Jeoffrey

Want an easy life in a fantasy world after being reincarnated? Just have kids! Suddenly, you're living better than the average young Japanese salaryman, and the gods throw in a full zoo of magical creatures to keep the little ones entertained. What follows is a carefree stroll through this new world—no tension, no challenges, just endless gifts. Sure, it all feels completely unearned, but who cares, right? This attempt at a light and cozy fantasy quickly fell apart for me. Everything went so smoothly that it became mind-numbingly boring. Each episode was just more of the same—traveling from place to place with nothing truly exciting happening. The humor felt childish, and while the show desperately tried to be cute, the twins with their simultaneous exclamations ("That's a door!" "That's a treasure!") started to feel as grating as watching Teletubbies while hungover. The main character didn’t help either, being yet another bland "perfect dad" type, simply collecting rewards for doing the bare minimum. The animation wasn't anything special either—plenty of bright colors, sure, but the action scenes felt like someone was moving paper cutouts across the screen. Backgrounds were often lazily drawn too. That said, if you treat it like a light Sunday afternoon cartoon for kids, it probably works just fine. In the end, this show clearly wasn’t for me. If the goal was to make me think about starting a family, well, Alan and Elena failed spectacularly—my only takeaway was a headache. 4/10

Honobu Yonezawa has already proven that he can write compelling everyday mysteries set in high school, with great characters to match. His work on Hyoka left a strong impression on me, and I still love the main character’s energy-saving philosophy: "If I don't have to do something, I won't. But if I have to, I'll do it as quickly as possible." So naturally, I couldn't miss Shoshimin Series, and it’s no surprise that I’m really enjoying it. The first few episodes left me a little unsure as I got to know the characters and their desire to be “normal” while discovering why they feel they aren’t. The series offers a range of quirky everyday mysteries—like figuring out how someone made three cups of cocoa without a way to heat the milk, or where a missing dessert went. But each half of the season had a deeper storyline that slowly unfolded, helping us understand the main duo and the real heart of the show. Compared to Hyoka, this feels even more intimate and low-key. I was thrilled to solve a couple of the mysteries alongside the characters. Visually, it’s stunning in places, and Lapin Track did a fantastic job with the animation. And the finale? The way everything unraveled left me excited for the already announced sequel. Overall, I’m really satisfied, though that slower start has me giving it an 8/10 for now. Still, it's well on its way to reaching the top tier for me.

The future is all about AI and sexy robots, apparently. According to Japanese legends, robo-girls will eventually replace real women, and no man will ever be lonely again (though humanity might just happily go extinct). I can kind of get behind this idea in a futuristic, progressive way—after all, I have a pretty close relationship with my fridge, though I’ve never thought about putting anything in it besides food... That said, if I were to pick my own robo-girlfriend, I’d definitely go for an upgraded model like Super Mina over the older version. Seeing robo-girls with exposed parts doesn’t appeal to me; I’d rather leave a little to the imagination. Plus, the close-up shots of the robot girl’s camera eyes were more creepy than cute. Alright, enough jokes. While I have my reservations about human-robot relationships, I get that some people are desperate and may even crave something artificial. Putting the whole robot thing aside, what I found was a pretty laid-back series with likable characters (even Mamoru, who’s actually kind of adorable). I even found myself rooting for the main duo. So, overall, it's watchable, visually decent, and the music's not bad. As a romance, it only half works, with some awkward moments, but as a slice-of-life show with a unique family setup, it was actually pretty enjoyable. 5.8/10.