(Good) Ascendance of a Bookworm

Series in one sentence:
I've lost everything I've ever known, WORSE YET, THERE ARE NO BOOKS.

Series in more sentences:
A young woman with a love for reading is killed when her personal library falls down on her during an earthquake - but not before she can utter her wish of wanting to read more. She wakes up as the weak-bodied 5 year old daughter of a poor family in a different world, different country, different time.

While trying to stay optimistic, she discovers books are a rarity and reserved for the rich. She's determined to find a way to make her own books, while helping those around her improve their simple lives with her modern knowledge.

Crunchyroll's summary and the first few minutes didn't excite me, but I kept on watching because of the high ratings. Bless those ratings.

So, why was I so pessimistic to begin with? One of the first reviews I posted on this blog was of an anime about a book-obsessed boy dying with the wish of wanting to read more, and the main character shared some similarities. I don't like characters who have one dominating interest, especially not when it prevents them from shedding a tear for the people and life they were forced to abandon.
This 5 year old child is a woman, with a mother, presumably a father, and who knows what else, yet she accepted her new family pretty much instantly and her real mother is only given a quick mention at times. How is it that this new family manages to earn her tears after only having spent a year together, but not her original family?

Also, for an adult woman in a child's body, she sure acts like a child. Why is she charmed by this other 5 year old boy complimenting her hair? I can't imagine my ass blushing over the generosity other toddlers show me. This semi-romance between her and her friend is pretty inappropriate, I'd say.
Having that said, was the reincarnation plot necessary? This show could've been about a creative young girl in a magical medieval world.

But alright, enough punching the show in the face, it managed to turn itself into an interesting watch. It knew it couldn't ride on the book plot alone and inserted many other struggles for the main character to deal with.
I'm not sure what to think of the reveal at the end, it's a bit too much, but it counts as a cliffhanger.

(Average+) NiNoKuni

Movie in one sentence:
Please kids, don't kill yourself to test if world travel is real.

Movie in more sentences:
Two childhood friends are transported to another world shortly after their crush is stabbed by a mysterious person, and find the same girl as the princess of that world. 

One of them manages to lift the curse she suffers, whereafter they learn she and their friend's life are connected to each other. In what sense is still unknown to them, and their conflicting ideas turn the two into enemies when their friend's health starts to worsen after having saved the princess.

Extremely intriguing plot developments, but the pacing drags further on, the relationships are nothing to cheer for, and the (Japanese) voice acting is extremely lacklustre. Though I do like the sound of their voices.
Not everything makes sense or is properly explained, like why one of the boys is an invalid in one place and not the other, but I'll blame it on the running time.

I believe the movie is based on a video game, so I don't know whether the things I like are part of this series or just the movie. If it's a diet coke version of the game, then that turns my review for it more sour..

In any case, as an outsider, I thought NiNoKuni was fine. If the English dub inserted more emotion into the delivery, that would definitely raise my score, but I'll have to watch this movie again. Maybe I will some other time.

(Average+) Beastars

Series in one sentence:
Zootopia with actual unjustified discrimination going on.

Series in more sentences:
In a humanlike world ruled by animals, the differences between herbivores and carnivores create unfair and hostile situations. While the idea that both groups are equal is constantly being uttered in public, in actuality, everyone knows what it means to be "the other".

The story follows a wolf, Legoshi, one day finding himself in love with a dwarf rabbit; an unheard concept.

A very good show indeed. It discusses many things that Disney's popular Zootopia never bothered to address. Simple matters, like, what do predators eat if prey can't be touched? 

The reality is that prey can be touched.  
The reality is that prey will be touched.
The reality is that a leopard can't sustain itself with donuts and candy, Disney.

Beastars tried to be serious and mature with its anthropomorphic furry characters, and succeeded at it, but what I found less cool was the love interest herself. She's a literal slut and I don't buy her reasoning for it. More importantly, it didn't make her or the overall story more interesting. Her relationship with her own crush and Legoshi should've been enough, make it a classic triangle affair. No need for a rhombicosidodecahedron affair.

In fact, because of the way she was written, the reason she later gives for why she feels for Legoshi falls flat. She established that animals find her cute and have a patronizing love for her, and there's a love-struck rabbit who speaks fondly of her all throughout the show, so how exactly is Legoshi any different?

His interest in her didn't feel natural; he pretty much instantly fell for her. Still, they hardly meet up after their first casual meeting, while the anime presents us their romantic climax as if they've gone through episodes full of adventures together.
..At the same time, the rabbit didn't even properly recognize him at their second meeting. She thought he was another guy she banged once. How? When she first tried to jump him, she admitted to have never had intercourse with a carnivore before, yet she mistook a skyscraper wolf as one of her past fuckbuddies? Bitch, how whore is u?

Anyway, still a cool show, still cool concepts, I'll be watching season 2 when it's out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

27-3-2021 UPDATE:
I watched season 2. Horrible; enough to lower my previous overall score.

The pacing and script-writing took a dive and the show is no longer focused on what it started off with: Legoshi and Haru's relationship, which was already meagre. It really needed that second season screen time, but they did absolutely nothing with these two and this season's ending was a big letdown.
It started off with this "who's the killer"-plot, which is fine, but it should've starred them doing the detective work, if anything. The whole "appointing a beastars" concept was also neglected, though briefly mentioned.

A bunch of new characters are thrown at you, most of which get half an episode to explain their deal, and afterwards are never discussed again. For example, where is the creepy, pointless snake guard after her introduction scene? And what was the point of showing off the friendship between this cheetah and sheep we've never even seen before? Wouldn't this dynamic have been better spent on minor characters that actually had some dialogue prior?
If you want to do a filler episode, why not have it star the neglected Haru? And why does Legoshi consider Louis a friend; I remember no such bond between them. And the wolf girl also changed her demeanour towards Louis, while their most prominent scene from season 1 was where she threatened him. Now she cares for him, they have a romantic dance, and she acts like a typical teenager in his presence.

It's been a while since I watched the first season, but I don't remember any of this going on between any of them.

The character motives made little to no sense, Legoshi was an unbearable loser with no comprehensible thought going through his head, the new series intro is devoid of the charm the first intro had, I did not enjoy my time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

20-12-2024 UPDATE:
Season 3 was alright, but just alright. Some of the dialogue was awkward, the episodes sped through key moments like it wanted to tell more, but had to deal with the fact it's the last season, and Haru was again a background character.
Meanwhile, Legoshi fucks himself up even more, and next to the scratches on his face that won't fade, he now saw the need to pull out his own teeth.. just to get fake teeth immediately after to replace them, since he can't talk properly. Pointless.

When he met the horseman, I was also reminded of his weird affinity for characters who beat the living shit out of him. First the panda, now this horse; why does he greet them with a smile on his face?

All in all, the series has not improved for me. I feel nothing for Legoshi's quest, because it involves an absent love interest.

(Average) Inferno Cop

Series in one sentence:
Cheap and less consistent, or funny, Axe Cop.

Series in more sentences:
A cop from Hell with fire powers is looking to take revenge on the scarred man that killed his family, but after going through many distractions, finds out who the true villain of the story is.
 

I looked through the "romance" category at Crunchyroll and this is what I got, wtf.

Its random silliness is cute, but very little managed to make me laugh. The biggest smile was given to the weirdly paced end credits.
I don't know if this show had a script, but it seems unlikely. If you have a talent for being funny on the spot, then this is not a problem, but because every episode is only 2 minutes long, there's not much room to fool around. And there's too much fooling around.

You can go check it out, and I myself am willing to watch something else from the same creators, but Inferno Cop isn't something I'd put on again. At most, I'd look up particular clips.

(Bad) Jingai-san no Yome

Series in one sentence:
Underage boy is married off to dumb beast he doesn't even know the gender of.

Series in more sentences:
A high school boy is one day informed to have been chosen by a large fluffy creature for marriage and has to continue on with his life as its "wife". Together with the other "wives" in class, they talk about their relationships.
 

The anime doesn't even bother to call these boys "husbands"; they're all wives to their monsters. And these monsters only go for boys as well..

What an incredibly boring, short ride. I have no idea what kind of world this is, why these kids are being sold to genderless, voiceless demons, and nobody protests it. It's a premise I can't enjoy without an explanation, and absolutely none is given.
These relationships would feel more appropriate if the boys were dubbed pet owners, since their partners hardly seem to posses human intelligence.

I guess it's supposed to be comedic that these 16-year-olds are genuinely falling in love with these weird life forms, but it's not making me laugh. Nor do I find the creatures themselves or the "romances" portrayed to be endearing.

I.. just don't understand who this anime is for. What kind of itch does it scratch?

BEST ANIMES SO FAR WOW

Merry 2020 dipshits!

In 2014 I started this review blog, and it surprises me I'm still going at it for my audience of zero. But from everything I rated "good" on here, what's actually worth checking out?
Arguably everything, but I've been lenient with shows I wouldn't even watch a second time myself, so then..

..long story short, here's my top 10 list of animes I've reviewed so far:

10  
My Love Story!!
(originally reviewed in 2017) 

Cute and innocent, though I still wish the show was about this odd couple misunderstanding each other's signs, with them dating being the well-deserved climax.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

9
Kuroko's Basketball
(originally reviewed in 2018)

Self-important high schoolers playing basketball and showing off skills like they're literal superpowers, what a ride.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

8  
My Roommate is a Cat
(originally reviewed in 2019)

One half of the episode shows all events as perceived by the incompetent human, the other by his worried cat, it's clever. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

7
Buddy Thunderstruck
(originally reviewed in 2017)

One of the few shows on this blog that isn't an anime.
Extremely funny, extremely silly, the main duo are like Regular Show characters, and it's a shame that I've never heard anyone name-drop this show once. A forgotten gem.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

6
Skip Beat!
(originally reviewed in 2018)

Enjoyable premise with interesting set-ups. The only let-down is that it doesn't have a satisfying ending, it just kinda ends. But would watch again, and I have.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

5
AJIN: Demi-Human
(originally reviewed in 2016)

While I didn't think the main character had a consistent personality and the animation is unbelievably choppy for 3D, it has an exciting story with epic music to keep you seated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

4
Mob Psycho   
(originally reviewed in 2017)

My original review for this show was harsh, despite giving it a good rating. After watching it again with both seasons back to back, I can't find much to complain about. It's a good story with emotional topics.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

3
One Punch Man
(originally reviewed in 2018)

When I first reviewed One Punch Man, the second season wasn't out yet. I didn't think it was awful, but it did make me wonder if Mob Psycho doesn't deserve a higher spot.. Its second season was more powerful.
Nevertheless, One Punch Man's humor and references hit harder with me, so I'll let it sit on number 3.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

2
Sonic Boom
(originally reviewed in 2017) 

Also not an anime, but what an underrated comedy. Those who've given this cartoon a chance agree it's good, but I suppose the lacklustre video game that came before it didn't wet most people's appetite to go check it out.

Sonic Boom is self-aware and just wants to have and make fun of itself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
(originally reviewed in 2018) 

A fantastically fun series with, perhaps, a level of high energy and dialogue speed that's too exhausting for some to follow, but the comedy is great and the stories short enough to tolerate this ADHD show on crack cocaine. Could and have watched this many times.

(Good) Dr. Stone

Series in one sentence:
Leek boy who behaves like an evil scientist is the good guy.

Series in more sentences:
The world is suddenly covered with a strange light that turns all humans into stone. Thousands of years later, two high school friends manage to escape their prison, alive, young, and motivated to bring back the rest of the world. But a famous pro fighter they were forced to revive has his own ideas on how the world should operate.

The genius, Senku, wishes to erect a kingdom of science and return humanity to its original state, while Tsukasa distrusts all old people and wants the world to be rebuilt by the young; and thus pure-minded only.

It's sillier than it needed to be. How can Senku have that stupid hairdo with no hair gel or dye available? How can someone survive a punch from a person that killed an adult lion with that same force? How can a man that looks exactly like his son.. not actually be his biological father?

These things you'll have to get used to, and you will.

In the end, I'd say the only real offender was the antagonist's viewpoints and how it hardly looked like he was working towards what he wanted to achieve.
Tsukasa is immensely strong, but also intelligent, with arguably good intentions. The gist of his character is that he's a communist and hates the old and rich -or more specifically- hates the existence of ownership and reputation. He believes young people are the only ones who can be molded into something better.
..Except that the dumb trash Tsukasa revives as his lackeys are selfish bullies and painfully focused on power. You can't tell me that these semi-cavemen with their stupid fashion sense will create a bright future, and it surprises me that Tsukasa hasn't noticed his failure. One of the female residents in his kingdom (a background character, but still) is portrayed as a lazy, vain bitch. Does she even do anything for the community except seductively lie around in her hole? Unless Tsukasa is reviving dumb labour to sacrifice, he's far from the hero he thinks he is. Perhaps that's the point?

At the other side of the land, we have Senku and his slowly growing kingdom. I like how he interacted with others. The way he looks and talks really doesn't make him appear like a hero character, and he'd tell you he isn't one. His one passion is bringing back the modern world. It helps he has the entirety of Wikipedia in his head and he can use it to win the trust of others, because his social skills would've left him dead.

It was fun seeing how he built recognizable contraptions with Stone Age parts and how it changed everyone's way of living. I think this show is educational enough to show in science classes, though still as entertainment, not to replace an actual lesson. Naturally.

Alot of fun, will watch season 2.