Winter 2019 Anime – Anime QandA

10 Best Anime OP’s Summer 2019

10 Best Anime OP’s of Summer 2019

It’s time for the OP’s of Summer 2019, and I watched all of them to make this list, yes every OP of the season and while I don’t think the OP’s were as strong as some previous seasons we’ve still got a enough truly great ones to make up a top 10! As with my previous lists I’m judging both the music and the visuals and of course, I’m a little biased with my picks (who isn’t?!) With that out of the way let’s count down the 10 Best Anime OP’s of Summer 2019!

Note: I’ve tried to get Youtube links to all the listed songs where possible but some are not ideal quality (i.e. videos played in quad view to avoid copyright detection) and if links end up being broken in the future it’s because they’ve been taken down.

~Number 10~
“FLARE” by Void_Chords feat.LIO from ‘Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest’

I’m not sure what it is about this OP but despite being very ~modern~ sounding it just connected with me in a way I didn’t expect. It’s got a bit of James Bond about its opening notes, then transitions into something reminiscent of trap and dubstep and then suddenly saxophones? Maybe some might call it “messy”, I call it “avant garde”!

~Number 9~
“Inferno” by Mrs.GREEN APPLE from ‘Fire Force’

A part of me wanted to complain how generic and routinely ‘shonen’ this OP for a new shonen anime sounded… and then another part of me thought I should get my head out of my ass and just enjoy what is a simply banging tune, with slick accompanying visuals. It just works!

~Number 8~
“Zero Centimeter” by Yuiko Oohara from ‘Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 2’

While not as immediately catchy as the OP for ‘Takagi-san’s’ first season, this OP feels like a worthy spiritual and emotional successor that only benefits from having knowledge of the show its from and the journey we’ve been on. It’s cute and sweet and fun and light and just an utter joy to watch/listen to.

~Number 7~
“Shadow is the Light” by THE SIXTH LIE from ‘A Certain Scientific Accelerator’

It’s dark and brooding and tense but still got that infectious beat that makes an OP a winner.

~Number 6~
“MUKANJYO” by Survive Said The Prophet from ‘VINLAND SAGA’

Survive Said The Prophet delivered one of 2018’s best OP’s with “Lost & Found” from ‘BANANA FISH’ so its no surprise that their second(?) go at an anime OP is a kick ass banger! Yes, it’s not as catchy as the aforementioned but it’s still packs a punch and captures your attention from beginning to end!

~Number 5~
“Iya yo Iya yo Mosuki no Uchi” by Spica Spica from ‘Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?’

It’s just well made, high energy silly good time fun–kind of like the show itself!

~Number 4~
“HELLO to DREAM” by Yuka Iguchi from ‘Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon II’

Say what you will about bagpipes as an instrument but they can be evocative when used sparingly and, let’s face it, as far as rare instruments appearing in anime OP’s bagpipes are pretty much at the top of the list. Aside from that though it’s just a damn solid OP with some expensive looking 3D background visuals to tie it altogether.

~Number 3~
“Daisuki” by Ayaka Ohashi from ‘Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie?’

There’s something comfortably cliche and fundamentally familiar about this OP song, it by no means breaks new ground musically, nor is it an exemplary example of this genre’s music, but what it is is an OP that impresses without being flashy and delivers without being drastic, simply said it’s just an all round great experience without drawing attention to itself.

~Number 2~
“Onegai Muscle” by Hibiki Sakura (Ai Fairuz), & Naruzou Machio (Kaito Ishikawa) from ‘How Many Kilograms are the Dumbbells You Lift?’

OP’s from Doga Kobo anime in the last year or so have been absolute utter joys to behold, there’s just such an utter commitment to the theme of their given anime and “Onegai Muscle” is absolutely no exception. It’s a high energy, supremely focused and wonderfully tight melding of music and visuals that transcends the language barrier and indeed even the interest barrier (I have no interest in exercise or weight training and yet this OP has me entranced) which comes together to create a sublime OP experience.

~Number 1~
“Rin! Moon! dass! cry!” by Nozomu Tanaka (Chinatsu Akasaki), Akane Kikuchi (Haruka Tomatsu), Shiori Saginomiya (Aki Toyosaki) from Wasteful Days of High School Girl

Before I’d been given the translation of this OP’s lyrics this song was already highly ranked on this list, probably second or third. After all its a unique sounding song (which is admittedly rare given just how many anime OP’s exist in all sorts of musical genres) but not only that the visuals were a fun and dynamic treat too. Then came the third episode on ~whatever streaming service this show airs~ and we were afforded the translated lyrics… and then everything came together. This OP is wonderfully meta, tongue-in-cheek and legitimately hilarious… I don’t think there’s ever been a case where I’ve not only laughed at an OP and its lyrics but done so repeatedly after the fact. It’s very specific but it’s also very funny and very cool!

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And that’s my Top 10 OP’s for Summer! Agree, disagree? Let me know your picks in the comments and thank you all for reading!

Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2018):

10 Best OP’s Winter 2018
10 Worst OP’s Winter 2018
10 Best ED’s Winter 2018
5 Worst ED’s Winter 2018
10 Best OP’s Spring 2018
10 Worst OP’s Spring 2018
10 Best ED’s Spring 2018
5 Worst ED’s Spring 2018
15 Best OP’s Summer 2018
5 Worst OP’s Summer 2018
10 Best ED’s Summer 2018
10 Worst ED’s Summer 2018
10 Best OP’s Fall 2018
10 Worst OP’s Fall 2018
10 Best ED’s Fall 2018
5 Worst ED’s Fall 2018
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The Best Anime OP’s of 2018
The Best Anime ED’s of 2018

Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2019):

10 Best OP’s Winter 2019
10 Best ED’s Winter 2019
10 Best OP’s Spring 2019
10 Best ED’s Spring 2019

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

10 Best Anime ED’s Spring 2019

10 Best Anime ED’s of Spring 2019

First came the OP’s now come the ED’s! For consideration in this list of ED’s is both the quality of the visuals and the music and ~every~ anime of the season is being assessed and is eligible regardless of whether I’m watching the show or not. This list might be biased towards certain factors but I’ll explain the “why” of my choices underneath each pick. Let’s take a look at my 10 Best Anime ED’s of Spring 2019!

~Number 10~
“Ne, Issho ni Kaero.” by Hitori Bocchi (Chisaki Morishita) from ‘Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’

It’s cute and quirky and perfectly bridges the gap between the manga and anime. Plus musically it’s got an interesting, almost Irish sounding vibe to it which makes it stand-out all the more.

~Number 9~
“PEARLY×PARTY” by Party☆Fairy [Nuckelavee (Himika Akaneya), Titania (Rie Takahashi), Coopy (Nao Touyama), Brigitte (Yuu Serizawa), Bodach (Suzuko Mimori), Bethor (Rina Hidaka)] from ‘Han-Gyakyu-Sei Million Arthur 2’

Sorry, no video exists of this online (as far as I can tell) so enjoy this still image from the ED instead!

All the female cast in bunny girl outfits? What more could you want?! Oh and the song is pretty damn catchy too…

~Number 8~
“Shinri no Kagami, Tsurugi no You ni” by Konomi Suzuki from ‘YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love At The Bound Of This World’

With enigmatic and thought-provoking visuals and an excellent song that evokes the likes of Steins;Gate its hard not to be drawn into this captivating ED.

~Number 7~
“Name of Love” by Cinema Staff from ‘Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2’

I’m way behind on Attack on Titan but even I felt myself getting nostalgic and even a bit misty-eyed by this ED. It’s simple, but wholly effective and sometimes that’s all you need.

~Number 6~
“Moffumoffu DE Yoi no Ja yo” by Senko (Azumi Waki) from ‘Helpful Fox Senko-san’

It’s expectantly adorable both musically and visually. This is definetly an ED that benefits from being a fan of the series though!

~Number 5~
“Attouteki Vivid Days” by Nanami Yoshi from ‘Wiseman’s Grand Child’

Unlike the chill and humorous OP (which also featured highly on my previous list) this ED is pure head-banging rock and it aptly rocks.

~Number 4~
“Lily” by Luck Life from ‘Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season’

I’m fairly sure I haven’t come across the band ‘Lily’ before (nor watched any of ‘Bungou Stray Dogs’ for what its worth) but I really enjoyed the song both musically and vocally and while I couldn’t find a proper video of the ED, the glimpses of the visuals I did catch in the background of this live performance seemed very evocative and fitting to the song.

~Number 3~
“Lucky Ending” by Vickeblanka from ‘Fruits Basket (2019)’

This song; its delicate arrangement and the emotive vocals are all fantastic–something I’m sure I’d be saying if I wasn’t heavily invested in this show emotionally…

~Number 2~
“Stand by me” by the peggies from ‘Sarazanmai’

I probably won’t ever watch this show (for reasons) but holy heck did this ED make a massive impression on me. The striking blend between live-action nighttime backgrounds and the animated characters is something that’s kind of unforgettably cool and the music… well it’s ‘the peggies’ (a.k.a. one of the best things to happen to anime music in the last 6 months) so what else is there to say other than “wow”.

~Honourable Mention~
“Modern Crusaders” by Enigma from ‘Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind’

You gotta hand it to whoever’s picking these Jojo ED’s, when they’re not using perfectly suited popular Western songs they’re introducing me to bands I’ve never heard of but totally would have been a fan of if I’d discovered them in my earlier years. It’s not the best Jojo ED (that place will forever be taken by ‘I Want You’ by Savage Garden’) but a Jojo ED is always at the very least worth an honourable mention!

~Number 1~
“Never Give It Up!!” by Study from ‘We Never Learn!’

Something I’ve never (at least I don’t think) disclosed about my decision making process regarding these OP and ED lists is that I award each song/video combo a score out of 100 and sort accordingly. Usually there’s only 1 or 2 points between number 2 and number 1–this time there was five points between them. Not to oversell this ED, but I love everything about it–it not only manages to perfectly capture everything about the show (and the girls) but the song is just magnificent from beginning to end.

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And that’s my Top 10 ED’s for Spring! Let me know what ED’s were your favourites this season in the comments and thanks all for reading!

Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2018):

Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2019):

10 Best OP’s Winter 2019
10 Best ED’s Winter 2019
10 Best OP’s Spring 2019

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

A Credit To Its Genre – ‘Endro!’ Full Season Review

A Credit To Its Genre – A Full Season Review for ‘Endro!’

What’s the show? ENDRO~!

Uh-huh, and what’s it about? It’s a CGDCT series set in an action/fantasy world with swords and magic and monsters and even a demon lord! Our main characters are four girls who set out to defeat the demon lord who threatens the peace of this world! And they do–or rather they almost do–instead of banishing the demon lord once and for all our hero Yuusha flubs a magical incantation and sends the demon lord back in time. Back in the past, the demon lord (now in the body of a loli) becomes teacher to the four girls at the magic school they trained at, her intention to stop them from ever being good enough to be in a position to defeat the demon lord in the first place!

Sounds pretty high-concept for a ‘CGDCT’ series. Yeah. And that’s ~kinda~ the problem…

Uh-oh, I sense some negativity incoming? Don’t get me wrong, I love this show. The characters are all pretty much perfect which for a CGDCT show is kind of all I need. Added to that is the fact that it’s funny and silly and adorable and I couldn’t ask for more… except…

Cutest Demon Lord this side of… well every other show that has a loli demon lord…

Here it comes… The first episode of this show is pretty remarkable–at least if you’re going into this expecting just your standard cute girl show in a fantasy world–I won’t go into detail here (you can read my glowing first episode review here for more details) but suffice to say I was more than impressed by what I saw as a fresh take on this kind of show. Kind of like how ‘Zombieland Saga’ wow’ed all the normies out there a couple of seasons ago, except good.

Shots fired! *airhorn sounds* Yeah, sorry, that was a bit uncalled for, I’ve just got unresolved issues regarding that show… but moving on….

So what happened to make you not love the show it became? I’m gonna sound like a complete hypocrite here, but it became a pretty standard CGDCT show in between.

Wait, I’m confused. I thought you loved that kind of shit? First of all, don’t refer to it as “shit” even casually, and secondly, yes I do. Unreservedly. But with a first episode that raises the bar–not to something better, but to something different–and then it (pretty much) fails to live up to that “different” bar–well then that’s gonna cause some problems.

I just scrolled down to the bottom of the review… you gave this a 90/100. A NINETY! How on any planet does that correlate to the kind of complaints your incessant levelling against this show? Shut up, I’ve got my own personal scoring system–it doesn’t always hold up against critical analysis…

Uh-huh… you know this is exactly why no one takes your reviews seriously anymore! “Anymore”? Someone used to before?!

Okay, fine. Can you gather your thoughts long enough to make a brief ~paragraph~ that’ll at the very least be able to convey your opinions on this show without giving the reader a headache?! ‘ENDRO~!’ is a fun and light-hearted experience with the expected character development and comedic shenanigans you’d come to expect from a CGDCT show set in a fantasy world. Don’t expect any substantial inversions on tropes or narrative twists that are implied by its first episode, but likewise that shouldn’t be a problem if all your here for is the tried and tested CGDCT shtick–which this show does almost flawlessly. Simply put, it’s a great CGDCT show with the veneer of something more serious but it never feels the need to adhere or elaborate on the aforementioned front. Friends to the end with Endro; 90/100.

Now *this* is the kind of ear-nibbling content I sign up for!

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10 Best Anime OP’s Spring 2019

10 Best Anime OP’s of Spring 2019

Spring anime has sprung and with it a fresh bloom of new anime OP’s and ED’s have risen from the garden! As per my (new) rules–instated at the start of the year–both the quality of the visuals and the music are being taken into consideration and every anime of the season is being assessed and is eligible regardless of whether I’m watching the show or not. Yes this list might be biased towards certain factors but I’ll explain the “why” of my choices under each pick. With that out of the way let’s look at my 10 Best Anime OP’s of Spring 2019!

~Number 10~
“Equal” by sumika from ‘Mix’

Sometimes an OP is just so refined and polished–despite being about a topic that’s ostensibly uninteresting to me (in this case boy’s highschool baseball)–that it can’t help but grab your attention. But then again sports anime almost always tend to be remarkably polished and catchy so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

~Number 9~
“Dash&Daaash!!” by Fudanjuku from ‘Magmel of the Sea Blue’

Striking a balance between both familiar sounding and with some uniquely fun elements (okay so random English words thrown in isn’t unique–but it works so well here) is made to look effortless here. It’s also the kind of OP that’s over so quick you’re kind of sad because it was such a fun time throughout!

~Number 8~
“Again” by Beverly from ‘Fruits Basket: 1st Season’

This song almost brings me to tears every time I hear it, it’s so beautiful and melancholic and I never even watched the original ‘Fruits Basket’ anime or read the manga so my feelings are coming off (as of the writing of this post) just three episodes of the new series. It’s a moving song for a moving anime. The only reason it isn’t higher is because listening to this OP more than once in a short space of time proves difficult because of how slow it is.

~Number 7~
“Bon♡Kyu♡Bon wa Kare no Mono♡” by Sumire Uesaka from ‘Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!?’

Generally speaking, OP’s aren’t that sexy–sure there have been some in the past but I can pretty much count them on one hand that’s how rare they are. Usually the sexiest visuals are saved for the ED (for some reasons) but not only is this one among the sexiest but it’s also comes with a damn cute song too!

[If the embed doesn’t work for the ‘Streamable’ video click this link: https://streamable.com/jz4qh]

~Number 6~
“Kotae” by Mao Abe from ‘AFTERLOST’

It’s just a banging tune with some cliche (but still dynamic) visuals accompanying it–sometimes simple works best.

~Number 5~
“Hitoribocchi no Monologue” by Hitori Bocchi (Chisaki Morishita), Sunao Nako (Minami Tanaka), Honshou Aru (Akari Kito), Sotca Luckythar (Yuuko Kurose) from ‘Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I adore OP’s and ED’s that are sung by the cast and the cuter the cast the better. Hitori Bocchi’s OP is full of high-spirited energy and joy and makes me smile every time I experience it!

~Number 4~
“WONDERFUL WONDER” by EDOGA-SULLIVAN from ‘Ao-chan Can’t Study!’

In past season’s I had a (admittedly stupid) self-imposed rule to not include any OP’s that were 1 minute or less–here’s the OP that “forced” me to break and disregard that rule once and for all. This OP is cool and fun and catchy and matches the visuals perfectly! One minute OP’s deserve attention too!

~Number 3~
“Koyoi mofumofu!!” by Senko (Azumi Waki), Shiro (Maaya Uchida) from ‘The Helpful Fox Senko-san’

Sometimes a thing is just too cute for words. (PS, can’t find a version of the OP that isn’t in weird “quad vision” so just watch the show for yourself!)

~Number 2~
“Ultimate☆MAGIC” by i☆Ris from ‘Kenja no Mago’

One of the biggest compliments you could ever award an OP is that based on its quality alone it singlehandedly made you want to watch the show it was from. I had next to zero interest in this show until I watched its OP. It was a joy from start to finish to watch the OP and (once I get round to watching it) I hope the show is as much of a joy to watch as well!

~Honourable Mention~
“Isekai Quartet” by Ainz (Satoshi Hino), Kazuma (Jun Fukushima), Subaru (Yuusuke Kobayashi), Tanya (Aoi Yuuki) from ‘Isekai Quartet’

A part of the absolute joy of this OP is entirely in knowing the shows these characters are from (that extends to the show too for the most part) and while it’s arguably deserving of a spot on the list I felt it was too niche of a choice to justify it because of the requisite knowledge required to enjoy it. It’s still a catchy tune with bright visuals but ultimately there were more appropriate picks for a list like this.

~Number 1~
“Seishun Seminar” by Study from ‘We Never Learn!’

There’s a lot to like about the OP but likewise it’s not immediately evident from a first or even second viewing. It’s low-key sexy but not salacious (like the Number 7 pick), it’s catchy but it does it with subtlety, it’s the kind of OP that grows more and more fun to watch the more you see it but in a way that’s almost hard to quantify. All I know is I can’t stop thinking about it and when it comes to an anime OP that’s the sign of a true classic.

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And that’s my Top 10 OP’s for Spring! Agree, disagree? Let me know your picks in the comments and thanks for reading!

Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2018):

Previous Seasonal OP & ED Lists (2019):

10 Best OP’s Winter 2019
10 Best ED’s Winter 2019

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Casualties Of Love – ‘Kaguya-sama: Love Is War’ Full Season Review

Casualties Of Love – A Full Season Review for ‘Kaguya-sama: Love Is War’

What’s the show? Kaguya-sama: Love Is War.

And what’s it about? At an elite high school two geniuses are engaged in a daily struggle for supremacy. Kaguya Shinomiya–a sophisticated girl from one of Japan’s wealthiest families and Miyuki Shirogane–a hard working boy whose also the student council president. Their battleground is Shujiin Academy and their fight is for each other’s hearts. They both have crushes on one-another but refuse to confess their feelings first because (in their eyes) to be doing so first would be to become the loser in their unspoken ‘war’. This over-the-top romantic comedy follows their exploits at school as they play mind games in order to get the other person to confess first.

Everything is a battle for supremacy for these two!

So it’s kind of like…? I’ve seen the comparison (even before the series aired–in reference to the manga) as a sort of ‘Death Note’ style “battle of the brains” except it’s a romantic comedy. And while it’s an apt comparison for both the narrative arc (so far) and the visual style (kinda emo) it fails to reflect one massive factor that ‘Kaguya-sama’ has over ‘Death Note’.

Oh and what’s that? This show has a heart–a massive, angsty, childish, beating heart that’s not so evident at the start but as the series continues and layers a stripped from the surface the raw emotion of the series begins to show–and it’s all the more beautiful for it.

Right, but we’re not going to spend all review comparing it to ‘Death Note’ are we? Of course not, this series deserves to be judged on its own merits and it’s merits are strong. Personally, I think the first two episodes are the weakest and work against the show’s overall intent but once that hurdle is cleared it’s smooth sailing from there on out.

And the characters? They’ve all got their good points and bad points, the strengths and weaknesses–and that’s what makes them so interesting. Sure there’s a level of cliche built into their archetypes but they’re also presented as uniquely human characters with original thoughts and unexpected reactions to events brought before them. If we’re to talk about the four main characters, Yu Ishigami–the introverted, “gamer” who ends up with his proverbial foot in his own mouth is about the closest thing to an audience analogue–he’s also something of a whipping boy and that speaks volumes of what the author thinks of its audience–but that’s a subject for another day. Then… then there’s Chika… *contented sighs*

Hello? You still there? Oh sorry, caught me daydreaming of Chika again! I do that from time to time.

Uh-huh, and what’s so interesting about Chika? Chika is the quintessential “manic pixie dream girl” trope, she’s high energy, high comedy and high cuteness. If Chika were an element in the atmosphere she’d be oxygen because I can’t live without her. Simply put, Chika is the best thing to happen to anime in all of 2018 and we should all be thankful to have lived at the same time as her…

So, she’s best girl then, yeah? Yeah. Pretty much…

And what about the actual two main characters, you know the romantic couple this show is actually about? They’re great. In fact anything less than a committed performance from either of these voice actors could have sunk this show but they deliver their all throughout and it is remarkable to behold. Shirogane–while usually deadpan on the surface moans and wails and even shrieks as we’re privy to his inner-monologue and it’s comedy gold every time as well as being relatable. Truthfully though it’s the titular Kaguya who steals the show. Sure, Chika is a blessed goldmine of waifu material but Kaguya is a layered and multi-faceted character played to perfection by her VA Aoi Koga–a relative newcomer to the industry but one worthy of all the awards. Plus her dark ‘Wednesday Addams’-esque aesthetic reminds me of my various crushes (both real and fictional) from being a teenager and there’s something pleasantly nostalgic about that.

And anything you didn’t like about the show? Well as I briefly touched upon earlier (and made more of a mention of in my episode 1 review) initially the narrator is overbearing to the point of killing any kind of connection to the characters. He over-explains things as if people won’t understand what’s going on and interrupts the flow of almost every scene. Thankfully by the third episode entire scenes go by without his presence, his ‘enthusiasm’ is lessened and he’s used only when necessary. Suffice to say that had the narrator stayed the same as he was in the first two episodes this show would have been almost unwatchable. So if you’re on the fence about the show after a couple of episodes give it a couple more to see what the show actually ends up feeling like.

Some of the best scenes in the show were between Kaguya and her maid, Ai.

So final recommendation and score for ‘Kaguya-sama: Love Is War’? As far as a romantic-comedy with this kind of ‘gimmick’ goes it commits to it wholeheartedly and sells it too–while some people might find it silly I think it’s painfully endearing to the point where I can’t imagine the show without it. If you’re in the mood for a romantic comedy with “brains” (but not necessarily “smarts”) this is a fantastic and surprisingly heartwarming show. Love is all you need: 90 out of 100.

Let’s hope they live happily ever after, some day…

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Caught Between A Sister And A Hot Sensei – ‘Domestic Girlfriend’ Full Season Review

Caught Between A Sister And A Hot Sensei – A Full Season Review for ‘Domestic Girlfriend’

What’s the show? Domestic Girlfriend.

And what’s it about? It rapidly becomes a very convoluted series so I’ll try and surmise the essential points. Natsuo is at a mixer, when a quietly spoken but assertive girl named Rui offers herself to him sexually. He agrees (because he’s a guy and she’s cute) but his heart lies with his teacher Hina whom he has an unrequited love for. Natsuo’s widowed father announces that he has met someone and they’re getting married. Turns out he’s marrying a woman who is mother to both Rui and Hina. They’re sisters, they’re about to become his step-sisters and they’re all going to live under the same roof!

Yep, sex in an anime, it’s rare but it happens!

Well that’s certainly a lot of coincidences for sake of dramatic potential, isn’t it? And that’s only the first episode! The number of plot convolutions that this show throws at its audience is tantamount to long-running soap opera! But it never (at least for me) wades into the cheesy, trashy depths of pure soap opera because of the level of restraint this show has with regards to its overall execution. Yes it has a few comedic moments that elicit an eye roll or two, but these feel like real human characters going through an unreal situation.

Hot for teacher (To be fair she is *very* hot).

And about the characters? They’re mostly very good, despite the questionable things they do to one another and get caught up in you can never hate them for it and in some instances they’re even more relatable for their flaws and poor relationship decisions. Rui is best girl though—there’s no denying that!

And what’s something that you didn’t like about the show? As I mentioned both in my first and second episode reviews there’s a noticeable difference in emotional maturity between the episodes that could initially turn some viewers off as I almost was with episode one. Also, as with any show where the protagonist is making relationship choices that most people would view as counter-intuitive it can get a bit frustrating sometimes but never enough to make it unpleasant to watch.

Anything else to add? Yes, actually. This series actually has a lot of fan-service–it’s just none of it really made it into the series–sure there’s the requisite cleavage shots, beach bikini shots and bath shots that make it into almost every anime. But the manga has nudity, likewise there’s ‘deleted scenes’ that have found their way onto the internet which are ~extremely~ steamy and show in detail Rui and Natsuo’s first time together.

I don’t really know why you felt the need to mention that– So I can show pictures of course!

Nope! Not gonna happen! There’s no way you can justify putting images that aren’t even from the actual season. If you want to post pictures of that put it in a separate post on the subject! Fine, maybe I’ll do just that!

Ugh, you’re the worst, you know that? Anyway, final recommendation and score for ‘Domestic Girlfriend’ please… Know what you’re getting into before watching this, having a certain frame of mind can help overcome what i’ll label as ~problematic~ elements of the show. Also don’t expect Shakespeare from what is clearly just soap-inspired frivolity with an emphasis on character drama. Just watch it and enjoy it for what it is, I know I did! 86 out of 100.

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

On The Wings Of A Waifu – ‘Girly Air Force’ Full Season Review

On The Wings Of A Waifu – A Full Season Review for ‘Girly Air Force’

What’s the show? Girly Air Force.

And what’s it about? Alien fighter jets known as the Xi have invaded Earth—they’ve captured mainland China and forced mass evacuations of the country. Among them is Nautani Kei and his childhood friend Minghua who’ve entered Japan as refugees. Kei is intent on getting back at the Xi who killed his parents in an attack on the now occupied homeland that’s when he meets a mysterious girl named Gripen—a fighter jet pilot known as an ‘Anima’ whose sole purpose in life is to save humanity from the Xi.

Well with the name ‘Girly Air Force’ I didn’t expect such a serious sounding story. And that’s a massive hurdle anyone watching this series for the first time needs to get over, the name conjures a different kind of anime then this really is. If you’re expecting a light-hearted comedy about fighter jet pilots and harem shenanigans you are getting almost none of that. That’s not to say it doesn’t have moments of levity and fun—but the core focus of this show is it’s plot and the growing relationship between Kei and Gripen.

Fair enough. So how are the characters? Kei—while determined and motivated can come off a bit insensitive sometimes, especially towards his childhood friend Minghua who has a massive crush on him but remains unreciprocated. She basically plays the ‘wife of a soldier, waiting for her husband at home’ role but with none of the benefits that come from actually being married. Gripen on the other hand is amazing, I love her personality and her character quirks and her voice is so irresistibly adorable. There’s two other fighter pilot girls, who get introduced later on but they are mostly sidelined and are only used for either comic relief or to have a friendly antagonist. It never -even remotely ventures into harem territory despite the fact it very easily could have.

So what’s your opinion on the show? While it was never in anyway remarkable it was consistent and entertaining—the fact it’s a more or less a season long narrative helps tie it all together. It’s also has consistently high quality animation with technically impressive and high-paced fighter jet action scenes in almost every episode.

Just a mere snippet of the crazy aerial manoeuvres this show provides.

And anything you didn’t like about the series? Well spoilers incoming but there’s not really any “satisfying” conclusion to the series. Yes, the very specific narrative arc that they were addressing is given a resolution but we’re still no closer to finding out the true intention of the Xi or whether they can be defeated at all. Late in the season we’re given a tease of something truly interesting as Kei begins getting fragments of Gripen’s mind in his own which are not only artfully presented but kind of unsettling. Added to that the mystery behind Rhino and the US pilots and it’s the kind of thing that would almost make me want to read the light novels this series is based on.

I wanted a picture of most of the cast together and this was the best I could come up with.

Okay then. Final recommendation and score for ‘Girly Air Force’? The most obvious comparison is to that of ‘Strike Witches’ but where that series too often veered off into silly and unfocused, ‘Girly Air Force’ feels a lot more disciplined and that works for this kind of story. Were it not for the girls, and Gripen in particular this show wouldn’t have as much personality as it does and so in some respects the amount you enjoy this series will be roughly proportional to how much you like the characters. I thought it was a lot of fun and told an interesting (if unfinished) story. Flying high: 82 out of 100.

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Broken Promises – ‘The Promised Neverland’ First Season Review

Broken Promises – A Full Season Review for ‘The Promised Neverland’

What’s the show? The Promised Neverland.

And what’s it about? A group of orphans live in a massive orphanage in the middle of a forest and are looked after by a woman known as “mama”, while there’s the occasional mandatory intelligence test the majority of their days are spent having fun and playing together. Every few months one child leaves the house under the pretence of adoption and is never seen from or heard again. (Spoilers for episode 1 incoming) One particular “adoption” takes place with a young girl Conny leaving the house, accidentally she leaves one of her favourite toys so Emma and Norman–two of our protagonists hurry to bring it to her before she leaves. There they are confronted by a terrifying truth, as they witness the dead body of Conny in a wagon and a monster-like creature seemingly responsible. They hurry back to the orphanage, shaken by what they have seen but resolved to break out and take all the kids with them.

Sounds interesting. Sure, it’s an interesting concept one that has a lot of potential but I feel like its potential that’s squandered by leaps in logic and plotting, tonal issues and an overall inconsistent execution.

So that’s the one-sentence spoiler-free version, I take it you’re going to elaborate and get into spoiler territory from here on out? Yes. Firstly, I was willing to suspend my disbelief that our main characters were capable of such elaborate planning— their geniuses after all so that much I could reconcile. But by episode 12 it’s revealed that some of the younger kids, including Phil who is 4 years old were not only participating in an elaborate escape plan, managing to keep it secret and be trusted with keeping it a secret with little to no evidence that their beloved “mama” was the evil manipulator they sold her as. Credit to the final episode, they surrounded this revelation with plenty of other reveals that it was easy to gloss over it on a single viewing but thinking about it after the fact shows just how many holes this plot point has.

But that’s just one part of one episode (albeit a pivotal one) what about the “inconsistent execution” you spoke of? I’d argue that there was enough material for ~maybe~ 6 episodes tops. Whereas it’s stretched out to 12 here, maybe manga readers will argue that everything we saw was necessary for things later on but every episode felt it was 5 minutes of interesting stuff at the start and 5 minutes of interesting stuff at the end with 10 minutes of padding between.

Gives new meaning to ‘watching the clock’.

And the “tonal issues”? The show made an impact with its “powerful” first episode but ever since felt like it was tip-toeing around returning to the dark promise it first offered. And a part of that comes from the lack of scenes exploring the world outside the orphanage. Yes that’s certainly to come now that the kids have escaped but that’s too little, too late for me as I won’t be watching the second season. They had ample opportunity to give more of a glimpse of the outside world but instead wasted literal hours of run time on long winded, unimportant scenes inside the orphanage.

Well that’s certainly a lot of complaints. What did you actually ~enjoy~ about the series? Visually the series is attention grabbing, and all the voice actors are expectedly high quality—especially Emma who wrings a lot of emotion out of her scenes. And as I said at the top of the review, the idea is compelling I just think it’s not well executed.

Mama’s story was pretty good, but again all left to episode 12.

Right then, so final review and recommendation for ‘The Promised Neverland’? I’m probably the last person you should be looking for a recommendation from because the majority of people really loved this series from beginning to end—and chances are you will too. For me though there were too many things I had issue with to say I “enjoyed” the experience. Promises undelivered: 65 out of 100.

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Torture Is Magic – ‘Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka’ Full Season Review

Torture Is Magic – A Full Season Review for ‘Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka’

What’s the show? Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka.

And what’s it about? After demonic plush toys with a taste for murder and chaos invade Earth, the Governments of the world form an alliance with the magical world to create ‘magical girls’ to defeat the evil enemy. The story takes place three years after the great war and concerns Asuka, one of the ‘Magical Five’ who helped end the big bad and bring “peace” to the world as she tries to regain a semblance of a normal life all the while haunted by memories of the past and facing an uncertain future as magical terrorism begins to surface.

I always enjoyed Kurumi’s solo fight scenes. She holds her own despite being a ‘support’ class.

Okay, that sounds interesting. What’s your take on it? This show is unbelievably complicated–and I don’t mean that in a narrative sense–it’s not confusing, or hard to follow or inherently problematic. No, what ‘Magical Girl Spec Ops’ is, at its fundamental level is “real”.

You might have to explain this to me, last time I checked magical girls weren’t the least bit real. That may be true, but a lot of the truly intriguing things about this anime is subtext and parallels to real-world actions rather than the glossy and lurid ~dark magical girl persona~ that it somewhat sells itself on. Discussing this show, unpacking its myriad complexities and connections to events we see and read about on the news is in some ways more satisfying than the execution of the actual series itself.

Too bad, because we’re going to talk about it!

Right, this sounds like it’s going to be a long one if I let you ramble too long, can you give me the abridged version please? Okay, so Asuka has severe PTSD from losing so many comrades in the great magical war. And for the most part PTSD is a ‘theme’ this series demonstrates best, it feels real and personal and occasionally crippling–especially for the non-magical girl side-characters like Asuka’s classmates Sayako and Nozomi. Next is TERRORISM, which I feel is represented at least semi-accurately with the indiscriminate and random loss of life foisted upon people just going about their daily lives with a seemingly flimsy and misguided excuse for committing it on the part of the perpetrators. The third; and potentially hardest to defend ‘theme’ of the series is TORTURE. Both utilised by the “villains” and “heroes” alike and shown to have at least passing efficacy. And it’s here specifically where the disconnect between the subject matter and the execution is most evident.

Don’t worry, there will be no torture gifs in this review.

How do you mean? This is still very much “Hollywood-brand TORTURE”–certainly its occasionally more inventive and definitely more sexual but the series seems to think that torture for the “greater good” is justified over torture for the sake of it. Whether this informed by a distinctly Japanese view on karma and justice or whether it’s just the author’s personal feelings on the matter is not for me to say but I think the series glorified torture as ‘necessary in the face of extremism’ for the sake of entertainment value.

Sure, I mean they all sound like worthy topics for discussion but we’re review the anime here not the subtext and what not. What about the show itself? It’s messy. Honestly, I think the series has amazing potential, great characters, decent action and a biting sense of humour. But it’s also wanting to be serious and grounded and intellectual–which I give it all the props in the world for–but at the same time it makes the experience kind of uneven overall. Not in a way that ruins the show, but simply that makes it flawed. And yet…

And yet? And yet, I kind of love that about this show…

Huh?! Life is messy and complicated and flawed and hard to easily explain. On any given day you could be riding the highest of highs then have something that brings you down to the lowest of lows. You could be reading a news story about some terrible tragedy going on somewhere in the world one minute and then lose yourself in something fun and light the next. Sure this series doesn’t conform to a lot of the expected standards of narrative structure–it’s not nuanced in its pacing or tone, but it still works all the same.

Asuka enjoying the small moments of peace between the fighting.

I feel like you need to talk about some specifics about the show, who was your favourite character? That’d be my favourite Nozomi, as far as characters go her arc is um, almost non-existent. But I can’t resist a tanned genki girl! For sheer character development though, Asuka comes a close second.

Nozomi’s the shameless perv on the right, if that wasn’t abundantly obvious.

Fair enough, and a final recommendation and review for ‘Magical Girl Spec Ops’ then? Ultimately, someone open minded and willing to witness and discuss some dark subject matter and its real life comparator is required to fully enjoy this series for what it is. But likewise someone easy-going enough to appreciate the levity and silliness that comes so frequently not only as a trope of ecchi-adjacent (yes, that’s what I’m calling this) anime but also of life in general. It’s rough around the edges, it’s flawed and it’s sometimes hard to talk about but a magical girl anime about terrorism, PTSD and torture? What did you expect? 80 out of 100.

Speaking of shameless pervs. Enjoy this gif of two anime girls in bras on a treadmill.

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