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Merc Storia is a late adaptation of an ancient mobage, and as of right now, it’s one of the most overlooked anime of the fall season. I’m writing this review so I can convince you to give a chance to what I personally feel is the best anime of this season, and one of the best animes of 2018.

Story/Characters:

So here’s the premise: in this world, people and monsters are living together peacefully. However, not all monsters have been tamed. That why healers exist, whose job is to heal those monsters’ hearts. Our protagonist, Yuu – from “yuusha”, a.k.a. hero in English - is one ... of them, there’s just one problem: he’s deathly afraid of them, which makes his job quite complicated. And he’s a wimp in all regards anyway. And his sidekick, Merc, is just a tiny girl in a jar whose only power is to float and has lost her memory prior her encounter with Yuu. In the first episode, after a confrontation with one of those monsters, they begin their travelling through the country in order to find a way to restore Merc’s lost memory and for Yuu to overcome his fear.

All this setup, which was the first episode, however, is just an excuse. Merc Storia, despite what the title suggests, is not mainly about Merc, but about the unique places they visit through their travels. These mini arcs consist of one or two episodes, and after their problems have been resolved – or partly resolved -, Yuu and Merc moves on to their next destination. And while they’re certainly helping, they’re only there to give an incentive for these mini arc’s main characters to solve their own problems themselves. And the story doesn't shy away from heavy topics: people’s role in their society according to their gender, a father not being able to connect with his own daughter, dealing with loss, keeping up appearances and self-worth, just to name a few. And as I’ve said, each place is very unique: for example, episode 8-9’s mini arc is a musical - I’m not kidding.

And don’t expect heavy action. Our hero is not a fighter after all. And sometimes even the monsters themselves play little role in these mini arcs. But if you can get through the episodic premise, you get a damn good story. I ended up in tears multiple times; episode 6-7 is one big tearjerker, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Art:

Animation is certainly not this series’ strong suit to be honest, but the backgrounds are gorgeous and more than make up for it, especially later in the series. The already mentioned episode 6-7 is one of the best examples of that.

Music/Sound:

Let’s start with my pet peeve: the sound effects of the monsters can be annoying and it’s not helping when you’re in the middle of a headache or a migraine. Now that I have this out of the way, I have nothing but praise. The OP, the ED, the background music: it gives the series an aura you could call “comfy” for a lack of a better world. And don’t forget the aforementioned musical episodes. They really outdid themselves on this front.

Tl;dr:

Merc Storia is a damn good story and if you can overlook some of its flaws, which has nothing to do with its writing, you'll get one of the best anime this year. Please don’t sleep on this one!

Before I started Aikatsu Stars (AiStars from now on), I was kind of worried. I’ve heard from multiple places that it ruined Aikatsu, that it turns to crap at a certain point of a show, stuff like that. Since I’ve heard those things about the 2nd season of Aikatsu and I ended up very much liking it*, I said, okay, how about watching it and finding it out yourself? It was indeed a disappointment, but in a positive way. In the end, it became my favorite show of all time second only to Ichigogen, also known as the first 2 seasons of the original Aikatsu ... (OGKatsu from here on). And after marathoning OGKatsu, especially after Akarigen, it felt refreshing.

Those who seek out the same kind of writing as in OGKatsu: you’re going to be disappointed. AiStars is a much more plot-driven show with a darker theme, even though it’s still a character-centric show at heart. If you outright hate drama or drama-centric episodes, this show is probably not for you. Friendly rivalries aren’t gone, but they’re much more serious, especially in the 2nd season; characters can be outright hostile to each other, with deep ideological differences. Idols no longer have to cater to each and every whim of the brand designers in order to acquire new dresses: they’re the brands themselves this time around, designing their own dresses. This goes hand in hand with the show’s main theme, self-producing. Special appeals, which were a big thing in OGKatsu, do exist, but they never get explained; this actually makes the story better, as it has other priorities. Yume is a much more expressive protagonist compared to Ichigo (or even Akari), not hiding her frustration, even capable of tantrums when things don’t go her way – she’s 12 years old after all. That doesn’t make either of them less of a great character (Ichigo is still one of my favorite characters of all time), just make either of these shows different. It has a much more modern feel to it: while OGKatsu felt like I’m watching a show from another decade (not that there’s anything wrong with it), AiStars has a much more dynamic feel to it, feeling very much like an anime from 2016. All in all, it ended up being its own thing without being unapologetic about it.

AiStars is not a perfect show, that’s not how I give out scores. Perfect shows simply don’t exist. It’s especially impossible for a show with 100 episodes. The CGI for the stage events is a stepback, for example. Characters who would’ve deserved to have their comeuppance ended up being redeemed without much of an explanation. Plot points ended up being abandoned and never much mentioned again (and don’t let your nostalgia goggles fool you: this was the same case in OGKatsu as well). Some side characters would’ve deserved their own stage events *cough*Haruka Luka*cough*

But there are plenty of other things making up for it. The characters are well-written and have complex motivations. You’ll end up caring for them, investing in them. The music is catchy as hell. The show is looking beautiful and as I’ve said earlier, dynamic. The voice acting is stellar, especially Yume’s – she’s voiced by Tomita Miyu, the same VA who voiced Riko in Made In Abyss; remember this name in the future.

If these things ended up convincing you, watch Aikatsu Stars. You’re not going to regret it.

*yeah, I’m a DreAca apologist, and I’m not sorry

PS: Koharu is best girl

Disclaimer: I only picked this manga back up recently after a long period of time. My memory may not be perfect.

WataMote is a manga not to be taken lightly; if you've already been through high school or currently going through it, you'll probably have a harrowing experience. All the embarrassing situations, self-deprecation, you'll going to be reminded of. It's a comedy at heart, so don't expect any kind of drama at all.

I'm not going to go through everything in this review, instead, I'm going to concentrate on one aspect the previous reviews have skipped (due to they were written in a different time period): this ... is a manga of 3 acts - currently at least. Be advised, minor spoilers if you don't want to know about this.

What I mean is at first, you'll have Tomoko - the protagonist - driving herself into embarrassing, cringeworthy situations and have her comeuppance. I had hard time sympathizing with her, since she almost always had her own hand in her undoing. Kind of like a teenager girl version of Dick Dastardly - I'm not even kidding. Each chapter had this dynamic and it was kind of a hit or miss. You could have started it anywhere and you wouldn't have missed anything.

At chapter 46, one of Tomoko's old acquaintance is introduced. It means she starts to interact with other people in her life other than her brother Tomoki and Yuu, her "friend" from junior high. The tone of the manga changes somewhat because of that.

And there's the current act, which starts around chapter 70. The manga introduces a whole bunch of new characters. There seems to be a continuation as well. I'm not going to spoil anything beyond that, but let's just say the new characters changed the manga for the better. It was a great decision, at least from a story perspective.

I get it if this won't convince you. Going through so many chapters so you can get to the good part may not be your cup of tea and you probably value your time here. Good thing is the chapters are usually very short, no more than 10 pages. You might want to take a breath sometimes though because of all the cringe, especially at the early chapters.

Right now, at chapter 109, it stands as 8/10 with me.