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Yuasa-sensei's style may not be for everyone, but he's so bloody talented it's hard to feel indifferent to whatever he does nowadays. And luckily for us viewers and anime fans/industry in general, he's been making a lot of things recently. Once again, i believe he was able to produce something truly wonderful, as he paired yet again with Morimi-sensei (Tatami Galaxy, Uchouten Kazoku). This movie is sort of a Tatami Galaxy spin-off, but clearly is able to stand out on its own even for those who didn't watch or even liked TG.

As a TG fan, however, i absolutely loved seeing all those familiar faces ... once again (even if they changed Master/Higuchi's voice for this movie for some weird reason, which was sort of a letdown tbh). Senpai, as the movie's male lead, grew on me as the night progressed, and Hanakana's Raven Haired Maiden was an extremely charming and cute heroine from start to finish. Naturally, the love Yuasa-sensei and Morimi-sensei have for Kyoto once again shined beautifully, elevating the movie to an higher level thanks to the superb backgrounds and character animation. Some sequences (such as the whole final theatre piece - glorious stuff, as well as the classic drinking run around the many parties and city places at the beginning, and of course everything that happens after the theatre piece and leads up to the very end of the movie, were an utterly magical experience.

The portrayal of the Kyoto nightlife and all its secrets and different people, the magical mood, the exhilarating athmosphere the city breathes, everything in this story feels truly alive and the culmination of all this is exactly what made this movie a complete and wholesome joy to watch and why it worked so well, not just from a personal standpoint, but also from a more critical/objective angle.

Let me just say it beforehand: i think Genshiken is a must for any anime/manga fan who's minimally interested in the otaku/fujoshi culture and in how much things have changed from the 90s/start of this century to the present time. It's a social study in many ways. So, if you're interested in this kind of stuff or if you're not exactly new to the anime/manga world, you should definitely read this manga. Like, seriously, do it if you haven't yet.

Back to the review, it was a solid conclusion to the manga series/first anime season. The original Genshiken still stands as the best Genshiken for me, ... but Nidaime had some great moments as well and besides, it focused on the unsung hero of the manga, Madarame. He and Saki are the soul of Genshiken, so him getting the focus was a much needed development and idea that was left nearly unexplored in the original manga. So, for that reason alone, reading Nidaime was worth it since it effectively tied the knot around Madarame's character. Madarame is the quintessential Genshiken character, the one that most accurately demonstrates what Genshiken really is all about. And then, there's Saki. Who steals the show every time she appears and always changes the status quo whenever she's present, since she's actually not an otaku by any means - she's the most grounded, realest, no-nonsense character in the entire story. And for that reason she's also what makes Genshiken special, together with her complete opposite, Madarame.

In Nidaime, there's also Hato, who basically takes the deuteragonist role with Madarame. Hato is a really complex character, in many ways. I enjoyed how things turned out with him and i somewhat understand what he represents and how important he is for the overall message of Nidaime. In many ways, the original Genshiken was all about the old otaku culture and Madarame is the one who best represents that culture. As for Nidaime, it's all about the new otaku wave, it's all about the new generation of otaku. And that is basically the reason we went from a nearly all-male cast to an all-female one. The otaku world has changed and Genshiken explores that change in dept while also tackles some important social issues that are now more prominent than ever. Lastly, the way Shimoku gave closure to most supporting characters (the cast is big and many characters take the spotlight over time) is also worth noting, even though some of them still remained kind of a mistery at the end given the lack of focus on them, and that's probably the least positive aspect of Genshiken, but it's hardly something off-putting, at least for me. Everyone gets their fair share of development, after all.

Going back to the start of this review, i've always seen Genshiken not merely as a manga, but rather as a social study about manga and otaku culture, with lots of subtexts orbiting around: like the limbo between reality and 2D, interpersonal relationships, even sexuality, gender identity and discrimination - a manga that deludes the reader to think in a 2D kind of way only to cheekily defy his expectations with the most realistic comebacks you could possibly pull. It's a story based on hardcore otaku that primes for its striking realism despite how the characters usually behave and think. And above everything it's an incredible work that deserves to be read by any manga/anime fan.

Note: More than a review, this is more like a personal reflection after reading the entire manga. Also, beware of some spoilers, because the way i see it, they are unavoidable. If you hate spoilers, then don't read it. Better safe than sorry, after all.

Nisekoi is a Weekly Shounen Jump romantic comedy that serialized (weekly) for around 5 years. Since i've been keeping up with this series since the very start and it's something i'm definitely fond of, i figured i should write some words about it.

Starting with the final arc, which was strong. And good, since some of the best chapters in the entire ... story happened here. The last 30ish chapters were a very nice conclusion to the story. All the main plot points were effectively tied, all the main characters got their time in the spotlight and the ending was mostly fulfilling. The main plot was solved and with it the story came to an end in typical romcom fashion. I think last impressions are extremely important, specially in this kind of manga, and Komi mostly nailed it, in my opinion.

Truly, what Nisekoi promised at the rather promising start (and by that i mean the first 50 chapters or so), it mostly delivered by the end of it. Not brilliantly, almost always bordering on the clichés and tropes of the romcom genre, usually focusing on the comedy aspect and rarely on the dramatic side of the romantic genre, clearly never aiming for extreme realism (and most times on any sort of realism to begin with), it became the longest running romcom in Jump history and with its popularity came the haters, the shippers and also the "filler hell" (there is arguably around 120-150 chapters with very litlle story progression, other than random comedy and expanding the harem + romcom hijinks) this manga is widely known for. Yeah, there are many pointless comedic chapters. Yes, some of them are not even all that funny and it may tire the anxious reader who reads the series every week and has little patience and/or low attention span. Sometimes the occasional shitty and repetitive writing will annoy you. Sometimes, the characters will annoy you. Sometimes, the readers (and the always insanely vocal shippers) themselves may also annoy you. Sometimes you may find yourself annoyed at your own self for reading it. That's what Nisekoi mostly was about and why it was so polarizing and yet so interesting at times.

Still, it must be said that it's definitely a manga that despite its (many) virtues, has also some very serious flaws, which i will enumerate below:

1-) Poor characterization and shitty, repetitive writing at times;

Starting with Raku, the protagonist. Raku became the head of his yakuza family right at the end of the manga (not exactly a big spoiler, so don't worry) and truthfully i felt nothing, since that subplot was barely ever present and it was pretty much forgotten up until the end. In a story where he is the male protagonist, i think that's pretty bad. That subplot became sort if like an afterthought and that is just horrible. It goes to show how much Komi cared about him. Sadly, Raku's character was perhaps the weakest link in the entire story.

And not just that: he is a freaking teenager and yet he doesn't show any noticeable sex drive. This honestly bothers me, because even a kindergartner is more sexually aware than him. To think that he only had his first kiss in the very last chapter despite being chased by 4 or 5 beauties the whole time is the ultimate proof of how unrealistic his character is. Don't me wrong, i wouldn't want him to take advantage and sexually assault the ladies, but c'mon, this was utterly ridiculous.
Previous famous Jump romantic comedies may have had many flaws, but not a single protagonist was this much of an herbivore, even if sometimes other protagonists went overboard with it and literally fooled around and would two-time the poor girls. This never happens here, thankfully.
However, i think some sort of balance is necessary for the character to be minimally believable and Raku was in fact too passive, too sanitized. He doesn't make any mistakes, he is supposed to be good-looking and capable (which is a really great thing, imo, since it helps you understand why the girls like him) but other than being unreasonably dense (writer's fault here), he has no major flaws, he's never allowed to commit any major mistakes, he lets the girls lead him around, he stays the same pretty much since chapter 1. He's kind and when he's helping others it's impossible to hate him for being like that, but honestly, that also makes him as unrealistic as you can possibly get. Add to that how dense he is just for the sake of stopping the story's progression and you'll understand why so many people dislike him when he's actually a pretty nice guy if you think about it.

In other words, he's basically Chitoge done wrong. They are both so similar personality-wise, yet their development was done in a completely different way. Despite the "filler hell", Chitoge was perhaps the one character whose development was done the best in the entire cast. She started with obvious flaws but worked those out and the Chitoge we see in the last chapter is a completely different person compared to chapter 1 Chitoge. She never stopped being herself but she did change and become a lot more likable over time. And this is some good shit. This is character development done right. This why i read this manga in first place.
As for Raku, he did start to receive some sort of development in the last third of the manga alright, but honestly it was so fucking late in the game, that it's still seriously frustrating, no matter how i look at it.

As for the rest of the cast, Shuu and Ruri were ok characters at the end of the day, it's all a bit cliche to be honest but at least it was done well, imo. Marika's development and closure was fine enough, the fact that Y-san (a notorious manga reader who somehow crossed over to the 2D world) actually became a part of the manga is an amazing thing. Onodera i can't talk about much wihthout spoiling, but just like Raku, her development came very late in the game and most of her blandness is mostly due to bad/repetitive writing and generic romcom genre issues. Tsugumi was the obvious best girl (don't judge me, just stating the truth) but was mostly neglected and severely underused. At the very least, i seriously enjoyed her development (in that sense, her character was handled almost as well as Chitoge) and defintely liked the way she finally accepted herself.

2-)A needlessly long harem (Yui, even though she was likable and important on Chitoge's development; Onodera's imouto; that one Chitoge clone, i mean, seriously...?). One of the main reasons the manga entered "filler hell" and suffered so much because of it.

3-) Completely ridiculous "filler hell" for like 150 chapters: this one is an obvious issue and it's also the main reason why the story declined and people stopped caring about the lock/promise aka main plot, which was already an interesting yet rather childish concept to begin with. I did like (a lot) the way everything was solved at the end, but it took too damn long to get there. Way too long, unfortunately. With filler hell also came the repetitiveness, the poor characterization and the poor writing. The story lost a part of its initial impact and charm. Even so, there were many good comedy chapters in the manga, so what is filler hell for some may not necessarily be for others (which was more or less my case).

4-) A personal pet peeve of mine: characters completely going from "just got together" -----> "timeskip/they separate once again" -----> "marriage", and mostly ignoring the relationship progress and steps that led to them actually getting married. Why is it that so many series do this shit? It really makes me mad that we wasted so many time on filler chapters instead of having an actual post-school mini arc or something with them properly dealing with their relationship and their own troubles, and this is not just about the main pairing, but also to give all the other characters a bit more closure, too. It would be important character development and it's obviously missing here and in many other anime/manga. I know this is shounen and even worse, it's a WSJ romcom, and i know that there's a clear gap between reality and manga events, but there's a limit of how much you can sugarcoat reality to make it work in fiction. It's ok if you still want Chitoge and Onodera to be BFFs and it's ok for portraying all the characters still being friends until the end but it always annoys me how disconnected it all feels from reality. It's not a problem exclusive of Nisekoi at all, but i always felt that the sugarcoating was a pretty strong thing here in many ways and events, which is well... a bit sad. Nisekoi was never too big on drama, but the story also lost a bit of weight thanks to that. When the dramatic moments actually happened, it was powerful, no doubt about it, but i always think it could have been a lot better than what it was. And that's a shame, really.

So i guess that's it. It was good reading Nisekoi. There were times when i really enjoyed doing it from the bottom of my heart and the final arc was strong and mostly fulfilling. Sadly, it was not the quintessential shounen Jump romantic comedy, but it was definitely a good one, all things considered. And i managed to have fun reading it even in its worse moments, so there's that, too. So yeah, i'm gonna miss it, for sure!

Do i recommend it? Yes, despite its many important flaws.

"The woman you love... hey, what's she like?"

"The woman i love...
burns with jealousy
leaps to conclusions
cries
and turns to ice
but

when she laughs...
...
... the world is mine"

So i finally managed to complete Maison Ikkoku (manga). Better late than never, i suppose.

It's a classic and you can instantly see why. Quite honestly, Takahashi Rumiko really has something that no other mangaka has. And i'm not talking about her bank account, mind you. The woman is amazingly talented, period.

And so, Maison Ikkoku is a wonderful story that you can fully enjoy even 30 years later. Even if Maison Ikkoku did age in certain aspects. Even if it can be seriously frustrating to read at times. Even if it's far from perfect, the "heart" is undoubtedly still there. Rumiko's very unique style is still there and you can easily recognize it. No one in the world has quite the same sense of humor, the same art style, the same wittiness and nonchalancy she so easily applies in her storytelling, the cheer silliness and nonsense in the borderline inane situations she often creates and let's never forget the lovably idiot characters she brings to life in her manga. It's like she vibrantly unleashes her inner baka as she writes and draws, and the final result is a gleeful mixture of her own childishness and inate talent for drawing manga. The paneling, the pacing, the character expressions and the way they express their feelings and emotions, the patterns you can clearly recognize on every character's behaviour and how human and relatable they feel to the reader. Her officially stated lack of planning ahead and her uncaring method of just making up as she goes along, it's all very idiosyncratic. In many ways i think she's like an open book, and you can read her just fine if you want to.

The way i see it, Maison Ikkoku is result of all her virtues and (annoyingly lovable, in my opinion) flaws. Truthfully, i think for you to enjoy Rumiko's manga, you gotta be as much of a baka as her characters. You gotta be someone who does stupid things (quite often). You have to be someone who does stuff on a whim only to regret it some minutes later. You gotta embrace the silliness in everyday life and smile about it. You gotta accept the avalanche of misunderstanding that hinder the story from progressing right until the very end. And above everything else, understand why they happen. To grow up and to face the mistakes you make, accepting your good and bad points, to find someone you love; and last but certainly not least, be willing to share with him/her your miso soup every morning.

In other words, to be like Kyouko and Godai, our two protagonists in this wonderful story. This is a long jouney of two people through the many hardships one can find in life, and at its core, a coming-of-age narrative of two people who had to learn how to communicate with each other, who had to battle against their own ghosts and their many shortcomings. It's a story of acceptance. Of two people who had to grow, but could not possibly do it alone and never without the other. Not without the the one they have grown to know and love and accept and trust. Such is Maison Ikkoku, a love story that knows no age and will always remain timeless for any person with an human heart beating inside of them.

Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry is certainly one of the biggest surprises of 2015. For me, who never expects much from anime adaptations of magic school battle harem light novels, it completely caught me off guard since i went with little to no expectations at all and still was pleasantly surprised by how good Rakudai Kishi turned out to be.

Unlike many other series of the same genre, Rakudai had the good fortune to receive a proper, non rushed adaptation that only covered 3 volumes of the source material. Unsurprisingly, the pacing never felt off and the original story wasn't butchered. It just felt right.

And talk ... about a strong ending! I think this show improved immensely since episode 1 and now that it is finally over, it certainly makes you eager for more. I love how it so confidently managed to free itself from the usual LN battle harem formula and tired LN routines and actually ended up developing an identity of its own with some really likable main characters and some nice stylistic (director worked at Shaft with Shinbo) and artful visuals and top notch animation quality in pretty much every important fight.
And not just that: the romance is super refreshing and surpringly charming and mature for the genre since the two main kids are seriously likable and their interactions are genuinely honest and entertaining, so their chemistry is undeniable. The amount of progression in their relationship and how natural and healthy it feels in only just 12 episodes would put most romantic comedies to shame.
As for the story and setting, it is hardly original but still fairly entertaining. Since it mostly revolves around a battle tournament, it relies on the fight's quality and on the strenght of its characters and the interactions between them a lot more than other LN series, which would rather focus on overly complicated settings and boring worldbuilding with an unecessarily large scope and obnoxious technical slang, endless harem members and bland self-insert main characters that no one really cares about.
Luckily, Rakudai managed to overcome all these genre barriers and tropes, and that is why it stands so much in such a stale environment, clogged up with repeated ideas and lack of originality.

So should you watch Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry? Definitely.

All in all, and as far as LN adaptations go, this is undoubtedly a pretty good one and the original source is definitely way above average, so even though it starts fairly generic and it takes some time to get to the good stuff, you should definitely give it a try because you will probably enjoy it, even if it won't blow your mind. Moreover, there is also a very unusual sense of closure you don't often find in these sort of anime, which makes the whole thing even more satisfying while still leaving you eager for a second season.

OHHHH MYYYYY LOVEEEEEE

I must admit. When Butter-fly started playing, i really felt like crying. It's been like what, 15 years? Damn, to think that the me from that time would stop whatever he was doing just to sit in front of the TV and watch the new Digimon episode with a smile the size of this world and the next...

... well, it's certainly a tremendous trip down memory lane, in more ways than one. And one that i end up cherishing a lot since it connects me to a period of great happiness in my life. That's what childhood is or at least that's ... how it should be for any child. An overhwhelmingly sweet moment in our way too complicated lives when we are blessed with an endless avalanche of happiness and dreams and innocence. When we are the most genuine and the emotions we feel have the most authenticity to it. Where the mundane becomes extraordinary in the most ordinary ways. Truly an unmeasurably important and almost unforgivably ephemeral period in life.

Ehem. Going back to Digimon. Well, i won't talk much about the story and the plot cause to me that's the least important. Hell, i didn't even remember most of the characters names by the time i watched this, much less the story. However, i still remembered what i had to remember. The bromance between the two main guys. The glorious soundtrack. The glorious soundtrack (yes, it should be mentioned at least twice). The nostalgic digi-evolution scenes. Tai and Agumon. The other children and their digimon. Their interactions with each other.
Stuff i thought i had forgotten ages ago, but somehow managed to naturally remember once these new episodes started playing. Even if this sequel flops hard, i don't think i even care. The fact that i was able to revisit this series, listen to the opening theme and see the characters (now much older) interact with each other once again is more than enough. It made me extremely happy.

Ok, enough reminiscing, so here's some random thoughts about the actual episodes i would also like to point out (spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk):
- the animation quality started horribly with a lot of QUALITY scenes but the ending episodes were much better, and i think my eyes also started getting used to the character designs and overall animation; it must be worth noting that while this is a Toei production, i read that no Toei animators actually worked on it, i wonder if it will happen the same in the 2nd movie (and whether that is a good thing or not)
- the ost is as great and nostalgic as i remember it, truly a pleasure to listen to!
- all that bromance, fuck yeah! that's what this sh*t is all about, screw all the hetero shipping faggotry when all the other ships completely pale in comparison to the mighty Yamato x Taichi ship, the one true bros we need but do not deserve
- speaking of Yamato, was he always this likable? when i was a kid, i'm pretty sure i hated his guts, but in this sequel i find him pretty nice
- Taichi is now worried about collateral damage and killing people and i'm not sure how i should feel about this, but those moments at the riverside with Agumon hit me right in the feels
- gotta mention the unneeded love triangle, aka the elephant in the room (or should i say the elephantmon? heh :v), which is back again, and in full force, it seems...
- well, here's the thing: when i was a child i think i had a major crush on Sora (now that i think about it, it might have been because of the cute hat, and also that one Digimon Movie when she was dating(?) Taichi), so i obviously liked her and wanted her to end up with Tai; then i got kinda pissed when i later found out that she chose Yamato instead; nowadays, and after watching Tri, i find myself wondering what's so special about her and think the two guys deserve much better, to be honest :/
- there is a new girl now (probably she only exists so that Taichi doesn't end up with his left/right hand), but the bad news is that i usually end up disliking this kind of character archetype, so let's hope i don't this time but i honestly think i will
- Takeru x Hikari better happen, those two kids are super likable!

All things considered, i'm glad Digimon is back and i'll definitely be watching the next movie/batch of episodes. It was truly a pleasure reliving a bit of my childhood with these first 4 episodes!

So, while i was browsing through stuff i have yet to read, i ended up stumbling upon this extremely underrated jewel.

Illustrated by the same guy (Il-Kwon Ha) who did Annarasumanara (go read it!), it's a very heartwarming story of a guy with a swimsuit fetish living with a strict asian parent and, due to certain circumstances, forced by his teacher to crossdress as a girl and play in a girls water polo team. Kinda generic and uninsteresting, right?

Well, while the premise may not sound that exciting or unique (it isn't), the way the story was handled in such a short albeit suitable run is ... truly remarkable and worth praising. The comedy, the relationship between the two protagonists, the extremely likable side characters (and a special shout-out to the teacher, whose backstory was surprisingly touching) and even the more serious parts, everything was handled with the dignity and quality of a good writer, which is what Il-Kwon certainly is.

And even though the story as a whole is fairly simple and straighforward, it's also quite meaningful and the deeper themes the artist manages to explore here (things like loneliness, child trauma, the pressure of having to meet expectations imposed by those around you, etc.) are elegantly incorporated in it thanks to Il-Kwon's charmingly artistic artwork, which makes it for a rather satisfying experience, because you can clearly feel the kids you've grown to like becoming more mature and overcoming their issues. And that's what makes a coming of age narrative compelling. You end up feeling happy when they feel happy and you get sad when they get sad. It's that sense of progress that makes the whole thing enjoyable, imo.

All in all, it's only 30 chapters long (kinda wish it was a bit longer) and it's a really sweet and satisfying read, so i highly recommend it. Oh, and don't let the gender bender tag turn you off - even though the main guy crossdresses, the people who should know his true identity know it from very early in the story, so it's never annoying. So yeah, don´t waste more time and go read it, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

To still be able to come up with an almost decent ending, given all the circumstances, is truly a testament to what Charlotte could have been if it only had at least one more cour of episodes to properly tell its story.

(Big spoilers about the ending ahead, so avoid this review if you don't want them)

I want to start with the things about Charlotte that I disliked and then conclude with the things that I actually liked. So here we go:

Starting with the series pacing. It was downright horrible the entire time. People who watched Charlotte complain that the first 6 episodes were pretty ... slow. In all honesty, i don't really think they were that slow, since most of them were pretty eventful in their own way. It`s not that they were slow paced in itself, it's just that the time constraints demanded the episodes to be much more fast-paced than they were.
The thing is, they ended up becoming waaaaaay too much of a burden on the rest since they had to finish it in 13 freaking episodes. So, here's the thing: if Maeda really knew that beforehand, then the pacing for the first 6 episodes and the "monster of the week" format is utterly nonsensical and unreasonable.

But my question is, did he really know he only had 13 episodes to work with from the very start?

I don't know, i may be giving too much credit to Maeda, but i don't really think he planned the series to be this short. Rather, I can't bring myself to believe that. Perhaps i just find hard to believe Maeda actually hasn't learned shit since he wrote Angel Beats. Because Charlotte was even more rushed than Angel Beats and the pacing problems were 10x more serious in here.

Still, it's not like all problems stem from the series lenght. While I do think it was the show's main flaw, I don't really think it was impossible for it to be at least a bit better than what it was if only they had managed to do things a bit differently, mainly by using the first 6 episodes in a better way. It would always feel quite rushed given how large the scope of the plot was, but at the very least some of this series blatant pacing issues would not be... well, as blatant and so in-your-face as they were. And hopefully an abomination like episode 11 would have never existed in the first place.

So, pacing issues aside, let's talk about mood swings. Suddenly switching from silly comedy to heavy drama every 2 minutes. That's Charlotte for you. Well, if i recall correctly, Angel Beats was a bit like that, too. And even though I dropped it very early, Little Busters was also like that. So I don't think it would be a stretch to say that this is part of Maeda's writing style, so at the end of the day you either like it or not. Personally, I think it worked as a bit of a double-edged sword in Charlotte. While there were some episodes where the mood swings happened more or less smoothly (episodes 8 and 10, for example), there were also episodes where it was an absolute disaster (episode 11, most noticeably), so it's naturally unavoidable that there were times when I couldn't help but feel disconnected with what the show wanted to make me feel in certain moments. There was also episode 7, where the drama felt mostly comedic, but in that case it was mostly the portrayal of Yuu's emo phase that made me laugh more than I should have.

Moving on to the characters, the rushed nature of the show obviously didn't allow side characters to get some proper development. And what little attention they got was mostly an afterthought, something that it was added here and there without much care or attention simply because there was just no time for more. Takajou remained a mistery the whole time and as likable as he was, he was also remarkably one-dimensional. He was the wingman/bro of the series, and that is all there is to his existence. No information about his past, zero character depth, literally nothing.
As for Yusarin/Misa, well I suppose it worked out surprisingly fine. Even if her development was also rushed, most of the serious scenes where Misa appeared were actually meaningful. The resolution to her conflict was still truly touching and possibly one of the best things about this show. As for Yusa, there was just no time to give more depth to her character other than the "genki idol who's kind to everyone" persona. Likable but ultimately shallow and forgettable, like Takajou.
As for Nao and Yuu, they got a lot more screentime than everyone else, so it's only natural that they also got more development. Their relationship was the driving force of the show after a certain point in the story, so the series success ended up being highly dependent of their chemistry and interactions. Maeda decided to throw a romantic subplot for the two main characters and so the romance became a key element in the series' overall enjoyment. Honestly, I think it could have been much better. But it also could have been much worse, as well. Once again, the main problem was how rushed everything seemed to be.

Same with Yuu's brother and the scientists' plot. It was awfully rushed and there more holes in there than in a planet-sized swiss cheese. It all happened too fast, most logic got thrown out of the window and the end result is what you see in the last 4 episodes. It's like the show was aware that it was free falling deep into a giant black hole but even so, it still tried to grow some magical wings and bullshit their way out of the mess it was in.

And hence the reason why we still got a happy ending, even if it was mostly thanks to a thousand deus ex machina plot devices. I think Maeda knew that if we didn't get a happy ending, the whole series would be even more of a waste than what it already was. I think it was a good decision, all things considered. A couple loose ends were tied thanks to it (Nao finally showing some emotion, Nao's brother getting better in this timeline and most importantly, Yuu getting rewarded after the unbelievably unfair task of having to save the world completely alone). To be honest, the promise Yuu made with Nao and with his brother was so maddeningly unreasonable and even outrageous that a part of me wanted Yuu to give in and say "fuck everything and all those bitches who made me do this alone, imma be the king of the new world now that i am basically a God!" even if that meant we wouldn't get an happy ending. Seriously, the whole thing was so stupid that I couldn't help feeling frustrated. Luckily for the protagonist, Maeda had other plans and didn't want the train to completely wreck so we got an happy ending where everything was forgiven and Yuu still got the Nao after conveniently losing his memories. Everyone is happy and all is right with the world. Well, other than the massive guilt Nao and his brother must feel after basically sending Yuu to a suicide mission, that is.

Speaking of good and happy things, the animation quality was pretty good and consistent the whole time. And that was certainly a good thing. The soundtrack was great. The episode with the Zhiend singer was good. The side characters were pretty likable. The SoL parts were much better than the serious parts. It also had that unpredictable/trainwreck quality to it from start to finish, and that was a good thing, too. Misa's backstory and the resolution to her conflict were pretty good. The story's premise had tremendous potential, despite 98% of it being completely wasted. Nao was cute. Yusarin was cute. Takajou was funny. The imouto was ok, I guess. All things considered, both Nao's and Yuu's development was somewhat consistent and mostly well done if you don't think too hard about it.

To sum things up, Charlotte was definitely enjoyable if you don't think too hard about it. The last minutes of the final episode were still touching if you don't think too hard about it. Happy endings are always good if you like the characters. And despite all its obvious flaws and while it's not a show I would openly recommend to other people, I still don't regret watching it at all, especially if I... well, don't think too hard about it and just enjoy it for what it is, without letting the bad things overshadow the good things. Which is not exactly an easy task, but hey, it can be done.

Such a nice manga! Honestly, there`s very little i would change in this story. Very, very good shoujo manga (also worth noting that this was my first completed shoujo too!) from beginning to the end. Ain`t gonna lie, my first impression was quite bad, mainly because of the art and the fact that the heroine looked way too young and i didn`t like the age gap between the two main characters at all. That and the fact that i was kinda tired back then of annoying love triangles and shoujo/shounen romance tropes (still am), so i really didn`t feel like reading it based on my ... flawed initial impression, which led me to drop it instantly.

Luckily, a few days ago, i decided to give it another try and i`m honestly quite happy i did it, because i had a blast reading it! A very good and compelling story about family and love that has way more to it than what meets the eye.

If i had to summarize Taiyou no Ie in a single word, it would be "genuine". It`s a really genuine manga, with very genuine characters dealing with very genuine issues, both romantic and familiar. The drama never feels forced, it never felt too light nor to dark either. Just right. The character drama here also feels amazingly cliché-free, and the way it tackled the usual shoujo tropes was truly refreshing without never being annoying. The last arc with the heroine`s mother (little spoiler here, i`m sorry) was also extremely powerful, imo. The way the author handled the whole deal was superbly done and even a bit surprising given how realistic and deeply emotive it was. It was also the ultimate "puzzle piece" in Mao`s development as a character and in her relationship with both her family and Hiro, and it finally gave, in my opinion, the necessary balance and impulse that the story needed to be more than just good. To become special and all the more worthy. With such a great final arc, not only it gave a fantastic sense of completeness to the development of pretty much every single character in the cast, but also made the overall theme and even the main duo`s dynamics all the more significant and poignant. At the end of its run, it managed to turn into something great and clearly one of the best romance manga i`ve read.

You know, I always feel like the best stories, the ones that really leave a mark on you are those that end up being greater than the sum of its parts. The ones who manage to be consistent from start to finish, especially with their characters. The ones who get progressively better and whose incessant narrative crescendo results in a giant, virtuous, compelling bang. A lot of stories manage to achieve amazing climaxes throughout their run but somehow end up lacking the consistency (perhaps even talent) to always deliver and make the whole thing as satisfying as it promised to us readers, consequently falling short of making a definite impact at the end.

And i gotta say that Taiyou no Ie was truly a wholesome experience, with some of the finest writing i`ve seen in a while. Sure, it may not be groundbreaking, but not only was able to deliver a truly powerful message, but also did pretty much everything right, in a very genuine way that only a few manga can. And i think that`s the biggest praise i can possibly give it.

Note: More than a review, this is more like a short, personal reflection after reading the entire anime, so if you are looking for a very specific or detailed review, you won`t find it here.

Nonetheless, it would make me happy if you still decide to give it a try after reading this ^^

Having said that, on to the actual review:

Death Parade is a fascinating take on the nature of humans. Even if it`s not something necessarily original, the search for a meaning to live and to exist has always been something that everyone have asked themselves at least once in their lives.

Death Parade`s central ... theme is exactly that - the good old question about the meaning of life.

As if inspired by philosophers like Hobbes and Rousseau (and ultimately leaning on some of the latter`s teachings), it tried to give their own answer. To portray what it means to live. To be human. To feel sad. The value of life. The joy of living. Memento Mori and Carpe Diem.
And simultaneously brought to light another crucial theme - the judgment of human life.

Death Parade`s judgement system is wrong and wicked.

It condemns people based on their actions in life and right after being sent to the afterlife. It manipulates them and forces them to act pressured by their natural will to live and their unwillingness to accept that they are already dead. The judgment ignores their deepest regrets and feelings, it`s always devoid of emotion, it`s made by non-humans who have never lived before. It`s too rational, too ignorant and unreasonable.

The thing is, to live is to have regrets, to make mistakes. No human life is immaculate. It`s build on choices you make and choices you regret making. It`s build with the help of others. You`re not free to live alone, to walk a path that is only yours. Such notion is a fallacy in itself. You aren`t even born out of your own free will. So judging someone the way the puppet-like arbiters do is obviously wrong and unsuitable.

And that´s the main message the creator, Tachikawa Yuzuru, wanted to transmit to us, viewers. He wanted us to search for our own answers, to make us think, to force us to get out of our comfort zone and re-evaluate things, to consider again what we think about life and death, and what it means to exist and interrogate that very own existence. And since one thing logically leads to the other, to question our own nature.

Are humans evil?

What does it take for one to become a monster, a murderer, for one to lose his humanity? Then again, does getting rid of your own humanity makes you any less of a human? Even if you turn evil and lose your sanity, aren`t you still human nonetheless? What does it mean to be human anyways? And in all honesty, who am i to say you`re not human anymore? Who are you to say that you`re not human anymore? Who is society to say that you`re not human anymore?

Does that even matter?

Is it valid to condemn someone based on common sense? Based on what other people dictate you? Based on your own flawed, deficient, weak, inadequate, purposeless, ignorant view or opinion? Is it right to even judge someone else or even your own self in the first place?

Naturally, you can came across many different answers to this question and it`s hard to say if there`s even a right answer.
The apparent nihilism one has to go through to reach an aswer is what makes it beautiful and all the more valuable.

Said answer you may have already found it, but let me tell you - you`re just delluding yourself into thinking it`s the correct one. Your answer is shit. Just like my own answer. Just like everyone else`s answer.

But isn`t it at least important that you at least have come across one? It doesn`t matter if it`s a meaningful one. It doesn`t matter if your answer is completely devoid of meaning. In the end, after all is said and done, we will still have our own opinion, our view and values, a construction made out of smaller deconstructions, an image that depends on many things and is something ultimately personal and subjective, and equally shitty as anyone else`s, and obviously as valuable and noble as everyone else`s.

Nevertheless, at the very end we`re fundamentally alone, unable to understand others and to make others able to understand us. And there`s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Let your individuality shine, live your own life, share your joy and sorrow with others, value every moment of your life as if you were about to die tomorrow. Make mistakes. Live and find your own answer.