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Mar 30, 2024
If I were to rename this anime more accurately: The Weakest Tamer Finds a Purpose for Herself when She Acquires one of the Most Rare and Broken Abilities Ever.
This show is at it's best when the main character is out adventuring in the world. The animation is breathtaking at times, really bringing to life the beauty of the world Ivy inhabits. I enjoyed following Ivy on her journey in the first half. She has an adorable charm and the show itself has a remarkable calming quality.
Unfortunately the second half is exasperatingly bad. The author tries to put together a semblance of a plot
...
that brings back memories of middle-school creative writing classes.
Character Growth:
There are two main inner conflicts that Ivy has from the beginning.
1. Can Ivy find people that she can trust? Are there people in this world that would care and protect her instead of take advantage of her?
2. Can Ivy find a purpose in this world? As someone blessed (or cursed?) with the weakest magical power, can she find a place for herself in this world where magical power is paramount?
The former point is handled fairly well in the show; watching Ivy develop relationships and learn who to trust was sweet and comforting. The latter point though is handled through one of the most bafflingly non-sensical plot points I've ever come across. The show solves this conflict by giving Ivy a ridiculous cheat card that although has no use in combat, allows her to become the invaluable key to quickly defeat the antagonists of the second half.
Cheat Skill:
I'm going to talk about the actual skill because I think it's important to know in order to judge whether this anime is for you or not. In the most broadest of terms, she basically gets an ability that allows her to tell if somebody is "bad" or not. Putting aside the enormous issues surrounding the skill itself (literally what standard is being used to judge if someone is "bad"? If you stole an apple 3 months ago are you marked bad?) it's just atrociously lazy writing. The introduction of this cheat code pretty much robs Ivy of meaningful character growth.
Instead of having Ivy struggle with being weak and overlooked in what could've been an incredibly meaningful journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, the author just handwaves it all away and gives her an ultra rare and useful skill that nobody else has. She doesn't work for it, there's no downside or limit to using it, this overpowered skill just falls into her lap and all of a sudden she's useful, she's valuable, and she's constantly praised.
Weakest Tamer??
The title suggests that this story is different. In a genre filled with overpowered protagonists that can solve every problem, finally we might get a true underdog tale. I wanted to root for Ivy, watch her get challenged by different problems and figure out her own ways to solve them. Unfortunately, just like every other cliched fantasy anime, our mc gets a poorly thought-out cheat skill instead of character growth... :/
Positives:
Though this review seems negative, it's really only directed at episodes 8 and on. I really, truly enjoyed the first half of the show. There's no wacky anime hijinks, no annoying sidekicks, no unnecessary romance or fanservice. I felt a real sense of love and compassion poured into the animation. Ivy's journey of learning to trust the adults around her was heartwarming and touching. I rooted for her and even shed a few stray tears. It had a lot of potential.
Overall: 5
Ivy is adorable. Her pets are cute. The side characters are enjoyable and the relationships are sweet. The atmosphere and animation are beautiful and healing. However, the plot in the second half will cause you to roll your eyes unless you just treat it like a children's picture book.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 24, 2024
The Good:
This show get's a LOT right. The characters, the setting, the music, the colors, it's all loving crafted, animated, and produced. Like the many varied flowers found in both the Pleasure District and on the Rear Court, the overall feel and vibe of this anime is seductive, comforting, and alluring.
The Big Flaw:
Where does this show fall short then? Writing. Writing writing writing. Once past the opening episodes, the flaws of the writing starts to become pretty noticeable. It's not bad compared to other anime, just aggressively average.
Mystery Cases:
Some of the episodes follow a sort of episodic mystery-case style format which is a great
...
vibe but the actual cases themselves are laughably amateur and tropey. Our protagonist is always in the right place, always has the right knowledge or skill, and always figures out the solution at the perfect time. The show tries to play up the mystery angle but is also too anxious to lose the viewers so they hold our hand through everything. There's only ever like two or three clues that they constantly emphasize (Oh that object has always been here. Oh we don't touch that object. OMG the puzzle needs the object!).
Overall Plot:
There were a couple (beautiful) scenes and major plot points where it was abundantly clear that the author had the climactic scene in mind and then tried to work backwards to guide the story to that scene. Unfortunately, the plot lacks any actual finesse. As a viewer you pretty much feel like you're being dragged along familiar plot points leading to big reveals that are abundantly obvious. Interestingly, I didn't get the feeling that the writing is lazy; you can really feel the care and the love poured into the setting and characters. I think it really is just a lack of craft. Good writing is difficult.
Overall:
If you're looking for a mature cast, individual, non-tropey female characters set within the backdrop of a beautifully intoxicating rear court, I really recommend this show. If you're looking for smartly-written mystery and palace intrigue, you will end up disappointed. I give Kusuriya a solid 7.5 for a potentially incredible show held back by very average writing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 16, 2021
This is the first review I've ever felt the need to write because I find myself so frustrated by how such a fantastic premise was wasted. Very minor unimportant spoilers ahead.
This is the slice-of-life anime equivalent of a B-action movie. Everything about it is aggressively average. This is the type of anime you can leave running in the background while you're washing dishes or cooking. If you like romance and slice-of-life in a fantasy setting and just want to turn off your brain and destress, this is the anime for you.
STORY 3/10: The premise of this anime is fantastic. Unfortunately the entire plot is
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written like amateur fanfiction. If the average anime-watcher decided to write their own anime, this would be the result. It has all the elements of romance and isekai, but none of the skill in crafting a cohesive story. The plot is all over the place and the dialogue is overwhelmingly cliche and almost painfully bad.
So much time is wasted by people overexplaining or exposition dumping. They handhold the audience through the story because the plot-points themselves just barely make sense. "Now X is doing this because so and so happened so now we have to do this." <-basically sums it up
The entire skill/magic system is unfinished. Don't even try to understand it because it's obvious they don't either.
ART & SOUND 4/10: The world is slapped together with no real cohesive creative direction. The doctor has modern doctor clothes. Ancient elven ruins look the same as a generic underground science research lab.
Music is sub-par. The OP is actually fantastic, but the background music is really not. I usually don't notice background music much, but their quirky-jazzy-flirting music actually pulled me out of the anime (which was a first).
CHARACTERS 3/10: I love romance animes. But in order to love them, the characters have to be real people. Only the MC and his sister (the hero) come close to feeling like real characters. It is refreshing to have an MC who is mature, kind, and un-angsty even if he is basically written with no flaws. His relationship with his sister is wholesome and the only part that kept me watching. The premise of the Hero is incredibly interesting, however, again actual execution of her character is lacking. I still like her though.
Everybody else in the story can be described as a 3-word caricature. Dumb, strong warrior. Quiet, mature paladin. Shy, cute ninja. Generic Isekai checkmarks.
THE LOVE INTEREST: She can basically be described as Boobs, the girl. She is basically a perfect ditzy fantasy girl with no real personality of her own. And with the amount of time her boobs are on display and how the MC seems to only feel flushed when he sees her boobs, the boobs might as well be the love interest and the girl just a body. Her character = super-fighter who also happens to be a princess who loves food and the MC. You never really understand why they're in love with each other except for "because it's a romance anime."
However, the romance scenes are cute and there's no unnecessary drama either. It's easy to watch for fuzzy feelings but nothing deeper than that.
OVERALL 5/10: Just watch it as a generic Romance, Slice-of-Life anime. The more you expect from it, the more you will be disappointed. It really is a shame. If the premise of this anime was taken up by a more capable studio, this would have actually been a really really good anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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