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12 anime reviews by yours truly
5 years ago
So, earlier this year, during the first couple months of the quarantine, I binge-watched a ton of anime. Here are my short reviews on each one of them:
Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni)
Episodes: 12
My score: 7/10
Premise: Humanoid gems battle alien invaders from the moon.
Review: Steven Universe but anime. Well, on a surface level at least. Overall it was nice. A bit of a slow start, though. CGI was good. Some interesting imagery going on. The setting was a bit barren, though. Just grassy plains and little else beyond that. The story is interesting, but is also woefully incomplete. Many questions are introduced, yet almost none are answered. The story just stops at a random point. The manga it's based on continues far beyond where the anime ends, but more seasons seem very unlikely at this point. Overall, I'd say it was alright, but not something I would go out of my way to watch.
Kill la Kill
Episodes: 26
My score: 9/10
Premise: In a world of badasses where clothes are serious business, a hot-blooded girl wants to avenge the death of her father with the help of a giant scissor blade and a sentient skimpy outfit that powers her up.
Review: Insanity. Sheer animated insanity. Unabashedly over-the-top. More screaming than anyone could possibly handle, and tons of gratuitous fanservice violently shoved into your eyeballs. And yet it works! Somehow, it works! This one has earned my recommendation.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Episodes: 27
My score: 7/10
Premise: Loud, hot-blooded young men pilot mechas to battle an alien menace or two.
Review: Spiritual predecessor of sorts to Kill la Kill. It has some of its style and presentation, and a lot of screaming and ridiculously over-the-top nonsense. But the story didn't grip me as Kill la Kill's did. I didn't care much for the mecha battles. They all felt like screaming matches to me, where whoever screamed the loudest would win. Also, Kamina was insufferable. Sorry, guys.
Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga
Episodes: 12
My score: 5/10
Premise: A bunch of historical figures from feudal Japan reincarnate in the present as cute dogs.
Review: Slice of life. No overarching plot. You could watch the episodes in any order and it wouldn't make a difference. It was kind of cute, yes, but the jokes fell flat to me most of the time. It just wasn't that funny. Also, if you watch one episode, you would have watched them all. They're all the same. Well, at least it gave us an adorable ending sequence featuring footage of real-life dogs doing cute doggy things, so there's that.
Kemono Michi: Rise Up (Hataage! Kemono Michi)
Episodes: 12
My score: 4/10
Premise: An animal-loving wrestler is isekai'd into a fantasy world.
Review: Promising concept, disappointing execution. Main character is too unreasonable for my tastes. Average to below-average animation. Humor felt forced. The suplex joke was driven into the ground (ha). The dog mascot was cute though. Still, I wouldn't recommend this one. There's much better stuff out there.
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Episodes: 26
My score: 7/10
Premise: A shonen boy goes around slaying demons while carrying his half-demon sister in a box on his back, in hopes of finding a way to restore her humanity.
Review: It started very promising, and then... it became just another shonen show. Many of the usual tropes started rearing their heads. Characters became weirder and weirder, as well as more and more gimmicky, in that typical shonen fashion, culminating with the introduction of the elite demon slayers near the end of the season, who all felt more like the kind of characters you'd find in something like, say, My Hero Academia. Worst character: Zenitsu. Seriously, that guy was insufferable 98% of the time. Best character: Inosuke. I quite enjoyed his uncivilized ways. The boar head was just the cherry on top.
Dorohedoro
Episodes: 12
My score: 7/10
Premise: In a crapsack world, an amnesic lizard-head man searches for whoever cursed him to be that way.
Review: Weird. Chaotic. Crazy. Batshit insane. Someone was high on something when they made this show. But, you know what? It works. There's a lot of blood and gore here, and yet... most of the cast is still oddly likable! Yes, even the bad guys! The antagonists of this show look out for each other in ways you don't see often in media. Even though they can murder you in frankly horrible ways, they're still so... friendly and upbeat when they aren't busy dismembering people. There are many mysteries too, which mostly remain unsolved at the end of the show. Will there be a second season? Who knows?
Interspecies Reviewers (Ishuzoku Reviewers)
Episodes: 12
My score: 6/10
Premise: In a typical sword & sorcery land, a small group of horny adventurers goes around trying every brothel they find to review them.
Review: Borderline hentai. Sometimes straight up hentai. One wonders how this show was even greenlit at all. There's metric tons of titillation here, featuring a wide variety of monster girls in very little clothing. It all revolves around sex in this show (paid sex, that is), for better or for worse. Beyond that, there's no substance, no overarching plot, no world building, no character development, no nothing. It is what it is: an endless parade of naked monster girls and sex jokes of varying quality from beginning to end. Well, I guess at the very least the show gave us best boi Crim, so there's that.
Future Diary (Mirai Nikki)
Episodes: 26 + 1
My score: 7/10
Premise: Twelve people with cellphones that can predict the future must fight each other to the death. The last person standing becomes a god.
Review: Some people are fans of battle royale plots. I'm not one of them. Compounding this, I always found the magic cellphone element in this show a bit too outlandish and weird (the fact that I don't own a cellphone myself undeniably helped accentuate my disconnect with this show). The large amount of gratuitous fanservice never failed to have my eyes rolling in annoyance either, plus some characters were just plain weird, and not in an endearing way. Also, the main character was dreadfully, unbearably, unrelatably pathetic to me for the first half of the show. I hated his guts and I wanted him dead. He got a bit better in the second half, when he actually started taking matters into his own hands. As for the girl, well, I truly have no idea what the hell she saw in the main lead, but whatever. She's a psycho anyways. The twist near the end was interesting, I'll give it that; though I'm not convinced the ending (in the extra post-show episode) was fully earned. Karma Houdini much?
High Score Girl
Episodes: 24
My score: 8/10
Premise: In the early 90's, at a video arcade, a gamer kid encounters a mysterious girl who's better at Street Fighter II than he is.
Review: Was this show tailor-made for me? It prominently features arcade video games from the early-to-mid nineties, most notably Capcom's Street Fighter II and its sequels, which is stuff I grew up with! The retro-gaming lover in me was thoroughly tickled pink by this alone! What's more, it also features a cute love story centered around our protagonists as they slowly bond over playing these classic video games, and you know I always love me a cute romance story! Interestingly, the lead girl, Akira Oono, never utters a single word throughout the entire run of the show, although she is not canonically mute. Instead, she's consistently described as "quiet". She's still quite assertive when she wants to be! So, yeah, if you are into retro-gaming and/or love video games from the early 90's arcade era, and also enjoy cute romance plots (and don't mind cel-shaded CGI art, which this show features), then I would definitely recommend this to you.
The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland)
Episodes: 12
My score: 9/10
Premise: A bunch of young kids in an orphanage live a happy, carefree life while they wait to be adopted. However, one day, two of them witness something they were not meant to ever see.
Review: It's good. It's damn good. Go watch it. Now.
It's hard to review this show without spoiling anything, but I'll say this: if you enjoyed the battle of wits between Light and L in Death Note, then you'll love this. There are twists, turns and a big mystery that is slowly unraveled as the story progresses. Who can you trust? Who are your friends? Who are your foes? What has gone so horribly wrong in this perfect, idyllic world full of smiles and heartwarming love that these kids inhabit?
Beastars
Episodes: 12
My score: 9/10
Premise: In a world wholly inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, where tensions exist between carnivores and herbivores, a wolf boy encounters a rabbit girl. Will he eat her, or...?
Review: Zootopia but anime. Huh? What do you mean that joke is played out? Well, meme or not, the truth is that Beastars is kind of like a darker, more adult version of Disney's Zootopia, set in a boarding academy. The story mainly centers around the interactions between Legoshi (a rather tall yet gentle grey wolf who mostly keeps to himself), Haru (a spirited dwarf rabbit who's half Legoshi's height even though she's a year older than him), and Louis (a popular red deer with an abrasive personality and massive hang-ups regarding his condition as a herbivore). The story opens with the moment Legoshi and Haru meet for the first time; a fateful encounter that sets the whole plot in motion. From that point on, the lives of our main characters will start changing in ways none of them are prepared for. I really enjoyed their journey, and thus I'm going to give this one a serious recommendation. Also, I can't wait for season two!
That would be it for now. See you next time!
Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni)
Episodes: 12
My score: 7/10
Premise: Humanoid gems battle alien invaders from the moon.
Review: Steven Universe but anime. Well, on a surface level at least. Overall it was nice. A bit of a slow start, though. CGI was good. Some interesting imagery going on. The setting was a bit barren, though. Just grassy plains and little else beyond that. The story is interesting, but is also woefully incomplete. Many questions are introduced, yet almost none are answered. The story just stops at a random point. The manga it's based on continues far beyond where the anime ends, but more seasons seem very unlikely at this point. Overall, I'd say it was alright, but not something I would go out of my way to watch.
Kill la Kill
Episodes: 26
My score: 9/10
Premise: In a world of badasses where clothes are serious business, a hot-blooded girl wants to avenge the death of her father with the help of a giant scissor blade and a sentient skimpy outfit that powers her up.
Review: Insanity. Sheer animated insanity. Unabashedly over-the-top. More screaming than anyone could possibly handle, and tons of gratuitous fanservice violently shoved into your eyeballs. And yet it works! Somehow, it works! This one has earned my recommendation.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Episodes: 27
My score: 7/10
Premise: Loud, hot-blooded young men pilot mechas to battle an alien menace or two.
Review: Spiritual predecessor of sorts to Kill la Kill. It has some of its style and presentation, and a lot of screaming and ridiculously over-the-top nonsense. But the story didn't grip me as Kill la Kill's did. I didn't care much for the mecha battles. They all felt like screaming matches to me, where whoever screamed the loudest would win. Also, Kamina was insufferable. Sorry, guys.
Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga
Episodes: 12
My score: 5/10
Premise: A bunch of historical figures from feudal Japan reincarnate in the present as cute dogs.
Review: Slice of life. No overarching plot. You could watch the episodes in any order and it wouldn't make a difference. It was kind of cute, yes, but the jokes fell flat to me most of the time. It just wasn't that funny. Also, if you watch one episode, you would have watched them all. They're all the same. Well, at least it gave us an adorable ending sequence featuring footage of real-life dogs doing cute doggy things, so there's that.
Kemono Michi: Rise Up (Hataage! Kemono Michi)
Episodes: 12
My score: 4/10
Premise: An animal-loving wrestler is isekai'd into a fantasy world.
Review: Promising concept, disappointing execution. Main character is too unreasonable for my tastes. Average to below-average animation. Humor felt forced. The suplex joke was driven into the ground (ha). The dog mascot was cute though. Still, I wouldn't recommend this one. There's much better stuff out there.
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Episodes: 26
My score: 7/10
Premise: A shonen boy goes around slaying demons while carrying his half-demon sister in a box on his back, in hopes of finding a way to restore her humanity.
Review: It started very promising, and then... it became just another shonen show. Many of the usual tropes started rearing their heads. Characters became weirder and weirder, as well as more and more gimmicky, in that typical shonen fashion, culminating with the introduction of the elite demon slayers near the end of the season, who all felt more like the kind of characters you'd find in something like, say, My Hero Academia. Worst character: Zenitsu. Seriously, that guy was insufferable 98% of the time. Best character: Inosuke. I quite enjoyed his uncivilized ways. The boar head was just the cherry on top.
Dorohedoro
Episodes: 12
My score: 7/10
Premise: In a crapsack world, an amnesic lizard-head man searches for whoever cursed him to be that way.
Review: Weird. Chaotic. Crazy. Batshit insane. Someone was high on something when they made this show. But, you know what? It works. There's a lot of blood and gore here, and yet... most of the cast is still oddly likable! Yes, even the bad guys! The antagonists of this show look out for each other in ways you don't see often in media. Even though they can murder you in frankly horrible ways, they're still so... friendly and upbeat when they aren't busy dismembering people. There are many mysteries too, which mostly remain unsolved at the end of the show. Will there be a second season? Who knows?
Interspecies Reviewers (Ishuzoku Reviewers)
Episodes: 12
My score: 6/10
Premise: In a typical sword & sorcery land, a small group of horny adventurers goes around trying every brothel they find to review them.
Review: Borderline hentai. Sometimes straight up hentai. One wonders how this show was even greenlit at all. There's metric tons of titillation here, featuring a wide variety of monster girls in very little clothing. It all revolves around sex in this show (paid sex, that is), for better or for worse. Beyond that, there's no substance, no overarching plot, no world building, no character development, no nothing. It is what it is: an endless parade of naked monster girls and sex jokes of varying quality from beginning to end. Well, I guess at the very least the show gave us best boi Crim, so there's that.
Future Diary (Mirai Nikki)
Episodes: 26 + 1
My score: 7/10
Premise: Twelve people with cellphones that can predict the future must fight each other to the death. The last person standing becomes a god.
Review: Some people are fans of battle royale plots. I'm not one of them. Compounding this, I always found the magic cellphone element in this show a bit too outlandish and weird (the fact that I don't own a cellphone myself undeniably helped accentuate my disconnect with this show). The large amount of gratuitous fanservice never failed to have my eyes rolling in annoyance either, plus some characters were just plain weird, and not in an endearing way. Also, the main character was dreadfully, unbearably, unrelatably pathetic to me for the first half of the show. I hated his guts and I wanted him dead. He got a bit better in the second half, when he actually started taking matters into his own hands. As for the girl, well, I truly have no idea what the hell she saw in the main lead, but whatever. She's a psycho anyways. The twist near the end was interesting, I'll give it that; though I'm not convinced the ending (in the extra post-show episode) was fully earned. Karma Houdini much?
High Score Girl
Episodes: 24
My score: 8/10
Premise: In the early 90's, at a video arcade, a gamer kid encounters a mysterious girl who's better at Street Fighter II than he is.
Review: Was this show tailor-made for me? It prominently features arcade video games from the early-to-mid nineties, most notably Capcom's Street Fighter II and its sequels, which is stuff I grew up with! The retro-gaming lover in me was thoroughly tickled pink by this alone! What's more, it also features a cute love story centered around our protagonists as they slowly bond over playing these classic video games, and you know I always love me a cute romance story! Interestingly, the lead girl, Akira Oono, never utters a single word throughout the entire run of the show, although she is not canonically mute. Instead, she's consistently described as "quiet". She's still quite assertive when she wants to be! So, yeah, if you are into retro-gaming and/or love video games from the early 90's arcade era, and also enjoy cute romance plots (and don't mind cel-shaded CGI art, which this show features), then I would definitely recommend this to you.
The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland)
Episodes: 12
My score: 9/10
Premise: A bunch of young kids in an orphanage live a happy, carefree life while they wait to be adopted. However, one day, two of them witness something they were not meant to ever see.
Review: It's good. It's damn good. Go watch it. Now.
It's hard to review this show without spoiling anything, but I'll say this: if you enjoyed the battle of wits between Light and L in Death Note, then you'll love this. There are twists, turns and a big mystery that is slowly unraveled as the story progresses. Who can you trust? Who are your friends? Who are your foes? What has gone so horribly wrong in this perfect, idyllic world full of smiles and heartwarming love that these kids inhabit?
Beastars
Episodes: 12
My score: 9/10
Premise: In a world wholly inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, where tensions exist between carnivores and herbivores, a wolf boy encounters a rabbit girl. Will he eat her, or...?
Review: Zootopia but anime. Huh? What do you mean that joke is played out? Well, meme or not, the truth is that Beastars is kind of like a darker, more adult version of Disney's Zootopia, set in a boarding academy. The story mainly centers around the interactions between Legoshi (a rather tall yet gentle grey wolf who mostly keeps to himself), Haru (a spirited dwarf rabbit who's half Legoshi's height even though she's a year older than him), and Louis (a popular red deer with an abrasive personality and massive hang-ups regarding his condition as a herbivore). The story opens with the moment Legoshi and Haru meet for the first time; a fateful encounter that sets the whole plot in motion. From that point on, the lives of our main characters will start changing in ways none of them are prepared for. I really enjoyed their journey, and thus I'm going to give this one a serious recommendation. Also, I can't wait for season two!
That would be it for now. See you next time!
I’ve watched some anime series as well
Marvel Future Avengers (I liked it but I wish spidey had appeared in more episodes)
Restaurant to another world
Grimore of Zero
Sword Art Online
Final Fantasy Unlimited (great show but had a very confusing series ending)
Dragon Balls (original, Z, GT & started to watch super)
Fruits Basket (seen the original anime but haven’t seen the remake yet
Oran High School Host Club (just judge me it happened to be tv so I watched)
Vampire Knight
There was this anime I watched where this female protagonist has a lipstick that turns into a laser sword and fights supernatural forces but I can’t remember what it was called
If you happen to know please tell me
Joker's Game.
Episodes: 12
My Score: 7/10
Premise: In autumn of 1937, as the coals of World War II are beginning to smolder, Lt. Col. Yuuki of the Imperial Army secretly establishes a spy training organization called the "D Agency." Those chosen as members of the agency, in opposition to the national trend toward reverence of native-born soldiers in the army, are civilian university graduates who pass the superhuman selection test with flying colors.
Opinion: Really intriguing how it doesn't do the typical anime thing of giving everything away to the viewer and not the characters, and instead leaves you guessing as to how the episode will progress. I love seeing how the spies resolve each situation, my only gripe is that this anime is episodic and doesn't actually seem to follow on from one episode to another.
Fire Force
Episodes: 27, ongoing
My Score: 7/10
Premise: Tokyo is burning, and citizens are mysteriously suffering from spontaneous human combustion all throughout the city! Responsible for snuffing out this inferno is the Fire Force, and Shinra is ready to join their fight. Now, as part of Company 8, he’ll use his devil’s footprints to help keep the city from turning to ash! But his past and a burning secret behind the scenes could set everything ablaze.
Opinion: Its a rather new concept, firemen as superheroes, but really cool! There's minimal side episodes and actually progresses through the story well, smoke guy is cool.
The misfit of demon king academy
Episodes: 3, ongoing
My Score: 7/10
Premise: Anos Voldigord was a tyrannical Demon King that eradicated humans, spirits, and even the gods, but became bored of eternal warfare and reincarnated with dreams of a peaceful world. However, what awaited him in reincarnation after 2000 years were descendants who became too weak after being accustomed to peace, and all sorts of magic that deteriorated to the extreme. Anos enters Demon King Academy that gathers and educates those who are viewed as the reincarnation of the Demon King, but the academy could not see through his true powers and ends up branding him as a misfit.
Opinion: At first glance it looks like it'll be the typical harem anime where one male overpowered hero gets a whole army of girls fawning over him. However i am still watching after seeing he's not a innocent meek character in a near ecchi universe, and is actually a twisted s.o.b. that doesn't mess around, looking forward to more massacres.
Orange
(Trigger warning! References to self-harm, depression, and suicide)
Episodes: 13
My Score: 10/10
Premise: During the spring of her second year of high school, Naho receives a letter. Its sender is herself from ten years in the future. Naho thinks it's a prank at first, but when the things written in the letter start to come true one by one, she realizes that the letter is telling her events that will happen in her future. It tells her that she'll fall in love with Kakeru, a new student who transfers to her school, and that he'll die in the winter of his 17th year. After learning the regrets and wishes of the 26-year-old Naho following Kakeru's death, what can the 16-year-old Naho do differently?
Opinion: Oh man, oh man where do i start with this one? You are left guessing with Naho as to whether each decision actually helps or hinders her plight, and it toys with your emotions and heartstrings so much, its so beautiful yet hits so close to home since depression and suicide is something that could affect anyone, just so so so many feels!!
Toradora
Episodes: 25
My Score: 9/10
Premise: It’s Ryuji’s first day as a junior in high school and it seems as if things are looking up. He gets to sit in between his only friend, Yusaku, and, more importantly, the girl he’s secretly crushing on, Minori Kushieda. But just when he thinks the stars are aligned in his favor, he unwittingly crosses the most feared girl in school, Taiga Aisaku, making her onto his arch enemy. To top it off, Taiga has moved in right next door to Ryuji and happens to be Minori’s best friend! Can this school year possibly get any worse?!
Opinion: Such a lovely and well made mix of funny, sad, and angry scenes, all really well blended into a pretty and touching anime, just be ready to get hit in the feels.
Episode 19, if you know you know.
My Hero Academia
(Well, needs no explanation, everyone knows it by now.)
The rising of the shield Hero
(Trigger warning on later episodes, torture)
Episodes: 25, returning soon for another season
My Score: 9/10
Premise: Iwatani Naofumi, a run-of-the-mill otaku, finds a book in the library that summons him to another world. He is tasked with joining the sword, spear, and bow as one of the Four Cardinal Heroes and fighting the Waves of Catastrophe as the Shield Hero. Excited by the prospect of a grand adventure, Naofumi sets off with his party.
Opinion: Wait, a person-gets-sucked-into-a-video-game anime that isn't all sunshine and rainbows?!
Yeah, this one gets pretty sad, everything's against him and its not easy, nor does anything try to ease his difficulty, you'll end up loving the characters, and hating two or three others, but its really worth watching it through to the end, trust me.
The ancient Magus' Bride
Episodes: 27
My Score: 10/10, would skulldog again.
Premise: Hatori Chise has lived a life full of neglect and abuse, devoid of anything resembling love. Far from the warmth of family, she has had her share of troubles and pitfalls. Just when all hope seems lost, a fateful encounter awaits her. When a man with the head of a beast, wielding strange powers, obtains her through a slave auction, Chise's life will never be the same again. The man is a "magus,"a sorcerer of great power, who decides to free Chise from the bonds of captivity.
Opinion: Its pretty, everyone and everything is full of character, and there's always just so so much to look at, even watching back on episodes i notice details i hadn't before! The anime really does follow nicely in pagan magic, lore and its all set in sunny little england! And yes, you will fall in love with Elias, and watch out for the chibi moments, they are adorable.
Saga of tanya the evil
Episodes: 12
My Score: 7/10
Premise: It is June of the year CE 1923. A young girl with blond hair and blue eyes, Tanya Degurechaff, has entered the final curriculum of the Imperial Military Academy and is training at the third patrol line in the northern military district, the Norden Theater, as part of her service to the force. Her training, the first step toward a brilliant career as an aviation mage, should have gone off without a hitch... but things took an unexpected turn.
Opinion: Shame there aren't more episodes as i liked this one, portraying the story from the side of the bad guys with an unfriendly undeserving main character, yeah, decent show.
Overlord
Episodes: 39
My Score: 8/10
Premise: When a popular MMORPG is scheduled to be shut down permanently, veteran player Momonga refuses to log out. As NPCs begin to develop personalities and minds of their own he decides to put his skills to use as the game’s new overlord.
Opinion: a vrmmo game anime that has an evil main character? Sure! Momonga is self-aware of his power and jsut how overpowered he is, there are many a satisfying scene when he unleashes his full power, and the anime doesn't try to downloay how overpowered they are, and actually plays out well the scenario of the world's best player being flung into an all-ai world of new starters.
Also, lizardssss~
Bungo stray dogs
Episodes: 37
My Score: 7/10
Premise: Kicked out of his orphanage and on the verge of starving to death, Nakajima Atsushi meets some strange men. One of them, Dazai Osamu, is a suicidal man attempting to drown himself in broad daylight. The other, bespectacled Kunikida Doppo, nervously stands by flipping through a notepad. Both are members of the "Armed Detective Agency" said to solve incidents that even the military and police won't touch. Atsushi ends up accompanying them on a mission to eliminate a man-eating tiger that's been terrorizing the population...
Opinion: Really like this one! The tiger is a great character, as is Dazai and Akutagawa, Dazai is brilliant though! Keeps you interested the whole time with minimal to no side story episodes, only the occasional flashback. There's a movie with it too, Dead apple, that's also really worth a watch!
Goblin Slayer
(Trigger warning! Rape, death and torture)
Episodes: 12
My Score: 8/10
Premise: "I'm not saving the world. I just kill goblins." Rumor has it that, in a certain guild in the middle of nowhere, there is an extraordinary man who has climbed all the way to the Silver rank just by killing goblins. At the same guild, a priestess who's just become a new adventurer has formed her first party... and the man who ends up rescuing that party when they get into trouble is none other than the Goblin Slayer.
Opinion: Jesus christ this anime doesn't hold back, accurately portraying how even the most meager and looked-down-on monster, the humble goblin, can actually be a dangerous, life threatening, depraved and animalistic creature, right from the get go its dark, unprepared adventurers take heed!
Hunter x Hunter
Episodes: 148
My Score: 8/10
Premise: Gon, a young boy who lives on Whale Island, dreams of becoming a Hunter like his father, who left when Gon was still young.
Opinion: Personally i feel like some bits were a little rushed, others drawn out, but overall the anime was great to watch, and takes you on a ride with the characters as thy develop and get stronger.
Good to see an anime where the mc isn't just some overpowered one-hit winner at everything, but is actually smart, in their own way.
King's Game
(Trigger Warning!!! Torture, hanging, derpession, mental torture, suicide, dismemberment, blood, self-harming, and much more downright wrong stuff that's all really graphic, you have been warned!)
Episodes: 12
My Score: 7/10
Premise: Kanazawa Nobuaki has transferred to a high school far from where he used to live. Due to an incident at his old school, Nobuaki is afraid of getting close to his new classmates and keeps himself at a distance, but he starts opening up because of a sports day inter-class relay. Then, a single text message from someone calling themselves the "King" is sent to everyone in class. Nobuaki’s classmates think it's a simple prank, and don't take it seriously--but Nobuaki knows that a death game is about to begin, and struggles to oppose it...
Opinion: Lost a lot of points based on the ending that just seemed dumb, but by far the darkest anime i've watched, this one doesn't hold back in the slightest, right from the start its dark, nasty, gruesome and painful, the whole thing is a rollercoaster from hell that you might keept watching if you're strong enough just because you want to see what happens next, "how can it possibly get worse than this?" you'll ask yourself, and The King's game will deliver.
Charlotte
Episodes: 13
My Score: 9/10
Premise: Very few adolescent boys and girls have an onset of special abilities. Yu Otosaka is one such man who uses his ability unbeknownst to others in order to lead a satisfying school life. Then one day, a girl named Nao Tomori suddenly appears before him. Their encounter reveals the destiny for wielders of special abilities.
Opinion: Lovely anime that has funny and serious episodes intertwined, twists that you won't expect and a really dark part part way through, the ending especially is amazing! The last episode wraps up the whole anime so nicely, and in such a deep way too, loved the ending! Well worth a watch if you want a light anime about kids with superpowers with a side of dark.
Re:Zero
(Trigger warning!! Suicide, mental torture)
Episodes: 27, ongoing
My Score: 8/10
Premise: Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he's lost and confused in a new world where he doesn't even know left from right, the only person to reach out to him was a beautiful girl with silver hair. Determined to repay her somehow for saving him from his own despair, Subaru agrees to help the girl find something she's looking for...
Opinion: Not sure why a lot of people diss on Re:Zero, but you'll of all eat least heard of rem, yes, its that one. Looking past the thirsty waifu reviews its actually a decent anime with a main character that is actually pretty severely underpowered, and his only power is pretty awful (You thought Deku's exploding fingers were bad? Hah.), it gets dark and gory, but is overall a lovely watch that i've gone through three times now, also keep an eye out for puck!
The only spoiler-ish bit that i had to mention is that i love how the main character doesn't just shrug everything off, to him its real, it feels real, so when his power is used, there are obvious mental consequences that are portrayed in the episodes, a lovely touch.
(Though I've already watched both MHA and HxH 1999)
If anyone is curious about Saint Seiya, Gemini has stated on numerous occasions that this was the single most artistically formidable show that motivated him to continue and develop his burgeoning artistic talent. That's one of the most important reasons I watched it, was to try and learn more about Gemini's source of inspiration as an artist.
Dorohedoro looks mesmerizing tantalizing. I love characters with non-human attributes, this one seems right up my alley. I'll get on this one for sure. Thank you kindly for making me aware of it.
The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland) was already on my list since you mentioned it earlier. I will be watching that when Saint Seiya concludes for me. Also, The Promised Neverland was greenlit for a second season coming I believe in January 2021 if I read correctly.
I strongly believe Beastars to be one of the best anime ever made. The production quality provides very high quality detail and a sharp, sincere design style. The concepts of every day society are well emulated in their "beastie" version of daily events. Even something as simple as going out to a restaurant and talking among friends shows the wonderful lengths the developers went through to portray our anthropomorphic heroes as unconditional, equitable students that get mixed into a dangerous plot that flashes hostile intent at every turn. This anime is available in both english and japanese, I recommend watching it in both languages.
Thank you for the recommendation on The misfit of demon king academy, xX-LoneWolf-Xx. I researched that title for a bit and it seems quite beautiful in it's animation style, that's a big lure for me. I'll be following up on that one. Also The ancient Magus' Bride looks particularly interesting, your score of 10 of 10 likely means I'll be watching that one too.
Saga of tanya the evil, hah her personality in the screenshots I've seen does exude a certain joie de vivre. I'll look into this one too.
Overlord looks cute too. Reminds me slightly of Sword Art Online, perhaps mixed with a little reminiscences of the Goblin Slayer anime in there too.
Oh, I see you also mentioned Goblin Slayer. Yes this is quote a brutal and bloody anime, I saw this one recently. I loved the lizard shaman character, he was my favorite.
Hunter X Hunter is one of my favorites, both the original and the remake. The Phantom Troupe is one of the most interesting group of villains I've seen in an anime, all led by the illustrious Chrollo Lucifer. Great show, absolutely recommended. The 2011 remake is even better.
If I could recommend one show myself, it would be this one:
Fairy Tail
Episodes: 328
Premise: The series follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the Fairy Tail wizards' guild who is searching for the dragon Igneel, and partners with Lucy Heartfilia, a celestial wizard.
My Score: 10/10
Few shows get me as excited as Fairy Tail does. In certain story arcs, there are tons of cool dragons, and one of the main characters was even raised by one. The music also is one of the most charmingly beautiful soundtracks I have ever heard. I have the entire collection and I listen to it almost daily. The characters are so well developed and original. Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Happy, the list goes on. In fact Natsu might be one of my favorite anime characters of all time, perhaps even my most favorite. The art style is refreshing and charismatic. Highly, highly recommended.
That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime.
Speaking of showing monsters in a positive light, "Dragon Goes House-Hunting", which I watched relatively recently, was great in that department!