Hromino

This show has got a lot of musical tricks up its sleeve, but only some of them end up working. The idea of setting it on Mars is not such a bad one, but it needed some more work on it. The main heroines are the epitome of the Mary-Sue trope, but their presence is not that irritating really. You could say that the ancillary characters are much more interesting, but that even they lack significant development. The storyline is terribly full of tropes, however, it is watchable despite that. It follows a clear formula, however, sometimes it can still surprise you. The show is rich in all sorts of plot twists, but it still comes across as a simple fairy tale in the end. It held my attention to the end, but at the same time it did not capture it. The first opening and the ending were good, but the second opening and the ending less so. Overall it did not come across as though Watanabe directed it, and I wanted more, but was left wanting. It is better than a lot of musical anime, but Kids on the Slope from the same director is much better. I considered giving it a better 2 stars, but I am giving it a lesser 3 stars.

When two eccentric masters of their art - anime director Masaaki Juasa and manga artist Taiyō Matsumoto - join forces, it is probably a safe bet that the result of them working together will be unmissable among the season's other offerings. I am also very glad that this is unmissable not only in terms of the audiovisual experience, as one would expect, but also that the creators have taken great care regarding what they actually wanted to portray. Ping Pong the Animation is not simply just about telling a story about the game of table tennis - everything in the show is all about the game. Juasa works hand in hand with the audiovisual side of the story, exploring to the very limit how much space can be minimized to fully tell the narrative. Dialogue flies by at the speed of a ping-pong ball after being hit, the progress of a match or important changes in character development are told sequentially through split-screen narrative, and the way movement is captured in unison with the soundtrack is a chapter in itself. The strength of Matsumoto’s manga, apart from his distinctive art style, is how much care he takes in keeping the realism of the dialogue to portray the depth of the characters and their gradual development - this aspect is preserved so well here. I completely understand that the audiovisual and narrative eccentricities here may not be easy to take in for everyone - indeed, I was not so impressed with Ping Pong the Animation the first time around, nor did I finish it - but the second time around, it won me over immediately. If I had tried to find any fault with it, I would have certainly succeeded, but why try at all when the positives clearly outweigh the negatives? If you are looking for something fresh and unconventional in the world of anime, I can only recommend it.

The Promised Neverland is not easy for me to rate. The plot itself may sound hackneyed, but its treatment is definitely worth watching, it delivers many surprises to the audience, and only a complete ignoramus could label it a totally unimaginative show in the context of contemporary Japanese animation. It has a thick atmosphere most of the time, which is mainly due to the great minimalist soundtrack and, the first-person camera shots highlight the most intense moments, but this anime is far from perfect. Why? Throughout, I had a specific problem with the characters, who, though emotionally immature, like a Mary-Sue, accurately deduce everything immediately with a minimum of clues. They also sermonize at the top of their lungs, as they are flawless and their unwavering direction is presented as the only legitimate option to resolve the situation. The pace of the narrative is so unbalanced that while the season drags on until the last third, with more talking than action (with some plot twists fizzling out completely into nothing), the action picks up quickly in the last few episodes, and the ending comes quicker than the audience had hoped for. The sequel which has been announced, however, intrigues me, as it is in it that the creators might fully show what cards they have up their sleeve, that is if they have not already done so. A slightly better 3 stars.

This anime was produced in the same year as Your Name but that is where all similarities end. There's no point in comparing the two shows, because they are something completely different to each other both in terms of sub-genre and visual appearance, and each targets a completely different audience. First of all, it must be acknowledged that the creators of A Silent Voice have shouldered a difficult task. To create a coming-of-age psychological drama that is believable (first and foremost, that is, having well-written psychologically complex characters), that managed to do more than just stupidly and superficially touch on the subject of the inclusion of disabled people into a "normal" social group and to portray the causes, the course and consequences of bullying on individuals and the group, but at the same time not to be an exceptionally moralizing movie or a heavy weepie with a walk through the valley of tears, while still retaining the inventiveness, likable characters and excellent audiovisual experience that are somehow typically expected from KyoAni's anime works. Plus, it is a miracle that they succeeded, and on top of that without pathos. This is indeed not a tear-jerker high school romance and the creators know very well which aspects to focus on. In the end, however, I was hesitating between 4 and 5 stars, mainly because of the sketchy middle section, and the somewhat rushed ending, but since there are so many similarly successful anime in that specific sub-genre (Aura is the only one that comes to mind right now, and that has gone downhill from the second half of the season onwards), it has to be admitted that A Silent Voice is simply on a different level, and even if just for the best ever use of The Who in anime, it deserves that fifth star. Dontcha think?

With each new season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, you can be sure that it will surprise you both in a positive and a negative way compared to the last. With the fifth season, the most positive thing is the fact that it features a minimum of characters or references to previous events, unlike the fourth season, so if you are thinking of jumping into the middle of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure because you do not want to go back and wade through it from the start of the first season just to get the plot, Golden Wind could be the perfect stepping stone for you. Another plus is the change of scenery, where we are not stuck in Japan or Egypt and instead stay in sunny Italy the whole time, dealing with the mafia and of course a bunch of Stands. I also appreciate the fact that this season does not stand or fall solely on the main hero vastly outclassing the rest of the characters with his abilities, but their abilities are more or less balanced and they all have an equal chance to shine, which I give high praise for. However, now comes what I see as the biggest problem with this season, which is that it gives the impression of having been just going through the motions. Unfortunately. It does not really bring anything new to the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, on the contrary, it seems to contradict the rules of this universe - while in the previous season the use of Stands was presented as a highly selective matter for individuals who have something to do with a certain Arrow or are Joestar by blood, the events here give the opposite impression that every other Tom, Dick, or Harry could become a Stand User. Another sigh relates to the first half of the season when the creators fail to awaken the audience’s interest in the events that follow, and to offer a storyline that could arouse natural curiosity and hunger for further episodes. While this was something the previous seasons always managed to do in the first few episodes, this season completely fails to do so. The fights are dull, lacking in ease and ideas, and feel drawn out, or at worst, are strikingly reminiscent of some of the fights from the previous season, the bad guys lack any charisma, and overall the first half feels like a very weak concoction of the tried and true ingredients that JoJo aficionados have come to love. The second half thankfully rectifies this impression and offers a much brisker pace, more imaginative fights, unexpected twists, and, of course, a properly punctuated finale - it simply would not be Araki without a traditional final showdown with the main bad guy. What to say in conclusion? Die-hard fans will of course be satisfied with this season, and as the new audiences will not have anything to compare it to, they will probably appreciate it too, however, since I do not fall into either category, this is adding up to be the weakest season yet in overall terms. A completely average 3 stars.

I would like to award this more stars, I would really love to, but alas. The fights are a joy to watch, the character designs and artwork are engaging, Kajiura's soundtrack finally sounds fresh after all these years (bringing in another composer to the party was obviously a great move), and if we were to rate just the audiovisual aspect, it would have a clear seven out of ten. The screenplay is not such a looker anymore, the storyline is simple, not very original, and although the main hero is a shonen-like hard-ass, he surprisingly knows how to use his brain and win the audience’s sympathy, just like his sister. The pace of the narrative is set reasonably, there is no flip-flopping, and the season is clearly on its way - at least for the first half of the season. Until the second half, it is a hilarious, self-conscious shonen that on the one hand adheres to the unwritten rules of the genre, but is not afraid to push the envelope in places, and be much darker and more expressive than usual - in this respect, I was reminded more than once of the similarly imaginative Hunter × Hunter. Unfortunately, from the middle of the season onwards, the pace of the narrative slows down considerably, with new characters with exaggerated personalities, puerile humor, silly tropes, and screenwriting quirks. It also becomes clear that even though it initially looked like the whole story could be told in 26 episodes, whereas in reality, only the tip of the iceberg was revealed during that time, and we might not be able to watch the ending until after a hundred episodes or so. It is disconcerting that, in the case of the original manga, taking into account the rising reader interest, the publisher clearly pressured the author to stretch out the story, which had been reasonably measured up until then, and to make it more accessible to a younger audience – it is hard to explain the sudden change otherwise. The slow pace, new stereotypical characters, weird grimaces, exaggerations and stupid jokes filling almost half of each episode, a rather uncharismatic main villain and an anticlimactic conclusion unfortunately ruin an otherwise good impression. Where, for the first half I give a very strong 4 stars, but for the second half I give only a disappointed 2 stars, so in the end it is 3 stars. I will watch the upcoming sequel, but I do not have high expectations for it. Also, just for the record – given that the season is supposed to be set in the Taishō period (1912-1926), I would have expected a lot more references to the life of the period there to appear in the series than just one locomotive and a Tokyo alleyway for a few minutes.

Despite my original intention, I am not going to start my commentary by comparing this movie to Shinkai's previous works (and especially the last one), but I will start with what makes this movie unique compared to his previous works. Well: what the movie definitely excels at is its excellent depiction of the struggles of precocious teenagers and the conflict the naive main heroes have with reality, as they discover that a 15-year-old kid does not just become a real adult overnight. More than once while watching it, I was reminded of reading Kafka on the Shore, where Murakami also managed to handle similar issues brilliantly. Shinkai deserves another notch for one of the most accurate treatments of everyday life in Japan I have ever seen in anime - Western audiences may not appreciate it as much, but I could not help but notice how even the Japanese audience in the room giggled at it, the unexpected care and attention to minute detail with which Shinkai depicts life in a familiar Tokyo, in an effort to capture reality as faithfully as possible, and it is remarkable that so many well-known companies gave their permission for product placement in the movie without any need for inventing fake company names. In addition, anyone who perhaps disliked the narrative ambiguity, entanglement and fatefulness in Your Name should consider watching this movie, as Weathering with You offers a much clearer, perhaps one could say civil, story that is more accessible to a wider audience than its predecessor (and I do not mean that as a criticism). On the other hand, Shinkai's trademarks that were present in his previous films - Tokyo, trains, melancholy, piano music, sunsets, rain - are of course present here too, and again, by the bucketload, with the weather even playing a major role. So how does it compare to Your Name in the end? There are many crossover points (the main character from the preceding movie even makes a brief appearance!), so the comparison is simply unavoidable, however Weathering with You surprisingly does not come out of the comparison badly at all. It is a very well crafted piece of work, but it does not have the "wow effect" of its predecessor, and while I believe that this may have been intentional to some extent, I also found the movie lacking in a more careful introduction of the characters' family backgrounds, especially that of Hodaka, and of a stronger catharsis at the end - Shinkai unfortunately laid out his cards about 10 minutes ahead of time, leaving the ending itself with nothing to surprise and impact the audience. The bottom line is - a movie that definitely stands on its own two feet and is well worth seeing, it just has the misfortune of following a very successful predecessor and the expectations were set damn high for it. A strong 4 stars. (Seen at Shinjuku Piccadilly, Tokyo, 8/2019.)

This is a pure distillation of what you think of as shonen, with all its pluses and minuses. With the reviews of the first season of HeroAca, I often read or hear that its beginning is ponderous, boring, slow, as tired as a dog, and that Deku is an irritating main hero, while gradually things get interesting. My opinion is exactly the opposite: the beginning fully captured my attention precisely because of how pleasantly civil it presents an alternate world of superheroes, and pays close attention to the psychological development of the main character, who, moreover, has to really work for and earn his special powers compared to many other shōnen heroes. For me, this part is where the anime's greatest strength lay, and it is the reason HeroAca had my full attention. Unfortunately, after starting off at a superhero High School, the initially promising season devolves into the "shōnen hero at a weird school" trope seen hundreds of times, which means nothing more than interactions with weird classmates and weird teachers who are portrayed by the most over-the-top character types, that are simply not to be missed in a generic weird school anime - the bully, the heartthrob, the loser with an inferiority complex, the thug, the mysterious character, the star pupil, the class idol, the hero's admirer, and so on, no innovation whatsoever. The generic basic story about a strange school obviously demands characters, who look like mere copies of other anime, being thrown into completely tropey situations along with the protagonist. All of this stands out in the completely lifeless conclusion which I can no longer remember anything about, as there is no particularly interesting fight, there is just the ridiculous main villain. Out of curiosity, I also watched the first few episodes of the second season, which unfortunately only confirmed my fears that the show would continue in the same vein as the second half of the first season. If you are a die-hard shonen obsessive, or on the other hand have not seen much of them, then you are in the right place, but if you were expecting something more than just a generic show, then I would recommend that you go fishing in different waters. It did not offend me, but it did not excite me either.

To put it briefly, when you get two versions of the same thing, they are never the same. If I had to comment on this anime in more than one sentence, I would not be able to avoid comparing it to the older 1992 version, which despite its age, ironically feels much fresher than its 2015 remake. Compared to the well-known original version, the latter is an unexpectedly stripped-down, hackneyed, cheesy, dull and tasteless shadow of the original version. Perhaps the only positive transfer from the original here could be considered the "retro feel" of the story and anime art - but personally I would probably not even agree with that, as this feeling is hopelessly lost under the weight of all the audiovisual excrement that was bombarding me from the screen. I just have not seen such an anemic and mismanaged shonen production in a very long time – the action scenes mostly end before they even begin, any suspense is killed by the excessive use of static animation, thus losing all the dynamic potential of an action scene, the pace of the narrative is absolutely deadly (not to mention that the creators are trying to cram the events of 33 volumes of manga into 39 episodes of anime). There is zero character development or any thorough introduction to the audience. Plus there are literally no scenes with catharsis to speak of (what a difference from the original version, where the story of the three Kamaitachi siblings still resonates in my memory!). In addition, although the series is rated PG-13 (absolutely standard for shōnen TV shows), for some unknown reason many scenes seem like they are trying to conform to the lowest rating meant for preschoolers. If you are intrigued by the subject matter, and would like to give this a chance, you would probably be better off reading the manga or watching the older version, which, while it only adapts part of the story, does so way more successfully than this farce. Plus, the fact that a remake of older material can turn out well while retaining the spirit of the original has been proven in recent years by the likes of Parasyte or the more recent season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Diamond Is Unbreakable). However, this is, in short, a big bad no-no, for which I cannot think of a single major positive thing that makes it worth the time. After 23 episodes and a full 4 years of overcoming myself to watch more in the belief that the show would somehow gradually get better, Hromino has abandoned all hope and his nerves for good, quitting the series in a huff and leaving behind a single star, more or less out of respect for the original works.

This TV show has a very novel and engaging theme, excellent CG animation that takes your breath away during the action sequences, beautifully fitting atmospheric soundtrack and a story full of mystery. It sounds exactly like the anime you have been waiting for like a dog begging for chicken, and it aims high. I would have been perfectly happy with it, but what can I say – the more polished the audiovisual experience, the more appalling the screenplay. Also, along with it the incredibly badly written characters. led by a whiny, incompetent main heroine, whom I would humbly venture to nominate as one of the most irritating and poorly written anime characters of all time, they behave, pardon my French, as if they had had a lobotomy, and their behavior and statements often have little to no internal logic. What was obviously meant as the heroine’s character development is in fact no smooth evolution, but merely a 180-degree change in behavior with the snap of the main screenwriter's fingers; it comes completely out of the blue from episode to episode and feels completely implausible. The main heroine’s original goal disappears after a few episodes, and instead she keeps engaging in completely idiotic bullshit, which does not seem to bother any of the other characters, and just when it looks like there is about to be some kind of plot twist, the last episode concludes the season without any sort of catharsis. So basically, almost nothing is achieved in those 12 episodes. If you take the whole anime as some eye-candy companion to the original manga, then there is nothing to worry about in terms of rating this, but woe betide you if you try to think more deeply about the plot, the rules of that world, and try to find any logic in the characters' behavior. As much as I hate to admit it, there is a total victory of form over content here and I must award a sad 3 stars. This is a parallel situation to the anime K Project a few years ago and its hugely wasted potential to become one of the best anime of recent years. What a shame.