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Quick take: If you have experienced the universe of Cyberpunk before, you’ll know that it revolves around tragedy a lot. You’ll find the anime is no stranger to that concept and offers a relatively compelling story set in one of my favorite universes created. Overall: 7*

Edit: after several days of digestion, the storyline backbone to this anime is really good and has stuck with me for several days. I think this is worth a watch. I’ve also bumped up art a smidgen, because of the time the artists took to recreate locations in the game, further linking the two media together.

Storyline: 8 (before edit: 7)
Edgerunners’ ... storyline is a series of tragedies that make an attempt to pull at the heart strings. My biggest complaint is that much of the series is on the slow side, really letting the story stew in a crockpot until episode 6. You’ll find the later half of the series much more compelling. In reality, it’s these later episodes that really help cement the storyline’s score into place and make it a beautiful tragedy that is enjoyable. Don’t expect to find anything that is shocking, but expect a solid, tried and true love story.

Character: 8
I find the characters of Edgerunners to be on point to almost a fault. It’s actually borderline odd – you’re given exactly what you need for the story to progress soundly, nothing more, nothing less. Still, I was never left wanting. The main characters always feel genuine to their nature and the interactions always evolve naturally. To be honest, Edgerunners has one of the best set of natural feeling characters in any anime I’ve seen. While there is plenty of absurdity in this sci-fi show, the characters always feel grounded. I think this dichotomy between the characters and the world makes the whole show feel believable.

Art: 5 (before edit: 4)
Sound: 7
Art is mediocre at best. There are quite a few choppy and unrefined scenes as well as some scenes that are too dark to fully grasp the action that is being portrayed. Yet, they still have some decent scenes that really showcase the world of Cyberpunk well. It all feels a bit outdated for a 2022 anime. Sound is slightly better, the music is good and the songs featured in the anime (and game) all fit and feel natural to the world what is being portrayed on screen. Acting (English) was all really good.

Enjoyment: 7
I like the world of Cyberpunk. In my opinion, it is one of the best built fantasy worlds of a video game I’ve played in a long time. Much of that carried over into the anime, but without the depth you get in the game, forcing the anime to stand on its own. Still, the basic love story portrayed in Edgerunners was enjoyable to watch, even if predictable. The acting was great and the characters all felt natural and grounded, leading to a sci-fi story that was all truly believable

"Like in a movie about youth! Run straight without making sense!" The irony that this line from the OVA perfectly sums up the entire movie is not lost on me. I'd recommend this only if you really enjoyed the back bone to Urusei Yatsura. Otherwise, you'll not find this show enjoyable.

I'll preface by saying I don't want to compare this to UY, but it mimics UY so much, it's nearly impossible to do so. I will attempt to keep the comparisons to a minimum.

Going by the release dates between Urusei Yatsura and Majo demo Steady, the latter was an attempt to ride on the coattails ... of the popularity of UY. Honestly, the similarities are pretty uncanny at times. Ironically, the back bone of Steady is actually pretty good. I guess I have a type, liking the concept of other world girl and earthling boy pursue a relationships despite challenges. The issue with Steady lies in the lack of explanation. Things seemingly happen out of the blue and our leading girl, Asami, just blames herself. How she creates this mess or why, we never learn. Is she just a klutz or does her magic require an equal, opposite reaction to work? These questions and lack of explanation are rampant throughout the show.

The art isn't bad, but the animation is choppy and non-fluid much of the time.

Sound is mediocre as well. The opening and closing are dated, but unfortunately didn't ripen with age, missing the campy, nostalgic vibe some 80's songs instill. Sometimes the sound effect doesn't match the action and is noticeably different from what you'd expect.

Characters are decent, but there is no depth to them and they don't really develop significantly. It's actually a shame because I think they'd actually lead to a good story if given time to develop.

Overall, I enjoyed demo Steady because I like the concept. It wasn't the best execution and leaves a lot to be desired. I think it's a bit harshly criticized, but at the same time, I think it rightfully deserves a lot of what it gets. If you like relationship and/or magical girl animation, you'll like demo Steady, just don't expect anything ground breaking.

If there's one more thing to add, it's that I'd like to find the source material for demo Steady. I'd like to know if things were better explained or if this adaption was doomed from the start.

Quick take: Bungou Stray Dogs is a whole lot of build up and character introduction with little significant story until late in the season.

Bungou Stray Dogs' story line is a whole lot of build up to a rather disappointing finale episode. We're presented to an world where special abilities are rare among humans. Within this world, a special private investigative agency helps solve crimes that the police cannot handle or refuse to touch. It's a great premise that fails to deliver a "wow!" throughout the entirety of the first season, as much of the time we're introducing characters and spending time on world building. ... Even then, the world feels devoid of depth. That is to say, there feels to be clear cut lines between "good" and "bad," lacking much grey area to create a lot of tension.

I disliked the art much of the time. Early on, it felt cheesy, corny or just poorly drawn, but as the show progressed, I came to believe that much of the design choices were intentional. It led to a bizarre situation where the art style didn't match the story line. This created a division within the show as to whether it wanted to deal with heavy topics, which the story line toys with most of the time, or if it just wants to make a couple of kids laugh.

Sound was good. English acting was okay, neither great nor poor. The OP and Ending songs were nothing special.

Character development was fair. The first season felt more about quantity vs. quality. We were introduced to a lot of characters, but none felt developed to any noteworthy depth by the end of the first season. We see some growth in the main characters as well as some budding branches for future growth between the characters, but none are realized by the end of the first season.

Overall, Bungou Stray Dogs is plagued by a whole lot of "meh." The art choices are questionable at times and rarely add that levity a comedic passage is meant to do. Characters remain undeveloped and the story builds to a lackluster ending. All this adds to an anime that is slightly better than mediocre. Hoping that the story and character development, at the very least, picks up in later seasons.

Quick take: Konosuba Art offers little laughs compared to it's parent counterpart and continues the trend of making me feel sorry for the characters rather than having a good laugh at their expense. It's worth it if you're going to watch the movie directly after, as I think it makes the whole situation a bit funnier, but otherwise, it's nothing more than an OVA that you could easily glance over.

The story is simple enough and focus' mostly on Kazuma. It creates some comedic moments, but seems to also focus on the tragedy that is our protagonists' story. I end up feeling bad for Kazuma more ... than I feel happy from laughing.

I found the art to be enjoyable and better than the average anime from the late 2010s. I also found the sound to be enjoyable as well. The music was good and never distracting and the OP was nice to hear. The acting (English) was spot on and lent a lot to the comedy portrayed.

The character development and situational humor is subpar compared to the rest of the series.

Konosuba Art is worth it if you're going to watch the movie directly after, as I think it makes the whole situation a bit funnier, but otherwise, it's nothing more than an OVA that you could easily glance over.

Quick take: Legend of Crimson offers a ton more laughs while wrapped up in the most complex story line Konosuba has offered to date. Again, character interaction and situational humor drives the movie and is the funniest installment of Konosuba to date.

Legend of Crimson builds on what season 1 and 2 did and does it exceptionally better. Situational humor and jokes remain plentiful and I laugheda lot during the movie, which is usually difficult to make me do. Comedy aside, I found the story to be the best yet, which lead to a lot of enjoyment watching the movie.

I found the art to be enjoyable ... and better than the average anime from the late 2010s. I also found the sound to be enjoyable as well. The music was good and never distracting and the OP was nice to hear. The acting (English) was spot on and lent a lot to the comedy portrayed.

I found the characters to be very good and were given more depth an growth. Character interactions continue to be the best part and lead to much of the situational humor, with the new characters leading much of the charge in terms of humor. The movie's focus seems to be center around a Kazuma-Megumin relationship much of the movie, which leads to a lot of comedy, but left me wanting something more serious to happen, although not necessarily between those two. The entire movie seems to play around the idea of playing with someone's emotions and heart. Again, Aqua has taken a backseat in much of the story which could be a play on the idea that she is more of a nuisance to the group as opposed to helpful, but again, I'd like to see her come full circle at some point and live up to what I think is her potential.

Despite some issues, I found Legend of Crimson to be extremely enjoyable and funny. I would highly recommend for great laughs and great character interactions. It is the best of the series and leaves me hoping for more. To me, the movie is a great cap to the entire series. You don't need to necessarily watch the whole series to understand the movie, but it makes the series all the better as well.

Overall rounded up to 9 from 8.8.

Quick take: Kono Suba 2 offers a ton more laughs while wrapped up in a rather light and easy to follow story line, that also manages to be ever-so-slightly more complex than season one. You'll find a lot to love about this show, including slight better character development.

Konosuba 2 builds on what season 1 did and simply does it better, even if slightly. Some episodes are independent stories, but there is an overarching line to the season that is enjoyable. Situational humor and jokes are plentiful and I laughed several times per episode, which is usually difficult to make me do. Comedy aside, I found ... the story to be more enjoyable than the previous season, which only increased my enjoyment of the series.

I found the art to be enjoyable and better than the average anime from the late 2010s. I also found the sound to be enjoyable as well. The music was good and never distracting and the OP was nice to hear. The acting (English) was spot on and lent a lot to the comedy portrayed.

I found the characters to be good and were given a bit more depth an growth this time around. Character interactions continue to be the best part and lead to much of the situational humor, with each character having their own, distinct personality. As the series goes on, however, it seems to abandon Aqua as one of the more prominent characters, somewhat to my disappointment. She seems to take a back seat in many of the stories as the series progresses, with the focus shifting to Megumin and Lalatina. It could be a play on the idea that she is more of a nuisance to the group as opposed to helpful, but I'd like to see her come full circle at some point and live up to what I think is her potential.

Despite some issues, I found Kono Suba 2 to be extremely enjoyable and funny. It's not in my typical wheel house of genre I'd watch, but it was over all very good. I would highly recommend for a good group of laughs and good character interactions.

Quick take: Magical Choker offers a few laughs while wrapped up in a fair story line. If you liked the main series, you'll like this OVA.

The story to Magical Choker is pretty straight forward but rather bland. I think some of the story was supposed to make me laugh at the lame childhood of some of the characters, but rather I felt sorry for them. There is much more depth to the story than I found in much of the first season of the anime, but I wouldn't call it anything brilliant.

I found the art to be enjoyable and better than the average anime from ... the late 2010s. I also found the sound to be enjoyable as well. The music was good and never distracting and the OP was nice to hear. The acting (English) was spot on and lent a lot to the comedy portrayed.

I found the characters to be good and the two characters the story surrounded had a good depth on their backstory.

Magical Choker is a fair story that will only take you twenty-odd minutes to get through for completion's sake. It's an okay addition to the series, but nothing you'd miss if you skipped.

Quick take: Kono Suba offers a ton of laughs while wrapped up in a rather light and easy to follow story line. You won't find a ton of depth in terms of character development or an earth-shattering storyline, but you'll find a lot to love about this show.

The story to Kono Suba is pretty straight forward and doesn't take a lot of time to build into it. We're treated to our two "main" characters rather quickly and their personality and traits are also laid out quickly. The anime is presented as if an RPG much of the time, which I found to be a cool ... and unique concept. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of depth to the story, something that this anime seems to lack early on. Some episodes are independent stories, but there is an overarching line to the season that becomes clearer later on. Situational humor and jokes are plentiful and I laughed several times per episode, which is usually difficult to make me do.

I found the art to be enjoyable and better than the average anime from the late 2010s. I also found the sound to be enjoyable as well. The music was good and never distracting and the OP was nice to hear. The acting (English) was spot on and lent a lot to the comedy portrayed.

I found the characters to be good, but they lack any developmental depth for much of the first season. It's not until late into the season do we see any growth of any type, leaving the characters feeling rather stagnant early on. Yet, even when we do receive any type of development, it's little. Character interactions are the best part and lead to much of the situational humor, with each character having their own, distinct personality.

Despite some issues, I found Kono Suba to be extremely enjoyable and funny. It's not in my typical wheel house of genre I'd watch, but it was over all very good. I would highly recommend for a good group of laughs and good character interactions.

Quick take: K:7S S:B gives us the origin story of SCEPTRE 4's power and influence.

If you liked the original series K, you'll like the second movie in K:7S. The story line is decent, but lacks much of the charm and mystery the original series provided. I found the story to be slightly better than the first movie, but it still lacked quite a bit of depth leaving many serious and tragic moments feeling extremely lackluster.

Art is good and on par with the original series, much like sound. Much of the great music is back, but there are also new tracks which I felt didn't live ... up to the original. Voice acting (Japanese) is good, but for the first time, I have to say I preferred the dub voice acting from the original series in my opinion.

Characters are fair, but again lacks the depth the original series offer. I found the character arcs somewhat lame.

Overall, I enjoyed K:7S S:B, but don't think it's anything better than a good anime.

Quick take: K:7S R:B gives us the origin story of the red and blue kings in a reasonably paced and well drawn anime.

If you liked the original series K, you'll like the first movie in K:7S. The story line is decent, but lacks much of the charm and mystery the original series provided. The story isn't bad by any means, but also lacks quite a bit of depth to make it any more than fair.

Art is good and on par with the original series, much like sound. Much of the great music is back, but there are also new tracks which I felt didn't live ... up to the original. Voice acting (Japanese) is good, but for the first time, I have to say I preferred the dub voice acting from the original series in my opinion.

Characters are good, but again lacks the depth the original series offers.

Overall, I enjoyed K:7S R:B, but don't think it's anything better than a good anime.