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Jan 27, 2026
While not the most creative premise of all time, Makeine certainly is still a breath of fresh air in the world of romcoms where the focus is as the name implies; the losing heroines. Instead of having a story about slowly developing relationships that end up blooming, we immediately start with cold hard rejections. Forget the winners, it's all (mostly) losers here!
Nukumizu as the main character is a good fit for the story. He hasn't been rejected but he certainly lacks experience in romance regardless. But the biggest strength of his character is that he is a good listener and thus he becomes the perfect
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therapist for our losing heroines.
Speaking of the heroines, the trio is a charming bunch that could easily end up as winners in other stories. Anna is a confident glutton who values herself highly and is quite teasing. Lemon is the spunky tanned tomboy and also popular among other students. Finally, Komari is the opposite. Unpopular, introverted, socially awkward and makes funny noises. The girls behave very differently but in the end they are all just young, heartbroken girls who grieve like any other.
I'm not gonna really comment too much about the other side characters but I still have to give a shoutout to Kaju, the MC's little sister. She was quite possibly my favorite character in the show and if there is a best little sister award anywhere, she should win that.
I'm unfortunately someone who doesn't find most anime comedy funny but I did find myself chucking at some of the gags and jokes, especially the recurring ones. The drama was also appropriate. Not overly melodramatic or dark in tone, but realistic and emotional. The vulnerable moments were the standout scenes. And luckily, the comedy and drama never ruined each other with timing, which has been known to be a problem in some other shows.
I can't believe I wrote this much without mentioning the visuals yet so let's talk about those. This show is very good looking. Like way better looking than it has any right to be. Not just the consistently detailed art style and backgrounds but even the animation is lively despite being a show that doesn't require a lot of motion in the first place. Romcoms from now on can only dream of aesthetic quality like this.
Besides the comedy being a bit of a miss for me, I had a couple of other issues. It's very heavy in LN tropes. While it does try to be very self aware of them, it still didn't make it much better. Another thing is that while I do like the premise, at the same time it means we will be lacking in bigger payoff moments that are usually the parts to look forward to in romance focused anime.
Makeine was a pleasant watch. It didn't blow up my world but it was a good addition to my small list of romcoms.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 8, 2025
My first experience with a work from Takahashi Rumiko.
First of all, I haven't seen the original anime so take this with a grain of salt but I really got the feeling that MAPPA did a stellar job with this remake. From start to finish it's just really immaculate on the vibes which I found to be the strongest thing of the show. It's very old school (80s Japan) but looks very modern at the same time. And I'm not just talking about the iconic character designs but also smaller things like including sound effects in the visuals and while sometimes feeling outdated, keeping all the
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old tropes that were very popular in the pre-2000s in this remake too. Overall I think the show is a visual treat.
The premise is obviously very simple too, revolving around the titular main character getting into all kinds of whacky scenarios with a shounen twist on top. This includes anything from cute romantic situations to ice skating death matches. Besides Ranma, the other main character is Akane. She's a tomboy through and through but has a lot of moments to let her girly side shine too. I wasn't immediately a fan of hers but learning more about her background made me sympathize and understand her more and now I quite like her.
Another thing that definitely has enough focus worthy of mentioning is that this is an Ecchi show. It even includes full nudity however the nipples are not drawn as a way to keep the age rating lower, which is different from what I heard of the original anime. I'm not a huge fan of ecchi normally and tend to avoid shows that are focused on it but I didn't really mind it here. While I wouldn't call it tasteful ecchi, it wasn't really tasteless either and actually felt like it fit in the silly nature of it in a weird way.
I also wanna give some appreciation to the VA cast. We have some modern talents introduced but most of the cast is also the same ones from the original and that also adds to the vibes. Not to mention they still do a good job with their characters. Shampoo even talks in (albeit broken) Chinese. The remake is pretty much the opposite of soulless.
I briefly mentioned it earlier that I while I enjoy the vintage vibe, the tropes were definitely a bit too outdated at times. The comedy is mostly slapstick and for me it's rare that it makes me laugh. At least the dialogue at times was amusing. Another outdated thing is characters being too oblivious or just straight up dumb regarding some obvious things, namely regarding characters swapping appearances. And it happens frequently enough that I can only handle so much of it.
Due to the simplicity I found the show an easy one to get through and had a pretty fun time with it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 24, 2025
Densha Otoko or translated to Train Man is a manga adaptation that is based off a real life story that was told and experienced through the Japanese bulletin board 2ch. This is also one of its biggest strengths.
The story is a simple one. An introverted otaku finds himself on a day like any other inside a train but happens to witness an old, drunken perv making the other passengers very uncomfortable. He ends up breaking out of his bubble momentarily to tell him off and while his attempt certainly wasn't perfect by any means, it definitely caught the gratitude of one young lady who was
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being harassed by that man. And thus begins the budding love story.
The names have obviously been shifted to pseudonyms to protect the privacy of the real life counterparts so we have Densha being an avid 2ch poster talk about his experiences and once the community noticed his story, they all flocked together to become the ultimate wingmen to help him get together with his dream girl.
The pacing is great since it's based off a real story like I said. And on top of the relationship progressing at a good pace, it also is, actually, very realistic. Reading through the story I was absolutely sold that this was actually a thing that happened for real and it really enhanced the enjoyment.
And the other part I enjoyed the most besides the realism is just how insanely cute this manga is. You have two young adults that end up in love and them just teasing each other made me feel all fluffy inside. Maybe this is a selling point for all these romance stories? I wouldn't know well yet but I liked the feeling.
And besides the interactions of Densha and Hermes (her pseudonym is based off the brand of teacups she gifted him early on), seeing the 2ch community rally together and cheer for Densha was one of the more wholesome things I've seen in a long while.
The contemporary vibes were also neat. The early 2000s were very out there, especially on the tech side of the manga. As a 90s kid this gave me some bonus nostalgia on top.
The plot itself is obviously very predictable but it didn't bother me. It's one of those things where the journey is just fun to experience, even if you can imagine how the conclusion is like. No huge drama, twists or anything like that. And I'm okay with that.
Had a good time with this short, cute story and it was a very easy binge.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 17, 2025
Before watching this, I had no prior experience with anything to do with Show by Rock or Sanrio which I'm sure will either surprise or trigger people but I had to mention that to establish my pov here. With that said, let's talk sb69 Mashumairesh!!
Howan was apparently the mascot to some kind of a Sanrio store in real life until someone decided to feature her properly in a show of her own, coupled with a new voice to boot. She's a fairly basic country girl with dreams of stardom in the big city, pretty classic tropey stuff. So she travels to Midi City and by
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happenstance runs into the other three main characters of Himeko, Delmin and Ruhuyu.
As with most music shows, it's a pretty easy thing to digest. You get your arc of struggling, founding the band with a bit of drama mixed in. I wanna say it's nothing too deep so your enjoyment will depend on how much you enjoy the interactions of the cast members. Luckily I had a good time with that.
Delmin and Ruhuyu are fun too but I really enjoyed the relationship between Howan and Himeko. Bluntly speaking, those two have some crazy lesbian energy and I found myself very invested in observing them. Going into the show I already knew Himeko was gonna be my favorite because of her being a queen with beautiful, blonde, giga drill hair but I was happier when I found out I liked her and Howan together too. For what feels like a kid friendly show, it was surprisingly intimate at times. Bottom line is, inject this couple into my veins.
Now I do wanna comment about my personal elephant in the room. The side groups. We have the usual rival group in REIJINGSIGNAL who I thought did a pretty good job with their role. They didn't feel like a total plot device to push Mashumairesh!! forward since they also had agendas and personalities of their own.
However.. Then we have DOKONJOFINGER. It's not like I hated them but it just felt weird to me when suddenly we had big segments or even full episodes dedicated to them. Whenever the focus was on them, in my head I was just going "This is okay but I'd rather be watching Mashumairesh!!". Supposedly they are a discount version of another beloved dude group from a previous sb69 entry, so that didn't help in trying to enjoy them more.
Being a music show I should definitely comment on the songs too. You regularly get new songs performed, be it from Mashumairesh!! or from the other featured side groups. I will have a few songs on my playlist (at least for now) but besides that, I didn't really find myself loving most of the songs on first impression. It's pretty basic pop rock stuff. REIJINGSIGNAL at least brought some electronic elements to mix things up a bit.
Music aside the performances I had a bit of grievances with. To reiterate, this is my first experience with Sanrio so seeing the instant transition from these cutesy, 2d animal girls to full on CGI chibi furry designs was tough to get used to and I wanna say I never got fully used to them by the end either. Transitions aside the CGI performances were also lacking punch and were a bit too static for my liking.
But just for Himeko x Howan and the short journey of Mashumairesh!! the show was definitely worth the watch. Chances are I will be checking out the earlier entries and Stars in the future too which might spring some newfound appreciation for this show retroactively too, who knows.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 20, 2025
A girl named Cocona lives a seemingly normal life until one day this mysterious other girl called Papika appears and takes her on a fever dream induced series of adventures to collect magical fragments for an unknown reason. Let's Flip Flapping!
First of all I just wanna comment on how visually great the show is, which is arguably its biggest strength. The artstyle itself is unique and cute but the animation is the real highlight. There is virtually zero CGI used and the show is packed full of constant, beautifully hand-drawn sakuga moments, sometimes even outside of action sequences. Also a lot of impressive, dynamic camera
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movement being utilized will guarantee a visually pleasing viewing experience.
Now as for the narrative itself it's a bit of a mixed bag for me. It uses a lot of symbolism and visual metaphors but ultimately it's not as deep as it might seem and is actually a lot more surface level. A big part of the show is comprised of these episodic episodes that deal with some kind of a unique scenario and the girls extracting the "Amphorous" fragments from within them in favor of their own organizations.
Yes that was plural for a reason. Cocona and Papika are working for one faction but we also have this other cult-like faction also wanting to possess the fragments for their own cause. Bits and pieces are slowly unveiled as to what the fragments are used for at a decent pace to not keep the viewers too much in the dark but also to pose questions to keep the brain thinking.
Personally these episodic adventures were the better aspect of the show for me. They even dealt with a rare topic in dementia in one of them that was a pleasant surprise. When the show was starting to reach its climax however and it became more action oriented with the characters and audience realizing what all of the stuff means it got less interesting for me. There was some decent character growth payoff don't get me wrong but I preferred the earlier escapades.
Another thing that I really didn't understand was the.. fanservice(?). I'm as degen as it gets but there were a lot of random pervert moments be it acts, dialogue or crazy camera angles for seemingly no good reason besides to have some included? Maybe it's just me but they didn't feel like they belonged in a show like this.
Honestly I'm not sure how I feel about the show overall. I don't have a ton of stuff to complain about but at the same time I can't really say my enjoyment of it was very high either. From an eye candy perspective it's a nice treat but besides that I felt like I got a more happy version of Evangelion presented to me. I ultimately didn't feel invested enough about the girls and whether that's an issue from my end or not, I can't tell.
And finally, what the hell is Uexkül?!
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 7, 2025
Honey wake up the world has ended.
Two girls touring a hollow, post-apocalyptic world with a treaded bike with only a vague destination in mind.
First of all the vibes are immaculate. There's a lot of show, don't tell going on in this one and it's perfect. The layered city is mysterious and intriguing but also eerie, hollow, and hopeless.
There's definitely a lot of social commentary going on either through direct mentions or speculations of "the people of old" and their actions that led the world to its doomed state or just straight up commentary from the author themselves. Quite a bit of symbolism too but it
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never feels pretentious. It's thought provoking but not overly in your face.
The two main leads are fantastic. Yuuri is your typical airheaded glutton but can pull her weight with her rifle skills and strength and Chito handles the brain side while also serving the role of the driver. Not only do they work together via their roles their chemistry is also great. Their friendship feels genuine and the back and forth banter is natural. I also loved the fact that their information was very limited so seeing them learn about all these things we take for granted was a cool reversal of the usual.
Despite the series carrying a depressing theme, the adventure of Chito and Yuuri gave it a healing sort of feeling to me. Don't get me wrong even their situation is dire and survival isn't easy but seeing them go on about their lives day by day was warming my soul.
I'm also happy in a way that they didn't really do deep dives into how everything came to be like that, if the world is the same as we know it or when it takes place besides some vague tidbits. Having to rely on imagination to piece the missing information works well here in my opinion.
And finally the ending. It was beautiful. Without going into spoilers, I could see some people perhaps disappointed with a finish like that but to me it felt like the best way to conclude this type of story.
I had heard good things about Girls' Last Tour even before reading it and had a great time binging it. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to immerse themselves in a post-apocalyptic world.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 29, 2025
We often see otaku dudes being main characters of anime but what if you have not just one, but five girls instead and make them extremely introverted and socially awkward. Oh and have them all live together. All of this sounds like a recipe for a disaster but somehow Kuragehime ends up piecing together a charming narrative about these lovable idiots.
Tsukimi is the lead in the show and she is so adorable it makes me giddy whenever she does stuff. She's just a simple girl who loves jellyfishes due to them being connected to fond memories of her late mother. Besides her love for them,
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she hasn't really matured much in other ways yet, including handling any kind of romantic feelings.
Going blind into the series, I didn't know if it would have any kind of romance to it but it does. Don't expect any crazy developments in that front however. It's mostly used as a tool to progress the development of Tsukimi and to introduce some more drama into the show and I think it works fine in that way too.
While drama has its focus, I would say most of the series is comedy focused. Now unfortunately I'm someone who doesn't find most anime comedy funny and it was more or less the case here too but I still found the vibes overall fun. Although Hanamori's Benz gags were actually funny I have to admit.
Besides Tsukimi, the rest of the main cast are all lovable in their own way too. They all have their own interests when it comes to their otaku statuses which are all kind of niche. We mostly see the girls together and I think that's good because together they are the most amusing. They really feel like a tight group of close friends.
And on the flipside, the thing that brings the series to life and spurts growth in Tsukimi and the girls is Kuranosuke. A crossdressing dude who is the polar opposite of the girls. Rich, popular with the opposite sex and hip with trends. But he too goes through self-discovery after spending time with the Amamizukan ladies. It's a weirdly wonderful mesh of different personalities.
Unfortunately the biggest problem with the series is when it ends. As of writing this 15 years after the show came out, it's still the only cour available for the adaptation and the manga has been finished for a long while now too. I was starting to enjoy it more towards the end too and it left me wanting more because of it. So at this point it's somewhat safe to assume it's one of those "read the manga" endings.
I'm still happy to have watched it. The femcels were funny to observe in their natural otaku habitats and I found myself rooting for many of the characters to find more happiness in their lives.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 16, 2025
Be pretty, be a boy, be a detective. Fulfilling these conditions might earn you a ticket to a mysterious and exclusive school club in a certain middle school. However, a certain girl finds herself lost chasing an unrealistic dream and ends up crossing paths with said club, befriending these attractive boys. And thus we have Mayumi's journey to find her true calling.
At its core, Pretty Boy Detective club is mostly an episodic mystery show but it does go deeper than that with an actually developing main character and through her, a vibrant supporting cast ready to take on whatever mundane mystery happens to the be
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talk of the day.
Most episodes are two parter mini arcs that present a mystery for the club to solve that ends with resolutions of varying conclusiveness. Some mysteries definitely feel better thought out than others but most importantly, the focus on the cast is the important part in them.
Each of the club members have their own personalities are talents that they excel at. An artist, smooth talker, aesthetics expert, a chef and that brat with beautiful legs that makes me question my own values. Mayumi herself is no exception either. She possesses an eyesight so exceptional, she can literally see things others cannot and this plays a key role in many cases.
The pretty boys are a lively bunch that are fun to have around but the main focus is always revolving around Mayumi. And I'm happy about that because she is actually a good main character. She is definitely flawed in regards to things like her naivete but at the same time she's strong willed. I'm also glad they didn't just have her there for the sake of some cheap reverse harem setup, she actually felt like her own girl who really earned her spot. I actually prefer that the club feels more like good friends rather than something more than that because it wasn't necessary here.
Visually the show is as pretty as the name. Every episode has several stunning shots of either characters, the backgrounds or both combined. And the signature Shaft directing style is in full force, making for some really interesting camera angles despite the show not having a ton of movement, being mostly dialogue focused.
And on that note the dialogue is good. It's not overly intelligent nor spelling out everything for you. It's a good mix of both. And usually you don't have to be a genius to understand what's happening either. However, sometimes the resolutions to cases felt either abrupt or a bit too convenient or otherwise not believable to me.
Finally I wanna touch on the main message of the show which to me, is to live in the moment. Things are fleeting and the show wants to make a point across that it's okay that things eventually change and people move forward. As long as you are having fun, it doesn't have to be deeper than that.
I was never really blown away by the show per se but what I got was an enjoyable, short ride.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 3, 2025
As a Shinsengumi fan, Hakuouki had always been somewhere down low on my radar. Despite not having seen or read any otome/reverse harem stuff before, this was a good show to get some kind of experience from that front.
The show features an ensemble cast of mostly the known Shinsengumi members but not all of them as it takes place later in the depicted history of their story. And regarding the historical aspect of the show, it keeps major events fairly intact but takes a lot of liberties including adding supernatural elements and of course, our female lead who I'll briefly talk about next.
Chizuru is a
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pretty straightforward case. She gets rescued by our heroes at the start and gets a job working for them so she gets closer to everyone as the story progresses. Sadly a lot of the times she feels like a typical damsel in distress, being unable to fend for herself in dangerous situations and personality wise she's a fairly standard stand-in for the player, although I do wanna say she does get some development luckily in that department.
Oh and I said player since this is an adaptation of a visual novel. That brings me to the main issue of the story; it's too disconnected. Right from the start it feels like watching something that expects you having already experienced the source material. It also jumps around a lot with timeskips and many things, including big events getting off-screened to keep the plot more focused around Chizuru. And instead of committing to a route, they try to focus on everyone which leaves many relationships unsatisfying.
From an otome adaptation I was also hoping to see more romance mixed in. We basically have zero of that outside of the usual tropes of blushing at topless dudes teasing the female lead.
On the positive side the alt history is done fairly well without disrespecting real life history too much. The camaraderie between the Shinsengumi members feels organic and natural and I like that the show gets surprisingly gorey with no noticeable censorship taking away from the darker tones. Also features a lot of high profile VAs who do a good job here.
While the show left many things to be desired, I think Shinsengumi fans like myself can at least get some enjoyment out of it among the plethora of stories featuring them. Season 1 ends in a big climax, leaving me some desire to keep watching.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 19, 2025
Moetan was certainly an.. experience?
A fairly standard mahou shoujo show but at the same time it's a moe blob ecchi comedy mostly. It's also one of those shows that you can't easily mention to people you have seen without someone hinting the authorities as it features high school girls with smaller proportions that normal.
And again normally that would be fine but the show is really fan servicy with them. Every single episode has some amount of sussy shots or actions that are lewd. There was even a meta episode where the producers said screw it, just make an episode that is only fan service from
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start to finish as they figured that's what the audience really watches the show for anyway.
The main characters Ink and Sumi are pretty fun. Ink is your usual genki type main character who just wants to get along with everyone and teach her crush English. Sumi is a rich ojou-sama but dumb as a brick. We don't get to see Alice nearly as much as those two for some reason but she is an idol who has a serious personal life side to her.
Oh and the show is a reverse isekai too, forgot to mention that. The whole reason we have mahou shoujos is that magicians from a magic kingdom fantasy world were sent to the human world to atone for their sins in the form of acting as mascots for them to perform good deeds. Although them being very blatant lolicons isn't making their rehabilitation any easier.
The plot itself is near non-existent as the main focus is on the slapstick, moe comedy and fan service. So depending on how much enjoyment you get out of those dictates if the show is for you or not. Personally I thought the comedy was pretty good but after a while it started to feel a bit too samey but I did get some actual chuckles here and there. Especially when they broke the fourth wall often or referenced other media like Gundam. The English lessons of arbitrary phrases in the post credits scenes were amusing too.
Visually the show is neat. It has this really great 2000s vibe to it that is hard to put into words and for a show from 2007, it has aged fairly well. Despite not having a ton of motion in scenes, CGI was never used and everything was hand drawn with minimal stock footage.
However the show does end on a pretty flat note (pun intended) and the magic kingdom plot was extremely rushed. Luckily most of the show is the kind of episodic stuff that fits it better than actual plot regardless.
Oh and the specials are worth watching too. The recap is whatever but the second one which takes place after the final episode is a fun, over the top send-off.
I had a pretty okay time with Moetan. I wanted to enjoy it more but was left just whelmed. If episode 1 doesn't interest you then I'd advise probably looking elsewhere but otherwise it's a short, fun little comedy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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