Category: Anime & Manga

Encanto (My review)

March 1st, 2022

I just made something unexpected.

Something sharp, something new.

It’s not symmetrical or perfect,

But it’s beautiful and it’s mine.

What else can I do?

Antonio is absolutely adorable and such a good kid.

The joy of creating something new and exciting transcends artforms. Be it music, writing, drawing or magically creating flora, there’s a distinct joy to creating things that’s really hard to describe. Disney movies have often been inspiring. I remember watching Tarzan as a kid and just loving the music, feeling like I wanted to put something into the world too. When I was a child I watched many Disney movies. The little mermaid, Tarzan, Lion King, Pocahontas, Snow White. I could keep going as I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a majority of Disney’s animated movies that came out before the year 2000. After that I kind of stopped watching them. I was 8 or 9 and it didn’t interest me as much anymore. I definitely wouldn’t go to the cinema to watch a Disney movie anymore and by the time the newer ones were readily available I was a teenager. The only “new” Disney movie I’ve seen is Frozen, and although that was a perfectly adequate movie, it wasn’t anything fantastic. Encanto is the first Disney movie I’ve seen in a long time that renewed that joyful feeling inside of me. So let’s talk about it today. It may not be anime, but I hope you’ll forgive me for skipping a week and talking about this western animated movie instead. This contains minor spoilers.

Part 1: The story

Encanto tells the story of Mirabel Madrigal, a young daughter of the Madrigal family. Their family had to escape from their old village a long time ago, when her grandfather was killed. A magical candle then appeared to save them, and every member of the family has gotten a gift since that day. Mirabel’s mom can heal with food, her aunt controls the weather (using the word control loosely here), her cousins and sisters have super strength, transformation, creating flowers, crazy good hearing and controlling animals. And her uncle Bruno, well, we don’t talk about Bruno. Mirabel didn’t get a gift when it was her time to get one, and it’s been weighing on her. Of course it has. When people’s powers start having a bit of trouble and the house they live in starts showing cracks it’s Mirabel’s time to figure out what the hell is going on. And the key to all of this is probably her uncle Bruno, the one they don’t talk about. His gift is that of visions. That’s a gift that rarely goes well.

Quality Entertainment.

Part 2: The characters

The characters in this show are Colombian. At the very least the Madrigal family is, I don’t want to make unnecessary broad assumptions. We focus solely on the family. There’s some other characters that get a line or two, but the movie doesn’t waste time on anyone outside of the main family. The three children of Abuela each get a little bit of screen time and are used for some jokes and funny moments. The focus lies on the grandchildren, Mirabel’s generation.

Luisa is the strong one. She can carry pretty much anything and does all of the hard physical labor in town. She lifts things, moves donkeys around and is even seen relocating an entire church at some point. Under the surface she has doubts though and is a human just like everyone else.

Dolores has super hearing. This is not the place to go into the details of all of these gifts but I’m willing to bet that having this gift in real life would drive you completely insane very quickly. Being able to hear everything around you all the time would suck. Dolores seems to be okay though.

Camilo can transform into other people and seems to be very laid-back and humorous. He even transforms into his father at some point and makes fun of him.

Antonio is the youngest kid. He gets his gift during this movie and is the movie’s way of showing us how the ceremony works. He’s a very nice kid who cares about Mirabel and shows this.

Isabella is perfect in every single way. She makes perfect flowers and never does anything wrong. She gets along poorly with Mirabel.

Mirabel is the main character. Without a gift but with a strong bond with the house itself, Casita, she is the one who has to be up to the task and save the family. And for this she needs her uncle Bruno. Bruno saw a vision a while ago and then vanished. We find out that he’s not actually really gone as the movie progresses and he becomes a focal point of the movie as well.

And last but not least is Abuela. She’s the matriarch of the family and the one who’s trying to save the family as well, but mainly does so by hiding the fact that things are going wrong.

I think overall the characters are well written, even the ones that only serve a small role seem to be well fleshed out. They all have their own lives and moods and behaviors and they really feel like family, albeit a somewhat dysfunctional one.

Part 3: The songs

The selling point of any Disney movie, be it old or new, is the music. Some of my favorite songs of all time come from Disney movies. Tarzan, Lion King, Hercules, Brother Bear and many more have created songs I could perfectly sing along to word for word. And this movie definitely adds songs to that list. The soundtrack is partially handled by Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose work I’ve talked about a little bit before (Hamilton mainly). He has a recognizable style and it’s great. “Surface Pressure”, “We don’t talk about Bruno”, “Dos Oruguitas” and “What else can I do?” are quickly becoming some of my favorite Disney songs. I’ve watched some RoomieOfficial videos where he talks about the songs as well and he seems to think they’re good too. I’m no musical expert, I just like the sound of certain songs or the message the lyrics have. That’s why so far “What else can I do?” is my favorite song. It’s a song about breaking the norm and creating what you want and not what you think other people want you to create. Be yourself and express yourself is such an important message to send. And many of the songs have nice messages. I’m less inclined to find meaning in Dos Oruguitas since I don’t speak the language, but I can tell you that it sounds absolutely beautiful.

Caught in the act.

Part 4: The finishing touches

Let’s quickly talk about some of the other things. The film is quite short, and could probably do with a little bit more room to breathe, but on the upside it also doesn’t waste any time. I’ve seen enough movies that feel dull at some point or another so it is also kind of nice to have a movie get right to the point.

The voice acting is great. I’m not very familiar with Colombian culture, but everything here looks very colorful and nice. The people seem so welcoming, so if it’s representative of Colombian culture it’s painting a very lovely picture.

Mirabel is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz who I primarily know from portraying Rosa Diaz in Brooklynn 99. It’s a very different role but she performs it amazingly and is very believable. I found all of the other voice acting to sound very natural as well.

And the animation, well, it’s a Disney movie. It looks amazing, it’s extremely detailed, there’s fun hidden stuff and like I mentioned earlier it’s very colorful.

My final thoughts are pretty obvious at this point. I had an absolute blast watching this movie and it convinced me to try and watch a few more western animated movies. I’ve had some recommendations thrown my way, so I best get on that soon. Overall I’d highly recommend you watch this movie and then play the soundtrack on repeat afterwards, like I’m doing. I’m listening to it as I’m writing this. Thanks for reading.

My favorite part of this song is that Mirabel supports Isabella as soon as she becomes a more normal person.
Exploring the genre: Sports Anime

February 22nd, 2022
I have to admit that I’ve struggled to write this post properly for a while now. I think this is at least my fifth draft. I don’t know why, it’s a topic I’m passionate about, but I just can’t get it written in a quality way. Perhaps this is the one. And if not, you’ll never see this.

What I want to do with you guys today is have a look at my 5 favorite sports anime. In doing so I want to find what makes each of these anime tick in an attempt to figure out the genre. I’m hoping to do this for other genres as well. Find the things that the good entries in the genre have in common. So let’s not waste any more time and dive right into the first show on the list.

Kuroko no basket

Look at our shadowy boi, so edgy early on in the story.

The first sports anime I ever watched was Kuroko no basket. With its first season airing in 2012 it was right at the perfect time. I started watching anime in 2010 and by 2012 I’d started watching some seasonal anime. I was also playing basketball weekly at the time, so it was a sport that interested me. I remember even one of my friends who wasn’t into anime at all was watching it. He’d only seen Hajime no Ippo (which probably would be on this list, if I’d watched it) and now this. And Kuroko no Basket did not disappoint. It follows the titular Kuroko who joins the Seiren high school basketball team. As a lesser known member of the generation of miracles, a group of six players who dominated the scene for years, he’s hoping to prove his worth with a new team. His counterpart and partner in crime is Kagami, an extremely talented player who wasn’t a part of the generation of miracles but quickly gets close to their level. The other members of the generation of miracles have each gone to their own teams and are now there to block the road to winning it all. It’s a pretty simple setup but it works wonders. The main draw of this show is the insane basketball match-ups. Everyone on each team is talented from the get go so it’s not a story in which you’re rooting for the underdog. Not in a classical sense. The generation of miracles are definitely set up to be the stronger players, but they always seem beatable. On top of that, the animation, especially in the final season, is pretty amazing and it helps sell the show for sure.

Haikyuu

They’re all such dorks and I love it!

Where Kuroko no basket was my first introduction to shounen sports anime, Haikyuu was the most polished attempt at it that I’ve seen to date. Following Hinata Shoyo who joins his dream team Karasuno, this story is far more of an underdog story. Hinata is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his idol, the little giant. A very talented and successful player who, just like Hinata, was short. Early Haikyuu feels a bit slow, maybe even too slow for my taste, but it does so to set up its characters and prepare you for the rest of the story. What Haikyuu does really well is make you root for the main cast. They each have their own story, their own talents and their own goals. None of the main players feel like a filler character and even some of the bench players have great story arcs. Kuroko definitely seemed to sideline some of the characters a bit more, but Haikyuu doesn’t do this at all. Unfortunately, not all of Haikyuu has been adapted into anime yet and the slow pace of adapting a little bit every so often is making it difficult to stay invested. What Haikyuu absolutely nails is the music and the hype. The opening themes are absolutely fantastic and they add to the hype. When they start playing during important moments in the show you can just feel yourself get excited. I found myself liking the characters in this show more as well. They’re more relatable.

Ace of Diamond

Sawamura is the main character but he’s useless for such a large part of the show that it’s almost embarrasing.

So far we’ve had good characters, good animation and good music as the main selling points for a good sports anime. Ace of Diamond is on this list for a few good reasons. Let’s dive into some of them immediately.

For starters, Ace of Diamond is long form. It has close to 200 episodes as of right now and the latest season was fairly recently so the odds of more coming in the future is definitely still there. Having a show run for a long time allows you to develop things much more slowly and have a lot more plot points running. It also allows for the team losing. This is very important since in Haikyuu and Kuroko no Basket the games ended up being fairly predictable. The fun was in how the main team would win, and not so much in if the main team would win. When it comes to Ace of Diamond, I find myself wondering if Seidou is going to win or lose almost every match. Tournaments end prematurely and dreams are crushed because a sudden rookie beats them, or there’s an injury. In the real world sports can be unpredictable and the favorite doesn’t always win. The same is true here and it adds a whole layer of depth to the show. The senpais actually graduate before the show ends and new players are added from the first years. It follows Sawamura and his classmates from year 1 and onward and there’s a real sense of progression.

The second thing that Ace of Diamond does wonderfully is have a large cast of returning teams. It’s cool seeing them face the team that beat them last time again, and maybe win this time. Or take revenge for said team because they got beaten before the rematch could happen. It makes for a much more complex story that has layers to it. Out of the three shows we’ve talked about so far it is definitely my favorite, but there’s two more entries coming so hold your horses.

Run with the wind

Run with the wind is a 2006 novel by the author Shion Miura. That’s right, it’s a novel. Not a light novel, web novel or manga, but a regular old fashion novel. Those still exist? Either way, this means that the feel of the show is a lot more mature than most shows I’ve watched. That could say a lot about what I generally watch, but let’s not go down that rabbit hole.

And so it begins.

Run with the Wind tells the story of Kurehara Kakeru, a former runner who starts his life at the college dormitory. There he finds out that the reason the place was so cheap is because everyone is automatically enlisted into the Hakone Ekiden team. This is a yearly relay event where people run large distances in teams. Haiji, the person leading this team, now has the extremely difficult job of persuading all of the other members living at the dormitory to actually join his team and then go on and complete the Hakone Ekiden.

The show is centered around running as a running theme (I’m so funny), but it definitely doesn’t focus on it too much. Run with the wind is a character study. Every person in this show has something going on in their life that they need to deal with. Nico-chan-senpai has been struggling with quitting smoking and getting on with his life. King has been searching for a job unsuccessfully, Prince needs to come out of his shell and stop reading manga the entire day without interacting with the world. And Haiji really wants to run the Hakone Ekiden with his friends, even though he has a leg injury. Watching this crew grow closer and closer as one by one they become interested in running, or at the very least in being part of the team and this all culminating in the beautifully complex race at the end of the season has to be one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen. It’s truly taken a well established genre and expanded on it in the best way. It knows how important characters are and builds them up from the ground. That’s why it’s on this list. But we’re not done yet.

Chihayafuru

A friend pointed out to me ages ago that this show has a lot of fanservice and it definitely does, just not in the traditional sense.

I discovered Chihayafuru purely by chance. I was watching an anime opening compilation on youtube, as one does, and the first opening played. The song is called Youthful by 99radioservice. They’ve since done the opening themes for other Chihayafuru seasons as well. Their songs have a very calming quality to them that made me interested in them and thus I ended up watching what would become one of my favorite anime of all time.

Chihayafuru is a show about Karuta, a Japanese game/sport in which you need to slap poetry cards that match with the poem being read out. It’s a competition to get the most cards at the end of the game. I don’t care about the sport at all. But I liked the character designs and soon found myself liking the characters too. Chihaya has some issues for sure. I’m still not convinced that the things she does to convince her schoolmates to join the Karuta club aren’t intimidation and bullying. She’s a very headstrong person with a lack of social awareness. But the music and the atmosphere just sell the show to me. I find this one the hardest to explain out of the shows listed, but I do know something resonates with me.

Conclusion

God, writing “conclusion” as a heading makes me feel like I’m writing a school essay but for the sake of keeping everything neat and tidy I’m going with it anyway. The point of these lists are to figure out the things that make a show within a genre. Let’s list the things that stood out from these shows down below:
- Good animation
- Team dynamics
- Well written characters
- Unpredictable matches
- Underdog story
I think that’s all of the important things. Funnily enough, I think Ace of Diamond has all these qualities except for good animation. Chihayafuru lacks none of these, now that I think about it. I don’t know if the animation is amazing by any stretch, but at the very least the art looks really good. So what does this mean for the sports genre?

Obviously it’s not a super simple mix of sugar and spice to get the perfect anime, but I do think it means something when several good shows have these characteristics in common. Either way, I hope this has at the very least served as a good list of sports anime to watch. Let me know if there’s shows or qualities I’ve missed out on in writing this post. Thank you for reading.

Until next time!
5 Shows to watch in Winter 2022

February 15th, 2022
This season of anime hasn’t impressed me too much. There are obvious winners in the sequels of Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer. Ousama Ranking is still ongoing and has earned a special place in my heart already. But when it comes to new shows airing this season I haven’t been too impressed. I debated on if I should make this post or not, which is why it’s so late. I decided to go over five shows that I’m enjoying after all, some of which are really good. Without wasting any more time, let’s get to it.
1. Akebi’s sailor uniform
Akebi has long dreamed of wearing the beautiful sailor uniform that her mom wore to school. Now that she’s been accepted into the prestigious Roubai Private Academy that dream has come true. There has however been a bit of a mix-up, and Akebi finds out that the school uniform has changed since her mom went to school there. Fortunately, the school has no problems with her wearing the sailor uniform anyway since it has been an approved school uniform in the past, so why would they decline it now. We follow Akebi and her classmates who are all definitely a little bit strange. Cloverworks is handling a lot of shows this season, but they’re definitely letting some of their talented staff work on this one since some of the frames look absolutely gorgeous. This would probably be a very forgettable show if it looked average but because it doesn’t it stands out a lot and I would recommend giving it a shot if you like slow slice of life shows.

I swear she looks so much like Marin from Dress-Up Darling. Regardless, really shows the artists talent working at Cloverworks. Makes you wonder what went wrong with some of their other IPs. Ahem, Promised Neverland.
1. My Dress-Up Darling
If there’s one show I expect most of you to be aware of already, it has to be dress-up darling. This show is also being handled by CloverWorks and similar to Akebi-chan looks very good. The story follows Hina-doll crafter Wakana Gojo as he gets roped into making cosplay outfits for his classmate Kitagawa Marin. He turns out to have a real knack for it, having so much experience on making doll clothes, and the two quickly start getting along. Marin is a very outgoing person whereas Gojo is quite reserved. The characters are fun, the animation is good and it’s just shaping up to be a very wholesome romance show. It kind of reminds me of Smile down the runway but so far I think this is the better of the two shows. If you enjoyed that anime, you might like this and if you’re already watching Dress-Up Darling you might want to check out Smile down the runway too.

I think we all feel the same right now, Marin.
1. Police in a pod (Hakozume)
Probably my least favorite show of the five listed here, but it did still make the top over some other shows I’m watching this season, so that has to count for something. Police in a pod is about a young police officer Kawaii who is about to quit the force when she gets a new coworker who’s also a woman. Maybe she doesn’t want to quit quite yet. The show takes one a few serious topics but also gets silly at times. It often feels like I’m watching a less good version of Uramichi-Oniisan. It’s similar in its comedic style but I feel like I’m not nearly as invested in the characters. It’s still an enjoyable watch most of the time, and I do like watching these women put some men in their place when it’s well deserved. If you liked Uramichi-Oniisan, check this show out as well.

This scene was so sadistic but so deserved, it kind of sold me on the show as a whole.
1. Sabikui Bisco
There’s a very funny clip of Gigguk watching the trailer for this show and being very excited to watch it, only to be horrified a second later when he unpauses the trailer and watches Milo use his mouth to take some sort of parasite from someone else’s mouth. So yeah, that kind of set the tone for me for this show, but it looked interesting enough so I decided to watch it after all. And I ended up being pleasantly surprised by it. The story follows Milo Nekoyanagi, a doctor who is curing people from rust caused by mushrooms. Except he soon learns from Akaboshi Bisco, a wanted man nicknamed the man-eater, that this isn’t true. Mushrooms actually help against the rusting. Bisco is hunting for a rust-eating mushroom that would help purify all rust. Milo decides to join him after their encounter in hopes of curing his sister who also suffers from the rust. This show has a very similar vibe to Dorehedoro in that it is weird, silly and extremely over the top. The scene from the trailer was still very weird though if you were wondering, context doesn’t make it much better. Either way, if you like over the top shows like this I’d highly recommend giving Sabikui Bisco a shot.

I think she does, just a hunch.
1. Slow Loop
To end this list on a rather slow note I have another slice of life show to recommend. Slow Loop tells the story of Hiyori, whose dad passed away years ago. Her dad used to love fishing and he passed this love down to Hiyori. One day Hiyori is fishing on the beach and she meets a girl called Koharu. Hiyori is nervous because her mother’s new husband and his daughter are moving in with them that day. Koharu is also nervous because she and her dad are moving in with his new wife. What a coincidence that they both have such a similar thing happening at the same time… wait a minute! So Koharu and Hiyori are no stepsisters and the two quickly bond over fishing. We met some of their other friends and it’s just a relaxing show. The show does talk about the newly formed family a decent amount and doesn’t gloss over it to get to the fishing, which I really appreciated. It makes the characters feel way more grounded than they otherwise would. Not an amazing show by any means but if you like slower slice of life shows this might be right up your alley.

What a bizarre coincidence, I wonder if the two events are related.

And that’s really all I have to say about this season. I’ve just finished Demon Slayer as of writing this and that’s still rolling around in my head with how amazing it was. Ousama Ranking is still the best thing currently airing and I’ve also been watching BLack Clover which is probably more fun than 4 out of 5 entries on this list. If we can take a detour to non-anime for a moment, The Legend of Vox Machina, an animation based on a D&D show by Critical role, is currently airing on Amazon Prime and it’s very good. As a fan I was kind of hesitant it would be way too pandering and a bit slow, but they really nailed the shift in medium. This does mean there’s been a lot of changes from the story I first consumed as a podcast, but that’s very much a good thing. Highly recommend it, the animation is done by studio Titmouse who is behind The Legend of Korra as well, so you know it looks good. And that’s all from me, thanks for reading and see you next season!
Black Clover is stupid

February 11th, 2022

I’ve been wanting to write about Black Clover for a while now. The shonen anime based on the manga by Yuki Tabata has finished already, although a sequel is very much possible seeing that the manga is still going in full swing. I’ve been reading the manga weekly for a very long time now, since not too long after it started publication. I’ve also tried watching the anime when it first came out, but like many others got turned off by the over the top voice acting for Asta. Asta is voiced by Gakuto Kajiwara. Kajiwara has done fantastic work as Shinra Kusakabe in Fire Force, Gobta in Tensura and Tadano in Komi-San. I didn’t even recognize his voice in Komi-San, but it’s very fitting to the character. Having said that, Asta was one of his first, if not his first big role. And I think it really shows in the first few episodes. Maybe it’s the lack of experience, maybe it’s the voice direction, maybe Asta was just supposed to be really annoying in the first few episodes, but it made it so I kind of lost interest. Early this year I decided to give the anime another shot, since the manga is very good right now. And my oh my has it not disappointed.
Let’s talk about it.

Mimosa Scary

For those unfamiliar with Black Clover, it tells the story of Asta, a highly motivated orphan boy who wants to be the Magic King one day. The Magic King is the leader of the Magic Knights and alongside the regular King is the most prominent figure in the Clover Kingdom. Unfortunately for Asta, he doesn’t have any magic. He’s just a peasant orphan boy with no talent. But that doesn’t stop Asta. What do you do when the universe and fate are conspiring against you? You work out. Then you work out some more. Then you get sad, dejected and work out some more. You cheer yourself up and work out even harder. Seriously man, you need to slow down. Your muscles have muscles of their own at this point. When it’s time for the grimoire ceremony, where hopefuls get their grimoire to use to cast magic, Asta is not chosen. Not only that, his brother and fellow hopeful Yuno gets the four-leaf clover grimoire, an extremely rare thing to happen. Down on his luck Asta runs into trouble and soon he gets picked by a completely black grimoire. It has a Black Clover on it and allows him to summon a sword that nullifies magic. Get it, Black Clover, like the name of the series? Ignoring the on the nose title drop, Asta and Yuno both apply to join the magic knights. Yuno is picked by half the squads and joins the prestigious Golden Dawn. Asta ends up joining the Black Bulls, the worst squad. And this is where things get interesting.

You see, Black Clover is stupid. It refuses to acknowledge any responsibility it might have towards improving on the shonen genre. It just sticks it’s heels in the sand and does the same old thing that shonen shows have done for ages now. And my word, does it do it perfectly. Black Clover isn’t reinventing the genre, it’s not making you think deeply about things, it’s not doing anything new. It’s just the good guys fighting the bad guys, or misunderstood guys. The Black Bull Captain’s motto is basically to surpass your limits right here and now. No logical power-ups, no boring training arcs. Just get good. To put into perspective how silly this show is, I want to talk about a scene I just watched the other day. This will contain some mild spoilers and reveal a Black Bull member that only comes into the story later. I’m assuming most of you reading this have seen Black Clover at this point but if you haven’t, just go watch it. Trust me, it’s very good.
Is all of that clear? Excellent, let’s talk about the Black Bull’s base.

During one of the bigger story arcs of Black Clover, where the souls of elves are reincarnated into several of the Magic Knight members, the gang find themselves all converging around the Black Bull’s Base. Here they find out, and in the case of Asta already knew, that there’s a sickly person in their base called Henry, who is also a part of the Black Bulls. Henry has a strange disease that makes him suck up the magic power of nearby people. He needs the power to survive and can’t turn it off. So he stayed in the depths of the base, sometimes taking a bit of magical energy from the other Black Bulls. He uses this power to turn the base into a giant mecha. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. He is the perfect support character. And just like that there are multiple Black Bulls that seem to be designed to be great utility to move the story forward. Charmy can replenish magic power with her food, Grey can turn materials into others to help the groups. Vanessa can basically change the flow of time and Finral is a fancy uber. It’s genius to make a cast like this but what makes Black Clover even better is that all these characters get their own arcs and are full-fledged members. They’re not just a bit of utility that’s there to use.

Basically what I want to say about Black Clover is that shooting your anti-magic main characters out of a giant mech that’s piloted by a guy who speaks at a rate of four words per hour to just headbutt the crap out of your enemies might be the most stupid thing I’ve watched in a very long time and I love it. As much as I love diving into deeply complicated shows that have important character motivations and deep meanings, very few things beat watching an all out brawl with characters that are just pure fun to watch. Black Clover does this perfectly. If you want a shonen to watch, Black Clover should be high on your list. Thanks for reading!
The Duality of Mushoku Tensei

January 25th, 2022

As is to be expected, this review contains some spoilers of both seasons of Mushoku Tensei. Avoid if you don’t want to be spoiled!

I wrote this post about Mushoku Tensei in March of last year, after the first season had ended. My thoughts were that it was a gorgeous looking show with fantastic animation and very promising world building. I also talked about how I do not agree with some of the behavior of the main character. Obviously I took into account that you’re not supposed to root for Rudeus at this point in the story, but I still found that it took away from how good the story was.

So now that almost a year has passed and we’ve had a second season of Mushoku Tensei, let’s revisit by far the most popular topic on this blog (I’m not exaggerating, I’ll upload something on a day and then that new post will get less views than the Mushoku Tensei one, you all love that topic don’t you?” So revisiting seemed like the right thing to do. And my opinion on the show has definitely shifted into a direction, although perhaps not as much as others, from what I’ve been seeing.

Rudeus is becoming a better person.

I really enjoyed season two of Mushoku Tensei. The story of Rudeus and Eris slowly growing closer as they face danger again and again is great to watch. The family slowly getting together is wholesome to watch and Rudeus grows by leaps and bounds this season. He starts facing his trauma head-on more and more until eventually he doesn’t seem to be shackled by it nearly as much. And then Eris breaks his heart and crushes his spirit all over again. The story takes our protagonists across several continents and they visit several strange people. They say goodbye to Ruijerd and finally say goodbye to each other. In one way or another.

We first find Paul and Norn as they were looking for the rest of the family as well. Paul and Rudeus get into a fight but eventually make up like the grown adults they both are. Rudeus then goes on his way to find Lilia and Aisha. This goes poorly initially but with a little help from the gods, quite literally, he ends up figuring things out and saving both of them. Now all that’s left is Zenith, Rudeus’ mom. She seems to be in a whole lot of trouble though, and I can’t wait to see how that is going to get resolved.

Yeah, I would have found this funny a decade ago but now it’s just rough to look at.

Now for my opinion on the more questionable parts of this show. The part of this post you’ve all been waiting for, I suppose. Rudeus is still problematic. I bet he even has an Aladdin costume in his parents’ attic. All mediocre references aside, he’s still a grown man in a child’s body at time sexually assaulting other minors, wearing strange women’s underwear on his face and all sorts of highly morally questionable things. Even the scene between him and Eris at the end of the season was questionable, but since it was at least consensual and the laws of their world are probably very different I’ll let it slide. Rudy has definitely grown as a person. His willingness to make up with Paul, his behavior around Eris and other women is better than in season one.

This is not a teenager, this is a grown man.

As someone who did not read the source material for this show, I still have hope that he ends up turning into a half decent person by the end of it. I have no issues rooting for a flawed person as long as they show progress. And Rudy definitely does so. I think he’ll be all right next season in finding Zenith.

And that’s really all I have to say about this show. I wasn’t even going to talk about it initially if not for the fact that it seems like people really like the topic. I think Mushoku Tensei is a very good show, crafted with much love and skill by talented creators. I think the characters are flawed and some of Rudeus’ behavior definitely crosses a line. I think the show could do a better job addressing this. But overal I think Mushoku Tensei is a very good show and if it keeps up this quality as the seasons go on, it might go down as a classic. Definitely one of the better Isekai to come out. Not as good as The Hesitant Hero though, you can read a new chapter of that here every Thursday. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!
Urusei Yatsura (1981)

January 18th, 2022

I won’t lie, Lum is the reason I wanted to watch this, that is a very striking character design.

I’m sure everyone who’s watched anime over the past decade and dove into the culture has seen some characters pop up from time to time that they don’t really recognize. One of these characters for me was Lum. Lum is a from a show called Urusei Yatsura (Those Annoying Aliens) that I had never heard of before. I’ve always liked her design for, ahem, obvious reasons, so recently I decided I would give Urusei Yatsura a watch. I got into anime in 2009 and admittedly I’ve seen very few shows that aired before then. So one of the things I wanted to do in 2022 is give some older shows a chance. I might come to regret that, since it’s been a rough start.

Urusei Yatsura tells the story of Moroboshi Ataru, a perverted young man who just wants to have his own harem. With no real personality traits other than being loud, obnoxious and constantly sexually harassing every woman in sight, it’s hard to like this character at all. Lum paints a more likable picture, although not by much. She’s an alien who’s challenged Ataru to a game of tag for the fate of the earth. Afterwards they promise to marry each other, although it’s clear from the start that Ataru isn’t planning to keep this promise.

I dropped this show after 10 episodes, which was already more than I could stomach. The music is grating to the ear and I’m not a fan of the voice cast either. The animation is fine, especially considering it’s a 40 year old show, so I’m not going to deduct any points for that. I didn’t manage to find a singular likable character. Most of the cast was aggressive, selfish and didn’t listen to any of the other characters. The only person I could somewhat relate to was Ataru’s dad, who just wanted to read his newspaper and be left alone.

Announcement for the 2022 adaptation. I will give it a watch but I don’t have high hopes.

It does make me curious about the aging of older media. As morals shift into the modern world, and things that used to be strange and even illegal become more acceptable, like gay marriage, trans rights, gender equality and many other rights, how poorly do some shows age? I’m in the camp that we can’t blame old media by modern standards, but that doesn’t mean it’s not cringe worthy to watch sometimes. Watching Urusei Yatsura feels like watching a let’s play from 10 years ago. Did I like it at the time when it first came out? Definitely. Do some of the jokes make me cringe when I watch it now? Absolutely. Some things aren’t meant to last through time and from my experience watching this show, it’s not an exception.

Now the reason I’m writing this is because right before I started watching this show, I heard it was getting a new adaptation in 2022. It will be produced by studio David Production, of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fame. I’m extremely curious how they will handle this show. The material is extremely dated, and some of the humor wouldn’t fly at all in 2022. And rightfully so, in some cases. Now anime isn’t always politically correct, which is fine, but I think the audience that enjoys this kind of content is shrinking quickly. I will definitely give this new version a watch, just to do a comparison. My hope for the show is that they take the core plot and make a more modern take on it with more likable characters. I’m not having high expectations, since I’d rather not get disappointed, but a version of this show where the characters are actually somewhat relatable could be very good. It could have a similar style of humor to shows like Arakawa under the Bridge, for example.

My question for you readers, have you seen Urusei Yatsura, and if so did you enjoy it or not? Are there any other old anime (from before 1990, for example) that you would recommend I watch? I’m open to suggestions. Let me know in the comments down below and thanks for reading!
Aquatope of the white sand

January 11th, 2022

When I watched the first episode of Aquatope it definitely piqued my interest enough to keep watching, but it wasn’t at the top of my list of shows that I was waiting for. It just seemed like a pleasant slice of life show with cute character designs. And that is definitely true, but there is more to this show. Let’s dive into the fishtank and explore why this show worked so well.

As usual, these reviews contain spoilers, and I plan to dive quite a bit into the story of this one, so be warned. If you’re just here to see if you should watch it, then yes, yes you should.

The opening really nails down the general atmosphere

The plot of Aquatope is fairly straightforward. Fuuka is a young idol and actress who gets overwhelmed by the job and the city life and flees to the countryside. There she meets Kukuru, who has been running her grandfathers’ aquarium; Gama Gama, for a while. They quickly become friends and Fuuka starts working at the aquarium too. As the season progresses we learn that the aquarium is about to go under because it’s old and no longer profitable. Of course Kukuru and her friends try everything they can to make the aquarium more lively. They think of events, spruce up the front of the building and even visit a local hospital with a small exhibit. Throughout all of this though, the decision to close Gama Gama permanently has already been made.

It’s a nickname, but we rarely hear her real name 🙂

Maybe one third into the story, Gama Gama is visited by Haebaru-san, an eager employee of Tingaara, a different aquarium. She’s heard stories of the legend that is Kukuru’s grandfather and is eager to learn, but ends up disappointed by having to learn from Kukuru, who is less than happy to help her out. They don’t get along at all. I thought this was just a small arc that never really properly got resolved, but it turns out it was a setup.

You see, what I didn’t realize, and I’ve mentioned this in another post as well, is that this show had 24 episodes, and not 12. So when Gama Gama actually shut down instead of magically got revitalized, I was very surprised by this. I also thought it was a great way to push the story forward. Things don’t always go as planned, and as much as we can dream, some good things must come to an end. Thus Fuuka leaves for Tokyo again, and Kukuru is very sad.

The two split up for a little while.

And then the second half of the season starts, and this is where I think the show shines.
Fuuka comes back very quickly, with less than an episode having passed. That was a bit strange, but with a runtime of 24 episodes I’ll cut them some slack. There also wasn’t much story to tell while the characters were separated. The cast then goes to work at Tingaara (I’ve seen different spellings of this aquarium, but this is the one I’m sticking with), where Haebaru-san is also still working. The second half focuses on several of the characters at their new workspace.

Do I think this show is perfect? No, I don’t think so. I’ve seen very few shows that I thought were perfect and even some of my favorite shows of all time (One Piece, Tensura, Kageki Shoujo) have their flaws. But it was very refreshing to watch a drama show where the big issue set up in the first half never actually got resolved. Life isn’t always fair, and Aquatope reflects that. Situations change, things are out of reach and eventually we all have to move on with our lives. And it also shows us that this doesn’t mean everything now sucks. After a rough patch, most of the people from Gama Gama end up in an equal or better place, and by the end of the story everyone is satisfied with their lot in life, having learned quite a lot along the way. I highly recommend you give this show a watch!

This was such a satisfying final episode, very well done!
My 10 favorite anime of 2021

January 4th, 2022

It’s that time of the year again where every single anime youtuber makes their review of the previous year. I used to look forward so much to Gigguk’s video each year, then forgetting about it because he’s always late, only to be pleasantly surprised when the video did show up. I figured I would compile a list for myself as well, in the hopes of having something to recommend to friends when they’re looking for something to watch. For this list I will only include anime that finished airing in 2021, so Ousama Ranking unfortunately won’t make this list, since it hasn’t finished yet. It would be number one otherwise. On the flipside, although Jujutsu Kaisen started airing in 2020, it finished in early 2021, so it does count for this list. I’m also not counting sequels, if you’ve seen the first season of most of the sequels this year, you’ve probably watched the later seasons too if you liked it. So no Yuru Camp, Dr. Stone, Tensura, Attack on Titan etc. With all of that out of the way, here are my ten favorite anime of 2021, in no particular order. As always, these reviews contain minor spoilers for each show, read at your own discretion.

Jujutsu Kaisen

The main cast of JJK

Easily one of the biggest shows to come out of late 2020, early 2021 and a good place to start as I think this is the most universally liked show on this list. A lot of the shows in here aren’t bombshell mainstream successes as much as Jujutsu Kaisen was, but more reasonably popular shows that I personally liked a lot. Jujutsu Kaisen follows Itadori Yuuji, who ends up mingling with the occult a bit more than he would have liked. Accidentally swallowing one of Sukuna’s fingers he becomes a host for the extremely powerful demon. In an effort to stay in control of his own body he ends up going to Jujutsu tech, where similarly skilled people are learning as well. Jujutsu Kaisen at its core is a well rounded shonen anime with fun characters and an interesting plot progression. It doesn’t pull any punches and is a joy to watch from start to finish. I have yet to read the manga, but if the quality keeps up like the first season of the anime did, it’ll surely be one to remember.

I’ve been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level

Azusa with some of the titular slimes

The title really says a lot for this one. Azusa died of overwork in our world, and after she died she was teleported to a quaint mountain home on the outskirts of a small village in a fantasy world. She then decides to spend the next 300 years just relaxing and killing a couple of slimes every day. Because she’s immortal, she ends up going a little bit overboard and levels up until she is level 99, the highest level anyone can be. When this is revealed at a local adventurers guild, challengers start slowly appearing.
This show is very calm and relaxing to watch and has a lot of heart. I felt like it had really fun characters and even the small story arcs were fun. There was next to no drama, no difficult moments, just some characters living their best lives. This show is perfect when you’re winding down from a long day at work.

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

Look at how happy and not dead inside they are

Imagine this, you’re in your late 20s/early 30s. You’re not quite in the place in life where you wanted to be, but you’re getting by. You have a job, but it’s not your dream job by any means. You’re single and your friends are a mis-matched group of coworkers. Your boss has no regard for his employees and often runs you ragged. If you’re like me and this sounds almost painfully familiar, then Uramichi Oniisan will definitely hit home. Uramichi works as a Children’s TV host. Think Steve from Blue’s Clues but as a gymnast. He does a good job as well, but his life is just a bundle of misery and pain. Uramichi just wants the world to leave him alone as he is miserable in peace. The anime follows his life and that of his coworkers as they get through their day to day. Uramichi Oniisan is painfully relatable, funny, introspective and even heartfelt at times. The characters are well written and with 13 episodes the show doesn’t overstay its welcome. And if all of that isn’t enough, the titular Uramichi is voiced by the one and only Hiroshi Kamiya (Trafalgar Law, Araragi Koyomi, Yato, Izaya etc.)

So I’m a spider, so what?

This promo image is as chaotic as the show can feel sometimes.

Kumo desu ga follows the story of Kumoko, who is teleported to a strange world as a spider monster. Unbeknownst to her, the rest of the class has also been teleported to this world, but they’ve done so as mainly humans and humanoid characters. Meanwhile Kumoko suffers underground as she fights the scary underbelly of the world in an attempt to survive and grow stronger. This anime didn’t really get me invested until later on in the story. Kumoko’s story is fun in a way, but it gets a bit repetitive. I found myself more interested in the humans and as the story focused more on them, I found myself enjoying it a lot more. When it really got me was later in the story, where Kumoko becomes more involved with the plot. There seems to be a lot going on in this show and it’s definitely made as an advertisement for the source material, which I believe is a web novel turned into a light novel.
This show does have some CG that I didn’t think looked good at all. Some of the fight scenes did look good, but there were some moments that made me chuckle at how silly things looked. All in all it was a very enjoyable show and it definitely earned its spot on this list.

Blue Period

Yatora is so focused

I recently talked about this show in one of my quick reviews, so there isn’t much I haven’t already said. Blue Period is a great drama show about Yatora, who decides very suddenly to become an art student. He has enough talent that with his drive he’s able to become better very quickly. The story focuses on his relationships with the people around him as much as on the progression of art itself. It has some very well written side characters and my favorite thing about this show is how his friends are super supportive. Early on they come across as a bunch of bros who just like to get drunk together, but when push comes to shove they immediately support Yatora’s efforts, as well as those of another in their friend group. This show hits right in the feelings when it wants to and as someone who thinks art is very important I can’t recommend it more highly.

Komi can’t communicate

I love her character design, her hairstyle is so unique

As fun and comedic as this show is, I can’t help but feel that Komi is painfully relatable at times. Komi-san is a beautiful girl who everyone wants to be close friends with, but Komi has a communication disorder that makes it near impossible to speak. Watching her order a coffee, talking to new classmates or interacting with strangers makes me feel both warm inside yet at the same time reflects a side of my own personality that I don’t like to be confronted with. It took me 2 or 3 episodes to get invested in this show, but once I did there was no going back. The supporting cast is mostly fun, although I think Yamai is definitely on a list somewhere as she is a psychopath. Tadano is great and one of my favorite main characters in a while. His and Komi’s interactions are adorable and I’m happy that this is getting a second season.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

The main cast of Mushoku Tensei

Rudeus Greyrat is a strange kid. Mainly because he has the mind of a thirty-something year old from earth. Reborn as the son of two adventurers in a fantasy world, he quickly finds out he is gifted with magic and becomes a very powerful kid. Unfortunately his fears of leaving the house still haunt him from his previous life. As the story continues, Rudeus and his cousin, Eris, are teleported away from their hometown to a strange land, and that is where the story really picks up.

To be perfectly honest with you, I did not like early Mushoku Tensei. The only reason I kept watching was because the animation and art were very good and the worldbuilding looked solid. As the show went on, I started being more interested, but it still had its issues. This show really raised the question about what your age is when you reincarnate. Rudeus is a child, sure, but the person inside his mind is not. He also does a lot of sexual assault, including sexual assault of minors which is worse depending on what age you view Rudeus to be. Outside of this show, I think discussing the mental strain of being teleported or reincarnated in a strange world is a very interesting topic that I hope to visit properly in a story I’m currently writing and publishing on this blog soon. But enough about that, Mushoku Tensei creates a beautifully flawed world where high stakes make you crave a new episode each week, despite its flaws.

The aquatope on white sand

This main cast is so unique in their personalities, I love it.

The first half of aquatope on the white sand plays out as a fairly generic slice of life drama. Fuuka is tired of the idol life and flees to a small town near the ocean. There she meets Kukuru, and starts to work at Tingaara, the local aquarium. It’s a bit rundown, but it’s got a lot of heart. Kukuru is the interim director and her grandfather is the one who made the aquarium big and successful. Alongside Kukuru and several of the other coworkers they try their best to save the aquarium from shutting down. And it’s a heartwarming story about how they come together and beat the odds that are stacked against them. The aquarium gets revitalized and they manage to save it. Except that’s not what happens.
Even though Kukuru tries her very best, the aquarium is eventually shut down permanently. Fuuka moves back to the big city and nothing gets resolved in the way they wanted it to.

But then things pick up again. Kukuru gets a new job in a different aquarium, and although there are a fair share of hardships, it really shows that even though life doesn’t always go the way you planned it to go, that doesn’t mean you can’t rebound and find a new path. I loved the realistic take on a situation like this as opposed to the fairy tale success story where everything gets perfectly resolved. Life isn’t always fair, and aquatope acknowledges that. People’s paths converge and go their separate ways again, then sometimes they come back again. It’s a flawed story with flawed characters, but it feels extremely real and that is why it got me hooked completely.

Kageki Shoujo!

Kaoru (top left) is easily my favorite character of this show!

Watanaba Sarasa is a girl who likes to dream big. She wants to be on the center stage of the Takarazuka revue, a famous all-women theater. So she applies to, and gets into the prestigious Kouka Kageki high school. Alongside Sarasa is Narata Ai, a former idol with a troubled background. Together they grow as people and actresses as they go through the grueling lessons at Kouka and make friends along the way. That description does it some justice, but where this show shines is in its portrayal of the characters mental health problems. These can range from very serious topics to more melancholic things. The show takes its time to properly explore this themes which makes it brutally honest when you watch it. If you struggle watching people deal with serious issues then this might not be the show for you, but I personally enjoyed every single second of it, and even though I’m not putting this list of 10 shows in order, this one would definitely be in the top 3, if not number 1.

Horimiya

I was not a fan of how much more generic Izumi looked in the second half of this show

And last, but certainly not least, is Horimiya. I hadn’t heard of Horimiya at all before this anime aired, but apparently the manga is one of the most highly rated manga out there, and for good reason it seems. I will admit that the premise for this show is kind of dumb, but it’s not what keeps the plot going to it’s not an issue.
Kyouko is a model student at school but she has a deep dark secret. At home she is, wait for it, very responsible and does the chores. That’s it, that’s her secret. If you think that’s underwhelming then we’re in agreement. At least Izumi has tattoos and piercings to hide, which are very much frowned upon. They come across each other outside of school and slowly become friends because they know each other’s secrets. Again, that’s Kyouko doing the chores at home. The premise is so silly, but it doesn’t take away from the story at all. I think a lot of it is summaries overselling how much it does for the story. This is a very character driven romance story and in my opinion one of the better written high school romance shows. I’d put it up there with the likes of Toradora. The art is nice, the music feels nostalgic and the characters are all likable in their own way. It makes sense that the manga is very popular and I recommend giving the show a watch as well.

And that’s my list. 10 shows I watched in 2021 that I recommend. 2021 saw a ton of sequels, like I mentioned before, and I watched a lot of those while skimping out on new shows. Please, do recommend some shows I’ve missed last year. I want to go back and watch some of them this year, if I find the time. There’s a lot of good anime coming up this year too, and I’ve just started watching Urusei Yatsura, which is a very old anime that’s getting a new adaptation this year. I’m mainly watching it for Lum, the main girl, because I’ve seen her a lot throughout the years in art and amvs, so it’s gotten me curious. And it’s a nice change of pace to watch something old and dated.

I hope this list helps you pick out some shows you might have missed and please drop a like if you found it helpful. Thanks for reading.
Quick Reviews Fall 2021: Blue Period, The Faraway Paladin, Taisho Otome Fairytale

December 23rd, 2021

We’re reaching the end of 2021 and it’s been a banger of a year for anime. I was talking on discord the other day and said that Ousama Ranking was the best anime to come out of 2021. Someone then pointed out to me that Jujutsu Kaisen was this year and I had to rethink my comments a little. Technically it aired last year and this year, so it just depends if you count a show in the year it started or ended. But that was all the way back in January. It’s December now and in about a week it’ll be 2022. I plan to look at some shows in detail over the next few weeks, but for now let’s take a look at three solid shows that aired this season that I don’t have a ton to say about.

Blue Period

The main cast of Blue Period

I had no expectations going into this show, but I do like a good drama show so I wasn’t going to skip it. Blue Period surprised me though. It had very well rounded characters and didn’t shy away from more progressive issues like gender identity. I consider myself very progressive (I haven’t always, but we grow up and learn I suppose), and I think it’s good that rigid gender norms are being put into question. At the end of the day we all got one shot at life, and it wouldn’t be right if we judged people for wanting to feel comfortable in their own skin. The main focus of the story is of course Yaguchi realizing he wants to become an artist. I think art is something extremely satisfying so whenever Yaguchi gets excited I feel like I share in that feeling. My favorite thing about this anime, without a doubt, is the fact that his friends are so supportive of him. They’re all introduced as a bunch of “bro’s” but as soon as Yaguchi says he wants to be an artist and completely deviates from where he was headed, his friends support him 100%. That’s great to see and made me tear up a bit. Highly recommend this show and I’m considering picking up the manga, assuming I can buy some translated volumes. Send help, I’m one step away from hoarding manga.

The Faraway Paladin

Will and his patron

I like this show, I do, but I have a question for it that I can’t seem to figure out the answer to.
Why the heck is this an Isekai? At some point I even forgot that it was an Isekai, but it is. Perhaps it will become clear later in the story, as the anime hasn’t ended yet with a few episodes still left, and I haven’t read the source material. But there seems to be no good reason for it to be an Isekai, Will could have just as well been a normal kid who grew up with three undead caretakers.

Putting that question aside for later, The Faraway Paladin follows a young boy who lives with his undead caretakers, and eventually sets out as a paladin to go do good in the world. I think the mystery of what is going on in the ruined city they live in, as well as the backstory of the three undead, Mary, Blood and Gus, is by far the most interesting part of this show. After that is resolved I feel like it trails a little bit. That could be because it’s a middle part in a larger story, or just because it peaks early. Either way, it’s a well crafted fantasy world with interesting characters and mechanics that is well worth your time.

Taisho Otome Fairytale

Yuzu and Tamahiko

There isn’t a lot I have to say about this show, so I won’t. The story follows the heir of a rich family, Tamahiko, who is sent off to the countryside to live in the family’s vacation home after his mother dies in an accident and he loses the use of his dominant hand. His father then buys a bride for him to live with, so that he’ll leave the rest of the family alone. The story follows Yuzu and Tamahiko as they slowly fall for each other and she helps him recover from his depression. Yuzu is adorable and the side characters in this show are a lot of fun. If you like slice of life, fairly relaxing drama shows, this one is definitely worth a watch.
Blue Period blew me away

December 14th, 2021

Obvious spoiler warning for the Blue Period anime.

Blue Period will probably not end up being my number 1 anime of the fall 2021 season. I’m not even positive it will be in the top 3. But before I get completely distracted, I do want to talk about it a little bit. Not so much a proper review, but just a good old-fashioned rant about something I really enjoyed.

Because Blue Period blew my mind. I didn’t expect to enjoy this anime half as much as I did, but as someone who values art highly, watching shows like this always makes me feel a sense of pride. It’s as if it’s reaffirming that what I’m doing is something good. Writing is a very different art from from painting, of course, but it’s still art. Pouring your thoughts and emotions and ideas into a project for others to see is the second best feeling there is. The best feeling is when other people then turn around and see what you meant. As I’m growing older, I’m gaining more understanding for literature, even though I initially didn’t like it much. I think an issue with literature is that not every teacher is good, or willing, at explaining that it’s an extremely subjective course. My latest literature teacher was this over enthusiastic French man who only spoke French and English, no Dutch, but he would basically let you derive whatever meaning you wanted from the books we read, as long as you could defend it. And I aced his course. Other years I struggled so much, but once I realized that it’s all subjective I started to excel.

But enough about that, I want to gush a little bit more about what I liked. When Yaguchi cried tears of joy when Yotasuke acknowledged his skills I cried with him. When Yaguchi wasn’t super confident that he was even fully through it made me laugh because I could understand where he was coming from. I absolutely adore his friend group who were made out to be these borderline delinquents at the start of the show but turned out to be the best bros out there. His parents, his teacher, his senpai, everyone showed how proud they were. And that rush of inspiration he got during the exam, the stress he felt, it all felt so real.

And I haven’t even talked about his friend Ryuji/Yuka (the show uses both names regularly, so I’m mentioning both here) and their story arc. Seeing a character like that in an anime is fantastic. Japan isn’t exactly known for being particularly progressive on this issue, so I found it a breath of fresh air to have a character like that in the show that wasn’t just there score points, but felt like a solid part of the narrative.

If I want to give my final thoughts on this show, assuming I won’t revisit it in the future, then it’s as follows. Blue Period is a very well written drama show with realistic characters and a believable storyline. It doesn’t avoid any important issues but faces them head-on. I don’t believe I’m speaking out of turn when I say that this anime should appeal to most people who consider themselves an artist, and to many who don’t as well. It made me laugh and cry, which not every anime manages to pull off, and it is a show I don’t think I’ll forget anytime soon.