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I agree that the execution itself was poorly done. I just thought him being the target made sense.

I'm curious what you find if you read the manga. Let me know what you find out if you read it.

My issue with Isao dying is the audience didn't spend enough meaningful time with him to care about him dying. Game of Thrones is a good example where it gets you to care about a major character before killing them off. They skipped that part with Isao.

The power up part is kind of whatever to me, but it totally makes sense to target the opposing leader, especially when you gain their knowledge from assimilation as 9 does.

I will disagree with you a little bit on your Kaiju No. 8 review in that I think season 1 was underwhelming and season 2 is slightly better than season 1. I do agree though that the production isn't at the same level as season 1, but I tend to place less value on that in general than issues with plot, characters, etc.

Most of my disagreement is just in Kafka not acting like a middle schooler screaming his head off anymore, but the plot and worldbuilding was already very sketchy in season 1. Season 2 is just a continuation of that minus the the childish antics of our MC. Despite still being very shounen, the tone is a little more mature now compared to season 1 too, which is necessary to take anything seriously imo.

Well said on your Dr. Stone review. It's exactly what I've been complaining about in the episode forums over the last several episodes. It has fallen off a cliff this season, but people are treating it the same despite all of the issues lately.

great review on takopi. excellent work.

I was about to write a Takopii review, then I read yours and you basically said everything I was gonna say

I agree, it does not feel intentional, the theory or interpretation of what the commenter cooked up is pretty good but I doubt the author was going for that, i mean maybe he was going for that ending but did not have the writing chops to back it up or he did a "whatever your interpretation is of the ending" type of ending for the series and ended it there. Good show despite the flaws, enishiya kicked it out of the park and Koutarou Sudou being the real Mvp of this whole thing

Yeah, thats what makes what the commenter said understandable, but also really conflicting. The whole marvel esque timeline mind fuck was definitely what makes the ending and the reason behind it a bit meh. If takopi went through 1 alternate timeline and then the ending was what we got, I wouldve still not liked it, but it would be a bit better, but with the ending we got, I can only suspend my disbelief far enough

And as for Naoki this is what the commenter also stated, From u/SubjectAssociate9537:

From my interpretation, en isn't exclusively about the creation of positive bonds, but rather the entire web of fateful connections. Takopi is the archetype of the Holy Fool, which reminds me a lot of Prince Myshkin from Dostoevsky's The Idiot and his belief that "Beauty will save the world." Takopi, often represented as a flower or with flower themes, is the manifestation of that inherent, naive beauty. The story's brilliance is in showing how that simple beauty alone isn't enough.

Keeping on the same page of Russian literature, Takopi comes to the same realization as Solzhenitsyn: "The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man." Takopi's character arc is transforming this naive beauty into actionable wisdom as an agent of En, realizing that the beauty that truly saves is the difficult, tragic grace of a perfectly rebalanced web of connections. Each character receives the specific form of grace they need most, which Takopi was able to surmise in his time with them.

For Shizuka and Marina, the grace they needed was to form a new, positive en to break the cycle of a toxic, isolated relationship rooted in their family history. Their salvation was in finding each other.

For Azuma, he was an outsider who was drawn into this vortex due to the lingering trauma with his own mother and troubles with his brother. The grace he needed was to be released from this toxic orbit and to strengthen his connection to his brother

Yeah, you got what i was questioning about the review, especially the last paragraph. I strongly agree with it, I felt like there was no message in the show, there wouldve been some sort of message if it had world building In terms of how society reacts to it, instead of it being 3 kids, their parents and thats it.

I agree with your second paragraph as well, the ending for both characters just felt a bit eh, like "after all that, thats it" . But i did see a reddit comment that kinda states that its more of a we dont understand it in terms of culture instead of writing (in regards to the ending). It's an interesting way of looking at things but idk, im kinda conflicted. Your complaints about the lack of urgency or the lack of understanding each others position is kinda answered with what the reddit user stated below

From u/SubjectAssociate9537:

There is a Buddhist principle known as en (縁) which has deeply permeated Japanese culture. En more or less refers to the fateful, invisible, and infinite tapestry of bonds that tie people together across lifetimes.

There's a popular proverb in Japan: 袖振り合うも多生の縁 which roughly translates to "Even to brush sleeves with someone is a result of a connection from a past life."

So I think the way to understand this ending from a cultural perspective is that Takopi disembodies to become the En from the web of timelines (aka past lives) that links Shizuka and Marina, and Naoki and his brother. While these concepts of past lives with En and are traditionally understood to be metaphorical or spiritual, here we can see the physical manifestation of such an occurrence taking place.

For this reason, I don't see the ending as a Deus Ex Machina - at least from the cultural perspective of the author. Instead, the resolution was paid for in full by the blood and tears of the characters and is woven into the fabric of their realities. This also reminds me a lot of the emotional conclusion and bringing a spiritual concept to life via sci-fi with Interstellar.

Yeah, i also feel like it needs that type of in world consequence, cause no matter what, everybody feels it, subconsciously or consciously. The lazy writing maybe has to do with the fact that the manga was only 2 volumes, so it was a short story type of thing, but at the same time I feel like he or she couldve put some of that philosophical affect in, even if it was just a little bit.

One thing i forgot to mention about the review, is the problem with the anime not focusing on the nuance of the doomed situation the characters find themselves in, What did you mean by this? Im kinda confused on what you mean by that

Pretty good takopi review, especially with the point of insularity. A show that does this part better is march comes in like a lion. The teacher, the parents the students, the fact and the person relieving the bullying all felt it, instead of it being just the mc

loved your takopii review. wished you went more in depth with your points, but i understand u were tryna avoid spoilers.

I appreciated your Takopi review, a very thoughtful one. Also, good job on writing about the show with as little spoilers as possible (something I wasn't able to do D: )

Great Takopi review, really nailed the negative aspects I have with that show especially.

It's honestly the most articulate and refined of the Takopi reviews I've read, even though I disagree with some of the points. I hope I get to read more reviews from you soon!