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Nov 10, 2017
A complex story with strong, unique characters that suffers immensely from being 80% episodic one-offs.
Outlaw Star starts out strong by introducing a cast of quirky characters each with their own goals and demons, a convoluted plot packed with mysteries and intrigue, and a genuinely unique and fascinating universe with its own governments, power systems, and complicated underworld. And then it proceeds to do almost nothing with any of it, by making episode after episode of plot-irrelevant nothingness.
Now, this doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Cowboy Bebop balances an overarching narrative with episodic stories extremely well. But Outlaw Star fails this by
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not properly communicating to the audience that this is what they should expect. Where Bebop immediately establishes the status quo of episodic-ness and only peppers the story with a central conflict later, Outlaw Star's first several episodes launch directly into the conflict which draws every major character into the story. Then, on the fifth episode, the story hits the brakes and regresses into self-contained comedic one-offs that do very little to develop the world, characters, or plot. Worst yet, the bulk of the central conflict is crammed into the final 3 episodes without enough time to cover anything but the essential mysteries. It makes the viewer frustratingly wonder why the past 15 episodes were dedicated to silly nonsense while such an interesting story gets side-barred.
The one-off episodes are fun, however, and give the viewer a better sense of each character's personality, but none of them are complex enough to warrant more than an episode each, and the relationships between characters is almost entirely stagnant. Gene is a badass with a soft side, Jim is a worrier, Melfina is self-conscious, Suzuka is stoic, and Aisha is an idiot. They all have hearts of gold and they all pull through when they're most needed. The show decides to spend fifteen episodes displaying this while the central conflict remains almost entirely unexplained - who are the Kei pirates? Whats the government doing? What's up with magic? What was Hilda doing? What is Melfina's deal? What is Hazanko's deal? Whats the Leyline? What are the Ctarl-Ctarl like? Who is the Tendo King? Worry not, viewer, for all of these questions will be completely neglected in service of watching Gene solving petty crimes and being an idiot.
All in all, it is still an entertaining show and the story resolves in a somewhat satisfying way, but it is incredibly frustrating to watch the plot go in circles immediately after being shown loads of interesting developments. The settings is excitingly complex and nuanced, but feels hollow after it is never developed further. Compared to the other space cowboy series from this year, Bebop and Trigun, this is certainly the weakest, but it's still worth a watch if you've seen the other two.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 4, 2017
Another entry in the "trapped in a videogame" premise with a much more literal and sarcastic take on the trend. Without much plot or world-building, Konosuba lacks a cohesive structure and relies heavily on comedy to stay interesting. A little too much fanservice and not enough writing, each episode can become a slog of obvious and drawn-out jokes that somehow always end up with a female character humiliating herself.
The first two episodes are strong, with lots of unexpected twists and a story build-up that promises a wacky comedy-adventure featuring a cast of quirky, unique characters going on quests and exploring this fantasy world while searching
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for a way to defeat the evil Demon King. Unfortunately, all plot gets side-barred in the name of endless wish-fulfillment fanservice and obvious jokes that try to convince you they're self-aware and deconstructive by being transparently self-indulgent.
Kazuma checks off all the boxes of a self-insert main character: apathetic, plain, otaku, social recluse, smarter than average, inexplicably never romantically interested in anyone, and completely essential to the survival of a bunch of powerful girls. He accumulates the usual harem, each with her own quirk that usually manifests as a fetish and who views Kazuma as her leader for no particular reason. They are all walking the edge between living-stereotype and actual-person, with 90% of their behavior conforming to a single gimmick and small slices of personality and motivation.
The characters show flashes of personality and life, when they aren't constantly reinforcing their identities as "girl who always does that one stupid thing", and the clashing personalities occasionally make for some great humor. KonoSuba tries to stay self-aware and subvert all the cliches of the shonen-harem-videogame-anime, but it lacks the self-respect to not dump minutes worth of pointless fanservice into every episode while playing the exact same jokes over and over again. It feels just like every other trashy harem anime, instead of the parody of one that it's supposed to be. Rather than being a story about strong characters growing together as a group, developing themselves and exploring their world in true JRPG style, all the while bouncing personalities off each other's and poking fun at videogame tropes, most of the screen time is devoted to showing off insecure girls embarrassing themselves in front of Kazuma and inevitably begging him for help.
There's a distinct lack of detail that destroys all credibility of the premise. Concepts are constantly brought up and never expanded on, power-levels and abilities are completely arbitrary and inconsistent, random factions and countries are brought in and out of existence for plot-convenience, no one has a backstory, and nothing external to the plot of each episode ever happens. Every quest is stand-alone and insignificant, and the characters never change at all or improve their relationships in the slightest. None of the characters seem to even speak to anyone but Kazuma after they are introduced, unless they are talking about Kazuma, and they don't have any sense of familiarity with one another at all.
There are a dozen better comedy ecchi shows that have everything KonoSuba has, plus realistic relationships and some level of progression throughout the series, and - frankly - better fanservice. There are some good jokes and cute moments sprinkled throughout, but they aren't worth the 10-episode slog of the same harem garbage from every bad anime over and over again. Good voice acting though
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Aug 25, 2017
A show about a bunch of cute girls, who embody stereotypes, hanging out at school? Sounds boring!
But wait, they're all subversions of their own archetypes by being deliberately cliche on the surface, with unique personalities underneath? Oh great, another edgy deconstruction!
Fortunately, Oshiete Galko-chan isn't just another deconstruction of X genre; it plays the gimmick of each character being named after and seeming like one specific character archetype, while actually being deeper than they seem, but they aren't deliberately NOT those things, either. Otako is a shy otaku who reads a bunch of manga, but she's still an interesting person with her own tastes, who doesn't
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even see herself as an otaku, but rather someone interested in all kinds of books. Ojou is the prim-and-proper rich girl, but she's also kind of an airhead with her own unique set of quirks. Galko is a true gyaru, but she's interested in everything and can't resist getting involved with everyone.
Oshiete Galko-chan isn't filled with gripping character drama or even particularly hilarious humor, but it is engaging and memorable for its complex characters, who interact with each other believably and manage to form real relationships with one another over the short ~90 minute run-time of the series.
If you're like me and have grown cynical and tired from countless shows where everyone is absolutely pure-hearted and naive, Galko-chan is a refreshing change of pace, with each character being good-natured while maintaining a reasonable amount of selfishness and a lack of sensitivity, as is expected of a high school student. They have legitimate interests in sex and relationships, and their curiosity about the opposite sex makes for some really sincere and interesting character interactions. Oshiete Galko-chan doesn't treat taboo subjects like jokes or shock-factor, it explores them through the minds of curious, nervous adolescents, and it just feels refreshing and realistic to see characters in anime actually talking about them like reasonable people instead of gasping and getting nosebleeds at the mere thought of sex.
Overall, Oshiete Galko-chan is heartwarming, funny, and engaging. All I can ask for in a show is that it doesn't bore me, and the surprisingly broad cast of memorable, believable characters made for some excellent banter and drama. Every moment of the show brought more depth to its characters, by showing them in new situations, reacting in ways that were often unexpected and yet never felt out of character. It's not much of a commitment to pick up, as it's only twelve eight-minute episodes, and it's absolutely worth the time
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 24, 2017
Baby Steps is sports anime done right. No power ups, final bosses, character gimmicks, overpowered main characters, or formulaic plot.
The shonen battle-arena format is done so thoughtfully that it hardly feels like one at all. While the story ultimately consists of a generic underdog main character training and battling against increasingly stronger opponents, it manages to feel unique and refreshing due to its detailed and compelling portrayal of competitive tennis.
The underdog trope is used to successfully make Maruo's (the main character) foray into competitive tennis at a late age (sixteen) feel intimidating, challenging, and all the more impressive when he nails it. Maruo doesn't catch
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up to everyone else because he has prodigious talent or a super gimmick, he earns it though lots and lots of methodical practice and careful analysis of his every mistake and success. He isn't motivated by a desire to be the best, or his love for a girl, or avenging someone; he simply found a great community surrounding an activity that he truly enjoys, and he is inspired by the passion of his peers to try and become a better player. Maruo does have a love interest and she is part of his inspiration for playing tennis, but Maruo plays for himself.
Unfortunately, it is hard to stay fully interested in a show that is entirely about tennis. While the show features a decent cast of characters, none of them are fleshed out at all. The narrative is very impersonal and all of the characters are defined entirely by their tennis careers, which makes for little drama and boring character relations. The show establishes a few interesting relationships in the first episodes, but they are never developed later on. Maruo's drive to become a better player is the only thing moving the plot forward, there are no stakes (this is fixed somewhat later in the series) and no external events occur that change the course of the story or add new elements to the it. There's very little to break up the monotony of practicing and playing tennis to keep the show from feeling tiring and repetitive. You're never really left wondering what's coming next: it's always more tennis.
Where this show really shines, and where most sports shows SHOULD shine, is in its portrayal of its sport. The show is done in a limited third person point of view, meaning there is no narration but we get to hear our main character's thoughts and a take on his perspective. This makes for very exciting matches, where Maruo is constantly observing his opponent and trying to figure out what he is thinking. Maruo's thoughts are detailed and analytical, he makes challenging but believable estimates of his opponent's abilities and strategies, all backed by real data that he gathers mid-match. Maruo's powerful mental fortitude allows him to relentlessly try his hardest, and emotions are never central to any conflict. The matches are engaging and believable, by having realistic and complicated strategies, constant mind games between players, and the abuse of each players' strengths and weaknesses. The opponents are not gimmicky (except for one guy) and they are convincingly strong players - they don't have bigger muscles or special moves; they have specific skills and strengths that Maruo must find a winning strategy against, while they try to resist having their play-styles dismantled by Maruo's analytical prowess.
Baby Steps has plenty of exciting moments that can last for episodes at a time, but there is very little to fill the void between matches. Maruo's relationship with Natsu is only developed in a few episodes, and by the end it still feels extremely awkward and superficial. He never has to face any legimitate problems other than tough opponents, he experiences no growth as a character outside of playing tennis, and there is practically nothing else going on in the story. Side characters contribute nothing, Maruo's school life is just an occasional backdrop, the opponents are one-dimensional in everything but their styles of tennis, and the plot is completely defined by Maruo's training and tournament schedule.
It's worth the watch for exciting tennis and viewing the growth of a player from newbie to amateur star, but that's about it. If Maruo wins his matches, he goes on to play more tennis, if he loses, he still plays more tennis. There's not a lot to keep you interested aside from the matches themselves. Some exploration into what it's like being a student trying to go pro (other than practicing a LOT), expanding on Maruo's incredibly simple relationships with all of the support characters, some actual development of his relationship with Natsu, or simply making Maruo a realistic teenager instead of an naive goodguy with infinite motivation and the most boring personal life imaginable would have made the story a lot more interesting.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 13, 2016
Kekkai Sensen is a thrill ride from start to finish, throwing its viewers into a confusing mess of conflicts, monsters, and the awesome heroes trying to keep the city (somewhat) safe. With a sizable cast of eccentric characters and a wide array of conflicts and subplots, there is endless excitement to be had.
Where Kekkai Sensen really shines is its captivating setting and unstructured plot. Incredible effort was put into developing Hellsalem's Lot, the dystopian metropolis that was once New York City before a mysterious portal opened up, connecting our universe to another and allowing monsters to flood the city. Not all of these monsters are
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unfriendly, however; most of them have assimilated into society and coexist with humans. Kekkai Sensen puts you on a tour of the city, showing you countless human and monster pedestrians and their bizarre lifestyles.
The confusing, loosely structured plot has been criticized by many viewers, but I think it is one of Kekkai Sensen's greatest strengths. This isn't a linear story of one boy fighting the villain and saving the day. It's the story of an apocalyptic city and all of the calamity going on inside of it, and the stronger powers keeping this calamity loosely in check. There is Libra, the league of vigilantes trying to keep violent monsters at bay, there are large-scale criminal organizations, there is an ambiguous militaristic police force threatening to shut Libra down, and a few powerful individuals trying to take down the whole planet. It only makes sense that Kekkai Sensen is a chaotic mesh of storylines that our main character, Leonardo, gets caught up in. More than anything else, this anime is FUN. It is loaded with action, interesting characters, and plenty of mysteries to keep you watching.
Libra itself features a strong cast of lovable characters. Klaus, the almost comically masculine leader who can fight harder and think faster than any other human. Zapp, the lanky, aloof wannabe tough guy who begrudgingly takes Leonardo under his wing. KK, the mysterious woman who is deeply dedicated to her son and fights with electrified bullets. All of the major characters in Kekkai Sensen are well-developed and unique, and each has their own demons to battle. Watching Leonardo join Libra, you can feel his excitement and nervousness as he enters a world full of powerful characters and the complex ties they have within Hellsalem's Lot.
Then the anime twins show up. The super-crazy battle arena of an anime suddenly turns into an ultra-generic melodrama about some emotional 15 year-olds. All of the subplots that left you craving information are dropped entirely, Leonardo's status as a goofy kid trying to make a difference is gone, and suddenly all we're supposed to care about is the feelings of some sappy kids who lost their parents. The series essentially forgets everything that it achieved for 10 episodes and completely redefines the storyline to focus on a moody teenage girl, while every conflict is instantly resolved with the power of friendship. After watching 10 episodes of Libra causing thousands (they openly admit to this) of casualties in their effort to keep the city safe - rightly so, they blow up some buildings but prevent giant monsters from going on city-wide rampages - it becomes a bit difficult to feel sympathetic for the little girl who wishes she had super powers, and her emo brother who is too noble to save himself. I just watched Klaus murder 500 innocent people when he threw a giant monster into a skyscraper, now I'm expected to feel sorry for a little girl who doesn't feel adequate?
Better yet, the entire story conveniently becomes centered on these moody teens, and saving the world becomes a matter of inspiring them (with a super cheesy "i believe in my friends!!!" monologue) to stop being self-pitying twats long enough for the world to not end simply because they're too mopey to lift a finger.
I may be a bit too strongly opinionated, but Kekkai Sensen's evolution from Baccano-esque thrill ride to super cliche shonen crap left a bitter aftertaste. While I still think this show has immense potential to continue on as a great series, my interest will drop significantly if it doesn't go back to its strengths and start exploring the amazing world it has set up. There is so much potential for this series to really dig into any of the subplots it touched on throughout the first 10 episodes, like "Angel Scale" the mysterious super-drug, the seemingly corrupt police force patrolling the city, the source of the "blood powers" wielded by the members of Libra and the experiments that gave Klaus his incredible power, or Ulchelko the crime-boss chess wizard and the other powerful bosses of the alterworld. Anything to get more screen time in the awesome city of Hellsalem's Lot, watching Libra clown around and take down bad guys while digging into the underworld of terrible powers fueling the chaos withing the city.
I give Kekkai Sensen a 6/10 for having an awesome story with a completely unsatisfying ending. I sincerely hope that this series gets a second season, and that it taps into the huge potential of its setting rather than make a story revolving around romantic teenagers. There are a lot of loose ends that could easily make for a few season's worth of content on their own.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 26, 2015
Rail Wars! is a confusing show. It is an ecchi harem with the primary gimmick being that it supplies the viewer with plenty of train facts.
There is no progression to this story. Although it is a harem, there are only two moments in the series that could be considered "plot development between characters" in which two different girls' announce to the screen that they have feelings for Naoto, our main character. However, while both of these girls may have revealed their feelings (to no one in the story), the only effect this has on the story is the addition of blushing throughout the
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otherwise ordinary moments this show is chock full of.
The only notable plot progression throughout the series is the very arbitrary promotion of Naoto from "kid who works for train station" to "kid who leads other kids who work for train station" which has no actual importance on the series as he is bossed around enough by his incredibly tsundere teammate that his title is meaningless. Aside from this tidbit of progress, nothing resembling a plot will occur for the rest of the series. You may be thinking, "well, that's okay. I'm just in it for the fan service anyway" and this is where I will have to stop you. Unless you, along with the writers of this show, are deeply infatuated with girls removing their pantyhose in a two-shot still frame every few episodes, you will be very hard pressed to find yourself satisfied in any way.
Much to my surprise, Rail Wars falls extremely short in the fan service department. Given that this is an ecchi harem show with no plot whatsoever, no character development, no relationships, and terrible animation you would think that we would at least get some Grade A boobies in our faces every few minutes, and although literally every female character with any significance has an obnoxiously large chest, we are left with pantyhose removal every few episodes and the occasional heavily-veiled changing room scene. If sexual tension is all you need, don't continue watching after episode two, where we get our one and only moment of actual tension which last about a minute and produces microscopic amounts of embarassment between the two characters involved. (Of course this is assuming that girls taking off their pantyhose doesn't completely captivate you, because the writers REALLY just eat that stuff up. When that still-frame passed and Sakurai's legs turned from darkish tan to light peach I knew my world had changed forever)
If you're still thinking "I'm just in it for the trains!" you are still not safe from the disappointment. Two or three times per episode, as a different 3D model of a train scrolls across your screen, Naoto will read to you the first ten sentences that wikipedia has to offer about that specific model of train. This interaction will then abruptly end and the show will continue normally, although occasionally a female character will comment on Naoto's obsession with trains which will result in the cheerful laughter of his teammates while the camera pans away to a fade, and we can escape from the tedium of Rail Wars! for just a moment.
Probably the only interesting aspect of Rail Wars! is the immense responsibility that these junior train cadets in training have, as they are equipped with pistols put in charge of defending the lives of thousands from a multitude of train-hating terrorists. While this may sound entertaining, I assure you that any conflict or action will take place in the final minute of the episode and be portrayed through a still-frame of a bad guy getting kicked by Sakurai. The ability of the junior train cadets to absorb minutes worth of tasering to the neck - completely unscathed - is notably comical yet also ruins any hope for the plot to actually start moving.
There is very little left to say about Rail Wars! If you are looking for 4 hours of large-breasted characters doing mundane things, poorly animated CG trains, 2 minutes of unfulfilling ecchi, half a dozen still-frames of action, and a small pamphlet's worth of information on trains, then Rail Wars! is the show for you. Otherwise, you should consider looking elsewhere.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 26, 2012
Lain was an incredible anime. It blew away all the anime stereotypes by creating a story with almost no romance, action, or comedy. It was a story of a girl who got so in touch with her virtual identity that she essentially broke the border between reality and virtual reality. Without giving away too many spoilers, I'll try to elaborate on what the anime is really about.
It's basically putting reality into question;
What really gives us our identity? Memories? Because if no one remembered us, how would we be identified?
But memories can be lost, destroyed, changed. Meaning that our identities themselves can be lost, destroyed or
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changed. So do we even have real, defined identities, or do we simply exist as the current memories of others?
But it is basically saying that reailty happens according to how we remember it. If you remember something happening, then - as far as you know - that's what happened. You can't deny your memories until something else can change them or prove them wrong. So if you don't remember something, who's to say it happened? You can't prove it did, and until you change your mind, it remains a truth. Because you live in your world, and your world alone. People are as you see them, they are seen by your eyes, your mind. If your mind is "wrong", then you see them "wrong". But who's to say that it's wrong? And how could you ever possibly know if your mind is wrong? You can't understand your mind's "errors" with an erred mind. And those errors are defined by another's mind, so their mind could be erred instead of yours. Or maybe we simply all have different minds, and none of them are wrong.
Sorry, I'm getting confusing again, I hope that's understandable enough though. It's really something worth thinking about.
The other concept brought up is God. The anime poses the question: what is God? Does it even exist, and if it did, what would it be?
Do we create a God? Or does it exist without us? Could it exist without us? Because, what is a God without its people? It holds no status if there is nothing for it to be higher than. People define their God, and create their God, and without them there would be no God.So then, is God perfect? If it exists in us, because of us, and is created by us and how we want it to be, what power does a god hold? When the physical reality we all take for granted turns out to be different than we thought, than what happens to God? Can a regular person become God?
Serial Expirements Lain is refreshing to watch, because instead of tackling a bunch of moral conflicts through "determination and fighting spirit!!!" like way too many other anime/manga out there, it doesn't really work on morals at all. It just tries to make the viewer take a step back and look at the world around him; reality isn't always what it seems and we aren't what we always think we are. It's not a moral message, its a message of awareness.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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