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Dec 18, 2023
There's sparks of some really interesting world building and likeable characters in here, but it's bogged down by an unnecessarily confusing story and you'll be spending most of the time wondering wtf is going on. Like... I bet there's some people who think that makes a work more 'clever' but honestly if your audience is struggling to understand what you're saying maybe you're just not saying it that well? This isn't helped by near filler episodes that don't add much (if anything) to the plot beyond perhaps a tiny tip bit of information buried in more confusion. But the show did at least get me
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to watch the whole way through, and there were parts I enjoyed.
I'm pretty indifferent to Vincent but Pino is adorable, Re-L being so flawed kinda made me like her more (and it's something she improves on), and even Iggy was fun, and on the whole their dynamic works well. The supporting cast doesn't quite have the depth I was hoping for though. Daedalus's motivation turns out pretty shallow in the end, and Raul likewise fails to make a compelling player in the game. The other proxies we meet aren't all that intriguing either.
The world building is honestly the best part of the series - it's a unique imagining of a post apocalyptic world. Unfortunately our understanding of it is gleamed in small bits and pieces, and often distracted from by very strange episode choices (I'm looking at you random quiz show episode). I would have loved for a more detailed look at how the different bubbles work and how the proxies were made and such, and understanding these things would have made parts of the series feel less like a fever dream and like I could actually follow what was going on. Maybe for some people the intrigue is a good thing, but I think a balance need to be maintained and this is very much at one end of the spectrum where you're not going to have anywhere near the full picture until you've watched all the way through, and might even need some parts explained after that. Genuinely, the big picture is great and I can see what they were going for, but it doesn't hit when it takes so long to put together and you don't get time to appreciate it.
So, I can see the potential for a series I might have loved in here, but by the end I don't have any strong feelings about it one way or the other. It might be worth a watch if the premise intrigues you but be fully prepared to not understand what's going on half the time. If you like stories with clear direction/stakes then maybe pass.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 4, 2023
I know a lot of fans of the old anime have a very negative reaction to this show, but honestly... I like it better? Like... coming from someone who never watched the original series in my childhood, I never had the nostalgia factor, so to me old Trigun had a lot of very obvious flaws. The animation is dated and very static (making fights feel 'meh'), plenty of the humour doesn't land (especially creeping on women), there's filler eps and it's a slog to actually get to something resembling a plot...
Now, stampede resolves a lot of this. The animation is fantastic... say what you will
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about CGI but there's so much attention and love poured into every frame, the expressions are super emotive and the action is detailed and fast paced. There's still some silliness, but a lot of the dated humour is gone (thank god, creeping on women is not funny) and personally I like the darker tone. We get to the actual conflict much faster, and while there's an argument to be made that maintaining the mystery longer adds something I can appreciate that we're not bogged down by filler. I do think a few extra episodes to fill in the gaps in the later episodes (notably 8 and 9) would have been good, as we kind of just end up somewhere with no proper explanation of how, but I think with the limited episodes they have some stuff had to be cut.
There are changes to the source material, some good and some bad (there's a particular change that I really like which recontextualises and event between the protagonist and antagonist, which I think works better for the relationship they're trying to paint between them). At the end of the day, I would recommend giving stampede a go, but to understand that it's not trying to be a 1:1 adaptation but an original spin on an existing concept. It needs to be appreciated by itself.
Having read the manga, I'm very interested to see how things proceed. It'll be next to impossible to wrap everything up in a single season, and so I'm eager for a second one. If that never happens because people are too wrapped up in nostalgia and decide to review bomb or refuse to watch this show just because it's different, I will be very sad.
All that said, I will probably write an updated review once the whole season is concluded and I can evaluate it as a whole.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 24, 2023
Some interesting concepts on pacifism as an ideal, but poorly executed, the animation is dated, a lot of the humour doesn't hit (and can cause issues with tone), and there's a bunch of filler episodes before the story even really does anything. I'd give it maybe a 7/10 for the good episodes, and a 5-6/10 for the bad ones. Not the worst show but people calling it a masterpiece or a 'must-watch' are viewing it through rose tinted glasses.
The world was at least interesting, I do enjoy some space western vibes... but I can't give it points for that alone, especially when a lot of
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things are never explored in detail.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 28, 2022
Is this manga perfect? No. Does it somehow cater perfectly to my interests? Yes. Dark fantasy with witches, necromancers, mages, vampires... plenty of violence, mystery surrounding our main characters, ambiguous relationships that I genuinely have no idea how they will develop, lovely art and a dark aesthetic/atmosphere... yeah, I binge read the whole thing and I love it.
Our main characters are Ashaf, a softly spoken mage who's motives we have yet to fully unravel, and Guideau, a beast/monster of world destructive power that has been trapped in the body of a girl due to a witch's curse. She (and I use 'she' loosely since Guideau's
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'true' form presents as male but she never seems bothered by people using female pronouns or dressing feminine while in the body she's cursed with) has agreed to work with Ashaf in the hopes of tracking down the witch who cursed her and eventually breaking the curse. This means assisting him in his work for the order of magical resonance, which basically deal with magical problems/threats (which can include witches).
There's some interesting side characters as well, including a necromancer - and I really appreciate her approach to dealing with the dead. She treats them with respect, as people deserving of compassion and not only tools, and it's refreshing to see.
I think what intrigues me most is the relationship between Guideau and Ashaf though... While he claims to have her best interests at heart, what is his motivation for working with her? Does he truely want her curse broken? Why does he want to teach her about the world? Why does he say their goals align? Does he have some personal business with the witch that cursed her? And while Guideau seemed quite frustrated with him at first (and happy to threaten to kill him) she does seem to be softening a little, is that leading anywhere? It took me by surprise to find myself so invested in this, but yeah... there's a lot going on there and I am really interested to see how it develops.
Their personalities are also a nice contrast - Guideau is quick to anger, loves violence, impulsive and has little patience for the world. Ashaf on the other hand is calm and collected, gentlemanly, and acts as if he had everything going to plan (even when he doesn't). They each have their strengths, and they play off each other well.
I'd fully recommend giving this manga a go (especially if you're sick of isekai), it deserves more attention.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 21, 2022
Nice art/animation, but the story is lacklustre and the characters lack depth. Hard to really care about any deaths when we've only briefly seen a character and know nothing (or next to nothing) about their backstory or motivations etc. Like I feel the show wanted you to be attached to the edgerunner crew? But then did nothing to flesh them out (besides Lucy).
You have 'arms guy', who has long arms and make crude jokes. You have buff lady, who is a tough buff lady. You have hacker lady, who can hack and smokes cigarettes. You have small lady, who is small and chaotic and
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apparently arms guy's sister. You have leader dude, who is the leader and has gun arms and says it's important to treat his crew fair. And later on there's driver dude, who had a moustache and drives for them. That's pretty much all we know about them, and I just... can't get emotionally invested in these people when all I have to go on is this surface level stuff. Plus our protagonist is generic as hell, and the villains were equally uninteresting.
Setting was cool, visuals were cool, I like most of the character designs? But yeah... very let down story wise. Anyone calling it 'one of the best show ever' is either delusional or needs to watch more shows. I give it 7 overall cos the art was great and even if the story was 'meh' it was enough to get me to finish watching it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 17, 2022
Honestly, I really enjoyed this. I mean, I'm a sucker for vampires (haha) but I think it holds up regardless. However, it's not without its flaws.
Main story is about a human girl and the vampire queen, both sick of the constant fighting and killing on both sides, deciding to flee and search out an 'eden' where humans and vampires can live in harmony. The plot doesn't break the wheel or anything but the real focus is on the two main characters, both their bond and their personal trauma. While it's compelling I feel that this show would have really benefitted from more episodes, both to
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give more time to their developing relationship and delving into their past.
I would have loved to see more of Fiine's past (and the people in it, yeah you'll know who I'm talking about). I also think if there had been more time spent seeing Momo pushed to breaking point her decision to run would have made more sense (as it is she's dissatisfied with her job, gets in one argument with her mum, then decides to leave her settlement for what she's been assured is certain death). And of course, seeing more of Fiine and Momo connecting would have been a treat. We get some montages, but overall they go very quickly from strangers to people completely dedicated to one another.
More episodes would also allow us to see more of the world, get a greater sense of distance travelled and the people out there...
Both protagonists are likeable (though I particularly enjoyed Fiine), but the side character suffer from a lack of development due to the limited screen time. Would have been nice to understand more about Allegro and his relationship to Fiine. Would have also been nice for Momo's uncle and his crew to be more than a plot point (there to hunt them down rather than be characters in their own right). And an antagonist I won't name for spoiler reasons turns out to be pretty one dimensional, when adding more nuance to their behaviour and motives would work in the story's favour.
The art is lovely, and the animation has some absolutely beautiful segments (I adore how fluid the vampire's wing transition is, and how they fly). Music is good, backgrounds are pretty, no complaints there. Visually this show is very strong.
Now, the ending may not be for everyone... personally it didn't do it for me, felt a little bleak in a way that contradicts the idea the protagonists (and the show tbh) seem to push - that humans and vampires can live together peacefully. But I suspected for a while that things may go that way. Maybe it would feel better if we'd had more time to follow their journey. Unfortunately, that's something we can't know.
Overall I really enjoyed the show though, and it's a shame it's not longer. If you're on the fence, give it a shot, it's not a long watch and there's plenty to love about it, particularly if you're a fan of vampires.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 22, 2021
Overall a fun show, but I think it could have benefitted from being a little more grounded. The main plot is that the entire human race is turned to stone, and our protagonist Senku and his friend wake up thousands of years in the future with the goal of finding a way to revive humanity and rebuild a technological civilisation from scratch in what is essentially a stone age world. Cool premise.
Unfortunately, it kind of loses a lot of the tension and challenges this could create thanks to typical shonen anime nonsense. You get a lot of exaggerated impossible anime battles where there's no
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real fear for the main characters, you get a whole lot of comic relief with ridiculous faces, weird stuff like some girl who can somehow suck her entire body up into a water melon she wears on her head and bounce around without anyone noticing her, and any time Senku wants to make his next cool science thing he just happens to be able to get whatever he needs to make it.
Like... he needs gold to make phones? Guess the village just happens to have enough to make kilometres worth of gold wire despite the fact that gold is extremely rare (hence its value). And oh, he now needs a super rare heat resistant metal? Guess they just have some of that lying around too, and remember exactly where it came from, and they can go there and collect as much as they need.
I get that it might be no fun if he just can't make things, but I would have been more entertained watching him struggle to figure out how to adapt modern technology using what he actually has access too. It would make it feel more earned. It would make the hurdles he faces feel like more of a threat.
It also would have been nice to see some of his weaknesses have a bigger impact on him, like his mediocre stamina and strength actually causing him more difficulties. His poor negotiating skills having some consequences. Just... something to make me feel like he's not just going to easily defeat any challenge that comes his way, and leave everyone in awe of him.
So yeah... it's fun, but it could have been so much better. I think I just have to accept that it's never quite going to be what I want it to be. I've already watched the next season, and I'll probably give the following ones a try, but I won't be surprised if I lose interest some day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 17, 2021
So a while before watching this anime I tried to watch 'Jobless reincarnation' because I'd heard people talking about how it was an 'actually good isekai' and the master of it's genre etc. Turned out it was nothing but a disappointment for me (super creepy show about some pedo using his new life to sexually assault/perve on children) and summed up what I hate about the genre. It felt like the final nail in coffin... proof that isekai would never be enjoyable to me.
Then I saw a youtube video by a female creator talking about 'ascendance of a bookworm' and how it compared to 'dr.
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stone'. The biggest point she made was that 'ascendance of a bookworm' is NOT a male power fantasy, and that sets it apart from most of the shows in its category. This intrigued me enough to give it a go, and honestly I'm so glad I did. It's the breath of fresh air I needed.
To sum things up, the main plot is about a book obsessed woman who dies and end up in another world in the body of a 5-year old child. She wants to live a life surrounded by books, but her family is poor and books are super expensive in this world and can only be afforded by nobility. So... she sets out trying to find a way to make her own books using her knowledge from our world.
What I love about this show is the protagonist isn't overpowered, if anything life is stacked against her in this new world. Her body is frail and weak, causing her to faint or come down with fevers frequently and forcing her to rely on others for physically demanding work. Due to her family's poverty she doesn't have access to all the resources and such someone else might have. And... people actually notice when she acts smarter than a child should... and not just to praise her, but in an actually 'suspicious of her' kind of way. Dealing with the fear of what might happen to you if people find out you're not who they think you are, or even the guilt of having stolen the place of an innocent child... well, that's compelling?
Not to mention this show is just wholesome. No creepy 'fanservice' stuff, just cute friends and family relationships, and it's a joy to watch them help each other and strive for their goals. If, like me, the whole 'overpowered protagonist surrounded by a harem of underdeveloped women' is really grating on you, give this show a try. I won't lie, it's not action packed, but it kept me hooked and was a fun watch, and I can't wait to try the second season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 17, 2021
If you're looking for something with a super cute father and daughter bond, this is just the thing! Mostly a story of their travels, in which we see Somali getting up to antics while the Golem learns about caring for a human child, with the added emotional weight that the Golem knows it doesn't have much time left. The bond between them is really the highlight of the show, but the supporting cast is also nice, and I enjoyed seeing bits and pieces of the world.
The art is good, but I have to mark points off since the animation can take shortcuts and sometimes
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switch to a slideshow to save on budget, but it doesn't impact the story, just would have been nice to see more work/money put into it.
Overall a nice little show... I'm kind of torn between a 7 or 8 for an overall score, but I'm going to go with the higher one since I know I'm going to have to hunt down the manga now and it's not a show I hear a lot of people talking about. If you're on the fence about it just give it a go.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 16, 2021
The best word I can think to describe this anime is 'frustrating'. I gave it a go because I heard people calling it 'an actually good isekai' and I though, you know, maybe it would be that... the show to change my mind about the genre. But nope, it has to be a creepy, pervy show about a protagonist who has no interest in becoming a better person. Why is anime like this?
Basically a middle aged, jobless pervert gets kicked out of his home and dies in a traffic accident. He finds himself re-incarnated in a magical world, and has magic powers (go-figure). He supposedly
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sees this as an opportunity to correct his past mistakes and live a life he can be proud of... but he doesn't correct his flaws? He just gets away with them because he looks like a child. And I cannot express how creepy it is for a mentally 40-ish year old to be perving on children? Like, in the latest one he literally fondles and then tries to take the underwear off a sleeping girl who is under 10. In what universe is that okay? How am I supposed to cheer this character on? Ugh, no, no thank you.
This could have been good. They could have made a story about someone who regrets their past life, and actually strives to do things right, to be a better person... to forge genuine human connections and overcome past trauma. Instead we have this, and I have never been more disappointed. It really just comes across as someone's sick wish fulfilment.
Heck, I hear the source materiel is even worse - that when he was thrown out, it was because he was getting off to a spy cam of his niece... I'm glad they threw him out, he deserved it, I would have thrown him out too. What a horrible guy. I'm not surprised he was bullied, if he was creeping on the girls in his high school he kind of had it coming.
In conclusion, don't bother watching. Nice animation can't save this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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