Jeoffrey

Fairy Gone is attempting to be a complex show, and so there is a lot going on (soldiers fighting, politicians scheming, people investigating stuff, and a lot of different secrets holed up behind closed doors). However, I am disappointingly sorry to say that I found most of the first twelve episodes quite boring. I was originally going to write about how mediocre the show is, although the honest truth is that the last couple of episodes of this first half of the season convinced me that I was enjoying it much less than the word average would suggest. The fight scenes did nothing for me, and the way the "fairies" were represented was nothing that impressed me much. I practically couldn't care less about the characters, and for example, the only thing I found most interesting about the male protagonist was his name - Free Underbar. Anyway, no matter how much the anime’s creators tried to conjure up some atmosphere, I was mostly bored and grimacing, thinking, for example, "This song is not really appropriate for the scene right now" or "The showdown looks awkward". It is just that even though Fairy Gone is trying really hard, I did not find it that interesting and that is why I probably am not going to watch the second half of this season in the autumn... 4/10.

"Natsume's Book of Friends" is one of my favorite shows, so I really could not miss this movie released for the tenth anniversary of the anime series. However, in all honesty, I was not completely impressed. The movie is very good, however... The beginning lacks that classic ease that is so characteristic of this anime series for me. In the beginning, it is even slightly confusing, and it seems as if the cinematic Natsume has no idea what he wants to tell, so the movie is jumping from one subject matter to another and gradually (= very slowly) interweaving them. However, it eventually all works out, the narrative accomplishes what I expected from it, and there is again that pleasant magical quality that has put a smile on my face so many times - in other words, all those seemingly disparate pieces from the beginning come together to form a very enjoyable puzzle. Nevertheless, I could not forgive them for the fact that I watched the first half of the movie (almost an hour) sort of half-assedly, wondering what would come out of it and how some things were connected, and even a triple helping of my favorite cartoon cat could not possibly redeem it... 7.8/10.

I thought this show contained a great good combination of action sequences with narrative, and at times it had a very good philosophical dimension to it. In other words, there is a discreet conversation about, for example, the value of the greater good, who has the right to decide what and when a person is a person, and what that actually means. Also, to stop it from becoming boring, they kill some demons in the process! Speaking for myself, it was a cool trip. I found it quite interesting and gritty (as it features real issues like hunger, prostitution, war, and death). I was also carried through it by quite believable and likable characters. In conclusion, this is what a good and well-balanced anime series should look like to me. 8/10.

"Hi, you probably do not remember me, but I am Hitori Bocchi..." I can safely say that I enjoyed every episode of this likable, sweet and energetic anime series with the shy, over-sensitive and tearful Bocchi Hitori. Why? Perhaps it is because the guy behind the pseudonym Katsuwo, who among other things created what I think is a similarly great show - Mitsuboshi Colors, just knows how to do these anime series about cute girls really well. Plus each one has a great deal of energy and a well-chosen combination of characters, so most of their interactions are really good and I enjoyed this show very much. Although obviously, it is not only Mr. Katsuwo who is beyond this success because the screenwriter Jukki Hanada also clearly knows how to craft a decent anime series. After all, his name is associated with many of my own favorite anime series and movies... Perhaps it could also be because I really like cute and tearful characters who are struggling with themselves and everything around them (again, I remember what I call the Yurika effect). However, it was not just Bocchi I liked because there was also the unlucky Aru, the caustic Nako, and the energetic Sotoka who wants to be a ninja - in other words, as I have written, the characters were really well selected... Sure, it can be a bit stupid at times, some of the jokes are often overused, and thus lose some of their beauty and stop being fun. Also, if you are not a fan of weepy, overly sensitive, and hysterical anime series, then walk away immediately! However, I liked it and it is easily worth four stars. 7.7/10.

Let us imagine the great Czech chef Jirka Babica has arrived at a prestigious culinary school to show all the snobs there how to cook properly, and for cheap, to show that even the most ordinary food could taste divine when well-prepared and well-cooked. Moreover, he wanted to prove that no situation is really lost and that if he does not happen to have an onion, he could just as well improvise and throw an orange in there because, well, that also begins with O. I guess anyone could imagine how that would have turned out... Fortunately, Yukihiro Souma is not as much of an abject culinary amateur as Jirka Babica, and so he did not practice his culinary skills by fiddling around with recipes and crazy experiments on live TV. He actually trained under the careful supervision of his father, who is probably akin to being something like Gordon Ramsay's older brother, judging by the culinary delights he serves up. Of course, quite often the main male protagonist was also drawn to various insane combinations and forms that probably no sane person would have thought up. After all, it is always good to try out new things and find out how a woman’s face looks when she has just eaten some food that made her feel like she had just been fucked in quite a hardcore way by an octopus. Because these mistakes occur the main male protagonist is able to hone his style to such a standard that when tasting his food, women's panties get wet and men are ejaculating through sheer pleasure, and now he is on a hard journey to do what Jirka has never been able to do in his life, to earn the respect of real chefs. I for one have to say that, unlike Babica's on-screen delicacies, this show was very easy to watch and cooking has never looked so fun and exciting. 9/10.

Not so long ago, I was convinced that I would never encounter a more ideological mess and a bunch of nonsense than I experienced with the Vatican Miracle Examiner anime series. Then I watched this and I realized I had been wrong! If it was just a harmless science-fiction movie that combined religious ideologies and conspiracy theories and did it cleverly, then I would have probably been very happy. However, something tells me that Happy Science, the company responsible for this movie, is absolutely serious about all of this, that they are treating this as their religious agitprop. So come and get brainwashed by Mr. Okawa's visions of aliens watching us, Reptilians infiltrating all the important government departments, and putting computer chips in people's heads to control them and force them to do their will. Could there finally be an explanation as to why and who votes for Czech politician Andrej Babis?!? Because the lizard-people could be anyone, they could be Andrej Babis or even the other Czech politician Tomio Okamura or Donald Trump, yes you Donald, get down off the chandelier, I can see you... Evil aliens (Reptilians) and good aliens (in many different forms) are hidden in plain sight everywhere you look, you just do not want to know what Mr. Okawa has inside his fridge, and I guess Satan (or whatever it was in the post-credits scene) is coming for us at the end?!?? May the gods save us all! Although those will probably be Reptilians too, or rather just Mr. Okawa and his wife?!? Are you getting lost and confused by all this? It is just a crying shame that it was not better filmed, the dialogues were not at least a little better written, the main protagonists were not more interesting and the whole thing was not just a massive joke. As it is, it is just an ideological mess and a bunch of nonsense that I was certainly not convinced by, and I think that if Mr. Okawa had given all his money to charity instead of making not only this movie but also the follow-up, which is also the beginning (the first part) of an entirely different trilogy (well, good grief...), he would have done the world a much greater service... 1.5/10.

I think that the Bones Inc. animation studio basically smashed it with the best of the spring 2016 releases. Both of its new anime series impressed me, and I thought that even Concrete Revolutio had significantly improved in it's second season. In other words, as I watch more and more anime series I am starting to hanker more after originality, and so far I have found every production by the Bones Inc. studio really original in its own way. Sure, some may have a similar subject matter, however, they are usually diametrically opposed in their treatment of it, and so I find it quite difficult to compare them to each other. Moreover, this originality is really most evident in the characters, the narrative, and also in the animation. In addition to this aspect of being original, many of the studio's productions have another thing in common. They are usually very playful and when watching them, you get that rather pleasant feeling of "expecting the unexpected", and you can really get into it. Summing it up, I am starting to believe more and more that the Bones Inc. producers are genuinely really into anime, and with every new anime series they seem to be coming up with more and more new ideas. Plus, I am also personally really into it. I really like it when I can watch something that I am constantly finding surprising, and it does not have to have a massive plot twist, however, perhaps it just has an interesting end to some dialogue like an unexpected funny punchline, an expression on the face of one of the characters that I have never seen before, or how a character is going to behave, and other similar small details that make me feel like it is not so predictable. Bungo Stray Dogs has all of these aforementioned features, and I really enjoy watching it because I can have some idea where the plot is heading, even though I cannot really know for sure. Plus, I can only guess what the main characters, and especially Dazai, who is quite a strange character, are capable of. You can add to that the really very interesting conclusion to the first season featuring two very distinct characters (the leader of the Port Mafia and the leader of the Guild). All indications are that we are going to get dragged into an insane war between three very powerful sides in the second season, so I am really looking forward to future episodes... To sum up this show is very original, quite funny, playful, and enjoyable. 8/10.

There is nice music featuring some infectious rhymes (it took me a while to recognize this song from Singin' in the Rain - my bad), and a nice (tap) dance number, however, most importantly it also features the cutest ghost of all time (sorry Casper)! 7/10.

Overall this is a really dumb movie, and the quality of the animation itself is really very poor. However, because the main female protagonist is so adorable, and because I laughed so hard, I am going to award this movie three stars. Now every time I am about to squash a bug with the sole of my shoe, I am at least going to think about it, and I might even consider not squashing it and singing "Let the bug live!" instead.

Despite other teachers being driven to give up and quit, the Great Teacher Koro has now arrived to attempt to help this class of students with their problems. His methods are as unorthodox as his outward appearance is, and also as diverse as his super-powers and the problems of the individual students. Plus, the students have an interesting incentive in the form of a large reward if they manage to assassinate their teacher... Because I started watching this anime series already pre-prepared by having watched the 2013 OVA, I had a fairly good idea how it would turn out. However, I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. This is because besides the features I expected such as the relatively interesting characters, the mediocre yet tolerable animation, and the passable soundtrack, plus the quite interesting and original (even though we can ask how and in what way...) storyline, there was much more to this show. Therefore, I can say that it is a funny and sometimes quite educational show. Koro-sensei even gradually managed to convince me that he is a really good teacher, and so this meant I awarded more two stars than I awarded the first OVA. So all in all, I am now quite satisfied and I am looking forward to the second season because there were a lot of questions tantalizingly left unanswered. 8/10.