The Orbital Children Review

Posted on February 6, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

My Happy Marriage Review

Posted on November 3, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for an anime with possibly the most wholesome title of all time. It’s a slice of life romance series with a lot of drama and it’s pretty solid. At times the main heroine can get a little tricky since part of the show is about her dealing with confidence issues but you feel like by season 2 she will really be hitting her stride. The show even throws in some supernatural/action elements in so there’s a lot going on in this show.

The show starts off by introducing us to Miyo who has had a really tough life so far. She was born into a fairly prestigious family but without any supernatural abilities. As a result her stepmother and step sister constantly bully Miyo and treat her like a slave. Her father is no better as he doesn’t defend her and tends to passively pile on as well. Miyo is in love with one guy, Kouji and this is her one way out of this rotten life. He can marry her and take her away with him. Unfortunately he ends up being promised to Miyo’s step sister Kaya and he is too weak willed to refuse. The family figures this is a good time to dump Miyo so they give her over to the rich Kiyoka who is infamously cold hearted. Can Miyo turn this around?

The opening episodes really go far to show just how irredeemable and awful the rest of Miyo’s family are so don’t get it confused and think that these guys could end up being great later on or something. It’s going to take many seasons for them to even come close to having a redemption arc for me. When you bully someone their entire life, effectively enslaving that person then you can’t really bounce back from that. It’s just way too much. This should remind you a lot of Cinderella because that’s pretty much the setup here. Fortunately as you can guess that means Kiyoka is actually a pretty guy. He’s your classic misunderstood character who has a hard time showing his emotions but isn’t a bad guy at all. Basically its the result of rumors being spread around that weren’t true and previous wife candidates not being in the relationship for the right reasons.

Now I do have to note that when Miyo is sent off, the marriage isn’t official yet. Think of it like an engagement setup and after a period of time, Kiyoka can choose to marry her. Until that actually happens officially they aren’t married and that’s an important plot point because just about every character will show up to try and put a stop to this because they’re just so petty in this world. If there’s something they can do to mess things up then you have to believe that they are going to do it!

So first up from the characters we have Miyo and as I mentioned at the start I’m not really a fan of hers which does hurt a bit. You want to be careful about victim blaming here as she is completely outnumbered and social norms are against her. It would just be nice if she could stand up for herself more rather than being crushed at every opportunity. Kaya for example has a strong personality and talks back to several characters. Even without powers I feel like Miyo could have defended herself more and kept things from going quite as overboard as they did.

Even if you accept that there was nothing she could have done in the early episodes, once she was together with Kiyoka that was her time to be strong. She still lets Kaya talk down to her even once Miyo completely outranks her and then Miyo ultimately chokes under pressure when another guy shows up to steal her away from Kiyoka. It just feels like her character development is moving much too slowly. I want to see her embrace the fact that she has her complete freedom back and never has to bow before anyone ever again. This is her new life now and she should stay pleasant and well natured but her timid personality has to go. Before she can protect anyone else she needs to be able to protect herself.

Then we have Kiyoka who does look pretty good here. He really tries to be a good person who is patient with Miyo so that he doesn’t scare her. He may not be too good at showing affection or anything like that but he gives it a good try. He is ready to plan out dates and make this work even while protecting Japan from supernatural monsters. Yes that’s the action part of this series, there are monsters around every corner just waiting to pounce. Kiyoka is known as the strongest fighter in the land and for good reason. He can burn a whole area of the forest down in one blow and his swordplay is exceptional.

So he’s a very complete character through and through. He consistently makes the right calls and gets to cause some mayhem to Miyo’s family which is great. You really want a character like that on your side. The romance would be all good if not for the fact that it is a bit of a rebound from Miyo’s point of view. The man she was in love with was Kouji and ultimately he just wasn’t man enough to defy his father and the social customs of the land. So she ends up going to Kiyoka since Kouji was off the table. They were never actually together or anything but it does make Kiyoka a second pick in a sense. At least there should be no wavering so it’ll be them for the rest of the series. Gradually that should continue to help the romance out.

I do have to say that Kouji is easily one of the worst characters though. He’s the biggest wimp in the series and there’s no way I can ever respect the guy. He knew Miyo was being abused for ages and did absolutely nothing to help her out. All he did was give her the false hope that he would take her out of there someday and then he goes and gets engaged to her step sister? There’s no amount of crying that Kouji could do afterwards to make him go back up for me. The guy had his big chance and he blew it.

The romance that he being set up with him and Kaya is going to be really hard to buy because this guy was obsessed with Miyo and now he’s going to be with the sister? It’s better than trying to be a homewrecker but nah Kouji’s pretty awful from start to finish here. When you break your promise to take the easier road there just isn’t much hope for you at that point.

At least Kaya is shown to be antagonistic the whole time. She isn’t trying to be some sympathetic character who just made a few mistakes. I do think the show is going to try and redeem her at this point but it needs to be done carefully and slowly across a ton of seasons. Otherwise I’m just not buying it. A redemption arc is a great thing of course but there’s a difference between making a mistake and just being evil for an extended period of time. So I just hope they take this really slow.

Meanwhile Shinichi and Kanoko should both be completely doomed in that regard. Shinichi allowing his own daughter to be treated like a servant for so many years is awful. He never really cared about her and no excuse the show tries to give him will hold any water. He’s the father and the head of the household. There were tons of options at his disposal to save her and he didn’t use any of them. He also gets some blame for choosing Kanoko as his rebound wife. She has a bad attitude from the start so the guy completely missed it and then didn’t do anything to fix the matter afterwards. Choosing your partner for life is an extremely important decision and it’s why you have to be careful who you choose. Particularly if you have kids since you won’t be the only one feeling the effects.

You feel bad for Miyo’s original mother Sumi who died early on and wasn’t able to be there to help Miyo. I don’t think Sumi’s plan right before death ended up working out very much at all. You can also argue that it completely backfired but of course we don’t know exactly how it would have gone otherwise so at the end of the day it’s really all a hypothetical.

Kazushi is an interesting character where we have to see where his arc will go. The guy isn’t afraid to defy traditions and basically left the family to do his own thing. Now he’s back and in a position of power so we have to see if it corrupts him and he ends up being a big villain or if he stays good til the end. It would be nice to have a good supporting character who doesn’t turn traitor so I hope he’s a good guy.

One heroic figure who should definitely stay true to the end is Yurie. She’s basically Kiyoka’s main attendant so she cooks, cleans, and does any errands as needed. She really shows Miyo the ropes of how to handle the household and puts her mind at east. Miyo would have had a much tougher time without her so Yurie gets a lot of props there. Hazuki also shows up later and is a pretty fun character. She helps teach Miyo about etiquette and is fairly tough in her own right. I don’t see her getting pushed around much at all by anyone. I’d be glad to see her as more of a supporting character.

Yoshito is one of the few supporting characters on Kiyoka’s side. The guy does his best to break the ice and keep things civil for everyone. At times his jokes go a bit far though like with how he flirts with Miyo. It’s all played for laughs of course and the characters know that he doesn’t mean it but I always thought jokes like that were pretty dangerous. Then there is Iwashimizu who does a great job of grabbing intel for Kiyoka. He helps deliver a whole lot of the lore over to Kiyoka and get the guy up to speed on what’s going on.

Finally we have Arata who is one of the big villains here. There are a decent amount of villains within the show so far outside of the main family characters but none of them are particularly memorable so far outside of Arata. They all just feel a bit generic and are also too weak to do much of anything. Once the Emperor makes a move then things could change a bit but in the meantime the most serious enemy had to be Arata. He can fight really well with his illusions and even took Kiyoka down a peg. The whole fight was annoying though since Kiyoka should have won easily but I guess you can’t win them all.

I really don’t like Arata though. He’s another desperate guy who really likes Miyo and wants to try and steal her away. Where were all of these characters when she could have really used a helping hand? Well snooze you lose so Arata just needs to get over her and stay away. That should happen going forward with any luck so this would just be his low point. He’s someone who could actually have a decent redemption arc coming up.

In terms of animation the show looks pretty good. I wouldn’t say the fights look great or anything, it’s clear that the show is more focused on the romance part than the action. That said, the character designs are always on point and the backgrounds look clear so I really have no complaints. The show’s budget was reasonably solid. The soundtrack is a bit more on the weaker side though. It could do with some more fast paced music or just something more memorable in general. Even during the fights you don’t really have music that’s jumping out at you.

We get our share of super emotional moments of course but the music played during those is a bit more on the generic side. Still the moment itself is usually intense enough where you’re still really engaged. The show goes all out in just how much Miyo had to deal with. At one point the villains even grab a pair of scissors and really put some fear into Miyo. Those are again scenes that make sure Kaya can never rebound from them.

There was a really good rage moment late in the series when Kiyoka finally found out some of the details and went into the estate to clean up shop. It was really nice to see him burning buildings and causing a lot of chaos. If anything I wouldn’t have minded if he went a tad further with that. We certainly know that those characters would deserve every bit of it after all. Now the only thing I’d be worried about going forward is if Kiyoka ends up bowing down to the law. What I mean by that is Kiyoka is still technically in service of the government and the emperor, both of whom we know are on the villains’ side. So it’ll be annoying if they arrest him or something and he doesn’t resist because he doesn’t want to follow the law and then Miyo gets kidnapped. I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen because it’s always such a pain when a character chooses duty over love.

Miyo needs to be above all others for Kiyoka at this point. His main duty is keeping her happy after all and everything else is secondary. I wonder if Miyo can end up contributing more on the battlefield soon too. I think there are a lot of good ways you could pull that off, maybe something like QQ Sweeper. We’ll have to see. Season 2 could also afford to be a little lighter. Throw in a bit of comedy and let the characters have some fun. After all this one had to be darker due to the origin story for Miyo which was definitely a tragic one but with that out of the way she should be allowed to have some time to smile without a catch at the end.

Overall, My Happy Marriage is a good show. There are some annoying elements which keeps it from being higher like how polite the heroes always have to be while the villains just run around getting things done. I feel as though you owe nothing to any villains so just show up and take them down without going through all of the formalities. I’m really hoping that Miyo should be completely solid going forward and now have any more doubts in her ability. As long as that doesn’t happen we should be in a great spot for the second season.

Overall 6/10

Gamera Rebirth Review

Posted on September 16, 2023 by dreager1

After all these years Gamera has finally returned to take names and show everyone why he is known as one of the all time powerful Kaiju. From the start this was being marketed as a show where there would be a Kaiju battle in every episode which was a really good thing. There are a whole lot of green flags to be found here. Ultimately it is a good show…but I would say one with fairly extensive issues keeping it from being a great title.

The show is only 6 episodes long but each one is double length so that helps. We kick things off with a trio of kids, Boco, Junichi, and Joe. They’ve been friends for a long while but Boco is worried that they may drift apart after summer vacation ends so he wants to build a communication device. It’s nearly finished when the trio are attacked by a bully named Brody who beats them up severely and steals all their money. The heroes want revenge but then the kaiju known as Gyaos attacks and before you know it all of the kids are wrapped up in some kind of massive government project. Will they ever be able to go back to the simple days of just being kids?

Right off the bat I can tell you that giving the kids such a big role was a mistake. They are the weakest part of the show and take up so much screentime that you can’t get around them. You’re supposed to sympathize with the kids on their trials and gradually see how they can even teach the adults a few lessons. Instead you just find them annoying. The only interesting thing about then comes in the 5th episode. It was hinted at earlier but that’s where we get the answers and even by then you’d prefer it was handled differently.

As the main character Boco can be a bit too emotional. He is pro Gamera all the way which actually isn’t bad but he gets rather intense about this to the point where he won’t hear any other sides of the argument. He blows up at Joe pretty much unprompted which was unfortunate. Their friendship was so tight and yet he was willing to ruin it like that. I’m glad he wanted to stick up for himself near the beginning but ultimately what that would have most likely have done was just get them all murdered.

Junichi is the smart one of the group and she’s always ready to come up with a plan. So for the most part she’s solid but then also starts to get emotional and lose perspective near the end. She definitely didn’t handle some of the twists very well. I would say the only kid who was pretty solid the whole time was Joe. He tries to watch over the other two as best as he can but it’s not an easy job. He ends up getting badly beaten for his efforts but I like that he always tries. He easily had the most heart out of the group and was willing to do whatever it took to save the day. That’s the kind of hero you want to see.

Then you have Brody and well the guy starts out as a big bully beating up literal kids for their money. Sure he’s a kid too but definitely older than the others. Gradually he realizes that this isn’t good and calms down to the point where he ends up being the reasonable one at times like when talking to Boco. I think they all got used to him a little too quickly considering how they met though. You’d think they would hold a grudge for a while after that.

What about the adults? Well there are two main ones. The first is James, a guy who reluctantly works for the foundation. He makes it clear from the start that he is after his own interests and the company doesn’t really care. My main problem with this guy is he talks so tough and is constantly postering but always falls down when the going gets tough. He looks horrible in episode 3 and from there on he definitely never really does great. The guy is emotionally manipulated and constantly outsmarted. I also don’t trust that he would make the right call in the end. While he plays off the hero card near the end, it’s only because a very specific event happened.

Otherwise I think he’d have been totally find still being a villain stooge all the way to the end. He was willing to abandon the kids more than once and is generally not a good guy. Now that could work if you put him as the villain the whole time but he’s not really portrayed as the villain either. The janky animation does end up giving him a lot of fun facial expressions but that’s not exactly going to save the character.

The best human by far is Emiko and she really has no competition. She has a really solid drive and is determined to get to her goal no matter what. I like the resilience she has and it’s this kind of single minded motivation that you would usually just see in the main character. I wouldn’t have minded if the show made her the main character instead of the others. She could absolutely pull it off, I have no doubts about that at all. She gets a lot of great moments near the end.

Now in terms of the animation, it’s definitely on the sub par side. The humans don’t look great and all of the movements are really stiff. Nobody walks normally and it’s like these are pre rendered models for a video game that can’t actually move freely. It’s just a bit bizarre and reminds you why it should have been hand drawn. I will say at least that the kaiju scenes are really solid though. I like all of the energy blasts and there is good movement there. In particular the best fight was easily with Guiron. That guy could really jump and he dished out a lot of serious damage to Gamera the whole time. The guy earned his rep of being an immensely powerful Kaiju. Gamera very nearly lost that fight.

The soundtrack is mostly forgettable but I do appreciate that the show has a real theme song. The ending theme is also really solid and I like Gamera’s main theme. So that’s 3 good themes and since the show is only 6 episodes long anyway, I’d consider that to be a success. The technicals here were on point when it counted even if again the animation could have been a little better.

The writing is definitely more on the weak side. Giving Joe a potty mouth was definitely a really odd decision considering that he’s still a kid. Probably 90% of the swearing tends to come from him. I guess it’s to show us how serious business the show is but really? I do appreciate the show’s restraint in the fight scenes though. Initially I was expecting tons of blood and viciousness in the fights to show us how intense Gamera is but for the most part the fights are still stylized and using a lot of energy blasts. It can get a little violent at times but never super over the top and out of line or anything like that.

Gamera definitely looks impressive throughout when you consider that he is fighting all of these Kaiju back to back with minimal time to heal. For example in one fight he loses an arm so then for the rest of the fights he still doesn’t have it back. There’s good consistency there and you can tell that even for a Kaiju at his level there is only so much durability/stamina that he has. At full power I don’t think that any of these Kaiju would be doing a whole lot to him. He has a lot of attacks at his disposal like the fire blasts and spinning while in the shell. It’s always real fun to see him fight.

Gyaos is also a really fun Kaiju here. His moveset may be a bit more simple but he’s always been an iconic Gamera villain so I was glad to see him get his shine. He really does well against the government too. Then there’s Jiger who is still the most forgettable Gamera villain. She’s strong sure but there’s just not a whole lot to her. There’s nothing iconic compared to say Guiron. Guiron is awesome because his design is fantastic and then his whole fighting style is built around the design. If that’s not hype then I don’t know what is! Viras and Zigra are also fun to have around.

In general it’s a great showcase of most of the big Gamera villains. It would be nice to see Legion and Irys of course but I can see why they are mostly focusing on the older villains for max nostalgia. The show tends to be at its best with the fights and in the early episodes I’d have loved to focus on just that and not the kids. Now the plot really gets going in episode 5 though and that’s when the human stuff got really interesting. I was half expecting Ultraman and Godzilla to show up with all the twists we were seeing. The show just made the universe 100X more interesting in a flash.

Unfortunately episode 6 opts to close some of these plot lines rather quickly which is a shame because that had a lot of potential for season 2. There is still an after credits scene so make sure you watch that. It is a big plot line for season 2 and I liked the scene but I would have kept my options open a little more. I really wanted the moon plot to continue and there were a ton of possibilities with different groups going at it. You can always add more of course but I think this show left a lot of meat on the bone. It should have leaned a lot harder into the mystery angle of the show and less on the kids growing up and trying to be helpful.

Overall, Gamera Rebirth is definitely a good show but one that is heavily held back by the kids. Their scenes can be rather brutal or boring might be a better phrase there. You would just be waiting for them to leave already and their massive amounts of screentime remove most of the replay value out of this show. You’d probably just want to fast forward to the Kaiju battles each time. It’s too bad because the adults tend to have a very interesting subplot going. I was interested in hearing what they were planning at least and learning more about the Kaiju. There’s a pretty interesting backstory here and again episode 5 adds a whole lot of intrigue and different things to think about. It just takes a little long to get there but if you like Kaiju action then you should not miss this one. It’s not like we get a ton of Kaiju shows out there after all so you want to enjoy them while you can.

Overall 6/10

Pokemon: Path to the Peak Review

Posted on September 10, 2023 by dreager1

Pokemon has had quite a few of these short online series so far and this is another fun one to add to the batch. It takes place in the real world though so don’t expect a lot of action or anything like that but it’s definitely a pretty fun story. A good slice of life where you see what it’s like to be entering tournaments. Reminds me of my professional days playing Super Smash Bros.

The main character is a little girl named Ava who is having a hard time making any friends at school. One day she finds out about a Pokemon card club and thanks to an invite from one of the members she is ready to make her mark on the world. It turns out that her mom has a deck that can be used as well so this is perfect. Will Ava be able to make a lot of friends or will this end up being a much bigger deal than she had ever planned on? She will meet a bunch of friends and foes on this big adventure!

Each episode is fairly short so even if you merge them all together the series is under an hour. As a result it does go by very fast and you wish we could have had more episodes. The fights mainly have to be off screen’d except for one big challenge in each episode. Considering that we go through 3 different tournaments you can imagine how much time had to be cut out. I suppose the battles were not exactly the point of the adventure but regardless I’m always up for seeing them.

I used to collect Pokemon cards as a kid and had thousands of them but I really kept them to look at and didn’t actually use them in combat. So seeing the rules here was cool. I’m still a bit mixed on how you use the Pokemon energy to enhance your fighters but even without that you can follow along with what’s happening pretty well. The tournament nerves are addressed here which is nice because you definitely will feel a bit of a tingle for your first battles. How could you not right? It’s such a huge experience and not one that you are likely to forget. Definitely no shot of that.

Ava perhaps gets a little too good too quickly as she goes from not knowing how to play the game to being world champion level rather quickly. We can assume some time skips in between the episodes but nothing all that substantial considering that the designs don’t really change. It is the ultimate dream of all players to be the champ though so of course that does help make the series even more engaging.

The animation is decent. It’s clear they aren’t trotting out the A team here and the character designs take a little getting used to, but the fights with the Pokemon are fun. The scenes are brief of course but I could definitely watch a full Pokemon anime with those kinds of action scenes. The colors are vibrant and it’s nice seeing all of the attacks in motion. Make this a full length TV show so we can have more of those epic battles.

That’s really my only issue in general which is that more time would have been nice to really develop the characters and get more action scenes instead. Everything here feels like it’s on double speed since they have to move fast and while the stories are still enjoyable, you can see how they’re rushed. For example Ava takes one loss in tournament and then suddenly she basically wants to quit on the game forever. I just have a few problems with this.

For starters, that means she has been cruising through all of her tournaments up to that point without losing a match? That’s making her a bit too good at the game. Additionally she has lost matches before like the very first one so that felt like a real big overreaction to cause some drama. Personally I just didn’t buy it….I didn’t buy it at all! It does make the final boss look a bit more impressive because he takes his loss with the utmost grace. At the end of the day it’s just a tournament after all. Of course it always sucks to lose but to rage quit your career out of that was pretty rough.

There’s also one point where all of Ava’s cards fly away and so the team has to help her recover her deck. It’s a pretty intense moment but I dare say there wasn’t enough time to properly have this happen in the show. It’s short enough as it is without adding a big moment like this. So the show does sometimes bite off a bit more than it can chew and as long as you view this as an abridged series of sorts then you’re all set. I would have liked to have seen Ava have more of a rage mode against the first bully for beating up her father though. That was pretty twisted at least within the show’s context. Seriously it was so unexpected too because that just comes out of nowhere.

I was glad to see Ava dominate in that matchup. It would be nice if she was a little more confident and able to jump into the action though. She’s not a bad lead but makes enough mistakes where she wasn’t too high for me. I cut her a bit of slack because the whole point of her character is that she’s a bit socially awkward and has a hard time fitting in. Part of her character growth is getting past that which I get. There are just some points where I can’t cut quite as much slack like when she ran off to retire early. You just can’t really do that at such a late stage when her friends had really bet everything on her. Also coming in second usually gets you some kind of prize so that’s not bad right?

For the other characters, her main friend was nice enough. He helped teach her the game but at the same time he wasn’t about to go easy on her either and I respect that. Ultimately if you teach someone to win the right away as opposed to always holding back then you are setting them up for success. It’s a very good thing without a doubt. The ex bully also ended up being a nice person. Going after Ava’s Dad was a low blow but after that she was definitely someone that you could count on through thick and thin.

Ava’s parents were good although a bit underwhelming. It was disappointing to see her father get completely destroyed at the Pokemon tournament while not even knowing what was happening. Cmon he has been playing for a long while so he should at least know the score right? Then the twist about Ava’s mom rage quitting after a loss was pretty bad too. I guess it runs in the family there but nah that wasn’t very satisfying. I was instead hoping she would jump in as a final boss at the end. As I said before I did like the final boss though. He took the loss like a champ and kept on moving. Plus I liked his confidence.

The series is aimed at a fairly young audience so there may be some moments that aren’t as engaging or turns that don’t go in the epic direction that you would like but in the end the writing is consistently solid and that’s exactly what you are looking for in a title like this. It all goes by fast and there really aren’t any negatives that would make me pause. I could also easily rewatch this one at any time even if it wouldn’t b

Overall, Pokemon Path to the Peak is a pretty fun series. It may go a tad fast but it was really cool seeing all of the big battles and how things progressed. There really is nothing like playing in a full tournament series like this. The stress from playing in front of a crowd but also that feeling of claiming victory. I don’t know about you but my hands tend to shake with excitement in times like that. There’s a reason why competitive titles like Blue Lock, Haikyu, Yugioh, and Cardfight get so big. It’s because people love watching those titles and putting themselves into the mix. And why not right? It’s just so much fun to picture all of that happening. I hope we continue to get more Pokemon specials and in the meantime you should absolutely check this one out. It’s just very wholesome and uplifting.

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 3 Review

Posted on August 13, 2023 by dreager1

Natsume and Nyanko are back for some more adventures in season 3. The show definitely has had a pretty good run and barely halfway through. At this point you know if you like the series or not. Natsume is a very consistent title with the adventures. The slice of life format works well as Natsume learns more life lessons and gets to meet a lot of Yokai both good and bad. The show may not always be super exciting but you should have a good time checking it out. Ultimately it’s a quality wholesome show that you can watch at any time.

The first episode deals with Reiko which is always nice. Basically she helped out a Yokai involving a case with a mirror. There was a bit of a misunderstanding but ultimately Reiko helped her out anyway showing that Natsume’s mysterious grandmother definitely had a kind heart. We still don’t know a whole lot about her which is part of that character’s mystique but whenever she appears she seems like a very nice person. So it feels like something isn’t adding up about her reputation but for now there’s not much of a way for Natsume to dig deeper into this. Reiko’s definitely still the best character in the series though with how pro active she is. While Natsume gets steamrolled by the Yokai most of the time, Reiko was always in control.

In the second episode Natsume had to try and get a Yokai to stop haunting his friend’s house. The haunted house plot point is always a solid one for anything supernatural but in this case it’s less of a murder mystery slasher and more about talking things out. Ultimately Natsume is usually able to talk things out which is why it’s intense when the Yokai really turns out to be sinister. Natsume was also given the option to finally go to the Yokai world this time instead of remaining with the mere mortals. Ultimately he stayed and I really wouldn’t say that he was all that tempted. While he may have had a really hard time for most of his life, it’s fair to say that he’s having a really good time now that Nyanko has his back. Natsume has a ton of friends and connections now so why would he ever want to leave right? I feel like being around Yokai 24/7 with no other humans would have a ton of downsides.

The third episode is probably the most annoying one in the season. An old “friend” named Shibata appears acting all friendly but he and Natsume had never gotten along before so it’s suspicious. Sure enough, the guy is here to ask for favors and to generally be an annoying guy. He believes that a girl he met might be a Yokai and he wants to know for sure before proceeding with their relationship. It’s a valid concern to be sure so you get why he’s doing this but it’s the way that he went about it which was annoying. He was quick to blackmail Natsume and the threats came before Natsume could really try to help.

Lets be honest here, Natsume’s a very nice guy. He absolutely would have helped this punk regardless of the fact that they weren’t exactly close friends. Then once Natsume does tell him, the guy refuses to listen. So much for wanting the truth right? Yeah this guy was just awful the whole time. The actual story is still pretty wholesome and emotional but while the show expects you to sympathize with Shibata by the end, I never did. He just doesn’t seem like a good guy so in a way it’s probably good that no romance could ever really come out of this encounter. Also in general I don’t think it’ll ever work out between a human and yokai due to the fact that Yokai are effectively immortal (With a lot of asterisks on that) while humans fade away real fast.

After that we get one of the more plot important episodes to the series when we see Natsume as a kid and how he met this one Yokai who would always scare him. It’s a pretty sad story all around because the Yokai was really just glad that someone could finally see her. Scaring humans was really all that she knew how to do and by the time she realized the damage she was doing it was too late. Natsume had left. So from the Yokai’s perspective she had to basically remember that for years and couldn’t do anything about it because she had no idea where it was.

It’s an episode where Natsume looks really good because we see that he never held a grudge against her at all and later on really understood things from the Yokai’s point of view. It’s also a reminder of how tough it can be to live as a Yokai. There are countless dangers around the world from the villains who can see you and yet there aren’t many good people who will ever notice you. It’s like the worst of both worlds which is a really sticky spot to be in. It’s rare to get a glimpse into Natsume’s past so that was really nice. This is definitely a top tier episode in the whole franchise so far.

In the next episode we have a more low key adventure but the fun part is Natsume gets to hang out with Tanuma and Taki this time. They have to find the pieces of a Yokai before it becomes whole and starts murdering everyone. Ultimately it’s also going to take friendship with the rest of the Yokai in order to stop such a threat. It’s a nice enough episode and Natsume’s friends are always fun so it’s nice to have them around. Natsume is still at the point where he doesn’t let them get super close to help out but at least they both know about Yokai which is more than what most know. While this may not be a super eventful episode, I think it’s a fairly good standalone one to even show a new viewer to understand what the series is all about. Ultimately helping both Yokai and humans is what Natsume does and generally his actions in each episode reflect that. Often times by helping one side he ends up helping the other. It’s very rare where he has to actually take someone down.

After that we have a two part adventure where we finally see Matoboa in full action. The guy is a fairly strong exorcist and unlike Natsume this guy really doesn’t like Yokai. We now have the big contrast and you have to figure they will have a real fight at some point. Matoba is very accomplished though and has a large family/army of followers by his side so things would be rough for Natsume. The episodes are really about showing how ruthless Matoba is as he takes down a lot of Yokai to get to his target, regardless of if they’re innocent or not. He also captures Natsume at one point.

Natori also gets to appear here and he sort of serves as the middle option. If Matoba is all about destroying all Yokai while Natsume wants to save them all, Natori tries to do a bit of both. He’ll save some Yokai but he’ll absolutely destroy some others. He ultimately is as reasonable and rational as possible. Both characters won’t agree with him all the time but they do tend to get along with him more than they would each other. It’s a pretty fun two part adventure especially because of how it’s setting up future events but I really hope Nyanko pulls through to land some damage on Matoba at some point. I think one weakness of the main characters being pacifists is they will often let Matoba and other characters land hits on them without ever really retaliating. Of course that’s honorable but it can also be annoying when pushed too far.

The last episode actually has lasting effects on the rest of the season which is impressive. For example in the next episode Nyanko is still wounded so Natsume tries to find something that can heal him. This even results in the little fox Yokai returning after being gone for so long. So that was pretty neat and in general it’s a pretty fun episode. That fox always looks up to Natsume and Nyanko. He nearly starts to get tricked a little easily which could have been dicey but things end up working out. It’s a very low key adventure since there’s barely a conflict in it but Natsume needed a little downtime after the last adventure.

After that Nyanko was still sick so Natsume had to go to school without him and help out with the events. The problem is that a Yokai is messing with him the whole time which is making him look suspect. How can he deal with this creature while Nyanko is still out of commission? That’s the main dilemma here and it works pretty well. I think the show actually could have learned into the dangers of Natsume being on his own without Nyanko a little harder to be honest but this works well enough.

Then we get to the next big adventure with Tanuma acting a little suspicious. He’s been avoiding Natsume as of late so the hero catches up to him to see what’s going on. Well, Tanuma is now being possessed by a mysterious Yokai. Tanuma doesn’t remember when he’s been possessed as it goes in and out but this is pretty dangerous. It’s also one of the few times we see Natsume being genuinely upset because he does think that’s crossing a line. Possessing his friend like that is definitely no joke. Ultimately being a nice guy wins out and he does help Tanuma’s spirit out but it’s a bit grudgingly.

I also think the fact that Nyanko couldn’t blast the spirit out without hurting Tanuma was a little convenient. It feels like when the chips are down Nyanko is just unable to deliver when it counts. Considering how legendarily powerful he is it’s just a bit suspect if you ask me. I suppose I should cut him some slack…but I dunnooooooo. So it was a good adventure but once again it points out the weakness to Natsume being so passive here. I need my main character to be able to fight when necessary and the problem is that I just don’t really think he will in most instances.

After that Natsume gets sick and a spirit from his past returns to mess with him. It caused a whole lot of problems back when Natsume was a kid and now it is back to cause more chaos. Fortunately this time Nyanko does take full credit for taking it down. This episode was also fairly tense because this creature was absolutely not going to be talked down and was really just trying to mess Natsume up. We don’t see a ton of creatures that are quite this bloodthirsty so that was definitely real intense. It made for a solid story and giving more focus to Nyanko was a good idea since he was sidelined for a decent chunk of the season.

Finally we have a light episode to end the series with. Natsume basically gets to hang out with the whole cast of Yokai and they all get to play a lot of games. I would say there’s not a whole lot of plot to the finale because it’s really all about just hanging out and having a good time. It fits in with the spirit of the series though as Natsume has always wanted to have some friends and now he has finally found a lot of good ones. He’s certainly not alone anymore and the final episode really shows just how true that is.

In terms of the technical aspects I’d say Natsume has never been a particularly high budget show. The visuals are nice enough but they’re not going to stand out or anything like that. The soundtrack is very subdued as well so you probably won’t have any songs that really stand out. The show survives and does well on the good writing and the solid stories. It doesn’t have any kind of backup on the technical side so it’d be nice to see that improve in future seasons.

Overall, Natsume season 3 is a fun show. Does it beat or lose to the first two? It’s hard to say because they’re all fairly even to a large degree. If push came to shove I’d probably say it beats season 1 and loses to 2 but they’re all super close. If you’re in the mood for a solid slice of life title with a lot of fun adventuring then this is the one to go for. You’re always learning good life lessons in the show and the pacing is definitely on point. It’s a very calm show that’s easy to watch at any point and the ideas for different Yokai scenarios are really endless. This can keep going on as long as the author can think of more scenarios to come up with.

Overall 6/10

Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement Review

Posted on August 9, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for the next installment in the Sengoku Basara series. This one’s an interesting addition as it’s basically like an AU remake of season 2 if things had gone down a different path. I’m all up for a different version of things but I would say the show fumbles the ball in a lot of ways compared to that one. Mainly this show doesn’t really have any stakes and the whole build up is basically for an event that we don’t get to see anyway. It’s a fun chance to see all of your favorite characters again for sure but it’s not much more than that.

The series starts by explaining that in this timeline the Devil King was taken out by his right hand man and then in the first episode Hideyoshi is taken out by his right hand man Ieyasu. Ieyasu has decided that Hideyoshi’s vision wasn’t right for the world and so he wants to take the reigns directly. He aims to unite the world through common bonds but Hideyoshi’s other retainer Mitsunari thinks this is nonsense since the whole rebellion was born out of betrayal. Both of these figures start recruiting members to end the Sengoku period. Which side will prevail!? Only time will tell.

Okay so lets talk about the main issue that I mentioned earlier. Just about the whole series here is about both factions recruiting armies to their cause until every major character is on one of the two teams. This takes a whole lot of time but you’re getting hyped for the battles. The problem is that virtually every battle ends in a tie and when someone loses he doesn’t end up getting murdered. That way he can get back up and fight again later. Considering this was during the Sengoku period and during a war you’d expect there to be no prisoners or mercy on either end right? Well that’s not what happens here at all.

I’m not saying you need a heavy body count. The first Sengoku Basara pulled off the stakes super well and while season 2 started to show some cracks in the armor, it still got the stakes across. The problem is that this season feels like it has no stakes because the status quo never truly changes. You could skip to episode 8 or so and everyone’s still switching sides and prepping for the big war. In a way it’s almost like every episode is filler. It’s technically not since things are happening but large-scale it never feels all that important.

Halfway through the season we’re still being introduced to more and more characters. In the final episode Masamune has a line about enjoying an endless party and in a way it felt like a 4th wall break. The war was almost like a party since nobody really wanted to hurt each other by the end and even after the fight you knew that everyone would live. There was no animosity by the end at all to the point where you wonder if the sides actually cared about winning the war. It seems like both sides respected the other one to do the right thing.

Maybe it turned out this way because the big villains were murdered right as the series was starting. It’s not like any of these characters are full on heroes but most of them do want what’s best for the country so in that way it’s not as big a deal if you end up losing the match. It does mean we get a lot of wonky power levels though. Masamune goes from getting completely handled by Mitsunari to winning later on without any real training. My main problem with this is that in the first round that was Masamune at full strength. He hadn’t lost any heart or motivation yet so later on when his head’s cleared it’s not like he should be much stronger at all.

I also don’t buy Ieyasu going down the way that he did. Both he and Mitsunari were portrayed to be way too powerful to go down so quickly. Maybe the show shouldn’t have made them so strong but it’s what made them imposing figures. The ending was not satisfying at all for either character and if anything they felt out of character in the final shot. Sure it’s fun to see them all grinning and ready for action but have they really tossed aside their convictions so easily? Yukimura is heavily skeptical of Ieyasu the whole time but at least the guy was trying.

What I liked about Ieyasu is that he was an active character. He saw Hideyoshi being evil so he took him down. Then to unite the world he was willing to fight for it and never forced anyone to join his cause. He was constantly taking the high road. When Yukimura says how the guy is still taking bonds from people you have to ask what the alternative is. It’s war so of course you are going to end up crushing some dreams and other fighters but you have to fight. Yukimura is active in the war scene and slaughtering thousands of soldiers in every fight so what is his problem with this? It’s like he’s presenting issues but has no solutions to them.

I tend to like Yukimura and he was fun here even if he had a bumpy ride. I would just say that he lost in the battle of ideologies if you ask me. I also thought he looked way too weak here. He finds his confidence by the end but the first half is a bit on the brutal side for him. Masamune doesn’t look great at first either but at least he was in there and trying to fight each time. He just got completely outplayed.

The show also teased the big return of the Devil King and that didn’t go through which was disappointing. That whole plotline ended up being a bit of a waste. It didn’t really go anywhere and by the end it didn’t change anything so that’s why I’d consider it to be an empty plot. Tenkai certainly caused a bit of a stir with the cloud but ultimately it was really temporary so it’s not like it did much beyond that. His plan ends up not seeming to be all that great as a result. He did make for a good villain at least. Without him the stew guy’s army would easily be the worst in the show so he’s lucky to have such a strong fighter around even if he’s super shady and evil.

Finally the show doesn’t really feel like a war show in some aspects because of the power levels issue. Each commander has a full army behind him, we’re talking thousands of fighters. Then you have Masamune constantly riding in with only like 5-6 fighters and they’re holding their own? I get that the commanders are more powerful but what is even the point of the army? Yukimura runs into battle completely alone half the time and the other commanders do this as well. In early seasons they at least try to pretend that the armies are important so you see them fighting a lot but here they tend to vanish. That might be more of a budget reason but it doesn’t work as an in-universe explanation.

Now of course there are positive elements here as well. I’d still give the show a good score after all and I had fun with it. For starters the main cast is solid. I always enjoy Yukimura and Masamune’s conversations after all. There’s a lot of good banter right there and they really are good rivals. Considering that Masamune is the leader of his army while Yukimura is the 2nd in command that was always impressive. It’s why I feel like Yukimura should have been promoted already. He’s long since surpassed Shingen if you ask me even if the show refuses to acknowledge this.

The factions all have real characters with their own personalities and development. So we’ve got a really big cast here and with so many factions it does make for a very engaging premise. If the show was willing to commit to 51 episodes and actually followed through on the plots then it could really be an all star title. Part of the problem is that a bunch of plots don’t really end and others basically go nowhere. If you fix that and have armies gradually getting wiped out then the show could really take advantage of the characters.

While the animation is a serious downgrade from the first two seasons in every metric, it still looks good on its own. The character designs are sharp and filled with a lot of color. The fights when they happen can be fun. We don’t get too many full fights but Ieyasu vs Hideyoshi was definitely good. The show likes to have 2 fights going at the same time so they keep on switching and it works decently well in a dynamic sense. Also the artwork is extremely clean. You can pause the show at any moment and it all looks very crisp and high definition. So the show still had a good budget in that sense. The ost is a little more forgettable than the main series though. I can’t really recall any themes but the opening is pretty good. I definitely had fun with that part at least.

Going back to the characters, Kojuro is still a good right hand man to Masamune. He looks a bit weaker than he ought to be personally but he does get a critical victory when it counts. Meanwhile Yukimura’s right hand man Sasuke looks great here. He got a serious power boost to the point where he puts up a better fight against Ieyasu than Yukimura at first. Being a ninja is definitely no joke so his speed and equipment are really on point. It would be nice to see him get some more action.

I already talked about how awesome Ieyasu is and how he would have been the best ruler of the Sengoku area. Well his right hand man Tadakatsu is not bad either. He’s a good fighter to have in the wings and since he can fly that’s great for travel. It would have been nice if we could have seen some more personality out of him. Then we have Ieyasu’s counterpart Mitsunari who is fighting for revenge the whole time. It’s interesting how the show tries to present him as the hero in all of this by the end. I’m not really sure I buy it since Ieyasu seemed consistently way more heroic throughout the whole show. Sure he did betray Hideyoshi and Mitsunari will never let him forget it but that guy was literally evil. He was going to keep on murdering people and in a war setting there’s not really an alternative to murdering the King when there is no way to put him in his own jail. I suppose Ieyasu does a horrible job of explaining this but in part that’s because Mitsunari is always attacking him.

Additionally Mitsunari’s group is way shadier and he always lets Yoshiitsugu do what he wants in the back-end. On that note Yoshi causes a ton of damage as well and the end of the show tries to frame it as he was just doing this to help Mitsunari so he’s actually not such a bad guy. I don’t buy it at all, he went too far on that note and kept secret the truth of who attacked Chosokabe’s men. In a show where almost everyone lived, that guy actually did lose his whole army. I feel like there was not a good enough punishment for that.

Motonari is the one who murdered them all and he gets away completely by the end. He never got punished or anything, I mean Chosokabe beat him up sure but that’s about it and of course the guy lived. If anyone was to die here it really should have been that guy because he completely deserved it. Eh, definitely should have been harhser.

Chosokabe is a good character though and I like his confidence. He feels a bit like a budget version of Masamune but since he’s a good character I can let that slide. Kanbei is more of a character without a purpose since he’s handcuffed the whole time and never ends up breaking out of it. A bit of a bizarre subplot to be sure. Kenshin and Keiju don’t get to do much here but they’re around and still get their hype as needed. Kasuga gets a real role at least and looks pretty good even if she lets her guard down at one point.

Perhaps the show’s cast was a bit too large which is why they couldn’t properly balance it. At the same time it still depends on how you look at the show. If you view it in the lens that they just wanted to show off all of the characters and have a fun adventure then it makes sense to throw everyone in. Even if the plot doesn’t actually end up ending you still got to see your favorite character throwing out some attacks. In a way maybe with a higher budget this actually could have worked since you would be blinded by the spectacle and wouldn’t mind that nothing was really happening.

Your enjoyment is tied to how much you enjoy the characters and that’s why it’s fortunate that the characters are all very interesting. The story is too and I would say the writing is on point. Lets say there was a mandate that none of the important characters could die, then I’d say they did their best writing around that to still have a pretty big cast and a lot of fun moments anyway. The death fake outs may not hit as hard since you already know the characters will return but the show can still be really dramatic. In some ways the show is at its best when the characters are debating their ideologies and philosophies about what to do in this era of nonstop warfare.

Overall, This show feels like it’s basically just running in circles and by the end nothing was really accomplished. If it was a slice of life title or something then that could be expected but the whole time it seemed to be framing itself as a big action series with an ambitious plot. It may not have succeeded in that way but I still had a good time. I think especially if you go into the show with that mindset then you should be fine. At least you do get the setups each time and there are fun skirmishes all throughout the show. Every character gets a degree of hype and I hope we get more Sengoku Basara adventures but I’d like it to continue from the movie as opposed to this remake timeline.

Overall 6/10

Hero Mask Review

Posted on June 25, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time to check on Hero Mask. I actually finished this show several months ago so this review has been on the backburner for a while. Hey better late than never right? In my defense the show has one of the most boring openings I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s lifeless, dull, and does not energize you at all. I quickly listened to it once more while writing this review to see if it would get better and it did not. At least the ending theme is good though. The beginning of the ending is really good and works with the cliffhanger.

Now describing the plot is also pretty fun because there’s a lot going on here. So the show follows a guy named James Blood who is basically a James Bond kind of character. He’s one of the top operatives of the SSC and the only thing keeping him from going higher is the fact that he’s a bit of a hot shot. He’s the kind of guy who will jump into a crowded highway to grab a suspect instead of waiting for the light. He’s always getting into fights and follows his code of justice. Of course that is what makes him a fun character.

Okay so there is a big court case coming up and a witness randomly drops dead in the streets. She had been perfectly healthy so this is rather odd. An attorney named Sarah decides to look into it but seems to now be in danger. The SSC are also looking into this but tend to drag their heels. James’ old enemy from the past seems to have returned to life but he’s wearing a weird mask that is granting him super abilities. In fac these masks are popping up in different places across the city. There seems to be a whole conspiracy going on with these metahumans and how does it all track back to the lady who randomly died? Well you can start with the person she was going to be testifying against as a start but that gets you into a whole corporation which has ties to the government and a big circle of rich people. The close James gets, the more obstacles that get in his way. If he wants to find the truth then he may even have to go up against the SSC itself.

At its core the show is mainly a mystery and there are a ton of moving pieces here. The character cast is fairly big and every character tends to be important in one way or another. As it’s a mystery it’s important to keep all of the characters straight in your head. I’d say this is really like a police thriller type of film and since I just saw the SWAT movie it sinks in even more now in hindsight. In a way the supernatural/sci-fi elements sort of distract from this. Now, I’m always a fan of sci-fi but when you’ve got superpowers too then it’s hard to balance everything.

Let me give you an example because this scene was just so crazy that I couldn’t believe it. One villain decides to attack the SSC headquarters. All right so here’s the thing, they have dozens of armed officers in the building at all times and a lot of security devices. So if a guy threateningly walks in then you’re gonna shoot him right? Well, they hesitate a whole lot and he slaughters all of them. Now granted he was wearing a mask so that gave him some regen plus extra speed and defense. It’s not invincibility since we see people shoot through the defenses with enough time but fine lets say the cops just couldn’t handle this guy.

What’s worse is a few minutes after this the elevator opens up on the 20th (Some random high number anyway) floor and an old man walks out with a big suitcase. The guards know that everyone below has been murdered so they already have their guns out and tell him to freeze. What does he do? He calmly sits down and opens up the suitcase. He then puts on a gas mask. Gee I wonder what he’s trying to do? The guards keep telling him to stop moving and this and that but at that point you have to shoot right?

The scientist is obviously calling their bluff and there’s no point in telling someone to freeze when you have no intention of shooting. That defeats the entire point since it’s the threat behind “Freeze!” that is what gives it power. Long story short the guy pulls out a poison grenade and throws it at the cops, then while they’re coughing he takes out a gun and murders them all. It was one of the worst scenes I’ve ever seen in terms of believability with someone breaking into a building. You can’t tell me that at least one of those officers wouldn’t have had the foresight and reaction times to take this guy down? That was just embarrassing.

At times the villains really get lucky because the heroes just don’t know what they’re doing and it’s pretty tragic. Lets give the heroes a bit more credit instead of just having James have to do all the work here the whole time. Now back to the masks, here’s why I wasn’t a big fan of them. The power structure of the masks didn’t make a lot of sense and also didn’t seem very consistent. So each mask does different things like one got super strength, one got regen, one got super senses, etc. It seems to change based on the mask and fine that’s just how it is. They’re all different like devil fruits. Yet sometimes someone with super speed only moves at fast as an ordinary person, some get exhausted immediately while others don’t, some rewind time but then they don’t. The whole masks thing just seemed like a writing shortcut to get the characters where they needed to go when they needed to be there and that is the definition of a lazy writing shortcut.

There’s a lot of interesting things you could do with the masks but that never happened. Another example of this is near the end of the show in one of the most disappointing scenes. So an old man shows up out of nowhere with mysterious abilities. He seems to be able to sense nearby masks and track them plus possibly have some control over the weather. It’s really vague but that’s why the cliffhanger works. He shows up and approaches two of the other big villains and it’s the confrontation we’ve been waiting for. Well the next episode starts and the guy is apparently powerless as the van gets blown up and he’s basically knocked out. It was one of the most wasted cliffhangers I’ve seen in a long time. Whew that was bad.

That episode actually had gotten me super hyped because it was the most intrigued I’d been about the series up until then. Too bad it couldn’t actually go anywhere. The show really could have pushed harder on its themes and the hype moments and made this a lot more exciting. If I’m watching a mystery thriller it’s so that I can get excited after all. Now I’ve been focusing on the negatives but there are still a lot of positives here so I’ll get to those now. This isn’t a bad show, I’d still call it good but without a whole lot of replay value.

All right so the first positive is that the action scenes here do hold up really well. Particularly James’ fights with Harry are really solid. James fights with his hands while Harry uses his legs and so the fight scenes are fairly original with both of them using their strengths and trying to get the other off balance. Harry is the only one who can go blow for blow with James too which is no small feat. I always looked forward to their battles.

In general I would look forward to all of Harry’s scenes. His subplot was easily the most interesting. His girlfriend got a mysterious ailment and so he’s working with the villains since he was promised that she could be healed. It’s a longshot of course and the villains could always betray him but he decided that at least this way he has a shot and so he went for it. I do think he could have communicated this to James at least and talking things out would have helped. Harry did everything the hard way without a doubt but the fact that he was someone who could actually fight already made him a very interesting character. The series didn’t have many great fighters.

I already talked about James a bit but he’s definitely a really good character. He works well as the lead and while he may not stand out a ton, I always like characters who are ready to break the rules to help someone out. When the SSC starts to become obviously corrupt he doesn’t hesitate in getting off the grid to help a girl out. It’s just who he is and you need someone like that when the people who follow the rules without a second thought tend to miss the forest for the trees.

Sarah makes for a good heroine here. She’s very consistent in her attempts to try to get to the truth. Sarah definitely gets into a lot of danger as a result but I was on board the whole time because she tried doing things the “official” way with the SSC and they kept hiding things anyway so she had to go it on her own. Ultimately she’s the one who manages to crack a pivotal part of the case and so she got her closure. Sarah was definitely a fun character all the way.

Lennox is one of the higher ups in the SSC and gets a fairly big role here. Ultimately he is James’ boss so he is able to make sure to go easy on the lead. This does put him in a tough spot with the higher ups above him though. Ultimately I liked that he made sure to go against their orders when they were being unreasonable like when he turned the tracker off and helped James escape. He definitely made his share of mistakes as well but that was a good moment.

Eddie is the tech guy so he’s not much of a fighter. Unfortunately he did tend to get on my nerves at times because of this. The guy just wasn’t helpful in the field and the one time he went in of course someone died. I always feel like when you’re a genius in a setting that is borderline sci-fi, then you have to invent a lot of great weapons/defenses for yourself. That’s the only way to make sure you are useful in combat.

Geffrey is one of the main evil scientists here and at least I will say that he is determined. Setbacks never seem to get him down for long and he does believe in the masks 100% even once they keep running into problems. He even loses a limb to those things and it doesn’t faze him. Although that scene wasn’t smart because why would you get so close to something like that right?

Grimm was a very intense villain. He was the first one to show up and easily overshadowed everyone else so they probably should have saved him for a bit later on. The guy was super impressive in combat and to be honest James wouldn’t be able to beat him in a normal fight. Fortunately for him the mask had a lot of side effects because otherwise he wouldn’t have lasted long. Grimm having what I can only describe as a supervillain codename also helped to make him memorable.

There were a group of special operatives that worked for the villains who appeared for a few episodes but they didn’t last as long. The tense fight in the apartment building at night worked really well though. That was one of the highlights of the show and I wanted to see more quick fight scenes like that. A good police thriller should have a solid mix of investigation and action after all. It’s only when you merge the two that you get the best product imaginable and I think the action was a bit light here.

Theo is one of the first guys to show up with a mask and he does well. Ultimately he just wants to see his family again which is a noble goal and his abilities are solid. He was put in a tricky spot and had to protect people so you feel bad for him. He’s the kind of character where you figure he’s not going to get a good ending right off the bat. It’s just a general vibe you get but he’s solid enough while he’s around.

Other side characters you have here are Anna and Walter. Anna is someone with a lot of connections who knows a whole lot about what is going on but for the most part doesn’t really give that info out. The heroes try to interrogate her several times but it tends to not go anywhere. Walter meanwhile is one of those guys who keeps on making a ton of bad choices over and over again until they inevitably catch up to him.

Richard is a character who has a flashback saga which may seem completely unrelated for the most part but I was cool with it because it was a very tense flashback. Ultimately he makes sure to square things away in the present and then gets written out of the show. He was a fun character to have around though. Ultimately his leaving opened the door for Douglas though who looks really corrupt and shady from the start.

He makes no attempt to hide this at any point which is kind of funny. He’s just always trying to get in the way and actively murder the suspects. It shows how dangerous it would be to have a villain within the upper ranks of the police because he has a whole lot of knowledge like locations and plans that he could leak at any time. Under him is Alan who is a very by the books guy. He seems decent but of course when your boss is a crook then that’s something you still have to watch out for. As the show goes on Alan gets better but he definitely starts off really rough.

The soundtrack isn’t memorable so the show gets no points there but the visuals could be good at times. Like I said earlier the visuals are great during the fight scenes. That’s absolutely when they stand out. The normal day to day scenes tend to be a bit weaker. This isn’t going to be one of the all timers but it works well enough. The show goes by fairly quick even with a little over 20 episodes.

Ultimately what the show really needed was for the mystery to be a little more engaging. I liked it well enough but it wasn’t exactly keeping me up at night. I still blame the masks for this because while it’s a cool concept, it really disrupts the flow of the whole world that was built. They seem way too overpowered and the heroes are just lucky that they weren’t used more or it would have been all over for them. That’s what really doesn’t work about this whole setup. The fights are good but it’s not like they happen super often either.

Overall, Hero Mask is a good show but not the most interesting or engaging one. There’s a good reason why it took so long to write about this one ~~because I had a big backlog~~ because it’s just not super thrilling. That in no way means its bad but you will forget about it fairly quick. I’d say to check it out if you really enjoy the cop thrillers like this but otherwise you can find better ones. The show does have a super sudden ending though which was something. Not the kind of ending that gives you a lot of closure but I would say there is room to make a sequel here if they ever want too.

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Continued Review

Posted on April 9, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time to continue the adventures of Natsume and Nyanko. In season 2 we slowly continue to expand the cast and Natsume gets into more crazy adventures but at its core this is still a classic slice of life kind of adventure. So if you enjoyed season 1 then you will like this as well. I would say the average episode here is also stronger than its counterpart in season 1 so all in all there is quite a lot to enjoy here. The seasons definitely go by really fast.

For this season lets jump into the review on a quick episode by episode basis since we’re already familiar with the characters. The first episode has another Nyanko appear and so Natsume has to figure out what’s going on here and why he has run off with the Book of Friends. Is this an enemy to be scared of or just another Yokai pulling a prank? You never can tell right off the bat after all and the book of friends is quite dangerous in the wrong hands. It works well as a peaceful episode to start off the season. I would not say that the stakes or danger level are as high as in other episodes but usually you always start a season off with a rather calm adventure.

In the next episode we have a spirit get absorbed into a little snow bunny. This means that much like Frosty The Snowman his very existence is in danger when the weather starts to turn warmer. Natsume has to help him find another spirit but also keep this guy at arm’s length in case he’s actually trouble. It’s another fairly calm episode although as a nice touch I did like that Natsume’s mother figure made another quick snow bunny to keep his company. The guardians may not be his real parents but they are always very cheerful people and it’s nice to see them helping out. They do their best to make him feel at home even if Natsume isn’t 100% comfortable yet.

After that we get an episode where Nyanko doesn’t look very good since he allows an enemy Yokai to attack Natsume and nearly finish him off. It’s only thanks to the help of someone whom Natsume had rescued earlier that the hero managed to stay alive. Not a great look for the bodyguard who was supposed to still be on duty right? Nyanko definitely needs to learn how to keep his guard raised a little more if he really wants to protect Natsume when it counts. It was a good episode to show how even the little good deeds you do during the day can come back to help you in a big way. It was also almost nostalgic to see Natsume get knocked to the ground again even if that’s a little sad.

Someone on the blog once told me that it seemed like Natsume was knocked onto his back for over half the show and it does feel like that’s pretty much the case sometimes. He’s constantly knocked to the ground by all of these yokai to the point where it almost starts to get pretty funny. Seriously the guy just can’t catch a break. To an extent part of the issue is that Natsume does have a tendency to let his guard down which Nyanko calls him out on but sometimes there seriously isn’t anything he could have done. You have to keep in mind that most of these yokai are significantly stronger than the average human after all even if Natsume does have a mean right hook. Poor guy can’t even enjoy a day at the hot springs which is what the episode was about initially.

In another episode a mysterious egg appears and when it hatches a monster comes out of it. It’s a nice looking monster though and Natsume has decided to protect it from a mysterious yokai that seeks to have its master eat the thing. Natsume makes the right call here and decides not to sell out the egg. It’s one of the more tense episodes because Natsume isn’t the best liar but he has to keep this yokai at bay by acting as if he hasn’t seen the egg. He doesn’t really know what the monster will turn into either so he has to be careful but one thing’s for sure, giving it to the guy who wants to eat the monster would have been the wrong move so I’m glad that Natsume didn’t do that.

In the 5th episode we have a poor kid who is unable to move on because his name is tied to a tree. His only hope is a super cryptic message about the end of the world so it’s a good thing that Natsume is here to help. One thing I liked about this episode is how this is the realistic ending of how cryptic puzzles would play out. In most shows there are always a bunch of geniuses that solve these puzzles but what if you’re just some normal kid? Well much like this kid you’d probably have no idea what is going on and just be stuck. It shows how selfish it can be to rely on puzzles. Well that may not have been the actual moral of the episode but it’s certainly what I took away from it. It’s less of a danger episode and more of an emotional one but it works well.

Now we get introduced to a new character, Toru. She is a good addition to the main cast and immediately beats most of Natsume’s other friends. One of the reasons why she is good is because she is determined to solve problems on her own and isn’t waiting for help. She just goes on her own to fight a monster and try to come up with ways to win. It’s not easy either since she can’t actually see them normally and has to try and trick a monster into going into her magical circle. Not a very easy thing to do and even once that happens it’s not like she has super strength or anything like that. So as a result she is definitely on the back foot here.

Toru doesn’t give up though and for the rest of the season she is someone who can help out Natsume at times. Definitely the best supporting character as a result. It’s a little frustrating for Jun fans though because she is someone who would also like to help Natsume but for some reason he refuses to be honest with her. As a result she is one of the only people who doesn’t know about Natsume’s abilities and he keeps her at arm’s length. Not the place you really want to be and it also means that there is only so much that she can do to help. Even Kaname gets to help more and the guy barely appears in this season at all. He’s a good guy but he can’t see spirits either so that always puts him at a disadvantage.

After that two part adventure we had a story about a mermaid. Basically mermaids are real in the world of Natsume and their blood can give you immortality but as a result they tend to be jaded with humanity. At this point they just don’t get along and so one is so bitter that she may be about to murder her old friend. Natsume has to try and clear up 100+ years of misunderstandings and quickly before someone ends up dying here. Does he have the skills for that or is it all over for him? It’s a reasonable episode but the mermaid gets off a little easy considering that she really was going to try and murder the friend. Natsume may have changed her mind in the end but it doesn’t change the fact that she was completely willing to pull the trigger.

Next up is a story with a mysterious painting that starts to sprout in Natsume’s room. It can’t be taken off though and it appears to be making Natsume become fatally sick. If he doesn’t remove this soon then he is a goner but what can he possibly do? The odds are against him. There is another yokai that wants the painting but she isn’t able to take it off either. Nyanko could burn it away but Natsume forbids him from doing this since there is a mini monster inside the painting. All this leads up to the realization that this won’t be easy. It’s an interesting episode but a bit annoying with how this doesn’t feel like it should be such a big deal. Can’t they knock out the wall the painting is on and run off like that? At least once Natsume is super sick.

After that we have a yokai decide to get revenge on Reiko. See, way back in the day she destroyed him in combat so now the monster is here to get Natsume. The main character isn’t big on violence and doesn’t like fighting Yokai but this time his family is in trouble so it’s time for him to step up. It’s a pretty good episode to be sure and definitely one of the most intense. After all this time we have a yokai who wants to destroy Natsume. There are no doubts about this and so he is fighting for his life which isn’t always the case here. We also got to see a lot more of Reiko than usual so that was pretty cool.

As we near the end of the season, Natsume gets to meet up with a bunch of other people who can see yokai. For the first time he isn’t quite alone here and can meet likeminded people but it doesn’t go quite as he planned. They may have the same abilities that he does but they don’t really think the same way and so he leaves not feeling particularly fulfilled. This episode sows the seeds that he will soon need to choose between the humans and the yokai but how can he actually manage to pull this off? Also, should he really choose or is that something being pushed onto him? I liked this episode as it expanded the world building for the season and also set up the final two episodes pretty well.

The season ends with Natsume meeting a kid named Kai who was trapped in a chest. Natsume saves him and after some misunderstandings the kid realizes that Natsume is a good person. The one problem here is that Kai is a yokai so Natori has been called in to destroy him. Kai seems nice enough but his goal is to free a bunch of demons which does not sound quite so innocent. If Natsume does nothing then they could end up hurting a lot of people but if he helps Natori directly then Kai will die. It’s not an easy choice but time is against him so Natsume is about to be pushed in a direction one way or the other unless he can do something real quick.

These two episodes were the best ones in the season so it was a great move to end with them. First off we had a lot of action as Kai is easily the most powerful fighter that we have seen in the series. He can move at super speeds and can even fire off powerful energy blasts. That’s not something that just about anyone else here could do. In theory he could have easily beaten the whole cast including Nyanko if he was truly evil so it’s lucky that he wasn’t. Now that would have been a real problem. Fortunately Kai isn’t really a bad guy, just misguided. If not for Natori complicating things I do think that Natsume could have easily talked him down.

The ending also veers away from being tragic and instead it just works really well to wrap things up. I don’t recall Kai ever appearing again in the manga but hopefully I’m forgetting a story since I’d like to see him return. Natsume may have decided to support both the humans and yokai which will be difficult but it does feel like the right decision here. Natori looked real weak which definitely reminds you that in the war of humans vs yokai the humans are definitely on the losing side. If the Yokai ever decided to destroy the Earth humanity would be doomed so it’s fortunate that this isn’t happening. That would have definitely been intense.

As always Natsume is a good main character even if he’s a little bland. I still disagree with him giving some of the characters the run around about his powers though. Sure, some definitely aren’t ready for it and he doesn’t have to tell strangers but someone like Jun who basically knows? I don’t see the harm in telling her. Natsume also does get himself into a lot of dangerous situations which definitely makes things really hard on Nyanko. I think he could dial that back a little while still looking out for the spirits.

Nyanko on the other hand also lets his guard down a lot and often vanishes when Natsume needs him. So the issue is definitely not all on one person here. They get a lot of fun banter and Nyanko does often save Natsume when it counts but all it takes is one of these mistakes and that would be curtains. In theory there will be less yokai after Natsume the more that he gives the names back but in this season we still aren’t given any metrics for how many names are left so it definitely could be a long while.

The animation is pretty decent here. I still wouldn’t say that the show particularly stands out for the animation but at the same time there isn’t much to stand out with since this isn’t a particularly colorful show nor is it an action packed one. It’s a show with very muted colors that is trying to be fairly realistic outside of the whole yokai angle. The closest we get to some true action here is when Kai powers up before styling all over everybody. It never turns into bad animation which is the important part though. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also more on the forgettable side. There aren’t any really sharp themes and while the theme song is okay, it’s not one that will likely get onto your playlist any time soon.

I would say this show does a good job of fulfilling its objectives in what it set out to do. This is a slice of life show first and foremost which may have some danger on occasion but for the most part it’s about Natsume finally opening up and making some friends. That’s where his journey really starts and ends here. He’ll only continue to meet more people as he goes through his adventures and in a way that’s all that he has to do. By the end of the journey he will be able to look back at himself and see how much he has changed. Hopefully Reiko shows up soon. I like to think that she is a yokai that’s haunting someone at the moment. It just doesn’t feel like she is someone who would simply pass away without at least meeting Natsume first.

Overall, Season 2 is a good show and I would say it is better than Season 1. It has more high intensity episodes and it feels like the plot moves more. I would still need a little more out of this show to reach the next stage though. Either focusing more on the story than being episodic or throwing in some more humor here. This show is really easy to plug and play at any time which is a good thing but on the flip side none of the episodes are really the kind that would glue you to your seat. On any given day this would probably be getting defeated by another show airing at the same time. So you should watch this for a fun calming experience but it’s not really a big bingeable show which is what separates the good shows from the great ones.

Overall 6/10

Natsume’s Book of Friends Review

Posted on March 26, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time to delve into the anime version of Natsume’s Book of Friends. I’ve been reading the manga for a long while now and it’s definitely a slow burn type that could go on for a while. It’s more about the adventure and the different situations Natsume comes across than completing the story but I do think it’ll have a satisfying conclusion once it’s all over. Season 1 starts us off on a fun note with the character introductions. Right now the cast is fairly small so you get to have a lot of focus on Natsume. If you’re looking for a calming title to watch then this one should fit the bill. Each story tends to be rather emotional without being too sad so you are able to feel happy by the end.

The series centers around a kid named Natsume who has the ability to see Yokai. This is not an ability that he wants because it alienates him from the other kids. Of course he learned the hard way not to let the other kids or even adults know that he has this power but it can make for some embarrassing situations like when he has to run away from one. His only solace is to make it to a temple in time and the yokai can’t follow but the problem is that this can happen at any time. Still, he has tried to find a decent balance of this and leads a quiet if uneventful life. One day he comes across a demon in a cat statue known as Nyanko Sensei.

He agrees to help in exchange for eventually consuming Natsume’s soul or something. I forget Nyanko’s actual excuse but it’s one of those excuses where you know he’s not really serious. The yokai actually seems kind of lonely so now he has a friend in Natsume and Nyanko is very powerful so demons can’t mess with Natsume quite as much as they used to. Natsume then finds out that the reason why all of the Yokai are after him is because he has a legendary book of names. See, his grandmother stole a bunch of Yokai names into her book which basically bound them as eternal servants to her. Now this has been passed down to Natsume but he has no intention of ordering them around. He now has a goal, Natsume must return every name back over to the Yokai in order to grant them freedom and allow them to pass on. Some Yokai will happily agree while others may hold a grudge but he knows that this is the right thing to do. Can Natsume get those names back?

In a way you already know the end goal to this now but the series is clever in not letting you know how many names are in the book. So there could be 100 names in there or there could be 1000. We just don’t know. On average Natsume will release 1 name per episode but sometimes he’ll miss one and sometimes there will be multiple names. Either way the progress is steady but it’s like attacking a boss in a video game where the health bar is hidden. You just have to make sure to never lose heart and keep attacking but as a result the journey can be long. I would like the series to eventually say how many names are left but I know that is a narrative limiter in a sense since it puts an end date. No series should have to end until the writer wants it too so there’s no rush on this.

As I mentioned this is a very calm series. Each episode usually revolves around some kind of Yokai dispute or some kind of tragic event that happened to one and so the demon needs closure from Natsume before passing on. During the day Natsume still has to balance his school life and not let anybody know that he has these powers. I do think he could have at least let the heroine know since she was interested and clearly wouldn’t be giving him any grief about it. Well, maybe in the future I suppose. Don’t expect any big action scenes or much of an ongoing story here though because this isn’t that kind of title.

I also wouldn’t really call it a comedy. Sure the characters can have their moments but for the most part a slice of life drama sounds the most fitting and even then I would almost remove the drama part because it just has the wrong connotation to it even though I would say that is technically accurate. You’re here just for the adventures and to take in the atmosphere. As a result it’s going to have a lower ceiling than most shows and I would call it good as opposed to very good but it’s also a very safe show. You can’t imagine anything super questionable happening here and so it should never really dip. It’s a very consistent ride with no real bumps in between.

As a main character Natsume is okay. He’s a bit emotionless at the moment and in large part that’s due to what he had to put up with as a kid. Presumably he should be getting more and more expressive as the show goes on. He can throw a solid punch when necessary though and is a quick runner. He shows traces of a real personality at times but for now he’s more of an empty shell. A guy who does the right thing and acts pleasant but it always feels like a bit of an act. Of course as the viewer we know that he really is a nice guy but he just doesn’t know how to really interact with people yet.

Nyanko is the more entertaining part of the dynamic. My only issue with him is that he’s supposed to be a real bigshot among the Yokai and yet he never seems as impressive as he should be. I’d just like to see him dominating the others more but again this isn’t an action series so those moments would be a bit more limited. He likes to cause trouble and make an uproar but as much as Natsume acts annoyed about it, he’s probably glad to have a break from the endless peace and quiet he once had. Nyanko is always having fun and messing around which adds a whole lot of energy and excitement to the dynamic. He makes the show better just by existing.

Reiko doesn’t really appear in the present but she’s a big part of the story since the whole situation with the book started because of her. She clearly had a lot of talent and ability back in the day to trick so many Yokai. It’s hard to say just how nefarious she was. I don’t think she was oblivious at what stealing their names would mean for the Yokai but she also seems like a trickster who likes to mess around. So if she died suddenly which I think is most likely, then she had probably intended to return all the names before she passed. She just didn’t realize that in a way she was gambling with their futures but of course this is conjecture. We just don’t know much about her yet but I do think that she is fun. Hopefully she isn’t actually dead somehow and shows up one day.

Then you have Jun who is effectively the main heroine here. She suspects that something is off about Natsume and that he can see spirits but of course she can’t prove it. This is the only area where I was annoyed with Natsume because this was a perfect chance to share his secret. He already has Tanuma who basically knows. Of course that is because the guy has a bit of a 6th sense to him as well but I just don’t see the harm in telling Jun. She is quite persistent either way and will keep hounding him until she gets a satisfying answer. Not saying he needs to bow to peer pressure like that and tell her right off the bat but I just feel like he was being vague for no real reason.

Jun’s nice enough and hopefully she sticks around. Tanuma is also good. He’s a fairly quiet guy so he gets along with Natsume well enough. Natsume’s still more of a solo act though so the guy doesn’t appear a ton. Near the end we are introduced to Natori who feels like the only really major character beyond Natsume from the human side. This guy is a famous actor and yet he can also see yokai. He has an odd lizard spirit that runs around him all the time and the guy has a certain edge to him. Whenever he’s around you sort of feel like the overarching plot is starting to move a bit. This is a guy I absolutely wouldn’t trust if I was Natsume but at the same time I would try to use him in order to get some answers. This is the best time to pull that off after all and usually you see villains using heroes so why not try the other way around right?

The soundtrack is a bit on the weaker side. There weren’t really any standout tracks that I was tempted to look up afterwards. It’s not surprising as a calm show will have calm tunes but throwing in some kind of electronic theme would have been nice. The animation is also fairly basic but not bad. It shouldn’t be winning any awards in my book but you can always see what is happening and nothing’s off model. It works well enough to supplement the story and have you going smoothly through each episode. On a technical level the series does what it needs to in order to move on.

The 12 episodes go by really quickly. In a way it all feels like pre arc but that’s sort of the series in a nutshell. It’s basically an anthology series so how much you enjoy each season will likely depend on the cases within it. The stories in here are all fairly solid. There is even some danger on occasion like when Natsume leaves while Nyanko isn’t around and gets attacked. 9 times out of 10 it is never smart to leave without Nyanko but sometimes there isn’t a choice as Nyanko will just drift off on his own. Natsume’s punch always does a lot of damage to Yokai which hasn’t really been delved into yet. At least that is a way out for him, it’s an attack option that he can use as a last resort but he prefers not to use violence.

His family is nice enough. They aren’t his real parents but the two people who take care of him have really done their best. Natsume is still a bit traumatized to an extent so he tries not to worry them at all. He probably tries a little too hard so it’s almost like he’s hiding things from them but you understand the reason for this. The only time he really gets mad at Nyanko is when the cat breaks one of their object. You look forward to seeing him level with these two a bit more in the future. I feel like they would be more understanding than everyone else from his childhood just based on their temperament. Even if they didn’t believe him for example I don’t think they would treat him any differently.

Overall, Natsume’s Book of Friends is a good show. The episodes go by quickly and it’s something that you can plug in and play on the TV at any time. Due to the episodic nature of the show it’s not like you’ll have to try hard to recall what was happening last time. You can just jump into each adventure fresh and take it from there. A show like this could use a big plot or some fights to take it to the next level but it’s comfortable where it is at and executes the premise well. It’s a show that’s hard for me to picture being really disliked. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, at most you might find it boring but probably not bad. For season 2 I would just like to see a stronger opening and a more energetic soundtrack but if not I can still count on some fun stories.

Overall 6/10

Assassination Classroom Season 2 Review

Posted on February 25, 2023 by dreager1

It’s time for the end of the Classroom saga with season 2. We get more action in this one as there are more super powered beings now but the series still blends together the more slice of life adventures with those too. I’ve never been a fan of the way the series ends and so the anime doesn’t really change that but you should have a good enough time here. The animation is still sharp and you will be invested in finding out what happens in the end. Can the characters surpass their limits and stop Koro-sensei from blowing up the planet?

We start things off with some slice of life adventures and a quick fight with Itona as the season kicks off. Itona had been a bit of a recurring villain so he was finally brought into the fold as one of the main characters but of course this also means that he lost his powers in the process so he becomes fully human. It would have been nice if he could have kept his powers even if it would have made Koro’s job of staying alive a lot harder. Now he would really have to be watching his back a lot because all that Itona would need is a single strike to claim victory. Still you get to have fun with the cast before things get real with the Reaper.

The Reaper mini arc is one of the top highlights in the whole series. The reason for this is because he does embody the perfect assassin without super powers. Yes his abilities are so good that they may as well be super abilities but technically he doesn’t have any biological enhancements of alien parts. He’s just using true skill here and he manages to absolutely hold his own against the main characters. That’s really nothing to sneeze at and his fight with Karasuma was great. The arc really gave a glimpse of how the whole show could have been with the cast trying to stop the more powerful assassins.

That said, it also underscores once again how the kids aren’t really ready for the big time. Without Karasuma they would have had absolutely no chance here. He’s just in a completely different league Karma and Nagisa get their moments of taking down stronger opponents but this was something the series could never get past. At the end of the day the kids needed some kind of time skip so that they could have really helped contribute more. More often than not the teachers had to do the heavy lifting here.

We also get more fights with the top scoring rivals from the school led by Gakushu. The rest of his group was never as memorable but he made for a great rival to Karma. The two of them would duke it out a whole lot throughout the series and it was a fun rivalry. The school competitions were always fun and another side to the whole assassin life as they would use their skills academically. Those battles were always fun also because that meant there was less time for Koro-Sensei to appear and mess things up.

This also closed out the plot with the principal Gakuho once and for all. He was definitely a really fun antagonist in the series and will be missed. The fact that he could hold his own against everyone without any powers was crazy. His origin story was definitely a sad one and the guy was absolutely dedicated to making sure that nothing like that would happen again. He pushed himself to the physical and mental limit of what a human could be and it paid dividends. He could pretty much mind control anyone and had a whole lot of influence. That’s not something that you can see just anyone doing and his confidence never wavered. The guy would take any risk if it meant he would win. Still one of the best characters around.

There’s also the subplot with Nagisa’s mom that finally concludes here. She definitely went rather crazy throughout the series so it was nice that she could finally see a bit of reason. I mean it did take a crazy assassin and a burning school to get the message across but hey at least she did change after that and Nagisa could finally have a break. He would need it since we’re approaching the end of the series now and there wouldn’t be many breaks left.

This led into Koro-Sensei’s origin story which is really solid. Basically he wasn’t always a terrible character. Back in the day he was a top assassin who got results and was basically the best in the world. He even trained the Reaper and in a fair fight nobody could beat him. Ultimately he would have continued to be the strongest but he ended up getting attached to one of the researchers, Aguri which gave the villains some leverage and ultimately had him change his ways. He was no longer a ruthless monster who wanted to destroy everybody. Instead he would now be a caring teacher.

The backstory does a good job of establishing why he wanted to be a teacher in the first place and also tying everything together for the climax. It also gives us a massive twist to one of the characters in the series that was always pretty shocking when it happened. Best twist in the series easily and I gained a lot of respect for the character with what she had to put up with the whole time. Just enduring the pain alone without ever letting it show was already a lot to deal with and that’s not even counting the emotional pain. The only thing it doesn’t really do is explain what happened to Koro-Sensei’s personality to the extreme degree that it is in the present.

Did repressing his emotions for so many years cause him to want to just be as extreme as possible to make up for lost time? I don’t believe that it was all an act because there would be no reason for that and it would just feel like a cop out. Regardless while I consider him to be one of the weakest characters in the series in the present, I did like him a lot in the flashback. Sometimes a characters just really falls down I suppose.

After that emotional arc and we wrap up the fights in the present, we approach the end with the big Civil War. The kids have to decide on whether or not they should murder Koro-Sensei. Of course you know that I’m going to be on the side saying not to murder him. Cmon now, that’s just the worst decision you can make. If it comes down to sacrificing one person to save the world then in almost all cases I’m going to just say that it’s time to let the world be destroyed. You don’t trade lives as they say. Additionally there was still a chance that he wouldn’t blow up so you have to take that into consideration as well. I was rooting hard for the no kill team to win this one because of that. It’s just the only way to have a satisfying ending.

I won’t say which team wins but ultimately I wasn’t thrilled with the ending so you can expect that not everything went the way I wanted it too. I feel like it can be hard to ultimately deliver on an ending because after any big adventure there are so many ways a story can conclude. Although while many Jump final arcs tend to get some heat I usually disagree since ending with a big war arc is always the way to go. The war arc here isn’t literally the ending but it’s close enough where it may as well be and that worked out well. In this case it’s just the actual ending that’s the big problem and so for the last episode you’re not quite as invested. You know this could have easily been saved with just a small stinger at the end showing a certain cliffhanger moment. That’s absolutely all I would have needed and I would have been good. A shame that didn’t happen.

As you’d expect the animation is still really sharp here. I’d say one thing that the series does exceptionally well are the really sharp colors for the character designs and action moments. They really do a good job of depicting the pure intensity of the villains and heroes when they are using their assassin techniques. The ost is also good. It has a good amount of variety and I liked several themes there. It may not be the biggest soundtrack out there but it definitely gets the job done.

In general the character cast is good too. Nagisa and Karma are a solid duo as the leads with their banter and rivalry going on. They really help each other to succeed which is important and of course Karma has that classic rival energy of always being ready to pick a fight. Part of what makes this work so well in the school setting is also how he just won’t tolerate bullies…at all. The other characters may play nice but he just jumps in there and gets the job done which I can always appreciate.

The rest of the kids are solid as well. Itona was more interesting as a villain but he’s still reasonably good. Kaede went way up in this season as she got a much bigger role and the rest of the kids are all around to help out as needed. Irina still tends to not do great when it counts but Karasuma always steps up against the big villains. He also helped the kids out even though it would put his job in jeopardy near the end.

Then for the villains we had quite a few really solid ones like the Reaper. That guy’s techniques were crazy good and it makes sense that almost nobody could touch him. He’s really perfected his craft. Shiro wasn’t nearly as solid as a villain even if you do have to give him some props for his dedication. The guy never gave up that’s for sure. He just kept on trying to go after Koro for ages at this point and considering the power difference there, it wasn’t a small feat. I already talked about how great Gakuho was of course.

The series is at its best during the action moments. We get a lot of quality battles and quick choreography. The show tends to be at its weakest during the comedy episodes as the cast just isn’t generally solid enough to hold these up for long. That’s why the show tends to quickly devolve into fanservice and shenanigans like that to pass the time while the serious episodes avoid that. The fanservice isn’t crazy but still fairly frequent at times and it doesn’t help that Koro’s one of the main characters and he usually encourages this quite a bit. Ironically if you cut him out of the whole series then the show instantly is elevated but the whole series revolves around him so at that point you’re really talking about a completely different series.

At the end of the day I stand by my reasoning that the show would have been more solid if the main characters were more grown up rather than being kids the whole time. It just stacked the deck too far against them, particularly with how fast Koro-Sensei was. If anything even most of the villains should have gotten neg diff’d the whole time. Sure Shiro’s cloak had that special substance on it but there are still loads of ways for Koro to have beaten him. The power levels were just set too far apart which meant that things wouldn’t always end in a very satisfying way although I’ll give the show props for mainly not having Koro ever lose in a crazy way that would make no sense with his speed. I do think that they did put a lot of thought into each of his moves.

Overall, Assassination Classroom season 2 mainly picks up right where season 1 left off. If you enjoyed the first season then you will enjoy this one and vice versa. I would still give it the advantage over the first season as we get a lot of the biggest moments here like with the Reaper and the origin story though. It suffers from the same issues as the first but focuses more on the strengths which is good. I don’t think this will ever be remembered as one of the top Shonen Jump titles but it was pretty big while it was going and it is still memorable enough to be remembered even as the years go by. If you haven’t checked it out yet and are looking for a fairly low key slice of life with some action arcs then this should be right up your alley.

Overall 6/10

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