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Nov 5, 2025
Arifureta is a horny isekai that devotes it attention to two things, action scenes and Hajime's harem. This was the opinion I had of the show before I decided to give it a chance. It lived up to that expectation, but what was unexpected was the story being told and character development everybody gets. What this show detracts in horniness, it makes up for in friendship and comradery.
This series follows two groups and how they both react to the situation they were thrust into. The first is Hajime and his harem. The writers did a good job blending old Hajime, who was a more
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caring and earnest individual, and the current Hajime who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. A character parallel would be Shadow from Eminence in Shadow. Both of them command a group of women and put a wrench in the plans of the local schemers and bad actors. They both have a more tender side and care for the people around them, even if they don't always show it. Hajime is more in your face while Shadow hides in the shadows. They way Hajime acts and reacts to each scenario is fascinating to watch. Ultimately though, you do have to put up with the horniness of the harem, especially Tio. Each member though is allowed to stand on their own merit and earn their spots in this story.
The other group is Hajime's classmates. Their story is where the narrative truly shines. The class is filled with multiple individuals with different thoughts, inspirations, and grievances. The writers do a good job showing this with both students trying to do the right things, and others who fall in with bad actors. Some are talented and some are not. Everyone listens to a different voice for influence and guidance and how it all blends together is amazing to watch.
At the time of writing, I am almost finished with season 2 and plan to continue with season 3. Season 2 tones down the horniness a bit and lets the story do more talking which makes it even better than season 1.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 27, 2025
Re:Zero is an enigma to me. This show lives on both ends of the spectrum and never stops in the middle. When it wants to be great, it is. The animation and story can be some of the best the isekai genre has to offer and allows the previous two seasons to stand at the top of the yearly anime charts in the years those seasons aired. The issue I was willing to overlook was how cringy and selfish Subaru as a character is, and the cringe inducing dialogue which sometimes flowed. It was annoying, but the story was progressing so I can overlook an
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annoyance if it has a purpose. I see similarities between Re:Zero and Sword Art Online in these aspects. Both shows start off with an amazing premise but have issues with writing along the way. They also both have a main character who is controversial. Sword Art Online should be judged by its individual arcs and season 3 of Re:Zero allows for a similar type of review to be done.
Season 3 aired in two, 8 episode, sections. The first 8 episodes focus on the Witch's Cult taking over the city. The second set of 8 episodes focus on how Subaru and his friends deal with this situation.
Episodes 1-8: Everything I dislike
As stated in the intro, I am not a fan of Subaru. I think his constant aptitude to be the personification of cringe shows a lack of character growth after Rem yelled at him in season 1. Although, he does drop the selfishness which made his character nye unbearable to cheer for after that point. Season three picks up one year after the events of season two. There is dialogue early on to suggest that Subaru has been training during that time to be a better knight for Emilia. Which is good until his first fight with Corneas and Subaru reveals he hasn't practiced dealing with the downside of using the invisible hands he got from Petelgeuse. A trump card like that having a side effect is good writing, but not practicing with it is a lack of character growth. His cringe was on full force during his speech to kick off the counterattack. It was too long, uninspiring, and generally detracted from the viewing experience. This wasn't the only issue I had with the dialogue. Julius, Emilia, Garfiel, are some other characters who had their moment to be cringy when opening their mouths. Another issue I had with this season is Anastasia. Every sentence she spoke sounded like it ended with a subtle "nya". It just sounded and felt both weird and off putting. Because of these factors, I give this arc a score of 2.
Episodes 9-16: Everything I like
This season was truly a tale of two halves. Subaru was still cringy at times, but it served a purpose for distracting Corneas and buying time to develop a plan to defeat him. This is where this series as a whole shine. It takes unique villains and crafts an intriguing narrative around defeating them. The fight with Corneas pushed Subaru to the limits of his knowledge and cunning. The Astrea family affair brought the emotions to this season. The banter between Al and Capella brought some interesting insights to both of their characters. This season also reminded us how terrifying Gluttony is. The animation and sound design were top notch, as usual. Because of this, I rate the second half an 8 which brings about the average of 5 which is what I gave the season as a whole.
Conclusion:
This season brought about both everything I dislike and everything I love about this franchise. Ultimately, I think it should have been given the full 24-episode treatment. The biggest downside with the fights in the second half is that we don't get much time to care about the villains and their motivations and backstories. Corneas and Artesia both get a full backstory, but they were both short and featured toward the end of their respective clashes. Gluttony, Wrath, Kurgan, and Capella got nothing this season. Learning more about them, before going into their big fights could add more tension and stakes to the fights.
One last note on Subaru's character growth, where was Return by Death? He was forced to use it against Wrath early on, but then never struggled with whether or not he should use it for the rest on the season. Again, it is a powerful ability with a nasty side effect. One that could change Subaru forever. It is fine if he doesn't want to use the ability to constantly reset the timeline when it comes at the expense of his own mental state. With how much he has used it throughout the first two seasons, at least let him struggle with the consideration of using it and weighing the positives and negatives in those moments, not use it a couple times early on and never think about it again.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Feb 14, 2025
I am a big proponent of stories having a good message. This is why I do not get tired of the "power of friendship" trope seen in a multitude of anime series. Shy is no exception to this, but for a different reason.
Shy ultimately is about a young girl who is also a hero. She is not used to attention; hence she acts "shy" in these situations. On the surface this should be a boring show, but we are provided an interesting discussion about dreams and the past colliding. Each hero has some sort of past that troubles them, and that past literally tries to
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stop the heroes. The way the show goes about resolving its dilemmas is intriguing and worth the watch.
This show also provides another aspect that makes it worthwhile, and that is the ability to find courage in others. All throughout both seasons, Shy finds herself unable to be strong enough. She isn't cured instantly by a speech from a friend but is given a couple chances to find her own strength and bring it in harmony with her friends. This is how Shy approaches the "power of friendship" trope, but in a different manner.
Ultimately, this is a well written, and animated show that is worth the time spent watching it. It is not surprising that this show gives more heart than the light and fluffy exterior would make you think considering how important one's heart is to the narrative.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 15, 2025
This is an anime that proves the importance of good direction in a project. Director Toshihiro Kikuchi should take a bow for how well this show came together. This show has the feel of a limited budget. The animation is nothing special and uses lots of still frames. Only 4 of the 9 voice actors have voiced in more than 10 shows. The director focused all the budget and animation around the two main characters. Both Nobuhiko Okamoto and Saori Hayami absolutely kill their scenes and their chemistry together is what sells this show.
Nobuhiko Okamoto is my personal favorite voice actor having voiced characters
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like Accelerator, Karma Akabane, Katsuki Bakugo, Rin Okumura, Genya Shinazugawa, and other loud and slightly mentally unstable characters. Eiji in this show is not like any of these characters and shows how great of a voice actor he is.
Saori Hayami is a fantastic voice actor who has many great roles to her name. She has voiced Shirayuki, Yor Forger, Yumeko Jabami, Shinobu Kochou, Shouko Nishimiya, and many other sweet and softer characters. She brings that quality to this show and made Rin Nanakura one of the best girls of 2024.
This show is a must watch for any lover of the romance genre.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 15, 2025
Mecha-ude is a unique series in the world of anime. It is an original project created by director Sae Okamoto and financially backed by people on Kickstarter. This is an incredibly underrated series that has many aspects that are well done, but some that are lacking.
Aspects of this show that are well done are music, voice acting, and action scenes.
Music: The composer is Hiroyuki Sawano. While this isn't his best soundtrack, it is still a Sawano soundtrack that slaps and adds to the hype of the action sequences.
Voice Acting: All lines are well delivered. At times it sounds like the VAs are having fun
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with their lines.
Action scenes: This is the focus of the show along with the music. Everything is well animated with great shot direction. The series also takes full advantage of the uniqueness of the different mechanical arms used to provide a level of interest and uniqueness to each fight.
This show suffers from some bad writing and editing. Like stated above, the action is the main focus of the show. When the show does slow down to deliver some exposition or character development, it feels rushed. It almost feels like these sequences were an afterthought to make sure each episode hit its minute limit. Because of this, I think the show would benefit from a 16+ episode season allowing the writers to flesh out the world, character motivations, and character development. This would also allow for a romance, or any, B plot vaguely hinted at through the actions of a side character.
Overall, an enjoyable watch and underrated series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 28, 2024
This series is a fascinating world to dive into and research. The story, characters, music, voice acting, animation, and writing are all done well, but the world building and competing magic systems are what set this series apart from everything else in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Everything involving the world is given meticulous thought and detail. The way Academy City is laid out, its standing in world politics, the magic vs science story, the ranking of the level 5s, everything has a great amount of thought behind it.
Nothing exemplifies this more than both magic systems. The first is a magic system that falls
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square in the middle of the soft/hard magic system spectrum. The harder a magic system is, the more definition the abilities of its users are. The first set of magic users use a form of magic set in the rules of world religions. It offers a wide variety of abilities, but every user has some sort of catalyst, "wand", to cast their magic. This system is mostly used by those who are trying to bring down Academy City.
The other magic system might be the hardest magic system ever written. It must have taken the author a great deal of time to learn all the scientific and mathematical definitions used in this franchise to flesh out its science based magic system. They way it works is a thing a beauty.
This series holds a very special place in my heart. It is the anime that got me to start watching anime. It is also the story I can most credit for giving me the inspiration to try and write my own story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 28, 2024
This series is not what people make it out to be, for the most part. What this show does well, it does in spades. When this show does something poorly, you need a thesaurus to describe how poorly the few bad scenes are handled. This is the only aspect of the series people get correct.
This show gets heralded as the isekai that started the isekai boom that has swept the industry for the last 10 years. The problem is that this show features a group of friends that play multiple virtual reality games across the series. This gives the show an element of drama involving
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the characters real selves and their escapism into the various games. A theme not found in other titles in the genre.
The other aspect people get wrong is the "harem" Kazuto builds. A true harem requires all girls to have an equal chance to date the main love interest at the start of the story. The reality is that Kazuto falls for one of the girls, before the others even join the group. This is a story about Kazuto, Asuna, and the friends they make along the way.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 28, 2024
86 is a show that needs to be experienced. This show is a great starting point for people wanting to start watching titles in the science fiction genre. It takes place on an alternate Earth and doesn't ask you to remember the particulars of multiple planets and cultures like most shows in this genre. The animation is both beautiful and heavy when it needs to be. The voice actors do an amazing job in their various roles.
There is one aspect of all science fiction titles that one needs to be considered amongst the best, and that is a killer soundtrack. The creators of this
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show got the best man in Japan for that role, Hiroyuki Sawano. The man is a genius with music and the pieces written for this show are amongst the best in the genre.
This show chooses to follow in the footsteps of giants of the science fiction genre like Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, and Gundam. It does everything well and should be given a seat at the table of these giants.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 28, 2024
Fans of the romance genre will be pleased with this show in its entirety. The show takes its time building up each of the 5 sisters throughout both seasons. The sequel movie then delivers a satisfying ending. Quintessential Quintuplets gets a recommendation because the story doesn't just end with Fuutarou picking one of the five to be his girlfriend but actually marries her. The world needs more stories that promote marriage as a good thing to seek.
Another standout aspect of this show are the voice actors for the five sisters and Fuutarou. These six stars make this show what it is and carries it beyond
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the capabilities of the story and animation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 28, 2024
This story is not what you expect. The synopsis given only works for the feature length first episode. Like the first opening, this show has many different styles and requires you to watch it in order to have a chance at understanding what it is. That is what makes this show amazing though. Everything is beautifully blended together for a captivating experience. The real standout for this show is Doga Kobo's work on the animation. You will breeze through the episodes until you reach that one scene, that the studio spent more time on, and be blown away by what was just witnessed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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