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Too often I find myself binge watching and rushing through series after series so that I can watch more of what I have missed that the medium has to offer. With Cardcaptor Sakura, a mahou shoujo title, I had initially started rushing through it and by the time I realized I had 20 episodes left I found myself intentionally prolonging the conclusion. That doesn't happen to me ever, and it's evidence enough for me that what I've just been through was something special.

Cardcaptor Sakura begins on the premise that a young girl receives magical powers and to attain more of these abilities and further her ... magic she must collect all of the cards she had inadvertently scattered in a similar way to a monster collection show such as pokemon. This premise is simple and easily exploitable to drag out and merchandise. Thankfully, the writers behind Cardcaptor Sakura approach this series with a near perfect balance of childhood enchantment and mature subtlety.

Joined by those she holds dear, Sakura Kinomoto stands out as a strong female protagonist. Through expressing the virtues of trust in your friends and faith in yourself, we are reminded again and again that a protagonist doesn't always need to be hardened by the trials they face. You can't help but rejoice each time the fanfare begins as Sakura triumphs the obstacles in her way, pushing through self doubt time and time again. Of course, this alone would not be enough to elevate this series alone, as the action is only one part of a greater whole.

In a title such as Cardcaptor Sakura, the moments of downtime between challenges are just as important. It is in these slice of life moments where you are reminded that Sakura is just a little girl trying to balance her role as the cardcaptor with her roles as a student, sister, friend, and daughter. The aforementioned subtlety is introduced here through the mature writing of character relationships and is what makes the series enjoyable even as an adult.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a title that lives up to the praise it's received even after many years and the inevitable dating of its artistry and sound design. To call it a classic is perhaps an understatement.

Tsurezure Children is an anthology of various first romances.

We follow several high school couples as they are being formed and we are treated to the quirky dynamic of each relationship, cutting back and forth between them often. The series, being a comedy first and a romance second, is a lighthearted look at young, dumb love and shouldn’t be taken with any degree of gravitas.

The situational and often boke and tsukkomi humor lends itself well to each of the pairs as we get to watch them be overly cautious or overly zealous with their new partners, aided in its presentation with the colorful art and ... excellent voice acting.

I feel there isn’t much to say about the series without taking a dive into each of the duos, and frankly, it’s a short enough and enjoyable watch that taking the time to write all of that out wouldn’t be worth the time that it would take to read when you could just watch it in its entirety in a single night. If you’re a fan of quirky characters, awkward first loves, clever writing, and short series then Tsurezure Children will not disappoint you. It’s a fun, quick experience that plays it safe.

Literature is a powerful thing. It can influence world leaders, like Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”, it can be divisive and split opinions for generations, like J.D Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”, or it can make middle-aged women swoon at the idea of an abusive relationship with the misunderstanding of dom/sub relationships that is E.L James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Unbeknownst to the girls in the literature club, it can also lead to them feeling the pressure of the perceived social norm to be sexually active in high school.

I caught a glimpse of a scene from the first episode on a forum thread, and visually and ... in concept, this scene was executed so well that I had to watch the series to see it for myself. The rest of the art in the series, as good as it is, never reaches this level again. This was disappointing at first, though there were scenes I was surprised to be animated due to their difficulty.


O Maidens in Your Savage Season is another coming of age story that can be summed up in two words: “It fit”. The series has its place within the genre and I believe it depicts high school students more accurately than most series. Kazusa is our main protagonist, a frumpy high school girl in love with the boy next door, but dares not speak her mind because of the ostracization she received for being close with him by girls in middle school. She is a character ripe for the pleasures and joys that come with the cliche tellings of romance from a shoujo manga. Unfortunately for Kazusa and her friends, the shoujo tag is nowhere to be found on this work.

What this entails is a series with borderline ecchi humor that’s often hit or miss, an NTR plotline that only seems to develop for the sake of continuing the story where it should have ended, a lot of coming of age issues and developments packed into a series too short to realize its own potential and a goofy conclusion that feels neither as funny nor as dramatic as the acts preceding it. While the art is incredible and is what led to me watching the series, the overall experience is brought down by being too much, too fast, and having a failure to focus on its various concepts.

In short, O Maidens in Your Savage Season peaks right around the second third of the series. The events following, while often being dramatic with their set-ups and payoffs, feel contrived and bring the experience down with it. The characters are mostly likable and their developments (for the most part) are ones you could expect from students having their first experiences with conflicting feelings of love, lust, and the social pressure that comes with being a student surrounded by hormonally charged people your age. The way that it shows this is by taking time to focus on each of the characters of the literature club and how their relationships with the people around them and their love interests develop as the series goes on. This approach would work well if given more time. While there’s a lot of self-discovery for each of the protagonists, much of it is on the nose or you’re already aware of it and are waiting for the plot to catch up. This can lead to some cynicism as you’re watching the series and once the plot catches up it doesn’t feel like much of a revelation despite being depicted as such.

The OP, “Otome domo yo” by CHICO with HoneyWorks, contrasts delicate vocals and a twinkly piano melody with a driving rhythm section of present bass and drums often punctuating the end of a phrase with fills. This culminates beautifully with all of the instruments and double-tracked vocals coming together with more energy for the final chorus.

The performances of the cast lend themselves well to the art style, noticeably so when features are distorted or characters are having pivotal moments in their developments. Environments that we return to are often done well, and care is taken into making them believable.

I feel this series had a lot more potential that was squandered due to the nature of its limited runtime and plethora of themes and concepts it had to explore, and if given more time, would have easily soared above and beyond with its story. Unfortunately, that is not what we were given, and while the comedic aspect is handled very well, the dramatic portions often feel lesser quality despite these being the focal point of the series later on.

I wanted to find the worst anime on MAL so I started searching.
That search led me to Skelter Heaven, and I could not be more satisfied.

Skelter Heaven is not conventionally "good" by any means. It's bad. Plain and simple. This is an example of an anime that is so bad that it's good. It is one of the funniest things I have actually seen in the medium and managed to make me laugh out loud where comedies have failed.

The story is disjointed between flashbacks and the present.
There's a CG squid monster the crudely drawn anime girls are fighting in their CG mechas. The story has ... everything you could possibly want in a hilariously bad anime: little direction, audio cutting in and out, music being cut by a jump to the next scene, static characters and lip flaps that don't match, poorly written dialogue, and forced romance.

Skelter Heaven has it all.

I literally could not contain my laughter when I was being shown a "character building" flashback scene only to jumpcut back to a character screaming for their life. It was absolutely brilliant. I am in tears from the laughter as I write this.

I cannot possibly rate this as low as I should simply because it excels as unintentional comedic gold.

Well, it's finally happened. This is the first series I've dropped.
Maybe someday I'll come back to it just so I can have it completed, but as of right now, I can't stomach anymore of it.

I'm not one for harem anime to begin with, the idea of all of the female love interests being twins however convinced me that maybe I can watch it to see how they decide to differentiate the characters and make each of them unique in their own way.

They don't.

You literally have a cast of duplicated characters throughout, which means you're just getting a double dose of generic characters. There are ... twins that were friends with the lame protagonist since birth, rich girls that happen to notice his good deeds, teachers, children, you get the idea. They're all affectionate to the protagonist just because he's a #niceguy. The second another guy comes into the picture and states he has feelings for one of the several girls, the protagonist gets all mopey because it's possible he could lose one of his 12 options. He's a really lame character and his only redeemable quality is being in the right place at the right time, as his equally generic jealous best friend character points out.

The art is atrocious. School Rumble came out during the same season and the art for that still holds its own. Many of the characters have ear piercing whiny voices, which is made worse because they do the generic thing where they have each pair of twins speak at the same time when they address the protagonist. It's strange that they even hired separate voice actresses for all of the love interests because they sound alike.

I couldn't force myself to sit through any more of this series.

Rifle Is Beautiful is a series that presents itself as a sort of CGDCT/Sports anime that doesn't quite hit its mark.

Of course with the limited premise of girls in a rifle shooting club being presented in a restrained, believable world, this can be expected.

Story: 6/10

The story begins with a scene of the big bowed, bubble headed Hikari running around the school attempting to find the Rifle Shooting Club that she's wanted to join since her childhood. With the help of her friend and fellow riflewoman Izumi, she discovers that the club has since disbanded and in true CGDCT fashion, needs to find two more students ... to join so that they can have a club. This quickly leads to them recruiting experienced competitors; Yukio, a quiet marks(wo)man with incredible skill and sarcasm, and Erika, a prideful, driven girl aiming to be the best.
This group of clashing personalities come together as they try to get their shit together to compete in the national tournament.

I enjoyed the way the story was handled, it moves along fast enough to present itself so as not to bore the viewer with the limited content you could make out of a mostly stationary sport. The conclusion was satisfying and grounded, and throughout the series there's plenty of breathing room for characterization to be written into the girls through their interactions.


Art: 7/10

The art in Rifle Is Beautiful isn't perfect. Shots are nicely composited, colors are picked very well for Studio 3hz that you'd be forgiven for at first thinking it's a Doga Kobo work. The rifles themselves are largely CG and have this weird framerate thing going on that doesn't work well with the rest of the animation, given that rifle shooting is the main focus, it's concerning why more time wasn't put into getting this right. Characters are drawn well and their actions help breathe life into them. Once in a while the anime will divert into a simple chibi/derpy art style that doesn't take away from the experience.


Sound: 5/10

The sound is just fine for the series. While the OP isn't all that memorable it serves its purpose. The VAs made the conversations and jokes between the characters seem believable, and the music throughout did its job to create the atmosphere intended.


Character: 5/10

The characters in Rifle Is Beautiful are pretty generic. Hikari is an overly derpy character, Erika comes off as a tsundere, Yukio is quiet and sarcastic, and Izumi plays a straight man that serves to prop up Hikari. I do feel that the writers did a good job at making these characters play off of eachother, though the humor is often a "this,that,but actually this" kind of setup-fakeout-punchline payoff.
Supporting characters each have their own quirks to fill out the cast and differentiate them from each other.

Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 6/10


I can appreciate what Rifle Is Beautiful did with it's limited concept and likely limited art budget. It was able to deliver a moe sports-dramcom story without feeling like it was stalling too much, and oftentimes the jokes were hitting the beats in the right places. If you aren't a fan of CGDCT I would definitely not recommend it for you, however I feel it was a good experience that won't be anything incredibly memorable, but fun to look back on.

Coppelion is an interesting piece of media that wants to do a lot with the premise, however the direction it takes ends up slightly skewed into a drama of sorts that hurts the presentation of an otherwise decent piece of art.


Story: 5/10

Coppelion begins in the beautifully illustrated ruins of the post-nuclear accident city of Tokyo. We're introduced to our three protagonists: Ibara Naruse, Taeko Nomura, and Aoi Fukasaku, which are high school girls that have been genetically engineered to withstand the incredibly dangerous conditions of the city, trained since their coming into being to be a medical team tasked with locating and rescuing any ... survivors that may be within the city's limits. They are known as the Coppelion. The series introduces you to the premise and builds the world effectively through an episodic structure until the overarching plot and main conflict present itself.

This seems like an incredibly interesting idea for a series, and had it kept the episodic structure it could have been a pretty engaging experience. Once the major plot kicks in the story takes a nosedive and gets into a rhythm of problem solving, deus ex machina, and cliffhangers.


Art: 9/10

The art is the reason I was able to watch the series in its entirety. The background art depicting the ruins of the city in all of its grime and former glory is absolutely stunning. The muted color palette across the desolate buildings, crumbling city streets, and vacant ruins sets the tone for the beginning of the series to be a rather somber one. With such an intense presentation the choice to make the characters have thick, comic book style outlines was a welcome one. This helps them stand out from the backgrounds and gives the show a sense of conscious stylistic direction.


Sound: 8/10

I realized the sound in this anime had a lot more thought put into it the further along I got in the series. The music choices were all chosen well for the context they were presented in. The VAs do their job of presenting the character's personalities, their frustrations, trials, and burdens. This becomes very important as there are a lot of moments when characters have moments of introspection and their purpose.


Character: 4/10

I understand why the creators took the route they did with the girls. The reason for the characterization written into them is not lost on me. But it is annoying.

Ibara Naruse is the leader of the group. She does most of the work while the other two protagonists either serve as plot devices or to support her. She has one goal of saving lives, and will do what she must to make sure that happens. Her passion for this makes her failures her moments of weakness. This contrasts with her incredibly super-human exterior.

Taeko Nomura is possibly given the least characterization of the group. While she is somewhat competent and more useful than Aoi, her role remains much of the same as the focus is never shifted to her enough to get a read on her internal struggles. She exists to present the idea that Coppelion students can have engineered abilities, hers being that her senses are heightened.

Aoi Fukasaku is the weakest link in the group. She is incredibly whiny and will continue to whine throughout the series. Her character, I believe, is supposed to represent the idea that even genetically engineered humans can have more of a sense of humanity, compassion, and empathy than real humans. I couldn't force myself to like this character, as she's never given any redeemable qualities within her characterization. You will tire of this character quickly.

The rest of the cast is littered with people that either stand in the way of the protagonists, represent the duality of people in desperation, act as deus ex machina, or act as recurring villains that the protagonists must repeatedly be at odds with.


Enjoyment: 6/10
Overall: 5/10

After my first few episodes of Coppelion I could not understand the hate it was getting, because I was enjoying it a lot. The premise was interesting, the art was interesting, the story up to that point was okay and the characters weren't destroying the show for me. Once the rest of the plot unfolded I started to understand the criticisms for this anime. The major flaws lie within the characters and the story, which are the most important aspects. I think Coppelion is passable, and memorable in it's own way, if not for a lot of the wrong reasons. It's worth a watch if you're in the mood for something different and are willing to forego some logic and forgive some bad characters.

Girl practices rowing her boat through Mars Venice, Italy - Aria

When I think of a beautiful series Aria is the first to come to mind.

Aria features a unique premise, iyashikei vibe, and one of the most beautiful soundtracks I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

I don't think I'm adding anything to the discussion around this series through this review but I want to gush about it.


Planet Aqua was formerly known as Mars before people were able to inhabit it. Today, Aqua is covered in water and the city built on it, Neo Venezia, is built much like it's Earth counterpart, with canals and waterways ... throughout the city. Our main character, Akari, is a relatively new undine. The majority of the anime focuses on her interactions with the other undines, tourists, and discovering more about the beautiful planet she now inhabits.

The art is beautiful and endearing for it's time. If Aria were to be remade today I think it would be hard to capture the same aesthetic and feeling this series provides. A focus on architecture and beautiful landscapes make Aria a pleasant watch.

The soundtrack is hands down one of the most beautiful things I have ever listened to and it's no surprise that the CDs for the soundtracks are sought after and sold at premium prices.
The OP makes use of odd intervallic relationships between the leading voice and piano accompaniment along with the steady and slow swelling strings in the background to lull you into the dreamlike state that permeates the series.

The characters aren't over the top or outstanding in typical anime fashion. i Each of them have their quirks, yes, but these quirks are not the defining traits of the characters and their interactions feel much more grounded in reality throughout the series because of their nuanced behavior.

I love this series, and you probably don't need me urging you to watch it to be intrigued by the concept in an industry dominated by stories that are far too often too similar and characters that are far too often recycled.
I believe the only people who wouldn't enjoy Aria are people that solely watch anime for action or nihilists. Otherwise, Aria is a recommendation for everyone.

Flip Flappers is an interesting magical girl anime that has a dark undertone of a looming plot throughout!

No that doesn't mean that it's a Madoka clone.

A seemingly normal girl gets dragged into fantastic adventures into an alternate dimension by a girl named Papika of the Flip Flap organization.
One important thing to take note when watching Flip Flappers is that absolutely everything has a reason. This makes for a compelling and comprehensive watch when all of the pieces finally fall into place towards the third act.

The characters are colorful and the scenes are bright. The animation is solid and the sound design is excellent. Why more ... people haven't watched Flip Flappers is beyond me.

Adolescence is an extremely complex time in one's life. Being surrounded by your peers while each of you are physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially growing into the people you will eventually become can be difficult for the development of any youth. School Days, an anime based on a harem visual novel, takes an interesting dive into these four aspects of adolescent development for each of the three characters in it's main cast.

Characters:
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Makoto Itou is a young teen that we are introduced to as being socially well regarded. Through his interactions with the main cast and later on supporting cast, we begin to develop a clearer ... picture of who Makoto is becoming.
Makoto, while being generally liked in the beginning of a series, eventually becomes somewhat of a phenom for his exploitation and manipulation of the women he comes across, only to later on become a pariah for his actions.
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Kotonoha is a female Makoto finds interest in, and through the help of his classmate Sekai, is able to secure a chance to make her aware of this. This leads to them beginning to date and explore the idea of seeing one another. Kotonoha develops feelings for Makoto, and his presence impacts her mental, emotional, and social life greatly.
From being a shy but attractive girl in the beginning of the series, eventually Kotonoha has strained relationships with everyone in her life due to the involvement of Sekai and her friends. With her trust betrayed and her heart broken, we watch as the mental fortitude of a girl is tested against the abhorrence of her peers.
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Sekai is a female that Makoto finds himself sitting next to in class. She agrees to help him meet Kotonoha, ignoring her own feelings for him. This leads to her taking actions that only result in the further disbandment of the three physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Sekai is largely resolute in her actions and her development, the consequences of which affect those around her and eventually herself.
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Development:

We can see that Makoto and his peers grossly misinterpret their hormonal lust for each other as love, and their developments through this misinterpretation are where the strongest character traits are shown.
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Makoto wishes to be more involved with Kotonoha, and through this lack of involvement becomes closer with Sekai. This leads to his misunderstanding of the differences between love and lust as he begins to equate the two.
Makoto grows to be mentally and emotionally manipulative towards the women around him and eventually loses his sense of empathy. As his respect and value for the women he surrounds himself with dwindle, he becomes a jaded person simply using bodies for sexual release.
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Kotonoha doesn't equate love and lust, instead wanting to understand the actions of the two she had grown to call her friends. Her repeated attempts to obtain answers and reach a level of understanding are met with conflicting messages between all parties involved which leads her to believing in Makoto's manipulation. This leads to her mentally collapsing after she is made out to be an awful person by the one she devoted herself to most.
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Sekai begins the series with an emotional connection to Makoto, though she waits until she has already involved Kotonoha to express these emotions. Sekai can be seen as the origin of these developments because through her manipulation of Makoto she warps his perspective further of the differences between love and lust. This eventually leads to her manipulation of her friends and their betrayals of her. Her selfish actions inadvertently change the people around her, while she stays resolute in her desires. When she realizes this outcome isn't at all what she wanted, her emotions consume her.


I believe these characters are well written and their lack of communication and honesty serves as a point to be genuine in your relationships with the people around you. After having watched the series I found myself recalling events that hit too close to home in high school and proceeded to correct any wrongdoings I may have committed. I believe that School Days is a good example of what not to do and what not to value in your search for love, especially in the advent of online dating apps and the myriads of shallow relationships we form through them each day.