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[TW: Gender Dysphoria, possibly. It's fairly minor.]

Considering this is one of my favorite animes, it made me really sad to see that it had no reviews! So without further ado, lets get started!

I'm not very familiar with idol animes to be quite frank. I have a decent grasp of knowledge and information about other series, but they are never really something that really captured me. That is, with the exclusion of Pripara.

Story [5/10]
Pripara reminds me quite a bit of a magical girl show. Main character has amazing power, must keep her identity secret from those in her daily life or face repercussions, cute overly ... frilly outfits in every episode, gratuitous transformation scenes. Also cute talking animals. In part I think the reason I like it so much is because it reads so much like a magical girl anime. From the premise to the execution of the series. There's also a strong theme of friendship throughout the series, which isn't exactly unique in idol animes, but the way Pripara uses friendship as a tool to "defeat" rivals is kinda unique in my opinion for the genre.

The reason I am rating it so low however is because of the repetitiveness of the plot. Main character uses the power of her singing voice to express her emotions. Befriends the "enemy." They compete together in some idol competition. Add another character, rinse and repeat. Mix together some filler or recap episodes and that is the basic progression of the series. This has already happened twice, and we're currently on the third iteration of this formula.
At the time of writing this review, there are roughly fifty six episodes that have aired, and while I am not totally exhausted by it at the moment, I am sure another fifty episodes down the line I will be exhausted. Unless they add in some new element that shakes things up, I doubt I will keep with this series for longer than around a hundred episodes.

Art [4/10]
My main beef with this anime is the animation. It's average. Pause the episode at any time and chances are the frame will be some haphazardly drawn mess. Each episode you see the same exact transformation sequence that takes around thirty seconds. All performances or dance sequences are not drawn in 2D, but rather animated through 3D models. The same dance sequences are shown, over and over again with the only change being the outfit the characters are wearing. I don't really have much to say that is good about the animation to be honest. It reads as lazy a majority of the time for me. Then again, this is a kids' anime that is being continuously produced so I can't harp about it too much I suppose.

Sound [8/10]
Of the (somewhat few) idol animes I have seen, the music rarely if ever interested me much. To be honest I found most of the songs forgettable. But pripara actually has consistently good music. They're catchy songs, each idol group has a unique flavor to them that comes out in their songs. I often find myself with one stuck in my head, or wanting to listening to the soundtrack from this series. It's really well done.

I will complain that they use the same songs over and over and over again, which isn't really the worst grievance they could make. Though it does bother me when the opening song is the same exact song featured in the episode during their performance. At least make the opening different man.

Character [6/10]
This show is a real mix of typical anime archetypes [Lala] and unique characters that can stand by themselves. [Mirelle, Sophie] I will say there are a huge variety of personalities though, and you do get to see them interact with one another frequently. It makes me sad that the main character is the one that has the blandest personality when she is the one that is featured the most.

Enjoyment [9/10]
The only reason this isn't a 10/10 is because I hate recap episodes which this show has one or two of. Otherwise, I love it. I love the characters and how they interact with one another, I love the jokes that actually make you laugh, I love the songs that they sing. It is a really enjoyable series, very lighthearted and very enjoyable for when you need to take a break from the animes where you're scared everyone is going to die. There are no tears here, only happiness and cgi dance numbers.

Overall [5/10]
It's not exactly remarkable nor is it very memorable outside of the songs. But it's a lot of fun to watch and I look forward to new episodes. Would recommend to anyone who likes idol animes, magical girl shows, and or wants a silly, happy anime to pass the time.

[TW: There are no trigger warnings for this series! :) ]


Story [8/10]
I don't have evidence for this claim, but I feel as if series centering around sibling relationships where the sister character is actually a huge nerd are becoming increasingly popular and more numerous these days. I can think of two other series [Oreimo and Watamote] off the top of my head who have a similar theme to Himouto! Umaru-chan. Despite this, I feel as if Himouto does the best job at tackling this theme. It's simple slice-of-life with the only real difference being that Uramu tries to keep nerd side somewhat secret from all ... her friends. It's not overly romantic nor does it have any incest themes like Oreimo, and it is actually easy to watch without painful secondhand embarrassment like Watamote. So for that, I am really thankful.

Even then, the mangaka does a splendid job at conveying the characters' relationships with one another, whether it is siblings or friends, you can really relate to them and probably are reminded of your own relationships in life when reading. Also, the mangaka's main strength in my opinion is being able to convey a sense of nostalgia through simple tasks, whether it be a meal with others, or the passing of the seasons.

Art [5/10]
There's nothing wrong with the art in this series, there's just nothing really noteworthy about it either. It's fairly forgettable, but the relaxed style does fit the theme of the series very well.

Character [7/10]
I love the female characters in this series, like a lot. They aren't bland copy and paste manga archetypes that you can find in essentially every series, they're unique and are able to stand by themselves. Each female character gets a decent amount of character development and screen time, and in addition has a unique little quirk to her that makes her so endearing to the reader. I honestly can't pick a favorite, I love each of them so much, for different reasons.

Also, Umaru is totally the perfect example of any girl who is into anime/manga. Even if you aren't a girl you will totally relate to her habits and antics, I promise.

Enjoyment [7/10]
I really like this series. I'm not sure I will keep up with it every week since it is published weekly, but it was extremely enjoyable to read it and I will be following the anime. I will complain that I feel as if the story kinda stagnates in some spots and it takes an extremely long time for any plot progress. But that's not the really aim for this genre so I can't really fault them too much I suppose. Near the end of my reading it did get a bit tedious, though presumably that wouldn't happen if you read all 100+ chapters in one sitting.

Overall [6/10]
Would I read it again? Maybe. Would I recommend it to others? Oh yes. It's relatable on essentially every level, from the sibling relationships, to the nerdy side of Umaru, and the antics she gets up to with friends. It's great. A wonderful series that you can read without worrying that someone is going to die.

[TW: Transphobia, gender dysphoria, sexual situations, and pedophilia/child sexual abuse (possibly) in this series]
I can't believe I read this manga but I did and I might as well write a review about it so here we go.

Boku Girl's protagonist is an effeminate first year high school student by the name of Suzushiro Mizuki, who is constantly at odds with his feminine appearance. His life has always been overshadowed by men confessing to him, others not taking him seriously as a boy, and even his crush confessing that she only sees him as a she. Matters are worsened when the trickster god Loki decides Mizuki to ... turn Mizuki's body into that of a girl's. Thus our protagonist sets off in an attempt to revert their body back to what it once was, while simultaneously traversing his personal relationships as a girl in hiding.

Story [6/10] I really can't decide if I liked the basic plot of this story or not. I am leaning toward the not end, mostly because I side-eye the author's constant writing in of needless sexual situations and boring filler that detracts from the main focus of the story, which is Mizuki's relationship with his crush and childhood friend. I think the manga would be a lot more tasteful as well if they removed even a smidgen of the needless fanservice. Which, is literally every chapter.


Art [4/10] This may not bothers as much as I but holy shit the anatomy in this series is somewhat frightening. This is most obvious with the female characters, as they are constantly depicted in spine breaking poses in order to show off their boobs and butt. It's one thing if it was the odd, silly cover art but it is so constant that it is honestly distracting from the plot of the story. These girls either need to join a professional aerobics team or go to the hospital immediately, I am very concerned for their health.
That aside the artist excels in expressions and faces, and the art style reminds me of the art in the World God Only Knows personally, though it's mostly in the eyes.

Character [3/10] I like Mizuki and his crush, they're pretty unique as characters and don't abide to boring anime archetypes that plague so many other series. Aside from them and Mizuki's childhood friend though, I find all of the other characters annoying and boring. I honestly have no idea why some of them are written in other than for poor comedic relief.

Enjoyment [4/10] As mentioned previously I found the characters that are intentionally written in for comedic relief to be bland and annoying, and as a result a lot of the humor isn't funny. That said there are a couple of interactions that did insight a chuckle from me, so it wasn't a completely laughless experience. The sexual situations that plague this series are gross male pandering and I really wish they would tone it down. I know it's an ecchi, I don't care. The point is the fanservice degrades the overall series in terms of quality and tastefulness. Are anime tiddies really that important.

That said I do like the main plot, it reads kinda like a shoujo except less idealized and with less cliches. Which is the main reason I am sticking around to read it.

Overall [3/10] I really can't give this series anything higher than a 3 while still in good faith. I can't. There were too many distracting qualities that detracted from the overall work and it resulted in me enjoying one VERY SPECIFIC thing about the manga but not the manga itself. Would I recommend this series to a friend? Not unless I want to still look them in the eye. Will I read it again? Probably not. Overall kind of a let down, but I can't really expect something too great from an ecchi manga I guess.

[TW: weight loss is talked about in one episode of this series; otherwise there are no notable trigger warnings.]

Hanayamata is the story of five middle school girls and how they all grew closer through yosakoi, a form of Japanese dance that is described in the series as a sort of "free-style" form of traditional Japanese dance. The show follows their escapades in forming a yosakoi club at school, practicing and performing their dance, and how they change over the course of the series thanks to the friends they have made in the club.

It's a sweet, typical slice-of-life story, it progresses how you would expect ... and there are no real plot twists of any sort. Each of the five main characters are typical anime archetypes and they don't really do much to deviate from this. As a result their interactions with one another come off as contrive and predictable. I feel like I had watched each scene ten times before in different animes. The fact this is a slice-of-life show and therefore relies so heavily on character interaction results in a show that I found to be extremely boring. Seven episodes in and I was ready for it all to be over. The only thing that made this series particularly memorable for me was the fact it featured yosakoi, though if you're hoping to learn about it then I don't recommend watching the show. They rarely focus on it at all and it's used more so as a backdrop for the characters' relationships than as any sort of major plot point. Also there was literally no reason for this show to have as much fanservice as it did, it really detracted from the plot overall and it was fairly creepy since the protagonists are all in middle school.
Story [6/10] Character [4/10]


The animation and art in Hanayamata is a step above most shows. The scene in the first episode where they introduce Hana is beautifully animated and extremely gorgeous, and I think it is the pinnacle of the series' animation. However I feel as if they took a lot of shortcuts to remain in budget that ultimately detracted from the series overall. Most notably would be the lack of any sort of fully animated dance. There is only one dance that is actually animated, and even then it is a very short clip that they use in the opening, so it's just recycled animation. Even then they have still frames of the characters striking a pose, or they cut to the audience and pan across the screen. The fact that a show that is suppose to be about dancing didn't even have a fully animated dance sequence is kinda inexcusable in my opinion.
Additionally, there were two instances of using 3D in the show which did not translate very well. One is when a character is holding an umbrella, and another is when a naruko (a prop used in yosakoi) falls to the ground. The use of 3D made the scenes awkward and distracting and it didn't translate well at all with the rest of the 2D animation.
Art [6/10]

I don't really have much to say about the soundtrack in this series. The opening is fairly catchy and pretty cute, but it loses its magic when they use it so often throughout the show. Nothing else was really notable.
Sound [5/10]

Overall, I didn't really enjoy the series and I wouldn't recommend it to a friend. I originally watched it because I like stories centered around friendships, and I found the yosakoi aspect to be unique and interesting. I was extremely disappointed to find that the characters were bland, the plot was predictable, I didn't really learn anything about yosakoi. I also had the added bonus of watching middle school characters being written into situations for fanservice once per episode it seemed. Halfway through I kept watching, hoping that we would finally receive a fully animated dance sequence and received......... nothing.
Overall I was really disappointed and I am taking all recommendations from the person who recommended this show to me with a grain of salt.
Enjoyment [3/10]

Overall [5/10]

I am honestly not sure how to describe this series. It's like magical girl idols, meet cyberpunk setting, plus a decent amount of fan service. It's definitely unique and it could of been wonderful, but I felt as if the series fell short of all expectations I had.

To put it simply, there was no way the writers could of adequately fit in everything they wanted to cover in twelve episodes. There were many plot twists that made zero sense, and had very little explanation. I found a lot of it to be shallow and not well developed. The series' ending was bland and only made ... me annoyed that they decided to squeeze it into one episode. This is the main reason I am rating it so low.

This is probably the first series that adequately and almost seamlessly incorporates 2D and 3D animation. It isn't abrupt or jarring like others, nor does it seem out of place when they switch from one to the other. The animation overall is well done, and I don't really have any complaints in regard to it, really only praise.

At first I had no real opinion on the songs, but after letting them simmer for awhile I became hopelessly addicted. There isn't one I dislike. It's consistently good music, and I could listen to each over and over again. Overall the songs lend themselves more to a J-Rock style than anything else, but there is one that could be categorized as J-Pop. Really enjoyable music.

Originally I started watching this series because the character designs were just so cute. And they are. I love all of the character designs, the VA's they chose, and their 3D models as well. My complaint would be that the characters had very little character development or screentime. In fact, the main band, Plasmagica, is almost completely overshadowed by another group ShinganCrimsonz. ShinganCrimsonz isn't even a rival band, they're with the same company. They were ridiculously lovable though and their antics were great comedy relief. Downside? I think I heard them perform more than Plasmagica and I also think they displayed a better group dynamic than Plasmagica as well. They honestly stole the spotlight and the show isn't even about them. That's more of a complaint on the writing than the characters though.

The series is a guilty pleasure. Is it written well? No. Is it a respectable interest? No. But man is it fun to watch. I wouldn't recommend it to a friend unless they REALLY liked shows centered around bands or music, but it is fun to watch, and you might as well finish it once you begin it since it's so short.

I started this anime by telling myself "I'm not going to cry."

Surprise, I cried.

I basically knew nothing going into this series, only knowing that it focused on music and was suppose to be very sad. There aren't very many "plot twists" that you can't really predict ahead of time, so I didn't find it a very unpredictable series, but the story is very enjoyable. [Well, as enjoyable as one that makes you cry can be I guess.] Overall I found it to be very real and very believable that this could happen. I suppose my one complaint would be that I felt as ... if it dragged in the middle, and I felt as if some subplots weren't really needed and rather distracting from the main storyline. Nothing major though.

The animation in this series is fantastic, particularly the backgrounds. The opening is actually one of the most beautiful openings I have seen in a long time, I never skipped it while I was watching the series. I also don't remember ever encountering a particular scene that I felt was oddly animated or lacked in attention to detail. I will complain that they intentionally chose not to show one character's hands when they were playing piano at one point, probably to cut down on expense, but the scene wasn't really noteworthy and I just thought it silly. I will also complain that they used 3D during piano scenes as well for the piano itself, but they never used 3D animation for characters, only objects.

So here is the double-edged sword associated with this series, the soundtrack. As you would probably somewhat expect from a series that centers around violin and piano performances, there are a lot of classical music numbers throughout the series. This is great! Wonderful music! But because you have these prominent pieces, every other song that was not a classic was completely overshadowed and overpowered. I can remember none of them other than the opening song.

Okay so I found two of the main characters to be bland anime character archetypes. The childhood friend and the popular playboy. All characters get an adequate amount of screen time and character development, but aside from the main piano player and violinist, there wasn't anything that particularly stood out to me, nor was there anything about other characters that made them particularly memorable outside the series. Not bad, but not great.

As I mentioned previously, I found that the story lagged a bit in the middle. I really feel as if the series could of been 18-20 episodes long rather than 22. I also found some subplots to be rather irrelevant and distracting to the main storyline, and not really necessary. But hey, if you do enjoy all the main characters then you won't find them really a complete waste of time. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.

Would I watch it again? I'm not sure. If it was shorter, probably. Would I recommend it to others? Definitely. It's a beautiful portrayal of friendship, young love, growing up, and how illness affects people. But it wasn't a flawless series in my opinion, and it had some room to improve. Overall 7/10.