Jeoffrey

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!

"The storm of cliché." Whilst watching the six episodes, I was mostly surprised by the stupidity of some of the scenes, like when Taichi is fighting the beast which is immune to physical attacks and as an advanced strategy when he realizes his punches are not helping him defeat the beast - he chooses to use more power. It is such a manly solution! If something cannot be overcome by force, just try to use even more force! The boy almost lost the fight, however, luckily, as he is the main male protagonist, he therefore has the strongest plot armor. Plus, later on, when he is a real prince, he saves one damsel after another from distress and, although they themselves are also very strong, they gradually fall at his feet... Is there anything original about this show?!? I found it incredibly tedious because I did not worry even for a second about the main protagonists, this was because the show had some "brilliant" ideas, such as blowing up the army in a way similar to a pressure cooker, which sometimes made me chuckle... Anyway, I am already halfway through this anime series, and I am getting the more than clear impression that I am not likely to find anything interesting in it except for some more weird shenanigans occasionally. Plus, I am not going to be convinced by the thousands of goblins and monsters that are supposedly killing, pillaging and raping, because they are there just for effect and they do absolutely no damage at all, much like a scarecrow. They are there simply to show how powerful the main protagonists are. The authors try to convince me, that there is certainly a very sophisticated and complex plot going on in the background, plus there are also some terribly cunning, dangerous, and above all terrifying villains, but - I am so scared!!! Seriously - it is just fucking boring, the dramatic scenes absolutely do not work, the narrative does not offer up anything special either, and to watch it just for the fight scenes? Well, in all honesty, I have seen many fight scenes which were much better… Qualitatively and in general, I think this anime series is probably closest to The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar (lots of clichés with some stupid "advanced tactics"), and so the rating here will be exactly the same, i.e. 3/10 and drop after the sixth episode because I crossed out everything on my list here…

Although most people I have talked to on this subject consider the first season to be the worst, I personally do not count myself among them. Getting to know this anime series at all was something quite unexpected for me. Somehow I did not have much faith in combining an insane ecchi comedy with an interesting modern fantasy narrative, and that the result could be this good. I really enjoyed this show, the main male protagonist in particular, who does not care about the fact that he is a perverted high school student... As has already been said in other reviews, even though the ending of this show is a clichéd "save the princess" type of ending, it really is perfect, it is executed really well and gets quite emotional. I think High School DXD is the best ecchi anime series at the moment, although I still somehow cannot bring myself to award it five stars, because unlike Issei, I am ashamed of being a perverted creep... 8/10.

Whether you are Czech, or African, or even Japanese, there are still some things you should simply never do together with your mother... This is a completely weird anime series, which, at times, I found almost painful to watch because of how stupid it is. It is simply an example of how a good "fantasy adventure with my mom" style concept has the potential to go completely down the toilet. Sure, this show is a "cringe-fest" of immeasurable proportions, and that was to be expected, however, this is really totally unbearable, and with all the extra fan service and some scenes which I found tasteless, I regret to say I am not going to be watching more than these three episodes. Unfortunately, the message of this show regarding how we should respect our parents even if they are plain "embarrassing" at times just really sucks for me, because it gets completely lost in all the ecchi and sheer awkwardness of the show. Moreover, even individual scenes about deepening relationships, building trust, etc. get lost in a load of extreme rubbish or appear completely unexpectedly and are wildly out of place. In other words (watch out as this is an example from the show, so is probably a SPOILER ALERT), are you being horrible to your mother? Come over here because she is going to clean your ears out, as that is a well-known ritual in Japan that signifies she believes in you. Plus, she is going to do that right here and now in front of everyone, even if it does completely go against the mood of the moment! (END OF SPOILERS). On the other hand, you could never accuse this "MAMARPG" of being just another cookie-cutter ecchi isekai, because there are some never-seen-before unique things about this show. The very idea of going on an adventure with your mother is quite original, the way the characters got to the world the show is set in is again original (no death, falling asleep at the computer, or unexplained teleport - no this was a well-planned government project!!!). There are even some typical ecchi scenes which end in an unconventional way, where the characters are capable of appropriately commenting on them (see episode three). Partial originality is fine, however, unfortunately, it ultimately does not redeem the final rating, because when something is so cringe-worthy that at times it hurts, then I simply am not going to watch it. My time is too valuable these days, and this anime series is not going to steal more than seventy minutes of it from me, and already I dare say it deserved no more than a 3/10 from me. Dropped after the third episode.

When I watched the first episode, I saw a single review on the discussion forum that said it was "hilarious". After the first episode, I still did not really believe it was that funny, although I have to admit that it has really picked up a lot of momentum since that. The two main couple of protagonists are quite interesting, and their interaction and dialogues seemed entertaining, although it was only after another two members were added to the gang that it really got going. It is almost as if Terry Pratchett decided to make a fantasy anime series based on the world of RPG. I mean, even just the witch who can only cast one super devastating spell perfectly is Pratchett-esque and is almost like his character Rincewind. Plus there is the flying cabbage? Are they being serious? The combination of ideas, originality, the wacky humor, the interesting world of RPG, and some classic Japanese tropes (it was to be kind of expected that the “steal” ability would turn out the way it did, although I thought Kazuma would use it to get some bras...). Anyway, it is a combination that works! Very much looking forward to the second season... 9/10.

Once again, this is a conversational anime series full of strange storylines and insane associations between certain characters. However, it won me over, and this is mainly because even though it is a crazy madhouse of a show, I could understand most of the girls' thought processes, and I often found them amusing. I feel like this whole show has incredible energy. The five main protagonists of the show are a nicely balanced group, and so the show features each character taking their turn, every dog has his day. The show does not contain too many Japanese cultural references which a "western audience" would probably not get either, or perhaps that is because I have seen so many anime series that I now get some of them without thinking so I do not notice them?!? The soundtrack also makes the show more pleasant to watch, including the opening, which I did not skip over even once, and the ending, which (as daGGos writes in his review) is truly unforgettable. 7/10.