TL;DR: I understand that this review is stupidly long and kind of personal. If you are even on the fence, give this show a chance, it’s great. And if you can allow yourself to enjoy something so eagerly sensitive, you won’t regret it.
One night back in late 2019 shortly following one of the worst months of my life, I was called over to sit next to this mysterious girl while riding the bus. It turns out this person was in my creative writing class and recognized me, she liked some of the stuff I wrote. We hung out a few times before the semester ended.
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It turns out despite being in a life science her real dream was to write for a living, she also somehow comprehended a lot of my strange ideas, she was unintentionally pretty, and elegantly dweeby.
Anyways.
At this point, I think Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu can be pretty confidently considered one of the great raid bosses of romance anime, a modern classic of the genre if you will. You take a cleverly written, dense, yet still approachable romantic scenario and have it be brought to life by a seasoned industry experts, and you have the perfect recipe for a potentially exceptional experience. I feel like any praise I heap on Bokuyaba could be taken as some kind of overhyping, since at the end of the day it’s a fairly straight forward romance show, the kind where the main leads brush their hands up against each other and start blushing or some kind of other histrionic nonsense. But at least for this style, specifically in the heavily streamlined form Bokuyaba depicts, I can’t see a better form possibly existing. This is as good as this shit is ever going to get, and in that light, it deserves whatever praise its small but emboldened fanbase wishes to heap. Even though I’ve talked at length already as to why I enjoyed season one, I think it’s important to break down the general reasons why this season has specifically been propelled to the top of the charts. Since I’m sure for months now people have been incredibly confused as to why some seemingly frivolous high school bullshit is fighting alongside decade defining works like Vinland Saga. Which, if you hear me out, shouldn’t be that hard of a sell.
Part 1: It looks perrrrrty
Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu isn’t a show that escapes the aesthetic trappings of its setting, this isn’t some experimental extravaganza like Sonny boy. The source material is bound to a simple middle school (not high school) setting in a typical Japanese Tokyo metropolitan area taking place sometime in the late 2010’s. Yet, Bokuyaba gracefully, almost like it was born to, is able to elevate its largely blasé setting into an immersive environment where beautiful, enriching romance is blooming before your eyes. Season two specifically somehow outpaces season one in almost every aspect visually, and in particularly regards to its direction. In terms of storyboarding, character art, animation, music choices, editing, among other more micro directorial decisions, this season stands a step above the previous, and above most slice of life anime. This isn’t to unnecessarily deride or insult romance stories that didn’t have the privilege of an incredibly dedicated team of digital photographers that meticulously elevated every idiosyncratic moment, but bokuyaba does, and this sets it apart. Combined with Kensuke Ushio’s ethereal, heartstrings-pulling soundtrack, Bokuyaba is able to sell basically any scene under the pretenses of its own nostalgic adoration of adolescent love. Moments are often captured in this ephemeral liminality kind of like sports anime, moments feel substantially slower and more significant to the parties involved than what we would normally witness in real life. Most of my complaints about the original season’s production have mostly been cleaned up in the six month intermission the staff had to make season two. As such, the show largely looks beautiful, with quirky, endearing character designs and atmosphere that is able to convey both the silly, the dramatic, and the intimate.
In January of 2020, I decided to get a buzzcut out of raw curiosity since I had had largely the same hairstyle since high school, it looked terrible. Like many with a buzzcut, my hairstyle didn’t demonstrate anything about my personality nor did it flatter my appearance by any stretch. Yet, when I saw that same girl I mentioned earlier in the following semester’s creative writing course, she complimented my cut. I was appreciative but confused, I’ve never had someone compliment me on such a run of the mill style before, I wasn’t sure what to think. But her compliment made me consider when we got lunch in early February, could this meal together, and our previous hang out sessions where we went to the Museum, or made pancakes together, be considered dates? “Absurd,” I thought, “there’s no fucking way.”
Yet, there was a part of me that desperately wanted it to be true.
Part 2: The characters actually deserve each other
Despite having the series being so romance focused, Bokuyaba fundamentally cares about its characterization more, preserving its development, while still providing its audience the small moments of wholesome satisfaction and progress that comes with these cute or sensitive love stories. Often times in romance subplots in media oriented toward men, the main couple getting together is taken as such a given that I find it hardly something worth getting invested. Firstly, the girl is basically designed to be as likable to the audience and the protagonist as possible, where the only reason they’re not fucking from episode two is because either the main character has to prove to the universe he’s worth anything (not to the girl), or basic narrative contrivance. Secondly, sometimes I find “main girls” in anime so eager to be liked as to be boring. The characters in anime I tend to remember and appreciate the most are ones that contain compelling flaws that add to the greater themes of the work and blah blah blah, I’m sure you’ve heard this a million fucking times at this point. Thankfully, the featured couple Bokuyaba has enough down to earth insecurities to make the characters feel dynamic enough to be genuinely engaging.
I’ve already talked about Kyotaro at length in my review on season one, but what makes his arc so satisfying this time around is that the sheer degree of his neuroticism becomes the core thing holding the relationship back. Things are made as obvious for this kid as possible, but because of his vast insecurities and feelings of inferiority, he can’t take the steps necessary to cement his relationship with Anna. In fact, even when it becomes undeniable this chick likes him, he can only contextualize it within specific constructs that seek to justify his anxieties and low self-esteem, “I have to be extra careful because if I make any serious mistakes, she’ll immediately hate me!” Bokuyaba forces Kyotaro to go through the initial hazing necessary to build the prerequisite self-worth to finally move his relationships forward. He needs to overcome himself to love someone else, this means going outside your comfort zone, getting involved in activities you normally wouldn’t, a making friends that aren’t JUST your romantic interest, these efforts build essential trust in your own competencies. It helps that there’s this bishounen imaginary friend guy, which could be thought of as the rational part of Kyotaro’s brain, that helps ground the story in something that isn’t unadulterated anxious speculation. Kyotaro’s own conception of who he wants to be through this shoujo manga pretty boy also reinforces the narrative’s general themes about needing self-love to love others. Because, dating Yamada wouldn’t possible if he always felt like she’s heads above him in terms of social status and character—which of course, if you pay attention, is a dead fucking lie.
When I watched season one, despite enjoying her character, I still sort of wrote Anna off as this coomer-bait wish-fulfillment female lead who was kind of autistic. Only after starting season two, when Anna opens up to Kyotaro about her insecurities for the first time, did I realize how much the main character’s perspective colored my interpretation of this character. While anna is to some extent an idealized anime character, someone whom the author put every trait she “found cute in girls” into, she is flawed in the ways a young teenager tends to be flawed. Anna is childish, gluttonous, easily jealous, slightly obtuse to the people around her, again—super normal shit. But even Anna herself manages her own inferiority complex that, up until the show’s beginning, was a hindrance on her own growth as a person. And while Anna’s insecurities aren’t enough to prevent them from dating, Kyotaro’s standoff-ish personality forces her to unearth and confront her flaws in order to get closer to him. That they would openly make the female lead of an anime romcom so imperfect but in a way so banal, is a testament to Norio’s writing prowess and the unwavering faith she has in her audience.
Furthermore, because Anna is trying SO ungodly hard to connect with Kyotaro, her effort unintentionally pays off by further inducing some kind of action from him. But this is why the overall romance works, both characters have their own issues to navigate, but they are fundamentally willing to put in the effort to be together. So, even though this style of romance story isn’t necessarily my thing, I think the sheer simplistic brilliance of the writing becomes something I can latch onto. And while the main couple is the focus of the series, there’re a handful of other solid characters whom entire spin offs could be made to explore their own interpretations and experiences of the same period of time. And I, depending on the character, would probably watch that shit too, that’s how consistent the writing is. The voice acting also adds to the show as well, and is so well done that even overdone cliches that would normally piss me off I can at least forgive, like all the damn puppy dog wimpering and squeaking that tends to happen in these types of shows. Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu is just so damn consistent, down to earth, and likable, that it can depict basically any romcom cliché and still come out the better for it, the writing is solid enough to keep everything fresh. It’s simultaneously like every romance anime ever made, yet somehow it surpasses them all by a confident distance.
Now, you might be wondering with all the praise I’ve given this show, why my score is so low. Well, that’s going to need a bit more context.
Around the time of the aforementioned lunch with that girl from Creative Writing, I realized I was, unfortunately, stupidly into her. It makes sense, she was tall, had the face of Emma Stone but a crazier body, pearly skin, an inquisitive mind, an incredible capacity for nuance, a passion for writing, she was amazing. Reflexively, I understand now that I suffered from some kind of limerence where I felt almost sick I liked her so much, though thankfully I could successfully suppress it when we were together. Though, as we were walking back from that (not) date, she confided in me that she had been in a substantial number of short and long-term relationships in the past; and her history had left her scarred to the point where she thought her ability to love someone had been broken or lost, like some spatula you swore you left in the cupboard to the right of the sink, but now its missing. I felt an incredible weight after that, I, whom at the time hadn’t dated anyone for longer than a few months, didn’t feel like I could help her. That, even if we got in a relationship, I couldn’t find that elusive cooking utensil she wistfully desired. So, despite my love sickness, and my incredibly loose inclination she might be interested, I held back from confessing during the winter (My lack of general confidence also didn’t help).
However, in March of 2020, one of the biggest global events of the century occured, and suddenly almost every student at my university was sent home until the following semester. During this chaotic time, this somehow now nostalgic early spring, this same girl and I were talking far more often than what was standard for mere classmates. It was the kind of environment where she would throw out future in person plans like she was casually playing a game of bags, or we would have facetious arguments about why the color orange was better than purple, it was strange time. I remember in early April, late at night hours after our zoom classes had ended for the day, when I thought to myself this was the moment to confess. Even if my understanding of her feelings was fundamentally opaque, I could at least relieve myself of that three month crush. I found the right situation too, it was clearly nearing the end of the conversation, but neither one of us wanted to sign out yet, we were fulling engaged with each other.
But… I didn’t.
I look back now at things like her promising to force me to read Happy Potter, or suggesting I start a podcast because I had a “nice voice,” or sending me an email of her favorite bands because I was an uncultured swine who only listened to anime music, and it was so egregiously obvious she was into me. But, all the baggage from my adolescence, coupled with her comments from two months prior—served as the perfect justifications for my anxiety towards potential disappointment and ruining our connection. Because, no one could ever truly like me, right?
So instead, I opted instead to wait until we met in person again, and if our feelings were the same then I would say something. Of course, around early July she would end up dating this other guy in our creative writing course, whom coincidentally shared his contact info with her on the last day of lecture for what I’m sure were “purely platonic reasons.” When we eventually met up in person again come August, I asked her about what she mentioned before about finding love. She told me that her new boyfriend helped her find it again, since they had to actually wait to do anything physical, she was able to build a stronger emotional connection to her new partner. Meaning, if I had just told her that night, then it would’ve been easily possible to do the emotional labor together to make the relationship work, that I worried for nothing.
Still, we continued to be friends for another year or so and I ended up dating someone else a few months later, so to some extent I moved on. Though, in early 2022 she told me she effectively was no longer allowed to have male friends as a stipulation from her boyfriend, despite them dating with ostensibly no indication of potential infidelity. I told her off, and said I was incredibly dismayed that she enabled whatever insecure ass, anxiety-ridden shit her partner was demanding. My disappointment was the last thing I could convey to her, for we haven’t talked since.
If you couldn’t tell by now, Anna Yamada, though not completely, consistently reminded me of “the one who got away” (at least the closest I have). I watched the Twi-yaba shorts back in January and I was absolutely shocked how I always came away with that same impression. Whether it be Anna’s innocence, strong personality, or sense of humor, they were there in nanosecond flashes. And Kyotaro, to an extent, shares some similarities with what I used to struggle with. The reason, I can’t give Bokuyaba a higher score is for a very silly reason, it hurts too much to watch. Not to sound melodramatic as fuck, but I regularly felt this pain in my chest while I was binging most of this show, and that is likely… me being a little bitch. It’s that jovial November afternoon in the library cackling up a storm, it’s that warm habitual “sup” we lobbed back and forth each lecture, it’s that drowsy, cheeky glare we flashed each other when we were up talking until 12am, it’s the lingering echoes of her.
I’m confident I’m going to return to this show in the future, maybe with a hypothetical new long-term partner, and at that time I’ll slap the 9-10/10 this series deserves on my mal. But right now, watching Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu was such a pleasantly enjoyable, yet bizarrely uncomfortable experience, that I can’t in good conscience give it anything higher. Because, unlike me, Kyotaro was able to reach out with his shaky, hardly confident hands, and grabbed the happiness he so desperately sought. To love someone to battle yourself, with all of your ugly deficiencies and traumas, so you can understand another person and find joy with them. Love is a struggle, but when you can bask in your most hard-fought victories, life is glorious and sublime.
Congratulations you edgy Spiderman 3 looking ass motherfucker, you did it.
Have a nice day.
Mar 30, 2024 Recommended Well-written 
TL;DR: I understand that this review is stupidly long and kind of personal. If you are even on the fence, give this show a chance, it’s great. And if you can allow yourself to enjoy something so eagerly sensitive, you won’t regret it.
One night back in late 2019 shortly following one of the worst months of my life, I was called over to sit next to this mysterious girl while riding the bus. It turns out this person was in my creative writing class and recognized me, she liked some of the stuff I wrote. We hung out a few times before the semester ended. ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 25, 2024
Sousou no Frieren
(Anime)
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When deliberating (pointlessly mind you) why Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has remained the most popular and critically acclaimed anime in the English speaking community, it becomes almost stupidly obvious as to why that you don’t need some kind of stuffy, overblown academic paper written by some scholar of 20 years to figure it out. FmaB has basically everything that a typical anime fan wants in their shit without any serious catches or pitfalls. It’s a long (but not too long) action-adventure story with a well realized setting, endearing characters, slick designs, kickass animation, memorable opening songs, the works. There’s a critic on this site that once
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described FmaB as “monotonously perfect” and I don’t think there’s a better way to put it, it’s so seamlessly competent and good as to almost be unceremonious, like you take it for granted. While I don’t necessarily think Sousou no Frieren will attain anywhere near the level of popularity or acclaim, it was almost just as obvious why it’s likely to be one of the biggest anime of the decade despite a comparative lack of hype prior to its airing.
Frieren truly is the wunderkind of anime, it was always destined for greatness as long as it didn’t magically shit itself narratively, or be adapted by some low IQ hack producers that forced the project out because the manga was popular. The premise speaks for itself: nearly 30 years after the death of the great hero who defeated the demon lord, the elf girl Frieren—who once accompanied the Himmel the Hero in his quest but has far outlived him, takes on a prodigious apprentice named Fern and travels back through the land she once saved to try to understand humanity and eventually reach the place where souls rest, so that she may speak to Himmel once again. It was this statistical anomaly where an anime premise actually engages me from the outset. So for once I had legitimate hype going into Frieren, as cautious as I was. To put it simply: SouSou no Frieren is Mushoku Tensei without the guilt. If you want a gorgeously animated, skillfully directed, wistfully emotional yet unpretentiously comedic, adventure fantasy show with a slew of some of the best action sequences in anime, then Frieren has it all. There’re no catches, no bs, no weird fetishes (at least in your face because of course they’re there if you pay any attention at all), it’s just a work of art all around. It’s frankly awesome to see an ambitious, passionate staff under the guiding light of one of the most stacked producers in anime, Yuuichirou Fukushi, pool their entire careers worth of talent into crafting a decade defining work. Even if Madhouse sticks to their general modus operandi and never touches this IP ever again, it’ll have made its mark as something young plucky animators will look to and say “I want to do that.” Now, I could go on for another like ten paragraphs in investigative, analytical detail as to why Frieren is the Shaq/Kobe Lakers of anime, but honestly there’s not much of a point, it becomes almost self-evidently good after you watch like an episode so have at it. For me personally, I never cried or anything like that. Frieren characters are so subdued that it led to a strange degree of detachment between me and the transpiring events. The only other major complaint would be the opaque magic system I don’t entirely understand yet. Though, Sousou no Frieren feels like the kind of show where there’ll be some kind of answer that won’t be completely ass. The reason I’m willing to give the a 9 is because I’m not kidding, despite it garnering a reputation for its presentation of temporality and out of this world action sequences, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is genuinely fucking funny. I ended up recently rewatching episodes 13 and 14 with a friend of mine, and I couldn’t stop stupidly laughing to like every dumb joke. That bit about the cup sized bathtub and the fork sized sickle got me WAY harder on the second time around. I could foresee myself enjoying Frieren even more on subsequent rewatches, and that garners a lot of respect from me. That may have to be the case, because with a staff list as stacked as Sousou no Frieren, there’s a very solid chance a second season might never be produced by the original creators. While I’d be disappointed if that happened, we can appreciate the already existing good, we can have fun. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 25, 2024
Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Well-written
Not to make anyone feel old, but one of the rituals I remember the most as a child was taking trips to the mall with my dad back in the late 2000’s. I didn’t get a chance to see him too often, but at the time, our little tradition was going to GameStop and getting me whatever cheap DS games could fall under their buy 2 used games get 1 half off scheme. It meant a lot to me at the time since I was obsessed with video games and played my DS constantly. Now, the result of this practice was, in reality, just bombarding
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me with a deluge of low budget, hardly notable experiences that I ended up selling after a few years anyway. I love my dad, but half the time those games were so boring that once I got inevitably stuck, I became far too disinterested in continuing—Or, if I did finish them, they clearly weren’t enthralling enough to remember. For much of its run, I was ready to write off Dosanko Gal Wa Namara Menkoi as an experience very akin to the majority of my bloated, turn of the decade DS catalogue. However, I think this show is just a modicum above that—and as such, deserves something longer than a two sentence blurb on my list I’ll read again in two years.
Let me start with a factual statement, I fucking love gals. I only recently became aware that I was a devout follower of the gyaru religion, but since then it’s been consistently on my mind. A subculture centered around embracing feminine aesthetics to a holistic extent, obsessed with self-expression and unburdened by the demure shame that’s brute forced onto many Japanese women, what’s not to love about it? While sometimes in real life gyaru are lurid enough as to be unpleasant or even garish, the inevitable self-confidence that comes from constantly oscillating between popular and freakish depending on context and age will always be appealing to me. In short, gyaru dare to be bold. And even though gyaru culture has been bottomed out to the extent where you can’t really consider it a “movement” anymore, gyaru have left enough of an impression on the Japanese psyche to consistently show up in their media. While I can’t necessarily point to when or why, in the last decade gyaru have inundated slice of life anime and manga. There’s this joke referenced in Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu that gals are nice to otaku, and maybe that was alluding to some kind of popular 5channel meme which bubbled to the surface amidst the intellectual discussions about hentai and posting unsolicited comments about the Chinese, who knows? Either way, it’s now manifested to a point where there’s not only one romance anime specifically about gyaru related characters, but like five or something? In this case, gyaru are used as general devices to bridge the “hick” culture of Hokkaido Japan to a greater population, particularly those in metropolitan areas. If Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi wanted to leave me believing that Hokkaido had cool stuff in it by the end of the season’s run, I think it succeeded. The show is filled with enough Hokkaido-oriented product placement and innocuous little cultural tidbits to build a sense of immersion. It can arguably be associated with the kind of exposition that sometimes bogs down a badass action manga like Golden Kamuy, but Dosanko Gals instead seeks to develop a sense of setting and familiarity with that setting, which well integrates into the narrative. When Akino or Fuyuki goes on about Soda or some shit, I’m actually listening and engaged. Because to some extent by learning about this cultural artifact from a region I’ve never been to tells me something about Akino and Fuyuki, and what their “home” means to them. Minami Fuyuki begins the story with a subtly debasing her denizenship of Hokkaido. However, in time with her interactions with the main character Tsubasa Shiki, she gains a greater appreciation for her hometown and herself. This inevitably leads to a greater interest in Tsubasa and the kind of person she wants to be, orienting the overall trajectory of her character arc, and serving as the basis for the budding romance between the main leads. I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking this is KareKano or some shit, this is a fucking harem manga. Or, more accurately— this is a modern wish-fulfillment Reiwa era romcom contorted into some lethargic wish-fulfillment harem pretzel monster. The original author Kai Ikada, or some semi-shrewd midwit editor, astutely noticed that unless Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi had some kind of narrative direction, the story was quickly going to stagnate lest the main couple got together immediately. The latter would’ve been far too bold for the relatively green mangaka, and the former would’ve inevitably frustrated the readershipbase which would’ve been the primrose expressway towards cancellation. So instead, Dosanko Gals introduces a few more girls that tap into specific gyaru niches to artificially inject “tension” into the narrative. It’s comes off disjointed like, whenever a harem character is introduced some goofy exaggerated manga bullshit happens that doesn’t match the tone of the first episode at all. Reiwa era romcoms tend to keep the actual scenarios relatively down to earth with minor exceptions, this story included. It’s still wish fulfillment—but there’s a dramatic difference between the Fuyuki flirting with Shiki in an igloo, and Rena, the smartest girl in the entire school—hugging the main character in his entry way for no discernable reason other than she thought his fit was super sugoi desu as a history nerd… this was their second interaction. I say all this, but I don’t think Rena is terrible per say. If this was a normal harem manga, I actually think she’d be a pretty decent addition (even if she has no chance of winning.) Additionally, it wouldn’t have been that hard to address my bitching because I don’t think the character writing is uniquely poor. Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi was actually a love triangle between Fuyuki, Tsubasa, and Sayuri Akino, I actually think Ikada could’ve gotten away with murder by completely changing the show’s genre. Call me basic if you want, but Akino is fucking cool. The way her personal arc intertwines with the other characters’ in a greater dramatic scenario is neat, for what it is. A gaming otaku who experiences a glow up and, despite her icy demeanor and awkward personality, stumbles into the popular kid crowd after falling in love with the transfer student from Tokyo whom the most liked girl in class is clearly down bad for. While it probably wouldn’t be on some braindead top 10 romance anime listicle, the scenario would at least be interesting to play out. Unfortunately, because this series shoehorned in a harem along with a sorta-established quasi-subgenre, the show has to dedicate time to characters who shouldn’t matter (except for Fuyuki’s hot ass mom she should get even more attention. Fuck it, put her in the shitty harem, why not). Tsubasa is a pretty decent mc, as far as flaccid and tepid romcom men are concerned, and has good chemistry with both girls that I want to see go somewhere. And unlike with most harem manga, which tend to frontload their protagonists’ characterization so they can focus on the tits, even if Shiki’s backstory is left intentionally ambiguous, whatever happened to him seems like it had a real impact on his personality. And, I actually think there’s going to be follow through, which may or may not suck. And while I wouldn’t necessarily also use terms as harsh to describe other aspects of the show, it isn’t just the writing that’s left me with mixed feelings. While the backgrounds do a decent job at selling the atmosphere of northeastern Hokkaido in the middle of winter, Dosanko Gals visually leaves a lot to be desired. This is a by the numbers, bog standard, hardly passionate or innovative slice of life anime. The animation is never really impressive (if not often stilted), the digital compositing isn’t elevating any of the scenes, and don’t even get me fucking started on the storyboards. While I have definitely seen worse, I would argue the directing is straight up incompetent at times, despite this show having TWO DIRECTORS. While the character designs and their accompanying color choices are pretty appealing, and the girls are attractive, the show’s production is largely unremarkable and dull. It’s a clear product of the modern anime industry’s, and Silver Links’—lack of consistent scheduling and lack of access to outstanding talent. Though, I wouldn’t say the production is completely artless, for example, people complained about the removal of a lot of the original manga’s fanservice. Frankly, I think this decision demonstrates that some people DID care about making an okay product. Since in my ignorant, uncultured ass opinion, from what I’ve seen, a lot of the fanservice in the Dosanko Gals manga doesn’t really fit the show’s tone at all. The accused “censorship” in the anime was likely a creative choice made by the staff to preserve the show’s immersion, since anymore fanservice than the little we got would’ve been stupidly distracting and I’m glad they changed it. By now, I hope it’s clear as to why I have mixed feelings about recommending Dosanko Gal wa Namara Menkoi at all. There’s some decent story construction the despite harem shit, and the characters are likeable, but this is a manga adaptation at the end of the day. Meaning, there’s not going to be any serious catharsis or, god forbid, substantial progression with any of the relationships that fundamentally changes the status quo for the long term. And even if there is a second season, I doubt I’d want to watch it anyway. Because, according to many of the readers, the manga goes to shit for the next like fifty chapters or something which would be around 24-ish episodes. A recent review of the manga even suggested you should just skip a hundred chapters from some point early on until the manga gets back on track. The main reason you would want to watch the anime is to consume the good part of the manga with a pretty decent soundtrack, solid voice acting, and consistent character art (which the early part of the manga is SORELY lacks about from what I could tell at a glance). Even so, what made me decide to give this show a six is, funnily enough, the eleventh episode. The visuals for Dosanko Gals was one of the main contributing factors depreciating my enjoyment, but episode 11, despite all odds, actually looks pretty decent; with one scene in particular having the best animation, storyboards, and digital compositing of the season. After a largely lukewarm reception from my end, I actually watched a scene that, without me overanalyzing and on its own merits, made me feel something. In the two months leading up to that episode’s airing, I largely spent the winter not feeling much of anything, with media being basically the only thing that connected me to the world. In many ways. I’d sunk to much lower emotional depth than I ever had prior, to the point where I couldn’t even muster up the energy to unnecessarily worry anymore. However, right before that episode aired, I’d just started to climb out of that pit where I thought I’d met the bottom, but I still felt this terrible weight on me. And while it’s not even in my favorite anime episodes, not even my favorite slice of life anime episodes, it was one of those few rare moments where a piece of art genuinely impressed me. A sacred moment, where despite watching 10 episodes of a show barely able to meet the standard of “kind of passable” and just inching over the finish line, crafted some moments where I was truly locked in to the character’s emotions, and could finally sense some gravitas from the show’s creative staff. It was like I was lifted out of my chair and into their world, and for the briefest of moments, I didn’t feel so heavy. Maybe I was being dramatic or something, and maybe the episode wasn’t actually that crazy. But, at the very least I’ll remember this show for providing me with those few transient moments where I actually felt somewhat like me. Or maybe I’m just a nerd. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 23, 2023
Spy x Family Season 2
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Well-written
Spy x Family is the self-perpetuating motion machine of anime from a financial perspective. I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of the show's run in however many episodes, it turns out to be one of the most profitable manga franchises of this half of the 21st Century. I've seen many apt descriptions of just how prodigiously preordained the success of this franchise was (birthed in a test tube, genetically modified, etc.), but something like Spy x Family is incredibly rare. From episode/chapter one, I think anyone who understood anime or its fans both domestically and abroad, prophetically, and viscerally, knew it would be
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popular. When Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen were initially published in Weekly Shounen Jump last decade, I don't think anyone could've envisioned the indescribable success those two properties would become, because their beginnings were kind of rough. I feel like half the discourse surrounding Demon Slayer when it first aired was "How the hell did something so basic leave such a staggering impact? Good-looking shows come out all the time." In many ways, I still ponder over whether KnY's success was some act of divine intervention.
But when it came to SxF, it was so obvious: An action-comedy Cold War era spy show surrounding the eternally resonant theme of found family. Spy x Family is ultimately light-hearted, but not too saccharine as to be nauseating to the boys/men whom the manga is theoretically aimed for. In many ways, it's kind of the perfect blend of everything, so when the show predictably blew up last year there was an incredible amount of hype going in, and it only escalated during the first twelve episodes. I have a unique relationship with the story because: for one, enjoyed SxF far more than I initially expected, and two, I was left emotionally impacted in ways I couldn't have predicted. I will admit, I might've (possibly) had some kind of trauma-related emotional response when I witnessed Loid pick up that fucking blue penguin and follow his daughter around the block because he yelled at her. I don't think I'm unique in having a childhood where a scenario demonstrating such nonchalant tenderness basically never happened, but SxF was able to effortlessly depict such casual kindness in a way as to provoke that scarred part of myself far more effectively than I'm sure Tatsuya Endo or Kazuhiro Furuhashi intended. It's like that chapter in Chainsaw Man where Makima and Denji are at a movie theater bawling at the most innocuous scene of all time, that was basically me. In short, I was in Spy x Family's camp once I finished its first cour, and was looking forward to enjoying the rest of the season along with everyone else once it was completed. However, when season one finished airing last year, I noticed an unusual drop off concerning the level of sheer enthusiasm surrounding the IP. Regardless of its eventual lukewarm reception in the West, in Japan, the manga sold an ungodly amount of volumes and got phenomenal ratings despite being in a late night slot. Inevitably, we were gonna get more of this shit anyway, so—how is it? I will be very clear, if you really disliked that five episode gap of season one of SxF where it was half episode side stories, you are going to dislike this season too. In fact, you are probably not going to like Spy x Family at all. One of the biggest complaints about the source material is how it starts spinning its wheels after a certain point like a lot of comedy manga tend to, the difference being, SxF pretended it actually had stakes at one point. What made SxF initially engaging to even normies was how carefully structured the early scenarios were to still be engaging and narratively relevant. But now when you're in this early-mid point in the story where you're no longer at the beginning that things are more focused, but are also too far away from the ending where the structure gets shaken up and emotionally impactful twists might happen, each individual episode lives and dies by how engaging it is on a micro level. For SxF, it peculiarly seems like it just can't do the SoL comedy without feeling like it's wasting the audience's time, so half the show is middling to straight boring. That isn't to say everything is boorishly passe in Spy x Family Season 2, they adapt one of the longer arcs of the manga in this season and that can get decently entertaining. But it simply doesn't recover the lack of any sort of fucks to give about the other episodes, even if they vary in quality. I would describe Spy x Family as compromisingly interesting and uninteresting, where it doesn't feel as though Tatsuya Endo has nothing novel to say with this work, but more so that he has to constantly give up the weirder parts of his writing style in order to appease a pop readership base. This in tandem, does seem to please the general Japanese public that are ingesting this shit like it's air. But, to the anime fandom on the English speaking internet, particularly those for whom Spy X Family is their first unintended foray into anime SoL comedies, this does little for them. I don't want to completely scrutinize this season into the ground, there's still some great animation and solid direction. This is quintessential modern anime in how it looks for both good and bad, even if some of the art direction feels strangely rushed and there are cg crowds for no reason. This show is by Cloverworks and Studio WIT, two studios that so consistently punch above their weight thanks to having access to solid talent, you're not going to find off model character art or any kind of grody shit like that. Kazuhira Furuhashi, whom I'm a relative fan of, is an incredibly solid director who knows how to maximize his staff regarding big IP projects, so this was always going to look good. And some of the more low-tempo episodes are pretty decent, it's just die roll almost every time if it's boring or not. Either way, I'm too committed at this point to give up, but if you're even more sour on Spy x Family than me at this point you might as well stop while you're ahead. I'm not sure how long this story is supposed to be, but I'm sure Shueisha wants to milk this cash cow as much as it can for the rest of the decade, so probably longer than you want. This review comes, again, at a relatively nauseating period of my life. I'm still nowhere close to where I want to be, nor do I know if I'm taking the right steps to even have a shot at doing so. In other, more pernicious and anxiety inducing ways, I am constantly paranoid as to whether I am already a failure or not. I can't necessarily say Spy x Family remedied any of those feelings whatsoever, but it certainly didn't make them any worse. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 28, 2023
Undead Girl Murder Farce
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
As someone who likes to graciously pen at least one review every quarter, this season was uniquely terrible to write for. This summer constituted a unique combination of shows that I largely can’t/wont review for a variety of reasons that I will now list: the show is getting unceremoniously delayed because the anime industry never ceases to be incompetent, the show is two cours so it won’t finish until December (there’s like three shows I considered watching in this category), shows only notable because its studio is a living meme, sequels to shows I haven’t seen or caught up on, spin offs and sequels to
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shows I’ve dropped, shows that clearly cater to fetishes I’m not into, and everything else looks like shit. The only show that fit all of my criteria for this season was a show called… Undead Girl Murder Farce.
Let’s start with the basics, Undead Girl Murder Farce is a show about an immortal detective who’s only a head, her self-proclaimed apprentice, and her servant tromping around Europe in the 1890’s solving fantasy mysteries, combating foes, and trying to find the guy who ruined their lives. The world was only recently purged of the vast majority of its supernatural creatures, but there’s still enough around that there’s still minor social issues involving them integrating into society. It’s a historical low-fantasy action murder mystery series, which on paper sounds fucking awesome, but… well, how would I put this? Undead Girl Murder Farce profoundly speaks to me as a show that was dubiously created like 10+ years too late. I swear to god, had this come out in 2011 or 2012, while it may not have maintained any real popularity, would’ve probably found an audience with a greater percentage of the anime fandom and still be remembered as a decent cult-show with its own dedicated following. But now? It just feels kind of dated and out of time, the anime industry isn’t really in a place anymore for this kind of show. It’s the kind of anime with weird quirky gimmicks like “Oh boy, look at that! The maid is stoic but she’s secretly badass! She also might be a lesbian!” or “Oooh look at the cooky overdesigned villain group with the big booty vampire! Who’s also a lesbian!” (The author is super into yuri and REALLY wants you to know). Just, numerous elements that may have been novel at the time, but from my own angle just feel passe. There’s plenty of urban fantasy action shows with large casts of characters less placid and more visually and narratively engaging. And there’s plenty of good mystery shows too. For example, While I’ve only read the books, Zaregoto is pretty good, and there’s about five billion Sherlock anime so that’s also a potential avenue. If I’m to be honest, if I wasn’t writing this review, I wouldn’t have finished this shit. This isn’t to insult the many people who do like Undead Girl Murder Farce. Hell, if you enjoy this show then you’ll probably love a good handful of shows from that time period between 2008-2013. Since there’s a number of urban fantasy action shows from that time period that, while they aren’t necessarily mysteries, they’re great action shows. I wouldn’t be surprised if a substantial portion of those who like Undead Girl Murder Farce are people who became anime fans during that era. Influenced by truly inspired adaptations like Baccano! or Durarara!! Shows with vastly better looking productions and a higher quantity of compelling characters. Which, while I don’t hate the characters from Undead Girl Murder Farce (still hate that name), the vast majority are merely trope guided automatons voiced by the same A-list seiyuus you see in every other modern production. Aya Rindou and Tsugaru Shinuchi, the two characters of focus, are by far the best part of the series. They’re provided these truly dynamic performances that facilitate these subtle nuances in their characterization, or add necessary flavor to only remotely stimulating dialogue. And because we have their backstories as the opening set piece for the season, we fundamentally understand their motivations outside of being mysterious detectives, and this provides the narrative some resemblance of a push beyond its archetypal anemia. If that first episode didn’t exist, I DEFINITELY, would not have finished this show. Because otherwise, Undead Girl Murder Farce is a show that drunkenly, clumsily, incorporates the principal elements of a greater plot, without the necessary intrigue, substance, or emotional investment to take its material to the next level. The show is over, but I honestly don’t really know anything about Shizuku outside of being cold, being inexpressive, being gay (probably), and hating Shinuchi because he gets to smooch her master Aya. And while those things are nice, I honestly couldn’t give a tertiary once of shit about whether or not she succeeded in her goal of getting Aya's body back, and frankly if you only watched the first few episodes, you would think the show didn’t care either. Tsugaru is a goofball who’s to watch do basically anything, but even he can only carry the show so far. It makes sense that the two featured “protagonists” are the best parts, but when everything else is just “there,” then there is no reason for me to continue. I legit don’t need to talk about any other character because they’re either comprehensively uninteresting or overdesigned as fuck, and in some instances, both. They’re all boring, Shizuku, despite my surface level explanation earlier, is only interesting through the loosest possible implication but not by anything she really does. I know the title of the series uses “farce” in an overly literal ESL kind of way, meaning an “Absurd event.” But it’s also kind of a pun, probably in reference to the genre of farcical theater, because of the series’ unique navigation of historical murder mystery and fantasy action. But honestly, the series is NOT absurd at all, at least by anime standards and it so passively engages with its own genres as to be sleep inducing. The mysteries are okay-ish, nothing blew my mind like show felt like it was doing, but I think the cases are decently executed in its pacing, even if there’s reliance on information the audience can’t predict. And the action is at the very least entertaining, there’s a few moments where I went “that’s pretty clever,” but never anything beyond that and some of it is pretty goofy. You get a jack of all trades kind of work, where there’s not a strong focus in any particular element and thus the whole piece feels kind of messy, unfocused, and unpolished on a micro level. Moreover, absurd in anime is stuff like Monogatari, half the shit in Code Geass, or Kunihiko Ikuhara shows, things I love BECAUSE they’re absurd. Honestly, the only real absurd thing about this show, was its production. This show doesn’t look “terrible” per say, but there are times where it looks straight amateurish in a way I don’t find redeeming. I don’t know what slaves they had working in the digital photography and editing departments, but holy fuck there’s some of the worst compositing I’ve ever seen in an anime here. There’s this weird shoddy bit, where they’re trying to demonstrate that both characters are communicating with each other by having them pan across the screen at the same time over a separate background, and it legitimately reminded me of Photoshop work I attempted early on in my graphic arts class in 8th grade, they even try this technique in the last episode and it was just as appalling. Like six times they try this pretentious FOV thing where one character is close to the camera, and there’s supposed to be another character slightly blurred in the background. But for some god forsaken reason, they ostensibly only blurred the circumference of the face of the character in front, but not the background. So, you get this atrocious shot of a semi-blurry face that is, funnily enough, fucking farcical. I feel bad saying this don’t get me wrong. I well understand people were overworked and underpaid to provide me this content which I can watch for relatively cheap. I don’t blame the artists, of which have worked on good shows, I blame the shitty producers who forced this product out on a bad time table with creators who weren’t prepared for it. The novel is still ongoing, and there’s nowhere near enough content for a season two, so what the fuck was the rush? They could have just waited another quarter for the artists to clean up some of the stiff animation and sloppy ass editing and I would’ve felt better about the whole thing. Hell, the staff list was the reason I considered Undead Girl Murder Farce in the first place. The director of the show, Shinichi Omata, is a SHAFT baby whom after leaving the studio would go on to direct Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, one of most critically praised cult shows of that decade, a piece that was specifically lauded for its direction. He also directed, more importantly for the general anime community, Kaguya fucking-sama. A show I don’t really have a relationship with, but is easily the most wide-reaching and culturally significant rom-com anime from the last 15 years, at least in the west. Yet, what we got was mediocre adaptation with passable direction and passable animation. There are a few notable cuts and dynamic sequences where there’s clear and apparent artistry on display, but those are only in the episodes managed by Omata himself. You honestly could’ve told me that someone else directed episodes 2-12 entirely and I would’ve believed you with the substantial drop in expressive editing and storyboarding choices. Notwithstanding episodes 1 and 13 having their own visual problems as well, but I don’t want to get too bogged down in unnecessary details. Though, it should be noted that other core staff members also worked on great shows, such as Noboru Takagi, the screenwriter for the aforementioned Baccano! And Durarara!! The former of which I love and consider to be one of the most novel adaptations you could possibly find. Hell, they even managed to drag Chiaki J. Konaka’s ghoul-like emaciated body out of the Egyptian tomb he’s been hiding in for the last 15 years and got him to write an arc of this shit. These people provided another reason to put any modicum of faith in Undead Girl Murder Farce working out. But really, as stated now ad nauseum, this isn’t anything special. You could skip this, and lose absolutely nothing, it’s simple seasonal du jure. I’ll elucidate my point as such, remember the anime To the Abandoned Sacred beasts? If I had to bet, there’re probably like ten of you who just perked up after reading that sentence and probably felt some form of “Wow, I haven’t heard of that show in like half a decade.” It’s probably because that show is four years old now. And while it had a particular aesthetic and names like “Runcastle” and “Bancroft,” From everything I recall, the show just wasn’t distinct or good looking enough to garner a wider audience or be well remembered. Furthermore, remember the show 2.43? The DavidPro volleyball show from early 2021? Probably not because the show had middling production values and a lackluster script. Both of these shows suffer from the same complaints, there’s a cited lack of “oomph” (exact quotation) to make their respective series worthwhile. And Undead Girl Murder Farce suffers from the exact same problem, I just can’t really care about anything outside of the banter between the main two. I can still see certain people liking this, so to some extent I’m not completely writing off recommending it, but for many, they’re better off watching the shows I’ve already cited in this review. Frankly, this show feels content merely stumbling around in its own trifling mediocrity, I do this enough on my own time, and I didn’t need to spend 5 hours reminding myself of that. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 17, 2023
Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu
(Anime)
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Recommended Well-written
Anime romantic comedies are a dime a dozen and they have been for over forty years now. The moment some savvy producer looked at the seminal Urusei Yatsura in the late 70’s and was like “We could totally milk the shit out of this,” it was basically all over from there. This reached critical mass in the 2000’s when some iteration of “random douchebag attracts a bunch of socially unstable weirdos and they run around for 13-25 episodes" or "random airheaded bimbo finds some hot piece of bishounen ass to abuse her for 13-25 episodes” became a disproportionate amount of the anime industry’s output. while
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there’s still the occasional harem manga adaptation, these types of stories have largely been subsumed into the now derided Isekai light novel power fantasy whose continued prevalence in the industry still baffles me, I’m pretty sure these things don’t make that much money. And Traditional Shoujo manga adaptations are ostensibly nonexistent these days. It’s a genre that’s morphed into either adaptations of web manga that aren’t explicitly marketed for teenage girls, but still largely cater to female audiences. And, wouldn’t you know it? Isekai light novel adaptations. They’re just in a dating sim this time, you see? ;)
In the maelstrom of all these industry changes, you get a new type of rom-com, the Reiwa Era Comedy. These types of romance stories, usually aimed at adult men though they feature mostly teenagers, have a meta-textual understanding of its own genre trappings, and thus seek to find ways to retool its own formula and keep this gravy train going. Because, despite the fact that Japanese people are far too overworked, and far too fed up with their own gender roles to actually manifest their own fulfilling relationships in real life, they'll gladly read dozens of manga about (usually) kids tailspinning around their own gimmick for 100 chapters until they finally grow the fuck up and get together. The titles of these works are so cliche they can basically be madlibbed at this point: [anime girl name] is [adjective] etc. etc. To be a bit more charitable, these titles are comparatively more flexible than their harem manga predecessors in terms of what kinds of relationships we’re allowed to see. They can be romantic associates with a single cogent goal like in Komi-san, they can be basically dating in everything but name like in My Dress Up Darling, or they can be straight-up dating from the start like in Shikimori. As similar as these works tend to be, they all have at least one specific trait that sets them apart from the others, on top of whatever wish fulfillment they’re trying to convey to their audience. After spending two paragraphs getting to the fucking point, Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu is a pretty good example of this type of romance story. The fantasy this time is, what if you were some socially maladjusted chuuni who also so happens to have attracted the hottest girl in class, and she’s autistic! In all seriousness, what made me interested in Bokuyaba from the outset is the neurotic angle the series takes toward its male and female leads. The only reason the story is even possible is BECAUSE the characters are as neurotic/neurodivergent as they are. If I had to describe what the author was trying to do with Bokuyaba, it would be: redeeming the parts of Shoujo manga that made it appealing, cutting out the cringe(y fetishes), and conveying that exact appeal to an intended male audience. Don’t get me wrong, Bokuyaba is just as fetishistic as those girl’s manga tend to be, it’s just more so in its design sensibilities than in the scenario writing itself. Like, when I was taking glances at the manga to look for any interesting comparisons for the sake of this review, all I could think was, “Wow, this mangaka really wants her audience to fuck this 12 year old girl.” Sure, there’s a character who’s a literal fat fetishist, but he’s not the focus, nor is the story trying to forgive him for being such. There’s no attempt to legitimize middle schoolers trying to pound their 25 year old teachers, or their cousins, or their 25 year old cousins, in the same way as the supposedly wholesome main couple of a Shoujo manga story. In fact, I think Bokuyaba’s romanticism coupled with its acknowledgement of its character’s sexualities is one of the work’s strengths. There’s this adult-like attitude where yeah, these kids could totally have sex at some point in the future, and that doesn’t ruin anything about the story or the power fantasy. It’s not why you’re watching per se, but it makes the story feel more “real". I won't lie, when Kyoutarou in episode 12 stops then—in a flash—anxiously checks his trashcan to make sure his "tissues" were tossed out while Anna was IN HIS ROOM like two feet away, I was fucking howling. I genuinely wonder if the author has a younger sibling and they told her of a similar humorous story (though, given the subtle siscon stuff in this show, for the love of god I hope not). And what’s more impressive is that it doesn’t annoy me that the characters aren’t immediately getting together. A defining characteristic about good anime romantic comedies is seeing how the two main leads develop, both because of and independently of each other. Despite how Anna is very obviously DTF for much of this story, the main reason they’re not is because the main character is a horrifically insecure and anxious kid. Kyoutarou HAS to change in order for their relationship to even be possible, because where he is at the beginning of the story is far too emotionally fragile for there to be anything healthy. He has to accept who he is, and accept the possibility that people CAN like that. While I wasn’t completely relating to the main character in every situation (the kid is more of a well-dressed edgelord than I’ll ever be), there were moments where Kyotarou would misinterpret an event in an overly negative light, and I would go “Bro, that’s literally me when I was his age.” It’s kind of unsettling after a certain point, but it makes me appreciate what the author was trying to do with her main character. While there’s less to say about Anna Yamada, she’s pretty good too. She’s not impotent or powerless, she’s actually quite proactive in her feelings, but also quite considerate. She tries to be subtle sometimes, but she's also very clumsy and awkward—she isn’t tongue-in-cheek in the way a lot of “quirky” anime girls try to be. Anna is a child so much of her attempts at romance boil down to a combination of internet research, media portrayals, and guesstimations. Much of Anna's mindset towards her relationship in this story is having her special fru fru Shoujo manga romance based off of a series she likes, it's another reason why the relationship progresses more slowly. I joked about her being autistic earlier, but when Anna in like episode 2 straight up tells another character that they’re “practicing their jokes” implying they don’t entirely understand what makes a joke funny on an intuitive level, I’mma think a certain way. I still can't get over how right after the scene of Anna doing the little happy dance in the park because she recieved a keychain as gift from her (not)-boyfriend—I got a text from an IRL friend of mine, who's also on the spectrum, of TikTok of a dancing flamingo telling me how it was literally them (my friend will, in fact, dance when happy if you let them), it fucking kills me. Anna is still a normie, and in fact, the show goes out of its way to note this multiple times. But, she’s a weird normie, one who’s survived due her exceptional upbringing and good looks In relation to Anna, another thing I’ll praise about the show is its subtle character writing, masked through the subjective lens that the story filters itself through. Early on, there’s a bit where Anna asks Kyoutarou to borrow his paper fan and mentions how good the fan smells. Kyoutarou explicitly mentions that he didn’t buy a scented a fan when walking over to Anna to vet her point. And while Kyoutarou was too distracted by how beautiful Anna was to figure it out, the only scent the fan could have was FROM Kyoutarou because he was holding it all fucking day. When I realized this, I was like, “Nah, she did NOT just try that shit.” And while it didn’t work, that’s when I realized the mangaka really did care when crafting her scenarios and that I should be paying attention when Anna does things. I love stuff like that, and Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu is full of it. Some people have questioned why the show takes place in middle school, and I would chalk it up to the point I made earlier about "redeeming the tropes" or whatever. The world Bokuyaba takes place in is grounded enough that if these kids we're any older it wouldn't be believable. Hell, characters IN universe hardly can and they're like, thirteen. And since chuunibyo is a key element of the text early on, middle school jives well with the story's overall atmosphere and themes of adolescent self-acceptance. To talk about the more technical aspects of Bokuyaba for a little bit, the show overall looks pretty solid. While the storyboards and character design work are (usually) nothing to write home about, Bokuyaba is animated fairly competently and the show looks its best when the digital compositing puts in the hard work to make its scenes really pop. Kensuke Ushio of all people did the soundtrack, and while I think it’s weaker when compared to his work on Chainsaw Man or A Silent Voice, there’s a few tracks on the Bokuyaba ost that just hit to such a satisfying extent and really captures what makes those scenes significant to the main character. Bokuyaba is, for the most part, fairly simple outside of what I described. It’s not completely vapid, but it’s also not peak anime kino either, though it's not trying to be. Bokuyaba is trying to do something distinct and special in an increasingly over-saturated rom-com scene where a new quirky couple pops up every other week. And as someone who had been loosely interested in the property for some time, I can say I was pretty satisfied with the product I got. Good things are made sometimes and I don’t need to be all cynical about it. It helps that my life has been legit hell recently and I’ve had some of the worst weeks of my life just occur, Bokuyaba was a nice respite in the midst that. And I’m sure if any of the creators of either the show or the manga read what I just wrote, they'd feel just that little bit more confident in what they made, frankly, they should. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 25, 2023
Boku no Hero Academia 6th Season
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
If you told me nearly seven years ago when My Hero Academia first aired that it would end up dropping into a secondary popularity tier among anime fans, below something like Attack on Titan or even Bleach, I would’ve told you to leave me the hell alone because I didn’t like anime and didn’t care at all about My Hero Academia.
But, if you told me the same thing four years ago when I first watched mha, I would’ve called you an overly cynical edgelord; an embittered asshole desperately tearing down earnestly crafted pop media pieces as some pretentious measure to justify their supercilious ass taste. ... Of course, this anime snob in my head turned out to be largely true. That isn’t to say My Hero Academia has lost its cultural weight entirely, as it continues to enjoy endless success in Japan with a cavalcade of spin-offs, financially successful filler movies, merchandise tie-ins, and 85 million copies sold to boot. I’ve probably seen at least a dozen random civilians (mostly kids) wearing heroaca t-shirts out in the wild since the pandemic and I live in the fucking boonies. This, among anything else, speaks to mha’s continued resonance among audiences over the years. However, among the anime fandom at large “acamania” has ostensibly waned substantially since I finished season 3 in the Summer of 2019. Let alone before I became interested in anime which I thankfully never had to experience. And it isn’t hard to tell why if you’ve had eyes on the anime fandom as a whole over the last few mha releases. After a series of middling adaptations of arcs that were controversial even during their initial publication, it’s no wonder that My Hero Academia couldn’t retain its luster forever. Frankly, it exposes one of the key flaws in the “seasonal” model of anime production that’s become dubiously more popular over the last half decade. If the material no longer resonates with its core audience due to recurrent weak seasons, then fandom passion will rapidly dwindle. Anime fans are probably more forgiving than they should be when it comes to art, but it becomes quickly apparent when they stop giving a fuck about something. I honestly couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the biggest English-speaking anime content creator, when asked by another major content creator if it was worth catching up to heroaca from episode 89, straight bold-faced said fucking “no.” Again, don’t blame him. Season 5 was straight garbo I didn’t even consider because I never planned on watching the anime or touching the property ever again after season 4. The only reason I returned to mha after the labyrinthine, drawn-out slog that was the Overhaul arc, was because a friend of mine in early 2021 showed me a picture of Deku when images of the Dark Hero Arc were leaked online. And as jaded as I was, it seemed like they were finally picking back up the thematic thrill line Stain left spiraled on the ground, and I liked Stain. So, seven months later, during a standard biannual weeb library trip while I had some time to kill, I impulsively grabbed the volume from where the Pro Hero Arc began and started reading. I discovered two things: 1. Horikoshi’s art is genuinely amazing, some of the best talent Jump has at the moment. And 2. despite the Joint Training arc being one of the most dull, anemic, and tedious fucking things I’ve ever read, Horikoshi can actually write a story with interesting ideas and decent characters. The MVA Arc is awesome and even though the producers of season 5 did their best to pound that arc into the ground, I felt like it was going to be impossible to adapt it well anyway outside of a few amazing sakuga moments (which didn’t materialize at the frequency I expected). I came back to season 6 specifically because there were key moments of the war arc that, if adapted well, were going to be as cool, engaging, or emotional as they were in the manga. Any adaptation worth their salt tries to do this, and with a studio that has the man power and prestige to excel, especially without a filler movie this year, I expected just that. Unfortunately, that isn’t what I got. I don’t want to sound like an uncompromising pontifical manga fanboy here, but the My Hero Academia TV show will never look as good as it did pre-season 4. When the flashbacks in your shonen anime are at a consistently higher visual echelon than the show you’re currently watching that’s a fucking problem. Whenever there was content from seasons one or two, I was thinking “damn, this season generally looks aight, but this shit seems excellent,” and I just shouldn’t. I remember—like the naïve young lad I was, being so excited to witness a scene from the anime where a character bifurcates a huge woodland complex with his quirk, only to be sorely disappointed when it was truncated into a single still frame. I can’t even begin to tell you the migraines I got with all of the panning shots with speed lines over blobby ass crowds “running around.” There are some decent cuts, but there’s this consistent impression of absolutely amateurish direction and utilization of talent. Seiji Mizushima, the director of Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), said in a relatively recent interview that the key role of a director in anime is to distribute the resources properly and efficiently to both meet deadlines and create a well-made product. Despite not making a filler movie, this show doesn’t fucking have that. Cuts that SHOULD look amazing were uninspiring at best, and other way less important scenes received tender love and care without proper justification. I don’t need every anime to be this Mob Psycho-esque perfectly crafted masterpiece where everything is drawn on one’s. I just want the good shit to look good, and for the rest of it to not flounder around as a poorly composited and shittily art directed mess. I do want to mention that the whole season isn’t terrible visually. In fact, there’s some segments that look pretty solid or are at the very least visually engaging. It’s just, as both a viewer of prior seasons and aS a MaNgA rEaDeR, I expected more from the available staff. It doesn’t hurt that I find the ost horribly melodramatic at times, and it completely rips me out of scenes I would normally give a shit about. It makes emotional moments so manipulative that it’s almost lame? There are pages of the manga, same arcs mind you, where I was feeling sincerely emotional, because Horikoshi’s art and paneling can be that legitimately powerful. The main reason I’m giving this show a 5 is because the material is still commendable with some flaws. The War Arc is a great action piece with lots of moving parts, fun twists, and legitimate narrative consequences (sort of, with one major asspull). I think Horikoshi learned from his mistakes during his previous action arcs and tried to pace this one in a way that felt more balanced and thus more riveting overall. Though, the Dark Hero Arc is rockier, and I can understand why this would be the point the manga fans start having issues again, because I kind of feel like I was lied to. This arc FEELS rushed, as if there were storyboards created for two or three extra chapters that got stolen by his editor and thrown into the recycling bin. The intention of the arc and what I think Horikoshi wanted to do with Deku was probably cucked by both hackneyed editorial incompetence, and publication cowardice, because whenever My Hero does anything edgy or cool it’s a whole ass issue. From my understanding, a lot of this has to do with the fact that whenever villainy is depicted in Jump as too sympathetic, a lot Jump’s associative partners like video game companies get kind of pissy. Sure, Chainsaw Man does exist, but Fujimoto is shielded by reinforced concrete thanks to his editor, and mha is trying to reach far broader of an audience than Chainsaw Man ever dreamed of having. Additionally, it doesn’t lean into the appeal of mha in Japan at all. A lot of casual Japanese audiences just kind of want a high school super hero power fantasy manga, and not the comparatively interesting meta-commentary that Horikoshi wants to write. This tension leads to things like the MVA arc getting screwed in season 5, and Dark Hero getting screwed during its publication. Of all the times to not have fucking filler, WHY NOW? This ultimately amounts to the emotional beats of the arc containing little impact, and the overall plot evolving in less imaginative ways. It’s a shame too, I was looking forward to seeing Deku, comprehensively burdened by his own ideals, hitting ideological walls and self-destructing despite his insane power increase. The arc ends up being underwhelming to watch because of its aforementioned problems despite its own potential. Recently, I got sick with both the flu and COVID in the same week, and while I was in my various fever states straining to hold my body together after having it internally beaten with a leather belt, mha was the only show I could actually pay attention to since everything else was “too thinky for me.” Even so, I pondered to myself, “Am I too old for shonen anime adaptations?” I know I’m not too old for shonen, because I like earnest camp affair like Fist of the North Star, and shows like Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter are among my favorites. Hell, I LIKE the My Hero Academia manga as a whole despite the constant issues that’s plagued its narrative pacing in the last two years. But, when I was half-awake—half-dead, watching—gobsmacked, Bakugo garrulously repeating exposition the audience should already know in the midst of a fight between Deku and Shiguraki that mostly amounted to speed line infused panning shots; only to then have one of the most important and cathartic emotional climaxes of the series be depicted as a FUCKING STILL FRAME, I considered that maybe for shonen anime, I was. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 6, 2023
Do It Yourself!!
(Anime)
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Recommended
I'm not going to lie, my life hasn't been too hot for the last seven months. After busting my ass to finish my university program and busting my ass even more applying to jobs over the last year or so, I've been left with extremely nebulous future in terms of any actual career. Of course, I'm not the only soul in this world who's experienced a similar level of existential disappointment. But unique to me, I also received a head injury around the same time as graduation that's kept me in a perpetual state of recovery since, meaning doing anything or looking at anything with
...
a bright screen or text has been an hourly utilitarian calculation, where I can safely assume what I'm doing at the rate I'm doing it is making things worse, but I'm also too childish and pissy to concede the devices that have served as the teleological principles for the personalities of my entire generation. I'm no better or worse than any cringy fucking Tiktok zoomer who torpidly accepts whatever hackneyed braindead redundant ass content with shittily edited background music slides devilishly into their feed, I just participate while actively feeling the brain hurt I get. For fucks sake I can't even write this review without getting a headache but I guess that demonstrates the level of passion and endless time to kill on my front. This quagmire of a condition I'm in is not to be mentioned for some kind of self-flagellating pity party that masquerades itself as a review, it is, in reality—to emphasize what I mean when I say, despite how rough my life is right now, Do it Yourself! every week made me a at least tiny bit happier, and it's time I do not regret spending even if it messes with my brain somehow.
To be even more clear for the sake of the review, Do It Yourself is fucking great. The fact an anime original project could express such a level of emotional depth to such a visually polished extent, let alone a cute girls show, speaks to the kind of talent resting in an industry that is about to release like 15 fucking isekai light novel adaptations next season. But instead of going into a further diatribe about the collective dunning-kruger Narou-kei brainworm poisoning the producers who dupe these production committees into funding unnecessary projects, time to actually dive into what I believe makes DIY such a splendid show. In order to concisely describe what Do It Yourself is about, I've posited the following summaries. Do It Yourself is a show about a bunch of fleshed out anime tropes building shit and becoming lifelong friends. Do It Yourself is a show about how analog human expression will continue to thrive even in the midst of rapid technological progress that could give less of a fuck about wood planks or tree bolts. Do It Yourself is a show about a pubescent tsundere lesbian who learns to fall in love with her crush over and over again about a dozen times. Each one of these explanations are all viable on their own, but even more so, they all fit cogently together as explanations for the show, for DIY is all these things and more. I'll try to use this format is a rough guide because talking about this show is a tad difficult, so bear with me. Do It Yourself exists on a fascinating nexus of a specific subgenre of cute girl shows. One that has increasingly blossomed in the last half decade almost as a spin-off of the "cute girls club show," that being the awkwardly titled "Cute girls do a traditionally masculine hobby." Though, unlike those other shows that have so far served to merely carry its genre's water season by season, DIY seizes its own creative potential to push the emotional envelope. When I was first browsing shows for this crowded ass season and I saw this one, I was surprised—Do It Yourself! is an anime original project. You probably wouldn't be able to tell because its directed much of the time like a manga adaptation, but DIY is the unique brainchild of a man named IMAGO, which has been theorized to be a pseudonym for the award-winning artist Mitsuo Iso—the creator of Dennou Coil and last years' Orbital Children. When speaking of the other key creative staff, I remember a quote from Dai Sato (I think?) who was the head writer of Eureka Seven and Ergo Proxy. He ostensibly said that once you're in the industry for long enough and want to do anything big and cool, you have to make a name for yourself with an anime interesting and successful enough to grab the eyes of those who would be willing to give you more money for projects with higher prestige. For Dai Sato, this was Eureka Seven, and for little-known Pine Jam director Kazuhiro Yoneda, and small-time industry screenwriter Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, I think this was their attempt to do just that. Especially for someone like Fudeyasu, whom, up to this point had only exhibited his personal writing prowess for adaptations that were genuinely unhinged like Interspecies Reviewers and Dropkick on my Devil which are cult shows more than anything. This shit is like when Otaro Maijo wrote ID:Invaded and I was floored when it turned out to NOT be the most deranged thing I've ever seen, but tone it down by quite a bit. And I have to give him a lot of kudos, the writing of DIY is splendid for a show of its caliber. The anime punches above its weight class in terms of its visuals, which are consistently commendable in their own right, but DIY also contains the kind of thought and care put into expressing its characters emotions that is normally reserved for character dramas or Kyoani shows. I swear to god I was five episodes in and I was like "When the fuck is the actual DIY shit going to happen?" because up to that point it had just been an SOL with sprinkles of character drama mixed in. A similar kind of show that attempts a greater degree of emotional depth in its own characters like Yuru Camp tries to integrate everything as much as possible, but different approaches are acceptable as long it doesn't waste my damn time. For DIY it pays off because it invests the audience in the personal struggles of its own characters, which are pretty tropey, and subtlety justifies why we should care that these girls become friends in the first place. When Takumi's backstory is revealed to the audience, of her effectively living through middle school as a closed-off recluse, I can understand why the DIY club and people like Serufu—who couldn't be fucking bothered with whatever neurosis you might have—mean so much to her. Hell, I could hard sympathize with Rei when she shares her baked goods with her friends, indicating that she hopes they will accept the more feminine parts of her personality that she isn't necessarily able to express around her family, whom are nice but fucking weird and structure their home lives around running a small business. The characters in DIY are fleshed out and consistent, including my favorite Miku, and I would like to spend a little bit of time on her if I may. I find it fucking hilarious as a fan who doesn't really care for tsunderes OR osananajimis, that my favorite character in DIY is both archetypes in this kind of sapphic homunculus with moe sensibilities. Miku, the true light of my life, is in LOVE. Just head over heels for her neighbor, this strange newtype girl named Serufu who's intelligence can be matched by few. But she feels betrayed, "this girl didn't get into the same school as I did, does she not care about our connection? Is she like my dad!?" Such anxieties would get the best of us. Miku is the character with the clearest arc in Do It Yourself. In that she learns to accept Serufu becoming her own person and making connections, while also accepting the emotional attachment she holds for Serufu and accepting the friends she made in their time apart. In episode six, the ultra-wholesome beach episode that goes out of its way to not sexualize its own characters god bless it, there's a moment where Miku ties Serufu's hair up and there's this perfectly composited shot of Serufu looking into the camera appearing the most fem she ever has in the whole show. I went "Wow… she's beautiful, when the hell did that happen?" And I was awestruck like two seconds later when it hit me, THIS is what Miku sees. There’re multiple occurrences in the show where the perspective changes to where Miku is looking and Serufu magically starts presenting way more feminine, only for the camera to cut back to Miku blushing. Uh, ok DIY I see what you're doing here with this weird quasi-reckless apprehension. Quote "Serufu can just think while I do everything else for her," fucking end quote. Can people even bitch about queerbaiting when Miku just IS fucking gay? Either way, 1. I don't care. 2. there's a clear level of pathological detail in this show that many can appreciate, including me. Honestly, praising the characterization as much as I am, makes me highlight the problems I have with the show that much more. The main problem with this show is, ironically, tied to its own genre. episode 7 onwards, DIY just becomes a cute girls club show instead of the character driven SOL show it was before. Some might ask, "aren't all cute girl shows character driven?" And while I would agree in principle, with this type of program the driving narrative force is the actual topic of the show. So, while DIY is correctly adhering to its conventions, it doesn't do anything to improve the previously established juicy goodness the show already had. And I do want to repeat, this show is full of tropes. So even though many of the characters are either well thought out, or have their moments of novelty, these are moe girl archetypes at the end of the day. I wasn't acting like "Haha Serufu is clumsy xD" basically at all, comfort is the emphasis this one. Additionally, when the girls are actually navigating their DIY crafts, I find it kind of… boring? Which is weird again, that I would complain about a SOL show being low tempo, but after being pleasantly surprised by the first set of episodes, for it to only retrograde back into a more bog standard cute girls show is disappointing. Shit’s still good either way, and they are effectively able to weave in emotionally resonant moments in the latter half, but it doesn’t hit the same. If there's anything else I can praise DIY for, is its attempt to answer its own philosophical question. Every episode of DIY seeks to answer what it means to "do it yourself" and while it posits 11 different answers, I think DIY strives to leave the viewer with the most optimistic possible message for both the audience and the world DIY takes place in. Do It Yourself takes place in the near future at the beginning of the "fourth industrial revolution" and while that sounds cool, and Miku proselytizes on the virtues of her advanced studies in this field accordingly, life for most people hasn't actually changed that much. Technology has definitely made life more plain sailing and convenient like it always tends to, effectively making DIY projects kind of redundant at first glance. But DIY makes it very explicit that it's not about efficiency, it's about the agency of the individual progressing with and completing projects. Specifically, accomplishing fulfilling work using the tools at your disposal to create usable items from what would be pointless garbage. The girls working tirelessly on these projects over the course of months are able to form friendships with each other that may not have been possible if they were meeting people on their own. Kouki, who originates from some hyper-rich Indian family or some shit, is an utter fucking oddball that is crazy strong and talks like a cat for no reason. There is a clear point made that she struggled to find connections for her entire childhood, with the suggestion that the cat stuff comes from trying to craft some kind of distinct persona. Someone like her cannot necessarily function in society by any normal metric. Sure, she can go to an elite school and do decently, but does she friends, good ones at that? DIY isn't merely about venerating the agency of the individual to repurpose junk into worthwhile items, it's also about the bonds that you forge in the process of asserting your own agency, about utilizing the legacy of the previous generation to carve your name into the world. I'll tell you, on top of being brain hurt, plus the lack of employment, the biggest thing that sucks about being an underemployed motherfucker living in the exurbs is the lack of companionship. Anyone I knew from university now lives in some city or is still stuck at my alma mater. And honestly 99% of the people who I went to high school with can bite me, which leaves little in the way in terms of real life connections. It's a lonely fucking time over here with all of my genuine relationships existing online, and I was hoping to avoid this trap by moving out around October but at this rate I'm probably stuck here until March, IF that. And with all the failures I honestly want to surrender, to give up on my dreams and waste away in my room until life forces me out of it NHK style. But then I watch shit like DIY and I'm like "Hey, I mean, if I keep trying I'll probably find something right? I'll be able to go to a city and meet people, right?" I mean, despite appearing well put together on the surface, Miku is kind of a mess that would've ended up burning out in college or socially stunted, unable to make friends. but she somehow made friends, and discovered how to be the tiniest bit more honest with Serufu in the process. So… that means something, I guess. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 19, 2022
RWBY: Hyousetsu Teikoku
(Anime)
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Not Recommended Well-written
I don't really watch seasonal anime anymore. After a solid streak of two years, I started falling behind on weekly shows when life got too busy for me to juggle that form of content consumption, on top of the shows I used to get through the behemoth that is my plan to watch list. But when I heard there was going to be a RWBY anime when I woke up March 25th, made by Shaft of all studios, I thought I'd make an exception for the sake of history.
RWBY is a franchise I have a strange relationship with, it’s been around since I was a ... wee teen. And as I matured, I began to see the series for the faults it had, to the extent that by the time volume four released I had completely lost interest. But I still have fond memories of discussing RWBY's initial run to my best friend at the time in Freshman year English, only a few short weeks before he rescinded from the public education system entirely and was home schooled, because he hated every second of high school from the moment he stepped foot off the bus. I would never see that kid again, though I did have his number, and one of the last things we talked about before he went radio silent was, funnily enough, RWBY. I wanted to tell this story to communicate as best as I can that I don't hate RWBY, in fact, despite all of the discourse that has followed the show in last half decade, part of me is ostensibly still interested in the show. In all honesty, part of me was excited, in that I could reconnect with this evanescent figment of my adolescence but in a format that my contemporary self could appreciate. Unfortunately, that goodwill would be slowly tarnished over the course of three months, in short, want my hype back. RWBY: Ice Queendom, is the worst show I've finished from the last four years. That isn't to say it's the worst show I've seen (Ex-Arm easily takes the cake by miles), but in terms of me sitting down and suffering through an entire obnoxious ugly snorefest for the totality of its runtime, Ice Queendom can go home with that participation trophy. And even though I didn't want to believe it at the time, I could've seen this coming from a mile away even by the announcement, I'll explain why. The general interest in Ice Queendom mainly belied in two brands: Studio Shaft, and Gen Urobuchi. Gen Urobuchi is one of the few anime screenwriters’ western fans know by name—due to his work on three highly acclaimed and exceptionally popular original projects or adaptations of things he wrote, Fate/Zero, Psycho-Pass, and Madoka Magica respectively. However, much like the other anime released with Gen's name on them in the near decade since his ostensible departure from the industry, Ice Queendom isn't actually written by the man. In truth, the Ice Queendom’s Series Composer is Tow Ubukata, someone whose shows have never entirely cracked the western market, outside of Psycho-Pass 2 which everyone says is bad. It feels like the only reason he was chosen to be lead writer is just because he has written for Gen projects in the past, and he has somewhat of a relationship with Director Toshimasa Suzuki from Fanir of the Blue Sky. Outside of those two things, I can't tell why they picked him specifically. It's a shame too, because I personally don't think Ubukata was suited for the show. The pacing, for one, was all over the place. Blazing through a season's worth of content in two and a half episodes, only to then drag out the main arc of the series for eight when it's clear to anyone watching that it wasn't necessary, appearing like a lack of poor planning. On top of that, many of the original characters and concepts found in Weiss' dream, such as the sillies, are to me extremely obnoxious, notwithstanding their names which come off as stiff and pretentious whimsy. What this amounts to, is me saying "This is so stupid" out loud for a majority of the show's runtime, which doesn't really add to a viewer’s experience. Outside of that, the story itself was pretty placid, there really isn't anything to comment on because it's all so uninteresting, the plot gets from A to B fine enough, the characters are largely fine enough. I honestly stopped caring about the plot once the chess pieces started showing up, but it's not like I couldn't follow what was happening. The show thankfully doesn't puddle at the sight of its racism commentary so I have to commend it for that. Though to be fair it's a Japanese anime and my standards for that particular theme are very low. To cut to the chase, Gen was basically used as marketing for the show, more than anything else which sucks to see, given that he's on a level far above what most screenwriters could ever dream of. If the writing was the sole problem of Ice Queendom, I would've probably given this show a 5 and wouldn't have penned a review, but unfortunately much of my disappointment with Ice Queendom comes from the animation department. Shaft is somewhat of a darling among anime fans for its experimental but always consistent aesthetic sensibilities, featured in highly acclaimed titles such as Madoka Magica, Sangatsu no Lion, and the 100-episode Monogatari series. Shaft is understood to be a studio always willing to push the envelope as to how anime can be presented, and how digital techniques can be used to disrupt the transient-like motion picture and turn it into something even more absurd and dreamlike without breaking immersion. And I consider myself an anime fan who accepts the medium holistically, I don't need every show to look or move at the level of visual quality or consistency of Kimetsu no Yaiba or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. But RWBY: Ice Queendom looks like hot garbage, with super inconsistent—if not sometimes atrocious looking character art, with designs that move stiffly like action figures. Animation that starts out solid, but by episode 10 devolves into Yang running in place and having to jump cut away from character movement to save on animation time. The backgrounds look cheap and digital, despite clearly trying their best to be dynamic and interesting, at least in the dream realms. CG that ranges from solid to off-putting when it’s eventually used in the MIDDLE of action sequences (ironic, given that it's RWBY). With the most pedestrian looking storyboarding I have ever seen from Studio Shaft. Honestly, if you looked at the show, outside of episodes 1, 6, and 12, you probably wouldn't even know it's Shaft at all. Episode 10, despite being decently written (It's action so it's hard to mess up), is one of the worst episodes I've anime I've seen in years, because it includes all of the problems I mentioned above. It's clear that Shaft has fallen on hard times in the last few years, Covid I'm sure not helping this show's production in any way. But I honestly could tell the show's look was going to be a problem just from the staff list alone. Outside of Huke on the designs and the producers, the rest of the head creative staff were people without any serious credits. But with four Chief Animation Directors and six ADs on episode 6 alone, an episode that served as an interlude to cool down the pacing, speaks to me as a deeply troubled production. Even the compositing looks bland, which, given that the director of photography is Takayuki Aizu, who worked the first six entries of the Monogatari series—including the immaculately crafted Kizumonogatari film triology, designates a level of wasted talent that is insanely common in the industry. A problem Shaft was dodging in large part due to the creative visionaries who’ve worked at the studio in the nearly 20 years since the arrival of their golden goose. Speaking of which, the main concern I had with the staff list of Ice Queendom, outside of Tow Ubukata as the head writer, was the lack of one man, Akiyuki Shinbo. Akiyuki Shinbo is one of the great outstanding directors in anime's metatextual cannon. Much like other contemporaries of his generation such as Kunihiko Ikuhara or Hideaki Anno, Shinbo is an animation savant who genuinely tries to push the cinematic limitations of anime as far as he can. One of the main reasons Yu Yu Hakusho holds up visually as well as it does is because he seemingly became the most influential creator on the project despite NOT being the lead director. It's unclear these days how much work Shinbo even does at shaft, given that his role as "chief director" on shows tends to be quite nebulous, nevertheless Shaft's style exists because of Shinbo. But Shinbo wasn't to be found on Ice Queendom, which surprised me at the time but honestly shouldn't have. Shaft has made five serious projects since Zoku Owarimonogatari in 2018 and Shinbo only worked on one of them. If this indicates anything, it's that Shaft has been in a massive identity crisis since their staff bottomed out due to their workplace environment being uniquely poor for the industry, and that's REALLY saying something. By episode 7, while stewing in a regret-filled overtired haze, I asked myself a simple question, why in god's name was this made? On the surface I could understand, because of RWBY's popularity in Japan, and so the boys back in Austin could claim that "there's an anime about a show I made" to impress people at parties, a 2D RWBY anime sounded like a natural conclusion. But after seriously considering it, the question still stands, WHY was this show made? RWBY as a series has been out for so long that anyone who would have been interested, has already seen it. So outside of emboldening a preexisting fanbase, and maybe reminding a few thousand people whom, like me, don't really think about the franchise that often, the brand is not expanding its audience in any significant way. So, the production seems almost a bit frivolous, that is, until you look at one of the top companies funding the show—Good Smile Company, an anime merch distributor that specializes in figures. Meaning, effectively, RWBY: Ice Queendom is a fancy toy commercial. That isn't to say that anime designed to sell toys is intrinsically bad, I mean just look at every mecha since the 70's. But with Ice Queendom particularly, it coats the project in a kind of cynicism that becomes apparent when paying attention. That's why every character gets an alternative outfit, if not multiple outfits, with slightly different weapons than the normal series. A bunch of the dumb anime exclusive concepts or characters suddenly make sense, in that they are created to have models made based off of their design. Not to say the entire project is cynical, Takanori Aki stated in an interview about Ice Queendom that the idea of a RWBY anime came from a correspondence he had with Monty Oum following the release of volume 1, so in some loose way the show was made to posthumously fulfill a promise. But nevertheless, the justification for a RWBY spin-off show was to excavate for new ways to merchandize the RWBY brand. It leads to a show whose intention is messy from the beginning and it becomes apparent in the final product. RWBY: Ice Queendom ultimately leaves me disappointed, which is what I really didn't want from this show, I genuinely desired to like it. But I knew even in March that there was a solid chance the series was going to be bad, I just purposely looked over the red flags. What surprises me about the show after finishing it, is that I didn't hate it more; given everything I've written, I honestly should give Ice Queendom a lower score. However, reflecting on my experience watching Ice Queendom, I can recognize times where I was somewhat enjoying myself, where my own irritation washed away for a few brief moments. I remember specifically in the final episode, when RWBY threw down a binder on the lunch table and emphatically announced about her plan to have a best day ever, followed by this show's luxurious rendition of one of the most iconic sequences of RWBY, I can't help but admit I had a tiny smile on my face. A small memento from a time in which I innocently liked the writing of basically everything I watched, the sentimentality of the sequence in light of everything that has happened in the years since the volume's airing definitely added to the effect. And the show's ability to sincerely tap into the small twinges of nostalgia I have, with the earnestness of Ruby Rose herself—the least amount of manipulation intended, is something that I at the very least, can respect. Have a nice day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Dec 26, 2020
Kamisama ni Natta Hi
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
Oh Jun Maeda, despite our hopes it turns out you have only gotten worse in the last ten years.
Jun Maeda is a fascinating figure in the industry, partially because he worked in the Visual Novel scene for so long before writing anime (he still does technically), but mainly because he is one of the very few anime screen writers known by name outside of Mari Okada and Urobutchi Gen. And for good reason too: Air, Kanon, Clannad, Angel Beats, Little Busters, Charlotte; Jun Maeda is the mind behind some of the most popular and well acclaimed anime of all time. Jun Maeda also composes ... the music for his works so some of the tracks he's written have become permanently etched onto the eardrums of otakus everywhere over the course of the 15 years since his works started to be adapted. Unfortunately it seems as if Jun Maeda even after writing six successful major works still hasn't been able to effectively create, in my opinion, the insane magnum opus that I believe he can. To begin, I want to say of his work I have seen Angel Beats and Clannad, I think the former is genuinely great and I absolutely detest the latter. I will be using both in this review but spoiling neither. With that out of the way, let's begin. Part 1: The Good If I had to say what makes 2010's Angel Beats so good I would have to say that it's because the show focuses on all of Jun Maeda's strengths as an anime writer. Over the top zany slapstick combined with breakneck paced dialogue with just enough of a wink and a nod creates one of the most popular works of the decade. It's not surprise to me that Angel Beats is considered an essential watch if you're an anime fan even if you don't end up liking it. Kamisama ni Natta hi carries over many of those strengths with its own unique twist, Hina and Narukami. Hina being the Chunni that she is and Narukami being the hapless but really talented actor he is, as a team pull off a number of hi jinks throughout much of the series that contain a great deal humor that most people can enjoy—And this carries most of the show. Visually the show is solid, while I'm not big on the character design of Yota, the rest of the designs are interesting—and the compositing on the show is pretty good and the colors suit the show very well. While you could accuse PA Works for trying to LARP Kyoani with the production of Angel Beats, I think Kamisama ni Natta hi is more in line with what contemporary anime looks like, for better and for worse. The music is also fairly solid, Jun Maeda as a composer hasn't failed so far, so with a pretty good OP and a decent ED, there are at least some things form this show that one will wish to remember. There is also episode 5, despite coming out of nowhere, was surprisingly well done and a welcome mid season dramatic episode to take a breather from the comedy. But honestly that's kind of it for the good. Hina is a good character and Narukami is good for most of it. The rest it doesn't mess up until much later but first something else must be covered. Part 2: The bad (Namely the characters) So I will be honest, Jun Maeda is the kind of writer that has fun or interesting ideas for characters but for much of the time fails to properly flesh those characters out. His work contains an ensemble cast of some sort but only maybe a few get any sort of depth, if that depth is even capitalized on. That was my main critique of Angel Beats and it's my main complaint now. This I attribute largely to his experience as a VN writer where you can craft a 50+ hour game that can properly characterize each member of the cast and can therefore more easily set up the payoff for the key emotional moments throughout the story. But despite having written two anime original productions prior and probably having heard those same critique before, Jun Maeda does that same thing again. For example Ms. Tengan is intially set up as a bit character but is eventually becomes a part of the main roster, she even appears in the the main Key Visual you see on MAL! But.... she doesn't do anything, at least of substance. She does things in the show, and has lines and feelings about other characters, but she doesn't have an arc or get an indepth back story. None of the core elements of her character is explored in interesting ways outside of her introductary episode. In short, she turns out to be uninteresting. And while the size of the cast would be fine in a VN (seven, eight if you count Suzuki who does his own thing) in a one cour anime you have to be much more focused. They spend 33 episodes of Clannad building up and characterizing the cast and more importantly the main character Okazaki so you can be invested in After Story. Unfortunately I find that Clannad (especially S1) fails at this spectacularly, on top of being boring. But I think most of the cast was explored to the depth they had, which wasn't a lot but it was explored. Kamisama ni Natta hi doesn't even bother, it's mainly Youta, Hina, Izanami, and that's it. Which makes much of the show feel empty, you have: The VN best friend, the Imouto who talks funny, the milf, and the restaurant owner who acts cute, that's it. None of the characters I just listed get a ton of backstory or interesting details shown about them, they are there to fill up space. Making you feel like a moron when you expect the characters to actually matter. And then there's Suzuki but honestly I don't know what to say about him, he did his thing in the story and left, he has characterization and a backstory but the pay off wasn't as good as it could be. Ultimately I feel neutral about his entire involvement with the story. Now if that were it in terms of problems with this show I wouldn't have written a review but then there is something else that demands attention. Part 3: The Ending (spoilers, check farther down to see non-spoilers) I know Jun Maeda can end his shows at least decently even if they are cut short, look at Angel Beats, why does it feel like he's regressed since then?! The last two episodes of Kamisama ni Natta hi basically abandon all of the subplots in favor of Youta essentially going down the "Hina Route." Since his works still function similarly to VN's with routes, and specific endings to the routes, which is ultimately why the romance with Izanami dries up and dies and Youta falls in love with Hina for no reason (Bear in mind she's eight years old). The dramatic change in setting ultimately turns Youta into a moron, effectively neutering all of the characterization he had over the course of the show, which essentially makes Youta no different than any other mc found in anime or VN's. and contrives this really irritating scenario where Hina has essentially become mentally and physically disabled and now you just sit there and be annoyed or sad. It is extremely manipulative, and predictable if you've seen Jun Maeda's other works. As well there is a pediatric nurse who is portrayed as a villain but ultimately her character is unlikable and annoying. She is straddles that line between cartoonishly selfish and being a normal character with motivations but I just hate her every time she is on screen. It also irritates me that Youta gets caught for faking his status as a medical researcher because Suzuki never bothered to let him know that had to edit the reports himself or act in accordance to them everyday? I think there is supposed to be commentary on the way we treat the disabled but none of it any of it goes anywhere. Everything in the show essentially becomes stupider and less interesting over time, a massive disappointment. *End of Spoiler Section* Ultimately I would only recommend Kamisama ni Natta hi if you are interested in following Jun Maeda's career and seeing if he will changed as a writer after this show. It potentially could be the lowest rated thing he has written on MAL so far and honestly it deserves it. I don't hate Jun Maeda like some but for the love of Fuuko could you please either learn to write shows that are more concise and finish them? or try to convince some producer to make a longer anime original project? You would be doing yourself and the world a service.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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