Demon Slayer Season 3: Swordsmith Village Arc Review

Posted on March 10, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the big return of Demon Slayer. The series has been on an upwards track so far but would season 3 be able to sustain this? The Mugen Train arc I consider to be much better than this one after all but at the same time just because that is the case in the manga, doesn’t mean it will track that way in the anime. I preferred the Cell Saga to the Buu saga in the DBZ manga while it’s the opposite in the anime so these things can happen. Either way with only 11 episodes this season goes by extremely fast.

This time it’s the Tanjiro show from start to finish as his two teammates are sidelined the whole time. Tanjiro needs a new sword and heads over to the Swordsmith Village where there are 2 other Hashira hanging around. That’s definitely really handy because Muzan sends his troops over to start murdering everyone. Tanjiro will have to try and stop the demons again but does he really have the ability needed to stop them?

One thing you always have to give Demon Slayer is that there’s not a lot of downtime. We get the intro episodes to set the stage and then from there it’s a nonstop climax. Basically from episode 3 and all the way through to the final episode 11, it’s a bunch of nonstop fights. Ufotable is at the helm so the fights all look spectacular. This is definitely a true spectacle show and I’m always up for that. I think it also helps to mask Demon Slayer’s weaknesses and focus on the strengths.

To me, the series does have one of the weaker casts. Tanjiro is nice and all but he’s not a very entertaining main character. Outside of battle he has no real fire in his soul. He’s a nice guy but that feels like most of his character. There isn’t a ton of fun banter between the characters and so the between arc stuff can feel a bit boring. The first two episodes for example aren’t downright bad or anything but any scene of just hanging around the village can be rather boring. I don’t think the show tends to succeed with its humor or non action shenanigans. Fortunately like I said, this isn’t here for long anyway so it’s not really a big concern.

As to the animation, it’s as great as ever. While it’s fair to say that none of the fights match the highs of season 2, they still look great. It’s not that the animation has dipped at all but just that those fights were even more special. This season has more villains who are using run and gun tactics or long range abilities so there isn’t as much chance to have the kind of brutal close quarters combat that you saw in season 2. So have no fear, this show is still giving maximum effort at all times.

The soundtrack is also great. The opening is another high tier song even if it can’t beat some of the previous ones. It’s definitely catchy all the way through. There are also some great emotional tunes like the one that plays in the final episode and of course you have the usual action ones. The soundtrack is very well balanced all the way through. The technical elements never fail to impress and support the main story.

This is the first season where you start to think that Muzan may not be very smart though. The hints were always there but this one definitely sells it. He’s got all of these powerful demons at the ready and he still hasn’t finished off the Hashira? It’s well established at this point that the demons are way more powerful than the Demon Slayers. If they all rushed in at once then the heroes would be doomed. So why not have the demons attack a town as normal. When the Slayers send a single Hashira as they always do, murder him and wait for the next one. Rinse and repeat a few times since there are only 8-10 Hashira and then you’ve won the war.

At the very end of the season Muzan gets real happy because he’s close to his goal and you just feel like he should have been doing things sooner rather than constantly murdering his own men and hurling threats around. He’s an imposing figure to be sure but definitely not a strategist. I look forward to seeing him finally take the stage even if you feel like the heroes should not even remotely stand a chance. One of the strongest Hashira couldn’t take on one of the top 10 and Muzan should be many leagues stronger than that.

The series has been using each arc to develop the Hashira so lets talk about the ones in this arc. First up we have Mitsuri who even now I would say has one of the smaller roles in the franchise from the group. Still, she does get to take down some giant monsters and helps out in the climax. She may lack some of the raw power that the other members have but her weapon itself is very memorable. Its sheer agility makes it hard to dodge while still being sharp. She’s a good character though so I look forward to seeing more of her.

While the series has always been rather spectacular in terms of avoiding fanservice, the show does indulge a bit for when she appears. It’s a rather quick moment at least so on the whole I would say the show is still really solid in this area. Mitsuri gets an origin story and it’s probably the only one that’s not particularly tragic. Almost everyone has an origin involving a demon murdering their whole family or something like that. I’m glad that she was at least able to avoid that.

Then we have Muichiro who has a big role here. This guy doesn’t really like working with a team and values his life above others since he’s a Hashira. Basically he’s a complete jerk to the point where he beats up anyone who gets in his way. Again this is where Tanjiro loses points for me because he just stands there and takes it. How many times does someone have to beat him up before he fights back in a serious way. A lot of leads wouldn’t put up with half of the stuff that Tanjiro allows and it’s really what holds him back in a significant way.

Back in the day Tanjiro and Deku were compared a lot when talking about how much nicer the modern Shonen leads are but the difference is that I do feel Deku would actually stand up for himself a lot more. Yeah he would put up with a bit extra but he still has a tipping point while it feels like Tanjiro really doesn’t sometimes. Obviously if someone else is in trouble then that is a different story but when it’s just him? Game over man. We see why Muichiro turned out this way from his origin story and by the end he is doing better.

He feels a bit weaker than the average Hashira but the battles had some circumstances including poison. In theory he will look a lot better in the future battles coming up. Then we have Genya, another big jerk. This guy can turn part monster if he eats a part of a demon which is a really handy ability. Unfortunately he’s another slayer who can’t play well with others. Yeah he’s also got a super tragic backstory and everything although if anything he’s the one who ends up looking bad in that one since his brother did the best he could. Genya gets some development here as well but to be honest part of his problem is that I find him weak as well.

That fancy gun of his doesn’t work nearly as well as a classic gun would. It’s fortunate that he has regenerative abilities or he would have been bumped off early. This arc basically has the weakest assortment of Hashira and weaker fighters. While I wasn’t a big fan of Tengen, he was extremely powerful. I’d probably take him in a 2 v 1 fight against the Hashira in this season. His stats were just so far through the roof.

Then we have Kotetsu who does his best to look out for the swords but he gets beat up by Muichiro. He helps train Tanjiro although maybe overdoes it with starving him the whole time. It’s not the most extreme that I’ve seen for training though so it’s not crazy. The kid goes through a lot that’s for sure, you definitely feel bad for him in the season. The guy’s got a ton of determination though because he keeps on trying even after getting stabbed when he’s not even a trained fighter like that.

Hotaru could learn a thing or two from this guy because he’s completely unreliable. He’s mad at Tanjiro the whole time because he blames the lead for his sword breaking. That’s illogical on every level. As the guy who made the sword, it’s obviously on him if the sword breaks. Blaming the guy who used it is incredibly petty to me. He eventually gets over himself and makes the sword but yeah I definitely didn’t like this guy.

Nezuko does well as always here. Her fighting abilities are still really impressive and she is certainly able to hold her own really well even against top level demons. Ultimately they are too much for her but the fact that she can deal damage saves Tanjiro and the others quite a bit. The downside to having regen like this is that she does tend to take the most damage though and always goes through the most violence here. The amount of painful injuries that Nezuko takes is absolutely crazy. She has the most emotional moment in the series near the end for sure. Also the implications from this could be a little worrisome so after finishing the season you wonder how that will go.

Gyokko is the main villain here and he’s definitely one of the more annoying ones. He tends to rely on cheap tricks and running around. His own pride is also what keeps him from murdering the swordsmith when he had the chance. So the guy is not efficient and he’s also not one of the strongest members. That’s just great. He definitely has fun picking on opponents who can’t fight back and for a sleazy villain that’s in character but it does mean that there is no reason to really like him all that much.

The other villain Hantengu is way better. That guy actually can fight a lot and then of course he can split into a lot of other demons. All of the split demons have their own special abilities, names, and personalities. It is definitely one of the more expansive splits I’ve seen in a character. I’m used to characters being able to multiply and everything but becoming unique characters like this? It’s really a lot of fun and is part of why the climax went on so long. He would just keep changing over and over. Then he can also absorb everyone and become super powerful again.

It’s a loop that is super hard to fight against and it’s why it took many fighters to defeat him. His rank is definitely very justified within the demon organization since he should clear most of the fighters in the verse. One on One I dare say that there is likely no member of the Hashira who would be able to defeat him. That’s how impressive this guy is. The heroes really had to rely on sheer numbers and a lot of strategy here. The guy definitely left a lasting impression and I won’t be forgetting him anytime soon.

As in previous seasons I would say the only thing that really holds the show back from being higher is that the violence can still be on the excessive side at times. The origin stories are bleak as always with families being murdered or characters being forced to murder their family because they were turned into demons. The demon system still really feels more like vampires to be honest as it’s practically the same thing. A lot of noncombatants are always thrown into the mix as well which definitely makes you feel bad for them.

Even for the combatants the fighting always gets real intense. I tend to have a bit of a higher threshold there as long as they don’t overdo it, but man does Demon Slayer take this close to the brink. Like in Bleach you always wonder why they aren’t all just dying of blood loss by this point. With the demons having high speed regeneration and everything it’s also why you still can’t picture the humans ever winning. It just seems like an absolutely impossible fight all the way through.

Overall, Demon Slayer continues with its nonstop action here. I really do like how the series just locks in every season with massive fights that span many episodes. In that way it feels like a classic action title like DBZ where the fights would really last a while. I look forward to seeing what comes next even if the next season seems like it could be a little lighter on the action. Until it actually comes out, you never know though. Either way we are slowly getting close to the end here.

Overall 6/10

Mashle Review

Posted on March 10, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to dive into the world of Mashle. A lot of comparisons were drawn to One Punch Man when this came out because the series is about a guy who is extremely powerful physically to the point of having a lot of absurd feats. I would even say his feats start holding their own against Saitama for a little while there but aside from that general part of the premise, it’s not actually all that similar. The blend of humor and action work really well here.

The story starts by introducing us to a world where just about everyone has some kind of magic. If you somehow don’t get this then you will be in a lot of trouble and unfortunately Mash is one such kid. Fortunately as a baby he is taken in by a kind man who raises him for year, Regro. He has done his best to raise Mash in an isolated cabin since then so they are away from the outside world but one day the cops catch on. Mash will now have to enter magic school and pass the exams to become a Divine Visionary. It’s the only way to keep him and pops safe, but how can he compete with these students who all have crazy magical abilities? Well, that’s where the strength comes in!

So with that part it starts to sound a bit more like Black Clover and that’s probably the best series to use as a comparison. No wonder this series is so good right? A lot of the magical abilities are also very creative and powerful so by extension when Mash is taking them on, it makes him look even stronger as well. One thing I’d note right away though is that Mash is never presented as being unbeatable or anything like that. He is super strong but gets damaged and comes close to losing a few different times. He’s always able to think of something in the end but it does ensure that the stakes are high throughout. Mash can be destroyed if he isn’t careful.

There’s also the social stakes of everyone finding out that he doesn’t actually have magic but that’s more for the comedic element. Mash isn’t the smartest guy around and is a terrible liar so more often than not he is practically giving that secret away anyway. He also makes friends rather easily and so they aren’t about to give the secret up. So many people know the secret as each episode flies by that you figure it may not matter as much as everyone thought it would anyway.

What I like about the humor for Mashle is that it’s quite quick witted. There are a lot of great physical gags with Mash doing things that shouldn’t be humanly possible but then you also have the more out of the blue ones that tend to involve creampuffs. One is that no matter what Mash cooks or what ingredients he uses, it always ends up becoming a creampuff. It’s like a curse, but a beneficial one since that’s his favorite food anyway. The gags tend to be really funny with this one and there is a good variety of jokes to be had here so it never gets repetitive or anything like that either.

The show tends to lean a bit harder on the action than the comedy but it executes both really well which is the important thing. When the show wants to get serious, it definitely nails the tone. The fights are really solid and very creative with the abilities like I mentioned before. Mash may occasionally undercut the tone with a gag but for the most part if it’s a serious fight then it’ll really stay that way.

Fortunately the animation is up to the task. I wouldn’t call this a particularly high budget show for the most part but they knew their priorities. For example the average scene of standing around or moving through different locations won’t look great. The animation tends to be a tad spotty there but all of the important fights quickly dial up the intensity quite a lot. Any plot important fight will generally look great so the show knows how to turn it up when necessary. That’s important because you need to look good to properly convey the serious feats happening here.

Then for the soundtrack, that part’s a little more forgettable. I wasn’t a big fan of the opening. I feel like it was trying to feel like One Punch Man to encourage discussions and comparisons but it just didn’t work. It wasn’t particularly catchy. Then the show itself had some decent tunes but none that really stood out. I’d like to see the soundtrack improve in season 2 because I do think of it as a bit of a weak point right now. Nothing that would seriously hurt the show of course but it’s certainly not helping it either.

One of Mashle’s strengths is how each character really stands out. Part of what makes them so memorable are the striking colors for each one. While the animation may not always be super sharp, the colors always stand out. The character designs are on point and the show is just very bright. It has an early 2000s vibe to it with everything being so vibrant and the show is really easy to watch. It’s the kind of title you can pick up and play at any time, although it’s not like there are a ton of episodes so it’s not something you can watch too often for now unless you want to really get it played out.

Now let talk about the characters. First I do have to note that a lot of characters get off a bit too easy here Yeah forgive and forget is all nice and good sometimes but these guys go very far. Like Brad, one of the police officers was definitely going to murder Regro and would have murdered Mash if he wasn’t so weak. The guy has clearly been abusing his power for a long time now and so he should be in jail after that. Ultimately the show is more comedic in nature so these things tend to get overlooked but when you really think about it….it just doesn’t work. I can’t say I ever liked Brad much. He sticks around as a supporting character but never gets better if you ask me.

Regro doesn’t get to do much but he gets a lot of points for looking after Mash for so many years. He’s a good guy and really did his best. That’s the whole reason Mash is so motivated in trying to succeed at the magic academy. Meanwhile Mash is a solid lead. He may not be quite as charismatic as some other Shonen leads and isn’t exactly the most fired up character that you will see. However, his gags do tend to be funny and he has a solid amount of rage moments for when it’s time to protect his friends and I can always appreciate that.

Then we have another petty character in Claude. Again, the show could have been harsher with this guy. He was actively blackmailing a student and then kept trying to get in Mash’s way. He’s a straight up villain the whole time and I’m not super convinced that he is suddenly going to be a big hero going forward. I just don’t get those vibes from him but hey I could be wrong.

The main heroine of the show is Lemon but she never actually gets a super big role. She doesn’t look good initially as she makes the wrong calls but ultimately she gets better…at least a little bit. The problem is that her main personality trait is that she’s in love with Mash and that’s about it. So that doesn’t really make for much of a complete character. It just means that she will be really one note for most of the adventure and she also can’t really fight that well which knocks her out of most situations.

The same can be said for Finn who is a support mage at best. He’s always really nervous and can’t keep up with the other characters’ shenanigans. He’s just not my kind of character. I prefer to see characters with a whole lot of unwavering confidence who grin in the face of evil. Characters who aren’t afraid to mix it up with the villains and all of that. You know that they’re building something up for Finn but it’s going to take a while and so right now he’s on the lower end of the cast.

We’ve got another petty bully character in Lloyd. In a way that’s how you can describe all 3 of the first villains. This guy likes picking on the weak and that’s about it so as you can imagine Mash makes short work of him. There’s not much to like about this guy and he’s fairly forgettable. Fortunately the villains get better as the show goes on because that’s definitely a rocky start. Another villain who is more on the annoying side is Lauren. She basically uses her magic to make guys fall for her before Silva goes and knocks them out. It’s definitely not a magic that will work on most of the stronger fighters in the verse so that really knocks her out of the running early on. Nothing particularly interesting about her either.

Okay now we get to the bigger characters. First up we have Lance who is a pretty strong rival type of character. He challenges Lance early on and gives him a really good fight. It’s probably the first time in the series that Mash has a really solid challenge in combat. His character’s gimmick of being obsessed with his sister is definitely overplayed and annoying though. It’s his one bad trait and otherwise he’s one of the most intense characters in the series. You can always count on him dealing serious damage and all of his fights are a blast. Definitely one of the standout characters in the series to be sure.

Then you have Dot who is a lot more talkative and rather loud but unfortunately he is very easy to trick. The guy lowers his guard a whole lot and tends to feel really bad for himself. I’d definitely like to see him man up a bit more often. He does get his big moments of course but they are usually outnumbered by him being humiliating. He is one of the funnier characters which works in his benefit but definitely expect him to eat a lot of Ls. It’s too bad because he’s the character with the fire type magic so you could say that he takes up that lot there.

Another hero is Rayne although he doesn’t show up until later. Also, he’s one of those guys who doesn’t like those without magic to the point where you could argue that it basically makes him a villain as well. He was absolutely ready to take Mash down and would have if he was stronger. He’s the kind of guy that’s great to have around to fight the villains but you can’t trust him at all.

Then there is the headmaster of the school Wahlberg, but I can’t give him too much credit. Part of the problem with this guy is that he’s a nice enough guy but he still has people that he answers to. This means that he will make compromises even if he knows that it’s not the right thing to do. It’s a big issue in any series because in my mind you have to follow justice no matter what. If that means disobeying direct orders and such…well so be it. That’s just how it has to go.

His evil counterpart Innocent Zero gets a lot of hype but doesn’t really do anything in this season. You can definitely see that they’re building up to a big confrontation like an All Might vs All For One kind of deal so that will be fun. Likewise one of his top subordinates is a guy called Cell War who hasn’t had a chance to do a ton but in his brief screentime we see that he is incredibly powerful. Another true threat to Mash so the hero will definitely have to watch out. The season ends with a lot of intrigue for part 2 so you definitely want to stick around.

For the villains who are in this season though, Silva is a pretty solid one. He’s definitely a villain who plays dirty and uses every trick to win but he’s also very powerful. Even without his cheap tricks he would be able to defeat a lot of opponents. That’s part of what helps him stick out. If he was weak then he would come off as more petty than anything but like this the guy is on point. He leaves a real impression on you. Anser is another decently solid villain. The guy is the brainy type although that is also used against him as the guy’s main gag. I enjoyed his fight a good deal he ends up being a villain who can stand out. He’s not one of the most powerful by any means but he can hold his own.

Then we have Abel who is a really big deal. The guy’s ability to use many puppets at once is really impressive and he’s actually someone who did give Mash a run for his money. The guy looks great right from the start and also lasts for a little while which makes him stand out more. He’s got his own reasons for fighting and ultimately while he is a villain from the start, he’s fun to watch. He even plays off of Mash’s gags a bit here and there.

Abyss comes in later and strength wise is easily one of the most impressive. He can use arrows in the air much like Medusa to speed himself up and he can also use them to mess with his opponent’s movements. It’s an incredibly difficult spell to work around because you will be really disoriented the whole time. All it takes is one big mistake and then you are gone. Almost any fighter except for Mash would have lost this battle which just proves that point. Abyss is a very complete villain with a lot of solid development.

For some more minor villains who were pretty hype, next up is Shuen. I ultimately thought he was fun. The guy even made his opponent Dot jealous because of how good he is. That’s a fight he probably should have won too, I had my doubts on Dot really being able to turn things around there. He may not really get to do anything going forward but he made for a good villain. Likewise Jon was solid with his kitchen themed attacks. A good gimmick goes a long way so even though he may not return to do anything, it was a good appearance nonetheless.

Love, Wirth, and Milo fall into this camp as well. Each one appears for a quick fight and looks good. I liked their designs and overall confidence. They may be very minor villains almost by definition but they definitely trounce the average oneshot villain. Mashle really excels when it comes to making enjoyable characters like this. There are other characters but these are the main ones. The show has already done a lot of solid worldbuilding and set things up well for the second season so we’re in good hands.

Overall, Mashle was definitely great. It’s the kind of show that just feels good to watch with a lot of quality humor and good action scenes. You will definitely never be bored watching this one and the action is always a lot of fun. If you were worried about having to compare it to One Punch Man, you should still check it out anyway. Obviously I’m on Team One Punch Man overall but both shows definitely have their place here and I look forward to seeing more of Mash’s adventures soon!

Overall 8/10

Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 2 Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

Yeah we’re back with the next Kimi No Todoke season already! Unfortunately this one isn’t quite as solid as the first season. I do have to deduct a star for the characters taking Ls all over the place in a lot of situations where things should have been easily resolved. The drama feels quite a bit forced in a lot of ways. Ultimately I would say the show still goes back to its more wholesome roots in time but it’s not quite the carefree adventure that season 1 was. Of course it’s not a bad thing to get more serious and dramatic but you really have to earn it and I don’t feel like this season did.

After the events of the fist season, Kazuhaya and Sawako are a couple now. They did spend Christmas and New Year’s together after all so things were going great. Wait…they’re not together? Wait a minuteeeeeeee….and so the drama begins! All right so I know this can actually happen to some people where they don’t clearly assign the labels and don’t know that they’re dating but this is a bit much. Spending the holidays together in an obviously romantic setting should signal some bells. This isn’t even a case of the characters being together and just being embarrassed about their friends knowing. This is both characters actually thinking that the other may not see them romantically. Looks like Ayane and Chizuru are going to have a whole lot of work ahead of them. Particularly when a new guy named Miura shows up to stir the pot.

This season is about half the length of the first so it’s not very long and yet it should have only been 2 episodes based on the events that happen. Lets quickly talk about some of the plot conveniences here. First up, for Valentine’s Sawako makes everyone chocolates instead of Kazuhaya. Her reasoning is that they’re friendship chocolates and so she feels awkward because she’s not sure if it’s really friendship with him. So what does she do? She doesn’t give him anything and goes home. I’m also not giving her any excuses like Kurumi getting in her way because Kurumi just offers up a level 1 mental games remark that works for some reason.

At this point Sawako just needs to do better, particularly since Kurumi said they are rivals now. So she’s not going to go easy on her right? Well, Kazuhaya feels bad after that but he still tries. He says good morning to her the next few days and everything…but Sawako ignores him because she is feeling too flustered. She’s happy that he is talking to her but doesn’t know what to say. The problem is that part of her character has always been talking to explain things so there are no misunderstandings. Now she is suddenly the one being silent. At one point he even walks up to her and straight up asks what is going on and she has no real answer.

Meanwhile he has to watch the new guy Miura talking to her constantly, telling her to smile and all kinds of stuff. She is able to chat with literally everyone normally…except for him. It doesn’t help that he gets advice from lots of characters about how he doesn’t really understand her and everything. So a lot of this is on her for not communicating.

Finally he does make a big flub where he decides to confess but does it in such a roundabout way that it doesn’t work. “I like you” is the worst possible way to confess your feelings because it is probably the only main phrasing that could be misinterpreted. Then he and Sawako both have a parallel conversation where they misunderstand each other. I give Pin all the credit there when he told Kazyhaya that he blew it. Cmon you can do better than that. So then next Kazuhaya tries to be more distant so he doesn’t bother Sawako and everyone gets on his case about that.

In this case I’ll defend him. What else is he supposed to do? From his point of view, Sawako just flat out rejected him so he should give her a little space right? He’s not being mean or anything, that’s just a logical step. Of course meanwhile everyone else knows what is going on but aren’t telling him or Sawako. So yeah a lot of the drama here just doesn’t work. They could have texted each other at any point, actually spoken some words, etc. This season would have worked better in a way if the events were earlier on. Like before Christmas since they were at least slightly more distant before. By this point it’s just too late in the game.

Ironically the main romance was a lot more complete and natural in season 1 when it had to share with Chizuru while this season is all for them and now everything is going wrong. It’s still better than most Shojo romances by far because there are no rebounds for either of them and neither one of them ever even thinks about someone else. Even while their relationship is rocky, both characters want to find a way to make it work. That’s what puts the romance above the average one. The whole drama in this one is still out of left field and makes no mistake but if you think about it as a test, both still pass in loyalty.

The ending also would work as the ending to the series with the plotlines wrapped up. This time they both very clearly admit to dating so there should be no way for season 3 to reverse this. If they do then that would be absolutely crazy. Far as I’m concerned the rest of the series should just be about the two of them hanging out and making lots of fun memories. That’s the kind of wholesome series I signed up for after all. The show can feel free to dodge the usual story beat of having everyone find a partner as well. Just let them all hang out solo and focus on the main duo.

So even with the drama, Kazuhaya is still a good main character. He may have run into some issues but I do think he still fought for Sawako fairly hard. He still shuts down anyone trying to give her a hard time and does his best to be a good role model. The guy has a quick fuse and gets jealous easily so the fact that he’s always so nice and pleasant around Sawako is good. As you can guess from the earlier summary I’m a bit harsher on Sawako here. I feel like she did a lot of backsliding in terms of development.

Her season 1 character felt a little more self assured and confident. I feel like she would have spoken up in a lot of these circumstances and not let things go quite so far. She could have easily stopped the drama in the first place and then it would not have been an issue. By the end of the season she has regained her composure so that puts her in a good spot at least. Hopefully in the next one she can be solid from start to finish and then we will really be in business.

Meanwhile Ayane is still solid as always. With all of the drama in place she really has to work overtime to make sure that things don’t go wrong. In some cases she doesn’t find out the info right away so she isn’t always there to help but I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to be 100% tapped into all of the drama at all times. There’s just too much information but she is a caring person and has the confidence that Sawako needs. So at least that’s someone she can always count on.

Then there’s Chizuru who gets less to do in this season since her plot is done with. Right now with her and Ryu nothing’s really developing so they aren’t taking up the screentime there. She does her best to help Sawako out as well even though she doesn’t always understand the situation. She means well. Then Ryuu gets to help out a bit with Kazehaya. He’s really the only person that the main guy can turn to and it is important to have at least one friend. Ryuu doesn’t tend to talk much but even just having him around to listen is good.

Quick shoutout to say that Joe is still the worst character. Even Kazehaya has to tell him off at one point. Kurumi doesn’t get as much to do here but she is a solid rival. She tells Sawako the tough truths when necessary and always does it in a way where it sounds like an attack even though she is helping out. Now those are some serious skills. I can definitely appreciate that. She even slaps the new guy Miura in what was a pretty impressive animation moment with how fast she went. She’s like Ayane, but even tougher. Kurumi definitely turned out to be one of the best characters and in this season at least, she is second only to Pin.

Pin still gets the top spot of course. Do I even need to go into why that is? The guy is always ready for a lot of advice. Like Kurumi he tends to put on an act (It’s a different act though) but sneaks in some good nuggets of wisdom into his speeches. The characters rarely ever give him any props but he does look out for his students. I’d even say he does a very good job of it, the main characters would have taken longer to get back together if not for him.

Finally there is the new character Miura. So his gimmick is that he’s a nice guy and that’s a pretty good one but of course the characters don’t trust him. There’s a reason why the term “Nice Guy” is pretty much a meme at this point. Someone who acts super nice usually has something that he is hiding and doesn’t end up being all that pleasant at all. I would even say he already starts to break character here as he asks Sawako out like 3 different times. It’s my main problem with him. For the most part he’s a fun character and I do like that he’s trying to help but it goes too far when he actually tries to insert himself like that.

It makes you doubt all of the previous advice and if he was actually trying to help her or just intentionally trying to cause misunderstandings. So like 95% of his scenes are good for the character but the remaining ones hurt. I think he’s an interesting figure that does add a lot to the mix though. I like the idea of a character who wants to play cupid for everyone while avoiding a relationship of his own but you know that this can’t last. Inevitably he will be paired up with someone and then that will be the end of his big character arc. He’s a meddler right now but at least one you could make a decent case for. The guy does lose objectivity when it comes to Sawako though. Pretty crazy that the series only really had one big new character right? Just goes to show that this series doesn’t need to inflate the cast.

As for the technical aspects, the soundtrack is good. There’s one theme that I always tend to enjoy and while the soundtrack isn’t large, it tends to fit the scene well enough. The opening never really caught on for me though. Even romantic shows can afford to have a more fast paced beat if you ask me. Throw in some fun instruments and a lot of energy. Then I will be game 100%. The animation is a noticeable step up from the first season though. The first season had so many scenes where all the details were missing while this one is fairly consistent. It’s still not a top tier show or anything like that but when the improvement is noticeable like this it does jump another level. Particularly after seeing both seasons almost back to back it stands out.

Overall, This second season may not have been quite as pleasant as the first but it’s still a good show. I had a good time either way and compared to other titles it is still rather tame with the drama. One thing I can always be grateful about is that none of the characters did anything irredeemable or major while they were upset. They didn’t say anything hurtful that would need apologizing for later on. The characters are always very mature here even when things are going badly and that’s why the writing in this show is really good. I would definitely say to check this one out and now we just gotta wait for that third season.

Overall 6/10

Seinfeld Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to talk about a comedy series from quite a while ago. This one definitely got a whole lot of seasons to it and to this day is considered to be one of the all time best. I had a good time with it, I would still say that The Office is better and will always be the definitive comedy series but I’d say it’s fair to put this as #2 for now. I know Friends is considered to typically be the third show of the big 3 but I can’t say I have any plans to check that one out for now. Also like most long running shows like this, you can tell that Seinfeld starts to drop off near the end but I would say it’s significantly less of a drop off than the Office since at least this show kept the main character all the way to the end.

The show mainly follows 4 characters on their journey through life although of course there are a bunch of supporting characters. First up is Jerry Seinfeld. He’s a comedian who does pretty well for himself with how he throws money around during the series. It’s well regarded that he’s not rich but he has enough to live well. Jerry is good at his job and his apartment is the usual meetup spot. His neighbor Kramer is the opposite, he’s typically never working, can’t hold a job, and doesn’t tend to be that smart. He’s got street smarts though which helps him out a lot. Then there is George who tends to have a ton of bad luck. He always starts off strong in his endeavors and then something goes wrong. Finally there is Elaine who tends to have highs and lows in her journey. One day she will be the chief executive and the next she is desperately trying to find a man so she doesn’t have to work anymore. With these 4 fighters running around, every day is an adventure!

In a way this show is easier for me to review than most that would be around this length because it’s a comedic title. If it was a long battle Shonen or something I would want to talk about the various arcs, the fights, and different story elements in detail. Since this is more on the episodic side I don’t really have to go that far. I’ll break down the characters but for the most part I can talk about the series at large in general.

One thing that’s pretty interesting to see when going through the show all at once like this are the subtle changes. For example, the first seasons were extremely tame. It seems like you couldn’t show a kiss or get too specific with certain things so they would always have to have a cutaway so you are left with the implication. In the latter seasons they were allowed to actually show all that stuff and go much farther. Naturally that is a downgrade which is part of what made the latter seasons decline a bit. Don’t get me wrong, the series never goes crazy to be sure but it definitely does get more suggestive in the later seasons. The characters all start getting really desperate.

In general the series can be divided into 4 kinds of segments. 1: The characters are really bored and wander into an adventure. 2: The characters are all horny and get themselves into trouble. 3: The characters are overconfident and bite off more than they can chew. 4: The characters decide to all compete with each other. Typically episodes in 1, 3, and 4 tend to be really fun while the ones in the second section can be a bit more hit or miss. Put it this way, the series leans pretty hard into the stereotype that all guys are super desperate for a girl. As the only girl in the party, Elaine has to deal with all 3 of the other guys making passes at her from time to time.

That’s gotta be super tiring, like why even hang out with these guys after a while right? Well, the problem is that it’s the same wherever she goes so at least these guys make her laugh. Her body count by the end of the series is also pretty massive. It’s almost a running gag later on that she goes with pretty much any guy she can get which I didn’t see coming because initially she was very choosy but I guess with age she got more desperate. So none of the characters are pretty heroic.

Put it this way, in the Office, there are a number of characters who are pretty solid. Characters who have their antics and such but seem like good people deep down. None of the main 4 here are actually good people. Elaine doesn’t like pets and even assists with kidnapping one, George is always up to scam someone, Jerry actively behaves like a jerk to anyone who won’t be able to beat him up, and Kramer is the kind of guy who tells everyone’s secrets to everyone and gives bad advice that will destroy your business.

It’s part of what makes the final episode work really well. That was one of the most ambitious 1 hour specials I’ve seen for anything live action. It’s like the Avengers: End Game of comedy show. They manage to bring together characters from all of the past seasons and reference a ton of old episodes. That was super impressive and the perfect way to end the series. The fact that you can watch the final episode and immediately loop back to the first episode is brilliant. You could effectively watch the show on a closed loop that way. Not literally of course with the age differences for all the actors but the show makes it a point to say that none of the 4 character have absorbed any lessons from a previous episode. They are completely unchanged since the beginning.

That’s very rare since even in a comedic show the characters will usually be way different by the end. There will be some kind of a time skip where they were always good people deep down or something like that. Not in this one! Even the way the final episode starts is because the main characters were being jerks and overly aggressive again but this time the cops were around to haul them in. Yeah I could talk about the final episode for ages, it was brilliant.

Back to the humor though, I would say it works more often than it doesn’t. The weekly experience for the show might feel different because then a weaker episode will stay in your mind more. When going through them quickly though, there’s no time to really dwell on a weaker one. You’re always ready for the stronger episodes to come in and take their place. It’s also what I’d call an advantage of sheer numbers. Lets say the show was only 12 episodes long. A bad episode would hurt a lot more than a 100 episode show with 8 bad episodes. The ratio is roughly the same and yet you now have 92 episodes that were really solid and make the others a faint memory.

It does depend on just how bad the worst episodes were of course but in this case lets say the worst episode is like a 4 and the best episode is like an 8. The more important number is the average episode where I would say a 6 is fair. I was close to giving this one a 7 though, it’s right on the cuff. Ultimately what keeps me from putting it higher is I feel like a 7 is the kind of show I would search up on Youtube occasionally. Looking up a best gags video or something like that. I’ve done that for the Office several times and for a bunch of animated shows where I’ve given them a 7, but for Seinfeld I haven’t been tempted to do that and am not sure that I will.

Part of the reason is that Seinfeld’s jokes all tend to need some context to them. You find the episodes funny as you’re watching them but a random clip out of context is not going to do it. This is a show where you at least need to watch the episode as opposed to the Office’s more quick punch type of gag. I will say that you are more likely to get hungry watching Seinfeld than the Office because the main characters are always eating. Seriously you can’t go one episode without them going to the cafe or eating something at home.

Okay now for the main characters themselves. First up is Jerry and I would say that he’s the most entertaining of the 4. The main reason is that he’s the only one who can really succeed on his own. You can have an episode where he is the only primary character and you’ll get some good gags out of him. He’s always got some good lines and I think he has the best facial expressions out of the bunch as well.

The last entertaining out of the 4 would probably be George. He’s more of a support character who needs the lead in order to succeed. On his own the main gags that you can pull out is him being desperate for girls and being super lazy. You don’t get quite as much headway out of that especially in a long running title. In third place would probably be Kramer. He has a lot of fun moments and you also don’t know what to predict with his segments. One moment he will be thinking up a crazy scheme like installing a hot tub in his room and the next he will be organizing a strike of the local bagel shop. Because of how unpredictable he is, there can be a good amount of gags.

Finally for Elaine, it depends which version of her it is. If it’s Elaine the successful entrepreneur then it’ll typically be a good segment. She shows everyone how to run the show or shuts down the soup kitchen when the owner tried denying her service. It’s always fun when she’s on top of her game. If it’s Elaine the man slayer, then the segment’s going to be on the annoying side as she’s either trying to seduce some guy who’s just trying to have a normal day or she’s dominating the guy so hard that she gets bored and has to try and change him. So it’s a flip of the coin here.

From the side characters, the best was the owner of the Mets. (Or Yankees, it was one of those) He’s always talking real fast and making threats everywhere. The guy knows he is good and I love the confidence. There’s also the lawyer who is pretty funny. My only problem with him is that his episodes always end the same way. He comes up with a great lawsuit and then Kramer gives away the win by mistake. Rinse and repeat with no twists.

Newman can be fun. He’s that slimy upstairs neighbor who loves getting freestuff but never helps you when the tables are reversed. Definitely not somebody that you can trust. Most of the long term boyfriends and girlfriends for the characters tend to be on the obnoxious side. They’re just here to mess with the dynamic and cause some friction. You always know that they’re doomed from the start. Also that’s a very high pressure position because the other 3 are constantly judging you the whole time. That can’t really be fun. Also the main 4 are the biggest gossips that I’ve ever seen so then you’re basically on the mainstream news the whole time.

Overall, Seinfeld is a pretty fun show. As with any comedy you sort of have to be in the mood to get into it but from there it’s easy to just binge a lot of episodes. Particularly since a lot of them are stand alones it is easy to do that at any point. The later seasons start to have callbacks and some multi parters but for the most part even those are easy to watch at random. Every episode tend to have some funny moments and some are pretty funny the whole time. I think a lot of the humor works because it tends to be relatable stuff that just gets played up a bit. The latter seasons may get weaker but they’re still good. Ultimately if you’re looking for a good comedy show then I can definitely recommend this one. It has aged well with the jokes and characters and I believe it always will. It’s fairly timeless.

Overall 6/10

Little Witch Academia Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

My Hero Academia Season 6 Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 8/10

Dr. Stone Season 3: New World Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 6/10

Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 1 Review

Posted on February 20, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 7/10

B’T X Neo Review

Posted on February 19, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 8/10

Magia Record Season 3: Dawn of a Shallow Dream Review

Posted on February 19, 2024 by dreager1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall 9/10

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