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Jan 21, 2025
This is one of the best anime I watched during childhood. Now that a new adaptation is in order this year 2025, how does this anime hold?
In my rewatch, this is still a delightful watch.
§ Overview
Kurogane Yaiba has always trained to become the best samurai in the world. One day, his father tells him to go to Japan. He quickly encounters Onimaru Takeshi, whom he defeats. Takeshi holds a grudge, so when he finds the Sword of the Devil Wind, he becomes evil and threatens to rule Japan and then the world. What would Yaiba do?
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§ Notes
1. This is Aoyama Gōshō's underrated and largely forgotten anime and manga. It is still to be seen if newer anime watchers would love this because Yaiba is a product of its time.
2. It's power system is fairly basic. A legendary sphere powers your sword, and the only way to level up is, apart from physical training which hasn't been explained sufficiently, one must acquire either new spheres or a more powerful sword.
3. Its audience is children around 10 or people who are children at heart, especially like me who have seen this when I was young. Most anime fans who have seen the staple shounen like Hunter x Hunter or Full Metal Alchemist might not like it as this is not something that will make you think about life, but Yaiba really does it best for what it aims to do.
Since the target audience is grade schoolers, it uses immature and childish humour. It doesn't pretend to be something more serious the way the Elusive Samurai does. If you watch it as an adult, this may be your guilty pleasure because the slapstick humour is great. It still holds up.
4. It is mostly juvenile humour all throughout, but there is an arc where it gets serious for the show. Kids get to practise exercising their reasoning on a moral dilemma. It's not too deep but way serious for its intended audience.
5. We also meet different personages of Japanese history such as Miyamoto Musashi, Sasaki Kojirou, etc. They are a parody of these characters. Despite the power system being basis, it has some depth because it is grounded in Japanese lore and history.
I suspect one of the goals of Aoyama-sensei in creating this anime/manga is for young kids to be entertained while at the same time learn a small bit of history by contrasting the real-life persons they are learning in history class to the parodies in his anime.
There are some life lessons you can somehow gain from this childish anime, though the lesson in the final episode may seem too tacky for my taste.
6. I was surprised on my rewatch that it has a lot of word plays. Maybe not to the level of NISIOISIN in Monogatari, but they're there.
7. Whilst I enjoyed all 52 episodes, it's only halfway through the manga. Wit Studio's new adaptation aims to cover all chapters of the manga, but they'll execute things differently and perhaps make things a little less childish.
If this were to happen, then there's still room for any fan or would-be fan of Yaiba to watch this classic adaptation. I'm not sure if this even deserves the sakuga polish of the new adaptation.
8. The OP and ED are a banger.
§ Conclusion
This anime is a forgotten classic and I hope the interest in it will be revived once we get the new adaptation. But as it stands, the classic version of Yaiba is an entertaining watch. I highly recommend it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 21, 2025
This anime was infamous in 2024 for its production issues, and it is no wonder there are a lot of negative reviews. But is it really a bad anime? Not exactly but it's borderline.
§ Overview
When Kino Himari attended her high school freshman opening ceremony, she was enthralled by this particular performer, Asanagi Yori. When Himari finally gets a chance to talk to Yori, Himari confesses that she 'fell in love at first sight.'
Confused with the confession, Yori considered it and reciprocated. Little did she know that Himari did not fall in love with Yori as a person but in her talent as a singer
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and a guitarist. Despite the resulting awkwardness, Yori pursued Himari and they start dating.
§ Notes
1. Overall, it's not a bad anime provided you're not expecting too much from the story nor the animation. The story is pretty much a decent watch. I'm not interested in reading the source material, which is why I wasn't aware of its status in the yuri community.
2. That said, it seems that the source material is pretty much popular so much so that the earlier ratings of this anime were above 8. Fans of the source material were so excited that it might end up above 8, which is something unprecedented for a yuri.
Alas! The production issues happened.
If the source material is really that good, perhaps the blame should definitely be cast on the studio because this anime might have been great if not a masterpiece.
3. As for the main couple, they're not bad. Yori is cool, Himari is cute and likable. Their relationship, however, is boring.
4. Though not a yuri romance, one might compare this anime with A Sign of Affection. The couple's cute antics, gestures, and everything else can carry the show, even without the drama generated by an antagonist. This one needed that because Himari and Yori's growing relationship alone cannot carry this show.
And by the gods, the antagonist is the most interesting character in this anime. You will hate her immaturity for sure. Regardless, much of the conflict of this show is driven by her. She made it so much interesting as far as I'm concerned. (And yes, I do acknowledge that her presence is polarising.) It feels like she is the main character.
Even though Himari felt more like a supporting character, her actions do advance the plot. She is likable and a social connector, and this optimism for reconciliation is what was necessary.
5. Nitpicks. Contrary to our expectations, Himari did not fall in love at first with Yori. Too bad because this seems to be more realistic. When Yori fell for Hirami at her confession, wrongly thinking that Himari fancies her, I reckon this seems less plausible.
Some of the antagonist's actions and motivations felt contrived and unrealistic. One has to really suspect their disbelief to enjoy the drama.
6. I'm not sure how much of an improved experience one can get by reading the manga. But from the story, which is not too bad, it may turn out to be great.
7. I love the effect where a snapshot is taken to capture a moment. It somewhat reminds me of that use in Kimagure Orange Road.
8. If you're so into the story, you might overlook the lousy animation. There are so many frames where background characters are not moving.
Also, certain songs are not allowed to finish. Rehearsals and performances are not fully animated, which is a shame, save for a few. It makes it too obvious that the animation budget wasn't there. By itself, it's not bad, but it makes you wonder what this anime could have been.
§ Conclusion
Not having read the source material, this might be a great story hampered by the incompetence of the studio. It's not bad watching on its own since you're not one of those unfortunate souls who had to wait months before finally watching the last two episodes. But it could have been better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 18, 2025
I was about to watch the seasonal Sorairo Utility when I noticed that it had a TV special a few years ago. Is this worth watching? Maybe.
It's just three cute girls trying to convince us that gold is the most fun thing to do. If there's anything substantial about it, it's about sucking at it until you find the right ingredient and I won't spoil it for you. Just watch it.
Whoever decided to have this must be trying to test if there's a market for it. I hadn't heard it back then, but from reading the reviews and the fact that there's a full cour
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anime this Winter 2025, it must mean that people liked it back then.
I'm not sure if I can recommend this on its own. If the new anime turns out to be good, some completist might want to watch this. But as an introduction to the series? It's meh. I barely know their names. It's not enough to characterise them.
So watch it at your own risk.
UPDATE: 19 January 2025
I'm enjoying the anime series and I recommend it. That said, I'm still keeping my rating for this special as I still think this is a poor introduction to the story.
The anime properly introduces our main character, Aoba Minami, and her friend and mentor, Akane Haruka. Then, in Episode 3, we meet the model Hoshimi Ayaka, who has some lessons under her belt but is still relatively a beginner.
I'm not sure if the contents of this TV special will be included in the anime series. But, if you're still interested in watching this, do watch at least up to Episode 3 of the main series. This way, you will have been introduced to our cast of characters. Without this knowledge, you will not give a damn about this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 14, 2025
Do you like Kanon and are considering reading the Kanon manga? For the love of God! Don't!
The source material is the Kanon visual novel. Thus, the manga is just another adaptation and not the source material.
If you read it independently, you will be bewildered because the chapters don't flow. It's just discrete arcs.
The complete volumes were published months after the original TOEI adaptation of Kanon in 2002. I suspect that the manga is supposed to be read after watching the anime and/or playing the visual novel. It is something one can physically read and visit individual arcs.
When I started reading the manga, I
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watched the 2002 anime adaptation in early 2024, and even with that knowledge under my belt, I felt that the manga adaptation was trash. Even if you know what each individual arc is supposed to do, this manga is incomplete. Therefore, reading it is a complete waste of time.
This is unfortunate because I like TOEI's adaptation, at least most of it, and I can see myself loving KyoAni's adaptation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Jan 14, 2025
In the TV version of the ED, Teenage Blue, the visuals started at the gym as an establishing shot and then treats the characters equally well, (unlike ED 2, which seems to make Hina prominent).
How does the MV of the full version compare?
The video starts by following a certain girl. After some time, we follow another girl. It turns out that they are close friends, and we see lots of running around the classroom.
With these two girls, it's clear that the full MV's visuals don't match the story of Blue Box. One might think that the anime is either yuri or yuri bait because of
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the MV's portrayal of the girls. I don't take issue with this MV but some may do.
Eve is a good singer. I love his OP for Shoushimin, and you will love his ED 1 for Blue Box. It has a positive message and the tempo is upbeat.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 13, 2025
Tsubaki and his friend Ueno are out with a group date with their respective girlfriends, Urabe and Oka. It's an episode where they get to wear a yukata. And there's a mystery involved.
As we all know, the episode involving our main characters attending a festival with a yukata is such a staple trope in romances that it can be surprising that the main series did not resort to this. I'm not sure what made them add an extra episode just for this, but I'm glad they did. It's not necessary but it's nice.
The gist of it is that Tsubaki and Urabe's relationship is put to
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the test, and their bond through their drool saved the day, thereby strengthening their relationship.
It is mostly a good episode and you would wish that there are most. Sadly, there won't be no more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 13, 2025
This is a weird anime and I bet many people would be turned off and disgusted by it, but for people who have this fetish of drinking a beautiful lady's saliva, this anime is a gem.
§ Overview
Urabe Mikoto is a new transfer student, and she has to sit beside Tsubaki Akira. One day, he woke up a sleeping Urabe who was drooling. As she leaves, he licks her drool.
For some unknown reason, he becomes sick and stays home. Urabe visits him, and finds out he licked her drool, so she lets him lick her drool. After that, he feels good.
This begins a strange romantic relationship
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where the basis of their bond is their drool.
§ Notes
1. The animation and art look dated but not really that bad. The character design may not be stunning, but it's at least a little bit distinctive compared to the generic character designs in romances.
2. The sound design is where this anime shines best. It's mostly continuous instrumental musick like old cartoons. But it also uses musick similar to what is used in cartoons involving vampires to add an air of mystery. This is especially true whenever Urabe asks Tsubaki to lick her drool.
3. There's some standard fanservice here like panty shots. But what could attract or repel here is Tsubaki's need to lick Urabe's drool. It doesn't involve kissing let alone sex, but the fact that their saliva exchange is such an intimate moment, arguably far more intimate than what sex could bring, this anime can amp up your body heat, especially if you have a pre-existing drool fetish, or be so disgusted.
4. In a way, I can compare this to another weird anime called Gleipnir. Both have so much sexual subtext despite minimal nudity that watching these can get steamy.
5. Urabe Mikoto can be compared to Senjougahara. Both carry their respective weapons and both say lines that rattle their boyfriends. Urabe though may be thought of as a budget version of Senjougahara, but she is compelling in her own right.
It's just unfortunate that she doesn't put on her cute look most of the time.
6. Tsubaki Akira is better than most wimps in anime though still far from the alpha male ideal.
§ Conclusion
This is a weird anime and not for everyone. Like the Monogatari series, I wouldn't even go out of my way to recommend it in real life.
But I do recommend it just for its unique concept as well as people who have or will have saliva fetish. This anime can be so hot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 7, 2025
This is an anime whose source material is at least an 8 out of 10 but unfortunately ruined by the incompetence of ENGI.
§ Overview
Since he was a boy, the crown prince of Farsas, Oscar Lyeth Increatos Loz Farsas, was cursed by the Witch of Silence so that any woman who would bear him a child. After trying so many things, his last resort is to go to the Azure Tower, a tower filled with so many trials. If he is able to overcome them, the Witch of the Azure Moon will grant him his wish.
He is able to overcome them as expected. But upon meeting
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the witch, he did not expect her to be so beautiful. He asks her to marry him, but she refuses. For the time being, she will be his protector for 1 year. And so begins a wonderful romance.
§ Notes
1. The animation is decent and fairly okay. But if you're like me who thinks that the story is a masterpiece, this anime deserves the Madhouse Frieren treatment. The creator of Re:zero loves this story so much, and this is expressed at the end of volume 3 of the light novels. The anime is only a shadow of what it could have been.
2. Speaking of Frieren, Tanezaki Atsumi is the seiyuu for Frieren and she appears here as Tinasha, the Witch of the Azure Moon. Her voice is lovely as expected.
But what surprised me is the voice for Oscar. He is voiced by Nakajima Yoshiki, and his voice seems new to me because I haven't seen other the other anime where he was a seiyuu.
Anyway, I like how deep his voice is for Oscar. It is the voice of an alpha male.
3. When I first tried watching this anime, I got bewildered by the time I reached Episode 6 that I had to put this on hold. There seems to be so many things unexplained, and other people were complaining the ENGI butchered the anime. They recommend instead to read the light novels.
4. There are 6 volumes for Unnamed Memory and season 1 covered 3 volumes. But don't let that number fool you. Every volume of Unnamed Memory is dense reading. I reckon that 1 volume is equivalent to 3 volumes of other light novel series.
This is why it's infuriating why ENGI chose to cover 3 volumes in one season, which is equivalent to 6 or even 9 volumes of other light novel series.
To properly give this story justice, I think that the first season should have been at least 24 episodes, and for that matter, another 24 episodes for season 2.
5. Many people don't recommend this anime because of what ENGI did. Nevertheless, I am marking this as 'mixed feeling' with a grade of 4 out of 10.
You can still make use of the anime. I recommend reading the light novels while watching the anime. Read a few chapters that you estimate will be covered in one episode, then watch an episode. This way, you can be awed by the voice acting of Tinasha and Oscar.
I'll illustrate this in the following episode titles:
Episode 1: Cursed Words and the Azure Tower"
Episode 2: "The Past Recalled Again"
Episode 3: "What the Forest Dreams of"
Episode 4: "A Breath of Life into Image"
Episode 5: "Unnamed Emotion"
Compare this with the relevant chapters in light novel volume 1:
1. A Curse and the Azure Tower
2. Countless Mentions of the Past
3. The Transparency of Night
4. On the Shores of the Lake
5. Falling into the Water
6. A Dream in the Forest
7. Breathing Life into Form
8. This Breath Comes from Beyond
9. Tonight, Under the Moon
10. Unnamed Feeling
Before watching Episode 1, read Chapter 1 'Cursed Words and the Azure Tower'.
Before watching Episode 2, read chapters 2 to 5.
Before watching Episode 3, read Chapter 6 'Unnamed Emotion"
Before watching Episode 4, read chapters 7 to 9.
Before watching Episode 5, read Chapter 10 and at least the first chapter or two of Volume 2.
You get the idea.
6. The pertinent events are technically still in the anime, but the pacing is too fast that they lose the impact they would have had if only they were given sufficient episodes to breathe. The lore of this anime is also legendary, which is why it is imperative to read the light novels to understand the anime as you watch it rather than watching the anime alone.
§ Conclusion
This anime is meant to promote the source material. Unfortunately, it is imperative that one reads the source material in order to understand the anime Unnamed Memory.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 2, 2025
This is basically part of the backstory to the main story. Remember, Kanna and his subjects Ryuuya and Uraha escaped so she could meet her mother.
This is a bit slice of life. In the main anime, we only see them in a montage as they went place to place before they arrived at where Kanna's mother is held captive.
In these specials, we get to see the light-hearted side of Kanna, which wasn't always apparent in the main series because it seemed that they were racing against time and trying to escape.
I would have preferred if they included this in the main series. There's
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really nothing to this that adds to the narrative of Air. But alas! The main series is limited to only 12 episodes.
This is a bit better than the main series. It still felt meh though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 2, 2025
Here am I wanting to taste the entire Holy Trinity of the KyoAni Key Anime. I was disappointed with TOEI's adaptation, but how does KyoAni's adaptationi hold? It's better but still meh.
§ Overview
Kunisaki Yukito gets into a small town in search of the woman in the sky his mother asked him to search for. He makes a living making a puppet show. He then meets Kamio Misuzu, who will have a major impact on his life.
§ Notes
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1. The first thing anyone will notice in KyoAni's adaptation of Air is the gorgeous visuals. The art direction is great. It satisfies my senses, and for an anime in the mind2000s, it's visually appealing. It's a major upgrade if you've seen TOEI's adaptation.
2. TOEI's adaptation only focused on Misuzu, but in KyoAni's adaptation, there are other girls: Minagi, Kano, and Michiru.
3. There's an absence of the supernatural in TOEI's adaptation, but this one is clear that there is something supernatural about it.
4. It has a clearer exposition of the winged beings compared to the movie. This is explored in Episodes 8 and 9.
I appreciate how it presented the winged beings and how characters from then are related to the characters in the present. The problem is that the presentation isn't seamless.
5. When I learnt that KyoAni's adaptation of Air has 12 episodes compared to their multicour adaptations of Kanon (2006) and Clannad, I had the impression that it might be suffering from something similar to TOEI's adaptation, Kanon (2002), that it did not evenly give sufficient episodes for the girls.
But from how KyoAni's Air presented Minagi, Kano, and Michiru, it seems adequate. What I had a problem with is that this adaptation had three major blocks that weren't seamless: Episodes 1–7 (the normal episodes), Episodes 8–9 (the backstory of the winged beings), and Episodes 10–12 (the climax)
6. With the curve ball, i.e. the introduction of the character Sora, Episode 10 initially felt out of place. It's as if the story shifted to a different timeline. This is where I felt a major blemish to what is otherwise a good anime.
7. The movie had a better build-up towards the conclusion. This anime's conclusion was rushed, but it did not pull the punches when it came to emotionality.
§ Conclusion
I'm not sure I can recommend this but at least this is better than TOEI's Air movie. The only reason why I watched this (and perhaps why someone else will) is because it's a forerunner to the other key adaptations by KyoAni. Air crawled so Kanon (2006) could walk and Clannad could run.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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