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'cocoon' generated some buzz in Anitwt. Since it was set in World War II, many have assumed that it's about glorifying the atrocities of Imperial Japan, or that for any film about that era to have any substance, it has to explicitly condemn the atrocities of Imperial Japan.

I think that's a mistake. One must judge the merits or demerits of a piece of media based on what it is trying to do. As someone from a country who had been on the receiving end of Imperial Japan's atrocities, I approve of this special.

It's about two schoolgirls, San and Mayu, who were conscripted as nurses. It's ... about how war affected their well-being, which is sad because, at their age, they should be enjoying their youth. Thus, San, Mayu, and their friends were victims of their government.

This theme of people being the pawns of the powers that be is something that's as old as time. It's the theme in Homer's Iliad where the Greeks and the Trojans are just playthings of the whimsical gods in Olympus.

Even though this is one hour long and equivalent in runtime to 'Look Back,' it's not a movie. It's a TV special and therefore broadcast for free. As such, there is so much censorship where there should be gore. It could have been more graphic if this were a film or an OVA. Regardless, its messages have been adequately conveyed.

In its essence, it's anti-war. If it were not so, why would 'cocoon' show so much of the horrors of war? PTSD, bloodshed, survivor's guilt, etc. Those criticising it as some sort of propaganda for Nippon über alles are quick to judge without basis. Japan being an aggressor in World War II does not exempt them from having the horrible experiences of war, and the message of 'cocoon' is universal despite being situated during the dark side of Japan's history.

I was leaning towards giving it a 6. Because of the censorship of a TV broadcast, it severely limited what could be shown and the impact could have been greater. There are two reasons why I decided to bump this to a 7.


1. At some point, one of these girls (I won't spoil it for you) decides to defy the collective hive mind. Thus, we see an expression of individualism in a collectivistic culture, which is something libertarians like me would applaud.


2. The cocoon and the silkworm coming out of the cocoon are the motifs of this special. Throughout the runtime, it seems to just be a nebulous concept. But by the one-hour mark, it should be clear what the meaning of these motifs should be, which I find to be life-affirming.


In closing, don't let people who haven't watched this deter you from doing so. It has a great, life-affirming message despite being situated in sadness and death. It may not have been as sad as it could have been, but it's sad enough to drive home its point: that nobody comes out a winner in war.

'Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective' is one of the Winter 2025 I really enjoyed. It's basically a mystery show where the detective is a medical doctor and incidentally an attractive woman.

For some reason, I like this better than the Apothecary Diaries and some prefer the Apothecary Diaries over this. The problem with the Apothecary Diaries is that it starts slow and boring until, just as in the case of Season 1, the individual arcs come together in the second cour, which is what I expect will happen in this second season.

'Doctor Detective' detective is solely focused on the mysteries. Indeed, the Apothecary Diaries is the ... superior story and rewards the patient viewer, but 'Doctor Detective' gives you an immediate payoff. It's just 2 or 3 episodes to deal with a particular case.

(As a side note, the story is not unique. It has been compared repeatedly to the US series House M.D., which I haven't seen. Coincidentally, there's a kdrama titled 'Doctor Detective' but isn't really a direct inspiration because there's no single doctor let alone a beautiful lady as the lead protagonist.)

Doctor Detective's weakness is its seeming lack of plot. Each arc could've been re-arranged in any order without affecting the continuity of the story. If there's any semblance of plot here, it's the seemingly budding romance between Ameku Takao and 'Kotori,' which is not explored this season. Hence, the finale feels like a good but hollow conclusion of the arc instead of something that builds up from Episode 1.

Another weakness is the choice of mystery, and this may be a big deal if you're trying to actively predict the solution to the mystery. Solving it requires medical knowledge, and a viewer without medical knowledge might only predict in broad strokes, if at all, but not the specific medical condition.

The musick in this anime is great. Aimer's OP is a banger. The Gospellers and Anly's ED sounds bittersweet. Again, it's not part of my consideration but it's part of the package.

The visuals are great. I like the sequence whenever Takao-sensei gains an insight.

Regardless of the weaknesses I mentioned above, it's still an enjoyable watch and I'm giving it a 7.

'The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World' seems to be yet another trashy isekai, and it's probably easy to get overlooked. Despite this fear, it has some unexpected depth.


§ Overview

After winning the battle against the evil Secret Society Relationship-enders aka Zetsuender, Asagaki Tougo finds himself transported into another world and eventually meets Arvoln Yihdra, who tries to help him get back to his old world while they solve the problems they find themselves involved with in this new world.


§ Notes

...
1. Tougo is the red ranger, and their group is called the Kizuna Five. The word kizuna (絆) means bond or connection, and it's an important motif throughout this series. His enemies in his old world were about destroying any bond or connection people may have.


2. Tougo has a rather extroverted personality, and it can be quite annoying. But once you reach the episode telling us his backstory, it becomes easy for us to understand him and the reason why he is so ready and more than willing to build bonds with other people.


3. The anime has some good arcs, but it could have been better. I can't give it a higher score because some arcs do include some deus ex machina.


4. The physics of how his machines can get summoned back and forth from Earth to the isekai makes you facepalm.


5. It's a tribute to sentai/Power Rangers type of shows. If you watched a few of those shows back in the day, you will definitely appreciate this show and/or cringe. Like it or not, the leitmotif that plays whenever the Red Ranger uses his weapons or summons his machines/robot sounds so cringe, and it doesn't seem to transer itself well in the anime and might as well remain in live action.


6. You can compare this anime to 'Go! Go! Loser Ranger!' That anime seems to be a deconstruction of the sentai (superhero team) genre. Even though it came out earlier than Red Ranger, I recommend watching that anime after seeing this Red Ranger anime. Red Ranger assumes that rangers are heroes who protect people, while Loser Ranger presents rangers as villains.


7. The animation is slightly better than the usual slop.


§ Conclusion

This is one decent isekai. It has its moments of depth and moments of cringe. If you can get past that, you will have a great time because it's not that usual to feature a ranger in an anime.

Season 2 of 'The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You' or 100 GFs or Hyakkano is one anime this winter that I was highly anticipating. In my review for season 1 (https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=545367), I called it genre-defining. Unfortunately, it feels that it's not as good as season 1.

Season 2 is basically Rentarou adding more girlfriends. It features more ridiculous situations and the metafictional aspects are even more pronounced. I love the fourth-wall breaks.

The problem is that, firstly, every new girl now feels hit or miss. Of course, we may prefer different girls, but the effect is still the same. I may like ... Mei but dismiss others as a girlfriend I do not prefer. It's a pity because every new girl in season 1 felt so much better than the girl before yet in their own ways, each is compelling.

Secondly, the ever-increasing new cast of girlfriends is proving to be a problem, and that's probably why previous harems have chosen to limit the number of girls, even if the number is a few girls plus/minus ten girls. Rentarou's girlfriends are starting to become unwieldy. Aside from dealing with every new girlfriend, Rentarou must also make some effort to keep his existing girlfriends happy. Thus, I'm afraid, every succeeding season of Hyakkano might get worse and worse.

Again, the idea is great, but the execution is bothering me, and we only have 11 girlfriends in the anime so far. How much more unwieldy can the number of girlfriends in succeeding seasons, if any, will get?

I'm not saying that the anime got bad. It's still better than many harems. I'm saying that, over time, getting a laugh out of the ridiculous situations has diminishing returns.

Due to these concerns and the fact that my experience of season 2, while still okay, is nowhere near the peak of season 1, I am rating this a 6 and marking it as 'mixed feelings.'

'Legend of the Dragon Kings' aka 'Souryuuden' is one of the anime I watched earlier in life. I rewatched it because 1) I remember it being decent, and 2) it came from the same author as 'Legend of the Galactic Heroes.'

It's basically about how the four Ryuudou brothers, who descended from dragons, are being targeted by people in the government. Little do they know that there's a larger conspiracy.

We have to distinguish between text and subtext: text, being the plot and all that, and subtext, being what is implied by what is presented.

The story is decent but it's ultimately unsatisfying. Although this OVA series was ... released in the early 1990s, the entire novel series from which this is based hasn't been concluded. I reckon that, if the entire novel series is finished, this would have been ripe for a new and longer adaptation. For now, we can only content ourselves with this adaptation.

There's a strong politickal text and subtext in this series, which I did not fully appreciate when I first watched it. It leaves you wondering if the author is actually promoting the values of Imperialist Japan and bemoaning the corruption of what was then the Japanese government. (Perhaps the social critique still holds true.) Then again, something in the anime will contradict this notion. I won't spoil you, but suffice it to say that this is no different from what a Platonic dialogue does. It presents different ideas, and it's up to us, the viewers/readers to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments and decide which ideas to accept, reject, or even modify.

Note also that it has a strong anti-American subtext with how the villains are from the West and how the USA is effectively still occupying Japan and that there are powers lurking in the shadows of the white house. This is no different from some real-life conspiracy theories about certain people which I won't mention.

But for me, it has an anti-war message, and for this part, I am recommending this despite some ideas that I might not be comfortable with.

Eri's OP and ED are lovely. They may sound dated to our ears, but one cannot deny how powerful her voice was.

Like many anime based on cel animation, either you like it or you don't. It looks dated but one can argue that the art direction is consistent because it doesn't include CGI.

So far, I haven't seen 'Legend of the Galactic Heroes' though it's probably safe to conclude that it might not be as good as that anime that has a reputation for being a masterpiece. Despite that, this is still a decent watch. The story is far from the masterpiece that it might have been, but it's still worth watching because of the ideas that it presents, either directly or indirectly.

'Farmagia' is an anime that has a reputation for being bad. I originally wanted to watch it 1) to get some taste for what's bad to feel the contrast between what I consider good to great, and 2) to lower my MAL average score.

The truth is, it has some things that make me cringe and some aspects that make it decent or good.


§ Overview

After the death of the world of Felicidad's ruler, one of the Oración Seis, Glaza immediately sets himself up as the ruler.

Glaza's minions immediately attack the Avrion continent where the protagonist Ten and his friends live. In response, Ten and his ... friends must fight Glaza and other members of the Oración Seis to regain their freedom.


§ Notes


1. This is Fairy Tail meets Pokemon/Digimon. The characters were designed by Mashima Hiro, the mangaka of Fairy Tail. Although Mashima did not write Farmagia, there are clear parallels. Ten corresponds to Natsu; Leii corresponds to Gray; and Arche corresponds to Lucy (perhaps). Both main characters have pets; Lookie-Loo corresponds to Happy. (I don't know the analogues for Chica and Emero.)


2. With the usual disclaimer, if you don't like Mashima's works, you will not like this anime. The same goes if you like his works.


3. If I were a person who usually drops anime, I would have dropped this before reaching halfway. I was facepalming at how dumb the characters were. It was not encouraging.

I suggest that you keep at it. It gets better.

In fact, the character designs don't seem to pop initially. But by the end of the anime, you will know which is which because of how invested you become in their respective story arcs.


4. I love that we get the respective story arcs of each protagonist, and this makes them so memorable. This is in sharp contrast to so many anime that have an ensemble but fail to characterise and give justice to each cast of characters. (I'm looking at you, 'Promise of Wizard' and 'Cheer for You.)


5. The opening song for Farmagia is decent. Some dislike it, but come on. It's from Asian Kung-Fu Generation, the band that sang one of the bangers of the original Fullmetal Alchemist.

The ED by miss-dystopia is okay but has the energy to become a banger.


6. The animation is decent enough compared to the usual, but it probably pales in comparison to top-tier battle shounen. (By the way, the source material is a game so we don't have the usual demographic categories as shounen, shoujo, seinen, and josei. But with the way the content is too similar to Fairy Tail, it's safe to use the term shounen.)


7. The pacing is mostly decent. At first, the events are happening so fast that it seems it's not good pacing. But after watching, you realise that the 12-episode format has helped this anime. Even if you feel that the anime is bad or cringe, as I often experienced, because the cringe aspects are similar to Fairy Tail, you can't help but feel that each episode is way better than the average episode of Fairy Tail. The single cour format made the director only to include the essentials and not bother creating fillers that don't add much to the plot.

Thus, plotwise, Farmagia is good.


8. You can, however, nitpick some plotholes such as the personal not being too numerous for a continent. It's not perfect but decent.


9. Its greatest strength is the lore and world building. Despite my wanting to hate this anime, this is an aspect that convinced me that this anime is not really bad.

I won't spoil you because the world of Felicidad's mythology is tied directly to the plot. I will not though the place names. If you got a kick out of the character names in Frieren as German words that characterise the characters, you might like this aspect.

• Felicidad, which is the world our characters are inhabiting. It means happiness in Spanish.

• There are five continents within Felicidad, and I like the map.

1. Avrion. You can't find a meaning for it, but it seems related to the word of French origin, avion, which is any machine that flies or an aeroplane.

2. Perfectus. Latin for perfect.

3. Rahatluk is the Bosnian concept of 'the art of enjoying.'

4. Sonrisa is Spanish for smile (or even forced smile).

5. Nadeyat'sya is Russian for hope.


§ Conclusion

Farmagia is that one anime considered by others as bad. Indeed, it has some cringe elements. Yet, I was surprised that it has so many decent elements that I cannot ignore.

I'm grading it a 5 and a recommended mark. It's not bad and can be good. It's hampered by how the characters can act like idiots, and this prevents me from giving it a higher score.

'I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time' is quite an enjoyable anime. It's one of my favourites this winter season. It's understandable, though, why some might not like it.


§ Overview

Alina Clover is a guild receptionist who only wants to clock out on time but suffers from overtime due to paperwork, which results from adventurers not immediately killing the dungeon bosses.

Unknown to many, she has a very powerful skill, a Dia skill, which allows her to quickly dispose of various monsters.


... § Notes


1. If you just read the synopsis, there's really nothing special about the story. It is set in a fantasy world of adventurers, the number of anime that features such is a dime a dozen.


2. What carries this show is the visuals and Alina's voice acting. Naturally, if you don't care for the character of Alina and only focus on the story, you might find this anime so-so and consequently score this low.


3. The nice visuals are expected from any CloverWorks anime, so I'm bumping the score to 8 rather than the 7 I would have given if this anime had so-so visuals.


4. Alina's seiyuu is the lovely Takahashi Rie. She owns the character of Alina who is snarky. It's as though the character was written specifically for her, and any other seiyuu voicing her would have been so-so.

To make some comparisons, Takahashi's performance as Serina in 'Honey Lemon Soda' and Sakura in 'Blue Miburo' is okay. As Ai in 'Oshi no Ko,' it's great but quite limited because of the character's early demise. But in this anime, it is outstanding. It's undoubtedly the best from what I've seen so far, and it's reasonable to claim that it is one of her best performances.


5. Some might not like the repeated overtime jokes, but for me, they are acceptable. It makes the character of Alina lovable but not annoying in a tsundere kind of way.


6. There is some developing romance between Alina and Jade, but the romantic subplot is not the focus of the anime. If this gets a second season and if the romance develops, it might become one of the show's strengths because their chemistry is great.

But those looking for romance in this season might get disappointed.


7. As to why she continues to work as a receptionist instead of an adventurer is explained, but some may wish that it had been put in Episode 1.


8. Both the OP and ED are nice. The OP is pleasant, while the ED is cute. Some people are even claiming that the ED is the best this season. Again, I'm not counting this for my final score, but it's good to note.


§ Conclusion

'I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time' is a rather mediocre story but is quite enjoyable due to Alina. How one may love (or hate) this anime really depends on whether he finds Alina charming or annoying.

'Momentary Lily: Tsuzuiteiku Kappou, Kappou!' (もめんたりー・リリィ 続いていく割烹、割烹!) is translated in English as 'The cooking continues.' As to why it's named as such, you should watch it. Suffice it to say that it has to do with Renge's impact on everyone and it's about a celebration of Renge's life.

This is marked as Episode 14, but it's really a bonus episode, an extension of Episode 13. It covers partly some scenes when Renge and Nerine met. It's also includes scenes about our girls and Renge's sister, Suzuran, in the immediate aftermath after Renge's death, just before Team Emu meets the new girl, Shoujo.

Even if I ... wanted to, a second season is unlikely. Be that as it may, this episode is a far better closing episode than Episode 13. It reinforces the theme of friendship that runs throughout the show. It leaves you with a more optimistic vibe.

As always, haters of GOATHands and Momentary Lily won't like this, but if you're convinced that Momentary Lily is a decent if not a good show, this is a must-watch.

'Momentary Lily' is the first GoHands anime I've watched, and it's that one anime that made me a GOATHands Crusader.

Narratively, it's simple. It's just a bunch of girls in an apocalyptic world where giants called 'Wild Hunts' are erasing people. It's how the girls discover who they actually are.

It's easy to dismiss this story as nonsense. To their credit, viewers who don't know the ending yet, the very people who watch this anime original weekly from the original airdate, can come up with different predictions and plausible theories, but this anime refuses to get tied down and shatters the theory builders. In a way, ... it's unpredictable.

The opening song is itself fire, even if the animation is not something everyone would love. The ending song is emotional and beautiful, but it's underrated.

The character designs are more than okay but they could have been better. You will know why some feel this way if you see the final episode.

The animation style of GOATHands is polarising. Either you like it or you don't. I like it!

Some people may like it because its composition is ugly and can't really screenshot a particular scene and make it a wallpaper of their desktop or cellphone screen. In other words, it goes against the phrase 'every frame a painting.' I agree up to a certain point, but its emphasis is not on composition but on movement and heightened sensation because of all the visual stimuli.

I don't know if anyone is familiar with this idea, but one of the purposes of art is to take us away from the mundane and resensitise our view of the world. In a sense, Momentary Lily meets this criterion to the detriment of other stuff people usually like.

Some people experience headaches watching a GOATHands anime but you get used to it and look back at some of the mediocre animation in your average isekai/romcom slop, and you appreciate what GOATHands is trying to accomplish despite mixed results.

Finally, this anime has one of the best fanservice out there. The unique angles are something only GOATHands can give you.

Move over Himemiya Karen of 'Too Many Losing Heroines.' The best jiggle physics I've seen so far is in this anime, Koudaiji Erika.

In closing, give this anime a try if you like CGDCT, especially if you haven't experienced an anime from GOATHands. It has a nice mix of action and slice-of-life. Ultimately, it's an anime about friendship.

'Magic Maker' seems to be yet another average isekai slop. But once you watch it, you will realise that it tackles a unique premise, though, in reality, it still falls under generic fantasy.

Shion was reincarnated in a world without magic. In his previous life, he was trying to use magic but to no avail. He died trying.

One day, he and his sister found a magical phenomenon, and it became key to him becoming the Magic Maker.

One thing to note is that this anime has a high normie filter, and it is unfortunate. It's only a bait. It's gone by Episode 3, but if this ... is the first anime someone watches, it's gonna be a turnoff.

What's important is its unique premise of magic research. Shion spends time finding how to generate magical energy and how to use it. A good number of episodes were spent on this.

Also, the monsters here are really scary, unlike the typical isekai slop where monsters are easily overcome. Monsters here offer some challenges.

The art style is a bit better because monsters are more realistic. The animation seems a bit better than average, but as typical of DEEN, it's not something that you can point out as exemplary.

In essence, you will cringe at first for watching the first few episodes. But if you're not weeded out, you are in for a treat.