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Oct 20, 2022
No villainess story has been more for 12-year-olds than this.
As a villainess fan, this is entertaining filler food; knowing the tropes auto-filled missing worldbuilding in my head, and I can focus on the characters. If you're not used to villainess content the pace and underdeveloped sidecast will seem kind of deranged. There's an added lack of depth because of it clearly being aimed at a much younger audience.
Overall shallow and about as good as the show could be with such uninspired designs and mediocre drawings. Forgettable but makes me happy to watch, and if you like the genre, it'll probably make you happy too. xX_VILLAINESSFAN2022_Xx
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 2, 2022
Incredible production quality for a gripping twist on the isekai genre that has fun with the concept of "cheat skills"...and doomed by the moe.
There's this phenomenon with moe girls where they not only act inhuman, but they often fit poorly in any other context. Unable to take things seriously and acting like a jealous girlfriend is alright in a daily life anime, because like...yeah, people in real life do that for a bit, and it's fun, and it's cute, and it's enjoyable to exaggerate it.
But a girl escaping from nobility acting annoying and pampered about a girl who she barely knows and to her knowledge
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will never see again in the next few hours is UNFATHOMABLY unlikable. A girl who looks 12 being clingy and controlling and desperate for a crumb of senpai's attention isn't a good foil, because it's the exact same thing except she's younger and meaner. These characters the plot revolves around sound like a bad writer trying to convey toxic people with BPD instead of like, a cute romantic psuedo-love-triangle. Absolutely deranged.
And that's the thing; serious, life-threatening events in this show happen yet these characters are not giving the world stakes, they're braindead love interests cuddling up to Menou, who is politely indulging them. The author doesn't seem to understand how to convey women having a relationship besides Bitches Be Shopping and random declarations of love. It's unbearably saccharine and shallow in a way that feels like it doesn't believe women are people.
But it does. They may not have complex inner worlds, but they have interesting character motivations, compelling ways of presenting themselves in the world. It's just when they interact.
Which leads me to assume that it doesn't believe lesbians are people.
5/10 for individual components that lead to a trainwreck overall. I wish for the end of all moe
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 9, 2017
Houseki no Kuni is a story set on an island in a post-apocalyptic world, where a collection of immortal gemstone-based people cluster around the mysterious Adamant-sensei, who keeps them occupied with jobs tailored to their interests and abilities - all except Phosphophyllite, a spoiled child who is too delicate to do the job he REALLY wants to do; fighting the celestial spirit-like Lunarians that are constantly trying to shatter the gems and use them as jewelry. Tasked with creating an encyclopedia to distract him, Phos meets the secluded Cinnabar for the first time, and begins to question what it means to have value.
The story, despite
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its character-driven slice-of-life angle, is primarily written as a mystery. Each arc (the first one concluding in episode 5) is concluded with a drastic change in Phos, and that change is used to give Phos a new perspective on the world he lives in and the secrets Adamant-sensei is keeping.
Unfortunately, the first episode is a wobbly start, and the story doesn't do a good job of communicating that it's a worldbuilding mystery of the same class as Kemono Friends or Girl's Last Tour; in those shows, the mystery as at the forefront, constantly reminding you of the question through key references and the protagonist's own interest, but in Houseki no Kuni, Phos blithely goes on his merry way uncaring of the seemingly perfect world around him, buying into the status quo completely. Unless you're asking the questions it wants you to ask (or you've read the more ethereal and painfully lonely original manga), Houseki no Kuni comes off as tonally unstable, despite its straightforward setup.
Despite how badly it's communicated, the story itself is wonderful, and the slow unrolling of the lore with each consecutive episode and conflict is constantly entertaining.
The CG is designed to emulate mid-quality 2D animation, low frame-rate included, so it's a matter of taste whether you enjoy it or not. The cinematography and post-processing is gorgeous, with fantastic uses of colour and wild, chaotic action scenes, but I wish it better communicated the quiet emptiness of the island and the seas around it; I've seen a few people consider the lack of details 'lazy', but it's more like it's not featureless ENOUGH to get the idea across. The underwater segments probably do a better job of this.
Unfortunately, almost none of the beautiful, striking cinematography and sakuga is in episode 1 (barring MAYBE the very lovely scene of a broken Phos), and the Adamant-sensei 3D model is...not very pleasant close-up, but otherwise, the characters are all attractive, with gorgeous and expressive facial animation. Absolutely pinpoint perfect sound design combined with character animation communicates that these are extremely heavy gemstones, as light and human-like as they look when they're not in motion, and the way the lighting accentuates their gem traits is stunning. Overall the best-looking show this season, if only just based on personal taste.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 2, 2017
The message of self-betterment and trying your best even when you're convinced that you're destined for failure was completely scrapped for this film in favour of a war drama, and to be honest, the plot is MUCH weaker for it.
The storyline has been spun into an convoluted, overstuffed, and thematically nightmarish cluster of subplots that rarely go anywhere and collapse into an uneasy heap by the end, and I can say with certainty that even the most ludicrous and disbelief-shattering segments of the original novel aren't as headscratching as some of the decisions made for this film. Therein likes the problem; the plot points in
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the original book were kind of ridiculous, but every single scene was woven into a single pair of themes that hold strong over the course of the story and compliment each other. The Ghibli movie feels like a series of loosely related events that only culminate in the proportionally tiny 'Howl needs grounding' plot. And it did that BADLY.
If you're judging it on its own merits, though, while the characters in this movie are more shallow (and in Howl's case, unrecognizable), they're still HUGELY enjoyable and magnetic to watch, and what they lack in depth they win back double in charisma. Sophie's quiet, simmering determination and Howl's shallow, flighty attitude are fantastic decisions made by Ghibli, and they hold the film together where the actual plot itself fails.
The visuals are, of course, gorgeous. Every new scene added seems to be there to milk the setting, with the studio's trademark bubbly animation style and the rich, lived-in feeling of the backgrounds. The castle itself is a masterpiece of composition of the likes that have yet to be topped by any fantasy film.
Despite me ragging on the storytelling, the entire first act is actually a pretty sizable improvement on the original book, moving at a great clip and keeping you intrigued on the nature of Howl and his moving castle. The movie-only flying-through-air scene is a fantastic way to signal Howl's movie personality, and the first confrontation with the witch is a doozy.
Overall, a decent, if lopsided, film.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 16, 2017
Interesting setting and memorable, easy-to-understand characters, but the plot progression ran in conflict with the entire synopsis, and it sort of stumbled over its own feet as a result.
The pitch: Plucky protagonist boy replaces his royal double in a sci-fi fantasy re-imagining of the Prince and the Pauper, with stress on how he's more worthy of the role of prince, but his double was still a real person (who is nothing like him) and his loss is felt by most of the characters, both positively and negatively.
The story: Plucky protagonist gets a new awesome weapon and wanders off into the featureless desert to fight mooks
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because Battle Manga, I Guess, leaving 80% of the setup behind.
Understandable why this one didn't take off.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 16, 2017
Reading this made me cry because I was overwhelmed by how much I empathized with the protagonist. If you're Autistic, this is a must-read.
While the synopsis of this series is dramatic, the main thrust of the series is simple; Koreeda is a down-on-his-luck Autistic teenager on the cusp of adulthood who finds himself out of options, thanks to the problems his disability causes for him. Sakai, a renowned investor, recognizes his absurd skill in cracking databases and asks him to find himself a job that Sakai can support him in.
It's a surprisingly accurate and intelligent hacking drama, and reading Koreeda warily circle around dangerous
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criminals, the police, new friends, and completely ordinary citizens is magnetic even when absolutely nothing is happening. The amount of internal conflict and character writing Koreeda generates simply by existing is incredible.
As for the art, it has a sort of scratchy, wild lineart and figures that play more to gestures than to form. The panels are easy-to-follow, and it all flows nicely. The way the manga depicts emotions is fantastic, and really plays to its character-driven premise. While some might criticize it, I feel like the story would be weaker with more crisp, consistent art, and the author is definitely playing to strengths here.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 15, 2017
This show is for people who are huge fans of Super Sentai/Power Rangers shows, and absolutely no one else. If you've never seen an episode of Kamen Rider, this show is not only not for you, but it's a little frustrated that you're even watching it at all. I had the misfortune of being that unwanted viewer.
Samurai Flamenco is a pastiche show, though a poorly communicated one. This is not a spoiler. You will enjoy the series SIGNIFICANTLY less if you don't know this. I feel like the show wanted you to pick up on it the moment the genre switches for the first time,
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but because the writing is clunky and poorly communicated, it just feels like a plot twist. It is not a plot twist. There are no real "plot twists" in the traditional sense in this show at all until the real-world aspect comes back. If you think it's building up to a plot twist? It isn't! It really isn't. The answer to why all the nonsense in this anime is happening is "hey, super sentai shows, am I RIGHT fellas", and if you don't go in with this in mind, this show is going to rate a 4 and you will feel robbed of something.
So, a review:
The anime cycles through various different genres: The vigilante, the sentai hero, the sentai team, and, three more genres, before concluding on a regular action/drama arc that actually carries itself REALLY well, with none of the pacing issues that plagued the previous mini-arcs. Does it mean anything? I don't know! The rest of the series is so wildly disorganized and I know so little about the genre that I can't pin down any sense of quality or intention. This show is REALLY weird!
Despite the garbled, senseless storytelling, the characters are strong, distinctive, and behave naturally enough, and I was rewarded for sticking it out for them with the last few episodes. Even as the plot fades into obscurity, the characters are still clear in my mind, and I find myself attached to them despite having zero interest in the show. The ending made me cry and I still feel happy and fond about them even now, years later.
Hm, what else...There's gay themes, but mostly as hands-off, "if you don't want them to be gay it can just be a fun jokey-joke! No in-text reciprocating because that would mean something concrete! They're not gay they're just dudes being dudes! Lesbian whomst???" coward's way of doing it. If someone recs you this show based on the presence of gay/bi characters, they're begging for scraps and you shouldn't trust their judgement, but it's still present and has real dramatic weight in a "gay love saves the day" sort of sense, so you can enjoy it for what it is. I guess.
Overall, while I think the show wouldn't have been as interesting if it went from "Vigilante" straight to "real-world action-drama", I really wish the show had gone with 3 genres instead of trying to awkwardly speedrun through 7. It just didn't have enough episodes to do what it was going for. One of these genre arcs lasts an episode and a half. It was exhausting. 7/10 for lopsided viewing experience, saved from true mediocrity with the strength of the character writing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 12, 2017
A confused plotline that does its best to struggle through a metaphor for Imperialism with its alien arrival main thrust. The last four or so episodes completely buckle, wrecking established themes (negotiation), characterization (a...number of characters), stakes (human's evolution), and even tone (political drama vs...battle shounen?)
That's not to say that the objective facts of the conclusion were bad - I can easily see the appeal of every choice, even the circumstances around the god-awful battle-shounen scenes - simply that the delivery was atrocious, robbing the viewer of the satisfaction of a cohesive story.
Absolutely every single factor of Saraka was a mistake, though. Nothing about her
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role in the plot was good. The more Saraka is featured the worse the story got, and she poisoned the depth of the anti-Imperialist subtext that allowed me to choke down that abrupt, unsatisfying ending.
On the other hand, the CG is dynamic, subtle, and well-utilized. The neutral poses can be a bit stiff, but it does its work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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