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Sep 27, 2024
I want to preface this review by saying that Senpai wa Otokonoko is one of my favorite manga of all time. I am writing this review from a fan of the source material's perspective. With this being said, I did enjoy watching this anime; however, it left much to be desired. While not a standalone bad watch by any means, I don't believe it to be a very good adaptation of the source material. TL;DR: really, really great series, but pretty lackluster execution in this adaptation.
My complaints lie within two key points: visuals and pacing. Let's talk about the visuals first. I believe the character
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designs were adapted well into the animation, and everyone looks very cute, but regarding "animation", there isn't very much of that to begin with. At many points it felt like I was just rereading the manga but with sounds and voice acting. Most of the actual animated sections were drawn in a sort of simple chibi style that Pom-sensei uses throughout the manga, and I found it to be quite endearing and enjoyable especially for comedic moments in the manga, but quite overused and distracting here in the anime. They especially take away from some of the more serious moments where Pom tends to refrain from using them, but are used very liberally in the anime. A lot of the rest of the scenes are depicted via slideshow montages of still images or otherwise very minimal animation. On top of this, many background characters are drawn without eyes, which I do understand as a way to make the backgrounds easier to draw, but the fact that they often remain eyeless even when attention is drawn to them is very off-putting. All this aside though, in general, none of the standalone visuals look bad at all, and Pom's lovely art style was adapted very nicely. Unfortunately, it's clear the show wasn't given a very high budget, and it definitely reflects in how it's presented visually.
Now, pacing. This 12 episode anime covers around 75% of the manga, which is 100 chapters long. This makes for a lot of things to be gone through too fast, or just plain skipped over in some cases. I imagine that as an anime viewer unfamiliar with the source material, this wouldn't be as much as of an issue; however, from a manga reader's perspective, it personally felt very weird to watch sometimes. Some important arcs in the manga felt very rushed through here, and some less important ones felt like they were given too much attention, which left me very confused sometimes. At no point during watching this did I have any idea where they were gonna end it off. And again, this is only really an issue from a manga reader's perspective, so take this paragraph with a grain of salt.
Now, as I am a big fan of Senpai wa Otokonoko as a manga, I have to talk about some of the positives of this anime adaptation. As I mentioned before, the character designs and Pom's art style were adapted into the anime very nicely. Along with that, all of the voice casting for this adaptation fits each character super well; they're all almost exactly how I imagined them sounding in my head when I was reading. The voice acting isn't all that's good in regards to sound either; The opening and ending and all the OST in between are very good and help tie scenes together very nicely. I'm also very grateful that much of the LGBTQ+ theming was given the attention it deserves, as it's very important to the series as a whole and a big reason why I personally fell in love with it.
To conclude, I will answer the main big burning question: do I recommend this anime, or do I not? The answer is it depends. I do not want to deter anyone from experiencing a series as beautiful and lovely as Senpai wa Otokonoko. If you're not someone who reads any manga at all, then I won't discourage you from watching the anime; by all means, go ahead! As mentioned above, if you're not a fan of the source material, much of the things I mentioned will not sour the experience for you. However, if you're someone who does read manga and happened to stumble upon this anime, I would definitely suggest trying to read the manga first instead. Overall, yes, I do recommend Senpai wa Otokonoko wholeheartedly. There is just simply, in my opinion, a much better way to experience it than via this anime adaptation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 31, 2024
Pokémon has been a very big part of my life since I was a kid, but save for the XY series, the anime has never really hit for me. Unlike most, I was never able to connect with Ash as a protagonist, and after a while the premise began to grow stale to me. As such, I've been hesitant to write a review on Pokémon Horizons due to it being so much more enjoyable for me than its predecessors. Now that I'm through with the first two major arcs, I think I can finally put one together. I don't know how to put my thoughts
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into words without completely glazing it, but it honestly deserves it. If you are someone who has been hesitant to watch Pokémon Horizons because Ash isn't the protagonist anymore, I promise you, giving Liko a chance is well worth your time.
The entire cast is very lovable, with the adult cast of the Volteccers crew and the younger protagonist trio of Liko, Roy, and Dot having something to offer for both older and younger audiences. This doesn't mean that the kids don't offer much if you're a part of the older Pokémon fan crowd though, as I've found it very easy to connect with Liko even now as an adult viewer, despite never being able to do so with Ash when I was younger. Liko is much more reserved and unsure of herself than the gung-ho all-or-nothing kid that Ash is, which for me makes her more relatable and also makes watching her growth a lot more satisfying. And if you still miss the more energetic Ash, you can find a lot of that kind of personality in Roy, who, while mildly similar to Ash, is still a great character with big dreams of his own. Dot is also a lovely contrast to both Liko and Roy, and it's very enjoyable watching her try to come out of her shell. These three as the main characters all mesh with and bounce off each other very nicely, and the adults they travel with are very enjoyable characters as well. They, aside from Friede, take the backseat most of the time, but they still have episodes that give them each their deserved focus along with the kids. Every character is unique, special, and important to the crew in their own way, and no one is ever left out of the spotlight. They feel like a big family, and it's also comforting to know that they'll be around for the long haul rather than one region and done outside of cameos like Ash's past companions were.
As for the plot itself, I find it to be a nice breath of fresh air in contrast to the many many gym challenges Ash faced and lost over and over. It feels much more like an actual adventure, and thus much more unpredictable and exciting. It follows Liko's journey with her first partner Pokémon Nyahoja (Sprigatito) along with Roy and the other members of the Rising Volteccers and their Pokémon, as they travel across the world to different regions to uncover the mysteries of Liko's pendant, facing hardships and setbacks along the way. Unlike the gym challenge which is very linear and easily predictable, this journey has many twists and turns and is full of mystery and the unknown as they uncover more about the pendant, its history, and the Pokémon associated with it. It makes every new development fun and exciting, with the highs feeling happier and the lows feeling sadder, each hitting equally as hard on opposite ends. Even the more calm "filler" content is enjoyable because the characters are all so lovable and bounce off of each other very well, and it really helps to flesh them out and show off the world they live in and how they fit into it. Nothing ever feels like it's pointless or out of place.
Aside from story and characters, the OST (at least in the original Japanese version) is beautiful and each track perfectly ties every scene together, and the art and animation is simple and clean, while still looking very pretty for a weekly anime. The animation sequence for the second opening especially is absolutely gorgeous; I can never bring myself to skip it. I also love how faithful it is to the world of Pokémon and the gameverse, clearly showing off the special parts of each region they visit.
I have absolutely no complaints regarding this series, it's very special and there's clearly a huge amount of care put into it. It's a great disservice to completely dismiss Pokémon Horizons just because Ash is no longer in it, so I highly HIGHLY recommend you try it out. It's very different and very new, but this is in absolutely no way a bad thing. If you like Pokémon at all, I'm confident you'll find some enjoyment in it.
Overall rating: 10/10, no notes. This series is the perfect Pokémon anime in every possible way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 9, 2023
I've been a fan of idol anime for a very long time, and seeing this excessively popular anime that appeared to be in a somewhat niche genre that I happen to enjoy, I went in with high hopes. What I got was something that completely betrayed my expectations, for better or for worse. Oshi no Ko is less of an "idol anime", and more of a drama/slice-of-life/mystery that masquerades itself as an idol anime in its marketing, focusing exclusively on the bad and shady parts of the entertainment industry rather than the personal stories of the idol personalities who perform within it. If you are
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someone such as myself who likes typical idol anime, and is going into this series expecting something like that, I don't imagine you'll like it very much.
The first episode attempts to take an interesting spin on the idol anime format, by following Ai's story of continuing her work as an idol while also hiding her children, but after her murder at the end of the episode, things go dark, and stay dark, except for the occasional comedy/slice-of-life bits that are typical of a high school setting (which by the way, only lasts for like two episodes). Despite this, the first episode is quite honestly the best in the entire series. Nearly movie length, it could easily have stood alone without the rest of the season that followed. The build-up following Ai and her children, Aqua's work as a child actor, Ruby's practice to learn how to dance, etc, up until Ai's death at the very end, while not paced the best, was cinematically one of the best first episodes of a series of this particular genre that I've ever seen. Tragically, the rest of the season that followed turned out to be mid at best, and incredibly disappointing at worst.
The reincarnation plot was an interesting concept, but executed very poorly. Idol-otaku-turned-oshi's-child could've been incredibly funny if the slice-of-life plot the first episode set up before Ai's death continued (baby Ruby was really funny for example), but Aqua's side of things just felt weird and left far too much room for pseudo-incest (and pedophilia? he was a grown ass man in his past life and stayed that way mentally. weird) to be comfortable with.
On the topic of Aqua, he is quite honestly one of the worst protagonists I have ever had the displeasure of following, being the edgy know-it-all Light Yagami constant internal monologue type that I truly despise. The beginning of his revenge plot felt really tacky; his immediate theory being presented as fact without any question just felt ridiculous to witness. It's also a bit oxymoronic, as his manipulation of and work with people in the entertainment industry (including teenagers his mother's age at the time of his reincarnation), all to get back at this industry for killing his mother/oshi, which he KNOWS is a bad industry that prays on teenagers such as his mother/oshi and sister, just feels very confusing overall. When he does talk about how bad the entertainment industry is, it's a lot of "too bad so sad, this industry sucks, that's the way it is, we can't change it, etc etc, but I'm going to exploit it anyway", which just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Being someone who, as mentioned before, enjoys idol anime, Ruby's plot was my favorite part of the season. It was very short, only getting a lot of focus in the final 4-ish episodes, but it was still very refreshing. I do very much like the idea of Ruby attempting to become an idol to carry on her mother/oshi's legacy, and the group dynamic between Ruby, Mem, and Kana was very fun and reminiscent of the typical idol genre tropes that I love. If the series had Ruby as the protagonist and this plot as the forefront, it would have made for a much more enjoyable watch, at least for me. Although as an idol fan I am very biased, so take or leave this opinion as you see fit.
Overall, I didn't hate this series, but there were a large number of things that made it lackluster to nearly unwatchable for me. My final take is that, from the perspective of an idol fan, this isn't something I would recommend to other idol fans. However, if you enjoy dark, edgy, mystery plots in a slice-of-life setting, you may enjoy this. It may make for an okay gateway into idol anime too, as long as you are aware of the fact that most typical idol anime are Not Like This.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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