing and prepared for a real live debut. The second live at the live house drives Gotou to convey her strongest will in keeping this band forward through the sound of her guitar. The third live at school festival shows the ripening of Kessoku Band, where the band members really connect to each other, like the band’s name, not just a group of instrument players.
Their live performances may not be the greatest in visual and auditory experience, but once you are emotionally attached with Kessoku Band, whether due to Gotou’s mental status, other members’ personalities, or the whole band’s atmosphere, then their lives are the best to enjoy.
Good animations, good scores, and good directing exist in this anime too, but they are great because Kessoku Band deserves this level of production.

Bocchi rocks. So as Kessoku Band. This is the real reason I rate BTR 10/10.

Takopii no Genzai does not pretend that it is able to provide the grand solution to social and family problems; nor does it try to sell the bloody hell till the end. It only solves one conflict: the misunderstandings between children. And that is already what the kids need… perhaps?

As the title suggest, Takopii no Genzai is a story about Takopii, and how its purely kind actions turns out to actually worsen the already fucked up situations that the MCs face: domestic violence, school bullying, academic and family pressure, etc.

What makes this manga stand out (and become the #1 trend in Japan) is its thrillers: ... how really bad the children’s living conditions were. But the one thing that makes this manga shine is its brilliant use of art and storyboard. It not only guides the readers’ emotions through the story, but also provides hints and references that link different part of the story together. For example, in chapter 1, when Takopii went to Shizuka’s home to look for Shizuka, the author draws a full page of Shizuka and her home detailedly with Takopii staying in the tiny bottom-right position. This similar storyboard later appears in another chapter, showing another home’s condition, which (IMO) accuses Takopii for the similar results. Another example is the visual effect of something getting hit in the corner.

So why don’t I rate it a 10/10 must watch?
It’s because of the story, mainly the end of it.


( * Content below have spoilers * )


I understand that nobody, including me, wants to see a story which ends with two or three kids killing each other like a psychopath. Yet that doesn’t solidify how the good end can arrive with just one outsider’s sacrifice. More precisely, I don’t think the author explains well enough how Takopii’s final act solely can guide the MCs to face their mental knot, reconcile with each other, and grow with each other’s support. Besides, this good end is in fact very fragile, especially consider how Marina family is still a mess (note that Marina still got her scar when she grows up).


( * Content above have spoilers *)


But that doesn’t mean the story is awful or anything. The journey that I went through with Takopii is still astonishing (though mentally burdening), and I wish more people can get on this ride. Just keep in mind that this is not an antisocial manga.

Characters. While the MCs are all mentally distorted, once I keep in mind that the they are still children, I find it hard to completely dislike every one of them. They are just a tragic result of irresponsible dads and maniac moms. The kids just follow their heart and go with their own will.

I think I have written long enough for a full review, consider how the end of this manga is very short, compared to its elaboration.
And the manga is also short, so I suggest you to read it yourself and see if it fits your taste.

Remember the time when you, instead of worrying those real-life BS that drives you mad, is just having fun with your friends, laughing around, curious about the unknown? Bofuri, with Maple’s lead, takes us into the VR game that Maple and her friends chill out. Sit back, relax and enjoy watching Maple, being afraid of pain, jumps off from a giant flying turtle, throws away her shield, transforms into a mecha or an EVA unit and burns the whole town on fire. (Did I mention she is afraid of pain?)

While Bofuri follows the VR game/isekai trend that sweeps through the anime community since SAO, the ... show stands itself out by making a huge step forward from its siblings: the protagonist is a cute anime high school girl. I’m not being sarcastic: for the same silly joke, it being spoken by the person you adore definitely works 100 times better on you than by the one you feel annoyed. What’s more is that her best friend is also a cute anime high school girl, who is even a chad in playing games. What an ultimate balanced anime pair.

The design and balancing of the game can be a joke for the audience at first, but in the end it does become a joke, even for the game developers. The plot, the music, everything in this anime is making fun of itself in a way that somehow blends together splendidly, just like how Maple plays well in that VR game. As long as Maple is having fun, I’m also having fun.

As this show finished, Maple is gonna return to real life and study her English lesson, and I’m also gonna return to real life and study Engineering Mathematics. Hope Maple and I both do well in the exams.

What a horrifying abomination.
I came for Illya, not that dick Shinji guy saying ejaculations four thousand times.
I'm not expecting some excellent comedies as in Carnival Phantasm from this kaleid liner series, but please, at least give some fan service that we kaleid liner watchers look for, okay?

Comedy: 0/10 Not even laughed for a millisecond
Parody: 1/10 The one extra point is for the appearance of badass Shirou
Fan Service: -10/10 for nearly ZERO minute of existence for the three primary school girls
Action: 1/10 What? You want to see good action scenes from Silver Link?

I'm so glad I didn't pay any cent to watch this in the ... cinema.

So far this anime is doing its job greatly. It step-by-step follows the original game's storyline and presents it with smooth animation, decent art and nostalgic music.

As an FGO game player, I sincerely know how this singularity is very outstanding, even when compared to the old Fate classics. But I'm afraid the anime may ruin it, like how the anime of Fate/Extra is being butchered. I'm glad they don't.

With 21 episodes, there is no doubt the story will not be scrammed. Not much detail is waived, so even anime-only watchers should (or eventually will) understand what's going on. What's better is that each episode ... has at least one dazzling fight scene to not let you fall asleep by the slow-paced plot. The experience is sublimed by its steady art style.

Currently, the only downside of this show will be the characters, as they are not fully comprehended now. Yes, including our not-beloved protagonist, Fujimaru Ritsuka. He works better as a cameraman than being an actor.

But anyway, whether you want to see some good-looking fights by CloverWorks, read one of the few good stories in this gacha game, or just want to have some Fate fan-service when you are having your supper, this anime is worth a try.

The train wreck has finally reached its end. Or did it?

One Punch Man 2 has gained quite some discussion since the PV was out, for its worrying production quality. Yes, it is not as well done as the first season, but that's not the topic I want to review here.

Instead I want to review the story part of season 2.

This season has mainly 2 story arcs: Garou arc and Tournament arc. Let's talk about Garou first. Garou is an interesting anti-hero with his own principle and goals, and as the anime goes on more and more of his character is digged out. As we can ... see Garou did not intend to be a villain; he just dislikes how the society ignores an individual's weakness and helps the strong one bullies the weak one, just because the strong one is more popular by portraiting himself as a "Hero".

ONE uses Garou to throw out a question that has always been present through out OPM: "What is justice?" The Hero Association was a corrupted bureaucracy, and the heros are intriguing each other due to ranking difference. The introduction of Garou further gives doubts to the morals that the world, or the strong ones in the world, forcibly instil us.

But this season fails to give it a conclusion, as Saitama comes too late to just finish the Centipede in time.

The second arc, tournament arc, is presented even worse. We see zero action to show the difference in strength between each contestants, so beside Saitama we don't know who is stronger and who is weaker. They all look like minnows and will soon become the monsters' sandbags. The characterization of Suiryu is fine, but the action scenes are so bad that I can't feel much towards him. Too bad that this arc is story-wise more completed than the Garou arc.

Season 2 stops at Saitama finishing Centipede, and the rest of the story is still unknown to us anime viewers. No wonder the manga readers have been tolding us to read the manga instead, because even after watching season 2 I still did not know where the story is going onwards. What a complete mess.

I'm so glad that this anime did not fall into the usual Japanese style "using loli as a medium of fanservice" trap. Instead they captured the naivety of primary school kids and make the experience comfortable.

Like the title suggest, this anime is about how the kids, like angels, "descend" around Miyako, a university student with social disorder. With the help of Hinata, Hana and Noa, Miyako's life brightened and coloured, filled with the love of kids.

It's arguable whether this show is a trashy fantasy show for otakus to dream that their weird acts can be accepted by the surroundings (especially the lolis living nearby). Well, ... yes it is. But Miyako paid something to get friendship from the kids. Miyako cooks snacks for Hana, who likes snacks; Miyako plays with Hinata, who likes Miyako; Miyako makes clothes for Noa (although she mainly made that for Hana), who likes herself's cuteness (I agree that she is cute). While Miyako's lewdness towards Hana can be disturbing, it is also this lewdness that triggers Miyako to move forward and leave her comfort zone. Moreover, the kids also form interesting relationships with each other. Ah, that Yuru Yuri vibe.

Anyways, this is the anime if you want to forget how miserable your single lonely life is. Sit down, relax, and enjoy the angels on your screen.

Look how far we have gone. The 18+ Hentai Game has grown a lot and gradually forms a big franchise. But why should we watch the numerous Fate series where people die because they are killed? Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan is the true answer to the Fate series: everyone should stop fighting at each other for that dirty little cup; relax, sit down, and enjoy Shirou's meal today.

Story: 8/10
The story starts with Emiya Shirou cooking today's dinner, and Saber and others have the meal with a blessed smile on their faces. That's it. Despite having nearly zero plot movement at all, like most ... slice-of-life anime, if you consider the recipe given each episode as part of the story, then the story is definitely outstanding.

Art: 9/10
Warm and fresh. Maximum comfiness. No complaints.
And damn, I know King Arthur shouldn't be a moe moe cute anime girl, but whatever, I love seeing her smiling when eating Shirou's meal. Those flowers blooming beside Saber while she was enjoying her meal are brilliantly beautiful.

Sound: 7/10
You know Shirou's gonna cook some good stuff when that music starts playing.

Character: 8/10
The same cast from Fate/Stay Night, except that most antagonists didn't appear, and they didn't fight each other when they meet. So you can see more of their daily lives, e.g. Caster and her master having sweet married life, Lancer working and making friends everywhere (Lancer finally made it! He didn't die every episode!), how Kiritsugu was having his last minutes of life with Shirou and Taiga, etc.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Like I previously said, this anime shows how peaceful the Fate series can be, and watching the cast gathering rather than killing has never been more satisfied than ever. The heartwarming moments during their daily life are also comfy to watch.
And most importantly, Shirou does cook a hell lot of delicious meals. Writing this sentence already makes me hungry now.

Overall: A-
If only this anime never ends. I never thought that one day I'd want to watch Shirou cooking (and King Arthur eating) so much that I'd pay for that.

Black Bullet was a mistake. It starts with an interesting AoT-like apocalypse setting with sci-fi elements, and enjoys good soundtrack and decent production, but turns out to be a mediocre shounen loli-harem-doing-cute-things fan-servicing show that has zero plot progression and expands the range of world too far that not many foreshadowings are actually revealed within the anime.

The story starts with our beloved Kaji Yuki VA character that acts cool and cold-blooded. He works a loli partner, who is actually a demi-monster and risks her life in fighting those monsters. So as I was guessing the anime were gonna show the brutality of demi-monsters struggling in ... their personalities and not to become a complete monster, the anime introduced more and more high school girls and a female doctor who works in this anime solely to help prepare the materials that the author needed to progress the story. And then more lolis are introduced, who becomes our beloved MC's harem, and then boom! They fight the final boss and wins.
What an unpredictable ride.

Story: 2/10
The way the story progressed contains no sense at all. Why did that mask guy acts like he was the MC's enemy at first and then suddenly fights that big monster with MC? Why was Seitenshi always caring about MC and allows MC all the rights he wants? Why did Tendou Kisara change her personality? We got ZERO explanation to all those. Instead, we got more screentime for lolis and lolis and explosion scene.

Art: 7/10
The slice-of-life scenes are done pretty well, not just showing slideshows but has moving characters with detailed emotions. The fight scenes are mediocre though.

Sound: 7/10
This soundtrack is memorable: https://youtu.be/m9JCveBR-TI
Others are just fine.
The OP and ED are good.

Character: 3/10
I have been expecting deep characterization to Satomi Rentarou since episode 1, as he acts so sad like he has a sad past. But no, they decide to put more 2D lolis into this anime. We got an energetic loli, a silent loli, a smiling loli, and so on.
And it is like a joke that Satomi claimed that he likes Tendou, as he seldom shows liking in anyone, including Tendou. Which is annoying.

Enjoyment: 5/10
Not really enjoying, but since the art is fine, I still completed this series.

Overall: F
This anime fails to grab the setting and explores it well. Instead, it just becomes a mediocre loli-killing show that fulfils some's interest.