Jeoffrey

The Studio Ghibli animation studio is involved in this movie, which has a pretty cool story, and once again we have a strong young girl as a lead (who is surprised by that?). It contains some pretty good ideas and a touch of mystery at times, however, in my opinion, it does not stand up next to Studio Ghibli’s best productions, even though you can still consciously tell it is made by Studio Ghibli! What I think lets it down the most though is the 3D animation. I get it, this is the studio's first movie to use this, however, truth be told, it just does not look that great. It looks very artificial, like the hair for example. On closer inspection, it looks like the characters are wearing plastic wigs...So even though I thought it did not have a pointless story and it headed somewhere, and at times I even found it quite intriguing, the visuals let it down for me personally, and I found it made the experience very unpleasant, and unfortunately yes - it really spoiled my impression of it. I would have preferred if Gorō Miyazaki had stuck to his established techniques and left the messing around with 3D to Pixar, DreamWorks, or even some Chinese studios because the quality of this movie compared to others which have used 3D animation (from what I have seen so far) is at most average, or rather slightly below average. 5/10.

Review from April 2019 (updated for 2021) - I do not know what has been going on lately, however, there seems to be slime everywhere! The trending topics on YouTube are all about "playtime with slime", and then you turn on the TV in the morning and the commercials are again bombarding you with animals vehemently discussing whether slime poops or vomits. Not to mention the fact that in our local department store there is a huge display with tubs of slime in the toy section... I want to know, since when did slime become so popular? Anyway, I think that making slime the main protagonist in an anime series is a really original and brilliant move, and I welcome it with as much enthusiasm as I did when a few years ago, Momonga, a giant skeleton, was the main protagonist in a similar anime series - Overlord. Comparing “Slime” with Overlord is probably a bit obvious, because both are, in my opinion, a combination of RPG and strategy building...even though they both approach these things differently. On one hand Overlord takes itself pretty seriously and is a drama full of tension, and also features lots of strategy and tactics, plus thrilling and cool fights - while on the other hand "Slime" is (really much) more easy going and refreshing. The main protagonist is quite likable and the whole thing is quite unpredictable, joyful and playful rather than just dramatic. This is fine by me, though, because I found that it made watching it more enjoyable. I was engaged by the suspense at times and was really entertained, plus at times I was really curious about what was going to happen next, because the season kept bringing original ideas, even though we knew it would turn out OK in the end. Even though I had to think about this a bit, because the show can be pretty stupid at times (like when there is a tense dramatic fight scene and the main protagonist just defeats a stronger enemy with a single shot of honey) I am still satisfied with awarding this the highest rating I can because this was a nice, funny and very enjoyable isekai and I am eagerly anticipating the next installments. 9/10.

The original review is from December 2019 - The main premise of anime in general, which I think is really interesting, is about rebuilding society and documenting its achievements after an unexpected downfall. The combination of two genres of anime resulting in "scientific shonen" is unquestionably something new, however, it struggles to balance science and shonen, and actually, the two do not exactly go well together. Even so, after saying that, this is an interesting and at times quite entertaining show. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, starting with the science part, in another review of High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World anime series, I wrote about the depiction of science as a complex multi-step process, requiring resources such as time, manpower, and skills. Because of this is Dr.Stone definitely more preferable to "High School Prodigies..." where in a ridiculously short amount of time they are literally pulling ballistic missiles out of their asses, building a working power plant in a few weeks, and so on. I think science needs time, resources, and most importantly people! Unfortunately, with only my ordinary high school education, I cannot judge too accurately if all those experiments and inventions portrayed are realistic. Fortunately these days, there are a few things that can be practically demonstrated, so for example, I can watch how to make a Senku Cola... While I am on the subject of YouTube, I am going to share probably the biggest problem I have with the portrayal of science in this show right now. All too often it comes across to me as some sort of dumbed-down YouTube science video. However, this is also a shonen after all, and so complicated explanations of the different processes and detailed tracking of the production of some "Senku machine" would probably not go down too well with the audience. This entire anime series sometimes feels a little too awkward and long-winded because of the focus on using scientific experiments to invent things (and so nothing else is actually happening story-wise). Then again, with all the effort to add in some action scenes to keep the audience’s attention, the science part suffers and does not come across as half as serious as I think it should do. So now onto something positive. For example, I think one hugely positive aspect is that most of the characters are fairly likable and I did not find them irritating in any way, which is unusual for modern shonen. As a result, I could handle some of the cheesy phrases and weirdness that this anime series is loaded with without getting too offended or irritated (they were more likely to make me smile). The story’s premise is also interesting; it is largely about the battle between reason and power, with the main villain having both. Despite this, he somehow does not realize that a balance of both is needed to benefit society as a whole, which the main male protagonist playfully shows him. The first season is now done, and it tended more towards the science part with a lot of inventions, etc. rather than action scenes, fights, and significant shifts or twists. The second season strikes me, so far, as the opposite, inclining more towards the shonen part with more action scenes and away from the science. Well, I am now actually quite looking forward to the second season despite all the peculiarities, imbalances, and other weirdness. 6.7/10.

The original review is from 2018, updated for 2021: This was definitely the most pleasant surprise of the anime season Winter 2018 and was a very impressive and enjoyable show. I too was worried that this would be just another typical school club anime series with some cute girls, yet surprisingly the whole school club thing remains in the background and the show focuses on what its title promises - camping. I was in the Scouts for a few years and went camping with my friends, and I think they were the best years of my life (I was at high school), so this subject matter is very close to my heart. It was very gratifying to see that this show captured the spirit of camping (and not only camping with friends) very faithfully and in an incredibly endearing way. After all, camping is about adventures, finding beautiful places to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside, for example by a nice crackling fire. Years later, I still have fond memories of when I saw the sunrise over Amerika (a flooded quarry near Beroun), so I understand how such powerful moments and beautiful scenery can be found in the great outdoors. In general, I have a very positive feeling from this show, not only because of the respectable way they presented the subject matter but also due to the quality of the soundtrack and the well-chosen cast of characters. Personally, I have to declare the opening as the best opening song of the year 2018 and I am going to add "Shiny Days" to my playlist. Sure, one should maybe not factor the opening and closing songs too much into the overall rating, as it has a trivial effect on the story, however, with a vibey anime series like this one I just cannot ignore it, because, unexpectedly, the opening and closing songs add a lot to the overall vibe of the show, and they both work so perfectly well in the show. Furthermore, they chose some really good music to underscore the story throughout the show as well. For example, I really liked the subtle guitar motif that popped up so often. As for the characters, I have seen similar ones before and there is nothing new about them. However, the characters in this show are well designed. The central duo nicely contrast and complement each other, and the other characters have their place as well (not necessarily that important, however, they are still enjoyable). Additionally, the work on the characters and just the fact that this is not a typical show where the characters are falling over each other and having supposedly amusing interactions is incredibly refreshing. The story about the two camps and Rin’s solo camping were something quite new to me and I enjoyed them a lot more than if all the girls were just hanging out together the whole time. Aside from all that, it is also a rather cute and amusing anime series that really put a smile on my face. So for me personally, this is the best “slice of life” anime series of the anime season Winter 2018 (Hakumei and Mikochi has its undeniable qualities, however, I found this a little more charming) and it is also one of the best anime series this year in general... 8.4/10.

"One of the best things about this anime series is the fact that it will give you cancer." I read in the discussion about one of the episodes, and I can basically agree because the episode with the cancer cells was one of the best (along with the two-part finale). Anyway, I think it was a great idea to make a purposeful anime series that teaches audiences a lot about their bodies, and if it makes at least one person take better care of their body, then I consider it a job well done. However, this is nothing new of course (which I fully realize, unlike some of the people discussing it on various forums in America and Asia), because I loved and devoured every episode of the French animated series Once Upon a Time... Life when I was a child, so I simply cannot avoid the obvious comparisons. Both of the shows have their own charm and many likable characters, both of the shows provide a lot of information (although this anime series is much more factual due to its explanations and descriptions), both shows depict a lot of normal bodily functions and also some unusual experiences. Of course, the French show is the one which I would be more likely to let my (imaginary) child watch, as it is much less violent and probably more enchanting overall. This anime series is aimed more at a more mature audience, and I would happily watch it as a supplement to biology and human anatomy classes in high school for example. I definitely want to highlight the ending among the positive aspects of this show, as it is really adorable (and so it immediately went into my anime music collection) and of course, I would like to also mention how incredibly cute the blood platelets are (which just had to end up being part of my profile). Still, even though Cells at Work! is undoubtedly one of the best anime series of anime season Summer 2018, the fact is that Once Upon a Time... Life still somehow wins out for me in the end (because this anime series rekindled my youthful desire to become a doctor, which I had lost when I first saw footage of real-life heart surgery...) and leads me to be unable to award it more than 8.3/10.

The second season of Hilda is just as charming (especially the world it is set in and its inhabitants) as the first, although it is perhaps a little less imaginative when it comes to the subject matter. It takes on classic fantasy themes such as playing around with time. The supporting characters are given more screen time which means the character development has vastly improved since the first season, and so they are now more important to many of the stories. The main female protagonist is still great, and as for the new characters, well, let us just say the show got its own Gilderoy Lockhart... Then again, it was an experience that I enjoyed from the opening to the very end. Now, concerning the end of the last episode, I am very intrigued to see what happens next... 8.3/10.

Hilda is a really charming TV show with a very likable, imaginative world full of all sorts of mysterious creatures. I think it is just an excellent show about fantastic (yet not only) beasts (and where to find them). The atmosphere is mostly very pleasant, sometimes even suspenseful. However, it always manages to be intriguing at least. A lot of the characters, especially the magical ones, are very memorable and everyone will probably have their favorite. What I personally found a bit weaker were the human characters, where I think the only character that really caught my attention in the first season was indeed the inquisitive main female protagonist. However, after saying that, this is otherwise a really enjoyable experience and I am looking forward to the second season in the autumn. 8.2/10

This is pretty much a long prologue to the MMORPG smartphone app. If you are interested in playing Magatsu Wahrheit, then this anime series is worth a watch, because it is about what happened from the beginning (hence the word Zuerst which means first in German) and it even supposedly puts a lot of things from the game in perspective, so you are not going to feel like the very first mission is kind of out of context. If, like me, you had no idea about the MMORPG smartphone app, then you will probably think this is a pretty mediocre, occasionally interesting anime series that does not really even have any atmosphere and does not really sell itself. The story is pretty well thought out even though it does not really hold any excitement or surprise for the audience. The soundtrack is below average and, except for the last episode, does not really contribute anything of worth to the overall experience. The animation sometimes looks quite pretty (such as the scenes when "the light came on"), however, at other times you can see that there is room for improvement in terms of fluidity and movement, for example. The monsters are not scary, and the plot twists do not leave a lasting impression. The characters are also quite insipid and uninspired, and when I started to find them at least a little bit interesting (like with Elfriede or Conrad), the screenwriters seemed to have always made sure they had put something in the story to kill any fascination I may have had. I did not find the central duo entertaining, as one is an insipid nice guy and the other is a coward "looking for his balls", which just does nothing for me... I might have even been interested in how the story continues if it were not in this format (and I hardly play smartphone games at all), so I am going to stop at the prologue, and I am not going to award this more than 4.5/10.

Onyx Equinox would get full marks from me if the jaguar-like character was voiced by Christopher Judge and so I could fully enjoy another BOY simulator! As it is, if you watch it in English, it seems like he keeps calling Izel BOY mainly so that the audience understands (mainly due to the poorly chosen English voice actor for Izel) that he is really a boy and not a girl! Also, it would not have been so jarring if it were all a bit more relaxed and the basic story were not just a typical heroic journey going from one place to another completing various tasks (with the transitions and jumps being really really fast)... It all follows the usual formula where the hero has to take some friends along for the ride, because they can rarely do anything on their own, and if they fall on their face, which will happen a lot with the lowest of the low, well someone has to be there to pick them up off the ground. However, I do think the setting is really great, I do not know any shows set in the Aztec Empire and the fact that most of the songs are sung in the original Aztec language is another great bonus, and I found the whole thing undeniably charming. Another thing I am incredibly impressed by is how gory it is. Violence in TV shows, movies or even games has its limits. For example, if I take an ordinary video game like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and decide to wipe out an entire village, I am never going to quite succeed because there are certain things that are sort of forbidden in that particular video game. Onyx Equinox does not have any restrictions of this kind. It is raw, gritty and uncompromising. There are a lot of grievous injuries, severed limbs, and various severed body parts (including entrails) everywhere. On the other hand, I only grew to like the main protagonist after quite a while, and he only made a good impression on me around the ninth episode (well, near the end). I also found that the story started to get really interesting around the same time, however, until then it was more of a regular, yet very visually attractive bore-fest. What the hell was that at the end of the first season? Well, it was not quite what I was expecting, the bad-death-romance and problem solving were very Eric Cartman-style, and the fight scene was very chaotic and messy. However, despite all that I still found the second season quite intriguing. 6.5/10.

Somehow, I am not convinced that season two of The Irregular at Magic High School is anything groundbreaking or particularly interesting. In fact, I found the whole of The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc to be just another small (albeit incredibly long-winded) diversion for the main male protagonist and his crew. I think it is a shame that I did not find it very interesting. I found it lacked suspense and also had no real twists. Sure, maybe some of the events shown in this season will be seen to have an impact in future episodes, and this season will eventually get its due, however, it is just that I cannot see that at the moment... I have to say that I also did not find this season very entertaining. I still like the main male protagonist who is going around solving one problem after another with coolness and calm, and in extreme situations he manages to always dig deep and pull off another incredible spell. He is also still undeniably charismatic and I can kind of see what all those girls see in him. However, what does this show have besides a good protagonist? There are a couple of new characters, not much of a storyline, some decent action scenes... However, that is just not enough to make this show more than just average! I think the second season is quite mediocre. 5.5/10.