As much as I loved Oniisama e..., and loved how it was such a groundbreaking story for it's time, I felt there were many unanswered questions left, and the ending was just not satisfying for me.
Characters (10/10):
I'm going to start my review off with discussing characters first, because that is the part of this anime that I think the most highly of. Most of the characters in this series are just phenomenal, and unlike any characters I've seen in other anime (and I've watched over 200). First we have Rei Asaka or "Saint Juste-sama," and her character is amazingly well written and interesting.
...
She's strange, but not a stereotypical like strange that would come to mind when thinking of what constitutes as so. She is very oddly obsessive, and shows her love and affection bizarre ways. This makes it so hard to actually tell what she is thinking, and when she makes confessions as to what she is thinking or how she is feeling they tend to be shocking. And what makes this even more important is the fact the Rei does not even know what she is thinking herself. She is always split between feelings and thoughts, and it is almost like us viewers have been placed inside her mind whenever she is on screen. I have great admiration for the creator of this series for being able to pull off something like that, where the audience is feeling the same emotions as the character. Despite all of this she still remains very mysterious to me, and she is a character that I will never forget, as I have never seen a character like her.
Next there's Fukiko Ichinomiya, and just like Rei she has odd ways of showing affection for people. She has problems with anger, but her anger is very subtle. She shows her anger by acting out, however this acting out has no foreseeable emotions upon her face, almost as if her actions are accidental and not predetermined. This also gives the audience a difficult time assessing her character and emotions at first. However, as the series goes on she begins showing her emotions more, and the audience is able to tell what she is feeling and thinking more. A lot of the reasoning behind her actions has remained unanswered to me, but I just feel like that's how questions concerning Fukiko should be. She's not someone who opens up to other people, therefore her feelings should not be "opened up" to or explained to the audience.
Nanako Misonoo, the main protagonist in this series. She is a little bit more basic compared to a lot of the other characters, but in a good way. Someone like her is always needed in a show; someone like her is needed to create balance between extremes. Though while she appears to be a basic character she will do anything for the person she loves, even if that person is not as affectionate back. Nanako represents the average viewer watching Oniisama e... I think it's safe to assume that everyone can relate to her in some sort of way. She is a very strong girl; Despite being heartbroken throughout most of the series, she has always come out stronger and has never tried taking measures that some of the other characters in this series have tried taking. However, there were some things about her that I did not feel were fully addressed by the end of the series that I think should have been addressed.
Those are the only characters specifically that I wanted to talk about in this review, however there were a lot of supporting characters that I think were very well written. Even if they just had a little bit of screen time, I feel like some of these characters had well developed personalities and seemed unique despite being minor. The ones that stood out to me in particular were Komabayashi ("Mona Lisa-sama") and Ogiwara ("Borgia-sama").
Story (7/10):
Here is where I give my lowest rating, and I'm going to explain just why that is. Aside from the unanswered questions I mentioned in the beginning, I feel like there was one trope that was used a tad too much in this anime, which I'm not going to say in order to avoid spoilers. However if you know what I'm talking about, I feel like that was overused and the author could've come up with some better tropes than that. Next, I feel like the ending was rushed. There was a whole story that they tried to wrap up in 3 episodes, which I felt was completely unnecessary. I feel like this story should've been incorporated into the series way earlier than it was, because putting it at the end just made the series worse. Because of this so many questions were unanswered. They tried to add this story at the end so it would make the ending seem satisfying, but it did just the opposite of that for me.
Now, for questions I feel were left unanswered. For one, we never got confirmation of a lot of characters' feelings, and I feel like the whole Shoujo-Ai aspect of it was just completely thrown out the window. At the end, it just felt like none of the girls who had feelings for other girls had those feelings anymore, however there was no way of knowing that. For one, after certain characters confessed their feelings it was as if they didn't have feelings anymore, didn't feel jealously and didn't feel much pain from being rejected. It's like afterwards the story just moved completely on, and their feelings were never addressed again. This was the number one reason why I have only given this anime an 8/10. More and more things just kept coming up, and it felt like their feelings were being ignored.
It felt like the author was trying to forget that they made some of the female characters fall in love with other female characters, so they just stopped the development completely. And in the end as the girls got older and developed more it started to seem like they were more into men, which just felt like the creator was trying to say that homosexual feelings are just childish, and that the characters' development caused them to no longer be interested in the same sex. Now I may be wrong about this, but that is just how it felt to me.
Another thing I don't like is how there is a prominent antagonist in the beginning of the series, who randomly disappears for a long period of time but randomly makes a comeback in later episodes. I feel like this antagonist should've just completely disappeared from where she did in the beginning, because just making her come back randomly made me question what she was doing the whole time. This character was in the same vicinity as the main characters throughout the whole series, so why would she stop messing with them for so long but then come back and start again like no time passed from when she was there before? I don't know, but this just didn't make sense at all to me.
Also, there is another thing about the story that I think should've been changed, and changing this aspect would have made the story more memorable and more like this aspect/event had a purpose. What I'm talking about is a certain characters' demise, and how their demise was handled. With how it was handled I think this character's demise was pointless, however with a different cause I wouldn't have minded it (I know the wording of this sounds a bit weird but I'm trying my best not to say any spoilers). I think the cause should have had to do with this character's prolonged addiction/obsession, and that it should not have been accidental. I feel like that would have been much more meaningful to the story, and with the messages the author is trying to present.
Art (10/10):
Honestly, I love love love the art style of this anime, and I love all of the stills throughout the episodes. The vibe of the art just perfectly matches the vibe of the series to me, and for 1991 I think the quality was pretty good. And the animation for a Slice of Life/Romance anime like this doesn't need to be over the top, it just needs to have good art because we are focusing on how the characters themselves are individually drawn, because most scenes are of characters talking to each other.
Enjoyment (9/10): Despite my complaints about the plot holes in the story and everything, there is always something going on in this anime and you always want to keep watching the episodes. At some points it can feel boring, but even with that you'll always want to know what happens in the next episode. That's because the characters in this series are so lovable and interesting, you just can't stop watching until you understand what they are thinking or until you know what they do or know what happens to them. It is very easy to get attached to the characters in this show, which will want you to keep watching more and more! I very much enjoyed Oniisama e... :)
OVERALL: 8/10
All (2)BadgesFantasy Anime League Fantasy Anime League All (51)FriendsGeazzzzaniSuka-7777-SukaDeltaRXXXavacarrotMissMisuotakucrescentRidzaxsterKishiNoOkamiFeary7Annikamoon
RSS Feeds |
Aug 2, 2021
Oniisama e...
(Anime)
add
As much as I loved Oniisama e..., and loved how it was such a groundbreaking story for it's time, I felt there were many unanswered questions left, and the ending was just not satisfying for me.
Characters (10/10): I'm going to start my review off with discussing characters first, because that is the part of this anime that I think the most highly of. Most of the characters in this series are just phenomenal, and unlike any characters I've seen in other anime (and I've watched over 200). First we have Rei Asaka or "Saint Juste-sama," and her character is amazingly well written and interesting. ... 
Nov 27, 2020
Inuyashiki
(Anime)
add
"You reap what you sow."
That is the one platitude I thought of while watching this anime. It definitely holds strong. (I'm referring to the characters here as either "protagonist" or "antagonist" as an attempt to avoid spoilers) Story/Plot: In this anime, we have two completely different individuals receive identical powers. We have no idea about the origins of these powers. There are many theories that could be discussed as to where these powers came from, but that is not very relevant to the story. It's not about where these powers came from but how the powers are used. The fact that one individual uses his ... 
Jun 26, 2020
Gankutsuou
(Anime)
add
Humans can be evil creatures. They will do anything they can when their heart is filled with lust for power.
It hasn't been since I saw Death Note that I sided with the antagonist of an anime series. Over time, especially towards the end, I saw myself siding more and more with the Count. Story: 10/10 The story of this anime was amazing. Normally you'd think a show that "futurizes" an old story would be utter garbage, but this one turned out to be very well. There were sci-fi aspects in the show, but they had nothing to do with the overall understanding of the ... 
Apr 30, 2020
At first, I just started the Plunderer series when it came out as an anime, not thinking it could have any potential. After around 6 episodes I considered dropping the anime but stayed for the comedy. At around episode 10-11 I started seeing great potential for the series, and after the last episode, I could not resist and continued where it left off with the manga.
And holy cow, let me just say I was far from disappointed. Plunderer really is a masterpiece, the only thing I had wrong with it was the random comedic relief moments that had no overall effect on the plot. ... 
Nov 29, 2019
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
(Anime)
add
I just completed Hunter x Hunter today and all I can say is just wow. This anime is so amazing, and I mean genuinely amazing. HxH has such an original plot and storyline, and if I hadn't been busy with schoolwork and such it is likely that I would've finished it in a week because I was so hooked. I especially admired Gon and Killua's friendship, which is one of the most powerful anime friendships I have ever seen, and their friendship isn't generic either. It is extremely evident that they deeply care for each other and I have never seen such passion in any
...
|
