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Feb 15, 2023
No, I'm not even going to attempt to justify my score. Kongming is a great anime, but by "objective" standards it probably isn't a masterpiece. What it was, though, was exactly the anime that I needed right now. The fact is, I'm getting older. Anime has moved on from me. I look at the new season lists and feel no particular desire to watch anything that's on them. Isekais universally leave me cold.
So, in a landscape that feels barren to me, I turned on Kongming based on a friends recommendation and found that every episode just flat out filled me with joy. This anime has
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heart, it has good character growth, and it has a very particular quirkiness that hits the right buttons. And that was honestly all it needed to make it the most fun I've had watching anime in a long time.
Let’s talk about what the show is. At its heart, it is a lighthearted breezy music anime. If I were forced to throw it in a category with similar shows, I think I’d probably pick something like K-On. Kongming is not the main character; the main character is Eiko, an aspiring pop singer and Kongming’s chosen warlord. The show is relatively drama free. Eiko has some history that’s hinted at in the early show and then relatively forgotten about; the actual conflicts driving the show are mostly characters overcoming small character flaws by finding their motivations. That may not sound especially deep, and it isn’t, but it’s clear that the show really cares about its characters, and because of that it’s hard not to feel joy as they succeed. The show really gets by on its heart.
As I said, Kongming is not the main character. He is also, surprisingly, not the author’s self insert character; a role which is reserved for the manager of the club that Eiko works at, who just really wants someone to talk to about the Three Kingdoms with. No, Kongming is the Jeeves of this story, a hyper-competent assistant (or tactician in this case) that succeeds in everything but mostly works from the background. He’s mostly absent from the second half of the series, though you can feel his invisible hand.
Kongming is a tantalizing presence in the show. There are occasional nods toward his history, the most compelling being the glimpses of Lu Bei. Kongming’s feeling for Lu Bei are deeply conveyed as we see him through Kongming’s eyes. I’ve never been hugely into history, and my knowledge of the Three Kingdoms is frankly shallow. The hints of it in this show were enough to make me start reading about it and learning some of the broad strokes. And honestly, I think that was the hidden goal of the show in the first place. It’s clear that the author really wants more people to be able to talk about the Three Kingdoms, and maybe someday, when I’ve read more about it, there will be one more person in the world that can.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 29, 2009
I usually pride myself on objectivity when evaluating things. However, just watching Casshern Sins makes me want to squee, and I have a feeling that squeeing and objectivity don't exactly go together. So I suppose that I will write a subjective review.
Now, at some level I can understand why one might not like Casshern. You might say the character designs are old fashioned (they're actually quite beautiful, though, old in style but with modern colors and animation). You might say that it's slow (rather, it's like a flower blossoming in front of you, slowly, but surely). You could conceivably say that it's full of clichés
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(really, it just builds upon the best elements of pre-millennial anime).
See, even listing the things that could be considered defects, I can't help but see them as positive.
Casshern is a show that pushes all of my buttons, without even trying. It has amazing art and animation that falls well outside the mainstream, a post apocalyptic setting, and robots galore. It has a deep plot, and characters that rise and fall, only to rise again. It pushes change in a static world, and life in a dying one.
The show was "based" on Casshern, but you won't really see much to connect it to the old series and movie. It forges its own path, and you can tell that it was carried forward by a strong artistic vision. Like many anime (and media in general) which have this feature, it can sometimes be pretentious, or overbearing. It's worth it, though, because the show is able to deliver on all the promises that it builds up.
So, unapologetically, I strongly recommend this anime. If it isn't for you, then my description will probably have already turned you off to it. But if you find yourself a bit lost amid the meandering moe that has filled the new century, maybe, just maybe, this anime is for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 17, 2008
Slayers Revolution is a show that isn't going to turn anyone who hates Slayers, but for Slayers fans it's a perfectly acceptable continuation of the series.
I have watched Slayers from the beginning. I have the previous collections, and even some of the movies (god knows why). I have fond memories of watching it in high school, and although it's nowhere near the best show I've watched, I have a lot of fun with it. This new Slayers show is bound very closely to the ones that came before it (somewhat surprising since they were so long ago), so I have a hard
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time imagining what it would be like to someone who hadn't seen the previous series. I have to think that it would be very hard to get into.
Slayers Revoltion is a bit mixed, at first. On the good side, the animation is higher quality, although new viewers will probably be turned off a bit by the character style, which, though a bit smoother, is pretty much the same as the old designs. The music is basically the same as before, and they managed to get the same VAs, so right from the start, the series feels like Slayers.
A new character is added early on in the series: a little beast thing named Pokota. One of the first problems I have with Revolution is this character. His personality is to much like Lina's, and watching them fight gets old pretty quickly.
Slayers has never been the most original series. Both Next and Try cribbed quite a bit off of the original, and Revolution is no exception. Especially in the first half, I felt like the series was just retreading old ground. This got much better during the second half, as did a lot of the problems, but I almost gave up before that point.
The second half of the series is a lot better, and feels like it's going somewhere. In addition to the general acceleration of the pace, this part was structured differently than the usual Slayers seasons. Probably because the season was so short, there were a lot more plot episodes, and a lot less filler. Not that I don't enjoy Slayers filler, but it was an interesting deviation.
In the end, this series was really just half a season. There were a lot of things set up that weren't resolved. A lot of the more interesting plot threads, in fact. Because of this, and because they've gotten some of the more annoying filler out of the way, I have high hopes for the next Slayers season, if they manage to get one out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 14, 2008
Summary: Baccano is an anime that could have been one of the best ever. Unfortunately, due to a series of missteps, the series is merely great, not perfect. Even so, it's a show well worth watching, and one that takes a lot of new and interesting steps.
Review:
Baccano is an anime with a lot of problems. During the first half of the show, it steadfastly refuses to give away any information, while simultaneously adding extra confusion by jumping all around the continuity. These jumps could be okay, but they're usually entirely without context. There is no connection between the scene
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in 1932 and the following scene in 1930. The only thing connecting them is the greater plot.
Combine this with the fact that there are about 12 main characters (fortunately, MOST of them are shown over and over again in the opening credits), and you get a great recipe for audience confusion. It certainly doesn't help any that at the same time you're trying to juggle these characters, you're also trying to remember which Mob they belong to, etc.
Unfortunately, that's not all. The show is also jam packed with absurdity. The comic relief is constantly getting in the way, and by a few minutes into the second episode you wish that they would just shut up for a moment. As well, the premise is muddled by the introduction of other supernatural-seeming characters in the middle of the series, after we feel like we have a grip on the way the universe works. Also, and this may not be a deterrent for everyone, but the show is packed with the most absurd shouneny-seinen content around.
Finally, there's the fact that the director forgot to do his research. Many times, when a reference to American culture would have been appropriate, a reference to Japanese culture is substituted instead. It makes the whole setting seem a bit fragile, knowing that someone didn't care enough to push the show that extra distance.
Normally, with all these problems, I would have given up on this show almost right away. Either that, or I would have watched the show and hated it for not living up to its potential. It's a testament to the power of Baccano that neither of these happened. The fact is that despite all its problems, Baccano came through when it counted.
First of all, the sheer style exuded by the settings helped bring the feeling that we really were in 1930s America. Once I got past the initial confusion, the flashbacks and flashforwards were actually kind of nice. They gave me the feeling that I was in on some secret that the cast of the show were missing. The characters all came out amazing by the end of the show. I don't think there's a single character in the show that I would be able to call a hero, or that I can really even say that I completely like, but it didn't end up bothering me because they were all so interesting. Admittedly, most of them were cliches, but they were cliches taken to such an absurd degree that they somehow weren't cliches anymore.
I was really worried about the story as I got closer to the end. It didn't seem to have the depth that the complexity of the presentation required. Honestly, the story was a little bit shallow, but the narrative came together so well that it didn't matter. Even though it lacked serious depth, it was explored to its full potential, and had a feeling of completeness that I wasn't expecting.
And, as I seem to have come to the subject of the ending, I would like to note that it was very well done. It erased many of the doubts I had about the series earlier on, and despite all the shouneny-seinen stuff, kept me watching straight through the ending to the OVA. I won't say much more for spoilers, but the split narrative definitely pays off in the end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 20, 2008
Kino's Journey is a collection of societal parables, told through the eyes of a wanderer who visits countries and observes them. Kino, the main character, takes a somewhat prime directive stance toward the civilizations, although she is sometimes coaxed to interfere out of compassion.
The show is a collection of parables, and as such, the societies it portrays are exaggerated portraits of a certain societal trait. It's possible that some viewers will feel as if they're being beaten over the head with the moral on some of the episodes. As for me, I thought that it was refreshingly straightforward, and had no problem
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accepting it for what it was: a story.
Although the show is frequently dark, exploring the depths of mankind's ruthlessness and stupidity, there was a core of hope to the show. A message that, looking out at the world around us, and looking in at human resilience in even the worst of societies, you can't help but have hope for the world.
Excluding the few actiony episodes, the show generally keeps a slow, contemplative tone, and a pace to match it. I imagine that this will lose some people who are looking for something faster and with more bang.
This show is one of my favorites, and stands out as an incredible testament to the power of the medium.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 20, 2008
First of all, let me say that my rather middling score of this anime is in no way a sign of any deficiency on the show's part. The series was pretty much exactly what it set out to be. A slice of life show about a bartender helping people by serving them exactly the right drink. Although the show did wax a bit too poetical about the drinks for my taste, it was surprising how well they tied it together.
Rather, the score reflects the fact that this anime is not for me. In fact, I'm not exactly sure who it is
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for. I have one friend who is into mixed drinks (in fact, he served as a bartender for a short time), but he isn't really one for slice of life drama. Likewise, I have a number of friends who like slice of life shows, but would be positively baffled by the bartending aspect of it.
But, if there is someone out there who has more than a passing interest in mixed drinks (by which I mean an interest beyond imbibing them), and likes slice of life drama, then I heartily recommend this show to you.
Although I'm not a great fan if this show, I sincerely hope that it did well. I think it would definitely help anime if there were more shows with odd premises targeting niche groups. Anime on the whole is getting a bit stagnant, and by now most of the old tropes have been trod over and over. So hats off to anyone experimenting in the medium.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 19, 2008
I saw an episode of this anime on a demo DVD that one of my friends had, three or four years ago. I mention this because it is still made fun of in my group of friends. The animation is bad, the character design is bad, the plot is nonexistant, and the fight scenes involve a girl crying lightning. The show includes one of the most annoying characters I've ever heard, as well as the biggest breasted character to be drawn outside of hentai.
I think this show may have been conceived as a parody, but I'm honestly not sure. If it
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was supposed to be a parody, it crossed way over the line into badness, and never looked back.
Anyway, if you were planning on watching this show, I would recommend doing something else. Like the laundry. Or cleaning your toilet. Worst case scenario, instead of watching this show, you should stare at the wall, trying to imagine the most boring thing you can think of. You'll thank me later.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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