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Y'know, Kaguya-sama is that one anime where you feel like it's never gonna get to the point where a season is NOT good, and that's impressive. It also feels like one of those shows THAT DOESN'T GO ANYWHERE.

Yeah, sorry. I mean it's not like I dislike this show, as my score suggests I think it is very good, but like, 8.75? This is a bit overrated. This is AT BEST a bit better than the previous season. But, me spouting my unpopular opinion is not worth anything, so let's get into why I think Kaguya-sama is a bit overplayed.

Let's start with the stuff that gets ... on my nerves. First off, the art style isn't super amazing, neither is the soundtrack. That not really a problem per sé, but it holds the show back. It's not nearly as funny as the first season and Miko isn't a very interesting character. Also I don't like how THE SERIES GOES ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE. You would THINK that everything that happens between Prez and Kaguya would lead to like, something happening. Like, maybe they go on a date? Maybe they at least call the other one cute/handsome to their face. LITERALLY ANYTHING. But NO. When it comes to anime this is the pinnacle of teenage angst and stupidity when it comes to love and it get. on. my. nerves. I guess that's a personal thing though, whatever, Chika is overrated NOW ON TO THE GOOD STUFF.

Okay sorry for that hahahah. I actually do really like this series. Even though it's not as funny as the first season, it makes up for it with more emotional weight than the first season and good development of certain characters. The art style is still super smooth and I really like the animation. The OP is OP and an absolute banger. Seriously, one of my favorites, I want to sing this at a freakin' talent show. The show is also still really funny and Chika has some really positive points even though I kind of diss her. Honestly I have no idea who best girl would be and I don't even know why I'm bringing it up in a review. You get it, the show's really good okay?

So despite it's flaws, Kaguya-sama season 2 is a step ahead of the first season. While I am looking forward to the 3rd one, I doubt it's going to fix any of the problems I have. I really think this is just gonna be one of those romance anime that goes on forever and never ends, so just gotta enjoy the good stuff and deal with the problems. Still a solid watch, I recommend it as a good break from depressing or really emotionally heavy anime. Enjoy it, it's funny and goofy.

Peace out,
-Kallocarina

Rom-coms are... probably one of my LEAST favorite genres to be honest. However, every once in a while you come across that one gem, that one guiltily pleasing show that you can't help but enjoy. That is what Kaguya-sama Love is War is.

Kaguy-sama Love is War has gained fame in the past few years. With the second season getting an average score of 8.8, it's either really funny, or has a really good story. However, we are focusing on the less spoken about first season. And, well... Just read.

Kaguya-sama is an absolute riot. I don't usually start off by talking about how much I enjoy ... a series, but this one is just so funny and goofily cute at times I can't help but have a great time watching it.The story is solid, there are some good moments that are heart-warming and sometimes a little bit on the not-so-PC side but it's all very mild and mostly serves for comedic purposes. The art style is awesome, animation is especially good at the end. The characters move impressively fluid without having to look CGI (AHEM AHEM, AOT SEASON 4), and the OP is a banger with a few good tracks sprinkled throughout the show. The characters aren't particularly special, but they're all fun (even though sometimes you gotta wonder if Shinigami I mean Ishigami or Chika are OK). Overall though, it was a super enjoyable watch.

HOWEVER, I have problems! Thinks that I don't like! First off, THE STORY GOES NOWHERE. Every romance EVER, in all the anime, across all timelines, has this problem. You get to the end of the season and you're like "Aw, so cute, they've had meaningful moments together uwu" but LITERALLY NOTHING CHANGES. This is a super huge problem for me and is what held this series back from a 9 in my opinion. The art style has thin lines, I like my lines thicker, sorry, hit me if you want. The characters, like I already said, aren't super original. Have of them are weirdos and the other half are angsty teens who don't know how to do relationships. Main thing is the story though.

Despite its shortcomings, however, Kaguya-sama is a fun, cute series that you'll probably enjoy even if rom-coms aren't your thing. It's average score is legit, fine by me, and I can't wait to watch the second season! :D

Peace out,
-Kallocarina

If there's one thing we learned from Tower of God and God of High School it's that webtoons just aren't meant to be adapted to anime. When Noblesse came around, I think a lot of people just gave it a low score because they had been conditioned by the previously-mentioned two to dislike webtoons adaptations. I think that this one was surprisingly good though.

The story of Noblesse is actually really tight. It's very consistent, the world is well-built, the pacing is solid and some of the lore is really interesting. The art is really good (I mean, these are the people who animated AoT what ... did you expect?) and the OP and ED aren't too shabby. The characters are decent and it was just an overall fun watch.

I do, of course, have some things I dislike though. The story makes a big shift in focus about halfway through which isn't perfectly executed. The art lacks that unique style to give it a little bit of kick, and the soundtrack isn't particularly special. Like, two of the characters just stopped doing anything halfway through the series which was weird since they were kind of the first characters you're introduced to. Also, it's a bit slow at the beginning so I got kind of bored (I ended up sacrificing this one for FmA :P).

Overall it's good show though. Fun characters, cool story, lots of good stuff. I don't know if I would recommend it just since it's not exactly "worthwhile", but if you really don't have any other good anime to watch, this isn't a bad choice.

Signing off,
-Kallocarina

This is it chief, the supposed #1 anime of all time (at least until "Shingeki no Kyojin Final Season" finishes :P).

So I've been putting this one off for a long time and only a year after I started watching anime did I actually manage to watch this one. It took a solid two months to finish (school has been hectic) but the show was worth it. But, does it really deserve the number 1 spot?

"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" is famous for a reason. And not only is it famous, it is really, REALLY good. The story is ridiculously creative and everything comes together incredibly smoothly. I ... was initially worried they were going to sacrifice the "let's get our bodies back" plot line for the other that I can't talk about in detail because of SPOILERZZZZZ but they didn't do that which I appreciate. The story develops very well and once you get through the first two parts you're left with a super fun, epic, enjoyable action/drama which is very nice. It goes without saying that Bones does a great job with animation. I've never been a huge fan of their art style, but that's just my personal opinion, it's better than anything I could draw lol. The Kono omoi wo song is really good. The rest of the soundtrack has some strong points and I really like the voice-acting. Especially Al's voice, it's just super cute/cool/nice/I'mnotgayIpromise. The characters are all really cool. I really like Ed, Al, Winry and Hohenheim. Scar get's really good and ROY MUSTANG aside from having the coolest sounding name of all history is an absolute machine. Maes Hughes is... aaaaahhhhhh- Yeah the Armstrongs are fun and I really like the Xingese guys. Especially May Chang. I mean, she's a cute girl with a miniature panda, how can you not like her? And all the homunculi are interesting. I especially like Greed and his dynamic with this one character I can't mention because SSSSSPPPPOOOOIIILLLLZZZZZZ. All in all the show was super entertaining and fun.

However, despite being the #1 anime I do have a few problems here. I really feel like sometimes the themes they try to mix don't mesh too well and some of the emotional moments are awkward. There are some cheesed that-guy-should-have-died moments but they make up for it with some crushing that's-the-one-guy-I-didn't-want-to-die moments so it balances out I guess. I also was completely lost in the final fight scene. Like... What??? Huh??? Idk I can't go into detail cuz SpOiLeRz but it didn't really make sense. I don't like the comedy moments, they get on my nerves, and so does the way they're animated. The soundtrack honestly isn't particularly amazing, go ahead and beat me up idc. And sometimes the characters say some really bizarre stuff where I'm just like: 'Huh? Why? Do you have brain? Ooga Booga?' and the first two parts are a bit slow which takes away from the overall enjoyment. Those are my problems.

Despite MY problems with this show (emphasis on the my) it's really good. The philosophy behind it and the great story (which I gave a ten despite its shortcomings because it's just so dang genius) make it an anime absolutely worth watching. Is it the best? Eeeeeeehhhhhhh I'm sorry but I'm more of a "Steins;gate" man, and I honestly think a lot of people give "Your Name" a really hard time just because they don't like romance, but Fullmetal is still really good, definitely deserves the watch, so give it a shot and enjoy it to the max.

Ja ne,
-Kallocarina

There is a lot of cringe and a lot of frustration in the realm of anime comedy. Most animes try to employ comedy in a way that fails to be funny, and in many cases take away from the anime's story or visuals. However, there are a handful of anime that succeed in making all audiences laugh, and Saiki K is one of them.

Saiki K is one of those anime where you just watch it to have a good time. Whether it's after a long day at school, or on a Sunday afternoon where you have nothing to do, Saiki K always finds a way ... to fit itself into your anime watching schedule. While the art and soundtrack aren't quite amazing (which holds it back from being a true masterpiece) it is very enjoyable and, chances are, you'll like it no matter what you're tastes in comedy are. So let's talk about what I thought of the second season in the franchise.

There is a lot of great material in Saiki K 2. The characters are as hilarious and enjoyable as always, and their antics and Saiki's attitude make for some great scenarios. This season in particular added some new characters that were especially fun. I think I speak for everyone when I say Aiura was an immediate favorite. She was the perfect mix of funny but also just likable because of her personality. Teruhashi, Nendo, Hairo, Kuboyasu, and Kaidou are all fantastic as always, and Saiki K interacts with them perfectly. Another thing I liked about this series is that IT HAD STORY. WHAT? HOW?!?! (cue Sanctuary Guardian theme) While it's not particularly genius, it still adds some substance to the show that there wasn't in the first, and the effort was greatly appreciated. Overall, fantastic season.

That being said, I didn't quite like the 2nd season as much as the first one. I don't know why but it just didn't feel as funny. Some of the episodes were actually boring and I didn't laugh as much. The art and soundtrack are all whatever. I mean they could be better but it's not like I expected more than what I got. I do really find Akechi to be super obnoxious instead of funny, and I'm not really into blonde pigtails whose name I can't even remember. It was like, Ko... Ka... Ah forget it. It was still good but it was a bit more annoying and less funny this time around.

IN a nutshell, Saiki K 2 is good but it's not quite like the 1st season. It's still a lot of fun and if you watched the first season then watch the second one, but don't expect a masterpiece or anything. Considering it's a comedy and anime comedies are usually pretty cringe, I think it deserves its top 100 position for now. Watch it and enjoy it but don't stare at Aiura you perverted teenage weebs.

Peace out
-Kallocarina

After the great disappointment that was Tower of God that will NEVER LET YOU GO NEVER LET YOU GO I think it's safe to say we were all dubious about another webtoons adaptation. And while it's certainly no masterpiece, well, just read.

The God of High School (I'm just gonna call it tghs) while not all that good, was a ton of fun. The story was a good concept and honestly I would have been happy if all it was was a tournament where teens beat each other up. The animation is super cool. I particularly liked the black and white paint fight between Han Daewi ... and Jin Mori. That's the main highlight. The OP and ED are both fun to listen to and the soundtrack and voice acting were okay too. All the characters are quite fun, and some of them like Illpyo and Daewi are unironically good characters. This show was super fun to watch and was a good addition to the lineup of Summer 2020 (especially in comparison to animes like "Uzaki-chan wants to hang out" and "Dokyuu Hentai HxEros" -_-).

Now if we get into the negatives it's not really that good. The pacing is a bit rushed and I feel like the webtoon probably had a lot more background info that it provided the consumer with. Something that, sadly, cannot be said about the anime. Outside the fight scenes the animation isn't all that great, and the voice acting can be a bit obnoxious. The characters could be much more developed and there were times were, as always, I got bored.

But aside from the bumps and the dips this anime is pretty good. It makes up for the poor pacing by just being super fun to watch and having good animation. The average score is legit, it is seasonal so I'm not gonna mention the popularity. Overall, this anime could have been way better, but it was still fun. Feel free to watch it if you're curious about how crunchyroll handles webtoons adaptations.

Please make My Deepest Secret the next webtoon to get an adaptation I need to see that
-Kallocarina

So after watching UBW I really didn't know how to feel about the fate franchise. It felt so jumbled and convoluted and I wasn't expecting much from the prequel. However, I was pleasantly surprised...

Fate/Zero is memorable in a lot of ways. The story is creative (I mean, it's the same as every other Fate season) and the way that things develop from the point of view of everybody instead of just Emiya, or just Waver, or just Tokiomi is a nice contrast to UBW. The art is awesome, ufotable is good of course. The first OP is pretty good and the soundtrack isn't too shabby ... either. The characters are absolute gems. While I miss beloved Illyasvil and Tohsaka (although I guess she got that one episode), who are absolutely adorable as children by the way, people like Iskandar, Diarmuid, AND EVEN GILGAMESH, FREAKIN' GILGAMESH are super well written. The dialogue between servants whether they are or aren't in battle is always ridiculously enjoyable. Between the fight scenes, awesome characters, and that scene with smol Illyasvil that I could watch 2000 times and never get tired of, Fate/Zero was a highly enjoyable show.

However, nothing can be perfect. The story in Fate/Zero lacks something to make it stand out compared to UBW. I don't like how everybody always gangs up on Caster AND NOT JUST HERE BUT IN UBW TOO. The out-of-battle animation could be better and the soundtrack really isn't that impressive. Most if not all of the masters are pretty flat uninteresting characters and the servants just barely manage to pick up their slack with their priceless dialogue. There were times I got bored, there are never not, and ufotable could've put in a bit more effort.

However, Fate/Zero is still a gem. I love it, it's awesome. Deserves the rep, deserves the top 100 position, aaaand now my sister is watching Nickelodeon musicals cringe. Anyway, watch it. It's recommended. Even if you didn't like UBW or Studio Deen's version (don't worry, nobody does) you will most definitely like Zero. Enjoy watching it and appreciate Saber getting roasted by every other servant because as we all know Illyasvil is best girl and she's 18 so you can't judge me.

Can't wait 'til I get to the Heavens feel movies!!!
-Kallocarina

For all the hype that my best friend put me through, I thought this was gonna be freakin' epic with good fights and cute waifus and lots of bombs and explosions and whatever. Okay I realize that sounds really shallow I actually appreciate good story I'm just tired right now so gimme a break.

The second season of ubw is good ig. I liked the first one more for a few reasons and I'm just kind of tired of Fate and I'm only two seasons in lol. That's just nit-picky complaining though so let me give you actual reasons for my opinions.

As with all ufotable the ... art is really good. The ED is okay and The characters all stay pretty good. I absolutely love Einzbern and Berserker and Lancer is a total boss. Those three didn't get nearly enough screen time in the first season and they are all absolute gems. I have a great deal of respect for Saber even though I still prefer the hot yet adorable mess that is Tohsaka. What can I say? She's the best bipolar tsundere I know. Don't judge me.

I have a lot of bones to pick with this one though and I'm not just talking about caster's bad CGI animated skeletons (I did a funny hahah). The story is really not that good. It feels like they threw away nearly all the world-building they did in the first season. Even though I felt like I had a grasp of how things worked by the end of the first season, throughout the second I was at a loss for words at just how badly the mechanics tie in. The quantity of plot convenience and unexplained occurrences is laughable and I don't understand 50% of the situation our heroes find themselves in. The soundtrack is mostly boring and the OP is just whatever. Shirou is still annoying. His skewed philosophy doesn't make any sense, and even though he goes into these oh so wonderful mini-mental-monologues I can't understand how what he's saying can be considered impactful or philosophical. Most of this season was just boring and the epilogue was especially cringe. Didn't like this one that much to be honest.

A good summary of the second season of fate is Emiya and Tohsaka are moody teens with a moody relationship with an apocalypse thrown in the mix. It's not really anything special, but you kind of have to watch it if you watched the first season because... well... social obligation? I don't know guys. The average score is way too high. Even just a high 7 would have been fine but it's a mid 8 which kind of gets on my nerves. Watch it sure. The Heavens Feel movies are supposed to be better so can't wait to watch those I guess.

Your friendly neighborhood narcissistic idealist,
-Emi- I mean Kallocarina

How do you watch Fate? Well you can start with Unlimited Bladeworks, but that spoils Zero. So what if you start with zero? Well buddy, ZERO SPOILS UNLIMITED BLADEWORKS. Don't ask me how this works. It is one of those truths that all us anime fans just accept. Like the fact that Mirai Nikki exists, or that Sword Art Online actually has a fanbase. And there's nothing we can do about it.

After hearing from a friend (and watching the Gigguk video) about how Fate works, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit intimidated. I thought that it would be better ... just to read the visual novel, but I use Apple computers -_- So I had to take this loss and just accept that Fate would spoil itself when I watched it. I ended up deciding to start with UBW and it was a pretty strong start. So enough with the chit-chat FATE LET'S GO.

So Fate has some really good points. The concept is pretty creative. The way the story develops and especially the world-building are pretty good. The studio is ufotable so good animation is a given. The OP reminds me of Steins;gate 0 Op which is... something? It's good yeah, so is the ED. The rest of the soundtrack is mostly just good. The voice acting is pretty nice. I like Toosaka's actor and Saber's voice is really smooth too. The characters are done well. My favorite at the moment is Toosaka (I know I just made a lot of Saber fans really mad), I like Shirou for most of the season and Saber is also pretty nice. Oh yeah Archer too. The side characters aren't super well developed, but they're not badly developed either. They're all good. This was a pretty fun way to start off the Fate series and it has captured my interest.

There are some negatives. The story is kind of standard. Defeat/kill a group of contestants in a sick demented game where the winner gets a wish granted. Fun! However, not super original. Although, I guess the visual novel came out forever ago, so it was probably original for the time? Eh whatever. The pacing is kind of strange and I'm still confused as to where the story is going. The skeletons are animated very strangely, and the art style just lacks a tttiiiinnnyyyy little something to make the characters stand out more. The soundtrack isn't that interesting and the side characters aren't developed enough. I feel like a lot of the servants (even the main ones) don't have very clear personalities at the moment-something I think will change as the series continues-and my respect for Shirou dropped 20% in the final episode. With the amount of trashy lawful good mc's in anime you would think it's hard to write good protagonists that don't like killing. But it's honestly not that hard! I dunno, I guess Emiya is just a bit too cookie-cutter for my taste. I would like to see him develop a lot more in the upcoming season and the Heavens feel movies. So while this anime was overall enjoyable, it didn't really get me excited like I would expect from animes of this genre.

For the most part, this is a good start to the Fate franchise. I can tell why it has such a low popularity. Fate is one of those animes where while everyone knows or has heard of it, most don't watch it. The average score is pretty legit, and I look forward to seeing what the series has to bring in the future. Definitely watch it!

Signing off
-Kallocarina

WHAT?!?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! YOU CAN'T JUST END THE ANIME LIKE THAT!!!! I WANTED SEE THE $%#$* AND $^@ (&%)$ GE- sorry I forgot I can't spoil.

So it's 12:44 in the evening, I'm hungry, tired, and I really need to use the bathroom. But who cares? I just finished Monster and I'll be darned if I don't write a review on it before I go to bed. So without any context for how I feel about this anime (Spoiler: IT'S REALLY GOOD) let's start talking about it and the stuff about it and I can't think straight because it's so late.

So let's start with ... the positives. The story in Monster is extraordinarily crafted. There is so much symbolism and hidden plot points and ties between events and characters that are very well placed and I probably missed half of them (hopefully I'll pick up on them if I ever re-watch this series). The first and final few episodes of this anime are absolutely genius and contain some of the most exciting moments of any anime I've seen. I expected things to go in a very different direction than they did. At first I thought this was going to be a psychological thriller where the main character is slowly driven insane due to the difficulty of the moral choices he has to make as an aspiring doctor (that's actually not a bad idea for an anime Jeff write that down). What ACTUALLY happened was very different but still enjoyable. The animation is real smooth and the OP is pretty good. I absolutely LOVE the first ED. It is one of the few EDs that I actually sat through instead of skipping. It is so beautiful yet simultaneously haunting and mysterious that you can't not be disturbed or set off by it. The characters are all really well built. Dr. Tenma is one of my favorite characters of any anime by far and I'm having a mental crisis trying to figure out whether I like him, or Akari Kawamoto more. Kenzou is just everything I wanted out of an anime protagonist. He's got a strong moral code, he's rockin' the fugitive look, and he manages to be a total boss without ever letting himself get carried away by the situation. Johan is good too ig. Nina/Anna is a waifu and Grimmer is a really nice guy. The parts of this anime I enjoyed were REALLY enjoyable, to the point where I started talking out loud to nobody like a crazy person and yelling at the characters on screen.

As fantastic as Monster is though it has its downfalls. The ties and plot points can be very confusing and it requires a very big brain to understand a lot of the symbology and the philosophical nature of the show. The animation could be a lot better for madhouse. Maybe it's just because I watched it on gogoanime.io but the colors weren't all that great either. The soundtrack could have been a lot more memorable and I don't really like the second ED. Some of the characters are either annoying or not developed as well. There were a lot of patches of 5-8 episodes throughout my watch where I got super bored and wanted to look at Waluigi memes on my phone (I know I already made that joke in a previous review I'm too tired to be original okay?).

But come one, it's Monster. The 4th best manga and a Madhouse classic. How can you not love it? I was really struggling to choose between whether to give this one an 8 or a 9, but I think the amazing beginning and ending, alongside all the other good parts of the anime redeem the less-than-amazing parts and make it a very memorable anime that is absolutely worth watching. It deserves it's position as #37 best anime and Madhouse has my respect for a job well done.

Anyway time to get some shut-eye. See you around folks,
-Kallocarina