It didn’t dawn on me until well after the third episode, but I simply didn’t have it in me to watch a twenty-four episode retelling of a show I’d already seen and didn’t really need to see retold. It would be one thing if Madhouse, Mappa, or Wit Studio were handling this show, but Passione is, and despite that name there’s just not much passion in the art or animation. And so I bid adieu to Holo and Kraft. —MagicalChurlSukui
We don’t consider either The Dangers in My Heart or the KonoSuba spinoff to be bad shows by any stretch. But this Spring is absolutely stacked with fantastic series, so we’re saying sayonara to the two that have felt just okay. —RABUJOI STAFF
After three episodes and some careful consideration, I’ve decided not to continue with Kunoichi Tsubaki no Mune no Uchi. While it featured some lovely sisterly camaraderie and genuinely kick-ass action, the overly-cute Takagi-san style designs are starting to wear thin, and I suspect the “will Tsubaki meet a boy” question will drag on far longer than I’d like…—Preston
The Black Company is going out of business. This was the toughest to drop, but there were three factors behind the decision.
First, while a great premise, it wasn’t engaging enough to forgive the thoroughly underwhelming execution, with character modeling that too often bordered on the pathetic (Wanibe in particular got the short end of the animator’s pens).
Second, I’m now two episodes behind, and I have no more urge to crack open the newest episode than I am to watch the previous one; a lot of that has to do with just not wanting to spend my time watching an ugly show, even if I had some good times with it.
Finally, Sonny Boy is a damn tough act to follow.—Braverade.
Honestly, I wish I hadn’t waited until the ninth episode, but even with its rough production values the stories were at least entertaining. The much-telegraphed death of Siesta was a big ol’ drag that ruined any goodwill or enthusiasm I still harbored for the show. She deserved better.—Braverade
It might seem silly to drop a show with just three episodes until the finish line, but I had mostly checked out last week anyway. Suffice it to say I know when I’m done with a show, and it’s when I can’t even be bothered to sit down and watch it. Granted, part of that is that the weather is too nice to spend it inside.
That’s not to say Slime 300 is a bad series, just an okay one that’s a good way to pass the time when the weather stinks. It had some nice comic voice work from Yuuki Aoi, a smattering of lovable characters, and some genuine good-natured (and occasionally mildly raunchy) charm, but my interest simply fizzled out. Let’s just leave it at that!
As expected, Hannah and Zane are dispensing with two of the weaker new Winter 2021 anime series this season: Hortensia Saga and The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter, to free up more time for far better series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Wonder Egg Priority.
I’ve decided to cut bait on Banana Fish. It’s not an awful show, but I’d become increasingly frustrated with the nearly laughable level of misfortune and torment in Ash’s life, as well as the absurd extent of Dino’s financial and political power.
I’ve enjoyed the simple human moments between Ash and Eiji, or Ash and Max, et cetera, but more often than not those are overshadowed by all of the ridiculous over-the-top crime and ultra-conspiracy shit that’s going down around them.
It’s simultaneously too simplistic (mostly good guys vs. completely evil monsters) and overly complex (I really never cared that much about the titular drug investigation). I gave it twelve episodes, but my heart’s not into twelve more.
It is with a not-particularly-heavy heart that I say adieu to Children of the Whales, a show that just hasn’t been doing if for me the last couple of weeks. Its appalling lack of focus and momentum, the blandness of its many characters, and its thoroughly incoherent mythos (glowing hands, anyone?) all conspired to sap away any interest I might have initially harbored. To sit and watch the show try to flesh out and humanize the magenta-haired sadistic murderer who’d been nothing but a detestable jerk this whole time…yeah, I’m out.
ShoBitch was never great, or even good. It was merely okay, and watchable in a nothing-else-is-on kinda way.
But after an episode that was less watchable—due to the addition of a sheltered rich girl with views on courtship every bit as quirky as Akiho’s and her mom’s—I’ve decided to cut bait.
Unlike Aho Girl, this is a full-length show, and despite decent voice work from Yuuki Aoi, the repetitive humor and predictable MC reactions just aren’t enough to keep me interested or coming back.
To even out the author responsibilities to four apiece, I’ll be taking over 3-gatsu no Lion reviews. Expect little change, as both Preston and I love the show—not to mention she initially took over the first season from me in a similar balancing maneuver.
Carry on, all!
Last Sunday, sitting down to watch and review Zestiria felt like a chore. It did not impress, or pull me out of the cloud of, well, not malevolence, but certainly apathy and detachment for the show and everyone in it.
I was mildly excited to see more adventures in the world of Zestiria this Winter (and I’ll admit I miss Velvet Crowe this season), but the second half has been an unfocused mess and the leaden characters are just barely there.
The only thing to do when you’ve run out of passion for a show is to either pass it on to Zane for mockery (he refused) or simply drop it altogether (which is what I’m doing).
I’m content to review only Gundam and ACCA—shows with stories and characters I actually care about—for the remainder of Winter.
The Gist: ‘Toi, Yuma and Clarus bounce from brightly colored dimension to dimension until getting dragged back to Earth to fight Creed Killer. Clarus info dumps about the Nights, but it’s thin info and we’ve heard all of it before.
Clarus also expositions her backstory, which is about the tragic loss of her first partner, Flors, who was a naieve idiot that get royally screwed for trying to talk to Creed Killer.
Then Creed Killer casts a mega black hole but is immediately thwarted by ‘Toi, who summons all of the local gods at once, apparently a special quirk of Japanese culture. Then Clarus kills Creed Killer.
Roll credits…
introducing Flor… who were told is destroyed in the first flash back… and then is destroyed a few flashbacks later…
Introducing a character as a vehicle to introduce another character is a terrible idea. We barely know Clarus as viewers and what we do know is unlikeable and stupidly arrogant. That doesn’t change just because Flors got herself killed in a pointless way. It certainly doesn’t make Creed Killer interesting, since he’s basically a pure-evil DC’s Joker knock off.
Killing him off immediately doesn’t help anything either. Toi’s sudden super power feels completely unearned — and the mythology isn’t even set up for it.
‘Toi apparently has rainbow power now. Nope, there was no setup for this during the episode…
Verdict: this episode was so dreadfully cliché, awkwardly put together, and dull above all other things that I walked away from it three times before I could finish. While not strictly ‘terrible’ in an academic sense, I have no patience for a show that is willing to spend 30 minutes with characters staring grimly into space uttering grim-dude sentences that are so generic grim-dude that the subs struggled to make them sound like they were coherently connected to the events of the episode.
Toi and Yuma had little to do, we learned nothing, a villain went from impossibly powerful to totally defeated abruptly, and the support characters sat around uttering nonsense lines. Clarus backup even drives off to his hotel room for a completely pointless conversation… on his cell phone?
I have 3 reliably awesome shows and 1 hit or miss (but occasionally brilliant) show. Three 7s in a row followed by a lower score is basically an automatic DROP in my book.
Military! was left behind with my first 6 drops of the season. However, given its tiny play length and that it was the strongest of the dropped shows, I felt like giving it a second view.
tl;dr – I am now satisfied having dropped it.
Episode 2 introduces girl number 3. She’s the world’s laziest assassin, if a killer who uses MINIGUNS can be considered an assassin? However, as quickly as she shows up, Mini-chan leaves, because she doesn’t like gross things… which is what happens when her target gets beaten to a pulp for ‘peeping’ on his body guards.
It’s actually more complicated then that, as this show is remarkably dense and action packed for its run length, but that’s the gist.
Verdict: if you enjoyed last week, you could do much worse than this show. It’s silly but doesn’t waste time and gives you a rush of action. If you didn’t enjoy last week or don’t find the loli-gun-girl action genre appealing, then Military isn’t worth going out of your way to acquire.
Sentence: (7) but still happily tossed into the fires of hell!
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 