(Good) Lookism

Series in one sentence:
Guy needs a pretty body in order to become a good person.

Series in more sentences:
Hyung-Seok suffers constant violence and ridicule over his unappealing appearance, but wakes up one day inside a new body, with his old one still present in the room.
After learning he can transfer his consciousness between the two, he becomes optimistic and believes to can finally start over at his new school.

Good, but I don't think the show made all the right decisions.

As I saw the Netflix trailer play out, I wondered if this was going to be another Bagel Girl. It had few similarities, but better production and didn't throw an odd twist at me at the end. Not yet. Looks like they're planning another season.

Our main character is unpleasant and it's not until he changes his appearance he becomes likeable. That's not because of my "lookism", mind you, the real Hyung-Seok simply is a whiny, entitled bitch, which is somewhat acknowledged later on the series, but none of this changes that the character wasn't written in a way that invites you to sympathize with him.
He had no redeeming qualities. I thought the singing talent his mother hinted at might've been his saving grace, but it was.. truly awful. More about that later.

The series had some unexpected turns, but would also linger on certain matters for too long or not long enough. There were many characters that got shoved aside shortly after their potentially important introduction, and the reason why a character did or stopped doing something was rarely explained.
I initially worried Hyung-Seok was going to befriend his bullies, turning them into his comedic ride-or-die allies, and it looked like the show attempted it, but Hyung-Seok pulled a move I've rarely seen fictional bully victims do; and associated with other victims only. Of course, one of those poor fools keeps getting his shit kicked in whilst Hyung-Seok -with his super strength and speed- only watches it happen for some reason. It got old very quickly, and at the same time, the level of abuse these kids went through was otherworldly cruel. Why are there never any teachers or adults around when this happens?

The ending was a slight let-down in the sense it was the pretty Hyung-Seok who attended the stage. I thought the sore throat plot line would lead to Hyung-Seok accepting his real body and perform as his true self, since he was claimed to be such a good singer and all.. but, that was a fucking lie. And of course it is, because they gave this character the most stupid, dopey voice, like they always do with "fat loser" characters. The only real talent the normal Hyung-Seok had was his ability to see punches coming, but again, he needed his pretty self to put this talent to use.

Another point where the show greatly missed the mark is Hyung-Seok's belief his life is great as a handsome boy, as it's really not. He keeps attracting self-righteous punks who want to beat him up; how's that any different from his normal life?

I do like that the ending wasn't exactly a happy one. Perhaps needlessly cruel towards the boy who worked so hard to prove himself and looked genuinely fresh on stage, but why expect anything else from a sleazebag record manager. I accept it.

(Average+) Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

Series in one sentence:
Suspiciously carefree foreigner is the personal chef of his overpowered pets.

Series in more sentences:
Four Japanese residents are summoned to a magical medieval world, expected to become their saviours, but one of them appears to have a gift so odd, he and his surroundings believe there's no use for him.

Mukouda possesses the power to access what looks like an online webshop to buy modern food and items with. His knowledge of cooking helps turn this gift into a power; and before too long, he gains the devotion of a feared beast, whose assistance immediately turns his luck around in this dangerous new world.

A show that introduces the potential to many cool conflicts, but doesn't focus on any of these and spends more time trying to be a cooking show. And I don't mind a cooking show, but not when you have these little mentions of war and threats going on in the background.

As I turned this thing on and watched the world and relationships slowly establish themselves, I soon realized, it was very slow. I can empathize with viewers who'd turn this show off after episode 3 or 4, but well, I enjoyed myself fine enough to keep it going, so I did.

The isekai genre is one of my favourites and I've seen a big deal of it, but this series surprised me with its reluctance to be.. exciting. I expected a story about a timid guy who becomes a powerful hero with help of the most random, nonsensical superpower you can('t) think of, and yet, his days are quiet and repetitive, much like the relationship with his monster companions.
They perform like 2 minutes of work, and then one of them immediately shouts "I WANT BREAKFAST/LUNCH/DINNER!". Cue a semi-detailed scene of Mukouda cooking food, followed by the eaters loudly dissecting and praising it, then calling for seconds.
It was getting really old, and the constant imagery of food just made me hungry for adventure. For an actual plot to get introduced. Or at most, for Mukouda to continue finding and growing his abilities, those scenes were fine too.

It happens often in isekai anime that the poor souls who get teleported away act relatively casual about it, but Mukouda was something else. Don't these people have a family waiting back home or something? I'd be miserable, my dog alone would die a guaranteed death if this were to happen to me.
Even if you had a less than stellar life back home, I wouldn't be optimistic living in a world inhabited by crazed magical beasts, where computers and plumbing don't exist. But Mukouda doesn't care, he struts around in these dangerous lands, just cooking and eating all day, because what else is there to do when you don't have your phone, right.
The war and "demon king" are a total afterthought and the other summoned heroes don't make a single appearance after episode 1's introduction.

If there's not going to be a season 2 where it picks up the pace, I don't think the series in general will be worth the watch. Just, nothing happens.
Mukouda is bland, and unlike the equally bland Rimuru from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, he doesn't have cool powers or a cool story arc to make up for it.

(Average+) Tomo-chan is a Girl!

Series in one sentence:
Take note, losers: the only requirement to being a "cute girl" is to have big breasts, no matter if you're mistaken for a man every other time.

Series in more sentences:
Tomo has been treated like a boy her entire life, but when she develops a crush on her best friend, she realizes how badly she wishes she wasn't.
Even though the two friends are enamoured by each other, they struggle to express themselves and fear that doing so could ruin the perfect dynamic they've had since childhood.

A high "Average+".

It checked off all the basic "high school anime"-storylines, but offered a fun direction and didn't linger on it for too long. The ending was a bit lame, though. These two losers don't even kiss, they just talk about what their relationship should be like, Junichiro fucking falls down the stairs, and that's the end.
What their relationship will entail is something that speaks for itself, I'd say, it didn't need a scene.

Tomo's friendship with Junichiro was nice. At times. I didn't like it whenever she beat the soul out of this boy over nothing, because this kind of behaviour doesn't only affect the likeability of a character, but makes you not care for their love journey, either.
The anime saved itself by toning it down further on. The bonding scenes and flashbacks were nice.

The side-characters were interesting enough, but Tomo's other friend had really strange motives for doing the things she did, I couldn't follow her reasoning. At first, I suspected she was in love with Tomo and intended to boycott her journey whilst pretending to be a supportive friend -with the end goal of pushing Tomo and Junichiro into realizing they make for a bad couple and never wanting to try it again, but no, that would've been a better story.
Didn't like it how the blonde one saw fit to flirt with Junichiro all of the sudden, either. Very out-of-character, while I really liked her in general. Blunt, oblivious yet perceptive, and most importantly, harmless. The scene violated that last personality trait.

In short, an enjoyable series with genuinely funny moments, but a dry pay-off. Still worth it to check this one out, so by all means.

P.S. Dating relatives is aids, stop Japan.

(Average+) Raven of the Inner Palace

Series in one sentence:
Ghost whisperer is trapped in the most haunted building in the world.

Series in more sentences:
A young palace resident with the revered ability to connect with the spirit world, yet left in solitary confinement, is one day visited by the new emperor with a seemingly random request. Soon, more mysteries concerning the many deaths in and around the palace are unravelled, until Shouxue's origin itself is also looked into by the curious emperor.

He learns of the important connection they share, but also the assumed disaster that may unfold by being in each other's presence.

It starts off alright, but the relationship between the psychic and the emperor is given a backseat for these Saturday morning cartoon Ghostbuster storylines. Every episode features a new ghost haunting the palace -a supposed victim of murder or suicide- which brings me to another personal complaint: I don't really like these Asian emperor palace settings. There's nothing romantic about a building filled with slaves, emperor brides, discarded children, and castrated male servants. It's absolutely tragic, and I can't stop thinking about it whenever a casual storyline is presented.

Honestly, these side stories could've been their own anime. Definitely not all, but some were tragic enough to warrant a full spotlight, because as of now, they just interrupted the one story I wanted to learn about when I clicked to watch this anime. That of Shouxue.
For some reason both she and the emperor are so enthralled in the act of helping wandering ghosts, there're more busy with that than bonding with each other, and I'll accept Shouxue wanting to investigate; it's more or less her job and it's not like she has anything else to do, but why is the emperor involved?

Psychic Princess was highly flawed, and arguably Raven of the Inner Palace is better constructed, but I liked the romance aspect in that a million times better. I wanted to know Shouxue's story, the emperor's story, their story, I don't care about all these other characters sobbing about their incestuous love interest or lute-obsessed colleague..

The ending doesn't have the big climax it thinks it does and is left open, and spoilers, Shouxue and the emperor are just friends who blush at each other sometimes. Good, I suppose, since he acknowledges her to be a child, but those are modern day sensibilities.

(Average+) I'm Standing on a Million Lives

Series in one sentence:
"Every single person who's dumb enough to be tricked into killing, deserves to die." said the hypocrite who killed a man because he thought he was a video game character.

Series in more sentences:
An introverted outcast suddenly finds himself inside another world with two random girls from school, and learns they need to finish a quest within the given time limit every time they're summoned, or else death is the punishment.

Since this world and the way they fight are inspired by RPG video games, the concept of morality becomes an issue at times; and not everyone in the team agrees that the lives of virtual characters need to be respected.

Good watch, but the (assumed) ending is not of the adventure I sat through, which is a shame. My brief top description is of a way more consistent story. Which, to clarify again, isn't this anime.

The idea of a dumb teenager going around carelessly killing "NPCs" inside a world he thinks is an actual video game is fantastic, him realizing at the end those were real people and going insane because of it is fantastic, but the series wasn't about this journey. Only one casualty was made, and the guy was a dangerous enemy, which allows for our main character -and us the audience- to excuse it somewhat.

The series is mostly about this group of children discussing with each other how to complete their current quest. The awesome and thought-provoking scenes were few and far between.
I didn't mind all the talking, I'm just saying it didn't fit with the course the anime took in the end. The main character also seemed inconsistent with his views and morality. Sometimes he acted normal and kind, while at other times he randomly took on the role of a crazed villain who doesn't value any life at all. It confused me.

Anyway, about the "assumed ending"; the series originally ended after episode 12, and I expected a second season would come eventually, but this sudden break appeared to be a hiatus. Many other animes I was watching at the time were also abruptly paused, so I guess there was something going on in the animation business?
So, the first 12 episodes made me interested to see more, but now that I've watched more, I'm not impressed.

The main character still didn't make sense to me -I definitely didn't see a logical follow-up to episode 12- and this island mission the team was on was a mess. Plenty of new faces were introduced, but basically as background characters, making their "emotional" scenes stupid and a waste of time.
I was also disgusted by the argument that the island's original inhabitants were in the wrong for breaking a deal they made with the family of orcs that suddenly showed up. A deal meant to save their ass from the human-eating violent beasts. A deal that stopped being sustainable, because these orcs won't stop fucking and there're not enough cows to offer as food.