Category: Reviews by AidanAK47

Made in Abyss Review – 91/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Made in Abyss, Reviews by AidanAK47

There are few series which can capture the mystery and wonder of a fantasy world as well as Made in Abyss. Their world is dangerous, brutal and unforgiving but beautiful, wondrous and exciting in it’s presentation. The story is of a ordinary girl called Riko and a mysterious cyborg boy called Regu traveling down the levels of a massive chasm called the abyss. With each level they encounter new people and monsters alike as they work together to survive the darwinian nature of the chasms ecosystem. The story boosts some of the finest presentation of the anime of the year alongside a gripping tale that never lets go till its conclusion. The characters are memorable though which each level brings a new cast to the forefront. Ozen and Nanochi are the strongest out the cast. But the dynamic between Riko’s optimistic easygoing attitude and Regu’s more negative questioning nature works well in exploring the morality and dangers of this world. The shows strongest aspect is the world building and atmosphere of the setting. Accentuated by the visuals the Abyss is truly a marvel of nature that makes for a fantastic backdrop.

The pacing may be a bit slow for some but I see no way to make it faster and the character designs may look kiddy and lighthearted but Made in Abyss holds darker themes. When it goes for the emotional gut punch it is often heavy and effective. It doesn’t shy away from the uglier side of nature and exploring as well as the dark parts of it’s history. Aside from one or two rare moments the animation in this show is excellent and the backgrounds are beautiful landscapes giving even the best artists in the industry a run for their money. Which isn’t all that surprising when you consider that a former Ghibli background artist worked on the series. The music is equally excellent with standouts like the series ending theme Tomorrow and Hanezeve Caradhina. Tomorrow being a personal favorite for how it closes out the series with melancholy nostalgia and wonder.

Sadly at the point of writing this review this is the only season of the series and the final episode does leave many loose ends behind. This season can be seen as a prologue of things to come and it’s lack of conclusion hurts the series as a whole. The pacing takes it’s time and because of it’s single cour length people could feel that the story didn’t truly get started. At the moment chances of a second season look promising but in the anime industry there are no guarantees. As such people could be left wanting more by the time the final credits roll which is something that could be considering a positive as this is basically an advertisement for the manga but I need to knock off points as this story works some much better as an animated product that I doubt the manga could match it’s level of presentation. Nonetheless what is present here is more than worth checking it out as it still has powerful moments, atmosphere and world building second to none. I have no doubt that this series will be seen as one of the best anime of 2017 in future years to come.

VN Recommendation – Doki Doki Literature Club

by AidanAK47, posted in Game Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

I don’t plan to do this often but after playing this I wanted to make a post recommending it. I could have done a review like I usually do but in this case the story is so short and the VN can be downloaded for free so if I was to write a full review of it i would most likely spoil the experience. The length of the game is about 3 to 4 hours and while it likely doesn’t look like something all that interesting I can guarantee that it is well worth reading. The first hour is a bit tough to get through as it is rather dull and starts up slowly. But once things get going this story picks up immensely so power though till you get to that point. The visual novel was made in 2 years by a former Smash Bro’s Modder and despite it’s style it is an English Only Visual novel, meaning that it is not made in Japan. You can download the game from this site but it will also be available from Steam here. I highly recommend checking it out as it’s certainly a fascinating experience.

Kakegurui Review – 61/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Kakegurui, Reviews by AidanAK47

This show is one that makes conventional reviewing difficult as your enjoyment of your series will likely determine on highly subjective factors. For if I was to put this under scrutiny on matters of f-plot, setting and characters then it will end up lacking in all categories. The plot is just watching Yumeko face members of the student council in a series of gambling games. The setting is absolutely ridiculous with a unnecessary school setting that makes no sense whatever considering what happens in the series. The cast is made up of people whose main trait is being crazy in some form or another and go over the top with facial expressions. Yes to judge this show on these qualities would have it fall low indeed but that is not what makes a show enjoyable. I believe that style over substance is what I am getting at here as Kakegurui works mainly due to it’s presentation.

While gambling is the focus of this anime, the games themselves don’t really amount to much as we never really get a chance to look inside Yumeko’s head and see her work out plans or countermeasures. If you have just finished Kaiji and walk into Kakegurui expecting something similar then you will be undoubtably disappointed. For the common factor here is to see how smug the opponent is in how they rigged the game and having Yumeko eventually unveil that she knows about it and manages to win. Often putting her previous smug opponent down a peg.

Thus the satisfaction is in seeing the over exaggerated fashion at which this all goes down. The music, animation and art are often as over the top as possible with the soundtrack sporting trumpets and jazz like music while the characters faces distort into vile contortions be it in victory or defeat. Every character is crazy and none are crazier than our lead who often elapses into sexual excitement over the idea of risk. This aspect can get admittedly too much as it’s used to push fanservice as characters essentially orgasm over gambling and there are quite a few times where in female characters seem to be visually seducing each other in what would be otherwise a normal conversation. Yuri undertones are apparent here quite blatantly despite none of the character being made clear to be homosexual nor interesting in anything besides gambling and their own ambitions.

As such this is a series that I can’t really provide value through words, instead I say if you show interest then check out the first episode as that acts as an example of what you will receive for the entire series. However I would warn you to not expect something more than that as Kakegurui is only good at one thing and it will not move far from that one thing. This is a series about a crazy gambling girl showing smug assholes their place. That’s all you are going to get. But if you are fine with that then this is the show for you. Personally while i enjoyed it at first, I began to grow tired of it in the final episodes of the shows run so my rating for it’s that it’s a decent distraction but not one I will return to.

Castlevania Season 1 Review – 70/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

Upon hearing that Castlevania would be getting an animated TV series my first reaction was that of unpleasant surprise. Part of the reason was because of the video games infamous history with adapting their stories to other mediums but my main reason was that being familiar with the Castlevania games, I knew the story was by far the weakest aspect. I have played a number of Castlevania titles though my main experience is with the so called “Igavania” titles which helped birth the Metroidvania genre. Let me say that story was not the reason I came to love the franchise, as a matter of fact the story rather went beyond “Dracula has revived, go kill him again.” However against all odds this series has managed to pull a rather enjoyable story out of the bare bones that was present in the game it was based on, Castlevania 3. I believe the main reason behind this story turning out to be a good video game adaption has to do with the writer being a famous comic writer by the name of Warren Ellis. Not being much of a comic fan I have only read a couple of his works like Planetary, Transmetropolitan and Crecy but based on those I can tell he has skill.

The story of this series isn’t anything to gush over but does serve well in using the little story in the games and fleshing it out to a better degree. It reminds me a lot of old anime ova’s from the 80s with its high level of violence and gore while sticking to a simplistic but enjoyable story. Make no mistake this animation isn’t for children with swearing and corpses abound. I admit that with the large amount of anime I watch it is rather refreshing to experience something that doesn’t have the usual Japanese tropes. Our main character Trevor Belmont is the one to get the most screentime in this short hour and a half season and he certainly makes for a fun main character. Starting your introduction with a drunken brawl is certainly a plus in my book and he is a good mix of playful and skilled without delving into overpowered territory. Other characters didn’t quite get as much screen time to really get a grasp on their characters but they were believable enough to get invested in.

The main cast only really assembled in the final minutes of the last episode. The villains on the other hand were on the weak side with the demons being sidelined by the church who really get treated as ignorant and greedy as all hell. Not saying it’s an inaccurate depiction but they do come off as rather one dimensional when any priest is automatically a murdering scummy psychopath. I hope that with this there role in the story is more or less finished with the end of the season as the first episode does nicely make Dracula’s motives much more compelling. He sadly didn’t get much of a role in this season but clearly the story wanted to focus on a minor villain first before taking on the main one. Our main villain for this season happens to be a bishop and I can pretty much sum him up as the same character as Frollo from Disney’s the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Religious, insane and so mistakenly sickeningly self righteous that he makes you want bash his head in with a sledgehammer.

This “Season” is only four episodes long and feels more like a hour and a half pilot episode. If I had to guess I would say that these four episodes were to gauge interest in the series due to the negative view of video game adaptions and considering just how quickly a second season of eight episodes was greenlit it looks like the response was quite positive indeed. In the continuation of the series I hope they keep up this level of quality but I also hope that they have much more monster variety as the enemies were primarily variants of demon creatures. Part of what makes Castlevania great is the huge cast of enemies from monster movie and myth. You didn’t just fight demons in Castlevania but ghosts, goblins, fishmen, werewolves and a whole host of monsters including Death himself. It would be a massive shame for the series to not capitalise on that and instead keep the monsters as dull demon creatures.

Animation for the most part is excellent with some occasional stumbles but excelling when it needs to. Music overall was fine but I do wish for a rendition of the iconic Bloody Tears or Vampire Killer songs. For fans of the games there is details sure to make you smile such as platforming on clock gears which I am sure any Castlevania fan is familiar with. However this doesn’t require knowledge of the games to be enjoyed either as the story very much stands on it’s own. Overall I would consider this to be one of the strongest Video Game adaptions to date though that may not be high praise considering it’s competition. If you happen to be burned out on anime or just looking for a nice change of pace then I do recommend checking this show out as it’s short and sweet.

Dies Irae ~Amantes Amentes~ Video Game Review – 80/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Game Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

In the Visual novel fandom there are certain titles referred to Kamige.(God(ly) games) I previously thought the term referred to the best the medium has to offer but in recent times come to realise that a game can be referred to as a Kamige while not necessarily being the best. So Kamige as I understand it are Visual novels which stand out from the rabble and sadly many of these cannot be experienced by those of us who don’t speak Japanese. Fortunately due to the efforts of localization companies we now have several Kamige on the way. Baldr Sky, Subahibi and more are coming. Thus the first to grace our shores is Dies Irae and believe me that it wasn’t easy. As a backer of the kickstarter I watched this thing go through hell to reach our shores, from horrible mismanagement of the kickstarter to the embarrassing moment where Dies Irae had yet to reach it’s goal when a Nekopara anime kickstarter running at the same time raised one million in funds. It was dark days, truly dark days, but now we have it. A title once called untranslatable and forever out of gasp is in my hands. Now having played it, what do I think of Dies irae?

Dies Irae has four main routes and five side stories and while this version has the option to lock you into a girl’s route before starting a new game, I highly recommend that you don’t make use of it. I used these buttons to lock me into each girl’s route and encountered a glitch where I couldn’t unlock the final side story due to having missed dialogue in choices. So I recommend you use the common route button and get to the girls routes using a walkthrough. On that note as a very important rule of this visual novel is that while you can chose any girls route from the start, you should complete the girl’s routes in the following order: Kasumi, Kei, Marie, Rea. The reason for this is that later routes expect you to know knowledge from previous routes and playing them out of order can leave you confused as to just what is even going on. More importantly is that Rea’s route is clearly the finale of the entire story so playing it first would lose it’s impact. The strict route structure is a bit of pain, in particular as the quality of the story goes from worst to best. However it is interesting to see events of earlier routes subconsciously affect events of later routes. Things which previously didn’t make much sense or felt out of nowhere take on new meaning when you take into account the matter of eternal recurrence. But alas, what is the story of Dies Irae? It’s difficult to go into detail without spoilers but lets say it starts with a matter regarding a serial killer which evolves into a full blown battle which pits our main protagonist Ren against a group of superpowered nazi’s from the remnants of World War II known as the Obsidian Round Table.
Continue reading “Dies Irae ~Amantes Amentes~ Video Game Review – 80/100” →

Seikaisuru Kado Review 51/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47, Seikaisuru Kado

Seikaisuru Kado was a title which caught my attention for a number of reasons. For one it’s visuals showed not a single teenager in sight and a cast mainly consisting of working adults. Another is that it deals with a premise not often tackled in anime, Philosophical Science Fiction. The story features an alien being who lands on earth and gifts humanity with revolutionary devices which could throw the economic, social and political climate into pure chaos. Our main characters are a Japanese Negotiator by the name of Shindo and an Alien being from something known as the anisotropic who refers to himself as ZaShunina. While I wouldn’t call the cast great, I do say they perform the needs of the plot well and are interesting enough to engage the viewer. Well up until the point where there characters are forced to change due to the direction of the story. There are examples of anime tropes which only cheapen the serious atmosphere of the stories tone such as a scientist girl who eccentricity is at a far too unbelieveable level. Though sadly anime tropes show up in other parts of the show as well, mainly in the rather rushed romance of the second half.

A positive aspect of this series is that it has some of the best CGI integration I have seen to date in a anime. In most series CGI is jarring and breaks immersion but here the CGI is included well enough to keep things looking natural. It does use a combination of 2D and 3D visuals and it is noticeable when it changes between the two. However I never had a moment watching this series where I was just taken out of the experience completely by shaky 3D work. The CGI also works wonders in displaying ZaShunina’s alien nature as his cube structure is a pure prism of visual marvel. The music likewise processes a grandiose and majestic feel which illustrates how this is the turning point of mankind. On the technical side of things I would consider Kado to be a success.

But when it comes to a storytelling standpoint this is where Kado fails. At first things look good as there is a focus on the diplomatic systems reaction to the sudden arrival of an Alien entity, while the Alien itself is slowly growing accustomed to human ways and learning about human culture. From the outset it feels like Kado is revving up to really dive into some deep topics but as the series continues you will find that these topics continue to get pushed into the background and not addressed. The series focuses more on ZaShunina introducing the amazing device and then implementing it. But when it comes to the long term ramifications to integration of such advanced technology, then this series instead decides to ignore it and move on to the next gift. You see the introduction and integration of the device, but never the conclusion. It appears as though the writer was never interested in these ramifications but instead in pushing some generic themes of humanity instead.

In the end Kado is a story that starts with a lot of potential and looks to bank on that potential within its first six episodes. However it moves away from a multifaceted issue to have a more black and white conflict instead. The story and characters suffer for it and it concludes in an ending that’s nonsensical, disappointing and terrible. As a result Kado is a series which most would likely regret watching as you see great ideas tossed aside to portray a stereotypical good vs evil conflict. Ultimately Seikaisuru Kado is evidence that just because someone is writing the story does not mean they know the best road to take it and in the future I hope there are those who see just what this series could have been so that they can fulfil its lost imaginable value.

Little Witch Academia TV Review – 80/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Little Witch Academia, Reviews by AidanAK47

The Little Witch Academia series has been something that’s a long time coming. Ever since Studio Trigger made the original Anime OVA back in 2013 I have been hotly anticipating the time when it would be fleshed out into it’s own anime series. I love both the original OVA and the enchanted Parade so this series was one I was really looking forward to. So the question remains. Is Little Witch Academia a good series? Absolutely, out of the 25 episodes of it’s runtime I only didn’t enjoy one episode. This series was very fun and a worthwhile watch. However, is Little Witch Academia a great series? And therein lies the greatest problem with this series as a whole. For you see my friends, Little Witch Academia holds the potential for greatness and very closely skirts the line to becoming a truly great series. There are standout episodes which show a small glimmer of what this series could have really been. However instead the series plays it safe and sticks to a rather cartoonish format of episodic stories. It’s excellent character cast is unfortunately underutilised aside from some single episode stories and the main plot it develops within it’s second half more or less fizzles out into something more tame.

So to those watching it can be frustrating to see how this series opens up roads to great storytelling possibilities only to take the road of least resistance. Thus my greatest advice to any viewer is to not let yourself be fooled into thinking that this show will have a dynamic shift into a greater story arc. Throughout it’s run this is a simple story with simple objectives. Thus if you can come to accept that then you can enjoy what Little Witch Academia has to offer. Again, this really is a good show and has the kind of fun sensibility that very few anime can pull off. It’s a show that wouldn’t look out of place if put in a Saturday morning cartoon block and for those that woke up on mornings to tune into these kinds of shows as kids it will certainly hit that sentimental spot. If you aren’t part of that demographic then this may be a harder sell as I could see others get tired of the inconsequential episodic stories and a general lack of character development. Some characters get small changes but for the most part have simple characterisation. Akko in particular tends to have sporadic development as she tends to waver between growing as a person and then falling into her old ways.

Animation can have hiccups but is pretty stellar and charming throughout the board. You can really tell that a lot of heart went into this series production, even if it likely drove the animators to exhaustion. This show has it’s fair share of Sakuga sequences that show there is some real talent at Trigger. There are also references galore throughout the series from callouts to old cartoons(Hanna Barbara, Disney, Dexters lab) to previous trigger works and to even oddballs like 1984, Pawn Stars, Hellboy and Dinotopia. Keep a keen eye and you can spot dozens of callouts within the framework. OST is suitable but has some great versions of the main theme and a very good opening theme. Overall I do recommend this series. It isn’t what it could have been but what it is is hardly anything to scoff at. It’s one of the surprisingly few anime you can show to a young child without worry and maybe even blossom another fan of this medium. If you feel burned out by current anime and need something that’s a bit of a change of pace then LIttle Witch Academia is a fine recommendation indeed.

Nier Automata Video Game Review – 83/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Game Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

 

When I heard about the reveal of a sequel to Nier my initial reaction was of relative apathy. Even upon hearing it was coming to PC I was relatively unhyped. To say I was uninterested would be wrong as I did previously hear of Nier being a game with a interesting and strange story but I couldn’t really find myself all that invested in it. Around the release of Nier Automata my interest in the game went higher as I learn more about the writer, Yoko Taro. Taro is a strange fellow who likes to write strange stories. He has a desire to test the boundaries of video game storytelling and his previous efforts were noted for being strange but refreshingly unique tales. The biggest problem is that while Taro has wrote some interesting stories for his games, ones enough to gather him a fanbase, even the most dedicated of fans would struggle to say they were good games. A Yoko Taro game was something you played for the plot and the gameplay was often the thing you had to struggle through to get that plot. This is another one of those things that had me rather apprehensive about a new Nier game. However this time is different as Platinum games steps up to lend a helping hand. Thanks to that while people could debate the quality of the story compared to his previous work, this is clearly Yoko Taro’s best game. One which has me rather interested to experience the rest of his work. Before playing Nier Automata I watched summery videos on youtube of Nier and Drakengard 3(As Nier is a spinoff of the Drakengard series.) Not that you need to know anything about those works as Nier Automata is clearly it’s own self contained entity. For this review I played the steam version of the game and I will try to avoid spoilers. Lets dive in.

The game is set thousands of years after the end of Nier 1 and earth has been conquered by Aliens.Humans have retreated to the moon and use an Army of Androids to go down to earth to take back the planet for the human race. Likewise the Aliens combat these androids with an army of Machines and this battle has been raging between the two for hundreds of years. You play as an android by the name of B2 who is send down earth and works together with a hacker android called 9S to fight the machine menace. Said androids also happen to fight with samurai swords while in gothic maid and butler outfits with heads up displays in blindfolds. I mentioned this before, but Yoko Taro does indeed write strange stories. The story is certainly intriguing as it explores the nature of what makes something human and whether the self is truly a irreplaceable thing. The androids are the most humanlike creatures on earth but have a rule against feeling emotion. Though expressing emotion isn’t so much as a reinforced law as plenty of androids break it. I saw that a android repressing emotion was more out of decorum rather than a genuine law. The androids hold humans to a high regard so it’s fitting that they would find imitating them to be disingenuous. I do admit that the story has very interesting idea’s and execution but I found my biggest gripe with the story is that it is just how disconnected the events of it where. Each part of the story has very little correlation to the other and there isn’t really much of an overarching goal besides the matter of reclaiming the earth. Though how that is accomplished is never made particularly clear. For most of the game you are ordered to investigate an area and often take down a certain robot but there isn’t any real sense of progress on what you are doing. One thing that really speaks of this flaw is that in the second half of the story suddenly a massive robot appears and the entire android army is tasked with taking it down. Is this massive robot related to the antagonist? No. Is it used for character development or to shed insight into Nier Automata’s themes? No. Does it affect the plot in any way? Not really besides giving a reason for 2B and 9S to be separated. Overall the whole section feels like their was a big section of the script which had “Insert multi stage boss fight here” on it. This is what really bugged me about the story of this game, it’s so disjointed. Like Yoko Taro wanted to present a series of idea’s but didn’t really attempt to weave them into an ongoing narrative. If you’e looking to play something different, you can play satta king online by visiting a satta king website.
Continue reading “Nier Automata Video Game Review – 83/100” →

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Review – 90/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Currently Watching:, Reviews by AidanAK47, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

When you have watched a large amount of anime you can come to assume that you have learned a lot about Japanese culture. Though I think it’s testament to how limited it is to view Japan through anime when you come to realize that despite watching so much, you have never heard of Rakugo. Rakugo is a time of performance art that involves a man sitting on stage and telling a story. Sometimes a funny story, other times a heartwarming story or sometimes even a horror story. The man is given no props and much convey each actor and event in the story with his voice and mannerisms alone. Rakugo is the art of the storyteller and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is a story about those storytellers. Truthfully it’s difficult for me to explain exactly why this series is so great. It could be considered a landmark in character drama and a true mature anime for those tired of superpowered teenagers fighting monsters. Rakugo is a story about tragedy, about the harshness of time, about the stories that lie within stories. It follows the tale of a young boy entering the art to his final days performing in old age. In a way this story isn’t about Rakugo but instead how it affects those involved with it and their passion to perform.

Admittedly though this isn’t the show for everyone. For one a large amount of the show is dedicated to Rakugo performances. While you can admire the skill of the voice actors emoting and the general outline of the story, it’s clear that a lot is lost on ears that cannot understand Japanese. This is a character driven story and the characters are driven by Rakugo so if the Rakugo itself doesn’t quite appeal to you then admittedly that’s a large chuck of the show you won’t enjoy. Even for those that do enjoy it there is the issue that while the first season is near perfect, the second drags out it’s conclusion which can be a detriment if it isn’t tugging your heartstrings as much as it wants to. Through if Rakugo hits that sweet spot for you then it will likely be a series you hold close to your heart. The characters are great with Yakumo being center stage for most of the story. We see him go from an insecure young man to a confident performer to an old tired professional in the span of a single season. Sukeroku is the lovable mooch whose passion for what he does is unmatched. Likewise you have Yotaro who is a man that’s loud and straightforward, but delightfully genuine. With Konatsu being the snarky girl with a heart of gold. What truly makes these characters special is that they lack the common anime tropes which seem to invest each anime character nowadays. The characters of Rakugo are genuine in personality and that’s what makes the drama so strong.

Animation and art wise the series is relatively subdued and a lot of the effort goes into the emotions during  Rakugo performance. This series isn’t a visual tour de force but frankly that’s not the point. Music again is suitable but not really all that memorable. If you happen to have an interest in Japanese culture and feel worn out by the modern cliches of anime then Rakugo is a breath of fresh air for you. It will take you on a ride with twists and turns before ending with a conclusion that leaves no loose ends. By its very nature I think Rakugo will be a niche gem of the anime medium. Through however niche, it will truly beloved. Much like the art of Rakugo itself.

Youjo Senki Saga of Tanya the Evil Review – 80/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47, Saga of Tanya the Evil

Isekai stories have become somewhat of a tiresome genre as of late. There have been many stories of people being transported/reincarnated into other worlds where they shed their once pitiful exterior and become some legendary figure in another world. In most cases it’s trit, balant childish wish fulfilment and the stories often become tiresome when the protagonist gains a level of power that could never be challenged. Enter Youji Senki(Saya of Tanya the evil) where in a HR manager from Japan is tossed into a alternative world WWI by god in an effort to teach him piety. Tanya’s first episode may not win over many but if you check out the second episode you will be taken for quite a ride. This series is the first work by Studio Nut and while it pushed them to their limits it remains a impressive piece of work. Animation and art could be shaky and character designs took a hit for what looks to be for making animation easier. Tanya has some truly impressive set pieces and boasts the largest number of war scenes I have seen in a single anime.

There are shows which advertise themselves as action packed but are anything but, however Tanya is not one of these shows. Though when Tanya takes it slow that can be some of the more interesting parts of the series. Tanya and God’s interactions make for some of the best parts of the show and show a underline of Theism vs Atheism symbolism. The show doesn’t pick a side and admittedly any meaning gathered from this would be shallow level speculation at best. This aspect also becomes less prevalent in the second half of the show as God stands aside in favor of a more human antagonist. It didn’t delve into the concept as much as it could have but it nonetheless makes for a great hook to keep the viewer interested.

In regards to this series flaws the big thing is that it is Tanya’s show through and through. What means is that Tanya gets the bulk of the development, Tanya gets the glory and she gets every moment of badassery. This leaves a large majority of the supporting cast rather underdeveloped and I am certain you won’t remember most of their names by show’s end. In the same way Tanya is to a degree rediculously overpowered and a good amount of the shows second half is dedicated to her steamrolling her opponents. If you don’t find Tanya’s character compelling or interesting, I doubt there will be much here for you besides an alternate take on World War I. Still it’s hard not to like Tanya when she is a beautifully made anti-hero whose motivations are understandable but exceedly malicious. The series can be humorous at times with the after credits sequences taking on a more joking tone than the series normally goes for. The way in how Tanya’s actions and intentions are misinterpreted make for some really humorous scenarios.

For history buff this series provides some meat as well in how the war proceeds in the anime mirrors that of real history and while magical aspects are present, a lot of the equipment used is true to the time. Music is decent with the main theme having enough to get you pumped during an action scene. The opening is different and might not be to everyone’s tastes but the ending is great and closes out each episode perfectly. I applaud Tanya for being one of the few anime to not make use of fanservice as Tanya is in no way fetished at any point within the show. Considering that she is a lolita you would think that’s a given but believe me in that hasn’t stopped many shows before. This show remains a remarkably fun watch throughout, though it loses some steam in its second half but makes a comeback with it’s final two episodes. I say this is well worth any anime fans time and certainly deserving of a second season if being X is merciful.