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What could one possibly do when a zombie apocalypse saves you from the monotony of an office job?! Would you try your best to survive, raiding supermarkets and stockpiling supplies, moving as far away from civilisation as possible so that you can remain removed and safe? Most of us would like to think we would be this proactive, but the truth is we probably wouldn't. Akira Tendo chooses instead to use this opportunity to tick off items from the bucket list he had been curating, one which the exploitative company he had been working for totally restricted, and live the life he had always wished ... to live.

This series will not revolutionise your way of thinking, it would make you sit with your head in your hands contemplating life, but what it will do is provide a sense of escapism and vicarious freedom that we should all aspire towards. The animation is totally solid; it is colourful and vibrant without being 'in your face', and smooth in places with plenty of ample 'sakuga'

From what I've seen so far, I implore everyone to give this anime a go!

I've now watched 11 episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen series 2. There is nothing ostensibly wrong with this series: the animation is crisp and beautiful, the voice acting is engaging and expressive, the pacing seems to be fairly irreproachable. However, no matter how many manga readers try to tell me it's excellent and the rest of the current arc is amazing, nevertheless MAPPA have failed to grip me PERSONALLY. This is no slight on the writing of the source material, nor the production (which is extremely excellent)). Therefore, I must conjecture that Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 is simply not my kind of anime

This anime is genuinely one of the most awful shows that I have ever had the displeasure of watching. I haven't really engaged with, nor enjoyed for that matter this sort of show for years (for a good reason too). However, usually with shows such as 'The Asterix War' or 'Chivalry of a Failed Knight' you get some semblance of plot or interesting action. All this show has to offer is 'plot', pestiferous voice acting, and pretty appalling animation.

The interactions between Minato, Musubi, and all the other women who make up this harem are fake even when judged by the criteria of this genre. ... Now, we are all aware of the trope that the male mc falls on top of the FMC and she subsequently becomes angry, only for the two of them to end up in the same class or accommodation. However, Sekirei's cliched method of bringing the two MCs together is horrifically contrived to say the very least. It doesn't even place them in the same school or equivalent, instead the show asks us to simply believe they ran into each other in the street by chance.

The main conflict and villainous force in this anime are hilariously lousy too

Stay away from this show at all costs or risk losing any chance of a woman approaching you

(TW: mentions of su*cide) This is the first review I have ever written for an anime (at least on this site). So, one might wish to ask why I chose Orange of all things to be my first. This series is not the most original, nor the highest rated or critically acclaimed, and truthfully it is not even close to one of my favourite shows. However, the emotions and salient plot line greatly resonated with me in a way that only Clannad and its After Story had previously done.

The story roughly is as follows: The main cast and friend group meet the new transfer student ... Kakeru Naruse, and begin to become friends with him. However, we witness this first through the eyes of Naho, the main character. She finds a letter from herself 10 years in the future with all manner of warnings and advice that she couldn't possibly know. The main point of the letter is to try and save Kakeru from an (at this point) undisclosed fate.

The story develops as many high school romance stories do, with many slice of life elements, and we witness Naho and Kakeru grow closer and the first beginnings of romantic attraction begin to shine through. Kakeru suffers with depression throughout the whole series and often takes time off of school with an 'illness'. The group of friends all endeavour to try and save him from what becomes apparent: suicide. I am sure that anyone reading this review has either already seen the series, or does not want to be spoiled too greatly on the plot, therefore for the sake of brevity I shall end the summary there.

Naho is in all truth a rather boring main character. She has her moments and is developed sufficiently with ample personality, however she is slow to react and creates those shoujo moments of 'misunderstanding', in which you want to scream into the screen. The main charm of the slice of life moments actually comes from one of the male side characters: Suwa. He is, unbeknownst to Naho, working with a similar letter to try and save Kakeru from committing suicide. He sacrifices his own happiness and attraction to Naho to save his friend from a terrible fate, changing his own future in the process.

In my first year at university I was incredibly depressed and suicidal. It was not something that would go away, and it lingered in my mind. This is the first reason the series struck a chord with me. Kakeru shows a happy face and does genuinely have fun with his friends, yet there is always an underlying black feeling that he cannot shake. This anime beautifully shows what it feels like to suffer with depression and guilt in a way that is neither tacky, nor brash. The gentle animation and great attention to detail in facial expressions all go a long way to help exposit the emotions not only Kakeru, but the whole cast feel.

I found this anime only recently, and I am doing much better, yet still the emotions of Kakeru and the final climax of the friends stopping his attempt resonated so viscerally as I had experienced an eerily similar situation. I never usually 'ugly cry' at an anime, often I shed a tear or feel them prick my eyes, however Orange had me staring at the ceiling and crying for a whole evening. The bond between the main characters is beautiful and the romance, whilst nowhere near the finest I have seen in a shoujo, is still heart-warming and sweet.

To conclude, this show is a remarkably realistic depiction of what it feels like to suffer with depression and keeps its audience entertained throughout its 13 episode run time. It is not without its faults: some of the most infuriating shoujo tropes and a rather bland and uninspired main character in Naho. Yet, with all that said, I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a thoughtful show where the love and care put into the characters by the studio and original mangaka is evident. The main take away from this anime is to not suffer in silence. There are people who love and care for you, and not having you in their future simply won't do. Stay strong folks and never be afraid to admit when you're suffering, it doesn't make you weak. Having gone through it myself, I can safely say it gets better and this anime is a beautiful representation of that.