Jeoffrey

The next time someone somewhere tells you that modern anime has lost its originality and playfulness because the anime creators themselves have lost their enthusiasm and passion for their art, just watch Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and you are going to immediately realize that they have got it all wrong. This anime series is literally all about demonstrating a love for Japanese anime and also animation in general! This comes from both the characters themselves, whose energy and enthusiasm for the cause literally oozes out, and also from the animators, who have clearly demonstrated their passion, creativity, playfulness, and attention to detail in every frame (especially in the dream sequences). Also, everything is presented in a very pleasant atmosphere that makes you feel really good about it all. In addition to that, the characters are all really interesting, passionate, and likable (also, as Starletka remarked in her review, visually diverse and therefore easy to remember). This anime series also provides the audience with a lot of interesting information regarding the making of anime, and a lot more could be inferred by the various minor analogies. For example, we can see the struggle between creativity, where the mangaka wants his work to be as good and rich it can be, and management, which needs to meet deadlines and keep the costs down - in other words, it has to keep the creatives at bay to some extent for anything to ever realistically be produced. In this show, we can see the origins, how the worlds are conceptualized, and how important the details, physics, and mechanics of it are. Also if you love fluid movement, different camera shots, and are crazy about movies and TV soundtracks it shows just how much it can enhance the visual experience... Sure, the style of the animation itself may not suit everyone, and I think this anime series is primarily for those who are really interested in Japanese anime and animation in general, however, it will also appeal to those who are bored after having seen tons of stuff and want to watch something really original. However, in all honesty, after saying all that, it can be really relaxing thanks to its gentle and pleasant vibes. Personally speaking, I think that Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is the TOP anime from the Winter 2020 releases and a veritable advertisement for a love and passion for anime. Easy Breezy... 9/10.

The reviewer q66 is right to say sometimes all it takes to make a really good and entertaining show is an interesting basic concept and a very well-crafted atmosphere. It does not have to make perfect sense and does not have to have perfectly detailed explanations to keep you entertained the whole way through. I can also understand why some people say this anime series is like a mix of Minority Report and The Silence of the Lambs, with the caveat that I would have added Inception because of what happens in the episodes at the end of the season (well, there is a well inside a well...). In other words, it is very imaginative, mysterious, and sometimes it toys with the audience just like a cat plays with a mouse. So I found it intriguing, entertaining, and even often caught myself looking forward to future episodes. Despite that, personally speaking, I think the weak ending is one of the downsides, maybe as I was expecting something more intense, maybe even more interesting, although after saying that the ending was quite adequate. There remains just one question - am I also a genius detective, having worked out Johnny Walker's identity within the first few episodes, or was this one just so terribly obvious? 7.5/10.

I found the second season of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? much weaker than the first, and it took me a few episodes to get into the groove of it even just a bit. I could not really get into it until about the end of the "War Game" arc with the Apollo Familia. That feeling of relaxing entertainment it gave me only lasted a few episodes, though, because the whole "Entertainment District" arc was almost painful to watch in places - or rather, the main male protagonist Bell Cranel himself was many things in that installment, just not very entertaining or admirable. His efforts to protect his integrity were tragicomic, although unfortunately when I remembered it, I had more of a sad feeling like if all men were like Bell, the human race would have all died out by now... I found this section very uncomfortable and disconcerting, and I do not want to deal with things like an attempted reverse rape of a man by a woman who resembles a frog. The last two episodes were just full of lightweight narration, which was about nothing really, and the only thing that probably mattered was the considerations of the romances between gods and mortals, which I would have personally tackled practically straight away with just one sentence - If you love them, there is nothing to think about! So for me all this analysis about how gods and humans have different life span etc., seems kind of pointless, similarly to the “problem” - I am a girl and he is a vampire... As a result, I was not too crazy about this second season, I only felt like I was entertained occasionally, and so I am just not able to award it more than 5/10.

In my opinion, this is a very good fantasy anime series with a relatively simple narrative and a classic "from zero to hero" style storyline, albeit with absolutely brilliant execution. As I mentioned in the comments section, the level system and the whole dungeon thing, in general, is something so close to the heart of a fantasy RPG aficionado that they have no choice but to like it. At the same time, the concept of "Familias" and the idea of gods as the companions and patrons of the adventurers in this show is more than interesting in my opinion. I found the narrative quite enjoyable, even though a lot of things were quite predictable, and as for the characters, I found I really liked Hestia after only a short timeI It was a joy to watch her and I found her quite endearing (which is strange, because a lot of people referred to her as "irritating" in various reviews and on forums), although it is true that I found Liliruca much cuter and she is my favorite of the girls in the show. There were a few other interesting girls, and even though I have read a lot of fawning praise for Ais, who I did quite like, I still preferred Ryuu, because I found her somehow more mysterious and more intriguing... However, that is quite enough about the women (although going by the title it should obviously be all about girls), and onto the male characters. I would say that Werf the blacksmith, who appeared last, in my opinion was a nice guy and of all the gentlemen he was probably the most relatable for me... So, how about the main male protagonist then? Unfortunately, out of all the characters, Bell himself is probably the weakest character and maybe the weakest point of the whole anime series. His emotional histrionics often got on my nerves and somehow, I am just not a huge fan, although I guess I had gotten used to him by the end. All things considered, I can safely say that I generally enjoyed this show, however, I still feel that something was missing, which stopped it from being perfect, and there was nothing during the entire season that would make me go "wow" even just once... 7.5/10.

The third season of Castlevania surprised me just by the fact of its mere existence. I thought, "What are they going to do with this show now?" and after the first episode, I was confused about where the narrative was heading. I was actually filled with dread that the animators would spend the next few episodes dwelling on poor Alucard's loneliness with the same intensity as they had explored the library in the second season, and then there was gonna be all these vampires and humans scheming, and shit... Well, in the end, that is exactly what it was, however, after saying that it was still an interesting show with an exaggerated conclusion, and the ninth episode, in particular, left me rolling my eyes. The combination of the insane fight scenes, erotic sex scenes where two different men are subjugated, while in two other places vicious and fatal battles are being waged - well, let us just say I have wanted something (intense) like this since the very beginning, or well - at least since the beginning of the second season! Again, the action was a long way off for my liking, as it was full of character development, with Isaac definitely being the most interesting this time around. However, in the end, I was a lot more entertained by the third season than I was with the previous season, so in the end the surprise "Yay, there is a third season of Castlevania..." is actually kind of nice. 6.5/10.

I expected that the first season was building up to something epic, and then I found that the second season was really disappointing. I was expecting the thrilling adventures of the three main protagonists against a subtle and devious evil force and what I got - SPOILERS - was a narrative where more than half of the plot featured the main three protagonists holed up in a library! It was really quite exciting and suspenseful! No, I am kidding, it was shit... The good thing is that at least the evil force was epic! No, I am kidding again, it was not... Dracula just seemed bored with his supposed revenge plot most of the time, until he then simply lost all interest, and just dropped dead the moment his wife was executed. So, what was the point of all that? Well, at least the other characters around him could have acted like it was like Game of Thrones and put on an interesting little charade full of machinations, where I could have started to wonder what their motivations were, and some of which may still elude me now. The only thing that improves the impression you get from all that gossiping, studying of ancient books, and forming supposedly solid relationships is the seventh episode, in which it finally gets going. Then I was sobbing away like poor Alucard at the very end because I had been expecting this kind of action to happen throughout the season and not only in one episode. End of SPOILERS. I think the second season deserves only a maximum of 4/10.

I am not familiar with the video game series, however, I like the anime-influenced TV series quite a lot so far. The first season is really just a bit of an introduction to the plot and characters, and it is pretty well animated. It has the right kind of dark atmosphere too. At times it can be a bit brutal, and the characters deliver some pretty decent lines here and there, although there is only one Hellsing and we are still some way off from it's quality... Moreover, it is easy to relate to Dracula as he clearly perceives that the greatest evils in this world are human stupidity and religious bigotry, which have been a problem for every generation, and are portrayed really well... The major issue I have with this show is that the first season is incredibly short. Right on cue, just when it starts to get interesting and when it might get going, it is suddenly over... In conclusion, I have watched a pretty decent introduction to something that could be good and interesting, although at the end of the day it was still just a pretty short introduction and that is actually not enough. After the first season - 6/10.

Well, I was expecting something a bit more from the manga artist behind One Punch Man. Sure, it has got a bit of momentum, some atmosphere, and sometimes there are some pretty good jokes, however, it just did not reach the same standard as OPM. As far as the animation is concerned, I was more or less expecting something like this, because this is what the art style of the gentleman behind the pseudonym "ONE" really looks like. Even the original version of OPM looked something like this, although due to overwhelming interest from manga readers, it was remade as a digital adaptation (illustrated by Yusuke Murata) to create the version we know from the anime series or even from the second (digital) version of the manga... Unfortunately, let us be honest with ourselves here, ONE is not the most precise mangaka, and his style is quite distinctive and unfortunately not very appealing. However, it is an acquired taste! So the main question regarding MP100 is where the plot is heading to, how hilarious the comedy aspect will be, and how I am going to get used to the boy they called Mob. As far as the plot goes, there is a significant shift and practically from the moment Mob meets another "esper" it starts to get quite interesting and even slowly goes on to get better. As far as the comedy element is concerned, as I already mentioned, there were a few good jokes, although otherwise it was quite weak. I did not get along with Mob either, and I am going to agree with Starletka that his emotional outbursts were not something to really write home about… Well, I have reached the conclusion it is better than average, which in this case is not actually much of a win. 6/10.

Monsters, demons, ghosts, vampires, and whatnot roam the streets of a fantasy apocalyptic New York City landscape, and the only one trying to keep them at bay and maintain a delicate balance and peace is the mysterious organization called Libra... The show’s setting is very impressive, and all the different creatures that inhabit it are designed in a variety of interesting ways. I also like the way they are trying to create an evocative atmosphere, and the well-chosen soundtrack which is great in my opinion, however, these are the only positive aspects I have found so far. Although... The narratives within its stand-alone episodes do not really go anywhere, as the various cases gradually crop up, thinly connected by a main narrative, which the manga artist has hidden very well, eventually it is slowly revealed to the audience what is actually really going on... Well, it turns out that I was really starting to enjoy this uncertainty I felt (or rather, the feeling that I did not know what to think about it), which I was originally rather put off by, and I found this style of storytelling, the narrative’s denouement and the characters to be very entertaining. Furthermore, as the episodes went on, I started to like some characters that I had not found interesting at first. In other words, the more I got to know them, the more I liked them and found them more interesting. In addition, if I add to that the fact that I found some episodes really very good, like the sixth episode featuring the "mushroom man" Nej, and just could not get enough of the visuals in some (for example episode nine), I am forced to raise my rating again. So from the initial two stars through a better three stars, I am now up to a solid four stars (7.5/10) and if this trend continues I might even get to five stars, if I ever get to the final episode - twelve. I have personally never seen such a long wait for the final episode, so hopefully it will be worth it and hopefully the anime’s creators are not going to run out of money and the last episode will be released... EDIT 10.06.2015 - Finally, after several months of waiting, the grand finále has arrived! I have to say that the finále itself convinced me of the rating I have given as well as the whole anime series. There were some things I had suspected would happen, and others I had not expected at all, however, I quite liked the narrative’s conclusion. In other words, I liked where the anime’s producers took it in the end. It had a great atmosphere and was even quite emotional (which I pretty much expected from the ending) and so I thought that on the whole the feel of the narrative (the main story’s plot line) was outstanding. I really liked the style of the animation and in general this anime series shows that someone really played around with and worked hard on the design and animation and it is really noticeable, the animators really won me over with their ideas and use of colors. I also really liked the soundtrack. There was a lot of music in the last episode which I really liked, and I thought the soundtrack was really exceptional. In conclusion, I really liked this anime series and I think it fully deserves four stars, and due to the fact that I think the ending was really good, I am going to raise the rating one last time and end with 8/10.

I have seen a good few anime series about how to make computer games (or even draw manga comics). In the same way, I have seen anime series about girls who are supposed to be between twenty and thirty years old yet they all look like cute little young Lolitas. So, is there anything remotely new or original about "New Game!" actually? Basically no, there is nothing, so I just quietly watched a group of cute "girls” who had pretty interesting characters create a new game, make friends and sometimes communicate humorously and stupidly with each other, and go through everyday common and original stuff at their work. So it can be a very enjoyable and sometimes funny show, even though one of the main things that struck me was how faithfully the animators depicted some of the processes and programs. My final impression is somewhere between good and praiseworthy, although eventually, I am leaning more towards the higher rating... 6.8/10.