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Jan 25, 2026
Majime is a calculated man with his words, but his expression is explored within this slow, but captivating series. Araki and Matsumoto alongside Nishioka and Sasaki decide to embark on a long project to write an expansive dictionary called Daitokai. The word means a sea of Words.
It's basically a workplace based anime about the importance of grammar and small details in which definitions can expand based on the reader and/or writer. Araki is the stern mentor, whilst the Matsumoto is the experienced supervisor. Sasaki and Nishioka are supporting this team and guiding Majime understand how to use words better. Araki lives up to the
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meaning of his name called Evidence as he always instills the stern double checking and revision of work to Majime, especially in the first half where he's looking for someone to join his writing team.
The one worded episodes such as Pride, and Love...and so on and so forth shows the tone and atmosphere that each episode represents towards to the end of an episode and at its beginning episodes. Add in the visualisation of Majime close to a beach or sea of Words adds to why the importance of grammar, reading and creativity all adds up to contribute to society as a hole. In which, that can be lost these days due to AI.
There's two halves in this series, in which I wish that they extended into 22 episodes instead of 11 since you can get more of a grasp of the struggles between handling manuscripts and drafts. If there was extended episodes, there would be a better look into how Majime got into synchronisation with the team with his personality and integrity to writing.
Plus, I liked Majime and Nishioka bonding in how to charm women, because small things like that bond a friendship....plus this would lead to small moments whereby Majime marries Hayashi. We would learn about the pros and cons of their relationship.
The music is just enough to embrace you into the world of writing. The visuals and animation are simple, but fluid to make writing a creative and systematic symphony of hard work, with lessons through people's facial expressions to movements. The colours used within this show is bright enough, but keeps a mundane tone of colour to show that it is adults that are writing and essentially working a job.
And at the end of the day, the voyage across the sea of worlds ensures that the ship (books such as dictionaries) can save other people from drowning from the storms of the world. Words can be used to inspire and destroy, and as short as this series is, it reminds us that literature carries a lot more weight than we think.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 15, 2026
To simplify this anime: people experience the world differently. There could be many different worlds to one, but one world to many people as well. Survival, prejudice, freedom, death are all abound in this simple universe that expands itself in a short area.
There are mainly four characters with a main focus within this abstract anime: Nozomi, Mizuho, Nagara and Asakaze.
These four alone represent some emotion or theme for this show. Nozomi represents the light, which is the direction needed. Mizuho represents the dull, but simple character of care which links her to the universe. Nagara shows that your subconscious tells you the truth way
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before you know it and Asakaze is power absolute, even if it ruins what he loves the most.
There are two extra characters that show that the universe of this world is something you want or you have to adapt in. Rajdhani and Yamabiko experience this within the series. Rajdhani starts off like everyone else, but just like the monkey story and baseball, the baseball was gone....Rajdhani became part of that analogy of that story that is within this series. Yamabiko was similar to Nagara to the fact that he didn't know his own strength or power to the point where it ruined him. Yamabiko becomes a physical version of what he embodied to what he thought of someone else...
People battle with themselves. The certain number of students from the high school have power, but as they learn power is subjective and comes with a great responsibility. Some of the characters in this story have to control their narrative with their powers and some people have to find themselves through the power that they have.
Within this small and isolated world, there is still relavance for having full control, ie. there needs to be people governing how the multiple versions of 'This World' can exist and evolve with looming threats and opportunities. The voice, Ms. Aki and Hoshi all seem to be part of that governance. You have to also include the cats for their control to access certain magical abilities of power.
The presentation of scenes with fluid and creative animation brought depth to a universe that has its own rules. When powers were used or activated, there are visuals that add to the dynamic of escape and/or copying with whatever is going on. The dialogue has a lot of range in terms of contribution to the narrative of escaping and experiencing a universe with consequences. But with the heavy dialogue, it brings out a negative in that, some parts of this show does drag on for the sake of being abstract or buying too much time to the next scene. The use of music is minimal in the first half and slightly goes up (which was rare) during the anime, which helped in expressing the creative aspect of this anime whereby it doesn't follow the normal trope of using soundtracks to add on meaning to a scene.
You cannot binge watch this one, unless you have been used to this anime. One or two episodes are enough to keep you engaged and to make sure you take your time to see the small details that influence the fact that the world is what you make it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 7, 2026
I watched this anime in 2020. The first time watching this show made me a fan of Hiromu Arakawa's work as I also watched FMA 2003 before this. I decided to rewatch this anime in 2025 (after Christmas). And it somehow hit even better because I got the manga (mainly the first half before the second section, where they move to the North).
There is a reason why this anime is top tier. The themes, philosophies, plot points/changes, the soundtrack all align to give out a simple message: the law of equivalent exchange applies. This law is basically the representative of karma (religion/spirituality) and of science
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(with the use of alchemy and alchehistry). All the recognisable characters within the plot for this series all have their traits that direct their actions and ideals into this idea.
The animation delivers as this anime could be put to any other current anime and it'll still measure up. Even the goofy or funny scenes are delivered quite well to balance episodes that are just casual travels to another location.
The soundtrack adds to any scene such as intense conversations to light or heavy throwbacks. To even when the Truth arrives at the door for some characters. It is done really well by the music team to ensure that some songs are defining sounds to this anime series.
The themes of death and life are thoroughly explored here and yet simplified in case there's a young kid watching it for the first time, especially when you watch it with the main two characters of the Elrics. Even though the Homunculi and Father are the villains, they are the representation of the seven deadly sins (Homunculi) and how the devil was once an angle (Father). The Christian faith mixed with the impact of war created another dynamic for this show added on with the purpose of the main character. The Homunculi try to justify their evil many times by reminding how vulnerable humans can be as they were split from Father's soul, and he had the arrogance to believe he was beyond humans.
Even the idealogies of freedom, justice and having a community are being explored with three anti-heroes of the story: Scar, Kimberlee and Greed (the only Homunculi who admits loving humans). Scar is the one who is looking for justice for what happened for his people, Kimberlee is wanting to understand the pure honest nature of people when they attain freedom despite his psychotic nature. Greed is the only Homunculi who finds his own way to say he needs people due to his nature, he starts to see that greed is possession in both positive and negative traits.
It just starts off with the goal of the main two characters', Edward and Alphonse looking for their purpose to be executed to save themselves, but as you get further into this story, all the warnings about finding the truth being a dangerous path becomes most true for them. Allies such as Colonel Mustang, Hughes, Hawkeye, the Armstrong siblings and the rest of Mustang's soldier crew unite properly into this story with their own goals that coincide with the themes within this story.
Winry, Pinako and Father are part of the Elrics' past. They have been a unit since certain events have happened in their past and due to the fact that Winry and Pinako are a team that specialises in automail development. Winry and Pinako are the definition of great support to the Elrics' as they serve as a reminder that they have something to go home to and that you cannot leave people waiting forever as anything can happen, and that's what Hohenheim failed to see until his end where he finally atoned and found peace through his children who have grown up. Hohenheim is the foundation of the events to this series, for good and for worse. Then, you realise his main battle was with himself and that's what Father (Dwarf in a flask) also had since they're bonded (due to a certain events). Father sees the truth eventually....
To add on to my comments of characters, the Shing crew of Fuu, Lan Fan, Ling Yao and May add some spunk and enthusiasm to this show as they are the few people from East who have a different perspective and different representation of Alchemy, which adds purpose into how one truth can save a whole other place through a different perspective. Ling Yao is the main one who may have been underestimated at first for his own purposes, but as a prince he slowly starts to move like a king as the story progresses. It's the reason why Greed and Long Yao bond so well together, the value of people can never be forgotten or disrespected. This is especially shown in how they treat people they need.
This story leads us on an adventure whereby secrets are discovered, hidden truths are shown in plain sight, if you keep your eyes focused on other details and of course pure action. The conversations about the themes and philosophies within scenes add more depth to each characters' action that leads to the Promised Day where a lot of fates are yet to be seen until the day arrives.
As a final conclusion to this review, the plot of using a previous war and an ancient event was a great combination alongside the characters' directions to push forth the urgency and necessity to stop chaos from arriving once again. This anime makes you go through a myriad of emotions and you'll enjoy the rest of the experience of the story you are watching.
Thanks, Hiromu Arakawa, you have made a classic (and you made other classics too).
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 24, 2025
Against all rules aka Season 2 took its strengths from the previous season despite some flaws such as the following below:
- Mr. Endo randomly has financial issues
- Mr. Ishida's son doesn't say or do much to receive what he gets at the ending
- the extended pacing of the Ichijo saga at the casino, whereby the beginning half of it and the conclusive side of it should've been compacted into a shorter length of one episode each.
But those flaws don't generally ruin what makes Kaiji Against All Rules fun to watch. The Pachiniko machine was a pleasure to see due to its creative way to have
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tension through the use of clever tactics to manipulate the outcome of the balls going through the machine to get to the Jackpot plate. A lot of thought must have been put into how to deliver the intense planning and feeling of characters for them to be like this.
From Ichijo being ruthless and cunning as he always plans to be on top to Mr. Endo being the guide into how you should focus on yourself and your goals to Sakazaki being a great supporter of Kaiji alongside the Forty-Fivers in the first arc in the underground duel. It was still great fun to see Kaiji stand on his morals and integrity to overcome any hurdles and/obstacles that come his way.
The theme of luck was heavily mentioned into this season as literally, some outcomes in the positioning of the Pachiniko game and the first game in the underground showed that with enough preparation you can literally get your luck up.
That little swerve at the end with a peaceful end still serves up more to be given as Kaiji still has to find a way to survive with the little he has got, which can detract people from watching or reading more of the manga, as that looks like it's the obvious formula to keep him in his gambling state for battles.
I know the manga continues this story and when I get time I know I'll be enjoying the rest of this story for Kaiji.
If you really like psychological and strategic anime, this one fits as it doesn't focus on death but focuses on money and luck a whole lot to feel like being broke is death, which is somehow a truth of this world. Kaiji is a great fictional depiction of money and life can still have it's inconvenient times, but persistence and determination will keep both of those aspects going.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 18, 2025
Kaiji enters the world of gambling in the most scariest and risky ways of getting money. The desperation is the catalyst for the storytelling whereby Kaiji alongside other people in debt are in various competitions for the sake of money.
The psychological presence and execution of the Restricted Rock Paper Scissors and Human Derby create the urgency for the participants in the story. Add on the conclusive Tonegawa and Hyodo (the President of the whole organisation) gambling battles, to you have got a total heart wrenching and psychological entertainment that will keep you hooked on the small clues that can win any of these games.
It is
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the ultimate survivor arc for a reason. This Kaiji Ultimate Survivor arc puts in the themes of human life in regards of living safe to living with risk. It's whereby if there's too much of either safety or danger, your life will be a tad lower on quality. Safety will bring peace but with no enthusiasm to prove that you're alive, whilst high risk brings in the neurological chemicals that boost your body and mind to know that you're alive, but in turn you could suffer heavy consequences.
Plus, the strategic planning and control of human behaviour such as your body language and emotional reactions brings this anime into another level of great storytelling to show you that within this world, nothing is fair but it's all about how you play with the cards that you can get or have been given or just outwardly think out of reason and be creative to balance opportunities into your favour.
The soundtrack or music used here is used to captivate the watcher into any decision or strategy made by the characters involved in any game that was in this arc. Plus, the money is a relatable incentive in which people know that money is the root of all evil and it pushes everyone's luck into wanting more due to greed or pure ego.
All in all, even the last episode proved that this is a great arc to begin with and it's a season that defines and reveals what happens when you live a lifestyle that is always full of desperation and having the cards not being fully dealt with you.
100% recommend if you want a creative and simpler approach to storytelling in terms of the human lifestyle that happens when you cannot get it right in life or when luck runs out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 14, 2025
If you have already watched season 2, the first portion of this movie is a summary of important scenes in the Shibuya incident arc. Specifically when the portal covers the Shibuya Station.
It made me see why the intensity and urgency is necessary in Shonen. This revision of the arc showed that, plus when it gets to the culling game section or even when it goes to the context of the Zenin family and the final will...you start to see the tone of the show stays the same from the Shibuya Incident arc towards this new Culling Games arc.
I will say I seriously disliked the rushed
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approach into the explanation of the Culling Game rules....it was rushed for no reason. But other than that, the two other integral purposes remain for the survivors...which will heavily add on to the pressure that is Season 3.
If you came for the movie for new content, it is very minimal. But if you came to enjoy the JJK anime, you'll be chilling regardless because you know of it's chaos that is coming.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 13, 2025
The final is the final. It's the end of one arc that has tested Class 1-A for a few seasons. There was the childhood trauma that is used as a concept that is explored, which helps to add to the plot of people become who they are based on what they do in the present and what has happened in their past to affect the future.
Izuku, Kacchan, All Might, Shoto and the rest of the crew face off the challenge of finally ending the chaos that Shigaraki and All For One have caused. It was great to see the conclusion for these main characters as
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some characters finally tied the loose ends to their issues which helped to make their character arcs conclusive in terms of the plot for this anime. Since it's Shonen, of course the final action scenes go all in and in this season they don't hold back.
I like the themes of self-belief to childhood traumas and needing a community that were shown through prologues and previous experiences to show the value of people, which was vividly shown throughout every season/arc for this anime series. The villains had their pasts that they were either in control of and/or didn't know who or how to respond to their own challenges. Whilst the heroes acted as a fold to them, such as Uchaco and Toga.
All in all, everything made sense. But I do feel like there were flaws or small issues. Due to the fact that there are many heroes, you cannot go further into backstories such as Lida, Tsukuyomi, Kirishima and many others who have had brief moments of showing their past situations which led them to the heroes they are today. Even with All For One, I wish some of his past were briefly shown without conext in terms of each One for All hero that he dismantled to show how dark he became as a villain to build up the importance to stop his evil as he is a heavy physical and psychological character in the series.
Despite its flaws, this is a long-term anime series that deserves its respect now. It is an anime that will show anyone that a simple presence or a simple action can have an outstanding effect to anyone within your circle of people...it can even go further beyond. Through the series, movies and bonus OVAs...the PLUS ULTRA/GO BEYOND mantra has been shown tirelessly and it's done it's part.
In a few years time, when (maybe) a continuation of this series goes on, people will appreciate this whole series as a stable foundation and one of the great stories that prove that: "good things take time" and that you can be a hero in more simple ways than you think.
Thanks Horikoshi, you cooked a special one here.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 3, 2025
Laois, Mercille, Chillchuck and Senshi. Great characters with an ever developing plot that evolves as the Dungeon shifts in its shape. And this story tells the tale of eat or be eaten with various ways such as the adventurers besides these four taking advantage of any opportunity within the Dungeon. Adventurers could be killed within the lower levels of the dungeon and arriving adventurers will look for money. Even with people who switch or leave their crew for decent money or salary.
But the biggest thread is the cooking since it's kind of referenced in the title of this series. It also adds to the survival
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mentality within this story. You'd think that this is family friendly, which it is...but when you get to a certain climax of the story...you will feel the change gradually.
When Laois meets his former old teammates, you get to see pieces of his past, even alongside Senshi who seems to be the glue to the team and the living embodiment of the Dungeon itself. These two characters are the nerds for monsters and food...that's what makes me connect to them even more. Senshi is the strategic cook, whilst Laois is the intuitive fighter.
Chillchuck is also the specialist in figuring out traps and schemes, so he's essentially the brains of any adventure. Mercille is the first lady of the crew, but brings so much heart and humour at the same time. She is always empathetic but strong in her own way, especially when her intentions are in line of taking care of the main narrative of the story....she kicks into her magic into another gear.
Watching this show had me hooked from the opening and ending themes which reveals the heart of the team and their memories (especially with the ending themes). The animation is great for a show that needs a lot of movement.
All in all, it was a very great watch and is worthwhile of all the hype it has gotten. Let's see how future seasons will do.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 15, 2025
Denji and his purpose are his reasons for this arc/movie for it to happen. I guess it's a preview of chaos for the next upcoming seasons. Early on, Pochita gives a cryptic warning about his vulnerability for wanting intimacy with a chick with vague words, that stems from the dream that he's always been having, which was hinted in Season 1.
Reze comes in just after Denji has a new associate to be with him in the Devil Hunter association, which is Beam. Reze's backstory gets told after the main fight ends, but I wish it was slightly explored just after Denji meets her. Reze was
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basically trained to be like a super spy soldier, and thus added either her Devil Power, she is a dangerous weapon.
Reze uses her charm to get her target, like every other Devil in that world: which is the chainsaw heart of Denji. Reze makes her move and the action and pacing to other fight begins.
Aki and his level 2 Devil Hunter team encounter Reze whilst she just tried to get Denji down for the count. The rest is history from there.
The movie had its positives which is basically a short and sweet arc that probably pushes the promotion for the next upcoming season. The soundtrack for the movie helps add or release tension or peace in certain scenes such as Beam acting goofy to Aki caring for someone not to die in front of him again.
Denji learns to master his own Devil power, which is a great bonus for this movie.
The presentation was top notch, but I wish the conclusive fight, especially with the Typhoon baby devil didn't rush with a few of the frames....but that's a small tidbit that doesn't affect how I enjoyed the movie.
Heavily recommended if you like shounen anime that takes anarchy and gives it it's grim, but comedic charm despite the settings and tone it aims to be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 23, 2025
The essence of the heroes is the thread/narrative of this movie. And the villain is an evil All Might aka Dark Might.
He's as flamboyant as the original, but his style and reasons for being a villain are lackluster, but at least his charisma carries his team forward, as the villains beside him are not that memorable.
But Anna & Giulio within this movie carry the whole plot as well. Anna has powers that boost anyone's power, but it has to be compatible. Giulio plays the role player of a protector to her since he has been playing that role since they met when they were younger.
Class
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1A and the UA heroes step onto the scene. But it's funny enough that one anti-hero who was in the movie had a cameo and could've added more depth to the movie since he was involved partially.
You get your main three heroes carrying a lot of the main fight scenes like the other movies. But what I like here is that they all represent a depicture and their own understanding of what All Night's symbol of hope means to them which is a big tribute to the series up to that point.
This movie in a nutshell is if you saw the Goku Black story be executed very well compared to its original version from DB Super.
Quite a good movie to watch and to pass by time with. A little issue...the heroes somehow enter the battlefield, but there were restrictions to enter in the first place...so that's another small issue.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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