Loki: Season 2 Review

Posted on September 7, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time to close out the Loki saga over here. Season 1 was pretty fun with a lot of interesting concepts and the TVA actually worked rather well as a centerpiece. This season spends a lot more time, buying time, if that makes sense. As a result it does tend to be a little less exciting and I felt like the season didn’t really hit its stride until the final episode. You almost could have jumped right into that. It’s still a good season and you should definitely check it out if you watched the first one. Just be prepared for some of the slower pacing you’ll have seen in a while.

The last season ended with Loki failing to stop Sylvie from murdering Kang which started a whole chain reaction that changed the TVA. Now nobody even remembers Loki and he’s time spazzing all over the place. He needs to find a way to stop warping through time at random intervals, get everyone to remember the true timeline, and get things back on track. To do this, he will definitely need Mobius on his side and together they will have to convince Sylvie as well. This definitely won’t be easy.

The season is only 6 episodes but technically there isn’t actually a ton to cover. That’s why it does feel like the show tries to start buying time later on which can feel a bit obnoxious. This brings us to the worst character in the series, Timely. This guy takes forever to finish a single sentence and is always super nervous. It’s hard to take him serious even though he’s supposed to be a super genius. He gets the important things wrong anyway after all. I guess maybe it’s better to think of him as a red herring. Not the most flattering way to think about him, but ultimately that’s what he is reduced to.

The show also has to nerf Loki quite a lot in order to extend the chases. For example at one point you have Loki and Mobius trying to track down a defector named Brad. This should be easy. It’s 2 on 1, Brad’s just a normal human, and they have the element of surprise. Even with that, Brad manages to shake them for a good chunk of the episode. Keep in mind that Loki is still a powerful god with magical abilities. Stopping Brad even without hurting him should be absolutely easy. It should in fact be absolutely trivial.

Throughout the show Loki feels like he’s just a human with basic magic powers which feels off. He gets humiliated by Sylvie every time they fight and the rest of the characters don’t treat him like a powerful threat. It’s a classic case of Loki getting weaker the instant he became a protagonist. In one episode Brad just disrespects the guy for a long time. Loki gets the last laugh but you’re hoping he would just knock the guy out after a while.

This season is really aiming to complete his character arc of redemption though. So you could say in a sense that the fact that Loki feels more muzzled is intentional. It does lead up to him looking really good in the final episode which not surprisingly was my favorite one. Loki really got to cut loose there and while I would argue that he made the wrong decision, it was one that was very understandable. He did what he thought he had to. A certain anime named Madoka had the main character make the same choice and ultimately it’s up to everyone else to decide if they accept this or if they will help find another way. Unfortunately I don’t think Loki has any friends who are going to be selfless enough to try and help him here.

So power levels aside, Loki was a fun character here. I enjoyed his dialogue quite a bit and as always he had a great dynamic with Mobius. Mobius is the other standout character here and if anything I wish that his role could have been bigger. Anytime he’s on screen, you know the role is going to be really good. He’s great as being condescending and then sarcastic as the need arises. He’s perfect in the jaded, middle aged dude role. You really believe him when he just seems bored of everything at this point. He has mastered being detached from reality.

As a result you don’t really care about his serious plot of wondering about what his life could have been like. I think he’s at his best when none of that matters to him. If we had to get a new season without Loki, I actually think Mobius could hold his own show. The rest of the supporting characters would have to step it up a little bit though since he was way more charismatic than any of them. None of the others could even come close to his ability.

Ouroboros is one of the characters who gets a lot to do here. He’s one of those tech geniuses who isn’t great as social interactions but gets the job done. He isn’t bad but his array of jokes are a bit limited. He’s really got one gimmick and it will be spammed a lot. So not a bad character, but probably not someone who will make you raise an eyebrow. Ravonna gets a much smaller role than you would expect but she’s okay. My main issue with her would be that she didn’t have much of a grand plan.

It felt like she was easy to manipulate and the way she went out was rather anticlimactic. Ideally she will return with some kind of a power up, but if she never appears again, I will always remember her as being a little overconfident. Miss Minutes was a lot more compelling. She was good at hacking everything and getting in the way of the heroes. If anything you could say that she got off rather easy here. People are too trusting of A.I. and so she could definitely do more in the future. She’s one of those insane villains who can be fun to have around.

Then we have Brad who is a fairly reasonable villain. He’s very cocky and not one of the stronger characters here. What I mean by that is he will very easily be broken by anyone. Loki gets him to crack first, then Miss Minutes cracks him next, and by the end he gets mind controlled. Brad really can’t catch a break, nor does he deserve one. He’s a classic example of a guy who just does whatever he wants and ignores the consequences. Someone who is a good agent but not someone you can count on. The show handles his character well.

As for Sylvie, she was a bit too weak willed for me. She made her big decision in season 1 and at this point I feel like she just needs to stick to it. There’s nothing here that should be particularly surprising to her. She had to know what would happen by removing the cosmic lynchpin and just made the decision that aligned with her morals. I’ll get into this more later on but I would argue that it was actually the right move anyway. Loki was on the wrong side for most of this season and by the end he stumbles onto a new path but otherwise Sylvie would have been right.

So Sylvie falters a bit too easily. She is still a fun villain to have around but the heroes let her be too smug the whole time. They should probably at least try to arrest her in the meantime. I also don’t buy Loki losing to her every time when they fight a bunch in this season. Eventually he ought to find a way to win. We can assume that he did and we don’t get to see those futures but I would have liked the show to have made that clear. Otherwise it’s close to an unchangeable point in time which I always find dubious at best. Sylvie made a nice little life for herself on Earth and should have been satisfied with it.

Then we have He Who Remains, who is a solid villain. I liked him a lot more than in season 1 but the guy is still way too suicidal to be an impressive villain. The fact that he can defeat almost anyone but chooses to die just makes him a bit lame. I get that he’s been around forever and after some thousands of years anyone would want a break but then he should go out on his own terms. Go to a planet that’s about to explode and go with a bang. Don’t just let someone stab you to death. I liked that Loki called him out on it.

The mini theme song is pretty fun as always. I like the eerie music that plays when the Loki logo is being spelled out. It sets the tone nicely for the adventure although it would be nice to have more of a real theme song. The soundtrack doesn’t have many other tunes but this is still enough to be memorable. The visuals are also good, the effects are on point and the battles look good. There isn’t a ton of action here but what we do get is good.

Okay so one of the big debates here was on whether the TVA should prune timelines or not. Kang believes that this is necessary as you have to stop the timelines from splitting or it will introduce more Kangs who will eventually destroy the multiverse. There would just be too many of them to stop. Meanwhile Sylvie believes that doing this is immoral as you are destroying countless universes daily in order to ensure that there is only one sacred timeline. Since a new timeline comes into being for every decision that every person makes, it is quite literally infinite.

Of course it is prioritized to deal with ones that will have a Kang spawning and the TVA exists outside of time so it’s not like they’ll ever be late but it is something that will never end. I tend to be on Sylvie’s case here. The TVA is playing judge, jury, and executioner at the moment. They slaughter more people on a daily basis than anyone else in history. No matter how you slice it, that’s a really bad look. Their overall goals and visions may be ambitious but overall they don’t void this point. If the Kangs do start a war, then you will have to fight them and hope that good prevails.

Due to the way that time travel works, maybe they’d all be dead already if the war was going to come and so they shouldn’t worry about it either. Assigning themselves as the heads of time is certainly an abuse of power. You also have to trust that Kang was telling the truth. So yes I am firmly on Sylvie’s side. Even if saving everyone means they will eventually die, it’s your duty to save as many as possible. In the final episode we get a quick twist that allows Loki to bypass the whole debate but nobody could have predicted that so it doesn’t make Sylvie wrong in hindsight.

The final episode has a lot of Groundhog Day type moments and cool time loop discussions so that’s another reason why the episode ended on a super high note for me. I like the idea of time essentially being used as a rubber band for Loki to check things out and try many kinds of techniques. Ultimately we even get a thousand years+ timeskip so he’s lived more than almost any other character in existence. It’s hard to even wrap your head around that. It’s certainly impressive that he didn’t go crazy from doing all of that. He has definitely matured over the years and hopefully the franchise remembers that he is now a super genius for anything else that he appears in. Also that he can time travel at will and controls the multiverse. That should come in handy for many things…

So if I could make any changes here, it would be to speed up the events of the first 5 episodes into about 2. You can easily do this without stretching everything out. Then you have around 2 episodes for Loki doing a ton of time travelling and exploring ways to solve the situation. Finally you end as normal. I can’t stress enough how much more interesting it was to have Loki on the field than to be talking with Victor and the others about nothing. Maybe find a way for Mobius to go with Loki so we could still have good dialogue and banter the whole time.

Overall, Loki Season 2 has its share of fun moments and I do enjoy the debates on what the right move is. The focus on time travel and its many implications are also a lot of fun. While Loki may not have been on the right side for most of it, it doesn’t take away from the adventure. This show is going for a very cerebral approach and it works more than it doesn’t. It’ll be interesting to see how he loses in the Secret Wars film. However it happens, I’m expecting that I’ll be smirking as I won’t buy any of it but that’s what happens when you make the main character this powerful. Loki should be literally unbeatable now, unless he secretly wants to be defeated or something like that.

Overall 6/10

Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow/The Blue Night Sagas Review

Posted on July 6, 2025 by dreager1

Yeah that title is a mouthful right? Well in this case each cour got a different subtitle and that’s more or less how they list it on Wikipedia so I figured ehhhhh I’ll write it out like this. Get ready for a pretty long flashback saga thrown in. It’s important to be sure but you’ll probably be more eager to see what is going on in the present so in a sense this will definitely slow your roll quite a bit. We do get more action in this season although I still find myself wanting for more Rin battles. This must be what Edward fans felt like in FMA where you could go 20 episodes without the guy getting a real battle. Some MCs just don’t get all the screentime.

The first half of the season mainly focuses on Shura as we finally see her backstory. She vanishes one day in the present and Rin/Yukio are sent off to find her. There is still a bit of tension here as Yukio is still acting really shady and irrational. Even Rin who is one of the more oblivious guys out there is starting to pick up on this. With Shura being in danger there isn’t a whole lot of time to think about it but the situation will only continue to get worst at this rate. Shura is being controlled by a villain from her past known as Hachiro. Defeating him won’t be easy and it would appear that Shura may die anyway due to a contract. Can she be saved or will the heroes have to make a sacrifice here?

Once your soul is partially owned by a demon then you’re going to be in for a rough time. It really isn’t easy to save Shura as a result and she’s secretly known what was coming up ever since childhood and just didn’t tell anyone so they wouldn’t worry. It’s a heroic mindset so I don’t fault her for that. She probably could have left some kind of word for the rest of the characters so they wouldn’t chase after her but I’m not really sure what kind of wording you could have even tried to say that would have stopped them. Odds are they would see through most lies.

Shura has always been one of the more powerful fighters so it was nice to finally see her in the lead again. For the most part she is no match for Hachiro but she still gets some good action scenes. She is still used a bit for fanservice at times and even this life or death matter couldn’t help but still ship her a bit with Yukio. Definitely a really weak ship especially when Yukio is acting all crazy but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say his actions here really were to help Shura. I like to think that he was totally faking everything he was saying even if it’s lightly implied that to a degree he meant part of it. Forming a pact would grant him more power which is something he desperately wants after all. This arc was able to continue his slow decent into darkness.

I can’t say Hachiro was one of the more interesting villains though. He’s certainly powerful but not particularly ambitious and it’s not like he has a super end game either. He’s someone you don’t want to cross but that’s about it. The heroes are way too lenient the whole time though and should have crushed him at the first opportunity. You will want to roll your eyes by the end of this arc. I would have liked to have seen Rin do more in the fight here but surprisingly he doesn’t play a pivotal role the way you might expect.

Rin still looks really solid throughout the anime though. He is really trying his best both in handling what the past brings in the next arc and even confronting his own feelings for Shiemi. It’s always best to take a pro active approach rather than sulking on the sidelines so that was really good. He may no look as good as he should in the fights by this point in the series but there are asterisks behind some of his worst showings so I cut him a tiny bit of slack here. By the next season I’m hopeful that we will be seeing more of prime Rin since he was down in the dumps for half of this season.

Unfortunately I can’t say that Yukio looks good at all here. At this point he is so jealous over Rin’s abilities that he is trying really dangerous methods to awaken his own. Even risking his life and basically coming close to ending it on the hopes that a life or death situation will manifest his powers. Yukio is willing to go to any level to wake them up including working with the Illuminati which is obviously a bad call. Not to mention pointing a gun at his friend Suguro. By this point in the series Yukio cannot be trusted at all and it’s a shame to see how far he has fallen.

It’s also a drop that has lasted whole seasons by this point so it’s certainly been a while since we’ve gotten to see him as a very heroic figure. Ah well, I guess that just wasn’t in the cards for him this time around. He is without a doubt getting stronger though so he will be hard to deal with. I expect that eventually he will be pulled back into the light, hopefully before he causes too much damage.

Aside from the Shura story, we also get the end of year celebration for the main characters. So we get a classic festival and interpersonal developments with the various characters. Not to mention that Lightning continues to discover more about the blue night massacre which is putting a lot of eyes on him. Lightning is a tough guy and not afraid to ruffle some feathers though, he just continues to work hard on that and doesn’t look back. I think he can be a bit too extreme at times to where he can feel like a villain but I can understand why he is tired of dealing with all the bureaucrats.

One thing to remember about this series is just how corrupt the government is. The “heroes” are working with Mephisto, a legendary demon after all. A lot of the issues they are dealing with in the present are due to crazy unethical experiments in the past. The whole second half of the season deals with a whole lot of that and the government doesn’t seem to have learned their lessons. They are still better than the villains who are trying to destroy everything but by no means are they innocent. You eventually need them to be taken down but right now that’s not really on Rin’s radar. The main characters will stop any evil in front of them but a systematic change is hard to do.

Rin’s various school friends are still around as well of course. Suguro helps Lightning out a lot and as a result he knows a whole lot more about the situation than most of the kids. Of course the more he learns, the more danger he gets put in. This is why Yukio targets him after all and at this point the guy definitely needs to watch his back as well. The villains can come from anywhere after all and Suguro isn’t the most powerful fighter by any means.

Meanwhile Shiemi is still dealing with romance issues. She is just unsure of what love really is and sorting out her feelings has been difficult. I appreciate that she is giving this some real thought rather than falling into anything too quickly. It’s not an easy concept to wrap your head around after all and once you have someone confessing to you, it just gets that much more complicated. It’s as if she’s on the clock now and has to decide much quicker than otherwise. There are so many kinds of feelings you can mistake for love as well so she needs to rule those out. She’s also started taking a route away from being a fighter which is a good decision, although now she’s being forced into a role that might put her in even more danger. Sometimes you just can’t win I suppose.

Shima is still working all the sides and continues to be an interesting wildcard. I can’t say I trust the guy at all though and none of the characters should. When you’re working all of the groups against each other, you have to be extra sure of where his real allegiance is or you will end up getting burned. He’s not the most powerful fighter so Rin could take him in a straight fight but the guy definitely feels like the assassin type so all he needs is a clean shot and he could still be a problem.

Then the second half starts and we have to take a break from the present right when things were getting real interesting. It’s time for Rin to learn the truth about everything that happened in the present. I know this flashback is a real big deal but it is the weakest part of the season in part because of how passive the main characters are. They just allow everything to happen rather than making moves to stop it all.

We see how Shiro grew up and joined the order. How he met a lady named Yuri who would be tasked with watching over Satan and would have a first row seat to how crazy the guy would get. It’s a very twisted dynamic to be sure and who would have guessed that Satan would turn out to be evil?? I would have liked the warning bells to have gone off within the organization a little bit sooner but they’re all just so arrogant and cocky that they could contain him. If there’s one demon you should not underestimate, it would surely be this guy right? Definitely not their best appearance and Satan definitely makes them pay for it.

There are a number of annoying things about the flashback but the would be romance with Shiro and Yuri has to be at the top of it. Ultimately he’s too gruff and stubborn to actually say that he likes her and allows her to keep on seeing Satan and basically sacrifice herself for the mission. Yuri also doesn’t seem to want to be a burden and so she takes on each mission even knowing about the danger. She also begins to care for Satan to a degree which was definitely a mistake. I was glad the series didn’t try to go out of its way to make him seem like a caring guy.

Satan may have started out as a baby but from the start his evil impulses are definitely there. It’s portrayed in a way where he would turn evil no matter who helped to raise him. It’s just in his very DNA and soul. You can’t fix that and I would say this is as clear as that’s going to get. At the same time I would say he loses whatever mystery is left within the guy. We just see him in a vulnerable/weakened position too often to take him seriously. He gets a whole lot of cringe scenes while growing up in the asylum and the fact that the humans were able to placate him for so long is rough. It’s the same thing that happened with Lucifer and I even dare say Mephisto gets hit with this. You can’t take them seriously when Lucifer and Satan are constantly spitting out blood and dying to be reincarnated later on. Then Mephisto takes a gunshot and winds up in the equivalent of the hospital? Yeah he’s probably trolling but cmon now.

Of the 3, Mephisto seems to be the most dangerous with his time manipulation but they all have full weaknesses. Mephisto at this point has been jobbing so hard for so long that I almost wonder if he still remembers how to be a fierce opponent. One thing’s for sure, he’s been playing the long game for a longer time than most other antagonists. He probably gets some kind of record for this. No matter what his end game plan is, I dare say I will find it to be way more convoluted than it needed to be.

I also would say Yuri having kids with him was definitely a mistake. The less said about this ship the better but the whole plot definitely makes you shake your head. Like I said, she took the job way too seriously and her feelings got way too confused the whole time. None of the characters make it out of the flashback saga unscathed. They all make their share of mistakes and all of them seem like self inflicted errors. Any of the characters could have handled it way differently like for Yuri abandoning the order, the Order could have just taken Satan down earlier and worried about the resurrection at another time, Shiro could have stepped in, etc.

The characters really allowed things to get out of hand and of course the ramifications of this are that we got the blue night disaster and all of the current events in Blue Exorcist. This also put Shiro further under Mephisto’s thumb which would really become a life debt. That’s probably one of the toughest things for the heroes in this series which is that they’re basically forced to work for the villains under penalty of death. Rin is really the only hope to shake off these chains if by now he is strong enough to change the world.

The animation for the show is good. Nothing amazing and I don’t think you will be seeing this on lists for best animation but the action works well enough. I expect that once we get a long Rin fight we will get to see the animation explode. When characters have fire powers, it really helps the animation to look extra sharp because the colors work well with the swordplay. If you mess up fire based fight scenes then the studio has a real problem I would say.

As for the soundtrack, they are still using a whole lot of the old tracks from previous seasons so there isn’t much new here. Neither one of the openings are particularly solid. I would say they are okay but definitely not game changers. They really aren’t doing anything innovative here unfortunately. It’s not bad or anything but I do hope they can spice things up a bit in the next season or just use some of the old tracks more. The electronic battle theme and the classic Blue Exorcist themes are right there begging to be used more!

While it feels like we are starting to approach the end of the series, it also feels like the title is dragging its feet a bit. Blue Exorcist has always had some weird pacing issues. It feels like the world is only partially fleshed out. The characters accept some rather odd situations without questioning it. Only Rin seems to know how twisted things are but half the time when he speaks up, Mephisto just threatens him to his face. There is no winning if the world is still ruled by demons and it’ll be interesting to see how Rin finds a solution to this. While trying to obtain more and more power is usually something the villains do, I think it is the heroes who need to crave it this time. That’s the only way they can overthrow the demons and really change things up.

At this point there really should not be much more time for school adventures. I like them as much as the next guy but the world is going crazier and crazier with the demons running amok throughout the country. I need to see some initiative for the heroes as they take them on directly. I also really need to see Rin taking a more prominent role. If they find a way to sideline him again in the next season then I’ll be shaking my head. It’s time for Blue Exorcist to get serious and give us some serious plot progression in the present timeline.

Overall, The season spends a lot of time in the flashback which definitely slows up the pacing. Most of it you can easily guess and piece together from the lore we already had so I think this could have been condensed a whole lot. I just want to know what’s going to happen in the present so the next season has the potential to be the most explosive yet. I would say as always, Blue Exorcist continues to be solid but still lacking things to make it a very good show. It’s a mix of characters and action. The series just has not been ready to turn the corner but perhaps that will change now. If you’re this deep into the series, you should definitely continue in order to stay current. It feels as though the series is starting to approach the climax so I doubt we will be getting another 4 seasons at this point.

Overall 6/10

My Happy Marriage Season 2 Review

Posted on April 27, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of the rare romantic drama series over the many romantic comedies running around. Typically I’d say that a comedy will always beat a drama but this has been a good show. The first season was fun enough although held back by Miyo herself. Season 2 is a definite improvement but Miyo continues to develop rather slowly and isn’t really being aware enough of her surroundings. She needs to tap into the classic power fantasy elements that have made characters like Jinwoo and Boruto living legends. Miyo has the abilities for this, such is her birth right. So now we need to see her using them.

We’re able to squeeze in a few different arcs throughout this season. The first few episodes are about Miyo finally meeting Kudou’s parents. Naturally this is always a fairly big moment in any romance series. As you would probably expect from Kudou’s demeanor, his mother is quite strict. She begins bullying Miyo in earnest and when Miyo doesn’t fight back, the bullying only intensifies. In a way she seems upset that Miyo isn’t tougher since Kudou’s partner has to be strong. Kudou’s father is a lot more mild in comparison. It’s a fun enough way to start the arc although it’s fair to say that it’s the weakest arc of the season. Miyo just doesn’t handle herself with enough poise here and we should have been done with the bullying stuff by the end of season 1. Nobody should be able to mess with Miyo by this point.

Miyo has come a long way from the days of season 1 where she was a punching bag to every character in existence. She doubts herself less here although she still moves with less poise and authority than she should. Miyo is at
her best when Kudou’s life is on the line as she quickly proves that she doesn’t have a “No kill” rule. That’s a good thing in this kind of verse where it would be difficult to imprison everyone and you have to deal with politics running around. She is slowly getting more used to using her powers in an offensive way as well.

Miyo has a ways to go but if she keeps up her training then she will be a force to be reckoned with. The problem is that she seems to be actively deciding not to practice her abilities and I could see that being a huge problem down the road. When you have special abilities I would argue that it is your duty to practice using them and improving your craft. It’s just not an optional obligation by that point and I need her to start embracing this. Miyo also needs to work on establishing stronger boundaries like not letting Arta constantly pine after her. Shutting that guy down once and for all would be a good thing and I’d also argue that she could probably tone down her attempts to sympathize with everyone.

Sympathizing with a guy who has been on a big mass murder spree just isn’t the right move if you ask me. So Miyo had her ups and downs here but if she continues the trend of getting better after every season then we should be in a good place. Meanwhile Kudou is still a solid character as always who is ready to take Miyo’s side. He defends her from everyone including family so I appreciate his loyalty. He is generally more confident and uses his powers as needed. While his battle intelligence takes a huge hit in this season, he looks good beyond that. It’s a case where his core personality is still really good which is the main important part. He also makes a big decision near the end of the series that was definitely a good one. I can see this being a huge benefit over the next seasons as he will have more free time now.

Kudou’s father Tadakiyo is a reasonably fun character. He takes a more laidback approach as he lets his wife largely do whatever she wants. He is happily retired and just likes to keep the peace. It means that you can’t really count on him in daily affairs but he can fight as needed. He’s not a particularly interesting character as a result but he gets the job done. His wife Fuyu starts off as a big bully but softens up later on. I think the anime’s pacing was a little too quick in this case though as she basically becomes a completely different character within a few episodes. That was a little annoying but I suppose she’s still solid enough. Maybe the writer just figured things would be too hard on Miyo to have to deal with another big bully and so that plot was cut short.

As always Arata is around and I really appreciate the open disdain that Kudou shows him the whole time. Kudou just can’t stand the guy and with good reason. Miyo may be able to overlook a kidnapping attempt and some flirting but not her future husband. Arata seems like one of those guys who just can’t take a hint and is always on the wrong side of every matter. His plan is absolutely terrible in this season and I’m convinced that he is basically just around to hold Miyo back. She needs to cut this guy out already. Honestly he’s just gone way too far for anyone to ever trust him. I don’t see him ever really going up as a character.

We start to get glimpses of the main plot as the legendary Usui declares that he will be taking Miyo. This guy is the most powerful member of the Usuba clan and he can use complete hypnosis to mess with your 5 senses. So as a result he could be anyone or anywhere. Kudou takes Miyo to a guardsman base for her protection where she meets a girl named Kaoruko. The problem is that Kaoruko also likes Kudou and most of the soldiers here are all big bullies for no reason. Will Miyo have what it takes to put an end to this once and for all?

For the record I don’t think taking Miyo to this base is a terribly good idea but no location would be all that safe. Realistically there is no defense against Usui due to his ability. The main plan that would have made sense would have been to expedite her training instead. Still, it’s a good chance for Miyo to make friends and she handles herself pretty well in this arc as she stands up to the bullies and defends Kaoruko. If anything it’s just a really bad look for the army that they are unaware of all this treatment or simply don’t care.

Kaoruko makes for a fun character. She is a solid fighter and doesn’t let all the bullying get her down. I did have some suspicions about her that ended up being well founded but despite that she is okay. It just feels like there is not much of a point to her being in the story just yet so we’ll have to see if that changes for future arcs. Since she seems to be lacking in particularly strong abilities, I don’t see her being very useful in a fight. Her last big appearance is mainly crying at a party so it was a rather sad way to go out.

The big climax happens when Usui finally makes his move and kidnaps Kudou. For once it looks like Miyo will have to be the one to save the day and fortunately she is aided by Kudou’s shikigami. Although what she doesn’t know is that the Shikigami shares all of Kudou’s senses and he gets the memories so Miyo would definitely be rather embarrassed if she realized what was going on. Nevertheless, it’s time for action and the shikigami is unfortunately very weak so she will still have to do most of the heavy lifting on her own. Not like this will be the first time that she has done so though so this ought to be easy. It’s just the first time in a combat sense.

The final arc has quite a bit of action which is nice. It also gives the soldiers something to do as they fight a bit in the subplot. In general I always found the soldiers’ plot to be rather boring compared to the main Miyo plot but at least it went somewhere. The show was hinting early on at a possible argument between Miyo and Kudou when he rats out a protest group but nothing came of it. Maybe it was just showing that she was a bit sympathetic instead of her being upset. Still, it’ll be interesting if that turns into anything.

The soldiers have powers and such but they all feel so weak. Kudou has one right hand man who is important but most of the soldiers are rank and file otherwise. I think their plot will be more interesting as we get to learn about more and more of the specific soldiers within the group. That’ll help balance things out a bit there. Also we’ll need their plot to be good because assuming we don’t get another fighter like Usui for a bit, I’m not sure the romance is enough for the show to hang its hat on.

The romance between Kudou and Miyo does tend to be rather weak. I like the fact that it’s not a rebound or anything like that but Miyo is much too timid and since the two characters are ultra stiff around each other, there isn’t much in the way of banter. You could pull out a random anime from any year and it would probably have a better romantic dynamic between the leads. Maybe that will change in the next saga, hopefully it does. I would imagine this should be a natural part of the development.

As for Usui, he was a good main villain. His overall plan was rather lackluster but he does have a sad backstory. He just mishandled the whole situation and let things quickly get out of hand. The show also may have made him a bit too powerful. There’s a reason why complete hypnosis is used so sparingly in media. There is basically no counter to it. You need a high tier series with FTL fighters like Bleach for a proper fight to really be put into action. Realistically Usui should be able to handle the entire verse here. His ability to be completely invisible is unmatched and of course he is also an expert sword fighter. The show may have used this guy up a little too soon but of course there could be stronger characters in the winds. We’ll have to see.

The animation looks solid here. The show gets to show off a bit more this time since there are more action scenes at the ready. It’s always fun to see the fire and electricity shooting out at the opponents. The hand to hand fights are also solid as are the sword battles. Towards the end some of the fight scenes do make you shake your head a bit though. I get the feeling that the author is definitely not used to fight scenes as much as the romantic ones. For example Kudou’s final fight just doesn’t make sense as he seems to forget object permanence immediately. He knows good and well that his opponent has the ability of illusions and yet he’s shocked every time his attack doesn’t land.

Throughout the fight he learns nothing and makes the same mistakes over and over. It just makes Kudou look absolutely terrible as opposed to making the villain look better. As someone who was said to be the strongest in the verse, I would expect more out of Kudou. Particularly since his abilities have a wide range of destructive effect. So it shouldn’t be particularly hard for him to land a blow by predicting where the villain will be and striking. Yeah it was not a good look for him.

Meanwhile the soundtrack isn’t bad although it’s not particularly memorable. I would like the next season to really introduce some proper battle themes. The theme song is also okay but that’s about it. So you could say that the soundtrack is more of a weak point in general. This is a story that has to thrive more on the plot and fights which is fine, the series is able to do that. A nice soundtrack would be appreciated though, so fingers crossed for the next season.

Overall, This season brought more action which was definitely nice. At times the actual story is still not the most engaging though and the show’s attempts at humor tends to be on the weak side. It’s not really the kind of show where you’ll crack a smile. That said, we’re finally approaching the wedding and it’s about time since that should have happened already. I’m ready for Miyo to embrace her role as a Kudou and really start to show off some confidence. This is her chance to shine and she can’t let anybody stop her. If she continues to develop her powers as well then she should be a real threat. Also a change of scenery could be nice for the characters to get away from the main cities and not be tied down by regulations. Could be a nice way to explore their being a power couple. If you’re looking for a solid romance to check out, this one fits the bill.

Overall 6/10

Charlotte Review

Posted on April 17, 2025 by dreager1

Charlotte is definitely quite the rollercoaster ride. The show begins as a happy comedic slice of life for most of its run but then takes a sharp dive into being a rather dark drama. One episode in particular feels super extreme next to the others and so you can never really guess what will happen next. I tend to have quite a lot of issues with the series as it began to end in terms of plot points and abilities working a little oddly. Still, you will be on the edge of your seat the whole time, that’s for sure.

The series starts off by introducing us to Yuu who is far from your average anime protagonist. This guy is a perv who cheats on his exams and basically misuses his power in every way. He has the ability to take over another person’s body for 5 minutes and in that time his original body falls unconscious. So it can be a bit dangerous since your body might slam to the ground hard but also 5 seconds isn’t very long so that can also backfire really heavily since you may return to your body before completing your objective. Still Yuu has managed to be quite popular and nearly nabs the girl of his dreams but then he is defeated by the supernatural student council. Tomori and her gangs now have blackmail on him and force the guy to transfer students and help in finding other metahumans. All of them must come to the school where they can do no more harm. Yuu’s no hero though so how will he escape from these guys?

That’s the plot for the majority of the show at least. As it goes on we get a lot more depth to the world though like with evil organizations on the rise and things like that. It really expands and gets pretty interesting with all the ramifications of what’s possible. That being said, the show really needed more episodes because the ending gets super rushed. I like how sudden it all occurs because we get to be shocked like Yuu but there are a lot of parts that absolutely fall apart. We’ll get to all of that but the character roster is fairly small so lets talk about them.

First up is Yuu and of course like I explained he is not a very nice guy. He would be one of the big villains if we based him on the very first episode’s appearance. Fortunately he does improve from there which is good but it’s a bit too slow for my liking. For example once we’re already deep into his character arc, he notices Tomori being beaten up by a bunch of thugs and does not arrive to help her. He simply does nothing and judging from Jojiro’s reaction, he is aware of it as well and does nothing. It’s just a true shame because the plotline is never addressed. For all we know she is still bullied.

Yuu also falls to the darkness more than once after this event so he’s inconsistent at best. He could have used his powers to really help out humanity but instead he always picks the wrong path. Perhaps he’s just inexperienced but you do lose a lot of patience with him by the end. He should have improved a lot quicker and with less setbacks. Then he would have been a character you could get behind. So yeah by the end of the series I was still not a fan of his.

Then you have Tomori who is a fun heroine. Her whole mission does put her in a lot of danger since she is always going after metahumans. She is very quick to violence as well but ultimately she comes off as a much more balanced character. I do think she looks a little too weak in the climax of the series though. I expected her to be putting up much more of a fight. Her power is that she can appear invisible to one person at a time which is of course a huge drawback. My main issue is that the show itself seems to forget that several times.

We get a twist at one point that she was following Yuu around for ages and yet nobody commented on her at all even when it would have made sense like when his old friend was around or when Yuu was beating people up. From where she was standing it didn’t look like she was even trying to hide. Naturally this ability is next to useless in most cases but that’s part of the fun in the show. You have all these crazy abilities but they all have tons of downsides. (Until the end of the series anyway) It’s a pretty fun gimmick. Either way Tomori showed that she was the only one really ready to lead this team.

As for Jojiro, he has super speed but basically cannot control it. He can pick a direction and zoom off like a bullet but it also means he has a hard time doing anything while moving at that speed. He often injures himself in the process so it’s another unusable power. He was a fun character but once Yusa joins the crew, it does basically destroy his character because his one trait quickly becomes about being obsessed over her. It completely takes over his character to the point where he is written out in the end, the villains don’t even bother going after him.

Yusa is a lot of fun because of her split personality. Dead spirits can inhabit her body and so it turns out her older sister is living inside of her and can take control at any point. Yusa doesn’t remember what happens while she is taken over. Her sister Misa has fire powers with seemingly no drawback so right off the bat it’s one of the best powers you could possibly have. Yusa tend to be a bit of a space case while Misa is the tough one who is always picking fights. Naturally you can probably guess that Misa is my favorite character from the two as a result. Honestly they could have used her during the action scenes since she could definitely hold her own. Ultimately the way she goes out is very underwhelming.

Ayumi has a very big role as Yuu’s younger sister. She is always trying to look out for him by replicating her mother’s recipes and generally being very reliable. She does a good job of going with the flow and always having a very upbeat attitude. Ayumi always keeps the atmosphere bright and was a really good supporting character, I would even say that she was probably one of the best characters in the series. She absolutely needed to have a good ending in order for the series to work.

On a technical level the show is also quite solid. The animation looks really good and the character designs are very colorful. The fights that we do get look really good. In particular Yuu goes up against a swordswoman at one point and the slash itself was super clean even if the whole sequence will definitely have you rolling your eyes. Like cmon now. Meanwhile the soundtrack is really solid. The opening song itself has a super retro feel to it. It sounds like a 90s theme song and I would say even the visuals match that. There are quite a few nice themes within the episodes as well so the series gets more props there as well.

The series also avoids one of the common anime pitfalls, namely fanservice. It’s not completely nonexistent but yeah the series did good there. There is a random scene near the very end when a character is stripped but that’s more for some dicey undertones. For the record I think it was a mental attack on the heroes and nothing actually happened and hopefully there’s no interview from the creator about how something did happen. That would just be needlessly dark like this was an episode of Sword Art Online or something.

Now as I mentioned, the series can go through tone shifts rather quickly. So in one moment you will be having some happy days and then suddenly you’ve got people being tortured and murdered. The violence isn’t particularly over the top or anything, I think it’s just the suddenness of it that pops out. The only real violent scene I would say was when one character got tortured. Most of it is offscreen and all but we still see the aftermath which was real gruesome. It shows just how dark the world can get even if we didn’t get to see most of it.

Okay now we’re going to start getting into some real spoiler territory. Yeah you could argue the whole review delves into spoilers but this is about to go more into detail so definitely give it a skip if you haven’t watched the show yet. You don’t want to ruin the big twists for yourself because this is a show with massive twists all around. Okay so last warning you want to skip the next 6 paragraphs. Here we gooooooooo.

The turning point in the series is when we find out that time travel has been going on for a long time. Shunsuke is Yuu’s older brother and his ability is that he can use any light to travel back in time. The catch is that every trip causes his eyesight to deteriorate so he cannot do this forever. If he continues this then eventually he will run out of “retries” if you will. The problem is that every timeline still ends with the adults capturing all the kids and murdering them/using them for experiments. In this timeline, he has attained peace for the most part. Not around the whole world but at least in Japan. Time is running out though as the terrorists are getting closer. So this ties in with Yuu and his ability to steal powers and thus, use time control.

I thought it was very effective how we were taken by surprise along with Yuu at the terrorists showing up and beginning their murder spree. Shunsuke’s peace came at a heavy cost in that the characters were unable to defend themselves. I would have liked the main characters to have looked a little better though. I found it really unlikely that Yuu would be crushed so quickly by one of the assassins and the excuses for not using time travel previously were extremely weak. Now the villains did have a clever plan which is to have had a hostage for many years before using their plan. That way unless the heroes are willing to time travel literal years into the past to counter the strategy, they are stuck. It’s hard, almost unfathomable to try and relive years of your life without making any changes. That’s just not going to happen and it’s exactly what the villains were banking on.

It’s great writing by the show and I agree with that much. However, Yuu could have absolutely time travelled, say 1 week into the past. Talk things over with the friends and just think of a plan. At the very least it is an attempt and it’s one without any real downsides. For that matter, in the present you can talk things over for a few days with everyone and then time travel. Time travel is just too broken of a power to not even consider here and I would say that was a real issue. It’s not a plot hole as of course it is a real choice the characters could make but it was an annoying decision.

I would also say this whole plot development opened a lot of interesting doors so that is why it was unfortunate that the series was already ending. You have terrorist groups across the world, other groups of powered fighters, etc. In every future timeline the governments are all evil as well. All of the powers immediately leave once the characters have finished being teenagers which also puts an end time limit on this provided that the heroes can make a cure. There are just a few episodes though so it’s all very fast.

We have a whole journey about how Yuu has to go around the world and absorb the powers of tens of thousands of fighters all on his own. By the end of the series he is near all powerful and it’s a really interesting development. Yet once again there just isn’t enough time to process it. I do like that most of the abilities aren’t shown to us exactly so we just see Yuu doing cool things and can assume as to what the power actually does. Once again though, time travel becomes an issue. He was blind but then he gets a healing power, meaning he can now travel through time. Seems like another good idea to go back in time right? Yuu could go on the journey early and save the world.

So as with many titles, time travel was ultimately the undoing of the series at least on a logic level. It opened up so many pathways to a better future that Yuu just ignored. I did really enjoy the story though even if Yuu falling into a depression for a second time was a little repetitive. His decision to not go back in time was also a big shot to both Shunsuke and Kunagami after all the years they put into this. I really liked Shunsuke, he was a really heroic character who really gave it his all. I could definitely admire that. Meanwhile Kunagami was also fun, especially with how well he was able to put on an act for years without people realizing the truth. Now that is definitely dedication. Their squad of fighters never really got a chance to develop but the series was pretty short.

Overall, Charlotte was a fun series. I do think it was a little too ambitious for its own good though. Ironically the series may have been a bit higher if it had stuck to the happy slice of life episodes from the first half. The second half had higher highs but also lower lows. It really needed one more cour to properly handle this plot. I always love a fast paced adventure but you still need to handle this a little more on screen. I’m skeptical of a lot of the developments by the end like the main characters actually holding off the terrorists while Yuu was gone since the government would have done something. Most things could have been held off with more time. At the end of the day though, this was a fun series and so I would definitely be able to recommend it. It has a lot of interesting ideas and really good world building at the ready. I’d certainly be up for an expanded cut or remake at some point.

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 Review

Posted on March 2, 2025 by dreager1

Natsume’s Book of Friends is definitely a pretty impressive adaption but you only had to look at the seasons to know that. It’s pretty much unheard of to get 7 whole seasons and I’m sure we will be getting an 8th some day. It’s a very peaceful franchise where you can watch the episodes at any point. I definitely had a good time with it and while the show isn’t going to knock your socks off, you can always depend on quality writing and good story telling.

If you’re new to the franchise, the general plot is fairly simple. Natsume is a man who can see Yokai and has inherited the “Book of Friends” from his grandmother Reiko. This book contains the names of many Yokai who are effectively forced to do Natsume’s bidding while they are there. He intends to return all of their names back to the Yokai but can only do this when the Yokai is right in front of him. Along the way Natsume helps them all out with their daily problems.

In the first episode we have a Yokai inhabiting the body of a clay form that looks like Nyanko. So a pretty solid way to jump in and a lot of Hijinx play out from there. The yokai itself is one of the calmer ones as it just needs some time and is generally pleasant. Natsume is all too happy to help out while Nyanko is a little grumpy as always. We get a little danger but for the most part this is just a fun little adventure. It’s a pretty solid premiere with a self contained story that worked well.

Following that episode, we have an adventure where somebody is messing up the flower garden every night. Natsume decides to put a stop to this and naturally it turns out to be a bunch of Yokai. They’re trying to take care of a small castle and need the flowers for beauty purposes. Natsume helps them out and ultimately gets to prove that he can be delicate as needed. He really gets to show off his expertise in cleaning. Another low key episode here but I was glad that Natsume got on this right away. He wasn’t about to let anyone mess with his folks.

After that we have our first case with Natori. He and Natsume are helping a guy who is being haunted by scarecrow Yokai. At this point the main factor of interest with these team ups is seeing what will happen with the Book of Friends. By the end Natori is definitely confident that the book is a bad thing and must be taken from Natsumi. Technically I get it because Natsumi is hardly the strongest guy around and is often in lethal danger. He has to be saved on the regular by Nyanko but one day he might be too late. Additionally Natsume’s family will also be in danger but regardless it isn’t likely that Natsume would ever forgive Natori. Natori definitely ends up being one of the most interesting characters as he has to balance this all together.

Natsume is okay but he’s not the most interesting character so you need others to bounce off of him. I still disagree with Natsumi not telling his folks about the book. Additionally Natsume can be too naive and training throughout the show. At least Nyanko always keeps his guard up but then at the same time his big mistake is that he gets drunk on the job and isn’t a very reliable bodyguard. He gets lucky quite often but doesn’t take his job nearly as seriously as he should.

In the 4th episode we have our first really emotional episode. Natsume and Kitamoto pass by an old bookstore where Kitamoto wants to find a book from the old days. He decides to keep visiting this place but is always pressured by the store owner to leave right away. Not a very good feeling for a customer but Kitamoto is not dissuaded. What he doesn’t know is that the girl is a Yokai and Natsume decides not to say anything. I think Natsume was definitely wrong in this one even though the girl said not to say anything. This was the absolute perfect time to finally break the truth to him about the world of supernatural things. So I can’t see this as anything but a massive L tbh. I enjoyed the banter the whole time though and the Yokai was nice. She did a good job of watching after the store.

After that we have a story about a dragon scale falling down onto Earth and Natsume decides to grab it for Chobihigue. It’s okay but this would be the weakest episode up to this point. I still don’t care much for the main Yokai that hang around Natsume. They are just really weak supporting characters all around. Their antics aren’t particularly funny and I don’t find them to be very interesting either. In general Natsume isn’t a funny show anyway, it’s meant to survive on the good stories and these Yokai yet don’t cut it. Even Chobihigue’s big twist doesn’t hit as hard as it should because we just don’t care about that guy.

Next up Matoba appears and I really liked the opening to the episode as we get a mini mystery on if he was punking Natsume about having a Yokai in the bird cage or if he was messing around. The actual story has a focus on Matoba and his team having to face off with a Yokai that is trying to get past the glass traps. I always like Matoba episodes since they focus on the big problems that Natsume is lucky enough to avoid. For the most part, Yokai are very dangerous and while this guy may look like an extremist next to Natsume, he feels like a realist at other points. He is a really good antagonist and one who has a lot of valid points. In a debate he will always beat Natsume but that’s more due to the latter’s inexperience than anything else. I definitely look forward to their inevitable clash over the Book of Friends someday.

Following that up is an episode about a Yokai skeptic. This episode would hit so much harder if Natsume ever actually told people about Yokai though. Since he doesn’t, you don’t have the usual tension here. Fortunately it was a nice Yokai anyway so the whole thing didn’t matter too much but I did like this guy. He seemed reasonable about it without being written to be over the top. I’d probably be skeptical about Yokai myself if I was in the show. I’d need a lot of good old fashioned proof and with the main Yokai guy being intentionally cagey…yeah I wouldn’t suspect a thing.

After that is a pretty interesting episode but it does rely on Nishimura being really slow on the uptake. A Yokai decides to transform into Natsume and visit the guy every night. He gives Nishimura a weird doll finger to hang onto and keeps on coming to check on it. This “Natsume” can barely talk and acts nothing like the real one. Nishimura has a lot of different excuses to himself on why Natsume is so different and so he never actually suspects anything but you feel like he totally should. The whole thing has a happy ending and all plus I enjoyed seeing Nishimura get a bigger role. He may not be the smartest guy around but he’s a good friend.

Then we get our big two part adventure of the season. Natori and Matoba are around as they have to ensure a ceremony goes as planned. If it’s interrupted for any reason then there will be big trouble. So they all have their ways of helping. Natsume wants the pacifist approach, Matoba wants to destroy them all and Natori wants to destroy the bad ones but does try talking a good game about not being too extreme. The episode further shows the gap between the two exorcists as Matoba is clearly a lot stronger and more capable. We already knew this but it’s always fun to have a reminder. Natsume as usual holds them back a bit as he is easily taken out. We do have a good amount of danger here and the ensemble cast really helps to make the episode feel grand. Every season should have a solid two part adventure like this one.

In the second last episode, we get the big emotional episode that should have been the last one. We see how Reiko got her first ever Yokai name and then how she even made a good friend. Unfortunately a big misunderstanding causes them to drift apart which was unfortunate. It’s probably one of the saddest episodes of the series and definitely the saddest one of the season. Reiko may have great powers but she sure went through a whole lot while she was growing up. Not having any friends is already rough in itself and then things never go well when she has the opportunity to make some. The other girl was also sick all the time but really tried hard in order to get better at the various games in order to play against Reiko. It’s easy to get sad about it just remembering the episode.

The final episode goes for a fairly emotional vibe. Natsume helps a origami out so that creature shows him a lot of nice memories. Natsume and the creature bond quickly and it’s a reminder that some Yokai just want a friend and are totally harmless. We get a lot of little cameos and then the season is over. It’s not really a grand finale or anything like that but it does a good job of showing the average tone of the season. So I understand it in terms of being fitting to end the season like that but I would have chosen one of the other episodes to end off on.

The animation is fairly decent as you would expect. Nothing particularly noteworthy but standard is enough for a slice of life title like this. Great animation could possibly help this one jump to the next level but at the same time I understand why you wouldn’t throw a crazy amount of budget at this one. The series doesn’t require a ton of animation and it’s fairly dialogue heavy. So as long as the animation isn’t bad, then the series doesn’t get held back or anything like that.

Likewise the soundtrack isn’t bad. It’s very low key and definitely not the most exciting but it works well enough for what it’s trying to do. I would like the technical aspects to show up one day and really support the writing though. Natsume may be very laidback but you can absolutely still find a way to make the show a little more exciting. This way you’ll attract even more fans and get that higher replay value.

Overall, Natsume’s Book of Friends has a very familiar vibe to it. It’s the kind of show that has remained consistent for its whole run. You always know that you can count on good stories here and that is important. I can easily recommend this to anyone because it’s really inoffensive. You learn a lot of general life lessons about being a good person as well. The characters are all very polite generally and there aren’t too many evil antagonists. So again, feel free to check this one out as a calming experience and you can basically jump in without any context. The series doesn’t seem to be in any rush to actually wrap up the plot so they can keep these stories going for a very long time.

Overall 6/10

Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV Review

Posted on February 2, 2025 by dreager1

It’s time for an anthology that definitely goes by really quickly. There are only 5 episodes after all and they tend to be pretty short. Still, it’s a pretty nice way to get to see the characters a bit more. The idea for each of the episodes is to get to know a different character a bit more. The animation is solid and this definitely got a reasonable budget. It’s a fun tag along to the game although on its own I’m guessing it won’t be turning a whole lot of heads.

The first episode starts off with a bang as we see into Noctis’ childhood and his run in with a powerful monster. After that we have him and the team fighting with some of the enemy empire’s soldiers. It was a good idea to start and end the series with some solid action scenes. Like I said before, most of the story is really about character development but action really helps for the whole thing to feel real. We also will get to see later on in the final special how the King uses his powers compared to how Noctis uses them. I can’t say he was super impressive but I know the guy is old and all. It just means that the kingdom was always going to be doomed. Either way this was a pretty intense opener and the animation got to show off a bit here. I also like how Noctis avoids eating any vegetables in his burger, that’s how I do it too.

The second episode is about Noctis’ friend Prompto. He used to be really timid and overweight but the guy always had a kind heart. He would look after animals and he did so in the present as well which triggers the flashback. Well, he wants to be Noctis’ friend but is a little ashamed at just how big he is. So he begins to work on losing weight. He runs every day and continues his exercises even in really tough conditions. It really speaks to just how dedicated he is and it’s really nice to see. I’d say it shows how he secretly tries hard even when he always gives off the impression of being a comedic slacker. I appreciate the depth although I would like him to act a bit more serious and driven like that in the present too. No reason he has to always keep this a secret right?

In the third episode we see how Gladiolus was training Noctis but the main character was always being a total slacker. Gladiolus didn’t really have much respect for the guy but kept on with his duty. One day his little sister visits the kingdom and gets lost but Noctis protects her and gets the two of them back home. It at least showed that Noctis would rise to the occasion as needed even if he could stand to train a bit more seriously. It was another fun episode although I do have to suspend some disbelief on Noctis and the little sister escaping the castle so easily. I know it was a secret passage of sorts that leads outside but nobody noticed the hole earlier or had guards around that area? I’d also expect there to be some kind of magical surveillance system because this seems like a security nightmare no matter how you slice it! Luckily things had a good ending for the heroes.

After that we wrap up the character intros with showing us what a tough time Ignis had in getting Noctis ready for the real world. Noctis would not study much at all for the exams and also couldn’t cook for himself. We get to see the real spoiled version of Noctis here. With everyone else he tends to put on the facade that he has his life all together but here we see all the cracks. In a way you can say that Ignis gets to see a side of Noctis that he hides from everyone else so in a way that is pretty big props for Ignis. At the same time it just makes Noctis look really bad. By the end Noctis tries his best to make a meal. While he ends up failing quite badly, I will give him some slight credit for the attempt. I’m glad that he is a lot more mature in the game though.

Finally we go full circle as Noctis meets up with the demon and gets to avenge his family. The demon honestly puts up a super good fight considering this is Noctis with his summoned weapons and the rest of the party. I would expect Noctis to be a bit stronger but this is a fairly early version of the character. Also maybe I am underestimating the monster a bit. Regardless it is a pretty solid action scene all around. A bit of a bloody one as well I could mention. I was a little surprised even at just how intense it got. I suppose with limited time for action, the animators really wanted to go all out here.

It’s a climactic end to the saga and so it made sense to end that way. I enjoyed both the action and slice of life moments here. These episodes could have easily fit into the main game as bonus cutscenes or side quests so they did a good job of making these intro episodes feel real. I’d definitely like to see more Final Fantasy titles get the full media treatment like this one did. A movie, show, and the main game is really a whole lot of content. Any title that isn’t VII or XIII would have to be quite jealous.

Overall, There’s not a ton to discuss here due to the show’s short runtime. All in all it was a fun experience. Short titles like this are a fun way to see your favorite characters for just a little while longer and so there’s no real downside to it. While it won’t have the same punch to people unfamiliar with Final Fantasy, you can probably still appreciate the fun vibes. Some of the stories like Prompto wanting to lose weight so he won’t bring his friend down can be applicable to any story so it makes for an easy watch. Likewise for taking down a monster to avenge your family.

Overall 6/10

Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 3 Review

Posted on November 3, 2024 by dreager1

The wholesome anime has returned for a third season! The episode count is super low but given that most of the episodes have extended runtimes I would say it evens out. There’s definitely a lot of drama going on here and for once we can actually start to blame the main guy here. He’s just losing way too much confidence and isn’t turning up the way he should be. It’s a pretty fun third season all in all though and hopefully they announce the next season soon to start wrapping up the story.

The season roughly goes for the structure of focusing on the two leads, giving an episode to Ayane, an episode for Chizu, and then wrapping up with the main duo. All of the characters are always around of course but the focus shifts. This season mainly has the big field trip and then the next Christmas party as the next two big trips. Each of the relationships are going further but that comes with a lot of extra complications and hurt feelings on all ends. There is less time for the wholesome day to day life as this season definitely goes for a more somber vibe. Rather than go by episode I’ll mainly go through each pairing and how the season went for them. I’ll end off with the main duo.

Also let me start by saying that Pin is a superb main character as always. This guy always has the right advice and knows how to give the characters a pep talk right when they need it. Without him they would really be spinning their wheels and not doing much of anything. He’s the guy you want in your corner for exactly this reason and it’s nice that we have a series where the adult character isn’t oblivious or complete comic relief. Pin is a comedy character a lot but when you actually listen to what he is saying, it all tends to be rather profound stuff.

Okay so first lets go with Ryu and Chizu since generally I do think this is the weakest romance out of the 3. This season finally covers the big moment of Ryu confessing and Chizu not really being sure how to handle it. After all, she’s always liked his brother so switching now could be like a rebound? Also she just sees him as a friend and this could end that. I appreciate Ryu being self aware enough to say that he is intending to end their friendship since they can’t progress otherwise. He is betting it all on this after all. So Chizu is under a lot of pressure to readjust how she views Ryu and see if it works.

Obviously this isn’t the final season so things are still in motion but a lot does happen here. At the end of the day, neither one of them are great about being open with their feelings. Ryu does have more of the initiative though in terms of him actually confessing and not backing down from it. He doesn’t play it off as a joke or anything and stays focused. So I respect that part. I have no problems with Ryu as a character. He’s solid enough, the romance itself it a bit harder to buy into though.

Mainly for Chizu’s side here. It’s very similar to a manga I recently reviewed called Lovely Complex. Chizu doesn’t really see Ryu as a romantic interest to the point where she laughs initially. It’s super hard for me to picture her changing her mind suddenly. It always comes across more like she is picking Ryu because the first option didn’t work out and also because he is so desperate. So it’s more out of convenience and being able to keep her friend. Not the worst reasons for starting a romance but yeah I’m definitely considerably less invested in this one compared to the others.

Then we have Ayane and Kento’s plot. So Ayane has been with a lot of guys before but it was more out of a sense of tradition and just hoping maybe she will find the right guy. She’s never actually been in love before so in a way she doesn’t know what it’s even supposed to feel like. That’s why she wanted to really just keep on trying but the guys she picks are always not that good. So now Kento has made his move but she can’t tell if he’s serious or not. Can she even afford to take another risk on a relationship?

Now this is a plot that’s a lot more interesting. For starters, the idea of not knowing what love is even like is definitely depressing but realistic. There are so many films and stories where it feels like the characters just start dating on a whim because it feels right but you can’t tell if they actually love each other. Now here is an instance where that is actually the case and Ayane has been doing this for a long time apparently. It’s definitely an interesting plot and you can also see why she doesn’t know if she can trust Kento.

He’s a super nice guy who is nice to everyone but as a result you can’t really tell if that’s just a mask or not. Maybe he’s just super nice to everybody or she is being played again. In a sense that is what dating is for, to find out about the other person but it’s also pointless if you don’t see a future ahead right away. So we have some real dilemmas here. Meanwhile for Kento, it’s similar. He’s always been a nice guy and genuinely so, so it’s not something that’s easy to turn off. Also there’s nothing wrong with being nice, he just needs to get Ayane to see that he’s being genuine.

Kento is a character who is easy to root for so it also makes for a fun plot in that sense. As the omnipresent audience, we know that both characters are good but of course the view from the ground is way different. Ayane is always defending her friends and keeping them happy so of course you hope that she gets a happy ending too. That just doesn’t have to necessarily include dating.

Finally we have the main pairing. Sawako and Kazehaya have been doing really well so far. Sawako has gained her confidence and Kazehaya is always a good guy. Well, that finally changes here as he gets super scared after almost kissing Sawako. So for most of the season he is avoiding her to an extent and just being really cold. Is he tired or the relationship or something? Sawako has to face all of her fears once again and this is definitely the most forced part of the whole season. Their romance as a whole is still solid but if we just looked at this season in a vacuum then I would say it definitely didn’t go over so well. Kazehaya looks pretty terrible once the plot starts.

He actively pushes her away when she tries to find out what’s going on with him. He never actually explains himself and just continues to put in that distance over and over again. I think the worst part about this is how unnecessary it is. He should have just clearly told her what happened and his worries. The fact that he feels like he can’t confide in her like this is really bad. It should be second nature by now and instead he nearly gets them broken up. The fact that he didn’t think about this at all is definitely a bad look. So Kazehaya purely from season 3 is not a particularly good character.

He makes the wrong decisions over and over again. Meanwhile Sawako looks good as she continues to persist over and over in order to get to the truth. She is really putting in all of the effort in this relationship. Without her then they would definitely be in big trouble. A different main character would have probably gotten all upset and just created more drama. Kazehaya should feel bad about almost kissing her there since it’s not super responsible for being on a trip but shutting himself off like that is crazy.

The Christmas episodes still have their happy moments but they definitely get hampered down a bit by this main plot. It’s also a shame because in life there are no do-overs. They may have made up later on but that’s one party they can’t really take back. At least they didn’t do anything crazy like mess up the gift exchange the way that Chizu did. The whole point of a secret gift exchange is that you don’t know who is getting each present so causing a scene over that is definitely no a good move. It’s the one time you almost feel bad for Joe but he caused so much chaos that I couldn’t help but smirk a little bit.

In terms of the technical elements, the theme song is fairly weak. It’s definitely not one of the catchier tunes. The soundtrack is largely unchanged so it’s not bad. A little quiet without any big time hits but it works well enough for the series. As for the animation, the show looks smooth. I wouldn’t call it particularly high budget but it’s not really going for that angle anyway. As long as the animation is clear then that’s about all that you need for a show like this. There is less time for comedy of course but the show still has some fun jokes here and there. Ultimately it’s hard to avoid for any romance series though. Inevitably the themes will get more serious and there will be less time for the happy days. This one has a good balance though.

At the end of the day one of the strengths of the series is that the characters are all fairly mature. You don’t have the usual misunderstandings and panicking that you might see in another series. Kazehaya is the most immature here but otherwise the dilemmas that the characters are facing are things you will probably see in real life. It makes the stakes feel a lot more personal and really let you jump into what’s going on here. I would probably have liked there to have been time for more fun but that’s pretty hard to do during the dramatic period. So with things being good with Kazehaya again, I look forward to more general fun in the next season. I’m also glad that Sawako’s father started to mellow out a little more here. In general he was a solid character and I’m also glad that he got to spend some holiday time with his daughter. I would have felt bad if he was totally pushed to the side.

Overall, Kimi continues to go strong as a good title. The season really flies by with the limited episode count. I know with the run time is more or less evens out but there is still something nice to say about a season having over 10 episodes you know? While the gap between seasons 2 and 3 wasn’t too bad for me since I started the series late, I hope season 4 doesn’t take nearly as long. I’m ready to see all of the climaxes happen in the anime version and how it all turns out. In the meantime you should check this one out regardless. Wait or not, you don’t want to miss out on the Christmas hype!

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 5 Review

Posted on September 15, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for some more Natsume hype! The series has really stayed strong with 5 seasons and we have season 7 coming out soon so you can expect more reviews soon. It’s the kind of title that can really last for however long the author wants it to. The storyline is fairly basic but allows for more to be brought into the mix whenever it is needed because we still don’t know how big the book of friends is. Until that happens, we have unlimited time here and by this point you should either know if you are a fan or not. It’s more of the same and the series is pretty consistent like that.

Since the show is mainly stand alone we’ll go through each of the episodes. The season itself appears to be pretty short at 11 episodes but there were two bonus ones so that helps to get things back to a normal amount. Natsume is also being thrown onto his back slightly less often nowadays so he is getting better at working with the Yokai but I won’t be satisfied until I see him become really confident. I want him to show off his right hook and really have the respect his power. Natsume clearly has the ability, he only lacks the confidence.

The first episode is fairly light and is sort of a catchup/intro episode for new fans. Natsume encounters a yokai who needs him to find her doll and one that likes acorns. So, being the nice kid that he is, Natsume helps out both yokai even if the one with the doll wasn’t particularly pleasant. Natsume helps out for the love of the game and he will always be there for assistance even if he is being used. That is of course the tricky part which Nyanko warns him about but Natsume just can’t let things be. If he can help out then that’s what he’ll do. There’s not as much of a sense of danger in this episode since Nyanko could realistically solo any of the villains but it’s still a wholesome episode overall.

Now it’s time for another emotional episode. A human gave a yokai his towel when it was raining hard so that she wouldn’t get sick and he left. 50 years have passed and she wants to see him but hasn’t been able to make contact. So she asks Natsume for help and he’s got nothing better to do so why not? Of course the old man is fairly old as you would expect and Natsume can’t exactly say that he was asked to search by a yokai so the guy’s granddaughter thinks he’s a weirdo. Still, Natsume gets the Yokai the closure that she needed. It’s another pretty wholesome episode and fun addition into the lineup. It reminds you how inconvenient it is to be a Yokai with how you’re immortal but can’t really talk to anyone except for very specific circumstances. That has to get old quick.

Next up is a 2 part adventure and this is one of the bigger ones since we have the return of Matoba the exorcist along with Natori. So Natsume’s bad luck prevails as he ends up losing a letter than Matoba sent him so the guy has to show up in person and threaten him for help. Natsume is forced to find a yokai who has infiltrated an exorcists meeting and is trying to murder everyone. If Natsume doesn’t help, his parents will be told the truth about how he can see yokai. Honestly Natsume needs to tell them already or this blackmail will keep on being effective but that time isn’t now. It’s a pretty solid 2 part adventure in part because the addition of Matoba always adds a certain level of danger.

If he finds out about the Book of Friends then he may very well kidnap Natsume or take the book by force. He has the resources and men to do the job. Nyanko is a great guardian in theory with his power levels but he wouldn’t be able to stop a whole army and Matoba knows it. That guy still makes for a really fun villain and I like seeing him around. Then we have Natori who always seems to play second fiddle but at least he’s more aware of what is going on than Natsume. I appreciate that he is always ready to help just in case Natsume needs any assistance. The main character doesn’t even realize that he has this protection in most instances.

After that we have an episode where Taki takes Natsume to her house as quite a few Yokai are around. She helped one out and now more are there and one is even leaving her messages at school. They seem nice enough but you never can tell with Yokai. It’s always fun to see Taki around though as she is easily the best out of the supporting characters at school. It’s a fairly low key episode after the last two with Matoba and is one of those episodes that remind you how a lot of Yokai aren’t actually dangerous. They’re all mysterious but a good number of them are reasonable.

The next episode gets back to the high stakes though. Natsume’s voice is sealed by a pair of Yokai and they are hunting him for some reason. Nyanko is much more powerful than they are but his reaction times are not always the best and he isn’t always on guard. So if Natsume lowers his guard then it’s all over. Fortunately his folks don’t really question the lack of a voice beyond just being a common cold so he got lucky there. I feel like it would be treated as a rather massive deal that your voice is completely gone if you ask me, but I suppose that’s just how it goes sometimes. It was good to see Nyanko step up when it counted though.

It’s back to wholesome times after that though. Natsume and friends head to Tanuma’s inn to relax and hang out. It turns out that a lady he knows there is a Yokai though. She asks Natsume to keep this as a secret and she will move on after the trip is over. She’s always been real kind though and he figures she should stay if she wants to. It’s one of those interesting cases of a Yokai being able to freely interact with humans so I’m guessing she has pretty strong abilities or it could be that the temple background amps her up. Either way it’s a pleasant story.

We get back to the important business after that with a prequel episode where we see how Natori and Matoba first met up. Matoba was as snobbish as ever here as he showed off his abilities but you could also see how he was glad to have someone to talk to. It was a really interesting episode and it’s why either one of these characters would make for a better main character than Natsume. This may seem a bit harsh but Natsume just doesn’t have the same level of backstory or intrigue to keep up with them. It’s definitely tough for Natori knowing that he will never be on Matoba’s level in terms of sheer ability but that’s where creativity comes into play.

After that is more of a standard episode. Natsume runs into a little mushroom yokai that has big dreams to serve a local yokai lord. He needs to get that guy’s attention and clear some tasks so Natsume helps him out. It’s nice of Natsume to help but you can see how this guy is completely out of his depth. The little yokai doesn’t have the size or stature to really do much and it’s not like you change species as you grow older. The lord turns out to be a nice character and isn’t a jerk or anything like that but even if he had completely rejected the mushroom yokai you’d have totally understood.

Now we have another prequel episode and this time it’s more details about how Toko and Shigeru adopted Natsume. We’ve been getting different bits and pieces of Natsume’s background in each of the season and it’s always fun to see more of it. Toko and Shigeru are also pretty solid characters. They may have roles that are fairly low key but they are always eager to help out. The episode is on the low key side but they make for good leads so it ends up being one of the stronger episodes.

After that we have an episode where Natsume gets sick so all of his yokai friends try to find the cure. It’s nice to see everyone banding together to help out like this. It shows how many real friends Natsume has made and he has sure come a long way from the days where he had no friends. It’s really nice to see although the episode itself could be a little boring at times. Episodes where the main character is sick rarely entertain me in any show as it’s just not a gimmick that works for very long. I get the emotion beat they were going for here though.

Then we get to the bonus episodes. The first one is a wholesome episode about a yokai couple who could make super sake cups that would last for one year. The drinks out of them would taste amazing but they are getting old and their powers are waning so they are having one last party. I guess you could say the episode is about their bond and how it stayed really strong. There isn’t a whole lot of story to the episode otherwise but it works well enough as a stand alone.

Finally we have an episode where Natsume is trapped in a hide and seek game. Whenever he falls asleep he falls inside the game and bad things may happen if he’s caught. It works as a fairly spooky episode although it’s still hard to feel too much danger since Natsume can still one punch just about any demon if he puts his mind to it. It ends up having a happy ending and all. It was a good episode and I’d probably put it around the middle of the pack. It did its job here.

That about wraps up the season here. As always it’s a fun show with a wide variety of different stories to tell. Each plot is different and the writer is creative with how many situations come up. At the end of the day it might not be the most exciting show but I can see how it’s viewed as a calming title. You could watch this at night for some wholesome entertainment before turning in. It means it’ll be hard for the show to shift gears into the next level but there’s nothing wrong with just being a good show. Not every show has to be great or amazing after all.

The technical elements may not be great but they’re not bad either. The opening is a little too slow and calm for me but of course this is a calm show with slow pacing. So it makes sense but I would still like a rock theme or something like that. The soundtrack isn’t particularly engaging but it works well enough. The animation is a little on the lackluster side and under most anime but it’s not terrible. The story helps the show out more than the technical elements and so long as the writing stays good this will always be a solid show. I can easily recommend it to anyone which is always a plus.

Overall, You could say that the show is a bit static in regards to all of the characters and the story as a whole but as long as they keep churning out seasons I will be here. At the end of the day I have no big issues with the show as a whole. Natsume and Nyanko are a fun enough duo. Hopefully we get some Reiko flashback episodes in the next season or at least more Matoba episodes since he’s always fun. The show definitely has the foundation to become a full fledged action show if it ever wants to do so but that’s probably more of a pipe dream. As long as you enjoy some fun story telling then I think you’ll enjoy this show. It’s probably best not to binge it and just enjoy a few episodes here and there until you get to the end.

Overall 6/10

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Review

Posted on August 17, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to jump back into the world of the rankings. The first season was fun with a lot going on and some pretty dynamic fights. The cast may not be the strongest but the show still holds its own. That said, this one is more like a mini season so that does put it in a bit of a tricky place right out of the gate. Could the season win without a big story? Well, I found it fun enough so I would say it was still good. The first season definitely wins without a doubt but at least since we know the characters by now, they were able to hold their own stories without too much trouble. The 10 episodes definitely go by real quickly so in a lot of ways this really does feel like a mini season even aside from the story.

I’ll jump into each segment and talk about them so you get a feel for the stories. That’s always the most enjoyable way to review an anthology after all and it gets you right into the thick of things! The only exception to this is the final episode where it actually continues the story and works like a preview of what the next full season will be like. I thought that was a real interesting touch so I was glad to see that. It ends the season off on a really strong note which is definitely what you’re looking for here.

The first short in the series shows us once again why Kage is such a great character. He’s looking for an herb that he needs for Boji’s mentor and yet he can’t help but stop to assist an old lady who needs him. He performs each and every chore even while he is super busy and you have to acknowledge his good strength of heart here. Ultimately the good deed pays for itself and things work out but he was willing to help out with no reward which is always good. He’s definitely one of the most heroic characters.

In the next story we had Boji and Kage get tasked to raise a ton of money. They come up with a genius plan to have people try to throw rocks at Boji and he needed to dodge. They racked up a lot of money this way but ultimately needed to give most of it away to a poor kid who needed their help. Another instance of Boji and Kage being good heroes here so I can appreciate that. The town’s not in the best shape so I imagine that a lot of people there are in a rough spot. Hopefully they can keep helping everyone out, one spot at a time.

After that we get to see how their heroism can sometimes put them in dicey situations. They didn’t realize that a bunch of bandits were villains and just thought they were people down on their luck. Kage and Boji got suckered rather easily but at least they are strong enough where they can win the fights without any trouble. So ultimately that helps to reduce the damage from all of this. I can’t blame them too hard for being super kind hearted when they have the power to get out of a jam on their own after all. It’s a nice enough story and we got some action in this time.

We also had a short involving a desert but the tough part about having 3 shorts in one episode instead of 2 is that one will really get the shaft. That was the case here as there wasn’t much time for anything. We had a nice feels moment with the monster but that’s about it. I would probably consider this to be the weakest short in the season. There just isn’t much to absorb or talk about here.

After that was a fun one though as Hiling is getting ready to mount a counterattack to take back the kingdom. So she heads off and finds out of her friends. So the friend agrees to help if Hilling saves the day first. It’s a nice team up and this is also a good place to mention to you that the setting of the episode changes each time. So some take place at the end of the series, some before the series, etc. So definitely something to really keep in mind here. Obviously this plot would not make sense if Boji was already the king. It was good to see Hilling as the main character, she tends to be fun.

We also have a short special with Daida learning some basic healing magic and helping Boji out when the lead gets hurt. You can tell it’s not going to be Daida’s forte so I wouldn’t expect to see him doing anything crazy with healing in the future but every bit certainly helps. This one felt fairly short, not a whole lot is going on here. So it’s not bad, but won’t hook your interest particularly well next to some of the other episodes.

Then we get one about Ouken and the Desha/Despa brothers. We already saw a lot of this in the main series so this is really a way to expand upon it a bit. They each got super abilities from their father but they aren’t perfectly balanced. One of them is immortal, one has super strength/magic, and I forget what the final one has. Maybe intelligence? He’s not really a fighter but is a good teacher. Either way I always like seeing the Underworld, it’s established pretty well in the series and always makes for a good episode.

The next one actually continues the plot in a lot of ways. Ouken’s friend Fren decides to search for a cure to the immortality and goes on a whole quest. He takes on a lot of dangers and threats as he searches for a lead. Ultimately he is able to get some intel which will set up the cure/next steps for a future arc. Fren was definitely loyal and you always want someone like that in order to have your back during a pinch. So this was another fun one.

We have another weak one coming up sadly. In this one, the horse that Despa owns has gotten really fat. So the mission is to have him lose weight and this starts to work when the horse sees a girl horse that he likes. Unfortunately for him it turns out that she already has someone. The guy is absolutely crushed and gains all of the weight back. It’s why if you are going to change something or set a personal goal, it needs to be for you. Otherwise you will inevitably get disheartened at some point and will lose all progress. You can’t let it get to that point so the ending is actually a rather sad one. It also just feels like straight up filler since the episode ends as it started so they could have done more here or had a better message.

After that is an origin episode for Hokuro. Hokuro really wanted to be a knight. Someone who would be able to watch over Boji and keep the kingdom safe. Unfortunately he isn’t very strong but the guy does know sign language which ends up helping him out. Without that you know that Hokuro would have been tossed out, so his instincts of wanting to be able to communicate with Boji were good ones. Ultimately he did as well as he could, but personally I would not have recommended him to be a soldier. He has a good story of course but there is not much point in a soldier who cannot protect his king.

Then we have two shorts that don’t have a ton of plot but are excuses to really see what is going on in the kingdom. We have one where Boji helps out a lot of different people while he still misses Kage. Life just isn’t the same on his own. Boji is a king though and I want to say that the point is that he still continues to help people and fulfills his duties rather than running out of the kingdom on a wild goose chase to find his friend. Meanwhile Daida’s short is rather similar. He is working to rebuild the kingdom but a lot of people still don’t trust him. He was just too evil and possessed for too long. So he takes it slow and in the meantime continues training with the Big 4. So he’s doing his best but it’s just a long road.

We get a story about how Bebin trained hard so that he wouldn’t be so much weaker than the other members of the big 4. He had good technique but completely lacked power and so as he got desperate he would make more and more mistakes that would really come back to bite him. It definitely put him in quite the tough bind but ultimately he got better at using his techniques after some formal training. I still don’ really see him beating any of the other members of the Big 4 but at least now it’s definitely a lot closer. He certainly made a lot of progress.

My favorite short in the series was definitely when the Big 4 are challenged to a game of arm wrestling. It should be an easy thing for them and yet they are getting absolutely dominated for most of the episode. It’s pretty crazy especially because there weren’t any big gimmicks here. Yes, the guy they were fighting was a master of the craft and knew how to use his leverage but at the end of the day it was still his strength that was proving to be superior. It was extremely impressive the whole time. I was glad that the heroes finally started working together but the Big 4 definitely did lose a good amount of hype here. This short easily had the most amount of hype behind it.

We get a story Kage’s mom and how she raised Kage right. He used to get picked on by the local kids and everything but instead of worrying about that, he still just had a good time. When villains would attack, Kage ended up saving them. He’s definitely someone you can count on in a pinch and he has certainly saved Boji many times at this point. It’s a nice little short even if it does make the town look rather mean and corrupt as always.

King Bosse gets a segment to go more in depth on his having Boji. We already saw part of this in the show but this way it’s a little extended. He has to fight off all kinds of enemies but in the back of his head he still knows his own guilt. At the end of the day, he made a deal that was not worth it and has been paying ever since. He would only get worse as the series went on unfortunately. I still don’t like King Bosse and probably never will with how drastic he got. At best you could say that he is a very imposing villain with his high levels of raw power and all but in the end this isn’t going to be enough to start rehabilitating his overall character. The guy doesn’t really get any sympathy from me.

Miranjo had a segment with her as a kid running around with the kid demon. The little thing was real afraid of her back then but since she was a kid i’s not like she could totally tell and so she chased him for a while. It’s a nice look at things before she got ultra depressed with everything going really badly for her. A lot of characters here had pretty tough backgrounds which definitely do not excuse their later actions but at least it’s nice to see some happy times occurred.

The final segment is about Boji giving some gifts to all of his friends. It’s a pretty solid way to end the season since it ties into the treasure chest and everything. You get to say your final goodbyes to all of the characters as well which is nice. Of course this wouldn’t literally be the last episode but in a way it’s the last episode of the arc so either way it works out pretty well. It’s a low key episode of course but it’s nice seeing all of the characters again. It could be a while before we see any of them again.

Now like I said this brings us to the final episode where things get real intense. The next #1 king has been chosen at last but of course we know that things never go well for the top king. He always seems to vanish. So why even go through with the process? Well, Desha is still trying to cure the curse of immortality on his brother and so this is a risk he has to take. We get to wrap up that plotline here and in general the episode feels rather fast paced. It keeps up some mysteries to be sure but you know this will be a pretty interesting plot that’s going to keep on going. The gods may feel a bit nerfed right now but I suppose we can assume that this was the weakest one or something like that. You always feel like King Bosse should be the only one able to take these guys out.

The heroes may regret not asking for help from Boji and Daida but I get why they wouldn’t want to be asking the kingdom for help every time something happens. They need to be able to hold their own in a pinch after all and that’s completely valid. Desha is also no slouch in the power department, he looked really good in season 1 after all so it’s not like you would assume that he could be defeated. Power itself doesn’t seem to be much of a counter for the price of the king’s reward but in the back of your head you would probably feel pretty secure about the whole thing.

The animation for the show is okay. It’s certainly below average compared to most titles but we do get one solid looking fight in the very final episode. More of a quick cut than the full fight but close enough. The show has always gone for an intentionally simplified look and I’m not the biggest fan of it but it could still work for those fights. We just need more movement and everything here along with some nice/colorful special abilities.

As for the soundtrack the tunes are basically the same as in season 1. They’re not super dynamic but they’re okay. They feel nostalgic while watching the show at least. Nothing that I would be likely to Youtube afterwards or anything like that though. The theme song could definitely stand to be a lot more exciting though. It’s all just so mellow and everything. I want the theme song to embrace more of how crazy the show can be with demons and gods running around. It may not be the tone the show is totally going for but I think it would work well.

Right now the technical elements aren’t doing a whole lot to back up the show itself and that’s what has got to change here. Lets pump the show up with a bit more hype. The world building is already there after all, we just need to make it all a lot more hype. This is more of a wishlist for season 2 at this point I suppose. Nothing wrong with just being a good show of course, but I know this could be a great show.

Overall, The treasures season was fun enough. There may not be much stakes or plot progression for most of the season but the stories themselves were solid enough to hold your attention. So I didn’t have any real complaints here. I think it went about as far as it could with this format and not being able to jump far ahead just yet. Fans of the first season should check this out to see all of the old characters again while people who have not jumped into the franchise just yet will not really have any reason to do so. This is really an experience for the fans compared to season 1 which is easier for everyone to just jump into. Hopefully the actual season 2 comes sooner than later.

Overall 6/10

Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga Review

Posted on June 23, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the return of Blue Exorcist. This series has always been a bit of a mystery to me. On one hand, it’s a big Shonen title where the main character has to fight off his demonic urges and slay demons. It’s very much a classic king of plot but the execution is just so different. Sometimes in a good way but sometimes in a bad way. I’ve never really connected with the series as well as most other big Shonen titles and that doesn’t really change here either. It’s a good season but not great by any means. It’s not quite as interesting as it should be and the action always gets cut off way too quickly. Well, lets dive into this.

Yukio is still jealous of Rin’s abilities and now that he is getting a glimpse of his own demonic potential, he wants power. He continues to try and repress his desires but the facade is starting to crack and he doesn’t want to talk to anyone about it. There’s not much time to think about this though as the Illuminati attacks and kidnaps Kamiki. She is taken by Shima, a double agent working for this group. Naturally the Illuminati is led by Lucifer himself. Note that Lucifer is another son of Satan and brother to Mephisto. This group will be difficult to defeat especially Mephisto sandbagging as always and the Exorcist Order being generally useless. Rin and Yukio will have to take point in rescuing her but can they move on from this big betrayal?

Naturally this is a really huge deal if you have been following the series for a long time although the anime took so long to get up to this point that I wouldn’t be surprised if most people have already heard about this whole thing. It’s not exactly the biggest secret in the series, you know what I mean? The reactions to it are very odd though. The characters get over the betrayal way too easily which is a personal pet peeve of mine. This guy literally broke all of their trust and kidnapped Kamiki so she could be tortured over and over again like in the past by a group that is clearly evil.

I think this is more than a “Do better next time” kind of speech. He should be absolutely demolished, I’d expect him to be destroyed on sight the next time that he is seen. Is that harsh? Yeah maybe but I would also argue that it is absolutely deserved. The characters are constantly using kid gloves on Shima and it doesn’t really make sense. The show goes into the specifics here and throws some more twists into the mix but none of it overrides the fact that Kamiki was very close to being dead. She had her summons get destroyed and while they managed to come back later, she was consistently put in a rough spot.

It’s why undercover operations are often not a good idea. Even if it’s part of a mission, you can’t be putting your allies in danger or sitting back while others are attacked. If you let one person get murdered to save 100, then you are starting to make dangerous decisions that are in villain territory. So I never ended up liking Shima and still blame him for everything. I’m also a little upset at the other characters allowing him back in because that makes no sense to me. Definitely a massive L right there.

Rin also doesn’t look his best here. He’s going through the classic hero issue of not wanting to murder anyone so he holds back a lot but you can always knock someone out without murdering them. It also gets to be a little much when he is also nervous even when fighting mindless monsters. Just take the super slow zombies down, there’s nothing you can really do to save them at this point. It’s also an annoying part of Blue Exorcist because every time we’re primed for a big right with Rin, it either doesn’t happen or he holds back so hard that it’s not a real fight.

Realistically he should be mopping the floor with most of the characters but it just doesn’t happen. He’s also scared of his powers enough where he doesn’t train the way that he’s supposed to. How is he supposed to protect his friends when he’s holding back like this? The whole power system of the series isn’t great either. The prayer chants never seem to work and are incredibly impractical. Unless you have someone like Rin or Kamiki backing you up to buy you time, the villains are going to slam you. It just makes over half of the cast feel rather useless most of the time. Everyone should have some close quarter combat skills or at least a big summon you know?

Okay back to the characters, Yukio is super annoying here as well. Part of this isn’t his fault because the guy’s had to go through the same character arc multiple times since the anime only arc was retconned and of course I remember this from the manga. So it just gets old quick where he is messing up his priorities and becoming a liability. If he would just talk to Rin about what’s going on things would work out better. So I put all of the blame on Yukio since he’s taking himself down the wrong path. It’s not even like the villains are encouraging this, Yukio is really leading himself downhill all on his own.

As for the main heroine Shiemi, right now there’s a lot of drama going on with her. She seems to like Yukio but is starting to like Rin. Possible triangle forming there, we’ll have to see how it goes. For now Shiemi is still way too timid and I would like her to acknowledge her own strength more. Her grass summon is really not that bad and can at least buy her some time. She has no real offensive spells but at least she can play a support role.

In that way she is more balanced than Kamiki. Kamiki has her dual spirits but they don’t even listen to her half the time ~~because they’re tremendously awful characters who refuse to honor any kind of loyalty to her despite having high respect for Kamiki’s mom~~ and put her in big danger. Kamiki has basic spells beyond that but as I pointed out before, this never works anyway so it may as well be a pointless addition. I like Kamiki’s fiery spirit but hopefully she will work with the other heroes more next time and not try to be a loner. Being a loner only works when you have the power to back it up.

Suguro is the only one who actually gives Shima a hard time so I give him massive credit for that. He sticks up for the traitor so that he’s not executed or anything like that but still doesn’t trust him. That’s how it should be, I still don’t get how you could possibly trust him in any context after what happened. That just makes no sense to me. Suguro is really held back by the fact that he can’t fight at all without the talismans so I hope he gets something soon.

Miwa tends to be a bit of an annoying character. Kind of wishy washy and never too sure of himself. Unlike Shiemi he has no great powers to help him out so right now he’s on the lower side from the cast members. Shura doesn’t do much beyond her obligatory teasing of Yukio. She is mainly injured for most of the season and when she is conscious she is being threatened by Mephisto. Honestly she is in such a terrible spot half the time. She needs to find a way to get stronger so she can actually have some freedom.

As the big villain in the Illuminati you’d figure that Lucifer would get a lot of hype but he’s very underwhelming for now. He’s super sickly and constantly coughing up blood and running out of energy. I feel like Mephisto could wipe him out of existence with ease and is just messing around because he can. It looks like the heroes are going to wait until Lucifer finds a cure and can fight at full power before they make their move so the Exorcists are as inept as always. I’ll need to see more of Lucifer to take him seriously.

His main general was one of those fat psycho doctors which doesn’t do his group any justice. That guy was super annoying so I was glad when he was taken out. Definitely one of the worst villains in the series. The backstory for Kamiki’s family was definitely a sad one. This season sure had more of an emotional feel than the last one. No offense to Suguro but his family drama wasn’t nearly as impactful. This one hits a bit harder because of how so much of it felt inevitable with no real escape.

Finally with Mephisto, he is still a solid villain but the kind of figure who could go way down depending on how his plan goes. Right now we don’t really know what he even wants to do. He clearly has enough power to bring the world to its knees so why doesn’t he? He has deals with the shady council of Exorcists but why would he even need such weaklings? We’ll find out in time but if he ends up getting one shotted or the plan doesn’t go well then retroactively it will make him such a terrible villain. Usually the more convoluted and far out your plan is, the more things that can go wrong. So he will really have to convince me here.

In general a lot of the story is still shrouded in secrecy. In part I would say that’s because we’re seeing things from the point of view of the main characters who are out of the loop on everything. We don’t really have any characters who are on the inside to give us full coverage into what’s going on. You like to think that the Exorcists have a bunch of trump cards at their disposal but I have my doubts on this. Right now it just feels like the demons have all of the advantages and the heroes’ only chance is to trust one which is rough. Rin is their only chance.

In terms of animation, the show can look good but it can also be rough at times. It’s clear that this didn’t exactly get a massive budget. It’s a shame because none of the fights look all that amazing. The best battle in the series is probably Rin vs Shima and part of that is probably more for narrative reasons than animation. I’m glad we at least get some action but it again feels like the show could be doing so much more. In the last season the big boss was a giant monster and of course we get more of that here too.

I want the show to just embrace its Shonen roots and give us some massive action scenes. Lets get some really cool feats in here and some awesome stuff you know? At least the soundtrack is really good as always. This is one area where the show has always excelled. I thought the theme song was really catchy and I also like a lot of the individual tracks. My favorite theme from season 1 only shows up like once but the new themes are good too. There’s a solid amount of variety and I felt like this got the biggest budget in the show.

While the show may not always deliver on the action front, I do think it does pretty well on the slice of life and comedy aspects. It’s a show where we actually get to see the heroes in school quite a lot. We see them learning and everything as there tends to be a lot of downtime. The gag of Rin dressing up like Shima was absolutely top tier as well. That gag actually works really well and made for a lot of fun moments. The obligatory beach type episode was also not as fanservicey as it could have been.

In general the show doesn’t go too far into that but some of the outfits are definitely geared in that direction. The romance is on the weaker side though as it all tends to feel a bit melodramatic. I feel like it’s going in a similar direction to Seraph of the End with the characters trying to hold in their emotions and everything but Seraph of the End pulls it off so much better because of how direct it is. This one’s trying to sort of be half in and half out so the romance is more annoying than anything.

Overall, Blue Exorcist had some good fights and plot twists but it’s just hard to get into the series the way the author wants you to. It feels like its just taking too much time to move forward in the plot. The fact that all of the heroes have to work with the villains because they are too weak to oppose him is also annoying. I mean it’s interesting in a sense but there doesn’t seem to be a way for them to surpass Mephisto. The power system of this world just makes that impossible for all of them except Rin who needs to get his head straight. It’s almost like a horror film where the heroes don’t stand a chance. The only other title I can think of like this is Seraph of the End where the heroes are always super doomed but at least the power system is much more supernatural so you could easily write in massive power boosts. We’ll see where the series goes from here though, hopefully Rin can finally start fighting more. There is already an exhausting amount of world building so lets move on to the big plot developments now. Either way the show does go fast though and the characters are entertaining so that will have to do for now.

Overall 6/10

	Princess Ichigo Brad… on Ichigo Momomiya vs Sailor…
	dreager1 on Braveheart
	Anonymous on Braveheart
	Anonymous on Tokyo Mew Mew Review
	dreager1 on Goku vs Beyonder
	Anonymous on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (…

DReager1.com

The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site

Category Archives: 6 Star TV Shows

Loki: Season 2 Review

Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow/The Blue Night Sagas Review

My Happy Marriage Season 2 Review

Charlotte Review

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 Review

Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV Review

Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 3 Review

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 5 Review

Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Review

Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga Review

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: