Little Witch Academia Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

All right, it’s time to talk about a very wholesome slice of life title. Yeah you could probably throw some other genres into this one but that’s what I think of when talking about this show. It’s got magic, fantasy, and spells but for the most part it’s about the girls living their day to day lives and having a lot of fun. It’s a very pleasant show and one where I do think the animation is part of what helps it turn up to the next level. They had a lot of fun going crazy here.

The show starts off with Akko getting ready to start her first day at magic school! As a kid she always looked up to Shining Chariot and so now this is her chance to follow in the legend’s footsteps. The only problem is that Akko has a very low aptitude for magic. No matter how often she trains, she has trouble performing even the most basic of spells. Throughout the show she has to try and keep her confidence up while watching everyone else easily excel. Fortunately she makes two friends in Lotte and Sucy and even gets a rival in the prodigy Amanda. Along the way Akko may even have to save the world…or at least the school.

So yeah this is one of those shows that can be fairly episodic for most of the run but there are ongoing plots in the background. One of them for example is that their teacher Ursula is a bit mysterious. As the viewer you find out that she is Shining Chariot almost immediately but the characters don’t know that. Part of the mystery is why did she retire in the first place and then additionally, why not just tell everyone?

The only tricky thing with a plot like this is you are always looking forward to it getting more screentime. You want to see what happens with Shining Chariot but typically the show only gives you some breadcrumbs. It’s not until deep in the second half of the show that you get to see her having more action. Even by the end of the series, my favorite episode was easily when she infiltrates the villain, Croix’s base. We get to see why she was the top witch as she’s jumping past enemies and using a lot of crazy acrobatics.

In Chariot mode her eyes and hair even change color. It definitely makes for a perfect disguise in that way since nobody should reasonably be able to figure out her secret. If she’s stressed then her eyes change color though so she has to watch out for that. She’s definitely one of my favorite characters even if her inaction can be a bit annoying at times. She should have told everyone about Croix right away. I know in general she wants to be a nice person and doesn’t want to jump the gun but once lives are at stake then you really have to make a move.

Again this isn’t typically an action series but it certainly happens at times. You have dragons and then near the end you have Croix and her machines. The machines are pretty fun and definitely have a whole lot of uses to them. Croix is also a fun villain. Naturally she does have a backstory and everything but the show committed to her being an antagonist a lot more than I figured. For part of the show I was expecting it to all be some kind of massive misunderstanding. Sure, we find out her reasons for doing all of this but she was actually causing damage and could have easily murdered Chariot and Akko at different points. Croix was really resolute in her goal for most of the run so she worked really well as a villain.

Before I talked about the animation and part of why it’s so good is because of how fast it is. You really feel the speed going by when Akko gets her magic staff and zooms through at super speed. Shining Chariot gets some good animation whenever she shows up and all the action scenes are great. The animation goes one step further though and is also very expressive during normal scenes. I think what caught my eye the most were the facial expressions. Akko always has different funny faces going on when she is frustrated, excited, bored, etc.

It’s the kind of show you could watch on mute and you could always tell what her mood is. I dare say she may have had the best facial expressions I’ve seen in anime. It really helps to play up the humor. For example with standard animation this may have been more of a 6 but it gives the show an extra boost because it’s always just a lot of fun. Now at times the show almost feels like it has some fanservice with how short the costumes are and how the animation is so high budget that the wind is constantly blowing as they’re jumping around but I feel like the show was just careful enough to never go too far there.

There may be a little fanservice here and there but for the most part I really do think the show isn’t going for that. It’s more just showing off the special effects than anything and there’s no perv characters or anything running around. If anything this is a very safe all ages kind of show and it’s even got some nice morals throughout. It’s not a literal “Dear Celestia, today I learned…” but usually there’s something about never giving up, trusting your friends, learning that others have their own problems, etc. So in that way it can almost feel part educational. I think this would have fit right in as a Saturday morning cartoon.

In terms of world building I think the show isn’t always perfect though. It’s always fairly ambiguous just how much the average human knows about the witches. On one hand they have to get investors for the school so the rich people kind of know about it but some seem to think it’s all just a big hoax/scam. That would be fine if the witches weren’t right there but it’s extremely easy to prove that witchcraft is real. I’d have preferred either they went the X-Men route and just pretended to be a normal school, or that everyone just knows about them and they’re cool with it. I feel like the show sort of goes in the latter direction but it’s just not as clear as you would expect.

In terms of the soundtrack, it’s not nearly as memorable as the animation. I’d say it sounds okay. I’m not a big fan of either opening but they work well enough. If the show was more action based then this would be more of a problem but for a slice of life the music isn’t something you focus on as much. As long as it isn’t downright bad then we’re always still in business. Now lets start talking about some of the characters. I wouldn’t say the show’s cast is all that big to be honest. There are a lot of one shot characters and also a bunch of mild supporting characters but for the most part the core cast is never big.

Akko is the main character and she’s a fun heroine. The storyline of the main character not being able to use magic or whatever power is normal in the setting isn’t anything new, but she doesn’t really get a cop out for it. Usually in titles like this, the main character secretly gets the strongest power (Magical Index), secretly always had powers, (Mashle) or gets a power that is just labeled differently. (Black Clover) Notice the cop out here, they can all actually fight. In this case, Akko can use magic to a small degree, she’s just not good at it. She will continue to improve over time but she’s not secretly the most powerful or anything.

At best she gets little glimpses of what a mage would be like by getting a special wand that works for everyone briefly and also with the magic broom. Neither of these are permanent power ups though so she still has to work hard every day. We also get an actual story reason for why it’s so difficult for her and it’s a pretty emotional twist. It really changes the whole dynamic of the show and also isn’t waved away by the end. If we ever got more seasons I’d be curious on what happens next. Akko may get sad at times but for the most part she never stays feeling sorry for herself for very long though.

One of her best friends is Lotte who is more of a brainy type of character. You can sometimes guess a character’s personality and strengths right from the design and this is one of those cases. There’s nothing wrong with Lotte but she’s never one of the more interesting characters. She tends to be fairly quiet and isn’t super ambitious so there just isn’t a lot you can really do with that character in the dynamic. She does have a plotline involving a book series that she enjoys though and that appears several times.

Then there is Sucy and I never became a fan of hers. My main problem is that she’s a little too drastic in her opening appearances. She nearly gets Akko murdered to which she is not apologetic and then tests her poisons and plants on her. She’s not the kind of friend you would want to have. Not only does Sucy always cause a lot of trouble but it’s the lethal kind. You want a friend who might pull some pranks or something on you but would never go quite so far. That’s where you have to put your foot down because it’s gone above the line.

Diana is one of the standout characters here though. She’s the classic genius/prodigy type of character so you know that she has absolute confidence. She’s rich as well which is an added bonus and is always outperforming Akko. By all accounts they shouldn’t even be rivals but Amanda doesn’t really dissuade Akko from this and just focuses on her own techniques. Part of what I like about Amanda is we see many times just how hard she trains and studies. As she tells Akko, she’s not the best because she’s just that talented, it’s because she trains the hardest.

I think more times than not this is true. The people exceling and doing a terrific job have actually put the work in. No matter how much of a prodigy you are, if you never train then you won’t go anywhere. I think it helps Akko see things in a different light and in general Diana is also just a very responsible person. While she has her banter with Akko, Diana never says anything particularly hurtful or ever tries to get in the lead’s way. She’s really a good role model all the way through.

There are a bunch of other classmates around. Some have big roles and some are more on the small side. The one I would mainly say is big enough to get a write up would be Amanda. She shows up a bit later in the show and is like a second rival. She’s super competitive and talks a good game. I thought she added a lot to the dynamic so I was glad to see her around. It’s always good to have another character with a ton of confidence to really shake things up.

For example we already have plenty of quiet characters like Constanze. She’s a genius and great at her craft but she’s not exactly the outgoing type. Nothing wrong with that but it does mean that she won’t tend to be quite as interesting. It’s always nice to see Akko gradually get to all of the characters and break the shells around them though. Also there is one human with a fairly big role and his name is Andrew. He’s the son of one of the biggest investors in the show and he always grew up being told that the witches were scams and not to take them seriously. After meeting Akko he learns the truth and also starts to slowly stand up for himself. So he has a good character arc here and has a lot more confidence than he used to.

The guy was never super timid or anything like that but he did have a tough time talking back to his father. He would just defer to the guy but now he can make his own decisions so that’s always a good thing. In a show like this you can probably imagine that there is some shipping going on, but for the most part this is avoided. I think that’s a good thing since this should just be a show more about having fun. The romantic drama can certainly wait and take a backseat for now. Finding the different inscriptions for the staff is already enough of an active plot to keep you super invested while still having a good time.

Overall, Little Witch Academia is a pretty fun show. It’s a fairly low stakes adventure for most of its run but will dial up the tension from time to time. There’s a lot of fun moments here and some quality characters to follow for the whole duration. You’ll have a good time for the entire run. At most you might just wish there were a few more action scenes for Shining Chariot to show off her skills. Even past her prime and without using her powers she is a complete threat in combat so you wish you could see her in her prime. A prequel starring her as the main character would be great someday! In the meantime I would definitely recommend this show if you’re looking for a solid feel good title.

Overall 7/10

My Hero Academia Season 6 Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the next My Hero saga. This one actually came out a while ago but I at least needed to make sure I got the review up before season 7 starts right? The first half is a ton of nonstop action since it picks up right where the last season left off and then we get the Dark Deku stuff in the second half. It all still feels pretty recent in the manga which shows how close the anime has kept up to it. This is another great season and there’s definitely a lot of great stuff to enjoy here.

So yeah we start off pretty quickly with the pro heroes raiding the enemy base. They have finally figured out where the scientist is growing their artificial Nomu fighters and all of the younger heroes are on standby. It’s a good thing that they were around because the League of Villains warp all of their fighters outside right away so this does become the big war right out of the gate. Everyone is here from Shigaraki to Dabi. Are the heroes prepared to take this many fighters down without their #1 hero All Might? Also they have to keep civilian casualties to a minimum which will be difficult when the villains have this amount of firepower at the ready.

First lets quickly go through the technicals. The animation is really solid here. There was no real dropoff at any point this time so you could always count on a lot of high speed choreography and great special effects. The fights here have a lot of impact and the show just looks really good from start to finish. This is a show that had a really solid budget backing it up. Meanwhile there are a lot of good battle themes here. Some of them are definitely used from older seasons but this season also has some new tunes. It’s a good mix as you would expect.

The pacing is really good with each episode keeping you roped in. The Dark Deku arc after the war could have very easily felt a little too scaled down next to all of that action but it’s an arc that made a lot of sense. After the fight Deku realized that keeping all of the kids safe would be extremely difficult with all of the villains gunning for him. So he chooses to go it alone. He doesn’t even remove all contact or anything. He actually does this in collaboration with the police and 3 of the top ranking pro heroes. As in everything Deku does, he made this plan really logically.

It’s why in the second arc I do disagree with the overall moral. A lot of times in shows or movies there will be a big message where the main hero’s friends and family remind him that he’s not alone. He needs to lean on them more and then they can tackle the opponents as one big unit. It’s a really emotional message of course and I get the logic here but it doesn’t work in this setting. The main message here is that Deku should have trusted his classmates and needs to stick around. They can take care of themselves and the school will back them up. So that’s the argument that is being made. I get the case but lets look at the facts here.

The majority of the students can’t fight at a high level. What can a boy who has a hard tail do against fighters who can light up whole city blocks? Froppy can stick her tongue out while Twice can make thousands of clones that are all powerful. These kids just aren’t ready for combat and that’s not even touching on the fact that the school is doubling as a shelter. This means that tons of civilians who can’t fight at all are also trapped in there. It can’t be very reassuring to see the main target of the villains staying there with you.

I raked Deku through the coals for his decision with Eri a while back but this time I have to say that he was 100% correct and the rest of the cast was wrong. He was being selfless in going out on his own because the villains could show up at any point. They have a tracker quirk meaning they can find Deku at any time. His whereabouts are never a secret so his only plan is to let the villains find him. If he stayed at the school then most of their lives would be forfeit because the villains could just launch a bunch of rockets.

There are some valid counter points like All For One using this as a scheme to tire Deku out but my counter would be…what alternative is there? Don’t tell me going back to school is the answer. Additionally, Deku was very efficient on his own. He takes down Lady Nagant and Muscular on his own and saves other people in the process. Those people would all be dead if he wasn’t out in the field. So….I think Deku just justified his position. Also you have to consider the fact that he is doing this as an official operation with a few heroes. It’s perhaps off the books but he hasn’t gone rogue. The whole Dark Deku thing was handled masterfully and so I wish it could have gone on longer.

This is the only arc in the series that I felt was a bit rushed. There’s just so much more you could have done with this plot. Also contrary to what you may be thinking, it’s not like Deku got super edgy either. He’s still the same hero he always was, but is willing to say “No” and actually disagree with All Might now. He still tries to be a symbol of peace and smile for the people that he is saving, there just isn’t much to smile about right now.

The climax is definitely the cheesiest in the series. Mainly because of the power levels at work here. Uh oh, power scaling?? Yeah we’re power scaling here! Realistically the only hero from Class 1-A who could even hope to tag Deku is Bakugou and even then his overall aerial mobility is not in the same league as Deku’s. Deku should be able to easily dodge him and leave. If this was a fight then it would be tougher since Deku would want to restrain them without hurting them but just escaping? He should have been out of range in an instant. So I didn’t buy into the whole fight and how they were somehow fast enough to keep up with him. No shot imo. It was still a fun arc though and had some really fun action scenes. Both Deku fights that I mentioned earlier were animated really well and the fights had a good amount of tension.

I mean, Deku should have beaten her a lot easier as well, but let me not get too much further into the power levels. At the end of the day, the higher a verse’s power levels start to go, the more you are going to find power level issues. It’s a natural evolution of what’s going to happen there, because how could it not right? Shigaraki for example is so broken now because he just has to touch you and he’s dead. So the show does its best to show why he is never able to touch anyone but now he has hypersonic speeds and is one of the fastest characters in the verse with incredible strength and instant regeneration? The heroes should all be dead. I have to be 100% real with you right now, they should all be 6 feet under. The villains are way too broken at this point. Only a bloodlusted Deku should be able to keep up and everyone else is absolute fodder at this point. Even if we count the pros, only Mirko and Endeavor should be able to fight at this level of combat.

I talked about the Dark Deku arc a lot because that one was always a real highlight and fun to discuss but lets talk about the characters now. Deku has really come a long way throughout these seasons. He’s a confident hero now who can make his own plans and doesn’t need All Might’s approval. It’s a subplot in this season of course with how he’s forcing himself to grow up to protect everyone but he’s still a nice guy beneath it all. He never loses sight of himself and that’s what makes him a capable lead. He’s never been super high tier as far as Jump leads are concerned but he’s easy to root for and one of the better heroes here.

Uravity does well to help out the whole time. She is a character where I feel like her power level isn’t nearly high enough to justify her inclusion at this point though. She means well and as a character of course I can’t fault her because she’s simply doing her best. It’s not her fault that I feel like the plot armor is strong here. I may disagree with her stance on the Deku part but at the same time in her position I would want him to be around to do my part in the protection. No matter how large the strength gap is, it would be hard to see someone out there risking their life while you’re at school. She needs to watch out with the Toga stuff though, being a little too sympathetic to a mass murderer can be tricky.

Bakugou looks great here as always. He still knows how to get under Deku’s skin which helps during the dark saga and in general he always gets into the action. He helps out a lot in the fight against Shigaraki even if he’s a little outgunned next to Deku there. Bakugou never gives up and just keeps on swinging which is the important part. I love his confidence, that is what will take him far here and it’s why he is still the best hero out of them all. He took what many would say is a fairly average quirk and trained it up with so much creativity and intensity that he is one of the most powerful heroes in the series. Very impressive I gotta say.

Then we have Kaminari whose role isn’t huge but I did really like his first war contribution. He fights a villain who has electric powers and diffuses the guy’s strongest attack like it was nothing. Now that’s an impressive moment and it was a good way for him to swing above his station. It was the perfect matchup. In general I feel like Kaminari usually doesn’t get many opportunities to shine so that was a good one.

The other heroes all do some stuff as well. Of course they are all there to help Deku but beyond that everyone makes contributions. (Well almost everyone) Yaoyorozu gets to help with stopping Gigantomachia and coming up with the sleeping drugs. I’m not really sure about this working to be honest but it was a creative way to fight. If she ever trained a bit more seriously I could see her being a top threat in the series. The ability to make anything that you can picture/know the construction of is crazy. If someone ever shows her how to make a quirk destroying bullet then the villains would be toast. And Yes I don’t think that’s too drastic. The mass murderers have to live quirkless now? Well that’s just too bad isn’t it? Shouldn’t have been murdering people!

Ida gets a primary role in talking to Deku since he’s the school rep so you can expect a lot out of him. His super speed’s also the real deal, it’s why it would have been nice to see him do a little more against the actual villains. He’s one of the few kids who could have done something. Meanwhile Jiro doesn’t do a ton here but she helps to inspire Kaminari during his big moment since he’s thinking about her the whole time. Froppy provides a little assistance to Uravity but she is completely out of her depth here.

Mina doesn’t look amazing here as she freezes up when the going gets tough but fortunately Kirishima is around to help out. He definitely looks good here as he’s already gotten past all of his doubts a while back. Then we have Todoroki who gets a fairly big role when you consider his family drama. Uh oh, here’s another big topic that I could talk about for a while. I’ll keep it brief here, no matter how many times it is revisited, there is no saving Endeavor. The guy was super abusive and while it’s great that he’s turned over a new leaf, I get why the family doesn’t want to forgive him. Frankly I don’t see how I ever could if I was in their position. The show gets props for not trying to soften this up the more it goes. We still see what an absolute menace he was back in the day. Ultimately one kid basically destroyed himself trying to impress him, his wife was left with advanced PTSD and his other sun got a permanent burn on his face. The others remarkably turned out okay as they tried to just get by.

It’s just a lot of trauma though and so even if Endeavor were to die in battle saving the world that doesn’t really change what happened. His family plot gets a lot of screentime in each season but after a point you sort of get it. I’d say we don’t need more flashbacks on this, lets just have his big fight with Dabi…and I’m kinda rooting for Dabi in this one. As the viewer we know that he really has changed but in universe of course there would be no way of really knowing that.

Meanwhile Hawks has to deal with some ghosts of his past as well. As to his big moment of finishing off an opponent, I want to say for the record that it was 100% justified. He wasn’t hunting some random person or doing anything crazy. He was protecting himself and his allies from a super dangerous villain who would murder them all without batting an eye. Yes, it’s an emotional betrayal from the villain’s POV, but again…just don’t be a villain next time. I can never fault a hero for “betraying” the villains after setting them up because the hero’s job is to save lives. This is the best way to accomplish that goal.

Hawks also gave Twice every chance to give up but it’s clear that he wasn’t going to. Some of these villains are willing to die to protect their beliefs and so that becomes the only option available. Hawks is still a great hero that you can count on all the way through. He likely won’t be as helpful with his injuries for a while but he’s done really good overall. All Might is an example of a character who can’t do a whole lot right now. Without his powers, all he’s got are good motivational speeches and those aren’t really working anymore. I don’t think he looks great here. He really could have handled the situation with Deku a lot better particularly since a part of him should understand what Deku is going for. It felt like he was way more out of the loop than he should have been with his half hearted attempts to reach him.

Meanwhile Eraserhead looks good as always. The guy is always a primary target because of how extremely useful his ability is. Without him nerfing Shigaraki for most of the battle, the heroes would have really been doomed. At this point the power creep has long since surpassed him but I always give him credit for hanging in there and continuing to fight anyway. He’s a very brave fighter and definitely a hero that everyone can look up to. His partner Present Mic also gets to do a lot althoguh he’s never as impressive. It’s not his fault though, the quirk just isn’t very strong. Every villain worth his salt is able to shake it off which is not something that you want to see as a hero.

Gran Torino also doesn’t have a big role here. He’s got speed but at this point so does the big villain Shigaraki. Maybe in his prime Torino could have done better but not now. Ryukyu just deserves a shoutout for being around while never doing anything. She’s one of the top 10 heroes but is always super outgunned. I think the problem is that turning into a dragon just makes you a huge target. It’s not nearly as useful an ability as you would initially think. That’s the problem here.

Midnight is around but doesn’t look great here. Still one of the most bizarre ways to go out. I know it’s realistic and all but still not very satisfying at all and I’m still waiting for a retcon on this. Mt Lady looks good, perhaps a bit too good. Her feats don’t seem like they should be enough to stall Gigantomachia for even an instant but power levels aside she looks good. She hangs on through the pain and does her best at all times.

Then you have Best Jeanist. The guy shows up a little late to the party but he makes sure that his presence is felt. He has a good hero’s speech for when he arrives and his ability is pretty handy. It may not be the flashiest one around but he still does good in combat the whole time. Then you have Mirko who is easily the best adult here. She goes through a whole lot but has one of the most savage fights in the series. She was super outnumbered and going up against some of the strongest fighters in the series and yet she never went down. It’s a shame that she had to take so much damage there as she would have been super useful in the climax otherwise.

Mirko’s always ready to fight and has crazy stats though. She’s easily a standout hero and one of the top 10 fighters who completely lived up to the hype. Without her the heroes would have been in a super bad spot. Also one last hero I forgot to mention is Tokoyami who doesn’t do a ton yet but the situation becomes personal to him since Hawks was his mention. You look forward to seeing more out of his shadow since it does have the potential to be one of the top abilities at some point.

Now lets talk about the villains. First up is Garaki who is the evil scientist. The guy is pretty smart but more on the whiny side so I can’t take him super seriously. He’s not exactly a top fighter after all and he is really carried by the Nomu. Of course he helped invent them so props there but he gets outshined by the other villains. Then we have Mr. Compress who gets the smallest role from the League of Villains. He does get one big moment where he really gets to show off his stuff though. So I won’t be forgetting him anytime soon but it would have been cool if he could have fought more.

Since the show mainly ignores Spinner, I’m gonna do the same. Toga is still a very emotional fighter who is super in denial of how evil she is. All of her arguments against the heroes don’t really make any sense and I can’t feel bad for her. She murdered an old lady after all. The heroes just need to take her down at this point. Now Dabi is a very intense villain. The guy’s motives are interesting and his blue fire really stands out. He’s always been one of the most interesting villains in the series. It’s hard to keep him down at any point because he has so much drive. You’d almost think he was one of the heroes with how hard he keeps fighting, no matter what the odds are. Yeah this is definitely someone to keep your eye on.

Destro is unfortunately a villain who really fell down the rankings. The guy used to be so cool all the time and now he is just a shadow of himself. He’s a complete lackey who just takes orders while whining. There is nothing left of his absolute confidence in the slightest. I used to like him a lot but he’s awful now. Meanwhile Gigantomachia feels like he was nerfed a bit. The guy just isn’t causing the level of destruction that he should be considering how much hype he got. I would have liked him to have done a little more but again the problem is that the villains were too powerful. It seems like being nerfed was the only way to keep things close at all for the heroes.

Not a villain but I will mention that Mirio gets a small role that is pretty fun. It’s surprisingly not built up quite as much as you would expect considering what a big character he is. I suppose there just wasn’t time. Speaking of powerhouses though, we had the return of Muscular which was awesome. It was cool to have a rematch with him and Deku. The victor is rather obvious but I always liked this guy and he still makes for a fun antagonist.

Then we have Lady Nagant. She actually thinks she can hang with Deku? Well that may seem like a stretch but the show does its best to make this a real matchup. I think the problem is just that Deku should be wayyyyy faster than her bullets to the point where they should never be able to land. The fight is intense with the animation though and Nagant has a good backstory. She ends up being a super interesting villain and I would definitely want to see more of her at some point. In a lot of ways she would be the ultimate support fighter for any side because of her crazy range. While the hero is distracted all she needs is one shot and then that’s it.

Twice gets a rather huge role here as we learn more about the guy. His origin story isn’t overly traumatic or anything like that but he’s still been through a whole lot. It hasn’t been an easy journey for him at all. The whole situation feels sad for him because it does seem like he can’t do anything right. He’s also someone who could have easily been a hero if he had fallen in with the right crowd. It just goes to show that sometimes the people you hang around with are the ones you take after. It can be difficult to get out of that cycle.

Finally we have the two big villains. All for One has mostly taken a backseat to Shigaraki for now. At least on the battlefield but he is always making plans. He makes for a good mastermind kind of character but he’s the type of figure where it will all depend based on how he does once it’s actually time to get out there and fight. Anything less than a commanding victory will look bad for him. That may sound harsh but that’s just how it goes.

Then we have Shigaraki. He’s one of those villains you don’t feel bad for but to his credit, he isn’t asking for sympathy anyway. He’s basically embraced his villain status at this point and he’s a very intimidating figure. The fact that he can take on so many heroes at once at this point is crazy. He is basically an evil all might and his new design is very memorable. He’s a villain who has consistently gotten better over the seasons and the author has done a good job with him. You look forward to his next battles.

Overall, My Hero Academia continues to execute on a high level. There are a whole lot of characters running around and longer series always have an edge with the payoff here. My Hero has had plenty of time to build up all of the heroes and villains so it’s a lot of fun to see them mixing it up. The season ends with the next big battle very close to starting up as well so you can bet that season 7 will be another winner. This Stars n Stripes hero looks amazing, should be a real good help against the enemies going forward!

Overall 8/10

Dr. Stone Season 3: New World Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at the latest season of Dr Stone. The crew’s really been on a lot of adventures at this point but their story’s certainly not coming to a close just yet. I feel like this season was a bit weaker than the first two though. The cast isn’t really able to hold up their scenes as well as in other big Jump titles so you’re really counting on the story here which is solid. There’s just nobody on Tsukasa’s level quite yet.

In this season Senku and friends get a mysterious message from WHY-MAN. The strangest part is that he sounds a lot like Senku himself. Is it possible that the main character has been the villain all along? Well he’s going to have to get to the bottom of this quickly and so the crew sets off for the next island. Unfortunately it is ruled by the emperor Ibaru, who commands a weapon that can turn people into stone. This may be the biggest clue into what happened to Earth yet, but it is a very formidable weapon to go up against. Not to mention that this guy is also a genius intellect like Senku. Senku will need one of his crew members to step up in order to beat this guy.

The season is mainly all for this arc. There’s a little bit at the beginning and a bit at the end that might not be part of the direct saga but for all intents and purposes this arc is about the island. It’s a bit of a slow start though because at first the heroes just aren’t able to deal with the weapon. So most of them get turned to stone and then they have to prepare a counter attack. While the heroes have some fighters on their team, they also aren’t very confident that they could walk in and dominate the opponents so for the most part they have to rely on run and gun type tactics.

One strategy they have to infiltrate is to have Kohaku and Ginro pretend to be maidens in waiting for Ibara to take onto the island. It’s almost like a fashions how kind of thing where he picks who he wants to be his next bride. Naturally Ginro is annoying about it the whole time but in general I can never support these kinds of plans because the risk is just way too high. At any point the heroes could be stabbed and then it’s all over. Yeah if they’re turned into stone then there’s still a chance but even that is a massive gamble all the way through. So if you ask me, you need to really come up with something a bit better.

I’d say just storming the island would have been your best bet. Moz is tough to be sure but a gun can take care of him. Where it gets a bit tougher is that Senku’s team doesn’t really want to injure anyone. I get not wanting to murder anyone of course but injuring is going a tad bit too far if you ask me. There’s no real way around that, at least if you want to win. Instead the heroes have to use a lot of convoluted plans in order to stand a chance and by the end I’d argue they basically have to rely on luck. That wouldn’t have been a problem if they had just dashed in guns blazing from the jump.

The climax is solid as always though. Once the final battle starts then we get some solid back and forth with Senku and Ibara. A lot of plans and counter plans are put into motion as they face off. I always like a good mental battle and this one definitely takes advantage of both of their high levels of intellect. That’s what I would like to see for more of the season since there’s a whole lot of potential right there. This really isn’t an action show for the most part so there’s not always a lot of time for it but increasing that just a bit would be good.

In general the animation looks pretty solid but they don’t tend to go all out on the fight scenes as much as you would expect. To me this is a very standard looking show. It’s not bad by any stretch and it has some good cuts but it’s not going to stand out. This would look more like a 2013 type of show than something in the 2020s. It feels relatively low budget where it looks just good enough where it’s not missing frames or anything but on the other hand it just doesn’t go as high as you would would want it to be. It puts more pressure on the writing and story.

The soundtrack is okay but more on the forgettable side. The openings are also more on the sub par side. So yes the technicals are not backing the show up at all. The story is still good like I mentioned and the cast is reasonable but they just don’t shine enough to completely carry the story on its shoulders like that. It needs at least some level of backup that just isn’t there right now. That’s the difference between a great show and a good one.

Of course Senku is a good main character as always. He stays focused on the missoin and always has a plan at the ready. He may not be the most athletic person on the island but he makes up for that with his quick wit and resourcefulness. He’s definitely not someone who will quit early on or put in half the effort. He goes full speed ahead at all times and tends to come away with good results.

Kohaku is a solid heroine as well. She still has her fighting spirit and is always ready to jump into action. Unfortunately she is often told to stay back and her abilities do tend to get surpassed when the going gets tough. It would have been nice to have her get some training and then beat Moz later on but again this isn’t exactly that kind of show. She’s always ready to infuse the characters with some confidence though so I appreciate that.

The old crew of Taiju and Yuzuriha don’t have a whole lot to do here. Yuzuriha is still really good at putting the broken people back together again which is really handy and Taiju provides some muscle but he’s too much of a pacifist to really fight. I wish he would go back on that at least just to help the heroes from time to time. Chrome has a big role though and is a true main character as he comes up with some plans of his own and really helps. He’s done a great job of keeping up with Senku and his knowledge is always growing so fast. He definitely has the next generation in a great place to succeed if he can keep this up. I also just enjoy having him around, there’s something to be said for being a genius who’s most emotional the whole time.

Kinro doesn’t have a huge role here although he does get to show off his spear skills a bit. It’s mainly to hype up Moz but at least the guy tries. As always I don’t like Ginro though. He’s always causing trouble, being comic relief and just not manning up when it’s time to fight. The only good moments he gets tends to be ones that are luck based. If it was up to him then he would already be gone and that’s pretty unfortunate. At the end of the day you need to step up at some point and this kind of character tends to always rank very low for me.

Suika isn’t my favorite character but she is always trying to be helpful. You can absolutely count on her at all times to put in her best effort and really try to take down some enemies. I absolutely respect that all the way through. Gen still has his mind games at the ready but as always I feel like more people see through them than not. The guy is the weirdest worf effect user as I don’t think he ever really got to shine before everyone surpassed him. At this point the power creep has really surpassed him and in a non action show that seems pretty weird to say.

Kaseki doesn’t get a ton to do in particular but he’s always around to help. I like that he just gets the job done with no complaining. Magma gets more of a role than you might figure. Yes he is outclassed by the villains in terms of muscle but he gets a gun at one point and he is useufl in slowing one villain down. He’s like the class bully trying to be a good person now so you appreciate the effort even though he always seems outclassed.

Ukyo doesn’t do a ton but he is able to use his super hearing to help in at least two critical situations. So that’s quality over quantity right there. Nikki is generally supportive throughout the operation as well. Yo actually gets a big role with his gun but I wish he could have ended a bit better. He severely lets his guard down at one point in such a sloppy moment that you have to do a double take. No way he should have lost when he had the complete edge the way that he did before. That was a really low moment for him.

As for the latest member of the crew Ryusui, he’s great as always. We finally have a hero who can really compete on Senku’s level with good ideas and being generally helpful. Not only is he a strategic genius but he has true piloting skills. Ryusui became a relevant character right away and is easily one of the standout characters. He’s a guy with a strong personality which enhances any scene that he is in. Yeah that’s definitely the sign of a good character.

I guess if we’re being technical a hero who is even more recent is Soyuz but I never really cared for the guy all that much. He never remembers anything until it’s too late to be helpful and he spends a lot of the time panicking and sweating. He’s not the man you want to have your back because he just doesn’t have the confidence for it. Now lets talk about the villains since there are quite a few of them around.

First up is Oarashi who is basically the strong man. He’s very skilled in close quarters combat which compensates for the fact that he’s not all that smart. He uses his might to make right and well it’s been a winning strategy for him all these years so why not keep it up right? He’s not all that likable but he’s okay. Then you have Kirisame who gets a fairly big role. She is very talented in a fight after all as she keeps up with Kohaku.

She is strong enough to defend herself and seems reasonable but at the end of the day she works for the villains and doesn’t try to change anything. So she is a villain all the way through but a fun one who you look forward to seeing. Moz is the biggest villain here in a lot of ways, at least on the battlefield. His skills are so good that none of the heroes are able to keep up with him. It would have been interesting to see him fight Tsukasa because otherwise I don’t see how anybody could hope to keep up. That said, the guy does like women a bit too much which is a character trait that will always end up holding you back when it counts. So I appreciate his abilities but don’t really care for him.

The same goes for Ibara. I respect how calculating the guy is. He’s a worthy adversary for any fighter but at the end of the day…..nah he’s not that cool. The anime has fun really showing how scary he can be with different shots though. He tends to turn into some kind of a monster which is really intense. The guy absolutely was prepared all of the time and to be fair, only plot armor is what saves the heroes from him. This guy’s plan really was close to full proof.

Finally for two miscellaneous characters, we have Amaryllis as an extra hero. She has to put up with a whole lot by living on the island but she doesn’t complain. She’s in it for the long game to finally take down Ibara. You feel bad for her because she doesn’t have a lot of options but she doesn’t feel bad for herself. Finally there is Hyoga who was a big villain back in the day. He gets some good moments here and easily the best fight. It’s rough when the power creep shows up but he does hold his own for a while which is impressive in itself.

There are more characters but those are the main ones. It’s actually impressive just how huge the main cast is by this point. It’s why the heroes always have to separate because otherwise there are just so many that they wouldn’t all fit on the ship at one time. The cast will only continue to grow from here so we will see who gets left out and who continues to play a big role.

Overall, Dr Stone is a fun show as always. I’m looking forward to the America arc as that was one of the best parts in the manga. You can expect a whole lot of action there and certainly one of the best villains in the series as well. Yeah that definitely makes for a really potent combo for any franchise If you like adventure and some action then you should have a good time with this one. It would be a bit of an odd jumping on point though. And if you’re already a fan then this delivers with more of the same so it should be a full win all the way. In the end we technically didn’t learn much more in this season but you can bet that will change as we get deeper into the story.

Overall 6/10

Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 1 Review

Posted on February 20, 2024 by dreager1

All right folks, it’s time for a classic romance anime. So the question here is, will it be one of those shows that survives in spite of the romance or will it be one with a high quality pairing? Fortunately it’s the latter and this show could teach a lot of it rivals a thing or two. Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura??? Out of the way, this is where quality romantic writing comes into play! The show manages to dodge a lot of the usual tropes and makes sure that the characters are really likable the whole time.

The show follows a girl named Sawako who is really softspoken. She’s fairly timid and doesn’t have any friends but she always tries to make a good impression. Sawako says good morning to everyone but people never really return her greetings and they even have a mean nickname for her: Sadako. Now I should say that for the most part the characters aren’t trying to be jerks, it just comes naturally because they’re super oblivious. But now she has finally made two friends in Ayane and Chizuru, plus the popular guy at school has actually noticed her. Things might be looking up for her but Sawako can’t let her guard down. All she’s ever wanted is a normal life and she won’t let it go!

Sawako hasn’t had the happiest childhood but she’s never let this get her down which I appreciate. Yes, she wasn’t exactly surrounded by friends but she has very supportive parents who were always good to her and she’s a glass half full kind of person. If there is some positive to be found then she will find it. Sawako’s never held a grudge against anyone and is quick to just say sorry and try to make things right. Part of her early character arc in the show is to speak up more to avoid any misunderstandings which is a good mindset to have. After that it’s about sorting out her feelings and being a little more outgoing.

I’d actually say that part’s not really a big change for her because again, she actually did try reaching out to the classmates and it just never worked out for a variety of reasons. Now she is able to do so with more confidence though. Because Sawako never had friends there are a lot of things that do go over head though which is part of the comedy here. She can misinterpret things and doesn’t always recognize an insult but she sticks up for her friends and is the happiest that she’s ever been. So the whole show is pretty wholesome and straight forward which can be a nice change of pace.

The main guy here is Kazahaya and he also surpasses expectations because he doesn’t fall for the usual traps. For example when the main villain Kurumi starts spreading rumors, he doesn’t take any of them seriously. When Sawako suggests putting some distance between them because she doesn’t want the rumors to hurt him, he just says that it’s nonsense. He stands up for her in class and makes sure people don’t go too far with the jokes. His most impressive moment is when Kurumi manipulates the situation so it looks like Sawako is hanging out with another guy and instead of sulking or running home, he just dashes over to her to ask her directly what’s going on.

Kazahaya is a very nice guy but he’s no pushover and is also direct when needed. He even admits on more than one occasion that he’s not the perfect guy Sawako thinks that he is. He’s got a short fuse and gets jealous easily but the fact that he controls himself so well all the time is a testament to his character. He’s a very well fleshed out characters with his own strengths and weaknesses. The guy’s humble but he does really excel the whole time.

Then we have a solid supporting cast here as well. First there is Ayane who is a strong contrast to Sawako. She’s not nearly as innocent in the art of romance and has a ton of real world experience. You can tell this will be a bigger plot point going forward because she doesn’t seem to be as cautious as she ought to be. She goes through a bad breakup in the show and keeps a strong face on but while everyone else is quick to cry or vent about their issues, she never really does. Internalizing is something that never really works out long term but I appreciate that she prioritizes her friends’ happiness so much. She is a good friend that you can count on.

She also really enjoys playing matchmaker so she always gives Sawako and Kazahaya a quick push when needed. Ayane is even the top bodyguard as she figures out Kurumi’s strategies and solidly puts an end to what’s going on. I don’t think the other characters were really prepared to handle this kind of mental warfare and so the situation would have just kept escalating otherwise.

Chizuru is Sawako’s other main friend and she’s a fun character as well. Tactics are not her strong suit but she is super emotional and expressive which always helps the group dynamic. She’s good at breaking the ice and is a very laidback character. She does get her mini arc in this season involving her first crush. Unfortunately for her there was a fairly big age gap and he already liked someone else but she doesn’t take it so well. Unlike Kazahaya and Sawako, she doesn’t communicate with Ryu nearly as well so they get a bunch of the usual misunderstandings.

It would have been annoying as the main pairing but as a side one it’s not quite as bad. As a whole the romance is significantly weaker than the main duo though so for now you hope it just stays as a friendship. After all, what’s better than having a good childhood friend right? It’s not like Ryuu’s ever asked her out or anything so as far as she’s concerned they are just good friends.

It’s why I put more of the pressure on Ryuu here. If you ask me, the person who is in love with the other one should always make the first move. I’d even say it should go both ways, the girl should ask the guy out if she likes him rather than waiting to be noticed which was Kurumi’s issue here. Nothing will happen if you’re just leaving it to destiny or something like that. Ryuu may be nervous about how things will play out but that’s when you have to look at the board and choose carefully. Imagine the worst case scenario and decide if the best case is worth it. Worst case: You lose the best friendship you’ve ever had. Best case: You’ve got a girlfriend now. So it just comes down to what is more worth it but you do have to make a choice at some point.

Ryuu’s whole character personality is that he’s the blunt type so this should be right up his alley. Well, romance dilemmas aside, he’s a solid character. Ryuu’s another nice guy who generally does the right things. He’s just not as outspoken as Kazahaya so he probably won’t be jumping into every situation. He won’t even notice most of them as he can be really oblivious at times.

There are a lot of other classmates running around as well but these are the main ones. One I will give a negative shoutout to is Joe though. He’s the definition of a super desperate guy who wants a girlfriend so badly that he’s always talking about it. Naturally nobody wants to be with him and it makes sense. He needs to have some dignity and then things will be looking up. That doesn’t mean he’s owed a relationship though, if it doesn’t happen then it doesn’t happen but a little more self respect never hurt anybody.

As the main villain of the show, Kurumi does a good job in the role. She pretends to be nice to everyone while secretly talking behind their backs and plotting their downfall. It’s a pretty realistic kind of villain for a school setting and we’ve all seen someone like this in the past. The key indicator is always if somebody gossips with you then you know they gossip about you as well. Kurumi is pretty slick to always be out of the limelight but she didn’t count on someone like Yano being around.

At the end of the day she tries these dirty tricks because she isn’t actually confident enough to ask out Kazahaya herself. There’s nobody to blame here though, it’s a skill issue pure and simple. It’ll take a lot for me to buy her as one of the good guys because she went really far with the rumors that she spread. She caused a lot of damage here and while it’s not surprising that Sawako would let that go really quickly, as a viewer I can’t really fall into the same boat.

Pin is the main teacher in the show and he’s a really fun side character. He’s one of the stronger comic relief characters and of course to put it mildly he is not a responsible grownup figure to root for. This guy is always over the top, putting students on the spot and ramps up the pressure when it’s time for the sport competitions. The reason this works though is every comedy show needs a hyper aggressive kind of character like this. Since he’s an adult he even dodges all of the romance drama although occasionally he will troll the characters a bit.

Yeah this guy’s a blast and the series just wouldn’t be the same without him. Meanwhile you have Sawako’s parents who are nice enough. It would be nice if the Dad was just a bit bolder though. He’s just so meek and constantly crying. It makes him a bit more one dimensional on the comedy scale. The Mom is fun enough though, she’s always around to support Sawako in all of her endeavors.

So we’ve got a pretty solid cast here overall. It’s not too big yet which works out well so you can focus on all of the characters individually. On an animation level the show can be fairly inconsistent. The character models aren’t always very detailed, they tend to change a lot from scene to scene and there are a bunch of moments where you can pause and have a good chuckle. That said, this is a comedy series so you’re not expecting a big budget production. That’s usually more the exception than the norm.

Additionally while I would say the show feels on the lower budget side, it can still have good shots. I think it does a good job with the chibi moments and Sawako has a very distinctive look to her chibi form. The show captures the art style fairly well there. The soundtrack is also fairly low key. I’m not a big fan of the opening but it’s okay. I’ve listened to it a bunch while writing the review and it still just doesn’t pop out at me. There’s a good dramatic theme that plays in the show but it’s basically the only one that I really remember.

So this is one show where the story has to carry it since the technical elements aren’t really doing much on their end. Fortunately the story is up to the task. There’s not much more to say here, it’s a well written show with good pacing and a lot of wholesome moments. I think it’s basically the kind of dream romance everyone thinks of when the subject comes up. It may seem a little too perfect at times but that’s part of the fun. If you want romance with tons of drama then there are countless titles to check out. Sometimes you just want a wholesome romance and this fits the bill. Not to say that there’s never any drama because that certainly comes up but it’s never anything significant or mean spirited. They are the kinds of problems that you could see coming up in real life as well and just talking through them. This show actually understands the power of proper communication.

Overall, I’d recommend checking out Kimi No Todoke. Of course it depends if this is your kind of show and you should be able to tell right away from the opening minutes if it will be. There are no big plot twists here. No sudden saving the world plot or big love triangles going on. It’s very directly a story about a guy and a girl each falling in love for the first time. No rebounds, Neither one of them is a delinquent, they didn’t have a dark childhood, nobody is deathly ill, etc. It’s just a quality romance and these are the reasons why it surpasses most. Sometimes you want to watch a show where everything just works out and the main couple get to share a bunch of great experiences instead of a bunch of traumas. The real test will be to see if future seasons can keep this up or if they will be too tempted to dump a bunch of trauma in.

Overall 7/10

B’T X Neo Review

Posted on February 19, 2024 by dreager1

Kind of like Magia Record, it’s time to check out a sequel that was a lot shorter than the original. It was always going to be interesting to see how Neo fared because there were still a ton of villains left but not a whole lot of time to get to them. I will say that this one can be a little rushed at times with some villains having to go down fast but it’s still a great ride all the way through. It’s another title that is basically action all the way through and that’s always a win.

The sequel picks up right where the last one left off as Teppei and the team are still heading to the villain’s main base. Teppei is there to save his brother Kotaro while the others are going for their own reasons. Fou wants to see if the Empire really is evil, Hokuto is a bit of a wild card but he’s generally there for the same reasons and Ron really wants to make sure that he hasn’t been manipulated. So this isn’t quite a united team just yet but hey at least they’re all heading over. The villains may have lost a lot of generals already but they still have Juggler, the dark generals, and the 8 higher ups. I forget their team name but that’s a lot of fighters for 14 episodes to deal with. Plus the heroes will still have to fight Raphael, the ultimate monster/robotic hybrid creation that the villains have been working on.

One thing I appreciated about Neo is that it did keep up the normal pacing for as long as possible. For example you may figure that Neo has to hit the ground running with all of the villains coming up but it still gives 3 whole episodes to the first fight where Fou deals with his old friend Quattro. It was really important that they take this time because narratively that’s a really big fight. We finally see the full details behind Fou’s backstory and I do have to say that he messed up there. Basically the reason Quattro is so mad at him is because when their mutual friend was dying, Quattro begged Fou to encourage her so they would have a chance at saving her. Instead, he basically just told her that the religion they all followed was fake and there was no real hope. So she died and Quattro holds a grudge there.

Yeah, she probably would have died anyway but Fou didn’t have to say it the way that he did. There is a big difference between being honest and just being unnecessarily brutal when talking to someone. He did the latter and that was too bad. He’s come a long way since then but it’s understandable why Quattro has such a big grudge. Again I disagree with Fou in the present for basically deciding that it’s fine to let Quattro murder him as a way to atone. At the end of the day that’s never the way to do it.

Fou is still one of my favorite characters though even if this was a rough start for him. He protects the kids from the villains and has generally been a great guy since then. He actually learned from his mistakes and I can always appreciate that. Meanwhile Quattro was a really good villain. He still is a bad guy all the way but I always appreciate having a villain with motivations that you can really understand like this. He ended up being really memorable as a result.

As always Teppei is a great main character here. By this sequel he already has a great bond with X so the two aren’t really bickering much anymore. They’re able to fight really well as a team and keep the enemy forces at bay. Teppei still needs to get a little stronger by the end to handle the main threat but he hangs in there until it kicks in. He does remind me a lot of Seiya with his resilience and he always keeps a good attitude up. Meanwhile I also enjoy X a lot and it makes a good difference to have a pair of main characters who are likable like that. He was also there to support Fou when the guy was having a lot of doubts.

Meanwhile Kotaro still gets a big role here but I really wish that he could have gotten some cool abilities to fight with. The smarts is good and all but you feel like he is always destined to be on the sidelines when it counts as a result of not being able to fight. He’s constantly in danger in the underground and just can’t do much about it. He does make some allies there and is crucial to the climax but only as a supporting character. Karen finally gets to actually show up here and while I’d like her role to have been a bit bigger, she’s a lot of fun. We know that in the past she was one of the top fighters and it’s clear that in the present she still is. I would have liked her to have flexed a little more but as it is the franchise was getting ready to end so there’s only so much that can happen at once. Regardless I expect you’ll be pretty happy with her role.

Aramis and Metal Face get a role here as well. I always liked Metal Face as a good underdog kind of character. He was never quite ready to deal with the top tiers and so he takes a lot of Ls in the series but the guy never gives up. I could respect his determination and it made the guy really memorable. Sure he was never a threat but he still got his own character arc and that’s more than you can say for most villains. Aramis also gets a lot to do but I take more shots at her because she lacks determination.

By the end of the first series she already had serious doubts about the Empire and here she is still getting crushed by Misha and the other villains. It would have been good if she could have defected a lot earlier and taken a stand against Raphael. Especially since it turns out that she really is quite skilled as a fighter. I mean she takes on Juggler and actually does great which automatically puts her near the very top of the verse. This is why you should never just mindlessly obey orders. Imagine what she could have been doing this whole time.

Misha is a super annoying villain though because he just seems petty and overconfident the whole time. He’s the kind of character where you could warn him that the heroes are approaching and he would just sit back and eat a sandwich. He doesn’t proactively make moves except to yell at his underlings to take care of things. The guy is no strategist and if he was then I dare say the war would be over. You have to consider just how badly the heroes were outnumbered for the whole series. We’re talking 100-1 and it’s not like the villains are super weak. In season 1, Teppei was having a ton of trouble with the random generals.

Yeah he got a lot stronger since then and is on Fou’s level now but even the top 4 generals are shown to have trouble with some of the other villains. So if you sent everyone right away then the heroes would have definitely been finished. You can’t claim this is just gameplay mechanics since it’s an actual story here. Misha just didn’t take any real steps to stop them which was his big mistake.

Now if you want to talk about a great villain, lets talk about Juggler. This guy absolutely dominated whenever he was on screen to the point where I dare say he set the bar way too high. I was expecting every member of the villain’s elite ranks to be as strong as him but in the end he really outshined them all. Purely in feats and portrayal at least I don’t think anyone came close. When Juggler was introduced he acted as if he could take the heroes group all at once and I believed him. Well, at least I believed that he would make it a great fight which is already crazy impressive. The guy had charisma and was quite the merciless villain. He really leaves a lasting impression on you.

Meimu is probably the next most impressive from the 7 shadow warriors because this guy also gets a few episodes to himself. He’s also not trying to compete with Juggler in terms of physical power. This is one of those guys who uses a lot of shadows and mind games to get into your head. He’s strong and gives Teppei a good run for his money. By this point in the show you do have to get a little worried though because we’re already halfway through and that’s only taking care of 2 out of the 7 shadow warriors. I still say it’s a positive that the show took its time in the first half to give the characters their time to shine but yeah it does hurt the other villains a bit.

Even the heroes to an extent. So for example Fou got a lot to do but what about Ron? Even in the first series Ron got to appear the least since he was the last member. Well, here he does get more action. For example he’s the first one to reach the villain’s base and start fighting since he went on ahead. He looks good in the action against the random minions but against the named fighters he can’t do as much. Again I think the problem here is that he just didn’t have enough time. Ideally you would want him to beat a few generals before pairing him up with Raphael where he would lose to show just how powerful the final boss was. That’s not exactly how it plays out since things are sped up but I still did like Ron as the gruff team member. He could have been even better but I’ll still give him his props. It is at least hinted that he is the strongest of the 4 generals in pure combat power.

Hokuto is probably the most bland member of the 4 and it’s more of a by default I suppose. The guy is a super genius and his B’t is a defensive type which means that he isn’t running in and dealing a bunch of damage. That’s not really the way that he fights. Thing is, we already have Kotaro as the genius character which eats into Hokuto’s hype a bit. There’s just not a ton of room for two characters with similar personalities even though Hokuto could actually fight. Also the two don’t really get to interact much and I think that’s where the show could have had some interesting moments. Hokuto even gets his own origin story later on but it’s so late in the game that it feels too late.

When it comes to the climax of the series, I will say that it doesn’t quite beat a lot of the top battles here. For example, the battles with Quattro and Juggler were more fun. The real problem here is that Raphael is too huge. The villain is absolutely massive and while he can put up a fight as a super durable tank, there’s not much more to him than that. He’s practically mindless for most of the battle and the fight really revolves around the heroes attacking, he tanks it. Then he attacks and they dodge, rinse and repeat. It’s why it can’t touch the more intense close quarters battles.

The soundtrack is pretty good here. There are a lot of fun tunes and they fit the sci-fi genre fairly well. The action themes are tense and the adventure themes are fast paced. A lot of good effort was put in here and the animation is also pretty smooth. I wouldn’t say it’s absolutely top tier or anything like that but the choreography is good and it’s always easy to follow along with what’s going on.

In general I liked the series aesthetic. It could have easily fallen into the bland desert trope but instead this actually feels like an alternate planet where everything is just a bit different. The world is still high tech even if they don’t always show that part off. I also still like the idea of the villain base being divided into a ton of squares that serve as territories and each one is guarded by a villain. It’s why this series could have gone even longer so we could have had more bosses. The show was smart to never show us a map though so you couldn’t tell how close the heroes were until they actually made it to the base. I think we could have gotten more of a reason why the B’ts don’t work in Misha’s room though. It felt like a cheesy way to try and make him a slight threat near the end.

Overall, If you liked B’t X then you will definitely like B’t X Neo. It continues the saga seamlessly with a ton of fights and a satisfying ending. The animation here is solid and in the end there’s just nothing to really dislike here. It’d be cool to see this one get a modern remake or another sequel at some point. We sort of jumped right into the world ending stuff here so there wasn’t a lot of time to explore the world and I feel like there is a ton of latent potential there. I still remember how the first episode of B’t X started out fast with those robot assassins. Realistically it feels like this is a franchise that has been forgotten but you can never say never.

Overall 8/10

Magia Record Season 3: Dawn of a Shallow Dream Review

Posted on February 19, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time for the end to the Magia Record saga! Season 2 was top tier elite and could easily hold its own with even the main title. I was super impressed and the big question was if season 3 could match it. Well, the season is a lot shorter so season 2’s definitely got the win but it’s still an elite ending. I will just say the way that the old characters were written out was extremely lazy. Did they not realize that more enemies were still around? Leaving just felt odd and it’s the only reason the villains last as long as they did.

So Iroha has to continue going to the enemy base to put a stop to the evil magical girls once and for all. She has to rescue her friends and find out why they went down such a dark path. Along the way we finally see the villains motivation for why they are doing this in the first place and the first episode is a good way of seeing things from their point of view. With any villain that is the make or break point. Will the backstory make you feel sympathetic or will it just be forced and you’re laughing all the way?

With a title as good as Magia Record it’s not surprising that the backstory is pretty good though. Touka is probably the most sympathetic because she was kept in the dark the whole time on exactly what was going on. Her memories weren’t complete and so she was fighting to save the day but without knowing the risks and a certain important figure regarding who the witch was. Ultimately I do think she would have chosen to keep fighting though so Nemu definitely should have confided in her. Touka is super forgiving so it works out but that could have definitely been a friendship ender.

Nemu is a little full of herself which holds her back next to the other villains. At the end of the day as the big mastermind I have to put most of this on her. She may be trying to save everyone in the end by stopping the cycle of witches but after a point when you’re murdering so many people, you’re just not being the hero you thought you were. I get the argument of slaughtering a few hundred to save untold billions because in a logical sense it makes sense but it’s hard to ever get behind that idea even if you were to think it had a 100% success rate.

Because I should say right now that I still think the plan was going to fail. The whole plan revolves around using their super witch to defeat Walpurgisnacht but the problem with this? It never looks like it even has a shot of pulling that off. Walpurgisnacht is known as the ultimate witch with unlimited power for good reason. It took Homura hundreds and hundreds of tries to even get close at beating it and even then she wasn’t ready to deal with this threat in the end. This witch may be strong as well but the heroes are able to land some damage so I don’t think it is durable enough to survive the onslaught or powerful enough to really resist. No matter how you slice it Walpurgisnacht is not going to lose to any other witch no matter how powered up it gets.

So with the plan being a bust, it means that the villains really don’t have a leg to stand on for their defense. They should have found another way or brought Iroha into the fold earlier to try and help. That way she could have talked them out of it. So the whole story is pretty emotional here as they go for a good redemption arc and how these girls were trying to help make things better but in the end they made things so much tougher on everyone that it just isn’t good enough as an excuse.

One character you do feel bad for is Kuroe though. She was mainly roped into situations that were just too big for her. She does deserve a level of blame for choosing the villains over the heroes but even when she was ready to come back, her inner darkness was too powerful by that point. For a while there she was really a villain completely against her will so I’ll naturally be a lot more sympathetic to her plight at that point.

Of course this season only has 4 episodes so with using a full one on the villains, we have to hit the ground running on the others. The whole season is like one big climax though so it works out well. The animation is still absolutely stellar here and we get some pretty cool combo attacks. It will be cool if they can keep this unity feature in for the main series as well. I always like the idea of merging energy into a big super attack. Also with the animation budget as high as it is, the new characters even feel stronger than the old ones at times.

By the end of the series I don’t feel like it really addressed why the new characters are able to use their witch hybrid forms the way that they do though. This still feels like a new concept that just wasn’t a thing the first time around. I can write it off as this timeline being slightly different so it’s possible but it’s a bit weak. So retroactively if you have Homura and friends using witch moves in the next movie/season that could change things but for now it’s a bit odd. Still makes for really great fights though.

It’s a bit lazy that season 3 doesn’t have its own opening though. It makes this really feel more like season 2.5. Even if it was a low budget, rushed last second kind of opening I would have liked to have had something new here. It would have helped the season stand out more. I think the best way to look at this one is like a movie to be honest since it really fits in with the runtime that way. Of course the fact that it’s basically all nonstop action is part of why the series tracks so high. Opening aside, I did enjoy the soundtrack a lot. A lot of very grand themes are playing the whole time.

One last thing I’d say is the third season is short enough where a lot of characters don’t get a big role this time around. Yachiyo for example has been a huge character throughout the series but takes a big step back to Iroha this time around. She does help a lot during the climax in one of those cool combo attacks I was talking about but for the most part isn’t a focus this time. As for the rest of the friend group, you can really forget about them. They help a bit in the background here and there but that’s about it. I’d say it’s a good idea though given the length. if the season was longer then I would want them around but with 4 episodes you get that not everything can happen at once. You do get to see them try to stall the final witch so that’s enough of a role.

I would have liked my favorite villain to have done more. I still remember her having that amazing cliffhanger in season 1 were she revealed that the plan was to fight Walpurgisnacht and she has an interesting ability where she can use paint to create huge barriers and amp up the villains but she doesn’t get a true 1 v 1 fight the way that most of the other characters did. I feel like she would probably end up being one of the top fighters but we never got to really see that for sure.

While you could be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of info drops and characters running around here, it is impressive how the show ties everything together. Don’t forget that the show started off as part mystery on why nobody remembers Iroha’s little sister who used to be in the hospital with the other girls who turned evil. The natural assumption is that she was the price for one of the magical girls since there is always a cost that you have to pay but then you need to figure out who would have made that the cost. This season finally wraps up that mystery along with the mini Kyubei.

The very ending I would say is still a bit ambiguous on where this takes place in the timeline though. Of course you know my theory from the start is that this is a failed timeline, one of many where Homura could not save Madoka and so it doesn’t exist anymore. I still stand by that one but it would have been nice if the show had went into this with a bit more detail. Whether as a yes or a no I’d have been curious there.

Overall, This was a great end to the Magia Record series. I’m ready for the main cast to return but these characters really held their own rather well. I was impressed at how high quality the title was all the way back from season 2 and season 3 really kept up the momentum all the way. I would highly recommend checking this show out. You probably want to at least watch season 2 for context though. The quality writing and messages work well even without context but you won’t get the full impact. You wouldn’t have seen the struggles they all went through after all. This is Madoka of course so there is plenty of tragedy just in this season of course. The heroes can never catch a break.

Overall 9/10

Spy X Family Season 2 Review

Posted on February 18, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a pretty fun set of adventures with the Forger family. Season 2 adapts what I consider to still be the best arc in the manga so it’s going to be hard to beat this one. For the most part I would say the season is fairly low stakes aside from that adventure but it’s a really hype one to throw into the season. In general we don’t get to see as much of Yor at her job compared to Loid so it’s fun to see some action there. The show goes by really quickly at 12 episodes long.

Since most of the episodes are one shots, I’ll just go through them as I review the season. Real quick in case you don’t know the basic story of the show, here’s a recap. Loid is a professional spy with no equal and Yor is the world’s greatest assassin. Loid’s latest mission is to get closer to the Desmond family and find out what they are up to and for that reason he needed a family with a kid to infiltrate the school. So he adopted a kid named Anya (Who can secretly read minds) and married Yor (Who found this marriage to be convenient as her cover as well). They even got a dog (Who can see the future) and as they all live together they’ve quickly become a real family although Loid and Yor can be hesitant to admit this even in their thoughts.

You can see how this will play out on a large scale so for now the fun is in seeing how long they can keep the pretenses up before one of them gives away the secret. The first episode has Yor getting poisoned after one of her missions and so she’s working through it but the problem is that Loid’s taking her on a date to get her spirits up. Now she has to try and get through this adventure without him suspecting anything but since she can’t even sit, it won’t be easy. When you stop and think about it, most dates involve sitting at some point whether it be for watching a movie or eating. So as you can bet there are a lot of shenanigans going on here.

It’s a fun way to start the season off and you get to have a lot of Loid and Yor interactions which is always nice. It underscores how difficult it is to live this double life as well. It would be easy if they knew each other’s secrets after all and until the secret is revealed eventually in a last season or something, these misunderstandings will just continue to occur. Anya even gets to contribute a little here so she wasn’t left out of the premiere or anything like that.

The second episode is a bit on the weaker side and as you will quickly notice, the best episodes are the ones about Loid and Yor or at least one of them. When it’s about the side characters then it doesn’t stand quite as tall. This episode has two main segments. One is about poor Bond (The dog) seeing a future where Yor’s cooking takes him down so he has to find Loid and fast. Along the way he gets to help out on a mission which is fun enough but I feel like the dynamic with Bond can’t have as much variety almost by definition since he can’t talk. The other half is about Damian who has been working too hard. To take his mind off of studying, he is taken to the lake to fish and get to act like a kid for once.

Damian’s not awful or anything but you don’t really care much about these kids so the whole time you’re just waiting for one of the main characters to return. At least for me that’s my primary thought the whole time because they’re the ones who really get the plot going. The first segment with Bond had some action though so I’ll give it some props there. In general the show does a good job of moving quickly and the technical aspects like animation are always solid so it goes by quickly enough. Side characters are just side characters for a reason.

In episode 3 we get a Yuri segment which is always fun. We get to see him taking down a spy who was smuggling photos. The guy is very good at his job and while he is way too obsessed with Yor, he definitely cares about family a lot. That theme naturally ties into the case as well. There are also two mini segments involving Anya but those are on the weaker side. Anya oversleeps and then she gets the wrong message from the Bondman show. Actually, saying it’s the wrong message isn’t quite accurate, I’d say the show itself is just a bit busted. Yor definitely carried this episode.

In episode 4 we get to see Franky being desperate and making a fool of himself as always. Look, if you’re only extra nice to someone because you’re hoping to ask her out then you shouldn’t bother. That’s not being authentic in the slightest and so you’re rooting for Franky to fail. The other segment was a bit more fun with the kids fighting over snacks. We get to see Damian trying to be a nice guy in the end. Despite the tough talk, he does let Anya win when it counts so that speaks well to his character. Franky brings this one down but the first short is solid so it’s still able to tread water.

Episodes 5-9 are about the Yor arc and from the size alone you can tell that this is the big one. Yor is given a top priority mission to protect a lady and her baby while on a cruise. She needs to get her safely off the ship near the end of the voyage but the problem is that the information leaked an the cruise is packed with assassins of varying skill levels. Additionally, Anya actually won a raffle to the ship so she and Loid are going to be aboard. Yor’s cover involves a business deal so they can technically see her but she can’t afford to get distracted and if they see her fighting then it can be all over. Will she be able to save the day?

There are a lot of reasons why this arc is so good. For starters we’re back to the high stakes here. Each of these assassins are actively trying to murder her. This is not fun and games and we see how she mercilessly takes care of them as well. We usually see the more clumsy/happy side of Yor but she’s all business when it comes time for the fights. It’s also not a walk in the park and the various assassins get to really show off their techniques. This feels like a battle Shonen for a while there and the animation did good here. I liked the effects for the electricity and in general all of the hand to hand moves were good.

Since we had several episodes to the arc, there’s time for some good cliffhangers as well. As always Loid and Anya do get a bit of a role so they aren’t totally written out. Loid gets to diffuse some bombs and Anya helps with one of the weapons but for the most part this is Yor’s show and that’s good. Up until this point Loid has had his share of action and Anya is always around but this is the first full mission we’ve had for Yor. I hope we get more of them someday but I will be satisfied with this for now. It absolutely elevates season 2 as a whole and has a ton of replay value.

After that episode 10 is partially an epilogue of sorts as the family finally reunites and Anya gets to brag about the trip a whole lot. Leave it to Anya to get herself into trouble since nobody’s gonna believe that. I’ll cut her some slack since she is a kid and I could absolutely see a kid doing that…but it’s why she can’t really keep up with Loid and Yor yet. Once they all know each other’s secrets, hopefully they can teach her how to fight and be more ready in the field. It’s a low key episode but one that puts on the finishing touches to the arc rather well.

Episode 11 is really about how charming Loid is and how the ladies can’t stay away from him. The first half is about how Becky has a secret crush on him. It’s too bad because she’s otherwise a high quality character but I guess everyone has their weakness. Obviously she’s just a little kid so the whole thing is more of a joke to the other characters. Yor is nice about it and Loid does his best to just excuse himself. I assume this will be a very rare kind of running gag as Becky should get over him quickly. The second half is about Fiona who is still trying for Loid and she’s way more desperate since she’s a full adult pining after someone who is married. You know how I feel about rebounds so I can’t root for her in the slightest.

She just needs to focus on her missions and stop trying to sabotage Loid. If she has a crush on him that’s fine as long as she tries to get over him but she’s gotta keep that to herself. You just can’t let anyone find out and you gotta bury those feelings. When you try to fight for someone who’s already taken…well that’s just sad. The episode is entertaining enough but not the most exciting to be honest. I wouldn’t want Becky or Fiona to be main characters for too many segments.

Finally we end the season with a Bond adventure which was an odd pick. I feel like this didn’t make a whole lot of sense for the final episode. Basically Loid tries to train him some more but different events keep happening where Bond has to save someone to avert a bad future. The problem? By averting the future, it never happened so to Loid it just looks like Bond is going crazy. That’s definitely the worst part about seeing the future since you can’t really prove it or anything. Still, props to Bond for trying his best and hanging in there the whole time. By the end he does perform a rescue good enough that Loid does notice it.

So it’s a wholesome episode but I would have picked a story that focuses on all 3 of the characters a bit more. Well, either way that wraps up season 2 and it was a fun set of adventures. 12 episode titles like this sure do fly by very quickly. The Yor saga carries the season but even without it, this would still be a quality slice of life title. The Yor saga just adds on the action genre which to me is always important and stacks the deck against season 3 because it’ll be tough to top this one now.

As mentioned earlier, the animation is definitely solid here. It’s all very streamlined and while the animators don’t get to show off too often, it’s clear that a lot of hard work went into this one. The soundtrack isn’t as memorable though. The opening song is fairly catchy though and special shoutout to the opening’s animation because it really went crazy there. I like how fast everything was moving and nowadays there are enough openings of people just stretching or jumping up and down that getting so much full movement is really appreciated. I’m betting the frames in that opening are about as much as the average episode with how much was going on.

Part of what makes the show work is that the character cast is good. A slice of life is only as good as the characters and their interactions after all right? Loid and Yor are solid as I mentioned. They’re both hard workers and they really care about their family and being nice people in general. Anya may be immature but she still tries and has some entertaining moments. Franky and Bond admittedly don’t help much but the characters can’t all be winners. Yuri is entertaining and adds some danger to the group dynamic while Becky is the only kid who actually seems mature and loyal in the kids group. Damian may be nice when it counts but he’s still not someone who helps you out in the day to day. The cast is actually rather large when you think about it.

Overall, Spy X Family continues strong with season 2. As a whole I think I’d give the edge to season 1 for more consistently high quality stories but none of them individually touch the Yor boat fights. I really hope the series goes down the action route more in the future because it’s clear that there is a ton of potential there. The main characters can all fight after all so the natural outcome should be to get these battles in there right? Maybe make it so that the Desmond family has a ton of powerful bodyguards on retainer or something. Either way this is a solid show that I can recommend to everyone as a safe product for fans of slice of life or action.

Overall 7/10

The Orbital Children Review

Posted on February 6, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at a quick miniseries. This one originally came out as movies but on Netflix it’s a full TV show so that’s how we’re gonna approach this one. Sci-fi titles are always pretty fun so I was ready for a good time here. The characters are mainly all kids here and it’s played more realistic so don’t expect massive fight scenes or anything but it’s solid enough. The kids are more bearable than I’ve seen them be in other titles so that worked out well enough for me.

In the future space travel has become more normal. In fact it’s so normal that there was a whole generation of people who was born in outer space and are used to living up in a spaceship their whole life. Touya is one of these people and he is one of the last kids like this. The governments of the world have vowed to bring everyone back to Earth because the experiments didn’t work very well. The chips that were planted inside of the kids to allow them to survive have backfired which is why most of them are dead. Touya and another girl in space will be dead soon if nothing changes.

Partially because of this, Touya holds a lot of resentment and doesn’t want to go to Earth. He has become an internet sensation for how rude he is and how fascinated people are at his lifestyle. The guy is a top tier hacker and people enjoy watching him but at the same time this is a big cost to the governments who basically have to keep a lot of systems and supplies ongoing to space basically for a handful of people. One day another tour group of kids is sent up to the space station to talk with Touya and the staff but they are all rocked by space debris. The systems are going offline and the heroes are effectively trapped in space. Can they find a way to get this ship back to Earth? Also…there is a terrorist among the group.

There’s a lot going on here and some may describe the plot slightly differently but I’d say this is effectively what’s going on here. The show is still more of a slice of life than a drama to me even with the stakes though. While the danger ramps up as the show goes on, a good chunk of it is really about the kids talking and gradually getting to understand each other. Touya really wasn’t giving any of them a fair shake at all for a while there but when you’re all trapped in a life or death situation it really gives you a chance to talk things out.

The animation’s good although it’s not great or anything. This isn’t really the kind of show that is trying to show off its animation anyway though so that makes sense. You’re just getting a chance to see the characters interact and some nice space backgrounds. There is one fight between two of the A.I.s that was pretty fun though as they were zooming around the place. It’s the closest thing we get to a big fight scene here. There is one lady who has a gun but you’re not really expecting her to shoot a bunch of kids right? That could have gotten dark quickly but it is the biggest moment of plot armor in the series. There’s no way she should have lost at that point to be honest. The show does excel on its big still shots showing off the different colors and tech though. I do think they went all out there.

There’s not much in the way of fanservice or violence here so I would say it’s a pretty safe series overall. It feels like a title that would be very accessible even to someone who doesn’t watch a lot of anime since the themes are pretty general and it’s not diving too hard into the sci-fi terms. There is some explaining on the microchips and all but it’s nothing too complicated that would throw you for a loop.

As the main character Touya is a solid figure who is able to hold the show. His rudeness helps to set him apart from the other characters and his hacking skills are legitimate. Without him the others would have definitely been dead many times. I also think that his goal makes a whole lot of sense even though it was risky. Basically he wants to revive the ultimate A.I. that went crazy and got taken offline a while back. The reason for it is that the implants that were put into the kids were so advanced that humanity doesn’t know how to fix them. They were created by the A.I. and of course only that A.I. would have a chance at knowing what to do about them.

The risk though is that the A.I. could end the planet or do something drastic. It was operating on levels that humanity could barely even understand which is why they had to pull the plug. Part of the debate though is that the A.I.”failed” in a sense with the implants. Yes it extended the kids’ lives since they would have already been long dead anyway but even if you brought the A.I. back, would it do any better this time? It’s really all a toss up, a gamble if you will. For most people the gamble is absolutely not worth it since if you succeed you only have a chance to save two lives while you put humanity at stake. Touya’s best friend Konoha is the other kid who is dying though so he can’t stop.

I was with Team Touya all the way. Meanwhile Konoha is a nice enough character. She certainly doesn’t want to die but isn’t really fighting as hard as Touya. She’s taking more of a “What will be, will be” approach of just waiting. It’s not a task that just anyone could do though so it’s not like she has a whole lot of say on this. Then there is Taiyo who is sort of like a rival to Touya. This guy is also a hacker but he works for the law and so he does everything legally. This puts him at odds with Touya who is expressly doing illegal things the whole time. My main problem with Taiyo is his priorities.

Even when everyone is danger or the heroes are plummeting to their doom, he insists on arresting Touya. This guy is just way too obsessed and it takes him a really long time to realize that. By the end he’s okay but the guy was a thorn in the heroes’ side for a while. Mina is another online sensation but not on the level of Touya. She has a lot of fun with her streams but has the most annoying catchphrase in the series by far. She starts all of her streams by saying her name 3-4 times and it just feels like an eternity even though it’s only a second or two. She’s really a decent character otherwise but that gimmick alone really hurts her quite a bit.

Hiroshi is one of the youngest kids here and so the guy feels out of his depth the whole time. Being smart is technically his thing but at the same time it just doesn’t come in handy as often as you would expect. Touya and Taiyo are the hackers here so that doesn’t leave as much room for general intelligence. Then we have Nasa who has the biggest role out of all of the adults. She’s easily one of the standout characters here the whole time. She is very dedicated to her goals and puts up with a whole lot.

I’d argue that she is one of the most tragic characters in the series with how much she had to sacrifice to be here. Ultimately she seems like a good person who just disagrees with the others. Of course by the end of this you may feel that is giving her a bit too much credit but I feel like she earns it. From her position, the actions make a lot of sense and you could tell that she cares about everyone.

There are a few other supporting characters in here like the other adults but for the most part they’re just helpless the whole time. Nasa could handle herself well but the other adults would have to just give advice and hope for the best. The kids really outshined them here. There’s a quirky old guy in an alien bunny type suit who helps out a bit but I feel like he barely even needed to be in the show. The A.I.’s owned by the two hackers were pretty fun though.

I would have liked to have seen more footage of the people on Earth talking things over though. Like the budget of having to keep Touya alive with the space station. It sounds like for once the government wasn’t corrupt here as they were helping out a whole lot so it’d be nice to get some screen time of that. I’d also have enjoyed a flashback with the super A.I. It’s a massive plot point after all but we technically don’t get to see a whole lot of it. The poem it left as a cryptic riddle is also a fun plot point but one that is really left up to a lot of interpretation. In the series different groups have different ideas on it and that makes sense. With something so vague you can interpret it in 100 different ways so whichever way fits your goals the most is the one that will win. Because we follow the kids we don’t focus on the thriller aspects quite as much but there is a lot going on in the background.

Overall, The Orbital Children is a fun miniseries. It’s not going to be terribly exciting even with the occasional explosion because it’s not really going for that vibe. I’d still say it’s more about the character development or a type of coming of age story. Either way it should keep you engaged all the way through even if there may not be a ton of replay value this time around. You could probably make a sequel if you wanted to but this is the kind of story with no real loose ends so it would be a sequel just to have one. I don’t really have a problem with that though.

Overall 6/10

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Review

Posted on January 30, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time to talk about the legendary Shibuya arc! Well this season covers more than just that but it is the big deal that people had been hyping up for years. You’ll have seen people throwing around the case that it is the best are in Shonen Jump history. That’s pretty bold words and Hueco Mundo would have a word with that but the arc was absolutely epic and the anime does it full justice. This is a season 2 that does end up defeating the first and I dare say that it is the absolute peak of Kaisen. Unless a certain fight ends up being a movie, I don’t see any single product beating season 2. This had too many highlights.

The show is really split up into two arcs. You have the Hidden Inventory saga which deals with Gojo’s past and then the Shibuya saga. I’ll talk about each one. The first arc is fairly short. Gojo and Geto are tasked with protecting a young girl because she is destined to be the vessel for Tengen. This does mean that she will ultimately lose her sense of self and so the heroes are reluctant about this mission. Additionally, assassins from various groups around the world are intent on taking her life. Usually there would be nothing to worry about with Gojo on the case, but the world’s most dangerous man, Toji is also around.

This was a pretty fun way to start the show. Fun may be an interesting term because the arc has quite the dark end but before that you could say that in a lot of ways it’s the most cheerful that the show will ever get. You actually see the characters having fun at the beach, playing basketball and just having a good time. It can’t last of course but it was a fun change of pace. Right away the show is able to show off the animation although I’ll get into that more later on. It’s just a really fun arc with some good fights in it. It’s got a good amount of replay value as well.

Then we jump into Shibuya and in a lot of ways you could say that the arc is just a bunch of nonstop fights. Right away you have Yuji thrown into multiple encounters and of course Gojo is dealing out some damage. Basically every relevant character in the series up until this point gets some kind of fight and it’s the big culmination of everything the show was setting up. In some ways it feels like a final arc and we just got it early. Due to how Jujutsu Kaisen is, you also don’t necessarily know which characters are safe and which aren’t which definitely amps up the danger. I’d argue that there are a number of fights here where you really don’t know who will win.

The anime also extends some fights like Mahoraga vs Sukuna which was an excellent move. I’ll always approve of making a fight longer, particularly when it’s two strong fighters going at it. It makes absolute sense that this would be a really long fight. Now’s a good time to talk about the animation in general, it is absolutely top tier. Some of Mappa’s finest work and it will hang in there with any other top tier anime title. Yuji vs Choso and Sukuna vs Mahoraga are my two personal favorite fights in terms of animation but Gojo vs Toji and Yuji vs Mahito are right under those.

Few anime can boast of having 1 fight of this caliber, let alone 4. I still enjoy season 1’s animation a whole lot and haven’t turned on it like many, but I will acknowledge that season 2 definitely wins. 1 I would say had the better artstyle but in pure animation this just can’t be stopped. When it clicks, it really ends up clicking. Gojo’s abilities really shine here and a fancy fight like Jogo vs Sukuna couldn’t stand out in quite the same way without all of the bright animations. It just wouldn’t be as hype and this arc deserved all of the hype that it could get.

The soundtrack is also top tier and in this area it does obliterate season 1. Again the first season had a great ost but this one is top 10 of all time good. It’s up there with Digimon Data Squad and Yugioh GX. There are so many different battle themes, remixes, epic themes, etc. The ost is so large and there are so many different battle themes within it. That’s the most impressive part for me because plenty of shows have a big ost but many fill it with slice of life themes and such while this one is mainly all action.

The show keeps up the nonstop action at all times and the plot is super engaging. Kaisen has really earned its reputation of being around the top. I’d also like to note that it is still really good about avoiding fanservice as well. I won’t say that it’s nonexistent, but it’s borderline nonexistent. It doesn’t fall into that trap and the writing is all on point. So this is solid on all areas. Now with this much intensity you can probably imagine that there are some slight issues.

We get a metaphor type scene where we see Wolves chasing a rabbit and it ends up breaking its foot while the others are about to get eaten. It’s 100% unnecessary and while it is fairly tame animal violence next to other titles, it’s a tad bit annoying. The show doesn’t hold back with the violence either. Most of it is in a full combat context so it doesn’t really matter much. In the fights I’d say it doesn’t go too far but when the civilians get roped in it can be a bit much. Get ready for tons and tons and tons of civilian deaths which all tend to be rather brutal. They seriously could not catch a break here. It’s part of the villains’ plan to be sure but you should expect a lot of violence here. Not enough where we enter Attack on Titan level or anything but enough for it to be fairly noticeable.

I had a slight power levels issue on the occasional fight that wasn’t given a big budget. Most noticeably in Nobara’s fight against one of the weakest villains in the series. The anime didn’t do a good job of making me believe that she would have any trouble here. She was just moving so slow that it didn’t make sense and came across like a rookie. I would blame this more on the animation than the writing because if you just had her move quicker or the villain attack faster then it wouldn’t be a problem. It’s a rare instance though.

Okay now let talk about the characters. First off is Yuji who is certainly put through the wringer here. He isn’t always able to stay strong among the events going on here but I give him credit for fighting through as much of it as possible. Things really don’t go his way and he is always put in impossible situation. The guy’s toughness keeps him going in fights but he is often outmatched. He has to go up against guys like Choso and Geto here who are considerably out of his league. Even Mahito would have been way too much for him one on one. Yuji is painfully aware of the fact that he’s not the strongest but he still goes out there and fights.

He may not stand out as much as some other leads but overall I do think he is a very good character. The final scene of the show implies that he’s got a new power depending how you interpret it but either way he’s going to need a whole lot for the next arc. His rival Megumi’s role may be a bit smaller but he still gets his share of fights. I really liked his team up with Yuji against the old man. It’s an underrated fight and it’s always great to see the duo team up. In most Shonens you have to savor the moment because the lead and rival won’t team up often. It’s also a fun fight because you don’t necessarily know who will win. The villain could claim victory since it’s not the most important fight after all.

Megumi does look good the whole time though and is willing to sacrifice himself to win. That always takes a lot of guts. Nobara absolutely gets the short end of the stick here though. She talks a whole lot of smack and does her best to contribute but the show presents her as being massively weaker than the main two to the point where she is an active hinderance at times. She lets her guard down and can’t react to the situation very quickly. I give her points for effort and I always like her personality but this was really not a great season for her.

Nanami meanwhile has a small role but really makes the most of it. He really is portrayed as a really mature fighter the whole time. He knows his limits and makes the most of his abilities to deal damage. It’s like someone with a skill level of 70 but using it to the max vs someone with 100 who keeps fluctuating. The fact that he was able to tank some attacks from Dagon was impressive and he did beat his share of monsters. I’ll always enjoy Nanami as a character, he’s a fun mentor.

Mei Mei and Ui Ui are more on the annoying side. The less said about them the better. They make for a good duo and can fight but never seem to contribute all that much. The last scene absolutely kills them as characters though. There’s an obvious angle that makes them look bad but also just running off is the worst. It means they have no internal fortitude and I wouldn’t trust them at all to have my back. The series has always been presented as a hyper realistic one and yeah you can picture that some people would do this. Doesn’t make them any more sympathetic or likable though.

Maki’s role isn’t particularly big here and like Nobara she doesn’t look great. She basically spends the season being outshadowed by everyone and not really being able to do much of anything. She desperately needs a power up. Outside of Todo, this was basically the fate of every sorcerer from the rival school as well. When Mechamaru was saying how they had almost no shot of surviving, you absolutely believe him because they’re so weak. Mechamaru at least looks powerful. Does he look good? No, because I lost a ton of respect for him based on something he does near the beginning of the season. Way I see it you can’t really come back from that. So I appreciate his power but I don’t like the guy. I’d also argue that he didn’t play the situation very smart at all. He put himself in a position where there was no way he could ever come out on top.

Then we have Riko from the early arc and she’s a good character. She risks a lot in the adventure and ultimately steals herself for what is to come. She should value her life more if you ask me but I understand that she wants to do what she feels is right. So I disagree with her choices but I wouldn’t lose respect for that. Would be nice if she could fight though.

Finally we have Gojo. The strongest sorcerer in history and he lives up to the title here. Every scene with him is the guy either unlocking a new power, or applying a new use to an existing one. It takes everything the villains have to try and create an opening even for a fraction of a second. I would argue that Gojo’s only mistake here is playing with his food. He tends to take too long to take decisive action even though narratively he does move right away. To an extent when you deal with a character this powerful, there will never be a way to resolve things in a way that doesn’t have some power level issues.

So I can see why you would want to get him out of the way because every second he is on screen is another second where the heroes have such a massive edge over the villains that you wonder how they could ever hope to make a comeback. He’s just way too powerful in every sense of the word. He is an awesome character even minus that though. Easily the best in the series and nobody’s ever passing him. He has a lot of style and is also a very practical character. If he needs to destroy his opponent to win then he will do just that. He mainly avoids it but when the stakes are high enough what can you do right?

All right, time for the villains. First just a quick shoutout to the Grasshopper. I really liked him as a villain, he may not be the most powerful villain but he has personality. He’s an example of a throwaway villain done right because he is immediately memorable and I really enjoyed the fight. That guy could actually fight. Compare him to someone like Haruta who has more screen time but is just really annoying. His whole gimmick is that he only goes after fighters who can’t fight back. That’s pretty lame even for a villain. Maybe if he was funny or something but nah you’re just waiting for him to get taken out the whole time.

Hanami is an interesting fighter because you remember her being so OP in season 1 and here she can’t do anything. It effectively shows the gap in power between fighting someone like Gojo or Yuji. In general I like how vast the power level fluctuations are here because it does show how without Gojo around, Jujutsu Society would have fallen immediately back in the day. So no shade to Hanami, but she literally wasn’t built for this kind of fight.

Then we have Dagon who has always been in the background but never got to fight before. After all of the hype, he does look good but isn’t as impressive as some of the others. He gains confidence in his true form which is good because in his intro form he’s nervous all of the time which loses some points. As a villain you always want to be as confident as possible.

The rest of the villains are all pretty high tier. First up is Choso. The guy hits way above his weight class and has a tremendous fight with Yuji. He’s fighting for his dead brothers from season 1 which is a powerful motivation. He may be evil but it gives him some sympathy points and you can get why he is fighting so hard. In that fight he had more to fight for than Yuji in terms of drive which really helped him out. Then he also gets an extended fight near the end of the season. His powers are very versatile and he’s just a lot of fun. I gained quite a bit of respect for him here and he ends up stealing the show.

Then of course there is Mahito who in a lot of ways feels like the main villain. He has the most to do with Yuji at the very least as the two absolutely hate each other’s guts. They have a lot of the best parallels here as they are each other’s complete opposites. The fights are always a lot of fun too since if he touches you even once it can be a fatal blow. You may wonder how he is never able to land any hits but the fights are very creative. I would even say the animators are at their most creative with him whether it’s showing how he can immediately turn someone into a sword and fight or how he reacts to instant teleportation.

His fights with Yuji are really a blast. It’s really one big fight that is broken up into parts you could say but each one is really excellent. I would say he may be the most interesting villain even if he’s not my favorite one. See, my favorite is Toji. He’s an ordinary human and yet he is able to go up against these gods and demons. In part that’s because of his heavenly pact which increases all of his abilities and in part it’s just because he is Toji. The guy has a ton of prep time and hand to hand abilities. He’s sort of like if Batman was evil. Any scene with the guy is incredibly hype.

Make no mistake, no matter what his last scene wants you to think, the guy is pure evil. He’s absolutely willing to murder anyone and I’m not going to let that slide. He’s a complete villain and in that role he is absolutely perfect. Then you have Jogo who is also a really good villain. He is noticeably scared of Sukuna which loses him some points. Yeah most people are scared of him but you have to hold your ground you know? The guy is always getting disrespected too which is the bad luck of fighting Gojo and Sukuna. So he’s pretty good and a great fighter but not as solid as some of the others.

Then you have the big man himself, Sukuna. As always the guy is really full of himself but he has the power to back it up so what are you going to do right? I like his confident demeanor, the guy even grabs some soda in the middle of a fight. He doesn’t accept any disrespect and even further, he demands absolute respect. Without it, he’s going to blow up anyone in his way. He likes having fun at his victim’s expense and the guy seems absolutely untouchable right now. A fight with Gojo would have been really awesome here.

Needless to say if you’re a Sukuna fan then there is a whole lot to enjoy. He gets multiple fights and shows why everyone should be scared of him. I also have to bring up Mahoraga because he has one of the best intros for any character in the season and also possibly has the best episode here. His fight is really a blast all the way through and also just starts so quickly. You wonder how anyone could have ever managed to tame the guy in a previous incarnation because he’s so unbelievably strong. This may be the only series I can think of where a summon is easily in the top 3 strongest in the verse. At least by the time this series ends I would say that is true.

Then we have Geto who gets a lot of screen time here between the first and second parts. It’s interesting to see him as more of a hero in the original parts. After going through what he did, it’s easy to see why he would turn though. I think the trickiest thing about a hyper realistic series where even a lot of heroes are corrupt is that it makes it much easier to imagine why someone would turn evil. Geto definitely went over the cliff but you can see why he would. Even Gojo contemplated just becoming a mass murderer on a whim.

Nobody would miss the guys he would have taken out but that’s not really the point anyway. At that point it becomes a question of when do you stop. Geto certainly made his choice there and actually has an answer, but the line that he has drawn is a rather large one. In terms of power set, I don’t find him super impressive yet though. He relies on summons with tons of monsters but none of them seem that crazy yet. Powerful to be sure and he could clear most fighters but you also don’t see him defeating the combo of Yuji and Todo or hanging with someone like Mahito. Based on his confidence you have to assume that he could but I need to see more out of him.

Oh yeah there’s one more hero in Todo. That guy is a lot of fun as always. He really inspires confidence in the allies around him and his Boogie-Woogie technique is so good. There are tons of applications for it and the opponent is forced to respect this as an attack option at all times. It’s part of what makes him such a dangerous character but he can also fight well in hand to hand. He sort of appears out of nowhere here and vanishes just as quickly but the role is really great. There are a few more characters like Panda and the ice girl at the end but this covers most of the main ones. Watch the season to see them all!

The ending also sets up the next season nicely. If I have a minor nitpick, it’s that the final episode does drag on a tad. I think they overplayed their cards of setting up how empty everything is. I would have cut those scenes a bit and also played the Yuji scene early. I’d absolutely end with the big guest star character. Why would you not make that the final scene? I don’t really get it because on a hype level that has to be the most hype moment without anything even being a close second. Like I said though, pretty minor stuff because I’m hyped regardless! That kid wasn’t very smart about walking towards an obvious monster though…

Overall, Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 lived up to the hype in every way. I would absolutely recommend checking it out when you have a chance. It’s a top tier anime that can compete with anything. It’s the full package with great themes, animation, fights, and characters. The story is great too and there are some solid twists as well. I hope that third season comes sooner than later because I definitely need this to continue!

Overall 9/10

Cardfight will+Dress Season 3 Review

Posted on January 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for another big Cardfight adventure and as always you can bet on a lot of awesome things happening here. I can never hide my surprise at how this series really did a full 180 and ended up being such a spectacular part of the franchise. It just goes to show that you can never count any title out. This one already has a lot of set up from the previous season so we’re able to just jump right into the battles with the Uniformers. My guy Tohya doesn’t get to do much this time but at least he does have one big fight.

The show starts with Yu-Yu and pals still wondering what exactly they should do about this. Yu-Yu doesn’t agree with the Uniformers method of having everyone fight with the same style but strictly speaking they are not doing anything illegal. Yeah they are pressuring players into using their style but they aren’t even blackmailing or beating anyone up. The only slight case you could make is that they’re using some kind of brainwashing that takes place after a win but it’s a bit of a stretch and I don’t know how you would go about proving it. The show never really goes this avenue either even though to me it did feel like brainwashing. In the end the only thing to really do is defeat these guys in a cardfight and prove that Uniformers aren’t the only way to victory.

Right in the first episode we have Yu-Yu dueling to try and prove that point. His skill level definitely seems to vary at times though. Sometime he is one of the most powerful duelists in the world who won’t lose to anyone and then other times he just seems to be generally powerful but not a top tier. This continues in this season but for the most part I’ll say that he looks good. Whenever he loses you’ll wince a bit but with cardfights there are a lot of variables in place. Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting the wrong cards or the opponent’s deck is a hard counter.

I appreciate Yu-Yu putting on his game face and making the case against the Uniformers but I think just about any other character would have been able to make a more compelling argument. Ultimately we’re many seasons in but Yu-Yu just isn’t one of my favorite characters. I don’t think he ended up growing into a really confident player the way that Aichi and Chrono did.

Jinki actually loses some points in this season. I still think he had one of the best intros in the series where he shows up to announce a massive tournament and has an air of mystery about him. He was one of the all time big threats after all and the head of the villain organization. Well, as the story goes on he becomes more of a puppet and one who isn’t able to fight back against the true threat. He comes across as a little wishywashy in not understanding the big picture the whole time. Since nobody really ends up taking his side, it just makes him look that much worse.

Then we have Haruka get a fairly decent role. In fact I’m pretty sure she duels more than Tohya in this series which is crazy. You’d figure that her character arc was complete but after she is dominated by a Uniformer she ends up joining them. Once again this is why it feels like mind control to me because her character just does a 180 there. By the end she gives some reasons for why she would help out but I just didn’t really buy it. It did make for some tense duels though and I liked this whole season as a tribute to Link Joker. The season wasn’t kind to Haruka though.

I’d also say that Mirei isn’t quite as impressive as she once was. She went from being a final boss to just one of the crew now and she doesn’t win as often. I would have liked her to have had some rage in avenging Haruka and taking everyone out. She deserves some good revenge after all of that right? It’s good to take the high road sometime but not all of the time. Still, she did get a good win at one point so that was good.

Zakusa gets a decent amount of hype here but he’s one of those characters I can’t take seriously. Like with the others you could argue that he’s just being mind controlled for most of the series but even so he just went down too easily. The guy seemed to have some plans but in the end he didn’t do anything outside of the duels. I just don’t think this character will ever click for me.

As a result of his getting a bigger role, Tomari gets to appear more too which is a decent trade off though. She’s always fun although Tomari is also a character that I feel isn’t in the upper echelon of fighters so I’m a bit skeptical of her hanging with the crew here. I guess the best argument you could make is that she really knows the deck of her opponent so it gives her a better chance of winning.

One of the villains that I could take seriously was Halona. From the start she was a fun character and someone who does believe in the cause. Her backstory ties into this so she has a much better resolve than most of the cast. I was rooting for her in both of her fights with Urara and Megumi. I just think she is the much better fighter and she’s really earned the win with the amount of work that she has put in. None of the other characters can even come close to matching her beat for beat. It’s just not happening. I hope we get to see more of her in future seasons.

As for Urara, I wouldn’t say she looks great in this season. She may be back with the heroes but it doesn’t feel like her skills have grown all that much. She’s also very timid which like Yu-Yu, doesn’t work out so well. I’d like her to get a bit bolder and really defend her deck choices more. Now that is something that would make her really stand out in all of the best ways. I can see her improving eventually but it’ll take some time.

Things are also tough for Megumi as she seems to lose a lot of duels but at the same time she’s always trying. Her confidence may be unfounded to a degree, but she’s not giving up and to me that’s just as important. I prefer her to Urara for that reason. Hopefully at some point Megumi gets more of a true power up since I’d like to see her get some more wins. I’d argue that she has trained so much that she deserves the spotlight more.

Instead it always goes back to Danji being the best and showing everyone up. Hey, he is a prodigy for good reason of course but it’s time to let someone else take the center stage. His duel with Megumi is fun but the guy is not someone you would want as an ally. He helps when he feels like it, which isn’t very often and that’s about it. You want an ally who is loyal and dependable, someone who will step up to defend the world right? Well that’s definitely not this guy, not even close! He’s got to be one of the most unreliable/irresponsible heroes that I’ve ever seen. He’s fun but the show doesn’t put as much spotlight on how much he’s letting everyone down as it should.

Then we have the rivalry with Raika and Sophia that keeps on going. Sophia is an extremely entertaining character with the way she’s constantly mocking Tohya and comparing him to a dog. She’s such an excellent antagonist but unfortunately she does not stick the landing. The show decides to completely change her character by the end which is part of her development but it’s not satisfying at all. It unfortunately means that she won’t be as fun when she returns.

This is also another matchup where the hero just doesn’t feel as strong as the villain so Raika’s match feels rather cheesy. I still like Raika as a solid rival who may not be Tohya level but can fight well. He just hasn’t had any real significant power ups which causes him to lag behind the other characters. He needs something and he needs it fast or he really will be doomed to stay in the back. He still has one of the best themes in the series though.

Then we have Tohya. Like I said he gets a very small role with only one real duel against Masanori. It’s hard to get as invested in this one since he’s been stronger than Masanori from the jump. Still, it’s a chance to see him in action so I can’t complain too much. His fiery fightstyle is still a lot of fun to watch and he really holds nothing back. I hope he will be brought back at some point in the future when a new threat is on the horizon.

Meanwhile I really hope Masanori stays gone this time. He manages to show up in every season somehow and yet there just isn’t any real point to his character. He just loses and loses and loses some more while trying to gaslight everyone into thinking that it’s part of his plan. It’s not a very convincing argument when you very rarely win. His only big win here is against a character who is so weak that it really can’t be used as hype.

Finally you have the AI who is trying to make the world a better place. It makes for a pretty interesting villain as it naturally takes everything literal and it goes from trying to make the world a better place into taking almost everyone down in order to achieve that reality. It’s not exactly the most complex villain but I always enjoy having a robotic type villain like this. In theory such a program would be amazing at Cardfight so it also makes sense why the heroes are having such a tough time.

As always the climax is really a blast here. It continues the energy from the rest of the season and never lets up. I think it was a smart move to have all of the heroes have a big rival from the villains group. It meant that each duel was really personal the whole time. We probably could have used a little time for power ups for the heroes to be honest but in the end it still works out well enough. Each duel is impressive both visually and narratively which is the most important part.

As always the animation is pretty solid here. I still wouldn’t call this one of the top tier productions or anything like that but it is consistent and looks sharp the whole time. You can’t really ask for much more than that. The soundtrack is also really good which is just as key. There are less of the big insert songs here compared to previous seasons but the soundtrack is still very balanced.

It’s pretty rare to get a season that’s basically just one long series of battles but this isn’t even the first time that Cardfight has pulled this off. It’s why it is definitely one of the best franchises out there. Few titles are doing it the way that Cardfight is. The stakes may not seem quite as high as in some of the other seasons since as I mentioned, the Uniformers aren’t doing anything illegal or trying to destroy the world. However, a battle of ideals is always a pretty fun reason to battle as well.

Overall, Cardfight is definitely in good hands. It looks like the next season is going to reset the main character group again so I look forward to seeing how the next group handles things. Most likely that means the season won’t be able to top this one as usually the first season with a new lead takes a while to develop all of the characters. It’s a long term investment where you sacrifice the first season to set up a lot of awesome sequels. That said, as long as the sacrifice isn’t too drastic then it is absolutely worth it all the way. This season in particular might be a little harder to get into compared to older ones since it’s a direct sequel and all but if you enjoy action then you should definitely check it out.

Overall 8/10

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