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If you could go into a game, would you want to be the villain or the hero?

In recent years, isekai have taken the anime industry by storm. We've seen a vast amount of LN, mangas, and animes all created with an isekai premise, making stories less and less new and fresh. So what will this long titled anime bring to the game that will keep it memorable for time to come?

Most notably, the premise of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!(or Doom! for the purpose of not taking up half a review just typing out the title) is an entertaining ... one: after hitting her head, Catarina Claes regains parts of her memory from her past life in which she was a regular high school student in Japan. As Catarina, our heroine must now avoid the doom flags in the otome game she now resides in as her character Catarina is doomed to be killed or be exiled in every route the heroine- Maria- takes. Our main character is the Villainess of this tale! The premise, at least, bring some intrigue to the table as we are usually met with over powered characters in our isekai games. One of the best appeal of Catarina is that she is not some god powered character, in fact, Catarina is known for having amusingly weak earth abilities, only being able to create stumps of dirt compared to her brother Keith who can create ginormous dolls who obey his will.

Let's dive more into our characters. In otome type animes, the maincharacter is often the heroine of the game; she tends to be dull in characteristics, usually in an effort to allow the audience to place themselves in the female protagonists perspective as they would in an otome game. However, this can make the female protagonist dull and makes you question why you would root for her. Catarina is far from being a removed character. In fact, she actively interacts with the characters around her in her own unique manner; she's selfless, loud, and has an affinity for climbing trees and gardening. As an audience we can grow to love her because her personality shines through the episodes and reels us in. The rest of the characters do fall into general categories: we have the coldhearted prince, the jealous younger brother, the seemingly emotionless older lord, and three female characters who love the mc. They all fall neatly into their original otome game packaging, but because Catarina is not the Villainess the game set her up to be, the characters change as a result of meeting our protagonist. Overall, we've got some well done characters.

What's an anime without it's art and animation? Doom! s art is soft, and inviting, almost playing towards a game feel, reminding us that this is part of an otome game with some major edits taking over. The animation is decent, but not special; there is enough animation to keep you interested, but not anything noteworthy. The music is fun to listen to as the story progresses, but once more nothing riveting enough to have you wanting more. What drives this department is the voice acting, and there are various voice actors in this anime with multiple main character roles under their belts.

Dooms! story progresses in an expected manner. As Catarina avoids the doom flags of the game, the characters all fall for Catarina, who is a classic oblivious character. Considering she is at least 10 years older in her mind(as she was a high schooler in her previous life) you would think she would realize the feelings of her friends more, it is predictable that she would be painstakingly oblivious. Often the episodes fall into a pattern: one or more characters have the spotlight, Catarina tries to avoid anything doom flag worthy, the other character is obviously falling for Catarina, Catarina is oblivious. What saves this pattern is the events that occur in the story are amusing, and Catarina is such a lovable character that you can find yourself chuckling or even laughing at some moments of the story. Where the story falters, however, is in its depth. A large critique of isekai animes is that they often lack depth, no real character development occurs besides the characters becoming stronger in their abilities; there is either an abundance of fanservice or jokes that get old after the first few episodes. Doom! stands out in it's ability to bring forth a level of character development for our cast. However throughout the series there is not enough development for Catarina. Since she regained her memories she's been trying to get past the doom flags, prepare for exile or fight for her life, and has been oblivious to all attempts made for her to see others feelings of romantic interest. We needed to see more change develop for Catarina.

The main conflict of the last few episodes attempts to up the ante of the story. Unfortunately, not enough is done to flesh out the characters and it falls a little flat. Even after all these events, Catarina is still oblivious. A second season is said to be in the works for 2021, and there is promise. We have a fairly likeable cast but now that the struggle of avoiding the doom flags in the original game are gone, the question arises: will this story continue to intrigue, or will it fall flat on its face and become another forgettable isekai? I have been pleasantly surprised by Doom! and will be watching out for the next season. Even if you aren't an isekai fan I recommend giving this one a shot. You never know, maybe this anime will avoid the doom flags you find in anime.

What happens when the person you love the most passes away?
Do you stay stagnant or do you learn to move forward and fly?

Hal is a movie with an endearing premise. Set in the future were robots are far more common than in our current time, a robot is sent to impersonate Hal, Kurumi's lover who has passed away in a fatal airplane explosion. At the loss of Hal, Kurumi has closed herself away from the world and her emotions. The premise of this story brings forth a new twist to the plot of bringing back love into someone who's world has lost its color. Needless ... to say one can easily be captivated, as we see robots becoming less a thing of the future and more of a possibility for today. But what brings forth color to the audience, and what fails to bring real emotion into the mix?

The story is set up in a fairly lovingly manner. With his soft mannerism and innocent words, Hal attempts to learn about Kurumi and Hal's worlds so that he may care for Kurumi. We all react to grief in different ways, and Kurumi's behavior is believable considering Hal has been gone for some time now. Thanks to the artwork and music, we find ourselves wanting to cheer for not only Kurumi, but Hal as well. We want them to learn about the beauty of the world together, as Hal has mentioned before being confused about the meaning of certain emotions and human needs. Learn and love, Hal and Kurumi.

Wit Studios took on this project, so it comes to no surprise that the artwork in Hal is of great quality. Every frame has its own level of detail and charm, Kurumi's home is abundant in buttons and knick knacks, allowing for a feeling of homeliness into a shut out Kurumi's world. The music works well with the tones in each scene, truly taking the audience on a journey of growth. Character designs are well made; there's an enjoyment that comes with seeing characteristic embedded into each personality and character. It makes you want to learn more about everyone.

Where the story falls short, however, is in its writing. The main relationship that should have been created with care- Hal and Kurumi's- is mediocre. We get bits and pieces of the couples relationship pre-accident, and while that wouldn't have been a story breaker on its own, it fails to motivate. We get to witness what a charming human Kurumi was to those around her, there's an evident glow that radiated from her and it makes you want to see her happy. But the reason for her change, Hal's death, feels off. There's a basic framework for the couples relationship, but it all feels too rushed, their words sound fake in the climax the scenes were emotions run high and while that can be blamed on their youth, that does not excuse mediocre writing.

However, this would not be enough reason to place it in a 6 range of score. Unfortunately, the writing does not get better as the story moves forward. Kurumi becomes visibly happier as her interactions with robo Hal increase, and the pair seem to grow increasingly fond of one another. The execution of this is fairly well done, although with more time their relationship could have felt more believable, After all, this isn't just any caretaker coming to bring Kurumi back to the world of love and general happiness, it's a robot who looks and sounds just like Hal. There has to be some sort of emotional consequence as a result. After all, this is not the real Hal. He does not contain Hal's memories. He is not Hal. If the story had taken a route of choosing to dive deeper into this, the story may have felt more real. Instead, Hal's old companion is thrown into the mix, and he tries to attack Kurumi and Hal near the end of the story. This plot point is skin and bones, attempting to throw in intense tension without building up to it properly. Without spoiling anything major, the ending falls completely flat. A major plot twist is thrown in that breaks the foundations of what has been set up. While the idea of this plot twist is notable interesting, it is so rushed that it does not make much sense.

As much as I want to give this story a higher score, as it has some higher tier art and animation as well as an interesting story, the execution of said story fails to receive anything higher than a 7(although I would put it at a high 6). I expected more from this movie; I've heard some great things about it being a move one would never forget. Unfortunately, the story did not live up to the expectations it set. If it took more time to flesh things out, the movie could have been a smashing success. So what does happen when a loved one passes away? For this story, we remember that the world is still beautiful and that we must take things one at a time. It's a shame the story could not make it to the end.

**the rest of this review contains SPOILERS and expands on the FAILURE in story**

Hal's plot twist. For those who have watched, will watch, or just want to know, we find out that the person who actually died in the plan accident was not Hal, but Kurumi. This whole time Hal has thought of himself as a robot, and does not recall his memories until the last 15 or so minutes of the story. This plot twist puts the mind to work, but not in a good way. If Hal thought he was a robot, but the true robot was Kurumi, why did everyone go with Hal and encourage him to think of himself as a robot? No one denies that he's a robot and they encourage him to remind himself that he is one. But why? Why put Hal deeper into this confusion? You could argue that it was the only way to make him remember, and while the idea of bringing the world back to him through going with his delusions puts up a good fight, it does not psychologically make sense. There are hints that the plot twist will occur, his friend Ryuu questions why Hal was gone for so long, but he's not surprised to see him "alive." In the beginning, the robot is never specifically told to help Kurumi just a "child." And yet, the actions of the rest of the community don't make much sense. What would have happened, if Hal continued to believe that Kurumi was real and him a robot? Would they just allow him to live a lie so long as he seemed happy? Additionally, there's the problem of who's paying for a robot; it has been mentioned before that robot maintenance is costly, and Kurumi nor Hal are known for having money, in fact, a huge issue in the couple's relationship is their lack of money. There's too much left in the air, and not in a way that leaves you content and thinking, but upset.

There is so much to this story that is intriguing. Robots could become prevalent in the not-so-distant future, and the notion of them being part of our emotional journey through grief does not feel out of reach. Unfortunately, because the plot twist reaches to much, and falls with more questions than there should have been, I find this to be a 7/6 movie. The story is interesting enough that I don't vote for not watching this movie, but I this was not an enjoyable enough story to make me want to watch again, nor recommend it to a friend, when there is so much more content available to see.

Animation is a creative mind's playground. You can create and destroy things in a manner that is far more difficult to successfully pull off with live action films and shows. Keep your hands off Eizouken truly explores the liberties of art and animation in this creative experience.

But what makes it so liberating?

**this review contains no major spoilers**

Let's start with our setup. We have our three main girls: Asakusa, an artistically creative soul who struggles with social interactions but thrives off of her never ending surplus of imagination of set building. Mizusaki, a famous model who yearns for animation, especially human movement. Kanamori, the ... financially driven, but caring business manager of the team. Together, the three set off to create an animation film club in their school against Anime-related projects. They mange to hit it off and are now moving towards creating bigger and better animation to prove to the world their worth. The setup is heartwarming and eyecatching ad truly reeled me in. Alright, Eizouken, you've reeled in a fish, now what?

We often watch a lot of anime, but have no idea how it's actually made or even the creative process behind it. I feared this anime wouldn't accomplish anything, and merely pull us along with jokes and cliches, like a lot of animes often do. Thankfully, Eizouken did not fail on this one. The art and animation play with one another, often feeling as though they jump off the page(both literally and metaphorically). We see a play on colors that can go from watercolored and kind on the eyes, to intense and eye catching. The visual range in this anime truly takes the gift of animation to it's full potential, filling our story with magical realism. We get to see the creative processes behind our three ladies in every aspect, through their drawings being interactive with one another as well as the molding of everyday objects and structures into robots and creatures. There is no doubt this show is fun even just to watch on art and animation alone. There's always something worth rewinding for because of it, adding to the longevity of the show.

Let's talk about sound for just a second; often, that's all the praise sound gets. A second. We often don't think about the sound design and production built for a show or film, forgetting it's integral significance to a story. Eizouken it truly. a love letter to animation, giving sound design the recognition it deserves, often emphasizing the part it plays. Even if you aren't interested in music or the ins-and-outs of sound in general, Eizouken remind us that we should respect it for the work it does. You are an unsung hero, sound.

Praise for the non-sexualization of characters! Eizouken was a sight to behold, as it realistically didn't have any forced sexualization of it's characters. Our characters have no exaggerated whiny female voices, with our main girls falling into an alto, mezzo-soprano vocal range that was lovely to hear. You would think this would result in a bland, yawn-inducing voice acting. Our voice actors, however, carry a lot of energy to them that makes them fun to listen to. Well done, Eizouken.

The story's great, the animation is to die for, and the characters have lovely chemistry that fills your heart. ...So, it's perfect?

Alas, nothing ever is.

The finale of Eizouken fails to meet expectations built up throughout the anime. The team has clearly grown in terms of their connections with other students and organizations as well as in their animation and storybuilding. Asakuza places a great emphasis on structures and mechanical creations and there was a fear built up in me that there wouldn't be growth from that. The chemistry of the team truly blends as they begin to teach one another the fruits of each of their talents. However, our ending short films fails in it's delivery. Had we not been walked through the plot in the last couple of episodes, the short is confusing. It doesn't place enough care into the most important aspects of the story and fails to give us the foundation we need to understand why the story matters. There is an important point that the team attempts to make: not everything has a happy ending were we all dance with our "enemies." Maybe there wasn't enough time and budget left to flesh the short out more, sure. But seeing as how the short was what we were supposed to be looking forward to for episodes, means that it should have been an important part of this story. The manga of Eizouken isn't completed, which gives me hope for our story. But as an anime, the ending fails to meet the excitement I had for the story. There was a slow buildup, only to end up with an unsteady foundation.

One could go on about the specifics of smaller plots and details of the anime, but the fact stands that Eizouken sings for animation in all aspects of its creation. It's a fun and educational watch that does not need over sexualization and cliche characters to sing. It's an anime definitely worth a watch that will bring forth a greater appreciation for animation.

The question of the anime: “Are human beings truly equal?”
The answer: NO. Duh.

**note this review has attempted to remain as spoiler free as possible, names of characters are excluded for this reason**

This anime was filled with promise. We meet Ayanokoji, a monotoned first year entering a high school set up the Japanese government where students are placed in either A,B,C, or D class. You and your class earn points depending on how you do on exams and school in general and can utilize said points to purchase anything. In order to be guaranteed a job or a university of your choosing, you must work ... together as a class to defeat every class and become the A class.

Unfortunately, the premise of the story is let down by pretty much everything. First, how is this school even funded by the government? It would cost billions to have private islands and hundreds if not thousands of staff members taking care of countless facilities like ginormous pools, malls, and dorms.

There's supposed to be this huge underdog appeal to the story. Our MC is situated in the D class, the "defectives" of the school. But so many of them are just absolutely dumb that it doesn't make sense how they got accepted to a money wasting school such as this. The top school in the country, and it has students who fail tests even when they have the answers to it? Class D does not have to op geniuses, but can't they at least have an average IQ?

Cliches fill the episodes of this anime.
There's nothing wrong with some cliches; they can be lighthearted and add some comedy to a story. Done right, they're fun. But the characters fall into such black and white categories that it makes for bland character development(if you can call it that). Our MC slowly builds a half hearted harem of sorts that falls flat. The only character that made me stay was MC. Yes, he can be a shell of a human and his monotoned voice can get a little boring, but there are reasons for it. He doesn't frustrate the viewer even if we don't get much of his thoughts.

This story had such promise. A point system for the school can bring so many possibilities that it's exciting. But it falls so incredibly short. The plot and characters aren't handled with care. We get frustrating rules to the school, annoying characters, and mediocre animating all trying to hide with random fanservice and way too obvious "twists." For all the hype I've seen for this school, Classroom of the Elite has let me down.

I came to this after watching the anime, which only goes up to about chapter 30~. Let's go by categories and hopefully this will help you figure out whether this is the manga for you!

Art:
the art is stunning! Everything is well made and draws you in. If art style is important to you, this manga will not disappoint!

Characters and Plot:
The characters, unfortunately, aren't anything too special. They all can fall into certain categories, but they do have developments that get you more attached ... to characters. The fact that the plot is pretty ridiculous can be fun if you don't criticize it too much. I was excited for the second half of the story where Kae(FINALLY) chooses someone to be with, but the pacing is so rushed that the character of the one she ends up with gets mixed. If the story had been slowed down a bit, the last arcs would've fallen way better into place.

Overall, this manga can be a fun time, I especially enjoyed Kae as her kindness is heartwarming and her over-consuming love of BL is amusing. Worth a read if you don't want anything serious