Fall 2017 Anime in Review
These lead-ins are really starting to get tired and forced, so I'll spare you the typical spiel and instead give you some updates. I've started an anime-centric podcast with the help of some of my fellow nerds, @FritschTheRed, @HGF2635, and a rotating cast of other degenerates, called the "Anime Alcoholics Podcast". We strive to have a new episode every other week, which we record live then post to YouTube for later consumption. In an effort to not discriminate, we try to highlight a wide range of anime-related degeneracy (past topics including everything from monster girls to a Fate historical discussion) as well as imbibe as much alcohol as possible throughout the cast. If this sounds even remotely interesting to you, please tune in for our live recordings on Twitch, where you can tell us how wrong we are in chat.
Well that's it for that, so let's hop into reviews for Fall shall we? I'm going to skip over the 2-cour shows this time, as adding in "watch it"/"skip it" opinions didn't seem to add much overall. This season, this includes 3-gatsu no Lion: 2nd Season, Black Clover, and Mahoutsukai no Yome. We'll wrap back around to those ones once they finish up in the future.
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| An accurate summation of my feelings upon completing Animegataris. |
Studio: WAO World
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Initially, I thought that this show was a lot like Gamers! if you just ripped out all the romance and made the content actually about what it says on the cover. What that leaves you with is something that's unfortunately pretty generic, following a very typical club anime plot rife with inter-school conflict and bunkasai prepartion, with only a bare-minimum level of visual quality, even for a slice-of-life show. However, Animegataris is far from incapable of being entertaining, and the more involved in the anime fandom that you are (particularly if you're someone of the con-attending and seasonal-watching variety), there will definitely be something to like. This is because Animegataris is about an anime club, made up almost entirely of otaku of many different forms.
All of our characters are basically stand-ins for different parts of anime culture: we have our seasonal nut, LN-source purist, cosplayer, obsessive idol fan, and more. This is where the bulk of the comedy in Animegataris is found, so if you're someone who really hates medium-referential humor then you can likely just check out here. As someone who wasn't completely down with the idea, I have to say that Animegataris handles this kind of comedy better than most, and that's mostly due to how everything is presented through Minoa's point-of-view. Minoa, our main character, is an anime newbie, so any comedy that would come from her unknowing questions comes across as pretty geniune instead of forced, which is the biggest problem with reference humor for me.
If this sort of cultural self-awareness sounds like fun to you, then this one might be worth a look. Just know that nearly everything else about Animegataris is incredibly generic, from plot and characterization to the downright slide-show tier art at points. You can do far greater for shows with otaku characters or about otaku culture. Hell, I'd argue that Saekano represents it better than this show does, and is more effective at eliciting humor from the content despite being focused primarily on romance and fanservice. Still, if you're chomping on the bit for anime-meta content, then go watch Re:Creators, and then maybe you can watch Animegataris, I guess.
Score: 5/10
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| M E M E S |
Title: Blend S
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Workplace
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Streaming: Crunchyroll
You know those character/maid cafes you hear about being in Akihabara? This is a workplace comedy about one of those, with a little bit of romance sprinklings on the side. Blend S primarily follows one new hire at a restuarant, "Cafe Stile". At this cafe, every waitress plays some sort of otaku-bait character while on-shift: tsundere, imouto, idol, onee-san, and... sadist? Maika, our main character, is cursed with slanted eyebrows that make everything she says come off with a cruel tone, which easily lands her a job at Stile as the "sadistic" character. The night and day difference between her true mannerisms and the character she is forced to play are central to Blend S's comedy, and not just for Maika either. Almost every character at Stile has a converse personality and character: the imouto is actually in her twenties and hates being called young, the tsundere couldn't be more one-track kindhearted, and the caring onee-san is truthfully a perverted ero-mangaka.
As a show about cute girls working, the duality of (nearly) every character lets the show play on multiple otaku archetypes at once while retaining a greater sense of maturity and realistic characterization that is more reminiscent of Working! than something like GochiUsa. I have to say, Blend S does a far better job of keeping this up than I ever thought it would. Week-in and week-out this show is consistently entertaining as a weeby workplace comedy, with comedic beats coming at a good rhythm, characters continually showing new sides of themselves, and an unexpected romance receiving a far greater amount of attention than I believed it would. Maika's other-country obsession is also a good point for comedy, and plays well with the manager of Stile being foreign. There's little to no overarching plot, with each episode wrapping back to about where our characters started other than building their relatioships a little, but with a show like this that's to be expected. I wouldn't knock Blend S any points in that regard; it's a well executed example of its genre.
Unfortunately, this is where the positives for Blend S pretty much end. Yes, A-1 Pictures does provide a certain level of visual prowess here that can't be denied, but many are quick to forget that a show like this with many still cuts, chibi cut-aways, and little fantastical motion are far less impressive both in art and animation. Furthermore, A-1 Pictures' involvement doesn't help when attempting to not compare Blend S to its big sister Working!, which is a comparison that is repeatedly a losing battle. Not only do we have less characters, but they're less interesting, developed, and genuine than Working!'s insanely lovable and relatable cast of restaurant workers. Lack of an overarching plot also doesn't help Blend S here, and with only the wishy-washy nature of Maika x Manager to help pull you along from episode to episode, you'll be quickly longing for the comparitively epic romance of Takanashi and Inami. There's also another egregious "trap" character that I could grandstand about here, but I'll leave that for Fate/Apocrypha further down the page since at least Blend S isn't nearly as offensive with the trope as F/A can be.
I feel like I've been a little unfair here to Blend S. The show is very fun, colorful, and cute throughout, and I didn't loathe my time with it not even a little bit. It's just that, in a genre that's so saturated, it really doesn't give a reason to watch outside of the whole maid-cafe-characters bit. And even then, even with that part executed well, it still falls behind its closest genre competitor from the same studio. If you're someone who missed out on Working!, don't waste your time with Blend S, but those who are really chomping at the bit for more workplace comedy and romance will Stile find plenty to like.
Score: 7/10
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| END MY EXISTENCE |
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Studio: Diomedia & Studio Blanc
Streaming: Amazon AnimeStrike
Why, dear God, was this show hyped up? Like, I get it, virgin otaku want to hear anime girls say trashy things and make sex jokes but this show is repeatedly so tasteless that evokes a middle school or lower level of comedic maturity. And even that I could understand if the show was at least pleasing to the eye, which it isn't. The character designs looked ripped out a selection of anime romcom "greatest hits" and barely even move on screen, and when they finally do move the animation melts off the screen. Going further, the cookie-cutter tropes of every character can't even be played correctly. Anime has been doing this shit for nearly forty years now; if you can't copy this shit with even the smallest of budgets, and furthermore somehow even be offensive to already terribly overdone versions of them, then I just don't know what to say. This show has no, I repeat, no redeeming qualities, and was complete waste of my time. An absolute dumpster fire.
Fuck you Bob.
Score: 1/10
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| I still don't even remember this happening. |
Genre: School? Fantasy? Something like that I guess.
Studio: A.C.G.T.
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I've watched this show all the way through from start to finish, and I have to confess that I have absolutely no idea what happened. Sure, events occurred on screen, such as flashbacks relating to a guillotine, or some sort of giant bridge fight, but as far as I'm concerned these were just random events shown completely divorced from any sort of continuity or plot. I can't for the life of me even begin to piece this show together as a narrative, and I was honestly intently watching the entire time just to see if I could. Hell, I even went back and rewatched some sections (yes, even episode zero) to see if I missed some sort of clue or hint that made everything make sense, but alas, there was nothing. Dies Irae is, from beginning to end, an irrational, disconjointed, and nonsensical mess.
Rather than attempt to review anything I watched, I'm going to break down what little I was able to absorb from watching this show, just to show you how insane it really is. With some outside research I found that Dies Irae is an adaptation of a visual novel, not that this frees it from any of its guilt, but at least I could see where the ridiculous and random events had come from. So there's some character named Ren, and he has magical demonic powers that he got from magic nazis because he's actually a test tube baby that's related to Karl Kraft or some kind of ancient magus. But first, there's some spooky murders happening around town, which end up being committed by his childhood friend Kasumi, who's actually being subconsciously controlled by Ren's magical demon powers. Confused yet? Good, it gets worse. The magic nazis, who are also in cahoots with the local convent of sexy nuns and childhood friend #2, want to open up all the "swastikas" in this Japanese city (that has this magical guillotine in it for some reason) so that ancient power or some garbage can be released. There's a random teen angst subplot where Ren is reunited with his friend Shirou Yusa, who's know a club-hopping drug dealer with a sick-ass motorcycle and a hot stripper girlfriend. Some sort of reincarnation or aspect of the magical guillotine from before gets birthed out Ren, who is naturally a big titty blonde with a scar around her neck, showing you that's she's actually dead. Oh, did I mention she's retarded and has to rely on Ren to dress and feed her? Yeah, that's a thing. Also the God of the universe is involved, who's actually some magus where in earlier in history he had ascended to godhood or somethi...
You know what? I think you get the point, so I think I'll leave it here. While Dies Irae is undoubtedly terrible and confusing, I think it at least has the merit of being "hilariously" so, with content so downright maddening that there's no way it could possibly be serious. And even if it was terrible, at least it turned out better than Sho-bitch, right?
Score: 2/10
NOTE: Apparently this one is continuing into the next season, so fuck me, right? Consider this a review for the second cour as well. I'll still finish it, but I'm not writing another review.
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| "Hold on bro, I gotchu, let me just RIP OUT MY FUCKING HEART AND HAND IT TO YOU" |
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Streaming: Netflix
Oh Fate... the height at which you can hype the community up never fails to impress, but holding up your end of the bargain has always been something of a difficult preposition, hasn't it? Apocrypha, henceforth referred to as F/A, tries to put a new spin on the Fate formula with a seven-on-seven team deathmatch for the grail, as opposed to the free-for-alls of old. With surprising servant choices and a wide array of masters, you'd think that A-1 Pictures would have sealed the deal with this one, and that their success would be practically guaranteed. Unfortunately, F/A has been one disappointment after another, from the general plot all the way down to the visuals.
While I have to give credit where credit is due in regards to the new direction F/A takes when compared to its predecessors, that's about all the narrative credit that I can dole out. The ridiculous cast of servants, which include characters as crazy as genderbent Frankenstein, Shakespeare, and loli Jack the Ripper, fails to make any impact throughout the experience aside from being outside a core few, with the majority of both servants and masters being wholly forgettable. Mordred and Jeanne see a good bit of development throughout, the former due to her interesting and well-played master and the latter for her status as the show's heroine. Astolfo, and to some extent our pantheon of Greek mythos characters, see some marginal improvement as well, but are also marred by a host of issues. The worst part about Astolfo is that he's likely the most offensive and "in poor taste" example of his trope to date, but I can't bring myself to dislike him as a character. He's far and away the most personally driven servant, maybe even to date in the entirety of Fate. Even if at this point this may seem like an overplayed plot-thread in the series, he comes across as genuine and righteous, which is more than I can say for 85% of our bland-as-white-bread cast. I said above in my review of Blend S that I would get in detail as to my hate for the offensive trope he represents, but I don't think that I can bring myself to put it on the page. The anime industry really needs to break away from a fetish-pandering direction for their character design, but that's a discussion for another time. What were we talking about again? Oh, Apocrypha. Back to that.
The narrative structure this time around is all over the place, even for a Fate title. Normally, we'd get a nuanced series of events based around servants being defeated, but F/A seems content to just throw shit at the wall every few episodes and see what sticks. Other than the plot coming near dead stop both before and after the Dracula nonsense, the issues arising from Berserker of Red, Caster of Black, and Jack the Ripper all seem not only inconsequential to the main plot. They exist primarily to put different servants into fights with other groups of servants, which is something I can at the very least applaude the series for. Action is varied and interesting, and the matchups never fail to be in the least engaging. A-1 Pictures does their best job to emulate that ufotable night-fight style that they've become so well known for, and even if they ultimately fall a bit short of that goal, the action is still superb. If I were to recommend this series on anything, it would be exclusively for the fights and little else. The visual quality does take a nosedive near the end due to some apparent budget issues over at A-1, and some of the episodes throughout our middle dead gaps have little to no motion in them at all, being practically mouth-moving slideshows. For something that I thought would be Fate Art Online in terms of aesthetic quality, I was definitely disappointed with the overall final product.
Overall, I can only really recommend F/A for the Fate-obsessed. It falls flat by nearly every in-genre metric, and anything it has outside of that isn't worth mentioning. The series isn't incapable of being fun or displaying some great action scenes, but when everything around that action is on a scale from boring to downright offensive, it doesn't make for good anime. If you were someone who was waiting for Netflix to finally release the series in its entirety, I'm sorry to let you know that you've wasted your time.
Score: 6/10
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| Nayu is unironically one of my favorite character designs in a long time. |
Title: Imouto sae Ireba Ii (A Sister's All You Need)
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Slice-of-Life, Work?
Studio: Silver Link.
Streaming: Crunchyroll
For those of you that couldn't make it through the first thirty seconds of A Sister's All You Need, I don't blame you. Referred to as the "normie barrier" by the seasonal anime community, it was supremely hard to suffer through, and I'm still debating on whether it was worth it to do so or not. Imouto sae is an interesting beast, at points Eromanga-sensei and at other points Shirobako, and never deciding one way or the other what it wants to be. There's some meat on the bone for sure, despite the first thirty seconds doing its best to convince you otherwise. The writing of light novels has been a popular anime topic lately in a post-Eromanga world, and I can say at the very least that Imouto sae does a better job than its would-be "parent" does at giving a look into what writing light novels is really like. Yes, it's idealized as hell and is nowhere near the type of more grounded look Shirobako gave us, but for our characters it serves the same purpose. While there is a distinct romantic element to the series, it takes a backseat often to the career motivations of our set of twenty-something year old characters. Seeing their different personal and career goals clash with one another throughout the series is honestly great to watch, and having their personalities and gripes with one another leak out into the "games" that are played by them over drinks to unwind after long days of writing feels natural and is one the highlights of the series. The "D&D" episode is a particularly good example of this, and gives the art and animation teams at Silver Link chance to strut what they have.
Unfortunately, Silver Link doesn't seem to have much to offer here. Hot off of the supremely beautiful Prisma Illya movie, I'd be lying if I wasn't expecting something more from Imouto sae, even if it's a wholly different genre. The show doesn't look bad by any means, but I'm getting tired of seeing Silver Link rehash the character structure they've been using since the first season of Prisma Illya, a distinctive moe-bleed-through style with "glassed" eyes. I get it, your studio is building an identity and trying to put out more stuff, but falling into A-1 Pictures same-face syndrome is never going to be a good look. In a vacuum though, I have to say that some of the character designs look great with this style, particularly Nayu, but I can't help but be pulled out of the experience when I know that the show doesn't look unique purely out of laziness. Music is above average though, which helps a lot with a series like this where there's a lot of emotional tension. There's quite a few insert pieces, which normally puts me off a bit, but they're very well executed here and add a lot to the general experience. I wouldn't go as far to say that I'd look up Imouto sae's OST to listen in a vacuum, but the music is better than average for sure.
I was routinely surprised by how much I was enjoying this show. The comedy is dirty in an endearing way (unlike Sho-bitch), the characters are lovable and relatable, and watching them all interact together around the table each episode is consistently a treat. As with most of these kinds of series, you likely aren't going to get the romantic resolutions you're looking for. And honestly, with a show like Imouto sae, I think that's okay. The goal of the show is to walk the lines between comedy, romance, and a workplace drama, and it does a pretty effective job at doing so. If you're a fan of Shirobako, maybe want to learn about LN production, and can make it through thirty seconds of the audio-visual terror that is this show's opening scene, you might find a lot to like here.
Score: 7/10
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| Strap in for some of your favorite mecha old man adventures. |
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Studio: MAPPA
Streaming: Amazon AnimeStrike
This one is really hard for me to collect my thoughts on. On one hand, it's an interesting story that greatly rewards a viewer's sense of justice, and on the other it's studio MAPPA slapping me in the face with an overabundance of horrid CG. And yeah, I know I'm a huge CG hater and that some people really don't care, but even for anime the computer graphics in Inuyashiki are downright terrible. This is really disappointing to see for studio MAPPA, who as a spinoff of Madhouse have quite the pedigree and expectations to be upheld. Especially with the premise, I was expecting to see a lot of really expressive mech-centric animation and interesting aerial shots, and instead I got woefully let down. The fairly well animated 2D sequences are a further slap in the face in this regard, as Inuyashiki seems to constantly remind you of what it could have been from an aesthetic standpoint. Fortunately, the score really drags up a lot of the CG action sequences, pumping me up and keeping me engaged even if the visuals constantly were constantly ripping me away.
The big strengths here are the premise, characters, and plot. Two humans getting thier bodies randomly "replaced" by alien death machines is about as intriguing as any other anime set-up, and especially moreso when one is terminal cancer-afflicted old man. The show goes to further subvert your expectations when Inyuashiki, the old man, turns out as the hero, only feeling "human" when he is helping the lives of others, while the typical would-be protagonist, the high school boy, becomes a murderous monster. This unexpected role-reversal and the resulting action is Inuyashiki's strongest trait by a long shot. Our supporting cast also adds a lot, as Inuyashiki's ungrateful family, Shishigami's mother, and his best friend all take center stage at one point or another, and are pretty effective at drawing out the emotions you'd expect both from our main characters and viewers. Now for the plot... if you've heard anyone talk about this show throughout the season, you've probably heard the term "justice porn" thrown around a lot, and that's an accurate summation of what you're going to get. Inuyashiki as a character is someone who always wanted to help others but thought himself too weak, something which his new alien mechanical body now allows him to do. Every instance of Inuyashiki saving someone or Shishigami being coincidently punished for his actions is extremely cathartic for the viewer, and this is what is going to have you coming back again and again, episode after episode.
Much of the fun of Inuyashiki is in further details, so I'm going to stop with plot-talk here. If I could make any recommendation, it would be to just read the manga as opposed to watching the anime if you're someone who overtly cares a lot about visuals like I am. The manga is expertly drawn and provides the same emotional impact and catharsis that you'd get out of watching, without any of the dreaded CG. The shite visuals really just make this one hard for me to recommend, even though it's definitely a fun experience.
Score: 6/10
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| Angry Texting: The Animated Series |
Genre: Romance, Drama
Studio: Pine Jam
Streaming: Crunchyroll
It's been a while in seasonal anime since we had a pure romance drama to sink into, and Just Because! aims to fill that void. The setup here isn't anything new, as we're still in high school and our characters do little but fill out some classic romance tropes. Izumi is the quiet transfer student, back after some time away and still pining after Mio, the academia-focused type. Of course, Mio likes Izumi's friend, Soma, while Soma likes Morikawa, setting up our prototypical love quadrilateral that will ride us all the way to the end of the series. However, the drama comes across as fairly realistic without feeling forced by the typical degree of "anime autism" that all characters in anime romance seem to exhibit. It's no White Album 2, but Just Because! does feel like a genuine depiction of high school love-fallout versus the fantastical and ridiculous depictions that we usually get in anime. Still, Just Because! is far from a perfect package, marred with an incredible level of in-genre genericism and some less than sub-par visual direction, even if my enjoyment with the series was slightly higher than average.
When I say that Just Because! is "generic", I mean it in a very wholistic way. Everything from the setting to plot threads to the character designs could have been ripped from anywhere. Now, I wouldn't discount the series completely based on this fact, but lack of even a unique visual style is a killer here. You have to remember that this is a romance drama, set in high school; a high degree of motion isn't exactly something that Just Because! has, even if it wanted to. In fact, the only unique visual feature of the show is a focus on smartphone LINE conversations, which were portrayed poorly by comparison to Tsuki ga Kirei just a few seasons ago. Furthemore, our setpieces are not interesting in the slightest, and if our characters at the very least aren't going to pop against some bland backgrounds, the entire show is going to fall visually flat. Combine all this with a terrible muted color palette and some poor facial animation, and the product that comes out on the other end is at times downright difficult to watch. This is a shame though, because I found myself really liking our cast of generic characters by the end, despite all their white-bread blandness. Mio overcoming her personal problems and realizing what's truly important to her is the highlight of the show's narrative, with Soma x Morikawa coming in as a close second with their own brand of lovable awkwardness and trademark genre will-they-won't-they relationship. Komiya is a lovable third wheel to the Mio and Izumi romantic thread, who gets points for being the most uniquely aggressive character in the show with regards to her feelings. The interplay between Komiya and Izumi's involvement and the drama surrounding Mio's first choice college entrance exams do play well off of one another, but the pure stupidity of the whole entrance exam "deal" that the show tries to build up ultimately feels far too cheap to be the core focus of at least six to eight episodes.
Overall, Just Because! puts forth its best effort on an obviously shoestring budget, and comes up predictably short in the end. It's a shame really, because Pine Jam really showed some shades of producing something that was going to be memorable, but just didn't have the money or talent to back it up in the end. I can praise them for their more realistic take on a modern high school romance drama, but there are just too many glaring aesthetic and narrative issues with it for me to wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone but the most fervent of rom-drama fans. Still, despite all my bashing, I think that you can get much, much worse than this in the genre, and at the very least the series offers a good deal of romantic resolution for all of our red-string-tied characters. If you're one of those fervent fans, this one might be worth a look, but for myself and the rest of you, I'd give this one a pass.
Score: 6/10
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| If only the rest of this show looked this amazing... |
Genre: Action, Drama
Studio: Graphinica
Streaming: Crunchyroll
What happened Nisio Isin? After creating such masterful works such as Katanagatari and the entire Monogatari series, what would possess you to create something so terribly flawed, especially with such a promising first episode? Juuni Taisen is a battle royal to the death, with every warrior in the fight individually representing a animal of the Zodiac. I want to use the term "representing" quite literally here, as the character designs seem to be ripped right out of someone's retarded gajinka fantasy zoo. The characters are, both visually- and personality-wise, taken directly from the Chinese Zodiac, and are about as one dimensional as possible despite having entire episodes dedicated to their backstories and motivations. You'd think that with someone like Isin, that at the very least we'd have some interesting plot threads to follow, but every episode follows the same pattern: recap, character backstory, resulting death. About the only narrative strength that Juuni Taisen has going for it is that, yes, you do have no idea who will win in the end. To some, this is enough to keep them intrigued throughout the experience, but I'm not one of those people.
Juuni Taisen also unforunately gets my award for "Worst Looking Show Fall 2017". Between the atrocious character designs, slideshow animation, and atrocious CG, calling this show "animated" at all is generous at best and disingenous at worst. Aesthetically, there's nothing to like here. Even the characters that have more humanized designs look generic both at rest and in motion, something that isn't helped by CG over-use. Music fluctuates on a scale between tasteless and nails-on-chalkboard, never really fitting with any individual scene or providing any atmosphere. This is all really unfortunate, both for the show and for Isin, as Juuni Taisen really achieves nothing other than being a bad looking scar on Isin's otherwise great track record. Yes, I'm aware that the show is meant to be some sort of "prequel" or side story or whatever for another property, but frankly I don't give a shit. All I have to judge this show off of is the show itself; any information that comes extra through knowledge of the source really isn't relevant.
And this brings me to my score... with how much I've bashed Juuni Taisen, you might think that it would be getting the "1" or "2" treatment. And you'd be right, if some of the character backstories (in vacuums) weren't pretty interesting. Notably, Dog and Tiger's episodes are pretty compelling in and of themselves, with Monkey's being acceptable as well. These gave me hope for some of the more interesting characters in the series, such as Rabbit, but we ended up getting little to nothing in that regard with Rabbit being pushed aside narratively other than serving as the front-running boogeyman. While these few instances of intrigue aren't enough to save the show as a whole, they can at the very least drag it up to the top of dumpster.
Score: 4/10
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| Just a few members from our lovable group of Libra. |
Title: Kekkai Sensen & Beyond
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Studio: BONES
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Kekkai Sensen, or Blood Blockade Battlefront, is hard to describe in text; it's much more a series about world and atmosphere that it is about any one of our individual characters or any overarching narrative. I've spoke on this series before, and I think the most apt description still holds: imagine Men in Black, but pumped full of a jazz-noir aesthetic and embracing of all the anime medium has to offer. Hellsalem's Lot is one hell of a place to be, and Beyond does a great job of whetting our appetite for more after the long two year wait. Everything you love about the original BBB is still here, crazy character designs, awesome action scenes, and sakuga-filled animation are plentiful. However, the direction of this second season differs pretty heavily from that of its predecessor, and that difference is going to be the primary indicator of your enjoyment with this sequel.
While our first season focused primarily on Leo's involvement with White and the events surrounding her, Beyond opts to give character focused looks into a post-White Hellsalem's Lot, condensing any overarching narrative focus for Leo firmly into the last few episodes. This choice does heavily affect the pacing and "feel" of Beyond when compared to the original series; for a series that was already pretty episodic, believe me when I say that barring the last few episodes, you can watch every episode of Beyond in a vacuum and be content, similar to something like Cowboy Bebop. There is no complete narrative to be experienced here, sans the usual Michella problem for Leo that fans are all too familiar with. I don't believe this is a bad direction for the series, as embracing its episodic nature allows Beyond to really build up the series superbly intriguing world, but fans of the "next-episode-button-mashing" feel of the original run may feel a little let down. However, getting to see in-depth looks into our characters, especially ones that got snubbed in the first season like Chain, Steven, and K.K. is a treat for our diverse and varied members of Libra, finally allowing them to all show off their endearing personalities and interesting backstories. Wrapping back to Beyond specifics though, I'd consider Leo's final arc to be at the very least acceptable, and similarly to the direction of the rest of show, gives us a better look at Michella's character than was ever present in season one. The episodic nature of the series can make the eleventh hour drama feel a little forced, but with how schizophrenic the series can be, you won't be likely to notice it during a watch straight-through.
Speaking of watching straight through, prepare to visually assualted yet again by some of the most unique and impressive animation a TV anime has to offer. While moments of sakuga do come a little less frequently than they did last time, they're still plentiful and are again set against some truly unique character designs. BONES animators are the masters of taking these grisly and alien characters and still making them feel humanized and expressive, as well as turning it up to eleven when the action gets started. If I had any gripe with the aesthetics of this sequel, it would be subtle shift away from a more jazz-infused score to a far more pop and techno-based one. It still works, and works well, but the jazz feel of the original series enhanced the more lighthearted and fun parts of the show while still not feeling out of place in our more dramatic moments. Beyond has a distinct shift in score when transitioning between rest and action, which lacks the impact that the more jazzy score did when it the two sides of the series would bleed together naturally. This culminates into the heart-crushing lack of an ED-reprisal from the previous season, which was a long shot to hope for in the first place but still pains me to not see again. The original series' ED perfectly nailed the series contrasting atmosphere throughout, always ending on a good note that made you chomp at the bit for more. Maybe I'm just a sucker for end-dance EDs (I am), but the new one just lacks the impact the old one had, especially considering how the previous ED would ramp into itself from the end-action of the episode.
Still, even with some stylistic changes and my gripes, Beyond is far and away a worthy sequel. If you're someone who was holding out on this one to see what the response to this sequel was, fearing you may ruin the original for yourself, be assured that it's a great continuation of an already good series. Is this sequel a reason to pick up the original in the first place? Well, that's a harder question to answer, but I'd say the original is good enough to stand on its own, and that this sequel is a perfect after-story while not being necessary to enjoy the full product. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching the original series, get on Crunchyroll and fix that as soon as possible.
Score: 8/10
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| On the road again... |
Genre: Adventure, Mystery
Studio: Lerche
Streaming: Crunchyroll
It's been far too long since Kino's Journey has last been adapted into animation, and this new series is a welcome new step in their travels from country to country and the events that befall Kino. If you're not familiar with the series, it's about a young person named Kino and their talking "motorrad" Hermes, and is told as disconjointed vignettes each concerning themselves with a single stop on Kino's travels. It had a well-loved anime adaptation years ago that cherry-picked some of the more popular chapters of the light novel, but it's been nearly fifteen years since Kino last rode across television screens. Unsurprisingly, this new adaptation by studio Lerche follows the same basic idea of the first, picking out chapters of the LN that are most loved and most interesting, and brings the art and animation into the modern era. Lerche chose to adapt nine new stories from the LN that have not yet been adapted, and re-adapt three that were previously adapted but were also some of the most popular episodes. This is an interesting choice, especially since it's been so long since Kino's Journey got any animated love, and was definitely met with a bit of pushback, but that's neither here nor there for this review's sake. So, was Kino's refresh worth the wait, or did this adaptation fail to live up to the well-loved 2003 one?
The answer is a bit of a mixed bag. While the visuals are certainly updated and great-looking, they lack the unnerving character of the original designs. "Moe-fication" is a real problem here, which also doesn't play well with Kino's darker content. That lack of interplay is strange as well, since Lerche has proven they can do "cute but dark" extremely well with Gakkougurashi, but they seemed to drop the bar here. There's also other things that just seem off about the cinematography and cuts, where the air of mystery and unnerving nature of the original series is lost. If I had a good way to describe it, it would be that this adaptation of Kino is definitely "played straight", at odds with the 2003 version's twisted and darkened take on things. A lot of people, myself included, greatly appreciated and loved the 2003 adaptations interpretation of the series, and were disappointed by the visual decisions Lerche took here with the new version. However, Kino is still Kino, and even if all the cards are laid out on the table, you can't help but wonder how they got there and who arranged them. The series still retains a great air of mystery and intrigue, and even gives us a chance to explore the world through someone else's eyes than Kino themself, which is something unique that we really didn't get in the original adaptation. Oh, I also have to note that there's also some atrocious Kino-riding-motorrad computer animation that really ruins Lerche's otherwise clean aesthetic. It's not a huge deal, and can be ignored, but I can't not mention it.
Overall, I enjoyed the ride with this new take on Kino's Journey, but would have greatly appreciated a more faithful and gritty take on the stories of Kino's country-hopping travels. Something about the cuter visuals, even with Lerche's history in using them purposefully, just doesn't work well for the series, and continually undermines the character and atmosphere of the original work. Still, if you're a big fan of the original, you'd be remiss if you didn't watch this for the nine new stories alone.
Score: 7/10
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| Yuzu and Satsuki are diabetes-inducing levels of adorable. |
Title: Konohana Kitan
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Fantasy
Studio: Lerche
Streaming: Crunchyroll
It's been a while since I indulged in some pure cute-girls-cute-shit slice-of-life moe bullshit, and I have to say that Konohana Kitan scratched that itch. The set up for this one is a bit more novel than most; it's about a group of fox-girls that run a halfway house for wayward spirits and gods on holiday, and their everyday experiences in running the spiritual posh inn. Other than that, the rest of the show is standard as hell for the genre. You have all your moe-autism personalities and of course nothing will ever happen. There's still some fun to be had though, as the show regularly decides to go full yuri, which is nice in at least creating instances of romantic comedy where there would otherwise be none. Each episode sort of has its own little message to tell, concerning itself with a specific guest to the inn each time. These can get suprisingly heartfelt, particularly with the episode concerning a would-be suicide victim, but the show always defaults to wrapping around to lighter and easily digestable content. Even with this, the show isn't anything special in its genre outside of the aforementioned yuri and the kitsunemimi character designs.
Visually though, this one is far above average. The character designs are incredibly endearing and play well off one another. The backgrounds are drop-dead gorgeous, and just kicking back and letting yourself take in the beautiful imagery on screen is a treat. The classical Japanese architecture of all the spiritual areas throughout the show also gives a needed variety to the visuals, and lets Lerche really show what they can do, even moreso than Kino's Journey (also animated by Lerche this season).
I wish I had some more to say about Konohana Kitan, but I really don't. It was a good looking show about cute fox girls running an inn, and if that doesn't sound cool or enjoyable to you then you can skip it. Or you can watch it anyway. I don't care, do whatever you want. I'm not your fucking dad.
Score: 7/10
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| Even in the most dangerous situations, Hanamaru just can't stop stuffing her face, zura. |
Genre: Music, School, CGCS
Studio: Sunrise
Streaming: Crunchyroll
How in the hell am I supposed to talk about Love Live again? I feel like you all already know my noise about it: it's the anime version of Glee through and through. Love Live for me scratches both this performance and moe itch for me in the best way possible, but I acknowledge that it's not a show for everyone by any metric. Idol Hell is a road best left untraveled for those of you without deep pockets and space in your head to remember autism-level details about stupid shit like birthdays, musical features, and idol units. But for those of you with those tendancies that feel they aren't being addressed, Love Live is definitely your shit, both the original series and Sunshine!!. But that's enough of an introduction here; let's briefly dive in to this second season of Sunshine!!
The first season of Aquors' journey to the top of the idol ladder left a lot to be desired. Yes, all the Love Live staples were there, but the group formation and plot beats felt far more manufactured so as to happen in a way identical to that of the core franchise. Seriously, the plot was nearly the same, just with a new group of girls and a couple new situations. Thankfully, this second season stepped up to rectify these issues, bringing a lot more of an original plot thread following Aquors' previous failing in season one to win the Love Live competition. There's a particularly great sub-plot concerning sister idol group Saint Snow and Ruby Kurosawa that was something that, although feeling somewhat similar to the original group's run ins with A-RISE at the beginning, evolved into something very unique for the series as a whole. Other than just generally being superior in plot, Sunshine!! 2nd Season is far away the best visually the series has ever been. Love Live CG quite literally cannot be beat, and if all anime CG looked as good as Love Live's, I don't think I ever would have hated it in the first place. The dances are all more involved and visually impressive than ever before, and the music is of course great if you like j-pop or idol music. Don't get me wrong, Love Live still has a lot of problems standing on its own as a show for those not deeply involved in the fandom. The constant interjection of musical numbers can feel out of place, the comedy is lacking for those not clued-in to all the idol "tics", and the drama is lukewarm at best. Still, this is a product for a dedicated fanbase, and not the general seasonal watcher, so even if these are all true they don't apply at all to the intended audience.
In all seriousness, this is just another entry into Idol Hell for cancerous idol-addicted idiots like myself. But damn, if it isn't the best the series has been in a hell of a long time, and I'm enjoying the fuck out of it.
Score: 7/10
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| These two never cease to make everything in Guruguru hilarious. |
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Studio: Production I.G.
Streaming: Crunchyroll
God, what an incredible ride this series has been. This series has had me in stitches multiple times per episode, and is an intriguing and great looking show to boot. Guruguru follows our two protagonists, Nike and Kukuri, as they go on a 24-episode JRPG-inspired romp to save the kingdom from the ultimate evil, Dragon Warrior-style. And when I say Dragon Warrior, I mean that quite literally; from the plot setup, to enemies and humor, it's all nearly ripped out of classic-era JRPGs, and that's far from a bad thing. For those who lovingly remember these games like myself, Guruguru is a consistently hilarious show that I could not wait to watch the next episode of every week. Combine this with Production I.G.'s visual polish and over-abundance of animation thanks to Guruguru's purposefully simplified art style, and you have a show that should have been far more popular than it actually was. Yes, Guruguru somehow fell through the seasonal cracks for a lot of people, so I want to make expressly sure that this show carries my utmost recommendation, and was a more than enjoyable watch throughout.
If I could make any comparison to other anime, I'd say Guruguru is mostly similar to the short Senyuu both in content and humor. Both series rag on JRPGs for most of the humor, but Guruguru just takes it to another level. Guruguru also has a fairly compelling (and comedic) plot to follow, going with a general adventure route. This serves as a great vehicle to introduce Nike and Kukuri to a seemingly endlessly expanding cast of hilarious characters, as well as throw us into some great looking locations. Although the art is simplified, its effective in how in itself it lampoons the classic Dragon Warrior style, moe-ifying Toriyama's classic original designs into something more suited to a TV anime and comedy. Production I.G. also employs some great effects that help reaffirm that we're in a JRPG, like pixelating images on close-up and displaying on-screen action callouts and dialogue in white-on-black text boxes. The music and sound also follows this convention, playing jingles and JRPG-inspired pieces that serve to enhance the comedy, while still sounding great even if they're aimed purely at creating an air of nostalgia. Non-JRPG inspired pieces are also supremely well orchestrated, which was a welcome addition to an already great show. If I had any complaint with Guruguru, it's that the middle section drags hard, and some of the bits can come across as overused by the end of the series, but honestly it's as good as we've had for pure comedy in a while in anime, especially with this level of production value.
I cannot stress enough how great and underwatched this show is. If my review has piqued your interest even a little bit, please watch at least the first episode. That is more enough for Guruguru to charm you with its unique form of nostalgic humor.
Score: 8.5/10
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| This short's use of overblush to show drunkeness is actually better done than most. |
Title: Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte kara
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Short, Alcoholism
Studio: Creators in Pack
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This show is so fucking short I don't even know what to say about it. The episodes are only three minutes long, and you all know that I'm a sucker for this short form shit, but including the needlessly long ED, there's barely more than two minutes of content in each episode. Yes, it's a cute show about a married couple where the wife gets cuter when she's drunk and lets loose, but that's about it. There's a weird drink-recipe element to the show I guess? But it's really inconsequential. Everything about this show is inconsequential.
Why did I even watch this? Probably because I'm a fucking lonely alcoholic, but even that couldn't make this show good. Short is good, and arguably better than twenty-four minute episodes, but this series reminded me that being the anime equivalent of a manlet fucking blows too.
Score: 4/10
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| The two cutest little potatoes ever animated. |
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Dystopia, Sci-Fi
Studio: White Fox
Streaming: Amazon AnimeStrike
I guess it's finally time for me to put words to the page about Girls' Last Tour. To say that I followed GLT in the pre-season buzz would be disingenous; White Fox was already on my shitlist after the atrocity that was Matoi The Sacred Slayer just a few seasons ago, especially hot off of the success of Re:Zero. Still, I begrudgingly acquired the series upon release while doing my best to undermine Amazon AnimeStrike, and I was pleasantly surprised with the gem that both I and the anime community at large got treated to this season. GLT is a heartwarming slice of life story following the adventures of two young girls... traveling through a post-apocolyptic wasteland and trying to make ends meet. The concept was ambitious at the very least, but I think White Fox truly did justice to the original mangaka's original story. The content is dark, and the character designs are cute as all hell. Yes, we've seen this before, but GLT takes that concept and warps it into something we've not yet seen before.
Like I said above, GLT puts a new spin on the cute-but-dark aesthetic that the anime community has begun to gobble up over the years, and that spin is a contrast purely between the background and characters, both visually and thematically. Our setting could not possibly be more dismal: the fallout of a theoretical World War 3 scenario, with only handfuls of humans left alive. On the flip side, we have our two main characters, Chito and Yuu. Chito is the responsible one, driving the group's treaded motorcycle-tank hybrid and keeping a level head, while Yuu is a freewheeling and carefree girl who constantly pushes back against Chito's negativity. Instead of purely being optimistic, the term I would use to describe GLT's take on the "cute" side of things would be innocence rather than the usual uplifting, "genki" type of cute that shows of this nature typically employ. Throughout the series, and even from the first episode, we get to see the darkness of the background bleed into the psyche of both of our characters, something that naturally grows and grows as the series continues. As the girls continue to climb up and up through an abandoned city, they get the opportunity to meet both a few other survivors and experience relics of the pre-war city, with each episode or segment being aptly titled to support the impact of each interaction. Things as simple as stumbling upon an abandoned shrine, fishing farm, or subway, even if they are mundane and simplistic to us, carry great narrative weight for both the girls and the series as a whole. Watching Chito and Yuu attempt to understand and make sense of the collapsed world around them is both playful and disheartening at the same time. A happy show GLT is not, but it's not incapable of being heartwarming at times, and is more about coming to terms with the reality of one's situation and the implications as such rather than smashing things to pieces like Madoka would. If anything, avoiding heavy-handedness is GLT's greatest strength when compared to other shows that attempt this kind of thing, and that is what far and away makes this series so special.
This same sort of soft-handed direction extends to the aesthetics as well, with the backgrounds, albeit dark and at times unnerving, still being far more muted than what you would expect from my earlier description. The landscapes are a bleak grey cityscape, yes, but they never evoke an innate sense of danger outside of few necessary instances, and opt for a more mysterious and at times mystical tone. Our character designs serve to directly contrast them, with a strong sense of "roundness" in all human characters meant to directly oppose the hard-line, blocky, and artificial backdrop. Although the detail on our characters is decidedly low, they squash and stretch to show a great deal of emotion despite it, and never fail to evoke the intended chuckle or harder emotional beats when necessary. The music also gets a great chance to shine here, with every single track doing an amazing job of enhancing GLT's already strong atmosphere. The score while traveling or exploring is intentionally light and optimistic, with ominous tracks bleeding into the foreground when the characters finally acknowledge the danger of their current obstacle. Insert tracks are superb as well, with the notably incredible "Sound of Rain" story's ending theme being the standout track of the entire series. Still, GLT is far from the most visually impressive series from even this season, and even makes use of some pretty egregious anime CG at times, but the difference here is how White Fox uses those minimal resources to evoke such a mysterious, dark, but still heartwarming atmosphere that the show time and time again never fails to produce. Jaw dropping visuals aren't always created by massive budgets, and GLT's distinct tone and superb framing are a testament to that fact.
I want to talk more about Girls' Last Tour, but I can't really go any farther before wandering into massive spoiler territory, and that would be doing you the biggest disservice that I could in a review. While the way in which the show's narrative and themes are presented can be light, the subjects themselves are not, and are worth me possibly later doing a full post on this series alone. Please, go watch this show, however you can. It's one of the best things I've seen in the past three years, easy, and is well worth your time.
Score: 9/10
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| Sonoka is consistently the most refreshing member of the cast. |
Genre: Fantasy, Slice-of-Life, Action
Studio: Studio Gokumi
Streaming: Amazon AnimeStrike
Ah, my favorite Puella Magi Madoka Magica ripoff is back again to pussyfoot around the things that make Madoka so great while trying its hardest to pander to the K-On-esque cute girls faithful. Now, that's not completely fair to Yuuki Yuuna by any metric; I'd be remiss if I didn't express that I do enjoy the property quite a bit... but it still tries to do a lot of the same stuff that Madoka does, almost in a carbon-copy way, and ends up falling flat on its face in trying to do so. That aside, what exactly do we have this time around? Instead of a straightforward narrative, we got six episodes of prequel, adapted from existing light novel content, and then six episodes of sequel that are anime original. It's an interesting split to say the least, as I never expected going in to Yuuki Yuuna thinking that the series had enough content for a prequel nor really deserved one. The first series was pretty well contained, and wrapped up nicely with a (in my opinion misplaced) feel-good ending where friendship triumphs over all and that everything will turn out alright in the end. This split second season, both the Washio and Yuusha arcs, both challenged my previous opinion that Yuuki Yuuna is just "Madoka for fucking pussies", but I'm not quite sure if that opinion was shaken enough to change.
In the spirit of not spoiling anything too hard, I'll try to tread lightly on the prequel material, since anime only watchers like myself will likely experience the same reaction to the ending "twist" as I did. That said, the prequel half is excruciatingly slow and not-great by comparison to the original series. While the ending of it helps you see both the prequel and original series in a different light, the dragging pace and re-hashed nature of the prequel's content can make it a real slog to get through. The nature of the "twist" is a bit troubling, since while this is something in anime that I'm generally fond of, the pacing issues of the early episodes in the prequel really make the reveal lose a lot of impact, and is more of a "Oh, that's why it was that way" more than a "HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD IT ALL MAKES SENSE". However, if you're someone who's here for the cute girl moments moreso than the Madoka-ripoff stuff, you'll likely love the prequel more than anything in Yuuki Yuuna to date, as will fans with any foreknowledge of Yuuki Yuuna's canon. The Washio arc in general feels like a big dump of fanservice for people who are really into the franchise, and even though that isn't something inherently negative, it leaves a lot to be desired for those of us who came into it cold. The sequel half, or the Yuusha arc, is far more like the the original series in both tone and content, and whets the appetite of people like me who thought that the original series went out on a bit too much of a happy note. Again, in the hope of treading lightly, I won't get into to much of the details, but Shinju-sama isn't exactly happy that our group of girls here came through busting down walls and blowing up the bridge. If anything, the sequel gives us a lot more answers as to the "why" that were missing in the original series, which for anyone who enjoyed Yuuki Yuuna is probably worth a watch in and of itself. It's a shame that you are basically required as a viewer to have knowledge of Washio to not be completely lost in Yuusha, otherwise I would only be recommending the latter. For better or worse, both prequel and sequel come as a complete, twelve episode package, which is something that really hurts my final score for the series as a whole.
Other than that, these entries into the Yuuki Yuuna series are about as worthy as their predecessor. There's still a good bit of downright horrid anime-CG, which has bled from the Vertex enemies into the characters this time. The models used in fights throughout both Washio and Yuusha are terrible to watch in motion, which is shame since character design is above average across the board. The music and 2D animation unfortunately aren't going to swoop in and do this one any favors either, as they're both pretty generic throughout. Still, this was what those familiar with the original Yuuki Yuuna knew they were getting into; the original series displayed the same aesthetic issues and these new entries are no different. Gokumi is very obviously constantly stressing their budget to put more content out, but hey, at least they're making more content. That's more than can be said for many other forgettable seasonal shows, so it's nice to see that effort is at least getting put forth, even if the final product isn't that impressive.
So, in the end, did my original opinion of Yuuki Yuuna change? The answer is a resounding "not really". The drama still feels like a poorly executed copy of what I love Madoka for, and the constant wrap around to a happy ending isn't something I find to be a positive for the series. Madoka preached that the best way to subvert magical girl is to make it so that everything is exclusively NOT alright, even if our heroes win in the end. Even if the Yuusha section did delve a little deeper into the darkness, it ultimately failed to make the impact that it needed for the series to become something worth recommending. Combine that with subpar aesthetics, and that makes it even harder to do. If you're a big fan of Yuuki Yuuna, that's more than fine. The series in fun and unique enough to stand on its own, despite all my comparison and bashing, but it just didn't deliver on what I was looking for, even throughout these new entries into the series.
Score: 6/10
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| The proverbial elbow that started it all. |
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Studio: Signal. MD
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This is a series that blindsided not only me, but the entire anime community. No one expected this show, especially from the MAL description, to be anything more than another drop in the proverbial anime romcom bucket, but we couldn't have been more wrong. Net-juu no Susume is about a thirty-year-old woman, Morioka Moriko, who in the past was an ultra-successful businesswoman, but the stress of her job caused her to crumble, turning her into an MMO game addicted NEET. Throughout her time in her favorite MMO, she amasses a group of online friends through her bishounen male avatar, most notably her to-be dungeoneering partner, Lily. What happens next is the result of Morioka being elbowed by a younger blonde businessman on her way to a convenience store late one night, and the following series of coincidinces that end up completely changing her life for the better. While this might not sound very novel at quick glance, the fact that the core cast is a group of late twenties to early thirties people is alone notable for a romcom, which extends directly into the tone of the show. Our characters are far more relatable than any of the typical high school romcom ilk, and the general higher maturity throughout the cast (and contrasting lovable awkwardness that arises) gives the show a refreshing feel, especially for its genre. Imagine, a romantic comedy in an anime where the characters don't suffer from bouts of momentary romantic and general autism, and can freely and easily recognize coincidinces and romantic hints like real people would. That's the core strength that Net-juu no Susume has, and what it decides to flaunt, but thankfully the show isn't a one trick pony either; the show has a lot to offer, and more than deserving of all the praise it's received over it's unfortunately short ten episode run.
While getting into plot-specifics would ruin your fun as a viewer, I can at the very least delve a little deeper into what makes our characters so special. The core thing with all of them is just being relatable on a core level, feeling genuine and real while still retaining a bit of that romanticized anime feel, but not ever enough to unnerve you. The first is Morioka herself, who is a lovably awkward, "I've been out of the game too long"-type of character, constantly at odds with her decision to leave her job and the state in which being a NEET entails. She does her best to hide her face and not draw attention to herself when infrequently leaving her home, and has a great deal of internalized shame about being at NEET. Getting to see her claw her way back society, but also becoming happy with and accepting of herself as she is now is a joy to watch, especially with her relationship with Sakurai. Sakurai is the businessman that elbows Morioka in the first episode, and the resulting back-and-forth leads them to becoming friends and eventually developing romantic feelings for one another. To say more to the latter would be dipping into spoiler territory, but Sakurai very much plays the part of the kind of guy that's never been comfortable expressing his feelings to others, and Morioka forces him to crack himself out of his shell if he's ever going to get what he wants. Other than our two mains, our cast of supporting characters is also pretty great, with Koiwai taking up the role of Sakurai's closest male friend and the best wingman of all time. The rest of the supporting characters are the in-game avatars of all our MMO players, Morioka and Sakurai included. A big part of Net-juu is the interplay between the game world and the real one, and the characters' perceptions regarding each in relation to one another. This is where the bulk of any drama takes place, and the avatars do a great job of being fun characters in their own right while still characterizing their real-world players at the same time. At the forefront of this we have Hayashi and Lily, the latter of which playing the role of Morioka's closest friend, confidant, and partner in-game, who are both in a constant state of pushing one another, both inside of the game itself and by extension their players. It's worth noting at this point that Net-juu is not an "isekai" series, and the use of the game world is very soft and natural, nothing like SAO or .hack. All use of the game world is kept lighthearted and fun for the most part, which lends itself well to the show's comfy and relaxed atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere, I have to hand studio Signal MD some massive props. Working on what was very obviously not an incredible budget, they used some great direction and color choices to make every cut really pop and be not only interesting, but truly visually impressive. The color choices are particularly great, giving a great constrast between the saturated game world and more realisticly colored real one. What's interesting about this is that both worlds are fairly colorful, while still displaying a clear difference, which is something a lot of shows that portray a game world continually get wrong visually. The palette prefers a great mix of high energy pinks and light blues at all times, only varying in intensity when switing between the game and real life. It's not to the near offensive level of No Game No Life, but the influence of the palette can be seen throughout the character designs, lighting choices, and background art to great effect. Rather than wow you with flashy fight scenes or intense sakuga, Net-juu provides instead one of the most visually cohesive experiences I've had the joy of watching this year, which is something I definitely wasn't expecting when queuing up a romcom. The score here also works incredibly well, mixing in a near clean split of rock and orchestral pieces that serve to again, seperate the game world from the real one. Combine this with a near perfect OP and ED, and the I have to say that Net-juu has one of the best OSTs of this year, tied with the likes of Girls' Last Tour. That being said, the two series are fundamentally different in their goals, where GLT is more about evoking a pure mood from the music alone while Net-juu is focused on being a perfect accompaniment for our larger cast's interactions.
The best part about Net-juu no Susume is that with all these great characters and aesthetic prowess, the series still delivers on the core plot, and ends with a supremely satisfying conclusion. This can't even be said for romcoms that span twenty four or even fifty episodes, but Net-juu does it cleanly and at great pace in only ten. This show had me chomping at the bit for more every week, which is a feeling I haven't felt in regards to anime romantic comedy in a hell of a long time. Please, even if romcoms aren't your thing, I implore you to check this one out. It's short, it's on Crunchyroll, and there's a reason why I'm giving my "Anime of the Season" award to Net-juu no Susume. You won't be disappointed.
Score: 9/10, Anime of the Season
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