Spy x Family Season 3 Review

Posted on May 3, 2026 by dreager1

Spy x Family has been going on for quite a while now. It definitely looks like this isa title that will be sticking around even if it is at the cost of a fairly slow amount of plot progression. At this point the idea is mainly to enjoy the status quo which works well enough. The main characters are good and we do get some action scenes here. The season is solid as a whole and is a good comfort watch.

There are a few mini arcs in this season but for the most part we have a lot of stand alone adventures. The season kicks off with a disgruntled construction worker deciding to claim some lives and this forces Loid to step in. It’s a fun premiere to set up all of the characters and their personalities. I also like the idea of a random threat just popping up like this so that was well done.

We get a much smaller scale story after that where Fiona and Franky have to team up. Franky is consistently one of the most annoying characters so I definitely felt bad for Fiona here. She really had to put up with his endless flirting and everything. Franky needs to just stay on mission instead of doing too much all the time. Everything works out in the end but mainly I’d give all the credit to Fiona here.

This is probably Fiona’s best season in general because she gets a big fight near the end of the season. Without her, Loid would be dead and the heroes would have suffered a big blow. She really needs to give up on Loid romantically since he is married but otherwise she has developed herself into one of the strongest fighters around. She is really dedicated to clearing the mission and certainly has a high pain tolerance. She’s easily the second best agent only losing out to Loid on his side. Yes, Handler is strong too but I don’t think she’s on the same level.

As for Franky, I don’t really think there is any hope left for him. He is really stuck in the comic relief slot at this point. He may have some big moments here and there but at the same time I don’t really see him making the jump to being one of the top characters. It’s just not happening and his segments really always need another character in order to succeed. They are only marginally better than Bond’s. Anya segments can be hit or miss but at least she has a strong supporting cast to back her up.

She gets a short about a legendary teacher showing up to cause chaos. She is well known for throwing around Tonitrus bolts in order to penalize the various students. If you remember part of the main plot here, enough of those bolts will expel you. They are the opposite of Stella Stars, where getting a certain amount of them will allow you to graduate. So that’s really something to keep in mind and be worried about. One wrong turn and that’s going to be a big problem.

The old lady ends up being decent. Yes, she definitely is super unreasonable and not someone you would want to have on the faculty but at least she will be making sure that everyone stays sharp. I trust that Becky won’t make any mistakes but the other students better watch out. As the main student in the series, Anya can be a true wild card. Sometimes she is wise beyond her years but most of the time she will be falling into every possible trap. If she didn’t have the ability to read minds then she would really be doomed.

She does get one of the mini arcs though as Anya’s school bus is hijacked by terrorists. They are trying to spring some of their comrades but the military police have a 0 tolerance policy for negotiations. These guys appear to be serious about murdering everyone so Anya has to find a way out of this. Loid and Yuri also get involved briefly but for once they can’t claim a lot of credit here. Anya ends up being the definitive factor here even if it wasn’t all intentional. This was a fun mini arc though because there was a clear sense of danger here. Anya got some solid moments and I also was glad that the police didn’t just get completely paralyzed. They were ready to handle things by the book even if it meant some casualties would happen. It’s grim but sort of the way you have to handle things lie this or it would only get worse.

Then we have Loid’s origin story which is another big event. The show makes sure to hide his true name so I assume that will become relevant at some point. I’m curious what the implications would be. No way he’s actually a Desmond but I’m guessing Loid is related to some established character that we know about. Since Loid was a child at the time, it makes his origin even darker. He had to grow up really fast in a war torn environment even when he was just a child. That’s not easy for anybody.

It’s also a real contrast from the expert agent that he is in the present. While Loid sometimes gets overwhelmed, he always solves the case in the present. Loid continues to be one of the best characters in the series although I would have to give Yuri the top spot. The two of them get an actual battle in this season which was intense. Yuri appears to be stronger physically but Loid’s skills are far superior. It’s not even close when the two of them end up having a fight. We’ll see if Yuri can adapt or if that might have been their only fight.

It happens during the final arc of the season where both sides are trying to get to a secret agent. The secrets that he holds are simply too dangerous for anybody to have a hold of them. SSS and WISE both get some hype here as they uncover moles within each other’s organizations and continue to appear to be on par with each other. Neither side is significantly more powerful than the other. It’s still a bit unclear who the real good guys are here. Both organizations seem to be a bit on the shady side. In general I tend to side more with the SSS as the local authorities in the mix but it’s definitely not an easy call.

The new secret agent, Wheeler, was also a fun character. Definitely the best villain and it would be nice to see him again. I get the feeling that this was probably it for him though. Still, he got to show off a lot of great abilities like how he kept the main characters at bay the whole time. That’s not the easiest thing to do considering how outnumbered he was.

There are a few other oneshot stories like Loid having to deal with a jealous co-worker. That one just made me feel like the villain got off way too easily though. He was actively lying and trying to get Loid arrested. If Loid had not been a super spy, he would have been in real trouble. It’s why just scaring this guy doesn’t seem like enough. I know they have to keep a low profile so that does hurt your available options but there surely must have been something that they could have done.

You may be wondering what Yor is doing throughout this season. Well, unfortunately she doesn’t have a whole lot to do here. She has a segment where she gets drunk and tries to pick a fight with Loid but it isn’t her best appearance. Her larger role is when she gets to meet Damian’s mother and even joins a club with her in it. So now Yor is deeper into the main plot even if she doesn’t realize it. I think this should lead to some pretty interesting plots. I would like for Yor to be a little more alert on what’s going n but I suppose that simply isn’t her character.

Yor is still fun but man did she get the shaft in this one. I want some action scenes for her. Both Yor and Loid should get one big action scene in every season if you ask me. So by and large those were most of the adventures. I didn’t include literally each one but there was a lot of variety here. As always the technical elements were pretty good here. The animation is solid and the soundtrack works out well too. The opening isn’t my favorite though. It’s not the kind of intro that you will be playing on repeat or anything like that.

The writing is pretty solid and the pacing is good. I would say that the show has strong fundamentals all around. It just lacks ambition so this is the kind of show you watch passively but you won’t be on the edge of your seat quite yet. The show may prove me wrong with future seasons but I expect it will stay more or less like this for a while. So then it all comes down to the character dynamics and usually they cancel out to this one being a pretty good title. Loid and Yuri segments tend to be great. Bond and Franky segments are weak. Yor and Anya segments can really go either way. There is quite a lot of balance in this kind of setup.

Right now the 2 most interesting subplots are going to revolve around the group that gave Anya and Bond powers as well as who the “good guys” are between WISE and SSS. I expect at some point the series will choose one as the lesser of two evils. In theory the shady group giving people powers will be the final boss that both sides have to unite against. It will be fun once Loid and Yor find out about Anya’s secret but I expect that won’t happen until the very end of the series. Once they find out, there is no returning to the old status quo after all. While the series does have a body count, I would say that it is fairly light toned overall. This is an easy action title you can check out at any time.

Even if we do stay with episodic adventures for a while, I would just like to have a more even distribution of missions. We should always have at least one Yor assassination case and one secret agent case for Loid per season. If you go a whole season without that happening then it feels like something went wrong. Someone is getting too much focus and messing up the balance. If we have to stop having Franky segments, well then so be it. It is worth getting more action from Yor. The whole point of the show is about this family dynamic where everyone has a secret after all so the show needs to focus on that a bit more. Beyond that, it can just continue going on as it has been since each season has resulted in a good time from start to finish.

Overall, Spy x Family continues to churn out more and more episodes. It is impressive how far it has come with 3 seasons and a movie. Not just any title could hope to pull that off. I feel like there is already enough material for a season 4. If you have enjoyed the first two seasons then you should have fun with this one. The 13 episodes go by quickly but they still did manage to get 3 story arcs in there which is pretty impressive. I’ll definitely be around for season 4 when it comes out.

Overall 7/10

Knuckles Review

Posted on May 3, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time to look at the Knuckles spinoff show that came out a while back. This one definitely got pretty infamous online for a bunch of reasons. After watching it, I can say that the show was pretty fun. It’s definitely very comedic with a lot of slapstick and silly moments so you definitely need to keep this in mind. It’s absolutely not a big action thriller series or anything like that. How much you enjoy the series will probably depend on what you’re looking for in this title.

The story starts with Wade losing to a little girl in bowling so Wade’s best friend fires him from the bowling team. Their friendship is effectively over now and Wade has hit rock bottom. His father ditched him at a TJ Maxx a long time ago too and Wade never really got over this. The trauma has been too much and so Wade has begun to believe the people who call him a loser. Fortunately Knuckles shows up and declares that he will help Wade win the world championship of bowling. This will help Wade get his self esteem back as well as giving him a chance to defeat his father. Will Wade be able to pull this off?

If you’re wondering why Wade showed up, he was given this mission by the elder Echidna. Knuckles had been on house arrest but this mission takes priority. It won’t be easy though because Wade really does have serious confidence issues. Technically his bowling abilities are already elite but he just needs to find a way to not choke under pressure. It’s a tougher predicament than you would expect. Also there are some villains running around who want to get Knuckles’ power. Without Sonic to bail him out, Knuckles will need Wade to step up.

So like I said, none of this is played seriously. You’ll have a serious moment sandwiched in between 10 comedic moments. How seriously you take these brief moments is really up to you since the show doesn’t seem to really be all that concerned. I would say this is the definition of an irony show. For example Knuckles will say something heartfelt, then 3 characters jump in with jokes and witty banter. Then Wade will say something heartfelt and the music swells up….only for him to throw a joke in and then everyone groans in the show.

In that way you can say that even the serious moments are a form of comedy so that just makes the show funnier. You can absolutely pick up some good messages and moments in here but they are buried several layers deep beneath the humor. Sonic has a good speech in episode 1 for example as he sits Knuckles down and gives him a good talk. I definitely did miss Sonic after that since he was gone for the rest of the show. I would have liked to have had him at least show up near the end. The show finishes pretty abruptly without any screentime and guest star appearances from the side characters.

The fight scenes aren’t bad. They aren’t played super serious either but we get a fun fight between Knuckles and Mason. Mason’s gauntlets allow him to fight on par with Knuckles in terms of physical abilities which is really pretty impressive. Now there are a lot of power level issues with the series as a whole so you will want to keep that in mind. The speed rarely ever makes any sense because somehow these guys are tagging Knuckles consistently when by all accounts he should be much faster than them. It doesn’t make sense and in a way it’s not really supposed to. All you need to know is that Knuckles has the combat speed of an average human and while his strength is pretty good, it’s nothing crazy. As long as you keep that in mind then the fights make a lot more sense all around.

While Knuckles talks a great game throughout the show, he does take his share of losses. Even by the end of the series he is soundly defeated instead of coming out on top. As strong as he is, Knuckles tends to be overconfident a lot of the time. Fortunately he has Wade there to help him out. Knuckles may not always be quick on the uptake but he’s a fun character to have around.

As for Wade, he’s essentially an Adam Sandler kind of character. He’s not very good at most things and gets pushed around a whole lot but eventually he gets up and makes everyone take notice of him. His sister constantly makes fun of him and beats the poor guy up to which Wade has no real answer. He just goes off to cry sometimes and that’s not the best way to handle that situation at all. He has delusions of grandeur and at times displays a confidence that isn’t earned but those moments tend to be fleeting.

You sort of root for Wade to at least win in bowling but even then I would put some asterisks. For example he is quick to turn on his mom just to impress his father without taking any time to think about it. He was not making the right calls there at all. It’s fine for Wade to be gullible because that’s actually rather expected to a large degree but then you can’t also have him be rude or mean in general. That’s a combination that is just not going to work.

So he’s a fun character for the messing around scenes but definitely isn’t the guy you want to have for the serious moments. As for his sister Wanda, well she makes for a fun antagonist. She really puts him through the wringer at all times. She just constantly has to make a fool out of Wade which isn’t all that hard but even goes as far as to physically attack him at times. Wade has no real answer for this and so she tends to dominate him in all of their interactions. Her personality can be a bit one note so the screentime may be a bit much after a while. This is the kind of show that is not afraid to run a joke into the ground.

Then we have Wendy who tends to be a bit oblivious. She seems nice enough but doesn’t notice when Wanda is picking on Knuckles and likes to both sides every issue. That’s not the right way to handle these kinds of issues. If anything, you could say that is definitely the wrong way to do it since that is often going to mean letting the instigator off easy. She talks tough and actually backs it up during the kitchen fight so I give her some credit there.

Now the real standout character here was Mason. He is one of the main two villains who is after Knuckles the whole time. He is super cocky and loves to make one liners/throw out insults the whole time. You want a villain like that to keep Knuckles honest. This guy is also clearly having a lot of fun with the whole situation and isn’t taking things too seriously. Another good sign if you ask me. Mason is just on a different level from the others and really did come close to beating Knuckles.

His partner Willoughby is the more serious one of the group. She’s always trying to ruin his one liners and telling him to focus. She isn’t as lethal in a fight since she uses an energy instead of gauntlets but is good at throwing the ring portals to trap her opponents. That is a huge help for any big fight because you can ring out your opponent which is what she did to Knuckles. She’s also rather ruthless like how she murdered a Gun agent near the beginning of the show.

Then we have Jack who is a bounty hunter and turns against Wade when the chips are down. He has a lot of aura to be sure but doesn’t get the most dignified finish. By the time the show is over, he has traded in a whole lot of dignity and you can tell that he won’t be getting it back. I did like his confidence though, you always want to have that at least. A part of him just figured that he would never lose to Wade in a million years and in most cases he would be right. He just let his guard down.

The final boss is a guy who doesn’t even get a name. He has a good robot that actually takes Knuckles down but that’s about all that you can say for him. The guy doesn’t have any real super powers or anything and the lack of screen time hurts him. He works as a final boss but I would have much preferred Mason just show up. There is only so much you can do with a fight against a giant robot and so naturally the climax was pretty short.

Of course for the human final boss we have Wade’s father Pete. I like how antagonistic Pete is here. He’s not some guy who feels remorseful about what he has done. No, he is someone who really wants to keep on winning at bowling no matter what. His only loyalty is to himself but he has done a good job of crafting his public persona so that everybody loves him. That takes a good amount of dedication to his craft. He is also just very skilled with how many strikes he gets in a row. This guy was definitely more of a true final boss.

While the series may be fairly standalone, it was fun to still see some slice of life Sonic adventures. We learned Knuckles’ origin through song and the show also had a large variety of popular songs. Even the classic Hero song got to appear which was definitely nice. That song will always be a true classic. So the soundtrack gets a thumbs up along with the special effects here. On a technical level, the Knuckles show absolutely succeeds.

Ultimately as long as you like comedies then you should like this one. If you don’t like comedies then it’ll be a hard pass so that should make the decision easy for you. If we ever did get a second season, well I’d definitely be checking it out. At the end of the day a show like this is easy to watch and makes for an enjoyable binge. That’s the #1 goal of any show.

Overall, Knuckles is a pretty good show. I had a lot of fun with it and you can bet that you’ll crack a smile here and there. While not all of the jokes will land, most of the ones that miss will end up being funny because of how much of a miss they were. Wade’s whole gimmick is essentially that he’s not funny so every time he tries to do something, that is what makes it humorous. He tries to get Knuckles to enjoy a lot of his songs after all and they all fall flat. In a way that takes some skill because you’d think that you would land at least a few songs. This just wasn’t Wade’s moment. Hopefully he gets a bigger role in the next Sonic movie so he can actually use his vague super powers.

Overall 7/10

Secret Invasion Review

Posted on April 26, 2026 by dreager1

The Secret Invasion storyline is one of those really famous ones from the comics. It touched on a ton of different series and affected all of the biggest heroes and villains. So when it was revealed that this would be adapted into a 6 episode tv series with none of the big characters present, there was a little concern. This would end up being treated more like a small footnote than a big event. Well for better or worse, that’s pretty much how it went down. It’s entertaining enough as a series but it’s best to ignore that this is actually related to Secret Invasion. Think of it more like a quick drama title with some action.

The series starts off with Nick Fury finally returning to Earth. He had retreated into space for a long time after the events of Infinity War but with the Skrulls showing up everywhere, he felt that it was his job to fix this. We find out that he is even married to a Skrull, so as always Nick has been keeping a whole lot of secrets. His main ally here is Talos, a skrull general who has been helping Nick behind the scenes for years. This time their friendship will be tested as tensions continue to grow with a faction of the Skrulls deciding to destroy the planet. Many in SHIELD also doubt Nick’s ability and feel like he has lost a step.

Now I will say that Nick has absolutely lost a few steps. He spends a lot of the season being really depressed and blowing up at everybody. It doesn’t feel like he is in control the way that he used to be. Yes he does have his big moments where he crushes someone and gets one step ahead but they are surrounded by scenes where he is absolutely getting devastated. I would also argue that some scenes revolve around other characters just looking bad. One example of this is when he puts a bug inside his rival’s owl statue. I don’t see how she could have missed that and the whole time I was expecting her to reveal that she knew all along.

When Nick beat up a body guard it was a good look for him but it’s a really bad look for the agent. You can’t be losing like that unless Nick had super powers or something like that. In the end this is sometimes unavoidable when you have the mysterious character finally get his own series. As the main character you are going to show more weaknesses and vulnerabilities than when you are a guest star. I think they could have balanced it a bit more in Fury’s favor though. His worse scene is definitely when he blows up at Talos and tells him to get off the train. The two had been working together for so many years so to dismiss him like that was a terrible look. Additionally later on Fury tries to take all the credit for what he’s done in the past and Tavos points out that Fury could get away with that in any other context, but not in front of the guy who actually did the legwork.

I don’t really get how Fury would miss that. So yeah not a good look for him in general. Fortunately there was an explanation for what would have been Fury’s worst moment in the final episode so I can’t use that against him. If not for a twist though, whew I would have been bashing on him for quite a long time. So Fury’s not the great leader you would hope for but the show does make room for one in Rhodey.

Rhodey hasn’t had a big role in a very long time and I can say that it was worth it for his role here. He shows up as smug as Tony Stark and really dishes out the pain. All of his scenes here are great as he launches into threat after threat. He’s really made a name for himself in the military, it’s all quite impressive. His role in the show is bigger than you might have expected as well. Either way he is the standout character here and I can tell you that it’s not even close. He really had Fury on the back foot the whole time.

As for Talos, well he was okay but really weak. Like with Fury he ends up losing almost every fight in the series. Characters constantly get Talos into a choke hold and he underestimates all of the heroes. I also get why the Skrulls are mad at him because Talos isn’t selling a very comforting dream here. This all leads back to Fury making more mistakes. Suffice it to say, Talos did his best to be a loyal ally all the way to the end. He did keep some secrets but for the most part they were rather reasonable. Particularly with how much he knows about human deceptions.

The main villain, Gravik gets a lot of support early on and it’s clear to see why. Basically he believes that Nick Fury betrayed them when he promised to find a planet for the Skrulls and didn’t produce anything 30 years later. The worst part is that he was correct. Fury realized he wasn’t going to find anything and so he gave up a long time ago. So the whole time the Skrulls were doing all of Fury’s dirty work and it was absolutely futile. They were assuming human identities and putting their lives at risk on a daily basis with nothing in return.

Now some Skrulls didn’t mind this as they got power in high ranking positions but for the others this was just a tough living arrangement. So Gravik decides to just take Earth and yes he’s a villain. The thought process makes sense rather than doing nothing though. This was a completely avoidable issue the whole time. Naturally to make sure Gravik isn’t too sympathetic, we then see how he goes around murdering everyone including his own allies. He’s super insane and all which always feels like a cop out to this kind of moral dilemma.

I felt like the show didn’t quite penalize Fury enough for all the mistakes that he made. His wife Varra had to go through a lot as well since Fury just ditched her and she was on her own for so long. He shows up to just start over fresh but it’s really not that easy. She makes it easy for him and ultimately chooses to keep on fighting but Fury made it hard to really feel bad for him.

Then we have his rival Sonya who looks really good here. She takes a very aggressive approach against the Skrulls and has a lot of battle experience. She is able to take down quite a few of them and is also pivotal to the end of the series. Fury really needed at least one ally in a high position and she fit the bill. Sonya was a lot of fun so I look forward to seeing more of her.

Then we have Giah who is essentially the main heroine of the show. Maria Hill almost could have fit into that role except her screentime was far too brief for that. Giah isn’t really sure which group of Skrulls to side with. She has a lot of mixed feelings and looks to continue as a big wild card in the MCU going forward. I wonder when she will appear next, in some ways she is probably a little too powerful so I could see her being bumped off early on. She’s not bad but there isn’t a whole lot to Giah at the moment. She’s essentially just a powerhouse, almost a sentient set of powers is how I would describe her for now.

The end of the show is incredibly interesting, it’s just a shame that it has yet to be followed up on. America is essentially in for the fight of its life and that should attract the attention of every big shot around. The show just didn’t have that kind of budget. As powerful as the Skrulls are, it feels inevitable that they would get stomped out here. Especially once the tech and magic experts step in with ways to detect them. It should really be a turning point in the whole universe with how fractured trust is on all areas. That’s why, while I love the ending, it really feels like a missed opportunity. This series should have been more important.

I was glad to see that this show had an actual theme song, but unfortunately it totally sucked. It’s extremely drawn out and boring. The artwork does not look good at all, it’s going for an artistic, indie kind of vibe and fails massively. The general soundtrack is nothing to write home about either. I thought the final fight looked pretty good at least, even if it does get mocked a lot. I was just glad to see some super powers at play in the ending there.

This is a show that will make less and less sense as you think about it. The logistics with the aliens just aren’t very well thought out because shapeshifting is way too powerful. The skrulls realistically should have even more people in positions of power based on how many of them there are. That said, the show succeeds in showing how nobody can be trusted. The pacing isn’t always super fast but with 6 episodes I wouldn’t say that the show is buying time too often either.

What I will say in defense of the series is that it does feel like a classic Marvel product. You could watch this after the Avengers films and it feels like it belongs. The smaller scaling is apparent, but otherwise the atmosphere and script feel right. The show has high stakes and some pretty intense moments while keeping up a light hearted tone. It probably just takes some extra time to be somber and sappy with some of Fury and Varra’s drama. I could have cut a lot of those scenes out. There was the interesting question of if they would have gotten together if Varra had kept her true form. I would assume that’s a No and so I was impressed when Fury just dodged the question. It’s too easy to just say yes without thinking about it, so it felt like an honest response.

Overall, Secret Invasion is a series that will keep your interest. It has its share of good moments and is a good story but it definitely wasn’t prepared to deal with the sheer scope of a Skrull invasion. I don’t think there is really any way to adapt this into 6 episodes unless you plan to have a War of the Worlds type of ending. Without that, there are simply too many moving pieces and characters running around. It would be unsatisfying no matter how you sliced it. So just enjoy the situation as a whole and don’t worry about the missed opportunities here. Rhodey is already worth the price of admission since this is his best portrayal in any Marvel media. This is at its core a good show, but one that could have been great if it took the story to its logical conclusion. Maybe we will get a season 2 at some point….I doubt it, but that would address some of my issues.

Overall 6/10

My Hero Academia Season 8 Review

Posted on April 5, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time to finally take a look at the final My Hero Academia season. It’s always impressive to not only see a show reach this many seasons but to actually have an ending. We really got a full adaption here which is really cool. The show ends on a solid note here with a lot of closure for all the characters and great action throughout. The season’s a little short with 11 episodes but will eventually be getting a bonus episode to help out with this.

The season picks up right where the last one left off as All Might and Deku continue their fights against Shigaraki and All For One. The results of this fight will be felt across the globe and will determine whether good or evil will emerge triumphant. It’s a lot of pressure but our heroes are ready for this. The season even has time for 3 episodes of epilogue which is rare for any title, but especially for a big Shonen Jump one like this.

With this being the last season, there was naturally going to be a lot of pressure on the animation. Fortunately the show was up to the task on this. The battles are really intense and flashy at all times. The characters are moving at great speeds and you never get lost during it. This is a high quality production all the way and I was glad to see it end on top. The soundtrack is also really good. You’ve got a lot of great tunes throughout including a lot of really classic ones. The technical elements are great as you would expect.

First lets go over the All Might battle. All Might hasn’t had a whole lot to do since the opening seasons since he was depowered. Giving him a mech suit so that he could keep on fighting was definitely a great idea. While it’s true that All For One should still be able to crush All Might, the show does acknowledge this and tries to mitigate that by having All Might constantly bait him into aggressive approaches. It’s also nice to see that side of All Might.

The world remembers him as an ultra heroic force who is always grinning and that much is true, but he is also a man of utmost intensity who does not like to lose. All Might pulls out every trick in the book in order to win and that makes sense. Evil must be defeated at any price. The mech suit also just happens to look really cool which is an added bonus. Stain also shows up to help out although at this point he has a little trouble keeping up. Stain would be able to take on nearly any character but All For One is one of the only ones in the verse that is a direct counter because of his blood arts mastery.

As for All For One, well this is the season where his tough guy facade finally breaks. He begins to panic a whole lot and falls for every single trap. He was a really fun villain for a while but in this season you’re likely just going to be laughing at him. He severely underestimated the heroes and gets relentlessly clowned on for it. They just keep on beating him up throughout the season no matter how many times he tries to pull out a secret power. I would have liked him to go out with a little more dignity at times, but I still can’t say that the appearance itself was bad. He even gets one last jump scare near the end.

We also see his backstory in this one. It’s actually not a sad backstory as we just see how he was a really twisted person from the start. All For One isn’t some misguided soul who took the wrong path, he was actively making the world worse at every step. It’s a strong contrast to Shigaraki who actually had a rough upbringing and things just kept getting worse for him. A good person could have been able to persevere but ultimately that wasn’t going to be Shigaraki’s lot in life.

The main fight is over there of course as we continue the deadlock between Shigaraki and Deku. If Shigaraki touches Deku even once then the fight is his, while Deku has to find a way to overcome Shigaraki’s healing regeneration without murdering him. It’s an incredibly difficult task and the more Deku holds back, the more people are put in danger. Deku is forced to consider some tough decisions here and even gets to go into Shigaraki’s mind to really see the full story of what happened.

By this point in the show you either like Shigaraki or you don’t. For me he is one of those villains who started out weak but did gradually get better in every season. By this point I’d say he is a very strong villain. Even when the heroes do their best to try and turn him good, the villains stays true to his convictions. He wants to destroy everything and as far as he is concerned, that is the end of the story. There is nothing more to his adventure than that. He continues to resist All For One and gives Deku an incredibly strong fight, not many characters can say that.

Deku also does well in the climax here as he finally does what he has to. There are a lot of legitimate complaints about Deku taking too long and putting too many people in danger in the meantime. I tend to agree with that but he gets points for ending the situation. In the end, Deku is a kid who always believed in All Might’s idea of perfect justice. It does make sense that he would have a very hard time going away from that and making a decision that does have some negative effects.

The very end of his epilogue nearly left Deku in a rough spot so I’m glad that it got overturned. That would have been really rough and also just plain undeserved. So this was the much better outcome all around. If they ever make a sequel to MHA, I’d still want Deku to be a primary focus. Doesn’t have to be the main character but I would want him to be getting some action.

Then we have Bakugo who shows up at crunch time to really help out. Without him the heroes would have been doomed. He also has the most impressive quirk by the end of the series. Al For One, All Might, Deku, and Shigaraki all had multiple quirks/stockpiled quirks. Bakugo is hanging in there with them despite only having his natural quirk. That’s extremely impressive and I don’t think we’ll really see any more examples of that any time soon.

He’s also got one of the clearest character arcs in the series. He started out as a huge bully and by the end of the series he has learned to respect the other characters. It doesn’t mean that now he is a huge softy or anything but he’s certainly not telling anyone to go jumping off a building. That’s definitely big time character development. His redemption just works better than some others.

That about wraps up the big battles and then of course we get all of the epilogues. We see how some villains have been fully turned over to the side of good like Gentle Criminal, some are still carrying out their sentences like Nagant, and then others are going to continue with new careers like Spinner and his book. With 3 episodes there is plenty of time to give just about everyone a true ending so that was impressive. If you like any MHA character but didn’t get to see them too much in the climax, then they will probably be somewhere in these last episodes.

On the whole it is a pretty solid ending. We do get a full scene/episode for the Todoroki family at the end and they definitely went through a lot. Dabi is basically doomed to die a very slow death and there is no way to save him. Now that is a total nightmare scenario. The guy was a total villain so that’s just what he gets at this point.

Endeavor will never be back to fighting shape but he is doing his best to turn over a new leaf. I was never a big fan of Endeavor after seeing the past and even these scenes are not enough to really save him. I appreciate the author allowing one of the family members to basically say that he’ll never accept Endeavor and leave. The others are all handling the situation in their own way but it’s for sure that the family will never be quite the singular unit that Endeavor would wish for them to be.

Uravity may have been grieving for Toga way too hard but I suppose everyone deals with death differently. There’s an old lady in the final episodes who sees a kid that is turning to the dark side and she wonders if she could have made a difference if she had helped Shigaraki prior to the start of the series. I think that is pushing herself too hard because that wouldn’t have made a difference (Especially since All For One was watching, not that she would know this) and there’s no way you should be taking responsibility for reaching out to everyone. What happened to Shigaraki was tragic but it doesn’t mean that everyone should have realized this in hindsight.

Either way it is safe to say that the world is now in the safest place that it has ever been. The top heroes are incredibly powerful and also still in the prime of their youth. No villain will be able to challenge them or a long time and so All Might’s dream was achieved. This is the world that he envisioned after all. Villains will still be around and doing their own thing but certainly not to the same level as the League of Villains.

These 8 seasons would really make for a killer marathon watch going from start to finish. In terms of length it feels like the closest thing to when Naruto and Bleach ended. Sure Bleach has the sequel going but the original anime was one the big ones as well. This feels like it’s easily the longest modern gen title to finish all the way. There have been a ton of great moments during the adventure and of course lots of fights. So the final episodes should hit extra hard when you consider that angle as well.

As for this season, if I had to pick a top highlight then naturally it is going to be Bakugo. At the end of the day it is easy to see why he got to be so popular. His explosion quirk is just so much fun to see when animated and the guy really persevered through quite a lot. The best low key moment would belong to Gentle Criminal holding up the whole base like he was Captain Celebrity. He was always a really enjoyable antagonist and I’m glad that they didn’t saddle him with a really dark fate. The stuff he did was certainly not as bad as many of the other villains so he deserved the leniency. There were still a ton of lasting effects to other characters who will never be able to fight as heroes again and so the war felt very legitimate. My small pet peeve would be not getting to see Koichi and friends show up but if I only saw this show then I wouldn’t even know about their existence so that’s not something for the anime to worry about.

Overall, This was definitely a great final season. It wraps everything up and keeps up a good level of intensity. The production values are super high and the cast is a strong one. It’ll be difficult for a sequel to really catch up to this one but of course it is definitely possible. Ideally the sequel will still have a lot of these characters as pros and they show up to help in their grown up forms. I wonder what villain will be chosen to give them a good fight. If you haven’t seen this season yet, then you need to hurry!

Overall 9/10

One Piece Season 2 Review

Posted on April 4, 2026 by dreager1

One Piece has finally returned! It’s been a really long time since season 1 aired so I’m definitely glad that the show wasn’t cancelled or anything like that. Now that would have been rough. This time we already know season 3 is on the way so that’s a load off. I wouldn’t say that this season quite beats the first one but of course it’s difficult to beat the first meetings for all the characters. We don’t get to see Mihawk this time around but there are a bunch of characters running around.

The story starts with the Strawhats making it to Loguetown to stop by for supplies before continuing on the Grand Line. They are still being pursued by Baroque Works for taking down two of their agents and get even higher priority from the terrorist agency when Luffy runs into the princess of Alabasta. The crew will have to keep her safe while fighting off the various enemies as well as the World Government. The sea is a vast place and so the heroes will get to go to a whole lot of islands and meet a lot of characters. No matter what obstacles head their way, nothing will deter Luffy from being King of the Pirates.

First off the effects are definitely solid like in season 1. I really enjoy seeing the characters use their special abilities like Luffy stretching all over the place and the villains having their own abilities like wax and bombs. The series is not afraid to go all out with the effects which is a good thing because a title like One Piece needs to embrace this. We’re not watching this show to just see some run of the mill pirates adventure.

The soundtrack is also really good. Sadly Buggy isn’t around all that much so his amazing theme doesn’t get to appear as prominently. The rest of the soundtrack is still really good though and you even get the occasional remix. Tony Tony Chopper even got his own theme which I was definitely not expecting. It’s catchy enough. So the technical elements are good here. The only small issue is that like season 1, the camera tends to zoom a little too closely into everyones’ faces. This is the only show I’ve ever seen where it’s so noticeable but granted, I haven’t seen a ton of live action TV shows.

The show manages to cover quite a few islands within the 8 episodes as well. The first one we go to is Loguetown where we get to see Smoker and his assistant Tashigi. Tashigi is given a little more ability in this version as she can actually fight and even defeats someone in a future arc. It was nice to see because she did start with some potential before getting completely written out. This feels like a much more balanced approach to what you would have expected here. Meanwhile Smoker definitely looks strong as always. At this point the Strawhats would really have absolutely no chance of defeating him. None of them have any counters to his smoke. Buggy also got to show up which was definitely a lot of fun.

Then we get the episode introducing us to the giant Whale who sailed with a future member of the Strawhats. Some good foreshadowing there and of course the group gets to take down two more members of Baroque Works. The Strawhats were definitely not doing too bad up to this point although I still have my share of issues with Luffy which I’ll get into later on. Lets just say that he isn’t quite the power hitter that you would have expected him to be.

The highlight episode of the whole season has to be the third one though. We see the heroes head into a town that lays traps for pirates. Most of the crew fall for this but Zoro was ready and now has to take on 100 fighters all by himself. In the show at least he definitely appears to be the strongest Strawhat. I can’t picture any of the others pulling off this feat or anything close to it to be honest. The whole episode has a lot of fighting and is very fast paced. The other members get their fights too of course but Zoro is the highlight. We even see how he is still dealing with what Mihawk told him before about being too weak. Zoro will prove him wrong or die trying.

Then we get to the final two arcs which are a little longer. Little Garden has the heroes meeting up with some giants and unfortunately Baroque Works is around to get in their way as well. In particular Mr. 3 is the big villain here with his wax powers. He is able to basically stick things together and can even create shields that are so powerful that Luffy has a hard time breaking them. That’s a really impressive devil fruit. If not for his getting supremely overconfident, the heroes would have been doomed here. In general the villains just have a whole lot of creative powers and of course the numbers advantage is on their side as well.

The giants look more on the underwhelming side if anything. They may be big but that’s about all that they’ve got. They are shown to not be strong enough to break through the wax which is a really bad anti feat for them. If you can’t even do that, then you’re naturally going to be in a whole world of trouble. Hopefully the giants look more impressive in their next appearances but in general it’s not like they’re my favorite characters anyway so it’s not a big deal.

The final arc has the group going to Drum Kingdom which is probably the most emotional arc of the series. We get nearly a whole episode that barely features the Strawhats as we focus on Tony Tony Chopper and his origin story. It’s handled pretty well and of course the final fight with King Wapol is good. The final episode is always fun because you get to see what the show will use as a proper cliffhanger for season 3. There are a lot of options after all and I have no issues with the one that they chose. We’re definitely in store for a lot of hype.

With all of these strengths, it’s fair to say that the show also has some weaknesses. The biggest one here would have to be Luffy. I think the show just went a little too overboard with having him lose fights. It’s not like he is undefeated in the manga but generally you can count on Luffy to win. He is an inspiring figure and a powerful one who can back up the tough talk. That is why all of the various characters can depend on him in the first place after all.

In the live action series it feels like they cannot count on him. He loses virtually all of his fights. Luffy got crushed by Buggy’s right hand girl in the first episode which was rather embarrassing. Then Vivi defeated him with her dancing skills, one of the Baroque agents beat him with her painting skills, and even Wapol was beating him until Luffy was saved by the Strawhats. You can definitely hit a good balance here but this isn’t it. Luffy still acts really cocky the whole time as he grins 24/7 and says he’ll kick their buts but it comes across as hollow when he is the one being crushed. So how do you fix that? Well, I’d say in the next season Luffy should be racking up the wins and generally overwhelming his opponents. To make up for this, he should be looking dominant.

As it stands, he just seems to be very weak and uses his gum gum powers as a crutch which isn’t really how Luffy should be portrayed. I don’t have any issues with his personality otherwise but he’ll be a lot more endearing when he can back up the tough talk. Meanwhile Zoro looks great as expected, he really dominates his opponents in every fight and has a lot of great scenes. In a way you would think that Zoro was the true captain of the Strawhats. At the very least I couldn’t really tell you different.

Nami does well as always in a support role. She is written out for most of the final arc but is otherwise a big player throughout. I’m looking forward to seeing her get more action scenes down the road. Usopp is one of those characters where how much you like him will depend on how much you can tolerate his lack of bravery. Yes, he will get the job done in the end but generally it is going to take some time to get to that point…in every arc.

Princess Vivi does well in her role. She is a real fighter and gets more than one action scene which was good. She takes a little while to really get on board with the group but that makes sense since they are definitely a very active bunch. I’m definitely cool with her sticking with the crew for a while. Then of course we have Tony Tony Chopper who has never been my favorite character but he’s not bad. Chopper’s dream of being a good doctor is naturally a good one and he can fight when needed. Chopper just needs more experience under his belt so that he can really stand up to the others. He’ll be fun as the team’s animal mascot of sorts but he needs to work hard so he can be seen as a true member of the crew.

Finally there is Sanji who is pretty solid. The show does a good job of not really playing up the flirty part of his persona. So he comes across as a well rounded character with good cooking skills and combat prowess. I like his natural confidence and of course his rivalry with Zoro is always a lot of fun. He adds a whole lot to the dynamic of the main characters so you would want to have him around at all times.

Then we have the villains who tend to be pretty solid within their screentime. Buggy was great in his guest star role. He got to show Luffy who was boss and really take command there. Nico Robin gets a lot of hype throughout the show and it is definitely deserved. She will be a tough fighter to take down, especially if her opponents are not shooting on sight. If they don’t do that then there is really no way to realistically defeat her.

The Baroque Work agents can be more hit or miss. They work well as antagonists but less so as characters. Mr. 3 for example has a cool power but it’s not like his personality is all that interesting. He’s one of those very theatrical guys who likes to do everything his way. His own pride is what gets in the way of claiming victory here.

King Wapol is one of those super petty characters. He is as corrupt as possible and will never even bother to acknowledge someone else’s viewpoint on the matter. He’s the king so that is the only viewpoint that counts. So I may not be the biggest fan but he does have a good design and fights well. He actually had the upper hand for a while there. That makes him stand out at least.

Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine also have fairly big roles. Valentine’s weight abilities are really handy and I would say that makes her one of the stronger members. She was also very confident so that’s a lot of wins all around. Mr. 5 has bombs but there is a decent mount of load time before he can use each one so that limits him a bit. They also don’t seem to be super strong based on their range. They’re just strong enough for him to put up a good fight but that’s about it.

There are a bunch of other side characters running around but these are a lot of the big players. It’s always really cool to see an adaption ongoing like this. Hopefully the series can really make it all the way to Water 7 or Marineford before ending. I’ll be rooting for it all the way. At the end of the day this is a very fun show and that is its biggest strength. The positives certainly outweigh the negatives by quite a lot.

If there’s anything that really keeps the show from reaching the next level it would be the pacing at times though. Luffy being weak is annoying but not the kind of thing that really hurts after all. While the pacing isn’t enough where I would say it’s downright bad or anything, at times the scenes can drag a little bit. You aren’t always at the edge of your seat the way you need to be when a show is going for 1 hour episodes. Generally a 1 hour episode should still feel really fast when you’re having a blast but where were a handful of times here where you would want them to speed through some of the exposition so we could get to the next big moment.

Overall, This One Piece show is a good example of how any title can get a live action show if you have enough dedication. You just gotta go out there and get the job done. It certainly won’t always be easy but you just have to be confident about it. I would recommend this title to anyone looking for a fun action adventure series. You definitely don’t need to be a One Piece fan to enjoy the story. You’ll probably want to watch season 1 first before going onto this one though.

Overall 7/10

Magic Knight Rayearth Review

Posted on March 22, 2026 by dreager1

It’s been many years since I read the manga for this series so it was fun to see the animated side of things. Season 1 covers the main arc with the heroes heading off to save an entire world. The pacing is good and the arc goes by real fast. The characters and fights are good with a soundtrack that pops out more than you would expect. Whether you like magical girl anime or just a classic adventure then you should be satisfied here.

The series begins by introducing us to Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu who are on a class field trip. Hikaru stands out for having a lot of fun and enjoying the experience while everyone else just goes through the motions. All of a sudden the three of them are transported into a whole new world. They are told that the world will be coming to an end soon because Queen Emeraude has been kidnapped and she is the pillar which holds the world together. These three girls will need to quickly become friends and learn how to fight at a high enough level to stop the enemies that have conspired to keep Emeraude from saving the planet. Umi and Fuu aren’t so sure about this but Hikaru is eager to save the day. Will her determination be enough here?

Right away I can say that Hikaru is the best of the three heroines because of how quickly she focuses here. Hikaru wastes no time in wanting to be of help and throughout the show she is always very enthusiastic. It’s probably good that the three main characters are all very different for the contrast but at the same time it’s no surprise that Hikaru stands out the most. She gets quite a few scenes where everyone else has been defeated but Hikaru keeps on fighting. Without her the heroes would have really been doomed.

She just has good battle sense and so she is able to always put up a fight even though it takes a long time to get her own mecha. Other characters might have lost heart but not Hikaru. Umi mainly wants to go home and from the three leads it takes her the longest time to adapt to this world. She just doesn’t think it is their problem and wants to get back so she can be in the fencing competition. I was a little surprised at how long she stays on that point but it does show how seriously she takes her school commitments.

In terms of ability I would say she is second in strength to Hikaru. She clearly has a lot of talent but it doesn’t always translate as smoothly. As Umi begins to focus more fully on the world, she does better. She’s not quite as stuck-up or arrogant as you might have expected with her dignified background either. You could see her making a lot of friends real easily.

Finally we have Fuu and well I guess someone had to be in last place. Fuu is certainly not a bad character. She tends to be more soft spoken and her abilities aren’t offensive in nature so there’s a lot she has to deal with there. She also has a bit of a romance plot going on with Ferio so she tends to be a bit more distracted at times. They fight quite a bit when first getting to know each other and with the world at stake, there isn’t a whole lot of time for that. So Fuu is good but a big step below the other two.

As for Ferio, well he’s one of those charmers where it’s hard to say when he’s really being genuine or not. He works well in being the rival who shows up to change the situation but if I was Fuu it would be a bit hard to trust him after a while. He has more than one deceptive moment included here after all. He also tends to get discouraged when the going gets tough and just runs off to be by himself. I do like his fighting style though and he actually could hold his own for quite a while.

Presea is a supporting character who doesn’t appear much but has a good role in encouraging the heroes and being someone who could drop some exposition as needed. She didn’t last long but seemed like a powerful fighter. This tracks as the strongest characters tend to go out quickly like Clef. Clef is the ultimate super sage and yet he stood no chance against the villains. It’s why the prophecy about the three magical girls was so important because without them it is clear that the villains had an overwhelming edge here. The heroes were rarely in the same ballpark in terms of abilities and would have quickly been stomped. Clef has to come across as one of the most underwhelming characters because of all the hype though.

The first villain to go up against the heroes is Alcyone. Typically you could say that the first villain will always end up being the weakest. Well, in this case I think she was stronger than Ascot but it is safe to say that she wasn’t very powerful since a day 1 Hikaru was able to push her back and overwhelm her main spell. Alcyone has a one sided romance plot going on as well but it doesn’t do her any favors. You definitely have to be careful who you fall in love with, even if that’s not easy.

She at least had a strong presence though. Ascot has to be the most underwhelming villain because he can’t fight at all really. He just relies on his various monster summons and then gets mad when the heroes blow them up. At one point he yells about the magic knights almost 4-5 times for the episode cliffhanger with an echo in there and it just showed how helpless he was. If he really wants to stop this, then he needed to get into the ring and fight himself. Anything short of that and he doesn’t deserve to be one of the big monster commanders.

Caldina is a bit harder to scale because she also isn’t the most direct fighter. She likes manipulating the humans to assist her and then had Ascot as backup as well. She seemed reasonably tough but left as soon as she appeared. She actually got off rather easily considering she was a total accomplice to the villains here. She had a good personality and I liked the gambling gimmick. Her battle with Ferio was certainly a fun one.

Rafaga was a fun villain. He’s being mind controlled for most of it so that’s why I’d say it’s fair to refer to him as a villain. His abilities are clearly way ahead of the others and so only the main characters could really handle him. Well, naturally the main villain as well which is why he fell into this mess. He feels like a Fire Emblem character and I like everything about this guy. His powers, outfit, and personality are all very becoming of a knight. I would have liked to have even seen more action scenes out of this guy but he made every bit of screen time count.

Then you have Innova who is Zagato’s right hand man. This guy is definitely a really good fighter and his first battle with the heroines really showed what he could do. His barriers are able to nullify any attack and then he can launch attacks of his own. If anything it felt like he was a bit nerfed in his true monster form since he suddenly lost all strategies and just ran around like a mindless beast. Not a good idea when you’re fighting monster hunters like the main characters.

A good right hand man can always go a long way in an adventure like this and so I’m glad to say that he lived up to the hype. Then we have the main villain Zagato who is very good. He tends to win most of his fights with absolute ease. His goals also make a lot of sense and are dare I say admirable? He made a lot of great points and you could draw similarities to Homura Akemi from Madoka Magica. The system was broken and so he decided to make a move. It is a move that would destroy the planet but when you learn what the alternative is, it suddenly doesn’t sound so bad.

This may sound like madness to the average reader so you’ll need to watch the show to get the full context here. It comes down to the classic dilemma of sacrificing someone to save a group people. At what point are the numbers worth it, if ever? At least Zagato did something about this while everyone else was aware and chose to stay on the sidelines. It’s another reason why I give Zagato major points there. He ends up being the kind of main villain that you will not soon forget.

As for Queen Emeraude, well she has a lot more character than the average queen in these things. For starters it is also nice that she can fight. She has incredible powers at her disposal which is how she kept the whole planet stable. She isn’t some figurehead, but an actual leader who can be on the battlefield. I’d say her actions in the end will probably be questionable for some as well but ultimately I was on board with this. She had to make a lot of difficult decisions all throughout her life and finally made one last one in this show.

The animation is definitely pretty good. There are a solid amount of action scenes and the colors are always very striking. I’d say the show feels more high effort than you would expect from a magical girl title but then again it makes sense since this one loops all the way around to feeling like a true shonen. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also quite good. In particular there is a battle theme that is really solid and I’ve listened to it many times by now. It has a sense of danger that really supports the battles.

Good technical effects like this can always help to enhance a title. So like I said, the show is very good all around. We’re talking good writing, solid fights, good animation, etc. The ending is also a lot more intense than you would have expected. Of course there is a second season but on its own this would probably end up being known as one of the more depressing endings. Certainly not what you’d expect from a title that looks more like a feel good adventure.

Overall, This is definitely a pretty good series. I’d recommend checking it out. The show doesn’t need to have a giant cast or anything like that. It crafts a good adventure with monsters of the week as each villain gets a few shots before moving onto the next one. It always feels like the show is moving forward. Also a show like this is really dependent on the main cast being very charming and energetic. Hikaru is able to handle that side of the show with ease. There’s really nothing to dislike here and if you watch it you may find yourself being on Zagato’s side. In the end this isn’t as straight forward a threat as you would have assumed going into the show.

Overall 7/10

Slam Dunk Review

Posted on March 6, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the all time most popular sports anime out there. Slam Dunk has always been known as a stellar series and I remember liking it a lot when I read the manga. The anime definitely does a great job of elevating it even further with an excellent soundtrack and good production values on the whole. The show feels very retro in all the right ways and it’s the kind of title that will definitely keep you at the edge of your seat the whole way through.

The show centers around Sakuragi, a guy who has had no luck with girls. He has asked many of them out but they all turn him down to the point where it has become a bit of a joke among his friends. Well, one day he falls for another girl and it just so happens that her big brother is captain of the Basketball squad. Sakuragi figures he’ll impress her and next thing he knows..he’s on the Basketball team. Sakuragi has never played before so he’s a total novice but he has been gifted with incredible size and power. Perhaps this will be enough to succeed.

Sakuragi initially figures that Basketball doesn’t take any real talent and really dunks on the sport. This naturally makes everyone furious but Sakuragi quickly gets with the program. Sakuragi quickly becomes one of the first players to get heated when anyone dares to make fun of the sport. That’s just the kind of guy he is once he is passionate about something. This show is really about showing Sakuragi’s journey to being the world’s best Basketball player. He goes from being a liability to being one of the team’s greatest strengths. Will that be enough for his team to win the world championships for the first time?

So like I said before the technical elements are incredibly good in this show. The soundtrack is really top notch with a lot of great tunes all around. Whether it be an action theme, a track that plays when they’re losing, or even a victory one. Slam Dunk has a wide range of great musical themes throughout and this really helps to set the mood. Slam Dunk quickly becomes a show that is amazing to watch during or in between basketball games.

Then you have the animation which is always a blast. There is always a lot of movement here and you feel the intensity of each shot. There aren’t a lot of slam dunks that happen here after all so they are all treated with a great deal of respect. I enjoy the sound design when they are sinking shots and you will never be mixing up the characters here. I definitely have no complaints here and of course the pacing is also really good. You will have basketball games that last for many episodes and yet it never feels like the show was just stalling for time or anything like that.

Each part of the game really means something. There are even several anime only arcs which blend in rather seamlessly as you wouldn’t know that they weren’t in the manga. Another benefit to this is really how it lets the characters get extra screentime and character development. That’s not something you’re always going to see with a newer show. 100+ episodes is certainly a lot of time to develop the characters and that works out well because each of the starting 5 on the basketball team get a lot of development. Even their main benchwarmer gets a lot to do.

While the show would have still been great with less episode, I think the long duration still plays a large part in just how good the title was. Now it does end off on a massive cliffhanger so if you’re not a big fan of that then you’ll probably want to watch out. That being said, cliffhangers just help the series to stay even stronger in your memory. Maybe on day we will get a full adaption for the rest.

Sakuragi is a great main character from the start. He’s a very earnest guy and so it is satisfying to see him gradually improving as the series goes on. He definitely has one of the best laughs I’ve ever heard. Everytime he would start boasting about his abilities it would make for a hilarious scene. Sakuragi is also no quitter and while that may come at odds with him actually quitting at one point, it was never going to be for long. Sakuragi gets a lot of difficulties to overcome and has to make it through his setbacks but he always manages to achieve this.

There will probably be some moments where you get annoyed that he is still losing but he usually gets a big win to make up for it. By the end of the series I would say that he has not become the best player in the world yet but I would probably put him in the top 10 which is still impressive. Sakuragi is a true genius considering that he hasn’t been playing Basketball for very long at all.

Of course his team is no stranger to geniuses. The next one on the team would be Mitsui. Mitsui was another prodigy who used to be one of the greatest players around but then he ended up joining the dark side. I mean that in a very literal way too as he actually joined a biker gang and started beating up a lot of people for no reason. He became an actual menace which climaxed with his gang attacking the main school. It was a fun mini arc because you don’t generally see a lot of fighting going on in a sports show. That said, it also meant that this would be tough for him to come back from.

It’s one thing to be a jerk but actually going as far as to try and murder people? Yeah Mitsui would definitely have a real tough time getting me to like him again. I was real hard on him for the rest of the show and Mitsui does tend to vanish in big moments. He’s not the guy that I would consider to be very clutch compared to the other members. Even by the end of the series I was still salty about this guy but it is fair to say that he acts like a completely different character in part 2. Once he joins the group as a hero, he has a new design and everything.

His skills are the real deal even if he isn’t very likable for a while there. The whole team forgave him but they do tend to be softies. Miyagi is an example of a character with a much more realistic turnaround. He also ditched the team for a while but at least it was due to injury. He tends to be distracted a lot like when he’s flirting with Ayako but ultimately comes through when the team needs a play to happen. I would say that he is the weakest member of the main 5 but he is the guy who gets the play drawn up. So his pure talent isn’t as important as his ability to escape from his opponent.

He also has some good banter with Sakuragi and knows how to manipulate the guy which is a handy skill to have. Kogure is the only other one who always knows how to handle Sakuragi. I don’t mean it has to always be in a deceptive way but they know the best way to encourage him at all times which is an impressive skill to have. Kogure gets power creeped rather quickly but he’s still a good teammate to have. He’s an example of a character who makes up for his lack of overwhelming talent by having very strong fundamentals. He’s not going to fall for opponent traps and they aren’t going to be able to play mind games on him. I actually think it would have been nice for the series to have focused on his strengths a little more but ultimately that wasn’t the way this played out. The series has a lot of juggling to do though so it makes sense.

Then we have Akagi who works as the foundation of the team. He’s the captain and the big bruiser that you keep under the rim. He has the tough job of trying to keep this team of rebellious teens together. It’s not easy and in the meantime he has his own dream of being the #1 center in Japan. He’s incredibly skilled but his competition is tough. It’s always fun to see him scoring points and doing well. Akagi is quite good to the point where he can hold his own with the other players. I’d say he has enough confidence to put himself on the same tier as even someone like Rukawa.

You need that attitude in order to succeed here. He’s also quite intelligent and ends up having to help Sakuragi when that guy gets into trouble. Akagi gets a lot of character moments on and off the field which really makes him a balanced character. His sister Haruko also has a big role since Sakuragi likes her from the start of the series. She is a big reason he joined the team in the first place. Ultimately she likes Rukawa though which puts Sakuragi in a tough spot and that doesn’t really change even by the end. I thought the plot was handled well though.

So the romance didn’t go both ways, at least Sakuragi ended up with a good friend as a result. Haruko is a good person and certainly someone that Sakuragi can rely on. I would still see this as an absolute W and she can still be a good motivator for him to win the Basketball trophy. He wouldn’t have gotten into this sport and made so many friends without her. I imagine that he’d always be pretty grateful about that.

Then we have Rukawa, the ultimate prodigy in Basketball! Well, perhaps not #2, I would actually have him as the #2 best player in the end. He is very aggressive while playing and gets pretty passionate about defending the sport like Sakuragi. Rukawa is able to back up his tough talk at all times and there is never a moment where he is completely dominated. He does absolutely have his share of occasional losses but that tends to be the fault of his teammates not pulling their own slack. In Basketball it is not possible for someone to be a one man team and that comes up on several occasions. His team is stacked by the end but at first it is in rather rough shape.

Rukawa also tends to be more of a quiet player than the others. You’ll hear him throw out a quick insult to Sakuragi but he is usually goaded into that. It’s not like he just randomly starts fights most of the time. I would also say hat he has a great dynamic with Sakuragi in general. They both help to goad the other one into doing better. No time to give up or falter when the rival is watching.

As for their coach, I’m never really impressed with Anzai. Outside of the end of the show, he never seems to give a lot of advice. He just sits around and lets the chips fall where they may. I dare say that he uses his experienced team as a crutch and would have been exposed otherwise. He has a very distinguished reputation but after some traumatic events in the past he has just been a different person. I think this directly impacted his coaching abilities as well. In a way he is afraid to make any bold moves. You can’t win that way.

The athletic trainer Ayako is much better as she actually makes sure that the characters focus and stay in top shape. She is always working and doing her best. I would like to see that level of dedication out of Anzai. I sympathize with his rough past but in the present he owes it to the team to bring in his best effort.

Now lets talk about one of the other big teams. We have Maki’s unit who are known as the greatest team in Japan. They win every year and this is due to Maki being a top tier generational talent. Well, perhaps I shouldn’t say that. High School teams have a complete roster shift every 3 years because their players graduate so Coach Takato should also get a lot of credit for keeping them at a high level. Maki is one of the top players of this generation though and he does really well in each of his fights.

He gets to go up against Rukawa and Sendoh, both top players in their own right. Maki never actually appears to be on the losing end in these battles which is why you could say that he is the best player. I still have Sendoh in that spot but it’s certainly a close one. He also has some pretty good teammates. The only one I wasn’t impressed with is Miyamasu. That guy is very small and not great at anything but shooting. He only manages to do well because he faces off against Sakuragi who doesn’t know how to handle him.

I had a hard time believing that throughout the match. I suppose I just have to accept that but this guy is the definition of a gimmick player. Then you have Jin who is great at 3 point shots. He’s better than Miyamasu though because he’s actually a really good all around player even aside from that. The 3 point shots are just his signature technique. That’s a better way to handle a specialist and Jin’s a solid character to have around. His role isn’t huge but he still makes a difference.

Kiyota is the only player on Maki’s team who acts more like Sakuragi. He is hungry to prove himself as one of the best and tends to go a bit wild. He is actually pretty good although he is far from elite. You can tell that Kioyta will only continue to improve as the games go on though and it’s fun to have a fiery player like this. He could have stood to have more screentime to really keep up with the others but was a good addition either way.

Meanwhile Coach Takato was really good. Honestly I like all of the coaches a lot aside from Anzai. Takato, Taoka, and Goro are all really good and constantly have plans at the ready to support their players. You really need to be doing that because it is the whole reason that you have a coach in the first place right? Now I did say before that Anzai started using plans by the end of the series so in a sequel he may do better.

Then we have the other powerhouse team led by Sendoh. Sendoh is the player who I consider to be the absolute best. He is at the pinnacle of his position to the point where he was able to change positions mid season and still dominate. I consider the rest of his team to be a step below the others which puts even more pressure on him. Nevertheless, Sendoh never falters and continues to dominate. He always seems to rise to the occasion and just gets even better. At one point he gets past the entire opposing team on his own which was a crazy feat. He even needed to be triple teamed and could not be stopped.

Mix that in with his incredible stamina and you have the equivalent of a final boss on the team. He also knows how to stay loose and just have fun compared to some of the other players who take things very seriously. His right hand man Uozumi is still really good as well though. He is a center who has a strong rivalry with Akagi. He tends to be on the losing side of it but always puts up a good effort. He’s a strong all around player.

Fukuda enters the group later on and proves to be good but does have some weaknesses. He’s a solid scorer but isn’t quite as good on the fundamentals to the point where Sakuragi is able to give him a tough fight for a little while there. This guy also gets very emotional like Sakuragi and ends to fly off the handle. It’s pretty rare to see that from someone on Sendoh’s team but this guy does help to fire him up.

Most of the other teams will only have one big player which is part of why they couldn’t reach the top. It’s always a bit tragic but makes the one player stand out more. One good example of this for me is Fujima. This guy is the analytical type and that’s how he plays against the geniuses. He may not be able to beat them in pure size and skill but can outplay them and win within the paint. This guy doesn’t get to appear a whole lot but every fight with him is fun. It was also an unexpected surprise to see him show up for the big fight at the end of the series.

Also while not Basketball players, I should give a shoutout to Sakuragi’s friends. They really help him out a whole lot whether it be by fighting off thugs who try to get the lead distracted or even providing damage control when he says the wrong thing. The main member of the group who stands out is Yohei. He’s incredibly powerful and the show hypes him up a lot. He could have been the leader of almost any other gang. You could say this plot could even be its own show as Sakuragi helped these guys become good vigilantes rather than going down the thug route.

It’s inspiring how close their bonds are. I would also say they help give the show a lot of its humor. Slam Dunk tends to be a really funny series when it’s not in the middle of an epic climax. The show runs the gambit on emotions and it is all extremely well written. Naturally there are more characters and events but these are the main ones. I think it would be nearly impossible to watch this show and not be impressed at just how elite it is.

Overall, Slam Dunk is an elite show. It’s a whole lot of fun throughout and really depicts Basketball in an amazing way. I really didn’t have any notable issues with the show. It made no mistakes and all of the games are really good. You know a series is elite when even the throwaway battles against no name teams are good. Slam Dunk really delivered in a big way and I highly recommend this to any fans of Basketball or even to anyone who likes sports in general. The show does a good job of explaining how you play the game and all of the rules through Sakuragi anyway.

Overall 9/10

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity Review

Posted on March 1, 2026 by dreager1

I’m always up for a good romance title. When handled well you get to really enjoy seeing the characters get closer along with the solid pacing throughout. That being said, executing the story on a high level is always going to be the toughest part. I am glad to say that this anime was able to pull it off though. It is a well rounded show with a good cast and I didn’t really have any issues with it.

The story follows a guy named Rintaro who works at his parents bakery. He has had a tough time growing up as everyone was afraid of him. That made it extremely difficult to make any friends. Now he finally has some friends but still doesn’t really know how to open up to them. These things just don’t come naturally to him but one day he meets a girl named Waguri from a rival school and begins to like her. Rintaro now has a reason to break out of his shell and learn more about how to interact with people. Is Waguri the one who will brighten his life forever?

You might wonder why the rival school thing matters but its actually a pretty big plot point in this one. His school is seen as a place for violent delinquents while hers is for upper class women. Both schools are taught to resent the other one right away and so the students have learned this attitude as well. As the series goes on, the students realize that there isn’t a point to this rivalry and that the students from each school are actually good.

This series is also shamelessly optimistic at all times and that makes for a refreshing watch. Put it this way, if there is a dramatic scenario you can always expect the best possible outcome to happen in this show. It’s pretty nice as a change of pace since that’s not always the case. This is what you can really refer to as a comfort watch. Everything just works out and all of the main characters are very wholesome. They get to go to the beach, study together, etc. It’s the kind of life that many will find nostalgic from their childhood days or will be the kind of life that others have only imagined. That’s not to say there’s never any danger as we do get the occasional creep who has to be knocked out. Those instances are few and far between though.

This is a plot based show as Rintaro and Waguri get closer throughout the 13 episodes but it has a slice of life feel to it. Each episode will just continue their day to day adventures so there isn’t much more to say on the story side of things. Lets talk about Rintaro. He’s your classic nice guy who has a hard time sharing his own burdens. He’s always there to help his friends but they get upset that he doesn’t let them do the same. I can definitely sympathize with that problem because the whole point of helping your friends is to reduce their worries. It starts to defeat the purpose if you are adding onto them right after that. It may not be equal, but it does make sense.

Rintaro learns how to speak his mind as the series goes on like actually initiating a call with Waguri and asking his father how to bake a cake. Rintaro makes significant strides as the series goes on and it’s something that you always like to see. I’d say the final step would be to see him be ready to fight to protect his friends. Instead of always waiting for his friends to do it, there’s a time when you have to be proactive about that too. Still, I have no real problems with him on the whole. Rintaro is a good main character who really gets the job done as needed.

Then we have Waguri as the main heroine who is also a bit on the shy side but definitely has more bravery than Rintaro initially. She stands tall to defend him even when she is physically attacked and she was the one who kept on going to his parents’ bakery in order to meet him. She is the one who made sure that the pieces were all together and that’s not an easy thing to do. She still gets embarrassed which is normal when entering a relationship but is always able to come out on top.

I definitely like the fact that Waguri knows how to eat a good amount. She doesn’t try to hold back when in front of the others or anything like that. She just goes all out. It’s not that she is totally oblivious to things or doesn’t have her own insecurities but she pushes past them and always has on a brave face. So she gets a lot of credit there and without her making the first move in so many situations, the story would definitely not have progressed. This season is mainly about Rintaro’s friends so we won’t see most of Waguri’s until the next season. That said, her best friend does get to have a role.

Subaru has always done her best to protect Waguri. She serves as a shield to protect her from all things. It’s an especially tough thing to do because Subaru doesn’t feel comfortable around guys. So she steps out of her comfort zone in order to protect her friend. Subaru definitely ends up being one of the better characters as a result. Her character arc is also a bit similar to Rintaro’s in that she has a hard time speaking her mind. She tends to just follow the group and tries not to be a nuisance. Of course they’d prefer if she did speak and these issues mainly come from her own head. It’s another instance where it would be better for her to just speak up but it’s tough to overcome those mental hurdles.

Fragrant Flower does a great job of exploring these realistic scenarios. Some people just tend to get way too introspective and overthink everything. Then you have other characters who appear to just go through life without thinking much when that isn’t even the case. Often times from Rintaro’s perspective, it looks like Waguri is not nervous and just having a blast but when we cut to her POV, she is just as nervous as he is. They have different ways of showing their feelings is all.

Saku is one of Rintaro’s main friends who is around and is always ready to defend the main lead. Saku is a bit quiet himself but always finds his courage when it comes time to go up against any bullies. He’s another great character but of course just about every character in this series is great. So that should come as no surprise. He may be the most perceptive of the characters as he is quick to try and make Subaru feel like part of the group when she is lagging behind the others. He may not always have a ton of tact but he means well.

Then we have Shohei who is the most outgoing member of the group. He is constantly having a good time and is ready for endless parties. At first he may seem to just be oblivious to everything but really he is just good at looking at the positive side of things. It’s hard to actually get him down but when he makes a mistake, Shohei owns up to it. He’s the kind of friend that you definitely want to have by your side. You always want to have someone like that on your side to brighten up the room and cut through the awkward parts.

Yorita has the smallest role from the 3 main friends so far. In some ways he may be the most possessive friend as he goes absolutely nuts when people badmouth Rintaro. In another series you may expect him to be the friend who goes rogue but in this case I’d say it’s just to show how passionate he is. This is not a guy who will just turn the other cheek when it comes to his friend. He really treasures his friendship with Rintaro and is always glad to see it progress like when Rintaro finally starts to open up to him and the others.

Then we have Rintaro’s parents who are both really solid characters. His father doesn’t get too much to do until the end but we see that he quietly works very hard. He is passionate about the bakery and has always given Rintaro a very long leash. His family leadership style is all about trust and you can’t really go wrong there. Rintaro’s mother is also very supportive and was glad to see Rintaro making friends. She even dyed her hir so that he wouldn’t feel alone when Rintaro had made the decision to do so.

It’s easy to see how Rintaro became such an upstanding person with such great parents at his side. So like I said, the series is super wholesome. The characters all feel very real with their strengths and weaknesses while trying to do their best. Nobody is actively trying to hurt someone else and when there are misunderstandings, they talk them out. The series is a lot more mature than its average rival in that respect. Things don’t tend to get super dramatic and everything feels like a moment that you could experience in real life.

The only part of the show that feels completely out of tone with the rest is when Waguri is attacked at night by the bakery. The rest of the series is so safe that it feels weird to see actual villains like this running around with rather serious threats. It was good that they got taken down and were beaten up later on. The scene doesn’t ultimately change much so it’s not like you needed it there, but it was used as a way for Rintaro’s friends to know that he was still hiding things.

The animation for the show is pretty good. It’s nothing amazing, I would say basically average in all areas. Romance titles don’t need a whole lot of animation so that’s fine. Animation that is out of this world can help to enhance a title like with Kaguya sama but it’s not like this is really needed. So long as the animation isn’t bad then I don’t have any real problems here. The soundtrack is also a bit on the bland side. So the writing and characters have to carry the series on this journey because the technical elements aren’t going to do it.

The show has fast pacing throughout and so it never gets boring. That would be the only risk for a series like this and that never even comes close to happening. I would say a big part of that is just how likable the characters are. I also just tend to like wholesome adventures like this. Finally, the show’s romance is one that I can actually get behind. There are no rebounds here and the romance is a slow burn. The characters get to know each other first before officially dating. They don’t try to fake it as just being friends or anything like that. From the first meeting, it was generally with the mindset that they could become boyfriend/girlfriend if everything turned out well. Now I may get skeptical for some other romances that may pop up but this main one is really good.

Overall, The Fragrant Flower is a pretty good title. It has a lot of replay value and is just a fun show to watch. It executes on a good level across all areas. There isn’t really anything negative to say about the series and the premise is something that could be stretched across many seasons. When a show like this can even have a great beach episode without a hint of fanservice, then you know it is operating on a high level. The show doesn’t fall into any of the classic traps and is instead focused on delivering a strong story with quality writing. It doesn’t need any lazy hooks to get viewers in because the writer is confident on the product. I definitely hope this gets a season 2 soon and would recommend this to anyone looking for a upbeat show.

Overall 7/10

Sakamoto Days Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

Sakamoto Days is one of those titles that jumped out at folks immediately. It was poised to bring in a ton of really creative action scenes with an overpowered main character who could win while using any item. Think of it like John Wick but pushed to more of an absurd level while also being part comedy. This show is able to balance the serious and comedic moments really well so it ended up being an absolutely stellar title. You won’t want to miss out on this one.

The premise involves the legendary assassin known as Sakamoto finally deciding to retire from the hitman life. The reason for this? Well, he fell in love and got married. He’s now a full time family man with a wife and daughter. He manages a local 7-11 type food shop and has put on a ton of weight. He intended to live out a normal life but one day someone puts a huge bounty on his head. Now assassins from all around the world are trying to take him down. He’ll need to stop them, defend his family, and find out who put the hit on his head. Until that bounty is taken down, his peaceful days are over.

Now if you are worried that you won’t see the overpowered Sakamoto from the first scene, no worries he is still around. While his skills have greatly diminished, they are still more than enough for almost every character that he will have to fight in season 1. It may not be enough for The Order, but those guys feel more like late stage bosses from how the show goes in season 1. Although I can tell you that every season is going to be filled with amazing moments! Sakamoto also has the ability to go back into his lean state when he is fighting hard enough as his body remembers the shape.

So you’re going to see him fighting with every day appliances and beating people up with his bare hands. Then for the more serious fighters, he will occasionally use items that feel deadly like a classic pen. Throughout the series you are reminded that he is a true threat and worthy of the bounty. His killer instinct also shows up from time to time although it is mainly directed at the telepath, Shin. Sakamoto balances his life really well and so right away you have a great main character here.

His wife and daughter are also pretty solid although they don’t get to do a whole lot here. His wife’s best scene is one where she technically doesn’t even appear. The context will make more sense when you watch the show. They’re both nice and wholesome though so it’s easy to see why Sakamoto enjoys his current days. He’s living the dream as they say.

The first few episodes mainly start to introduce you to the supporting characters and establish the general tone of the show. So you should know right away if you’re going to like the show or not because it does a really good job with the introductions. The first side character is Shin. They hint at a backstory with him and Sakamoto and I have to admit that this happened so early on that I completely forgot about this later on. He has the ability to read minds which is incredibly handy for an assassin. It’s an ability that has a whole lot of limitations and drawbacks but Shin spends the show working to improve it so that he can be a better fighter.

Shin definitely gets the most character development within the show and it works really well. I liked him from the start but by the end he is easily one of the best characters. In fact, I’d say that he is second only to Nagumo. Shin’s just really likable and a fun underdog since he is pretty much always outmatched in a fight. You can expect that this will continue to be the case for quite a while since the earning curve is really steep. He does take after Sakamoto in how he can make use of the environment during his fights. As long as you like the eager type of character then you’ll be a fan of his.

The next member to be added to the group is Lu. She’s from a famous Chinese mafia family and can fight with her drunken fist. She can be a bit of a scatterbrain but does add a lot to the main dynamic. She has a good rivalry with Shin. Rivalry may be the wrong word here since she isn’t a fighter on his level but they constantly bicker with each other. When the chips are down they will team up though and I tend to enjoy their dialogue quite a bit. They know how to poke fun at each other without going too far. When an insult does go too far, they work to remedy it which happened at one point in this season.

As the series goes on Lu starts to appear less so you want to enjoy her screentime while you can. She’s fun to have around and the main cast definitely wouldn’t be the same without her. Heisuke is the last one to join up although he’s technically not far behind the others in terms of debut. He’s a sniper who tends to be down on his luck when it comes to cash. This is partially because he’s a really generous guy and is always looking out for others. He doesn’t have the usual ruthlessness that you would expect from an assassin. So naturally that works out pretty well with the Sakamoto family and their no killing rule. He’s quickly able to make friends with the others.

Thanks to his position as a sniper though, I would argue that he is always going to be at a disadvantage. Any decent character is going to be a casual bullet timer after all and there are only so many things you can do to get around that. Heisuke tries to shoot bullets onto bullets to mess with the angles but even that is going to be a longshot at actually working. Still, he is definitely a likable guy.

I think calling it an arc may be an overstatement but the first main adventure is when Sakamoto takes his family to the amusement park. What he doesn’t realize is that an assassin named Boiled and a few hand picked goons have arrived to try and take him out. It’s a good way to let all of the main characters get a quick fight and Shin really makes himself useful here. Sakamoto also gets a pretty decent fight with Boiled. I wouldn’t say that Boiled every really stood a chance but he at least doesn’t go down in a single hit or anything. That guy is all about being as intense as possible and it shows in his fighting style. I think he’s a fun character although I would like him more if he was more powerful. Shallow? Perhaps, but the hard boiled lifestyle just works better when you’re incredibly powerful.

The first real adventure is the museum battle. The heroes head to a museum which leads to the lab where people experimented on Shin and gave him some powers. You have a couple of crazy assassins running around here while the Order has also infiltrated to take down the mysterious X. There are quite a number of big names here and it’s cool to see them all. A lot of fights are set up here without too many of them going all the way through. The whole saga is meant to be more of a teaser than anything else I’d say. It’s effective though because you can’t help but get hyped here.

Nagumo is of course the best character in the series and it’s not even close. He is extremely confident at all times and always has a trick up his sleeve. He has big scenes at every part of the show and consistently likes to troll everyone. You immediately get the vibe that he’s a pretty good guy because he could easily murder Sakamoto at any time but chooses not to since they used to be friends. He has a good honor code and also acts as a stand-in for Sakamoto’s wife later on to keep her safe. Nagumo embodies the humor of Sakamoto Days at its best as he blends together being the strongest fighter with also being the funniest.

It’s hard for any Order member to really keep up with him but I will say that Shishiba and Osaragi are still really solid in their own right. Shishiba is one of those really jaded guys who just wants to complete the mission and then go back to his life. Unfortunately things rarely work out for him and Osaragi doesn’t really help. Their dynamic is a fun one as he basically spoils her the whole time and never gets all that upset even when he’s the one messed over. It’s clear that the two of them have a really good friendship going.

One of the big villains to appear here is Kashima who has a really interesting deer mask. The guy is strong and has actual weapons within his body. Certainly not someone that you can afford to underestimate. He gets power cliffed really quickly in the series but I like him well enough. He may have lost his hype but Kashima is still the kind of villain you want on your side because of how loyal he is.

Then we also see a bit of X. He will do more later on in the story but he’s your classic villainous mastermind. His skills put him near the top of the verse and his overall motivations are unknown. He wants to destroy the JAA assassin group but why? He’s certainly making enemies out of basically everyone by going through with this. Well the series will unpack that as it goes on but I have no real complaints with him. This is the kind of villain that motivates his group well. He’s a complete character outside of just being a villain. He even jokes around with the team quite a bit but at no point do they forget that he is the leader.

Seba is a character who is introduced early and is difficult to defeat because of his invisibility suit. It can be hard to plan for his attacks as a result and his base stats are pretty good even without those. He has a rough matchup with Shin since telepathy can get beyond that but still puts in a good effort throughout. In fact, one on one he would have defeated Shin. He makes for a pretty good villain and is definitely memorable.

Then we have Horiguchi who by all accounts is a random one shot villain but I actually liked him quite a lot. His speedblitz against Shin was super impressive and his drugs also make it difficult to stop him. Essentially if he does land a hit on you, then he has a good chance of winning. His drugs mess up the signals within your brain so you start moving in the wrong direction and can have other effects. He was really interesting so that’s why I never forgot about him.

After that we have a short interlude where we meet Wutang, who has come to bring Lu back to the mafia. He clearly can’t defeat Sakamoto’s group on his own so he resorts to gambling. It makes for a fun little arc as the characters have to try and use their abilities to win at games like poker. This is exactly the kind of episode that is good at getting you to learn more about the characters and also let them banter off each other. That’s why I had to give this part a shoutout because it was really fun.

There isn’t too much time for that breather though as we jump right into the action in the next arc. X sends his 4 assassins after the Order as well as Sakamoto. Each of the 4 get their chance to fight but for the most part they are really outmatched. Dump gets some good initial hype for example but gets absolutely crushed in her fight. Saw gets a much longer amount of screentime in his fight but had the weakest opponents. To his credit, he essentially won that fight since he survived but ultimately that was barely even a consolation. He didn’t have a chance at actually surviving in the end.

Minimalist seems to be a really strong guy but had to fight an absolute demon so he didn’t stand a chance. Apart definitely has the biggest role out of the 4 since he wisely decides to do his own thing. It ultimately lets him stick around for a bit and observe more than 1 fight. He was an interesting villain and had more character than the other 3. Still, I did think he was ultimately outshined by most of the other villains around.

This leads right to the next main arc with X and Gaku attacking the JAA base directly. It was fun to see Gaku getting some screentime. He’s one of those total prodigies on the villains team. This guy has super strength and great battle instincts. He’s also really young and yet is able to keep up with the strongest fighters around. It’s clear that he could grow up to be one of the biggest threats if he sticks around. I enjoyed him quite a lot and he rose up to the top. He’s rather chill about the whole assassin thing and still takes time to play his video games and everything.

Takamura also gets some hype from the JAA side. The show positions him as being the absolute strongest character in the series. There’s an argument to be made for that although I would still put Nagumo in that slot. Takamuru makes up for his old age by having precise control over his blade. He can strike in an instant and mask his killing intent to the end. Any scene with him tends to go really hard on the animation and he looks like a real beast. If only he were a bit younger, then he’d probably be invincible.

With that we enter the final arc which is basically a big JAA exam in order to get to their school. Sakamoto needs to get there for intel so he and Shin enter this exam. It’s basically like a multi step tournament and the villains are here to recruit up and coming stars to their organization. This means that things go off the rails real quick. It’s a fun arc that is super fast paced and I always love a good tournament. It may not be a traditional bracket system but works to the same end.

One of the new fighters is Mafuyu, a guy who really doesn’t like germs. He is extremely wary of them and that includes blood from his opponents so the whole job irritates him. Why be an assassin at that point? Well he seems to have an important reason for it. I thought that he was pretty decent but the germs thing just feels like a massive weakness. You’re always going to get dirty in a fight to the death.

Akira is the best member of the new characters here. She is really good at killing her opponents silently. All that she’s lacking is a killer instinct so unless someone draws it out of her, she’s not going to be eliminating her opponents too efficiently. Akira will get better at this though and in the meantime she basically has Sakamoto as a mentor. That’s a good position to be in. From the glimpses we get of her true abilities, you already know that she has a good future ahead of her.

Kanaguri is a guy who really loves movies. Anyone who insults them is immediately sentenced to death. The guy is definitely quirky and extremely insane but that’s true for a lot of the stronger fighters. He’s a good wild card and is also portrayed as being really powerful. Sakamoto won’t be able to just cast him to the side like with some other villains. I’d give Kanaguri a passing grade, he’s just fun to watch.

Toramaru is a big Sakamoto fan to a rather violent degree. She’s certainly picked the right path in being an assassin. Her weapon is really large and she specializes in powerful attacks. That tends to have a hard limit in a series like this where you want speed but as one of the top talents in the tournament, she lives up to the rep. She ends up being more fun than the other two special recruits.

Kaji has super hearing and so that’s a good ability but he doesn’t last quite as long as the others. Or a better way of putting it is that he doesn’t leave as much of an impact even though he is always around. Super hearing just isn’t the most interesting ability out there. His physical stats are really good but of course that’s true for the other characters too. He’s also a bit soft spoken and has a hard time jumping into a conversation. As a result, he’s ticking the wrong boxes and doesn’t go much further.

Finally there is Shinaya who is really cool but can’t really talk at all. There are some twists about this which drastically changes the character. So what I’ll say is that his role is really cool but the character himself can be more on the forgetful side. I like him more as an opponent than as a character.

The animation for the series is really great. There are a lot of big fights here and the animation is always smooth. The colors stand out and while I remember there being some controversy about the animation quality, I had no complaints on this end. It all looked really good to me and I was eagerly awaiting each scene. The soundtrack is generally good although I’m not a big fan of Sakamoto’s main theme. That’s maybe a bit ironic since it is meant to be the big theme that really breaks out but it didn’t fit in for me. Definitely not next to some of the epic battle themes that were around.

Overall, Sakamoto Days is a pretty great series. It really reminds you of the classic Shonen days. You’ve got a really crazy premise right away and the series just leans into it. The action is great and the characters are really fun. I’d say this is the kind of series you can plug in and watch at any time. I’ll definitely be ready for seeing just how fun season 2 can be. The end of this season introduces a bunch of characters all at once and basically ends on a cliffhanger as the story was just starting. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to arrive.

Overall 8/10

Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Kaiju No 8! It feels like they’ve been moving through these seasons pretty quickly if you ask me. Maybe it’s a normal timeline and it just feels that way but it’s still cool to be seeing a bunch of the new villains. The season has got quite a lot of action to it and looks smooth as you would expect. If you like good fight scenes and a bunch of Kaiju then you are definitely going to have a solid time with this one.

The season starts with Kafka and Kikoru being sent to Narumi’s unit for some training. Narumi is a complete prodigy with abilities beyond just about every other human. At this point he may be the strongest hero alive but he is also a slacker and has his own quirks so this won’t be the easiest traineeship. He really takes Kikoru under his wing while Kafkka needs to control his Kaiju form. There isn’t a lot of downtime for Kafka to do this though as Kaiju No. 9 is still seeking him out and seemingly has an endless amount of Kaiju to throw at the cities. Kafka will need to fight hard but are the heroes underestimating this villain?

Kaiju No. 8 is absolutely one of those series where it feels like the heroes never really stand a chance. Yes, they are fighting back but Kaiju No. 9 can seemingly pop out of nowhere and also summon Kaiju at the drop of a hat. There is absolutely nothing to stop him from just summoning them to really populated areas and racking up a huge body count. In fact, he does this to stop a wedding at one point. The heroes always respond as best as they can but they’re always going to be on the defensive.

Then you have the fact that No. 9 is incredibly powerful. Kafka is stronger and Narumi makes it a 50/50 but everyone else is fodder to him at this point. Then he has the ability to create clones? He could easily just destroy everybody like that. The only reason he hasn’t yet is because he’s trying to get Kafka out in the open so he can get the powers of No. 8. 9 is presented as a strategic mastermind but I’m saying that he could go even harder if he really wanted to.

It is nice to have a really good villain like this though. Most of the villains in this series are mindless so whenever one does talk, it is instantly a good thing. There is also a mysterious villain who looks a lot like Kikoru. She hasn’t done much yet but from her few scenes you can tell that she’ll be a winner. Most of the other fighters from the final invasion wave are mindless so they have cool designs but aren’t about to become the next character to really stand out.

As for Kafka, he’s a solid main character as always although it would be nice if he could not be wavering so much here. You get why he would be nervous since the power already overtook him once in season 1. Still, he will be completely doomed without the powers so he just needs to hope for the best. This makes for a good cliffhanger to the season. I would say that as the season ends, Kafka has really come to terms with the fact that his human form is not going to be really helpful in the fights that are to come. He will need to exclusively rely on his monster mode and that’s the best way to go.

Kikoru looks great as you would expect. She consistently shows off her incredible close combat skills and continues to improve. The fact that she has risen to be one of the top 5 strongest heroes in the series without any Kaiju powers is impressive. If you remove the characters who have a Kaiju enhancement then she would be #1. Of course, this is the season where everyone begins to get Kaiju equipment so you can bet that she’ll at least be getting some equipment to be stronger.

I thought this was definitely necessary with how outmatched the humans are like I said before. That being said, I would still give the monsters the edge. Take away the top 3 and the humans are still in rough shape even if they are getting better. The third character I put on the list here is Narumi of course. With his special eyes he can essentially block any attack and has extreme amounts of speed. He immediately dominates in this season and I like his confidence.

Kaiju No. 8 has a really good core cast of main characters. The cast may be rather small since I barely count more minor characters like Iharu, but they do all carry their own weight. Narumi is allowed to slack off because he is simply that skilled and I respect that. When you put in the work and consistently outshine the rest, you should be allowed to get a little special treatment. That just makes sense.

Then we have Hoshina who gets a smaller role in this season. Near the end he finally gets his own Kaiju equipment which makes him relevant again. His speed and knife skills are solid but the first season showed that this definitely had its limits. Now he is in a better position and I also like the banter he gets with his Kaiju partner. Honestly it’d be fun if all of the Kaiju talked for that reason. The dialogue and banter would be really good throughout the season. Hoshina’s fights always tend to be a lot of fun because of his close combat style as well.

Although in general all of the fights look great. The series never disappoints with how fast paced and smooth the animation is. The fights look incredible and there is a lot of variety to them. The soundtrack is also good although I wouldn’t call it excellent. There are at least 1-2 themes that I enjoyed quite a bit in this one. The opening is one that I did not like though. I wasn’t even the biggest fan of the first season’s opening and this one is absolutely a step down.

As for the side characters, well we’ve got Reno who is still doing his best to find a place among the hero forces. It’s really just tough timing for him. Technically speaking Reno is considered a prodigy, but he’s less of one than the other 3 geniuses running around and of course Kafka has his own Kaiju suit. So here Reno is desperate to get more power and finally gets a Kaiju suit. This does give him incredible powers but it goes to his head right away and he has a hard time conquering the suit. Ultimately things go well so he’ll be ready for the next season but in this one he looked pretty bad. The fact that he couldn’t immediately neutralize his opponent Kaiju in a single hit was bad.

His partner Iharu had to help Reno stay in the fight. Iharu isn’t all that interesting and blends together with most of the other side characters who don’t have a Kaiju power. Still, since he saved Reno I guess I’ll give him a slight consolation prize there. It puts him ahead of some of the other characters. The baseline is clear though, you need to get a Kaiju power of your own or you are not going to be able to keep up. That’s basically what this all boils down to.

General Isao looks good as always. We really get to see what he can do here. Ultimately he has to contend with the fact that he’s a lot older than back in the day but Isao still puts up a great fight. The guy has a lot of guts and is not the type to back down from a fight. He was always one of my favorite characters here even if I treat him more like an antagonist. Isao is one of those very strict types who will break a lot of eggs to make an omelet. Without him the army would have been doomed though so you need him around.

Mina is a character who doesn’t get a lot of screentime in this season. She does land a really good sniper shot and is still known as one of the strongest fighters. There just weren’t a lot of opportunities to get her into the action. The season only has 11 episodes after all so it’s not like there is a whole lot of time for everyone. That shouldn’t be a problem in the next season where we’ll pretty much be going into nonstop fight scenes the whole time. You know I’m hyped for that, the more action the better.

This is a series that does thrive quite a lot on the action. I don’t feel like it ever really hit its stride when it comes to the downtime and just having the characters hang out. I like them well enough like I mentioned before but I guess they just don’t have a whole lot of great banter opportunities. I thought Hoshina and his Kaiju partner were immediately more enjoyable and comedic than the main characters. The leads just don’t tend to be all that funny and aren’t charismatic enough to hold their own scenes.

That’s probably slightly what keeps the series from reaching the next level. I think season 3 will bypass this just by having so many crazy awesome fights. Season 2 had a lot of action but was just one step away from the elusive 8. Perhaps that is being harsh on the series but I would say it was pretty good. It’s just not going to stick with you as much as other titles. A lot of anime I will go back and watch various clips and reactions right away but I admittedly have never done that with Kaiju No. 8. Maybe I’ll change that sooner than later.

It does make for a fun thought experiment though because it’s a bit harder for me to put my finger on it compared to some other titles. This is just the best way I can describe it. You almost don’t care about the characters a whole lot outside of the fight scenes. This is perhaps the kind of series that could use some random fillers but I would still like some action. For example we got the special about Hoshina’s day off and it’s not all that entertaining. So more fights with the characters bantering would be the best way to build up their likability further.

Eh that’s a lot of work though. Doubling down on the action is the best way to go. Narumi and Kafka had a very temporary team up fight against No. 9 that was really hype. It was a fairly brief fight scene but we don’t get a whole lot of 2 v 1s in this series so far. That should also change soon and I’m hyped for that since I love a good team up fight. It’ll also solidify No. 9 as a really powerful villain that you can’t simply beat 1 on 1.

Overall, I’m definitely looking forward to checking out the next season for this one. If you like action and giant monsters then you really can’t afford to miss out on this title. It’s the kind of anime that just works really well as a classic action title. It can get a little violent with all of the monsters blowing up and some civilians get caught up in the action but for the most part this one stays very streamlined. The overall vibes of the show tend to be rater happy even with humanity on the brink. Kaiju No. 8 just has that classic Shonen energy where you’re waiting for the heroes to claim victory.

Overall 7/10

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