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Feb 23, 2025
Maybe a little eccentric, but certainly not weird. One of those titles I've been getting around to for ages. Now I am kicking myself for my foolish procrastination.
The artwork is very appealing. Colorful, crisp, not avante gard, but you can see there's been some love poured into this. I found the animation was about the same. It's not screaming, in your face, shonen spaz out. But there is quallity rendering throughout. There is a fair touch of CGI, but it's very well blended in for the most part. Can't say I remember any of tthe usual cost cutting sequences today's studios beat us about
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the head and shoulders with. Overall it was much above average.
There's quite a cast of characters. They center around a family of shapeshifting tanukis who blend in with human society and sometimes mingle with tengu. So it will help immensely to understand them if you have some basic background in Japanese folklore. Or you will miss some of the subtle wrinkles in the characters. They are all well designed and well rounded, for the most part, and get interesting personalities and back stories. But there were two I felt could have been developed a lot more. I really wish they had fleshed out the Professor and Benton more. They are interesting, but their motivations remain mysterious and unexplained. I found it a touch disappointing. I guess there is only so much you can do in 13 episodes.
The narrative surprised me with its depth. It starts out as laid back SoL, but morphs into something of a murder mystery over time. The writers do it in a smooth and congruent manner. They deserve a high five for such a good job. The story moves along at a decent pace not too fast or slow. You get to savor it like a good hot pot. One thing of note is that this series ends on a very high note. A rare occurance in anime.
Such good voice acting throughout. This is one exemplary cast. The directions leads them well. When you look at the whole of this series, and how well it is all put together, the direction deserves kudos, indeed.
It's not often a series is this well brought up. If I was grading, it deserves a very high A- at 93/100. It's so close to a full blown A, I can't help but recommend this to anyone, especially if they have some background in Japanese culture and folklore.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 14, 2025
Compared to previous offerings of this title, this arc leaves me a bit perplexed.
Art work was about the same. Solid, with good background work and great character designs. The animation wasn't quite as good, but it's a lot better than most animation out there today. Something of a quibble at best.
Lots of new characters introduced, but frankly the development comes up hard and short. There's just not enough episodes to do them all justice.
The shortness of an arc, rather than a full season, hurts the narrative as well. While what is presented is intriguing enough, things are much too rushed. The ending,
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while not bad, seems to be a crash landing. It opened up a lot more questions than it answered.
Watched the sub and usually I don't care for Mandarin. This VA cast did a decent job of conveying the emotions in a scene. The direction was fair, with the overall rushed nature making things a bit rough to tie up nicely.
While I hugely loved the first two seasons, I feel a bit shortchanged by this arc. While the seasons got A grades from me, and I didn't find this too obnoxious, I can't see fit to give it better than 84/100 B for all the loose ends it leaves dangling. Here's hoping we get a real season soon to tie up the dangling plotlines.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 14, 2025
I was a big fan of this back in the day, and enjoyed it immensely. I just finished a re-watch after god knows how many years. Sadly I can't say this has withstood the test of time well. Not unworthly, but seems shopworn today.
Art work was good for its time, but looks only so-so today. Characters and mechas were already trope-ridden, and today they are simply cliche. The animation work is something of a mixed bag; some good and some not so good. Overall it was about average for its day. But it's hardly anything impressive anymore.
The narrative is hardly inspired. I got the solid
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impression this viewing that a lot of this is a direct ripoff of Martian Successor Nadesico, without Gekigangar or the cooking, in a sub rather than a spaceship. Tessa seemed a direct cut and paste of Ruri. Bakas. I kept waiting for the Jovian Lizards to pop out. Some of the middle episodes are sloggy. Things perk up towards the end. While not unsatisfying, it all wrapped up in a seemingly preordained manner.
The VA work is choppy. I thought the actress doing Chidori was pretty good, and her performance still holds up. But the rest of the cast are just cliche or meh at best. Direction in this rewatch struck me as kind of choppy. While some episodes move along at a spritely pace, others seem to drag out forever, Soundtrack usage seemed unskillled. Distracting in way too many instances. Splahes of fanservice are sophomoric at best.
But no need to get into a panic. This isn't bad by any means. Just not as good as the rosy lens of nostalgia would make it out to be. If I were to grade it today, it would get a C- at 72/100. But back in the day, it would have easily been high end B material. If you loved it back then, definitely worth a stroll down Memory Lane. If you haven't seen it, keep your expectations in check, and it will be a good 'turn off your brain and veg" series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 13, 2025
If you are into stuff like Greek or Roman tragedy, or Shakespeare, then have we got the anime for you!
The art work is simplistic, but there is a certain elegance to it. The background work starts out lush. It had a pastel, water-colory quality to it that is impressive. But the quality starts to degrade as the series progresses. It never gets bad, but it was noticeable. Animation started out slightly above average, but slipped toward the end, too. Again, it never got bad, but it was noticeable. Still, much better quality than your typical trash isekai.
The character art designs were also simple, to
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the point of being spartan. The characters are saved by being extremely well rounded. Might not like them all, but you know where they are all coming from.
I found the narrative a tad odd. The tale of the Heike is fascinating in a Game of Thrones manner. It's well written. And although it's about samurais, there's not tons of action. This is more about character study and political intrigue. Those expecting battle shonen are likely to be sorely disappointed. I'd say having at least a little background in Japanese culture and history will help mightily. This is not really a series for gaijin.
If there is a black mark against the writing it concerns the MC. Biwa at first seems very interesting, but as the series winds on, the writers really do nothing with her. She's very static, until in the last couple episodes she's flattened out, into a 2D spectator of the momentous events swirling around her. While I'd say the ending was decent enough, it still seemed to leave something lacking with her.
A saving grace is that all the characters' VAs do a fine job. Kudos! I am sure the direction was key in that regard. Another feather in the cap of the direction is the soundtrack. The use of tradition Japanese instruments and style was magnificient.
No need to take a hike, there is an enjoyable series right here. To grade this, it deserves a B+ at 87/100. While this may be tragic, it certainly isn't sad, and deserves at least a 3 eps test to see if its up your alley.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 11, 2025
Started a little slow, but picked up after a couple episodes. Then it went straight into the dumpster. We need nephilim washed away in a world wide flood, to bring things back to where they belong.
The art work is the same. There's been a slight uptick in the animation quality this season. No problems on this front.
The characters seem to have been a mixed bag. Bilac is the only one to have gotten any real development so far. But the writing to introduce a new character has been sketchy at best. Why throw in this mecha silliness when she's already got SLF experience?
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Which leads to the narrative writing. Why are they wasting multiple episodes on mecha trash? If I wanted to see that crap I'd queue up some Gundams. It's jarring to start off in fantasy land, and then BAM! suddenly it's a sci-fi cosmos, with no apparent need for any such transition.
Most of the original VAs still doing a decent enough job. Although I think Sunrako and at least 2 of the new characters introduced are being overacted. So at least in that regard the direction slid compared to Season 1.
Even if we get heaping helpings of vorpal bunnies for the rest of the season, damage has already been done. I'd have started this season off at an 88/100 B+ grade, but since then it's dumped to a B- at 82/100. I'll grind through to the end of the season, but not sure the writers can keep this series from the trash game bargain bin.
Finally got back to the meat and potatoes. Thought the Lycagon fight springing up out of nowhere was a bit of a stretch, but it was the start of a good fight. Creep the grade back to a full B 85/100.
The plot and characters have improved, but the animation quality is surely sliding. Let's hope the producers are saving up their pennies for an impressive ending. I'd hate to see this become just another flashy trash anime.
They finally get into the real quest of the season, and they are going to rug-pull us for some dorky "pro gamer" arc in another game? Just jarring, and some piss poor writing. Could they make up their minds what game they are writing about? Dropping out of B territory to C+ at 78/100.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 30, 2025
Some stories you hate to see end, and this is one of those.
Like the first two seasons, the art work is simply masterful, especially in the character designs and backgrounds. All the animation is CG, and the 2D was great throughout. The 3D though, slipped back into some of the cost saving problems that beset the first season. There are some clunkly looking sections, especially as the season continues. It wasn't a showstopper, by any means. but it did get a tad distracting.
There was more slippage in the narrative writing. At times, this season was hard to follow, as it was not always apparent whether
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you were in the current time, or stuck in another flashback. It was like the writers were doing stream of consciousness, would get half way through a scene, slap themselves in the forehead, and said "This won't make any sense." Then they'd shoehorn in some backstory to pull it all together. They did manage to tie the loose ends well enough, but it struck me as very clunky along the way. Give credit where it was due though, they manage to make the ending satisfying, when there were a lot of times it didn't look like that could happen.
The VAs and the direction were brilliant again, at least for what the writers gave them to work with. Still one of the best soundtracks ever.
Nothing diabolic about it. This is plain old goodness. I do have to ding the animation and writing this season though, so instead of the A's the other two seasons got, this season grades at a 89/100, for as high of a B+ as I can give it. It was a master at all the things it did right, and the entire series is highly recommended.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 26, 2025
Gives new meaning to the term "hand job."
The art work here is no better than meh, and drops to yuck as the series progresses. The animation is never much good, but it gets horrendous in some of the middle episodes. About as cheaply done as they could get away with.
The character designs are laughable, and not because they are meant to be comedic. Midori at least starts out amusing, but the writers pound her into the ground in a hurry. The MC comes off as a total putz. I kept hoping the local deliquents would catch him and kick his ass for good.
Is there
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a story here? If so, it's so poorly written as to be undetectable. The writers keep hitting on their gimmick so often, this goes from boring to annoying to downright offensive before the torture ends.
The VA for Midori did a pretty good job but the rest of the cast took lessons at the Overactor's Academy. The direction all the way around was a complete cluster; a bigger mess than American politics.
This is a complete circle jerk. Grading, it deserves no more than 32/100 for a full blown F failure. Use your hand to wave this disaster off.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jan 25, 2025
They fixed a lot of the little problems that affected the first season. The artwork was pretty much the same brilliant job, and the animation, especially the 3D CGI, was a lot smoother this season and much less obtrusive.
Lots of new characters introduced, and our MCs get some development. The BL elements get played up a touch more this season, but it never gets truly obnoxious. This story is still driven by a great plot and not that silliness.
Once again, there's good performances from all the VAs. I thought the English subs for the Mandarin were much better rendered this season. The soundtrack was
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even better this season, with the traditional Chinese instruments sounding completely etherial. The director uses the actors, animation and sountrack together nicely and in quite a skillful fashion.
I am so torn over scoring this. Definitely an A at 95/100. It's right at the tipping point of being Masterpiece material. If they keep this up, next season will definitely be a 10, though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 21, 2025
Donghua has stepped forward this decade, and here we have a prime example. It might not be perfect, but it's bettter than 90% of the crap coming out of Japan any more.
The art work is stunning. color pallets and background usage is masterful. The animation is all CGI, and it was kind of a mixed bag. At the core, sedate scenes are skillfully rendered. But some of the action is marvelous, and other action scenes are clunky as hell. Still it all comes out in the wash as a mostly fine job.
There are a lot of characters portrayed here, and they all are
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skillfully drawn and written. I'm not much of a fan of Mandarin subs, but the VA work here was so well done, it rounded out the characters' emotions nicely. While I liked the MCs immensely, my favorite character was Apple the Donkey. If you have even been around equines, you know the artwork captures the expressions pretty damned close.
The narrative was kind of jumpy, transitions betweens scenes is not very smooth at times. There are some pretty big plot holes that get coveniently overlooked. Still, the story is riveting enough to keep one on the edge of their seat. Especially the first half, seems to owe a lot to the great Hong Kong Jackie Chan movies like Drunken Master. Very similart vibe of mixing action and comedy smoothly enough. Once the flashback episodes begin, though, that dries up and blows away. TBH, that was a good thing, as it would have been too stark a contrast compared to the super drama that instills in later episodes. It all works though, because at the heart of this we have one great story.
I don't often mention it, but I kind of look askance at the subtitle translation. I don't speak Mandarin, mind you, but I found a lot of times the English translations didn't seem to do a good job conforming to what was happening in a scene. I really would like to see a top quality dub done for this, like they did for Link Click.
The direction was so-so. With good characters, voice acting and a nicely wielded soundtrack, there is room for praise. But some of the clunky scene transitions and animation left plenty of room for improvement, as well.
Still, the demons can be forgiven and redeemed. If I were grading this it would get 92/100 for a very solid A-. I would recommend this to everyone, but the Luddites who have a stick up their ass about CGI.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 2, 2025
If this was the fake, I don't think I want to see the real thing.
The art work is nothing to write home about. It's about the same old-same old for the franchise. I did like some of the background stuff. But the animation was the epitome of flashy trash. Lots of color, and camera angles jumping around during the big battle. But if you looked past that, the rest was less than average. Half a notch above kid-vid. You'd think a franchise that has made this much money could do a lot better. Well, I am sure they could, but that would cut into
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profits.
The characters are the usual cut/paste assortment they've been using for years. Not a smidge of anything original or new happening here. Just slap a new skin on the old animation, and push them out the door, as fast and cheaply as you can.
Got the same impression from the VAs. They sounded like they were in a hurry to go get a bite at McDonald's. The direction is a study in inompetance. Especially where the soundtrack is concerned. I rarely mention that, but this one was so woefully abused and distracting, I'd be remiss if I let it slip.
This left me screaming at twilight. Time forever lost, to yet another gambit, to fleece otakus from another yen. If I graded this prolog, it gets no better than 64/100 for a mere D. Doesn't bode well for the series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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