Hromino

This show can be best described as an 'unassuming king' of the otherwise (not only for anime) tragic year of 2020.  Personally, I often find fault with the cookie-cutter approach that anime series often take in portraying historical Europe, or any country for that matter, which is why I typically have issues with anime adaptations of classic works of European or American literature. However, Moriarty the Patriot is not only a well-crafted anime series, but it also stands as one of the best renditions of Sherlock Holmes books that I have ever come across. It's evident that the anime's creators have a deep understanding of Arthur Conan Doyle's works, and yet, they also try to bring the material up to date while respecting the source material. I do realize that the character design may not appeal to all, especially male viewers, but if you can look past that, you'll find yourself immersed in a very mature, atmospheric show that stands among the best anti-hero anime series since Code Geass. Some may criticize the middle section of the series for becoming overly convoluted as the number of characters increases, but this is a minor inconvenience that is thankfully rectified as the well-executed conclusion approaches. Overall, Moriarty the Patriot is a mature, thoughtful, and suspenseful show that deserves a strong four-star rating.

Well, that was a rough ride. In my review of the anime series, I expressed disappointment about the declining production quality, and unfortunately, the movie continues in the same vein. Just like in the series, the comedic scenes are poorly timed and tedious, the characters are always screaming at the top of their lungs, and the male lead's repeated moralizing about how even the worst of the worst doesn't deserve to die becomes more and more grating. The first fight scene is a culmination of all the above-mentioned flaws and is the worst thing this show has featured so far. At times, I wondered if the genre of 'parable' should be added to the movie's profile, given how Tanjiro's kindness, purity of heart (portrayed quite literally and kitschily), and desire to save everyone basically turn him into an embodiment of Jesus. The pace of this scene is forcibly disrupted by cheesy dream sequences that aim to evoke emotions in a contrived way, and the animation quality noticeably declines (the CGI is especially bad). The relief from this ordeal only comes in the last thirty minutes, where the animators finally upped their game and created one of the most impressive animation sequences, combined with a satisfying fight and a final twist that improves the overall impression of the movie. Nevertheless, the movie leaves such a bad taste that it doesn't deserve more than a two-star rating.

While the first season of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid wasn't Kyoto Animation studio's best work, it did have a laid-back and enjoyable feel, with simple yet refreshing humor. Given its basic subject matter, I thought one season would be sufficient and didn't expect second one. However, the producers thought otherwise, and unfortunately, the second season falls short and feels like a washed-out rag. The once-diverse range of jokes has been replaced by an overabundance of idiotic "oppai comedy" which is delivered so often that it feels like a tired, overused joke. There is only one new character, who is incredibly annoying and overall the second season hardly brings anything new to the table. While I used to look forward to every episode in the first season, with the second season, I found myself not caring about upcoming episodes. I'm only giving this show three stars, and that's only because a few good episodes made me nostalgic for the quality of the first season.

Takahiro Omori seems to be past his prime, as he doesn't appear to be making much of an effort in his recent productions. What used to be a hallmark of his earlier works is nowhere to be found in the last ten years. Unfortunately, this trend continues with Pet, which is a series as bland as its title. After watching the first six episodes, I confirmed my suspicions. The character designs resemble those of a low-budget hentai, with the main male protagonists coming across as sniveling, and their conversations and interactions seem like annoying fan service aimed at female viewers. What was supposed to be a sophisticated futuristic thriller with a clever storyline and imaginative fantasy world feels like a washed-out rip-off of films like Nolan's Inception or Kon's Paprika, with hardly any features of a good thriller piece. Six episodes were more than enough for me.

Bunny Drop is sometimes criticized for being overly cheerful and for its unrealistic depiction of a female lead character, since "children are not always that nice." The point at which something becomes "overly cheerful" is up for discussion, but in the case of Rin, the main female protagonist, I had no problem with her depiction whatsoever. She grew up as an only child raised by an elderly man without any peers her age around, so it makes sense for her to be portrayed with a certain level of maturity. The difference in her background stands out, especially when compared to her peer Kouki, who is being raised by a single mother and lacks a male role model, whom he finds in Daikichi, Rin's guardian. All of the characters mentioned above are well-developed, and it's hard not to root for them. The show's lush artwork and pleasant soundtrack are also positives. On the other hand, there is a bit too much sentimentality at times, and the twist at the end feels somewhat forced. Overall, I happily award this well-produced anime series four stars. P.S.: The anime's creators made a wise decision not to adapt the manga in its entirety, as the content not included in the anime reaches a point of being inept and totally spoils the original spirit of the work.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has garnered a multitude of accolades. It is one of the longest-running Japanese manga series and an endless source of memes that truly embodies its title in every conceivable way. Above all, it is an exquisitely unpredictable series where each installment offers a distinct and unique story. While it is set in a vast shared universe, the only commonality between each installment is that the protagonist is a member of the Joestar family, whose names all contain "Jo" or its phonetic equivalent. Additionally, each story is set in a different place, including historical England, ancient Japan, and bizarre versions of Egypt and Italy. However, the primary weakness of this Joestar family saga is its first nine episodes of the first season. After reading the negative reviews here, it is evident that most viewers gave up during this season, and I can understand why. The first part is overly dramatic, with each line drenched in pathos, the animation is too static, and the protagonist is too aloof and perfect. Nonetheless, those first few episodes are a necessary evil as they provide the foundation for understanding the subsequent events. The second part (episodes ten to twenty-six) is a marked improvement and introduces a more engaging male protagonist, completely altering my perspective on the series. The third part (Stardust Crusaders) is set in Egypt and features the best characters and fights, even though the plot is the most straightforward. My personal favorite, however, is the fourth part (Diamond Is Unbreakable), set in Japan and characterized by a well-balanced plot and characters, although it does contain a few filler episodes. The fifth and most recent part, set in Italy (Golden Wind), has some of the most bizarre battles yet, but unfortunately, its villain is the least interesting one so far. Each part has its strengths and weaknesses, but as a whole, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is an eccentric and captivating show, with the adjective "bizarre" taking on new meanings with each new, even more muscular character and reference to the Euro-American rock scene. Overall, I would give it 4 stars.

Vikings in movies and books have a hard time shaking off the stereotypical image of drunken, violent warriors with little to no intelligence, who love to fight more than anything. Unfortunately, it's rare to find a work that challenges this largely fictional and inaccurate depiction. I had hoped Vinland Saga would do just that, but it ultimately failed me. ++++  Although the anime is an adaptation of a manga series that was initially published in a shōnen magazine for children and teens, it was later moved to a seinen magazine for adults. I had hoped that the anime would deal with this dichotomy and lean more towards a cohesive and mature atmosphere. However, instead of doing that, it is even more inconsistent than the original manga. The creators seem to be confused about who the story is targeted towards. On one hand, there is a simple and linear story of a male protagonist obsessed with revenge, something we see in many other shōnen animes. On the other hand, they attempt to create a mature historical drama with philosophical and religious themes. If the show was just that, I would be okay with it. What makes it difficult to perceive Vinland Saga as a mature historical drama is the combination of its more mature and deeper parts of the story with over-the-top fighting scenes and almost nonsensical character twists. For example, when a guy splits four enemies in half and his spear that flew half a kilometer kills three more, or when a boy gets to hold a sword for the first time and wields it like a pro. Or when a useless and spoiled aristocrat suddenly turns into a top-level, cold-headed strategist and in some scenes, otherwise clever characters act like small kids. While there are some impactful scenes and great characters such as Askeladd, and the animation quality is good, it is not enough to make up for the overall imbalance and inconsistency. The protagonist, often criticized by viewers, is actually the most likable to me because he remains consistent in his idiocy, unlike the other characters who switch between being clever and foolish on a whim. It seems like the creators tried to please everyone, and what they have created is just an odd mix of unfitting tropes and features. Once again, I am reminded that when the Japanese try to make an anime series set in Europe, it hardly produces any good show. Overall, Vinland Saga is not a terrible anime, but it falls short of greatness. I would give it a simple three-star rating.

Over the years, I have noticed two basic creative approaches to sports anime. The first style is to create a more complex sports anime that focuses primarily on the development of team relationships, the development of a character’s internal struggles, and showing their psychological side, plus they are often slightly comedic, so even if sports or sports anime is not enough to grab the audience’s attention, they still have plenty of other things to get into, there is something for everyone. These anime include Big Windup!, Haikju!!, or Run with the Wind, for example. The second style is embodied by a kind of "purebred" sporting event which does not concern itself with what is happening in the outside world, only what is going on inside the hall, court, pitch, track or ring, etc, and tries to simply and easily offer the most interesting matches and opponents, clever tactics, a lot of twists and some essential suspense. Personally, the first style is more to my taste, because that type of anime is much more accessible to those who are not interested in sport or sports anime. However, if it is actually done well, I do not mind the second either. Kuroko’s Basketball is an example of the latter approach - and it must be said that it is, as much as it could be, a good high-quality example of that type of sports anime. There's almost always a guarantee of quality when studio Production I.G is behind a sports anime - the animation sometimes takes your breath away, the characters are charmingly written and drawn, the matches have the necessary flow and dynamics to captivate audiences, which is the main thing. From my point of view, however, Kuroko’s Basketball has one unpleasant drawback, and that is that it does not focus on the team aspect, but rather on only one or two players. Of course, even in real basketball, there are teams where one star player can far outperform his teammates and dominate the game completely, but when all the teams are presented like this in Kuroko’s Basketball, it gives the impression that basketball is just a game where the ball is passed to one superman who then battles another superman from the other team to see who scores the most points. Maybe I have been spoiled by other quality sports anime, but this completely killed off any of the supporting characters’ potential, and the superheroics of the main characters definitely did not win any plus points from me. Nevertheless, I gave it a likable 3 stars.

It seems that about every two years, an anime must come out of Japan, which, with the explicit nature of its scenes, or the subject matter itself, can properly shock and knock the wind out of conventional anime productions, but at the same time does not do so in a superficial, moronic way. It used to be Grand Blue, before that it was Prison School, and now it is Interspecies Reviewers. The idea is so simple that you wonder why no one had thought of creating a similar entertaining piece of baloney before. Despite its simplicity, the world there is full of great ideas, where on the one hand you find yourself open-mouthed watching what is going on, and at the same time you have to laugh - both at the scenes and at yourself, because the things you would criticize other anime for, are caught up in an absurd comedy, and could not be perceived as anything other than a necessary part of this universe. Staring at the sheer volume of all manner of female charms here, even Pamela Anderson would have to envy those, and Hirohiko Araki should ashamedly remove the word "bizarre" from the title of his masterpiece, and one would wonder how many chiropractors must exist in this world, and how much they have to be raking in off of the deformed backs of the well-proportioned females. The first half of the season is a very entertaining, absurd, and imaginative show (the third and fourth episodes are downright phenomenal!), one could only criticize the animation, which looks low-budget, the sterile soundtrack, and certainly the limited storyline. Fortunately, everything is balanced out by the aforementioned positive aspects. From the second half of the season onwards, however, it is arguable that the initial fun and creativity gradually disappeared, as the producers were still stubbornly sticking to the same formula, and did not seize the opportunity to maximize the potential of the storyline, although there were opportunities (they could have got another one or two episodes out of the incubus character from the eleventh episode), fortunately, at least they knew that 12 episodes were enough for this type of anime. Overall, a fresh and strong 3 stars.

This movie is a two-hour shapeless glob of spittle, that someone spat out and left lying on the ground, just because Rowling wrote it, and Potter aficionados have to lap up anything connected to that world. If it was not a cult brand or, god-forbid, a completely independent work, it would most certainly have received a similar beating that The Last Airbender got. However, as symbolic as Potter is for a whole generation, they could afford to play on nostalgia, and, without hesitation, indulge the audience with a ton of kitsch, because the audience would surely forgive the movie for its many shortcomings. And then, if that is not enough for you, the pacing and atmosphere are completely dead, and the characters are indistinguishable. The scenes themselves are meaningless, put there just to show off the visual effects, and then there are the fast blurry action scenes, that appear lavish on the surface, but lack any real ideas on a deeper level. However, the movie suffers most from the impotence of its story - basically, nothing happens during the first hour and a half (!). Then, only in the last half hour do we get away from the long introduction to somewhere else. Rowling should have simply stuck to writing books and not tried to write screenplays, because she obviously has no feeling for writing movie discourses at all. She could have brought a more experienced screenwriter to the team, as she had already taken the position of movie producer. Although I still like the original book and its movie series out of nostalgia, this two-hour show of tedium almost bored me to death, and I can hardly remember the last time I was so distracted from what was going on in the story, by what was on-screen visually. For the last half hour, I will give it 1 star.