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Jun 19, 2020
To put in a word: disappointing.
The set-up is intriguing enough, a classic whodunnit scenario with incredibly high stakes, and connections to a bigger conspiracy. The back-and-forth between the protagonist solving the mystery and the hostage situation in another school also helps keep the pace up.
Yet, even very early on, small problems surface – problems that gradually snowball.
It begins with a huge information dump as characters are introduced in a flurry, with nothing significant to remember each of them by. We then immediately start getting treated to flashbacks and diverging plotlines.
By the time the culprit is revealed later in the story, we barely remember who is
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who, much less care about any of them at all. Not least because the story is structured in a way where the characters are only developed at such a late stage of the plot that it no longer affects how you feel about the situation at hand.
Alongside a cast of characters with no personality, are background fodder that are so cartoonishly despicable, that they bear zero redeeming qualities, and fail to incite any sort of empathy. All these flaws culminate in a conclusion that features an embarrassingly ineffective speech by the "good guy", during the final confrontation, a plot twist for a character everybody has already forgotten, and an ending that makes the entire series feel pointless.
Easily the best thing this manga has going for it is the art, with its sleek lines and compelling depictions of violence. Just the detonation scene in the first chapter bumps this series up a couple points. However, facial expression are somewhat sacrificed for the rendering quality, which is huge blow when the characters already feel so wooden in their personality.
In the end the whole series feels like a flashy spectacle with no heart that tries to muster up some emotion when it's already too late.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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May 12, 2016
At the risk of sounding too harsh, this was an entirely pointless season bookended by 2 good episodes. That's really it.
Besides the amazing first episode, and the interesting ideas in the last one (plus the very end), absolutely nothing in between did anything to add depth to the characters or make the plot more interesting. In fact, it just amped up the worst parts of this series (as explained below).
But here's a controversial opinion: the Endless Eight was not the worst part of the series. Hold your gasps. Really, it kind of baffles me how nobody is complaining as much about "the Sigh of Haruhi
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Suzumiya". I mean, it feels and acts exactly like Endless Eight — it's an arc that should have been way shorter, it gets progressively more aggravating to watch, and it seems like a joke. HOWEVER, in the very LEAST the Endless Eight was ABOUT SOMETHING.
I'm not going to defend how boring Endless Eight was, but you have to admit it was an ambitious idea. And you could see what they were going for; having to trudge through the same sequence over and over put you in Nagato's shoes. It was simply an interesting premise, executed like a disaster.
What did you really get out of the Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya? That instead of being a flawed character, our protagonist is really just an asshole who gets away with everything? That Kyon is ridiculously overdramatic? How did we benefit from that arc? Through the 4 episodes, every character became more of a caricature than the role they played in Haruhi's film, while they series itself repeatedly bashed us over the head with rules and concepts we already knew. With exceptions to the almost philosophical theories part V presented, nothing in the arc was helpful, or significant, or fun to watch.
The animation was great though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jul 14, 2015
Probably the most surprising anime I've watched in a long time. And I just recently finished Higurashi so that should mean something.
As a strict shunner of the harem genre, any anime with a "so-and-so best girl" mantra is one that I do not want to be any part of. And oh boy were there a fair share of hints eagerly putting me off – the generic looking poster of a guy standing behind two girls of different archetypes, the synopsis: Romantic comedy? An edgy, lethargic loner? Forced into a club with the PRETTIEST GIRL IN SCHOOL? Dear Lord.
Who knows what it was that drove me
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to check out that first episode, but whatever it was, I'm kinda grateful.
When you have a protagonist so cynical that he points out a godawful romcom cliché the moment the viewer notices it, you know the series is going to have a healthy dose of self-awareness. Then, the series even takes a step further, becoming so sardonic it turns into brutal honesty. So in additon to the entertaining interactions amongst an amusing cast and its mellow slice-of-life tone, there is a bitterly candid and unapologetically blunt narrative on society.
So, no, this series is certainly not a harem, or at least not the brand of atrocity we've linked the term with. It is very much a comedy, with a few romantic (borderline josei) elements, none of which bog the pacing. The romance doesn't really get anywhere until the 2nd season, where even then it's barely prevalent.
The protagonist is, thankfully, not the 2edgy4u people-hater he's made out to be. He's simply a slightly pessimistic wallflower, but at all times conscious of himself and his surroundings. And a lot of the characters actually have a third dimension! Some depth! Cancelling out what is undoubtedly the greatest vice of most love triangle centred anime – the need for appealing characters, not interesting ones. Although many side characters are admittedly not as fleshed out (in the first season), they do well in their role as societal representations. All in all, it's a pretty engrossing show with some ...genuine... laugh out loud moments.
Bonus: Episode 11 has what is very likely the greatest clapback in anime history
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 11, 2015
To be brutally honest, I was pretty disinterested when I started the series. It had charm but lacked pace, and the song that played towards the end of every episode came off a tad overdramatic. I thought, perhaps when this blonde I've been seeing in the opening song comes in, the series will finally kick off. And I don't like bragging about being right– okay, I lied, I thought correctly, and it was great.
With the charisma and quirkiness already in place, a new burst of energy and life that was missing put this series in its stride. However, all the characters extend beyond the role
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they play as a fifth of this enjoyable group of friends. The first season was a delight to watch, but it is here in the second season where as a character study and slice of life anime, it goes beyond the expectations it had previously set.
What more is there to say about this show? A great cast of interesting individuals, entertaining interactions, a good dose of humour, and a nice, thick slap of josei in the face, ultimately something any slice of life fan can appreciate.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 24, 2015
Ok, I might have no right to be writing a disparaging review on a series I've watched a quarter of, but this is less of a review and more of a warning: THIS ANIME IS FOR SHOUJO FANS/EXPERIENCED SHOUJO WATCHERS. Don't let the top reviews fool you. The only way in which this series differs from the typical romance formula is the premise. Otherwise, the way events develop all scream textbook shoujo.
I would have tried to finish this anime, but after reading a few other comments about how the second half is even worse, I decidedly gave up after only having watched the first major
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arc: the "rumours" arc, which, basically, is a story only made possible because stupid people do stupid things. Or rather, they don't do the things which normal, rationally functioning human beings would (i.e. communicate). As a result, events move at an excruciatingly slow pace, wherein the long drag could have been resolved within 24 minutes. Since any high school romance anime's core is its characters, you can already see my main beef with this show.
First, we have Sawako, a girl who is introduced as a ghostly figure that scares people away, but then we have to quickly believe is also simultaneously pretty. Did you catch from the synopsis that despite her appearance, she is actually a mild-mannered and well-meaning girl? No? Well don't worry, because all the anime does is remind you how mild-mannered and well-meaning she is. It wouldn't be as frustrating if she just did nice things – that would be endearing. Instead Kimi has to hold your head, direct your eyes toward the nice things that she does and scream in your ear, "DO YOU SEE SAWAKO DOING THE THING? IT IS NICE THING! SAWAKO IS NICE GIRL!" And all while the series is busy fellating Sawako, her only job is to fellate Kazehaya, the cheerful, magnetic God among men. Only this time it is even more obvious, because instead of visual cues metaphorically pointing it out and screaming in your ear, you have a character actually, literally pointing it out and screaming in your ear. Neither of these protagonists are even that bad, character-wise, but the show is so insistent on shoving their qualities in your face, that it becomes suffocatingly irritating, and any chance of depth or development is gone.
Next, let's focus on the infinitely more interesting side characters: a sentence that has probably never come up when discussing ideas for the storywriting process of this series. Because their only job is to, you guessed it, fellate the two main characters. Apparently they get their own little romances, but I'd have to imagine it's a ridiculously minor bump amidst the chaotic gravel pit of "look-at-Sawako-and-Kazehaya-do-absolutely-nothing-for-much-longer-than-you-need-to" that is Kimi Ni Todoke.
If you can endure the line-a-minute pace of the show, and you love being continually reminded about why you have to like characters, then this is the show for you. Otherwise, don't bother. That refers to the entire genre, by the way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 23, 2014
Theatre of Darkness will be the shortest hour of your life.
Allow me address the elephant in the room – the episode runtime. The problem here is I do not lean strongly either way because I cannot completely tear down nor defend it. I will say it is a big factor as to why I did not rate this a perfect 10, though. Visually, it is compelling. There are times when the quality falters, but because of the stylistic choices which fit in with the cutout 'theatre' image, I cannot complain. The sound and atmospheric design is very well done. And most importantly, the horror is
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executed amazingly. But this is where the 4-minute limit becomes a hit-or-miss situation.
There are quite a number of times where the fast pace actually helps. There is literally no time for draggy or slow exposition or set-ups (all of which are handled concisely and without halting the progression of story), and every episode almost instantly dives right in. The suspense is amazing. And there are undoubtedly one or two episodes which were just right, and might have in fact been ruined if they had added even a minute more. But there is mostly where all the advantages of using 4 minutes shine – the build up.
On the other hand, more often than not, the fright is cut off so anticlimactically and abruptly, that you're left with less of a horrified "oh my god" and more of a genuinely confused "what the fuck". Unless that was their goal, since it is half the reason why you're so compelled to watch the next one, because you feel the need to satisfy all the unreleased tension. But if this was the point, then why wouldn't they just make an anthological movie? I understand that every episode is meant for just one quick scare, but that's 10 seconds after 3 and a half minutes of really, really good set up and anticipation; it almost feels as if they're pulling punches.
Perhaps what makes it frustrating is that it is very obvious that the staff involved are very good at what they do, and that they have the potential create a fantastic horror anime. They evidently understand how to make an atmosphere creepy, and not pretentiously so. For instance, many horror filmmakers use mannequins without necessity, simply throwing out the mascot of the uncanny valley simply because people are creeped out. Yami Shibai uses it once, and they use it oh so beautifully. And the fact that they can create such suspense for characters that the viewer hardly has time to become invested in or care about speaks volumes.
I can't say restricting them to 4 minutes is wasted potential, because it is a very difficult task – so if anything they had to work even harder for it. But they were given the freedom to lay down something spectacular without prohibition, it would be phenomenal.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 4, 2014
Tatami Galaxy is, all at once, genuinely funny, nihilistically depressing, mind numbing, thought provoking, and beautiful.
It follows a protagonist who is only ever referred to as "me" and "senpai" through his first 2 years of college, repeated over and over again. The formula for each episode is quite simple: the path of the story is dictated by what co-curricular circle he chooses on his first day, the (mis)adventures he partakes in said circle is then chronicled with very obvious ties to the other alternate realities peppered here and there, and it ends with him feeling dissatisfied with his campus life, deciding that if he had
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done so-and-so instead, he would not have wasted it. Then the clock rewinds.
A lot of anime which follow a set routine like this often have trouble making every single episode worth sitting through (yes, Jigoku Shoujo S1, I'm looking at you). However, Tatami Galaxy makes every story unique enough, with just enough connections and surface-level symbolism to make it enjoyable, and perhaps more importantly, interesting. Watching an episode, or even a repeated segment, never feels like a chore, and the captivating minimalistic but vibrant art style has a lot to do with it as well. The visuals do an amazing job capturing the essence of what needed to be delivered while keeping it simple enough not to distract from the narrative story going on.
Even if you find any of it boring, to whatever extent for whatever reason, the finale makes everything worth it. When the message the series hammers at for 9 episodes builds itself up to suspenseful levels and finally expels itself in an flurry (of moths), there is an unmatched feeling of satisfaction. Now, some wonder if the central motif was all they were trying to deliver or there is some deeper message, but I think that's the best thing about this series – it doesn't matter. Because this is one of the very rare anime that you can analyse into the bloody ground, or just enjoy for what it is and still have a great time anyway. Personally, I feel its main point was to send the central message but it can branch out into many smaller motifs represented to visual symbols here and there.
Either way it is a fantastic and entertaining watch, there is little reason not to. After all if there's anything to take away from the series, it's that you regret what you don't do more than what you do.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 2, 2014
I'm going to start out by saying this my favourite anime. It has made me laugh when I did not have the energy to talk, it has let me escape reality when I did not want to exist. Whenever I try looking for comedy anime similar, common recommendations like Lucky Star and Azumanga Daioh appear a lot. Danshi Koukousei comes close, but Nichijou is an experience that outshines all of these by quite a margin. There is really no definitive genre to put this show in other than comedy, it is almost the epitome of it, because that's all it is: simple pure ecstasy.
Enjoyment:
It
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explores humour in ways I could not begin to imagine. For the most part, Nichijou uses the "traditional" anime gag style of comedy. This efficiency of this method has always befuddled me because it exploits the core of why humans find things funny (the unexpected action), but follows it up by breaking the golden rule of comedy (explaining/calling out the joke). Then this anime takes this already uniquely unprecedented brand of humour and blasts it at full volume, and even the tsukkomi becomes the joke. So the natural conclusion was that Nichijou's funniness comes for its major amplification of gag humour to the point where every single punchline just jumps at you. Yet, rewatching it for the third time still held up as well, if not better, than the first time. Perhaps it is the amazing voice acting, after all, one could make an entire soundboard out of the sounds these characters make. Then the series throws a fastball at me with an entire skit completely without speech, which is just as funny as every other skit. Well-paced, well-executed, Nichijou's comedy is done to a t in every technical aspect, and downright hysterical in practical implementation. And all while being astoundingly comical, it is, at all the right places, beautifully heart-warming, more so in the second half (see: Episode 26), with a deep message of positivity and optimism.
Art:
Undoubtedly, amazing. Moe stylings mixed with grand production value, breathtaking backgrounds and effects, fluid animation that competes with Madhouse's sakuga and makes 2D animation look like it was rendered straight from Maya, so amazingly capture the essence of the series it could bring a tear to my eye. It is unlike KyoAni's usual work, yet, weirdly, I feel only they could've pulled off Arawi Keiichi brilliant vision and absurd hilarity.
Sound:
All music was perfect in their usage – from the background compositions that carry along the slice of life and school anime feel, to the memorable sounds used for recurring sections, and that one time they used an emotional vocalised song during a ridiculous skit of Mio training for high jump. Another thing that captured my attention was the sound design and engineering. As mentioned before, the voice acting is riotously done, but how they time it and fit it with the music and visuals, adding effects and certain points, most notably when they repeat screams in succession, is brilliant. As for the openings and endings, Hyadain was a flawless choice, with his upbeat, well-produced and cheerful sound, much like the show itself, while Sayaka Sasaki's calm and melodious vocals add to that heart-warming factor. The choice to change ending songs every episode for the second half was also bold and very fitting.
Character:
I could rant on and on about the cast. Every single character is remarkably unique and enjoyable to watch, every single one, secondary or tertiary. And oddly, in a world where unexplainably random and outlandish events are occurring, they are to an extent, believable. In the way that they are not stuck with a singular trait, they each have quirks that stray from their definitive role, and switch up their position between interactions. This is perhaps why I enjoyed it more rewatching it. Understandably, with so much happening to so many people at an unbelievable pace, especially for people used to, frankly, normal anime, it is difficult to connect with the characters early on the first time around. It is even more fun watching them act when you already know and love them.
Overall:
It is simply a show created to make you smile, no matter the situation. And it succeeds. I understand why some people might not like it, but I am absolutely, unequivocally in love with this anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 18, 2014
There has been a mix of opinion on this film, some loved it, most liked it, others felt very strongly against it, and the rest thought it was "meh". It might be because it is his last film, or my own bias, but I personally felt Miyazaki outdid himself here.
Famous for creating children's films that can even inspire awe and wonderment in the older audience, Miyazaki-sensei flipped the script here, not so much that it felt out of place, but enough to make it astoundingly different. I was a bit sad it would be the man's last film, but I went in expecting to come
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out feeling good, like I do with most of his films. Man, oh man, was I not prepared for the absolute emotional wreckage this movie would cause.
One thing you have to know is that this is based on a real person. So, of course, there is a much stronger sense of reality in this movie. Without getting too much into the details of the story, overall the plot revolves around two of the protagonist's romances: airplanes and Naoko, and the two contrast each other in a big way. On one hand is Jirou's love for aircraft, which he's had since childhood, and is often depicted in daydreams where he converses with his idol Caproni, because it is what it represents – dreams. Jirou keeps his ambition alive and burning, his talent and passion is recognised, and it greatly shows off the marvel and awe Miyazaki orchestrates so well.
Then, on the other hand, is Jirou's love for Naoko, which is tough and faces complications. You will notice it is this relationship which is most affected by historical events, and basically, real life issues, because that's what it represents – reality, a theme that Miyazaki has not touched so deeply upon before. But he pulls it off beautifully here, the gloomy drama conflicts with the lighthearted merriment and blends so amazingly. And this entire idea is pulled of so well with the characters, all of which are so animated (both literally and figuratively), and for the most part, optimistic and enthusiastic. Despite all the problems and calamity surrounding them, Jirou and Naoko are always smiling, and everything is so disgustingly beautiful and gorgeously tragic.
The art style is typical Studio Ghibli, which, like it did in Grave of the Fireflies, shows that it can adapt to any situation. The music, of course, is brilliant. Joe Hisaishi can be relied on to work his musical magic to perfectly capture Miyazaki's ambitious vision, with a unique and addictive melody that the rest of the score works around. And I cannot express, in words, the feelings the ending song made me feel. The uplifting context and beautifully sad music coupled with Yumi Matsutoya's soothing vocals and powerful performance at the end so perfectly encapsulate the tone of the entire movie that it can only be described as a match made in heaven.
It's hard to point out one aspect and say "that's what makes the film" because everything makes this film. The well-paced and well-executed story, the memorable cast, the breathtaking visuals and audio, the overall ambience and mood the movie delivers, and the behind-the-scenes context around it, everything comes together to create this magnum opus. Miyazaki's swan song is another masterpiece, but one unlike any other before it. Grab your tissues and watch it.
"Le vent se lève, il faut tenter de vivre"
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 7, 2014
I'm going to be honest, it took me over a month to push myself through the first 5 episodes. But once the series picked up speed, it did so intensely and amazingly. I'm not going to get into the story, since I can't add much to what has already been said without spoilers, instead I will talk about the anime itself and its selling points.
Perhaps one of the most appealing things I've noticed about this series is how unlike many other forms of media involving the paradoxical effects of time travel, it cares little about explaining the technicalities. The series does not take its viewers
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for fools. Instead it briefly covers the general concept, then simply allows the events that follow to speak and lets the viewers enjoy the ride while being able to think over what we've witnessed ourselves. Especially for one like myself who has looked up on multiple clashing theories, it is great to see many of them appear here in a creatively combined stream, and do so without worrying too much about every theoretical detail, but instead put them straight into action with a fast-paced storyline.
If you don't have any interest in the subject, it is a great bloody anime regardless. Even with so many great factors adding to the flow of the plot, they certainly did not slack on the other aspects, especially the characters. Each and every one of them are loveable and uniquely quirky. They are the backbone of the series, providing the sometimes laugh-out-loud humour as well as the effectively heart-wrenching drama. And the character development, oh my, the character development. The way they delve into every member of the cast and their surrounding stories, exposing themes, motifs, and conflicts that pull away from the fantasy, sci-fi setting, and the progress of every interaction and relationship is reason enough to recommend this show. I am no big fan of romance when it is added into anime with more pressing or conflicting genres, but it doesn't feel forced or shoehorned here, instead they do well to blend the slice-of-life tones with the chaos going on.
This series is, as cliché as it sounds, simply a roller coaster. A steady start, then a rapid nonstop thrill ride with ups, downs, twists, and turns. You will not regret watching this.
El Psy Congroo!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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