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Oct 10, 2023
SoreMachi taught me that an electric bass, a drum set, a violin, and an accordion go surprisingly well in a band together.
I wasn't impressed at the start, with the pretty basic SHAFT comedy setup and multiple characters having deliberately unappealing designs, but the more I watched the more I appreciated how charming and loveable SoreMachi is. Compared to shows like Paniponi Dash or Maria Holic, it's much more restrained and doesn't have many references, but it's still goofy and rowdy compared to something like Hidamari Sketch. And the closer you get to the end, the more the show will surprise you with unexpectedly touching
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moments, and they hit harder thanks to the show's normally grounded, silly nature. It all culminates in a really memorable finale that reminded me of Disappearance. It's a shame that the show has been forgotten, but that makes it all the more satisfying to discover and watch all the way through.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 17, 2023
I don't want to be harsh on this, cause I'm very happy to have a Love Live Sunshine spinoff at all, but I feel like Sunshine in the Mirror could've been a lot better than it was. Specifically it seems pretty halfhearted in a lot of what people want from something like this. It doesn't get rid of singing and performances, but there's less singing than one would expect from Love Live. It's set in a fantasy world, but with plenty of modern amenities (and some tokusatsu elements?) and it never leaves the single town of Numazu. It has everyone from Aqours, but other than
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the eponymous Yohane, Lailaps gets more focus than all of them combined. And as far as I remember from Love Live Sunshine, Lailaps is a completely new character for this, and one I don't find all that likeable. As for the Aqours members themselves, their personalities only vaguely resemble how we know them, if at all. Mari's case is especially egregious, with the loveable, bubbly troublemaker becoming a secluded, depressed demon lord.
All that said, while the lack of adventure and relation to Love Live proper I expected is disappointing, I still think Sunshine in the Mirror is a good anime and a good addition to the Love Live series. Visually, it's beautiful, with intricate lighting, beautiful colors, and great attention to detail. All the Aqours girls, despite their differences, are still loveable, especially Yohane. What songs the girls do sing are very good. I would very much appreciate more content like this from studio Sunrise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 23, 2023
People look at me like crazy when I tell them my favorite sports anime is about golf, but it's not my fault Birdie Wing is so good. Every single thing about Birdie Wing, from the characters, to the story, to the games, to the setting, to Namco's stuff being plastered everywhere is so utterly perfect for making the vision of an absurd, ultra-hype anime about one of the most boring sports come alive that it made me unironically want to play golf. And did I mention it's also yuri?! Like not explicitly but also pretty explicitly. Some nitpicks I have: I wish Aoi and Eve
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were confirmed as a couple, not one hole-in-one was scored in the entire anime (not counting mini-golf), and I wish they went a better direction than everyone being injured for the final arc. Those are all just things I wish it did, but everything it did do was just fantastic. I tried thinking about how this would work with other sports, but I think golf's scale and turn-based nature, as well as the culture around it, make it so that the story of Birdie Wing really could only have been told through golf. I consider Birdie Wing tied with Umamusume season 2 as my favorite sports anime of all time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 26, 2023
Handyman Saitou feels a lot like the author wanted to write an isekai that was different and went from there. The result is, in my opinion, something that feels unique but not special. A lot of people were able to see it as a goofy fantasy that fixed the problems they had with other isekai, and good for them, but for me it was a pretty mediocre collection of skits that eventually became an even more mediocre couple of story arcs. Sometimes the formula is what it is for a reason, and you should have a better idea of what you're doing before trying to
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deviate from it, because in trying so hard to do its own thing it forgets to do any more than the bare minimum of character development and backstory while it hammers you with Saitou talking about how nice it is to be wanted. It all feels very surface-level, which should be fine for a 4-koma gag manga, but Handyman Saitou clearly wants to be more than that, and it ends up just feeling boring and shallow. I couldn't really get invested in anyone, especially not the perverted old man who is basically the focus of both story arcs. The girls in Saitou's party are cute, yes, and it's nice to see one wear proper armor for a change, but they don't have much more going for them, as they don't actually play major roles in the story and mostly serve to make lucky pervert gags with Saitou and give him someone to romance. Overall, while it was occasionally funny or cute, to me Handyman Saitou really doesn't provide the substance it seems to think it does, and its unique presentation does it no favors.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 22, 2023
As a fan of the light novels I'm beyond pleased that this is one of the best looking shows Diomedea has ever made. I'm glad they covered the whole first arc, or the first three volumes of the light novel, but they kind of had to skip some dialogue that makes the story more coherent. Still, with 12 episodes they did a pretty good job at covering everything I wanted them to cover, though there should be no reason they couldn't have had 13 episodes.
Speaking more about the anime itself, MagiRevo really is a cut above most isekai (as the serious yuri ones tend to
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be) in that it's very clearly a planned out story, rather than the author thinking of a setup/gimmick and going from there. While entirely faithful to the novels, Diomedea really hammered in the gay parts while skimming through some of the characterization, which to be honest is fine by me, especially given the fact that they still spent half an episode on Algard's motivation. The art captured the soft yet detailed style of the novels, which I personally preferred over the manga's sharper style, but what I liked most about the visuals were the colors. The direction was thoughtful, incorporating a lot of callbacks to earlier scenes that really help give an idea of how the characters change as the series progresses and tie everything together.
Really, the main couple and the side couple are so cute that even if this series didn't do everything as well as it did it would've still easily been among my top anime this season. Just being as explicitly lesbian as it is and getting rid of the plausible deniability most yuri anime have make it stand out. But MagiRevo's incredible worldbuilding, characterization, and art add enough that it stands out among the best yuri I've read, much less watched.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 14, 2023
Shinsekai yori is one of the most pretentious shows I've ever watched, being one of the very few TV anime to forego having an OP entirely and naming itself after a very famous symphony. However, I think that pretentiousness is somewhat justified, as it offers some pretty good commentary on human nature and our future as a species. It's dragged down by numerous flaws, but even so I think the good well outweighs the bad.
The show, in general, looks very good. The beautiful background art and soundtrack contribute to the immersiveness that makes Shinsekai yori such a powerful experience to watch, and the characters are
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cute. I did, however, notice several animation errors, which is uncommon for me, but the show would draw attention to things that would be missing in the next shot and then reappear, (The anti-impure cat charm right after Saki puts it on) or retroactively add something that wasn't there before (The mark on Maria's daughter's face, which isn't there when she first enters town but is when the show later flashes back to that scene).
The characters and story are good on the face of it, but watching the show will make the weaker parts apparent. Saki is a very good protagonist. She's strong enough to take what comes to her and move on, but sensitive and kind enough that we feel for her. She's determined and has clear ideals, but she doesn't let them stop her from doing what needs to be done except for one time toward the very end. Also, Squealer is a good villain: he's clever and has a motivation that's easy to sympathize with. I would even say Satoru is a good deuteragonist when he serves as such, and I liked Tomoko quite a bit. However, certain other characters are easily the worst thing about this anime, and it's not how they behave, but what they do that affects the story that made me (and I'm sure many others) angry enough to break immersion. The worst offender is Mamoru, who despite being portrayed as a weak crybaby was strong enough to singlehandedly start the chain of events that made up the entire second half. Also to blame are the Education Committee for deciding to attempt to execute him for no clearly stated reason (which I guess makes them actually to blame for the second half). Maria is adorable, and was a very loveable character until she ran away with Mamoru out of pity without any consideration or consultation of her lover, and then had a child with him. Really, that entire part is the main thing holding Shinsekai yori back from a perfect score.
Still, in general, the story is interesting, and I think it offers a good perspective on human nature, what we could do about it as humans become more and more powerful, and what the consequences of that may be. The worldbuilding that supports this is well-done, but I wish they delved more into how power works and its limitations, rather than just showing kids using it in different ways. Shinsekai yori does not offer good commentary on love/sexuality or an individual's ability to change the world they live in, though it attempts to. Maybe the novel does better in this aspect.
Shinsekai yori overall reminds me a lot of A Lull in the Sea. Aside from being self-contained 2-cour shows with similar animation styles, both follow a group of children who later timeskip into adults and mix a love web with their dramatic, supernatural plots. However, while NagiAsu ultimately devolved into a romantic drama with some supernatural stuff on the side, Shinsekai yori does a good job keeping its romance element in the background unless it adds to the main story, and actually canonizes its couples.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 24, 2022
Okay, so I have a lot of thoughts about this show, all of them overwhelmingly positive, but I will attempt to gush about it in a semi-organized way.
I have seen girls band anime. I have seen anime about introverts, and people with social anxiety. I have seen anime that use other styles and mediums. But never has any anime to ever come out combined those so brilliantly and perfectly to craft such a deeply personal, relatable, hilarious and engaging story as Cloverworks has done with Bocchi the Rock. I honestly cannot praise BTR enough; the only thing it didn't do right is only having 12
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episodes.
I guess I'll start with the animation. The simple character designs are perfect moeblobs that contrast nicely with the detailed backgrounds of real-world locations, a la Gumball. It takes full advantage of the moeblobs to draw the characters as simply or as detailed as they want, in a variety of different styles and mediums, all to get across a joke or an emotion that Bocchi is feeling, and to great effect.
BTR's humor is superb. Like, I cannot describe to you how much joy watching it brings me. The fact that the way Bocchi melts, deforms, disintegrates etc is something the characters TALK ABOUT and are affected by is something I'm not sure I've ever seen before, definitely not to this extent, and it's amazing. I don't want to spoil specific jokes that do this, but it really drives home what everyone is feeling without undermining the real gravity of the situations.
Bocchi is immensely relatable. I've seen her contrasted with Komi specifically, but really no other "introvert" lead character has had her mind ripped out of her body and laid bare for the audience the way Bocchi's has, and it has made it easy to put oneself in her mindset, to relate to her, and to understand her. Bocchi's true self is a selfish little attention-whore who dreams of dropping out of school, but aren't we all deep down? I think that's what makes her so immensely lilkable; even if you don't have crippling social anxiety like she does, there's probably been more than one time in your life where you've repressed less-than-admirable thoughts, where you've felt intimidating into saying something you didn't mean, where you've struggled to start a conversation, or where you've assumed the worst in an interaction you haven't had yet. Bocchi even improves in a realistic way, gradually getting comfortable talking to her friends and customers but still losing it in unfamiliar situations. It was amusing watching YouTubers talk about this, as they seem to have a tendency to relate to Bocchi more than most, and not just because she has a YouTube channel herself.
The music is incredible. Maybe I'm biased toward the kind of catchy music Kessoku Band plays, but if you've ever analyzed the lyrics of their songs, you'll find they're packed with meaning about how Bocchi sees the world and her place in it. Hell, we got three ED's, which is unprecedented for a CGDCT anime. I mentioned earlier how the animation is very moeblob-y and changes styles a lot, but for the performances, they contrasted it by doing the exact opposite of that. They rotoscoped real musicians (I don't remember if they're the actual VAs or not) performing the songs, but they got them to capture the characters' tiny mannerisms perfectly, and rotoscoping is done so well you often can't tell it's there. (Not that it's necessarily a bad thing if you can) Even when they have to play badly, they play badly well, as in in a realistic way.
I haven't even talked about the other characters yet. Bocchi the Rock does an excellent job at capturing various kinds of people really well. Not necessarily as in-depth as with Bocchi herself, but her name is on it so of course. I love them all to death, they are all such wonderfully flawed people who each bring something unique and necessary to the cast. You've got Nijika, the almost-perfect extrovert who brings the band together; Ryo, who offers musical expertise and an example of an introvert with a much more relaxed personality than Bocchi; and Kita, a popular extrovert who nonetheless has a kinship with Bocchi since they both have anxieties they try to hide. Outside of Kessoku Band you've got various reoccurring characters who support the band in various ways, whether by passing on wisdom they've gained through experience or just cheering them on.
I could probably gush about this show episode by episode, but in short, Bocchi the Rock has a way of exceeding expectations no matter how high you set them. It absolutely deserves the love it's been getting and more; CSM fans can eat their hearts out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 8, 2022
Ben-To is the quintessential anime. If you asked any weeb what traits are common to anime, chances are Ben-To would have everything they listed. Epic fights, enemies to allies/rivals, cute girls, fanservice, a swimsuit episode, the power of friendship, a plain-looking protagonist, an unrealistically powerful student council, a pseudo-harem, yuri, and more. All it's missing is the culture/sports/summer festival episodes, but it's not really a school anime (despite all the characters being highschoolers) so I won't count them. Regardless, Ben-To ties all these together in a story about half-price bento. Basically, there's a whole culture built around fighting over the bento that grocery stores discount
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toward the end of the day, and it's kind of fascinating to see the etiquette and the groups that form around it. We get to see our main character face progressively stronger enemies alongside his allies, coming to respect and form friendly rivalries with many of them. I enjoyed everything outside the fights too, from the actually very funny comedy, to the loveable characters, to the aforementioned fanservice, of which there is plenty. If you're still not convinced that Ben-To is underrated, note that its creator, Asaura, went on the make Lycoris Recoil, and chances are if you've heard of Ben-To recently it was probably in that context. While Lycoris is ultimately an improvement on things Ben-To already did well, Ben-To is a great fighting anime in its own right and more than worth the 12 episodes of runtime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 27, 2022
I think Heaven's Lost Property isn't a case of an anime not reaching its potential. Rather, it actively squanders its potential by trying to be funny and perverted, which it's not very good at.
I really wanted to love this show, okay? I really do love all the Angeloids, and the best moments are really great. It looks good for its time, and even has a separate ED for each episode, some of which are very memorable. Most importantly, the overarching story is quite good.
But man, I really don't like some of the things it does. Chibi abuse is when a show draws characters in a
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small and simple style more often than it doesn't, and Heaven's Lost Property is highly guilty of it, specifically with Tomoki. Rather than cutting corners, it feels like more of a way to separate the comedy/ecchi scenes from the more serious ones, but he's chibi like 80% of the time, often when everyone else isn't. This brings us to my second complaint: Tomoki fucking sucks. I've rarely had a big problem with a lecherous MC, but when it gets taken to far it gets really fucking old really quickly, and Heaven's Lost Property does this shit nonstop. The weird thing, it's rarely directed at the girls in his harem, but rather at just about every other girl at his school. And this schtick is accompanied by other girls, in particular Sohara, laying on Tom and Jerry-style abuse. Third complaint: Sohara is too mean to Tomoki. In episode 3, Sohara indirectly blows up Tomoki's house, and if not for the cartoon physics, Tomoki himself would be dead. Does she apologize? Hell, she doesn't even let him stay in her house next door! So they all have to go to Mikako's, where he again almost dies, but ends up getting his house rebuilt by them. Anyway, Sohara basically murders Tomoki several times over the course of the series, and he takes obscene amount of abuse from everyone else as well, that really doesn't sit right with me. Especially since Sohara is confirmed to ENJOY Tomoki's behavior, and fantasize about it often. Not to mention, this show is considered an ecchi, but it's almost not hot at all. I would've preferred they just cut the peeping and groping altogether and let the Angeloids' outfits speak for themselves.
These three complaints serve to undermine almost everything that makes Heaven's Lost Property good. The story about Angeloids coming from on high and learning what love means to them while fighting against their homeworld is interesting, fun, and otherwise well-executed. They could've cut at least some of the fluff to characterize the Angeloids (or even other characters) better, but I think the serious scenes are mostly good as-is. The main exception is the finale movie, which awkwardly cuts off the manga and kind of just leaves you confused and sad.
Overall, Heaven's Lost Property is good. I think its highs make it still worth watching, and admittedly some of the fluff was pretty fun. Saori Hayami, who voices Ikaros, has the voice of an angel, and she gets many chances to sing some really good songs. Pretty much all the girls were super loveable in their own ways, (even the non-Angeloids, though I probably disliked them more than I liked them) with best girl Kazane (save for Tomoko) not appearing until the first movie. I will probably go on to remember it as something I'm torn on, but ultimately glad I watched.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 11, 2022
I came into NagiAsu expecting an emotional story mostly focusing on the bad relations the sea-people and the land-people had, how the main four experienced prejudice going to a school on the surface, and probably a forbidden love or two. However, to my surprise, the show dropped the racism angle almost entirely around halfway through the first cour, and the line between the sea-people and land-people gets very blurred once the timeskip happens. Instead, most of the story is focused on... love triangles. You could call NagiAsu a harem anime by technicality since Hikari has three girls in love with him, though rest assured it's
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not one in spirit. But even though NagiAsu is basically a romance anime, it chickens out at the end, only implying that certain couples maybe got together. There's not a kiss to be seen, unless you count CPR. Other than the love stuff, the rest is mainly humanity trying to overcome the sea-god's bull, as the faceless jerk changes the weather, kidnaps young girls, and threatens to start a new ice age.
While I found the overarching story disappointing, NagiAsu really nails the finer details. Obviously being a P.A. Works original the animation is quite good, though for the studio it's nothing exceptional. That said the aesthetics of the town in the sea are beautiful. The OST is fantastic. Where it really shines, though, is in its writing, as nearly every one of the main characters is written to feel like a real person, striking a perfect balance between having a consistent personality and changing over the course of the story. Everyone is quite likeable as well; even Hikari, who starts out as quite frankly a dick, quickly develops in a satisfying way (He remains kind of a stubborn idiot though, just not in a bad way). My favorites were Miuna and Chisaki. The setting only consists of a small number of locations, meaning you get very familiar with the world, which combined with the well-written characters makes for a uniquely immersive story.
One thing I really liked about the show was how it explored how some of the sea-people had to adjust to waking up after what was essentially a five-year cryo-sleep, and how that plays into the relationship dynamics. Miuna and Sayu, who were little girls in the first cour, become the same age as the teenagers who went into hibernation, and fall in love with Hikari and Kaname respectively. Meanwhile Chisaki, who was in love with Hikari and was loved by Kaname, becomes an (absolutely adorable) adult ahead of them, living with Tsumugu the whole 5 years since her house become inaccessible. I also want to mention that while the show was still on the racism thing, it did a great job with Akari as she debated leaving the sea permanently to marry Itaru, the widowed father to Miuna, all well before the timeskip.
Ultimately, NagiAsu is a fundamentally flawed but overall very well-made and enjoyable anime, serving as a great example of the strengths of anime as a medium.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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