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# Pretty isn't enough
This anime is the perfect illustration why visuals aren't even enough to make it into a decent anime. And in this specific case,
the storytelling is so bad it reached a new depth of abysmal nonsense. The anime in its whole feels rushed, to the point you could
almost filled entire episodes in-between episodes, and yet the story *still* lacks any urgency to catch its audience with some suspense or well-thought motivation. What you get here is an appalling clone of a famous Solo Leveling necromancer/assassin in an appalling clone of Arifureta world and backgrounds, with pretty visuals ... and no substance.
In ... all honesty, I would have love to love this anime. But it took quite a bit of my willpower to not just drop it (quite a few times) and
finish it, which is a very BAD sign if any, especially when you're just aiming for entertainment and not expecting for a masterpiece.
So to fail even when my expectations were this pretty low ... I can't recommand this anime to anyone, unless you have time to spare and nothing better to watch. But that would be a pity. Really. If you're still bent to watch this ... I don't envy you.

# Pathos hurts Ethos
An enjoyable tv-show, overall. But seriously ... WAY too much pathos. WAY. Too. Much. To the point this can get frankly annoying,
especially considering how it is also supported by an incredible amount of plot armor saves, sometimes (but not always) several times in a row (on the same episode !).
So, along the way, some episodes get a bit painful to watch, and ... that's not because you're emotionnaly touched.
Apart from that, the show seems to follow the manhua mostly accurately - from what I recall - but that's the only other original source I've read prior to watch this. And I would ... still recommand both.
As for a conclusion, as often, starting this donghua is easy enough, but finishing it might be a bit of a challenge. Of sort. Your call.

# with vengeance allright
Seriously ? Did the studios expect their audience to praise this incredible lack of effort shamelessly tagged as "animation" ?
Then, I hope they also understand why any MAL reader could - and should - crush their disrespectful choices with a sinking score next to or equal to the freezing point of water.
Everything's wrong in this anim'etron (pun intended). The *only* good points come from its original source material, and it's especially true considering that this ... thing (I've seriously no idea what to call this) does not provide anything more than its source, basically just ripping the panels from the manga with ... a few morphing tricks and shameless 2D flash animations.
This almost begs the question: is it fair to let this thing have an entry in the MAL database? I've seen Japanese ads created as animation/anime offering more content and art in their one-minute duration than this entire 12-episode "show".
An anime should on a very basic level provide movement, as in a "simulacrum of life". But here, this is provided by pitiful, second-rate tricks. Maybe this works for simulacrum? But for life, not so much.
And since I can't waste anymore of your or my time on this trickery, I will urge you to not watch this. Read the manga. If you do nonetheless, know that I respect your bravery.

#watereddown
The Water Magician is an awkward anime. While not exactly bad, this show regularly fails to provide the key aspects and entertainment values you will usually find easily in any other show. One crucial flaw, for example, comes from the main character and hero... who seems almost constantly a stranger to his own story.
It's like watching a hero minding his own business while he is absent from any and every major event of his own show - and who sometimes happens to save the day in the last few minutes. Maybe that could have been interesting if it was better planned and thought out, but ... here this flaw starts to sink the show deeper since there is another one coming along : the story is mostly uneventful. This was clearly intended (The Water Magician seems to be partly a slice-of-life kind of anime) but it is quite poorly executed.
This is exactly where Dungeon Meshi truly shines if this kind of setting is in your taste (pun intended), which far outsmarts and outdoes the show we're concerned with in this review.
And it's a pity, really, since to me The Water Magician had potential, but inducing boredom for at least 50% (and I'm merciful) of each episode is way too much to expect from its unwilling audience.
- At least I have to admit the MC is truly overpowered : the whole show is watered down.

:: requires mental strenght to bear with the MC
The source material is a very enticing story that I would recommand to anyone that loves some epic journey/quest in the cultivation world. While not being the best, it's a good story, mostly because of some nice and original writing in a very common similar settings.
I've only read the manhua - unfinished as far as I know for the time being - and compared to it, i'm a bit disapointed by this version. This is way too serious and the quick and witty manhua character has morphed into an indomitable jerk, overconfident, bidimensional (what ... was the point to make him 3d ?!) and linear as hell. The studio took some liberties with the characters, and it was not exactly brillant on that point.
But apart from that, chances are that you will appreciate the 3d fx and visuals, which are a slight step up in contrast to what we are usually accustomed for. Since it make a nice addition to an original story, I can only recommand Xiuluo Wushen if you're up to bear with that annoying MC.

# Re:Gret
You can think of Re-Monster as a speed-running and very cheap "Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken" clone. I almost suspect that the title alone is a gross and unelegant wink to its senior, especially since some events in this anime seems downright copied from its illustrous predecessor. But while I really love stories that involved monsters roleplaying the main characters (an overlord, the slime previously mentionned, a spider and whatnot), this one is deceitful just by how bad it is in its whole.
It's not so bad actually to completely dismissed it (OK... that's debatable) but at the very least this is simply too fast ... and cheap to even able to enjoy the evolution of the growing unbeatable goblin (which doesn't even stay a goblin for long, so calling it evolution is a bit far-stretched).
Plus there are not so much challenges to put the viewers on its toes, which adds to the overall bland scenario. A pity, really, because from the premises alone, this could have been enjoyable if considered properly.
I won't stop you from trying this anime but be warned that you might find yourself to Re:Gret watching it alltogether...

- The decline of the Shield
It's absolutely terrible to see a star anime slowly falling into the abyss. And since it's not that bad for the first few episodes, you might even enjoy to renew contact with the characters and the story. For a time.
Animation and lighting effects are slightly better. And ... well, that's about it. Everything else seems to have lost its edge, the hard way.
The characters drive and motivation is now an old joke. Even worse, the scenario seems to have lost its way, and the whole "save the world" mojo starts with saving the heroes (the shielded one included) from ... their own bottomless idiocy. I should also mention how incredibly stupid the side story about Raphtalia sound like, coming out of nowhere. This has to be the worst transition ever.
To me, this season is a complete disaster, but I'm still expecting better things in the next one.
Hopefully, this can't be that bad a second time ... right ?

# A copy of a clone is ... ?
This anime is basically a clone of "Arifureta", but worse. It's kind of amazing to have successfully done worst than the original, considering that the original wasn't exactly that great, but this studio actually achieved just that.
How ? First, they took the worst 3d scenes/content of Arifureta and reuse it ... uselessly. Meaning you will find 3d CG when you will least expect it (MC turning his back to the camera and going his way ? 3d ! Obviously !). The only explanation I could come up to explain these useless 3d scenes is that the ... studio has a 3d beginner graphic artist that need to upgrade his skills, and the studio use this anime for that.
Then, the narrative : while arifureta was being almost funny at times, Hazurewaku(...) takes it way too seriously. This is unfortunately a path of thorns for this anime since every little thing become an obvious cliché to the more experienced viewers. No surprise there.
And finally, the story itself. While on its revenge path, the MC is barely showing any strong emotions accordingly. He keeps repeating at envy his entire motivation, but finally this seriously lacks conviction.
If you're in a bind, waiting for your next isekai fix, maybe this anime should do the trick ... temporarily. But I would suggest to ask your clone to watch it instead of yourself.

- An anime that forgot to level up
Clearly, Akuyaku Reijou Level 99 is lacking in many ways. Starting with its execution, as the animation and graphics could barely sustained the story. This might be enough in a way, since this anime is not exactly trying to deepen our existence from its visuals.

Provided that you do not have too much expectations, following this very stoic villainess to achieve her only goal (which could be resume to be as grand as being green grass or a forgotten landscape paint) could prove quite funny to some viewers, specifically in her monologues or retort answers. But honestly... that's about ... it.
Contrary to its main character, this anime could have gained from some leveling, still if you're patient enough and need something easy to follow without much intensity, I can recommend Akuyaku Reijou Level 99 since I'm feeling magnanimous.
But you might need to level up yourself afterward...

Mold should grow on you watching this show.
What a terrible, bland and pointless show that was. Even for those of us perfectly fine with a slow and peaceful anime, this one could represent a bit of a challenge of sort. The first issue here is that you will learn nothing. There is outrageously and absolutely nothing to learn from this anime - even from its main theme alone - starting at episode 1 till it ends. The second issue is that while you will learn nothing about farming, you will instead learn that you can blatantly reused others shows ideas, and what's more, without making ... anything of it. This ought to be the least creative a show can be.
If you're still bend to watch this show, keep it up. Maybe you could find something to see for yourself that I just couldn't. There are *actually* some good points starting with the soft pace, some good comedic aspect and the solid world around the characters.

But basically, to me this anime ressembles one of the main character's powers : it didn't have to use seeds. Instead, it run with others ideas to grow a tasteless show.