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I thought it would be impossible to ruin something that looks so perfect.
with this animation quality, those perfect character designs, the details like how could they fuck up the plot so bad that it's almost unwatchable like actually what an achievement! I was shocked when I first watched those half-baked side character quests that often don't even feel like a real series more like an episodical thing - but one that's not funny or creative enough to justify the format.
it's like the series can't even decide what the viewer is supposed to be invested in. maybe the main character? no she gets sidelined for random ... npcs that will never be important in the story again. ok maybe the other main characters? no they will be mentioned in an intersting introduction scene and there will be a fake premise about their importance in the plot, but it will never be relevant again.

i know that in the end violets "backstory" gets revealed and it's supposed to be dramatic but i somehow didn't feel anything because i just spent the show watching her getting sidelined and have this fake "character development" over random npcs.
the main cast doesn't feel like a real group of friends/people who work together like they're just somehow mixed together because they look cool, none of their interactions seem real and relatable or even as if they matter at all. would have been cool to see violet form some real relationships instead of bonding over writing letters for strangers i guess. also her love for gilbert was so incredibly cliché and uninteresting. it makes me really think that maybe violet isn't traumatized but just an incredibly boring character. but i know that the vn must have made a huge impression on the KyoAni staff so maybe I have to read it one day to see if something got lost in translation???

this might sounds cynical etc but as a former KyoAni fan, this show really disappointed me so much it's hard to explain.
despite it's great design and animation I would not recommend watching this because it's just a snooze fest srsly

only reason this is not a 1/10 is because i think the openings and endings are catchy.

but i think everything has been said about this absolute trainwreck of a show. i recently stumbled upon the game developer overflow that produced visual novels in the school days universe and was actually shocked about the absolute degeneracy of these previous games. like the previous games make school days look very noble and sophisticated. those previous games are some of the worst shit i've ever seen on the internet, and i've seen a lot of messed up stuff over the years. i don't even want to describe it, ... google it, but it explains a lot why each and every character in this franchise seems to be so messed up in the head lol. releasing these vns should actually be illegal. crazy how a publisher like this can get an anime adaptation in japan just because it sells.

nagi no asu kara looks great but is really bad. this show fools you that it will be an intersting mix of slice of life and mystery story. i mean, the setting is interesting, the character design is pretty and everything feels fine at first.
but damn, do the first few episodes introducing these "under the sea folks" fool you. i even remember this one sister side character getting her little arc in the "real world" and i really thought this show was doing something to make every character precious and make its world feel real.
but then somehow everything goes to sht and it's really hard ... to deny it. first, we have this forced main ship with a girl that seems like an AnoHana mc ripoff and its very generic and annoying, the show introduces forced love triangles that we're supposed to care about (we do not).
then there is a timeskip (which isn't neccessarily a bad thing) but there is this weird snow that's actually sea foam and the sea is frozen so the whole main cast who's from under the sea is in danger and just sleeps for some years i guess.
after this it's a large mess and after the first few episodes this show is a waste of time, trust me

aot could have been a great show, but the execution in the last third of the series makes it -good and thought provoking- where it could've really delivered a powerful message and gave closure to some beloved characters. so it could have been perfect but it was "only good".

despite rumors that isayama wanted to write a different ending, he stated in an official interview that he had -this ending- in mind from the beginning of the series. this ending for eren was foreshadowed as early as in the first pages in the manga and Eren was written to be a hero with a tragic flaw ... that will ultimately lead to his death. so i don't believe that isayama had anything but making eren the main villain in the end in mind. but i think he changed a lot (emotionally and politically) during the process of writing aot (he actually said that he wanted but couldn't rewrite the ending that he made up in his mind when he was a teenager).

so i will just kind of say that some of the historical references were executed in poor taste and the general execution in the last third of the series (like sidelining important characters, giving only two solutions to an obviously bigger problem) let to a huge provocative blow at the end but didn't match the moral compass of the show/the characters.

forced endpoint:
-> lackluster worldbuilding after season 3
the combination of the 4 year timeskip + the change from a microcosm (walls inside paradis) to a macrocosm (paradis as only an island on a huge map) was not only too much information but wasn't executed well at all. one of the most exciting things about attack on titan was its perfect worldbuilding, attention to detail etc. (the wall, the power structure within society, the different soldier types, different titans). well, the same really can't be said about the "outside world" (such as marley hizuru etc) as a setting after the main cast discovers the truth by the end of season 3. the final season desperately tries to make marley and the cast of marley titan soldiers as believable and compelling as the main cast because characters on the other side will be needed for an "epic final battle". we get basically infodumped about "marley society bad" and "the eldians on the other side had their valid reasons to invade paradis and they also have families" but it since we don't really know or care about those new characters we just want the main cast to finally appear. but when the main cast finally appears in season 4 it feels unsatisfying because 1) they commit mass murder without any explanation given at this point 2) the timeskip and the change of the circumstances on paradis and the character dynamics within the survey corps in the last 4 years weren't explained.

-> lackluster character writing after season 3:
besides the 3 main characters (who atleast get a resolution for their character arcs) every character feels like an empty shell compared to who they once were and what they stood for.
the survey corp members who are more on the "search for truth" spectrum of the team just stopped making fckn sense in this new setting. like hange, erwin (rip) or armin joined the survey corps because of an incredibly strong will to seek truth (to find out what's behind the wall) or an extreme thirst for knowledge. so you would honestly tell me that someone like Hange with an almost morbid curiosity would just discover a whole new map, a whole new world, went on some trips to eat ice cream, just go back and be cool about it? or Armin who is written to be the most booksmart person just not trying to find out everything about different cultures/nature/science after getting access to this information that is canonically 100 years in advance. characters who were literally risking their lives, fighting to the death to get to the truth -outside of the walls- would just somehow stop because now they have to get on a boat ? wtf...
I know that it is plot convenient that the survey corps visit marley first, experience racism and have a -bad experience- and that some members who wanted to protect her family from titans wouldn't be interested in exploring the outside world any further. but for most characters of the team, especially Hange or Armin, this seems sooo unlikely.
to fit the crazy amount of new information into a final season, every character is reduced to his one or maybe two most defining character traits. like Levi only saying he wants to kill Zeke. but this is done to -almost- every character. they act like a cliché version of themselves because everything else would take too screentime from the not only huge information dumps that are unfortunately neccessary in this setting but also the introduction of the collective unconscious of the eldians "the paths"/the information dense mystery lore (i'll come to this later).
i could list any character and why they aren't as nuanced as in earlier seasons and sometimes incoherent, but since this would take forever I will focus on Eren and Mikasa because their writing was the most damaging to the quality of the show and ending of the story.
Mikasa - let's start by saying that Mikasa never was an incredibly interesting character, but she wasn't stupid, her actions made sense for her and her motivations made sense in the grand scheme of things. mikasa, despite being an extremely strong fighter, is an incredibly traumatized character who lost her family twice (!) and therefore has a value system that is stuck in the past, making Eren the last person she has positive memories with/family member and the only thing she really cares for. she has a hard time finding value in anything new besides her goal to protect Eren and is willing to sacrifice other people and possibly herself for him. that's her main character flaw, but understandable etc. but in earlier seasons, she wasn't written to be a liveless doll, she dissed eren when he did something stupid/reckless and she had her misguided but strong opinions and was able to stand up for them.
but Mikasa in Season 4 just feels is just a numb and honestly stupid version compared to her former self. so you tell me that a person as protective and attentive as Mikasa would turn a blind eye on Eren basically becoming mentally ill for 4 years (!) and blindly following his wishes, not trying to do anything about it, even if his actions were increasingly dangerous for him (something that Mikasa never left uncommented or unanswered before). at one point, she is directly confronted in a group conversation that Erens personality changed stating that Eren was reckless but never intentionally used Mikasa or Armin in a dangerous situations before. she listens to this -objective information- and just -doesn't react- to this at all (!). this is just not Mikasa - this is a Mikasa puppet. and that's especially sad because she was seemingly Ymirs reason to finally break free in the final resolution of the main storyline. why isn't Mikasas struggle to break free from her blind devotion to Eren/her past trauma shown in a meaningful way then? I just don't get it.
Eren - it's kind of hard to criticize season 4 Eren because he is supposed to be looking into the void (seeing past present and future in a deterministic universe) after having the founding titan and the attack titan (and contact w Historia and later Zeke), but from a storytelling perspective, it was done much better in earlier seasons (with glimpses showing his dreams/subconsciousness etc). i think -especially- the paths, Ymirs story, the collective unconsciousness of eldians etc. should've been shown way earlier in the final season as a part of Erens internal struggle and the reason why he basically chose destruction in the end. i liked the part were he visits the memories of his father with Zeke. like those elements could've been introduced earlier. don't get me wrong, i like that those plottwists and reveals are rare and subtle in aot, but in this case, Eren staring into the void is just a little too much and his internal conflict could've been explored in a way that would've been better to build up the ending.

-> lackluster explanation for the "final resolution" of the main story:
the plotpoint that mikasas devotion to eren was what changed ymirs mind after 2000 years of self imprisonment and therefore sacrificing eren was explained waaay too late in the story. and only as a sidenote. that was truly a shame. like explaining ymirs key motivation explaining why she chose erens wish and not zekes, actually sympathizing with mikasa and eren (eren as the attack titan representing ymirs wish for freedom). just giving more time to this core theme would've done so much for this ending and would've made it more meaningful. if we add the 8 new pages to the mangas ending, mikasa and ymir are just the same. ymir cut her "physical" ties with the king 2000 years ago but couldn't move on emotionally/accept personal freedom and was stuck in the paths. so why is mikasa different? she was cutting her physical ties with eren by killing him at the rumbling, but never truly lets him go emotionally by wearing his scarf etc. I think it would have been so good if this fucking bird in the last chapters just flew away with this scarf but it doesn't. Mikasa clings on to Eren to her very last moment. Historia should've been the character who inspires Ymir. would've been much easier.

ok this was way too long. i think that the ideas for the ending were perfect but could've been executed better. thx for reading.

spoilers:

yona never really has her clear moment of regaining self-sufficiency. or - the moment where she's done whining about her bishie prince actually being a calculative cunt who killed her father and wanting revenge/taking her kingdom back. i hoped this would happen in this show but it sorta did not.
yona finds some agency veeery late in the plot and it's soley about -being able to fight physically-, which is from her pov the most unstrategic way to get her power back, so i somehow don't care. she doesn't become strategically smart, she's not coming up with a war plan to take back her kingdom or ... any of this. the only plot device introduced for this goal are 4 new incredibly powerful and incredibly bishounen "dragon" servant boys who are all in love with her.
i know that yona is described to be more of a feeler and that her "strength" is about influencing people and making them believe and follow her but having a -ridiculously- large following of bishie boys doing your bidding is just not cool to watch (not even just saying this about a female protagonist - just any main character would be lame for this).

i think the animation is pretty but lackluster in many scenes, having weird "slide show" aspects especially in the openings. i think direction is also a huge part of the issue, the pacing seems a little off. i haven't read the manga but I can imagine that it would've been more inviting (maybe yonas character motives would've been more understandable too since manga allows a bit more of psychological narrative writing).


sooo, if you have other things to watch, don't watch this. probably read the manga idk

there is a virus that causes a genetic mutation (in the human genome) which creates a new species. humans who are infected with the virus give birth to infertile "silpelits" (who are technally diclonii with the vector superpowers and horns). real diclonii however, are rare and only able to reproduce with other diclonii (which is still unlikely because their genomes are very unstable). ofc the diclonii are powerful, psychologically ill and want to erase humanity so they're locked up etc,... every cliché in the book. the genetic mutation is supposed to be similar to "allopolyploidie" and is able to create both a fertile (diclonii) and ... infertile (silpelits) bastard species.

up to this point, the main idea could be somewhat redeemable from a fictional pov (besides the stupid invisible vector arms and horns with no plausible explanation whatsover)

but since we evaluate this plot from a perspective of the "supernatural genre" we focus on its inner logic - which is extremely flawed.

the massive plotholes begin before a single character is introduced:
both diclonii and silpelits are able to infect humans via the virus with their vector arms to make their next child a silpelit (again an infertile version of their species). the male diclonii cannot reproduce (why) and the female mc lucy is the only fertile diclonus on earth (why)
a) the virus usually creates silpelit children (the infertile version) after infecting humans, so where did the first diclonus come from?
the answer (according to the source material): out of nowhere, lucys mother (a normal human) just gave birth to her and somehow "spawned" the species into existence... like how? what did she spawn the virus or the genetic mutation... it won't be explained
b) I understand the plotpoint that the silpelits with their aggression and vile superpowers are supposed to just erase humanity to basically "pave the way" for the "real diclonii" to dominate the world (making sb like lucy their 'queen') and they don't have to be able to reproduce by themselves, but this point is completely useless because the "main species" the diclonii really cannot survive as species because they have 1) an unstable genome 2) the male diclonii are infertile 3) nobody besides lucy and her mother was ever able to continue this species. so the concept doesn't make sense long term - at all
c) the diclonii in this series have a whole ass secret research laboratory that is run by a male diclonus with a hidden agenda to take over the world. so why are they doing bullshit like cloning the infertile versions over and over again instead of creating a new virus that creates real diclonii after infecting humans or even cloning lucy to get more fertile diclonii...

maybe the diclonii deserve to fail as a species because even with superpowers and access to a secret high tech lab they are still unable to do something strategically smart for themselves.

if you realize that the core logic of this plot is extremely flawed, it only makes sense that the character writing will be just as bad. and it is really bad.
even the "smart" characters in this show act in a way that is incomprehensibly stupid.
the main reveal is that the director of the secret laboratory that imprisions the mc diclonus lucy (the only fertile diclonus on earth) intentionally lets her flee because he is a diclonus himself ... so how on earth would letting her flee be his most strategic move? in this series even the director (!) of a secret science lababoratory is 1) unaware of basic biological facts 2) unstrategic 3) just plain dumb.

so lucy flees out of the lab/prison and meets -out of anyone- her -only- childhood friend kouta who -of course- has amnesia about the fact that lucy killed his sister and father (!) back in the days. calling kouta a bad protagonist and a bland character would be a compliment. this dude doesn't care about his family being murdered by lucy and forgives her in a matter of minutes. the fling with koutas cousin is distasteful and i don't see where the cousin adds any value to the plot. i kid you not, there is not a single intelligent self aware character in this entire story.

i don't really get the point that this show is supposed to be about racism, like why? the diclonii/silpelits are locked up because they straight up kill people. it has nothing to do with race. but again, the show is gaslighting the viewer into believing that it is something philosophical and deep when it's really not

all in all, elfen lied just embodies the "i am 14 and this is deep" reasoning when people say it's a good show and not even in a redeemable way. because it literally has nothing to say and is sexist af. it's honestly pure trash. if you want to watch cute girls doing insane violent shit just watch higurashi or umineko - both series that have a good story and character depth. it's sad to see this show getting good ratings because it hides behind gore and pseudoscience

love yourself, don't watch this

ef - a tale of memories gets a 3/10 compared to its mess of a sequel because it doesn't include the explicit physical abuse of its female cast.
but ef - a tale of memories was even more boring to watch (which is very hard).

The show consists of 'atmospheric' scenes with long, empty dialogues. the pseudo deep, artsy symbolism is never once explained. This concept could work if the characters weren't so bland and generic (then it could might be something like Bakemonogatari). I read a lot of comments that people found the characters unlikable. but I don't really understand why. they're written so soulless ... and stereotypical (the girl next door, the childhood friend, the blonde best friend guy) without even commenting on those tropes that you don't care about their interactions at all. the characters are like a toasted bread - they can't be unlikable because they don't even remind you of living human beings. it's truly interesting to me how there is (obviously) an audience who can identify with characters with no personality and the conversation skills of toddlers. It's sad how good animation and soundtracks are constantly wasted on shitty VN adaptations like this because they have a huge incel fanbase

Love yourself, don't watch this

I give this show an even lower rating than ef - a tale of memories and here is why:

In ef - a tale of melodies trauma and abuse are thrown around to spice up the drama in a really distasteful & misogynistic way. so one of the female characters traumatic abuse is presented - just to be 'saved' by one of the male main characters. I wonder why so many people 1) like this series in general 2) are able to identify or connect with those characters. they literally have no personality and abysmal communication skills. I feel like most of these "conflicts" between our ... protagonists could be avoided if the characters had a level of communication skill that would be normal for their age. The Yuuko arc panders to a pathological savior complex and -even if there is no effort to write her as a multifaceted and interesting character- is insulting to her. the way the show handled such a serious topic like physical/sexual abuse was very low and not nuanced at all. I know this is just a stupid show based on a stupid VN and I shouldn't be mad about it.

The only reason I don't give a 1/10 is because artwork and sound are way too good to be wasted on this project

Love yourself, don't watch this