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Dec 11, 2023
One of the reasons I like this anime is the nostalgia factor. A magic school anime with a twin-tails tsundere heroine? WHAT YEAR IS THIS?
So yeah the show is built around some well-known tropes, typical MC-looking MC, aforementioned tsundere, "I can't believe he's a boy" boy sidekick, but they are done well, MC is not too generic, tsundere is not overdone.
Overall it is a rather light, easy watch, typical magic school story, but there's a dark twist right at the start, which gives a considerable amount of weight to the story: there is the well-known thought experiment of "What would you do differently if you
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could travel back in time and be your younger self?". Well, the MC has to do a lot different because in his original timeline humanity basically got wiped out.
So it is rather interesting watching him going up against the end of the world, but with a lot of future knowledge. Other than the lingering fact that humanity might soon be facing total annihilation, the anime is lighthearted, but we are reminded here and there that the MC is actually taking everything very seriously.
Some (for me) very important factors: no harem, no fanservice and the MC and his party are not OP.
Obviously, they are strong, since the MC has future experience, and he picked people to his team who he already knew are going to be strong in the future (but not strong enough, that's why he's focusing on improving their skills even further), but still they are no all-stars, each of them has their strength and weakness. MC is basically an anti-mage, but he is not very good at the offense (for example at some point he's shown to be helpless against a pack of rats). The tsundere girl has powerful magic, but she needs to be protected and the boy is an "agility tank" (I am a big fan of party-based RPGs). Actually there is an all-star magic knight, but she's on the opposing side, making it feel like an uphill battle, and overall our heroes' situation makes them the underdogs.
Other things:
Art/animation is fine and rather simple, there aren't grand animated spells and CGI monsters look like CGI monsters (but they don't appear often).
Humor: There are funny little animations and they did the tsundere thing quite well, it is funny watching her react to stuff.
Background music is fitting, and ED song is my favourite ED of the season.
Overall I would recommend it, it is obviously not the anime of the season, but they weren't aiming for that.
It is good for what it is, easy not too generic fun.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 31, 2019
Edit: I would say after episode 5 the anime started losing quality in all aspects, art, story, characters. The story is still alrightish, but the relationship of the 2 main chars went down the very generic way, the blue-haired girl is literally a waste of space, she's not doing anything at all, the mandatory tardy fan service scenes couldn't be kept away for long too. So anyway I am pretty disappointed with the show, in the beginning I thought it can be a good kind of generic show.
The original review for the first 4 episodes:
"Oh look, a magic high school anime, how original... How could
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it be any more generic? Kirito laser sabering bullets in the very first moments, we are having the typical troubled blondie as the main girl and the shy blue-haired girl for the side as well. Let me just do a favor for myself and not waste my time." - As I believe for many others, this was my first reaction to the anime.
... But something was different. No braindead fanservice, the harem is missing several members AND where are the balloon animals?? ... so anyway something was off.
Sure the whole setup is as generic as it ever gets, but it just is executed so well.
First of all, let me just talk about the OP. It cured my OCD by itself. It is just so well produced: The music pick was quite surprising, I haven't seen much OP-s, with this style of music. Then the video isn't just the typical slideshow, it is in perfect sync with the music, it is just a joy to watch.
The anime takes this very generic set-up, but then with good directing and high production value, it turns it into something great. The art is top-notch, there aren't jarring animations, fight scenes are fluid and well-directed. The music is good too, always fits the situation.
Back to the generic characters:
Sure the show's Kirito named Kufa is quite overpowered, but instead of him beating anything and everything, they move him into a support-like role. The true MC is Melida, who is certainly not anywhere near overpowered. She fights in the majority of the action scenes, she actually has to perform her very best every time. This way the anime doesn't get dull super quick, it isn't just Kufa slapping the shit out of everybody with no effort.
The main characters while looking very generic at first, they have depth to them. Melida even though being from a noble family, is seriously struggling every day and still doesn't give up. Because of this Kufa decides to get her out of her misery. Anyway Kufa is as much of a gentleman as it is possible.
Some side characters are quite unique, like Pricket fighting with two circle-like things, or in episode 4 the girl who is communicating by lighting cards on fire then the flames are spelling out the words. So even though the starting situation is generic, there are plenty of new unique ideas in the show.
The story isn't too complex, given the theme so far mostly there have been tournaments and Kufa training Melida for them, but other things too I won't spoil. Things are usually happening behind the curtains too, some we cannot make much sense just yet.
I can really appreciate shows like this. Starting from a generic set-up, but turning then turning it into something great. Sure it is no masterpiece, but it is really nice to see that with good writing/directing everything can be made into a good show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 3, 2019
The dark magical girl genre has been around ever since Madoka, so close to a decade. One could think everything has already been done before, but no, every once in a while a new one comes around that still has something new to show.
Granbelm is one of these series. It came up with an impressive combination, it is some sort of a dark magical girl mech battle royale show, something like a Holy Grail War but instead of masters and servants, with magical girls and mechs.
The dark magical girl part speaks for itself, if you like the genre you probably will enjoy Granbelm too. By
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the genre's nature, several characters are pushed to the extremes, looking like they are borderline insane, but they do have their reasons, all of them have, except the main girl, who is kind of a wild card. She seemingly has no reason to participate in this "Holy Grail War", she also has strange powers noone can explain, I would say she is the main mystery of the show.
Now about the mechs. I am not a big mech fan, but I like them here. They have an unusual, interesting design that I haven't quite seen yet. The mech battles are very interesting and great looking. It is not just the usual "robots are bashing each other" stuff. They all have different powers, use different tactics and sometimes they can do some random unexpected stuff.
So far I am really enjoying the show, from episode 1 to 5 it keeps on improving from episode to episode. It is also not too predictable, so I am looking forward to see where it will be taking us.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 28, 2019
Wow, holy sht.
It's been a while since I saw something as bad as this thing. I guess I have been avoiding crappy shows nowadays, but the basic idea of the show catched my attention.
Still I would say there is a tiny fraction of the series somewhat worth watching. There are multiple groups, the first one we are introduced to is called 'Summer B'. These 4 characters we are introduced at the beginning of the 1st episode are okay, they are nothing new, but compared to every single other character they are bearable. Still I can see why people could find them annoying too: Natsu Iwashimizu
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is this typical quiet, low profile girl, Arashi Aota is the usual knight in shining armor, Semimaru Asai is this annoying rebellious teen, and the female officer with them is ok too. After ep3 the former 3 depart on their own journey, which is from then is the only part of the series that might be worth watching, they are exploring this post-apocalyptic world, without said characters being mind-blowingly retarded. I would say ep 1-4 are okayish, then in ep 5-9 the group of said 3 characters only get a few minutes per episode, then the second half of ep11. This would be a love story of sorts, and these 3 characters are getting a tiny bit of character development as well.
If you value your time and sanity I would recommend skipping EVERYTHING else. Every further introduced group achieves a new high on the retard-o-meter. It is like watching the storywriter gradually losing it. The rest of the characters are either annoying as hell or indescribably retarded. Anything happens makes zero sense, after a while I couldn't do else, but laugh at how horribly written everything was. And when these horribly written characters are not doing some retarded sht, we can watch 1,5 episodes of flashbacks of these imbeciles we couldn't care less about.
So it would be a straight 1, but as I said the "subplot" of the 3 characters is somewhat watchable, it is funny seeing Natsu tripping over anything and everyting. So IDK, 3/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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May 20, 2019
Fairy gone is a rather odd show to be honest. But probably that is the reason I am liking it so much.
Nowadays 90% of the animes are going with very straightforward storytelling since the average anime fan seems to be allergic to brainwork. Instead of the usual approach of spoonfeeding any and every relevant information so even the greenest vegetable won't get lost, Fairy gone starts off with an "In medias res" opening, without explaining much of anything. Then slowly, episode by episode builds up the world. I would say they are doing it excellently, if you pay attention, it is not too hard to
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piece things together. Still, with every "mystery" solved a new one appears, which the show will get to in due time. This means most of the time you won't know the full picture, there will be a lot of unanswered questions, but be patient, eventually everything will be answered.
The story is quite complex, it is something like a political-action-drama. I would say it is for a rather mature audience. The show is set in a post-war era, which is rather unique, most animes about the war, where the hero serves justice and defeats the evil. Fairy gone digs a lot deeper than that. It is not all just black and white, everyone has a good reason for their actions. There are a lot of people names and locations thrown around, but eventually, you will learn the more important characters' name, and the name of the locations isn't that important, I don't remember a single one, and I have no problem understanding what's going on. They are just there for lore, if you are really intersted you can look up a map and place the events, but you are totally fine if you don't do anything with them.
The story is moving quite slowly, although still there's quite much going on, also there are numerous cool fight scenes. From the beginning it is not quite clear where the story will develop. I would say it is a big plus for me since I am already sick and tired of nowadays all the anime are doing the same things over and over again, so they are very easy to predict. Finally, this is a story I don't know yet.
Art:
The show uses a mix of 2D and CGI. The 2D art is generally quite good, there are scenes that are really pretty and rarely there are scenes that doesn't look so great, but that happens in every show. Characters are having a western kind of desing, it reminds me of some old classics.
They are using CGI for the stands/personas called fairies. However, they are definitely not just plainly copying the idea from those shows. Unlike the stands/personas, with the fairies they went for a realistic approach, therefore anime fans immediately labelled them ugly. But they are supposed to be ugly, they are terrifying monsters being able to rip people apart, do you want to look them like my little pony? With this realistic outlook, the CGI blends in with the 2D animation quite well, but still looks kind of otherworldly, as these fairies definitely don't belong to the human world. The rules are very different too: unlike the other 2 shows it is not only the stands/personas are fighting. Here the fairy user usually fights the other 2v2, user vs user and user vs fairy too.
Characters:
At first glance the characters might look bland, but by time with flashbacks and their present actions we will get to know them better, what are their motivations, goals. The "villains" have their reasons for doing what they are doing, in their shoes maybe you would do the same.
Sound:
The music is great. There is almost always some undelying music fitting or setting the mood for the scene with a wide variety of styles. Also, the ending song is definitely the best of the spring season.
Conclusion:
This anime is definitely not for everyone. If you are interested in an anime with a grand theme, a complex story with a lot of underlying threads and in the meanwhile some pretty cool action, don't listen to the masses, be sure to check this out. It is natural to not understand a lot of things at the very beginning, you will get your clues in later episodes so eventually you will be able to piece the puzzle together.
Overall I am giving it an 8/10 now, but if the story wraps up nicely, we'll get some more good character developement, cool action and in the end everything falls into place, I can see myself rating it even a 10/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 15, 2019
Hah I know I am the very minority, but I just cannot bear watching the show. Like this is the saddest anime this season. Like I get why people are liking it, but it makes it even sadder.
The anime in a nutshell:
There's a guy in his 30's working an exploiting job, and instead of fixing his life, he gets high and hallucinates 10 year old looking furry girls 'pampering' him. Of course to dissolve moral concerns, "luckily they are 800 years old". Naturally, they become soulmates instantly, because whatever else would you want when you are 30, other than having 10-year-old little girl soulmates.
The anime
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is somewhat similar to UzaMaid, having the same age gap between the main characters, but there we were constantly reminded that this way of thinking is unethical, they took it to the extremes and made fun of it, resulting in a quite funny show overall. Speaking of humor, there isn't a single drop of it in this show.
Story:
There is ZERO story, nothing is happening at all. Dude spends all his time (when he's not working his 12h shift) basically molesting said "800-year-old girls" or taking a bath with them. Of course he wasn't the one initiated the bath together but certainly didn't object too much.
Characters:
No development at all, bland characters, they are basically exist to satisfy the self-insert male MC.
Art, sound:
I guess ok, nothing out of the ordinary. Although the dude's voice... If I didn't have depression before, after listening to it I certainly have now.
Basically the point of the anime that there are a lot of similar people in Japan, working at exploitative jobs, outside of it having no life at all. And instead of fixing your burning garbage can of life, just accept it, and watch this feel-good show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 9, 2019
(Contains minor spoilers)
OPM S2 is bad. And no, not J.C.Staff is at fault here. Both Madhouse and J.C.Staff made an accurate adaptation, it is the source material that went massively downhill. Still, I would say S1 had better visuals, but J.C.Staff-s work is by no means looks bad.
Let’s start from the beginning. OPM is essentially built around a big anti-joke: "How stupid would it be if the MC was literally unbeatable by any means? Let's do it."
It was a caricature of well, every single action anime ever, where as the watchers we know the MC won't lose, because he's the MC, he eventually wins with
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the power of friendship or something. In OPM they stopped pretending. They said it out loud: the MC is super overpowered and cannot lose.
This approach worked perfectly, it was something new we haven't seen before. But of course every joke gets old after a while. I would say it didn't even last till the end of S1. There's an obvious reason why super overpowered MC-s don't work, there is no tension whatsoever, every fight is meaningless if we know the MC is unbeatable. Still in S1 they kept it together with cleverly placed jokes, over the top visuals and some so-ridiclous-it's-funny characters. A good creative plot wasn't ever in the focus, but I would say it was alright, the story made sense.
None of those are present in S2. The story completely falls apart. The show didn't manage to reinvent itself, all the same jokes already got old, including the main one. There is an anti-hero slaughtering heroes left and right (it is the very same formula from S1, but dragged out waay too long), we know nobody can beat him, because what would be Saitama's role then, but still we have to watch these meaningless fights episode from episode. In multiple cases where a hero could actually beat the anti-hero, just a moment before the hit would land, some random character interrupts the fight. One of these cases the character be like, "oh he’s just a human, he doesn’t deserve this rough treatment", sure, he only killed/hospitalised hundreds before, he’s totally cool….
This very same anti-hero has the most retarded reason like ever. As a kid he was watching the Saturday cartoons, and "oh poor evil monsters always lose". If the heroes wouldn’t win, society would collapse, you wouldn't have electricity to watch your cartoon you stupid shit.
Again, since Saitama is super overpowered, the villains have to be quite overpowered too. As a result 99% of the heroes are like dogpoop. There are only a very few heroes who stay "cool", the rest of them literally worth nothing.
Contrary to what everyone is saying, actually the fight scenes are the (only) good parts. Not J.C.Staff ruined the anime. The art is fine. Everything else is the problem.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 4, 2018
So Release the Spyce is a cute girls doing spy things, somewhat similar to Princess Principal or maybe rather to the cartoon Totally Spies. This anime is no masterpiece but it perfectly executes what it promises. We have 6 girls doing spy things.
Story: 7
Compared to Princess Principal we don't have such a mind-boggling story, rather with a different approach we start from zero, as our protagonist is new in the spy business and in the first episodes we can see her hardships during training and how she is gradually getting better. We also have some great action scenes in every single episode, so the show
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is not getting dull.
The show deploys a fair amount of darker tone as well, as they are dealing with drugs, illegal brothels, etc, but generally never too much, so the anime keeps its lighthearted atmosphere.
There is also some mystery elements included, as the main villains face is never shown, also apparently one of the protagonists is a traitor, so we can wonder who it is.
There is also ZERO amount of fanservice in the anime. Ok, that might be a strech, but non of this in-your-face sht. They are constantly jumping all over the place, and there is not a single panty shot.
Art: 7
I'm not an art guy, but I haven't found anything wrong with the show's art. Generally the character designs are nice, the fight animations are fluid.
Sound: 8
Now this one of the strong points of the anime. The opening song is really catchy. Also during the missions and fights there is always some fitting 'spy music'. It makes the spy scenes a real joy to watch.
Characters: 7
Characters aren't overly complex, but they aren't just cardboard cutouts as well. Especially the main character. We can see how she's progressing throughout the anime.
The members of the criminal organization are no fools as well, they are using different tactics to make thigs go their way.
Enjoyment: 9
As I wrote above, the show is not a masterpiece, but doesn't even try to be one. It is a really fun lighthearted anime to watch and although there are slower episodes as well, it is never boring, it keeps the attention well. Even though it is not a comedy anime whatsoever, there are plenty of funny scenes each episode.
Overall I give it 8/10, as this is one of my favourites this season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 26, 2017
So how to describe this anime in one line...
If you dropped it in the first couple of episodes, then YOU DEFINATELY HAVE TO WATCH IT.
When the show started, after watching the first episode I dropped it right away, since this 'otakus are going around doing random otaku stuff' is definately not my cup of a tea. Recently, since I had way too much free time, I randomly checked out episode 12, and boy, I was wrong. After a couple of minutes I decided to give the anime a second chance.
To be fair the anime does a really good job of disguising itself as "your cringefest
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cliche-filled weekly anime" by being exactly that for half of its runtime.
In my opinion episode 1-6 are quite bad:
In the first two episodes they establish the anime club, I guess you are kinda recommended watch it to get to know the characters.
In the next four episodes they are doing random anime related stuff, like going to shops, conventions, etc. You could watch them for all the anime references, but if you find them uninteresting (like me) you may as well skip all of them, they don't influence the rest of the anime in any way whatsoever.
The second half of the series, from episode 7, is actually quite good. They start doing something interesting, producing an "anime" (no, not for the rest of the runtime) and finally the show actually starts to be funny, not just cringy. Meanwhile things gradually start to make less sense episode by episode... but in the end everything will make sense. I really liked last couple of episodes, but I won't spoiler. This is the kind of shows where you have no idea what kind of a ride you got on.
If you are a man of culture, don't forget to watch episode 10 opening ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
There is this girl, Yui, she "belongs to the main cast", and the anime exclusively uses her as a means of fanservice, and so blatantly, it is funny as hell. (It is the OK kind of fanservice.)
I love animes that don't take themselves seriously.
I'm giving the series a score of 7, because for me the first half was quite medicore bad and second part was really good. Overall in the end it was a positive surprise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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