Jeoffrey

This show managed to convey a meaningful and quite interesting story over only five episodes. On the other hand, the initial introduction of Momo could have been much better. In addition, they could have made the middle of the season much better and shown more about how Momo and Fine's relationship developed. I think it would have probably contributed to creating a much stronger effect during the emotional finale because I would like to have felt a greater connection with them to relate to their story at the end. Likewise, they could have fleshed out the character of Momo's mother a bit more as they did with her uncle (so I could understand her more and not just think of her as a workaholic career woman). I enjoyed the narrative and its subject matter, setting, and general vibe, even though the pacing suffered because of the total running time of the five episodes. The standard of animation was inconsistent, which is quite surprising for a WIT Studio production, although the soundtrack is great. Overall, this is an enjoyable anime series, although it did not quite meet my expectations or probably have the impact the anime's creators intended. Although the opening and the ending were really very good, the middle is rather average, so this particular Vampire will not find more than 7/10 in my Garden.

Initially, I would have awarded this show five stars simply because the ending of the last season of Amphibia deserves it. I have been enjoying every new episode for the last few weeks and wondering which show I am looking forward to more, this or The Owl House, every Sunday. That being said, I just cannot ignore the first half of the season, set in the world of humans, which is only worth 6/10 in my view. The first half of the season is good and has some interesting ideas but lacks the magic of the previous seasons. There is a new setting and some great episodes that focus on further developing the characters and their relationships but that makes it merely ordinary by the standards of this magical TV series. However, the second half of the season is, in my opinion, flawless. The build-up to the season’s finale is an emotional ride that is fun, well crafted, epic, full of new surprises, and full of suspense. There is not much to complain about in the second half, and the last two episodes at least deserve a clear 10/10, in my opinion. However, adding it all up the calculations are clear (10+6) / 2 = 8/10

The second season of The Daily Life of the Immortal King got even more insane, goofier, weirder, more episodic, and much more original. There is a lot to be said for it, but is it better? It has some great episodes and an amazing finale with a great fight that reminded me of the excellent fight between Saitama and Boros, all accompanied by a disaster of apocalyptic proportions. Add to that a lot of brilliant and unexpected ideas, which makes the second season so meta that it manages to make fun of itself, of its production, and you have, for example, an unadulterated insight into how such a show is produced by experimenting with animation. This season even manages to create the atmosphere of what it promises in the title, so there is even an episode that features the OP main male protagonist at a magical school and seems like a slice of life anime show. This anime series delivers well-executed, interesting, and original parodies. There are tons of pop culture references and relevant topical subject matter so you can tell the anime’s creators had a lot of fun with it. However, did I enjoy it more than the first season? At first glance, this season may seem very random. Many plotlines seem disconnected, and their meaning only becomes apparent later, even though, in reality, they are interwoven, well thought out, and sometimes even brilliant. Unfortunately for the average viewer, the line between genius and insanity can be very thin sometimes. Animation-wise it is playful, and musically it is still great and expressive. I see a lot of objective positives, so I keep wondering why my overall impression of this show is that it is not quite as good as the first season. Perhaps there was too much crammed in, and maybe they should have rather fleshed out some of the plotlines a bit more to make a bigger impact. I do think that some of the episodic stories deserved more than one episode, although, at the same time, there was some continuation. On the other hand, I think that I probably would have preferred one clear main plotline anyway, presented much more strongly and vividly, and not drowned out by all the other stuff. There was simply too much going on, and really, less is more. It was an interesting ride. I enjoyed it, although, as I have already hinted, the second season will get 7.5/10, and I am still looking forward to the third season as I am curious to see where the show’s creators take it this time.

Sometimes this show is just stupid, and you have to ignore a lot in the last episode of the first season to comprehend it. In my view, the animators relied too heavily on CGI, and the humor is sometimes too forced, out of place and, unnatural, which disturbs the show's vibe. These are some of the shortcomings that would normally mean the first season of The Daily Life of Immortal King would not get a good rating from me. However, this anime series earned an above-average rating simply because the concept of the OP protagonist is very good. Wang Ling has the kind of power that Anos Voldigoad has, and the screenplay reflects that. Some scenes are funny, and some are totally epic, leaving you really entertained and thinking that this is what a real OP protagonist should look like. The main male protagonist even has his own great background music when he is about to kick off. In addition, the soundtrack, in general, works great. I do not mean simply the cool opening or ending, but also the background music. Besides the aforementioned Wang Ling theme, I liked the song that plays during the best fight scenes. The fight scenes themselves are unstoppable, dynamic, and colorful, the movements are fluid and all the fights are good, especially in the penultimate episode. The overall pacing is good, from the initial quieter, fun, slower pacing where you get used to the characters and the setting to the intense tournament where the atmosphere and suspense really work. In addition, the emotional aspect is good, despite my initial misgivings because, at first, the main love story felt a bit forced, and the main male protagonist was a bit too apathetic. However, it started getting much better as the episodes went on. The anime's creators threw in a few surprises and figured out a way to use the main character's indifference towards others in a seemingly logical way to make it one of the central themes of the whole first season. Initially, I thought it was just a pretty OK show in the style of the anime series mentioned above, The Misfit of Demon King Academy with Anos Voldigoad. Then I was surprised that the anime's creators had it all pretty well thought out in the second half of the season and delivered a top show. The first season gets 7.8/10, and I am very happily going on to watch the second.

Well, I finally finished the fourth season of Hitori no šita: The Outcast. It took me so long mainly because after the first few episodes, I had to force myself to keep going because I did not enjoy the story dedicated to the main male protagonist and his group at all. Even though the last few episodes were interesting, I could not be bothered, really, as I had lost heart somewhere in the middle of the season. There were at least a few action-packed scenes that were good and affected the rating positively, although otherwise, I am awarding a mere 3/10, and I do not know if I can go on, although I hope not to lose any sleep over it.

Fruits Basket: Prelude is a very emotionally strong movie. The atmosphere changes from one moment to the next, and everything is very intense. It is a bittersweet story full of lessons that will strongly resonate with many viewers. Still, I am a little annoyed that the first third of the movie (about thirty minutes) is just a compilation of scenes regarding Kyo and Tohru's relationship from the TV show. Yes, it is very well-put-together compilation that is full of inner monologues and perfectly depicts all the important aspects and nuances of their relationship from start to finish, it is just that there is nothing new that I was not already familiar with. I can, however, admit that it ties in well with the storyline regarding Tohru's parents and that it fits well with the overall concept of the movie and the message it is trying to convey. However, I am still not one-hundred percent convinced that it was entirely necessary within the narrative. Kyoko and Katsuya's story could have easily stood on its own, been just as strong, and perhaps even had more screen time to develop if they had not included the compilation. As it was, while it was also strong, deep, touching, and moving, it managed to convey its message and show everything the viewer (not just of the original anime series) wanted to know. However, it also felt very rushed, almost like a montage of the Kyoko and Katsuya drama. So, while the result is excellent, bringing quite a lot to the table and adding to the overall picture and themes introduced by the anime series, I could not shake the feeling that I did not quite get what I was hoping for from the movie. I think that if the movie's focus had been on Tohru's parents, I would have been more satisfied. But still, this movie is full of really strong emotions, a good message, and well-written characters. It, therefore, does not deserve to be awarded less than 8/10.

So the first summer production was completely successful, and I have to say that it is quite a respectable show. Because I had seen the previews, I had expected many interesting confrontations caused by the difference between youthful and adult attitudes. To be honest, I am now in my thirties, but if I were back in high school as, say, a fifteen-year-old, I would probably get away with quite a lot of crap. Well, unfortunately, that does not come up so much in this anime series, and Kaizaki pretty quickly integrates himself into a clique where he mostly acts exactly the same as if he were an "ordinary student," so the whole backstory about him actually being twenty-seven does not come across as strongly as it could. So if there is no hard confrontation between the two worlds, what is it really about? Basically, this show is all about students. It is a slightly comedic slice-of-life anime series, dealing with different relationships and looking at the self-esteem some of the people involved have lost. However, this is quite decently crafted, so all the plot twists are quite fun to watch, and sometimes I even found it funny. The characters were quite interesting, and almost all of them were quite likable. I also liked the animation. As for the soundtrack, I found the opening and ending quite appropriate, although most of the music was played on piano. It was very noisy at times in this anime series, so I found it a bit distracting. All in all, ReLIFE is such a pleasant and relaxing summer show, even though it is not intense, interesting, or funny enough to make me feel the need to give it a better rating than average. 6.4/10.

I liked Shenmue a lot​​ at the beginning because the plot was simple, straightforward, and contained a little bit of fantasy and fatefulness. At the same time somehow had an endearing B-movie quality, albeit with decent animation and even fight scenes that were quite good, really. The main male protagonist is quite likable, so I enjoyed getting to know him, although the portrayal of his journey put me off. I felt quite irritated by how the different sections and his development were repetitive and always the same. The protagonist goes to another character because he needs help, and then the person in question tells him that he is not ready to move forward, which happens every time. This means that the protagonist has to do certain sidequests first that lead to his progress before going back to that other character to prove that he is ready, and if he is lucky, that other character helps him get somewhere else. Unfortunately, he usually goes to yet another character, who tells him that he is not ready to move on. What is worse, it does not always go right the first time, and so the protagonist goes back thinking he is ready, only to be told, "No, you are not!" and so he has to embark on yet another journey of self-discovery. The worst thing is that even though half of those aforementioned sidequests are simply also about how the protagonist meets someone who tells him he is not ready. This concept of how the protagonist progresses is regurgitated repeatedly, interspersed with flashbacks of his father telling him he is not ready and has a long way to go! Fortunately for Shenmue, all the knowledge and development were mostly quite interesting to me, and I even learned something about the martial arts philosophy itself. Hence, it was not a complete waste of time. Likewise, the many characters Ryo encounters during his journey are interesting and well-rounded. So overall, in my opinion, this is not a bad anime series, and I would not mind seeing the second season. Even though it often felt like a constant back and forth, it was bearable. 6/10.

I am going to start with what must be obvious to everyone: every time people see that WIT Studio is the main animation studio on a major project, they know it will be beautiful! Animation-wise, this movie is a wonderful showcase of what this studio can do. Given that parkour is an essential part of the movie, the animators flex their muscles and demonstrate how brilliantly they can animate movement. Of course, those in charge of the backgrounds were not slacking off either, and so many shots would make a gorgeous poster, wallpaper, or screensaver. Each image showcases a brilliant sense of aesthetics and the artistry of the illustrators, both of which make the viewer sit back, enjoy every minute, including the parkour race, and take it all in until the stunning conclusion. WIT Studio uses what they learned while making the anime series Atack on Titan, and so many scenes look like Levi's famous "coming to the bar" scene. The final sequence makes you think of the best aerial fights because the movement of the characters here is so iconic. Everything is beautifully colored. When anything moves, it is simply flawless. It feels epic when something falls to the ground (like buildings collapsing). The detail is just great. The bottom line is that animation-wise, this movie is worth 10/10. The soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano works well and is literally perfect in some moments (like the conclusion), so you notice it a lot, plus it is helped by the fact that one particular song serves as an important theme in this movie. On the other hand, overall, it is not exactly a memorable experience. In the first half especially, I only partially noticed the music, almost as if Sawano was being unnecessarily restrained at the beginning. On the other hand, he makes up for it in part two, and especially during the dynamic final sequence, where he shows why he is considered by many to be one of the best Japanese composers in anime today. Musically, it is worth 8.5/10, in my opinion. Are you familiar with Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid? Regarding the movie's narrative, the screenwriters are fully aware of that particular story and are not shy about building the main storyline around it. On top of that, they bolt on parkour races like they are straight out of a sports anime series, and even that line kind of works for them, interspersing the whole thing with a good dose of pretty interesting fantasy elements although I found that a bit too grating. What happened over the course of the five years plus the bubbles felt a bit unbelievable, and it took me a while to come to terms with it all. Likewise, the parkour races seemed quite strange. I thought I would have liked to have seen any government allow this, and I could just not believe that if one of two teams decided to radically raise the stakes and still broadcast it on the internet, somehow, no one would intervene. There were just some things that were a little harder to accept. On the other hand, the pacing of the narrative was good. The build-up was a bit slower, although the movie managed to build everything up so that the emotional conclusion had an impact. It even had an effect despite all the philosophizing about birth and death. The atmosphere was good, too, although a certain romantic part of me thinks there could have been more of The Little Mermaid and a little less of the parkour, although I can still live with that. The narrative, pace, and atmosphere are worth 7/10. So, in summary, I enjoyed Bubble. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see what really good animation should look like or those who are romantic souls with a sense of aesthetics and also to the average anime viewer. 8/10.

Sing a Bit of Harmony is a science fiction fairy tail that caused the skeptic and romantic in me to fight over whether it was a good show, and the romantic in me won out in the end. The skeptic doubted how realistic things depicted were, especially the fairy tale ending where certain actions have no real consequences and are unbelievable. The final decision of the CEO left me shaking my head as much as his deputy. Also, many plot twists came at the most predictable moments, and animation-wise it was rather average for movie production. The soundtrack is distinctive but only appealed to me only occasionally. Of course, the romantic soul will immediately point out how colorful it is and that even the singing had the right effect when the situation called for it. Some moments tugged my heartstrings, most probably when an important and major secret was revealed that I found endearing to the point of being touching. In other words, there were moments when I enjoyed it as a fairy tale rather than a straight science fiction movie, plus I enjoyed the pacing of the story, and the nice character of Shion made the whole thing much more entertaining. 7/10.