Back to rossjg's Profile rossjg's Profile

Everyone has different tastes in anime and some anime that gel with others will not gel with you. Dungeon Meshi is one of the last shows I have watched from last season as I have never watched a gourmet anime before as I know they will not be for me. However, dungeons, dark fantasy, blood, gore and seriousness is for me, so I thought I would give it a shot with the hopes it will turn into this later in the series.

Does Dungeon Meshi change its tone mid way through?
Sort of yes!
Does it do it well?
Not for me.
I think it was ... the breaks in serious tone each episode back to cooking that ruined the immersion.

Characters, Music or World Building can make or break a show. If you hit all three you get a 10/10. Dungeon Meshi hit none of those for me.

The characters were incredibly bland. Laios, Senshi and Chilchuck just didn't have what is required. They don't have the depth of Rudeous (Mushoku Tensei), the complexity of Guts (Berserk), the Epicness of Shadow (Eminence of Shadow), the psychotic Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill) etc. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with Dungeon Meshi's characters. They are just missing the sparks of the others I listed above. However, I did enjoy Marcille though. Her comedic relief was on point as I rarely laugh during anime and she hit the mark.

The music was no good either. Lets be honest there was no bangers played that make you leap out of your seat in excitement that are in anime like Death Note, Code Geass, Berserk, Parasyte etc. I could play you a song from those anime and most anime fans would identify it immediately. If I played you a song from Dungeon Meshi outside of the OST I'm sure people would not recognise it.

If you are reading this review and haven't watched Dungeon Meshi yet I will advise you to definitely give it a shot. Its 8.6 rating says you should.

To those reading this review that have watched the show and loved it, I take you back to my opening sentence that everyone has different tastes and as much as I wanted to love this anime, very sadly it just didn't resonate with me.

However, I will give season 2 a shot when it comes out.

A Girl & Her Guard Dog is probably the lowest scoring MAL rated anime I have ever watched. Does it deserve to be the lowest scoring anime, short answer, definitely not. I fundamentally believe people do not read the synopsis of the anime. It's pretty clear if this anime is for you or not. It's about the relationship between a 15 year old girl and a 26 year old guy and there relationship does progress romantically through the series. Now is it weird to like this anime, maybe. If this was live action I would have never have watched this as I would have been ... completely creeped out and uncomfortable. However, this is anime, where anything goes. The political correct of western society has not been able to hijack Japanese anime so we can watch the most diverse and disgusting things in animation that would have never been greenlit in our English speaking countries. A Girl & Her Guard Dog anime would be classified and is grooming in our countries. The girl is in love with him though and the guy would do anything to make her happy, however, it is still grooming. All in all i enjoyed this anime. The actual romance in this series is decent and progresses (you have been warned). The production quality wasn't the greatest, however, that is not a massive concern as it's not an action based anime. This really should have a MAL rating of 6.7-6.8. The lower rating it currently has is because it's an adult in a relationship with a child. If you read the synopsis and are not bothered because you know this is anime I would recommend A Girl & Her Guard Dog, if you are bothered by it do NOT watch.

Kikansha no Mahou wa Tokubetsu desu (KnMwTd for short) is strong contender for my underrated anime for this season. The story is nothing we haven't seen before and the music is ok. What KnMwTd excels at compared to other similar titles is the pacing. Studio Arvo Animation has taken there time to build the world and introduce the characters whilst keeping the viewer interested. The animation quality is decent. The first fight in episode 1's monster had CGI so I was expecting that the rest of the season. However, I did not notice any obvious CGI the rest of the season (with some casting spells ... there must have been but the CGI worked). The fight scenes animations are all quite good compared to other anime in the genre. Although the characters personalities are not unique, you still become invested in there story. The main gripe that people are having is that in 3 minutes of the last episode they covered what should have been 4 episodes of next season. That may have brought the MAL score down. This should have a MAL rating of 7.5-7.8. It is a quality action/adventure/school anime that doesn't rush with decent animation. I'm looking forward to season 2. I recommend KnMwTd.

Kingdom of Ruin storyline is intriguing and pulls the audience in after episode 1, however, its execution from there leaves much to be desired. The main characters are generic and there's nothing wrong with that. Music is reasonable. The animation though is HORRID. Rarely do I struggle to watch an anime because of its terrible animation. HALF the show is STILL SHOTS. When Kingdom of Ruin is not showing still shots the animation is in slow motion. I feel like the show was running at 0.75 speed so they could fill out the 23 minutes per episode. I kid you not I was thinking this ... as I was watching episodes 2-12. If you can somehow watch this anime at 1.25 speed which would be essentially be normal speed then maybe give this a go. In episode 10 I checked if my tv settings had somehow switched over to slow motion picture. The animation is poor for a low budget 80s anime. In episodes 9-12 the length of still shots got even worse and felt like each one lasted two seconds longer than it should have. It was infuriating.

Any anime that I finish, I do not rate below a 7/10. This series deserves to have a rating between 5.9-6.2 on MAL. I do NOT recommend Kingdom of Ruin.

This review will answer if you should or should not watch Boushoku no Berserk right now.

Boushoku no Berserk is a plain and generic anime that brings nothing new to the formula. It's a typical Isekai without being an Isekai (Character is not from another world). Our protagonist starts off weak, gains a skill, becomes overpowered, kills monsters, steals their skills, rinse and repeat, lack of character development and the animation falls off in the second half of the show.

I would NOT watch this anime unless you have already seen all of:
Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy-
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
Reincarnated ... as a Sword
Black Summoner
Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated
Seirei Gensouki
I'm a spider so what?
The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World

All of the above listed anime have a similar formula and are superior in every way due to their execution, world building and character development. I'm not saying they are all ground breaking, just that you should definitely consider watching those first. I have not listed anime such as Mushoku Tensei, Eminence in the Shadow etc. because if you are even considering watching Boushoku no Berserk you must have seen the best and most popular shows of this formula.

If you have seen everything out there and need to kill an afternoon Boushoku no Berserk is watchable unlike other similar shows out there.

This review will make sure you have the correct expectations before watching season 2.

Season 2 is superior to the first half of season 1, however, it does not reach the heights of the second half of season 1, at least for me. Why is that? Season 2's comedy is superior. Season 2's 3 story arcs are more interesting. Cid's annoying school friends Jada/Hyoro (that need to be killed off ASAP as they ruin the show) are only predominate in 1 episode in season 2. It also maintains its top tier animation. Unfortunately Season 2's fight scenes are inferior. The witch of Calamity vs Shadow ... and Beatrix/Iris vs Shadow are still in my opinion the best of the show. Season 2's fight scenes are short lived and feel like they're over before they begun. In my opinion the best two fight scenes in season 2 occur in episode 6 and they are very short. Lowering your expectations of the fight scenes before watching season 2 will result in you preferring Season 2 to Season 1. PS Delta has moved up to the 2nd best character in the show after Shadow.

Eminence of the shadow is peak anime but you should already know that after watching season 1. I really hope we will continue to receive future seasons and see where this roller coaster takes us.

Overall whilst writing this review I have decided I prefer Season 2 over Season 1. Just lower the expectations of the fight scenes and know they are shorter than those of season 1.

"The frenzy has begun. The moon is red. We are out of time." - Shadow Plagiarism (SO FUNNY)

My review will answer why you should or should not watch this anime.
Cross Ange is a combination of Code Geass with Redo of Healer. It is large amounts of Racism, Sexism, Sexual Assault, Lesbian, Bisexual, Fan Service and Orgies. It relies on the shock factor and is completely inappropriate in 2023 and I thought it was GREAT. If you're not offended easily and can just enjoy it for what it is, it's a highly entertaining show. The protagonist Ange starts out as insufferable, however, she undergoes considerable character development which ultimately leads to her becoming quite likable. If you enjoy edgy anime e.g. Redo Healer, ... Mirrai Nikki, School days etc. then this anime is for you. This anime really should have a MAL rating of 7.8-8.1. It overall has a decent story and is unpredictable. The 7.4 rating is mainly because of the second sentence above in my review and how people can be easily offended thus giving it a rating of 1/10. I recommend Cross Ange.