Jeoffrey

A pretty average isekai that is neither impressive nor terrible. There are some things I quite liked and some that were not so great. What I consider a plus is the main character who probably has the most personality of all the new isekai protagonists this season, and he's just a likable guy who isn't that excited by the harem that's formed around him. Wait until he faces a strong opponent, though. Speaking of which, I also liked the choice of the final antagonist in the last episode, where it finally felt, at least for a moment, like two equals confronting each other. At least it had some energy and made more sense than when the protagonist was so bored that he had to create opponents for himself (a shoutout to the local bunch of heroes). It sure is tough to be OP... I was quite intrigued as to why the hero was this powerful, what he was willing to sacrifice for his strength, and if it would have any effect on the rest of the story. I also cannot but admire him for being able to convince a goddess to ditch her duties and become his guide and part of his harem. Another thing that got me intrigued was the background story. What the writers only started to reveal towards the end concerning the neighboring kingdom could make for quite an interesting story in a potential next season. The rest of it wasn't as entertaining. There were too many clichés for my taste, mostly ones that I find boring (a demon princess, an onee-chan character, etc.). I also wasn’t impressed by most of the fights, especially the use of CGI in them, which, while not the worst I've seen in anime, still left a lot to be desired. The music is barely noticeable. As for the supporting characters, the one that I found most relatable was the only man here, Gerard. As I said, it’s not amazing but not bad either. 5/10

It’s quite likely that you'll question whether Ao Ashi is worth watching during the first couple of episodes. There’s something, or rather someone, that you might find very annoying. The main character doesn’t make a very good first impression. In fact, he could be summed up as "Asta from Black Clover playing soccer". Aoi is loud, overconfident, extremely emotional – simply unbearable. On the other hand, the show does an impressive job of portraying soccer. There are many great shots of the game, and I immediately took a liking to Coach Fukuda, who decides to give Aoi a chance because he sees his undeniable talent. I’m sure you’ll be able to see this talent and what makes the protagonist special, too, though you may wonder how it will be used in the story. You might not like how dramatic the opening is at first, and you might find a lot of the emotionally charged, loud scenes to be exaggerated. However, in the context of relationship building, it makes sense and actually works. If you don't drop the series, you'll be rewarded and your overall impression will gradually improve until you become convinced, like me, that Ao Ashi is an excellent sports anime worth looking forward to. How did the writers achieve this? First of all, by having the main character face reality, letting him fall flat on his face a couple of times, and having everyone around him, coaches as well as teammates, confront him with new problems and his own mistakes from which he gradually learns until everything falls into place and you'll grow to like the kid and his transformation. Aoi's story is excellently written, perfectly capturing the hero's ups and downs. Aoi’s growth and development feel very convincing. The atmosphere in the team is also wonderfully handled. There is mistrust and discord stemming from different motivations and approaches to the game, but also logical compromise and teamwork to achieve a common goal. There's also strategizing on the part of the coaches, a good demonstration of the work involved in raising young people who “have to figure it out for themselves, but sometimes they need a little push." The coaches themselves are also excellently portrayed. They are struggling to do their best and sometimes questioning themselves, too. The best character of the whole series for me is definitely coach Date Nozomi, who is an excellent version of Snape. Both character development and team development are great, and even the supporting characters are given enough room to be engaging and show us their importance for the story. But that's not all. The depiction of the matches is also great, and the series perfectly builds up the tension, especially concerning the last match of the season, where it doesn't forget to introduce the opponent, and escalates the tension between the teams (on several fronts), so you really get the impression that it’s a big deal and a climax of the whole series so far. Yūgo Kobayashi obviously knows a lot about soccer. You can tell by the individual shots of the pitch, the use of familiar strategies, or dropping famous soccer names, but also the analyses and insights that the supporting characters have while watching the game. And this is where it differs from Love All Play. The series either shows you the whole thing first and then explains it in quite a bit of detail (so that even a layman can understand it), or it uses on-the-fly analysis of the situation, with the main character sketching out a plan in his head, quickly explaining it and making it happen. These moments are a delight to watch and feel like highlights from soccer matches complete with an analysis from an expert. The animation is also great. For example, the last opening has some absolutely amazing shots such as the one inside the goal in the first few seconds. All in all, Ao Ashi keeps on getting better, becoming a really great show in the end. I believe it has a lot more to offer in the future, and I look forward to a potential next season. The fact that Aoi starts off as a "whiny kid" is great for character development. The room for improvement is very large, and the potential is used very well. After the first season, I’m giving it 8/10. If there is a second season and if it keeps up the trend, it could soon turn into a five-star experience.

Love All Play is not a very good sports series as it fails in several key aspects. Not even the excellent last two episodes, which are proof that the creators still have got what it takes, managed to save the final impression. So, what's the problem? One of the important aspects of any sports anime is how well it introduces and depicts the sport in question. As for badminton in this series, we don’t get to see much of the game itself, and not much is shown of the exchanges between the two opponents apart from the last two episodes. We get to see the shuttle only when it’s going toward a player who either hits or misses it, followed by a cut to the other side of the court, showing the same situation. There are hardly any exchanges taken from the side of the court, from the top, or even a view from behind either of the players, which makes the game choppy and boring. It makes sense – animating a sequence in which the shuttle flies from one side to the other and the players have to move in reaction to it is complicated and expensive. It's just that when most of the badminton matches look dull and worse than the ones in Hanebado! or Salaryman's Club, it's not a very good look. Another important thing that a sports anime should master is the atmosphere of the matches and tournaments. This is where the show fails spectacularly. Most of the matches take place off-screen, 90% of the tournament is reduced to saying something like "All right, we made it to the semifinals..." with not even a single shot or a stupid montage showing the way to the top. You get just a couple of shots from a match (the quality of which I've already discussed) and a bunch of bullshit from supporting characters who are trying to describe all those cool things that are happening on the court. It's a similar problem to the dancing in Ballroom e jókoso - you don't get to see any actual dancing, just a few almost static shots, with everyone around raving about how breathtaking it is. I don’t like this lazy and economical approach to storytelling that kills the atmosphere, doesn't build tension, and is just plain boring! The budget seemed to have been bigger for the last episode, and you can really tell the difference. Another thing that a sports anime should handle well is the introduction of the main character, his motivation, and his gradual rise to the very top. You need a reason to root for the main character and want to experience the journey with him. There’s not even that. First of all, I hate to say this but Mizushima is extremely dull. He doesn’t seem to have a strong desire to win, and the only time I could root for him was in the last episode. And there's not much character growth either, just the occasional obstacle that is overcome by saying that everything is OK, we just need to concentrate better and, ideally, go for a run. When the hero's main rivals on the team seem more interesting than the hero himself, it's not a good sign. Sadly, most of the secondary characters aren't particularly fleshed out either, and nothing very interesting happens around them. All too often, you just don't care what's happening on screen. Perhaps the only exception is Macuda's determination in the last but one episode. There are far too many characters surrounding the main character and terribly few characters opposing him. You only learn the bare minimum about his rivals from other schools. On the other hand, given how the matches are presented and how quickly they pass, it’s not really necessary to know more. You don’t even find out that much about the characters around the main character. They mostly serve as commentators of supposedly epic moments happening on the court... The only thing I liked about the whole series was the head coach, who was the only one who got enough space to convince me that he knew what he was doing. Konpei the cat was also great as Ramune, giving probably the best performance on the set... The animation wasn’t anything special, corners were cut wherever possible. The music didn't impress me either. What was also unfortunate for the show is that it was aired at the same time as Ao Ashi, which does most of the above well and gets better with each new episode. This, on the other hand, was a constant supply of boredom, and the only improvement came at the very end. I did manage to make it to the end, and the last few episodes were at least a small demonstration of an average sports anime, but on the whole, I’m giving it a 4/10.

I had my doubts about the second season of Shadows House at first. The show revealed what I thought were the biggest secrets of the whole series in the first season, so there was a danger of it no longer being interesting. I had an idea of what direction the story would take and what would happen, and the second season was very slowly heading in that direction. After seeing the initial slow pace, my fears of becoming bored started to grow. Fortunately, the writers had much more in store than just the gradual build-up of future Resistance. They came up with more interesting facts about the setting, introduced important new characters in the children's wing, including their complex interactions with each other, and slowly set the stage for the seemingly ordinary mystery that was to be solved. I was still apprehensive, not sure if the whole phantom thing was strong enough to carry the whole season. I was wrong because the last few episodes were excellent and intense, the eleventh one being a five-star emotional blast. The creators have managed to make the most of very little. Everything is handled very well. The direction is clearly set, but a lot is left to be discovered, not just about new characters who shuffle the cards around, but about the whole weird house and how exactly it works. Despite a slightly weaker start, the series has a lot to offer. The writers know how to work with atmosphere, they know how to escalate things perfectly, and everything is well thought out. The series kept me interested and even literally drew me in at the end. I'm much more curious about what happens next now than I was after the end of the first season. I’m not saying the second season was better, it's more of an even match for me. 7.5/10

Oh, I know what this is – it's "Vivyolet Loligarden"! They’re little girls who are kind of robots and the only thing they used to know is how to fight. They are looking for their place in a new peaceful society, and someone thought it was a good idea to include a lot of singing. Honestly, it worked for me at first. All it takes is a bunch of cute little girls doing cute things, and a decently written sad story (or backstory) for me to be entertained and moved at the same time. The opening was nice, and the emotional aspect really worked for me. I found all the girls likable, so it’s 4 stars without question. The singing gradually got a bit tedious, though, there was just too much of it for my taste. It isn't always a bad thing, I did enjoy Healer Girl last season, which was practically a musical. The problem with the singing here was that it failed to affect me emotionally and didn't really appeal to me musically either. Another thing I wasn’t crazy about was the main story that started developing in the background, only to take the lead in the finale. I found it pretty transparent. I kind of knew where it was all going, what the writers were going to say, and how it would end. The most pleasant surprise was when I realized who Haizakura actually was. I certainly wouldn't have guessed that. The finale is a bit too much of a tearjerker, but it worked, I was moved, and I finished watching the show with a really pleasant feeling about it all. 6.5/10

Soichiro Yamamoto simply knows how to write a good school romance, and this series is his best work yet. It's not just Takagi turned inside out, as some might say. The relationship between the main couple here is more dynamic and the romance between the two protagonists is much more balanced than with Takagi and Nishikata. The pace is better, the romance develops faster and more naturally, and both Urushi and Ajumu are likable enough for me to start rooting for them early on. Especially Ayumu is great. I like his incredible honesty with which he says exactly what he thinks. I liked most of the supporting characters as well. I was intrigued by the relationship between Takeru and Mikage which was fun and sweet, and it made me wish that things would work out well for them and that they would get a bit more screen time. Even Rin, who doesn't appear until the second half and whose role seems obvious from the beginning, caught my interest, charmed me with her inner strength, and stirred up some strong emotions in me in the last episode. It’s a very good series with nice animation, fitting music, and likable characters. The atmosphere and emotions worked, and I really enjoyed it. The ending is pretty decent, so even if there aren’t any more seasons, it’s a satisfying conclusion to the whole series. On the other hand, I know of another romance anime that has everything I like here and more. So, since I gave My Senpai Is Annoying a 9/10, I have to subtract one point, resulting in a decent 8/10, which is exactly one point better than Takagi, so it all checks out!

If I were a realist, "Yakuza nanny" wouldn't get a very good rating from me, because I don't have to be a Yakuza expert to suspect that this isn't how things work in real life. The skeptic in me would chime in that there is no way there can be so many seemingly tough men with hearts of gold. I don’t think I belong to the target audience. Many of the male characters are designed to act in a certain way to impress the female audience as much as possible. The main character is a rugged but sensitive man, who softens when he starts taking care of a little girl. Such an ideal family man is bound to make many a girl's heart melt. But there's something for the others too. A cute, lonely girl with a tragic past who gradually starts to open up and make new friends thanks to her protector is simply a likable and sweet concept that might appeal to older men, family men in particular. And the series does sell this to me. It is greatly helped by the fact that the last couple of shows I've seen with this theme, i.e., building a sort of parental relationship between a grown man and a little girl, were quite disappointing. What makes this one great is Kirishima himself. I still vividly remember pathetic male protagonists from shows like UchiMusume, or Deaimon, that make Kirishima seem extremely likable, nice, and above all, quite normal. Okay, I wouldn’t have felt this way if I had seen this right after Barakamon or Usagi Drop. The timing was right, I guess. I was also charmed by Jaeka’s cuteness. I enjoyed the interaction between the main couple, the emotions worked for me, it made me smile, and I was even moved at times. On the other hand, the fourth episode felt like a failed and pointless joke that didn't fit the overall mood and made me cringe. Plus, the Yakuza setting doesn't really work because it's too idealized, and sometimes it seems like it’s only there to create drama and show how tough Kirishima is and how he's changed. It’s a mixed bag. On the one hand, I quite enjoyed the series, I liked the chemistry between the two protagonists, and it was all so sweet. On the other hand, the more I think about it the more it falls apart as a whole. The supporting characters are mostly likable, or interesting at least, but they're not distinctive or strong enough for me to want to write more about any of them. The animation was nice and colorful, it fit the overall mood, and I found the music decent as well. A strong three or a weak four?  I'm giving it a 6.5/10

It's become a yearly tradition that the AT-X station makes an adaptation of a manga or novella from the adult category. As soon as I find out that there will be three versions of a series, I know exactly what to expect and, as the man of culture that I am, wait for the last version to come out – the uncensored one. There's no point in watching any other. Over the years, I've seen, for example, the fun and well-thought-out Ishuzoku Reviewers a pretty boring Sexmission, and a nightmare in the form of Redo of a Healer. I never really know what's next to come, and how much I'll (dis)like it. This one wasn’t easy to evaluate for me, so I had a look at the reviews on MAL, which surprised me. There are basically just two types of reviews on Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World. Men of culture consider this to be a below-average isekai with very good sex scenes. Since they watch it precisely for these scenes, they usually give it at least an 8/10. The other group rants about how shows that glorify slavery do not deserve a good rating as slavery has no place in the modern world. It’s certainly true, but I wonder what rating these radical moralists would give to shows like The Rising of the Shield Hero, which has the same theme, although it works much better for reasons I'll get to. I was astonished that no one discussed the quality of storytelling and worldbuilding. No one seemed to notice that, even though Shachi Sogano may be a pervert worthy of damnation, he has an undeniable talent for explaining pretty much everything that happens in his world. To tell you the truth, I rarely come across an isekai that goes to so much trouble to explain skill leveling and gaining new abilities, and how things like dungeons, magic, and items work (the explanations are even more detailed in the manga, which I've flipped through, so the novella might be the same in this regard). Honestly, I liked it a lot. Finally, there’s a system where you have to meet certain criteria or perform an activity to gain a skill. The leveling works on a similar principle as in Skyrim, so if you want to improve a skill, you have to use it as much as possible. Everything has its rules here, even society, which is very different from ours, and some of the things that are considered normal there would be repulsive and immoral in our world. And the show works with that. How many isekai have you seen where the main character feels bad after killing his first enemy, particularly a human? This show does deal with a situation like this, albeit briefly (it's him or me and this is simply a different world). The same goes for the moral issue of slavery. I repeat - slavery is an abomination and has no place in our modern society. But this is not our world, our rules don't apply here, and we have to take this fact into account. The show gives us more arguments than that, and it's not just the lame motivation of the horny protagonist who thinks the best way to get into a girl’s pants is to pay for her. Of course, it does play a role as the main character is a relatively normal young man with a fairly normal interest in sex. But there are also practical reasons, like the fact that nobody really wants a budding adventurer in their party, and if you do get recruited, you might get cheated, robbed, or killed, which just won't happen to you if you own a slave (and there's a logical explanation why). One review on MAL says the protagonist is a total pervert but the funny thing is that he doesn't actually want to buy a slave at first, but he is simply convinced by the above arguments as well as being caught in the grip of his own libido upon seeing the girl for the first time (besides, who would the poor girl end up with if he didn’t buy her...). The series doesn't present slavery as a cool concept (unlike, say, Minerva no Kenshi), but as the most logical way to expand your party, profit from it in the long run, and have fun in the meantime. True, it could have been done better. For example, The Rising of the Shield Hero puts the hero in a position where buying a slave is the only possible way to get anyone to join him at all, which most moralists are able to understand. The same thing could have been done here, too. All it would take is to show more and explain less. In practice, it might mean adding a plot about how the protagonist has trouble getting someone to join his party, and when they finally do, they get cheated or ripped off. That way, people would be more willing to accept it. The author must have realized this over time and included a similar situation when presenting the reasons why another slave needed to be purchased later on. The author had been building up to it for several episodes through small mentions and situations, also explaining why the next slave had to be a dwarf. Another moral problem people have with this series is the fact that the main character has sex with his slave (as it happens in other isekai series, such as Black Summoner). I don’t get these complaints. If I buy a slave girl who also provides sexual services, it's only logical that I won't play chess with her in the evenings. Moreover, it’s explained that "accepting affection" as the author poetically calls it, is a social norm, and if it didn’t happen, it could negatively affect the way a slave would view her master and also how those around him would view him (if he mentioned it in public). I don’t think it’s just about a horny guy who wants to get laid. He does own the girl and it's expected of him (and he wants to do it), plus he even asks for permission... I have no problem with that. What else could be an issue? Sherry? Okay, this may seem like fan service for a certain group of viewers that nobody particularly likes, but it’s a sixteen-year-old dwarf, so it explains not only the lore (like in Genshin, for example) but also the race with which a certain physical build is associated, which is mentioned in the series. Now let’s address something that will be of interest to the more cultured among you. The sex scenes are really well done. They reflect how the hero and his girls gradually get to know each other, from the slightly chaotic and inexperienced beginnings to the wild switching of positions and various other practices. The animators did an excellent job. It’s not strictly hentai so the scenes are quite subtle. I liked them much more than those in World's End Harem, and visually even more than Interspecies Reviewers (especially the animation style). The only thing I didn't enjoy was the choice of music for the foreplay. A scene with two girls in the bathroom to music that sounds like something from a slapstick movie seems stupid and doesn't fit the mood. But enough about that, I'm Family Friendly! After reading all this, you might get the impression that I really enjoyed this series. Why only three stars then? Well, mainly because the dungeons look like something out of a 90s RPG, and the visuals are lame compared to the likes of Danmachi. The monsters are anything but interesting or scary, and you just don’t want to watch six episodes of the hero fighting what looks like Sudowoodo from Pokémon or trembling in fear before a killer bunny. It also lacks an interesting backstory, a reason to actually go on the expeditions. Doing so strictly for the money seems boring to me, almost like having a regular job. The parts where the hero destroys the bandits are the only ones that make it seem like there’s something important going on and the way of eliminating them is creative, especially considering the fact that Michio is not an OP superhero (he's just a regular guy who got a few bonuses for pre-ordering the game and has some skills that NPCs don't have, but nothing totally over the top). He has to find other, slightly sneaky but effective strategies. Then there's also a lot of emphasis on finding a place to live, and buying furniture and weapons. There's a reason why most series leave this out - it's usually boring. I understand that Shachi Sogano, who likes to explain everything, can't help himself and it's actually quite original. Still, it becomes too much of a ‘slice of life’, and the adventure feels like a boring trip to work or to the supermarket. It’s definitely better than Redo of a Healer, it's definitely more interesting and polished than World's End Harem, so I guess it’s closest to my impression of Ishuzoku Reviewers. 6/10

A pretty decent anime that works best in the moments when the main couple is dealing with their past and present, that is, when they're trying to make sense of the situation they are in and move forward. This is when the emotions are powerful and I enjoy it so much that I’m willing to see past the fact that it's about a romance between stepsiblings, which isn't exactly my thing. What the show portrays really well is the conflict between family values and romantic feelings that can be hard to suppress, especially when the breakup didn’t provide a real closure for both characters (time would have made it possible, if they hadn’t been forced to be together again). There is nice chemistry between the main couple, even in the moments when they're just teasing each other. What I didn't enjoy very much were the supporting characters who were quite bland. The only thing I found interesting was Kogure and Akacuki’s past and Isana's occasionally funny behavior. Everything else, including most of the Irid family, somehow didn't grow on me. The anime was intriguing in the important moments, but there were only a few of them, and powerful romance and intense drama was sparse, so it all felt somewhat lackluster. On the other hand, I still consider My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex more engaging and intense than most of the episodes of A Couple of Cuckoos, but more about that later. A four would be too much so I’m giving it a strong three - 6.4/10.

I haven't been tricked like this in a while! I should feel pissed off, bitter, and annoyed. The whole time, I was expecting certain things to happen, and the series knew my expectations very well, it even built them up using subtle hints, only to troll me in the end and have fun at my expense until the last minute. I feel like the South Park boys who were tricked by the great G.R.R. Martin himself. I like a good joke, though, and I’m giving the show some plus points for this. So, what did I think of Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation? Honestly, it was an average slice of life with an interesting setting, but the show failed to sell it, so the magical academy didn't seem half as magical or interesting as I had hoped it to be. If I wanted to be blown away by a magical world, I'd rather watch Little Witch Academia again. Here, the magic school is more of a backdrop. Instead of learning something about magic and the rules of this world, I got to see many tea parties, girls fooling around, and uninteresting plots. Basically, it was just cute girls doing cute things in a magic school environment. There were also hunters of witches who were out to get the girls, which was an interesting concept that was used to build at least some tension. Most importantly, it was there for a reason. As for the characters, the concept art was really good and the girls were all cute, especially Tori of course. In terms of character, the girls weren't that interesting, original, or distinctive (although the line-up was quite diverse). They weren’t particularly memorable, so I don’t think I'll remember more than just one or two of the girls a month from now, and probably only Arsnotoria in a year. I’d normally give this an average rating, but since the show managed to fool me so well, I’m giving it a 5.5/10. I only recommend it to hardcore CGDCT fans, though. The rest might be disappointed and might not appreciate the joke.