(Average+) Bananya

Series in one sentence:
Why are none of these bananas being eaten in this household?

Series in more sentences:
Follow the adventures of a bunch of bananas with tiny cats in them. That's it.

The moment I heard one of these cats utter "Nnnnya!" with seduction and grace, while sitting in his pink-coloured banana peel, I was sold.

This is a short series obviously meant for very little children. No real plot, no real conflicts, little humor, just random nonsense for 2 and a half minutes long.
The calm narration is soothing for the stressful mind, but I don't think the common adult will be genuinely entertained by this. I watched it, because the episodes were short and I had already started. And I'm damn demented.

I bothered with a few episodes of season 2 as well, but as a Bananya expert, I have to say it missed the mark. I prefer my fruit mammals to stick with destroying a living room, no need to give them their own planet and society.

All in all, I think toddlers will love this and their parents more than tolerate it.

(Good) Demon Lord, Retry!

NOTE: I watched this series in English

Series in one sentence:
Little girls get a hard-on for a man in his 40s.
 
Series in more sentences:
A game developer says goodbye to his MMORPG creation after 15 years, but wakes up as his own demon lord character in another fantasy world. 
He thinks it'd be best to act like said character and keep his cool, while being chased by the authorities who are dubious of his presence and intentions. 

Man, Japan loves their "demon lords" and "getting stuck in an RPG video game"-stories.

I was entertained, but it barely touches that good rating for me. There were too many characters and their story arcs rushed to Hell. The anime seemed in a hurry. The blonde girl the show started off with hardly makes another appearance worth mentioning, it was disappointing how pointless she ended up being.

The voice acting was good, though, especially the main character (both voices) was pleasant to listen to. The last episode teases you with a "to be continued", so I'm expecting a second season. Would watch, despite the flaws.

(Good) Yona of the Dawn

Series in one sentence:
Harem anime for girls.

Series in more sentences:
A young and pampered princess suddenly has to deal with betrayal within her family and flee the castle with her childhood friend/bodyguard. 
She learns to have a close connection to a myth involving godly dragons, and is told that if she wants to have a chance at survival, she needs to find the four dragons from the story and ask for their protection.

Fantastic story WITH A RUSHED-ASS, ABRUPT ENDING. Yona of the Dawn is a good example why I dislike animes sometimes and how big of a risk starting a new series can be.
Animators seem to have no problem spitting out an unfinished product, as it's assumed it'll motivate the audience to go check out the comics to read the full story. Though, I'm also sure that money can be a problem in the world of Japanese animation.

But it surprises me that this show wasn't enough of a success to receive a better ending or a second season. An announcement was made, but I wonder if we can trust it to be true. This show started in 2014; why would they continue it more than 6 years later.

As for the series itself, the last two episodes hurt, but there were more flaws I wish it hadn't. 

The new king's motives were propped up as some big revolution, but it was never explained what his plans were. After this once determined-looking guy acknowledges he hasn't done shit, his story concluded. A tremendous anti-climax. I expected him to be the show's villain and Yona having to deal with her lingering love for him, but this roughhanded take-over of her kingdom.. wasn't even that big of a deal in the end. The new king even improved the economy of a crumbling tribe.

Then we have this bodyguard assigned to Yona. Well. He tried to have a consistent personality, but juggled between being obedient and respectful, a funny bully, and so pathetically perverted that he's a scene away from molesting the princess. This absolute ho was licking honey from her hands.
Even weirder was that Yona still trusted him and kept putting on this oblivious act whenever she got exposed to his signs of love, despite him having uttered inappropriate comments like "How are you going to pay for my protection, with your body?". What a charmer.

The blue dragon's backstory I liked fine enough, but for someone who wants friends, there's still a great distance between him and the other characters. I kinda liked that this abused hermit had little to say and was often standing by himself, it makes sense, but it doesn't convince me he has a tight relationship with the gang. And his squirrel side-kick is annoyingly unnecessary.

The yellow dragon took the cake, who even knows what his purpose was. He was shoehorned in at the end, while the other dragons received a proper introduction, backstory, personality and explanation concerning their powers. White dragon has a dragon hand, blue dragon has dragon eyes, green dragon one dragon leg. What does the yellow one have? A dragon dick? They inspect his body for 2 seconds and then leave it, yet this little useless twerp had the nerve to ask Yona what battle she wants to fight using "their" strength.
Good question, but why does it come from a stranger who's worth is unproven?

Then for princess Yona herself; I like the idea of her. She's a slightly hotheaded, yet naive and kind teenager, who's upbringing left her without any skills. The only thing she has going for is her drive. And that's fine, but often she appeared like this standard nice girl-character you often see in fiction. A pretty, boring face all the men swoon over.
I loved her when she was being silly, but not when she played this smiling, soft-spoken everyone's-friend.

Earlier I wrote I didn't understand the problem with the kingdom's take-over, and perhaps that was the point the series tried to convey. Yona herself learns that many villages were suffering under her father's reign. Being smiley and peace-loving doesn't fix the real problems out there, and sometimes a sword needs to be raised to get things done. Interesting message that's sadly enough true.

So far my opinion. It's worth a watch and I hope a second season will come someday.

(Average+) Given

Series in one sentence:
Two guys who're in love with each other talk about performing music and pretty much nothing else.

Series in more sentences:
A timid high school boy is still dealing with the death of a loved one a year later, but becomes inspired to play guitar and join a band when he hears a stranger perform.
While getting lessons, the two grow fond of each other, though the other needs time to figure out his feelings, as his crush is a boy.

Everything in this anime moved slowly and the guitar lessons/band aspect is the most boring part, ironically. It didn't progress the relationship of the two main characters in any meaningful manner.
I liked learning about everyone's backstory and watching their relationship grow, but the rest was dominating and testing my patience.

The two boys are alright together, but their interactions don't excite me all that much, since it rarely concerns their feelings for each other. It's a half-baked romance, and most of the story is about the band itself.

While the series politely handles its subjects, there's nothing in Given that invites me to revisit it in the future. The ending was, what the kids call, "meh". It really should've ended after they performed their song and the two main characters kissed.

There'll be people who like this despite its flaws, I'm sure.

(Average+) A Centaur's Life

Series in one sentence:
An Everyone-but-the-centaur's Life.

Series in more sentences:
Human evolution took a different route on this version of Earth, and spawned a large collection of mythological creatures who all work and live together the best they can.
The setting is a "normal" high school, where three friends deal with common situations, though not always in the same manner.

The show grabbed my attention whenever it discussed the world and different species inhabiting it, but the rest hardly made it worth watching. It didn't know if it wanted to seriously explore itself, be a random high school adventure with lesbian undertones, or focus on the life of arguably the least interesting character. Not talking about the centaur, though. Why is this called "A Centaur's Life" if the angel character and her family kept getting their own episodes?

The "romance" the show started off with never went anywhere, and the moments of smut were distracting and pointless. Why are these girls looking and judging each other's vagina? I'm not interested in this, I wanted to learn about them and their species.

I was about to give up on the series, until it introduced the snake student and I decided to stick around a bit longer. Afterwards, more boredom, until it suddenly threw this serious cultural conflict in our faces, followed by a reimagining of a World War 2 working camp. This episode stuck out like a sore thumb, and yet, this thumb was the best thing A Centaur's Life offered.
But, as expected, there's no follow-up and the next episode was just more stupid shit.

There's this whole idea going on in the show that argues that slightly looking at someone the wrong way can be interpreted as racism and end you up being taken to a correctional facility, but the show does NOTHING with this, ever. It only keeps bringing it up. What a waste.
Also, if the world they live in is so thin-skinned that a centaur can't carry her own friends on her back by her free will, how come there exists a popular movie that portrays snake people as monsters?

Would not watch again or recommend.

(Average+) Magical Sempai

Series in one sentence:
For my next trick, pick a card! OOH, MY SKIRT HAS SUDDENLY FALLEN DOWN!

Series in more sentences:
A high school boy looking for a club to join comes across the ignored magic club and its sole member; an overly zealous amateur magician. While the group offers little and the girl even less, she keeps getting him involved with her routines and an odd friendship grows between the two.

This show was made to please desperate perverts, I don't have another word to describe the target audience, but the characters and their designs were still pretty fun. They made it tolerable sitting through the dumb excuses to show off the magician's body. But if this anime trope bothers you, you'll likely won't get through the first episode.

A pretty good show, regardless, but won't watch again.