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Unrealized potential.

If I were to pick one phrase to describe this manga, that would be it.

My Girlfriend Gives me Goosebumps starts out with a strong hook - a horror-genre loving boy not only accepts his yandere stalker, but is actually quite pleased by the thrill of her stalking behaviour. At a base level not a completely unique idea, but unique enough that the initial setup and first few chapters really grabbed me.

Unfortunately, by just a few chapters in, things started to fall flat. With the main character being too okay with his girlfriend's yandere behaviour, and the author being unwilling to escalate it even further, ... the story lost a lot of steam. While the author tries to twist the plot into being about our main character being the one who was actually twisted, the transition between one and the other just feels disorienting and not well set-up.

This manga had the potential to easily be a 9 or 10/10 if told correctly. The general ideas were all there, but the bravery to execute it as it needed to be was not. The reason we see such low ratings isn't just an objective evaluation of the quality of the story, art, and so on, it's a reflection of the weight of feelings of disappointment the audience experienced seeing such wasted potential.

In closing, I'll give the mangaka just a little bit of leeway here - halfway through they mention in-manga that it will be going from weekly to bi-weekly. My guess is that the author did not have the story fully fleshed out before it was serialized and so was probably rushed and not able to give his best ideas. Maybe there were editorial pressures to censor some of the darker directions this could have gone and, left with no other choice the mangaka had to dramatically modify the story.

While this is purely speculation, I can't help but think real-world factors played a role in the sudden heel turn the tone of this manga took, and as we know, the pressures of the industry have resulted in many a great unfinished manga (Berserk, Nana, Hunter x Hunter to mention a few...) so maybe this is in part another casualty of the brutality of the industry, and the Japanese workplace in general.

Tate no Yuusha now joins a very short list of anime able to recover from a mediocre, let alone disastrous season.

I have to be clear here: Season 2 was so bad that I, someone who hates leaving things uncompleted, dropped it only a few episodes in. It was bad.

So you might at this point be asking yourself: "Wait, did you just skip the entire second season and watch the third without any context whatsoever?"

Sure did.

Might seem weird but honestly it wasn't that bad. Sure, there were a couple of things that were confusing and a character here and there I didn't know, but overall I ... barely felt like I missed out on anything.

So what even prompted me to do this anyway? Kinda strange jumping back into what was a dumpster fire just a moment ago, right?

Much like I'm doing now for your sake, I had a good chat with someone online who insisted to me that season three, despite the second's failings, was actually good. I had a little extra time one day so I figured "Ah why not? Let's see what he was going on about," and lo and behold I was pleasantly surprised.

So what happened with the story, anyway? Why did things go so off-the-rails in season 2, and how did the third manage to pull things together?

To answer the second question first: The mangaka realized they needed to slow down.

Might sound a little odd for a series with such an intense initial plot, but that itself is -exactly- why the show needed to slow down.

Shield Hero's story starts by immediately cranking up the intensity level to 11; the stakes are high and the storytelling barely ever taps on the brakes. That works for a certain amount of time, but if you start at 11 and keep trying to escalate things, eventually either:

1) You go completely absurd and next thing you know your characters are literally throwing galaxies at each other,

or

2) Your story fizzles out because you run out of stakes to increase; matters of life and death begin to feel everyday, the intensity feels increasingly forced and the characters' continued shock feels less and less believable.

For violence, persecution and war to feel terrible, they need to be contrasted with love, acceptance and peace - lest we simply become fully numb to them.

This is the lesson that season 3 finally learns. The Shield Hero, at least officially, is accepted within his kingdom. He has his own lands and his people love him. The focus of the third season is on building up and thriving, rather than destruction and survival. The author certainly deserves credit for recognizing that they needed to adapt their format to the changing circumstances - perhaps a little late, but better late than not at all.

Aside from giving us a chance to recover from the nonstop intensity up to this point, this less intense pace also gives time for things to grow - for us to get to know the characters around us and see them develop at a more natural pace and in ways they couldn't when under constant threat. In a way it's a refreshing change of pace for the series.

Now while I've described this in a way that makes the third season sound almost overly relaxed, that is really only when you contrast it to the plot up to this point. By all accounts this season of Shield Hero still has plenty of action and drama to keep you engaged. Just more of a 7 or 8 with some time to build up things so that we're invested enough in the characters and their place in the world to feel like there's really something we -care- about seeing our heroes defend the next time things get cranked to 11.

So, if you're like me and you found yourself somewhat attached to the characters and story from the first season but were totally turned off by the second, I say give it another chance and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

While a lot of anime is lightly veiled wish fulfillment, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today shows that anime has not yet used every possible combination of ideas in coming up with a somewhat novel premise: What if your cat grew to be the size of a human and became your domestic caretaker?

This show speaks to the overworked single while sidestepping whatever complicated feelings they might have about parents or significant others, getting to the core idea: Wouldn't it be nice to have someone to take care of you at home?

Now I'll be completely straight with you here: This show is largely ... a slice of life, is mostly episodic and has a little bit of (very light) situational humour. While any individual episode has a plot of sorts and there is some continuity throughout the series, this is not the place to come if you're looking for a plots twists and dramatic character development. That said, the characters are lively, and the story, given the parameters it's working with, is reasonably engaging.

If what you've read piques your interest, I encourage you to check it out; you'll know within an episode or two if it's for you.

Since the success of Karakai Jouzu Takagi-san there has been a number of shows that have tried to, with varying levels of success, copy its formula - cute girl decides to play around with and eventually fall for shy, awkward guy.

So, how does Kubo-san do in that regard?

Kubo-san is a show about a beautiful, athletic, intelligent, popular girl who likes a guy who is so unremarkable that most people think he isn't present even when they're in the same room; furthermore, she seems to be the one of the only people who's even ~capable~ of noticing his presence at all. Why does this seemingly ... perfect girl not only notice, but develop feelings for this totally unremarkable guy?

Typically, shows would at least attempt to give us some kind of reason. Maybe the girl enjoys the reactions the guy gives when she teases him and slowly falls for him over time. Maybe she's witnessed that he has some amazing quality that nobody else realizes or appreciates. Maybe she herself isn't as perfect as she seems and has some major character flaw that he's okay with. Maybe she's not even the school idol so much as a moderately cute girl who happens to like him for whatever reason.

Whether always believable or not, most shows at least ~try~ to give us a reason for why this at-a-glance lobsided couple is a thing.

Kubo-san's best attempt at doing this is to show us that Kubo, unlike other people, notices the existence of our very unremarkable main character who has himself resigned himself to the role of being a background character. So, for whatever reason Kubo, who sits beside him, decides to mess with him a little to see how he reacts trying to drag him out of his shell a little. Okay, that's at least believable. And within an episode, no, actually, from the very beginning she's completely fallen in love with him. Wait what? Really? You couldn't have waited like a couple of episodes at least? Given us some kind of event or reason? That's a bit much.

Now, to be fair I'll say that Kubo-san, while having a fundamentally very awkward and difficult to swallow setup, actually has a number of merits - a cute animation style, likeable characters, and generally cute interactions if you can forget the weirdness of it all. Despite how harsh I've been in my criticisms of its basic premise, I actually, when I can suspend my disbelief, find myself enjoying the show.

So, if like me you have a soft spot for romance anime, you'll probably like this even if you have to roll your eyes over the initial setup. On the other hand, if you don't particularly like romance or you need your characters to be reasonably realistic and believable, this is probably not the show for you.

As many of you already know, Hoshi no Samidare's anime adaption has been very poorly received, disappointing manga fans around the world. While I understand and empathize with this perspective, I am going to provide a perspective and critique from the point of view of someone who's only watched the anime and knows nothing about the manga. (No spoilers in this review)

To start with, I'll address the most obvious negative issue:

Hoshi no Samidare has some of the worst animation I've seen in years, making some of the most serious action scenes border on comically bad, often breaking your suspension of disbelief, interfering with not only ... the action but the storytelling as well.

That said, beyond the terrible animation there's the core of an interesting world with an engaging story, likable characters and some interesting concepts. While the core style of "People with super powers fight bad guy to save the world," is certainly not unique, the delivery of the story as a whole uses enough unique characteristics that it doesn't ever feel like "Oh it's just this other show with a couple of details changed." A few of the things I really liked:

- The chemistry between the main characters, particularly in the earlier parts of the story.

- There's a broad range of ages in the hero group and it makes for a more interesting dynamic than you get from the typical "all teens/early 20s" casts that are all too common.

- In an era of overpowered isekai characters, the cast of Hoshi no Samidare's powers feel, somehow refreshingly, underwhelming. This creates a lot more suspense around battles, where you find yourself genuinely wondering if everyone's going to make it through alive.

- Lastly, while not entirely unique to this series, I felt that there was a lot of thought and care put into the characters and their relationships with each other. While not the depth you'd find in a character-driven drama, it gives more than you'd expect from your average saving-the-world anime.

If I were to offer a critique about the storytelling, it's that, while the main story is relatively easy to follow and flows well enough, it feels like some of its sub-threads are neglected, left incomplete, or hastily concluded. Overall it feels like there are quite a few cases where there's an interesting series of interactions between characters and they aren't followed through with in a way that makes the best use of their potential. Even some of the chemistry between the main characters, which is a pretty central part of the story in the beginning, feels a bit stifled if not overwhelmed by the weight of all of the other threads the show is trying to keep up with.

In conclusion, would I recommend Hoshi no Samidare? Only if you can say yes to both of these:

- Like me, you're not really a manga reader. (If you are, the near-universal consensus is that its manga is much better, so go read it).
- This is the sort of show you like and your interest has been piqued enough by this review that you're willing to give it a chance despite its shortcomings.

Overall, while this was, by far not the best anime I've watched, I genuinely enjoyed Hoshi no Samidare despite its shortcomings.

Balance: Unlimited delivers more or less on what it promises from the first episode. Action, detective work, and oil and water police partners coming to see eye to eye. Oh, and unlimited money, of course.

Insofar as police shows go, outside of "One of them has unlimited money," this doesn't stray too far outside the sorts of patterns you'd expect to see, however, a show doesn't need to be completely unique to be enjoyable and well-delivered. The unlimited money quirk is enough to make the show interesting, and the rest of the more "normal" writing in its characters and relatively episodic plot isn't particularly stellar, but ... good enough to be enjoyable.

As for the more aesthetic elements of the show, the animation quality is reasonably good and the soundtrack is decently catchy. The characters are similar to some we've seen before, but they're enough their own people that they don't feel like total cardboard cutouts.

The plot is reasonably decent and at least a cut above run-of-the-mill as unlimited money allows for some normally unbelievable liberties in its writing. Despite this, some developments seem, even given unlimited money, a little too hard to swallow.

Overall, Balance: Unlimited looks to be a decent show worth watching - nothing particularly special, but different enough to be memorable. Something to consider picking up if you're looking to fill out your Summer 2020 season with another show.

Note: This review takes into account the combination of the first and second seasons as one continuous plot and rates them as a combined work. Read on and you'll understand why I've chosen this approach.

If you like when the underdog surprises and punches above their weight, this might be the show for you.

I watched this series completely on a whim, expecting a lot of lonely otaku wish-fulfillment / pandering. I'll be quite honest, the start of the first season threw a lot of objectively unbelievable premises at the viewer exactly along these lines. Still, despite the predictably unbelievable start, it had some merits. Once getting ... past the initial unbelievable developments, the drama and romance aspects that followed were enough to keep me interested and just enough to make me curious about what would happen in the sequel.

And I'm glad I kept watching. I have to admit that where the first season of this show modestly exceeded my (very low) expectations, the second blew them out of the water. Now keep in mind, blowing very low expectations out of the water doesn't put this on the same level of some of the great romance / drama series that anime has to offer, but there's something satisfying about a show that could have been lazy, but chose to rise above its niche and offer something better.

If you enjoyed the first season, you'll almost certainly like the second. If for some reason you're reading this and haven't watched the first, if the initial lonely otaku pandering aspects of the show don't turn you off it, it actually ends up being worth the watch. Solid character development, interesting romance and drama. There's a sense that the author, for whatever flaws there are in the series, had a good concept of the show's beginning middle and end from the start. Far more than you'd expect from a lot of shows like this that might just drone on in slice of life mediocrity until they peter out on their own.

If you like the underdog that punches above its weight, this might be the show for you.

I watched this series completely on a whim, expecting a lot of lonely otaku wish-fulfillment / pandering. I'll be quite honest, the start of the first season threw a lot of objectively unbelievable premises at the viewer exactly along these lines. Still, despite the predictably unbelievable start, it had some merits. Once getting past the initial unbelievable developments, the drama and romance aspects that followed were enough to keep me interested and just enough to make me curious about what would happen in the sequel.

And I'm glad I kept ... watching. I have to admit that where the first season of this show modestly exceeded my (very low) expectations, the second blew them out of the water. Now keep in mind, blowing very low expectations out of the water doesn't put this on the same level of some of the great romance / drama series that anime has to offer, but there's something satisfying about a show that could have been lazy, but chose to rise above its niche and offer something better.

If you enjoyed the first season, you'll almost certainly like the second. If for some reason you're reading this and haven't watched the first, if the initial lonely otaku pandering aspects of the show don't turn you off it, it actually ends up being worth the watch. Solid character development, interesting romance and drama. There's a sense that the author, for whatever flaws there are in the series, had a good concept of the show's beginning middle and end from the start. Far more than you'd expect from a lot of shows like this that might just drone on in slice of life mediocrity until they peter out on their own.

The first two episodes are essentially pure fanservice, which drags the score down for me. If you like fanservice, you will most certainly enjoy them more than I did.

If you're looking more for something that hits the "regular" pace of this show, the third OVA gets back into that, starting a story centering around the academy kids. As it ends partway through telling the story, the 4th OVA will doubtlessly continue, and perhaps even on to the 5th.

This OVA isn't really anything special and I doubt that it will significantly change the direction of the plot, but if you really like the show, it's worth ... watching.

**No spoilers** The Pilot's Love Song is a mix of drama, romance and action, though I would say it leans toward primarily being a drama. The show starts with a relatively easygoing feeling, but gets much more serious by the halfway point and remains so until the end.

The main theme that this series focuses on is the reality of war, which includes the concepts of overcoming fear, accepting loss and the importance of forgiveness through love. There is a fairly decent-sized cast of side characters without being too overwhelming, and there are several romantic interests among them which helps to keep your interest even if ... you're not super into the main relationship. Though their primary purpose is generally to further the drama, the action scenes are quite well-done and do a good job of making you feel like the characters are truly in danger.

On the negative, the story, at times, is a little confusing and the pacing feels a little off. Given that this is a short series at only 13 episodes, there was perhaps a little too much time spent both on the initial ramping-up to the main conflict and on the denouement after the main conflict.

There are also times you may find yourself questioning the decisions of the characters, or exactly what their motivations are, and, while that is often a good thing to some extent in storytelling, I felt that there could have been a little more gradual hinting given to the watcher so that some things didn't seem quite as sudden when they were revealed. Having said that, most things are tied up by the end, though it may leave some people feeling a little unfulfilled.

In summary, if you're the type of person who focuses a lot on logic, consistency and smooth storytelling, this series may not be for you. On the other hand, if you are more about the character relationships and the drama, while being able to suspend your disbelief regarding some inconsistencies or unexplained phenomenon, you will probably enjoy this show like I did.