Jeoffrey

When watching a series where two worlds intertwine, and things from one world interfere with the other, I have a pretty good idea about how things should work, and I can guess how society would react to such drastic changes and things that were previously unknown. Well, such notions of how a fantasy feudal society would react to many of the conveniences of the modern world greatly diverge from what I've witnessed here. It’s also why I found a lot of the situations incredibly dumb, unrealistic, and inadequate. I had a hard time believing that things could work like that. The last two episodes, which felt like a failed parody of Gate, pretty much took the cake. My overall impression of the series was only saved by its relaxed atmosphere and a fairly likable main character, but it wasn’t enough to change my mind about this being incredibly silly, and not in a good way. While it was watchable, I just didn’t buy it, and even if I wanted to, I wouldn't give it more than a 4/10.

Trigun Stampede is an original adaptation that offers a slightly different take on things. The series doesn't bother with an introduction, and it doesn't put any mysteries in front of the viewer, as if the writers relied on you being familiar with the original 1998 adaptation or, even better, the manga. On the one hand, it's a shame, because all the mystery surrounding Vash, Wolfwood, and the whole planet was what I enjoyed most about the original series. This way, it killed the atmosphere for me a little. Plus, the beginning was really hasty, one of the characters was replaced with a brand new one, and Meryl was given a different job. There were several things that made me feel as if it wasn’t the Trigun I knew. Vash, on the other hand, is still Vash. He is the kind of person who wants to protect both the spider and the fly, and while his intentions are good, things rarely go according to his plan. Gradually, it becomes clear that this creative decision - to step on the gas at the beginning, not to dwell so much on all the Gung-Ho-Guns that have been given enough space in the past, not to hide what most viewers already know anyway - was intentional. Trigun Stampede focuses on what the first adaptation leaves out, that is, the plotline around the "Plants", the real motivation of Millions Knives, and the falling-out between the two brothers. I've read the manga, so I know that it’s a major plotline, and it annoyed me that the original adaptation leaves it out. Anyway, from the second half onwards, the series knows exactly which story it wants to tell. As far as I remember the manga, the writers have done a great job. Especially the finale excellently builds up the confrontation of the two brothers' perspectives (both of which are equally understandable). Let me just briefly comment on the animation. If anyone thinks that the 3DCG animation is terrible here, they know nothing about 3DCG animation. As far as Japanese 3DCG is concerned, you should watch at least one episode of Ex-Arm to be able to put it into perspective. Sure, Japanese 3DCG is not the absolute top. Compared to Pixar, there is a lot of room for improvement, especially regarding character movement, but Orange did an excellent job in Trigun Stampede and you can tell that the studio just keeps getting better at it. The facial expressions in particular are better in the 3D models than in the classic 2D and make it possible for the characters to express more intense emotions. Plus, some of the effects and close-ups of various devices are much more detailed thanks to 3D animation. Sure, movement can get tricky at times, and the tentacles (and there are quite a few of them) and similar effects still look jarringly artificial, but on the whole, the animation is decent, easy to get used to, and often pleasantly surprising. The whole season was a nice surprise for me. I’m giving it 7/10 after watching the awesome finale tonight, and am curious to see what the already-announced next season will be like.

I didn't have high expectations for this fantasy, so I was surprised to find that it was pretty good. The story makes sense, the main character undergoes development and even gets further than most average anime protagonists (SPOILER He settles down, gets married, and starts a family END OF SPOILER). Aside from a few repetitive jokes that aren't really that funny, the story feels kind of simple and commonplace. Yes, there are various clichés, and it’s obvious who Dariel really is practically from the first episode, but it doesn't ruin the atmosphere and the universal message of tolerance. In fact, it makes even more sense. I liked Dariel a lot. It was partially because he’s close to my age so I found him easy to relate to, but it was also thanks to the very good voice performance of Tomokazu Sugita, who did an excellent job. It’s not a show that will leave a lasting impression on me, but it worked for me as an easy, relaxing watch. 5.9/10

I was quite intrigued and entertained by the first season and the movie, but the second season just bored me. New characters weren't properly introduced, and it was just a single mission without any major exposition. The series counts on you knowing everything about the girls/ships, and the writers don’t feel the need to introduce anything else or create new intricate plots. There’s a conflict, which you are already familiar with from before, and there are the girls who are actually warships, which you’ve probably realized by now. Their new adventure features other characters you may know from the game, and if not, they’ll be introduced only briefly, because that's all you really need to know... The series does have a nice pace thanks to the lack of filler (although it didn’t really make me feel anything), but covid caused an unplanned extended break to my viewing, and I didn’t find the motivation to return to the show after that - I have seen 3 episodes and they were only worth 3.5/10.

What Avengers: Infinity War is to the MCU, My Hero Academia – Season 6 is to MHA. It’s an epic battle of good versus evil. All the elaborate worldbuilding from the previous seasons has paid off. No character is left out in this massive conflict. It's the first "Avengers Assemble" moment where we see all the major characters from the two generations in action, fighting a threat beyond anything that’s ever happened within the universe. Some villains are fleshed out so well that it makes you sympathize with them or at least understand them a little. Just like in Infinity War, it's just an introduction to the Endgame, which starts with The Dark Knight in this season. Season 6 is what fans have been waiting for. If you're still not convinced of its qualities, then it's probably time to admit that it's just not for you... It’s the best of MHA so far, and it’s also the answer to my fears about where things would go after the slightly unconvincing previous season. It’s a promise of even crazier things to come, a demonstration that MHA can be a really cool shounen, with deeper themes and a darker atmosphere. I want to leave some room in case the Endgame is even better than Infinity War (which I can’t say about the MCU – I like IW better) but considering how many emotions it made me feel and how much I enjoyed it all, I cannot go below 9/10.

Jeoffrey can be a man of many words, sometimes too many words, his expressions can be complex, and he is sometimes misunderstood. However, he can also be a man of very simple tastes...So this show, a sort of Naruto for adults, is something that is right up his alley. Why not? There are tons of great eye-watering action scenes and the graphics, the movement, the dynamics, the impact of each punch, the aesthetics, the speed, the fluidity - I think are just some of the best fighting scenes in anime ever. Not enough for ya? Well, the characters are great too! Most of them are quite likable and memorable. Also, the main protagonists are older and therefore more mature compared to many other shonen. There are three really great characters I like a lot (Itadori, Gojo, and Todo), and there are a lot of characters I would like to get to know more about (Sukuna, Yaga, and Miwa), and no one I have found irritating so far. What about the story? I found it all quite interesting, straightforward, and dynamic. Even the subplots are all good, and always turn out to be well connected with the main plot. What are the bad guys getting up to? Their master plan is pretty clear to me (get the parts, grab the container, revive the boss and send the world to hell alongside him), and that is at least better and more obvious than this. So, where is this all headed to? The story within the show is still being established, so the writer has still not revealed all his secrets, however, there is much speculation, and some similarities to Naruto suggest what might happen. The soundtrack is satisfactory, the animation is very good, and while I actually like everything so far, I am sorry, ladies and gentlemen, however, I am not awarding less than 8/10 for the first season.

Endo and Kobayashi Live! is a sweet romantic fairy tale based on an original and interesting idea that sadly didn't work for me at all. You might think it’s cool and unconventional that a character in the story can hear the running commentary on his actions in a romantic game. As for me, it all felt as if someone was telling me a joke, and then another person explained it, and the person who told the joke started laughing at it himself. In other words, the commentators start talking about why a situation is funny (explaining the punchline), even though you have no trouble figuring it out for yourself, and then the character in the story suddenly gets the punchline and starts dramatically reacting to it. Plus, the commentary itself is overly emotional at times. I understand that the characters are invested in the story, but unfortunately much more than I am, so I’m just not on the same wavelength with them. The very thing that makes this series original and interesting to people makes it fall apart like a house of cards for me. I didn't particularly enjoy watching it, even though I quite like tsundere (or rather "tsun de rais") characters. I did like the way the two worlds were logically interconnected, though. I didn’t expect that the series would bother explaining why things worked in such a way. The animation was nice, the music was good, but I’m only giving it 6/10.

I might have enjoyed the series more if I were familiar with the video game series. I would have understood the context better and it would have helped me to put together the whole picture. The series does a pretty good job of making me believe that its world is immense and full of all sorts of interesting characters, and this is just one of its many stories. It made me curious to find out more about all the fascinating secrets it had to offer. The storyline about Lavi and her quest to find out what it means to be a hero had a point and didn’t feel like a waste of time. I also grew quite fond of the main character, even though it took me a while. Unfortunately, the series failed to make the mecha stuff and magic compatible for me. Robot sentinels, automatons, and some bizarre magic on top of that - maybe I just didn't get it. Maybe everything works well together in the game, and it’s part of many awesome stories, but here it just seemed weird. I could do without certain silly parts of the story, such as a whole episode about looking for a hot spring, which did seem like a waste of time. Also, the series didn't sell me on more than half of the characters. There were so many of them who just came and went, and I had no idea who they were or if they were even important (such as a bunch of characters in one episode who just got together in a pub to reminisce about old times). Then again, I bet they were important characters or nice cameos for the players of the game. As for me, I can’t tell. Another thing I wasn't too thrilled about was the animation. It didn’t seem like anyone made any effort, and CG robots are just never going to be my cup of tea. All in all, for someone like me who’s unfamiliar with this universe, it’s pretty much an average series. 5/10

I wish I could give Giant Beasts of Ars an above-average rating. I was intrigued by the setting, liked most of the characters, and enjoyed learning about the various strange cultures on their planet. For a while, I even thought that there might be a cool plot around them thanks to all the "prototypes" (something along the lines of Chaika). I also wondered what was up with of all those animal "chapeaus" in the story. I started watching the series in a pleasant mood, expecting to get answers to a lot of questions, but when they were supposed to come, I just ended up confused. In the last two episodes, things seemed to happen for no reason. I felt as if I was missing crucial information, several times wondering "Why?" or "Where did this come from?". It was as if the writers suddenly went insane. They wanted to solve everything at once but didn’t bother to explain anything. They seemed to have suddenly realized they had run out of time and so they just threw in all their ideas and plot twists, leaving it up to you to figure things out. Or they thought you didn’t even need to understand it at all. I struggled to make sense of half of what was going on, and the other half was barely explained. "It’s just the way it is!" The last episode seemed like a load of bullshit to me. Another negative is that the animation was mediocre, or rather of erratic quality. The effects were decent one moment and jarring the next. As much as I'd like to give Giant Beasts of Ars an above-average rating, I just can't. 5/10

Minecraft Isekai running in sandbox mode where the monsters' aggression is set to low so you can turn them into pets. It’s set in a forest where someone forgot to turn off the machine that’s printing elves and also girls in general. There are like 50+ of them for one average farmer, but only two or three of them are memorable and easy to tell apart from the others. The best, most interesting, and most valid female character is Zabuton the spider. I have nothing against a harem, as long as it makes sense in the story. Here, for the sake of being family-friendly, the creators have replaced organized polygamy with simple monogamy, completely ruining several jokes from the manga (I flipped through it after having read a few comments below the videos to be objective). I’m sure many viewers will find the protagonist relatable as he's exactly the type who is surrounded by girls, but apparently only plays chess with them at night. When he does happen to conceive a child, you get the impression that it happened when Hiraku tapped a girl on the stomach with his All-Purpose Farming Tool, pronounced the word "baby", and that was it. Anyway, the tool is simply too powerful in my view. It can turn into almost anything at will, which is still okay, but the fact that you can just think of anything (a plant, a mushroom...) while using it and it will start growing on its own without any seeds seems exaggerated and weird. One house after another is built, but I didn't notice anything that would make the buildings hold together, so I guess one of the elves has mastered methods that we don't understand, or it's simply magic! The only good running joke is everyone being amazed at how much power Hiraku has unwittingly acquired... But that's not really what the series is about. I reckon the main reason why so many people like it is its relaxed, peaceful atmosphere, and the emphasis on building. In other words, if you like games where you build stuff, and you liked TenSura but you could do without all the "lame fights", this will be right up your alley. The series also has decent animation and music that intensifies the experience. If you are able to turn off your brain and tune into the right building vibe, you'll have a good time. If you like anime girls of all kinds and races and prefer quantity over quality, you'll be thrilled to bits. You might not, though (if you are familiar with the manga). The spider was enough for me, and I only managed to turn my brain off halfway. 6/10