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If you’re not Japanese, you’ll enjoy this. If you are, you’ll really enjoy this as a lot of jokes are mainly directed towards Japanese society and culture and a lot of inside knowledge is needed to truly understand and appreciate the jokes.

This is among the first anime that directed studio Shaft towards their unique directing, and the unconventional directing styles fits this equally odd anime with a whole bunch of entertaining eccentrics like a glove. This show was also among the few who pioneered the names of characters being their personalities much like Komi-san. The music reflects the absurd nature of the show; self ... aware and constant yet never tiring self-deprecation.

Overall a really humorous, intellectual and simultaneously stupid (intentionally), and a gag anime that stands out.

8.5/10. Imagine the directing of jokes from the most funny show you’ve seen. Now degenerate the main character’s thought process into ludicrous absurdity, and sprinkle in bits of caring affection. Bam, I present you, Aharen-san wa Hakarenai.

The art style is simple yet minimalistically attractive, and the cgi was not too intrusive - only having a few bits in the background. We’ve all seen the high school setting a hundred times, and we will continue to see them a hundred times, but this show stands out in that despite the premise of the female mc being physically close enough to the male mc - enough ... to make Issei blow a vessel in his nose - there are only wholesome and innocent vibes.

There’s no time wasting in romance, as there’s a heavier focus on unpredictable, crazy comedy. Of which the two deadpan mc’s only help accentuate when they’re doing or thinking something maddening. This show genuinely made me laugh out loud, and the soundtrack boosted this experience by at least 3 times. I can only describe it as comedically mind-degenerating or melting in mental chaos, namely the atypical melody played by an out of tune flute(?). And do expect a slight charge of pace around halfway through the show, no spoilers but it will develop in a decently unexpected way from its origin. Overall a ball of ridiculous fun and a heartwarming experience.

Apocalypse bringer Mynoghra - it does not bring much new to the table except for the twist that the main leader is a blob of abyssal darkness, which makes for interesting depictions and reactions but quickly become either normal or old.

The plot follows a familiar game structure many isekais have done and the characters make for a cute albeit evil couple. Mynoghra is more interested with the characters connecting with each other, rather than with the audience, leading to moments in the novel feeing like you’re looking at a bunch of chummy old friends through a glass pane. The other characters are pretty ... one dimensional, bowing down to the ultimate God-like figure that is our mc (who looks like he couldn’t be any more stereotypical when drawn in his human form)

Though the themes of romance and evilness aren’t quite so common in isekai/fantasy, they have been explored much better, as seen in Spice and Wolf or Overlord. In fact, the main gist of Mynoghra seems eerily similar to Overlord. Namely, the similarity of powerful evil beings in new unfamiliar lands somewhat based off their respective novels’ games, with a group of fantasy races, seeking to build a peaceful country/kingdom. Surrounding races usually cower in fear or awe of these supreme beings.

However, there are some twists here and there that help distinguish itself from its predecessors, and the plot direction seemed decently rational. The names are somewhat cheesy but it’s acceptable in an ever-growing pool of isekai light novels needing to differentiate themselves with unique terms and names.

The first and second volumes were rather cookie cutter and I contemplated basing my review on just the first two lest I drop the series out of boredom, but by the time I finished the third volume, things started to really pick up.

SPOILER.

Only in the third volume did the twist of other games going against each other makes for really interesting scenarios, and I might look forward to some more of that.

END OF SPOILER.

Other than one twist, the story did not feel al too original or captivating. To be frank, if you’ve not read Overlord, what’re you doing? Go read it. But if you’ve not experienced the evil side triumphing, this will at least satisfy that craving somewhat.. still go read Overlord. In the end, Mynogrha felt too inspired and borrowed quite a few aspects from its older “evil-beings-in-an-isekai” brother.

Ousama Ranking showed plenty of promise in the beginning, and it was rather compelling in the beginning with a classic underdog rise to power story. The power up explanation is.. somewhat acceptable by anime standards - others have done less logical.

The characters were very moving and easy to connect with - the childlike colours and art styles helped with this - and the characters’ backstory was almost enough to bring me to tears, typical as it was. After the plot became a mess at around the middle of the show, everything went downhill. Kage severely and sadly degenerated to a rather useless and one ... dimensional character despite his usual two dimensional shape. Just crying, refusing to make sense, and crying more. Bojji retained his innocence and kindness, but his being a child led to plot stalling. And the ending left a particularly bad taste in my mouth; mindless forgiveness, and shambled plot direction all for a happy end.

Though I didn’t much like the characters and story at the end, the setting was immensely interesting, along with the backstories of the characters, especially the underworld bros. The songs for the op and ed were absolutely wonderful, Vaundy’s 裸の勇者 was the epitome of a story within a song and the lyrics particularly resonated with the show. The soundtrack was also very fitting and really encapsulated the characters personalities. Animation was seriously fantastic, done by the revered Wit Studio. The openings were a marvel, and there was no ugly, hanky-panky 3D CGI here. Overall it was great at first, but slowly degraded into something unrecognisable but just above average.

Very good fun and quality entertainment and comedy with a unique twist to the isekai trope and a strong satirical tone to the genre it’s in.

The characters are all fun and bounce off each other well in a typical straight man-
funny man manner. The plot movement from the circumstance of the characters are pretty typical (Demon Lord destroying the world and need to stop him) but they have some slight differences for the reason to defeat the Demon Lord and it is pretty damn wacky.

The designs are simple but have a certain style and distinction to them. Music wasn’t too memorable; but the voice ... acting was reflective of the characters’ feelings and was done well.

Overall a good show that focuses a bit less on the fantasy setting and a lot more on the comedy and interesting dynamics between an old guy and another genderbent old guy

I can’t believe I cried, yelped in shock, froze in terror and drew blood from peeling my lips (from the shock) all from just one show. Monster masterfully hooked me and drew me in to the naturally captivating paragon of fiction. And what an incredible journey it is.

Animation was surprisingly smooth for a nearly two decade old anime (as of writing this review), and the voice acting was down very well. You could almost feel the voice actors crying or dying - Yes, you’ll be seeing/doing that quite often in this show - behind their microphones. And that power carries over to the characters, ... who actually feel like they’re real living breathing people.

In our deluge of cardboard characters having a certain emotion or catchphrase being their whole personality, I can safely say that almost all the side characters have concrete development and soul in this show. Even all the one-shot characters who you’ll never see apart from an episode or two have realistic growth and reactions. And they all further serve to build and characterise our lead Tenma as quite the angel in human clothing. And these characters are the focal point in Monster; more grounded in reality, we get to experience true fear, hatred, sadness. Never has a four word phrase about munching scared me more.

I feel that Monster has reverberated with me so much because of the distinctly captivating plot - this show does not know what “filler” means. It wasn’t exactly enjoyable seeing the plot unfold and many people die, but it was damn rewarding; it was the definition of high quality to see Tenma make his impact on the world around him.

Watch Monster if you’re bored of the boring and weak character and plot developments of most standard shows that copy each other and make tiny tweaks. It may seem long, but you’ll be craving more during the watch; you’ll be entranced by the brilliant direction. And at the end, you’ll be left wondering, “Man… what a great show…” Oh! And the plot twists are a marvel to behold: they left me in sincere and profound shock, staring at my screen for minutes after the shocking revelation. Solid 9.5/10, just that some parts were a bit confusing the first time round and it’s definitely a bit slow.

8.5/10. Classic puns, smooth conversation and underlying plot of seriousness with all the wild hijinks chucked in like usual. An all-round very enjoyable experience with good story structure and a very satisfying resolution. I really enjoyed all the same idiosyncrasies that I so fell in love with: Araragi’s unforgiveable but so entertaining and somehow tasteful plot-relevant perversion, the humanization and more/reinforced development of characters, and just a generally hooking plot.

The use of peculiar imagery is the usual – that is the usual odd, bizarre stuff – and the classic Shaft animation and art style are always a treat to watch. Vey glad that they ... put in a certain waifu at the end, I don’t know how and why I fell in love with her character so much, but I’m half glad at my number one waifu represent.

8.5/10. I give the first half - the Sodachi parts - a very very solid 9, I really loved the new mystery angle and Ougi is so captivating. Shinobu Mail went back into the typical monogatari formula: apparition, dialogue, the human nature of fear and not waiting to face the unpleasant reality, joke etc. Which is still great stuff mind you, but the mystery aspects with Ougi and development on Araragi was far more enjoyable.

Overall everything here is seriously great. Soundtrack is awesome with varying renditions of melodies fitting the theme greatly. Openings and endings are amazing; it’s a real shame Shinobu’s voice actress ... refused to sing openings.

The animation is superb with its eccentric presentation and very far from linear storytelling. I’m very happy with the quality of this instalment. A good viewing all round. Very satisfied.

8.5/10.
Short and humorous half-episodes. It follow the general, fun monogatari formula; the plots are episodically and aren’t too complex. It’s just a bunch of stories. Watch it for more of what you already love, the last two episodes will be crucial to the plot that connects Owari.

The first half was more humorous and was pretty damn funny. The latter half had a lot of smart behind the scenes explanations; I really enjoyed all the extra screen time from Oshino and Kaiki, and really all the characters. Soundtrack was mainly from the Bake.

Pleasant and nothing too thought-provoking. Good watch for some extra backstories or ... mini side stories

8/10. I already treated Owari S2 as the finale and it was an extremely apt epilogue. I’d treat Zoku Owari as an extra side story that adds to the fantastic end of the main series. If you’ve already watched most of the monogatari series, then definitely watch this too, and if you haven’t, what’re you doing?! Go search up the latest watch order and come back after you’re done with Owari.

Zoku Owari still shines with the classically innovative Ishin style to tell stories in a fun and original way and will not fail to intrigue and entertain. Araragi is given further development from his ... hopeful conclusion in Owari S2, and we see him leap to the next step in his life during an awkward phase of title-less-ness? - between high school and college. You’ll see what I mean.

The themes are optimistic, and there’s a less morose feel instead swapped by a more nostalgic comedy. Music wasn’t as distinctly memorable as previous instalments, but it had some decent moments.

Mayoi Onee-san. That should be enough to get you to watch it.