Jeoffrey

Expecting any kind of sensible idea or even a calm, relaxed show from a Japanese slice-of-life comedy simply called (translated) "Idiot Girl" is naive. This show is just stupidity of unbelievable proportions that takes human folly and stupidity to total extremes. At the same time, this show is a spectacle full of energy and stupid jokes; however, it does not come across as bad, quite the opposite because of the rather endearing female protagonist. Yoshiko is simply an elemental force of unbridled energy who just wants to have fun, eat bananas, hang around her friend, and experience love. I managed to grow quite fond of this bonkers, shouty and perverted girl. I like people with unquenchable optimism and zest for life, who can give less enthusiastic people strength and can power them with positive energy. So this show, no matter how silly, managed to keep me awake, and sometimes pleasantly entertain me. In addition to Yoshiko, there is the character Akuru, who is the opposite - responsible, considerate, and a good student and their interactions are interesting. I can also confirm that there is a certain spark (except for all the punching). The rest of the characters are more or less there to fill out the show, though. There is more fun interaction between Yoshiko and a bunch of local kids than between the rest of the supporting characters. So as a kind of crazy and refreshing summer anime series just to sit back and relax, it works. This show is, in addition, also unmitigated simpleminded bullshit. So while I am tempted to give it that fourth star because I found Yoshiko's character and the energy in it very refreshing, I am not going to because my brain just cannot allow it and Yoshiko is not here to stuff a banana in my mouth. 6.3/10.

The concept behind this show seemed really interesting, and I think they could have got a really decent romantic drama out of it. However, then the characters should not have been so incredibly kind. This idea that no one wants to hurt anyone is completely unbelievable. Sure, I guess there is selfless love, and when a person is in love, they think mostly of the other person. However, I sincerely doubt that it could work this strongly and with everyone involved. Here we just have four people who all kind of like each other and lie to everyone and themselves to avoid hurting anyone - except themselves. So I was watching the lake of tears, and I did not believe they could keep it up for so long, although they do manage to keep it up and make decisions that strike me as odd. So when someone acts in a way I think is normal, that only lasts a few minutes. It does not seem to suit any of the characters, so they would rather go back to their tragic but rosy dream state. Then the conclusion is the icing on the cake of it all. It would have been fine like a fairy tale, although as a real-life romantic drama, it did not convince me. When I think of what made Scum's Wish good, I realize that to find the characters believable, they have to have their bad sides. If Scum's Wish was a showreel of the bad aspects of human nature, then this was probably a pretty exaggerated showcase of the good elements. Plus, combined with the sheer indecision, most of the characters wallow in their feelings. Instead of resolving anything, they are all drowning in their inability until the final realization that this is actually fine. I did not find it fine, and in this case, in particular, I do not think that just any old decision will do. I, therefore, remain unconvinced and unsatisfied. Perhaps it is just my feeling, and I cannot deny that it has its merits; however, I did not really enjoy it in the end, so I cannot award it more than three stars. Subjectively, however, I might want to go even lower, even though I am not going to. I am so full of selflessness and self-sacrifice that I am going to let them have some of it back. 4.8/10.

There is nothing special about this show. It is simply yet another mediocre advertisement for the Japanese science-fantasy social network game, and they decided to introduce us to nineteen female protagonists. When you are trying to work with this many characters, you either need a lot of time to introduce and showcase them all properly, or you just have to pick one or perhaps a few of the characters and build a narrative around them and leave the others in the background. However, they were unsuccessful, so we were introduced to all the girls in different situations in the somewhat limited space of twelve episodes. They pretended that there was actually a main narrative concerning two or three girls, but unfortunately, by having so few episodes and so many characters, I found they did not grow on me at all. Also, the narrative is not complicated in any way, just a bunch of standard tropes, so it failed to hold my attention. In other words, in two weeks or so, I am not going to remember any of these nineteen girls, and I will barely remember what any of it was about. It was watchable; the girls were nice enough, even though they were not unique. The animation was okay, and I did not pay any attention to the soundtrack.It did not strike me as anything special so I got nothing out of it. 4/10.

Re:Creators is an interesting anime series with many great ideas, even though it lacks some polish and good execution in many ways. The idea of characters from movies, TV series, and video games entering our world appealed to me and reminded me of when I saw, say, Howard the Duck or Space Jam as a kid. This collision of the world of our imagination and reality always managed to get my attention. Well, yeah, but what is the point if there is just a completely disparate group from different narratives, making it all a bit of a hotchpotch? The cast of characters is very confusing, and there are way too many, though, in the end, I think it somehow holds together. Then there is the conflict between the authors of the narratives, who are basically gods to our fictional characters, and they are to blame for all their joys and sorrows. Things get resolved, though not as intensely as I would have expected. Another decent idea is the character of Altair, her unlimited powers, and the concept of where she gets them. Interesting if you buy into that idea. Oh, and then the various ways to get rid of Altair for good, with the last one being the first one I thought of practically the moment the protagonists came up with their plan. However, even their original plan did not look so bad even if there was a strange presentation and the audience just had to accept that preparations were underway, worlds were intersecting, and everything was happening even if you could not see it just because the characters were talking about it. I did not find the second phase, or rather Plan B, that interesting, and for some reason, the whole thing just seemed very strange. There are a few interesting ideas in this show, and the fact that they were there is enough for me to push it somewhere above the level of average. This is because in regular (average) anime series, something this interesting only appears once (and sometimes maybe not at all) in the whole season. It is a real shame about the process; if some of these ideas were developed more in some places and made more interesting in others, then I would have probably been more entertained. It was the same with the characters, there were a lot of them, and even though the screenwriters tried to give them screen time and let them develop at least a little, it felt pretty underdeveloped again. Some of the characters really felt formulaic tropes, and because of that, some of their decisions were just as stupid as I had already anticipated. This made some of the twists predictable, and so it unnecessarily lost its intensity. This was a real shame because, for example, the fight scenes were pretty good. Also, because of the wide variety of different characters, it was quite dynamic in places. I liked the animation, even though the soundtrack did not leave a strong impression on me. The conclusion itself was quite good and seemed to me to be the only complete part, with a positive message that I could appreciate. So - when you get tired of this boring world of ours, create a better, more interesting one because creating something and inventing different narratives is actually a great thing. However, if you really manage to come up with something original, make it so that the idea has the greatest effect - that is the main thing that Re:Creators failed to do, in my opinion - the rest I found good. 7/10.

So I guess I am a fan of the anime series because, unlike the reviewer Scalpelexis, I definitely did not feel this as an extreme bummer, and I even had quite a bit of fun at the end. I am going to start with the obvious, which is that the animation and soundtrack are really good. I thought that the fight scenes especially were once again great, dynamic, and as a person who likes action, I enjoyed them. I thought the final fight scene especially was very good. It was colorful and had that epic feel that I loved with the last boss. So, thanks to the decent animation, it is easy on the eye, and I am willing to partially forgive the, in my opinion, rather mediocre and simplistic narrative. For about three-quarters of the movie, it was extremely predictable, even for someone like me. Sometimes I was wondering, for example, how Kirito might have got so buff so quickly, and then the conclusion came along, which was quite emotional, even though quite predictable. It is cool that the villains are not black and white characters, more just like some people with a tragic backstory who took the solution into their own hands and did not really succeed. However, this has been done so many times before with movies and anime series, so it is not that new. Luckily for me, I felt it was very moving in the end. I found the tragic narrative touching, and so it served its purpose. Perhaps this was the cornerstone of its success, or perhaps it is also because I am a fan of the main two protagonists. Now I am probably going to disagree with my colleague Scalpelexis because the romantic subplot between the main two protagonists seemed quite believable to me (however, what do I know about love?) I like that the movie focuses on the main couple and the rest of Kirito's harem finally fades into the background, where I think they belong. Oh, and some of the romantic moments, including the final one, made me feel happy. So, all in all, I accept that the narrative could have been more interesting, even though the rest of it did not bother me in any way, and as a fan, which I guess I am, I even enjoyed it quite a bit. 7/10.

This was an intelligent and quite enjoyable anime series, even though it was still somehow boring. The show has a narrative set in a town where a significant number of the inhabitants have some sort of extraordinary ability, and there is a mysterious organization that oversees it all. All kinds of conflicts arise, which all sounds great so far. Well, yeah, but what is the point if everything is resolved with the help of long and extensive conversations and the fact that if something does not work out the first time, the main male protagonist has the opportunity to try (to work it out) again. In addition, everything seems somehow emotionless, like most of the main male protagonists who solve all their emotional issues at the last moment by just talking everything out again. Even the conclusion lacks any sort of intensity. Sure, the things that are talked about and how everything is resolved are logical and intelligent, in my opinion, even though the long dialogues (or even long reviews), no matter how clever they may be, fail to hold the attention of most people. 6/10.

"Bastards who view a woman as a sex object do not deserve to have balls" - This is a decent idea, which I would not really have expected from an ecchi anime series that is this insanely obvious. After all, where else can you find girls who fulfill the desires of such a wide range of men? There are big boobs, a tanned lady, and a Lolita with extremely huge breasts. - just decent footage of a range of the kind that last appeared in anime series like Seven Mortal Sins, even though they only needed four girls in this show. Of course, they are scantily clad or in school uniforms, and sex is dealt with in almost every episode. The girls are quite likable on the whole and diligently fulfill their roles for the male audience. If I were a feminist, I would commit ritual suicide with a very dull knife because I would probably prefer that to watch this show, or perhaps, according to the screenwriters' claims, attack their private parts with the knife. Ecchi fans will, of course, enjoy this immensely. However, then there is the male cast, where the main goon is actually still quite tolerable. How could he not be when his mates are a horny form of dumb and dumber (glasses and blonde), and there is a very real pedophile as a special guest. Can anyone be amused by a chubby little man whose "area of interest" does not go past twelve years old and who goes on and on about the same pedophile bullshit about how girls under twelve are just the best? This was not even funny in the first episode, let alone on the tenth repeat. I was similarly embarrassed by the ever more ingenious schemes of a couple of friends who came up with various "very subtle" ways to get the main male protagonist (and themselves, of course) laid. How to get laid is mentioned in almost every episode. The word virgin is repeated about as often as their version of Uncle PedoBear's desires for underage girls. So why did you watch it? Good question. First of all, because underneath all the assault on base instincts, repetitiveness and silliness were, in my opinion, a more or less average romantic narrative. Also, probably because this season, even this craziness is good for killing time while waiting for fall, and quite possibly because I actually found the main female protagonist to be a pretty likable girl. However, even so, it still was not enough to keep me entertained and at least feel good about it. 3/10

This anime series is a crazy and completely overblown show built on insane contrast and driving all sorts of stereotypes to absurd heights. This show makes you think that the screenwriters think they know everything about metal, although really they do not know anything about it. Of course, there have to be several obligatory references to various famous bands and what a show it would have been if they had not eaten a bat! It is a massacre that makes someone like me laugh a lot, feel a little sick at times, even a little chilly at times, even though I still feel like I want to watch more. Everything is very exaggerated, crazy coincidences are the order of the day here, and you know that Krauser II is the leader of (anime) death metal even before he officially gets that title. Once again, I was convinced that you should not judge someone by what he listens to or how he looks because even deep in the sensitive heart of someone who makes baskets for a living, the soul of a madman could be hiding. This madman will then "fuck" the keyboardist on stage with an artificial dildo and give the fans a "golden shower" - sorry, that is actually a completely different story. Back to DMC - the soundtrack is, of course, very good, and the contrast between the opening and the ending beautifully underlines everything that is so often discussed during the series. The animation is weak, although, as has been said, it is enough to keep the audience entertained. Well, I enjoyed it, probably not as much as the manager of DMC, even though it was still a massacre. 8.7/10.

This was a pretty bearable conclusion to the whole three-part OVA, even though it is rather mediocre in terms of its narrative, and I only found it a bit moving. So it is more of a disappointment because, after the excellent first episode, I was expecting a solid and exciting conclusion. In general, I was expecting a lot more mystery and use of the potential of their magical world to lure me into the anime series. Now at the end, my impression is more like “but yeah, okay…” 5,5/10.

There are a few action scenes, a bit of mecha, and some philosophizing... Unfortunately, the animation was all too obviously done on a computer. Fortunately, the characters were likable (Dingo even exceptionally so), and I found all the musings on topics like "what it means to be human" and "what is the essence of human freedom" actually quite entertaining. Of course, the execution and answers are nothing too shocking for someone who has seen The Matrix and perhaps Short Circuit (I was reminded of both those movies), but why not... 5,5/10.