I usually prefer more dark and heavy hitting stories, but this manages to be oh so satisfying, with a fair amount of comic flourish. It's a romance in imperial China centered around political strategy, intrigue, military, and harem relations. The story is fraught with danger but the main couple has well-earned romance which just might make you squee. And you don't have to wait until the end of the show for it, though it just gets better and better as you progress.
The animation is cel-shaded CGI, which is a little off-putting at first but you get used to it fast. The animation and frame rate
...
Jan 10, 2024
Xie Wang Zhui Qi
(Anime)
add
It feels like they took the plot points from the story and strung them together without any connective tissue putting them together. They go from one thing happening to the next, without sufficiently developing the characters or world. The story is very rushed, and there's no time to take in the world.
The animation is acceptable but not great, with a fair amount of still panning shots. Action scenes are short, often cutting away and jumping to the conclusion. The acting is meh, but to be fair, it's hard to convey a realistic dialog when the relationships jump forward so quickly. The story is a standard isekai cultivation ... 
Nov 13, 2023
Zhen Hun Jie 3rd Season
(Anime)
add
A decent continuation of the series. The animation is better than ever, with much better blending of 2D and 3D than in seasons 1 and 2. Obviously, there's plenty of fighting. It's not quite as moving as 1 and 2, but there are a few special moments. The party gets some more battle companions, and we get to see some of their story.
On the downside, the world-building feels more hollow than it started out. It feels like the story is a bunch of random made up stuff to continue the story, without a cohesive overarching mission, sort of like Dragon Ball Z, with its endless ... 
Sep 24, 2023
Bai Yao Pu 3rd Season
(Anime)
add
Some shows try to spice things up by going in a different direction for a new season (Link Click, for example). Not this one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, they say. If you liked the previous seasons, you'll like this. So there's no reason to explain the story structure.
One difference is that it's not all Tao Yao. Little monk and snake man play larger roles in some arcs. There's not a huge amount of character development for the mains as the focus is on the arc characters, but there is a little. The OP/ED song is amazing, though it is the same song for ... 
Sep 18, 2023
Feng Ling Yu Xiu 2nd Season
(Anime)
add
After an amazing season 1, I was at first excited to see this, but was very disappointed. Then I forced myself to watch it, hoping it would get good again, but without much luck. To understand my disappointment, I should review what made the first season so great. We had two interesting and pretty characters thrown into the action, with lots of beautiful martial arts choreography. You had masters fending off dozens of attackers in crowded restaurants in Hong Kong action flick style mayhem. And Feng Ling'er and Bai Yuxiu were super cute together. Well, S2 pretty much throws away all of that.
The main problem ... 
Aug 29, 2023
Bai Yao Pu
(Anime)
add
Yaoguai in this world have supernatural abilities, but their emotions are all too human, and they can suffer from ailments from emotional trauma, which can exhibit in supernatural ways. Tao Yao is a traveling spirit doctor who can heal these spirits if she understands the underlying trauma; really this is a story device for doing a deep dive into background story of the yaoguai. Although this show is about yaoguai, by using these poignant experiences we are looking at the human soul, with all the flaws. The side characters are the heroes of this story and the main focus of this show. They are laid
...
Jul 25, 2023
Zombieland Saga Revenge
(Anime)
add
Revenge is much less funny than the first season, but it makes up for it (somewhat) by being a lot more epic. Unfortunately, it starts off really slowly, with Kotoro being all mopey and the first episode being all melodramatic without any real humor to break things up. When things get rolling again, it sticks closer to being an idol anime rather than a parody of an idol anime, more or less developing different characters and giving them their moments to shine. There are dramatic moments and endearing moments, but it's lacking in the absurdist humor that made the first season so fun.
I think the ... 
Jul 23, 2023
Chargeman Ken!
(Anime)
add
The animation sucks. The story sucks (or maybe is awesome). The music is repetitive. But it's not boring.
Maybe it's the frenetic pacing, or the fact that I watched it in 2 times speed, but at no point was I bored. The story is sufficiently random that it's always interesting, even though it generally always amounts to Juraliens causing some trouble, and Ken transforming and blasting them. The random part is just how the Juraliens are causing trouble, as each episode they have some different crazy plan. Ken doesn't need a plan to defeat them. He's just OP and can always see through their plans and ... 
Jul 19, 2023
Aiyou de Mishi
(Anime)
add
I previously gave a preliminary review after 6 episodes, giving it a 9 and calling it a must watch unless they screw up the ending. I'm going to downgrade it to an 8, which is still a high recommendation.
Aiyou de Mishi has an incredibly strong start, and does so much to build atmosphere and tension that it just draws you in. Watch the first episode, and you won't be able to escape. There's something odd about the escape room that Yuechu and his coworker try out. There's rumors of people becoming obsessed and getting dreams about the escape room or the beautiful owner Aiyou. Aiyou uses ... 
Jun 15, 2023
Dr. Stone: New World
(Anime)
add
As a fan of the first two seasons of Dr. Stone, this one was pretty disappointing. This season really glossed over the science, focusing instead on adventure, manipulation, mystery, characters, and action. But the science is really what makes this show special at all. What's left is a mid shonen. Although Dr. Stone was never very realistic in terms of how much effort things take, in the first season it still required a certain amount of determination to build the things based on the science. But in this part, Senku just pretty much throws things together by magic, and my bullshit tolerance has reached its
...
|
