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Apr 10, 2021
It boggles my mind that anyone who watched the original Neon Genesis Evangelion + End of Evangelion could sit through this movie and enjoy it. My stomach was in knots by the end.
I can't believe the utter disaster that this movie is. I didn't mind the animation, sound, or fight scenes - NGE never does me wrong when it comes to those aspects of the story, I'm always sitting on the edge of my seat. However, I find myself coming away from this film in all other aspects bewildered and insulted.
The story... it reminds me of the sardonic depiction of an alternate anime universe Shinji
...
sees in episode 26 of the original anime. So much of it is bogged down by cheerful slice of life content and nonsensical love triangles (which don't even make sense unless the characters are severely warped, which they are, but I'll get to that in a bit), when that space could be better put to use exploring the characters individually the way they're supposed to be. NGE is not a cheerful story - you're not supposed to enjoy it, you're supposed to be fascinated by it, disgusted by it, and entirely enthralled by it. Why am I smiling along as these characters go on field trips and cook for each other? This fits so many franchises and series and characters, but NGE is not one of them. I seriously can't wrap my head around the choices made for this movie.
However, more than anything that happened in the story, the most disappointing and again insulting part of this movie is the watered down, weak, pathetic characterizations of Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato, Gendoh, and pretty much everyone else. A lot of people seemed happy that Shinji was "finally showing some backbone," but this only seems to demonstrate to me that some watchers of NGE have a fundamental misunderstanding of Shinji as a character (and Asuka, and Rei!)
Ikari Shinji is, fundamentally, pathetic. He is weak, cowardly, and all but wretched. He's a raging misogynist who views other people, especially women, as essentially things that are obligated, required, to heal and save and protect him with their love. He has no understanding of what love is, and no capability of giving it to others, and yet demands it from everyone around him to the utmost. And then, because of his ridiculously low self-esteem and ridiculously high self-hatred, even when he does receive love he doesn't believe in it and dismisses it (barring the love he receives from Kaworu) as a lie! He can't handle anything even marginally difficult and breaks down at the slam of a door. He's so incapable of both being a functioning human being with flaws and accepting the flaws/individuality of others that it takes the world literally ENDING before he's able to realize that maybe the world as it is is actually better than joining one super-conscious. And all of that is what makes him such a brilliant main character - all of his flaws and insecurities have strong ties to the death of his mother and the fact that his father abandoned him. Everything makes perfect sense. You're not supposed to like him or condone his actions, you're supposed to make the connections as to why he is the way he is and recognize the impossibility of all that he desires. He doesn't COOK for his friends, nor is he rushing to heroically Save The Girl at every opportunity. The Shinji of 2.0 is literally Just Some Guy - he has daddy issues, but it's something he just feels a little angry about, not a hugely detrimental crutch that's ruined the way he interacts with the world presumably forever. I can't BELIEVE anyone watched the original NGE and thought Shinji should be dumbed down to the most basic, boring main character stereotype ever. The fact that he's a hateful embarrassment of a character in the original anime is literally the point - whoever the jerk in 2.0 is is simply not Ikari Shinji.
Side note: I think it's ridiculous that in the original anime Shinji's mental breakdown is catapulted forwards by merely injuring Suzuhara, without even knowing that he's inside the Eva/Angel being fought, but when 2.0 Shinji knows he's fighting Asuka and pretty much makes her comatose he just... gets mad at his Dad? He's so infuriatingly calm about things that should make him lose his mind - again, this is not the right Ikari Shinji.
And then, to have the audacity to claim that Asuka or Rei could ever be in love with Shinji! It's outrageous! Asuka of the original NGE despises Shinji, full stop; she's not a tsundere, she sees all the flaws I've mentioned above and is disgusted by him because of that. At best, she uses him to quench her discomfort in situations such as when Misato and Kaji stay out late one night. She's straight up abusive to him sometimes. She is just as damaged as Shinji is and even shares some characteristics with him because of that, which repels her from him even further because his codependency upon whoever is available is, according to her and her unnecessary desire for total independence, an insult. She does not and never could love him, ever. The fact that he doesn't even have to do anything for her to get some stereotypical crush on him absolutely raises my hackles - Asuka deserves a thousand times better than this!
Rei, too, might care for Shinji in some capacity, but to make that the center of her growth is borderline grotesque. Rei wants individuality because she is literally Gendoh's doll from day one - why would she seek freedom for the sake of another man? She wants it for herself. She hates Gendoh, why should she care if he and his son are able to reconnect? It's totally ridiculous to have her original arc be so much about finding herself and knowing herself on her own terms, because she's never been allowed to have that, only to throw all of that completely under the bus for some ridiculous fanservice and a weak love plot (which, also, come on now - she shares traits with Shinji's mother nearly to a T, can we not have them be romantically interested in one another?).
I'm not here to harsh on the Rebuild series as a whole - I liked 1.0 okay and I'm still looking forward to 3.0 and 3.0+1.0. Nevertheless, it's really disheartening to see this film made by the original creators of the first NGE series and movies. I don't know why this is what they want an updated version of NGE to look like - this film is, at best, a weak, fanservice-packed action anime movie for people who want to numb their brain for a couple hours. It does not carry any of the weight, charm, nor impact of the original series. If you really want to watch this Rebuild series, I would recommend skipping this movie from it entirely.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Oct 10, 2020
Review may contain spoilers (and bitterness. Absolute oodles of bitterness).
I have never experienced disappointment quite like I did watching this anime unfold. Witnessing the absolute atrocity that is this show occur was valuable only in that it was an objectively fascinating life experience to undergo that I hope I'll never have to face again. Truth be told, I'm quite literally angry about what happened in this show, so I won't be pulling my punches for this review.
I'm the first person to emphasize my personal abhorrence of over-explanation in all the forms of entertainment I consume. 9/10 times I'd rather be confused than be forced to
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witness some kind of cheesy narrated info-dump of a sequence. God of High School, however, turned out to be the 1/10 time that I desperately craved such a sequence. My god, how hard would it have been to set aside just one scene to explain some of the rules of the world? The ridiculously misplaced cult trying to destroy the tournament? The random and inexplicably overpowered old men who kept dropping in out of nowhere to pull arrays and objects out of the sky in the most bewildering battle scenes I've ever seen? I can't believe how confusing this show's plot was - nothing was sourced or hinted at properly, there really were no attempts to actually explain anything that went on behind the scenes of the GOH tournament. I mean, what, I'm just supposed to accept all this talk about charyeok and gods and superpowers in a show that in every way presented itself as being set in ordinary, present day Seoul? I reject the plot of this show with every fiber of my being. It's a disgrace.
A previous reviewer mentioned that this show feels like mindless fighting, which is without a doubt wrong, but I'd actually rather it have been a show about a high school martial arts tournament filled to the brim with mindless fighting than the sh*t it ended up being. This is, in large part, due to the animation, which is simply exquisite. Pre the nonsensical introduction of superpowers, I enjoyed every tournament match to the extreme based on artistic integrity alone. I watched a short interview with the GOH team about their animation process recently and the lengths they went to to create such smooth and deliciously lifelike fight sequences (all hand-drawn, mind you) are clear. In terms solely of animation, GOH is a work of art, made by artists, which makes the sickeningly awful plot so much harder to bear.
The characters were another strong point in this show for me. Up to around episode 7, I was thoroughly enjoying all their backstories and watching the main trio - Mori, Daewi, and Mira - grow close with one another. I still think the first episode of GOH is one of the best first episodes of an anime I've ever watched based on the way it introduced each character and brought them together. I deeply enjoyed the side characters too, especially the commissioners. I will say, however - and perhaps this is based on my own personal bias - that Ilpyo fell entirely flat for me. I hated the role he played and he felt extraordinarily condescending and invasive. The main trio was what got me so invested in the show in the first place, but Ilpyo's involvement and the entire purpose of his character destroyed that.
The sound was fine. I loved both the OP and ending theme song (stan CIX lol) and felt they really suited this show. Otherwise, there really wasn't anything notable about the sound track or sound design.
My enjoyment of this show is a 3 purely because I really did love it for the first few episodes. I had such high hopes and expectations for the story and the characters, but at this point I hate the progression of the plot so much it's hard to look back on even those feelings with any sort of fondness. I just can't believe this script was ever allowed to leave the writing room like this - I don't know how the show compares to the webtoon, but if the webtoon progresses anywhere near as quickly and sloppily as the anime, they should have simply changed it. This lazy, slapdash rough draft should have never seen the light of day - it's just too much information all at once without any explanation of why we're receiving it in the first place.
I don't recommend this show in the slightest beyond the first episode. Literally watch anything else (maybe Tower of God, if you really want a personal recommendation) and it will make more sense and be more enjoyable than this show - that's how low the bar is.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 28, 2020
Review may contain spoilers. Also, if you're a homophobe who's irritated by queer people reading into subtext, I'll be speaking on that aspect of this show in the review, so please move along.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite sports anime and indeed the only sports anime I have watched in its entirety. This is not to say that Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is in any way a sports anime, because it isn't, but baseball is certainly an important enough element to the show that calling it as such as a mild jest doesn't feel too far off.
Additionally, this show came to me at a
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time when I really needed it most. At the end of the opening arc, one of the protagonists says what can be boiled down to "cool things are cool!" and I knew then and there I would be watching this show in its entirety. Exhausted of psychological thrillers that fall short of being actually meaningful? Bored by the inexplicably deep friendships founded in a matter of minutes that pervade your typical long-running shounen anime? Well then, dear reader, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is most certainly the palette-cleansing short anime for you!
In terms of story, I enjoyed it. I don't necessarily feel the need to elaborate on that, but this is a review, after all, so I will anyway. I watched Great Pretender a few weeks ago, as well as just short of a season of Durarara!! many, many years ago, and I think it's fair to say HTR's plot falls somewhere on the spectrum with those two shows. It features an ensemble cast of criminals all mucking about a big, beautiful city that they just can't seem to quit despite its dangers - only, unlike DRRR!!, it's not...boring? My problem with shows similar to HTR is that the cast always feels too big for me to actually care about the characters, but HTR's is really only around twelve main characters. The plotlines are simplistic and the twists are easy to see coming, much like Great Pretender, but because the characters are engaging it actually feels worth it to see them through. Additionally, each plot also tells the backstory of one of HTR's central characters, just as GP - and even though their backstories are hardly as substantial as those in GP pretend to be, these are just more fun to consume. Maybe because it never feels like the arcs are pretending to be anything they're not - the show doesn't put up false pretenses. It's just cool for the sake of being cool.
The art and sound got the job done. I was NOT a fan of the opening theme song, but the closing theme song was alright. There was nothing wrong with the art style or execution, per se - it just wasn't a central focus of the show. I love the aesthetics of anime and how it can be taken to the next level, but in this case, I can forgive the simplicity because it never detracted too much from the experience overall. Additionally, the voice cast was amazing - I mean, Kaji Yuki, Ono Daisuke, and Ono Kensho? Hanae Natsuki and Tsuda Kenjiro? Come on!
A good character or two will always be a major incentive for me to consume any form of media in its entirety regardless of its flaws. HTR was no different. Lin Xianming is one of the most endearing, delightful little tsunderes I've ever encountered in all my years of watching anime and I'm forever grateful I decided to watch HTR for the sole reason of encountering him. I loved his design - the crossdressing detail was handled refreshingly as an entirely acceptable and normal hobby, which it IS and SHOULD ALWAYS BE PORTRAYED AS - and his two dedicated arcs in the show were bundles of fun and angst all wrapped up into one. Banba was also really sweet, if a little plain, and all the side characters were enjoyable too. I was particularly fond of Enokida and Dr. Saeki as well! The way the antiheroes and main characters bumped up against one another throughout the series was hilarious and relaxing - you don't feel forced to hate and despise anyone, at the end of the day. Overall, an incredibly likable and easy to get to know cast of characters! I wish they all could have gotten their own arcs.
I will now take a moment to point out the queerbait (?) of the show, and how I absolutely fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I have no idea why they didn't just go all-in and solidify Banba and Xianming's relationship as a romantic one - as a matter of fact, I did some reading up on the original light novel series and it seems as though they practically are a couple in that, so I have no idea why they chose to hetero-wash the anime! There are several intimate moments between the pair (coupled with a few unrelated "Hell no! I'm not gay!" exclamations from Xianming, which was frankly entirely unnecessary) and though I know it's probably nothing but queerbait, like I said, there's a part of me that wants to read it as explicit subtext regardless. I will say, however, there were two openly and canonically gay side characters in the show, which made me very happy to see!
I really liked this anime. I honestly don't exactly know why, but I definitely did. It's just a really fun time, filled with as many baseball metaphors as it is improbable amounts of blood spraying out from someone's newly sliced carotid arteries and always able to leave you feeling warm and satisfied with the characters and the story. No, it's not a life-changing work of art, but it's a great way to pass the time and actually enjoy the time you're passing along the way. That enjoyment score means a lot when it comes to my ratings, because at the end of the day that's why I watch anime - to be entertained and to enjoy myself. I recommend Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens with nothing short of flying colors!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 26, 2020
Review may contain mild spoilers. I will preface this review by stating that, if this website's rating system allowed for it, my overall rating of this show would probably be a 6.5 - in this case I've rounded it up to a 7 purely based on my enjoyment of the show.
I definitely don't watch or enjoy sci-fi anime of this type very often - it's rare for any of them to capture my interest. The plots are somewhat recycled, the characters typical - and for the record, I'm not claiming this show is any different in some ways. Nevertheless, despite the criticisms I have
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about this show, I found myself being swept along and enjoying it to the fullest, or as near as possible.
In terms of story, it definitely grabbed my attention from the very beginning. I enjoyed the standalone mysteries of the first few episodes the most by far, but I also thought the way each mystery and murderer was connected to the Big Bad in the end was overall well done. I certainly don't think every detail made sense and every other episode I found myself lost over some small fact or another, but as I continuously emphasize when it comes to anime, I would much rather prefer to feel a little lost than have secondary characters breathing down my neck to explain every little element of a world or a clunky narration doing the same. In this case, though this didn't always occur, sometimes unknown and seemingly altogether unimportant details were in fact explained later in the show and I really liked that - it, among many other small threads, created the feeling of a throughline in the plot that I appreciated. ID:I was also great at drawing parallels and coming full circle - for example, though the climax felt a little anticlimactic, it took place in the first serial killer's mind Narihisago ever visits, which filled out the gaps in the somewhat easy solution.
I still haven't made up my mind when it comes to the art of ID:I. I kept going back and forth between loving it and cringing at it - the beauty was really in the details, I think. Closeup shots and character designs (Sakaido's in particular is maybe one of my favorite character designs ever (minus the Natsu Dragneel-type hair?) and I still don't know why) were all great, and the moody, subtle color palette was perfect for the show. I also loved all the designs of and concepts behind the various ID wells, they never disappointed there! But admittedly the style was a little simple and, from farther away, pretty "lazily" done. I don't know what this show's animation budget was, but I wish they'd had a higher one so I could have seen what the art could have looked like at its full potential. I'm rating it a 7 because I definitely enjoyed it for what it was, but I know it could have been even better.
I don't have much to say about the sound. I enjoyed the tense violin sprinkled throughout, but the opening theme song wasn't my favorite. I also felt the songs with lyrics sprinkled throughout were completely misplaced - I didn't like any of them and all of them, particularly the emotional one played over a montage of Narihisago and his family, all but wrenched me out of the immersion of the show, leaving me feeling more irritated than excited, inspired, or sad.
I'm a sucker for a show with good characters and these characters kept me invested from start to finish! Narihisago was the perfect broken, vengeful main character for me - he was exactly what I want from a protagonist like that. Tsuda Kenjiro is one of my all-time favorite seiyuus and I have to give props to his work with this character (and every character he plays, honestly). I also really liked Momoki and the strength of his connection to Narihisago. He felt very human and relatable and I liked that his faith in his work and his friend/former colleague never faltered (plus, Hosoya Yoshimasa! Hello!). By far, however, my favorite characters in the show ended up being Hondomachi and Fukuda and that was something I absolutely never could have predicted. I had low expectations for Hondomachi, expecting her to be a Tsunemori Akane-type character - Ps*cho-P*ss fans don't sue me, I was just never impressed with her writing and found her to be a somewhat passive main character which happens to be my least favorite kind. But Hondomachi was one of, if not the, smartest characters on the show - beyond that, she was unreliable and her state of mind was often questionable. She was unattached to people (most people, at least) and didn't think twice about taking her own or others' lives if the situation called for it. I feel like I've almost never encountered a character like her but I'm so glad I found her in this show! Her relationship with Fukuda was another unexpected plot element that never ceased to fascinate me, along with Fukuda himself. Their connection through their respective head holes was just so unique and utilized really well, in my opinion! And Fukuda himself, though a terrible person in nearly all respects, became someone it was easy to sympathize with by the end of ID:I, regardless of the tricks he pulled. Additionally, I appreciated the side characters' innate cleverness and immediate understanding of every situation they faced - no singular mastermind surrounded by idiots here. They all held their own!
I enjoyed this show greatly in no small part because I was able to suspend my disbelief and let it play out without allowing my critiques and unanswered questions to get in the way of my interest. If you're unable to do that, I don't think this show is for you. There were many, many little details that stopped me in my tracks momentarily to think "Huh, is that actually physically possible?" or "How could anyone make that leap with that amount of information?", but because I let these questions go in favor of hearing and seeing where the story went with itself, I was able to quickly forgive the faults in favor of the nuanced and intriguing conversations and themes the story is full of regardless. I totally understand why anyone might not be able to do the same, but it's important for regarding the show in a positive light, in my opinion.
To summarize, this show was a fun mystery/thriller that passed an otherwise empty afternoon really well. If you're willing to set aside some instinctive logic and disbelief and watch it, I guarantee there are a cool story and some great characters in store for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 23, 2020
Review may contain vague spoilers, in part to address some of the issues previous reviewers of this anime had with the story and characters.
UraBoku is an anime near and dear to my heart. I think it survives as a relic of an anime genre that has faded to the background in recent years - an encapsulation of an entire aesthetic, style, and design that really just isn't found that much in anime anymore, but that I happen to adore to my heart till this very day. The fact that it serves this purpose legitimizes it to this day in my opinion - I'll explain why
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more below.
The story itself heavily references Christianity and utilizes Christian motifs - the romance is tragic and titillating at once with the featuring of Giou Yuki, the main character, being once a girl who chose to be reborn as a boy, and the classic shounen-ai tension created between Yuki and his former (current?) lover Luka. Personally speaking, it's not a genre I normally go for and I don't know that it's executed all that well (particularly in anime form), but because of so many surrounding characteristics of the show, I don't think that's really an issue. The overarching plot isn't the reason why anyone should consider watching this anime.
As for the art, if you are/were a fan of Vampire Knight as I was once upon a time, the animation and artwork of UraBoku will DEFINITELY please you. The iconography used is Gothic and romantic to a T, chock full of red roses and dramatic black crosses and tall bishounen with impossibly good hair. I find a lot of comfort in this art style because it reminds me of simpler times in my life and in fact I often prefer it even to this day over what the average anime looks like nowadays. It's just so dramatic - every line ends with a flourish, if you will. I can't get enough of it and I'm only being a little ironic when I say as much.
When it comes to sound, I actually think the music for this anime is great. The opening and closing theme songs are both great, particularly the opening. The soundtrack in general is honestly spectacular - perfectly suited for this kind of Gothic shounen-ai masterpiece. It's filled to the brim with violins, gentle guitar, and even music box sounds here and there. One song in particular played in the tensest, most mysterious and tragic moments of the show is a swelling, hauntingly beautiful orchestral piece whose opening violin still makes me emotional. It's a classic soundtrack that I would still happily listen to in my spare time today.
Characters are one of this anime's strongest points. I consider Luka one of my 'anime boys' to this day - everything from his character design to his backstory to his neverending love and respect for Yuki in equal measure is perfectly heartwrenching to me. He is truly the pinnacle of devoted bishounen love interests! I love the secondary characters as well. Every single one of them is charming in their own way (not to mention eye candy to boot) and their relationships and interactions with each other are equal parts deliciously fraught and soul-soothingly sweet.
Of course, you can't have everything. I completely understand the annoyance many other watchers of UraBoku felt with Yuki throughout the course of the series - it's definitely warranted! On the one hand, I think Yuki's gifts such as God's Light and his backstory are an exemplary depiction of the classic Fragile Main Character who needs their love interest to take care of them at all times while their only individual strength comes from their caring for others - I'm not saying that I particularly like this trope, but it has always been prevalent in anime (still is today) and Yuki is a great representation of how this main character has been depicted in 2000s Gothic-inspired anime to this day. Naturally, on the other hand, this means Yuki is quite passive - both his powers and his amnesia leave him in the dark and thus at the mercy of others pretty much in every episode. His past incarnation selfishly chose to become a man and forget everything, even Luka, who time and time again is shown to be the most ideal and devoted lover despite how Yuki's choices have affected him. I like Yuki, but at the same time he can be a little unbearable.
My enjoyment of the series, however, will always be a solid 10. That may not be something viewers, especially those watching this now without much knowledge of or experience in older, similar anime, will share. Or indeed, even can share at all! For me, I've always loved tragic, angst-ridden shoujo/shounen-ai, yet again with all that juicy Gothic imagery. I love the drama and the tension of it all. Is that drama and tension performed subtly and to the best it could be? Certainly not, but that's irrelevant. This anime is truly very enjoyable, so long as you go into it with a looser and more forgiving mindset seeking tragedy and romance.
Setting aside my personal feelings, I still feel like this anime is worth a seven. If you're into shounen-ai, if you're craving some Christian iconography, "forbidden love", and beautiful characters to look at, give it a try!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 21, 2020
Review may contain vague spoilers. As of when this is being written, only Cases 1-3 (14 episodes) are available on Netflix, at least in my region.
I'm going to start off this review with the positives, as there are lots of little things about this show that I genuinely enjoyed.
The art style is without a doubt one of the best I've ever seen. The execution is immaculate - the use of shapes and colors and shading is beyond definition and elevates this entire anime to a whole new level of beauty. This, combined with the different usage of music such as jazz, hip-hop, mid-tempo pop, AND
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classical (and Freddie Mercury's absolutely gut-wrenching cover of The Great Pretender as the ending OST), reminded me deeply of Cowboy Bebop and if I were to summarize the art and music in a sentence, it would be, "What Cowboy Bebop would look like if it were released in 2020." First and foremost, the artistic integrity and production quality of this show are the reasons why I was initially interested and what kept me interested throughout the ups and downs of the characters and plot.
I can also say that I personally love a good classic heist/conman story and so each arc (of which there are three over the course of the show, referred to as Cases) kept me interested purely on the basis of being curious as to whether or not they could pull off what they set to do. I thought the symmetry of Mafia Con, Gambling Con, Art Heist was a beautiful and sensible choice, as these are three archetypes of the genre, so each arc felt familiar but not contrived. The throughline of Edamura's capsule toy obsession brought a nice cohesiveness to the show as a whole that I thought was creative and endearing.
Lastly, I want to give props to the writers of the show for facing and dealing with the aftermath of ongoing and outrageous Middle Eastern and US conflict. I don't think it was perfectly handled by any means, but I was gutted all the same by the rawness and honesty they showed when handling it regardless.
In my opinion, the main issue with this show is that it could have been so much more than it was. The story and the characters, while fun, are altogether pretty bland and unoriginal. They are overshadowed by the artistic quality of the anime - when something is so beautifully made, you expect that much more from its contents. If the animation was less striking, the music less poignant - even the very title of the show less clever - I honestly think I would have enjoyed both the characters and the storyline more because my expectations would have been lower from the start. Of course, this just comes from my experiences with and needs from anime, but when a show's production quality is so good, the writing needs to match it (if one is lucky, it will even surpass it entirely). Pairing such visual and auditory beauty with such a predictable story and such plain characters is a disservice.
And the characters WERE rather plain, by the way. Edamura's dislike for crime and incessant need to be empathetic towards the other characters was predictable. I already know exactly what Laurent's backstory will be based on his typical "know-it-all flirt with a tragic past" attitude. And Abbie, despite her own heart-wrenching past, fails to attain a level of depth and complexity beyond your run-of-the-mill manic pixie dream girl. I will say, however, I greatly enjoyed Cynthia's character - I thought the cast for this entire show did a spectacular job, but Sonozaki Mie stood out to me in her graceful and glamorous portrayal of Cynthia most of all. And while her story was just as expected as the rest, I still thought it was the most well-done of any of them, for the most part.
There are two other issues I have with this show that extend beyond just unmet expectations. The first is somewhat minor - possible queerbait? Maybe I'm just reading into it too much, but I can't help but feel like the writers threw in sprinkles of Laurent flirting with or others thinking of Laurent flirting with Edamura. There's a scene where one character points out that there's no point in Laurent hitting on her as he "likes Edamura best." I don't know what they meant by little moments such as those, but if Laurent's upcoming arc is anything similar to what it looks to be in my head, I'm going to be pretty irritated as a queer person beyond exhausted of the Will They, Won't They (They Never Will) shounen-ai trope.
The second is, as you may have guessed, the "conclusion" of Abbie's trauma as a Middle Eastern person whose life and family were gravely affected by the senseless war raged against them by the US. I won't say how it's handled precisely, but it was just too simplistic for such an enormous and catastrophic issue. You can't solve it with one apology, or ten, or a hundred - even if this is a fictional anime that needs some kind of sweet closure to make the audience feel good, I don't appreciate the implication that Abbie is somehow going to be okay "just like that." Again, from an anime that looks this good, it would have been nice to see such a complicated topic handled less superficially in the end.
My personal feelings coming away from this anime (at this point - more episodes coming soon, from what I hear) can be boiled down to this: a show having a lot of good aspects doesn't make it a good show. As I said above, there were many brilliant things about Great Pretender and I honestly did enjoy it - I recommend it, as a matter of fact! But at the same time, there's a lingering disappointment for me. At the end of the day, the anime I fall in love with are the ones with stories and characters that strike me, that I find original and fascinating to consume - the art and production are usually just added bonuses. GP tried its best to have substance and go beyond telling simple heist stories, but for me, all it succeeded in providing was the illusion of substance. I can give GP a passing grade because of said art and production, but if those weren't of such a high caliber, it would be an average at best anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 18, 2020
This review may contain vague spoilers. Everything expressed below is my opinion alone. I don't usually write reviews for anime, but I feel strongly enough about the quality of this one that I think it's absolutely necessary to do so in order to bring its rating up if only by a little.
Now, I'll admit, the premise sounds a bit typical from the getgo. I have a deep general dislike for characters like Rachel and Bam (the archetypal manic pixie dream girl and boy who willfully follows her around like a lost puppy without a character trait of his own to be seen) and I was
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certain what they appeared to be was what I would get. In fact, I only started this in the first place to support the band that made the opening and closing theme songs for this show. And I wasn't immediately invested after the first episode, or the first three episodes. But the entire arc of the story is vital to fully understanding and enjoying it. I started off this show rating it a 7/10 and now rate it a 9/10 - that's how important watching every episode is.
In terms of story, I'm really excited for the second season, if there will be one. I think this show did a great job of weaving the Tower's secrets throughout the show's arc without revealing too much nor too little. My curiosity has definitely been piqued but I'm still coming away from the show with enough of an understanding of the world of the Tower and the various characters to not feel confused and disheartened. I like the mystery of who Bam is - indeed, the mystery of who almost every character is. The world is unapologetically magical - the story doesn't coddle the audience, nor does it condescend to give us some cheap narrated explanation of every type of person and species that belongs to the world of TOG, beyond a vague description of the Tower and King Jahad and his princesses. We're dropped into TOG and told 'take it or leave it' from the very beginning, but because Bam only cares about the Tower and Rachel initially we don't need people to explain how the world works beyond the necessities and it's easier to 'take it'. This is part of the reason why watching the entire show is so important - the worldbuilding is done through the secondary characters' backstories and the tests themselves. I may be in the minority here, but I really prefer this type of simplistic and gradual worldbuilding as opposed to being force-fed tons of clunky, narrated information, especially in a relatively somber show so far removed from reality and walking the delicate line between sci-fi and fantasy.
I think the characters, however, are TOG's strongest point - I know I stated above that neither Rachel nor Bam are my kind of character, but they both revealed hidden depths throughout the course of the show that left me feeling either great adoration or deep hatred for them (watch the show and find out which of them is endearing and which is hateful). In my opinion, the secondary characters are all incredibly lovable and intriguing with stories of their own - Khun and Endorsi are two of my personal favorites and never let me down once throughout the series. I think the women in the show are especially interesting and strong and not once grotesquely objectified which, for me at least, was an added bonus! Every character has an arc and the connections feel genuine, which only makes the knowledge that they may all have to kill each other at some point even harder to bear.
The art style seemed to leave a lot of people disappointed, but I'm honestly not sure why? Not every anime has to be detailed and unique to within an inch of its life - the beauty of TOG is in its raw and simple style. Character designs are plainer than some, but in a way that reflects the surroundings and suits each character's personalities well. The style feels like its meant to harken back to the original webtoon and the bleak coloring contrasting with the bright amber and azure hues of one character's Shinsu versus the rest of the Tower's Shinsu is deeply visually striking. Perhaps the animation doesn't always necessarily add to the show, but it certainly never detracts. I'm not an expert when it comes to sound in anime nor do I pay much attention to it in general, but I thought the music, especially the shrill violin that would play over the most shocking moments throughout the show, was well-done (and come on - TOP and Slump have to be two of the best OSTs of 2020).
Overall, I really enjoyed this show - it surprised me, intrigued me, and, by the final episode, had me firmly riveted to the characters and the story. I think a helpful mindset to have when going into this show would be holding onto the idea that a lot of it is setting up for the rest of the story. Looking back on it, I can almost think of it as a prequel for what's to come because so much of it is delicately setting up characters, relationships, and questions in the viewers' minds about the Tower and King Jahad and the entire world within TOG. And that might irritate some, I completely get that - but I still stand by my opinion. I think it's great that this first season spends so much time on details because I think that practically guarantees even better seasons to come. Even if the first episode doesn't grab you right away, I strongly urge you to keep watching - it's worth it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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