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A decent isekai/fantasy anime series that is largely plot-driven with a few good character moments. I quite like the main character but I wanted to see more character development scenes, and more moments of insight with him. Often it feels as if I'm not experiencing the story with the main character and just observing it as an outsider, with little emotional attachment or investment. Not a lot stood out for me in this anime series except for episode 6. If you're not great with witnessing trauma, this might be an incredibly tough watch. There are moments of brutality here and there throughout this series but ... episode 6 was entirely focused on it. Overall, a solid anime but not something I would really recommend to others.

The Eminence in Shadow anime presents a satisfactory fantasy world with a satisfactory premise, with little to no character depth, and middling payoff. A couple side characters actually go through somewhat meaningful character development but most characters are largely depicted as constants with no display of their source of motivation or personality. The anime doesn't even display the main character's growth as a character in terms of strength or character. The plot's overarching conflict is presented as a joke but then also serious, the fights are cool but largely have no tension or stakes in terms of story nor character, and the characters still remain ... largely a mystery despite the anime being 20 episodes long. Is this anime supposed to be parody? Slice of life? A drama? I don't know what the overarching theme of this series is supposed to be. If you're looking for a monotone fantasy/isekai anime series with some cool action scenes, this is right up your alley.

This isekai is for those looking for something laid-back, casual, easy-going, and with no stakes. Oh, and for those who love food. The anime is incredibly comfy in its characters, atmosphere, plot, and especially in its drama, as there is none. The stakes couldn't be lower for a character transported into an unknown fantasy world. The anime's focus is clearly on its slice of life atmosphere, cooking scenes, and the hilarity that ensues from the unique situations that the main character, Mukouda, brings to this world. What honestly surprises me the most is that this anime seems to be setting up for another season. I ... can only see this series going for one more season at the most, and I would expect some kind of major conflict to be introduced in that season. I don't have high expectations for its next season if it ever does happen, but I would love to be surprised. Nonetheless, this was a fun watch.

Jobless Reincarnation is one of the best fantasy/adventure animes I've ever seen. All of its technical aspects are superb, but what makes this series great is its world building, pacing, and its focused perspective on the main character, Rudeus. It's incredibly refreshing to watch a series with a clear understanding of its world and its endgame, as it dissuades rushed pacing, and doesn't have to rely on cheap powercreep to raise stakes. The anime does a fantastic job in balancing its isekai and fantasy genres. Its focused perspective on Rudeus and his past self makes room for and allows for genuine world building. There are ... great character development moments for Rudeus, yet they don't distract from the daily adventures in this fantasy world; they only accentuate them.
A season into this series and I can see this anime continuing on for a very long time. The world feels tangible, its characters are loveable and intriguing, and I feel an enormous sense of adventure every minute I watch. This is quintessential anime. It's a fantastic combination of action, fantasy, drama, romance, ecchi, slice of life, and adventure.

A visual beauty of fantastic animation and art. Surprisingly good soundtrack and great pacing for a slice of life anime. There's quite a number of fanservice shots and cutscenes that feel unnecessary for this type of anime but it's arguably within the scope of the story and its characters. Not often do slice of life manga/light novels get adaptations of the same quality as their source material, but this is an exception. With its popularity, hopefully another season is in this series' future. All I wish is that they focus more on sincerely developing characters and the story's themes if the anime does get a ... second season. An overall enjoyable watch with some fantastic moments of artistry.

Tsuki ga Kirei is a romance anime series that's easy on the eyes but manages to be incredibly superficial, lacking substance outside of its barebones plot.

Character development is nonexistent. A baseline is never established with this series' characters and all plot development serves only the story and not the characters. The story hits all of the typical adolescent romance plot beats, but there is little to no reason to feel invested in, or root for any of the characters. The main characters have some semblance of personal motivation, but it is not connected back to the plot nor does it experience any kind of ... development, challenge, or change throughout the series. The anime successfully manages to create a calming atmosphere and mood with its sound design, sound mixing, art, animation, and deliberate editing choices, but with no substance from its characters, a lot of these moments feel abnormally empty.

Maybe I've grown out of these types of stories in anime, but its flaws still exist. On the surface, it's still a cute story about middle schoolers experiencing their first love. But any deeper than that, and you won't find much.

Bungou Stray Dogs seems to fall into the rare category of "all fluff and little substance". Its animation is great with diverse comedic moments and fluid action scenes. Its art has distinct style and its character designs look great. But there's nothing about the story that keeps my attention. The main character's backstory is as thin as a sheet of paper with the anime beating the same flashback to death throughout the series. There's no focus and there's no flow of plot and/or character development. To top it all off, the world building is minimal at best.

This first season could just be a messy ... setup to a decent second season, but without any obvious central focal point, I don't have high hopes. What are the characters' goals? What are we expecting to see happen in the next season? Some fight scenes and that's it? With such great art, animation, and character design, it's a shame that this anime's story is just essentially nonexistent.

Ao Haru Ride is a good romance anime. Honestly, I enjoyed this anime and I think most would enjoy it as well. It has great moments of comedy bolstered by strong art and animation. It has good romantic moments that feel genuine and not forced. The supporting characters do a good job of adding a couple of layers onto the plot. While I say all of this, Ao Haru Ride ultimately earns this score because it tends to rely on a lot of safe options. The series tends to rely on flashbacks quite a bit and narration in order to explain moments of nuance. The ... art and animation do enough but don't take that extra step into the metaphorical that I would have liked to see. The side characters are simple and superficial at times, seemingly only existing to serve the main couple's emotional journey.

An enjoyable and easy watch but there are other romance anime series that I prefer more.

I remember watching the trailer for this anime and reading up on it and I told myself that I shouldn't invest the time in watching it. But now, I see so many people holding it in high regard and so, with a dose of curiosity and a drop of hope, I finished the series in a couple of days. It didn't feel like a waste of time but the anime utterly failed to reach the bar that others had set for it.

Its concept has a lot of potential and I have an affinity for stories like the one Bunny Girl Senpai wants to follow. ... It has an uncanny resemblance to the Oregairu anime series, which is an anime I quite like. While I do think taking a deep dive into the comparisons between the two series could be worth the time and consideration, I'll leave it for another time and just focus on Bunny Girl Senpai. The reason why I bring up the comparison is to provide some objectivity to my upcoming qualms regarding this anime. The core concept of this anime series can be done well, and as I've said before, I'm a fan of stories like these. The Oregairu series has a similar concept and is executed well, and I've rated it highly for those reasons. But Bunny Girl Senpai is a mess. The anime plays out like a visual novel and has absolutely no sense of pacing or tension. Scenes play out back to back with no flow, trying to hit each plot checkpoint as fast as possible. The art and animation are technically sound but they add little to the story. The success of every character arc was all over the place. Mai's arc was OK but if she's a core character and the sole love interest, shouldn't it feel a little more impactful and ultimately developed more? Koga's arc was quite good but why was it given three episodes for her character to just be thrown into irrelevancy afterwards? Futaba's arc was decent and I don't really have much else to say about it. Nodoka's arc was just absurdly bad with its laughable structure and obvious resolution delayed for over a month because the plot demanded it. Kaede's arc I have the most issue with. Sakuta is who he is right now - helping others and getting involved with people with Adolescent Syndrome - because of what happened with his sister. I was expecting an emotional climax, but the conflict and character motivations are just way too incredibly vague and everything just gets explained after all of the supposed big emotional beats, leading to an unsatisfactory conclusion and ending to the anime series. I assume the movie will provide some more closure but I'm not expecting the movie to be any better at remedying its flaws in execution.

I want this anime to be good. I think its core concept is incredibly interesting and can be done incredibly well; that's probably why its source material got a lot of attention and earned an anime adaptation. But no matter how good I think this anime could be, I have to look at what I was given. At the end of the day, maybe I'm being a little too harsh because of the disparity between my perceived potential and reality, but I could only see myself getting talked into giving this series a maximum rating of a 4.

I remember watching this series when I was much younger and I remember getting very emotional multiple times throughout my viewing of it. I had held off rewatching the series but I finally got around to it. I thought the emotional beats wouldn't hit as hard this time around and I thought maybe my positive first impression of the series would diminish with the passage of time and with my more critical eye for anime. But yet the emotional beats hit just as hard as the first time and the anime still holds up even after all these years.

It's easy to include the aspect ... of death in a story in order to create a powerful story. But even knowing that fact doesn't change how an audience reacts to it. And that's why death will always be used to increase the stakes of a story, create deep conflicts, and bring out an enormous amount of empathy from an audience. AnoHana is no different. A powerful story centered around the death of an adolescent friend which has deeply affected everyone who knew her. I usually never cry when watching anime but I cried at least twice during my most recent viewing of this anime; its emotional beats hit hard.

But in no way is this plot perfect. Far from it. Its plot structure felt way too loose, tension often arose out of thin air, and some characters' arcs felt unfinished or hastily wrapped up. The world's rules regarding its fantastical elements didn't feel concrete and that obscurity was used as a crutch in the story.

Despite those flaws, I've given this anime a rating of 9/10. I've noticed all of these flaws, yet I eagerly yearned for the next episode. AnoHana has impeccable art and animation, a diverse cast of characters, and a gripping story. The inclusion of death does immediately make a story more compelling but it does not make every story good. Trust me, I have disliked many stories with death in them. AnoHana will never be a technical masterpiece but its an extremely captivating drama that will make your heart wrench.