Scalpelexis

If Mr. Shitan hadn't been unnecessarily blathering for half the episode, it's actually a pleasantly emotional episode. Even so, for the first time since the opening episodes, I was decently blown away.

Catastrophe. Jun Maeda, known for more solid works like Kanon and Angel Beats, has vowed to make this series the saddest anime ever. He succeeded, but perhaps not in the way he intended. Not a single tear was shed, but lamenting and mourning the tragic handling of one self-proclaimed divine girl's story was on my agenda week after week. The outright mistakes and perpetual bad habits that "adorn" Maeda's work are present here, too, with an extra de-luxe helping. The contrived catastrophic scenario from the opening episode looms over the audience's heads like a sword of Damocles... only to find out that this sword is nothing but rubber, so we end up spending the first two-thirds of the running time digesting stretched out cotton candy with zero subtext over and over again! The light-hearted part not only gives us no character depth, explains nothing, and establishes no solid value or connection between us and the characters, but also evokes no (negatively sad or positively funny) emotions: zero, null, nothing, nada, zilch. One would expect to witness at least a minimal effort to build a complete picture, where each piece is at least a tiny part of a designed puzzle, but the authors said "NO!". Darling, why do we have to watch 100% irrelevant episodes about the parents of an extremely minor character? Or how we played a tournament inside out? Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to occupy the stage so often with a sleazy lawyer whose importance and presence among a bunch of kids is as appropriate as a snow cannon on the beach? There's supposedly a romantic storyline in there somewhere, but it takes a microscope and an explanation from a distant dimension called "Cowpoke" for it to make any sense. The return to a more serious part of the anime shouldn't surprise anyone, but the slightly more naive must be at least a little dismayed that even this passage is pitifully empty. Nothing, I mean nothing works: the attempts to heighten the emotion by inserting the theme music with each successive repetition were an undercurrent throughout this entire tragicomedy, the stupidity and non-existent nature of the vast majority of the characters was almost unbelievable, and it was at this point that I began to realize that this was indeed the end, the end of the ghost anime world. I didn't really care how it all ended, I just wanted it to be over already. I was in fact happy with the format, but I hadn't seen such a threadbare misery and demonstration of ineptitude in a long time. You should be ashamed of yourself, Maeda. A better 1 star

[Watched 2 episodes of season 1, drop] Ouch, ouch, it made my heart ache once again to have to share the gender of such an awful main character as Kazuya. You can easily tell the lowest level of creativity in the romcom section based on simple traits: 5 trillion misunderstandings, convenient coincidences every minute, confessions as difficult as hiking up Mt. Everest, the king of virgins in the lead role. Honestly, just so I don't degrade "The Girlfriend Rental" here (that in itself sounds awfully stupid, doesn't it? ) to the worst imaginable extremes, the point itself isn't that terrible, and could be made relatively workable with 1/10th of a brain engaged – except that would mean that the scene would have to remain free of the sympathy-devoid squadron in the form of a bunch of wasted buddies, a grandmother more obnoxious than a Jehovah's Witness, and even the ex has nothing to do but psychopathically romp around stalking our hated dork. And Kazuya heroically lies, lies, lies to create new misunderstandings and more room for this whole idiotic endless circle that will surely span 200+ manga volumes. The saddest part is that this manga has a clear audience goal: to give non-existent hope to all those closed-minded, self-important boys who think that by sitting at home and being totally passive, they'll stumble across the interest of X many perfect beauties. Who will give their hearts to him if he smiles at them. Well, I've given plenty of reasons and warnings, the rest is up to you. A worse 2 stars.

Kiki is a beautiful fairy tale that oozes optimism, kindness, and solidarity. In a time when people are making faces at themselves, unkind and selfless, this huge wave of positivity is a balm to the soul. It doesn't always take deep thoughts, tangled plots, or defeating great evil to make an excellent work. After finishing it, I felt like baking something right away. Perfect for kids, a nice break for adult anime fans.

Can persistent romantic conquest in X number of ways bear the desired fruit (except pineapples on pizza) and love? Koikimo will try to show and prove that it's not impossible, even if the age difference between the actors pushes the boundaries of social acceptance. Our cup is overflowing with the age-gap theme and I'm not against it in any way, it just needs caution, as clumsy handling would result in the worst possible audience reception. If there's anything Koikimo fails at that in my eyes that really bothers me, it's the repulsive character of the all-powerful Jesus-kuns and the boundless stalking. The two come together in the main character of the mildly narcissistic Ryo, who the freaking series unabashedly criticizes in a rather cheap and mechanical way from the very beginning. He reminded me of a similarly uncomfortable Takumi Usui from Maid Sama!, but unlike that yucky slimeball, Ryo was pleasantly aware, socially sophisticated, and sycophancy was non-existent in his vocabulary, so despite his insufferable intrusiveness, I was able to turn a blind eye to him. The disproportionate reaction to his behavior was saved by his coveted teenage Ichika, who overcomes him with a healthy dose of flamboyant innocence and stubbornness, leaving the pieces in constant civilized check. Koikimo is, after all, incredibly consistent, with all the pros and cons that entails. From the first minutes, the dice are rolled, the playing field is firmly set, and the anime never, ever tries to screw the viewer over. On the flip side, from the opposite angle, the plot never encounters even a single bump in the road, the characters don't engage in any deviousness, and so after the first episode, the bookies couldn't even calculate the odds on how it all turns out because it's so unhappily obvious. I can't even say I laughed uproariously, but a couple of cute gags satisfied me, and every now and then I found myself longingly lifting my tonsils or, conversely, stroking a more sentimental heart. Ultimately, the biggest plus of the whole piece is that I never felt insulted or demeaned as a viewer and I found the script surprisingly intelligent and charming (though the ending classically began to have hints of minor nonsensical decisions). The characters and their relationships don't overdo it and play 100% fair; did I really not find even a single more awkward moment? Wow! I have minor admiration for the mediocre character design and deteriorating animation around episode 10, but you couldn't expect any miracles from the smaller studio Nomad. Koikimo is far from brilliant and it hardly discovers America; a more thematically conservative audience might well take offense at it, but I never found myself in the drop waters and I’m walking away moderately satisfied. A very close and highly subjective 4 stars, because it's not disgusting to call this a decent anime.

I've had my eye on Kokoro Connect for a long time. I kept catching myself tapping a bare toe against the table leg when reviewing thematically similar anime. I don't exactly put much faith in SILVER LINK's output. (Suffice it to say, for more familiar viewers, the most popular meme from their catalog is: "No, senpai, this is our fight!"), and I don't remember them adapting anything besides Non Non Biyori that has even a piece of the proverbial head to toe (at least an ear and a stubbed little toe; they should still be on the hook for Fate/Kaleid for years to come). That is, except for Kokoro. And what else, bodyswap is a great idea and can be played a number of different ways. I enjoyed a lot the opening 5 or so episodes, when the characters have to come to terms with the phenomenon, leading to some resigned and honest confessions from the corners of teenage souls, so much so that I even burst out laughing at the original and cheeky erotic confession. The series mixes initial lightness and good dissection of the plot; the characters aren't excellent, but they're by no means bad either (Inaba is a drag with a capital D), and their development is endearingly suited to that 5th episode, which also wraps things up subtly in an emotional mini-finale. But what next? 8 more episodes to go. If I wanted a steep slide, I'd go to the aquapark, but now it's come at a terrifyingly inopportune time. The writers thought they'd set up a repeat through their mouthpiece's cheap justification: "Because you just entertain me", they roll out a new repetitive but more heavyweight Bollywood melodrama and the triangle squeaks deafeningly. Oddly, the outside world takes no interest in what’s happening to our five ("If you tell anyone, it’s a big nono!"), the five aim monstrous elephant guns at their flyweight problems, and the denouement was about as satisfying as a hawaii pizza on my birthday. The puppetry fizzled, the massive potential was tossed in the trash, and my Kokoro remained disconnected. The whole thing then creates the sad impression that the initial, sweetly revealing depth of characters was false, because when we get to the crux of the matter, there's a relative scripted void. This theme could have been milked for a few extra buckets of classy ideas, and this way Kokoro Connect remains only a slightly above average, unresolved, and unsatisfying romance that Gandalf would have accused as having traded reason for madness halfway through. A better 3 stars

Talking is silver, silence is golden? Komi Can't Communicate would convince me otherwise, unfortunately. A series of short sketches from the life of a spunky, yet shy and verbally uncommunicative high school student, the series delivers a mix of banter and "wholesome" situations that wouldn't pose a difficult obstacle for the average teenager... but for the shy Komi, each one is literally the trial of a lifetime. In this respect the anime is original and Komi's communication with the outside world amusingly reminded me of the likeable Celty from Durarara!!. The pilot also has a downright stellar opening with a beautifully poetic scene of the main couple at the blackboard, and I really liked the idea (even if it is a bit "Facebook-ish") of finding 100 friends. Unfortunately, this glimmer didn't last very long and Komi quickly slips into the very clichéd templates of high school anime, kept afloat by a single variable – the character of Najimi (played superbly by the seiyuu Rie Murakawa). I’m not exactly critical of the duo of Komi and the insufferably ordinary Tadano, but surprisingly they're not the ones driving the plot forward, because if it were up to them we'd get nowhere for the entire running time. They're likable characters, but terribly passive. Good-hearted, but maddeningly uncreative; without the souped-up jet turbocharger of Najimi the development of their relationship would waver between sleepy and flatlined. I'd welcome it as a sign of progress and advancement if I wasn't constantly being given descriptions of what happens to Komi when he's nervous – even a marginally interested viewer can tell when he’s introduced! Similarly, I wasn't particularly keen on Komi's very early endearing attempts at spoken conversation, only for the plot to subsequently give up on such attempts altogether. Even though after 2 episodes we sadly never hear any mention of finding a hundred friends and look back longingly to the unattainable romance of their chalkboard meeting, Najimi's craziness, self-interest, eccentricity, wit, and comedic potential iron out a ton of ills. This is where the sketch form is one of its biggest triumphs; it gives Najimi's character room to constantly invent new and innovative scenarios of petty hardships and travails for poor Komi to overcome. But isn’t that a bit lacking, Anton Pavlovich? It is to me. There are plenty of jokes, but the hints of romance are indicated visually rather than atmospherically. The absurdity of Komi accepting her surroundings quickly gets old and the rest of the characters are rather unoriginal, overblown, and easily forgettable. While Komi is no gem, I'm glad that studio OLM has finally found the source material for a decent anime. Slightly above average and an unspoken "thank you".

[Season 1] A family adventure intended for the less conflicted and mild-mannered. It doesn't impress or offend, however for an entire central family brimming with excessive intellect, which they often sell decently, this trait is a bit lacking throughout the series, because then the kids wouldn't quite get it. The story is based on the classic tropes of how a family that doesn't quite work for various reasons starts to work again as time goes on by clearing its conscience of previous misdeeds, and where everything that can go wrong does so in a continually annoying and predictable way. The antagonist is a great representative of her field, as her sole purpose is to catalyze these mishaps for weirdly illogical reasons, and at the very least I would have expected that with their scientific intelligence the main characters would have seen through her in the same episode she appeared on set. The bright spot for me was the two parents: Toby Stephens and Molly Parker are great and unbearably likable. The gimmick is decent, and it's fun to watch, but it feels a little sterile here and there. Definitely good entertainment for the maybe +-10-13 year olds, borderline boring for me.

A relatively naive and slyly manipulative attempt at a tear-jerker that doesn't forge hot steel with an impeccable first half only to boil with water that has long since evaporated from the pot. The narrative doesn't waste time on Haruto and Misaki getting to know each other, and it quickly flips in an unpleasantly suspect manner through the first wild images, which will hardly overwhelm audiences saturated with Japanese cinema (or the uninitiated, most likely) with its inventiveness and use of metaphor/experience. Despite some noteworthy foreshadowing, which my romantic self didn't mind at all, I wished that this part could have been prolonged substantially (note: It's almost unbearably ironic that the relativity and evenness of the time sequences of the two halves is woefully out of balance with the rub of the film). After all, it wouldn't be the Japanese if they didn't pour not a dash but a full demijohn of emotion into it, and so I was sorry they didn't take a clear opportunity to maximize the happiness of the characters, and the audience on the receiving end, so that the subsequent dramatic impact would be all the more crushingly effective. The whole time you can see clear from the moon what the director was trying to accomplish, but in my opinion they missed the target by the distance of Pluto and made the second hour drag excruciatingly slowly for the filmmakers, the actors, and above all the audience. The hitherto passable script completely crumbles, the characters start acting downright unnaturally; I truly hate it when a simple and obvious solution is thrown away to create an artificial island of disaster. Ultimately, the relationship between the main characters is bitterly unrealistic, and the final showdown left me shrugging my shoulders. It's a great shame, because the potential was enormous and its skillful exploitation would certainly have left me emotionally destroyed. I have no complaints about the actors, cinematography, or music. The disappointment that’s filling me up inside won't let me go higher than a very shabby 3 stars.

Manga readers certainly couldn't wait for the conclusion of the first part of Riko and Rega's journey through the Abyss, which was already introduced at the end of first season. It was already obvious after the narration of the mysterious Ozen that the "White Whistles" were more like the local Seven from The Boys than superhero villains, and it was impossible not to look forward to the villainous Bondrewd. That whole metaphor and parell of the Abyss, where the raiders go to fulfill their desire for wealth, power, adventure, or love, only to eventually face the question of how much they must sacrifice, is woven throughout the film in a very poignant way. The only ray of happiness was the character of the enchanting Prushka. Compared to the series, I missed the travelling through more and more levels of the Abyss, and while Kevin Penkin is an ace composer that I wanted to enjoy thoroughly, his music was just more at home during the more open and melancholic scenery of the living outside world than within the walls of the fortress. But I'm not knocking anything in that regard: The Kinema Citrus audiovisuals are again of a dream standard (the opening flowery field, the fights) and the script and direction are tight, I just like the slightly happier scenes and you won't find many of those here :-) I was all the more pleased with the last minutes of Ozen's shrewdness. I was wavering a lot between 4 stars and 5 stars – it falls right in between, but I subjectively like the world and story of Made in Abyss a lot. Subarashi!