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After hearing that Given was a BL anime, I wasn't expecting much. However, Given is a game-changer for this genre of anime and dare I say anime in general. Given is a hidden gem of its season. Don't let Given being a BL stop you from watching.

I’m going to make this review very short. Given is a story about heartbreak, loss and moving on. The relationships portrayed are so realistic and it just pulls on your heartstrings. Sometimes I would have to take a step back from this anime and marvel at how it moved me so much. Our main character Mafuyu has heavy baggage ... that fills his heart with regret. After a terrible incident, he meets our kind heart Uenoyama. These two embark on a journey of self-realization and love.

What made this anime so remarkable was its sound. The music in this show is so beautiful. The music that Mafuyu and the rest of the band created is truly amazing and breathtaking. Episode 9's song still makes me cry without fail. (Even though I've listened to it about 100x)

I highly recommend you watch this. It might teach you something you didn't know before.

Sex, power, survival, gangs, and love are all depicted in Banana Fish. For an anime that has managed to stay under my radar, I wasn’t expecting much. At first glance, Banana Fish seems like your typical mafia story. However, it’s not. At its core Banana Fish shows everything that is wrong and twisted in our world. It’s about everything I stated above, but somehow not.

Our story starts with a dying man and his last words- “Banana Fish.” Curious to learn what this strange phrase means, Ash Lynx starts investigating. Ash is a local gang leader, whose beliefs have gotten him in big trouble with a ... mafia don. Due to an article being written about gangs, Ash meets this guy named Eiji. Eiji is a sweet photographer assistant from Japan. These two form an unlikely bond and go on a dangerous hunt to learn more about this new drug.

Banana Fish had many strong points ranging from the plot to its music. The plot went deep into heavy subjects most anime’s don’t talk about. Nothing was glazed over. The anime emphasized on how the characters had to survive. It was realistic unlike other anime’s that have attempted this.

My personal favorite was the characters. Every character was well developed and had an emotional depth to them. Ash is probably my favorite character of all time. The way he carries himself through life even though he has serious trauma makes me feel a range of emotions. I felt my heart twinge at hearing his backstory and watched him stay fiery and quick on his feet through it all. All the moments of raw emotion were beautiful. The thought of this broken boy with no happiness or hope for the world left me with a boatload of sorrow.

The animation had to be mentioned for this series. There were scenes where nothing was said that had a huge impact on me. Vulnerability, pain, and helplessness were well depicted. Helping these scenes have the emotional impact was the music. Ranging from pure intentions to solemn pieces, the music never failed to match the theme of the anime.

I really recommend watching this anime. I wish I had a better way with words to describe my love for this anime.

A story based on vengeance and centered around the inner workings of the mafia sounds like a plot that has already been done before. However, 91 Days is a unique show. The show goes into depth about human emotions and why we do the things we do. It really brings to light how sometimes we show mercy and how that's not necessarily a good thing.

As we follow the story of Angelo Lacusa, we see how as a child he witnessed the gruesome murder of his entire family. This is the moment that sets flame to his revenge plan that will slowly ruin the lives of ... those around him.

I really liked this anime because the characters have real depth to them. The anime had me sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what came next. It also had me in my feels. The music fit well for the time period it was supposed to be in. It wasn't too quiet or too soft.

SPOILERS



When I first started watching Akame ga Kill, I thought it was pretty cool. The first couple of episodes were good and after those episodes, it kinda went downhill. I've read the manga and I was more than a tad disappointed when I realized that, this anime didn't really follow it.

Story: 5/10
Even though I've read the manga I'm not basing my review of it and how the anime didn't follow it. The story was more than messy. In some episodes the mood was really dark and people were being killed from Night Raid. Other times, they were laughing and having fun and their fellow Night ... Raid members were rarely or never brought up. There were random bursts of humor that kind of ruined the anime at points. And it was just messy and very cliche from the characters to the story.
Art: 6/10
The art was alright. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special. Nothing really to say.
Sound: 4/10
The music didn't stand out to me at all. I barely noticed the music in this anime, even if there were any at points. The soundtrack was so bland and so basic. The openings for the show were eh, but I enjoyed the second ending. The first ending was even more eh.
Character: 6/10
This is the first time I've watched an anime that kills off basically all of their characters so this was a little bit more than shocking. I didn't expect that to happen at all and sometimes this can be good thing (maybe???), but in this case it was awful. All of these characters were given an awful, but vague life story. I couldn't really connect with these characters, so their deaths didn't really impact me. The only deaths that made me kinda sad was Mine's and Tatsumi. Mine's death was a tad out of place. She's about to die and she confesses her love, like okay. I think they should've taken out the feelings that Mine had for Tatsumi, it didn't do them justice. Tatsumi's death was a little bit more touching because of how Akame was crying and saying that he promised her that he wouldn't die. Also basic, but what can you do?
Enjoyment: 6/10
Meh, that's all I have. It was okay and kind of enjoyable, but I'm not planning on rewatching this anime anytime soon, if ever.
Overall: 6/10
This show was average and bland. They could've worked more on the story and make it flow easier. There were just a lot of things overall that could've been improved. I give them creds for trying a different approach by not following the manga, but I feel like they made the wrong call.