Back to lt_wassile's Profile lt_wassile's Profile

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Two words: MASTER-PIECE
When you thought that your favourite anime had come to your top to stay for a long time, when you conceived that your life would not be enlightened again by an artwork of such caliber, God of Highschool soon came knocking on everyone’s door, what am I saying knocking!, breaking down the door and establishing themselves as the best anime ever.

Where should I start? Its pacing and story-telling? Marvelous. Who else doesn’t love when things are so rushed that after 13 episodes you don’t have any idea of what is the main goal of the series...or even the main goal ... of its characters? Is it world destruction? God supremacy? Supporting the case of why taekwondo should continue being at the Olympics? No determination whatsoever!
As a matter of fact, us members of society can recall that WE ALL LOVE pointless fights without any meaning nor backstory; why wouldn’t we, if I may ask? Devices such as plot twists, showcasing character motivations, displaying impactful moments or executing contrasts properly in order to build up/shift momentum, change characters status quo, conveying emotions through the screen, or just for the sake of having an interesting, meaningful action scene are things that GoH NEVER contemplated, which, in my humble opinion, sets the tone on how things must be done on any anime which places value in providing quality content to its viewers. Greatness.

Speaking about greatness, we must ask ourselves about the integrity of the “plot”. It had been awhile since the last time I’ve watched a show which had such an organised, perspicuous and easy to follow plot, with no plot holes or unexplained sudden events whatsoever. For example: Seoul's population looks doomed because the good guys seem incapable of dealing with <<Nox>>? No worries, Alchemist-san saves the day transporting the whole city to a cliff out of nowhere. Already not convinced? What about if I told you that the show has a mysterious aura around it (however I have not been able to grasp it yet)?
And don't get me started with this show's coherence -one of its strengths-, like for instance, when the show it's stuck in a cul-de-sac, as they display their marvelous scripting techniques to solve the sticking point masterfully (e.g. kyuubi-power recovery from Ilpyo despite the key being detached from him)

And what about the GoH universe itself and its mechanics? Nothing notorious, just a normal society with its ups and downs, a little bit corrupted and all...oh, did I forgot to tell you that it's based on Ancient Rome? Such an elegiac tone! I mean, it’s pretty obvious when you notice how people love to rock the dome to see how high school students martial-fight to death...where the lions at? Oh, before I forget! Did you think this was a martial arts-esque show? Nothing further from the truth! By episode 8 you realise that EVERYONE has something known as “Charyeok” -kind of a borrowed power from an ancient God who had appeared twice in previous episodes- and that they are going to fight with it pretty much for the entire time. Greatness.

Nevertheless, I personally have to say that the major asset of this series is its originality. A mysterious organization stages a tournament in order to find the strongest high school student in Korea, but apparently it's all staged, being their “main goal” to find a “key” (which, apparently, is well-known that has to be inside a highschool student) that will help them fight a more mysterious and darker organization (as you must infer, because it’s never said due to the complexity of the plot and how they play mind games with us) who wants to destroy the world as we know. It is not my role to discern for you, but allow me to say that I had never heard of anything like this. NEVER EVER.

And let’s not forget about the originality of our characters! Whether it's our MC Mo-Ri, an oblivious, food-lover, meathead, “don’t you dare touch my friends” who just wants to live life fighting strong people, for the sake of becoming stronger; Mi-Ra and her pursue of power to prevent the ostracism of her family’s hallmark or even our s1 antagonist, a guy who wanted to feel relevant by any costs and rejected his personality and liveliness for the likes of a third party. Amazingly unique, isn’t it?
Speaking about this, highlight the ability of the writers in God of Highschool to avoid breathing life into their fictional characters. Motivations, backstories, RELATABILITY...the writers could had made the mistake of believing that these would have helped them develop a marvelous, compelling story which made the audience empathise with the cast on a personal level, laughing/suffering/crying with them as different events took place during the show, but, fortunately, they were quick-thinkers enough to avoid using these devices.

Backtracking a little bit, talking about the artistic component of the show, it’s obvious that MAPPA made sure that the quality of the animation in God of High School was good enough to support their OFF THE CHARTS job in the plot and characters counterpart. Fluidity and choreography looked, for the most part, good enough -especially during fight scenes-, sakuga animation was carried out surprisingly well, backgrounds were depicted nicely, characters were designed properly...art and animation was quite good, with the only complaint on how camera rotations and 3D movements were often overused, making it, on those specific moments, something really hazy to watch.

By the same token, music has had a leading role in the “success” of this season. Good job enhancing the different emotions that were on display during different moments, whether it was hyping up the moment when a fight was taking place, intensifying the sense of urgency, ...yet I really missed a banger as OP. Voice actors did a notable job, felt like it had to be said.

So, at the end of the day, I guess that if you've reached the end of this review you'll have the same opinion as myself: GoH is a great piece of rubbish.

"There's a resistance for people to talk about things that make them feel guilty. When natural disasters happen, it's easier not to feel guilty about it."

Have you ever seen yourself in a scenario where you take the likings of the sidekick instead of the main character? Where you’re more hooked into the story and whereabouts of a secondary figure in the show instead of whoever plays the lead?
Certainly, it has happened to all of us at least once in our lifetime and, if you are this deep into this series, it’s obvious that it’s not your first time experiencing this, as we all know what has to be known: Misaka Mikoto is the real deal.

After 7 years of drought, the third installment of the series premiered in January and neither ... the tremendous drop in production quality observed in JC Staff during the past few years (essentially taking Index III into consideration) nor an enormous hiatus due to a global pandemic could stop Railgun T to deliver.
The third season continues the story in a time where the Daihaisei Festival has begun, focusing as is customary by now, on the “Ace of Tokiwadai”: the one and only Misaka Mikoto, as Misaka and her friends dive deeper into the dark side of Academy City (A.C. for short), facing all kind of dangerous situations where, consequently, both the future of A.C. and their lives are at stake.

Railgun T continues with a storyline loaded with a repertoire of dark, powerful metaphysical and moral symbolism (as it was in the Sisters’ arc) but without backtracking in its goofiness and light-hearted characteristics which has made this show so enjoyable and “easy to watch” during the past years. In addition, when we add the action-packed philosophy that the Railgun franchise has had for the majority of its existence, as well as its quirky and free-spirited pace, we come up with the perfect formula that have given them great recognition over the past couple of years -taking out of the picture that Silent Party arc which was dreadful enough to leave us a sour taste for a bunch of years- and has helped the storyline of the series to get better and better with each season, making a clearer bigger picture of the Toaru universe, especially the scientific one, a.k.a, the one related to Misaka Mikoto and her endeavours.

Speaking about symbolism, Railgun never ceases to amaze me on how they’ve been able to both keep posing topics laden with meaning during the past few years and build on these topics to create an interesting and enlightening story; topics like the true meaning of humanism, the onto-epistemological dualism of body and soul or the paradigm of “the end justify the means”, all this while tempering the impact of their message, taking into consideration there position as a light-hearted show.

What I would like to point out is the subtle difference I’ve noticed in the development of the story, especially throughout the first course of the season. Up until now, I had not seen a particular interest in the writers on trying to make things a little bit more intriguing, nonetheless, this season had a more courageous approach, as they used plot devices such as foreshadowing, making a fool of the viewer (e.g: letting us think that <x> or <y> had good or bad intentions intentionally when it was the other way round) or plot twisting, making the viewer much more attached to the evolution of the story and the characters which participate in it, what, in my opinion, are enough facts to affirm that their storytelling has been taken to a whole nother level.

Another thing that this season has done great is in displaying contrasts properly. Let me explain. Do you realise how difficult is it to mesh two characters that are THAT different (Misaka and Shokuhou) and make them complement each other properly so that the series can go on? And I’m not speaking about power-related complementation, which is quite the easy task -I mean, they’re both Level 5 espers, it can’t be that difficult-, I’m talking about the fact that season T mainly revolves around their interaction, around their synergy -which, by the way, brings a little of life to the anime-, in spite of the circumstance that these two have wildly conflicting origins, personality and history. As a matter of fact, they create a proceeding where Shokuhou has no choice but to place enough trust on Mikoto in order to be able to tell her some of her secrets and indirectly ask Misaka for help.
As a result, we’ve all been witness to a much more organic show, something that was lacking on preceding jobs related to the Toaru universe, which felt much more systematic, somehow more worried on adapting correctly the source material instead of worrying on making a good, complete, entertaining show.

The main cast was as great as ever: Misaka being as badass as she has accustomed us, Kuroko not being as tiring as she is thanks to the notable decrease in “Onee-sama rants” and Saten being her usual self, giving a different point of view in a group so plunged into an atmosphere os esper powers that sometimes forget to live an “joyful, ordinary life”.
Additionally, let’s not forget about the coherent characterisation -at least for once- of side characters such as Kongo, Frenda, the Scavenger crew or even Shokuhou, giving them the proper screen-time and character development, leading to a much more complete series that uses its not-so-valuable characters for something more that comic relief gags (full-time job of Kongo-san until this season) or "damsel in distress" situations for the main cast to shine with their craftiness and might.

Backtracking a little bit, speaking about production and animation quality and knowing what studio was in charge of this season (as it was in s1 & s2), I am quite sure I wasn’t the only one who was in fear of yet again another disappointment after the embarrassing position in which the JC Staff crew have put themselves during the last few years (with magnificent works such as Index III, OPM s2 or the lately Accelerator powerpoint presentation which, as a matter of fact, was alright due to the fact that both Accel.’s character and voice actor are god-tier); however, it’s rather obvious that even JC Staff knows how important the Railgun franchise is for their survival. It's pretty clear that, due to its popularity in Japan and in the Occidental world, the studio has in mind that they are pretty much obliged to get it right, as Toaru Kagaku no Railgun is their spearhead in today’s highly competitive anime-production environment.
For that reason, JC Staff has made sure that the quality of the animation in Railgun T is off the charts, especially taking into account the expectations before the series began airing, knowing all the problems they faced with this anime due to production and pandemic reasons. Fluidity and choreography looked amazing -especially during fight scenes-, sakuga animation was carried out amazingly well (for instance, both openings and that episode 14 climax was just top-notch artwork), camera rotations and 3D movements were executed to perfection, backgrounds were depicted amazingly well, characters were drawn great...hell, even the use of CGI wasn’t creaky at all and led to one of the best animation scenes of the entire series!

By the same token, music has had a leading role in the success of this season. The sound director has done a marvelous job in both the composition -even though some tracks are not new- and the use of music throughout the season, enhancing the different emotions that were on display during different moments, whether it was hyping up the moment when a fight was taking place, magnifying the sense of urgency, intensifying the feeling of anguish...yet, one of the best part of this music section was in both the Openings and Endings (having the first OP in mind while writing this), as fripSide delivers yet again with that “final phase” banger.

Guys, spin-off’s work, and this is a good example of it; Railgun T comes up with a great mix of symbolism, light-hearted moments, great characterisation and action-packed eye-catching sequences that will not cease to amaze you during the whole course of the series; so if you’re not watching Railgun yet...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

“Someone places a hurdle in front of me, and I can’t rest until I’ve jumped over it.” – Mikoto Misaka

Welcome to a new chapter of “I could never have imagined a volleyball anime could be this good”

“Haikyuu!!: To the Top” picks up more or less at the spot where we were left when S3 ended, meaning that Karasuno has just defeated Shiratorizawa to qualify for nationals. Even if it was an unavoidable event for the story to keep progressing, that along with other circumstances such as the sidelining of Hinata for much part of the Shiratorizawa match might have made the third season the weakest -though it was kind of useful to demonstrate that Karasuno wasn’t a 2-man army-. Still, it set the stage ... for a huge future narrative event in the nationals championships, and it seemed clear that Shoujo was going to play a more important role these following seasons.

Up until now, Haikyuu!!’s formula had always been the same: Train hard, improve, play some friendly matches here and there and enter the competition of the Miyagi Prefecture, where Karasuno’s team would fight their way through the league chart against some already known rivals to reach the long-desired status of National qualifiers.
However, this season marks a turning point in the franchise path; our beloved crows have a new goal in sight, win the nationals, and in consequence, new and harder challenges to deal with.
The indicated set-up gives the creators the chance to make two phenomenons possible: Dig deeper into the development of this volleyball universe -showing us new players and teams to keep in sight as well as more aspects of the game- and displaying a different perspective of the series -more character-driven than the past 3 seasons- as it strongly focuses on the development and evolution of the main cast, preparing and hyping us for the enormous challenge that our friends from Karasuno High School are just about to face.

And this brings us up to Hinata’s situation. His only power is ambition. Sooner or later, the ability range of Hinata had to expand and this season called for it. His character had always walked across the thin line separating greatness and powerlessness due to its short range of abilities, but he had managed to survive in spite of that.
Therefore, and far from making it as your typical shounen evolution where characters improve their abilities out of nowhere or learn a skill after practicing once, Haikyuu to the Top shows us a main character who finds himself forced to envision volleyball from a different point of view to what he’s used to; this gives Hinata the chance to analyse and scrutinize other great volleyball players game, making it easier for him to realise what was dragging him down, and how could he put a stop to it. This results -for the delight of us, Haikyuu fans- in a considerable bust to his volleyball potential.

So, as we all know, one of the elements that make this franchise stand out is its realism and characterization of the players. This has not changed a bit; every single character feels special in its on way, as we still see how both our main cast and their subsequent rivals evolve as players and as human beings throughout games and hardships, forced to change their approach to the game and to life due to the adversities they encounter along the way.
However, due to the lack of games -or, at least, meaningful ones- during this season, the intensity and anxiety that matches provoked on the viewer and that had become the seal of identity of this anime this past 3 seasons, has somewhat been obscured, making this course a little more boring than the last ones. Maybe this framework is not the most enjoyable, but guess what? All good stories require a good foundation, and without this one, Haikyuu!! might not have been able to move forward.

Leaving all this behind, this fourth season is the first to see significant changes in staff –we have both a new director and animation director.
Nevertheless, animation quality has not dropped at all -or at least, not that much as people thought it would-; Satou has achieved to safeguard the spirit of the last 3 seasons, though slightly redesigning some of the characters in order to make them closer to the manga which, in fact, was one of the objectives they had at the beginning of the process.
When it comes to Haikyuu!, the depictions of movement is probably unparalleled. This series has always been masterful at illustrating the human form in motion –muscle definition, facial expressions, joy, fatigue– making good use of vivid colors and fine structures, and it looks like none of that seems to have changed.

Last but not least, sound. Besides counting again with a great sound director such as Hiromi Kikuta, which has been able to create absolute magic throughout the whole series -this season was no different from the previous ones-, and with the same voice cast we’ve been enjoying lately (rest in peace Tanaka-san),we also could enjoy ourselves with the absolute banger which BURNOUT SYNDROMES delivered.

I.G production knows that a lot of responsibility is placed in their hands -you know, they produce one of the most acclaimed sports animation shows- and, as it was expected, “Haikyuu!!:To the Top” did not let us down.


“With sweat, blood and tears - those shining wings will take you wherever you please”

Once upon a time, the anime industry came up with the perfect formula to create highly acclaimed shounen one after the other; however, as time passed, this pattern became repetitive and, while a few next-gen shounen have been able to achieve their objective following this predetermined path, most of them have faltered along the way.

Kimetsu no Yaiba is not your typical shonen anime but at the same time it is. It does not have your archetypical main character that accomplishes all his goals through the power of friendship and/or by activating his hidden power -which is never revealed until the plot armour established is not ... life-saving enough-; instead, Tanjirou is a run-of-the-mill guy who does not become a one-of-a-kind swordsman overnight, but spends months training, shedding his blood, sweat, and tears, showing the story of struggle and how it has molded his character.
It does not attempt to build a story based on a main protagonist who wants to become stronger justified by the simple fact of being the strongest or proving the world wrong, but for a much deeper motive.
It’s also not afraid to deviate from the standard path taken by most shonen of advancing as little as possible in each episode, mainly done to extend the journey –and the money raised- as much as possible. Speaking about this, Kimetsu no Yaiba solid pacing makes the show advance energetically, although it does not forget to catch some breath when the situation justifies it –as in ep. 19, if you know what I mean…-.
Still, it follows the standard battle shonen familiar-hero’s journey plot of: member(s) of family killed fuels progress, finds someone who trains/instructs him, passes an exam to become part of a faction, and, after becoming strong enough, ends up in an expedition where he makes friends and forges bonds, while at the same time encounters people (either comrades or villains) that change his way of thinking and acting towards life. However, if it’s done correctly, who says this is a bad thing?

As you can see, the plot is rather simple and straightforward, as nothing really stands out story wise speaking, though it doesn’t change the fact that the show is remarkably enjoyable. Despite a pretty slow start where some parts felt quite boring, the story came up to be really attention-grabbing, and these first episodes turned to be important for establishing a solid, well-paced plot -so please wait a little bit for the action! -. Also, the power progression pace is nicely done too, making it quite satisfying to watch them apply their training to the battles. Besides, the way different situations are expressed through narration is pretty noteworthy, transforming this shounen-type anime into a really good piece of story exposition.

Ufotable is just flexing on other studios right know. Digital era has given studios the opportunity to develop in so many different ways, though Ufotable has seized the opportunity to improve as much as or more than anybody else, and Kimetsu no Yaiba represents a good case in point.
With a unique art style, they’ve achieved to display an outstanding hack-and-slash action-packed animation really eye-catching to the viewer. That’s mainly thanks to a really fluid and lifelike animation, which pays close attention to even “minor details” such as rendering, moving backgrounds or characters’ portrayal. I mean, who would not love to see humans slashing demons, demons crushing humans, in short, both fighting against each other in a life-and-death struggle with flashy action sequences full of intense colouring, smooth shading and outrageous use of angles that enhances the experience?
Additionally, the way which music and voice acting has been used on this 1st season has been amazing. Without going into comparing its OST to that of other shows, we could say that it’s a soundtrack that it neither will remember for the ages nor would get stuck in replay on your mind for weeks, although when watching the show it’s pretty noticeable and makes a lot of scenes much more enjoyable and mesmerizing, making it pretty obvious that both the piece itself and the moments chosen for the OST to be played were extremely well thought-out.

Last but not least, characters. Some think Zenitsu is irritating; some think he’s hilarious. Some think Tanjirou is a light-hearted, kind, strong person; some think he’s too trustful. BUT WHO THINKS THAT NEZUKO IS NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIPING? NONE. Jokes apart, characters play an important role in KnY, as they carry the whole series in a team effort, meaning that most of the characters with some screen-time are important, as they play a part in the development of the story and/or our protagonists; they do this quite well, making most of them really likeable and relatable –even though we are talking about demons and swordsman- as, their feelings, goals and states of mind are much like our own, as well as their abilities –speaking exclusively about the human union-, which are obtained via loads of effort, and not magically.

However, all is not yet rosy either, as there are diverse subjects, mainly with regard to the story –and I won’t talk too much about it in order to avoid spoilers-, where I sensed -at times- hurriedness and lack of strategic and operational thinking, like in the sequence of different events or with CGI’s utilization. And we can’t forget about that really slow start…

Nevertheless, all these “complaints” are something minor and end up being ostracised by all the positive points of the series, making it impossible to deny that this anime is one of a kind.

Arguably one of the best Chinese studios out there, G.CMay Animation, decided to develop a season 2 for Mo Dao Zu shi -also known as Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation-. What they’ve managed to create is an emotional and stunning piece of animation, along the lines set out on the first season.
However, instead of taking the time to unfold the extensive backstory of the characters as they did in the onset of season 1, this time they took the plunge to the action-packed wonderful pace of the end of the 1st season from the very start, making it really enjoyable.

Without changing too much the recipe ... that lead to the success of season 1, Mo Dao Zu shi presents a character-driven story based on a Chinese cultivation world setting with a fair amount of action scenes, Wei Wuxian comedic paintbrushes, and an amazing work in the artistic department; still, a darker tone is set, mainly due to the darkening/despair effect that both the misfortunate events and the demonic arts have in our protagonist.
Besides, the moral conflict WW brings to the table much more complexity and tragedy making the show much more interesting. So, though we are not facing a really complex story, they way things are told and conducted make it a really nice piece of storytelling.

Moreover, though the cast is pretty much the same, we can observe that on season 2, G.CMay Animation steps up in the characterization of both our main cast and the intricacy of the villains/evil, as on season 1 felt kind of cartoonish, given the usual pillory attitude which Wei Wuxian displayed combined with the childish goals –and attitude- our main villain -Weng Chao- had. They have managed to portray much better their feelings, their ambitions, what they seek in life, generating in the viewer different impressions depending on the characters –and their actions/state of mind/circumstances- displayed on screen. Furthermore, the score was absolutely breathtaking and well used during the course of this season, endowing much more emotion to a lot of shots of this anime.

Speaking about visuals, this show continues to do things incredibly well. Striking use of angles, elegant coloring, and smooth shading gave so much detail that even the slightest feeling was portrayed on screen; even conversations felt much more realistic than on your usual anime thanks to the animators work. That being said, this last statement can also be applied to action sequences, as both are amazing –even the use of CGI was nice-. Last but not least, backgrounds, oh backgrounds, what can I say other than what an amazing display of talent it was (again)?

So, to sum up things, season 2 has hands down taken another step forward in its project of making Mo Dao Zu Shi franchise one of the all-time great productions of the Chinese anime industry.

The unknown is always too easy labelled as a threat, and it is easy to join that particular chorus who claim it, mainly due to fear, fear of failure and concern of personal cost.
On the basis of that postulate, the journey resumes for our SnK characters, as they prepare to undertake a fierce battle against those who want to annihilate humanity...however, is that these guys objective?

It is well known the one-of a kind storytelling attributes this adaptation has: the understated foreshadowing –great for those who like to re-watch shows-, the captivating epicity, the more than famous plot twists; nevertheless, it never stops to amaze ... me the ability –and specially, in this season- they have had to build, step by step, a huge storyline that is both fascinating and enjoyable, while being able of connecting the dots that had been scattered during the 3 seasons prior to this one -all of this without making the story messy and confusing-.
While I am on this subject, I have to bring to the table the marvellous combination of this storytelling with the animation and music. One of the most overlooked aspects, not only in anime, but also on the film industry, is the ability of a motion picture to use this or that piece of music, sound, silence and/or frame in this or that given moment to capture the audience and, what can I say, Shingeki no Kyojin does it extremely well on this season.

Speaking about music, this asset is and has been one of SnK’s hallmarks. Not only the use of it –as I mentioned before- but the compositions per se are just one of a kind. Am I the only one who listens to them on a daily basis? And if this was not enough, WIT studio decided to bring into the equation some of the old soundtracks from season 1, which we will all agree were masterpieces.
Furthermore, speaking about other technical aspects, the animation has made quite an improvement, leading to great results. This made some of the events –including fights- that took place over the course of this season something special: backgrounds were depicted in a really wonderful way, movements and facial expressions were really fluid and seemed pretty natural (including the Omni-directional mobility gear animation where camera rotations and 3D movements were executed to perfection) and pace was used fantastically well –that episode 54 fight it’s a great example, where Levi moves so fast that it takes time to the physics to actually catch up with him, making it look like he moves at the speed of light-. This, accompanied by an amazing sound design, a cast sounding as good as they do and a very good characterization, makes Shingeki no Kyojin a really wonderful series to watch. And don't forget what a banger the OP was.

Moreover, I’m glad that, between the chaos of war, they have set aside some time to explore the inner conflicts of some of our characters, their convictions and motivations, the reason for them to fight, as well as exploring on how their decisions not only changed –and will change- their lives and made them who they are now, but the lives of the people around them. Characters like Levi, Armin or Erwin, who had not have so much screentime-development over the course of the show gain in importance on this season -it was about time-, without laying aside others like Eren -who finally shows a glimmer of manhood and logic-, Mikasa, or even our titanic traitors -if you know what I mean-, as they also meaningfully develop. For instance, side characters no longer feel like side characters.

So, while I’m not in a position to say that I would never see something like this in awhile, I can say that this season was, hands down, a dazzling, breathtaking piece of animated work.

“I will score a goal but first let me remember my entire life”
-Tsubasa Ozora

Some of the criticism I’ve seen up to now about Captain Tsubasa is how unrealistic it is. As a person who has grown up watching and playing football, it’s obvious I’ve never seen –and will never see- some of the skills certain characters display on the show. Still, it is because of these that the show is exciting.

Based on the manga by Takahashi Yoichi, Captain Tsubasa displays the addictive story of Tsubasa’s football career while in elementary and middle school, first stone in he’s odyssey pursuing the dream of ... playing in Japan’s national team and becoming the best footballer in the world.
And it is in Nankatsu city, place which hosts some of the best elementary schools of the country, where our leading characters’ journey, Tsubasa (also known as Oliver or Majid), starts.

The pace, while not being as slow as in the original series, also takes its time, circumstance which makes possible the introduction of most of the characters, letting these show their different skills and motivations for playing "the beautiful game" and making the viewer become really attached to some of them; moreover, the scorching pace, contrary to what one might expect, doesn’t sacrifice any momentum during games, making some iconic matches as thrilling as they were on the original series. This does not imply that, as it occurred in the original series, sometimes one might actually think they are dedicating too much time to something that they do not have the need to.

At the same time, one might expect a huge improvement in terms of the paragraph artistic and sound section of the show (compared to the previous ones) and, despite its evident improvement, its quite lackluster. Repetitive character designs, poor setting/scenery development, “not-as-fluent-as-you-would-expect” animation, besides a quite unappealing OST, do nothing to help the show.
However, not everything is going to be bad at this segment, as voice acting and sound effects are quite on point, doing their job of keeping the viewer immersed in the action.

To make things simple, “CT” is a fun anime to watch even if you are not into football. The common recipe of the underdog team going for the top and exceeding expectations, the main character that surpasses himself in order to overcome the problematic situations and the thrilling games full of incredible goals, saves and spectacular skills does not disappoint.
Last, but not least, if you were introduce to the Captain Tsubasa franchise when you were a kid, you will probably enjoy it even more, as it might bring some memories from childhood back.

Welcome to the first part of Kagerou Project, the first stone of the vast meta-universe Jin –also known as Shizen no Teki-P- created alongside Shidu and Wannyanpu.

This album tries to straddle the fields of storytelling and music and weaves a suitable start for the adventure of the members of this tale; and it achieves its goal: It shows us the loose ends of a story that has something to do with a bunch of youngsters, although avoiding to reveal any extra info, as the lyrics are wisely composed with a meaning behind them, revealing some aspects either from the characters or the situations they ... experience in the story line. This turns out to make the viewer intrigued, certainly trying to figure out what this is all about.
Still, needless to say that these feelings can not be aroused if Jin’s ability of storytelling were not hand in hand with the vivid, powerful pace that he provides to each of these songs.

Nevertheless, you can likewise enjoy the music by itself (just as it happened to myself, as I started with the full concept but ended up listening to the album on my way to work). It gets stuck in one's head easily, as its catchy rhythm -usually a 32bit. adjustment pace, depending on which song are we talking about- alongside the warm and enjoyable voices of both vocaloids –Hatzune Miku & IA- are quite remarkable.

As mentioned above, Mekakucity Days is the first of multiple parts that the Kagerou Project’s jigsaw puzzle includes; the first song uploaded by Jin, "Jinzou Enemy" –even though this song has no video attached to it- as well as the song that gave name to the series, "Kagerou Days”, along with "Toumei Answer", "Souzou Forest", “Headphone Actor” and “Konoha no Sekai Jijou”.