Jeoffrey

Considering the fact that Beast Tamer is basically a load of clichés and a harem where the protagonist catches girls like Ash catches Pokémon, and it's not too hard to notice the flaws here, I have to say (to my own surprise) that it's ultimately a pretty likable show. Rein may be another goody-goody on the anime scene, but at least he's the good kind, his good nature isn’t annoying but rather quite endearing. I was able to root for him, and be happy for him when he found new friends and a family environment. While I didn't shed any tears at the end of the first season, I felt pretty good after finishing it. It’s the kind of harem fantasy that would make me watch a second season. One could argue how OP the hero is. The unexpected solutions to many problems along the lines of "this is what the tamers of our village normally do" (to which the girls would react with a resigned look on their faces, making it clear that it's not actually normal) feel like the writer is pulling it out of his ass. The same goes for the way in which the protagonist extracts abilities from the individual girls. While it makes some sense, it's not an original or good concept, more of a crutch. On the other hand, it’s true that while the main character has a really decent harem at the end, there's no character in it that annoys me or that I find hard to tolerate. Quite the opposite, it's a pretty cool sample of anime ladies. Sure, their personalities aren’t complicated. Truth be told - if I wanted to look for any depth in them, I'd hit rock bottom in a second, but they each have some sort of interesting or sad backstory, so it's relatively easy to form some sort of relationship with them. There's quite a chemistry between the whole group, and it’s all kind of nice. Another thing that worked out well is the villain. It's not hard to dislike him and his whole crew, their actions are really obnoxious, but at least they don't come across as total morons, such as the heroes in Tate no Yuusha. Quite the opposite, Arios can be a bit sneaky and mean, which combined with his demeanor makes you curious to see how he'll end up, thinking you'll probably enjoy his potential final punishment. It's also an interesting question whether anyone in Arios' crew will have an epiphany in the future and possibly redeem themselves. All in all, I'm surprised. I didn't have high expectations for Beast Tamer to begin with. I expected him to turn out miserably, like the farmer from this season and plenty of other undemanding fantasy harems in past seasons. I'm all the more surprised that it wasn't a bad show in the end. It’s not brilliant and there are a lot of flaws, clichés, and some repetitiveness here and there, but it's definitely a 6/10 from me and if there's a second season I'll watch it.

The second season of Uzaki was definitely better than the first one, for several reasons. Firstly, I found it more entertaining. In addition to another huge display of all sorts of clichéd misunderstandings and the ways in which the main characters deal with them, there were also various little secrets that the viewer knew about but were yet to be revealed to the characters. I waited with anticipation and a certain sneakiness for it all to get out, which made me enjoy each episode even more (with greater interest) than if everything was just about the fun interactions of the main couple. Secondly, what helped the series was that new characters were added, namely more family members of the two protagonists, who spiced things up and provided a certain depth as they were given quite a bit of screen time. They are the classic models, which you will get to see in similar comedies, but they are very well handled here. For example, the dads of both protagonists made a very good impression on me. Thirdly, ecchi is also better handled here, it's not added as forcefully as in the first season, and it's usually a great part of the gags. Fourthly, the main couple's relationship has started to develop significantly, with important realizations gradually coming, leading to some more funny and interesting moments, which those who like watching the main duo and rooting for them will greatly enjoy. An entertaining 7.4/10.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer captivated me with its story and characters but totally bummed me out with the crappy visuals. NAZ literally seem like a bunch of amateurs here, making the fights, golem design, and any faster movement look absolutely awful. I don't know if it was the inexperience of the team or not enough money was poured into the project, but it's a damn shame and probably the main reason why many viewers won't stick around to the end. Luckily I made it because I was hooked on the premise from the very first episode, even though it's just about a journey of a bunch of heroes and their special animal sidekicks to save the world. Probably the first thing that caught my attention and made me laugh was the realistic reaction of the main character to the fact that a strange lizard appeared in front of him and started telling him about his new role. I was also intrigued by the hidden agenda of the main female character, and I simply had to know how it would all end. The story may look quite flat, after all, it's about getting a bunch of heroes together to gradually defeat increasingly powerful opponents, but the main character goes through some pretty enjoyable development, new characters appear some of whom are quite interesting, and there's the occasional nice twist. On the other hand, it's also a series that has the most obvious death flags I've seen this year. It’s happened to me twice that it was very clear to me that a particular character was going to die very soon, so the show was a little too transparent in certain aspects. The finale was quite good. It was overly emotional at times, but it also had quite a well-done time skip that brought everything to a decent conclusion. If a better studio got the adaptation, poured more money into the project, or improved the overall story to make it more coherent, I'd probably consider a 4*, but as it is, it's just grey average again. A disappointed 5/10

Inu-Oh is a unique film that will definitely make an impression on the viewer. It is like a great artistic performance whose form is so strange and impressive at times that it just blew me away. Generally speaking, most of Sience Saru’s productions are distinctive and often use very original animation and ways of expression. This time, I was caught and drawn in within minutes and the film held my attention with its originality for most of its running time. Inu-Oh also has a very strong aesthetic aspect, and it works well with color to evoke the right kind of emotions and vibes. There's even a passage that literally felt like being at a spectacular rock concert, enjoying the show the filmmakers had prepared for me. The biggest problem with Inu-Oh, however, is that form clearly wins over content, and so the story is probably the film’s main weakness. First of all, it's not a story for everyone, as it refers to a lot of Japanese realities, knowledge of which is a huge advantage, and ignorance can easily make you lose all interest in the story and miss out on things. On the other hand, everything is relatively well explained, and although traditional Japanese mysticism plays a part, the basic framework is easy to understand, even if you don't know much about the story of the Heike clan. Moreover, there isn't that much story, after all, it's not the main thing. As I said, the film is mainly supposed to captivate the viewer with its form, which was a success as far as I’m concerned. It's also a very strange combination of a historical setting and a musical that uses some modern elements, which may be a bit of a clash for some viewers. Plus, the music here in general may not be to everyone's taste. All in all - Inu-Oh is a unique film with a distinct character that may not be everyone's thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. 8/10

I really came to like rakugo when I saw Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu in 2016, and I still fondly remember this series. It showed me what’s great about rakugo and why it deserves to be admired. I was quite looking forward to another anime dealing with this theme, expecting to have a great time. Unfortunately, My Master Has No Tail is not of such a high quality, and if I had watched it on its own, it probably wouldn't have inspired much love for rakugo in me. There are a few performances in the series, along with explanations of the individual stories as a bonus at the end of each episode to give the viewer more insight, but it tragically fails in making the performances themselves engaging enough, and showing what is so wonderful and great about rakugu – work with expressions and, above all, one’s voice. Take Bunko, for instance. She’s one of the best narrators according to the show, and only gives one decent performance here, and that's only in the very last episode, where we finally see her make some effort with her voice. The rest of the performances, not just hers unfortunately, are just quickly narrated monologues with minimal emotion and virtually no expression. For me, the magic of the stories just isn't there, and the authors' efforts to visualize them doesn’t help much, either. Even the likes of Akira Ishida, who gave an absolutely superb vocal performance in Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, only gives what I consider to be an absolutely mediocre performance here. Add to that virtually zero facial expression, and my conclusion is that the series is not a great advertisement for rakugo. Even in terms of animation and music, it is mediocre, maybe even below average. Well, leaving aside my annoyance at the bad performances, what am I left with? A fairly ordinary story about how an irresponsible, energetic, and quite nice girl/tanuki is introduced to rakugo and the people around it, which helps her move on in life a little, find her purpose in life, overcome some obstacles, some of which seem quite interesting, others (like the very last one) a little silly, like a drama for drama's sake. I learned a few things about the other characters (more or less interesting) and their hardships, which was all tied back to rakugo. After all, it’s mainly about human stories. This was quite a good parallel. The main characters were nicely portrayed, and I gradually grew to like them, so I was interested in their journey and their mutual relationship. My overall impression is sort of in the middle. Some things were great and intriguing, but others didn't impress me much. Plus, I also feel some disappointment with this show... 5/10

Akiba Maid War is a series where all you need is one episode to either love the series or completely misunderstand it and drop it. In short, you'll either consider the concept of a "maid café yakuza" fresh, interesting, and fun, or you just won’t get what's supposed to be fun about it - you just won't go along with the writers' game. In the same way, you will either find the ending of the first episode incredible, original, maybe even brilliant, or you will just think that the authors have perfectly matched the action scene with the score, but the result will seem just as weird, or even silly, and you will wonder what some people see in it, and why others feel the need to keep talking about it and playing it for everyone. Unless you’re lucky, not even the second episode will convince you. You just won't buy it, you won't be interested or entertained, and you'll think that this topic will soon run out of steam anyway, so there's no point in trying anymore. I should be in the first group, as one of my favorite users reminded me that I did like Ben-to which has a similarly wacky concept. I'm surprised myself that I’m dropping the show after two episodes with raised eyebrows, wondering what others see in it. Maybe it's because maid cafés aren’t really my thing, maybe it just didn't hit the spot and I couldn't fully accept the main premise of the series. Well, I’ll never know. I tried, twice even, but no, I guess it's just not for me. I mean, I can see some solid production values there, but I'm not drawn in by the story, or the humor. But what should someone who's read this far take away from it? Surprisingly, I'll tell you the same thing that those who love the series would tell you - try the first episode! It'll be enough to see which side of the barricade you're on in this war.

An average romantic fairy tale - 5/10. Are you saying that's not enough, and you want to find out more? Well let's just say that for this to be a nice enjoyable fairy tale, there were several things that annoyed me quite a lot. I'll start with the fact that the protagonist acts like a confused puppy most of the time, wandering through the story, too often without any idea what's going on around her. She has such lousy self-esteem that she just keeps questioning everything, mostly herself, so she can be thrown off and put down even by a spoiled little girl whom any normal person would tell to shove it after a few sentences, or at least ignore... The first few episodes are spent on getting to know our heroine, finding out that she likes books, but also suddenly realizing that she probably likes princes too. And then there's a big plot twist that happens largely off-screen, of which we only see the pathetic conclusion, so we stare blankly in disbelief just like the protagonist, wondering what it was we've missed out on off-screen. And that brings me to the biggest problem I have with this show - almost all of the successes, discoveries, etc. - things that will later affect the story happen off-screen. We only find out that Elianna actually did anything other than read the books all the time or just fumbled through the story from the characters' explanations, in the form of sentences like "Remember how you were researching XY back then? And remember how you told me about XX? Well, it turns out that...". The series simply doesn't show the essential things, it just explains them (later). Instead of "show not tell" it's the exact opposite. It makes everything incredibly heavy on dialogue. The viewer has to trust that the main character is actually useful and not just a confused puppy that stumbles from problem to problem, shedding streams of tears and drowning in self-doubt, which someone else (usually our prince) has to dispel. At least the chemistry between the main couple and romance in general work quite well, otherwise I would probably lower my rating by one point. Of course, maybe I’m to blame for expecting the main heroine of a series/fairy tale to show some inner strength more often than just twice in twelve episodes... The issues that arise from this logically follow, I don't trust the main heroine and I don't root for her like the characters around her. They, unlike me, remember how Elianna read about XX off-screen and then helped them with... The rest is just a pure fairy tale with nice animation, where everything is solved like clockwork, the villains are always punished, all misunderstandings are resolved, and everyone is happy ever after. Actually, the story is ideal and necessary at this time of the year. Just switch off your brain, pour yourself some cocoa, and look at the tree decorated with beautifully lit-up ornaments, which I'm sure Elianna came up with – off-screen of course!

Do It Yourself!! is a likable and sweet series about an interesting hobby that I really enjoyed. Admittedly, it's just another one of the many stories about girls who have a kind of club where they do cute and fun things, but there’s more to it for me to like and praise here, such as the theme and setting of the story itself. It’s set in the near future where technology has advanced, and crafting things has become a pointless relic. After all, everything can be ordered, manufactured, and delivered by machines. As a typical boomer who still remembers the time when DIY was popular, and most older people around me could fix and make all kinds of things by hand, I almost shed a tear when the series presented DIY as a fun and useful pastime thanks to which we can make a lot with a bit of skill and save money in the process. I thought of my uncle who used to tell me over and over again that today’s youth don’t have the skills anymore, so they will have to buy everything, and traditional handicrafts will be in still greater demand. If the series makes at least one viewer feel the desire to create and learn something new, then it’s definitely worthwhile and has added value. But it's not just that. Do It Yourself!! Is also outstanding for its charming and memorable animation, which has a unique style that I liked very much. Yes, the animators make things easier for themselves sometimes (especially when drawing the characters), but it’s all made up for by the beautiful work with background color, many shots resembling a painting rather than a scene from a series. The score is also excellent, nicely complementing everything. The characters are likable and easy to remember. They are exactly the kind of characters that I'm sure even a month from now I'll know exactly who was who and what made me like them. Sure, it can be something simple. For example, Kokoro will be stuck in my head as the lively girl who ends every sentence with a "meow", not that I mind. Another interesting detail I appreciated was the way Jobko behaves. I finally felt like I was watching a series that was able to capture the perfectly logical fact that a foreigner from the west will simply behave differently in some situations in Japan. What do I mean by that? A lot of shows featuring a foreign student present them to me in such a way that I can't tell the difference in their behavior and habits – that is, an anime foreigner in Japan usually behaves like a regular Japanese person. They bow exactly when they’re supposed to, and know exactly what's polite and appropriate. I consider it to be unrealistic. Sure, we can prepare for a trip to Japan, and research all their customs, but I bet every foreigner will make several gaffes within the first week. And Jobko, although he speaks some pretty weird "Japanglish" even when he's trying to speak English, does make some obvious gaffes, often mixing the two languages together, which makes him much more relatable and real to me than most other "anime foreigners in Japan". Do It Yourself!! isn't perfect, though, and there are some things that annoy me about it, such as the repetition of certain jokes. When you hear “Do It Yua Serufu!!” for the tenth time, meant as a pun on the protagonist’s name, it almost makes you think, "Enough! It was funny once, cute like three times, but now it's just too much...". But still, the positives clearly outweigh the negatives overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and I certainly wouldn't mind an encore, even with all that Do It Yua Serufu!!!  A satisfied 7.5/10.

Mob Psycho 100 is definitely over, and the third season was a rollercoaster for me. There were episodes that I really looked forward to, enjoying the story and the character development. However, there were also passages that didn't really do it for me. I'm still wondering about the point of those two episodes about aliens... As in the previous seasons, most of the humor in the series went past me. Mob just never really worked for me as a comedy. Then again, I enjoyed how the series worked with the main characters and their development. Animation-wise, it was a combination of the author's distinctive style, which I've grown accustomed to, and the masterfully handled fights and overall capturing of motion, enhanced by plenty of displays of artistic creativity, such as imaginative use of color. On the one hand, I'm happy with the ending. I liked the concept of coming to terms with oneself. On the other, as usual with this series, I was expecting a little more. Overall, Mob Psycho 100 is a decent series with a good story and some interesting characters and if you happen to like its humor, you’ll really enjoy it. As for me, I was pleased, but not amused, and even puzzled by certain parts of this season. 6.6/10

When the first season came out in 2013, I didn't give it a chance at all. I wasn't a fan of short anime series with five-minute episodes back then. I was also under the impression, not sure why, that this series was going to be about climbing (as in rocks, ropes, and crampons). I logically didn't watch the other seasons either. This year, while going through the new releases of this anime season, I was intrigued by the trailer for the latest season, so much so that I wondered if I wasn’t missing out on something exceptional. What got me interested was the score and the animation, especially all the breathtaking panoramas and scenery. I also finally found out that Yama no Susume is not about rock climbing, but rather about hiking, which is very close to my heart. Hiking in the hills and walking around the countryside has always been one of my favorite pastimes. I also read that the first four episodes were a recap of the previous three seasons, so it was okay to jump straight in. After the first episode and quickly going through the first season, I figured that the recap episodes would probably be enough for me, and I didn’t need to catch up on the rest of the seasons. Well, it was only half true. I was able to get into the story and get a decent introduction to the main characters and even get to like some of them. On the other hand, I was obviously missing some bits and pieces of the story (like the storyline about Aoi being afraid of heights at the beginning), so when the first new episode came out (Episode 5), I was quite surprised and had no idea who half of the characters were. Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult to understand what was going on, so I was able to enjoy this season quite a bit in the end. I have to give credit to the series for selling me on what is beautiful and challenging about hiking in the mountains, just as it got me rooting for the main character each time she hiked up another mountain. Then again, I can’t help feeling that if Yama no Susume had been handled as 2-3 standard seasons with a runtime of 25 minutes per episode, I would have enjoyed it much more and wouldn't have had to wonder if it was worth catching up on the past seasons (I would have definitely watched them). On further reflection, while most of the characters were likable, they weren't distinctive enough. I'm sure I'll think of someone other than Aoi in a month. But enough already, I don't want to spoil the enjoyable experience which was certainly worth at least a very strong 3*. 6.4/10