The first episode of this, in particular, was a tour de force of exactly how to set up a show like this. After a bunch of reincarnation shows that fumble the beginning -- looking at you, Solo Leveling -- it was wonderful to watch this one. Not overstaying the before-the-hook, a good use of flashbacks later for the bits we need, strong character interactions that show us what to expect going forward, etc.
Then it does a great job of Mia trying her best to fix stuff, but not really knowing how to do that, but having others comedically misunderstand her in a way
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Jan 6, 2025
Gimai Seikatsu
(Anime)
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The quality of execution here is extraordinary. If there were measurements, it's probably the slowest show of the season. But it never feels like it drags, and even when in some ways nothing happened, I would still regularly finish an episode thinking "wow, that was really good". Not to mention that, visually, it's consistently gorgeous.
In particular, it's mature in the good (non-H) way. It successfully avoids all the tired "walk into the bathroom while changing" or "hit over the head with a from-nowhere fan" or similar tropes. Just two broken people trying to figure out how to relate to each ... 
May 26, 2024
Kumo desu ga, Nani ka?
(Anime)
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Kumoko's VA goes *so* hard that she single-handedly saves the show. Kudos to Yuuki Aoi.
It feels like two unrelated shows stapled together. One is a fun dungeon romp that's enjoyable enough, even if just for Kumoko's high-energy stream of consciousness. The other is a human drama that's frustratingly incoherent and boring. If you're here for worldbuilding and political intrigue, skip this one. But if you're fine just enjoying crazy dungeon antics (and probably just ignoring everything about the humans) there's plenty of enjoyment to be had. Unfortunately the overall thing is somewhat of a mess, so I ended up giving it a mediocre ... |
