Category: Anime Reviews

Sonny Boy Anime Review – 38/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo, Sonny Boy

Let’s start this by just ripping the band aid off: Sonny Boy is a disappointment. Both created and directed by the acclaimed Shingo Natsume of Space Dandy fame and animated by Studio Madhouse, Sonny Boy was well equipped to become the darling of the Summer Season. And early on its run, it appeared to be just that! Intriguing plots and characters were introduced, the world began to expand, it was engaging! But then it kept expanding. Questions kept being asked and no answers were given. Time and space became figments of our imagination and Sonny Boy itself seemed to forget that it was supposed to be telling a story. The whole thing quickly transformed from “Abstract exploration of growing up” to “Meandering arthouse with no idea what it wants to say”. At least, that’s my take on it. The purpose of this review is to explain how I got there.

So lets jump in.

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Sonny Boy. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents.
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Odd Taxi Review – 96/100

by Amunchet, posted in Anime Reviews, Odd Taxi, Reviews by Amunchet

Odd Taxi pulled up with little fanfare, unknown staff, and a bizarre name. Thirteen weeks later, I sit here shocked at how much I enjoyed this ride. Exceeding expectations and not falling prey to any of my worries, Odd Taxi was a tightly written – with a few head-scratching elements – cleanly executed, multimedia mystery/drama/romance/heist. What did they do right? What were my (very) few complaints? Read on!

A word on my grading criteria. For me, each show has 50 points to earn and 50 points to lose. Points are earned by going above and beyond the norm – showing me something I hadn’t seen or making me feel something unexpected. Something that makes me applaud.

Points are lost when I feel a component of the show was below average or less than acceptable in terms of animation, storyline, etc. Something that takes away from the show as a whole.

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Megalo Box: Nomad Anime Review 83/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Megalo Box, Reviews by Lenlo

Megalo Box first aired in the Summer season of 2018. Part of the 50 year anniversary for the legendary series Ashita no Joe it was… satisfactory. It brought anime fans back to a different time, an older time, in ways good and bad. Yet despite ostensibly being an “Original” Megalo Box was so heavily tied to Ashita no Joe that it couldn’t escape the comparisons. The story felt like a retelling of something we got 50 years ago, smashed into a 13 episode season. And while some, myself included, still enjoyed the series it felt like something was missing. In Nomad we find that something. While while watching Nomad I felt like I was watching Megalo Box for the first time. The real Megalo Box, more than just a copy of Ashita no Joe, what the series was always meant to be. And I love it.

Created by TMS Entertainment, jointly written by Katsuhiko Manabe and Kensaku Kojima, and directed by You Moriyama I give to you my Summer 2021 Anime of the Season: Megalo Box: Nomad. Let’s dive in

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Megalo Box: Nomad. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents.

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86: Eighty Six Anime Review 65/100

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six, Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo

War stories with giant robots and a dash of racism are pretty common in anime. You have everything from classics like Code Geass, Gundam and Gurenn Lagann (depending on how you define “classic”) to the more cult-hit works like Muv-Luv and uh… Gunbuster? Can you tell I don’t watch much mecha? Regardless this year sees a new show try its hand: 86: Eighty Six. A Light Novel adaptation written by Asato Asato, created by A-1 Pictures and Directed by Toshimasa Ishii, Eighty Six looks to take an existing idea and perfect it. And judging by all the press and the reactions I’ve seen in the community it appears to have done just that. But does it deserve the praise and accolades it has been receiving? Let’s find out!

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Eighty Six. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “86: Eighty Six Anime Review 65/100” →

Spice and Wolf Season 1 Anime Review – 81/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Romance, Reviews by Lenlo, Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Ah the late 2000’s, I remember you well. For those that remember what anime conventions are like, at least before the world shut down, there’s always a yearly fad. 2019 had Demon Slayer haoris, 2016 had My Hero Academia classroom outfits and 2013 was the year of Attack on Titan jackets. Of course the 2000’s were no different. From Naruto to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya there was no escape. Today I want to talk about one of those fads. Originally written by Hasekura Isuna, directed by Takeo Takahashi and produced by the since silent studio Imagin, I bring to you one of the titular works of 2008: Spice and Wolf. So without further ado, lets jump into it!
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Horimiya Anime Review

by SuperWooper, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Romance, Horimiya, Reviews by SuperWooper

It’s hard to be a romcom in a post-Kaguya-sama world. Audiences have gone gaga for that series’ arc-based storytelling and high attention to detail, creating a narrow set of expectations for other works in the genre. A show like Horimiya, which opted for a snapshot style to depict its much larger cast, was bound to face criticism for that decision. Despite that looseness resulting in a handful of marginalized characters, however, the anime did right by its primary couple, and even managed a couple of good spotlight episodes for its secondary cast. Over the course of 13 episodes, Hori and Miyamura’s relationship evolved from a tentative experiment to a lifelong commitment, with moments of both empathy and sensuality along the way. No one else in their unwieldy friend group reached that level of exploration, but the series managed to find consistent voices for several of them (most notably Yuki, who had really come into her own by the end). I’ll admit that Horimiya batted well below a thousand, but it had more hits than misses, so I’m here to play defense for it – mostly, anyway.

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Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel – III Spring Song Anime Review – 95/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

It’s taken years to reach this finale and it’s something I have been looking forward to for quite some time. The Heaven’s Feel movies so far have proved to be the best adaption of the Fate/Stay Night visual novel yet and it was up to the third one to make it a slam dunk. What are my feelings on it? Well, one particular thing I have with Ufotable adaptations is that their work often veers close to perfection yet misses the mark ever so slightly. Heaven’s Feel was close to being an exception to the rule but sadly this movie has a scene that fell short and thus stopped it from being flawless. That statement makes it seem as though I didn’t like this movie but believe me when I say that is most definitely not the case. It’s more the frustrating feeling of a fan who sees something reach for the stars only to fall right before it grasps them. This is the griping of a fan who saw something great and is complaining that it wasn’t a little greater. At the end of the day this is the best adaptation of the Fate franchise due to how it not only represents the source but elevates it. Of course whether it is the best anime the Fate Franchise has to offer will be down to who’s watching it but I have a fair feeling that most will be debating between this and Zero. I will take this moment to state that this review will not be taking the more usual approach of talking vaguely about the anime in order to not spoil things for those looking for an opinion on it before starting. Honestly if you are looking at a review of the third part of a trilogy of movies and haven’t watched the first two then I would say you are quite odd. I will be talking about scenes and spoilers from the movie so if you haven’t watched it I would advice you to not read this review. But if you want my opinion on whether you should watch this or not, well I am a Fate fanatic so of course I am going to tell you to watch it.
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2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi volley-bu Anime Review 30/100

by Lenlo, posted in 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu, Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Reviews by Lenlo

I normally try to start these reviews with some kind of cutesy lead in. Maybe a play on the sports anime genre and how it needs more drama focused series. Or a riff volleyball anime now that the recent season of Haikyu is over and the manga complete. Something about how the fans are looking for their next fix of Cute Boys Play Sports. Sadly 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-Bu, henceforth referred to as Volley-Bu, simply isn’t worth it. Looking for a decently animated sports series for your action fix? Denied. Perhaps a well crafted coming of age drama that tackles social pressures and suicide with grace? Denied with prejudice. The sad fact of the matter is that Volley-Bu, produced by David Productions and directed by Yasuhiro Kimura of JoJo’s Part 5 fame, is terrible. And I’m here to explain why. So without further ado, lets jump in.
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