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Mar 21, 2021
Mushoku Tensei is about redemption and second chances…I think…I’m not sure…Is it?
Mushoku Tensei can’t decide what it wants to be. It tries to be a story about self-improvement. We’re supposed sympathize with the protagonist, Rudy, as he overcomes his trauma and makes the positive life decisions he was never able to in the past. Even from the first few minutes of the first episode, we can see that Rudy, who has hit rock-bottom, is not an awful person, sacrificing himself in an attempt to prevent some highschoolers from getting hit by a truck. He exhibits consistent character development that continues throughout the series; he overcomes
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his fear of going outside, defends Sylphiette against bullies, and does not let stereotypes and prejudice cloud his judgement. Rudy’s best qualities are that he genuinely cares for the people around him and having died once, he’s acutely aware of the value of a life.
Unfortunately, Mushoku Tensei’s definition of “self-improvement” does not include “not grooming children.” It’s almost like he views the people around him as NPCs that he can do things to. Although this behaviour subsides in later episodes and he treats others with more respect, he is still a pervert, and nothing he does can justify his earlier actions. Mentally, Rudy is a middle-aged man who fetishizes young girls and monologues about how they would make perfect wives in the future. He looks at his family maid with lecherous expressions that make her clearly uncomfortable, steals the panties of his mentor Roxy, tries to grope and undress a pre-pubescent Eris while she is asleep, and idolizes his scumbag father for being a womanizer. Rudy’s relationship with his father relies mostly his father’s offhand remarks about dominating women in bed and encouraging Rudy to do the same. His relationships with other men in the Greyrat family are also heavily characterized by debauchery although to a much lesser extent. It seems like for every step Rudy takes forward, he takes two steps back, and I really can’t find many reasons to like him at all.
That being said, Mushoku Tensei is a great show in all other departments. It has fantastic world building, witty dialogue and stellar performances to go with it, spectacular production value, and many likable characters. It has its heartfelt moments and its funny moments, but it also has many moments that are so tonally different and that are in poor taste. They’re not funny. They’re not charming. They add nothing of value to the show. Mushoku Tensei comes with an asterisk that the main character is a perverted creep who commits sexual assault. And that's a huge asterisk.
In a time when we want to make anime more accessible to general audiences, Mushoku Tensei; with its fanservice, sexualization of female characters, and blatantly perverted main character; makes us anime fans look bad and furthers anime's reputation as degenerate cartoons made for pedophiles and incels. I would be ashamed to admit I enjoy parts of the show without condemning other aspects, and I really can't recommend it.
Ultimately, I think Mushoku Tensei is an alright show. However, having heard so many good things about the source material from my friends, I can’t help but be a bit disappointed that in a story centered on self-improvement, the protagonist succeeds because genetics blesses him with magical talent and good looks and not because he completely reformed his twisted personality.
I was promised redemption. I didn't get it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 20, 2021
Mo Dao Zu Shi Q is funny, cute, and wholesome, pretty much exactly what’d you’d expect from a comedic chibi series based on a popular franchise. Each episode lasts about 5 minutes including the OP and ED, so the actual content of each episode is much shorter. It cuts out the angst of the series, leaving only relaxing moments and no actual plot. However, we do get to see new sides of the characters that are less pronounced in the main show. It's purely fanservice.
At the end of the day, I know why I’m here, and you probably do too. It’s a fun watch, but
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don’t expect plot development or outright shounen ai.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 29, 2020
The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History's Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants, is a show as ridiculous as the length of its name. We have once again been blessed (?) with yet another self-indulgent light novel adaptation about an unassuming guy who's secretly (or not so secretly) completely out of everyone's league. This time, it's the fantasy edition, complete with demons, heroes, magic, high school, and a harem. Bonus points since there's a rival-turned-friend who is also wildly overpowered but of course, not as powerful as our protagonist. Bonus bonus points since there's a flat-chested, twin-tailed tsundere elite and
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her busty, short-haired dandere twin.
Every logical cell in my body tells me that this show shouldn't work. Its premise is boring, and the narrative itself is chock full of tropes we are all too familiar with. You would watch this expecting it to be trash. You would be absolutely right. After all, this is a show with fantastic quotes such as "Did you think killing me would be enough to make me die?" and "Did you think crushing my heart would be enough to kill me?" How shameless would someone have to be to write these pieces of dialogue seriously?
However, I have concluded that this has to be enjoyed ironically and that the original author intended it to be at least somewhat ironic. I have no proof of this, but ironic enjoyment was enough to convince me to actually complete the series. Irony still isn't to alleviate the glaring flaws of the series, mainly the awful story and shallow characters, but it does make watching the show quite entertaining.
Whether you want to satisfy your chuuni delusions, indulge in a turn-your-brain-off fantasy, or laugh at the sheer absurdity of the events, Misfit of Demon King Academy has something to offer. I don't recommend it. Nevertheless, it's worth giving a chance.
Side Note: I watched the dub of this show, and I thought it was good. I've never watched the sub, so I don't know how it compares.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 3, 2020
6.3/10 (rounded to 6/10)
How much do quality visuals contribute the overall quality of a movie? White Snake proves that it is important, but great visuals can not necessarily save a mediocre story.
I watched this movie in Chinese a few months ago, and I was wowed by the amazing visuals. The backgrounds look spectacular, and the animation of the fight sequences is also very good. For some reason, I also really like how the fabrics look. If I had to point out some flaws about the visuals, I would say that some of the animation of the clothing looks stiff and that the character designs
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are bland.
I'm a sucker for xianxia and wuxia stories, and I was disappointed by White Snake. While watching this film, not once did I think that the story live up to the exemplary visuals. The characters were uninspiring, in particular the villains, who were especially one-note and dull. The story was inoffensive at best and extremely forgettable at its worse. Its cutaways to flashbacks were sometimes confusing even though the rest of the plot was extremely simple. I actually had to watch the trailer to refresh my memory.
Despite all this, I think White Snake was pretty enjoyable. I won't watch it again, but I don't regret watching it. It was a net positive experience. At the very least, I'm glad more people are willing to give Chinese animation a chance.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 27, 2020
Obligatory note that I'm a webtoon reader.
Tower of God was one of the most highly anticipated anime of Spring 2020. There was a lot of hype surrounding the series, considering it would be the first anime adaptation of a Korean series. Crunchyroll and Webtoon were marketing it quite aggressively the days leading up to the release, and Webtoon readers were praising it to the high heavens. So did it live up to the hype? No.
There were bound to be problems trying to cram 78 chapters worth of content into 13 episodes. World building was rushed. Some character development was cut completely. The pacing was bad.
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Animation was extremely lackluster. The direction was dull, and it didn't help that the director seemed very uninvested in the project. The music was fantastic but would be cut at seemingly random places. The anime had a lot of flaws, and opinions were split. Episodes 1, 10, and 13 were among the most controversial in the English-speaking ToG community and even more so on Korean forums. Many Korean netizens hated it, and a lot of Webtoon readers were less than thrilled about the poor adaptation.
But that's what it is. A poor ADAPTATION. After re-reading the adapted portion of the Webtoon, I can confidently say that it is far superior to the anime adaptation. However, that is not to say that the anime was bad. I don't think it's fair to say that the anime was bad because it wasn't as good as the Webtoon or because it didn't live up to the hype. At the end of the day, it was entertaining, and I enjoyed watching it.
Final verdict: 7.1/10; I encourage you to read the Webtoon instead
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 18, 2020
Killing Stalking was...interesting...It's been a while since I finished this series, yet I still don't know exactly how I feel. Sometimes I think it was pretty good, but at other times I remember that I willingly read this and wonder why. It had more good points than bad points but is definitely not something I would willingly read again.
My main problems with Killing Stalking are that it fails to be very good at anything it tries to be. MAL categorizes it as "Drama, Horror, Psychological" and "Yaoi."
Is it a drama? Somewhat. The character drama was okay, but lacking in some ways I can't
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describe.
Is it a horror? No. It was graphic, but nothing about this kept me on edge.
Is it psychological? Kind of. There are parts that made me think that were relevant to the story. Unfortunately, a good portion of my thinking was related to: Why am I reading this?
Is it a yaoi? It's boy x boy, but notice how romance is not one of the tags.
Do I recommend this? Absolutely not. If you want a good character drama with BL, read or watch Given or basically any BL by Rihito Takarai. Prefer something with colour and in webcomic format? Here U Are is pretty good. If you want a manhwa with drama, horror, and psychological elements, read Bastard instead. It far surpasses Killing Stalking in all of those categories. Sweet Home is also better than Killing Stalking in those categories despite being an action thriller. Point is, there are a lot of better options.
tl;dr: just read Bastard instead
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 17, 2020
Lookism was great, but all I remember now is its wasted potential. TL;DR at bottom
I used to love Lookism, so much so that I would recommend it to all of my friends who liked Webtoons. It had a unique concept, and it acted as a form of social commentary on "lookism," or discrimination on the basis of looks, while still being an entertaining series with a colourful cast of mostly likable characters. If my score was based on my original opinion, I would've easily given the series at least an 8/10, so why do I give it a 5?
The story. I started reading Lookism because
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it was an interesting drama with well-placed humour and interesting social commentary. As I kept reading, I began to like it less and less but was convinced that there was to be a semblance of the original series I adored. There wasn't. By the time I dropped it at the end of 2019, at chapter 260, there was no trace of the story I had loved. I was utterly perplexed by what was going on (I believe it had something to do with a gang war or something), and too many new (and useless) characters had been added that it was too confusing to follow.
I don't know exactly when I began to dislike Lookism, but I know that I am very disappointed in the direction the story was heading. If you're curious as to why I originally liked the series, read it for yourself. But don't hesitate to drop it as soon as you start to dislike it.
TL;DR
used to love Lookism but story got bad
Story: 4
Art: 8
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 3
Overall: 5
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Feb 28, 2020
Let me preface this by saying: my scoring is quite generous, where 7 is considered something decent and worthwhile.
TL;DR
-art (10): absolutely marvelous
-characters (6): alright characters, but not particularly deep
-story (7): pretty good, but doesn't seem to have a direction
-enjoyment (8): would recommend
-overall (8): definitely not perfect, but still good
Many people have said that Solo Leveling is not the average fantasy with an OP MC, but story-wise, I'm going to have to disagree. That being said, it's still a good read, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes action and fantasy comics.
What Solo Leveling has going for it is ridiculously good art
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and likable characters. To put it simply, the art is fantastic; not only is the actual art gorgeous, but the panel composition and layout also draws the reader in. The characters are likable, but as of now, the only character we extensively know about is Sung Jin-Woo, the overpowered protagonist. Of course, it's fun to see the underdog slay monsters and level up, but Sung Jin-Woo doesn't seem to have an end goal for all the stuff he's doing, making him a somewhat flat character. He is surrounded by members of the supporting cast, which we know basically nothing about since this is "Solo Leveling," focusing only on Sung Jin-Woo thus far, but based on the information given, they're fairly interesting and likable.
The main problem I personally have with Solo Leveling is the story, which at time of writing (Ch 106; end of Jeju Island Arc), doesn't seem to have a direction. So far it's only a decent "zero-to-hero" story despite what many fans proclaim. Sung Jin-Woo tirelessly fights monsters to level up, but what for? Even if grows without direction, I still enjoy it, but I can't help but feel that there is so much more potential to the story that goes unexplored. I have heard from light novel readers that the plot starts progressing and getting better with the latest arc, but being a manhwa only reader, I unfortunately cannot confirm that statement.
In the end, Solo Leveling is definitely a fun read, but I worry that if you come in expecting a nigh perfect comic that reinvents the action fantasy genre, you'll be a little disappointed. Don't think too much, and I bet you'll have a fun time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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