Jeoffrey

Sometimes it only takes one episode to know where a show is headed. And so "the Rape Wars" continues... Dropped after the first episode.

The first movie was a reasonably transparent but cute and funny parody of Indiana Jones with various allusions to other well-known movies. However, the second installment is just an ordinary and mediocre spectacle that is not even that funny. The narrative is by no means surprising. Most of the jokes revolve around the Mummy, which only pushes some of the other characters (who were, in my opinion, funnier in the first movie) further into the background, which did not really work for me. 5.5/10.

Devilman Crybaby is simply something you do not usually see. I have to say; it is rare to come across something so explicit, violent, action-packed, and insane as this. Plus, probably because of Netflix, there is none of the typical Japanese censorship, so I may have seen the most severed limbs and animated women's nipples I have ever seen in one day. It probably would have been one of the goriest spectacles ever if the anime's creators had not decided to make the demons' blood yellow. If you found, say, Inuyashiki way too gnarly, then this is several levels more and at an insanely rushed pace. The first few episodes flew by, and I needed to take breaks between the episodes to process everything I had seen properly. In other words, this is a show that wants to shock people, and nobody gives a shit. However, it often comes across as confusing, incredibly over the top, and I sometimes thought that this was just too much. The ending, on the other hand, tries to be philosophical, pose challenging questions, and of course, stay as cool as possible until the epic conclusion itself. Well, sometimes it works (who is the real demon here anyway?), sometimes not so much - and it is the same with being moved emotionally. I ended up feeling torn because this anime series was simply full of contradictions. I am just not sure if it was all meant to be like that, or if it was just way too overblown (probably purposefully over the top), intelligent or completely stupid, interesting or weird, artistic or completely tasteless... 6/10.

Okay, first off, I am going to admit that the longer running time really benefited this anime series and the whole project. It meant there was more room for the plot, the portrayal of the characters, and their melodramas than in the previous movies from same setting by HoneyWorks. Also, despite that, there was a massive romantic trope and the conclusion was quite sensitively done. In general, the storyline was a bit too clichéd sometimes and I almost choked as I expected to hear something like the line SPOILER ALERT "your brother saved her for you" END OF SPOILERS, and I thought I was going to take the whole thing and throw it in the imaginary trash can... There were no extreme surprises; however, it is a romantic comedy, so the end is entirely predictable. Everything was transparent and apparent even though, on the other hand, it was pretty enjoyable with likable characters that I already knew quite well because of the previous movies. Also, this time there is an excellent soundtrack that emphasizes the atmosphere very well. So, in the end, this series serves as a nice slice of romantic escapism. 7/10.

Once again, this is a decent, understated and sweet romantic anime series that is simply delightful. The characters are likable and also quite realistic. The narrative is not complicated by any means; however, it is still quite unpredictable. Even though everything actually ends in a way that leaves you with the feeling “yeah, that is how it was meant to be,” the road to it is winding and sometimes strange. However, I guess that in the end, that is just how life is. So this show was a pleasant surprise, unspoiled by the fact that the best female character, in my opinion, ended up left in the shit. Despite that, however, I guess that a good half of the audience was completely satisfied with the outcome (and I am not actually upset with the way it was done either, it made sense that it was meant to be that way). 7.5/10.

"I am the world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise, Arsene Lupin, and I have come to steal your heart..." After the first episode, it is pretty apparent that you have stumbled upon your average generic shoujo. It features a load of beautiful boys playing various fictional characters, rescuing one damsel in distress with big sad eyes and a long sad backstory. There is nothing here for the ordinary male audience, because even a young Dracula is portrayed as a blonde shouta, which will destroy any illusions left regarding this show having any other interesting characters. Still, I made it to the end, and now I am sitting here wondering why this was not as irritating as, say, Sengoku Night Blood, which I only managed (with difficulty) to get through the first episode. Perhaps it is because Lupin was immensely likable, although even then I can remember all his insanely clichéd catchphrases and supposedly epic moments, or perhaps not. Perhaps it was the narrative, which seemed interesting and unexpected at times; however, then I remember all the nonsense I had to deal with. So no, I do not believe that was it, either. Cardia, the main female protagonist, was cute; and there were several moments when she brought out my protective instincts and understood why the men's harem was hanging around her. She is simply a probably very well-written damsel in distress. That could be it. Throw in the insane love story, which was incredibly over the top in places (well, that is what shoujo is); however, it still worked for me every now and again. But yeah, it is not great, even though I did finish it. 3.5/10.

Talking about anime, making an anime and all of this is an anime... This is an anime series about anime series! They provide some interesting information, and basically, you could get to learn about a lot of aspects that anime series offer their fans. However, the problem is that the anime’s writers try to be very generic and cover all bases, groups, and genres. The result is that it all gets so mixed up that it ends up being a horrible and confusing mess sometimes. Even the ending itself was basically a bunch of all kinds of anime-related stuff all crammed into one show. In other words, when they could have made three different anime series focusing on different things concerning anime, I got one that turned out really weird because of the way they combined all the aspects. I just cannot decide if that is a good thing and I remain somewhat unconvinced. 5.5/10.

I had initially been expecting another Natsume rip-off. However, the honest truth is that this is first and foremost a slice of life anime series, and it also includes a supernatural element. In other words, as in Dawe’s review, “it is a slice of life with the supernatural.” I mean, there is an emphasis on the other side and solving supernatural problems, even though it takes a back seat to ordinary life. That includes studying, friendships, and all the relatively everyday things that a slice of life anime series is made of. Well, this is rather a shame because instead of an interesting and profound narrative full of supernatural stuff, we just have an ordinary narrative full of everyday worries and general life wisdom with a bit of that supernatural stuff. After saying that, if, in the end, there was no supernatural element, this would have still been a pretty average slice-of-life anime series. 6/10.

Now I know that the way to a woman's heart is through a glass of good wine, and it is just a shame that in real life, drunk women are not nearly as endearing as the main female protagonist in this anime series. Plus, indeed, men are not usually as understanding as her husband in real life. I would take this as a sort of anime version of Czech singer and songwriter Michal Tucny's song "Wonderful Woman." I am particularly thinking of the line "when a wonderful woman marries a wonderful man," and I may be drunk for a while every week with sweet fantasies about how great drinking is. 6/10.

I love this anime series because it has one of the cutest collections of cute girls, and somehow I still cannot decide if I like Kirie, Ebina, Umaru, or Sylphy the best. Each one is cute in their own way, and each one is as entertaining on their own as they are when they are all together. Still, I was expecting some kind of progression in this second season, I was expecting Umaru and her identity to be addressed, maybe even a more romantic subplot, in other words, something interesting. Well, almost nothing happened; a few new likable characters turned up, although not really essential to the plot. There was no consistent narrative going through the whole series as the episodes were stand-alone. Sure, the main strength of this is the proverbial "cute girls do cute things"; however if it does not develop or progress, it gets a bit stale over time. This is why I cannot help it, and while I enjoyed it again, my initial infatuation and noncritical attitude are starting to wane a bit. 8/10.