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Akiba Meido Sensou, or Akiba Maid War, is another anime original from P.A. Works, the creators of other masterpieces such as Charlotte and Angel Beats.

I would also, given the impact that those two have had on the industry, have to state that Akiba Maid War... is their best work yet.

TL;dr? Maid funny, maid shoot guns, maid cute, maid cry, go watch now.

Still with me?

Much like the rest of P.A Works', uh, works, we see the tale of a young person who witnesses their lives slowly spiral in one way or another. In this case, we see the young protagonist enter Akihabara, the ... prominent entertainment district of Tokyo, to become a live-in maid for a small and downtrodden cafe. Within the first week, she witnesses the massacre of an entire rival establishment, and it gets worse from there. Despite everything, her resolve remains firm.

This is largely due to the bedrock of supporting characters, most notably the "40 year old granny maid!!", the 36 year old former prison inmate who joins on the same day as the protagonist.

The sound design is great - from the one-off songs sung in the episodes, to the intro with the Black Lagoon-esque music mixed with Moe-Moe-Kyun!!~, as well as the actual sounds within the show, are remarkable. The background chatter of the busy streets of Akiba never fade; the cooking of ramen mixes naturally with the excited chatter of maids ready to kill.

The animation, much like all of P.A. Works' anime, is spot-on. The backgrounds are fully visualised; the characters are expressive. You'll be hard pressed to find a Meduka-face even in the back of frames, and I imagine any that you do spot will be fixed by the time the Blu-Ray is released. The streets of Akiba are animated in a lively manner, with not just references and homages to the Yakuza series, but also well researched tid-bits from the era the anime is set in. The technology is accurate; the gunplay (and the sound design for gun fights) is exceedingly well done; and the minute references to news of the era, including signs towards the slow rise out of the Lost Decade as well as more obvious references to Yakuza gang reforms and other such news of the time, is well implemented.

The show is a black comedy, and is noir in nature. To quote a fictional rock-star from the future, "You expect a happy ending? Wrong city, wrong people". Despite this, ironically the bittersweet ending for the mass-murdering mad maids of Maidville might be the most cheerful of the P.A. Works Catalogue of Crying. As with all good noir, do not expect every character to survive - no character is safe; but, despite this tragedy of a tale, the series ends on a satisfying, bittersweet yet uplifting ending. Like all of their work, you will laugh, you will cry, and you will enjoy your time with the series.

2022 has been a stellar year for anime (and very little else), and in a star-studded year, Akiba Maid War hits a home-run for December, with what I would argue to be the best anime of the year. A brilliant comedy, an excellent noir, well made and a brilliant end to the anime of the year. If you don't watch this, you're doing yourself a disservice.

It's a shame MAL doesn't list the Eroge, becuase if it did, this'd be a much more different review.

Put simply, this off-brand anime is a sub-par adaption of a frankly groundbreaking visual-novel/eroge (there's an actual reason why, if you looked up Euphoria analysis (prior to the HBO show tarnishing the name), there was quite a lot of tumblr fan theorising, and such). The animation quality is poor, there's no uncensored version (despite the original VN being sold uncensored), the story is dumbed down for some reason, and it doesn't actually keep about 80% of the content (in both the joke term, and the actual meaning ... - there's less sex here, but also less of everything else).

Actually, you know what? Screw it. This hentai adaption is so mediocre, I'm just gonna tell you what you really should know - don't bother with the hentai, unless you want a quick, dirty fap. If you want the legendary - or, should I say, infamous - context of Euphoria, you should - nay, must - play the original game. It has a genuine look at the human condition and it's many, *many* flaws, a commentary on the nature of humanity itself, and an in-depth analysis of mental health and sexuality. Whilst, might I add, also being an extremely sexual hentai game with absolutely perverse content - and, uh, very well made art.

My score for the game is vastly different to my score for the hentai: the VN easily gets 9-9-8-10-7-9. It's let down by a mediocre soundtrack, and the nature of being a porn game; if anything, I'd read a novel adaption of it, maybe make a series based on the premise. It's a shame the MAL review doesn't allow spoilers, because I could spend hours writing and chatting about the story and ideas surrounding this *literal BDSM porn game* - that's how odd, and entertaining, this blackened nugget of a gem is.

TL;dr - bad hentai, read the visual novel if you wish to find Enlightenment. And, remember - suffering on the surface is our sustenance!

Hmm... this one is, uh, a mixed bag.

Especially that last episode's animation, but I'll get to that.

World's End Harem is, at it's core, an ecchi/fan-service anime. Which means I'm already not exactly enamoured with it. I'm someone who doesn't really enjoy stuff on the fence; either go full hentai, or don't put oppai in my face. I'm glad I watched the uncensored version, because good lord those censor bars would have meant about 3/4 of the anime was crappy black lines.

Unlike my opinion on ecchi content usually, my biggest issue here isn't with the ecchi, but with the way in which the ecchi actually ... hampers the premise. Indeed, again, I feel like it would have been executed far better if it had stuck to either full hentai with plot (SHOCK! WHAT A PREMISE!), or just implied ecchi/sex/whatever. Like... it's a diamond in a pile of dung. There's a genuinely good plot and some decent characterisations here (between Mr GigaVirgin, who for once is one of the sole decent-human-being protagonists in an ecchi, and White Hair, who presents an interesting look into the human condition before being character assassinated by the script), but it falls flat by not actually choosing a side.

Then, of course, there's the animation. For whatever reason, it seemed like with every episode there was less animation budget; the first episode had well animated monorails, good background art. The last episode has about four total scenes where characters had their mouths moving. The final scene of the show, supposed to be emotional, is almost a still image. What happened?! Where'd the money go, to the "special scenes" for the Japanese-only blu-ray edition?

So, yeah. It's passable; but, with no chance of a second season, I suggest just not trying at all, honestly. It ends on a cliffhanger, the ol' "buy the manga lol" technique.

You definitely wouldn't be able to tell that this is from the writer of that awful rapeplay crapshoot that is Redo of Healer. Because this... this is damned near brilliant. Indeed, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say Redo of Healer was written solely for the purpose to get the writer some money so he could focus solely on this - because, frankly, Assassin Isekai looks and smells like a project of love. I think this was what he actually wanted to be working on, and just had to get a foundation to do it. And, frankly - you can tell.

Because Assassin ... Isekai is blooming marvellous. Story? Intriguing. Art? Amazing. Sound? It has kinetic bombardment, for pete's sake, and the intro is amazing. Character-wise, it could use some work - the highlight of the characters being Lugh's dad, Kira Yoshikage - and the whole harem thing developing is a bit cliche for my taste (not that I'm complaining, it's a hell of a step up from Redo). Indeed, for once I can forgive a dumb incest, cousin-loving plotline - after all, Lugh is an aristocrat; if the Habsburgs are anything to go by, aristocrats kinda always go for the Alabama aesthetic.

If anything, my largest complaint is that this wasn't a two-cour show. 12 episodes doesn't do it justice, and what few episodes there are leave me begging for more. It's not a masterpiece by any account, but it's darned brilliant either way - and, honestly? Seeing something that is clearly a work of love, a piece from the heart, gives me some small glimmer of hope for anime of the future.

This is... an acquired taste. It's edgy as hell first episode belies a surprisingly warm character drama. The 2010s Tumblr-esque aesthetic hides a crazy Esoteric plot that would rival Evangelion... if it ever got a second season. It misses some character development, the pacing is awful, and I... kinda loved it. The art style certainly leaves a lot to desire, and the EdgeTM is definitely an issue, particularly in the first episode, but push through it to watch an actually intriguing and pretty good anime. It's just a shame it ended so abruptly, with little to no chance of a second season - just when ... it seemed to be getting into the nitty-gritty, too.

Underrated anime.

...

What? What the heck happened, Shaft? You were so close... and yet you stumbled at the last stepping stone. Was it management? Budgeting? Production?

What the hell happened?

I suppose I should start at the beginning, then.

PMMM was amazing, nigh on one of the best, if not *the* best mahou shoujo shows of all time. Rebellion built onto that, and, uh... let's just say that a rebellion doesn't even give the events of the movie justice.

And I liked Magia Record S1. I never played the game (I'm not into gacha hell...), so when I heard that a PMMM spin-off was getting an anime, I was rather excited; ... I'd have preferred an anime of Oriko Magica (or, god bless, Homura Tamura), but beggars can't be choosers.

Magia Record S1 was good. It wasn't PMMM good, but it was good; in particular, the final episode shined, even where the series had fallen at times. It left on a good type of cliffhanger, with a promise of a continuation, with the cliifhanger's location in the story being naturally placed.

I cannot even remotely say the same about Season 2.

The best episodes of S2 are the first and second; the re-uniting with the Mitakihara gang, and looking at Yachiyo's quest. I shan't give details, but it's closer to PMMM than S1 ever was.

Episodes 3-6 were all... good. Not great, but not bad either. I particularly enjoyed the inner workings and explanations of Magius, and the reveal of S A L V A T I O N.

Episode 7 is where the cracks turn to quakes. It felt rushed, and the pacing was a bit off.

And then... RECAP TIME FOR NO APPARENT REASON! HAHAHA!

And Episode 8, which, SASUGA SHAFT-SAMA, is the LAST EPISODE FOR NO APPARENT REASON (seriously, WHY? The first season had 13 episodes, and one of the biggest complaints from fans was that it was too short for the subject matter - and now, we get 7 and a quarter episodes with a promise of a few more for the grand finale, or something, within a few months? What is this, EA?). Episode 8 is...

Well. Let's start with the basics - we enter right where 7 left off in the introduction, until we're suddenly sent into... a theatre? Or is it an Uwasa, or a Labyrinth? Oh, [SPOILER] is giving a monologue! Uhh... where are the subtitles?

That's right - the first half of the episode aired with either no subtitles, or subtitles out of time, depending on your release. From direct translations, it seems to be an introspective section, but I can't be sure.

Let's go back a bit. Theatre? Monologuing? What??? Like, I get it; this is Shaft, and it's Madoka Magica - theatre and monologues is part and parcel. But... it throws the pacing right out the window. Within a few minutes, I was getting serious NGE final two episodes vibes, pre-EoE.

What story can be understood from this section is also a bit jumbled; it almost feels as though they're telling us "You can have more character development for [SPOILER] if you played the game~!", which, fun fact, was never released in EU/UK, and is no longer available in NA. In fact, throughout S2, characterisation is just a bit... off; ironically, the few people who are spot on aren't the protagonists, but the original Holy Quintet.

And the second half... well. We get a jumbled action set-piece which is suddenly rushed to it's conclusion, a few characters have a moment, then plot twists abound that are kind of like... eh? Ok...? But what about...? Huh. I guess??? This review is difficult without giving spoilers, but let's just say... If the first half of the episode was reminiscient of NGE's bemusing last few episodes, then the second half of the episode gives me flashbacks to the last few episodes of Soul Eater. Like... what?? Shaft, what?????

And then, another plot twist, the villains move around a bit, the big bad of big bads isn't even seen yet despite the multiple hints throughout the series (and, uh, the last spoken line of dialogue from S1), and, woah, who knew except anyone with an inkling of a brain cell, the [SPOILER] is actually [SPOILER]! Whoop de doo!

It's just... yeah. This second season felt like that meme of a drawing of a horse, where most of the horse is drawn beautifully, and then the rest of it looks like what someone might draw in the sand at the beach with a stick. Like... the music? Spot on. Art? Absolutely breathtaking at times (again, the last few episodes kind of sucked - at one point, a few of the characters gave me the Ace Combat Dog jpeg vibes). And the world building? Well, it's Shaft - damn amazing (seriously, the well written exposition bits behind the scenes with Magius and other certain people are some of the best bits). But... it leaves a bittersweet taste now.

For this season, wait for the blu-ray release for them to fix it up. For the next, pray for no more global disasters to delay everything. And for the future? Wish upon wishes for the Rebellion Sequel to blast the socks off all of us. Much as the Meguca Suffering is fun, I don't think the fanbase could take another few blows.

It's a light comedy anime with Aoi Yuuki, with only a small amount of ecchi, a fairly decent story, bright colours and a funny supporting cast. Sure, it's not Nichijou, but it's better than your average Harem Isekai Generic Marathon; it's a little bit generic, but the good kind - the kind of normality that one could use on occasion. Just some light fluff with an overpowered protagonist and good voice acting.

Thus:

Good - voice acting, art-style, sound design and characters. It's cute, it's funny, and you do care about the cast.

Bad - generic FF setting with little-to-no world building, some plotlines get dropped after an ... episode.

Overrall: Give it a watch. What's the worst that could happen?

This is, once again, another anime of two halves; for me, it is like how I think of the Monogatari series, or perhaps Overlord. One half which is brilliant, another half which is nigh on unbearable. And, once again, I find it difficult to properly review something with paramaters such as this.

Let's start with the good: the Spider side. As always, Aoi Yuuki is a goddamn juggernaut of voice acting. She plays the titular Kumo, an isekai'd spider. And she's so brilliant in the role that I can barely find the guts to see her flaws (she's a bit Mary-Sue-ish at times). Put alongside her ... some top quality animation, fine world-building and the occasional supporting cast (e.g.: Saori Hayami as Administrator D - which, given their previous work together in Youjo Senki makes for a funny realisation; or whatever, can't think of the word - you know, when something is funny for the audience that the characters don't know about? Anyways), and you have a masterclass of an anime that I could safely call one of the best of the year...

...if it weren't for the Human side. Deary me, was it a chore to watch Shun the Generic Isekai Protagonist and his Bland Harem. I very nearly dropped the series during the Dungeon exploring episode; and I had to skim and eventually skip the only-Humans episode near the end of the series. It's not even BAD for the most part; the voice acting isn't the worst, and it does have some good world-building if you can get past the obvious. It's just so atrociously written and abhorrently boring that I would rather watch paint dry, ESPECIALLY when you go from a few episodes of Kumoko's shenanigans. Bad plot-writing and characterisations mixed with some Berserk2016-style 3D animation (B A D), and you get half of an anime that is genuinely difficult to watch.

In summary, this anime is... well, hot and cold. Half and half. If you listen in to the Human side for a few tidbits of world-building and then skip most of it for Kumoko's awesome fun-times, then you'd probably have a blast (which, given the fact that the whole season is out now, so you can watch it on-and-off, rather than waiting a week or two only to find you're faced with an episode of Mr. Wannabe Hero and his Sidemen - the benefit of retrospective would be a blessing for future viewers, I imagine). Yet, when the Human-side makes up nearly half of the viewing time, I can only reluctantly recommend this season.

Heaven willing, they'll make a second season, and scrap the Human side to focus on Kumoko. If they don't, then... I hear the manga and LNs are pretty good. Maybe that'll satisfy me... except Aoi Yuuki can't give her cheery remarks to it. Damn shame, really.

This is the best anime of all time. The absolute perfect comedy-tragedy-slice-of-life-drama-action-non-fiction-documentary-romance-anime-manga-omake-historical, it is the pinnacle of entertainment.

Nichijou is about everything. It's about people, it's about school, it's about pets, it's about comedy, it's about culture, it's about philosophy, it's about fiction, it's about manga, it's about romance, it's about ethics, it's about the development of technology, and it's about the world. It's funny, heartwarming, sad, thought-provoking, entertaining, and, quite frankly, one of the best pieces of media I have ever had the joy of watching.

If you like watching things, you will like Nichijou. And, if you decide you don't like Nichijou, then, well... ... All I can say is that "this level of comedy was obviously too high" for you.

Kill la Kill is a quintessential Studio Trigger experience. If you like Trigger, then most likely you will like Kill la Kill. However, just like Trigger's other works (particularly DITF), it suffers from large shortcomings.

KLK has a unique artstyle that might be hard to watch at first, but quickly sucks you in with somehow simple yet extremely detailed sequences; indeed, the art style - at least, to me - reminded me more of the decades old FLCL style, rather than that of modern anime, which I ended up enjoying. The soundtrack is also spectacular - pretty much every named character has their own leitmotif, and ... even ambient music is wonderful. In fact, the sound design in general is quite brilliant.

However, as I hinted at earlier, KLK suffers from what I have begun to call the Trigger Syndrome; the younger and more foolhardy cousin of the Gainax Ending. Without context, all I have to say is... IS.... ALIENS. Like, why Trigger? Why do you always do this? Basically, the first two thirds of the series are an action comedy slice-of-life with brief moments of drama, and based upon characterisation and setting with a break-neck pace. But then the last third of the series suddenly turns into a dark drama, with little to no comedy, a stop-start pace, and characters going completely against their previous characterisations. Something something, shadow the hedgehog reference. Luckily, the later released OVA retcons some parts of this last third, but just barely.

I'll be honest - I enjoyed most of Kill la Kill, just as I enjoyed most of DITF. But it has gaping flaws that shouldn't be ignored, but learned from. If you want the ideal experience with this series, might I suggest watching up to Episode 15, then watching 16-18 whilst skipping any mentions of, ahem, ALIENS, and then, after the (presumed) death of a certain antagonist, skipping all the way to the OVA, and using your imagination to figure out how the violent antagonist and protagonist came to how they are in the OVA. If not, well, you'll probably end up feeling a little bit let down. But that's just my opinion.