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Sonny Boy is a must watch show that I believe will quickly become a cult classic. Good or bad from the initial impressions you have to continue watching this until the end.

Sonny Boy although containing the dialogue and presentation sometimes of a really obtuse middle school stage play. This show is really impressive. Technically, visually, and especially thematically and structurally. Sonny Boy through it's entire duration keeps the aesthetic and themes of a typical high-school slice of life coming of age story, while at the same time keeping the presentation and flair of more absurdist, plot-oriented fantasy works typicaly of Masaaki Yuuasa.

It's hard to not ... bring up Yuuasa due to the fact that this work was the brainchild of Shingo Natsume; Yuuasa's protégé. Stylistically, this anime feels like something Masaki Yuuasa would make. In terms of the animation I wouldn't be surprised if most people did not know Yuuasa worked on this. I have spilt ink in the past discussing Yuuasa and while I can completely understand Yuuasa's work ethic and creative genius I oftentimes find that his full length TV productions leave a lot to be desired, I want to put a bookmark there because Sonny Boy managed to keep Yuaasa's hallmarks stylistically while significantly improving the narrative execution

Sonny Boy when it really comes down to it is something that warrants more analyses then critique which makes this really hard to review. The basic setup of the show is a graduating middle-school class gets transported to another world. Something all to common in anime. However, this world is not the typical dangerous fantasy wonderland, but rather almost a purgatory of sorts. The characters refer to the unknown environment as "this" world as to differentiate it from the world that they came from. A huge part of the setup of the first quarter to a half of Sonny Boy is establishing the rules and parameters of this world in essence trying to find a way home.

Sonny Boy is really drawing from a pastiche of different artistic influences, stylistically and narratively. A few reviewers on this site have pointed out that the premise is directly lifted from a manga called the drifting classroom released in the 80's. However, the influences do not stop there. The main character reminds me a lot of Shinji Ikari from Eva, I think the premise in and of itself is almost a metatextual commentary on the Isekai genre in anime, and various narrative choice within this anime remind me of Murakami novels.

There are 4 pivotal characters that the anime centers it's focus on. Nagara the lethargic and resigned protagonist, Nozomi the hopefully optimistic and genuine supporting character, Mizuho, a female foil to Nagara who gains increasing relevance and importance as the plot continues, and Ashakaze. Ashakaze functions as a side character, rival to Nagara early on but similar to Mizuho, more and more focus is put on him as the story progresses.

As much as Sonny Boy pulls from other influences it is wholly it's own work, and in terms of slice-of-life, melancholic, teen dramas is really in a tier of it's own. I can't act like I am not impressed by this. It blew me away... and delivered a spectacle and a masterclass in terms of atmosphere, setting, animation and visuals. While this anime at times gives the impression of being a loose string of ideas written on the back of Natsume's napkin at 12pm. It delivers on a conceptual masterpiece that will be remembered fondly.

I do find it such a shame that so much emphasis is put on understanding the who, when, and what of how this world works. The specifics, when Sonny Boy is such a personal story about adolescence, adulthood, and friendship. Genuine friendship between the characters that has the bittersweet finale of something like a Scum's Wish or White Album 2, while at the same time delivering grand narratives and philosophical explorations that are only presented by some of the most ambitious anime out there(i.e. Ergo Proxy, Texhnolyze, Kaiba). When initially watching especially during the first quarter I thought Sonny Boy was a diamond-in-the-rough, an earnest attempt at constructing a unique environment for the backdrop of a conventional teen drama. I was wrong and pleasantly surprised

Yofukashi no Uta is one of the most solid, coming-of-age slice of life concept then I have seen in a long time.

This anime has a lot going for it in terms of being a coming-of-age story because it fleshes out a lot of the common existential ennui of being a young adult without diving into melodrama. The main character, Kou, is not a simple self-insert, although he is certainly relatable the secondary cast that surround him are really the heart and soul of this series. From the vampire waifus, to his childhood friends Akira and Mahiru. This show has a very strong ensemble cast of ... characters who are all interesting in their own respects and the potential of this show seems vast at this early stage of development because more and more characters keep getting introduced.

Yofukashi no Uta like a lot of Japanese media, is about the rejection of often unfair and extreme expectations put upon the youth. Kou is such an interesting touchstone for Japanese male youth. He is deeply confused, about himself, the world and others around him, but he is trying to put the pieces together. He skips school because he has a rebellious streak in him and like a lot of characters here are tired of trying to keep up appearances. When he says "I want to become a vampire" textually it makes sense, but sub textually I think it is evoking this desire of Kou to construct his own identity irrespective of what others want from him.

I believe that Yofukashi no Uta is brilliant because it can do a variety of different things and entertain a variety of different demographics. It has waifus, it has the occasional engaging action and animation, the writing has enough levity and variety that it works episodically. It also has substance thematically that you won't get bored and it doesn't feel monotonous(so far).

Gojo Wakanda, the deuteragonist in this high school, slice of life romcom spends most of his days caring for his aging grandfather and working their family business. Etching, Sketching, and sewing laboriously for his love of Hina Dolls and his desire to perfect his craft. Gojo is so taken with his tasks that he does not even bother to make friends. Why would he? If he told everyone about his weird hobby they may shun and reject him?

That is until a chance encounter with Kitigawa, the over the top, bubbly 16 year old fashion model at his school who has an overlapping interest ... in cosplaying her favorite characters from Eroge games. Gojo, devotes his energy to helping Kitigawa by making her cosplay dreams come to life by putting that same obsessive energy that he was putting into Hina dolls into his new hobby. Making cosplay costumes for the object of his affection.

My Dress Up Darling is bog standard for the slice of life genre. The anime production is pretty good and elevates the source material of the manga and breathes new life into it to make for one of the most surprisingly entertaining anime of this season. I am actually surprised an anime adaptation for this manga exists because it is beat for beat. Moment to moment, romantic comedy 101. Ignoring the cosplaying element this is the most stripped down romantic comedy that I have seen in years. Boy meets girl. That's it. Not trying to disparage this at all but even anime from a decade ago felt the need to add a little spice to the romantic comedys. I'm thinking B Gata H Kei or Mysterious Girlfriend X for example.

I would be a hypocrite to dismiss this anime. It does something that I wish a lot of anime would do. It limits its scope and does a very specific thing and does that thing well. The two characters in this romcom are conceived in a near perfect way.

Gojo is kinda lame. He doesn't have any experience with women, he isn't cool. His fashions sense consists of him wearing the same garments as his grandfather. He is constantly stammering and apologizing, even to the point that Kitigawa gets impatient. Besides that he is the perfect partner. He is super appreciative and grateful for Kitigawa. He is very attentive and dependable on top of being a good cook. Most importantly, he has no hobbies or interests not involving her so he can spend all his time with Kitigawa and nothing else demands his time or attention.

Kitigawa is a very obvious idealized version of what a high school girlfriend would be like. She is very mature for her age which is one of the reasons Gojo is drawn to her in the first place. She tells her friends "you should never make fun of something that someone likes" as Gojo watches from afar. She lives alone, watches a lot of anime, makes a living as fashion model and most importantly. She doesn't really demand anything of him besides that he hangs out with her and makes her cosplay costumes.

This is supposed to feel like a very grounded show but at some point my suspension of disbelief just breaks. These aren't real people. They are caricatures that don't feel as raw and rough around the edges the way real people are. That may not be a complaint for some people , especially if you just want to watch a show with your perfect waifu of the season. Which is completely valid way to watch this show. However, I feel the slice of life genre has come a long, long, way and can do more than this. The production, adaptation, direction and music in this are all top notch. However, the show sold away any depth for playful teasing and Kitigawa making random comments like "my panties are dripping with sweat" or opening her legs and saying "Gojo, just do it". If you want to watch something that will put a big cheesy grin on her face, this is for you. Just don't expect anything more beyond that

Japanese NEET tragically dies. Finds himself in another world blah, blah, blah. We have all heard of this premise before. It's not particularly unique. It's an isekai series spawned form other notable isekai series and the fact that this is the only thing that anime consumers have an appetite for.

I don't want to have an overly negative tone because for what it's worth Mushoku Tensei is fine. Like a lot of series that I would give a strong 6 to a light 7. Mushoku Tensei has some great moments, some pretty terrible moments and some ok moments. The premise is here is the protagonist ... is reincarnated in another world as an heir to a noble aristocrat and his wife in a small village. The protagonist retains memories of his previous life and uses this opportunity to start anew and have a "good" life.

In my humble opinion. This is almost the perfect example of an overrated show. Mushoku Tensei is a very smart series. It's entertaining and it throws you curveballs by subverting viewer expectations and by having genuinely shocking plot-twists. It is not the typical campy, gorey, self-serious narrative that tends to catch on here in the west. Which is something that I really like about it. Even though I didn't care for the characters or the plot or anything like that I really did find it entertaining from a episode by episode standpoint.

Now why do I call it overrated? Well, to an extent it's because it can't overcome the trappings of it's genre. I am not only the only one who has become sick of Isekai series. For the past five years at least, Isekai series have become more and more abundant and have taken up more and more attention and dialouge in the general milieu.

Does Isekai as a genre suck? Honestly, I would have to say yes for several reasons. Isekai, outside of the trapped in another world angle, are nothing more than action adventures. The cast travels around a fictional world and fight monsters and meet new friends and enemies. So a great deal of time from a narrative standpoint involves nothing more than worldbuilding, foreshadowing or setup for future seasons or future light novel chapters. On top of that it has an ongoing plot, characters and backstories that it needs to establish. So just by the genre conventions alone, most isekai don't get the benefit of the doubt from me because they are juggling so much in 24 episodes that what chance do they have at being good?

Due to this huge amount of juggling and transitioning between different plot points, genre tropes, all the while trying to execute upon said things. Even when we get good characters. What screen time do they have to be fleshed out and fully realized? With the exception of the main cast the side characters don't get character arcs. What they get is half-baked backstories that are supposed to serve as character arcs. Almost every isekai that I have watched is flawed from this perspective as well.

I have heard several reviewers/commenters/anitubers say that this show has good, unique, original characters. After watching both seasons. I have to question were we even watching the same series? Theses characters are cut and paste archetypes from other fantasy/action-adventure isekai to their core. Every. single. one. With the exception of the man-god there is not one original character here in the slightest. Which accentuates with my biggest gripe. The characters aren't interesting. At all. They don't have interesting motivations, interesting emotions, neuroses, situations. Nothing.

If I can be bold here. Another huge problem with the isekai genre is that I feel that most of the authors are vastly confused about what genre they are. The way this series is constructed feels like a shounen action adventure. In a show like YuYu Hakusho, MHA, Black Clover. You don't necessarily need to have mature, interesting characters because that isn't the selling point of the genre. Nobody is watching HunterxHunter because they think Gon is a deep, thoughtful, interesting and relatable character. They are watching because all of the surrounding elements. The crazy, wacky villains, the characters designs, the visuals and action and powerups. That's the huge selling point for something like that and the isekai authors approach is very similar. However, for me that's just not enough to keep me involved or engaged. It's basic and not really enjoyable or thought provoking. Especially when it isn't executed with the same flair as the aforementioned series above.

The last 4 episodes of the second season were some of the best of the series. Which is something that I really appreciated about Mushoku Tensei is that the pacing works here/ The beginning of season 1 and the end of season 2 are good-great episodes of anime. Which is why I didn't want to be too negative and rip this show to shreds. My conclusion is that Mushoku Tensei is not disappointing. I started to watch this series expecting it to be one of the best anime of last year(2021). I was met with something that was entertaining for large swaths of it and is one of the best isekai I have seen a while. Albeit extraordinarily familiar and flawed in several areas that I care about

Imagine being a kid and one day you wake up to huge paws, an enhanced sense of smell, and a sudden hunger for freckled, crazy, blonde panties. For most people we call that puberty, for Shuichi it is literally a nightmare as he finds himself blackmailed and joined at the hip to a crazy freckled blonde named Claire who quickly entagles him and a brutal and violent death game.

Gleipnir's setup and its first initial episodes have the subtlety of a brick. From the get go you know what this is about. Shuichi turns into a big giant fursuit, and when Claire steps inside of him, ... his eyes widen and with a shocked expression says " she is inside me"... It's about sex. Or more specifically its about puberty and an adoloscent burgeoning for, well sex. The characters and furthermore the characterzation in this show isn't why you are watching this show, and the mangaka Sun Takeda knows this. The characters here are derivative. The dynamic of a meek, but good natured male protagonist with a fiery, more ambitious women has been done to death. What sets Gleipnir apart from being another generic show. Well three things. It's edginess, its imagery, and its utterly dry deadpan sense of humor.

If a guy monstrously transforming into a fursuit with a girl climbing into his back to control him doesn't scream "this show is edgy!" the there are a million other things that will. The fanservice and the action are almost all in this anime to sell the shows edginess. Pretty much every episode(not exagerrating) has to have an obligatory panty shot/crotch shot. The action is even better. I was sold on this show, after two characters got done punching and kicking the living daylights out of each other, the fightscene was tailended by a smith & wesson, oversived revolver stuck in someone's back, while the trigger is slowly squeezed, brutal execution incoming.

If i have you excited. Let me quickly quell that excitement. This show isn't really edgy. I mean it tries to be, but this show doesn't really have the fictional fursuit balls and gutso to truly be dark. All of that stuff is really window dressing to entice the viewer to tell an otherwise more conventional battle-royale, death game story. This show throws curveballs at you, sure! My favorite being when Shuichi and Claire finally run into somebody who is clearly stronger then them. They ask him for his motivation is, and he with a straight face pretty much admits to being an masochist and just looking for somebody who has the strength to kill him. I say that to not only highlight the shows deadpan dry humor but to also highlight the fact that character motivations are a huge backbone of this show. Except Shuichi. The protagonist, Shuichi, is pretty much blackmailed into this whole thing. Shuichi spends the better part of four episodes sniveling, and crying that Claire is manipulating him. Which she is.

The character dynamic of this show of a clearly emotionally disturbed girl manipulating a meek, booksmart nerd have people comparing this show to one of my favorites Aku No Hana. Although the initial plot construction of this show is very interesting it grinds to a fast halt because Shuichi has the personality of a wet blanket and outside of his whole "I just want to fit in schtick" he doesnt really get anymore character development for a large swath of the shows runtime. Another thing about Shuichi's unconfident, dark moody nerd character troupe is that this show doesn't really put it to use at all. Aku No Hana, NGE, shows that both have these character archetypes, both delve into the psychological reasons.

Something that I look for in shows that isn't really discussed a lot is continuity. Continuity in characters and themes is very important for shows to feel like they have some sort of intentionality behind it and not just a mishmash at various unrelated ideas. Gleipnir suffers hugely from this problem because in a scene to scene sense the show can be very entertaining and even funny at times. The big problem I had with the show is that it fails to combine the things that make it entertaining in any meaningful way. It wants to be this heavy, middle-finger to the world story, but the show doesn't really have anything to offer for it. Perfect example is these monstrous transformations are supposed to be external displays of these characters inner personas. Which is why it is very fitting that Shuichi's transformation is a harmless hollow teddy bear that needs somebody to crawl inside for it to gain its full power. However, it doesn't help that a lot of the characters transformation besides shuichi's or his side characters don't have any thought put into them at all, and are usually just grotesque ugly big tooth monsters/insects and sometimes just amorphous shadow blobs. Another example, is that the audience is aware that these characters are in a death game anime. Death is literally in the genre name, and these characters always seem suprised or are caught unaware when they are subject or are subjected to brutal violence. Its bizzare. Like me or you, if caught in this situation would constantly have our head on the swivel if we realized that other literal ghouls and goblins are out for our head, yet Shuichi and his gang are constantly caught off guard, pretty much every time. There is no continuity to these characters actions or words which makes everything else in the story seem loose and unfocused.

Gleipnir had its moments. Even the overt sexiness never ceased to amaze me. I mean this show is downright revolutionary with the way it sneaks in its fanservice. The scene where Claire grabs her crotch while saying "did she go inside you" is legendary. I just wish everything else in the show felt that fresh and inspired.

For those that choose to watch Tower of God, you will be placed right in the middle of a hero's journey where an attractive, yet completely naive character called Baam, decides he needs to climb the tower. Why must he climb the tower, or why must anybody climb the tower? Your guess is as good as mine. Welcome to the tower of god.

In all seriousness though, the Tower of God stays sufficiently vague. It is a slow burn of a series. The world and how it works is completely ambiguous. Anime exclusive viewers can probably craft all types of theories explaining the bits of information ... that we have gotten. But it is clear that this, story at least for the 13 episode prolouge that is the first season, isn't really in a rush. For better or worst. Keeping the mystery of the Tower of God alive is part of the passion, and you have to really love open-ended narratives with heaps and heaps of worldbuilding to enjoy this series.

It is the shounen esque action in this series that masks how unpalatable this story is on its face. The characters range from being human esque creatures to reptilian creatures to reptile human hybrids. Even the character designs implicate a sort of incoherency. You have people that are wearing modern clothing, like an Adidas tracksuit, and you also have people who wear traditional Korean garb. So this story is a huge mish-mash of concepts and incoherency, but it just kind of works

One thing the show does make clear is "the point", the themes. Tower of God is a show that always raises questions to its audience about "who can climb the tower", "why do some people have the power to climb the tower, while others don't". Similar to life this plays out in ways that are head-scratching and absurd. Baam who has the most daft explanation for his motivations, somehow keeps skating by, even in the most dangerous of situations while others with more concrete and noble intentions succumb to their environment. Although Tower of God kind of lays the thematic concept on thick, it is directly asking certain viewers "why do certain people succeed while others actively fail". While we all have our own justifications for such a question tower of god seems to have an answer... It's about luck.

My favorite example of the show hitting you over the head with this idea. Is when a physical barrier is put in front of the characters, and in order to continue up the tower you have to cross it. Some characters breeze right through, some characters press their way through by sheer will, and some people simply can't do it at all not matter the effort. Afterwards the show makes no mention of exactly what was the mechanism that allowed some people to pass and some people not to pass, because if you don't get it at that point you probably never will.

Baam the main protagonist(although he doesn't really drive the story in anyway). Is a walking and talking device for that central theme. Baam although being the protag, is written to be a despicable character. Nobody is really supposed to see themselves in Baam, he is gullible, naive and somewhat stupid to the intentions of others. He is written that way very purposefully because he is a vehicle to the themes and plot.

As someone who doesn't like shounen action shows. Or at the very least someone who hasn't really watched much of that genre in the past decade. I found this infinitely more palatable and then shows like Black Clover, My Hero Academia, or Seven Deadly Sins. The show just works because of its quirky characters, its overly ambitious worldbuilding and its more mature tone when it comes to the character writing, plot twists, and themes. I found it to be a fun solid mix of character drama and action.

ID: Invaded is a semi-episodic crime procedural, sci-fi anime, in line with shows like Ghost in the shell: sac and second gig as well as the more recent and trendy psycho-pass. The basic setup requires a lot of psychobabble to explain. There is an organization called a Kura, which is a highly functional unit that uses technology that detects remnant particles called "cognition particles" that serial killers leave behind. The cognition particles are only one part of this whole organizations scheme. There is also a machine called the Mizunohame, a big machine that allows serial killers to enter into this dreamscape called the id: well, ... a throwback to the theories of Sigmund Freud. In this well, they can put various pieces together to figure out exactly who is the murderer and the intentions of the murderer. So, in other words, a lot of things that don't really make a whole lot of sense. Luckily, for the viewer that this sort of psychobabble is just window dressing for the bigger episodic crime thriller at play.

The main character is the brilliant detective Narihisago. Who is for all intents in purposes the emotional core of this series. Narihisago is one of several tragic characters in this show. Narihisago has the tragic past of being a rogue cop driven mad by constantly facing the grim realities of working in an investigation unit whose sole purpose is catching insane serial killers. The key difference between Narihisago is that he decides to use his talents for good instead of evil, since his arrest he is now serving in the Kura as their most talented detective.

Earlier I said Narihisago is the emotional core for this show. He is the primary window in which we learn about and become connected to this world. For Narihisago the Kura isn't just an organization, it is his life. Catching serial killers, due to his own tragic life is personal to him. The Kura and by extension Narihisago's modus operandi is peeking into the mind of the depraved. There is a lot of anime that play around with this theme, that like "the real evil is inside man!". All of these serial killers we meet throughout the show and even the main protagonist all were driven to murder, not through a seemingly sadistic middle finger to the world type of way, but usually, their backstory is always tinged in a sort of tragedy.

One of the huge characterising aspects of this shows storytelling is attention to detail. The author of the light novel for this show is known to be a sort of eclectic guy, and it shows because he reminds me a lot of Tomino(gundam director). Where he has a wealth of weird ideas, but he also expects his audience to be paying very close attention and the show doesn't really have any interest in holding the audience's hand. A perfect example of this is the character of the Perforator. A serial killer who kills his victims by drilling a hole in their head. He is caught fairly early in this show and if this was any other show you would expect that to be the last we hear about drilling holes. However, not only does his character remain a very important aspect of the show, but the fact that he drills holes in peoples heads and his motivation for that remains a fairly constant theme in this show that rears its heads over and over again.

While I like this show way more then I expected to, ID; Invaded is still very scatterbrained. The psychobabble is evidence of this because it really wasn't necessary to have that sort of window dressing to tell an otherwise simple story. The writers own tendencies to create these detailed and layered technical stories take away from the fact that he is actually really great at creating more episodic, emotional, and sentimental stories. A huge reason that I was impressed with this is that despite all the worldbuilding, all of the setup, all the Freudian psychoanalysis. There were several episodes that I think could go toe to toe with any episode of Death Parade. For example episode six, the eternal rail episode was absolutely beautiful. Narihisago holding the bloody Kaeru's hand on bent knee saying "please, you don't have to die" is haunting. There are so many episodes similar to that, whether it be episode 4 where Narihisago rescues the girl from a burning building, or episode 10 when Narihisago gets caught in the well. All of this is personal for him, and by extension the viewer.

With that being said in good faith I could never compare this to my personal favourites like Mushishi, or Death Parade or Bokurano. It gets pretty close to that level and I see very little wrong with the show. I think the show forces the viewer to a certain extent resign themselves to a lot of the pseudoscientific explanations for why the plot is happening. If you are able to do that, you are in for a good ride.

This here is a doozy. An incredibly dense, emotional story that has several girls who are in a literary club, while at the same time coming to terms with their burgeoning puberty. All of this has the nice bow on top of Mari Okada's melodramatic writing style, which seems to be the space she is most comfortable in.

I liked this enough, but I in no way think it was Mari Okada's strongest outing or a very worthwhile show. Primarily because it is far too textual for my taste. This anime is just a string of girls falling in love while also trying to get laid. ... Sure there are other things that happen but 99 percent of the show and its ethos can be wrapped up in that. This is where I come to my limitations as a reviewer because if you relate to the specific dynamics between these characters and all of the drama, awkward and conflicting feelings therein than you are going to love this. No discussion to be had, no need to overanalyze, that is really all there is to it. You like what you like and I totally understand why it can be so cathartic for a writer to have the insight to feel like she is speaking directly to YOU. I get it.

My problem is that I just don't find that type of very on-the-nose writing particularly enjoyable or artistically engaging as a viewer. There is a character who struggles to come to terms with her feeling for her childhood friend and works up the courage to tell him. There is also a character who has been emotionally traumatized by being groomed by an older creep, also a character who is a little underdeveloped physically and tries to blackmail her teacher into making her feel special. These sort of generalizations of the plot is sure to make fans of this show angry, due to the fact that all the details and nuances of these character relationships are what makes the show. However, to be frank I just didn't really care that much. For the life of me, I can not understand why people are trying to hold this up as emotionally intelligent when it is so full of suffocating drama.

If I was a hardcore shoujo fan I would actually be quite offended by this show because it gives the genre such a bad look. This anime transforms from being a rather comfy, positive message of girl companionship and bonding to really trite and horny boy/girl relationship drama.

Bunny Girl Senpai attempts to be the spiritual successor of Bakemonogatari. An off-kilter rom-com with quirky dialogue that succeeds in what it attempts to do, but absolutely in no way succeeded in standing out or being memorable. Bunny Girl Senpai's identity is primarily a visual novel adaptation. So that entails several arcs in a short period of time with a new waifu in every arc.

The first arc of this show subverted expectation insofar as the MC and his romantic interest had a semblance of chemistry and romantic tension. Also due to the fact that the screenwriter is known for his "quirky" dialogue. That culminated in ... Bunny Girl receiving, in my opinion, undeservedly too much attention and praise early on. As a whole Bunny Girl Senpai has decent directing, some decent bits of charm but all of it is wasted because it is ultimately trying to polish a product that has no market value outside of overly dedicated otaku who will eat this up for the current season.

Most of the artificial conflict is created from familial issues that these poor teens have no idea how to cope with. Ranging from inferiority complexes and sibling rivalry. To other first world problems like unwarranted attention on social media and cyberbullying. These problems I suppose can make interesting plot points, but they all are handled in such a lame and boring/non-genuine manner.

Furthermore, the artificiality and phoniness of this series are accentuated because the very structure of the plot necessitates neat and forced resolutions. A new girl gets introduced, you learn of her problem, some supernatural aspect that falls under the umbrella of Puberty Syndrome gets tied in and finally a few episodes later, the whole conundrum is solved by a tearful catharsis, screaming, and plenty of feels. This series shares more in common with those really cheesy TV k-drama than any other anime series I would recommend.

Despite the fact that the two main leads who have the most characterization and development. They are still poor characters! That is me cherry picking from the two most defined characters. The two leads of this show are put in multiple novel situations for us to see multiple sides of their personality and characters, the most you can say about Sakuta is that he is a sarcastic, teenage know-it-all that cares for his sister. Mai, is not even really worth mentioning. She is a mary sue, burgeoning acting talent that is super professional and always in control. She is the perfect girl.

As much as I am glad I actually made it through this, the mediocrity of Bunny Girl Senpai broke me and this is the last time(hopefully) that I will force myself to wade through this lukewarm mix of plot devices and poor characters to tell you all this one thing. It is bad. Watch something else

Tis' Good Alright

I could go on a verbal flight of fancy, but I can get my point across in a simpler fashion. Here it is... This show is good. It's really good. AOTY contender for sure. While I can't say this with the utmost confidence, as it stands it is the best thing I have watched this year. Planet With manages to be an incredibly witty, smart shonen/sci-fi/mecha anime that perfectly encapsulates boyish fun and adventure.

Kuroi, although looking like an average boy. Is actually an intergalactic race of alien that got destroyed by a dragon(?), because his human-like species got their planet destroyed wholesale for ... embracing their worse war-hungry, power seeking tendencies. Kuroi the last survivor of not only his loved ones but also his own race has been traumatically scarred and is on a quest for revenge. Seeking to defeat anyone who contains the "power of the dragon" by fighting with a giant cat and a princess... Yeah, this show is strange, and as a viewer, you should know that upfront.

Generally, the first thing that you will notice about Planet With is the pacing. It's fast; the mangaka is confident in his ability to create conclusions for the plot points he creates. All of the conflict in this show( Kuroi's resentment and lust for revenge, his double life, etc.) all get resolved in a timely manner. You can pretty much think of this show as the antithesis of something like DBZ insofar as every fight scene instead of being accompanied by episodes and episodes of pointlessness are followed instead by a swift resolution that tumbles straight to the next plot point.

Planet With's mangaka is a prolific man. Working on a ton of series and even receiving some acclaim in his career. His experience with storytelling and worldbuilding shows in this work. It shows that he has found his corner of the market and continually is honing his ability to speak to said audience. The tone of his jokes, his quirky understated humor and appreciation for shonen tropes without teetering on the edge of cliche, for the most part, is something I admire.

As good as the show is it drops the ball by being another shonen battle, action adventure - albeit a very smart one. There are very few unneeded recaps, character motivations out the A, betrayal, and switching factions. My main problem with this series and the basis for why I didn't score this higher is due to the fact that it could have stood to do and say more. It could have served to be a pretty clever deconstruction but instead, it is content with being just a slightly above average shonen.

The side characters and their initial development are interesting elements of the story in their own respect are nothing to write home about. The characters don't feel robust or three dimensional, and could even be written off as one note. Each and every side character has about an episode or less developing them because that is all the time a 12 episode series can afford to spend on each of them individually.

At the end of the day, what is more, to say? To repeat myself - it's good. I was just a little disappointed to learn that it's just a shonen/mecha repackaged and served up in an interesting, appetizing way