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Sasayaku You ni Koi wo Utau is one of my favourite manga series. The sweet, slightly "dramatic", and wholesome story, coupled with great art style, are all contributors to why I love this series. I also thought that the characters were relatively well-written in the source material. When I heard that this is getting an animation, I was excited to see the characters finally come to life.

I really wanted to like this animation, but I can't. From the first PV I had my suspicions that the art used in this anime will drop in quality as the episodes aired, and I am not glad to ... see that I was right. The latest episode (ep.7) had a significant art quality drop from the first frame Yori and Aki's faces are shown. The fact that this anime was also delayed from its original January 2024 air date to April also seem to indicate that there were production issues. The consistency in animation quality is very noticeable.

The way the anime was directed and handled were jarring; each scene is literally taken frame by frame from the source material. The anime can literally be manga panels with voice over and there wouldn't be much difference. To be honest, it probably would have been better if they have done it that way and just add colour to the manga panels. I do not like how this anime was directed, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

At the end of the day, you have to like the series for its story, art style, music, and characters. Because I am biased from the source material, I rated this a 7/10, but it probably deserves a 6/10 at best. I highly recommend people to read the source material if they enjoyed watching each episode, regardless of the less than desirable animation and its direction.

Story, Characters, Enjoyment: 7/10. Art: 5/10. Sound/music: 7/10.

If I am to describe this anime in one word, it would be "wholesome". As written the synopsis, the MC Nishimura Akane is perceived as gloomy by classmates. Throughout the anime they tease her constantly because of this, making Akane’s life somewhat miserable. The transfer student, Takada Taiyou, changed this and basically brought light to her life and school life.

The story is quite simplistic and is meant for a younger audience, which makes sense as it is set in an elementary school and the daily life in said school. It’s not meant to be deep but does reflect, to some extent, how children in real ... life would feel if they were placed in that situation. I find it to be a great comfy anime that makes me smile even if it is a little bit repetitive. You could say that the repetitive formula used in each episode makes this anime boring, but I think watching this after a long day in a busy life is perfect to cheer you up. The repetitive-ness of the episodes is by design, and I think it can get away with that because of its intended target audience. If after three episodes if you think that the anime is slow and tedious, then you should probably watch something else; the rest of the episodes would look and feel similar.

The art, voice acting, OST, OP, and ED fits the anime well. It reflects the atmosphere and mood well and complements the anime.

Overall, for a comfy, relaxing look into the life of elementary school students/kids, look no further then Jijou wo Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru.

Scoring breakdown using old MAL categories:
* Overall & Enjoyment: 8/10
* Sound: 8/10
* Art: 8/10 [Reasoning: Clean character art style and background art]
* Story: 6/10 [Reasoning: Repetitive and lack thereof]
* Character: 7/10 [Reasoning: Simplistic personalities but good for intended audience]

For me, D4DJ All Mix doesn't really work. D4DJ is a franchise created, similar to BanG Dream!, by Bushiroad. Like the BanG Dream! franchise, the first season, which was D4DJ: First Mix, focused on one group and how they rose to "popularity". The second season of the D4DJ anime follows BanG Dream!'s formula and introduces additional units. The producers really want you to play the D4DJ game, available on iOS and Android, to get the best experience in terms of background story and character growth. Basically, the anime is used as a promoting tool of a sort.

Story (5):
With the context I had just given, with ... the aim of promoting the different units to pique viewers' interest, the story is as bland as it could be when compared to season 1 (when they only focused on Happy Around!). Every episode features a DJ unit and character interactions within the unit, and ends with a song by said unit. Towards the second half of the anime series, the producers basically went "you know what's better than one DJ unit? Two/multiple of them doing a collaboration!". It's not creative nor cohesive (episode to episode wise). I wasn't surprised by this structure because the producers have done it before with their other franchise.

Character (6):
With the wide range of characters, I believe people will find one that they resonate with or really like. It is a shame that to enjoy the full experience, you have to explore the franchise's other outlets.

Music (7):
If you're into mixed DJ music, then you're in luck. Because the anime showcases multiple DJ units, you will find units with a particular genre that you can vibe to. The OP, ED, OST, and voice acting are all also great.

Art (7):
Like the first season, the art is nice and clean, with vibrant colors. It is definitely the highlight of this anime.

Overall (6):
If you love the D4DJ franchise (you buy/stream their music, play the mobile game, own merchandise, etc.), you will like this anime. For everyone else who is not already invested into the franchise and who does not want to spend time investing into it, this anime is a hard pass; definitely not recommended.

Isekai Nonbiri Nouka is yet another isekai story that follows the main character, Hiraku, as he gets reincarnated into another world. However, in my opinion, this anime was very interesting as I enjoyed the narration.

Story, Character (8):
The whole premise of the story is the MC building an entire village from scratch, starting from cultivating the land and farming crops, building houses, and other facilities that support village life. In each episode, the MC would describe the progress he has made in making his life better in the other world. Even though the episodes consists of mostly narration (of the MC's inner monologue), it is surprisingly ... enjoyable. I think this in part due to the constant flow of new characters that start to populate the village in later episodes. You end up wanting to know each characters' personalities, how these new characters would contribute to the village, how they adapt to village life, and how each of these characters interact with one another. In a way, it reminds me of support conversations from JRPGs. I find all the characters quite charming in their own right.

Sound (8):
The OST has the countryside vibe, with great voice acting. Nothing to complain about here.

Art (7):
Nicely illustrated. It is quite standard with current production quality art style; nothing outstanding but also not bad.

Overall (8):
I enjoyed the narrative and the gradual development of the village that started from the MC. I really like how the story revolves around the development of uncultivated land and building from scratch. I recommend this anime to those wanting a relaxing and narrated story (i.e., audiobook-like experience with character interactions) that is great for a weekend binge watch session.

[Prelim review: 3/12 eps] Currently, this seems to be a typical slice of life with adventure and fantasy. There's monsters, gatherers/hunters, and a MC who is spectacularly good at fighting. It certainly can be called generic, as many elements do not stand out. This seems to be one of those anime that serves as a relaxing relief to the other more intense anime this season.

Story (6):
Initially, the story was fine. We get a setting and background of the MC [Sarasa] who is going out on her own in the countryside. However, with the airing of the third episode, I felt a subtle tone shift in ... story telling. The first two episodes were nice and relaxed with decent character interactions. However, the third one was less relaxed and more tense, which is inconsistent with the other two.
I did not read the source material, but the pacing and tone feels off to me, and it remains to be seen if this type of storytelling will become dull.

Art (6): The art is nothing special; typical fast production-style art. I think the art for the character feels "cleaner"; the edges/outlines of the characters doesn't feel "jagged", for the lack of better words. So it is better in that sense.

Character (6): So far, no real character development has taken place, which is as expected. However, I feel as though there is a bit too much talking from the MC. It could be from the choice of the voice actor making the MC sound sort of mechanic and tedious. So far, nothing stands out to me. Even the character interactions of the "main party" is currently stiff, and hopefully that changes.

Audio/Music (6): The only reason why audio/music is a 6 is because of the MC's voice acting. Otherwise it would be a 7. Good OST, OP, and ED.

Enjoyment/Overall (6): I did enjoy watching the first three episodes. If you are someone who do not like generic, adventure-fantasy world settings, this is not for you (probably most people). The story feels like it has potential to get duller. The characters currently do not have development and their interactions do not feel "welcoming"; not at bonding stage yet. Sarasa's voice acting leaves a lot to be desired, as it sounds monotone (she has a lot of lines... can there be less speaking and more world building).

This is another one of those anime that is set in a fictional game within the anime. Initially, from the PVs and synopsis, I was slightly interested in this. This turned out to be quite a slow pace, kind of isekai slice of life. It is something you would watch to kind of unwind.

The TL;DR: Basically, don't expect top tier story telling, art, or character development. Simply watch it for enjoyment.

Story (6): The synopsis on the main entry page explains it all. Essentially, the story follows Cayna and her adventures around the world of Leadale. As mentioned, this is quite a laid-back anime that you ... would watch after a long day. Heck, you might even fall asleep to it. It's not boring, but simply slow (and it is by design).

Art (7): I quite like some of the characters' expressions. The art is decent and there are no visible production quality drops.

Sound (8): I rate this on the basis of OST, OP, ED, and voice acting. All decent and fits the theme of the anime well.

Character (6): No characters feel out of place, and has okay character background.

Overall, I enjoyed watching this weekly. I think this is not one you would want to binge watch, but rather enjoy it at your own pace (Overall/Enjoyment: 7).

We have had many things turned into anime, such as badminton, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, and so many others. Now, it's hockey's turn. Puraore! Pride of Orange is an anime all about hockey, and I thought it was rather well done given that it is a slice of life with light CGDCT theme. Given that hockey is not that popular in Japan, I appreciate the producers trying new things to try to appeal to the general Japanese audience.

***Minor spoilers ahead (?) ***

Story/Character (6/10)
To put it simply, this is a decent sports anime. There's tension, character development, and story progression. Of course it's not hardcore development ... with intense personal emotions (e.g. Hanebado!'s Ayano). It is more like "I didn't like this. But someone or something motivated me so I will try my best" kind of development. It kind of touches the surface of character development. On the plus side, they do get to every single main character, which is nice to see.

Speaking of development, one development I thought was simply way too fast is how fast the players matured at playing hockey. They got good fast and was able to beat other good teams. I mean the spotlight team has got to go to the best place to compete, right? That's the fictional world for you.

Art (8/10)
Craft Egg, a game operator for BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, did the character and clothing design in this anime. It's very evident in the art style chosen for the characters, especially the eyes. It's a clean, refreshing art style that never disappoints. It's clear that the anime was given a lot of thought in production to have high production value.
The reason I mentioned Craft Egg is because Puraore is also going to have a game, so it makes sense to have them do character design. Similarities between this and BanG Dream's character design are evident. Again, it's not a bad design, just similar. If you're a fan of the art in BanG Dream you will feel at home here.

Sound (8/10)
Casting for the voice actors, as usual, was done well and fits the main characters. Same goes for the OP&ED. The soundtrack pulls through in the more dramatic and intense moments. Simply put, background music was good to the point where I feel nervous at the climax, even though it was kind of obvious who was going to succeed and lose. Not bad at all.

Overall, this anime was well-produced with good elements. This is not the most outstanding sports anime out there, but is certainly not bad. However, borrowed elements from other multimedia projects are evident. The fact that there's a game coming out is very typical for this sports anime, but especially one part: the victory dance. I'm not going to say Puraore is blatantly copying Uma Musume's victory concert, but it is heavily inspired. Who in the world would make sports athletes, hockey at that, dance after they won a game? Huh?! I don't think it makes any sense, but if they want to differentiate in this way then I guess you do you, CyberAgent.

This movie, part of the BanG Dream series, focuses on the band Roselia (out of the seven currently in the series). Unfortunately, this movie is very lacking in terms of story and character development. There is way too many time skips that basically requires the viewer to have prior knowledge of the Roselia band stories from the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party game. Without watching the entire story in the game, this movie feels very incomplete in terms of story/character development. As a matter of fact, this movie is basically animating the two (?) main Roselia band stories from the game. It would almost be ... better to simply download the game and watch the story there.

However, with prior knowledge of Roselia's backstory, the story makes sense and the connections do link. However, by only watching the movie, people who have only watched the TV seasons will find this movie very disappointing (Story 4, Character 4).

The art is consistent with season 2 and 3. It is clean, with obvious high production value. That is also true for the music in this movie. I would hope so, since it is a series based on music (Art, Sound: 8).

Overall, if this movie included some side stories from the game and had basically a better storyboard/blueprint for the movie story progression, this would be a much better experience. As it stands, it barely passes as a 6/10 for me.

Seirei Gensouki had so much potential to be decent/very good as an isekai anime.

Story/Character:
I have not seen the source material, but I imagine it's way better than this. The development at the beginning of the anime was decent; we get some character backstory, some conflict, all that good stuff. Near the end of the anime, they tried to rush through the story too much to the point where the ending felt really weird. It essentially leaves everything on a cliff hanger, like it's preparing for season 2. It's not though, and I can't imagine something like this getting S2. There are some many things unexplained, ... so many intricate conflicts in the setting not shown that in order to get the full story, you have to read the light novel. This anime would benefit from another cour for sure to get the story flushed out, but seeing how the last few episodes went I can't imagine this getting anymore attention. The production team do be stuffing in your face a bunch of characters you have to remember. Watching this weekly, I sometimes forget who a certain character is.

Sound:
Lord and behold, Matsuoka is back again voicing the protagonist of a harem. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but he does have a very distinct voice that carries over to other series I watch. Overall, all aspects regarding audio, including characters, opening and ending songs, and original soundtrack were decent. I especially like the ED; it's a great song.

Art:
The art throughout is production-quality anime style. It's fine. It's a very typical style that is neither good or bad; great for faster production timelines.

Overall/Enjoyment:
Even as I complain about the pacing of the story, I did enjoy watching this, especially in the beginning when things were calmer. It's nice.

To put it simply, Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san goes from extremely annoying to slightly more tolerable as the season progressed. Assuming you read the synopsis, the formula for this series is simple: Two MCs. One of them teases the other constantly. Now repeat this process for Every. Single. Episode. If this is done well and used in moderation, this formula would work and is just fine. Of course, it follows the usual Slice of Life format (as in certain events and worthy celebrations common in Japan will occur).

I mentioned that the series goes from annoying to tolerable. At the beginning, the female MC, Nagatoro, would consistently tease ... the male MC non-stop. To put it simply, it was obnoxiously loud and the non-stop teasing would persist for basically the entire episode. The male MC, while being teased, also kept making sounds like he’s on the toilet taking a dump. It. Was. Hell. It was 24 minutes of time wasted.

I reckon it was around episode 5-6 when I finally began to tolerate the anime more. Guess what happened? The teasing didn’t stop, but it happened less often and was, I guess, more fitting to situations that was happening in the scene. That’s why it’s tolerable. My one suggestion is don’t binge watch the first few episodes in succession.
(Story/Enjoyment: 6)


Character (6): Pretty generic character personalities that, while they do somewhat change, is forgettable and nothing of note to point out.
Sound (6): Also, not memorable. OP, ED, OST are all average.
Art (6): Nothing amazing. Fits with the common production art style.

Overall: 6.