Jeoffrey

Even for me, this is just a mediocre show. You can tell it was produced by the same mangaka behind Gantz. However, this show does not surpass Gantz in terms of having an interesting narrative, characters, or anything else. It does not even get close. The main protagonist is entirely true to form, going nowhere, Mr. Inuyashiki failed to elicit any strong affinity from me. Of course, Hiro is the more interesting character, losing himself in himself and trying to develop. His internal struggle is probably one of the most interesting things going on in this show. However, unfortunately, this is not dealt with in any extremely dramatic or well-executed way either, so Hiro’s character did not really impress me that much, and I guess I will soon forget all about him. Next, I read an opinion about how this show makes the subject matter of redemption interesting. Simply put, what needs to be done in order for society to forgive a person. Speaking for myself, I have to say that I do not find the way the show portrays that as interesting or surprising in any way. The answers I got in this regard were perfectly clear and expected. To sum up, I did not find Inuyashiki a thrilling spectacle because the things that were supposed to be gripping were done for effect, and the rest was too predictable. 5.5/10.

This show features a mediocre battle royale-style killing game, even though it loses any sense of suspense because of its concept, which reveals who is going to die next to the audience. So the only interesting thing about this show is probably the character’s individual narratives. However, only a few of them were memorable and had something about them. In a few months, I might have been able to come up with a rabbit, a monkey, a bull, and (clearly the best for me) a tiger. You could not say I found it boring, although I did not find it that entertaining either. So, in the end, this is a bland and unspectacular show worth 5/10.

For me personally, this was the best season of Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma so far, and I am looking forward to the follow-up. To cut a long story short, I finally got the whole Elite Ten Council! As a luxurious addition, a real bad guy turned up (with the voice of Aizen from Bleach to boot) who is charismatic, has a proper game-plan, and everything was starting to give the impression something was really starting to happen. While those previous seasons could be described as classic sports anime, where the central focus was food preparation, where we have individual competitions, a tournament, training, etc., in this season we finally get conflict, politics, and a clash of different approaches to cooking. It is just even more interesting than it was and still just as delicious and amusing. Once again, after each episode, I was left incredibly hungry. However, there is the suspense I was missing in the past. Personally speaking, I am completely satisfied, and so far, I do not have much to complain about. 9.5/10. EDIT 07.06.2019 - COMBINED WITH THE REVIEW FROM 25.06.2018 of Food Wars! The Third Plate: Totsuki Train Arc. The second part of the third series of Food Wars is once again very interesting and exciting. The conclusion is thrilling and has a taste of the big decider, and the competition with its few rounds is very good. However, it is clear that the future (the regular fourth) season will contain a lot of flashbacks, a lot of shokugeki and long monologues, and sizing up egos (even though people who like that really do exist, like me) and that this competition will be really long and probably drawn out (which in turn could turn some people off watching the next season). But back to the "Totsuki Train Arc." It was interesting to see how the main protagonists would cope with the tests that were set up so that they had no chance of passing them. Sometimes it is incredibly unrealistic and almost ridiculous how much the examiners tried to make it difficult for them. It was just too obvious how much the screenwriters tried their best to shock audiences with what the main protagonists have to overcome and, of course, shock with how original they ended up being. On the other hand, I did watch the interesting Yukihira x Hayama showdown. There was also a glimpse into the backstory of Yukihira's father and his generation, revealing the motivations of the main bad guy Nakamura. Anyway, apart from that, it is once again a classic, very tasty experience, and I had the urge to eat something myself while they were preparing food. There were some amusing moments when the judges consumed the food, and it was all wrapped up in decent animation and had a great soundtrack. I am not complaining, and for me, this anime series, especially as a lunchtime accompaniment (or just to whet my appetite before a meal), is a great and tasty experience. 9/10.

What started off as just a bunch of cheesy jokes and something I only watched because Susu was incredibly cute, I kept watching because the show gradually started to get better and show its strengths. The most substantial aspect, in my opinion, is the love stories. I found the idea of souls connecting, the way the couples reconnect, and how their backstory is revealed really good, and each of the narratives had its own charm. I started to enjoy watching some of the other characters as well, not just Susu. I am now looking forward to more in the future (the Chinese original manga is still going, so I hope there will be a second season). So, in the end, I was pleasantly surprised, and I could say that I found this anime series quite intriguing, and even though it had a lot of idiotic moments, there were an equal amount of strong and heartfelt ones. 6/10.

Despite holding out until the very end of the first season, I only saw hints of what I expected from this anime series in the last episode. This is an anime series about dancing and everything that goes with it. Dancing is said to have many expressions and forms; some dances are sublime, subdued, and beautiful; others are lively and sexy. However, in this show, all the dances look the same most of the time, lacking expression, movement, or any emotion. All we get are the barest amounts of dance sequences and then lots of slow-motion and dramatic expressions. The ​​dynamics are only illustrated, not demonstrated in most cases. In other words, the biggest problem with anime series about dancing is the performance of the dance itself most of the time, and I did not feel anything. The only way I learned anything was through the comments of others who were watching but not actually dancing. This felt weird because I did not notice and could not see the dancing the others were talking about at all. During practically every episode, the show reminded me of sports anime like Kuroko's Basketball and Haikyu!! etc., and of the fact that this concept does not really suit dancing at all. The dramatic expressions of the main protagonists and the insane (even though only illustrated) drive killed any elegance that I think dancing should have. If they had taken inspiration from Yuri!!! On ICE, where most of the figure skating numbers were engaging, magical, full of movement, emotion, and elegance, then it would have been an excellent anime series (even though they probably would not have been able to pull it off production-wise, because the animators would have been really incredibly busy). I would have then been satisfied at the very least. After all, even anime series like Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul had much (VERY MUCH) better, more heartfelt, and beautiful dance scenes. This is why I am at a loss; I have just watched a decent sports anime with a pretty average narrative and the main protagonist who visibly develops. Despite this, at the same time, I have also seen an anime series about dancing whose most significant weakness is dancing. So even though I finished the season, I did not feel anything except for a bit of a shiver at the very end (the last episode is quite good, in my opinion)! 5/10.

In my opinion, Coco is probably the best-animated movie of the year 2017. It is colorful and beautifully shot. It has got some drive, the characters are likable, it is entertaining, and the narrative is really good (considering it is Pixar). They did a great job as it gets really emotional, and I almost could not hold back the tears at the very end. As for the negative aspects, the movie is very predictable in places (who exactly is Hector?), slightly unbelievable at times (could a family ban music so stringently?), and the first half of the movie is much less interesting than the second. In my final assessment, I compared it mainly to last year's Kubo and the Two Strings and 2014's The Book of Life (because of the subject matter), and I am finally clear about the rating, 8.4/10.

​​"Recovery of an MMO Junkie," aka "Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life," is, on the whole, an enjoyable romantic comedy with likable characters that showed me the world through rose-colored glasses. They also tried rather unsuccessfully to convince me that the world is a damn small place. So next time I play an online MMORPG, I am going to be more careful who I flirt with. This is because it could be a neighbor or a work colleague. This was an enjoyable show that managed to make me smile at times, even though at the same time it was more of a fairy tale or just some trashy romance novella rather than any kind of real insight into the world of gamers. This show was simply a nice relaxing anime series that soothed me and yet will fade from my memory within a few weeks. 6.4/10.

I was incredibly excited about this movie practically from the second I saw the trailer. I felt it made for an interesting and emotional spectacle, and I could see it took some inspiration from Miyazaki's "Ponyo". Well, in the end, I guess I basically got what I expected, though certainly not to the degree and intensity I would have expected. Yes, there is no denying that at least animation-wise, it is interesting, colorful, cheerful, and very much unexpected in this digital age, even though I cannot say I was blown away by its colorful style. I found it strange (almost weird at times), and the moments when there was dancing made me think of old animations like the French Asterix movies. Story-wise, I did not expect anything complicated. I would not have minded that that was all I got if everything had been balanced with a healthy number of emotional scenes and the kind of charming atmosphere that the aforementioned Ponyo has. Unfortunately, I did not feel very moved even though it was charming in some situations. It was endearing at times, although there was just not enough cuteness to really entertain me. I found the emphasis put on the soundtrack surprising, and I did not expect it to be about the band at all. However, I only enjoyed the music in this movie about half the time. As for the characters, Lu was quite a cute character most of the time and I enjoyed her, as well as maybe her father (who reminded me of My Neighbor Totoro). Even by the very end, the main male protagonist was only OK when he was not pouting, even though I could not get on with such an Uho (who should be called Aho more like it). Reading through my review of this step by step, beginning to end, you might be forgiven for getting the impression this was quite a mediocre movie, even though that is not really how it struck me. It was a weird movie; it was interesting; it was a lot weaker than I wanted it to be; however, I still found it mostly quite entertaining. When I enjoy something, I cannot give it a bad rating. So I am awarding a feeble four stars (6.7/10).

Hey Arnold! was one of the cartoons I watched many years ago on the German station Nickelodeon. Now, this show has finally gotten something that could easily be described as a conclusion. I finally got the ending I was expecting and got the answers to questions I was once thinking a lot about. Even though the whole narrative has serious shortcomings and some of the denouements feel a bit forced, I actually enjoyed it immensely.

I would define "The Moment You Fall in Love" as a sort of follow-up to the movie "I've Always Liked You" from 2016, focusing on different characters from the narrative. This is once again a love story. However, this time it stars the siblings of the original two main protagonists, who are a year younger. Of course, characters familiar from the first movie reappear (and they will probably also get their own story in the future, as an anime series about another couple from this franchise has just started). The plot of the other anime series is also mentioned here, even though this time it is simply a love story involving a young girl named Hina, who has the classic "Please notice me senpai" Japanese problem. Plus, her annoying neighbor Kotaro is always around to tease her, even though there is not much to tease. So from the same setting, we get a new narrative which is again quite a simple albeit decent and pretty good love story. A rather well-fitting soundtrack completes it. After saying that, I enjoyed the first movie a bit more because I found the main protagonists a bit more likable. I did not connect with Hina that much in this movie and I did not particularly care for Kotaro either. While this movie is probably of roughly the same standard as the previous one, I did not enjoy it as much this time around. So, I am awarding this 6.4/10, though, with the caveat that I am still curious to see what the next sequels are going to bring (currently mainly the before mentioned "Our Love Has Always Been 10 Centimeters Apart" anime series).