Scalpelexis

An artfully directed episode. The impossible-to-understand opening scene left me floundering (while in retrospect it's a pleasant philosophical lift to the reverse-terminator), but the gradual escalating flow through the sci-fi genre to the action finale was excellent; sort of a Nolan demo version. The exasperated android who would like to make calculators out of others had a pleasantly electrified voice, and I was almost inclined toward a perfect score by the fantastic and emotional audiovisual conclusion. The song "Ensemble for Polaris" was beautiful. Edit: And you know what, I'm giving it the 5 stars. An exemplary anime episode.

A minor aggravation. The first action sequence, as the sneaky mechs duke it out amongst the ruins of the city, had gusto, and Sawano musically enjoys these moments. Except that the transition into the school lecture squeaked worse than an unoiled door. The more observant will immediately notice that the show needs to present us with the collision and ideology of both worlds to give us a minor excursion into the geographic past of the stage, and in the context of being meaningful, this was simply pointless, almost embarrassing. It would require the leading lady jockey to know her stable inside-out despite the silly implications of late night chat adventures, is far from a convincing delivery.

I was incredibly excited to see the reunited trio of Shinbo + NISIOISIN + Shaft! And the beautiful detectives did not disappoint in the least. Fans of Monogatari gasped in delight from the opening seconds, and the taunting thesis "You can't defend anything if you're dead" is as typical of Nisio as gyros is of the Greeks. Shinbo has returned to geometrically spare animation, except that Shaft has raised the bar even higher. The sets are gorgeous, the zooms into the eyes resonate the beauty of the stars, and I knew I was home. I'm curious to see what the reverse harem and the shifting of the role of narrator to a lady will do to me; Pretty Boy Detective Club more than resembles Shaft's attempt at Ouran (like Haruhi, Maaya Sakamoto voices the protagonist) and I'd pay gold for that perspective.

[Season 1] Definitely more entertaining and better than I expected, as I didn't have a high opinion of the Korean studio Mir. Add to that the fact that I knew a little about the world of DOTA from my sometime gaming about 15 years ago (i.e. nothing) and 8 episodes should have satisfactorily introduced me to that world; I was expecting a flat romp with lots of winks towards the party people. I didn't get so much as a threadbare explanation of the origin of the characters/world, though I enjoyed the more elegant crossing of storylines led by likeable main characters. Personally, I didn't feel that it was inflexibly clinging to gamer satisfaction: the good-looking and flashy action was just right, and in fact I found many of the intentions and decisions quite human and logical, which is even more unusual for a fantasy venture; I genuinely rooted for the characters. On the other hand, I found no added superstructure, nothing that in any way impressed me, lifted me out of my chair, and left me straight up drooling for a sequel. In any case, it went by briskly (faster than the aforementioned and similar Castlevania), painlessly, and didn't offend me in the least. A better 3 stars

An intimate melancholy SoL adventure of a single creature. People will hype this episode for the poignant moments, which I understand; on the other hand, it pushed the saw a little too hard, even if it tried to mask it with lots of smiles. Sensitive music, pleased with Tsuda's narration. I'm looking forward to the next episodes.

Episodes 1-5: A relative disappointment. This highly anticipated adaptation of a popular manga unfortunately received a very un-anime format. From the very first minutes, the viewer is struck by the total stasis and immobility of the images, as if someone were flipping through the manga in front of you while reading it and adding music. I have nothing against such segments as a supplement or decoration of more important moments or to underline jokes, but to make it an hour-long slideshow is a strong ordeal. It's decently made up for by gags focusing on the unwavering and resolute status of the main character's past, coupled with her currently noticeably more pacifist approach in the household (the vacuum cleaner mission, the 1 vs. 0 likes, and the whole instagramming thing in general). The short 3-minute and non-sequential sketches move along quickly, so the series serves as a one-off treat along with the dessert already served, but don't expect more. Thumbs up for the hard-working Kenjiro Tsuda in the lead role, though I felt at times that he was getting a bit sweaty shouldering the entire show all by himself. A weak 3 stars Episodes 6-10: The series continues the trend set by the previous episodes. The combination of the normally quiet domestic work with the aggressive insight of the ex-Yakuza still coaxes a smile, but the cadence of quality gags has waned slightly. I'm still enjoying the Instagram references, "Ceiling LED lights attack!", "How dare you underestimate the function of 100 yen shops?!", "Tapioca ganged up on me, that is some heavy shit" and similar gags are riotous. Tsuda is a god. Unfortunately, the animation seems to be getting more and more static. Still a weak 3 stars.

Nothing unexpected happened. As in the previous 2 episodes to our complete satisfaction, form decimated content and Ufotable wrung every ounce of its art to serve us one last light show and color extravaganza from the Fate/stay night universe. The ten-minute battle of the sergeants is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears, a blast that may have little to do with physics, but who cares about that? There are some titles I specifically save so I can play them over and over again in the highest quality on the biggest screen possible, and Spring Song is 100% one of them. Don't needlessly rob your emotions of such an experience by watching an inferior copy. The plot of the latest installment is more generalized compared to Lost Butterfly, though it still makes relatively little sense and ironically functions as filler and a break between the other visual orgies. We don't get a satisfying explanation, the day is saved by a deus ex machina, but Shirou is at least noticeably more confident and determined than his alter egos from other familiar storylines (even compared to the last installment), and the possessed Sakura is more tolerable for one, and surprisingly doesn't get as much space here for the other. The first film won me over for the story alone, but as said, I didn't watch this trilogy because of that and still came away pleased.

[Watched 2 episodes + a few snippets from other episodes, drop] And there you go. A regular viewer of anime productions of recent years must surely have noticed the quiet creep of hentai themes into the world of regular season shows as well. It's trickled in gradually, as if audience tolerance is being tested and the marketing waters are being tested to see where, when, if ever, some wave of discontent rises in the desire to end this perverse crusade from the days of Rape Wars. If you're of a more sadistic disposition and enjoy this style in titillating themes, well done, you've come to the right place! Redo of Healer is, after all, unadulterated edgy hentai with no possible counter-argument. I can imagine the view that the entire sexual theme is justified by the main character's form of determination, aggression, and desire for revenge. Maybe that's the way it is in the source material, but not on this sprawling canvas. Whatever happens, even if that world was about to be flattened by a meteor in a matter of seconds, in episode after episode it was mysteriously impossible to miss at least some scene of Keyaru's greedy and explicit wanking at the expense of the surrounding ladies. I find it utterly unnecessary to add and confirm the absence of the essence of the main theme of righteous revanche: Kayaru's once-executed perverse revenge was very soon not enough, and his infinite mind-numbing from earlier had maximized his "virtues" to the highest levels, so much that he decided to practice it on these afflicted persons constantly and obscenely over and over again. The author couldn't care less about any deeper thought; let the fantastic depth of creativity over the zero invention of the main character's abilities and charms be proof. All it took was one demented "heal" (why does he keep calling his dog?) and he had caviar out of his Big Mac. "Heal" – he painted the Mona Lisa. "Heal" – and he could easily have become the stupid dog. The plot shamelessly tries to correct the totally warped nature of the entire show with a wannabe philosophical, humanistic, and seconds-long speech by Keyaru to his lobotomized harem and the non-existent goal of his journey. If it was meant sincerely, it's sad, and if it's just an excess, it's pathetic; after all, all the characters are completely empty and washed out! The tragicomic thing is that Redo of Healer was also released in a heavily censored version, but if you've made it this far, you'll easily understand that this wastes several minutes in each episode staring at crap (read: fireplace, floor, table) and that it just turns the filthy nothingness into nothingness. Not that the more respectable remainder is worth anything. For me, then, there is no better approach than to call out "heal" and delete this trash from any notes and memories.

[Season 1] The Japanese have gotta be Olympic champions when it comes to (not) professing their love. While many Western romances deal with trappings such as how to reach the chosen one on the other side of the hemisphere or how to pry her from the clutches of a malevolent entity, in anime the "final boss" of obstacles is often something insurmountable like... holding hands. Here, for 12 episodes, we witness our secretly in love couple trying to kick the other one out of the way so they don't damage their inflated egos. We got to see a very similar fighting style and almost copied character template in Masamune-kun's Revenge, but at least Kaguya fires funnier ammunition, doesn't need as much fan service, and tries to dodge the already heavily-trodden pond of genre clichés. Despite the initial freshness of the point and the amusing hyperactivity of sidekick drone Chika, the anime noticeably runs out of steam towards the end, and the lovelorn rivals not only start to overreact, but tediously mirror each other, inventing, wondering, shuddering, only to finally attempt some tears and then immediately return everything to the default beginning. Leaving out the unambiguous rational question "A year down the line, is it still worth it to you?" and concentrating on the decent gags, it's pretty good fun, but don't look for much depth. Fingers crossed for Kaguya and Miyuki, but they won't get more than a better 3 stars from me. Uso!

Reflecting on Tales from Earthsea, I can't help but be struck by the lush scale and grandeur of the story, but also its factual emptiness. I see, feel, hear all the mosaics and pieces of inspiration. I'm conscious of the tugs on the threads of fate, the inevitability, and the envisioned mission. The resonating reflections and questions over what I want to be, what I want to achieve, pondering life, death and the universal good. But I search in vain for the connection, the harmonizing wholeness and completeness of all ideas. The lazy flow, the almost phlegmatic indecision and proactivity of most of the characters evokes a mild incomprehension, and the overall drive to the goal is coarse, even vaguely defensive. In 2 hours, we are told frighteningly little in the way of meaning and reasons; it detracts considerably from the emotional finale. Studio Ghibli's form hasn't been shaken one bit, but the debut of Gorou Miyazaki, son of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, was very nervous and unclear at the very least internally. 3 stars