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Dec 19, 2021
Some people are special and see what others don't. Miko is one such person and happens to be able to see spirits of the deceased (yūrei and reikon).
A friend recommded me Mieruko-chan for the creepy creatures. He also warned me that this show isn't a straight up horror experience. There's ecchi, slice-of-life as well as comedy - presumably to lighten the mood and make the material easier to sell (since this anime is an adaption of an ongoing manga). I was still disappointed because watching the anime so far (5 episodes) left me with very little (next to zero) feeling of fear or disgust. Somehow
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the supposed horror element of this series did not come through to me much at all.
On the one hand I believe this is because of the show's art and sound directions. While the monsters are drawn and animated very well and in a bizarre style, the rest of Mieruko-chan looks like the average slice-of-life comedy anime. Everything is drawn neatly and tidily in clean and bright colors. It just doesn't fit and the ghosts usually look out of place. Meanwhile the soundtrack tries to be creepy but doesn't help much because everything else (besides the monsters themselves) distracts too much from any horror there could possibly be.
On the other hand the way Mieruko-chan is written hinders the show from being truly frightening. It's not just that the ecchi and comedy segments are lightening the mood too much. There's a whole list of other problems:
- This isn't the kind of horror show that leaves you on edge, thinking something might show up any moment - it's the kind where you know something is going to show up, because a monster shows up in virtually every scene.
- No creepy places. Of course this is intended because the idea of Mieruko-chan is that Miko is experiencing the horror in her every day life, but I believe it would help if more scenes played at night and in desolate locations.
- Do these ghosts even harm anyone? It's never shown. There are scenes showing ghosts harming each other, often trying to imply that they could harm Miko and her friends, but the writing is never clear about it. They are often shown clinging to persons with bad personality traits, but if those are caused by the ghosts or are what attracted them to those persons in the first place is left for the audience to think about.
- Miko is living a nightmare but barely shows it. She is used to the daily terror and knows her ways out of the situations her ability to see ghosts causes her to find herself involved in. Watching Miko play around on her phone to distract herself from the monsters got old very fast for me.
The tl;dr is that Mieruko-chan fails to invoke a proper sense of danger for the protagonist and other characters. It's laudable that it's trying to be frightening in its own way, but for me the horror element of this anime unfortunately just falls flat.
Putting it together I'm not too impressed with this show. The horror is disappointing, the comedy and ecchi elements don't bring any real value to it either. In between the terror and comedy segments there are quality moments that remind me of Natsume no Yuujinchou, but those are sparse and barely explored upon. If Miko was actually the only person capable of seeing ghosts in the show it would make for an interesting psychological mystery, but that is not the case here.
All in all Mieruko-chan feels more like a generic shounen aimed at girls and unfortunately lacks the substance that could make it truly stand out. But I recognize that I'm not exactly the target audience for this. Despite my nitpicking this is probably worth checking out for every fan of horror.
Still I really enjoyed the last couple of episodes. There certainly is a unique character to Mieruko-chan that is hard to refute.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 29, 2021
Meaningless wars leave no good memories for anyone.
Windaria is an archetypical fantasy flick. War between nations, politics, princes and princesses and your every day young man from a peaceful village. Love and betrayal etc. etc.
If anything in this movie sticks out it's the animations and music. The art is surprisingly detailed for an obscure movie and the soundtrack always beautifully orchestrates what is shown on screen.
The movie's first half is well paced and takes its time to introduce the main cast, their believes and motivations and the world they act in. However a city becoming partially flooded is what most stood out in this half
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- the story plays itself very safe. There are no surprising or unexpected developments early on. While in the second half things movie too fast with some strange directions. I suppose with just one movie the run time just isn't enough to develop the sort of depth the director was aiming for. As the movie went on I found it increasingly more difficult to suspend my disbelief in regards to the way characters suddenly acted. The writer had a clear idea how things should pan out, but failed in fleshing out the developments leading to those points. War breaks out fully, there is no happy end for any of the characters the audience is expected to care for.
This is Windaria's strong point. War is shown to be caused by a handful of flawed characters leading everyone around. Unexperienced soldiers are depicted as uncertain and fearful. In the end nobody is rewarded and the audience is reminded of the meaninglessness of war between modern nations.
Beyond that message there are a couple strong scenes in this movie. Not a terrible watch for a friday or saturday night.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 26, 2021
This one is leaving me on the fence. On the one hand the post apocalyptic cyberpunk setting and its atmosphere leave nothing to be desired. Each character carries some depth to it that is well explored with overally good writing. Mystery elements that hint at the supernatural keep the show interesting and outline a world building that goes beyond the borders of your typical futuristic city of law and order. And within all of that Ergo Proxy manages to sneak in hints of a coming of age story that's supported by the world building itself as symbolism. There are glimpses of masterful writing in this
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anime. The animation quality doesn't stand out much but the art style suits the show very well. The soundtrack however accompanies the dystopian atmosphere shown perfectly.
Still, it's a diamond in the rough at best. The writing feels really hamfisted at times, you can tell whoever was responsible for the script liked the sound of certain foreign words a bit too much. Eventually the show goes on to tell too much. Many characters end up feeling very one faced with the same aspect of them being in the spotlight of writing over and over. Too much exposition reveals all of the secrets behind Romdeau and the desolate world surrounding it, leaving no questions unanswered and leading to a rather bland soft sci-fi ending that could have left a much stronger impression without all the explanations. Vincent's character would have benefited just as much from less information and the story focused too much on him finding a concrete answer to his origins which should have been kept shrouded in mystery.
All in all the final episodes felt disappointingly weak, but Ergo Proxy employs superb world building, delivers some witty writing you wouldn't have expected and makes good use of symbolism. Most important it has a couple of powerful moments I didn't expect it to have. There's a masterpiece hidden in here. Unfortunately it didn't quite make it out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 6, 2021
Although categorized as a novel Welcome to the NHK! reads much like a light novel. The way characters act is often ridiculous and absurd. But it's not a series and there are no pretty pictures, so that seems to make all the difference.
But below the surface the tone of this novel is anything but whacky and naive. Welcome to the NHK! at its core tells a story so straight honest and real it can get under the skin.
Unlike the anime adaption the novel tells its story without any extra fuss that comes off as padding. It's closer to life and sells itself less as a
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whacky neet adventure.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 26, 2021
Pacing hasn't been a strong characteristic for Boku no Hero Academia since the show shifted to a double cour format in its second season. However this time it's particularly bad as storytelling has hit an all time low for this anime. Nothing ever feels at stake, plot elements appear out of nowhere more than ever and everything loosely builds up to what appears to be a tremendously rushed conclusion to the conflict with the villain alliance.
The high point of season 5 is a short center on Todoroki's family drama. It's so well written you start to wonder why the main plot hasn't been served the
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same treatment. The recurring villains finally got some characterizations. However those could have been given more attention. Don't they all deserve their own arc? Did they all have to be cramped into a couple of unsatisfying episdes?
Boku no Hero Academia as disappointed me for the first time, even though my expectations for it have never been high to begin with. I don't remember a single moment standing out in particular. Those who follow the manga might as well skip this season of the tv anime adaption.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 21, 2021
Brilliant. Back in 1997 Hideaki Anno made a point with End of Evangelion that almost nobody got. Now here we are in 2021 and fans are angry about Shinji's canon "shipping" - the point went straight above their heads once again.
As a movie Evangelion 3.0+1.0 fails in all the ways its prequel failed years before. One could point out all of its flaws. Everything in this movie could have been better, from the general story to the finer points of writing, to the animation and decisions regardings the soundtrack. But unlike Eva 3.0 this final movie comes with a wrapping conclusion to the Rebuild series.
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It may be a polarizing one but deserves its due respect none the less. At least the introspection sequence for Gendo is a neat addition to the original's canon.
Personally I finally feel at peace with these movies and no longer have to complain that Mari is an awful character - now that I understand that she always only represented the concept of a person instead of a person in itself.
If this movie has a strong point it's that its last few moments can have an impact that may challenge one's entire view of the Rebuild series. Very much a recommended watch to all the Eva fans that have stuck around for all its prequels.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Aug 18, 2021
Red Colored Elegy is a manga of its own. It tells a simple love story with little text and art sometimes bordering the abstract. Compared to most manga it seeks less to entertain and instead often gives reason to pause and ponder. Although it has its quirky moments this work is best engaged in the way one would engage a painting. The artstyle contrasts itself in a way that amplifies the expressiveness of emotion. While usually bland the art becomes detailed and stylized where it matters. Backgrounds are used as a tool to convey emotion and meaning.
Even a student of japanology will probably have trouble
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fully understanding every nuance of this manga. However its tragic story of mutual love not developing in its own favor due to problems not in control for the couple resonates well at all times. Red Colored Elegy's story can thus be understood quite well by everyone regardless of their knowledge of japanese history and culture of the times.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 26, 2021
Every once in a while there comes around an anime that feels different from what the medium usually offers. Higehiro presents itself as a mature telling of a romance story rooted in reality. It does its job well enough in its early episodes setting up the foundation for the story it seeks to tell, but falls flat rather quickly as it develops towards its conclusion. Age gap relationships go against sociocultural norms, but that barely matters in this story. Higehiro ends up playing it safe, all conflicts its protagonist encounters appear to be only hinted at - he solves them all, earning respect from everyone.
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It's absurd. Instead of evoking feelings of empathy it got to a point where it made me laugh out loud.
There is not much to say about the animations themselves. Because there is barely any - and the anime still manages to have badly drawn frames all over. It's an embarrassment to the medium.
At the very least this show teaches a meaningful message, even if it, and the way in which it is told, is the kind of cliché that hurts to come across.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jul 16, 2021
Summed up SSSS.Dynazenon is a nice series revolving around moving on from the past and lingering regrets in ones life. Suitably it features tokusatsu elements such as giant robots and giant monster fighting in every episode.
Characters are well written, but there is a lack of conflict that causes character interactions in this series to be somewhat flat. There is just enough story telling to keep the audience engaged without getting bored of the lackluster 3D combat scenes. At least the soundtrack offers some good tracks that stand out a bit.
Overally there is a lot of missed potential here. Most character arcs are rather weak and
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could have needed some fleshing out, and the ones that stand in focus feel rather monotonous too. SSSS.Dynazenon really needed another season of twelve episodes to reach its full potential.
It's still a very enjoyable watch with a meaningful story, which is why I consider this a recommendation to watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 3, 2021
Read the synopsis. You get exactly what you can expect from it.
Only it turns out it's a low budget show mostly told in stills. At least the art is nice to look at still - it seems J.C.Staff found a way to accomodate low animation funds. Still you can barely call this animation. It just about passes the test. However most jokes still deliver really well and Gokushufudou is likely to get some laughs out of you.
It feels like there was potential for a great watch here, but the sparse use of animations and overall short run time kills a lot of what could have
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been.
Maybe it would be more appropriate to call this a high budget manga ad, than a low budget anime adaption. But honestly I feel like I am nitpicking here - Gokushufudou is a fun watch even if its lack of animation comes as a surprise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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