Reviews

The Entertainment Arc in Demon Slayer has probably been one of the most intense and exciting anime shows in a while for me, especially for Demon Slayer, which I've had a kind of love-hate relationship with. Although the first half was kind of fun, the second half, once it gets going, really goes on another level. I mean I was stressing over how well presented 'those' scenes were. And Demon Slayer has always had good animation, but there's something more to it than that I believe. The tempo from Ufotable makes the scenes stand out with a viscera that few can. The peak of this was probably at the end of the second to last episode. Where Tanjiro and Uzui defeat the demons, but even after this, the tension doesn't stop. Tanjiro lays on the ground with a fatal poision, and Uzui screaming to him to no avail, and ending with Gyutaro's corpse exploding, the credits playing over the demolished town as the explosion settles. I mean, what the will happen now? The next episode will be 45 minutes? I mean, this is insane. And having to wait a week, I mean the excitement was insane

I want you to picture my face, when Nezuko, out of nowhere, appears at the recap of the last episode, prevents the explosion from happening and then heals everyone, backtracking everything of importance. I'm sorry? Was it just a joke? Was all of that progression just for funsies? Did they actively choose to write the conclusion that would ruin the momentum the worst possible way? And then, my face, when all of that sacrifice, was so that the demons could get the same half-baked backstory that every other demon has gotten.

I have never seen a show break the tempo of itself worse than this, and I'll leave it at that.

The first season of 'Mob Psycho 100' is a show that I found to be really good. It wasn't amazing or anything, but it was a show that was easy to watch through fairly quickly.

So when I heard it was going to get a second season, it was exciting. I always try to not have too high or low expectations, but it was hard to not think that the show wouldn't surpass the first season for me. But magically it was even better.

The second season of 'Mob Psycho 100', made by the studio behind the first season of the same show, all three seasons of 'My Hero Academia' and 'Full Metal Alchemist' and the director behind 'Death Parade' and the 2018 'Detective Conan Film' continues the story of the first season. While both seasons of the show have continues arcs at the end of their seasons, most of the episodes are filled in with episodic stories. And while it continues to work with its theme of self-improvement, it goes around it in a very different.

In the first season of Mob Psycho 100, Shigeo tries to better himself. His motivation might not have been the most heroic, just wanting to become more popular, it is a very human one, and trying to whitewash something like this doesn't help anyone.

But in the second season of Mob Psycho 100, he tries to better himself psychologically. It was something we saw in the first season, but not to this extent.

An example of this is in the third episode, where three clients ask Reigen to exterminate a ghost (maybe that's a weird word to use...). When Reigen and Shigeo arrive, Mob sense a group of ghosts. A family. We see him struggle whether or not to kill the ghosts and satisfy the customers, or not to and have an opposite effect. We see how he isn't sure who he values more. Approval or goodness. This coupled with other episodes like 4 to 5 and the last two shows how Shigeo isn't just trying to better himself physically, but morally as well.

How he starts to understand how he can't take the punches of everything, and that he needs to stand up for himself.

Another thing Mob Psycho 100 has been famous for is it's fight scenes, and boy does it deliver. While it has the same style that has been said to "look bad" (It doesn't, IMO at least), the animation has improved a lot. I wouldn't say that it was super noticeable, but you can tell that the fight scenes have a more fluid feel.

But, I never got the same feeling of immersion that I got from the Koyama fight in the first season. In that fight, I never believed that Shigeo would die or anything, but there were stakes. You could say that it was because of the fear of Shigeo's brother being killed, but if I'm being honest it isn't that. But in the fight, we see how Shigeo is looked down upon by Koyama. Shigeo looks like a normal guy, but he really isn't. So we're just looking at a guy who's trying to not hurt anyone but is hurt himself in the process. You really want to punch Koyama, since he is humiliating Shigeo.

And that's what I wanted more of in the fights of this season, a reason to truly despise the antagonists.

But while I had problems with the fights the villains were in, their characters alone got a huge boost. In the first season of the show, the last couple of episodes is about some of the villains. There's one that looks like Sucy Manbavaran kind of, one that has firepowers and one that could give visions to people or something. And that vague description was on purpose. Cause none of the villains feel human in any way, at least to me. It wasn't a big problem with the show since they had such a small part of the show, but it is a problem nonetheless. They are extremely forgettable.

But in the second season, that changes completely. Outside from many of the previous villains coming to Shigeo's side, showing his ability to change someone's morals, the new protagonists were really good.

The relationship between Shigeo and Reigen is a very important one. Shigeo knows that Reigen doesn't really have any powers, but it's an important relationship nonetheless, which we are shown in both of the series. But as we see in the antagonists, it can be very risky.

The two main antagonists of the series are Katsuya and Suzuki, and their relationship is very similar to Shigeo and Reigen's. Katsuya basically has the same role in the relationship as Shigeo, and Suzuki has Reigens. Katsuya isn't very confident, and Suzuki helps him.

But their relationship is a more extreme version of Shigeo and Reigen's.

Katsuya is very self-conscious and relies on others so to not mess anything up and Suzuki doesn't rely on anyone and wants to do everything himself. And I found that to be very interesting. Seeing how good guys could easily turn bad. And we see how Reigen starts to manipulate Shigeo as Suzuki does to Katsuya, but that Shigeo realizes that he can't rely on Reigen.

And seeing this in the antagonists was even more surprising, as someone who mostly dislikes antagonists in anime.

Though, I have to say. Before these antagonists were developed, I found the story to be boring at times. Maybe from episode 9 to 10 or 11, I just didn't enjoy a lot of it.

So in the end, Mob Psycho 100 continues to be a great show. I don't know if I would say I liked one season more than the other, they both have problems that the other does better. But even though I don't know if I would say that I liked the second season more, that isn't bad. Mob Psycho 100 is already one of my favorite anime shows of all time, and this only cements it as that.

Though, if there was one thing I would've wanted more of, it would be more episodes with Emi (was that her name) from episode 1. That moment in the end really teared me up and was the only time that happened. So every episode she was ignored, I was kind of. Though, that ended after maybe 5 episodes when I had completely given up

"I regret things every single day. So just be sure to thank them next time, and let's work hard to make sure "next time" happens" Subaru, My Roommate is a Cat, episode 9

Character development is something I value a lot when looking at a character. Whether a character becomes better or worse, it is always interesting to see how the story changes how a character sees the world. But from the shows I've watched, this doesn't seem to get a lot of attention. A character might change a little, become a better person or something like that, but very few shows make that change interesting and satisfying. And this is where 'My Roommate is a Cat' delivers.

'My Roommate is a Cat', made by 'Zero-G', the company behind shows like Grand Blue and Tsugumomo, and directed by Kaoru Suzuki, the producer behind 'Flying Witch' and 'Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon', is an adaptation of a manga by the same name by As Futatsuya and Tunami Minatuki. The show follows Subaru Mikazuki, a book writer who's mourning the death of his parents. One day Subaru finds a stray cat who follows him from his parents grave. And eventually, Subaru decides to keep her. The episodes usually are structured in two parts. The first half is usually of Subaru trying to write, but how the cat, who he later names Haru, gets in the way. The second half then centers around the cats and her thoughts, where we get context of what the cat is doing in the first half.

When I first started watching this show, I was not enjoying it at all. Subaru felt like a very bland protagonist. One I felt I had seen so much before. The cat half of the episodes were still pretty enjoyable, but it was not worth it. I was just not enjoying the show. So at the third episode, I was almost about to drop the show. But I got a feeling that I had to at least watch the whole episode before deciding whether I wanted to watch the show or not. And thank god I did. The episode spends most of its first half showing Haru jumping around the house. We don't see what Haru is jumping at, but it is revealed that she is seeing some sort of spiritual energy that is later revealed to be the ghost of Subaru's parents. Subaru is still haunted by his parents. But as he follows Haru around the house, she knocks down a few books which remind him of his parents. He gets a meltdown, and starts to cry on the floor, thinking about whether it was his fault or not that they died. This was the thing that changed my mind about the show. I wasn't crying or anything, but the thought-process was extremely realistic. I have probably seen that concept a couple of times, but the way that they wrote the scene was amazing. And this is where the titles comes into play. Cause Subaru realizes that he has ignored everyone around him and their feelings, and has just thought of what he feels. This is a turning-point in the character, where we see how Subaru starts to want to change what he is. We see how Subaru starts to do things that he wouldn't normally do, cause he wants to change and become a better person. He meets new friends, does meet-ups for his books and other social activities. It is extremely satisfying to see how Subaru is actively changing as a person throughout the show. Cause he feels like an actual person because of it. And that's why character development is so important. Cause it makes for realistic, interesting and immersive characters. It is one of the best character arcs I have seen in awhile. At the end of the scene, we see how the ghost of Subaru's parents disappear. Subaru is no longer haunted by his past. For the most part at least.

The best episode in the show is easily episode 9, where I took the quote at the top. This is where the structure of the show changes. In the episode, we start from Haru's perspective, where we see how Subaru leaves his home looking rather distressed. Haru experiences so many different emotions at once from this. Anger, sadness, anxiety. We still don't know where Subaru is, and we get a serious worry of what Subaru is doing and why he hasn't come home. We sympathize with Haru, cause we have the same relationship with him as Haru has. And after half of the episode, we finally see where Subaru is. At a meet-up with for his book. This is something we know subaru doesn't like, since he has shown his displeasure of it in the episode before it. He starts out the meet-up thinking that everyone would be disappointed by him. But he slowly realizes how much happiness he has given to people, how much he means to them. He realizes that he hasn't thanked any of the people, and starts to get anxious again. But right when that happens, his editor Kawase tells him how everyone makes mistakes, and that it is just about making sure you don't let that stop doing what you love. That is where the quote comes from. And while saying "don't give up" or "Everyone makes mistakes" is probably one of the most cliche lines you could write, the way it is written here makes it extremely good. And when the last fan leaves and Subaru realizes that he hasn't thanked her, he starts to get anxious again. But he remembers what Kawase told him, and he loudly says "Thank you so much".

And this is why I love this show. There is the really good, it's interesting style or it's funny cat parts. But this is what makes the show what it is. Showing the importance of the people around you could be very cliche, but this show manages to make it extremely immersive. In the last episode of the show, Subaru comes home late from a trip and tells his friend Hiroto to make sure Haru is alright. But since there's such a big storm outside, Hiroto couldn't close the door at Subaru's and Haru runs out.

Throughout most of the show, we have seen Subaru not enjoying the company of his friends. He finds them all annoying and an nuisance to his work. But in the last episode, Subaru and all of his friends get together to find Haru. And this ending was honestly amazing. Showing Subaru's development like this was honestly very emotional. It is one of the few shows/movies I would call inspiring.

'My Roommate is a Cat' is a show that doesn't look like anything great. It looks like a comedy show with some cute animation of a cat playing around. But the way this played with my expectations was honestly amazing. It is a show I would normally not watch. But now that I have, it was a pleasure for sure!

I have not read the light novel, so I will be discussing the anime by itself, and not compare it to its predecessor.

There are very shows I genuinely find to be truly interesting and immersive. Most shows might have some ideas that could be interesting. But they are generally underdeveloped or not developed at all. Or sometimes it might not even be the idea itself that is bad, but that everything around it make it forgettable. Like if the theme is conveyed through terrible dialogue or the music and visuals are distracting. But when I first started watching Boogiepop, I found it to be so extremely compelling that it is hard to explain. Whether it was the unusually good editing, direction or dialogue, something made it so memorable.

Boogiepop, made by madhouse and directed by Natsume Shingo, mainly follows Boogiepop, a reaper who appears in the world when it is in danger. We see them (Their gender is not known) fight numerous villains, but they are rarely ever the traditional sense of a villian. And while you would think that there would be a very action focused show, it really isn't. Although it has fight scenes (Which are kind of amazing, we really see Natsume's talent), the show focuses more on mystery and philosophy at points. Really, the best way to see if you would enjoy a show like this would be to watch the first episodes. It features the non-linear story that is prominent in the show, the mysterious and psychological music and the confusing narrative, something everyone might not enjoy. but I sure did.

The most interesting aspect of Boogiepop is it's direction by Natsume Shingo. It shares similarities with Natsume's earlier work, like One Punch Man and Space Dandy, especially with it's animation. It wasn't what I would usually call great animation. Most anime have pretty dull movement, but might have a few amazing sakuga moments here and there. But very rarely do I find animation that has interesting moments in it's least interesting concepts. If you look at someone in an anime falling down, walking or jumping, does it look interesting or realistic. For me at least, I find those movements to feel very choppy and forgettable. But when you look at a show directed by Natsume, there is a sense of life in the animation. The movements, the expressions, it all felt very alive. At points (Especially in episode 16) it felt like the animation was made by disney or any other high-budget company. When you have made me remember a series of frames where a policeman falls down, you know you have achieved something (this must sound very weird if you haven't seen the show. Or even if you have seen it...)

We also see another big name in this. Kensuke Ushio, Known for his composition for A Silent Voice, Devilman Crybaby and Liz and the Blue Bird, made a fantastic job with this one. I have always loved the style of music that he has made with this and A Silent Voice. The very edited and choppy feel conveys their respective tones extremely well. And even though the majority of the songs aren't something you would put on your spotify list, it works amazingly for not distracting you from what's going on visually. And a detail I loved was how the music was edited, like cutting the soundtrack to get a certain feeling. Kind of like how they did it in Your Name (You know what scene if you have scene that movie)



But while, like I said, I found the direction to be the best part, I have to mention the writing as well. The story has causes a lot of confusion in the community, i actually wasn't that distracted by the aforementioned non-linear story. You can tell when a scene or arc is supposed to take place through visual-cues and other factors. And when it didn't, it never took away from my enjoyment. And although there wasn't a real purpose of having the story presented in that way, I prefer intriguing storytelling without purpose over then bland storytelling. But, I do want to say that waiting for the show to finish was a good idea. I watched it both while it was airing and then I rewatched it (I watched it, and then i rewatched it so that I would watch the last arc when the last episode came out). And while, like I said, I didn't find the non-linear story to be confusing when watching it as it was airing, I found it to be overall a better experience when rewatching it.

I was particularly impressed by the dialogue. While it had moments of particularly awful exposition that felt very unnatural, the dialogue was one of the things that got me into the show. How the discussions they had felt very natural and interesting. It really fit with the tone that they presented everything. I also really liked the antagonists. Like I said before, a lot of the "enemies of the world" weren't the typical antagonists we usually see in these kinds of shows. While it definitely had some bland antagonists, some of them were extremely fascinating, and I think the first arc is a great example of this. In the first episode of Boogiepop, we follow Keiji Takeda who is the first person we see interact with boogiepop. The two of them meet on the top of the high school he goes to, and they have discussions about what boogiepops is, and what it's goals are. This is where we first hear about the synthetic humans that are a big part of the story. And as we continue the arc, we are led to believe that the man-eater, or otherwise known as the Manticore, is the aforementioned "enemy of the world". But in the end, we see how that isn't the case. But through Boogiepops subtle dialogue, we see how this isn't the case. That a completely different character, who we only see as the good guy was the enemy all along. And this is what I love about the series. While it never had an as interesting concept after this, I still found the quality of writing in the antagonists to be fairly consistent. All of them had striking motivations and goals.

I can go on and on about why I love the show so much, but in the end it is really the first episode that shows what I love about the show. A mix of great visuals, fantastic music and subtle dialogue.

Oh, and I just want to add one thing. The exposition in the third arc was kind of amazing. While I never found the story to be as great as everyone said, but the information that we are given in the arc is kind of amazing. Like why Boogiepop describes herself as a eerie bubble, why she said she was like a split personality or Suiko's "obsession" with the phrase "Sometimes it snows in April". I would've honestly been fine if they weren't explained, and were kept ambiguous. But the way they explained it in a subtle way was extremely impressive!

I have never really been a fan of the "magical girl genre" of shows. They have never really seemed interesting or enjoyable. But one of the few magical girl shows I have been able to watch is "Madoka Magica", one of the most popular in it's "genre".

Madoka has gotten a lot of praise, and I can see why. It really changes how the "genre" was seen in a unique way. Making a seemingly kid friendly show into a fairly dark thriller can be very interesting. It also never seemed like it ever tried to shock it's audience. I heard that the third episode was supposed to "change everything" but i found that the tone was kept pretty consistent over the whole show. Sure, it is pretty dark in the end compared to the first episode, but it was never jarring in the way I found re:zero to be. The tone slowly becomes darker and darker, but never too dark to make it feel "edgy". But while I can praise it for it's concept, especially for it's time, I can't say I enjoyed it as much as the general public seemed to.

While I found many aspects of the show to be fairly interesting, like how it comments on what it means to be human and how there isn't an objective good or evil, I can't say I enjoyed a big part of the show. The show was never consistent with it's quality in my opinion. I could be really interested and invested in one episode, and then be really bored in the next. I could never decide on what I thought of the show cause it would always change. And as a consequence to that, I found a lot of the story to be very forgettable. You can say how many deep themes or characters as you'd like, but the fact that I didn't find a lot of the show to be very enjoyable remains. It may change my thoughts next time I watch it (If I ever do) but it doesn't do anything about the enjoyment I already had (Or lack of it).

And I just want to mention the ending. At the last few episodes we learn that Homura, someone who has seemed very cold and unlikable, is revealed to have traveled back in time several times to change Madoka's fate of dying in the battle with Walpurgisnacht, a story of which we have seen several times but that I found fairly interesting anyway. But the consequence of making these new timelines just to save Madoka made it so that the whole universe centered around her. And in the end when Madoka becomes a magical girl, she becomes a god. While I found it interesting how making a timeline just for one person made the universe center around that person quite interesting, the moment Madoka became a god, she wasn't a character anymore. Madoka, an already pretty perfect person, becomes the ultimate perfect. She has no flaws, she isn't human and I can't relate to her in anyway anymore. So while it was interesting how she became more powerful the more timelines there were, making her a god made her a worse character in my opinion. Like I said, this could have to do with one of the themes. How there isn't an objective good or bad. That a good thing could become a bad thing (The whole concept of the magical girl in this universe is kind of a metaphor for this). Madoka destroys earth in the process of killing all witches (I think that happened at least, I was kind of distracted the whole time. Please tell me what actually happened if I was wrong) which shows that even though the wish of killing all present and past witches was good, it's consequence was bad. But they also never talk about it more than that. They never go into too much depth, of how it is impossible to be perfect, even though Madoka became a god. She is just a god, and is perfect and therefore her choice was good (Which is kind of was happens with christianity and other religions in some cases...).

In general, I found the show to be kind of forgettable. It was fairly enjoyable when I watched it, but I don't think I would ever rewatch the show if I don't have a good reason to. So yeah. I think I might give it a 7 or 6 out of 10. A 7 for now at least.

Hope I don't get put on blast for this...

Visuals: 9 Ok, the visuals were great! The style is great, all of Triggers shows have really good styles and this show isn't an exception. The animation succeeds in two different; it's probably the most visually funny. For example, in one of the episodes Ryoku is in a hurry and needs to transform as fast as possible (think it was the episode where Satsuki challenges the students and if they would lose they need to quit the school). And by just speeding her transformation animation just a little, they make it look like she's in a hurry and funny. I don't even know if that was supposed to be a joke, but that's one of the many visual gags. They also manage to REALLY make it look like all the powerful are really happening. How the "camera" shakes, the air shots away and if something gets an impact you really feel it. Whenever there's a scene in the past, color palette changes and I really like that color palette. I also really liked that whenever a text would come up (for example when someone puts on their Goku suit and they show the name of the suit) sometimes they would interact with them, but not too much so that it becomes fourth wall breaking. Both OP's had good animation, but the first one was more interesting IMO. There were also small things that I really liked, but it wasn't perfect.

My biggest con with the visuals was the sexuality. Some were fine, it was there and didn't distract me. But some were very weird. Ryokus and Satsukis transformations and suit, in general, were too sexual in my opinion. The buttons on Ryuukos suit even looked like nipples. The suits were just too ridiculous. And then there was Aikurou. I liked that he changed personality, but why did he randomly? It was very weird and distracting. I also didn't like the black bars on the sides when there was a flashback scene. I also didn't like how Ragyous hair was rainbow colored, there were some digital zooms that looked bad and sometimes they would repeat an action shot 5 times in a row which looked really weird.

Oh, and the action was really good too.

Music: 8 I really like the music. Some were fine, but they were mostly good. The first OP had a fine soundtrack, but the second one was really good IMO. My favorites were Ambiguous (OP 2), KIRYUG@KILL and Ad la Lib.

Plot/Script: 9 This was really good too. It was interesting, I really like Ryuukos relationship with Senketsu, Tsumugu's intent in the beginning isn't evil which makes him turning over to "her side" not feeling too weird, I like that the person wearing the suit can get too angry for the suit to handle (so it's good that it only happens once when Ryuuko meets her fathers killer the first time), I like that the academy was basically an experiment to see how humans could take the power life fibers, the plot twists were unpredictable (IMO), Ryuuko and Satsukis relationship in the end and Senketsus death was handled really well and emotional. But there were many small things I didn't like, like that they throw in Mako if anything bad happens to Ryuuko.

Characters: 8 They were mostly really good. I really like that when Satsuki becomes friends with Ryuuko and her gang, her personality doesn't change too much. But Mako wasn't funny, mostly when she did those blue background comedy scenes. She even did those in the middle of an emotional scene, which just ruined it! Ragyou also feels like a character I have felt a hundred times, otherwise, I liked her.

Overall: 9

Season 1:

If you haven't seen this anime and you want to go in spoiler-free then I have a simpler review without spoilers here:

The story was awful. Good backstories to the characters, but that was kind of it. The visuals were pretty good. Nothing great, but still good The music was very forgettable I really like the characters





Spoiler-filled part:

I'll start off with the visuals:

It was pretty good. I enjoyed the style and the animation was pretty good. Nothing great, but still pretty good.

Next, characters:

This was definitely my favorite part of the show. Most of the characters had a good backstory. But there were two characters I didn't like as much. Melodias, Elizabeth, and Hawk. I'll start off with Melodias, cause he's the one I liked the most out of the three. Melodias had some parts that I liked, but it wasn't enough. He was a pervert most of the show, which made him very unlikeable. He also felt very bland. He was another shounen (I don't know if it classifies as a shounen, but whatever) main character to me. Next, Elizabeth. She didn't have any effect on the story for the longest time, she was just there to be Meliodas play doll until the end where she actually does something. And then we have Hawk. She is probably the most annoying anime character I have ever seen. She didn't have any effect on the story, other than her making Meliodas not rape Elizabeth, and she was just annoying all the time. I was happy when she died for an episode, too bad she didn't.

Next, the music:

Very forgettable. I don't remember any of the songs. I know I liked one of the battle songs, but I already forgot it. Not terrible, just very forgettable.

Next, the story:

This was the thing that I liked the least. Not that I didn't like the plot as a whole. I liked the idea, the concept. But there were so many things in the story that were weird. Like King didn't get a reaction from seeing a friend that he murdered a hundred years before, Meliodas seemed to really care that the enemy took Elizabeth he didn't show any love for Elizabeth except sexual before that, why didn't ban try to kill Meliodas as fast as possible (he was going to kill Meliodas to get Elaine back from the dead) and so many more. Don't get me wrong, there were things that I liked. Like the humanity in some of the villains (but those who eventually switch side. The rest aren't presented as humans)and that Elizabeth has an effect on the story (in the end. Before that, she has no purpose than to be the subject of a joke) but it was very bad in my opinion.

So in the end, I didn't like this anime.

At first, this anime might seem like a stupid show with a bunch of fanservice so that all the fans can continue to watch it, and in some ways it is. But I was surprised how much heart this anime has. It explored subjects that you wouldn't expect in this show. Like if it 's worth spending time with someone if you know that the person will die long before you do. The friendships feel much more realistic because of that. Fafnir and Takiya weren't too friendly to each other which made their relationship realistic. And even though Kobayashi and Tohru's relation was much more friendly, it made sense with their characters. The shorter scenes also helped the story to feel more realistic. Cause not every action you do is going to affect the next.

But even though most of the characters felt very realistic, they all had character flaws, motivations, multisided and character development, there were two characters that I wasn't fond of. Those characters were Lucoa and Shouta. They both, at least in the middle, seemed to only have one purpose, being fanservice, which is something that I didn't like in this show. The reason for Shouta's existence is to be harassed by Lucoa, at least it felt like that to me. And it's a shame cause in the beginning and end, Lucoa was a pretty okay character. She wasn't just tits on two legs, but she actually had a personality, relative to Shouta who didn't.

Other than that, the rest was pretty great. The music (especially the OP and ED) was great, the artstyle was fantastic (except for some of the backgrounds) and in general, the show is one of the funniest out there (from what I have seen)

So to sum up this show, I would say that it is a funny show with great animation and a lot of heart. It's a 8/10 from me

The first time I saw the poster for this anime, I instantly wanted to watch it. The warm colors, the usual Kyoto animation style and the general direction they took looked really nice. And the show keeps the same quality. The warm colors aren't kept as much as I would have liked, but it still looked amazing. That was mainly why I wanted to watch the show, and you should too.

The animation is the only thing I found to be special. The music was pretty good and was definitely my second favorite part, but some of the songs were pretty forgettable. the characters were also pretty good, but still the usual anime cast. With the pervert, the cute one, the serious one, and the main character. But I liked these character more than I do for similar characters, cause they weren't very one-sided which made them more realistic. the story was definitely my least favorite part, not that it was bad, but pretty mediocre nonetheless.

The world was the thing I noticed at first. The story is about a world where there are invisible demons that can interact with the human world, and where certain people are born with powers that make them stronger and make them see the demons most people wouldn't see. Now aside from that, the world just like any other SoL anime, which doesn't really make any sense. Cause in my mind, society would change a lot from what it is now if demons could interact with us. You could think of so many interesting changes, but there really is none. That was something that bugged me for a while.

The second thing that bugged me was the first third of the show. The drama aspects were really boring and bland, and the episodes as a whole were confusing. A majority of the drama episodes are in the beginning, but we don't know enough about the characters that would make the episodes interesting.

The last third of the show was definitely my favorite part, cause they give characters more motivation, especially Mirai. The scene where they show us that her original task was to kill the beyond the boundary and why she rejects Akihito so much at the start, was really interesting but didn't feel forced in. And they explain it really well by showing the timeline. but sometimes the show tries to explain a little too much. things that could be explained with visuals.

That's something the show has a few problems with, the show doesn't tell formula. That's something that the antagonist has a lot of problems with. He explains his motivation when he could show it. That character is also the one that is the most boring in the show, cause he feels very unrealistic. He doesn't change over time, he doesn't have any good character traits and is just really boring overall.

So overall I would call this a beautiful show that has a lot of problems with story and characters 6/10 from me

In a way, Hyouka is about Oreki and his group of friend who solves mysteries together. How Oreki starts off very monotone and lazy and ends up being a lot more colorful. But the best way for me to describe it is a show about Orekis life which gets its life turned around by a curious who tries to understand people and herself, and how it affects his personality and life afterward. The reason why I'm reluctant to say anything about its mystery is because it isn't about that. The mysteries are there to make the characters form a bond, and then the characters do the rest. So in many ways, the series is a character-driven episodic show. Yes, it has mini-arcs, but most of the episodes are one-off mysteries that are used to develop the characters. So at the end of each mystery, the characters develop more and more and they get to learn more about themselves. Plus, if you're expecting a mystery show with a very complicated mystery, then you should change your expectations.

At the beginning of the show, we learn about Oreki and his view on life. "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick." is a quote that effects everything in his life. His personality, his choices and even how he talks. His dull and monotone personality, how he chooses to do as little as possible in whatever scenario as possible and the short dialogue he has is all because of this. And it's all shown in the first scene, where we see Oreki walking through a cheerful crowd, while he has all the shadow on himself, really sticking out of the crowd. Then we meet Orekis friend Satoshi, who's the contrast to Oreki (or so it might seem at the beginning). He has the normal friend personality. Cracking jokes, energetic and is the self-proclaimed database. This is something we see as being a big insecurity of his later, and it makes him very realistic.

When Orekis sister tells him that the classic literature club is empty, he decides to join it. But to his disarray, a girl by the name of Chitanda is standing by the window. This is where she is first presented, and it gives you a good idea of what kind of character she is. She could be seen as a moeblob, just there to be cute. But she's a lot deeper in many ways.

The reason for her extreme curiosity that is shown in the series a lot of times, is because of her urge to understand people. Her urge to get a new perspective on something. So the mysteries gives her them in an interesting way. And they also show her parts of her that she didn't know about.

She also feels stuck in a one-wayed road. Where whatever she does, she'll always end on the same place. I won't say where though.

The fourth character we get introduced to is Ibara. She doesn't show a lot of imperfections, in the beginning, being smart, kind and having a fun personality. But again, when we get to learn more about her, we see that she gets very emotional when talking about something she is passionate about. She's also very insecure about other peoples opinion on her.

Even though I said that the anime isn't really about what's happening with the story, but how the characters develop. But the mysteries featured in the show are still very interesting. It could be about the most mundane thing there is (like why a door was locked when nobody locked it) but they would make it interesting because the conclusions are always something that you didn't think of, but they didn't feel out-of-nowhere, so you could come up with the conclusion by yourself with the small hints that you don't notice. And the way they ended it all was perfect for me. It keeps the same tone and doesn't feel too out-of-character. And it makes some characters even better in my opinion

And something that complimented the story was the visuals and the music. The music, though not very memorable, it reflected the mysterious tone of the show and doesn't take too much focus from the story. That way you don't notice the music, but it helps you get the emotion that the scene is trying to convey. And the art, ahhhhhhh the art. Honestly, I saw two scenes that had animation that felt weird, the rest was fantastic. The character designs were almost all great (Chitanda's character design isn't bad, but looks like many other Kyoto animation characters. her design didn't feel as uniques as the other characters), the style looked very pretty and the way they use color is amazing. Like how they compliment Orekis development by having a lot of the colors to be very dark and bland in the beginning and become more vibrant as Oreki develop into a more colorful person.



In the end, this show might not be for you. The pacing is quite slow and if you don't concentrate on what's happening, then you won't understand the appeal of the show. But if it sounds like something for you, then go for it. Cause it was great!

"We'll grow up. And as the seasons rush past the flowers blooming along the roadside will change, too. I wonder... What were the names of the flowers that bloomed during that season? They trembled slightly in the breeze, felt little prickly to touch... and when you moved your nose close to them, they gave off the dress scent of sunlight. In time, that scent will fade. And we'll grow, But... I'm sure those flowers will continue to bloom somewhere. Yes. We'll go on... granting the wishes of those flowers forever."

Anohana is about a group of friends that get separated when a friend, by the name of Honma, dies and the trauma gets too much for them. We see how much they have changed over the years, and how it affects all the characters. But one day, Honmas ghost appears at Yadomis house, the main character. At first, he thinks that he is hallucinating, but he slowly realizes what is happening.

The first episode gives us a pretty good idea of what happened the day that Honma died, but it leaves things so that the characters find out more of what happened. So even though the first few minutes doesn't do a great job at setting up that Honma is dead and not just Yadomis annoying sister (at least for me), the rest was great.

As the show goes on, you get to learn more about the characters and their past. And because of that, none of the episodes feel unnecessary. Cause they either showed us something that would affect the show as it continued, or it hinted at something that would happen in a later episode. And that's something this show does really well. You might not see it first time watching. But if you rewatch it, then everything seems so planned. Like some of the animation that shows hidden feeling, that you see if you know what feelings the characters are hiding.

But something I was surprised at was how it handled the dramatic elements of the show. All the ways that the characters coped with their trauma, all felt very realistic. putting on a facade, not getting over the past and regret are all ways that the characters cope with their emotions, and it's presented very realistically. But my problem with it though is that most of them cope with the same thing. Regret. Sometimes it makes sense, cause it actually had a part in Honmas death, but some didn't. One of the characters was very emotional about wanting to send Honma to heaven so that she could accept his apology but he didn't do anything?! It got a bit annoying when everyone was competing about who's fault it was for Honmas death. Cause there has to be other ways to be affected by trauma other than feeling like it was your fault. Please educate me if I'm wrong, cause I'm interested.

My favorite scene in the movie was easily in episode 6 when Anjou comes back to school after what happened before. I don't want to say what happened, but I'll try to explain why I loved it. When Anjou comes into the classroom, you can see how the classroom starts talking about her when she comes in. And when you see her sit down and you hear everyone whispering about it, it really feels like torture. So when Yadomi stands up for her to take that attention to him, it really made me happy. It made Yadomis and Anjou's relationship feel more realistic.

And then we get to the ending, which is what got me to watch the show. I had heard so much praise about the ending. Hearing that it was one of the saddest endings in anime made me curious. And even though I liked it, it was pretty disappointing. This is where I'm going to talk about some spoilers. So here's your warning!

I didn't get why everyone loved Honma so much. She wasn't very interesting. She just felt like the cliche cute little sister. She wasn't a terrible character by no means, but I didn't get why both Yadomi and Atsumu were in love with her when Anjou and Chiriko were both much more interesting. So when everyone started crying in the end, it just felt too melodramatic.

There were, of course, other things I liked and disliked. Like the music that set the tone very well, the sometimes bad character animation (mainly when seeing the characters from a distance. It kind of looked rushed. Otherwise it was really good), and some inconsistencies in the story. But they weren't as important to me as the things I have already said.

So if you haven't watched Anohana yet, I would highly recommend it! 7/10

Ever since I started watching anime, it has almost always felt a little different to hollywood movies. It may have been the themes, the execution, or maybe just the concepts. But seeing this anime might have given me an answer. At least in the horror genre (I don't know if steins;gate would be in the horror genre, ut anyway)

This review will contain spoilers for the anime (and maybe re:zero), so please proceed with cautions.

Let's compare steins;gate to a show that was very similar. That being Re:zero. If you have seen re:zero and steins;gate, you know how similar they are. Yes, there are different themes and characters. But the general story was pretty similar in my opinon. But the biggest difference I saw between the story of steins;gate and re:zero was how it handeled the horror aspects. We get to see how the main characters get to experience very traumatic events over and over again. But where steins;gates horror comes kind of naturally, it felt like re:zero felt the need to have shock factor be a part of the horror. You wouldn't expect horror themes in a cute video game world where there are cute girls and you get to save the world. So when you see those horrific scenes, you get shocked. Now, I'm not saying that re:zero is a bad anime. It wasn't great, but pretty good in my opinion. But it's a good example of how animes (that I have seen) usually show horror. But when I saw Steins;gate, it really reminded me of how many western horror movies use horror. At least good ones. Another thing it reminded me of was how alien set up the movie. Both alien and steins;gate have very long set ups. Steins;gate has 12 episodes of (some would say) boring set up. Alien also has a lot of time to set up the characters and the story. So even though their stories are very different, you can see many similarities.

Though, there were things I felt like would have been interesting to see in the story. They touch on the subject of the morality of going back in time, but I would have liked to see it more. Cause Okarin (the main character) goes back in time so many times, and at one point it feels a little wrong. Is it really right to change what was supposed to happen. But the only time they adress this is with one single dialogue that doesn't change the story at all. But please, educate me if you disagree. Some of the dialogue also felt a little cheap. telling the audiance things that could be told more subtely. The first episode had this problem the most in my opinion. So even though most of the dialogue was very good, the bad ones stick with me easier.

But my favorite part of the show was probably the characters. Most of the characters felt very realistic, likeable and interesting. They all react differently to the horrific events of the story, which was interesting. Though, a few of the characters felt mostly like jokes or very extreme. Daru felt like a one-sided otaku with no life at all. His personality wasn't very interesting either.

So to me, this show was an 8 to me

These are very short since the show will most likely have a lot of seasons. IMDB reviews can't have too many words, which is kind of dumb

Season 1: Has some great music and animation, but it struggled with it's characters. They were fun and had some cool powers, but I never attached myself to any of them.

Season 2: This is clearly the best season (As of 2018). They develop the characters so that they become A LOT better than they used to be. The story is probably the most memorable this season. It's tournement arc is used to great effect, and the second arc showcases a much more realistic portrayal of the villians (The other villians don't have that much development)

Season 3: It keeps up it's quality. Though, the story isn't nearly as interesting or memorable as the second season. It is better than the first season, but not near the quality of season 2

I have never really been a fan of comedy in anime. For the most part, it's slapstick and funny moments. Both of which, I'm not really a fan of. Of course, there have been animes that I have found funny. But compared to youtubers or western tv-shows, it's not close. Maybe it's unfair to compare anime with two "different genres", but that's just how it is.

But when I saw that Mother's basement made a video about Hinamatsuri and called it the funniest anime of the year, I was intrigued. So after watching the fourth season of Bojack Horseman, which was probably the darkest season of the show, I wanted something more light-hearted and funny. So Hinamatsuri was a definite watch.

Something I immediately recognized was how unusually funny it was. It wasn't the funniest show I had watched, far from it actually. But like I said, anime comedies don't usually give me more than a chuckle. So when this show had a pretty good amount of laughs and chuckles, I knew it was special. Maybe it was the direction they went with the extremely emotional faces or the generally absurd humor. But it was definitely special.

And similarly to another comedy anime, miss Kobayashi's dragon maid, I was surprised by the depth the show had. And there was one particular character that helped me come to that conclusion.

Anzu is introduced in the second episode of the show and is shown to be very loud and aggressive. We later learn that she is there to challenge Hina, the main character. She is basically a normal rival character. but after a few episodes, she meets a homeless man. He teaches her how to earn money and gives her a community to be with. This changes Anzu's character completely. Her new ethics make her much more of an interesting character and looks like a completely new character by the end. And the conclusion of her character arc was very satisfying. I don't want to spoil too much, but trust me. She is definitely y favorite character in the show. Sadly, this was the only character that had this much of a depth. but it doesn't mean that every other character is bad. Quite the opposite actually.

I could talk about the story and every other aspect a show has. but to me, the characters and the humor is what you should watch it for. Cause the rest is not as good. I didn't find the music to be great, but still enjoyable, the art is pretty good and the plot points that happen are interesting.

At the end of the day, it is another great comedy anime with a lot of heart, 8/10

On 31th of October, in 2017, Super Eyepatch Wolf made a video called "Why you should watch Paranoia agent". In the video, as expected, John (His real name) talks about why he enjoyed the show. And when I watched it, I hadn't really looked into it. I had probably heard the name, but it wasn't as popular as a talking point as other popular shows. But after watching his video, I was really intrigued. It seemed like an interesting show

So after a few months, I watched it. And here's my experience:

Something I noticed from the first few episodes was how ominous the tone was, even though nothing really scary was happening. Sure, "scary" things happen. But without the direction of Satoshi Kon, it would not have been nearly the same. The animation and sound design is really unique to Kon, and you can really tell. The almost Disney like animation really worked for him and feels very unique. If another director made it, then I think many parts of the subtle animation and sound effects that really made it what it was, would be gone

I also found the story to be very interesting, and probably my favorite. Cause even though I'm usually more of a fan of character-focused shows, this worked for the show better than what a character story would IMO. Cause the way that they focus on different characters for every episode, it subtlely shows more and more about "Shounen Bat".

I don't have much more to say, and I don't want to make it longer just for the sake of it. So I'm pretty much done here.

I would give the show a 9- for it's fantastic, really good animation and eerie sound design.

I haven't seen many movies/shows about war and it's effects. I find that many become too dramatic, to the point where it isn't believable anymore. But after watching this, I might give it another shot.

Violet Evergarden, ex-soldier, comes back to normal society after her need in the military is gone. She comes back and get's to work under founder of CH postal company, and we quickly learn how her individuality has been destroyed. She can only take orders and her personality is like a robot. In the same workspace, she learns about another job called Auto Memory Doll, who's job is to write letters for other people (at the time, writing was rare in people). When she hears how one of the dolls talks about "love", she becomes interested in working with them. She wants to learn what the word "love" means.

So that's a basic synopsis, and I really liked how they used it to develop the characters. How Violets clients slowly make her realize the effects that the way had on her. So as you might expect, the show deals a lot with PTSD (I think). It isn't the only theme of the movie, but multiple characters are said to "be on fire" and have scars from the war. So if you don't deal with that too good, then I wouldn't recommend this. Cause they show how Violets feels undeserving of life because of the blood she has on her hands.

But what really stuck out to me was the technical aspects of the show. The animation was incredible. It was like a silent voice, but this was 7,5 hours instead of 2. The music was also really good. It fit with the tone and timeframe of the show really well. The individual soundtracks weren't super memorable, except a few maybe. But with the story and animation, it was really great.

Unfortunately, the characters were probably my least favorite aspect. I really liked Violet, but the rest were pretty forgettable (for the most part). They didn't really develop a lot of characters, except Violet. A lot of characters felt very "cardboardie". And it was to the point where I liked the characters who were only in one episode, more than the recurring once. But overall, I still liked the characters. They were pretty good.

9/10 probably AOTY for me

The story of how I started watching anime is long, but a part of it was the anime awards this year. I was watching ProZD and saw that he had uploaded a video where he discussed the nominees of the award. It was there where I got introduced to many animes, like Little witch academia (My first and one of my favorite anime of all time). When the winners were announced, I was a little disappointed. No winners for LWA, come on. But I saw that made in abyss won and knew that I had to watch it. If it won, it must have been great. And it was, but I'm still a little disappointed. Here, I'll tell you why:

The best way to immerse the viewer, in my opinion, is to make the world interesting and to make the characters fit in. A few examples of this would be Bladerunner, Little witch academia, the lobster. They all feel real, cause the worlds to feel real.

And while I found the world of "Made in Abyss" to be extremely well, with the backgrounds, creatures, and music all fitting super well with the surroundings, I wasn't nearly as interested in the characters until very late in the show. Most of my enjoyment, in the beginning, was looking at the backgrounds, the creatures and seeing references to the theme of the movie (Which I'll talk about later) But I can't look at that for so long until I realize that I don't care about the characters and their motivations yet. I found the first two-thirds of the show to be very boring, especially when rewatching. I didn't get why any of the characters were doing what the what they were doing, and why it would all matter.

But then came the last four episodes. The tone was changed. But it didn't feel like the show was any different, to be honest. It just used information that we knew about and used it. We get new characters, that are probably the most interesting ones. We get more story building and backstory, which I really enjoyed. Compared to the earlier episodes, this was magnificent. And that's when the theme of the show became a lot clearer to me. Themes will always be different to everyone. But to me, the show was about what it means to be human. Or more importantly, what it means to not be human. And I found that established characters got a lot of needed development, which I really. That ending really saved the anime for me!

It isn't my favorite anime of 2017. But it sure is close, definitely in the top 5 (Though, I haven't seen many animes of 2017, so that doesn't say much...)

Before watching Zombieland Saga, I had never watched an idol anime. It's not that I had anything against the concept of the "genre", I just didn't have an interest in watching any of the few shows I knew of.

But when I looked at the anime of this season, I saw Zombieland Saga. And I had seen a clip of the first scene of the internet, so I knew what kind of show it was. And I decided that I was going to watch it.

The basic plot of the anime is that Koutarou revives 7 girls, who he gives the mission to save SAGA. They're basically zombie idols. And something I found very interesting was how important it was for the plot that the girls were zombies. Cause a major theme of the show was how idols have to hide their personality and relationships to be successful as an idol. It is pretty disgusting, to be honest, and I appreciate how this is the first anime I have heard of that tackles the issue. Cause the zombie literally have to paint over their skin to not scare the public. The only difference is that it makes sense for them to do that since the public would logically try to kill them.

But yeah it would have been easy for the creators to make them zombies so that it sticks out of the crowd just a little. But they thought of it a little more and made something great.

Something I didn't say in my synopsis is the "era difference" of the girls. Yuugiri, one of the main characters, dies in 1880, while Sakura dies in 2008. And the time difference shows a lot. You can see the different styles that the girls sing in reflect "idols" of the time. Again, they could have gone with it easy and just make them look their age. But they took time to make it a little more interesting.

So yeah. If you want to see a show that tackles issues that idols have, or just talks about idols realistically. Then this is the show for you.

weak 9/10, 3rd favorite of the year ATM