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Mar 7, 2021
've watched a lot of anime, but this one is one of the most unique out of all of the ones that I have watched. I've never seen an anime that is this violent, explicit, and drenched in darkness and stark realism. This is probably the most realistic samurai anime that one will ever see. Fights end quickly and characters die in gruesome fashion.
The animation and framing of the scenes make it so that it invites the viewer to pay close attention to bask in gruesome ends to characters and so that they don't miss clear cases of foreshadowing and symbolism methodically placed in
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the anime.
This anime is clearly for mature audiences. Not only are scenes gruesome, but there is explicit sexual content. Clear shots of female nudity, sex acts, sexual assaults, etc. However, the anime doesn't show these things to simply be edgy. Overall, these scenes are meant to portray the setting has a very awful time in Japanese history. Women are treated like objects, characters die in horrific circumstance, and samurai are portrayed either as glorified attack dogs are complicit pawns.
Characters are a bit of a mixed bag. The character that you initially might hate eventually will gain your sympathy and some characters you can't describe. Some characters are the vilest scum ever portrayed and yet you wonder why other characters ignore this fact or don't address it the same way the viewer might think they should. The story revolves around a rivalry between two main characters: one with a clear motivation and backstory and one with none of that. He just seems like a blank slate with no clear motivation or personality really. However, I appreciate that this anime takes its time to tell a story at the pace it needs to be told. It is unfinished which lowers the quality to an extent with some key details left unanswered at the end.
To a degree though, I found the show to be wrapped up satisfyingly enough for me. I did hate how weak the musical score was for me. It failed to make me feel tense during the scenes I was supposed to feel tense. The opening was forgettable and the soundtrack made it feel like the viewer is hearing silence instead of being in a show.
I would recommend this show if one wants to see an anime that portrays samurai in a different light than usual and tells an interesting, albeit slow at time and unfinished story. I will say that this is a show that will make you think about characters and appreciate a show differently than you normally would.
It will be a mixed bag though: some will be able to appreciate the show for what it is and some will be turned out by its grotesqueness and slow pacing. It is worth giving a try and drop it if nothing seems interesting.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 7, 2021
This anime is okay.
I will say that the premise of this anime is quite unique. In a society of near complete corruption, our protagonist (Saiga) has to work to protect the life of the person he saves from bondage (Kagura). Kagura is known as a goddess who grants powers unknowingly to those she comes in contact with. This makes her a prime target for Japan's elites who desire her abilities in order to give them superhuman gifts.
The setting of the show provides a baseline for which the plot progresses and we can see the main characters interact. A lot of the characters are fairly
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one dimensional (at least on the villain spectrum). The exception to this is the series main antagonist Suitengu. When finishing the series, I found that I really sympathized with Suitengu and even wanted him to accomplish his goal to a certain extent. In fact, both he and saiga seem to have the same goal of wanting to expose corruption within Japanese society, however they have different ways of accomplishing this goal. This makes for an interesting conflict between the two.
The viewer is able to emphasize with both Kagura and Saiga because both strongly seek the goal of freedom. A lot of series is getting to see the two develop a bond. While this is enjoyable, the show isn't as captivating because kagura is a character archtype most are already too familiar with seeing in anime with minimal development.
The fights in the series don't add up to much. They are enjoyable, but the fights don't have much plot tied to them. They exist merely to explore Saiga's powers as he and Kagura repeatedly try to run away. I must say that the fights are enjoyable and the way the powers are implemented are unique.
Although the plot is fairly slow and not as interesting at times, the anime is very captivating near the end and it wraps up nicely, which is rare for a lot of anime. If you want a show that is enjoyable, has a unique premise and provides a complete package, then this anime is good for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 7, 2021
When i first started watching Darling in the Franxx, i quite enjoyed it. I enjoyed the world the characters were set in and the drama interwoven between the characters as they are trying to understand their purposes in the world and how they relate to each other. The themes of romance, alienation, and reliance on ones friends make the show compelling to watch.
In many ways, Darling in the Franxx shares a lot of characteristics with Neon Genesis Evangelion. Although this makes the show less original, i would say there would be no better show to take influence from. Therefore, the show is still enjoyable
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despite some lacks of originality. I had issues at first with the show not fleshing out the world very well and explaining who the antagonists were. However, i had hope that the show would reveal all at the proper moment. I was kept engaged because the show gave me the feeling that the world wasn't what it seemed and that i would find out something sinister about the world itself. i was disappointed when i found out that the reveals and explanations behind the world was lackluster and lacked deeper development.
That is one of the biggest issues with the anime itself. Things just aren't fleshed out enough. Some characters get development here and there, but other characters remain standard archetypes and fade into irrelevancy. The world seems intriguing at first. however, the viewer will be able to point out many plot holes and inconsistencies within the story. The many flaws of the show really come to light in the final stretch of episodes where almost all of the plot is scraped for a new enemy to emerge that the viewer neither cares for nor understands. All of the subtle world building of the first half gets traded in for bloated set-pieces that undercut what the viewer originally enjoyed the anime for.
Despite all this, the first half of the anime is extremely enjoyable. The characters are likable and easily gain investment from the viewer. Their relationships add heart to the show and make the show different from a standard action mecha. However, the lack of development for the other features of the show make it fall extremely short. the show had promise. but it comes across in the final half as rushed and leaves the viewer extremely disappointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 21, 2021
I didn’t like this anime primarily because it was poorly written and contained several plot inconsistencies. It was so egregious that I started making a list of them as I watched. As such, I will be discussing spoilers for why this anime isn’t good down below.
Spoilers ahead !!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first pitch I heard when I found out about Talentless Nana was Among us: the anime. Essentially, the main character (nana) wants to kill other more powerful characters using only her superior wit and cunning because she like the show title suggests, she doesn’t have any powers (talentless). This appealed to me because it made the show
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sound like a psychological thriller/strategy anime. Some of my favorite anime of all time (death note, code geass, one outs, etc.) all focus on a main character accomplishing their goals using their superior smarts, wit, and cunning. When this type of show is done well, it ends up being really good. When it isn’t, it falls shorter than most mediocre shows. Talentless nana falls short, and does it hard.
For one, Nana isn’t that smart. She only is able to kill her targets because the other characters are stupid, with the main exception being kyoya. Nana doesn’t have any real skill except for manipulating the other idiot characters through decent guesses and carefully crafted lies. The characters are so dumb that nana is able to make them believe she can read minds just because she made a few decent guesses. Even when characters like Kyoya suspect her and try to test her abilities, she gets out of any real criticism by saying her powers work/don’t work randomly. She also gets the other characters to buy that she can hear the inner thoughts of the dead, which she didn’t say was her power initially. They also buy that claim wholesale while most of their classmates die shortly after interacting with her.
The show does no work to make nana seem particularly clever or crafty. Instead, events just seem to happen in the show to move the plot forward. During the second episode, a character is killed in such a half-baked and poorly thought out manner that I had to look at online discussions to see if I what I wasn’t getting. Truth was that it didn’t need to make sense. The show just needed a character to die so they crafted a scenario for them to die. After episode 3, the show doesn’t even try to make characters die in any unique ways. After nana uses one method to kill someone, she is just able to kill them the same way time after time. The show makes no extra effort to make its premise work in any fashion. There are also several moments where Nana gets easily found out by other characters, but she gets out of it because those characters drag out trying to kill her like movie villains who have to reveal their whole plan before the hero escapes and defeats them.
Unlike far better psychological shows like death note or code geass, the show doesn’t do anything to make you like or admire Nana. As I mentioned earlier, Nana isn’t that smart, she is just a decent liar and manipulator. She also doesn’t have a decent overarching goal like a light yagami or lelouch. A few episodes into the show, it becomes clear that Nana is just a government lapdog. She has some past trauma regarding the supposed “enemies of humanity”, but you can’t really relate to her because the details about it are kept quite vague. Even if you could relate to her, that would get undercut by the fact that Nana is a unrepentant, psychopathic serial killer who kills innocent people just because Nana thinks all characters with powers are bad. The show seems to sense that people can’t fully get on Nana’s side with her killing innocents and all so they throw in a few cliché villain characters to make it seem like some of the killings are justified.
One character that the show tries and fails to make you care about is Michiru. However, she is just so stupid that it offends me on a deep personal level. She literally sees a picture of nana killing one of her classmates and just gets gaslit into accepting that the picture is false and nana didn’t do anything. Also, she gets this annoying attachment to nana and covers for her whenever possible, despite considerable evidence brought against her by kyoya, just because Nana pretends to care about her.
Michiru only exists as a plot device. They make her unnaturally good and give her a poorly thrown together sad backstory to get nana to consider not killing her. The show then shoehorns michiru in some more to make it seem like nana is changing her mind on killing people and forces them into becoming friends. Nana already killed innocent people who weren’t bad in any respect, so there is no reason for the viewer to care about her deciding not to kill someone because they are unnaturally good.
Kyoya is the only saving grace in this anime. He is nana’s adversary in the show because he isn’t a complete moron, asks decent questions, his logically consistent, has great powers, and has interesting ticks and mannerisms. However, the obstacles against him are less nana’s actions and more the idiotic side characters that side with nana whenever possible and never questions anything. The one good episode was episode 9 when Kyoya comes super close to revealing nana as a serial killer. However, the show gets out of having to do decent writing by crafting a half-baked escape scenario for nana to get out of it. To add fuel to the fire, the show even shames kyoya for not being a complete idiot. As a side note, none of the character powers are interesting. Most of them seem to be ripped straight from my hero academia.
The art style makes this anime look like it was made more than a decade ago. If you can’t give me a decent story or characters, a new anime should at least look modern. This show even fails on that. The only credit I can give this show is that I watched it all the way through. One of the most disappointing shows I have seen in a while.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jul 26, 2020
NOTE: While I have seen the entirety of bleach (fillers included) many years ago, I am only formally writing a review for the first three seasons (aka 2 arcs) of bleach since I and most of the fanbase agrees that is when the show was at its best.
I remember getting into bleach after I had been into DBZ and Naruto for a while. The show hooked me instantly with its dark and grim esthetic and the characteristics of the world. At that moment, I think I realized that anime could be dark, violent, and bloody (although bleach isn’t that violent or bloody compared to
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anime I watched later).
The core things which hooked me on bleach was its brash main character ichigo, the characteristics of the world, and the unique system of powers. Ichigo appeals to me even today by being a character that knows how to fight, who speaks his mind whenever he wishes, and stands up for what he believes. It is a characteristic that most great shounen protagonists share. As a character, he connects with me instantly when I see him struggle to protect his family from hollows who want to devour them.
The way Ichigo gets his power to protect those he loves from hollows also sets up his relationship with Rukia, who is arguably the character Ichigo is closest with over the course of the show. It is interesting to see how Rukia connects with him and convinces him to gradually adopt the role of soul reaper even though he is unwilling at first.
One thing that makes bleach unique, at least for the time, was the fact that the story took place in the human world. This makes it more identifiable to the viewer. The characters are also more relatable in some ways than other shounen characters. Ichigo is a malcontent who is consistently getting into fights and walks around with a scowl on his face. He doesn’t act this way for no reason though. He has suffered loss in the past and him becoming a soul reaper largely represents him trying to make up for that past loss.
Rukia has to learn to rely on Ichigo and contend with her own helplessness in the face of hollows when her powers disappear. Chad, despite his extensive strength, only fights to protect others. Uruyu holds resentment against the soul reapers due to past injustice but has to gradually learn to work together with Ichigo despite him being something he despises. Otohime does lack significantly in terms of character backstory and development, but she is at least a nice character and has some fun goofy, bubbly moments which make her likeable enough.
The first arc of the anime largely acts as a sort of the monster of the week format. However, it doesn’t get tiresome because each episode gradually reveals more information about the world and characters. There are even moments of genuine emotion such as where Ichigo has to confront a key aspect of his past. This first arc also helps to establish strong bonds between the characters which become significant in the second arc.
The second arc is where the show really picks up. Rukia gets kidnapped to the soul society and Ichigo and his friends have to rescue her. This is where the show introduces the concept of the soul society, its politics and structure, and the zanpakto.
As stated by a youtuber named super eyepatch wolf in his video “The fall of bleach”. This arc of bleach seems to represent the period of emerging adulthood where teens are thrown into the adult world and have to work to understand it. In many ways, the soul society represents a society bound by tradition, rigid hierarchy, and harsh punishment. When Rukia is at risk for punishment by this society, Ichigo seeks to save her, thus rebelling against the structures he himself is supposed to be a part of as a soul reaper.
Part of what makes this arc particularly great is that there is a large degree of mystery, intrigue, and uncertainty. Going in, the viewer and characters are aware they are going to be facing entire armies of people and individuals with unbelievable power. Unlike many other shounen anime out there, we often see characters lose fights, afraid of death, overcoming extensive odds, etc. Many times, the viewer isn’t even sure how fights will go.
The fights in this arc are top notch. While the concept behind bleach isn’t completely unique, I love how each soul reaper has a unique power and it influences their fighting styles. The fights in this arc are some of the best in the whole series such as: Ichigo vs Kenpachi, Ichigo vs Byakuya, Uduyu vs kurotsuchi, etc.
Even while all these fights are going on, there is still a ominous subtext in the show such as growing suspicion over a murder, conspiracy, hidden villans, etc.
This arc is great because it expanded significantly on the first, added in a large diverse cast of characters, fleshed out the world, power system, character backstories and relationships, and threw in a couple of good twists.
At its core, the first 60 episodes of this show was about Ichigo’s life being dramatically changed, him becoming close friends with a variety of characters, and risking his own life to save his friend. Even beyond that, the show becomes so much more. Even while rewatching the show, I was still binging it to get to the great fights and plot twists. To this day, it is still one
of the most solid arcs I have seen in anime.
While it is disappointing that bleach dramatically fell off after this arc with rehashed story lines, once dynamic characters becoming static, extensive filler, and increasingly absurd fights, I still treasure the first 2 arcs of this show.
This is when the show was at his best. I still remembered the OST even after not watching bleach for many years. I never skipped the first opening. I remembered every character’s name and abilities. If bleach had ended after this arc, I think it would have been held up as an all time great instead of a infamous example of filler and lack of development. The relationships between characters still hook me to this day and I can look back at these arcs as moments of great unadulterated content.
Feel free to drop the show after the first 2 arcs though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 17, 2019
Over the many years I have been an anime fan, shounen is by far one of my most consumed genres. I have vivid memories from my childhood of rushing home to catch Naruto on toonami and of how I was affixed to the bed whenever they would show day long marathons of the show.
I remember my awe when 7th grade me witnessed the violence and gore of bleach and how I binged the first 3 seasons. To this very day, I keep up with one piece and choose specific points during the year to catch up with the series. I hold a series like yu
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yu hakusho to be one of the best anime out there and I continue to watch current shounen like my hero academia, 7 deadly sins, attack on titan, etc.
Shounen is not a very difficult genre to pull off. The writers know who their target audience is, young males, and what they want (fights, fights, and more fights). They want a protagonist to root for, a villain to hate, a supporting cast to also love, moments of comedy, and even sometimes a hinted romantic aspect that will never be explored. These are what keeps fans of the genre coming back to show after show as long as they meet these elements. The fact is that the genre doesn’t really need to change much to get people to watch it.
Demon slayer has a majority of these factors. However, there are some aspects of this anime that do differentiate it from other shounens slightly. For one, the characters in the show are written in ways that characters aren’t normally written in the genre. The protagonist of the anime: Tanjirou isn’t blinded by rage or devotion to some lofty goal. He merely loves his sister and wants to cure her. In addition, he isn’t driven by rage or hatred toward demons. He kills them, but he does it in order to free them from the burden they have been placed under by the villain of the anime Kibutsuji.
Demons slayer’s main antagonists: the demons, are monsters. However, they are monsters that the anime tends to portray as tragic figures. During many points during the show, we see the past lives of demons that are defeated and we see that many of them have tragic pasts which led them to become demons. They have emotions and fears. In addition, they themselves are simply acting under Kibutsuji. Tanjirou understands this fact. Since his own sister Nezuko is a demon and he cares for her, he doesn’t simply view the world he is part of in black and white. He sees demons as victims and he kills them partly to free them from the burden of having to murder humans simply to survive.
Kibutsuji is a truly great villain. I feel his influence over every aspect of demon slayer’s world. He is cold, calculating, and sadistic. He has absolute power and it corrupts it absolutely. I did find it a little cliché that he is the demon that kills Tanjirou’s family which leads to Nezuko becoming a demon. He is the world’s top demon. It almost seems baffling he would simply just murder a random family when he likely could have demons bring him victims. However, that is a minor qualm with the show’s writing. I appreciated how the anime immediately conveys his incredible strength and cunning among first witnessing him on screen. Immediately, I was able to understand that the path to defeating this figure would be long lasting and difficult for Tanjirou and the other characters.
Tanjirou’s sister Nezuko is also a character of considerable depth despite the fact that she has no dialogue. Tanijrou and her have a true sibling relationship that isn’t incestual, which tends to be rare in some anime. She is a great fighter and her interactions with tanjirou in the anime are worth watching. She acts as Tanjirou’s core motivation for why he kills demons. In addition, there are moments where she resists her own demonic urges which showcase the anime’s key moments of tension and show off her character in unique ways that can’t normally be conveyed since she doesn’t have dialogue.
Though there are some characters that are annoying at first, I even grew to love them. At first, I thought Zenitsu was a whiny, thirsty, annoying character. However, he had moments of considerable growth and I even got to witness moments where he got to shine as greatly as Tanjirou. Innosuke is a standard pig-headed fight-obsess moron, but he adds a lot of charm to the anime and I loved watching someone just go all in during fights like he did.
The animation in demon slayer is top notch. Everything just looks pristine and detailed. The fights catch the eye immediately and every frame moves with fluidity and style. Demon slayer works well based off its simplicity and how it utilizes every episode. Episode to episode something significant happens and we get to see characters develop in some respect. I also appreciate that this isn’t the type of anime where the key to winning fights in simply overpowering the enemy.
The demon slayers themselves, while tough, aren’t god level protagonists like goku or Naruto. They are simply swordsmen who know best how to utilize their weapons. In addition, the demons are enemies that require tact and strategy. Each fight requires characters to figure out who they are fighting, what their abilities are, and how to best utilize their own abilities in order to defeat them. This is what kept me invested in the fights episode to episode.
Overall, this anime kept me invested episode to episode with its fantastic art, fights, characters, etc. I always had a reason to keep watching because everything remained consistent episode to episode. Fights got more complex, and the world continually gets expanded. Demon slayer doesn’t revolutionize the shounen genre, but it provides a different enough take on its characters that makes it a refreshing watch. If you are a fan of shounen, you might already know you want to watch it. However, what makes demon slayer a truly great show is the fact that it gives you what you mainly want to watch in addition to providing you with additional aspects which draw you in.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 27, 2019
I have to give Jojo’s bizarre adventure credit for how it evolves from season to season. While part one (phantom blood) and part 2 (battle tendency) were great, the series really got pushed in a new direction with part 3 (stardust crusaders). Stardust Crusaders helped establish what jojo would be structured off of in later arcs with the introduction of stands.
I bring up Stardust crusaders because part 5 (golden wind) reminds me a lot of it. Both arcs have the protagonist, Jotaro (Stardust Crusaders) and Giorno (Golden Wind) have a main goal of defeating a central antagonist. To defeat them, both characters team up with
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a variety of other individuals and face off against other stand users on their quest to defeat their main foe.
Of course, Golden wind does contain elements differing from Stardust Crusaders. Initially, some of the most interesting draws of this arc come from the setting in Italy and the story seeming to follow a sort of mob story line. While Dio’s shadow looms heavy over Stardust Crusaders and the majority of the jojo franchise, the identity of the main antagonist in golden wind (aka the mob boss) is unknown. The little that is known about him is that nobody knows his past or his identity and his influence on Italy is largely negative.
The main character (Giorno) desires to stop him in order to keep the organization’s constant influx of drugs from destroying his community. However, the boss won’t let just anybody get close to him. So, Giorno and Bucciarati plan to gain the boss’s trust and find out his identity so that he can be defeated. However, they need to proceed with caution in order to achieve their goal.
In order to get close to the boss, the characters have to defeat multiple other stand users as part of a mission. When I first began watching the show, I began to see potential for Golden Wind to stand out from the previous arcs. Having to gain the boss’s trust could lead to various situations where characters have to make hard decisions that conflict with their personal morals or goals in order to stay incognito. It also could have set up scenarios where the tension isn’t in the fights alone, but in the character’s struggle to keep their intentions hidden.
Essentially, golden wind could have resembled a sort of undercover cop story with the charm and eccentricity of the jojo universe. This meant episodes could be structured to not only have great fights, but instill thick tension episode to episode in dialogue and drama. Unfortunately, that isn’t where the series goes.
A lot of jojo episodes are focused around a similar setup: Characters are in a new situation, something weird occurs, characters find out it is because of a stand, characters discover an enemy, characters try to find out the enemy’s abilities, the enemy’s ability is discovered and they are defeated. It is a simple but effective formula.
Golden Wind uses this formula as a way to not only provide the viewer with entertaining fights, but also introduce characters and flesh out their personalities and stand abilities. The first 10-12 episodes of Golden Wind are particularly interesting because the fights are effective ways to introduce our main cast of characters. In addition, compelling backstories are paired with each character to grab your attention and make them feel interesting.
One big improvement of Golden Wind over past jojo arcs are the stand abilities themselves. I was consistently surprised episode to episode by the creative ways stand abilities were utilized. I was consistently saying to myself “wow, that’s cool” or “That’s an interesting way to use that ability”. This made it stand out from an arc like Stardust Crusaders where I didn’t really find the stand abilities themselves particularly interesting. For instance, golden wind has characters with ice or poison abilities that utilize them in interesting enough ways to make their ability seem unique despite the fact most anime viewers have seen these abilities appear before in other shows.
I kept coming back episode to episode in order to see how the fights would progress and resolve themselves. Similar to other Jojo Arcs, the fights in golden wind remain some of the best parts of the show. I love how strategy plays a key role in achieving victory in fights instead of simply overpowering an enemy or resorting to standard Shonen tropes. Not only that, every character in the show has great fight moments episode to episode. This makes it feel like every character is useful and plays a different beneficial role in the plot. Because of this, it never feels like any character is useless.
Despite this, I was pretty disappointed at how Golden Wind turned out. Instead of doing something unique with the setting and time period like I expected, it just emulates the structure of Stardust Crusaders where the characters have to fight stand user after stand user in order to get to a destination or get to the main villain. While this isn’t inherently bad and could have been done well, the show is weakened significantly by events that occur mid-season that make most of the events leading up to the it seems pointless or unnecessary. This really made the show appear to be poorly written.
I started thinking of the show’s many flaws and how it would have been much better with various changes. Some may just come to jojo for the fights, so they may be able to dismiss the flaws in the writing/plot since Golden Wind delivers on that front. However, I’ve seen jojo bring great fights and nuance them with effective writing for an overall better experience in previous arcs. While I enjoy Golden Wind a bit more than Stardust Crusaders, I felt like Stardust Crusaders did have better writing at least. Also, I loved Diamond is Unbreakable because of the creative way it’s setting was utilized and how characters seemed written to just seem more memorable. Thus, I can’t give Golden Wind a pass for what it falls short on when other arcs have done well. It is expected that later arcs should build upon what previous arcs did well. Instead of doing that, golden wind takes a step back quality wise.
One problem that I have had with jojo since Stardust Crusaders is the lack of character depth. Sure, the fights are great and characters have great, memorable moments in the fights, but I often don’t find myself invested in the characters themselves. Even if something tragic does occur, I feel apathetic to it since the show didn’t put in the work to make me care about the characters beforehand.
One of the problems with jojo is that it seems so preoccupied with putting fights in front of your face that characters don’t get chances to bond with each other emotionally or have developed backstories. It would be nice to see the characters exhibit genuine emotion from time to time instead of just exhibiting the stock emotions of shock, confusion, anger, or victory expressions during fights.
While I can give golden wind some credit for giving every character a backstory that drew me in initially, it wasn’t enough to really make me care about them. Many characters just seem to appear stoic or slightly odd, but this doesn’t inherently make their character interesting. The character backstories get introduced almost as throwaway story devices as soon as we get introduced to a character early on so it lacks any real meaning or significance. Also, their backstories rarely get referenced or show any indication of affecting the characters in question.
Finally, I found the ending of Golden Wind to be rather contrived. It really didn’t add anything to the plot. It felt fairly out of place and was pretty confusing. Instead of wrapping up lose ends and bringing the show to a close, it feels like the final episode shows us something we don’t know the significance of or really care enough about to be invested in. I kept asking myself what was going on or why the episode was showing me these things. For a final episode, these questions should not be in one’s mind.
Although I was happy to consume more jojo content, I was disappointed how the show turned out. I saw a lot of potential with the setting and the mob story line, but the show just turned into a standard affair. Coming off the coattails of the fairly strong diamond is unbreakable arc, I simply expected the same strength to be present with golden wind. However, I was let down.
I still enjoyed the show, but I felt like it could have been so much better. As far as the arcs of jojo are concerned, this is probably one of my least favorite. If you are a fan, you should watch it, but don’t expect anything unique out of this arc.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 3, 2019
Gintama is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Notice how I said shows, and not just anime. I’ve been exposed to plenty of sitcoms and other comedy anime and I have to say that Gintama is funnier than most of what I have seen so far in my life.
There are many things that make Gintama such a good show. For one, it excels in using simplicity. From the first few episodes of the show, you already know how the world is supposed to work and some of the history behind. From the get go, the viewer knows it will be interesting at
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least.
Some of the factors that make me appreciate this show so much are: the absurd situations and characters, the versatility in how the show tells stories and conveys humor, and the constant references to Japanese pop culture.
First off, the humor in gintama isn’t highbrow in the slightest. It is a show that is built upon ridiculous situations. There is plenty of slapstick and gross out humor, but the dialogue is also laden with numerous references to Japanese culture. As an American, this is particularly interesting because I am unfamiliar with Japanese pop culture outside of what I see in anime. So, reading what the references the show’s characters make are about as they are said makes the show engaging to watch as I both laugh at the references I understand and learn from the ones I don’t.
Gintama is one of those shows where the humor either works for you or it doesn’t. It doesn’t waste anybody’s time trying to be a different type of show or appeal to a different audience. In fact, the show is written so it is almost impossible to take seriously. That way, the viewer is able to turn their brains off and just experience what they are watching.
The show thrives off putting characters in ridiculous scenarios. The characters, of which there are many, are just as ridiculous as each other. In that sense, Gintama doesn’t just make their characters archetypes of any kind. They constantly find ways to flip the script on characters we already know.
A key example are the characters in the shinsegumi, the show’s police force. The characters you might expect to be serious have such odd quirks that it destroys the viewer’s preconceived notions. The head of the police, kondo, is a major stalker and consistently embarrasses himself. He is also consistently compared to a gorilla which entertains the other characters. His 2nd in command, Hijikata, has a ridiculous obsession with mayonnaise to the point where he puts tons of it on everything. This transforms a character that might originally appear serious into one that we can laugh at.
The characters are not just defined by their quirks though. The writers of the show take ample opportunity to shine light on each character and flesh them out by giving them various backstories and arcs, which not only serve to amuse the viewer but also to instill in them love for the characters they are watching. Even characters with no real lines of dialogue like the giant dog saddaharu or the strange enigmatic creature Elizabeth manage to have definitive personalities and standout moments in the show.
Gintama has numerous characters. There is what is closest to the main cast: the odd jobs crew Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura. Then, there is a multitude of side characters like Shinpachi’s sister Otae, Gintoki’s stalker Sarutobi, the police force Shinsegumi, the domestic terrorist Katsura, his weird inidentifiable creature companion Elizabeth, and numerous others. All of these characters have their own quirks, and get fleshed out in various episodes. Each character seems to compete in efforts to be more ridiculous/absurd than the other. It barely even matters what characters are doing because their constant back and forth leaves me bursting out in laughter.
A comedic show needs some degree of balance. Not every character can be absurd. Sometimes, it is essential for a character to act as sort of a straight man, who points out how ridiculous something is. Although the role of a straight man can shift from character to character sometimes in the anime, the top straight man in the show is Shinpachi. The other characters even refer to him, in a largely meta way as the straight man. Most of the time, just seeing Shinpachi yell and point out the absurdity of situations makes me burst out in laughter.
A lot of the show’s humor also comes from how meta the show is. The characters are aware that they are in the anime and even reference the writers and studios. Sometimes, they mention how they are worried about getting cancelled or they show the studio where the show is created. At one point, there is even an arc where the characters fight each other over the results of a popularity poll taken by the show’s viewers.
Memorable episodes like the one I mentioned earlier are numerous. To rank which episode as better than the other is almost impossible because the shows writers know how to play off characters and situations perfectly. Because of this, most episodes will prompt at least a few laughs from the viewer.
Certain episodes are particularly good because of the unique way they are set up. Gintama is a show where core elements (animation and character design) can be changed if it helps conveys jokes and humor better. One episode actually never shows any characters directly. It is shot from a first-person perspective, off camera approach where characters are at a location where they complain about other people and those people actually show up as they are being complained about. Even though we only hear their voices, the humor is conveyed off how the episode is structured. And just when you think you know where the episode will go, it takes and left turn and defies your expectations.
Gintama is the definition of unpredictable. I never know what jokes will be made or what events will occur because the show has no limits in terms of how it can tell jokes or construct events. Even while the show is a comedy through a through, the show will also have arcs involving action, drama, and even some emotional and touching moments.
Like I said earlier, gintama is a truly unique show. I’ve seen a lot of anime, and none of them can be compared to this show. The humor and structure to this show is truly different. If anybody is interested in Gintama, they should at least watch it to experience something different.
With as many episodes that gintama has, I feel like I am unable to truly capture how well this anime works in a review. It is a challenge to even describe how it works as well as it does. I simply keep watching episode to episode because each time I go back to the show, I get what I want and more. And even as the show goes on, more characters and scenarios get introduced to the show that make it more interesting than before.
Like any truly great show, it knows what elements work well and it evolves as time goes on. Even as time transpires, the factors that drew in viewers always remain and improve. For that reason, I can say that I love this anime and am confident that anybody who gives a few episodes a try will also see the appeal.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 25, 2019
Attack on titan was the anime of the year in 2013. The hype behind the show was immense and it seemed unlike anything I had ever seen at that point. Some of the elements that made the show stand out where the gruesome scenes, the frequent killing of characters from episode to episode, the booming soundtrack, incredible art/character design and the pure unadulterated moments of hype. Every episode just hooked me in, making me continually go from episode to episode. If I couldn’t watch another episode immediately, I spent the next day just looking forward to the next moment I could watch another episode.
Once season
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one ended, the hype for more of the show was still strong. However, another season wouldn’t emerge until 4 years later. At this moment, my interest in the show had significantly waned as I got interested in other shows. I gave season 2 a shot and it wasn’t what I was expecting. For one, the main characters of Eren, Mikasa, Armin and show favorite Levi weren’t really focused on. Instead, new side characters that I had simply forgotten about such as Reiner, Christa, Bertholdt, and Ymir were being focused on from episode to episode. Also, the questions most of the fanbase wanted answers to (i.e. What was in the basement?) weren’t answered. Season 2 just felt different from the first season. Season one had the feeling of a horror thriller with tons of blood, gore, death, and fighting to go around. Season 2 felt extremely understated. It had more of a mystery feel with the 12 episodes being spent developing the lore and characters more.
I will say I was a little disappointed by season 2. It wasn’t bad, but it was no season one by any stretch. Even during season one, I was a little disappointed that attack on titan wasn’t as unique as it seemed. Despite the death of many main characters, the viewer could be relatively certain that the main characters were safe. Also, the protagonist, eren Jaeger, acted as a standard shounen protagonist driven by the goal of eliminating evil. Also, the fact that he became a half human/titan just made it feel like another shounen. Characters didn’t feel very developed and the lore seemed to indicate it was going in a predictable direction.
I decided to give season 3 a shot once I saw how the scores for the season were actually fairly high. I was glad I did when I first started getting into the new season. For one, the 3rd season acts as a sort of combination between the first two seasons. It has the hype, death, and gore of the first season with the mystery of the 2nd. The first half of season 3 practically turn most of the elements of the show on its head as new, unexpected enemies are revealed and characters work to discover what’s behind a giant conspiracy. This new development pushes the show in a new direction, as other characters start getting new development with explored backstories and harsh moral dilemmas. One of these characters happens to be Levi, someone who we see do amazing things in the show a lot without knowing how he came to be the way that he was.
One strength of attack on titan is subverting the viewers expectations, one minute everything seems fine and then all hell breaks loose. This is not only present in the new season, but it is in a new form. For one, there are many moments where characters have to make choices that could honestly go either way. These choices have massive implications to the story and the moments before and after these choices are made hold the viewer’s attention all the way through the episode and beyond. In addition, the fleshing out of the anime’s lore makes the show infinitely more interesting than before and encourages them to keep watching to find out more.
While I might have written off attack on titan as predictable and lacking any factors special to it before, I have changed my opinion on it now. Sometimes, the show will showcase characters that act like villains and seem completely underdeveloped. This often times isn’t the case since attack on titan is one of those anime that seems to hold its cards close to its chest. This means it continually gives you small pieces of information that keep you invested while withholding the rest. The writers of the show do this masterfully. So, while some characters seem underdeveloped, it is really the case that their development is just withheld for later on.
I had initially lost interest in where Attack on Titan was going, but this new season drew me back in. All the elements people love about attack on titan are already here with new elements added in. Season 3 acts as a sort of cathartic release where the viewer’s patience is finally rewarded with at least some answers to our many questions.
Credit must be given to the author of the manga who seems to continually evolves his story and shifts focus from character to character. Honestly, the layers of this show are numerous. It is a show that gets better with age. I keep watching to see how the world evolves and how the characters still manage to survive.
When attack on titan got really big, it almost seemed like it was in a position to take the spot of one of the shounen big three. Now, it seems like it has earned that spot both by being massively entertaining and going against the current grain of anime.
If you have made it to the current season, you already know you like the show. At this point in time, I am just on the journey to see where the story and characters go next. Attack on titan certainly did get better, I just happened to sleep on it. Don’t make my mistake!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 19, 2019
I expected more from this anime based off the average score it was receiving from MAL users. However, i must say i was a little disappointed.
First off, i will say that my impression of this show might be based off the fact i was mainly watching it as something to watch while i was waiting for other anime i was following to finish up. This may have made my viewing experience biased a bit since i was trying to finish up the show so i could watch other shows. However, this doesn't mean that the show didn't fall short for me in various aspects.
I
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understand that the manga the anime is based off is fairly old. Thus, the story of the show contains elements that most people who are familiar with anime have already seen in other shows. This doesn't mean the show is cliche or uninteresting, but some of the familiar elements failed to grab me as somebody who wants a show that surprises me a bit more.
Although the background of the story is interesting, most of the anime seems to follow a monster of the week setup with the main character Hyakkimaru and his companion Dororo fighting various demons in order for Hyakkimaru to gain back his body parts.
Many of the episodes follow a similar setup: Hyakkimaru and Dororo come to a village or town and they hear about a demon. They find the demon and Hyakkimaru kills it and gains a body part back. Since Hyakkimaru lost most of his main organs and limbs at his birth, the body parts he gains back range from an arm, leg, skin, hearing, voice, etc.
While i can sympathize with Hyakkimaru and want him to gain his body back, the way he has to go about getting it back isn't particularly interesting. The demons in this anime don't seem particularly menacing or dangerous as Hyakkimaru is able to dispose of them fairly easily with a stab to the head or slicing off various limbs. It would have been more interesting if the demons had various abilities or could hold their own against Hyakkimaru more. This format gets tedious fairly quickly as none of the demons make a particular impression. I imagine the tediousness is even worse for the manga which has Hyakkimaru fighting 48 demons instead of just 12 to get all his body parts back. I get tired just thinking about that.
Speaking of Hyakkimaru, it doesn't quite make sense how he is able to hold his own against the demons so well. Throughout the show, we see these demons massacre several humans with ease, but a guy with no limbs can dispose of them easily. It isn't even established if he was able to gain secondary abilities as a result of his condition. In some ways, it seems that he is a demon or at least has special abilities, but it is never stated that he does. In fact, a priest character named Bimaru, although we don't find out his name until the final episode, has the ability to sense demons even though he is a regular human unlike Hyakkimaru.
On the subject of the demons, it is established in the first episode that 12 demons ate Hyakkimaru's body parts so that Daigo, Hyakkimaru's samurai lord father, could gain power and save his kingdom from drought, famine, etc. However, it isn't established if the twelve demons exist in the world or if the demons Hyakkimaru is fighting are the twelve demons. Also, it isn't established if the demons even have the type of power to bring about rain or make you able to win wars or whatever. Hyakkimaru's family, Daigo, his brother Tahomaru, and his mother Oku swear that the sacrifice of Hyakkimaru's body parts saved the kingdom from destruction. This is also why Daigo and Tahomaru take on a sort of antagonistic role against Hyakkimaru and Dororo since they believe the kingdom will fall if Hyakkimaru succeeds in his goals. However, we don't even know how the demons really helped the empire flourish.
The characters in the anime actually are pretty well developed. Every character seems to have some degree of logic and reason behind their actions and perspectives. In some ways, it actually resembles real life more than i would have expected with Daigo making ethically compromised choices with the justification he has to do it for his country. Tahomaru has similar perspectives as well. Oku, despite regretting what has been done to Hyakkimaru, even understands that the sacrifice of his body parts seems necessary for the country's survival.
The anime also seems fairly historically accurate too, despite the demons in the show. Villagers are mistreated and extorted due to the constant war between states. Samurai are often power-corrupted and commit various atrocities. Even the demon's themselves don't seem completely evil, some of them have various drives and logic behind their actions. I can appreciate how the anime's world seems developed and multifaceted for sure.
While i don't necessary enjoy the monster of the week format some episodes take, i do appreciate the episodes with Hyakkimaru's family drama and the episodes that take the opportunity to develop the relationship between Hyakkimaru and Dororo. While i can understand the rationale behind Hyakkimaru's family's various decisions, it eventually comes to the point that i start seeing them as incompetent and short-sighted in their pursuits. Thus, i can no longer invest in them as characters.
I like Dororo has a character, but she can get annoying at times. I understand she is a kid, but she tends to make poor decisions that cause Hyakkimaru to get involved in unnecessary conflict. Also, her voice gets annoying at times with her constantly saying of "BRO" when Hyakkimaru is in trouble. I will say Dororo isn't just an annoying kid. She has an interesting backstory and has major significance in developing Hyakkimaru as a person.
Hyakkimaru is the only character in the show i consistently care about. It is enjoyable to see him gradually develop as a person. He also has some great moments where he confronts his family and begins to understand how his actions can lead him down a wrong path despite his goal being understandable. Also, his fights with demons and other various characters are a major highlight of the anime.
Despite the characters being well developed, i don't find any of them, besides Hyakkimaru, particularly interesting or worth investing in.
While the world and characters of Dororo don't particularly hook you in, i was consistently hooked in by the anime's two openings: both of which are banging tracks. Opening one one is a type of ominous, sad tinged track, with a great chorus and opening two is a rocker written by Asian Kung Fu generation, there really isn't a better selling point here.
I think the average user score of 8 on MAL is too generous. This anime isn't particularly special in any regard. It contains elements most people are already familiar with, the characters aren't particularly interesting, there are various plot holes in the story, and almost no factors in the episodes really drew me in besides sparse moments in a handful of episodes. I expected way more than what i got.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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