Jeoffrey

Haven't You Heard? I'm Handa-kun. Take the main male protagonist from the quite successful and adorable anime series Barakamon and apply the quite successful and funny concept known, for example, from the anime as mentioned earlier in the series Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto to him and add the punchline that everything is one big misunderstanding because the main male protagonist is cool, cooler, the coolest to others even though he is unaware of it. Well, what is the point of this exactly? Sadly, this is a sort of poor man's "CatDog" that is only remotely close to Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto in terms of humor, cuteness, or the thoughtfulness of individual situations. Also, it does not really have anything in common with Barakamon apart from the main male protagonist. Sure a couple of quite funny situations happen here and there; however, it is really quite boring at times. So frankly speaking, I think this is kind of a weakly average show. 4.5/10.

At least initially, I found it more interesting than the second summer sports anime series concerning football. At first, this show seemed like it was going to be a classic sports anime series about how two guys meet and join a baseball team, and then they work their way up to the national league they have been dreaming of. Unfortunately, as time goes on, it turns out that is not really what it is about at all. There is not a lot of sports and baseball games in this show. So most of the episodes deal with the relationships between the teammates, the fact that the main male protagonist is a self-centered and arrogant wan*er, and how to be in a team with someone like that, even though he is really incredibly talented. Next, they are faced with the problem of who to play with. In the end, there is a weird "love story" going on concerning "the hitter and the princess." So instead of dramatic baseball game scenes, we see some rather unsuccessful and boring dialogues between the main protagonists, going around and around in circles without any significant shift towards real harmony in the team and between the individual characters. And just when you think that something might start to happen, it is all over. It felt like if I met a seemingly nice girl, and she said something about having sex but then gave me a psychology lecture for hours that would be as convincing as the news from a tabloid newspaper. Then I would walk her home after an unbearable amount of time, on the one hand rather bored, but at the same time feeling like a coiled spring. I would be thinking that perhaps something was going to finally happen in the bedroom department because she is quite pretty to look at; however, she would then turn to me and just say "goodbye" and close the door in my face. And so you go with your impression from mediocre to bellow average to unsatisfactorily... 3/10.

I had no problem with the first episode; I did not even mind that the characters seemed a bit flat. The second episode even intrigued me in the first half; I thought the enemy might not be too bad until the main male protagonist started giving him a lecture. So then I understood that this poor guy has actually just been misunderstood, and therefore the main male protagonist obviously starts helping him! That was so touching that I just started chuckling away cynically. It did not get much better as the episodes went on, just more and more weird pairings popping up. Moreover, I thought that the fight scenes in this show lacked sparkle, none of the characters really interested me apart from the "sloth cat" and the ending in general, which I expected to be at least a little interesting, was in the words of the main villain "not interesting at all." I am kind of trying to figure out who Servamp was actually intended for because with all the bishies and vampires being just a hair scarier than the ones in the horror movie Twilight; I would have supposed it was aimed at girls. However, the attempts at all the fighting and the gritty opening made me think that perhaps it was not meant to be like that. Well, whatever the case, it was obviously not aimed at me probably, because my impression of this show is very poor. 3/10.

Season two was at least as good as the first season, full of all sorts of unexpected twists and changes with good characters, lots of fight scenes and battles, plus some strategy. Let us be honest, this follow-up is really good, and the fact that the second season has only eight episodes does not spoil the impression I got, quite the opposite, because the pacing is very good. Also, the plot does not falter, and there is always something going on. I am very satisfied with the result, and I am looking forward to the third season. 8.2/10.

I did not have the issues that put most other people off, although I agree with them on some points. For example, I am going to start with the fact that the main female protagonist reads the letters she sent herself one by one throughout the season. Even though it may not seem to make much sense, I was not put off by that. That was because it is there for logical reasons (because of "plot convenience"). After all, the narrative unfolds gradually. If the main female protagonist had read all the letters in one go, it probably would not have worked out so well. The plot development needs it, and although it may seem a bit strange at first, it was understandable. At times, the "plot convenience" is necessary because if the characters were acting too logically, there might have been no narrative to speak of. For example, watch the video "How The Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended," and you can understand that the characters in this show would have read the whole letter without these slightly illogical pitfalls and thought it was just crap, and tossed it in the trash. Sure, nothing should be too over-the-top; however, I can live with such things. I also consider, for example, how in the later stages, the male protagonists resolve whether and how exactly to follow the letters a positive thing. This is good and interesting thinking by the anime's creators. As for the over-sweetness, the goofy smiles, the coyness, etc., I did not mind that either. This anime series is aimed primarily at girls, so it tries to fulfill their ideas of a love story. As an unpretentious consumer of cuteness and love stories, I am not offended by the simplicity and sweetness; indeed, I quite like it at times. Some of my fellow reviewers and I agree with the criticism of the characters. The main couple is, to put it mildly, completely pointless. Naho Takamiya strikes me as naive and even slightly foolish, and Kakeru Naruse? I do not know, but somehow I cannot positively relate to the main protagonist. On the contrary, I got tired of him. The boy is as sensitive as an exotic flower, and the fact that everything is based on everyone constantly helping him, trying to get something out of his introverted shell, and just when it seems like it might work, he gets depressed again. Then they are back to square one, and this irritated me. It is very sad when you cannot root for the main protagonists in an anime series based on a love story, and your attention goes to the third main character, in this case, Hiroto Suwa. I thought he was a real dude, and I liked him and what he got up to. Plus, Kakeru strikes me as just a "big girl's blouse" next to him (I am choosing a very mild turn of phrase, although another, much harsher one would have been appropriate). How am I supposed to empathize with the idea of saving Kakeru when I do not think that Kakeru deserves to be saved? I also had a problem because this anime series was virtually unconcerned with dealing with the past at first; however, they made up for it in the conclusion. There were reflections on what could have been, why they got into something like this, and they were not bad at all. It was good because the characters were asking themselves the very questions I had been wondering about for a few episodes by the end. Late, but still... Orange is definitely above average in terms of concept and ideas, and I am sure many people will be interested. However, how do you rate something that fails when considering the most important aspects? A romantic anime series where the main protagonists are irritating, and the "Saving Private Ryan" type-thing that irritated me beyond belief does not deserve to be awarded four stars. Even though the show is full of ideas, I felt pretty negative. So, in my opinion, this is worth a rating of 6.3/10.

In my opinion, sports anime series should never be this adorable, and the protagonists should not have their faces painted like this. I was not too fond of the animation or the characters, and even though it is clear that the main male protagonist is going to go down the “from zero to hero” path, I somehow could not bring myself to root for him, even though I could see him trying. So I am sorry; however, I am not going to be spending my time on the anime series Days. Dropped after the second episode, and I am not going to rate it.

What should I write about an all-girls anime series where the main female protagonists spend three-quarters of the first episode naked in the bath? How do I comment on an enemy that threatens to destroy all five "highly original" worlds and whose main attack ship looks like a big black, ahem, (well, let us just like, say, it is sort of like a mushroom)? The main female protagonists are extremely determined, some look tough, some look adorable, and all of them want to be the best warrior. The fact that Ange Vierge is based on a digital collectible card game once again reeks thousand times over. I have already seen one anime series today with a similar theme, and I am kind of wondering whether to continue with this one. I like cute little girls, but this one is so superficial and stuffed with fan service that I got bored. Plus, the path laid out is way too obvious, and the cuteness is quite sparse. Plus, the fan service that abounds with sunshine covering the unsightly parts makes my eyes hurt. Well, even the next two episodes did not give me any compelling reason to continue watching in the end, so dropped after three episodes and 1.5/10.

The positive thing about this show is that even though it looks like it is just a bunch of tropes about special individuals fighting against unknown aliens, the anime's creators avoided a lot of distasteful stuff. They avoided the stuff that could be  embarrassing or cliche, like boobie grabbing, a blonde tsundere, and an uninteresting main male protagonist. Sure, the main male protagonist (Ichiya Suzaku) is arrogant, and even though it is still better than, say, another version of some boring Takeshi, not everyone will put up with him. The world's destruction in the opening was quite nice. It is just a pity the animation was not much more impressive because this part could have been nice (I guess I am still under the influence of my last visit to the cinema - I saw new Independence Day). So, in general, the animation is not great, which is a bit surprising for A-1 Pictures animation studio. On the other hand, it is balanced by the soundtrack, which is very pleasing. The enemy, who they call the "Unknown" (seriously?!), did not impress me at all; the design of his ships is not that great, although at least it is not an embarrassing CGI mess, and I was left wondering why they are all pink. In general, this show is rather weak. However, in the context of similar concepts, it is a respectable and above-average show thanks to the absence of the most embarrassing tropes, plus the ending of the first episode, which suggests that everything might not be as it seems at first glance, got me intrigued. I got thinking about what point the narrative might have. Well, if I get it right, and if something surprising is hidden in there, then perhaps I am once again going to give this concept more than two stars. EDIT after the sixth episode: it did go its own way, and it had a pretty interesting narrative and got all serious despite all the usual nonsense and tropes! I am shocked that the atmosphere in the last few episodes is quite good, especially since I have no idea where it will go next. There are a bunch of tropes for sure, even though unpredictable things happen, and suddenly this anime series that I was not expecting anything from can be watched with a new interest. Plus, some of the tropes are handled quite well, and so I have to give a shout-out to the sixth episode, which I would call "heroic sacrifice". It also stirred up a bit of emotion in me, and I did not expect to be so moved by Qualidea Code. So, there is no fan service, however, there is a serious and surprising narrative. There are also some decent characters and many tropes that do not always end up the way they normally would. There are also some average action scenes, strange and even mysterious enemies, a lot of stuff that does not make any sense, and many other contradictory aspects. All this leads to the fact that I think it is a respectably average show halfway through. EDIT after the last episode: Not only did it hold up, it was pretty decent. There were some interesting twists, and the characters were not entirely black and white, which was beautiful, and even the conclusion, while pretty much a trope, was well handled. As a result, Qualidea Code is probably the best "trope-filled magical school" fantasy anime series I have seen for a few years (probably since The Irregular at Magic High School), which is saying something. Plus, I liked a few characters, among which the Chigusa siblings - Kasumi and Asuha stand out the most. Anyway, I am hesitating, however, in the end, even though it is one of the few gems in the "magical school" category compared to other anime series, it is not that great, although the narrative and its twists were okay. So, in general, I see it as a slightly above-average show and another reason to give "magical schools" for "extraordinary kids" a chance, because sometimes you can find a decent show in that genre. 6.3/10.

Rewrite was exactly the kind of anime series that I did not know what to make of, and the fact that the first episode was over forty minutes long simply did not help. However, what the show was trying to say got through to me better in the second episode, and I realized that the fact that Rewrite is a Japanese visual novel and this is an adaptation of its gameplay just oozes out of it. Furthermore, I was counting on the fact that it was going to be very much focused on mystery and that there would be some big surprise, an interesting plot line like in the anime series Kanon. The girl/spirit (later known as Kagari) that haunts the main male protagonist, the setting in which the main male protagonist's first dream took place, and the official content that AniChart and other anime websites have for this anime series hinted at it. So in that respect, I was not surprised. However, I was rather disappointed that the plotline was not as intense and sophisticated as I would have expected from the gentlemen from the KEY visual novel studio. I personally quite like this cute animation style, and the fact that there are a lot of adorable Lolita girls should normally lead to me feeling satisfied. However, unfortunately, it is not so lovable and emotional for me to be somehow significantly affected. There is also too much unnecessary fan service for my taste, and I am not too impressed with the perversity of the main male protagonist. He should be nice to such cute Lolita girls and not be obsessed with touching their under-developed breasts. The soundtrack was not that impressive at first, and some of the musical motifs did not suit what was going on, although it got better as the episodes went on, and the soundtrack of the last episode is quite good. I am also going to mention the CGI monster the main male protagonist encountered on his journey to find the "witch" - it was horrible, as were most of the other CGI monsters that would come later, and they were quite jarring. Well, I finished watching it because the mystery element and Lolita girls would not allow me to quit, although to be honest, it could have been much better. 4/10.

What is love about? According to the clear message in this show, it is mainly about the fact that the other person must respect you and accept you for who you are, with everything that belongs to you. That simple message alone, which is very true, deserves some points. I am also going to throw in more points because, in those moments when the main male protagonist really gets it together as a boyfriend, it also works as a respectable love story. The rest of it, however, is just more or less bad. Are some bishies supposed to be eleven-year-olds? Well, if we can have thirty-year-old or even eighty-year-old fake Lolita girls, sure. No, that is not how it works! Clearly, the anime's authors must have done it that way because if there were little shonen guys instead of bishies, it would not have worked as a show aimed at girls or as a love story. Unfortunately, this show feels rather ridiculous, and as SonGokussj wrote, the moment in school when the protagonists were surrounded by their peers, i.e., real little boys, felt rather strange. The comedy was another thing that did not work. The jokes are, of course, mainly based on the bishie and his bishie-like friends acting like the little boys they really are, and also their interactions with the main male protagonist. Unfortunately, the humor is mostly childish, infantile, and silly. The show goes to extremes far too often, and the jokes about virgins and the overuse of the word "wiener" were funny for maybe the first episode. However, it looks like it is going to ride a similar wave going forward, just with a few more weird fetishes thrown in (little Renren). So First Love Monster is not based on such a bad concept, and some girls and love story fans might like it. However, I feel disappointed and I am quitting this after the seventh episode. The childishness and stupidity have already definitely overpowered and dominated the show rather than any love story. Drop after episode seven and 3/10.