Rayearth Review

Posted on May 24, 2026 by dreager1

It’s time for another journey into the world of Rayearth! It’s a really chaotic adventure this time as they have to squeeze in a whole lot through only 3 episodes. The episodes are around double length but that’s still a tall order. While it’s certainly not as good as the full length TV shows, I thought this was pretty fun. It’s a very different take on the series and one that really isn’t bad. Sort of like watching an abridged version with everything compressed as much as possible. I’d like to have more alternate universe adventures like this.

Rayearth starts with a mysterious fairy appearing on Earth. It heralds the beginning of the end as a bunch of space invaders show up. They want to destroy everyone on Earth in some crazy attempt to save their home world of Cephiro. Only three girls can stop them, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu. They have the qualifications to become defenders of humanity by enacting a pact with 3 legendary deities. This will be very risky though as they are still outnumbered and have no real way to practice for this fight. They will have to learn on the job and their only ally is Master Mage Clef, a man of unbelievable power in theory but never in reality.

Right away you can tell that the vibe is a whole lot different than the TV show. It’s less fantastical and more dread filled. You never know when the next casualty is going to arrive and quite a few people are wiped out. I know by the end of the OVA they make sure to mention that there were surprisingly few casualties but it doesn’t feel like that in the intro. Additionally there was a lot of destruction across the whole city so repairing it all will take a while. The members of Cephiro may not all be evil but they are definitely willing to wipe out all of the humans so you’re not going to be coexisting with them.

There is also much less time for Hikaru and her friends to try talking of peace with them. The only option is to go on the offensive right away. Hikaru is really the leader of the group like always and does well. She is the first hero to enter the fight and while she ultimately isn’t able to take too many Ws before being taken down, the bravery is what counts here. She wasn’t going to back down without a fight and her confidence never wavers.

There isn’t a whole lot of time to delve into her character but that was always going to be the case with how short this title is. Hikaru’s a very direct person so you get what the series is going for here. Meanwhile her friend Umi does really well. She won her fight with the greatest amount of ease not counting some resurrection shenanigans. While she was not brave enough to help Hikaru in the past, she made up for it in the present. She even had time to save Fuu from her opponent so Umi made the most of her screentime.

Fuu looked like the weakest as always but to balance that, the OVA made her the strongest of heart. She’s not the most outgoing kind of person but still got up the courage to reach out to Hikaru back when she was ostracized at school. She also still fights to the end like the other two. Ultimately all of the characters were pretty solid there. The most annoying hero would probably be Master Mage Clef because the guy just seems a little too helpless. I would have liked him to have actually fought back at least one of the villains. He spends most of his time giving up or telling the girls to run.

The villains tend to suffer a bit more from how fast paced everything is though. Initially you have some of the villains talking about how they love tormenting weaker opponents and all that but later on it seems like a bunch of this is dumped as just being due to their queen’s dark influence. I’m definitely more than a little skeptical of this. I just wouldn’t have done the redemption arc for Fario here, let him stay on the side of the villains.

Eagle was a really big villain here even if Lantis could have taken him out at any point. Letting him hang around definitely backfired with how close he came to destroying everything. It was fun to see him as a true threat though. As a hero he was a really difficult mastermind to deal with so it makes sense that as a villain he would be just as dangerous. Then Lantis works well as a guardian type figure who is ready to help. You do feel like he probably could and should have helped out sooner though. Aside from not taking out Eale, he had the speed and teleportation needed to take down any of the other villains.

I think he probably just couldn’t force himself to hurt these former friends but you have to take big steps when they are this far gone. Lantis still gets the MVP throughout the OVA for being the reason that the heroes won though. Without him, the heroines would not have had a chance. His sword was critical and he was the only one able to fight off the evil spirits. The deck was really stacked on the side of the villains before and Lantis was the only one who was able to start balancing those scales.

Emeraude ends up looking rather mindless for most of this series though. She can’t stop singing but is also trapped within her own mind. She was not able to handle the present situation and so that’s why she retreated. It’s all a really bad look for her. By the very end of this saga she has finally woken up but man did it take her a long while. I don’t think it would be possible to forgive her by that point. Of course there is no tie to go into the pillar system in this version but it would definitely be another strike against it.

The animation is definitely pretty good here. I wouldn’t say that it is flat out better than the main TV series per say but it does have a very theatrical feeling to it. I like the way that the colors look and of course taking place in a big city is a big win. It gives the fights more weight to them and that sense of danger is always all the way up. The colors and attacks are all striking while still giving you that ominous feeling that the villains could be around any corner. The soundtrack is less memorable though as it is a big step below the show. It can sound rather dramatic but a lot of the music tends to sound more like public domain themes than anything really striking. Still, it’s enough to keep you on the edge of your seat here.

The way the deity fusions work feels like it was changed to add in a bit of fanservice for no real reason. It’s nothing crazy though and only stands out because of how different the transformed forms are. In terms of violence, there definitely tends to be a bit more blood with how the magical girls feel every injury from their deity form. Alcyone also ends up getting the worst end from the characters but none of it is all that bad. It’s just enough to keep up the serious atmosphere of the heroes being in trouble without going too far in any direction.

A final complement I have to give to the OVA is how it throws you into the action without overly explaining a lot of things. You’re really left to your own devices to figure out what’s going on and that’s a good thing. They don’t make a whole lot of these nowadays. The quick story beats you get within the episode just have to be enough and I’d say that they are. You can reason out the rest and then just follow the adventure. It feels a little more like a mystery box this way.

Think of it like you’re one of the main characters. You don’t really need to know the whole story, just enough so that you can fight off the invaders. The primary concern here is about protecting Earth and so it would be nice if Master Mage Clef would at least be able to share some weaknesses with you. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen but I suppose in this case the villains maybe didn’t have many real weaknesses. Mix that in with having the strongest Deities around and it’s no surprise that they have had so much success up to this point.

Overall, This was a fun watch. It’s nothing that’ll change your life but I would recommend giving it a whirl. I’d even think of it more like a quick anime movie than a full on OVA since the 3 episodes combined would roughly get you to that point in terms of length. Everything moves very quickly here so you don’t need a whole lot of context here. There will be a lot of unanswered questions but that can be left for a sequel someday…maybe. This works as a stand alone and the heroines could essentially be called Magic Knights with how they mix spells and physical abilities. The ending is a bit rushed but it’s a worthy price for having a lot of nonstop action scenes.

Overall 7/10

Magic Knight Rayearth Season 2 Review

Posted on May 17, 2026 by dreager1

Season 2 is now upon us as the magic knights get to return for another big journey. In some ways this one is a little unrelenting with action as there is more downtime for talking and world building. That said, when we do get the action it tends to be higher tier with more people fighting at once. All in all this was a really good season and holds its own with season 1. I go back and forth on which one wins but on the record, I’m going to say that season 2 wins ever so slightly. The villains are a huge upgrade here thanks to Nova and I thought Hikaru’s crisis of confidence was a strong subplot.

The show starts with Hikaru, Fu, and Umi still getting over the fact that they teleported into a whole other planet and are now back on Earth. Fuu and Umi are taking it pretty well but Hikaru has a lot of regrets. She feels like they may have actually harmed the planet by destroying its ruler and eliminating the pillar system. Her fears are well founded when the three of them are warped back and the whole planet is on the brink of destruction. Without a pillar to hold it all together, the planet is simply running out of energy. Everyone will die unless a new pillar is chosen but then the world will go back to the problems of season 1. Additionally there are 3 kingdoms which are all attempting to invade. Can the Magic Knights stop them?

The biggest dilemma here is that the problem isn’t so straight forward. Yes, the Magic Knights can likely destroy all of the aggressors but they use destruction as an absolute last resort. It’s not something that they just run to as their first option. Then there is also the fact that beating these armies will not do anything to save the world. The only apparent options are to let the world be destroyed or to sacrifice someone as the pillar.

The pillar system basically works by imprisoning someone within the main kingdom. That person must constantly pray and think about the people of the land while not being able to have any personal wishes or desires. It is essentially an eternal prison and that’s why Zagato wanted to free Emeraude from this in the first series. Now I will say that the pillar system is riddled with assumptions about how it must work but the series doesn’t go into that so for the purposes of this review we will take this system at face value.

You also can’t pick just anybody to become the pillar. It must be someone who is worthy of the system and anyone who isn’t worthy will die if they attempt to go inside the forbidden room. Now it does seem like it takes a really long time for the kingdom to actually fall and it doesn’t help that all of these villains are attacking. Personally I feel like you could have someone become the pillar for a few days, take a break, go back in, etc. It might not be possible to game the system that way though.

The animation is pretty strong like the last season and I would even say that it has slightly improved on this end. The mech fights are really solid and the animation definitely stands out with the human fights as well. There is a lot of action here and the show always delivers. The soundtrack is mainly unchanged from the first season and is still a good one. There is one battle theme in particular that is really solid.

While the romances can be a little on the weaker side, I give the series props letting them try to be slow burns. One of them actually has very mature ending as well. The guy realizes that the girl he likes will never be able to reciprocate. Instead of getting mad about it or rebounding, he decides to just live with this. The memory of loving her would be enough to satisfy him and it’s the kind of plot that doesn’t happen all that often. So big props there, while I would say the main romance with Hikaru takes the wrong approach as she indulges in a confession without even knowing if she will ever see Lantis again. That’s the exact time when you do not want to submit a confession because it can’t really go anywhere.

Like I mentioned before, Hikaru is going through a lot for the whole season. She really doesn’t know how to proceed and none of the enemies want to talk. She tries to de-escalate the situation with each invading army but it never seems to work. Then the villainous Nova looks just like Hikaru and makes things even more complicated. Hikaru may have constantly been ready to fight in season 1 and was real gung-ho but there is none of that this time. The weight on her shoulders has simply grown to be too much and lasts for the entirety of the season.

I don’t really dock any points from Hikaru though because she was trying to handle this well. There are a few times where she would try to talk things out for too long but never took it to any absurd levels. A lesser show would have fumbled here but this one stood strong. Hikaru also continues to look a whole lot stronger than the other two magic knights. She is the powerhouse of the team and is the most fun to watch.

Each magic knight gets their own plot and so Fuu has her own kingdom to fight. She ends up engaging in some friendly competition with the young ruler of the first invading land. Fuu can still be a bit too much of a pacifist at times but is able to get her point across without having to fight the whole time. She also does learn a new spell in this season which is even able to damage the final bosses so that was impressive. Like in season 1 I do think she could have done more to really stand out in the battles but this was a start. She’s not a bad character even if she can be a bit quiet.

Then we have Umi who gets to fight the two dancers. This fight is a lot more intense since it is a potential life or death match. Additionally Umi gets to use her fencing abilities again which was pretty cool. My only complaint with Umi is that she allows the genie summons to shake her resolve way too easily. I get that they are a bit weird but I thought that she was way too dramatic about the whole thing. In context she is responsible for protecting a whole kingdom and so that means she has to always be ready to fight. There is no time to be distracted.

In some ways Master Mage Clef may be the most disappointing character but that’s only if you were assuming that he would do anything. Let be real, the guy never does anything so that was always going to be a lost cause. I do really like his name and the grand title associated with it though. Whenever someone is called a master, it means that you’re going to want to sit down and listen there. This guy spends most of the season injured and then he is stuck trying to prop the castle up.

Lantis is the one who has to get out there and do some fighting. His loyalty is questionable though as he left for another kingdom a while back and now those guys are attacking. Lantis did tell them all about the pillar system as well since he was not expecting this invasion. That ended up being a poor decision on his part. He ultimately does fight his former friend Eagle when push comes to shove but I would be mad at him if I were the other heroes. He ultimately took way too many risks with private information and no amount of hindsight can make that a good decision. Lantis also has great abilities at his disposal but still finds ways to get outsmarted and overpowered. Not a good look for him.

I ultimately preferred his brother Zagato but Lantis still did well. He was just a little too indecisive on everything that mattered. His fairy friend Primera could have been cut out though. She gets a little subplot where Mokona is always picking on her but it never actually gets to be all that important. I guess in a way it’s the comedic subplot but eh it was more of a miss. The show is too dramatic to really need any kind of animal mascot here.

Ferio also doesn’t get to do a whole lot here. He’s more of a standard warrior now which isn’t bad, but it does mean that he just has way less personality now. He only gets one standout scene early on when he gets to save Fuu. Otherwise he is mostly stuck in the background here. I suppose the character cast was large enough where the show started having issues balancing everyone out.

Ascot takes the award for most improved character since season 1. He was easily one of the weakest characters there but then in this season he actually ends up being a really good character. Gone are the days when he was really timid and now he has become a brave warrior. His monster summons are considerably more powerful than they used to be. He is also able to handle rejection well. I was really impressed with this guy, he is definitely a character that will really stand out in each scene.

On the other hand, Alcyone takes the award for the character with the biggest drop. She wasn’t the strongest villain in the first season but she did have a certain level of grace. In this season she goes completely crazy. This is partially due to Debonair’s influence but then spends the final episodes in a super nervous state where she is unable to do anything. It was really rough to see and the final scene at the end was too little too late to save her. It’s too bad because she started the season off with some potential but could not see it through.

As for Debonair, she just doesn’t get enough time to do much. She spends most of the season telling Nova not to keep on fighting. She wants Nova to hang back and yet in quite a few of these situations Nova would have claimed victory. This would only work if Debonair had some kind of a master plan but this never seemed to really be the case. Her abilities are technically really good but it’s always hard to convey that with such limited screentime. So she ends up feeling rather unimpressive overall.

As for Nova, well she is a villain who really stands out. I’d say that the very ending of the show seems to retcon her character a bit though. She went from being a completely evil figure to someone who was presented as being a bit misunderstood. I didn’t buy that at all and she works best as being a full on psycho. She could be a bit too extreme in her devotion to Hikaru though which leads to some weird scenes. Nova is crazy but that’s what makes her so dangerous. She should have went out in a different way but the show wrote itself into a bit of a corner with the knowledge that any attacks against her would directly hurt Hikaru’s own heart. So in a way there was no way to truly defeat her physically,

Again that is what makes her so dangerous though. She was a really fun villain and also had incredible stats. One on one there are few characters who could really stand any kind of a chance against her. She also has the best looking mech in the series. With it she could have dominated even more but none of the characters use the mechs as much as they should have. I would note that being able to teleport anywhere inside of the kingdom should also make Nova functionally unbeatable so the heroes have a lot of plot armor here at all times.

Now lets talk about the kingdoms. First we have Lady Aska who basically wants to be the pillar for the most superficial reasons. She basically just wants to be the ruler because of the unlimited power the role brings. Aska is basically a kid though so it makes sense and she is the easiest to set back on the right path compared to the other two. I would also say that she appears to be the weakest of the three factions. Her voice really stands out but that’s the best part of the character. She’s okay but there was no point where you were actually rooting for her.

Tarta and Tatra represent the second kingdom and are much more sympathetic. Their kingdom is quite small and so they want to use the wishing power to extend the kingdom. This way their people can live in peace on actual land. It makes a lot of sense and so they are doing their best there. I do think that they could have been more open to discussion though because there were a lot of possibilities before all out war. Tarta is the more fun member of the duo because she is way more headstrong and ready for a fight. That is always the kind of trait I like to see in a character but her sister is definitely the stronger one.

They’re better than the first kingdom but are still pretty limited in what they can do. The final kingdom easily has the biggest role and is also the most powerful force. This is the faction led by Eagle with the strong second in command, Geo; as well as the mechanic Zazu. Eagle needs to become the pillar to save his people from a dying planet and has planned everything out. His kingdom relies on the power of science rather than magic in order to fight.

This science is really at a high level because his mech is able to hold its own against the Rune Gods. While I would always take Hikaru in a fight, I do think he could beat the other two fighters. Eagle is also a very cunning character who always has a lot of plans at the ready. He always has a secret weapon at the ready and even in a near death state was able to fight with Nova. I gained a lot of respect for Eagle from his first appearance through to the ending.

You could even say that the guy is a bit like Batman. He’s certainly got the determination down as well as all of the gadgets. He also had a good dynamic with Hikaru and Lantis. It felt like the show was going to lean into making this a triangle subplot but it finished strong. I’d say it went for more of a solid friendship plot with Eagle realizing early on not to even wish for any more than that. Next to Hikaru’s self doubt plot, Eagle definitely had the strongest emotional storyline.

It’s pretty impressive how different both seasons felt from each other. The first one is definitely going for a classic RPG vibe while season 2 is definitely more Star Wars. Maybe even throw in a bit of horror/thriller for the Nova scenes. Bringing Hikaru into her world of darkness was definitely intense and same goes for when she put Lantis in there. Knowing that no backup can reach you is definitely intense. You are either able to handle that kind of pressure or you can’t.

There is also the fact that the world itself is ending in the background because of there not being a pillar to take in the energy. The writing is good though and so you will be glued to your seat the whole time. Your enjoyment may depend a little bit on how much you enjoy hearing about the pillar system every 5 minutes though. The characters really go over it a whole lot but I never found it to be boring. I just felt like the characters could have really talked things out a whole lot sooner.

If anything they took so long that by the end point you will feel like there should be too many hard feelings to have a constructive conversation. A whole lot of people could have died during the invasions, including all of the kids who were taking shelter in the castle. You have to really hope that Lantis found all of them in time too since Master Mage Clef seemingly has no spell to find the lost souls across the planet.

Overall, Magic Knight Rayearth had another good season here. The ending definitely does come off as being really rushed though. I really didn’t think there was any way the final episode was going to be the end because of the fight still going on by the commercial break. At least I can definitely say that the end result was for the series to be keeping action at the forefront all the way to the end. I’d definitely be up for more sequels. It’ll be interesting to see if the remake will be able to defeat this one. There was certainly a lot of drama but this was a strong ride all the way to the end.

Overall 7/10

Spy x Family Season 3 Review

Posted on May 3, 2026 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Knuckles Review

Posted on May 3, 2026 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

One Piece Season 2 Review

Posted on April 4, 2026 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Magic Knight Rayearth Review

Posted on March 22, 2026 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity Review

Posted on March 1, 2026 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 Review

Posted on February 22, 2026 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

Speed Racer Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by dreager1

Speed Racer is one of those super famous series but it’s just old enough where a lot of people haven’t really seen it before. Well, I got to blast through the whole series and it is a title that really ages well. It shows some age but in all the best ways with the fun facial expressions and everything. Speed makes for a really good main character and Racer X is definitely one of the better rivals that you will come across. I didn’t really have any issues with this one, it’s a very well rounded series.

The series starts by introducing us to Speed, who aims to be a professional racer. Unfortunately his father Pops is against the idea and has pretty good reason to be. His other son Rex disappeared one day after crashing in a race and having a big disagreement with Pops. Pops believes that Rex simply wasn’t ready for that level of competition and doesn’t want Speed to make the same mistake. Speed disobeys Pops and enters a race anyway. His skills quickly become well known across the land and now Speed wants to be the world champion. Can he pull this off and eventually get Pops to see things his way?

Technically speaking that’s really the main plot for the 52 episodes coming up. The series doesn’t have a super deep plot or anything like that. Once in a blue moon you will get a returning character but for the most part these are episodic adventures. Most of them are 2 part adventures but as the series comes to a close we get more one shots. Racer X’s plot is one of the few that continues on throughout the show. As the viewers we learn that Racer X is Speed’s brother early on so you have to see if Speed can ever put the pieces together.

One thing that is also clear from the start is that racing is very dangerous in this world. It may be legal but there are constant fatalities throughout the series. Over half of the racers appear to die in every single event. Why do they still race? Well, for the pure thrill of it. That seems to be what it all boils down to and it is why Pops does appear to be rather justified here. Speed comes close to death on many adventures. In fact, if he had a normal car then he would be dead.

Naturally everyone knows about his super car, the Mach 5. This car has a ton of different gadgets inside of it like bullet proof glass, a spring to jump, a bird that can fly around, a water mode, buzz saws, etc. Speed uses these to get himself out of a lot of sticky situations. Otherwise he would have been doomed in a lot of events. To be clear, that’s because the enemies tend to cheat a whole lot. In a straight race Speed is second only to Racer X himself. Speed tends to demolish his other opponents.

Speed also takes a whole lot of pride in his abilities. He is very quick to jump into attack mode when someone calls him a chicken or crosses him the wrong way. Speed just isn’t going to let anything like that slide and he is a rather good fighter. On different occasions we see him going up against professional ninja, crime lords, and whole mini armies. Speed takes on all challengers and usually comes out on top. At times he will be defeated, but Speed is only human. He will eventually go down to a cheap shot or sheer numbers.

He’s just a great character and there is a level of genuineness to him that you won’t always see. Speed is incredibly heroic but he’s not a super saint. Speed’s quick temper means that even his allies have to watch out, as Sparky learned the hard way on at least one occasion. Speed is also willing to step out of his comfort zone as a racer like when he worked as an agent against different terrorist groups. Speed is always willing to help the cops out

His friend Sparky is often not able to keep up with Speed. Sparky is a great mechanic and helps to keep the Mach 5 in good condition but his role is lessened a bit by the fact that Speed’s also a top tier mechanic. So Sparky often feels like he doesn’t even need to be around. It’s kind of sad but he doesn’t really add anything to the show. It’s good to see Speed having friends and all but yeah Sparky could be removed and nothing really changes.

Then we have Speed’s girlfriend Trixie. It’s easy to forget that they’re actually together but she does a good job of getting jealous the whole time. Speed tends to attract quite a lot of attention in the races and often times Trixie isn’t allowed to race with him. She tends to have a pretty big role in the show so that’s good. It’s too bad that she’s not a big racer though because that could have really helped her to be an even bigger player. She races at least once but it’s a rare event to be sure.

She does provide aerial support though and arrives to help many times when Speed crashes. A little healthy jealousy can be a good thing as well so ultimately I would say that she gets a pretty good showing throughout the series. Naturally you always need to have at least one troublemaker in the main cast’s dynamic so that’s where Spritle and Chim Chim come into play. Spritle is a little kid who loves getting in on the races and so he follows Speed all the time.

Speed never seems to realize that his little brother is in the trunk until it’s too late. The few times that Speed suspects something is often when Spritle decided to stow away in someone else’s car. Spritle does come in handy sometimes so it’s not like he is always getting into trouble but often times he isn’t really helping too much. If anything he tends to be a hostage which gives Speed one more thing to worry about. As for Chim Chim, well he is helpful less often than Spritle. He pretty much never has a big moment of triumph and has to play second fiddle here. I could have done without him, I need my supporting characters to be able to talk and everything!

As for Pops, well he’s definitely a tough guy who is always being rather defensive but he’s a fun character. Like I mentioned before, he’s got a really good argument for keeping Speed away from the races as well. They’re just far too dangerous. You have people bringing bombs and guns onto the tracks and the refs never seem to notice. There is a constant amount of fighting going on and explosions but no cameras to capture it. Honestly I’m not sure why the spectators would enjoy racing all that much considering that most of the race is completely off screen for them.

You have races that go on for over 30 hours as the characters cross a whole continent. Speed has to fight off multiple opponents before the ending and the spectators only see the last mile or so. You shouldn’t think on it too much but that’s why the sport is rife with corruption here. Villains know that they can get away with anything. Pops is the top mechanic in the world in this series so for that reason there are a lot of people trying to get to him as well. Pops has to always do his best to try and stay safe while this is going on. His wife doesn’t really get much of a role in comparison. It would have been nice to have seen her in a few fights to show that every member of the family was a big fighter.

Then we have Racer X. This guy is not only known as the world’s greatest racer but he is also the top secret operative in a global organization that keeps the peace. For that reason he often travels the world. It also makes sense why he can’t reveal his true identity because then it would put Speed in danger. At the same time he does make sure to save his younger brother on many occasions. Their bond is a really strong one and you can sympathize with everything that Racer X has to go through.

I do wish the series could have given him more races with Speed. In almost all of their encounters, something comes up which prevents a straight race. Racer X does still manage to give Speed a whole lot of advice to help him out like not being as naive or gullible. Speed has a bad habit of believing sob stories and what he is told far too quickly. That’s something that you never want to do because you will be taken advantage of quickly. By the end of the series, Racer X has helped Speed improve a whole lot.

It’s also fun to just see Racer X have his really dangerous subplot while Speed is out there in the races. Racer X knows how to use a machine gun with an amazing level of skill. Where does he have the time for all of this right? When Speed gets close to learning his identity, X is able to deliver a well placed gut punch that completely removes his memory of learning the solution. Now that is talent.

The animation is definitely really good here. This is what I would call a very authentic hand drawn style from the old days. So there will be animation errors and perspective issues but that’s part of the charm. It still looks really good and is a lot smoother than you would expect. The colors are striking and this is the kind of animation that I could keep watching for a long while. The soundtrack isn’t nearly as memorable though. It sounds good and all but none of the themes will have you humming or anything like that.

Fortunately the writing is strong enough where you don’t mind. The show has a lot of good humor, both intentional and unintentional. The script is top notch and the way characters say things nonchalantly just works extremely well. It’s the kind of series you can definitely have fun watching reactions for. If you like a happy racing series with a good amount of banter then this is the title you want to check out.

Speed Racer also embraces the absurdness of the situations that Speed finds himself in. One second he is fighting a global terrorist organization, the next he is fighting giant monsters over in the jungle. Speed battles in Egyptian Tombs and in labyrinths underneath the waves. He doesn’t shrink from any challenge and fights just as well as he races. His opponents also tend to have some pretty strong gimmicks. There are one old guy who hated cars for example and so he would use his Horse to get around and whipped any cars that got too close. That takes a lot of guts. Speed even went up against a legendary gambler who knew the odds about everything and then another guy who built an entire secret city.

It’s the kind of atmosphere that is harder to create in a new title. These storylines work pretty well as long as you don’t overanalyze them. There are probably loads of plot holes and little inconsistencies that such situations create but they are fun to watch which is far more important. Give me a fun scenario like this any day and I’m all set. Where else are you going to see a group of Acrobatic racers who do stunts involving dozens of cars? That was one of the few times where even Speed got nervous.

Overall, Speed Racer is a pretty fun series. It’s definitely one of the older ones that I’ve seen now and I dare say that it was even better than I remembered it. I had seen a flurry of scattered episodes back in the day so it was fun to see the whole thing cover to cover. The series has a lot of humor to it but part of why it works is because the show is still treating these situations with a good amount of seriousness. There is a really tight line to balance here and the show makes it look easy. If you haven’t seen the series yet and worry that it’s too old, stow those fears. This series became a legend for good reason and you should definitely check it out! This is true for basically all shows but especially for Speed Racer I will also advise you to watch it through the English Dub.

Overall 7/10

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit Review

Posted on February 8, 2026 by dreager1

Moribito is an anime where I knew the name of it for a long time but never really knew what the show was about. For the longest time I actually thought it was something vampire related. Well, it’s a pretty fun adventure show with some solid action in there. The old time setting doesn’t always work for me but I would say this show did a good job with it. The pacing is solid and so in the end I didn’t have any big issues with it.

The series starts by introducing us to Balsa who is one of the world’s greatest spear fighters. For a while there she had been a fighter who would not hold back and clear any mission. As a result she ended up taking 8 lives and so she has decided to save 8 lives in return. Balsa was able to help out 7 people easily enough but the she stumbles upon a royal conspiracy. The prince Chagum is expected to be assassinated and so his mother asks Balsa for help. This is not usually a mission that Balsa would undertake but it is the final life that she needs to save for atonement. So she takes Chagum and escapes the kingdom but now everyone is after her. Can Balsa keep him safe?

The other difficult part of this task is the timeframe. Typically you would expect to get someone out of danger and then you can leave. With this task, Balsa is expected to look out for Chagum for the rest of his life as the kingdom will never stop looking for him. This means that her life is essentially over as she will be a bodyguard forever. This concerns her friends and Chagum also isn’t thrilled about this. He doesn’t wish to be a burden to anyone and has his pride as a prince. This is something that causes quite a few disagreements during the series.

So why does the kingdom want to murder Chagum? Well, he has a legendary beast within him, one that is said to bring destruction along with it. To that end, murdering him is the only way to save the world. His father, the Mikado is the one who has to do the deed. So he’s not exactly happy about this, but that’s what the guy does. Unfortunately it does mean that The Mikado is hardly one of my favorite characters. Listening to a prophecy over trying to help your own kid is just a terrible decision. He may as well be a total villain if this is the kind of decision that he’s making.

Several characters act as antagonists throughout the story but ultimately the monsters that wish to eat Chagum serve as the final boss types. They are hard to defeat with conventional weaponry as you have to wait for them to materialize. There are also a lot of them which results in a pretty big climax. About 90% of the series is a really realistic feudal setting with the monsters spicing things up for the final act. That was pretty fun although I will admit that the fight scenes against them are not nearly as entertaining as the human ones.

The animation throughout the show is pretty good. the fights have solid choreography and while the animation colors may be a little washed out, there is a lot of movement. The series peaks rather early on with the fights though. The best battle in the series is when Balsa takes on the 5 legendary hunters at the same time. It’s really an impressive fight and shows why her skills are in a league of their own. The soldiers all get really upset about this but in a 1 on 1 fight she would be able to defeat any of them.

She does take injuries in the fight which affects her for a long time after that but at peak strength she is clearly number 1. We do get some fights here and there after this like a flash back with her mentor but surprisingly the show does prioritize adventure over action. There actually aren’t a ton of fights in the series. Instead Balsa shows Chagum that fighting isn’t always the way as they meet many people and journey throughout the world.

The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though. It’s not bad or anything but you won’t find a whole lot of tunes that are going to make your playlist. Likewise with the opening. It’s all a bit quieter than it needs to be. Some may say that rock music would go completely against the show’s vibes but ehhh I think it would work pretty well personally.

Balsa does really well in the main character slot. She is quietly powerful. You won’t hear a whole lot of bragging from her but she does take all opponents down as needed. She also does well in dealing with Chagum who isn’t accustomed to this life so she has to set things up carefully. Balsa is put through a whole lot of hardship here but never backs down. Her experience really shines through.

As for Chagum, well longtime readers of this site can probably expect that I wouldn’t be much of a fan. It takes him way too long to actually get with the program. He does his best to try and help Balsa but tends to make a lot of mistakes. Going to the festival to wrestle a bully was the wrong decision when he was already on the run. It also gets annoying when he keeps on trying to get to the capital. He vastly underestimates the danger that he is in at times. Then this isn’t totally Chagum’s fault but near the end the monster within him starts to take more control so Chagum is often rather lifeless and quiet.

He really needed to trust Balsa more and understand why she would have to keep some things from him. Then we have Tanda who likes Balsa a lot and is always worried about her. He’s not a fighter so he stays back at base and makes herbs to heal her. He has never really been able to confess his feelings but is trying to gather strength for that. Tanda never ended up becoming one of my favorite characters. He should have been learning how to fight if he really wanted to help Balsa.

Additionally, his powers of walking through dreams and reality is good in concept but it seems like he never trained that either so he has a ton of limitations. The guy needed to be bolder and protect his craft. If he had done that then this would have been a very different story. Balsa’s mentor Juguro was a whole lot more interesting. It’s a shame the way that he went out but this guy was a true fighter all the way. His skills may have even been better than Balsa’s although I like to think that she caught up to him in the end. I would have liked to have seen more adventures of Juguro since we don’t actually see him all that much. He has a constant presence within the show through references though.

Then we have Torogai who is essentially the oldest character in the series. She is part of a tribe which uses natural remedies and talks to the spirits. They are direct rivals to the kingdom’s own faction of spellcrafters. I’d say she is far more impressive than they are. Even in her old age she is able to take down several master hunters and is always one step ahead of the others. If she was just a bit younger she probably could have taken on an active action role as well. Either way she is very helpful to the main characters and they would have been doomed without her. She ended up being a bit better than I would have guessed.

There are also two kids who help Balsa throughout the series. Toya and Saya, who grew up poor but have always been very resourceful. They don’t get down about the situation and just keep on doing their best. They’ve made a whole lot of friends in the process and know their way around the town. They are generally able to stay out of danger this way and help Balsa at the same time like when they lit up the cabin on fire to warn her that enemies were around. These two characters certainly had a lot of guts.

Then there are the star readers. First there is Shuga who starts out as a bit of a yes man but gradually starts to realize that not all is well within the kingdom walls. It takes him a little while to really get a spine but by the end he is firmly within the hero’s camp. I would have liked his star reading to have been a little more helpful though. He ends up needing the help of the main characters for noticing signs of the upcoming draught and then he has to rely on others to read the ancient scriptures on what to do.

It is true that Shuga is the one who pushes these things into motion but I would have liked some more direct skill out of him. He was better than his master Hibi though. Hibi was a complete antagonist for a while there as he was quick to try and murder Chagum. He tries to explain later on that he has to follow the prophecies and he will adapt along with them but to me that was never a good excuse for how he was in the first half of the series. The guy was absolutely brutal and out for blood. While the Star Readers need to take definitive action during a crisis, this guy was ready to justify anything within those confines.

I don’t think any character should trust him after that. The guy had an imposing presence though so I appreciated him as a villain. I was less sold on him being more of a decent guy. At least he did more than Sagum though who probably ends up being the most underwhelming character. He takes over for Chagum during the series but then randomly passes from his illness. It was foreshadowed to a degree but I thought he would be able to do something first. You could cut him out of the show and absolutely nothing changes. It just made him feel like a very random character.

As for the 5 legendary warriors, two of them really get main plots of their own. Jin was a good friend to Chagum and the king so he has made it his mission to murder Chagum himself. He wants to do this to spare the Mikado the trauma of the act. The problem of course is that he is no match for Balsa. I would even say he may be the weakest of the main 5 because of how headstrong he is. The guy is chastised for this on multiple occasions but never really changes.

While he is another character who is primed for the redemption arc, I wasn’t feeling it here either. At the end of the day he is moving to murder a child after all. No matter how you square that way, that is absolutely big villain territory. I don’t know how you can really get past that. A real friend would fight against the prophecy rather than letting it dictate his life. It was a misstep right from the very beginning.

Then there is Mon who is the leader of the group. He is the most well balanced and the guy who can listen to reason. As an enemy he is as dangerous as they come but it is also easy to see why he is so trusted by the empire. He is able to match wits with Balsa much better than the other characters. Additionally he has a whole lot of power. Balsa is still more powerful to be sure but he is a worthy rival all the way.

There are other characters running around but these are most of the main ones. There is a bounty hunter who goes after Balsa for a long while until she eventually takes him on. That guy was definitely a nice wild card to introduce to the series. It makes sense that Balsa would have made some serious enemies over the years after all. The episodes were also a great way to show her stamina as Balsa was basically not allowed to go to sleep for several nights while under constant attack and still pulled through. A lot of characters would have broken down at that point. Balsa also comes close to going back to her murdering ways but is able to pull back.

During this part of the adventure I do think it would have been worth not having the plot twist. Instead of the opponent surviving, he should have died and then Balsa would have to reconcile with that fact. By having him survive, it does take a little bit away from her decision. There are times when murder is necessary in a self defense situation like this and having the characters explain that to her would have been more powerful if you ask me. Even if it means she has to save one more life at the end of the series since she would have a body count of 9 now.

Overall, Moribito is a pretty fun show. With the ending you can tell that there are many more adventures to come but this was a great way to introduce all of the characters. The ending isn’t perfect with Chagum basically becoming royalty but not being powerful enough to let Balsa go where she pleases. I never understand why the Prince/King at this point have to succumb to classic traditions. When you rule the nation you should be able to bend the rules and help your friends out. Otherwise what’s the point of even having a King? If you like a good adventure show then you should definitely check this one out.

Overall 7/10

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