Jeoffrey

The Japanese discovered Girls On Top and made a show based on that premise without any excessive awkwardness. It has surprisingly likable characters and interesting dramatic scenes that are ultimately resolved in a rather surprising and original way. SPOILERS I guess no one would have believed that you could build a really good romantic love triangle narrative with understandable high points. I mean, who could have imagined you would be subconsciously wishing an unhealthy relationship between a teacher and a pupil would actually work out, and that the end result would not be disappointing? Also, what about the brilliantly implied exploration to find your true sexuality and sexual orientation, or the discovery that the healthiest romantic relationship in the show has the most avowed puritan? END OF SPOILERS. This anime series offers quite a lot and shows it all in a way that is not offensive and is rather entertaining. Even though it is fun, it also approaches some of the subject matter very responsibly at the same time, and so the dramatic moments are quite emotionally charged, and the motivations and behavior of the teenage girls are understandable and in line with how you would imagine them to be in real life (although it is still perhaps a bit far-fetched at times, even though this to be expected regarding Japanese productions). Also, it even has one character who gave most of the audience goosebumps because the anime’s creators portrayed him in a very realistic yet uncomfortable way... All in all, I have to rate this as a very good production, even though at the end of the penultimate episode I had very grave misgivings over how over the top they were going to end this - however, in the end, it worked, and so I am awarding it a well-deserved 7.5/10.

A good comedy should be very entertaining and a makes you laugh non-stop. However, what could I possibly say about a comedy where I did not find more than half the jokes funny at all? I would say it is very poor! In all honesty, the whole main trio, who should be the prime movers driving the plot, are pretty weak too. Therefore, a lot of the supporting characters (Loli, Mayo, Yamai, Waseda) are much more entertaining than most of the main trio. It is these supporting characters, then, who are in the funniest scenes, and so practically the only episode I found really good with one of the main female protagonists was the penultimate eleventh episode (even though this is where the teacher also excels again). Sometimes there is hysterical shouting, sometimes it is frantic, sometimes it is childish and sometimes it's just plain "baka". However, despite all that, this anime series is easy to watch, even though its purpose - to entertain - unfortunately only happens occasionally. I did not find it irritating, it was only sporadically boring, so when I take everything into account it is just a little below average. 4.7/10.

Given has an overabundance of what, for example, the aforementioned Carole & Tuesday is sorely lacking - a quality focus on the characters. On the other hand, at least Carole & Tuesday gave you one new song per episode, and showed you, albeit rather unrealistically, how it was composed. However, Given does not come out with even the first whiff of a song until (I think) the third episode, when Mafuyu finally launches into song and showcases his angelic voice (which is rather late for a musical anime series...). Instead of the music that they promised, we are rather just left with the characters, their problems, their insecurities and misgivings, their emerging love for music, and, of course, romantic relationships that develop slowly and quite naturally. This show teaches you to appreciate its characters and to sympathize with them. In other words, it is more about being entertained by and interested in the drama of the show, rather than the music. It also pushes you to root for the characters in following their slow steps to musical stardom (rather than in C+T, where you immediately see that the girls are very talented and that it is all about trying to make it as fast as possible). In other words, this anime series has a narrative which is much more focused on the characters and their relationships rather than the music itself. However, this, therefore, creates a problem for anyone who signed up mainly for the music… In conclusion, I have decided quite firmly that romantic relationships take up way too much time for a music anime series (and for me personally), I do not want to wait for all the relationships to be sorted out (which will probably take a long time because of the pacing), so I am going to pack up my instruments and head off into the maelstrom of crappy isekai or silly comedies and leave this anime series to those who are able to enjoy it. I wanted to rock and roll, damnit, not get dramatic! Dropped after the fifth episode and 6.2/10.

I was really looking forward to this anime series before this season started. It features a tough main male protagonist who protects a cute girl in a fatherly way from demons, monsters and other vermin - so cute and cool, so I was obviously going to award it a clear 10/10! Unfortunately, the reality turned out to be completely different. Sure, Latina is an adorable little girl who is amazing, cute, smart, kind (and absolutely unrealistic...) - in other words, she is perfection itself. However, I failed to see the point when Dale is definitely not half as cool a character as you would have liked. Dale is much like your irritating auntie who uses baby talk with your kid every chance she gets and she thinks it is so cool to say things like: “Oh my gosh, what a cute little guy you are, yes you are...".  You get that kind of weird feeling with her like you are watching a grown adult acting like an infantile idiot, and everything inside you is screaming for her to just stop. Well, this is exactly the feeling I got when I was watching Dale act like that in more than half the situations he was in. Yeah, right, so looking at someone as adorable as Latina makes you do silly things like that, go ga-ga, making you wish for all kinds of things, and making you melt inside like a kid does over a piece of candy. However, then you see how stupid it is when someone says such things in that way, and you start to be ashamed of yourself because if you had been the main male protagonist you may perhaps have acted that stupidly too. Even so, you would have immediately denied it, because no sane person (except for your silly auntie) acts in such an obviously infantile way like Dale does... I did not enjoy watching Dale at all, and it rather left me with a certain feeling of awkwardness, and that is not a good thing. If the divine and adult Lord Hakuto Kunai had been in the show with his manly hoarse voice instead of Dale, it could have been a brilliant anime series, and I would not have even minded that most of the twelve episodes were about nothing, that there was almost nothing of substance, or hardly any fighting. This show was actually basically just about Latina doing cute things (plus Dale drooling over her and whinging on...) and being introduced to new people. However, the way this show went on meant I alternated between a pleasant smile (Latina) and a sour expression (Dale). Sometimes I was slightly bored (because there is really hardly anything going on), and probably the biggest emotional moment I had was with the behavior of a certain teacher. However, in retrospect, even this storyline seems quite far-fetched. In other words, as much as I would have liked to, I cannot give more than 5/10 right now (after the first season) because of Dale.

There was so much wrong with this anime series that if, after the first two episodes, someone had told me that I would have finished watching this season and then have even been convinced to watch a second season out of curiosity if it ever came out, I would have laughed at them. However, here I am, after twelve episodes into this season, and really I saw and heard things I really did not need to - like a freaked out one-hundred-and-fifty-pound madam in the spa baths, or a young "trap" boy who is constantly obsessed with anal sex, and other such "delights." So what the hell drew me to it? Surprisingly, the main male protagonist himself! Hakuto Kunai is a Demon Lord with the voice of Nolan's Batman, and also a walking cigarette commercial who has made it his mission to rescue damsels in distress, plus conquer the world with a cultural revolution! He is the cheap version of Overlord  protecting a twisted B-movie version of Ram or Rem. He is also a Demon Lord who understood that the biggest problem of the Middle Ages was lousy sanitation, and so he brings the spa baths and the hospital to others! He is a main male protagonist who is actually two characters in one, someone everyone admires, they adore him and he is so stoic! A person who knows the remedy for pampered spoiled girls! Anyway, this is because Hakuto Kunai is who Jeoffrey would want to be and look like if he was transported to another world! So, this is the reason I had no problem finishing this pile of repetitive wannabe jokes, perversions, and weirdness - despite the animation which is not very good, and a sometimes slightly irritating soundtrack. Also, surprisingly, there are plenty of clichéd moments that do not have a clichéd ending, because the main male protagonist always keeps his cool and has a cigarette or pours himself a drink, and explains it all to us about as well as Jeoffrey is doing now. Jeoffrey is attempting to justify giving this anime series, which was supposedly intended (based on Sermone's review) for "semi-retarded pre-pubescent otaku", whilst being a thirty-three-year-old man, a likable (considering what a massive washout it is!!!) 4.4/10, and promises to try and stick with the second season, just because he is curious to see how the story of this show’s Batman, or sorry, Demon Lord, is going to continue…

Somehow I cannot think of anything else I could say about this, so maybe I am just going to repeat what others says... The comparison with Fairy Gone is very apt, and so I am also going to follow up on that too. Compared to "fairies", these "abandoned sacred beasts" are much more straightforward, the motivations of the characters are a bit more straightforward, and the narrative is not constantly (meaning only occasionally) trying for a comprehensive, (albeit questionable,) busy plot and complicated politics and subterfuge. However, mind you, I would say it is still a load of bullshit in many ways, even though compared to Fairy Gone, the load is a bit smaller... The heart of the narrative is mostly based on the "monster of the week" style of anime, (which gets boring at times), as since the cathedral debacle, the anime’s creators were trying to come up with something more complicated, and unfortunately, it did not work. Fortunately, though, I found it a bit easier to watch (compared to Fairy Gone) since it is at least decently drawn, using almost no CGI. Plus, it is a lot better to listen to too, by which I do not mean the dialogues, which are mostly pretty poor, but rather the soundtrack, which suits what is happening on screen. The battles against the "Incarnates" are not a complete waste of time, however, I found the way they portrayed the military battles where "Incarnates" were not in the spotlight sometimes more interesting, and that is probably not a good thing... The bottom line is, if Fairy Gone was a sub-average show, this is a touch better - even though that is unexpectedly just weak to average, and even I do not think I am going to continue and watch the next season... 4.6/10.

It is difficult for me to rate this strange little movie. I thought it was very visually appealing, the character design was very personable, and at least one character immediately reminded me of Flip Flappers, a show I considered very original. All in all, of all the characters, there is probably not a single one that I could not start to like after getting to know them a bit more. However, the crux of the problem with this movie is that it was too short! The movie was packed with information about these interesting female characters, demonstrating that it had a lot of potential - maybe even for a whole anime series. However, it was unfortunately all crammed into just an hour or so, which was far too short for a lot of things that could (and in my opinion mostly should) have been addressed. What does get a lot of screen time, however, and what would probably make the eventual anime series a very mediocre affair, is the classic clichéd concept of collecting the demon king fragments together and fighting, which reminded me much more of mahou shoujo genre than a reverse isekai. However, enough already, I am addressing what Laidbackers could have been and not what it actually is... In conclusion, Laidbackers is too short, a bit confusing, and although it is definitely an interesting movie which features agreeable animation and soundtrack, and obviously has huge potential, that potential is unfortunately only partially realized. I mean, I am very ambivalent about the movie (so I awarded it 6/10) even though I think I would have liked to have found out more and liked a longer and much more complex narrative that answered some of the questions raised, and a lot more scenes featuring this interesting bunch of girls…

As with the anime series, I found this movie very enjoyable. The creators of this movie understood where the strength of this narrative lies, so it is still a bit funny, full of strategy, polemics about various aspects of war, rebellion against God and fate, and most importantly there are plenty of perfectly shot action scenes. The final conflict and the last aerial duel were especially good, and I think they were very "fancy" and spoiled me, I just could not take my eyes off the screen at that point. That is just how I like it - fluid, dynamic, dramatic and accompanied by a great soundtrack! So I thought it was a very good continuation of the anime series (which has not suffered in any way) and I look forward to seeing Tanya again next time... 8.4/10.

In a word - unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory whether regarding the action scenes, the characters, the outcome of most of the narratives, or even the attempt to philosophize about what it means to be human and when we are actually monsters. However, the potential was there, after all the setting is such a pretty corrupt, dirty and divided world, full of problems. Despite that, with every episode I feel less and less entertained, I just do not care, and in fact, I find it very irritating some of the time. I did not even find the main protagonists believable anymore regarding any deeper motivation and any mysterious aura also disappeared into the unknown... Even the term "humanoid monsters", although quite apt, constantly sounds totally stupid to me... So even though I can see what the anime’s creators are trying to do, it absolutely does not work for me. Drop after the sixth episode and 3.4/10.

This is yet another installment of "rape wars" with a narrative whose quality equals that of a really tawdry low-budget pornographic movie, and a running time that only the fastest of us could "relax" to. Still, this time I managed to finish the whole thing without any significant horror or boredom, and what is more - it even has one scene that I was not completely offended by... In other words, there is a "threesome", so a very poor 3/10 - try and come to terms with that logic!