Jeoffrey

For me personally, this anime series was an absolutely amazing experience! It is like eighty-percent of cute girls do cute things, and the other twenty-percent is about the music, and that is totally OK with me. I was hearing about K-ON! From people around me, I had been reading about it, and whenever it was recommended, I knew I would probably like it. After all, both of the genres are completely my kind of thing, and when I was introduced to the characters, I was absolutely sure that I was watching the right thing because these are exactly the types of girls I like. I immediately fell in love with Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and the rest of the ensemble, including the crazy teacher who kept wanting to get them into cute new outfits for some reason and had more major personal issues than all the girls combined. There is simply a barrage of cuteness, simplicity and is very much a feel-good thing. I appreciated and enjoyed the light humor and the intermittent attempts at musical performances (because I do not mind it, on the contrary, I seek it out). I found the atmosphere of the show just wonderful, and the first season just flowed so beautifully (I watched it all over two afternoons). What I was a bit worried about was the music, or rather the genre of music used, because, for example, I do not listen to J-Pop and K-Pop at all, so I was thinking, who knows what kind of music they are gonna squeeze into this show, since it is supposed to be a club with easy-listening music. I was surprised by the excellent opening, which had the right amount of energy, and when they mentioned Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page in the very first episode, I thought that this could actually be very cool. Seeing the bass, guitars, drums, and keyboards, I was sure that if you put those things together, there would be some good music. I enjoyed the music and how it worked in the show, not just the opening theme, however, I did like the music at the end and most of the original songs the girls performed in the show. Even the regular background music caught my attention and I thought I heard something that sounded just like Popcorn, then (episodes eleven and twelve) I heard keyboard tones that reminded me of ABBA, I was very comfortable with it and felt musically at home... I was extremely satisfied with this show, I enjoyed every episode and was smiling from ear to ear. I love K-ON! 10/10.

"Rocky from the Slums - the animation" is actually an appealing anime series. Granted, it is a classic rags to riches story that sports anime never seems to tire of, and even some of the storylines are pretty predictable. However, there are a few of these kinds of shows around, and they can still be pretty enjoyable. I find this style of animation is really engaging, it is slightly old-school and everything looks so good and is so very well drawn and detailed. In addition to that, the boxing matches are just great. Action-wise I enjoyed Megalobox probably as much as anything else in anime season Spring 2018. There are some interesting characters and the show is reigniting my faith in the magical power of the afro, which I think was first sparked by Luffy in One Piece. They even produced some pretty decent hip-hop, at least I think it was hip-hop, I never really understood music like techno and rap, as they mostly passed me by, but damn this music really suits the show! I was also pleased with the ending itself, whith a rather good use of the old Russian animal fable, which I had heard a few times before, The Scorpion and the Frog. I also appreciated Yuri's decision to have a fair fight or the fact that they did not needlessly drag out the actual denouement of the final fight...in other words, there were no over-emotional Rocky-style moments. I was very satisfied, so, 7/10.

For me personally, Horimiya is an outstanding production in every way. The way the show combines humor, romance, emotion, and psychology is extremely good, and I think it just makes for a great show. Yes, I have heard criticisms that this anime series should have had at least twice as many episodes, so the characters would have had more time to breathe, and everything would have been more fleshed out so the audience would have felt they had a deeper insight. However, I do not agree with that really! If this anime series had been longer, then I think the general brisk pace of the show would have suffered, and above all the realistic straightforwardness and compassion with which all the problems are dealt with would have taken a beating. Truth be told, that is probably what I liked best about the show really, and the idea of going deeply into every little trifling drama for God knows how many episodes (basically just a lot of unnecessary pathos), would have been really very irritating by the end! I thought that actually everything developed quite nicely and naturally, I found it all believable, and even though, in some people's opinion, there was not enough time, there was still a chance to get to know all the supporting characters well enough, and they interacted with each other in a good, reasonable and funny way. I also think the animation is good and it has an excellent soundtrack. In other words, I for one have nothing to fault, and I enjoyed it. 9/10.

This is really such a nice, enjoyable and funny show, which is pleasantly relaxing to watch, and you can binge-watch it in just a couple of hours so it is like a nice hour-long movie (I finished watching it after just two afternoons). It was really right up my street, even though it may not have been a particularly groundbreaking slice of life show, what with it being centered around a school club where nothing much actually gets done. The mood of the show is nice, there are some good jokes, some jokes are stupid, and there is some absurd nonsense. However, there are also some great and heart-warming moments, and I felt it got quite emotional in the last episode. The show is more like a collection of different sketches put together, with some running jokes. The characters are typical of this type of show, except maybe Kirara, however, they grow on you, and there was no problem gradually getting used to them. Even Kyoro, a seemingly ordinary young man, kept me entertained! I even silently wished I could brush a girl’s hair like Kyoro... So my biggest criticism ultimately has to be about the soundtrack. I am not talking about the opening or endings, I did not mind those (even if I did not love them either), it is the background music used during the scenes, which often sounded like just another collection of Nintendo Gameboy music, which I honestly did not like at all, and I did not even like it in the funny scenes a lot of the time. The rest of it was enjoyable, and so even though, like the members of the GJ Club, I do not really know exactly what it is about, or what the point of it is. However, I do know what the acronym means to me, and what my overall impression of the show is. Good Job! 7/10.

The second season of Laid-Back Camp is still just as enjoyable and charming as the first. Even the concept, with the girls alternating their camping in a variety of ways, from solo camping to large group camping at the end, has remained the same, which means each part of this anime series is a little bit different. As for the soundtrack, once again, there are good opening and ending tracks that really suit the show, complemented by some easy-listening, and some very charming musical motifs played throughout the show. Whereas the guitar featured prominently in the music throughout the first season, this time around it was more about the flute and violin, and once again, it all added to the vibe of the show quite superbly. While there are some new little details about the characters, the emphasis of the anime series is still on the charming friendship the girls have between them and everything is as it is supposed to be. The animation is good, and the various landscapes, which really stand out, are excellent. I did not like the 3D CGI models of cars and motorbikes that often appeared in this show. I get that they used them to show us more of the landscape, however, I find mixing traditional 2D animation and CGI just never quite works for me I guess. What I liked best was the final part with the group camping. I have to say that there seemed to be too much moving around for my liking, with vehicles constantly going from one place to another. It often felt more like a sightseeing trip than a regular camping trip, however, on the other hand, it gave me the opportunity to see a lot of really interesting places (geospots), some of which I had to immediately look up on the internet to see what they looked like in real life. So, I still found the show very enjoyable despite the fact that the last part gave me the travel bug rather than stoking up my passion for camping. I have to say I did not find the jokes disappointing, Nadeshiko was in excellent form again. There were also some very humorous and heart-warming moments with the other girls, including the two sisters Aoi and Akari. What else is there to say? Nothing, just that it was another great adventure that made me happy this winter. 8.4/10.

I basically feel about the same as I did with the first season. A lot of things in the plot are a bit strange, like even though the main protagonist himself does not know whether he is Kyrylancelo or Orphen. Somehow I am supposed to accept that he is able to defeat his enemies with statements like "I am me!"... I also do not particularly find their emotional responses believable, so even when the main protagonist is telling Azalie about his sorrows or screaming at the top of his lungs, I just feel indifferent, it just does not move me. The world it is set in and its history has some good qualities and potential I could get into, like I was fascinated by some of the background details at times. However, it all seemed to be presented in a really erratic and confusing way, and when I was suddenly bombarded by an outburst throwing a load of information at me, I had to go back and watch it again, just to try and get my head around it. The characters were still just as uninteresting, but the soundtrack was a bit better this time, and the animation was about as good as it was last time. So why did I watch it? I do not know, I guess I was just hoping for something better than the first season, maybe I am going to find that I start enjoying it someday, however, so far still nothing. 3.6/10.

Log Horizon as a whole is still one of the most realistic isekai anime series I have seen even though it was still a bit too idealistic in my opinion. The realistic thing about the show is that the characters are still dealing with ordinary problems that a group of people trapped in an alien world would logically encounter. They have to deal with issues like fitting into society, the distribution of power, relationships with neighbors and each other, and other threats - just things you would probably realistically encounter in a fantasy world like this. Well, I think the ways the problems are approached and solved are quite idealistic. It seems to me that Log Horizon is sort of lecturing its audience on how to properly approach and deal with them between adults in a liberal democratic society. However, this may not be to everyone's taste (especially if you would prefer to see more action) and so I have also heard the view that the whole thing is like a broadcast from the House of Commons - i.e. incredibly long-winded. I think that is fair, differences are resolved by force of argument and by plotting various clever subterfuges. Everything is subjected to debate, and important issues are decided by a majority vote. Even romantic situations, for example, are all approached in a perfectly responsible way with careful consideration, so everyone gets an elegantly articulated, reasonable response that does not cause embarrassment for the recipient. Likewise, every moral dilemma is thoroughly discussed, many characters bring their complex points of view to the table, and if someone misses the mark, they are politely lectured, have it all explained to them in a very appropriate and friendly way, or they are left to figure it out on their own. The level of suspense is still measured by the number of times one of the main characters' glasses shift. Yeah, that is a bit of an exaggeration (it is more of a meme), because it feels like the tension actually builds at the right moment, due to the well-written dialogue. There are some fights, however, they are always against an outsider and up close they look pretty good. The characters have their weak points, they are not invincible, and this anime series also puts due emphasis on teamwork, friendship, and many other values. The idea of what the main protagonists actually lose when they accidentally die is also very intriguing. As probably my only major criticism about this third season is that the screenwriters here are too blatantly creating things to make their characters look good and have an easy life, just to get the show to a certain point. For example, do you need a raid for your rookies? No need, because by sheer coincidence... However, that is only a minor criticism, and it is pretty much standard for producers (only it seemed somehow more obvious to me in this season). There are a lot of characters I really really like, some I even only started liking during this season, and only a few I could not care about, and that is a hell of an achievement. So I definitely enjoyed the third season more than the second one, and just a hair less than the first, which is something like 8.8/10 this time around.

Redo of a Healer is surely going to be remembered by everyone who ever cared about it and is going to be a much talked-about anime series in the future. However, it is not going to be because it offers a look at the main protagonist’s journey to getting a satisfying revenge (unless you are also a passionate sadist like the main male protagonist) like, say, The Rising of the Shield Hero, however, mostly because it will be an anime series that clearly blurred the lines between anime and hentai. If Interspecies Reviewers teetered on the imaginary edge of the space between the two concepts, then Redo of a Healer is already quite clearly over that edge and on the way to the other side. This is because of the color filtering in some of the scenes, and because of the character’s proportions and the way they are portrayed. This is also because of the frequency and length of the sex scenes, and because the content of those scenes could have at least five hentai tags for each episode describing what is going on: it is clearly hentai. While it is not exactly graphically hardcore hentai with close-ups of the actual penetration, visually, it is more like soft porn. However, because of the subject matter, this hentai is definitely very rough sex with unpleasant consequences, and the participants do not appear to have a romantic nature. This needs to be made very clear because if you are not aware of the light novel or manga series that the anime series is based on, and friends have not warned you for example, and you, as I did, just go into the anime series based on the trailer, poster, and tags on anime websites alone, after a couple of episodes, you are going to be quite shocked at exactly what it is that you are watching. For the hardened and knowledgeable, this is not going to be anything new, you might even come across the opinion that it is actually an average show in the world of sex-oriented animation, and above-average graphically - well, each to their own...Unfortunately, I personally did not care much for it, I am not a fan of excessive brutality, rape, brainwashing, etc., which is actually half of what the sexual content is about. Of course, I am talking about the uncensored version, where you can see pretty much everything except close-ups of their genitals. Of the other versions, I have seen two of the most censored episodes, and I am going to say this much, as a comparison - the censored version is truncated, sometimes blacked out, and other times dramatic dialogue and scenes are simply replaced with a long shot of the fireplace, or of a sleeping lizard (their equivalent of a horse), which is, of course, logical according to the nature of the censored version, however, given the fact that some of the events that take place during the sex scenes affect the story, you lose a lot of context and sometimes it just does not quite make sense. So the censored version is useless for a comprehensive insight into this madness, and looks pretty silly, on the other hand, it will save you from watching a lot of things you might find extremely distasteful. So much for the first controversy and let us move on to the second - the concept of revenge and its moral implications. Let me be honest here, from a moral point of view, I find this show to be utter garbage! This anime series hangs tenaciously on that archaic moral concept from the Bible; "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth", while trying to convince us that the main male protagonist has no choice, that he was the victim of something nasty and insane that would break anyone, and so Keyaruga’s revenge is justified and righteous. He is, after all, an antihero who takes revenge on corrupt people and pays them back with like for like, fighting fire with fire! However, do you think this is morally okay, and when exactly does someone who punishes human monsters in the same way actually become just another such monster? For me, the line is clearly drawn - the moment you start to feed off the violence, abuse, and humiliation yourself! At that point, I feel like the character loses any moral high ground and sinks to the same level as those he is taking revenge on. Then, I really had enough of it when Keyaruga even more unironically declared that he thinks of himself as actually one of the good guys, after all the atrocities he has managed to commit throughout the season. This moral viewpoint is shown by the producers of the show and literally made me start loathing some of the other characters as well. Even Setsuna lost any semblance of being a good character for me the moment she admitted that she actually enjoys killing people. You can defend the main male protagonist all you want by saying that he only takes revenge on those who hurt him, however, truth be told, that seems like a lame excuse that loses steam as the episodes go on, with Keyaruga choosing to exact revenge in far worse and more brutal ways than the actual offenses against him (like the food revenge episode). I also expected to hear voices starting to say that the revenge thing was not so bad, even in the comments on this website I found an opinion about the very first act of revenge that I totally disagreed with - "He could have killed her in her room (or maimed her so badly that she would have been disfigured for the rest of her life), but he did not go that far". Yeah, is that really supposed to be a defense of what the main male protagonist really did, or perhaps an apology for what I think was in some ways possibly worse than a quick death? I am not sure, do any of you have something against a quick death in a case like this? I personally see it as a justifiable solution because I agree with the legendary idea that "From the point of view of a higher moral principle, murder of a tyrant is not a crime!" and that could have been seen to be fulfilled here. At the same time, I disagree that the main male protagonist has no choice, he had so many of those choices, however, he always chooses the worst way possible in my opinion. It is so low! Can you believe it? Fine, I can come up with several different scenarios as to how it could have happened without it being such an over-the-top, sadistic, sickening cringe-fest. SPOILER ALERT 1) The Hero's Journey - in the very first story when Keyaruga overcomes the effects of the drugs, he had enough reason to leave the entire group of heroes at the mercy of the Demon Lord (who is really a woman), just to let them die a horrible death for the way they treated him! Then he should go and killed the Demon Lord. After that the King would have logically given him a reward he deserved, fame, and influence in the kingdom since he would have been the only surviving hero. With this influence he might be able to change the whole society. 2) The Rebel's Journey - In the second timeline, Keyaruga just had to take the horn right at the beginning, after he got his powers, that would be simply enough. Just like in the anime series, he should be roaming around the kingdom and the surrounding area, doing good deeds, finding allies with whose help he could develop his own abilities, or defeat other heroes, start a revolution and open war, change the ruling regime, and change society again so that no one suffers the same as the main male protagonist did. 3) More sophisticated revenge - however, that would have required Keyaruga to cooperate with the other "heroes" at the beginning. Simply put, the moment he first uses his powers and finds out what the price of healing is, here he does not fall apart like a little kid, but instead, he manages to man up and, like a true hero, continues to heal others at the cost of his own excruciating pain. This way, others would not treat him the way they did, he would gain information about everyone who is healed, get to know everyone in the kingdom better (their strengths and weaknesses), and then he could skilfully use this knowledge to exact a more sophisticated act of revenge with the help of allies he has gained here (such as Kureha). He could probably even use Fleur and brainwash her into being his puppet, as in the original story, using her to gain influence, which he could use to publicly expose the perversions of the other heroes, eliminating other dangerous and corrupt characters in the kingdom, leading to his gradual change for the better...END OF SPOILERS. There you have it, three versions of a more complex and, for me personally, more interesting and less repulsive story than what is on offer here, and it did not even require much effort on my part. The other thing that blatantly irritates me here is the lack of any compassion as if it were a weakness! The claim that revenge can give a person strength (in the case of one little boy) is also really irritating. Okay, I get it. However, what about a boy who lives only for revenge, what kind of man will he turn out to be, and what will the meaning of his life be when he has completted his revenge? We can only imagine. It is worth pondering further, about when an individual has the right to take the law into his own hands. Is it OK if he is falsely accused and needs to clear his own name (as with The Rising of the Shield Hero)? Absolutely! If he is attacked, can he defend himself? Yes! What about when he is in a situation where he has no other way to get justice or a way of bringing about change in an unjust society? Well, but that is not the case here with Keyaruga! After all, he is a hero, he has above-average abilities, and thanks to the bad screenplay, he has a whole arsenal of spells under one single ability called Heal, such as erasing people’s memories, and shapeshifting, etc...With all that being said and done, there is a lot he could do with that power for the welfare of decent folk, and a lot he could do with it to publicly expose the bad guys. Oh, yeah. However, what is it we find the main male protagonist mainly using it for? Well, he is using it to abuse people around him (Setsuna, Eve...), twisted depraved revenge (a lot of the sex scenes are actually pretty much just vicious and actually rape, which I found got a bit samey after a while), plus other unnecessary bullshit. It's so low! No one could blame me for the fact that I could not get behind Keyaruga, and that I found him a deeply unpleasant character. Far too often this whole anime series made me mentally and physically sick as it is an indefensible debacle. However, some will like it, all I have to do is go to any discussion about this anime series and I will see that I am right about that. I have even noticed that if I wanted to boost the popularity of my Disqus account, all I would have to do is go around the discussions for each censored episode right after its release posting something along the lines of "Don't mind me, just waiting for a cultured version!" and the thumbs up would just roll in due to how insanely cultured the atmosphere is - I wish I was young and restless again. However, I am going to be thirty-five years old this year. I have been through a lot of stuff, and it has somehow taken its toll on me. So, I think this show is just mediocre hentai with a theme and characters that I find deeply unpleasant. Hence I am awarding a maximum of 2/10 for the fantasy world, and for learning something new about my own boundaries again.

The third season continues with all sorts of funny sketches, crazy situations, parodies, and also more sophisticated considered humor. I especially appreciate the fact that thanks to the screenwriters the show is bang up-to-date with its topics (political correctness, cryptocurrencies, vaccination even if it is not exactly about Covid, and much more). There are also parodies of popular new anime shows (especially the shonen parody from the penultimate episode, which was packed with references to the latest releases but also classic stuff). In other words, it tries to keep up with the changing times (it can, however, also be nostalgic sometimes) and poke fun at it all. Nothing is sacred here, nothing is taboo, and so everything is relatively fresh and it brings some outrageous perspectives to the table that no normal person would even think of. On the other hand, SPOILER ALERT to build the punch line of a joke around, say, two robots trying to tell jokes might sound like it could work, however, this particular part was perhaps (unexpectedly) hardly funny at all. END OF SPOILER. I really did not like the new robot buddies at all. In the beginning, when they were giving everyone a reality check thanks to their precise statistics and calculations, and I had a few chuckles, however, they quickly got too much and just stopped being amusing. Sure, there were good intentions and a well-thought-out joke, unfortunately, however, I just did not think it was that funny really. I guess maybe I just prefer the simple "Two guys went for a walk, and the one in the middle fell over!" jokes, and I am more into situational comedy and the stuff I can easily get and am familiar with. I also thought my other favorite supporting characters did not get enough screen time. So what I am certain of is that I did not enjoy this season as much as the season before due to the robo buddies, however, it was still a decent show! 8/10.

This show is still just as great, entertaining, reassuring, and enjoyable. I loved the way the characters interacted with each other, and they were great from the very first episode, and I knew from the scene with the frog that everything would be perfect. Plus, it seemed like this season had even more really funny scenes, which made me laugh, or perhaps I just found more of them funny due to everything else going on. I still enjoy the charm of the countryside, the way it is portrayed, and I love the occasional long shots of the countryside and the panoramic views too. In addition, the soundtrack is also really enjoyable. I am quite happy as a viewer, for whom this anime series literally brings peace and tranquility, so I have nothing to complain about. Even the storyline developed and was interesting, new characters were added, and one character, maybe some people’s favorite from the class, left. I was so happy to watch this show, it made the end of each week more enjoyable and, along with second season of Laid-Back Camp, made me feel better, which I really needed. 10/10.