Back to justinharsey's Profile justinharsey's Profile

This is a very risky gamble. While side-lining chapters from an adaptation is not uncommon, the problem comes down to whether or not it works with the work in question. Two examples I can name off the top of my head that skims over/skips chapters that works better than what was presented here are 'Kingdom' season 1 and 'The World God Only Knows' season 3. In Kingdom's case, it's about the same as skipping a training arc. For 'The World God Only Knows,' most of its arc up until that point in the narrative season 3 takes place in follow a similar structure. In some ... ways, skipping them would do little in terms of damage as you would already know the general idea of how it goes down. The only real problem that season has is when characters introduced during them arise once more.

Here, it plays out awkwardly. The flashback structure of the first episode doesn't work, especially with that cluster at the very beginning being all over the place. It sort of reminds me of the movie 'Dreamgirls' which has troubles transitioning between scenes in the first half. Still a good movie, but a hard buy to get into. The comedy and sporadic styles are still consistent, but starting into it is a case of mental whiplash. Frankly putting it, the first episode in this special is weak.

The second episode does a better job at holding itself together (not going there). It might be having to adapt to the first episode, the second moves better.

A personal complaint is how little the other characters are given their dues in this:
The relationship between Ishigami and Tsubame is left hanging at the end of the previous work.
The characters at the airport just pop in.
What happened with Hayasame? She appears in a good manner, but it felt like more happened before hand, but what?
Chika- is Chika.
The only other characters to get any decent time outside the main couple are the Shirogane household.

Is this terrible? There are worse. This is Promise Neverland 2 bad, but it has its flaws.
Is it unwatchable? No.
Does it still retain its charm? Yes.
Recommendability - left to personal judgment.

A bowling time travel all-girls drama. That is the simplest way to describe this series. Synopsis alone, it's a hard pill to swallow, but it somehow works. By no means is it perfect. Time travel alone is a hard enough premise to pull off - how does it work? What makes it work? There is no DeLorean in here to explain it. It just happens.

Frankly putting, the plot devices to make events move forward are a bit convoluted, like the main time travel looking thing to look like a lane sweeper in a bowling alley. In a way, the bowling aspect is played up to ... hammy ways. If you came looking for good time travel, this isn't it. If you came looking for a good sports anime, this isn't it.

Is this unwatchable? No.

Out of everything that goes on, the main focus of the series is the character journey of the five girls throws into this situation with no clear explanation as to what all is going on that play alongside a group of sisters from the era they are thrown in to. Each one of them has their own little kinks that are explored in their own depth. The first four episodes alone are dedicated to the main conflict between the captain of the bowling team and the youngest member who will be the only one left after the rest of the team graduates. In most situations, that would have done and would have been it, but the series instead dives into the other girls and hits upon the sisters. It starts with the sister helping the girls, and by the end it comes back around to them.

The final plot twist is hard to swallow. That might be the most left field, but it may be a tie-in with the overall theme of the series. Again, this is a series where situational logic is less important as character dynamics during this journey. In that sense, there are moments in life like that.

Overall, this a wacky concept that has its focus on the characters trapped in it. Is it going to be for everyone? Those who do not recommend can attest to that. Is it garbage? No. Perfect? No. Enjoyable? If you know what to watch for.

Youtube creators are an interesting point. You have some who actually make their own works, either on par with professionals or amateurish fun, and then there are some who just use Youtube to make a point or try to get as many views as possible. In some ways, many anime Youtbuers fall into the latter; they talk about anime and critic it, but how many have actually gone to dabble in it?

Known as Gigguk, Youtuber Garnt Manteepho might be more involved in the anime field than most of his 'colleagues' (questioning the use of this word). The year before the release of this OVA/short film, ... he served in some dubbing work for 'Mashle.' Now he appears to have taken a step up into the creative process, and this is very well made.

Animation aside (which is good), the story does a lot with the limited time given. A hard part of any early active film making, trying to cram a story into a limited time window, ranging from five to twenty minutes, is more difficult than it appears. Here, the story has good world building that doesn't need a textbook to understand, explained more in its visuals than in any actual dialogue. The characters also use little dialogue as well. And this is a good point. The limitations of length are not seen as a handicap here.

Thematically beautiful, well-written characters and world, a narrative that flows well, and an original isekai that feels refreshing. It's nothing flashy nor over-the-top. The shortcomings are easy enough to overlook and don't detract from the focus of the story.

Overall, it was a beautiful breakout work.

Hindsight favors this season. The first time I watched it, it was a very heavy letdown; however, after watching it a second time, I find the season to be not as bad as I remember. I guess having the foreknowledge of what occurs later helps to lessen the perspective of it. Is it perfect? No series is perfect, but it's not unwatchable.

Plot-wise: Having a more world-building is not that bad, and I think this season did a fair job balancing its more world building focus against the first season's more heavy thematics (which I find to be what truly distinguishes this series from most other ... isekai). Given how Naofumi was treated in the first season, having one honing in more on the world he is trying to protect is a good next direction.

Antagonist: Uh... what was his name...? Ko? Kyo? He's a plot device. Unlike Myne who leaves indelible scar and the Pope who moves quite well in his role, this guy is just filler space. He's like Greed from Re:Zero - he only exists when he's on screen. He's just a plot device.

Worst part about this season: The finale is kind of rushed and a bit sloppy in places. While it does wrap up the events, it moves too fast. The final episode serves no purpose. It's literally a flashback episode to more slice-of-life events that didn't fit into the overall pace of this season, but honestly didn't add much either. If this episode had been more tailored to the final battle rather serving as some weird eulogy story, it would have been a lot better. I get that they didn't utilize Ost enough, but did they really have to go with this approach? This last episode could have been used to better build the internal conflict during the final battle. It just feels like a weird approach overall.

Overall: A first watch is not enough.

I would like to start out by saying how rare it is to find an original anime made by J.C. Staff, especially nowadays.

Surprisingly well handled, this series from 2005 is a quite a gem. A mix of magical girl, romantic drama, it really does harken back to the series the inspired the magical girl genre, 'Bewtiched'.

The three leads are very well developed and really drive the plot and reason to watch. You have the leading magical girl, a young woman who acts as a manager for the setting, which was created using magic, a recently graduated high schooler who is entering the adult world and ... is feeling aloofed by it, and you have the young magical girl who is to succeed the current manager. They all have their problems that playoff one another, but the best part is how they all develop by the end. This is a very character-focused series that does not disappoint in that area, and the supporting cast does an amazing job in helping them in their journey. No one in this feels wasted.

Worst parts:

Episode 2 is the worst episode. It has a lot of quick cutting jumping way too fast for a series of this kind. It does have good chemistry with all three leads on screen, but it's way too rapid fire.

The music score isn't anything worth mentioning. The biggest detractor being the piece it uses for battles. That harmonica(?) really pulls you out of the action.

Fan service: The first episode does have some moment, but it's mainly to tease the main character. The transformation sequence does have it, but it's very passing and only happens in really half the series.

Overall, this series carries through with its premise and ideas of entrusting and moving forward.

If you're looking some something light-hearted & comedic, this might be what you're looking for. This series follows the daily lives of an andromorphic polar bear that runs a cafe that is frequently visited by both humans and other talking animals, including a panda & penguin. There's honestly no real plot going throughout. It's like 'Seinfield' in the sense of it's a show about nothing, minus more mature themes. It's just a feel-good series that fits the primary cafe setting. Though as for some jokes, there's a race between a sloth & a tortoise and a penguin harem nightmare.

One of the most interesting things is ... its endings. Instead of using animation, the 10 endings tend to be live-action either in stop-motion or live action sequences. My personal favorite is the last one. The ending tag also has the main cast as standing paper dolls off in various locations.

What's most interesting about this series is its cancellation. Apparently the mangaka's notes were not getting to the staff and she was not happy with how communications were going. She threatened to cancel the series because of this. This was due to the editor failing to do his job between her and the production. (Odds are he didn't keep his job long after that.) The mangaka didn't hold any ill-harm towards the staff and thought they did a good job, but the series did cease its run both in manga form and the anime as well. It's quite a shame.

After the 2019 KyoAni arson, director Naoko Yamada left her home studio in search of another place to work. Best known for 'K-On!' and 'A Silent Voice', she was one of the forefront directors there. For her to leave must have been a hard choice, but continuing to work in a place where many of her colleagues died must have been hard.

After leaving Kyoto Animations, Yamada hops around for a bit, but it didn't take long for her to find herself at Science Saru, a more avant garde studio in anime that sounds like a fitting place for her, but it wasn't instant magic.

Her first ... work there, 'Heiki Monotagri', an 11-episode historical anime, while not terrible, lacks a lot of Yamada's identity. It's an interesting watch, but overall feels more as though she is adapting to a new work environment.

Her second work, "The Garden of Remembrance", released a few months before this film, is a bit of a flip of the previous work. While the first one brought Yamada into Science Saru, this 18-minute short film had Yamada bring her style into Science Saru. It's very experimental, no dialogue, a unique plot structure, but it has all of Yamada's visual trademarks. This one probably went into production after 'Kimi no Iro", but as far as releasing goes, this one works better first.

'Kimi no Iro' is basically Yamada's announcement to the film world: "I am back." It has all the makings of her previous works from KyoAni in its own unique package. A coming-of-age plot blending quite a few of her previous work's together in its own, if you are a fan of her work, this is a must-watch. Is it her best work? It's hard to top "A Silent Voice", but it a Yamada film.

As much as this work might be her announcement of being back, I am sure many fans would say this after seeing her latest work. "Welcome Back, Naoko Yamada."

This series is too much of a blast. Hiromu Arakawa's (Fullmetal Alchemist) auto-biographical manga was given a very proper treatment. Making it into a short form series plays best with the more highly comedic nature blending perfectly with the educational nature of the subject she brings to the forefront. The rapid-fire pace of the line delivery adds to the already funny dialogue & action that occur. Some might take issue with the art & animation, but that seems like a trifle in comparison to what is on display. I'd dare to say this is one of, if not the, best short-form anime made.

Why did I ... go ahead & write a review a few seconds after watching the last episode of this season? I'm on a high from it right now.

AND ENJOYING IT! Can't wait for Season 3! That tease at the end. That was too good. So casual & nonchalant. 'Hey, Season 3 is coming.' "DON'T JUST DROP IT LIKE THAT!" HaHa!

This is a very interesting case for a franchise. The origins of this series stem from 'Genshiken,' one of the earliest television series to focus on otaku culture. With any series, there is always a boundary of copyright where no real series outside of a creative group can be mentioned without having to pay product licensing (which makes me wonder how 'The Big Bang Theory' was able to compensate for those). 'Guilty Gear' is directly mentioned mainly due to the game's publisher being involved during the first season at least. So, for a series about otakus talking about manga, anime, & video games, they had ... to create a fictious one to use.

The first iteration of this series was a 3-episode OVA most likely released along with the 'Genshiken' DVD/VHS (my knowledge on this part is lacking.) Honestly, they're just sticked-together episodes of what was shown in the actual series trying to make a cohesive first episode before spiraling out with the second and third. But it was a bonus thing from the early 2000s, so what can you really say?

This, however, is different. Released before 'Genshiken 2', and I think sometime around the 'Genshiken OVA' (which is canon for anybody watching that series), this new Kujibiki is more grounded than the previous entry, yet somehow retains that parody nature you would expect from a series-within-a-series projects. If you can handle that level of 'it's a very anime series,' this is the one for you. Personally, I could not handle much of, but I would not call it an entire trainwreck. It's just not one many will remember unless they really dive in 'Genshiken', so far the best television series to focus on otaku that I have seen (unless proven wrong).

What probably makes this better is how during the episode preview, it's actually the 'Genshiken' voice cast doing one of their episode debriefs. That adds a bit of a meta-level to this. It's quirkily nice.

This is a very interesting case. When the project was first announced, it was announced as a collaboration project with the Japanese rail system. Off the bat, that already makes it sound like nothing more than a promotional project. That doesn't right off write the project as bad. It depends on handling. Fortunately, this anime project was not a train wreck.

The idea of this series seems to try to have a thematic connection with railways & how they are fixed lines that bring trains to their destination. The world is warped & everything is messed up, save for one rail line. Four girls embark on ... the line to try & find their friend who ran away. Against the random world, they trek on straight to their destination.

One part that seemed to conflict with the series was the number of stops. The series was slated ahead of time for a 12-episode run, but as soon as the first episode ends, an ending tag said there were 29 more stops to go. For the first 3 episodes, this raised a few eyebrows for me, but when they showed that not every stop was safe to get off at, it made the length not as bad. Done lazily, it could have been terrible, but the directing kept it going without resorting to being lazy. The goal was most important.

It seems to harken back to older episodic adventure series, most notably Galaxy Express 999. (Two series about trains.)

This series is also a good example of how to utilize insanity. Even if an idea seems absurd or ridiculous, as long as it has one grounding element, it can be an enjoyable experience. For this series, it's the journey to find a friend.

The one point of contingency is the dialogue. When they talk, they never let in a pause. There is so much dialogue that goes on in a shot that can be hard to keep up with. (Not one I'd recommend for first-time subtitle watching.) Though the argument could be made that since speaking has not changed, it's the one point of normalcy kept over from when the world changed. When they do stop talking, it does feel unnerving. This could be more a matter of taste.

One last thing: that ED is amazing.