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Aug 9, 2021
I went to watch this with the lowest possible expectations.
As a big fan of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's works, I was originally very excited to see that her earliest novel was being adapted into an animation.
I was later absolutely horrified to see that it would be in 3D.
Unlike Mo Dao Zu Shi and Tian Guan Ci Fu, this series has a totally different style of animation that I find completely unappealing.
HOWEVER...
I watched all of this in a day and I loved it.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the 3D animation still. It's jarring and incredibly hard to do right, (especially for
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low budget television series,) but everything else was so good that I couldn't bring myself to dislike it.
In contrast to her later works, Scum Villain is actually a parody of the historical Xianxia genre. It points out a lot of the tropes and cliches that are prevalent in these stories... And as someone that has recently just fallen into the ever-deepening pit of Xianxia... I really enjoyed it.
The main character, Shen Qingqiu is really funny and likable. The voice acting for him, in particular, is very well done. Out of all three of MXTX's protagonists, I think he might just be my favourite.
I can't help but wish this was 2D-animated, however.
I guess I'll always have a bias.
Nevertheless, it is easy to look past it when you come to realise how good of a show this is. Definitely give it a watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 24, 2021
Chinese animation has come a long way these past few years and Mo Dao Zu Shi is a prime example of that.
As someone who is the exact opposite of 'well-versed' in Eastern Fantasy and Xianxia, this series took a little while for me to understand in order to 'get' this big picture of it all.
When I did, though, I was hooked.
Mo Dao Zu Shi boasts an excellent and large cast of characters with intricate personalities that interact with one another in a truly entertaining way. The comedic scenes are just as poignant as the dramatic, and the pacing is quite nice so that
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you don't get emotional whiplash going from one scene to the next. It builds up and crescendoes nicely.
The world-building is an excellent backdrop for the story and is beautifully designed and animated. The intricate buildings of ancient China mixed with mystical fantasy scenery is truly something to behold. Every background in this show looks like a screensaver. Not to mention the action scenes. Wonderfully choreographed, excellently shot, and musically outstanding.
It really is a shame that Chinese censorship laws has put a proverbial leash over the developing relationship between main characters, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, though. Their progression is notable and can easily be interpreted as romantic- as the author intended (and rather explicitly detailed,) in the original novel. But it just isn't the same as having blatant representation. China has a long way to go in that regard.
Despite that one set back, though, this still is a show that is worth watching. The first season felt like a backdrop for what was to come, and season two has been building up to something huge. I'm very excited for season three.
All in all, give Mo Dao Zu Shi a chance. The double names and mythology might be confusing to a western audience- but if you give it time you'll find that it pays off to the highest extent.
If you're a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'll love this more mature take on a similar story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 24, 2021
Princess Jellyfish is, and forever will be iconic. For an early 2000’s shoujo manga- it goes to places that some stories won’t even touch in the good year of 2021.
Tsukimi is the typical ‘before’ picture in the makeover scene, and to my pleasant surprise, that doesn’t change. She is not forced to alter her appearance in any way that doesn’t feel organic or story-driven. Her social anxiety is incredibly relatable, as is her hyperfixation on jellyfish. She is the neurotypical protagonist of my dreams and I adore her to pieces.
Kuranosuke, alongside this, has got to be one of the best love interests in all
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of Shoujo. Even if his personality wasn’t to your taste, you have to give him points for individuality alone. He is so far from the cookie cutter that he’s making a cake instead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a male love interest for a female character that enjoys crossdressing and fashion. It’s honestly such a refreshing change of pace from the typical two whole options of boy the protagonist usually gets. Their chemistry, alongside this, is also really awesome. They have a shared passion and it’s really nice to see two people bond, no matter who they are.
This needs a second season, but it’s been ten years, so I don’t have a whole lot of hope.
I do however, give you all of the assurance in the world that this is an anime worth your time. It’s a wholesome experience that does well to highlight queer and neurodivergent people without going with specific labels or making it the centrepoint of the story.
I adore it to my core.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 24, 2021
Berserk still stands the test of time when most anime really doesn’t. There’s a certain 90’s nostalgia to it that makes its flaws, though few and far between endearing and charming.
I think that there is a reason that it is still so often praised in the anime community, and I do like it- but most likely not for the same reason that the stereotypical fanbase does.
Fans seem to focus on the endless violence of the story, which is, honestly, fair. There is a lot of it, after all. But there’s something deeper at play as well.
Berserk has one of the most unlucky, downtrodden,
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tortured protagonists I’ve ever bore witness to. Not one aspect of his past was pleasant or even remotely okay and the present that seemed too good to be true, really did end up being just that… But despite everything he chooses to go against those that hurt him and elect another path of begrudging, tentative kindness. He’s still a violent man that swings a steel behemoth of sword instead of sorting out his feelings- but he’s undoubtedly trying to be as good as he possibly could be, and that, to me, is his most valuable trait.
His character foil, Griffith, is one of the most notorious characters in all of anime. He is all of the composed elegance that Guts so fervently lacks. He has the pipe dreams that Guts couldn’t afford to think about. He has an army of adoring soldiers that follow his every order. He’s everything that Guts isn’t- he’s everything that a typical protagonist is, but he isn’t the hero of the story. In the end, that’s what is important. Sometimes destiny has other plans entirely.
In the end, Berserk goes as deep as you want it to. You can analyse it for hours or five minutes. Either way, it’s a compelling story that has inspired thousands upon thousands of others.
Many have replicated, but none have succeeded.
Just please, for the love of God, don’t watch the 2016 remake. As if Guts hasn’t suffered enough- they have to put terrible CGI into the mix as well?
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 23, 2021
I never thought I'd be here again.
I first started watching Attack on Titan when I was 15 and there was nothing but the first season and the manga to go off of. As I waited for the second season to come out, I eventually lost interest as the years went by. 'It had been too long and the momentum was gone,' I thought.
Until now.
In the expanse of three days, I watched roughly forty episodes of this insanity and now I can't stop thinking about it.
Attack on Titan, I originally thought, was nothing more than a more gritty example of a typical Shounen anime.
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I couldn't be more wrong.
In the following seasons, it has turned from a hack and slash gorefest into a political thriller that depicts the horrors of war. The Titans are no longer the focal point- they are no longer the enemy. They are just a vessel for them.
I have never been more stressed out to watch a show. It's great. I'm suffering. Please stop killing all my favourite characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 23, 2021
Fruits Basket is a story that really sticks with you.
It is unassuming at first, with a cast of seemingly shallow stereotypes of the Shoujo genre. The ditsy female protagonist, the delinquent with a heart of gold, the charming prince... But as you dig deeper you soon come to find that these aren't just one-note drawings on a screen but well fleshed out characters with goals and fears and everything in between. They're human. They contradict themselves. They do bad things. They make up for them in a way that only they know how. It doesn't make them less likable but rather endears them to
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us.
The second season takes what the second half of the first season had and doubles down on the emotional impact and development and creates a truly compelling story that left me in tears more than a few times.
For the completely unrelatable situation that Fruits Basket presents, it somehow finds a way to worm its way into your heart.
All in all, Fruits Basket is a story about love in all its forms. Familial, Platonic, Romantic- good and bad. It focuses on the importance of kindness and understanding in a cruel world and conveys an excellent message that I think a lot of shows these days miss the mark on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 10, 2020
Itazura na kiss is a fantastic dumpster fire.
It's an excellent guilty pleasure/ hate-watch and I had the time of my life bingeing through all 25 episodes.
It follows a pretty cliché shoujo formula- but it does, admittedly, have some pretty nice additional aspects that endear it to me ever so slightly. The character of Kin was refreshing for a romance anime. He wasn't a pretty 'boy next door' type, he was a pompadour-ed delinquent with a heart of gold and honestly, he's the best part of the show.
I also enjoyed the reoccurrence of Irie's baby pictures. That dishrag needed to be taken down a peg,
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honestly.
Other than that though, this show is literally just a cycle of 'Ah, I love Irie-kun! *Irie humiliates Kotoko* 'Oh! That's it! I'm giving up on him! *Irie does something barely redeemable at the last second* 'So he does maybe sorta love me after all!'
...And you'd think this kind of behaviour would stop after they got married right?
WRONG!!!!
Kotoko is portrayed as having a few screws loose but girl, go to therapy oh my god.
Irie is perhaps the worst love interest in all of shoujo history. He takes nonchalant to a whole new extreme and it's to the point of just straight up psychopathy. He does get a little better as their relationship progresses but god is it a rocky start. He should go to therapy too to sort out his obvious god complex. 'Never felt sad in his life???' Bitch I'm calling the cops!!!
So why have I given this show such a good score you might be asking??
I DON'T KNOW. I HAVE NO IDEA.
Something about it made me think about it for the whole day after I finished it. These two IDIOTS and their toxic communication issues endeared me so much that in the end, I was rooting for them.
So, in conclusion; Is Itazura na kiss a good anime? God no. The plot is so horrifically spaced that they went from 'seeing other people' to 'married' in like two episodes. There are random four year time skips. Kotoko's life is swayed by Irie's ideals so easily that it is both misogynistic and absurd. The pair's relationship is so wishy-washy that I guarantee one of them will have killed the other by the time they're 30....But jesus christ would I rewatch the hell out of it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 16, 2019
This is a show I WISH got more recognition.
Listen, I actually had to give the first episode a few goes myself. It's a slow, forty-minute start to one of the best character-driven dramas I've ever seen. Due to this unfortunate beginning, it's been kind of overlooked which really is a shame because it's fantastic once you get into the backstory. (That of which takes up the remaining part of the anime's run time.)
The characters are all dynamic, they're all flawed in some way or another. I especially enjoyed Kikuhiko's and Sukeroku's relationship, it was very complex and interesting and it made my
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heart hurt. Their road to fame in the rakugo world was one that I found compelling as hell- despite still not fully knowing what rakugou actually is hahaha.
Likes; the animation is lovely, the characters are great, the story is fresh and different, THE OPENING
Dislikes; the first episode was a bit slow and confusing, I think even more of Kikuhiko's past could have been covered in the show-perhaps even going into season 2.
It's a mature and compelling watch that is very dear to my heart.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 14, 2019
Tiger and Bunny is an awesome take on the superhero genre that fosters a lot of warmth in it's characters and setting. It's nice to see actual adults running around saving people, especially when they're as lovable as all these guys.
The whole 'young cocky newbie and seasoned old vet' partner trope is one as old as time but Tiger and Bunny pull it off nicely. Mainly because, I think, their personalities clash with each other so much that it's funny to see. Kotetsu is a flawed (in a good way) main character that is refreshingly different and isn't over-powered like so many other
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protagonists.
The animation is okay, some weird CG bits here and there but I think the world building definitely makes up for it.
Likes; the story, the characters, the setting, the overall vibe of the show
Dislikes; the animation for this series (it does get better in the second movie) and the lack of a season 2
Definitely give this a watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 13, 2019
Mo Dao Zu Shi is a really good show. But it's also kind of confusing.
I believe that some of that confusion can be chalked up to the fact that it is, indeed a chinese animation. The characters all have about three names and I only really remembered them all nearing the end. But that's really no reason to not watch it because it was actually fantastic.
The first episode was confusing, I'll admit, but it's literally all flashbacks after that so I can aptly assume it will be fleshed out in the next season.
The animation is gorgeous, the voice acting is very emotive and
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the music is BEAUTIFUL.
Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian's relationship was really nicely portrayed and I really hope they get to bond more in the next series. However, if you're looking for a show chock full of shonen-ai elements- you've come to the wrong place. I definitely suggest reading the novel if that's the case- I believe there's a translation online for it.
Likes; the opening, the animation, the characters, the story
Dislikes; the mildly confusing way it began, the censorship to the original material
I really enjoyed this show, I haven't watched an 'anime' this quickly in years and I am DYING for season 2.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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