Jeoffrey

I had very high expectations for this anime series because of the fact that Yoshitoki Oima was the manga artist who wrote this anime series, and well, it did not let me down. In my opinion, she wrote one of the best anime movies of the last five years, and A Silent Voice is the movie that probably had the most impact on me emotionally in recent years. Once again, this show has an interesting subject matter, which, this time, is about life rather than simply living, and which cleverly combines all sorts of themes, such as evolution, adolescence, predestination, prejudice, and loneliness, among other things. The show is really about relationships, so there are a lot of feelings, drama, and sometimes there is some action. This anime series also has a huge advantage in that the main male protagonist starts off as "Tabula rasa", so the audience can really enjoy the development and evolution of his character. In addition to this, there are a lot of friendly characters, very good animation, and a wonderful soundtrack that work together to deliver a truly magnificent experience. I enjoyed most of the episodes and really liked the characters like March, Parona, Pioran, and Gugu. I also liked the main character Fushi, and in particular the mysterious man in black, who guided me through the narrative. The concept is good and well-executed, it has an interesting subject matter, plus a bit of mystery - in my opinion this anime series really hit the spot. On the other hand, I wonder if I could not have expected more from it. I found the anime series moving, and it touched me emotionally, although I am not sure whether it was such a powerful experience for me to remember it in five years’ time. At times I felt like it was forcing its vision too excessively, and sometimes I found it too predictable, mostly in terms of the huge and sad twists, which is why they probably did not have as strong an impact as they should have. My feelings about this anime series are somewhere between a weak five stars and a very strong four stars - 8.5/10.

I was never blown away by Kinmoza and it's certainly not a series that immediately comes to mind as "the best anime where cute girls do cute things", but I've spent two seasons with the protagonists already, so it makes sense that I should see how it all turns out. It isn't a bad conclusion to the series, but it's not half as powerful and emotional as I expected it to be. The movie is true to the original series. It has the same kind of simple humor and cuteness, which doesn’t have much of an effect on me here, though. In fact, it only made me smile a couple of times, and not even the ending evoked any intense emotions in me or made me feel like I had seen something memorable. Like the series, the movie isn’t something I’d recommend to my friends if they wanted to see a cute relaxing anime. It’s kind of sad that, after two seasons of Kinmozi, a movie and a special, the only thing that stuck in my mind is the Ayaya song... 5.8/10

This show was a pleasant surprise for me personally, and something a bit different for an isekai anime. The pragmatic main male protagonist is something quite refreshing, and in all honesty, I have no problem in understanding and believing the logic used in their world. It is enjoyable to watch the way they involve the audience in the essential problems of a kingdom, such as its infrastructure, resources, economy, as well as politics, and military strategies. Plus, everything is explained in a fairly interesting and realistic way, whilst retaining an endearing and charming atmosphere that for some reason reminded me of the vibe Spice and Wolf had a bit. In other words, there are not that many anime series which show you quite reasonable ways out of various problems, teaches you some basic principles of how the world and society work (I cannot remember the last time I saw an anime series explain market economics using a supply and demand chart), and still manages to hold your attention with a meaningful narrative that feels like it is going somewhere, and features characters I personally found quite appealing. So far, I have been enjoying the demonstration of how a realist rebuilds kingdoms, and I am now looking forward to the second half of the season in January 2022. 7/10. EDIT 2.4.2022 – Part 2 – The second half continues along the lines of the first one. I can still follow most of what’s happening here and find it convincing enough. Then again, I have to agree with one issue I've seen pointed out here – the series takes itself so seriously that it makes any logical error hurt considerably more. There are indeed some holes here and there, but not enough to make me question the overall logic of the series or at least the writers' serious effort in this regard. Again, I found some of the topics and solutions to problems intriguing. In a couple of cases, I have some doubts as to whether they were the most effective solutions, but it does make me think about things, which I really like. I'm also quite surprised at the number of different issues the series tackles, and the unexpected and peculiar topics it sometimes brings to the table and analyses. There's a lot of talking, and there's more than one episode that is strictly debating, but as long as it makes sense to me, why not? Anyway, I'm no genius, and only about one part of my personality is a realist (often arguing with the idealist and perpetual dreamer in me) yet this show still manages to convince me that it can be interesting, original, and sometimes clever. Plus, I enjoy its atmosphere and I like some of the characters here. Maybe it's just a load of nonsense (as someone said here) and I'm a fool for not seeing it, but ignorance is bliss and I didn't waste my time with something I’d give a Boo! rating to, so a win for me and also for the Realist, who still gets a 4 from me even after the second season and if there are more episodes in the future, I'll watch them. (Part 2 - 6.5/10)

So, after fifteen years we have finally reached the end of the Gintama saga unless Mr.Sorachi is trolling us again. The movie seems to act as a conclusion to the storyline in the anime series, in classic Gintama style, but who knows what he is going to come up with next... Anyway, this finale was classic Gintama, alternating top-quality action scenes with crazy and sometimes even stupid comedy that parodies many things, including other popular long-running anime series. It can also have a more sensitive tone and is sometimes skilfully philosophical, at other times it blatantly tugs on the heartstrings. In other words, once again it covers a lot of ground, throwing a lot of disparate elements into one unexpected and harebrained thing, that is meant to both entertain the audience and leave them feeling they have seen something really cool. I thought it was a fitting conclusion and I was quite surprised that it was not as overly emotional or intense as I had expected it to be. So, due to that I am not as emotionally devastated as I thought I would be at the end of this long journey, as a huge fan of this anime series, which I have enjoyed so much over the years. On the contrary, I think it was all good, and I am happy I can watch it again sometime, and that maybe, just maybe, they have not finished with Gintama just yet, although no one knows what is going on in that head of Hideaki Sorachi, and what he is going to come up with when he gets tired of playing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice…

I feel as if someone had put ordinary dry bread covered in ketchup in my hands and claimed it was a new and original recipe. What do I mean? Well, I guess that for an original Japanese anime television series, the basic story and plotline development is very run-of-the-mill, predictable, and clichéd. I felt like I had already seen a lot of such anime series before, and nothing (especially the ending) surprised me at all. It had some energy, though, and I enjoyed the passion that the narrative and its characters (logically, except for the main male protagonist) exuded. It was probably the main reason I gave this mecha anime series a chance, even though I am not usually into this genre. Even the setting seemed promising to me. It is just that when the foundation is dry bread, even ketchup cannot possibly make it delicious. 4.8/10.

More than half of this movie is a pure slice-of-life anime movie where we are introduced to the main characters and shown a little glimpse into their lives. Unfortunately, it is not very good or funny at all. It is not particularly interesting, and the biggest dramatic element seems as important as two little kids fighting it out in the playground. The lack of real drama means that I was rather bored and I could not see the point of the movie really. I even considered just turning it off as there was nothing to it. Fortunately, there was a major twist that I suppose I could have seen coming, which gave the movie some depth. In other words, this movie ended up making sense, and I do not regret watching it. I liked the main message it was trying to get across, and I could relate to the main characters (especially Nikuko). Anyway, I still have to consider the weak part of the movie, which was more than half of it, and therefore even if I wanted to, Nikuko and Kikuko would not get more than 5.5/10 from me.

I enjoyed Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - The Second Act more than the first season. After all, the show’s narrative followed the story more strictly. There were some touching reunions that I was subconsciously looking forward to from the beginning. In the end, everything came to a pleasant and almost too much of a fairy-tale-like conclusion. Although there is still room for a follow-up, I do not know if I want one. In the beginning, I did not even know if I cared about this whole spin-off thing, even though, in the end, I enjoyed it. As with the first season, the soundtrack still works great, as do the member berries and most new characters (I even managed to get on with Towa in the end). The concluding story was not half as dramatic as I expected. It had its strong and weak moments, although overall, it was engaging and sometimes entertaining. The villains were not just evil either, they were rather misunderstood, or perhaps they could not express themselves. The season finished at a somewhat suspenseful but otherwise quite enjoyable pace. The second season, therefore, gets 7/10.

I probably enjoyed the spin-off Cells at Work! Code Black a bit more than the second season of the original Cells at Work! anime series, and not just because it is longer, darker in tone, and more suspenseful. Everything in the show means a lot more to me rather than, say, the way a healthy body works, because as I have gotten older I have also struggled with some of the issues highlighted in the show (stress, alcohol, smoking...) to some extent and so on. Truth be told, it is quite an intense show and I think that if I had weak nerves or a stronger will, then thanks to this anime series, I would perhaps be able to quit some of my bad habits (or at least I could try to for a few months). Unfortunately, however, that is probably not going to happen. I like that there is a real point to this show, because if it helps anyone quit habits harmful to their health, then it has served its purpose. I can fully empathize here because this time we know some specifics about this concrete human body (for example, you can determine that it is a middle-aged man or even older - so same as me). I also liked the idea of the cells' daily struggle to live in an inhospitable environment, especially finding their motivation to continue their work. I also really liked the idea that it almost suggested that death is the moment when your own body and its cells just give up on you. Equally, I appreciated and reflected on the fact that a near-death experience usually leads to a drastic change in lifestyle, that there can be a real effort to change, and it can be a long-term thing for most people (again, it seems to be about willpower). The show also present the fact that when something is wrong with you, your health problems suddenly start to pile up pretty quickly. The way the necessary interventions (medical interventions) were depicted was also quite interesting. I liked the characters and the soundtrack was fine, even if the animation was a bit lacking (not just compared to the original Cells at Work!). Anyway, I found that this show was valuable and informative, which I appreciate, and I am giving this a thumbs up, because now I am aware that Joffrey could easily end up like this one day too... 8.2/10.

First of all, I am slightly disappointed that the second season of Cells at Work! is so short. Eight episodes is really not that much, especially when half of it is actually just the Cells at Work!! The Movie (that have already been aired) split into four episodes . However, I think you have to appreciate that there was not much source material left for a second season (as actually, only the sixth volume of the original manga series remains unadapted). Plus, it is forgivable considering the new episodes are still more or less as good as in the previous season. Again, some interesting new facts emerged, and I enjoyed watching the engaging depictions of some of the processes in the human body that I was somehow already familiar with. In addition, they also tell you things you can know from even a simple Actimel commercial (did you know that there are billions of friendly bacteria living in our bodies that have a beneficial effect on your digestion? I did!). It was also quite tempting to compare all of this to the spin-off series Cells at Work! Code Black, because both series sometimes had episodes that featured the same part of the human body that were aired in the exact same week. Of course, the atmosphere of this show was still quite light (again, especially compared to Cells at Work! Code Black), which was only disturbed by the great comeback of a familiar enemy. This great enemy does not seem like such a terrifying threat which would make me throw my pack of cigarettes in the trash and never go back to them, and still somehow strikes me as more like a misunderstood cell that I almost sometimes sympathize with... Anyway, I quite enjoyed these few new episodes, I perhaps even learned something, and I even smiled occasionally - so, I am now satisfied. 7.8/10.

The Tale of the Heike is an extraordinary anime series that caught my attention with its aesthetic, animation style, and soundtrack. It almost gave me the impression at times that I was watching a strange combination of a television series and a theatrical performance. There is much Japanese mysticism and tradition, some interesting historical characters, and a reasonably simplistic narrative concerning the fall of a great dynasty and an epic power struggle. The epic account is all told from the perspective of a young girl. Personally speaking, I saw it as an effort to bring more people closer to the Japanese classics. Getting folk to read those books would explain why a lot of the politics and plotting is so simplistic and comes across as slightly truncated to make it easier and more accessible for the audience to follow. However, it does have its own undeniable charm, and I immensely enjoyed Aoi Yuki's performance in the lead role and admired her singing in particular. It was a unique experience - a very interesting show, even though it was probably worth only one viewing. This show hopefully educated me a little, enriched me culturally, and was certainly not boring. On the other hand, I wonder if this is an anime series I would recommend to the average anime viewer, and something tells me that a lot of the people I know would find it too weird or boring. It is simply that this show is definitely not going to be for everyone, even though I did enjoy it quite a bit. 6.9/10.