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Apr 18, 2022
At first I felt this anime was the definition of "almost". It could have been great but many subcategories lack in critical ways that makes it fall off, ending up as simply "alright" overall. As the story progressed it started to feel like somebody wrote this story to appease their fetishes.
Story: 4/10
Some people might wonder why this story feels so weird to watch, and some may even think "I can't tell if this show is good or bad". However, if you are somebody that's familiar with JRPG games, this story format might feel incredibly familiar. Essentially, the entirety of the story appears to follow a
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JRPG story structure.
The reason you can't tell whether the story's good or bad is probably because the story SHOULD BE very good, except the actual way they're telling the story isn't a good format for the anime genre. They're using a JRPG "show don't tell" format, where only the most basic information is being conveyed while everything else is meant to be extrapolated from the fast-paced visuals and character interactions.
That format is something like:
1. Setting/Mood establishment through an opening cutscene
2. Introduction of main character
3. Introduction of main character's personality through event(s)/quest(s)
4. introduction of essential character(s)
5. Introduction of essential character(s) personalities through event(s)/quest(s)
6. Quests that make the hero grow while building relationships
7. While on these quests there are "mobs/monsters" and there might be introduction to side characters and villains that may help or impede the quest for reasons explained down the road to give hints into a greater plot.
8. Fight a boss to unlock new realizations, friendships, and/or resolve some internal conflict.
So on so forth, all which is meant to support a player's GAMEPLAY experience.
This is usually a great format... for GAMES... since much of the game's entertainment value comes from actual gameplay, and you can often walk around the world to see background information for yourself. However, this is an ANIME and so the best way to make up for the gameplay would have been with outstanding art/action and complex character personalities--- which is only somewhat the case here.
So that brings us to the main point of this segment, "Is the story good or bad?"
Some parts of the story are exceptional, but the story progresses and becomes pretty bad overall because the characters are shallow, the dialogue is shallow, and the way the the story's being told isn't a great structure for anime.
For example, the setting's great so far, the dystopian world is unique and you can feel that there's a story happening in the world beyond what's being shown, the characters each bring some form of value to the overall story's dynamic, and each episode thus far has served to enhance BRS's understanding of the current world while giving some insight into the state of the world. HOWEVER, the story is incredibly shallow in terms of actual characterization, character interactions, and plot elements.
One thing I do like about the story is that the episodes are meant to convey concepts simple concepts like: "who am I?" "I want to save people." "Where should I go?" "you can't save everybody". However, that simplicity is something that's very difficult to pull off well, and they didn't do it well.
Art: 7/10
The art direction is great, you can see some great angles and shots in the anime and they did a great job for what the studio has produced in the past. However, the actual art and animation is incredibly iffy at times. Character designs are fantastic (Looks like we have Huke, designer of BRS, Stein;Gate, and Kiara from hololive to thanks for that), with each character giving off a unique "vibe". However, there are also a lot of 3D elements. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, but I know that a lot of anime fans don't like 3D. If I had to guess what's happening behind the scenes, the director might have had great input, but perhaps without great animators or perhaps without a higher animation budget to create what was envisioned, the art didn't reach its true potential.
Character: 6/10
Interesting/unique superficially but incredibly hollow in terms of depth. The main characters give off unique vibes but it feels like there's no depth to any of the characters, which is probably the main reason the story format isn't working well.
Enjoyment:5/10
As a writer, I can see what they were trying to do with the story and it allows me to fill in details that are lacking, but you would probably find this show to be boring if you can't fill in those details. When the story started becoming more fetishy, I started losing interest
Overall/TLDR: 6/10
This installment of BRS is "almost" a great show, but it is lacking in a bunch of key areas, which makes it simply "alright" overall. The setting is great, characters are unique visually with interesting personalities superficially, and the storytelling method is somewhat unique for the anime genre (it's been done before, but it's not common). However, the dialogue is shallow, the characters have no depth beyond their superficial personality, and because nothing is being explained it feels like everything is a string of random events... so far... (the series is still ongoing so this might change)
It's also... oddly sexual...?
Do I recommend it to you?
If you like BRS, action, JRPG games, yes.
If you like story elements, definitely not.
Feel free to send me your thoughts/let me know if you agree/disagree!
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 19, 2021
Operation Desert Pasta.
It was not a choice, it was a necessity.
Stationed in the desert to rout their enemy and cut off their supplies, the 203rd battalion is running low on food, water, and spices--- they must conserve what little supplies they have left. Meanwhile, the top brass complains about their agonizingly bland food and recognizes the true need to ship some supplies to the main lines to boost the battalion's morale. There was only one problem with their sentiment, the "supplies" shipped weren't at all what the 203rd battalion needed!
There was only Dry Pasta.
Tanya and the 203rd battalion recognize there's only one
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way to rectify this botched resupply. The 203rd battalion must execute "Operation Desert Pasta" and resupply from their enemies.
The result is a lighthearted comic relief episode in the Youjo Senki series!
The animation and art are as high quality as the main series. The animation and action were awesome for a short special.
Overall, this special was an enjoyable side story since we see the characters being more casual and relaxed than in the main series. There were no high stake missions, but you did get to see a couple of moments of awesome action~
Definitely recommend it if you're a fan of the series!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 24, 2020
(TL;DR at the end)
After five full years, Oregairu season three is the long awaited climax of this fantastic series! It’s amazing to see how far Hachiman (best boy) and friends have come from their awkward first encounters. Hachiman’s grown an incredible amount from the way he used to over complicated situations to his own detriment in order to achieve the desired outcome. As sad as it may be, we are finally given a conclusion to the situations that were prevalent between him, the main girls, and their families who happen to also be his closest friends.
“Realism is just mild pessimism.” ― Psychology
Oregairu shows us how
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one who accepts and embraces life as “being terrible” lives his life. Hachiman has become something of a spirit animal for many people in the anime community by always staying true to himself through saying excessively cynical and pessimistic things with confidence. Part of what makes him special is that his “hot takes” on life tend to be eerily accurate. For example,
“Everyone is a slave to their past. No matter how much you wish to move forward, the events of last year will bear down on you like the light of the stars as soon as you glance up. Unable to laugh or to banish your past, you carry it ceaselessly in a corner of your heart, waiting for it to resurrect at an inopportune moment.” ― Hikigaya Hachiman
“If to be truthful is to be cruel, then lying must surely be an act of kindness. And so, kindness is a lie.”― Hikigaya Hachiman
Those statements are pretty “Yikes,” but it’s exactly these excessively pessimistic worldviews and the resulting awkward interactions that make for an entertaining contrast to what romance, comedy, slice of life anime tend to be. Without giving too much away, the characters display an incredible amount of growth this season continuing where the last season left off as they're forced to confront their flaws, relationships, and future. The interactions between the characters created an incredibly endearing and memorable experience. With tensions and emotions running high this season.
The story was really good, the character interactions were lovable, the story was good but a lot of the drama that happened seemed to be a bit forced through weird explanations by adult figures, like "codependency" as being what was happening in the relationships of these high schoolers. Sometimes I thought the characters took things a little too seriously for people who were teenagers using deep words to describe something that was an entirely natural thing to happen between friends. Although I enjoyed the story, many of the tensions present in the series were created as a result of forced personality flaws.
While the characters all bring a certain aspect to the series, Hachiman’s personality is the main thing that carries this series. Most of the other characters fall into some form of archetypes.
For me, none of the OSTs in the show were particularly memorable. The voice acting was fantastic, like always, but it made up for it with better animation with great lighting, but there was nothing particularly jaw dropping about it.
All things considered, I had a great time watching this series because of its endearing cast and awkward interactions. The fact that it has an actual conclusion is great! The complexities of relationships and growing up made for even more entertainment, but I wasn’t really left with any long-lasting impact from this show. Therefore, I give this series an eight for enjoyment
Overall (TL;DR)
Story: 8 - Good, but not profound. Forced drama
Character: 8 - Hachiman carries the series, the rest are archetypes
Sound: 7 - Unmemorable OSTs, great voice acting
Animation: 8 - Really good art and animation, but not particularly amazing. Great lighting.
Enjoyment: 8 - It was a fun experience, but I don't think it'll stick with me for that long.
Should you watch it?
If you haven’t seen the first two seasons, you cannot watch this season by itself. This season is the climax of a three part series
If you’re looking for a dramatic slice of life, comedy, with realistic elements you’re in the right place.
If you like incredibly comedic, cynical main characters with high abilities to get things accomplished, you’re in the right place.
Hope this review helps you make your decision! Let me know if you agree by clicking "helpful," or if you disagree let's talk about it~
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 30, 2019
Note: this is not a review of the entire series, but these 6 episodes only. You can find my opinion of the first season on the first season's series page.
Having reviewed the first season, I was glad when I coincidentally saw the new season released today on Netflix and binged all of it this morning. This Netflix release had me a bit confused at first since it doesn’t continue right where the second series ends. Instead, the story follows Saiki, once more, as he engages in his daily living with unexpected comedic events. I felt the comedic punchlines were not nearly as good as they
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were in the first two seasons.
For those unclear about the chronology of this series:
1. Season 1 & 2,
2. Shidou-hen episodes 1-5
3. Kenketsu Hen
4. Shidou-hen episode 6
Story/Comedy: 6/10
As much as I enjoyed the first two seasons, giving them a 10 and 9 respectively, the story and comedy in this season were not as entertaining as the first two seasons' story and comedy. Instead of coming up with new material, they often chose to revisit old jokes which were funny the first time around but got stale through repetition.
On the bright side, new characters are introduced and they present a new set of challenges. However, these new characters did not bring a lot of new comedic value to the show and it felt more like the writer(s) just wanted to add a new character and didn't know what kind so they just added these two. The show still has its signature “multiple stories per episode” format, often jumping from one story aspect and continuing it in a later episode which is great. Overall, this season’s story and comedy was alright, but I only laughed maybe about four or five times throughout the entire 6 episodes. The end of the series was incredibly satisfying.
Character: 7/10
We don’t get much new character development this season. The show reuses the same gags for the old characters as have been present for quite some time but introduces two new characters. One of the characters is a student and presented some funny moments, whereas the other was a teacher and a bit of a weird choice. I won’t go into the specifics of each but overall I’d say the characters were still pretty good.
Art: 6/10
The art and animation have never been the greatest and appears to be comparable to the first two seasons, with a simple art style and nonfluid animation. It works for this show since it’s a gag/comedy anime.
Sounds: 7/10
They cut out the opening theme altogether in this season. Instead, they replaced it with a 5-second singing clip. There was at least one interesting new OST, but overall it’s about the same soundtrack. Voice acting was about the same. It doesn’t seem like they went "all out" with the sound effects this time around.
Enjoyment: 7/10
It was pretty entertaining to watch, but I was hoping for more entering this season, quite honestly. Hopefully, they’ll pick up the momentum in any future releases depending on the number of people watching it this season.
Overall/TLDR: 7/10
The story follows Saiki as he continues to struggle with being a psychic and having “unwanted” people around him all of the time. In the end, we get a bit more character development of Saiki. Additionally, we get to see all of the main characters from the original series as well as the introduction of new characters. However, this season did not deliver as well as the first two seasons did, and consequently I didn't enjoy it as much either. I would still recommend this season to you if you enjoyed the first two seasons, but if you’re new to the Saiki Kusuo franchise, it is much better to watch the first two seasons first since there are plot aspects of this season that you would not appreciate as much if you hadn’t watched the first two seasons.
Should you watch this series?
If you watched the first two seasons of this series, then OF COURSE!
If you’re looking for a comedy series, then start with the first season?
If you’re looking for a sci-fi, then ehh it’s not THAT sci-fi related but you can give it a shot.
If you’re looking for a serious, complex, and/or linear plot with an end-goal, then you’re definitely in the wrong place buddy.
This series was too great! You should watch it if you haven’t heard of it before!
If you thought this review helped you make your decision please let me know by clicking the “helpful” button~ If you thought it was wrong or inaccurate, let me know why so I can improve my reviews in the future ^^
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 16, 2019
The long awaited sequel to the Youjo Senki series, this movie brings in a new character and antagonist to light. Once again, our sociopathic salaryman loli finds herself in a complex predicament reminiscent of our world’s historical world wars, facing the interference of being x at the worst possible times. Like the original series, Tanya’s squad 203 sets out to face enemies that appears impossible to win against, according to their political and strategic heads, and the battles are reflective of the nature of difficulty.
In this movie, we are shown a more emotional side of Tanya. There are some scenes in the movie where she
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even has “human” moments, which is a stark contrast to her original series presentation. You can look forward to some subtle times of hesitation on the battlefield for reasons you’ll have to watch the movie to find out about. If you watch carefully, you may even notice some moments of increased leniency towards her men. This movie seems to prepare for a new season where the anime begins to dissect her as a character. For some reason, Tanya also makes a ton of communist jokes throughout the movie, which made the people in my theater laugh a lot. (Something tells me the plot's writer really dislikes communists)
The graphics were pretty much the same as the original series graphics with no real addition in quality that I noticed. Like I said in my original review of the series, they’re pretty good overall and I’d give them an 8/10.
The only difference between the characters in the series and the characters in the movie is the new main antagonist who appears to be what the next season will focus on.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie and would definitely recommend it to anybody who enjoyed the first season. This is not a recap and is all fresh material, so you will need to watch the original series in order to understand what is happening in this movie.
Watch it!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 28, 2017
So MAL adds 41-second promotional videos to the website? That's kind of weird, in my opinion, but this is from one of my favorite series so couldn't miss the opportunity to write a Top Quality review!
Story: 3/10
All you get from the promotional video is that some girl is missing and happens to be the MCs precious imouto (little sister) and that somehow a new hope was born. You don't really get any of the game's information from the promotional video, but it's basically what I assume to be a money grab side story of the main story that you can play on your mobile
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device. It seems to feature a new set of main characters, but it seems possible to get/play the old chars in the game.
The game has only been released in Japan at the current moment. The developers made it so you would need to have a Japanese google account in order to download it from the google play store (not familiar with iOS, sorry). It will supposedly not work unless you've downloaded it from google play.
Character:?/10
You don't really get any of the new characters' info from the promotional video. The cast looks a lot less appealing and more generic than the original cast.
Art: Shaft/10
Sounds: 8/10
Voices seem done very well. Music is very good.
Enjoyment: I mean, it was interesting... I guess...?
Overall: 5/10
Seems like a pretty average promotional video with shaft graphics. I'll probably check out the game just to see what the side story is about, but you might have a bit of trouble if you can't understand Japanese.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 24, 2017
From James Bond to the Bourne Identity and John Wick, there is always a point in one's life when we've been intrigued by the mysterious, meticulous, and romantic nature of the cinematic spy. However, anime writers always have a way of answering the questions that nobody ever asks---
“What if spies, like James Bond, were replaced with… lolis?”
"Thrilling."
In an unusual twist, they created this interesting anime, where a wide array of political spying and assassinating ends up being left in the hands of a group of young schoolgirls (most of whom, actually have legitimate spy training.) If you were expecting a kiddy girl slice of
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life drama, you will not find that here. This is a rather well-thought-out spy series that happens to have young girls as the protagonists.
Story: 7/10
One of the great things about this story is how unusual it is for the anime genre. Princess Principal take you on a journey with unusual young girls as they conduct espionage, all types of spy work, and even engage in assassinations. Under the guise of being students, these young spies are given orders by their superiors that must be completed at all costs, including one’s own life. It features a wide array of character personalities, most of whom are unique. The political climate is unique at this point of the story, as it is a sci-fi enhanced version of 19th-century England. In this setting, steam and coal often powered various mechanical devices. The queen of the nation, who is also a loli and a friend of the spies, is more of a figurehead than a person with actual power and various factions are in the process of deciding whether to either help or dispose of her.
How will the girls carry out these difficult missions?
What, if anything, will happen to the queen?
Which factions will align themselves with who?
What would happen if they are given an order that they can’t or don’t want to complete?
Find out by watching the show~
The story initially presents itself as episodic, as most anime spy shows do. The pacing is pretty good, but there is nothing that really felt profound about this series. The storytelling is very good, but it is still relatively bland and lacking profound qualities. Overall I think the story is pretty good and deserves a 7/10.
Characters: 7/10
Overall, the characters are unique, but not too unique. They loosely fit some of the popular archetypes in anime. Their background stories were relatively interesting but they weren’t characters that were extremely memorable for any particular reason. I feel if the series had another 12 episodes, they may have been able to create a more memorable series through the characters.
The most interesting character in this series is undoubtedly Ange, and she is the character that the anime mainly follows. She’s a weird girl who talks in a monotone but likes to tell jokes and lies. For example, her most told joke/lie is “I’m from the Black Lizard Planet”. She’s a very skilled spy and performs amazing feats.
Chise is a girl skilled at various ways of fighting and swordsmanship. Her personality is very samurai-like.
The Queen is a typical queen. She knows many things and is skilled at being nobility, but she also has quite the daring side to her as well.
There is also the young adult, who uses her charms to seduce men and the queen’s assistant.
Art: 8/10
The art fits and enhanced the setting very well. The characters were designed well, the animation was fluid, special effects were great as well. I think they did a pretty good job overall and have no complaints in this category. The backgrounds aren’t as detailed as some more ridiculously detailed series, but they are still great backgrounds overall. There is also nothing particularly unique about the art.
Sound: 8/10
The background OSTs come from the legendary Yuki Kajiura, my favorite composer. She’s known in the anime community for her works on the music of SAO, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, .hack, Tsubasa Reservoir and many other popular titles. I’ve never heard her do Jazz before, but the music is really good. Voice acting is great, special effects are all great.
Entertainment: 7.5/10
I was very entertained by the uniqueness of the series and the fact that there were young girls doing espionage and spy work LOL. I’ve never seen anything like this and it was a worthwhile experience. I can’t say that I was very excited for each additional episode, but it was pretty interesting.
Overall: 7.5/10
This series was definitely something that I could see myself recommending to some people. The good art and story kept my interest the entire series. There wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to me or was extremely memorable, but it was still something that I don’t regret watching.
Should you watch it?
If you’re interested in young girls being spies, like action, young girls, spies, 19th-century London, I would give it a shot.
If you’re looking for a slice of life or yuri series, you’re in the wrong place.
Hope this helps you make your decision, let me know if you agree by clicking “helpful~” thanks~
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 20, 2017
In a world where students wear stripper-like uniforms:
One man--- a “bastard” of a teacher--- is called upon by a powerful and beautiful mage to teach those young stripper students the fundamentals of magic theory. ---Although in reality the powerful mage was just trying to get his lazy, isolated, moochingass out of the house.
Thus, the story begins…
Story: 7/10
At first the main character, Glen Radars, appears to be a generic all-powerful MC at first, BUT WAIT! Is he really...? This anime has a knack for throwing in (kind of) unexpected plot twists for comedic purposes. Glen Radars has more depth to him than meets the eye.
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The story follows him and his interactions with his students as he builds his pseudoharem--- wait what? What I meant to say was, “the story (supposedly) follows him as he builds a relationship with his students and helps them reach their full potential through his unconventional teaching methods”. However, you never know when tragedy might strike in this magical world, because there is always a hidden air of danger lurking in the shadows. Who is Glen Radars? Who are the students, really? Does any of that really matter? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this series.
Reading the previous paragraph may make you believe that show is relatively serious, but, while it does have some pretty serious aspects, the bulk of the show is more focused on comedy and magic. Some of this anime’s main selling points are largely related to its unexpected comedy. Often times this comedy happens between Glen Radars and the white haired girl, Sistine Fibel. It was a bit refreshing to see a pseudoharem rather than a real harem, which has overplayed over the past few years. Each of the main character students have their own hopes, dreams, and issues. Their issues are revealed more as the series progresses, and I believe that they were revealed at the proper pace. If you are not a fan of harem anime, you most likely won’t like this anime.
Characters: 5/10
The characters are probably the weakest aspect of this show. Generic archetypal side characters, generic main characters, the only real exceptions are Glen Radars and perhaps ReEl, who also happened to be my fav char in this anime. Sistine is presented as a very intelligent, dedicated student who will not stand for any teacher that disrespects magic and her right to learn. However, Gled Radars, being the lazy bastard that earned this anime its title, will not be broken so easily and forced to teach stripper students. The clashes between their personalities creates an interesting dynamic as the series progresses. Rumia Tingel is basically of your generic warm character that isn’t clumsy. ReEl comes off as kind of odd/aloof and ends up being all types of annoying/interesting in my opinion, but I’ll leave that up to decide after you watch because I can’t include any more information without spoilers~
Art: 5/10
The art in this anime is very basic. In comparison to more recent anime, the characters do not have a wide variety of facial expressions, the backgrounds aren’t too detailed, and the special effects aren't exactly the greatest either. The art is pretty average for a professional studio. Still frames, few dramatic camera angles, relatively low frame-rate. The art is really nothing special. However, the character designs may be appealing to a lot of guys. Especially so if you like garter belts, crop tops, and mini skirts. Other than that there’s really not much special about the art.
Sound:6/10
The music sounds like music that you would hear in the background of old TV advertisements, you know the ones that go, “But wait… THERE’S MORE! If you call now, we’ll DOUBLE the offer.” Yeah. It’s a bit of a change from most other anime out there and it’s kinda interesting. The characters were voiced pretty well. Though there wasn’t really anything too special about the voice acting either. There wasn’t a voice acting scene that stood out so much that it left an impact on its viewers. For example, if you search “When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace - I don't understand” on youtube, the first result will be a great example of great voice acting. There was nothing like that here.
Enjoyment: 7/10
I thought it was pretty good. It was a slight change of pace from a shitty and generic harem anime. Good enough for me. I could see myself recommending this to some anime fans of comedy and harem anime though.
Overall:6/10
It had its moments, it had it’s flaws. The story, at times, can actually be pretty serious. At other times relatively humorous and has some innuendos. It does a good job at balancing the comedy and humor, but the characters are pretty generic overall. That quality takes away from the story’s potential quite a bit. The music was TV ad background music and the voice acting was pretty average.
Would I recommend this to you personally?
If you’re a fan of harem anime, comedy, magic, romance, cute girls, ecchi, then go for it. It’s pretty decent.
If you’re looking for something more serious, then you are definitely not in the right place buddy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 17, 2017
TLDR Second Season wasn’t as good as the first. It was slow paced, didn’t have nearly as much action, and focused mainly on character development. The opening song goes back to the show’s origins by having a opening track that sound incredibly similar to the first theme. Probably one of this season’s biggest drawbacks is that all of season two basically happened in a single romeo-juliet-styled week (all of Romeo and Juliet took place in about one week). Because of the slowness, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as season one which showcased the mysterious nature of walls getting kicked down by abnormal titans and other
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titans further destroying a civilization that’s already cornered. In season one, we watched as Eren grew into a soldier, saw Mikasa’s badassery, met Levi who was even more of a badass, and there was so much we didn’t know about the AoT world. Sadly, you don’t really get much of that fast paced intensity this time.
Story: 6/10
The entire 12-episode season basically takes place in about a week in the show’s time. Right after season one ends and Annie is locked up somewhere out of sight, Eren is off recovering in bed. Various things happen like flipping titans, and more human transforming titans. This season focuses more on the side characters of the series than the main characters from the original series.
Apart from the story only being about a week in length, we only saw flashbacks of the past to build the characters. Personally, I hate flashbacks but some of the flashbacks of certain characters’ pasts were necessary to the story. This season, we only got to see Eren transform like one time the ENTIRE season. Eren was annoying as hell this season and felt like more of a side character than a main character. The only relatively shocking thing was a big reveal that happened suddenly and unexpectedly. If this was a 24 episode season, then it would’ve been fine to have such prolonged character development. However, since it was 12 episodes, it was bit of a let down for me. Going to have to give this category a six.
Characters: 8/10
The characters all seemed to have real depth and personalities. Personally, I do not like Eren Jaeger much anymore because he was pretty damn annoying the entire season. However, despite disliking him he still comes across as a realistic character with real flaws. One of this show’s strong points is that all of the characters have a good amount of depth to them. However, it seemed like this season didn’t really make full use of the personalities of more prominent characters like Levi, Hange, Mikasa, Armin and Eren.
Art: 9/10
The art seems to be about the same as the first season’s art. There are some times when the titans are noticeably CG. For example, you would probably easily be able spot the difference between the CG and the hand drawn art, and that difference was pretty awkward at times. Other than that the art is still the great art that you remember from season one. The lighting is top quality, the angles are super impressive, action leaves you sitting on the edge of your chair, etc.
Sound: 9/10
The in-anime soundtracks are pretty much the same as season one. Sawano Hiroyuki composed the soundtracks so you can expect them to be cinematic, powerful, and punchy. The voice actors/actresses all did a fantastic job this season as well as the first. You really feel the emotions of each character come through in their voices. Sound effects were all top quality as well.
Enjoyment: 7/10
I don’t really like how slow it was this season. It ended much too soon, and was kind of a let down in my opinion. All of that fast-paced story buildup in season one, followed by the most epic fight scene at the end… followed abnormally slow character development season two and has an ending buildup that kind of felt like it should’ve been a normal episode, not the climax? I just can’t give this any higher than a 7 for enjoyment.
Overall: 8/10
Despite that show having some serious pacing issues and focusing too much on character development, the show was actually pretty good overall, as you would expect from one of the most famous anime series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 22, 2017
Coming together against all odds, these three young protectors finally indulge in their well-earned vacation. Their friendship reaches the apex of camaraderie, as they grow closer together and increasingly love one another. Ah, the fuzzy warmth that radiates from the interactions of loving friends--- I think we can all agree that it is always something beautiful to see. However, these three young girls must remember to treasure those brief happy memories between their painful, long fights for humanity’s survival. Because no one is ever ready for that grim moment when the fires of tragedy burns those previously joyous memories into a deep, unforgettable scar…
Coming chronologically
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after the first Washio Sumi no Shou movie, this movie is the second in a triad of three movies. As opposed to the first movie which had quite a bit of action scenes, the main focus of this movie is actually detailed characterization so you can expect a minimal amount of action scenes. Initially, the first few events from this movie led me to believe that this movie would, in essence, amount to a mediocre filler, but I was wrong. This second movie has an abundance of great characterization that is reminiscent of the gloriously characterized anime of the days of old.
The main characters are revealed in such a way that I couldn’t help but come to love all of them for each of their individual personalities. It’s not that the characters are special in any way, but I actually feel that they have about as much character depth as you can fit into a 6th grader. This is exemplified in the interactions of the characters and the simple humor in this movie. Perhaps during their interactions, one may even notice their subtle changes since meeting one another. However, the characterization would not have been as great if it wasn’t for a story of comparable quality
The story was pretty interesting overall. This time, the focus veers away from the magical girl theme and we begin to learn more about the characters themselves through the story. Throughout the movie, we learn of their hopes and dreams for the future, we watch their lively responses in ordinary situations, we see how silly they actually are in ordinary life, how they joke around and tease each other, are protective one another, and much more. I found it to be a great slice of life movie, to the point where the story was actually good enough for me to get slightly emotional in this movie, which seldom happens for me in anime. The good story was only further enhanced by the great artwork of Studio Gokumi.
Studio Gokumi did a really great job on the artwork in this second movie. It starts off strongly with an action practice scene with some very fluid animation, before then presenting it with a bright appeal that was well-suited to the slice of life vibe of this movie. They created a very light hearted mood by using a blend of bright colors that is supported by artistic and dynamic effects, lighting, shading, and camera angles. The background art is nothing too special, but it also has a certain simplistic charm to it. Overall, the artwork was done quite well, but there was certainly room for improvement (especially that one 3DCG scene that had me shaking my head at how noticeable the 3DCG was). Luckily, with the aid of the fantastic musical compositions of the composers of the nier automata soundtrack, the movie certainly did not have to compensate for mediocre sound.
Like the first movie, the second movie’s soundtrack was also composed by Keiichi Okabe and Keigo Hoashi. These two are most recently well-known for their work on the Nier Automata game’s soundtrack. Overall, the music was great, using much of the same music from the first movie. Also, the voice actresses did a great job on the voice acting in this movie. They held were just as good as the other categories and perfectly supported the other categories. The sound effects guys also did a great job by themselves and had some really great effects to support the comedic scenes.
I truly enjoyed this movie, so much so that I wanted to give it a nine overall, but it’s not that great. The series just gets dark from here on out. The story was so good that I was actually sitting in my chair vocalizing my strong discontent at certain parts! Almost got emotional… But it’s up to you to watch this movie in order to see why~
TL;DR
You should take away that the characters were the strongest point of this movie, which made me feel that the category deserved a 9/10. The characters were supported by a very good story that allowed for some in depth characterization, but the itself story wasn’t particularly special or thought provoking in this movie 7.5/10. The artwork was definitely some of Studio Gokumi’s and is among the art of some of the better series in the anime genre, making me believe that this category deserves an 8/10. The music was also great, as one would expect from the Nier Automata guys 9/10. Also, that I truly enjoyed this movie and am enjoying this series 8/10! I hope this review helps you decide whether or not to watch this movie~
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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