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Ain't nothing vanilla about this milkshake. 10/10

Must read.

Warning: mature content





...
Although nothing else needs to be said, I'll throw in an actual review and re-read purely for research purposes xD

Enjoyment 10/10

Overall I find it a masterpiece.


I like this very much because:

-I expect smut from something smut and I actually got it.

-They jump into it! None of that chapters of dilly dally with like 2 frames of implied intercourse after all of that nonsense.

-And I actually know what's going on. I know what's going in his mouth and at what angle, I even know how many fingers are going in. And when a little bit spilled out when he woke up. 10/10. After so many I've read, this is the first time I've seen it mentioned. Now that is some thorough research.

-And I really appreciate the sexy nipples and the leg hair. It doesn't feel uncomfortably illegal like with other art styles. And the lack of yaoi hands! I always found those hands ridiculous. The art style is shoujo bishounen quality. I have a crush on all 3 of them! 3!!!

-And I like the simple setting, "we like doing it and we're young and we have time because we're college-aged bishounen." (I just came from reading one where a school doctor accidentally slept with a very rich, high school aged boy from the middle east who also happened to already have finished medical school. Bonkers.)

-There are also back stories that are introduced at a good pace and order. In my opinion, the mangaka handles the theme of jealousy really well. Things get messy with physical relationships and each character's issue with it was atleast acknowledged.

Keep in mind that this is a review of smut compared to other smut. And that I also have no problems with threesomes. There's no point wishing this isn't a threesome as this manga's whole existence is based on that fact. There's plenty of non-threesomes already, just go there instead if it bothers you.

To everybody else: Happy reading, folks! Lock the doors and keep innocent tabs open just in case.

I'm one of those people who think I wasted my high school youth. So if I could re-live that part of my life all over again, I would have fun. When I read the synopsis I was VERY interested in what a 27 year old Japanese male would try to fix.

Story has a very interesting concept where you have pills that makes you young again (I'm actually very glad they didn't try to explain how that works.) Rating: GOOD

Art is pretty enough, there are some quality drops here and there and there were 2 characters I sometimes took an extra second to differentiate. Hishiro's mole ... changed locations and even sizes within 5 minutes. There was even "too lazy to draw the other eye" syndrome just before that character threw the ball. But they really do try to keep the quality together at important scenes, I appreciate that. Rating: OK

Sound is very good. No one else might have noticed but there was an echo effect in one scene and I almost shed a tear that they bothered. Ending songs always came in nicely at the end and there was even a song change that spiced up my life at some point. Voicework was also good. Rating: GREAT

(Edit: While reading another review that hated the BGM, it reminded me that there actually was one scene where the soundtrack made no sense at all but it didn't really bother me because I was sleepy, Ibut I remember I was very confused about where that weird sound was coming from because it didn't match the situation at all and timing was really bizarre and looking back that actually was strangely funny now that I'm awake)

Characters I'm on the fence, I really don't expect much development and I think almost all of them managed to show some level of it but for some reason I feel unsatisified with the main protagonist's development or atleast how it was delivered to me as an audience. He showed a lot of maturity and guided the others but he felt like a side character. Might as well change the synopsis to "Main character witnesses Kariu's emotional roller coaster." I feel I've seen way too much of Kariu. At some point I wanted to close everything, I was getting tired of her drama every damn episode. Rating: OK

Despite my growing disdain for Kariu, enjoyment was really good in the beginning, I really couln't stop watching, turns out the main character is great and he's very perceptive with strong morals. I kept watching because of him. I wanted to know if this "failure in life" succeeds. But we don't actually see that, we just have to assume he does unless there's a second season. There were quite a few twists when it came to the agency and also his past. I was very satisfied with those. And Hishiro is a very interesting comic relief and showed great development. Rating: GOOD

Overall I enjoyed it despite it not going the way I wanted. I wish it was nicely wrapped up in the end because I don't feel like investing another season if it's basically Kariu over-reacting and the other characters develops as they deal with her crap everyday. But they dropped a bombshell in the end that I didn't see coming so it kind of made it worth sticking around until the end. A generous 7/10 because I like both Hishiro and Arata.

Currently on ep 12 so this might be considered an early review. As a casual watcher type, I'm very picky with what to waste my time on. I only watch if it's popular enough to catch some hype, but I only keep watching if it's interesting regardless of how hyped it is. But it didn't even get the hype I was expecting of a classic. And I wasn't interested since I thought it belonged in my childhood and my childhood alone as I completely forgot everything about it. So now I come to this with a fresh perspective.

The reason I picked it up was because ... I was with someone who watched it. A part of me feels I would have dropped it at ep 4 if it wasn't for him. (And I wouldn't have found out that the official Japanese pronunciation is LUPAN not LUPIN.) But who would have kept watching if it was actually that bad right? Now on to my review:

STORY:
The story is simple enough, crazy and fun. e.g. physics-defying anime logic but you learn to embrace it in animes like this. You will always get reminded Lupin is a skilled thief so I just expected him to walk off with treasure as that detective guy earnestly swears to get him "next time." But it's not like that, it's actually a very heartwarming series. I'm under the impression it's what young people would describe as "getting the feels." I'm pleasantly surprised.

ART:
Art is nice. Looks like the Lupin I remember without looking too old and outdated. The ombre hair effects looks very appealing and the background work is charming. There were moments when quality dropped a bit but it happens to all anime.

SOUND:
BGM is funky and groovy. The intro is beautiful in acoustic versions that I stumbled on by accident online but I'm a bigger fan of the ending song.

CHARACTERS:
There are quite a lot of main male characters and you can tell they all have good hearts. The 2 female characters are ok enough. I seem to remember from childhood that Fujiko was a sex symbol but I can't remember if she was more than that and so I have no clue if we'll see her develop beyond being a greedy voluptuous thief in this series. New characters are usually met with scepticism since they are unfamiliar but I don't mind Rebecca, she does what she wants and she does it by herself, she doesn't annoy me WHICH IS A BIG DEAL as it could have easily went in that direction I feel. She contributes something besides money. Maybe that's why. Hmmmm

ENJOYMENT: It's definitely fun. Perfect for someone not wanting anything too serious and plot heavy to watch e.g. mecha and dystopia themed anime where every other sentence is an explanation. I can tell why a young me would enjoy something like this. Each episode is different but remains cohesive with the rest. It doesn't feel like it's dragging on, I appreciate the pace. And a young me wouldn't understand any of the adult themes anyway. (e.g. where one minor character was implied to have been a sex worker against her will.)(Don't even cry Spoiler Alert as it's not even crucial to the story at all.) The antics would have seemed funny and unbelievable and awesome to my younger self. e.g dodging bullets and hitching helicopter rides. But the real heart of this anime is obviously the nice happy endings that leave you with a good taste in your mouth.

But although I barely have any qualms about this anime, I really don't feel like investing more time on it after I watch ep 13 (if I'm reading the preview right, it seems that that episode will wrap up Italian Dream)

I'm just a casual watcher, it's time to move on. We've had our fun but I'm not interested in keeping this relationship going. Despite being well-paced, the plot doesn't urge me to watch more. I'm not dropping it because it's bad, it's more so to free up time for other anime. See other people.

My advice is definitely give it a try, you don't have to put a ring on it but getting to know the series a bit really wouldn't hurt your anime knowledge as this is clearly a classic revival.

I give it a 7/10.

If you're not much of a shoujo anime fan, it's better to just stay away. It's basically a chick who had feelings for a guy when they were in middle school then he left and when he came back, she fell again. If you are a shoujo fan, it's not as ridiculous as Special A, it's a little more realistic. But it's not as heavy as Bokura ga Ita, it's definitely more innocent when it comes to love. Although, the characters back stories are definitely korean/japanese drama worthy, (can't tell you why, you'll have to watch it.) What really sets it apart from other anime ... is its pacing. No one appreciates good pacing more than me. If it's too slow, you get bored; too fast, you get unattached or confused. They do a good job of introducing elements just enough to keep you watching the next episode.

Story is very typical, but on a shoujo scale it'd be a solid 9 atleast. A shoujo 9 because it can make your heart flutter. A bunch of loner girls becoming friends then very subtly and quietly their love lives unfolds, it's very innocent and lovely and straightforward. If you like shoujo on the innocent side this is for you. Just watch the first episode and immediately you will root for them and find out there is more to the story, that people change and so does their feelings... or does it?! Ah the suspense. *swoon*

Art is pretty, up to date, and clean. It didn't try to be too unique which I appreciated, but the downfall would be is that if I saw a particular screen shot of this anime on a random site, the chances are slim I'd figure out it's Ao Haru Ride right away. But that doesn't matter at all.

Sound, tbh, I didn't pay attention to bgm or if it even had any but I rarely skipped the opening song, I reckon it adds to the overall feel of the anime, "the joy and innocence of young love." But I will say this, EVERY TIME there is a serious moment between the mains, there is this ONE song that always always plays. You will know which one I'm talking about, trust me.

Characters: Oh that main girl's hair, I could not get over how feral she looked, but I realized that she's trying to be as unladylike as possible. I was genuinely hoping she would slowly find her old self again and allow herself to be pretty. Why does it matter? Am I just shallow? No it's because in the anime, it really seemed like she was living a lie just so people would like her. Although it's nice she made friends whatever version of herself she is now, which is what counts and made it heartwarming because she moves forward(not backwards despite this anime being heavy with flashbacks) It would be an exciting development.

The main guy is really interesting, smart, very kind, good looking and cool because he keeps things to himself. But that's the mystery, we feel like we need to know what's in his heart, he immediately admitted he loved her in the first episode, but as he said, that guy is long dead and that she should give up. But deep in our hearts, we really don't want her to give up. We see glimmers of hope and we clench onto it harder than a handbag in a bad neighborhood.
The support characters are not annoying and are actually very supportive, loyal people.

Enjoyment: I already covered most of it in the characters section. But yeah, what really set it apart from other anime is that it had great pacing, we get her back story and even the guy's back story in the second half, and the relationships and developments of them and everybody else are evenly spread throughout the whole thing. There are always things in each episode that made you go, "woah yup that happened, let's go watch the next one." This is all in just 12 episodes, no time for boring stuff.

Overall: I think it's a very decent anime. It's not outrageous so it'd be perfect for a Japanese drama(maybe even a Korean drama if they gave it an antagonist, the anime in 12 episodes did not introduce one. In their defence, why try stop nothing? The guy doesn't wanna love yet, what's the antagonist gonna do at this point? So yeah I think it was a good move for the anime.)

Complete disclaimer: I didn't read the manga, so whether or not it did it justice, I wouldn't be able to tell you, but I can honestly say that if someone like me(who-stayed-away-from-shoujo-anime-for-a-couple-of-years-because-seeing-fictional-people-having-a-better-love-life-than-me-really-sucked) finished it, then it's completely watchable. I'll be honest I stopped watching at episode 6 then picked up again after a couple of months then finished it in ONE DAY! See that's something!

I'm giving it an 8.5/10. I admit it is pretty high for an anime like this but it was exactly what I felt I was looking for in a shoujo anime and it didn't completely let me down. Good looking, dependable characters that develops throughout the anime. They didn't make me tear my hair out. And trust me, even popular anime like Tokyo Ghoul and Deadman Wonderland had characters that made me want to tear it out. (Remembering those other characters are actually making me want to give Ao Haru Ride a 10/10 instead, but I think an 8.5 would be fair enough for now.)

Heya~

Story: 6/10
"Who's the real evil?" Who cares? It seemed pretty black and white to me logically. (Personally: If you're dead, stay dead.) I didn't feel any sympathy for either side. So I didn't end up contemplating life. Also I already knew humans are terrible. I guess a reminder didn't hurt? (Concept was good enough for bonus points in story rating. But, mainly, the endless blood showers ♥)

Art: 3/10
I still remember when my brain just said, "Deal with it, it's episode 17 already." The drawing style is unique but I didn't find it beautiful, it was bizarre. I guess it suits how messed up the anime ... is but it doesn't change things for me; didn't like it. Bonus points: Managed to live with it.

Sound: 7/10
I actually liked the music and anything sound related, it was the one thing I couldn't complain about. It wasn't painfully out of place or too weird.

Character: 2/10
Oh wow. In one word, UNLIKEABLE. Most of them were painfully annoying or despicable. Even the kind ones were annoying to me, like that best friend guy that kept crying. I can't explain without spoilers but ask yourself, "Is it worth ruining my day for?" Not really. "Why do that?!" or "Just do it!!" moments are too many a person should ever experience in a single series.

Enjoyment: 5/10?
I managed to sit through 24 episodes overall so it's compelling in its own way. Who's gonna die next?? Is everyone a piece of *** or will they actually grow as characters?? Tbh, it actually took me a few episodes to understand what was going on so there's some major potential this could have been shorter than it was.

Overall: 6/10
100% would not rewatch. 6 is actually generous but I base my ratings on concept potential usually. Don't get me wrong, it was compelling enough to keep me interested, BUT, it was compelling in a bad way. I kept watching to see if anyone of those fudgers actually pulls through for me.

Conclusion: If you like messed up stuff, this could be for you.


Everyone's review seems to be raving about how good Shiki is and so I'm just wondering maybe there is something wrong with me. (Well, there must be if I managed to get through this bloody anime without losing my appetite but that's another issue.) Why did I bother to write this you may ask?? I think it might be nice for other people to have some closure that they're not abnormal for not raving about it and that it's not for everyone, I'm like Batman of the anime world. Thanks for reading.