The Misfit of Demon King Academy is a really specific kind for me. I find this anime so intriguing as it is so low budget, has so many elements that should automatically categorize it as a below mediocre, ,,one of many" cliche isekai title, but at the same time it has something significant in itself. Third season of the series strengthens those views, as I once again found myself pretty immersed in the story of the next arc of Misfit.
This ,,something significant" I had mentioned above contains two factors, which are the main character - Anos, and general plot of the series. In the third
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Jan 26, 2025
Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha II: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e Kayou Part 2
(Anime)
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Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 25, 2025
Id:Invaded
(Anime)
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Id:invaded is the place where old good freudism, concepts based on neuroscience discoveries and japanese creativity get mixed together. It turns out that a result may come out quite interesting. Low budget, but quite ambitious title manages to represent something pretty original and imgination stimulating. However, anime Id:invaded seems to struggle in few areas, certainly proving that making a well routed one season, only 13 episodes production is not a piece of cake for japanese screenwriters. Maybe a model of 16 episodes would solve the problem? Let us see.
The world construction of Id:invaded is not really worth our attention. Not fully specified universe completely based ... on our own gets its idea of fiction borrowed mainly from old psychological concept of unconsciousness and dreams compiled with neurological knowledge(by the way, I am inclined to consider viewing Id:invaded as an interesting popcultural environment where those two oppositions get mixed and reconciled - truly fascinating and revelant nowadays). And now, to make things more clear, let's portrait the general plot of the series shortly: mysterious character soon introduced as brilliant detective Sakaido gets awakened in some messed up reality to find his body parts separated from each other. After this, putting it back together and regaining his cool he reminds of his sole point of existence in this quirky world - solving the mystery of a murder of young girl Kaeru. Soon, we find out that the world Sakaido participates in is an abstract realm of an unconsciousness of a serial killer - one of seven we will be observing through the plot. But there is one thing that connects all of them - a significant trace of dream character named John Walker who had to influence their killer instincts. Sakaido, in the real world known as Akihito Narihisago who was a real detective in the past, now turning out to be a serial killer himself focuses on finding the John Walker's identity. His journey includes constant intertwining of two worlds: reality, consciousness and dream world of unconsciousness based on such abstract elements like dark fantasies of various killers(so supposedly components of dreams) which is interesting for sure, but that is all there is really. The Id:invaded background world structure is not too advanced, we do not see anything outside the interior of Kura organization, who deals with serial murderers by using an astonishing possibility of diving into worlds of unconsciousness. What is surely stupid and quite cheap is that we find all those killers working at the same time in the same town(probably Tokio or something) and with similarly absurd methods like drilling holes in victims' heads(so called Perforator) or tearing out their hands(do not remember the name, but quite memoriable one as well). Such factors make things quite grotesque, hard to get perceived as serious from viewer's perspective. There is a dark story behind the main character's current personality. It is really dark, to say the least, which I personally see as an asset of the series because it allows the story to hit you with a great introspection of the character and develop him quite decent. Especially in the second part of the series we can experience how harsh reality is for Akihito, and how badly he wants to escape it(no spoils, but he literally gets to dive into an alternative reality where he is experiencing the past again, the past when he was a ,,normal" person and then he changes it so the tragedy does not happen). However again, that is pretty much it - we do not get any real development in terms of back story in case of any other characters, including even the antagonist, who plays quite an important role in the plot as a point of its existence is to make antagonist's identity revealed by Akihito and others(basically, who is John Walker, if he even exists in the real world, and how is he or she acting?). Id:invaded certainly has good characters like Hondomachi(another detective) and Fukuda(The Perforator), but their development is mainly based on shortly revealing their psychopatic sides and then engaging them into interactions with Akihito. That is for sure intriguing, especially when well executed as it is in this anime, but probably not enough really.There is simply no room for big developments of either characters and the world structure,. Well, 13 episodes only and there are different factors anime has to take care of(maybe there is too much to draw/work on actually, anyway you have to truly stimulate your imagination and instincts to read manga and anime writers' character and world concepts deeper; such 12 or 24 episodes anime that have just too little of such the advancement is actually quite a frequent occurance - they are like that being really ambitious with its plot and dialogues at the same time, for instance look at a Jormungand manga and an anime) I mean, anime made me accustomed to seeing such dark motives well executed(good music and overall atmosphere, e.g Darker than black and that is only an one example), but there is this usual flaw - there is too little of: episodes, the advancement and the character build. Character desings are okay, not really bright or anything of a kind like in Date a Live series. It seems quite plain to be honest, nothing remarkable maybe aside of Tamotsu Fukuda, who has that one really significant hole in the head(literally). Akihito, the main character simply looks cool, which is a standard in manga and anime universe for sure, though other important characters like Hondomachi aren't special as well. Especially the whole group from Kura monitoring Sakaido and other briliant detectives are generic in a looks perspective. That surely reflects a poverty of their development as characters in general - there was no time(once again - 13 episodes with a complex problematics). What may be worth highlighting here is that Sakaido and other brilliant detectives in a world of Mizuhanome(the machinery reponsible for creating worlds of killers' unconsciousness, there is also a relevant mistery after it which will be solved in the story) get their own unique constant designs - they are pretty cool as well. I like this transition that demarcates two different worlds on a principle like: ,,a different world means different character designs"(that is significant for sure in Anime objectively, where designs play an invaluable role). This Id:invaded anime exploits dark misterious world of psychopaty, which psychology often tries to explain with this elusive term of unconsciousness. I mean, there are people dying all the time (frequently in a grotesque manner). It needs specific mood to let you immerse into it and actually influence you with its brutality and how scary and shocking it should be. This, in my opinion, is truly well executed in here. I see this aspect as one of the strongest assets of this series. Music, facial expressions of characters and of course voice acting make the show really immersive and moving, even with its defective, exagerrated representations of serial killers methods(this turns out acceptable, not really meaningful and if you answer it consciously it is all fine - you just understand). Opening and ending are cool, nothing special for anime industry where in here the overall standard of specific anime music is high - Id:Invaded fulfills it. Screenwriters did quite a job on the story pacing field. It is not an easy task to wrap that quite aimbitious material Id:Invaded forced on them in 13 episodes only, but they took on the challenge and made it decent. Surely, the dynamics of the series can seem rushed on certain occasions. This problem especially hits in two last episodes, but objectively it is okay as the story manages to progress steadily and makes sense in the end. Personally, I consider this pacing actually to be really good until 12 and 13 episodes kick in - then things get significantly rushed indeed. Id:Invaded for certainty can't get called a slow or a boring anime. To summarize: Id:invaded is obejctively a 7 score anime. It is quite low-budged and looks okay. That was quite a good move to animate this particular series with such budget as it does not contain any adavanced animations whatsoever(completely unlike Jujutsu Kaisen 2, for example). When there is a need, they can deliver something smooth, though. There are minor scenes in a last episode when a battle with John Walker implements some more dynamic action and it actually is well animated. I respect that detail as it shows that producers actually cared about the show until the very end. They wrapped it decently, though it is rushed in the end and leaves the room for a complaint. That, on the other hand, displays the immersive part of this creation as a whole. Id:Invaded places quite fine inbetween top, greatly developed and tremendously ambitious top mal action and psychological series as Aot or Fullmetal and mediocre action series who do not deploy anything significant to the spectrum of the popculture. The title surely may be called ambitious and boasts in fantastic ideas into its plot and dialogues, but does not have the original background world set up. Personally, I should give the series 8 stars. This evaluation may seem as an overestimation, but as I emphasize - this is personal as I am a huge fan of how Id:Invaded used freudism with its ,,id" phrase and managed to connect it with an charachteristic japanish popculture' passion for the display of psychopatic deviations and importance of family values in life of an above average savage unit, which Akihito Narihisago, the main character of the show certainly is.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 20, 2025
Black Lagoon
(Anime)
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This review includes my optics on the ,,Black Lagoon" anime as a whole - not the first season only.
I do believe that ,,Black Lagoon" is an inclusive proposition. It does not contain bright elements of japanese popculture like these you can see in Isekai like collecting harems or bright character designs in general. It's pretty ambitious but also contains half measures, which you will surely notice analysing a world construction of this anime. I would personally call ,,Black Lagoon" one of ,,bigger" titles, similarly to e.g ,,Shingeki no Kyojin"- titles, which are ambitious enough to grow beyond fiction with problems they represent through their ... plot. When Rock(a main character of the series) cannot bring himself to accept a harsh reality and then receives an answer like ,,you can't look directly at these things", then you surely grasp what I mean here. The world of ,,Black Lagoon" certainly gives a great scenery to display such problems like fatality, lack of justice through the civilisation development and a problem of being lost as a person(it has to be highlighted here that this one is also delicately delivered trough a display of the Japanese guy among characters from other nations - delicately exactly because he is a solid representation of stereotypical japanese clerk, a drudge who lives only to fulfill environement's expectations, which as a whole as well shows an inteliligence of the japanese storywriter). A short story introduction will be something like: Rock, a stereotypical japanese clerk is spending his average life on fulfilling expectations of others(parents, boss), being a serious drudge. One day he gets kidnapped by a small group of pirates during some delegation and soon his life gets completely reversed. This is a turning point of his existence and that is when the real show begins - the show displaying changes of the mediocre human's personality by gaining a true self-knowledge through relations with ,,the other side of the coin" of seemingly a peaceful and simple world - a mafia, post-war reality. ,,Back Lagoon" succesfully displays unmeaningfulness of a unit in the tremendous world machinery consisting of brutal arrangements behind a transparency. What this anime does succesfully is also managing to not make this wholle bloody ,,killing everybody around" action grotesque and hilarious. ,,Black Lagoon" preservers a class here, but it is not perfect. Half measures are visible when a character named Revy, for example, is killing like ten or more people all alone with immaculate confidence(which iis at least cool to watch, especially with her great character design and expression). Still, believe me - it is definitely acceptable and fine, things still can be serious with this show. Character designs are decent, not original which makes the anime inclusive for an inexperienced viewer. A main exception from the rule here is Revy, the main heroine of the series. Looks of hers are 10/10 for me - a simple, not generic design. The simplicity fits other characters like Rock really wel tool. By the way, the generic design of Rock has its meaning as well, characters like Dutch and Balalaika are really cool too. Additionaly, an originality and exceptionality of womens' designs in the show patterns their significant traits: Revy is expressive and wild for example, so she does not wear too much, has loose outfit and is cool in general. That is what you call a good and a conscious device. An overall mood ,,Black Lagoon" deploys is immersive and significant. Thanks to a fundamental requirement plot and animation fulfill(the action and animation is not grotesque for the most part) this anime lets you forget the whole real world - here it has its own complex universe and problems which are not less important and complex as those of ours. A music this title has, combined with a good animation and dialagoues plus a good character development creates sincerely moving and inspiring composition. But the character development is a little bit problematic question in this anime's case. ,,Black Lagoon" manga is still ongoing. There are many events this quite old anime was not able to depict as it did not catch up enough through its two seasons. Nevertheless, the development of earlier mentioned Rock and Revy is coherent and simply interesting. The anime focuses especially on the Rock's personality and values change. There is quite a lot about Revy as well since the development of those two characters is based on a development of their relationship at the same time. There we have characters like Dutch, who does not manage to get his real time in the part of ,,Black Lagoon" manga story that the anime covered. However, also Balalaika, who does not get too much time still receives quite a good and subtle development(really great character by the way, the display of a russian mafia in the japanese style can be truly interesting and puzzling). A pace of the show is well routed. Producers of ,,Black Lagoon" seem to knew what they were doing on this matter, but its all on a cost of anime lacking development of characters like Dutch who are getting their time in the manga later on. The pace is dynamic and quite well-versed, though it perhaps can even appear too fast for some viewers, but it is still fine. A summary: ,,Black Lagoon" is one of my favorites. That is obviously led by personal emotions and associations I have. Nevertheless, what I wrote in my review is objective. This anime contains many virtues thanks to which is immersive. I am sure it is one of anime titles which can give viewers chills on many occasions, also giving possibilties to experience a real katharsis sometimes. A great anime in general, for me somewhere inbetween top mal action series like Snk or ,,Fullmetall Alchemist " and more mediocre ones like ,,Kimetsu no Yaiba". When it comes to the ambition of the plot, it shows a similarity to series mentioned above, but contains less quality when it comes to the world structure which is not so original and advanced. The world utterly patterned on ours but in japanese style with its popculture elements is too little to get a 10 or a 9 score on most viewers' lists. What has to be said certainly though, is that BL is one of the best realisation of a gun-fighting action type anime out there, displaying a strong bond of similarity with ,,Jormungand"- the other genuinly interesting proposition of the kind.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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