Jeoffrey

So the first summer production was completely successful, and I have to say that it is quite a respectable show. Because I had seen the previews, I had expected many interesting confrontations caused by the difference between youthful and adult attitudes. To be honest, I am now in my thirties, but if I were back in high school as, say, a fifteen-year-old, I would probably get away with quite a lot of crap. Well, unfortunately, that does not come up so much in this anime series, and Kaizaki pretty quickly integrates himself into a clique where he mostly acts exactly the same as if he were an "ordinary student," so the whole backstory about him actually being twenty-seven does not come across as strongly as it could. So if there is no hard confrontation between the two worlds, what is it really about? Basically, this show is all about students. It is a slightly comedic slice-of-life anime series, dealing with different relationships and looking at the self-esteem some of the people involved have lost. However, this is quite decently crafted, so all the plot twists are quite fun to watch, and sometimes I even found it funny. The characters were quite interesting, and almost all of them were quite likable. I also liked the animation. As for the soundtrack, I found the opening and ending quite appropriate, although most of the music was played on piano. It was very noisy at times in this anime series, so I found it a bit distracting. All in all, ReLIFE is such a pleasant and relaxing summer show, even though it is not intense, interesting, or funny enough to make me feel the need to give it a better rating than average. 6.4/10.

I liked Shenmue a lot​​ at the beginning because the plot was simple, straightforward, and contained a little bit of fantasy and fatefulness. At the same time somehow had an endearing B-movie quality, albeit with decent animation and even fight scenes that were quite good, really. The main male protagonist is quite likable, so I enjoyed getting to know him, although the portrayal of his journey put me off. I felt quite irritated by how the different sections and his development were repetitive and always the same. The protagonist goes to another character because he needs help, and then the person in question tells him that he is not ready to move forward, which happens every time. This means that the protagonist has to do certain sidequests first that lead to his progress before going back to that other character to prove that he is ready, and if he is lucky, that other character helps him get somewhere else. Unfortunately, he usually goes to yet another character, who tells him that he is not ready to move on. What is worse, it does not always go right the first time, and so the protagonist goes back thinking he is ready, only to be told, "No, you are not!" and so he has to embark on yet another journey of self-discovery. The worst thing is that even though half of those aforementioned sidequests are simply also about how the protagonist meets someone who tells him he is not ready. This concept of how the protagonist progresses is regurgitated repeatedly, interspersed with flashbacks of his father telling him he is not ready and has a long way to go! Fortunately for Shenmue, all the knowledge and development were mostly quite interesting to me, and I even learned something about the martial arts philosophy itself. Hence, it was not a complete waste of time. Likewise, the many characters Ryo encounters during his journey are interesting and well-rounded. So overall, in my opinion, this is not a bad anime series, and I would not mind seeing the second season. Even though it often felt like a constant back and forth, it was bearable. 6/10.

I am going to start with what must be obvious to everyone: every time people see that WIT Studio is the main animation studio on a major project, they know it will be beautiful! Animation-wise, this movie is a wonderful showcase of what this studio can do. Given that parkour is an essential part of the movie, the animators flex their muscles and demonstrate how brilliantly they can animate movement. Of course, those in charge of the backgrounds were not slacking off either, and so many shots would make a gorgeous poster, wallpaper, or screensaver. Each image showcases a brilliant sense of aesthetics and the artistry of the illustrators, both of which make the viewer sit back, enjoy every minute, including the parkour race, and take it all in until the stunning conclusion. WIT Studio uses what they learned while making the anime series Atack on Titan, and so many scenes look like Levi's famous "coming to the bar" scene. The final sequence makes you think of the best aerial fights because the movement of the characters here is so iconic. Everything is beautifully colored. When anything moves, it is simply flawless. It feels epic when something falls to the ground (like buildings collapsing). The detail is just great. The bottom line is that animation-wise, this movie is worth 10/10. The soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano works well and is literally perfect in some moments (like the conclusion), so you notice it a lot, plus it is helped by the fact that one particular song serves as an important theme in this movie. On the other hand, overall, it is not exactly a memorable experience. In the first half especially, I only partially noticed the music, almost as if Sawano was being unnecessarily restrained at the beginning. On the other hand, he makes up for it in part two, and especially during the dynamic final sequence, where he shows why he is considered by many to be one of the best Japanese composers in anime today. Musically, it is worth 8.5/10, in my opinion. Are you familiar with Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid? Regarding the movie's narrative, the screenwriters are fully aware of that particular story and are not shy about building the main storyline around it. On top of that, they bolt on parkour races like they are straight out of a sports anime series, and even that line kind of works for them, interspersing the whole thing with a good dose of pretty interesting fantasy elements although I found that a bit too grating. What happened over the course of the five years plus the bubbles felt a bit unbelievable, and it took me a while to come to terms with it all. Likewise, the parkour races seemed quite strange. I thought I would have liked to have seen any government allow this, and I could just not believe that if one of two teams decided to radically raise the stakes and still broadcast it on the internet, somehow, no one would intervene. There were just some things that were a little harder to accept. On the other hand, the pacing of the narrative was good. The build-up was a bit slower, although the movie managed to build everything up so that the emotional conclusion had an impact. It even had an effect despite all the philosophizing about birth and death. The atmosphere was good, too, although a certain romantic part of me thinks there could have been more of The Little Mermaid and a little less of the parkour, although I can still live with that. The narrative, pace, and atmosphere are worth 7/10. So, in summary, I enjoyed Bubble. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see what really good animation should look like or those who are romantic souls with a sense of aesthetics and also to the average anime viewer. 8/10.

Sing a Bit of Harmony is a science fiction fairy tail that caused the skeptic and romantic in me to fight over whether it was a good show, and the romantic in me won out in the end. The skeptic doubted how realistic things depicted were, especially the fairy tale ending where certain actions have no real consequences and are unbelievable. The final decision of the CEO left me shaking my head as much as his deputy. Also, many plot twists came at the most predictable moments, and animation-wise it was rather average for movie production. The soundtrack is distinctive but only appealed to me only occasionally. Of course, the romantic soul will immediately point out how colorful it is and that even the singing had the right effect when the situation called for it. Some moments tugged my heartstrings, most probably when an important and major secret was revealed that I found endearing to the point of being touching. In other words, there were moments when I enjoyed it as a fairy tale rather than a straight science fiction movie, plus I enjoyed the pacing of the story, and the nice character of Shion made the whole thing much more entertaining. 7/10.

What got me into this anime series was the simple fact that it is a sports anime that (finally) does not take place in a high school setting. I was curious to see how well the anime's creators could work both a corporate environment and a sports club into the fairly small screen time of twelve episodes, which they pulled off. By having a male lead, everything feels more adult. Some of the issues are more interesting than the typical high school dramas. Even the bromance is somehow more acceptable. On the other hand, the constant jumping between the office and the badminton court was distracting, and it did not feel very coherent. It felt like the two environments (work and sports) conflicted with each other rather than complementing each other. There were moments when it worked; some issues linked the two in an interesting way. On the other hand, the anime series contains certain tropes, and one of the plot arcs that was meant to raise the stakes and intensify the conclusion was too predictable. Fortunately, the end itself was quite good and full of atmosphere. I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed it, considering that I watched most of the season with icy calmness. Even though this anime series shows various tricky relationships between the players (former teammates and siblings), you do not feel any intensity, so I thought the rivalry did not work. The badminton part did not appeal to me that much. A lot of stuff is going on off-screen, and we only see the occasional short exchange. I think the sport should be one of the main focuses in a sports anime, so I found there was not enough actual playing. It was impossible to show everything without more screen time, so bearing that in mind, Salaryman's Club ends up a good show. 6.3/10.

I sometimes suppose the basis of an "original" anime series is a few ideas from Minority Report and something from Orwell's 1984 interspersed with a few trolley problems. Then put three different characters in the lead role, who we will call R(ed) G(reen), and B(lue), to avoid confusion. They all have a different take on various problems because the main thing they want to convey to the viewer (besides the occasional moral pondering) is how to handle differences in viewpoints properly. Plus, everyone needs to take their share of responsibility for themselves and their surroundings, and those who live around them. OK, it sounds interesting, sometimes it works, and I cannot deny that there were some decent ideas in this show, enough at least to keep me interested in this anime series. However, on the other hand, it failed to build any oppressive atmosphere, or suspense, just something that could make the show more appealing so I would enjoy watching it. So even though there is some food for thought, and it is clear that at least somebody made an effort with this anime series, it still comes across as too characterless and insipid for my taste. It is rather like a lecture on a subject you have heard so much about that there is not much left that is new or surprising; the lecturer occasionally throws in an interesting problem. However, they develop it so that nothing sticks in your head except the main idea (which you knew in advance), so the final impression is just a kind of "OK. So has it finished?" Furthermore, the emotional aspect of this anime series does not even work. Even the attempt at a strong and intense conclusion does not have a chance to work. The only thing I took away from all those final declarations of love was the reminder that spring is starting, which is completely unrelated to this anime series. 5/10.

The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún features a strange yet quite powerful and touching story, although what bothers me is that nobody explained the environment in which it all takes place, so I am still a bit confused about the show. Emotionally, it works; Shiva is cute, Sensei is likable and more human than many others, and their interactions are enjoyable. The whole thing has a strong mystique and a strange bittersweet atmosphere. However, as I mentioned, I really have to make a lot of assumptions about what is going on, where the story is headed and how everything works, and the anime’s creators have not made that easy for the audience. They hardly explain anything at all, they just show some stuff on-screen, probably as they reckon you are familiar with the original manga. So you know who the Outsiders are, why the soldiers are moving through the world, where the local people are trying to get to, and why there is this strange emptiness. Perhaps there is a lot of symbolism hidden in the show that escapes me. Either way, I hope I got the gist, enjoyed the feelings it generated and the fairly simple skeleton of the narrative, and understood its message. Animation-wise, it is interesting; everything strikes me as a retro show (the 80s and 90s). Well, I will probably have to watch it again soon to appreciate everything fully, or perhaps I could try reading the manga because this is exactly one of those cases, which make you think you need to know more to understand fully. 6.5/10 so far.

I do not know anything concerning the Super Sentai metaseries. In the past, I only saw Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (who are not even strictly Japanese), and I stopped watching that after a while because I got tired of it, so my expectations for Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department were not very high. I did not really get it during the first few episodes. However, this anime series finally won me over with its comedy and sense of humor. There are funny parallels to the strict corporate environments, interesting and likable characters, and an overall pleasant atmosphere. Gradually I started to really enjoy everything about it and discovered a lot of favorite characters (Megistus, Wolf, Cannon, Mizuki...) and was entertained by the unexpected, hilarious, and original ideas the anime's creators managed to come up with throughout its narrative. Even though it is probably not going to make me want to watch Super Sentai, I have to admit that maybe the last episode and a few other moments were actually pretty cool. Perhaps I am now kind of picking up on what the Japanese actually see in their colorful main protagonists in stretchy Spandex, elastane, and Lycra costumes. So I am glad I gave this anime series a chance, even though it should have gone completely over my head, and I am surprised at how much I ended up enjoying it. 7/10.

I think Summer Ghost is an interesting and powerful story that needed more room for better plot exposition. There is just enough screen time to show everything the movie intended, to flesh out the characters enough to arouse some interest and move the viewer. However, I could not help thinking that it would have been good to have extended the running time to make everything feel more natural and impactful. On the other hand, the running time passes quickly, and the movie's pace is pleasant. The ideas work, and the movie spoke to me emotionally, too. I, therefore, feel like it was not a waste of time. I grew to like the characters, and there were some interesting ideas in the animation. Some of the shots were great (you can tell there is a feel for the aesthetic aspect). However, you can tell by the characters that this was not expensive to make this movie. The soundtrack is just enough to underpin the atmosphere, although the music is not that great on its own. Overall, however, I was happy it was forty minutes well spent. 7/10.

Police in a Pod is humorous, although at the same time very successful insight into everyday police work. From what I have researched, Miko Yasu is a former police officer, and it is obvious she knows what she is talking about and what she wants has to say. I came to believe that even the work of an ordinary beat cop from one of those Japanese police boxes is challenging, thankless, sometimes dangerous, although at the same time very important. On the other hand, I was amazed (and I am not sure if I believe it) at the lengths such an ordinary beat cop would go to in his work. I was also not sure about the lengths his colleagues in the criminal police department would allow him to go. I was also surprised by the humanity of this anime series. It is not just about the nice portrayal of the characters with their strengths and character flaws, but also how the anime’s creators were able to show me the respect the police show, for example, when searching for a dead body or dealing with victims of crimes. I also earned that there are different types of people in the police force. Some people revel in their work, even abusing their power a little. I have seen a lot of police work with the last case, which has been going on for the last three episodes, which is the best of the whole anime series. I also liked how detailed the investigation was and how the Police approached it. Equally, I appreciated Police in a Pod portraying some really powerful moments and showing how the officers dealt with them. In other words, the overall message and depiction of police work are very good. In addition, I thought the anime’s creators knew how to work the comedy element into the show, and it worked surprisingly well. The police dog episode, for example, was probably one of the funniest things I had seen in this winter’s releases. So I feel really happy about this show and would love to watch Kawai and her colleagues again sometime. 7.8/10.