Jeoffrey

So I am going to be a bit more strict than the reviewer SonGokussj and say not only that the editing is bad, but that the choice of some of the shots, where the camera pointed, is quite strange in places. The animation is incredibly static at times. The opening part in the school, for example, did not appeal to me. There were single shots of characters talking and moving quite minimally. As an interesting counterpoint, the animation when the fights occur is quite action-packed. These are quite well-executed, and the close combat using martial arts looked pretty good although that was not so much the case with the movement of the characters at other times. I also did not find the art style particularly sophisticated, more like quite poor. Another shortcoming is the unnaturally shoved-in fan service. Some of the storylines ended with this "service to the audience" and were completely stupid (see the fifth episode and the ping pong). On the whole, as far as the narrative is concerned, it is also quite crap. The different factions are clear about what they want; some want to be the strongest and rule the world, others want to wage war on everyone, defeat everyone and rule the world, and the main male protagonist Akatsuka Justice - well, he just wants world peace. It is full of such stupid tropes, like the speeches of many of the beauty queen pageant finalists. Plus, the characters are acting kind of weird and unnatural, too. It just does not feel like it came together as a whole, and about the only time it was watchable was when there were fight scenes. However, I noticed some weaknesses and small details that spoiled the impression I got of the show'. (When Akatsuka Justice is hit several times with a sword, there is blood all around and under him, so how is it possible that a moment later, when he throws a "power-up," his shirt is suddenly clean? It is magic!) So I am sorry, however, like SonGokussj, I am not going to watch more than five episodes. 2/10.

Based on the trailer, this show was more or less exactly what I expected. It is quite a charming, pleasant, and touching show. Admittedly, they were forcing the emotional aspect a bit too much; however, it was not distracting in any way. I like the animation, even though I would have had the soundtrack quieter at times. Sensei was a likable character as a single stay-at-home dad, and he has my respect. The little girl was incredibly adorable and had an interesting voice, and just the way she pronounces "otousan" is very interesting. Granted, little Tsumugi was also slightly spoiled at times, even though there were almost no scenes where I found her irritating. The student was also quite intriguing, and well, I took her fear of knives as more of an odd quirk than something to be bothered by. In other words, this show has a pleasant slice-of-life narrative, with lots of food and demonstrations of its preparation, which is not dramatic or extremely interesting in any way. Nevertheless, I was satisfied because this kind of pleasant respite suits me. 7.5/10.

This is another anime series in the style of Mushishi, or Natsume’s Book of Friends, where the world is teeming with mysterious creatures. In this show, youkai (demons) are once again there, although they are not actually evil, rather just misunderstood. So, some kind of main male protagonist character is needed to exorcize them or try to help them, and the people possessed by them. Unfortunately, in terms of the main characters' depth, interest, and charisma, it was only remotely close to what is referred to in the title mentioned above. Sure there was that nice "feeling" at times, although it certainly was not anything intense, and most importantly, it never lasted more than a few minutes. Some of the episodes were slightly above average; the final storyline and denouement were again a massive cliché. Still, it was quite likable at times, even though it did not go very deep, and in fact, the main thing it brought me is the fact that I am now much more looking forward to the new season of the much better-produced "Natsume's Book of Friends" 5.5/10.

The first episode is just beautiful! I was expecting it to be well-produced, and considering the fact that I had seen the previous movie called Tales of Zestiria: Dawn of the Shepherd, I knew what I was getting into. However, it is clear that the Ufotable studio has gone the extra mile again concerning the animation here because this is just visual pornography! The water! The fire! The tornadoes! The fighting! The city! The fire-breathing dragon! The introduction was simply a treat that whetted my appetite for more. The animation is stunningly beautiful, and visually this is simply one of the top releases of the year. The only shame is that we do not also have a properly epic and coherent narrative to go with such gorgeous animation. Sure I could forgive them for a lot of things; however, the fact that they devoted two whole episodes to advertising their upcoming action role-playing video game Tales of Berseria left me wondering what the point of this was besides marketing and that just kind of pisses me off. Leaving that interjection aside, after watching the first season, I just have to reiterate that ToZ is an average fantasy adventure with beautiful audiovisual design, but unfortunately, nothing more than that. 7/10.

The best action "gastroporn" is back in full swing! The main ingredient is action, the suspense could be cut with a knife, and a dash of humor is thrown in to taste. This is all served up by old friends and great chefs. I do not recommend watching this show on an empty stomach, or perhaps at midnight. And now, please excuse me, I am going to go and eat the contents of the fridge. 9/10.

So the ecchi genre has made a step forward once again. Just in the first few minutes, I thought that if they dropped the underwear and added real "action," we would actually have hentai. From the clumsy attempts of shy male protagonists and the eroticism of stupid blunders, we finally slowly got to what I, give or take, think of as erotica. So we have sensual, planned, and consensual touching and sexual tension. Well, too bad, gentlemen, because there is also censorship in this show. That is because Japan is a country where they probably know how to enjoy sex. They have invented many interesting techniques and gadgets, although they are still ashamed of nudity and cannot risk children seeing it. In addition, the screenwriters of erotic anime series have had almost no imagination in the last few years, so another major drawback is the fact that once again, we are slowly but surely piling cliché upon cliché. The setting is a magical school, the characters look like cookie-cutter stereotypes, and the enemy is once again a digital something that attacked Earth because, well, who knows? Plus, the only thing that can stop it is special warriors in uniforms so tight that it baffles any reasonable logic. So if you like animated erotica and do not mind that there is most likely not going to be some real sex, or if you are a fan of magical schools, girls with massive oppai, or have not found any proper pornography site yet, then this will be the anime series for you. However, Jeoffrey is not going to watch it with you because 1. I am tired of clichés 2. I rarely get turned on by animated erotica 3. I find football-sized oppai disturbing, not attractive 4. I know a few pornographic websites. I am sure that this is going to quickly find its fans, and I am not judging anyone, so I wish you all a good time. Dropped after the first episode, and I am not rating it.

Muromi-san is all about a mermaid who falls in love with a young fisherman and her very special friends. There were a lot of silly jokes, and some of the jokes were very good, while others were a bit crap. Unfortunately, there was a fair amount that was silly. Sometimes I had a good laugh; sometimes, I was very strongly charmed by the cuteness; however, all too often, I was simply watching, thinking this is just not on! Once again, this is one of those madcap Japanese classics where there is plenty of stuff you would never think of, albeit at the same time, there is plenty of silly sex jokes, failed innuendos, and sheer fan service that will be pleasing to some. However, such stuff rarely impresses Jeoffrey. The characters were fine; their interactions with each other mostly worked, though sometimes a joke falling flat could pretty much ruin it. The animation is simple, quite decently colored, and again some characters have eyes covering half their heads, even though I personally do not mind that I find it rather cute. I did not notice the soundtrack much apart from the pleasantly crazy opening, so I guess it was not so bad. Although that is not the case, it may look like I was not too impressed with Muromi-san. I am complaining about the bad jokes in this show. However, their ratio of bad to good ones was about fifty-fifty. The appropriately chosen footage enhanced my impression of the show, and I thought it gave it a respectable amount of momentum. There were also the likable and cute characters of which I liked Yeti, Harpy, and Muromi-san. So my final impression is slightly above average. 6.4/10.

I am not familiar with either Dofus or Wakfu turn-based combat systems, although I always have kind of gotten into the animation inspired by this tactical RPGs. Oh, and as with Wakfu, I am going to more or less praise the cinematic version of Dofus. This time I was slightly familiar with the world, so things like Gobbowl failed to surprise me much, though it is true that some more extensive knowledge is not required of the viewer in the final game. The narrative, as with Wakfu, is easy to understand (even for a person who has hardly heard of those games), well thought out, and interestingly presented. The characters are great; they are not black and white. They have their pretty fundamental weaknesses. On the other hand, even the character who should be evil actually has perfectly understandable reasons for what she does (no, I am not going to spoil it). Even the most recent character is quite believable, original, and well done. I guess the only small shortcoming I can see is that the characters are largely similar to the ones from Wakfu, so while it may evoke a slight nostalgia in a person who has seen Wakfu, it does not feel very original in places. It is interesting and quite funny at times (the post-credits scene, in particular, is just hilarious), and it is also quite fun to watch. So once again, I feel satisfied, and I have to say what I discovered when I was a kid watching Asterix cartoons: the French know how to make good animated TV shows and movies. This movie is even more interesting because it is a movie inspired by an RPG, and let’s be honest; those do not usually come out very well. Well, the Wakfu anime-influenced TV series and the Dofus movie are definitely exceptions, in my opinion. 8/10.

Speaking for myself, I have to say that I expected it to be much more kinky and ecchi, it is an OVA after all, plus there are a lot of girls, and Kazuma is a smart and healthy young man. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised that everything was played out with some wit and insight, and everything was moderately kept within certain limits. The pacing was a bit slow, but the conclusion made me laugh quite a lot, and the way Kazuma apologized to the various girls was also quite amusing. 7.5/10.

What happens when you meet Zombieman, who is supposedly the man that, even in death cannot die, at a superhero party in a hot spring resort? When the party gets going, it is only a matter of time before someone starts investigating a crime. On the bright side, he was lucky a katana and not a Pri-Pri-Prisoner impaled him. I laughed all of two times, which again is not enough. 6/10.