#I like it... Mostly. Well�� I like Atsushi‚ and I like Atsushi screentime.

[sskk-manifesto]

(*・ω・*)b♪

[iwatchanime30]

Never EVER I am considering the toxic yaoi/yuri shippers to be a part of the lgbt community. LGBT community, which I have seen in general are very fun loving and are a mature community. Sometimes, in times of some issues I shared with them before, they have actually given me advice on how to overcome a particular situation, they are a really a great community of amazing, strong and down-right mature and cool people. They are brave for withstanding their ideals and all in all are a community of amazing people.

But you know what ISN'T great?

Weird yaoi/yuri shippers.

I don't even know at this point what to think about them. Even if they see two male or female characters they will on to shipping the two of them saying shit like "so gay" and all that. AND yaoi/yuri ships always get double standards. Take akuhigu and shin soukoku. If you go to the shipping website for akuhigu, it will most likely be called a toxic ship because Akutagawa slapped Higuchi once. In the same manner, when Akutagawa has shown explicit distaste in Atsushi, and has cut of his leg, tried to MURDER him countless times, there is hardly any criticism for that ship! You know why? Because they are always in said to be gay and in a "romantic relationship." People have no problem in forgetting that shit and writing cringy fetish fanfiction/making people believe in which Atsushi is a submissive pussy lil bitch and Akutagawa is a yandere rapist. And what's worse? If Atsushi and Akutagawa were opposite genders, this would be the most hated ship in the fandom. Let's take another example. Sasusaku . Ah yes. good old times. If Sakura was a BOY or if Sasuke was a GIRL, people would have no fucking problem with the ship being canon, it would most likely be positively memed around and would be called the best ship. People have legit said this to me: "Well if both Sasuke and Sakura were females, then I'd ship it." Like WHAT? Take Izuocha. If Ochaco and Izuku were the same gender again, this would probably be the most wholesome gay ship to ever exist! But the amount of criticism for Izuocha in exhausting and it's been called "puppy love" on instances. But if it was gay, there'd be no problem! Take todomomo, people always complain like "nO this isn't canon they hardly have any screentime!!!" But mfs would start shipping it if they were "gay" or som shit. Akuhigu's criticism would practically be non-existent if they were both the same gender. Yaoi/Yuri get irritated if they see any straight or hetero ship and start saying stuff like: "but aren't they gay tho." "you guys must be crazy to ship this shit." "y'all need to learn friendships." "gayest of besties." or "nah more like mean bisexual or meaner lesbian." Go to the itakugi or yutamaki pages. Nobamaki or Itafushi shippers get so irritated that they just can't stand the sight of seeing people not shipping yaoi/yuri. They have legit said that "fr, people shipping yutamaki should choke on a log." like can't you leave the hetero shippers be? I ALSO ship m/m and f/f ships like YmiHisu and Uenomoya x Mafuyu, Victuuri etc. Not tryna brag, but atleast my homo-ships make SENSE considering the storyline and the characters. Now, I've ALSO seen aggressive hetero-shippers like erehisu shippers or narusaku shippers. I mean NaruSakus have calmed down a bit, they ain't as aggressiveas they were, but they've still shitted a alot. But erehisu shippers are just the worst. I mean y'all gotta stop harassing eremikas for no reason and stop spreading false shit on the internet.

So kindly stop with the toxic shipping. Shipping is for fun not for bullshitting and harrasing people.

Edit: Okay so I noticed a lot of people are getting the wrong idea of what I said so let me clear something up:

1)About yaoi/yuri wording. I am so incredibly sorry about that. I wasn't sure about wording and I typed some stupid shit. I really don't know how to apologize about that I am REALLY SORRY. (I don't fetishize I promise! I mostly write angsts with happy ending stories,)

2)This blog wasn't meant to offend any homo-ships out there! I am just saying that double standards are not cool. I mean, consider an example of itakugi or yutamaki, if you go to that related media which shows them to be romantic, people will start typing things like, "nah brotp" like I don't really ship anyone in jjk tbh. So, when a place is there to talk about a romantic ship, some people suddenly jump of the bandwagon and start telling stuff like this (mentioned above.)

[kihocrystal]

Fall 2016 - Final Impressions

It’s a little after New Year’s, but here’s what I thought of the animes that I finished this past anime season! There’s 12 reviews here, which you can find under the cut! All of them are listed in alphabetical order for your convenience~

Ajin Season 2 - 8.5 / 10 (B+) YMMV on whether this season was weaker than S1, but this is still a very good continuation (& conclusion???) to this series~

animation: Yup, this show is still CGI animated (by Polygon Pictures), which is the thing that tends to drive people away from this show the most. I still don’t mind it, because it’s actually really good for anime CGI! Character expressions and models are still good, and the action (despite the low frame rate) also isn’t bad either! There’s good use of dark lighting and muted colors as well.

characters: The cast (on both sides of the conflict) are good this season as well. Kei and Tosaki team up this season, which allowed for interesting character interactions and situations. Satou is still crazy as ever and doing crazy shit (even when his goonies start defecting from him), making him one of the best (if not *the* best) anime villain in 2016. His attitude of treating countless killing like a game makes him very fun to watch. Poor Kaito got ignored for most of the season again, but at least he swoops in to save Kei in ep. 11(?). Izumi and Tosaki got some development this season (mostly for their relationship + Izumi’s backstory), including a mini-arc in the middle of the season. Even though said arc was debatably filler-ish story-wise, it did jumpstart a change in their relationship, which was good to see.

story: This season picked up where the last season left off, and quickly leads into Tosaki and Kei’s teams working together to put a stop to Satou’s schemes. The initial episodes had a lot of training segments for the new team, but outside of that, the plot progressed like a good thriller should. There were several tense moments (even when the hero team would watch things unfold on their TV) that were entertaining to watch unfold (especially when the hero team finally put their plan into action and *still* weren’t a match for Satou). By the end, though, it was good to see them finally take him down (along w/ Satou being unfazed even when his own men leave him). The finale has a good sense of conclusion to it, but is a bit more open-ended than I was expecting (which probably wasn’t a good idea, since this ending is anime original to begin with) :/  

This season was a good conclusion to a really good series, that’s one of 2016’s many highlights. If you like a good thriller (and can accept the CGI animation), you shouldn’t miss this one!

Bungou Stray Dogs S2 - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

I enjoyed this season more than season one! It’s a really fun & well-animated action spectacle!

animation: BONES did a great job with the visuals again this season (which is par for the course for them)! The realism-leaning art-style works well here again (along with its muted / darker color palette), and it still makes good use of comedic animation and deformed expressions (which utilizes thicker outlines as well). The animation itself is also very good, as action scenes have (for the most part) very good fluidity and special effects! The action and fights deliver quite well, and is one of this show’s strongest aspects.

characters: The main cast is still fun to watch, and all show off their badass qualities in one way or another! While not every character got much development this season, there were some notables that did, including Dazai, Atsushi, and even Akutagawa (to an extent)! The first four episodes gave a spotlight on Dazai’s past with the Port Mafia, plus had its own cool lead (Oda) that had a complete arc of his own. The other episodes gave the supporting cast some time to shine and show off their badassery too (from all three factions). Seeing all the different superpowers that come into play (including the new ones from the Western author-inspired Guild) was cool to see as well!

story: The first four episodes feature a prequel arc involving Dazai and two new characters (Oda and Ango), then the last eight episodes pick up where season one left off. The prequel had a notably darker feel to it, and also had a lot of dramatic weight to it. It definitely has a case towards being the best segment of the entire series! The remainder of the season is no slouch either; it may not be as heavy or dramatic (even though it does have its darker moments), but it has great action and shows off its large cast well. The final two episodes had a great climax too, as Atsushi and Akutagawa teamed up to beat the Guild’s leader (Fitzgerald) in an explosive fight, and even saw Kyouka FINALLY get her happiness in the end!

I had a really good time with this season, which was a notable improvement over its first! If you like action anime or are interested in its literature-inspired themes / characters, you should check this one out!

Flip Flappers - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

this is a really fun and crazy action magical-girl-esque show! Think magical girls meets FLCL :D

animation: Studio 3Hz is a relatively new studio, but they did a great job with the visuals! Everything looks bright and colorful, and they brought a lot of crazy worlds to life within Pure Illusion (snow world, horror film-esque boarding school, Mad Max-esque world, you name it!). The character’s large eyes and jagged-looking hair takes a little getting used to, but it comes out looking great anyway thanks to the awesome animation! Which, yeah, the animation is pretty great! Not every episode is a fluid masterpiece, but the action scenes overall have very fluid movements and smears! However, there were some fanservice-y moments that got kinda uncomfortable at times (I’m looking at you, robot episode…). Other than that, this show definitely had the most flashy and crazy visuals and animation out of any show this season~

characters: The main cast was very quirky, to put it simply! Cocona was the “straight-face” during all the chaotic adventures, and Papika was full of optimism and enjoyed the whole ride! I liked their relationship and how it grew over time, even though it was queerbait-y at times. I also liked Yayaka, and how she stayed by Cocona, even when she was working for the enemy. The other members of both factions didn’t really get much screen time (outside of the two twins Yayaka worked with), and the later-revealed Nyunyu, despite being touted as the Third Child, didn’t do much either. Dr. Salt (and Mimi later on) get some good backstory though, and play big roles in the climax. The final arc in general gives more depth to several characters (including the main duo), turning what we knew about them on its head!

story: The main premise starts out as the main duo going from world to world within the mysterious Pure Illusion dimension, in order to collect amorphous fragments. The first half of the show is mostly episodic, as each episode features a different creative setting that they must travel to (and most likely fight against Yayaka & the enemy faction). These episodes range from action spectacles to more grounded & atmospheric (it’s kinda like Alice in Wonderland!) The show’s second half takes a notably different approach (at least partially explained by a change in lead writer), as it becomes more story-driven with a big focus on exploring several main character’s backstories (& them coming to a head in the climax). Cocona’s mother reappears and acts as the villain in this final act, so the conflict feels more personal to them. I really liked seeing all the secrets being revealed, and watching the final battle play out! The final episode had some callbacks to the first episode, and helped brings things full circle, which was nice!

This was definitely one’s of the season’s best action and visually-impressive shows! If you like magical girl shows, or like “trippy” anime like FLCL or Space Dandy, you should check this out!

Fune wo Amu - 8.5 - 9.0 / 10 (A-)

A really good laid-back slice-of-life drama about making a dictionary! The premise *sounds* boring, but it made for one of the season’s best shows~

animation: ZEXCS hasn’t been around much lately, but they did a nice job here with the visuals! The art-style leans more towards realism, but leaves out enough details to keep that “anime” look. The backgrounds look nice as well, and the color palette as a whole makes good use of muted colors (it definitely gets the show’s overall feeling of realism across!). The animation is fine as well, though it’ll break out a nice & fluid walking sequence at times too (even if it’s a little clunky). The mid-episode sections involving the dictionary mascots were bright and colorful, and used thick lines (making it very distinct from the main show). The visual style overall is a nice complement to what’s happening in the story (and helps it be beautiful at times too).

characters: The main cast is not that large, but they’re all fun and laid-back; not to mention they’re ADULTS, which is great to see in anime. Majime is a good lead, as he starts out kinda socially-awkward but his passion for words breaks through (& he becomes more confldent over time too!). My favorite character was definitely Nishioka; I really liked his outgoing & suave personality who helped get things done in his own way (+ didn’t take shit from third party contributors either!). His VA performance by Hiroshi Kamiya also was a big contributing factor. The other co-workers were enjoyable as well (to the point where Matsumoto’s eventual death was an emotional moment ;~; ), and had a good group dynamic. Even though the main two significant others (Kaguya and Miyoshi) didn’t have tons of screentime, their personalities & how well they bounced off of their partners made up for it. Even the later addition of Midori to the team was good, as she learned to appreciate dictionary-making as well.  

story: The premise of following a group of people making a dictionary sounds kinda boring on paper (heh heh), but the execution more than makes up for it. The atmosphere and story-progression are very down-to-earth, and it does a good job showing how interesting words and definitions can be. The character arcs also add intrigue to the show, including Majime falling in love with Kaguya and Nishioka being transferred out of the dictionary department (that particular arc added a lot of depth to Nishioka’s character & was a great watch!). The mid-episode chibi-dictionary segments have little trivia bits about dictionaries, but they’re not that memorable otherwise. There’s a big time skip slightly later than halfway through the series; it takes a little time for the viewer to adjust, but it goes back to business as usual in no time. The final episodes show the last steps of finishing the titular dictionary, ending w/ a finale episode that wraps up everything really well in a poetic (& even kinda emotional) way.

This show is definitely underrated, and is one of the season’s best shows for sure! If you like laid-back slice-of-life shows (even if it’s about an unusual subject matter), then check this one out for sure!

Haikyuu: Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa - 9 / 10 (A)

(Note: this review is written in a different style from the others; I was initially gonna use this style for all my reviews like in past seasons, but I lost my notes for three reviews I wrote afterwards due to computer issues. I ended up switching to a different style when rewriting them, and it just kinda stuck for the others...)

Really good third season! it focused on just one match, but it was a big one!

animation:

Production I.G. hits it out of the park, as always

INCREDIBLY FLUID & DYNAMIC movements (spikes, quick movements, jumps, etc.)

gotta love those action lines & varying thicknesses of the outlines :D

not to mention the 3D camera in the final spike of the match!

just… an incredible action spectacle! a feast for the eyes~

characters:

this whole season is just seeing the team come together & show off their skills!

each character had their own moment of badassery along the way :’)

the star of the season (or… MVP, if you will :P) was *definitely* Tsukishima!

he finally got emotionally involved in his volleyball! (that fist pump ;~; )

plus he was a great strategist & was a huge asset to helping Karasuno win!

we also got introduced to Shiratorizawa’s players in detail!

each guy got a decent amount of backstory… just not a lot

the one who got the most focus (besides Ushijima) was definitely Tendou!

he was very much a “joker” character; always wanting to mess w/ his opponents

shout-out to coach Ukai, whose seiyuu passed away before the show started airing ;~;7

his old seiyuu’s final line was a great line to go off on ;A;

story:

the entire season was dedicated to just one final match!

it created good suspense too, just like a real sporting match!

especially since it came down to a deuce in the final set (out of FIVE)!

there was a lot of back-and-forth action too (i.e. quick changes in momentum)

while the story was simple, it had great execution and attention to detail!

the final moment when Karasuno won the match was great as well!

it has an open ending as well (since they still gotta go to nationals! plus Kageyama got a training camp invite!)

overall, this was a great continuation that kept up what this show is so good at delivering~

Hibike Euphonium 2 - 9 / 10 (A) a great conclusion to a really good show about a high school band!

animation: Kyoto Animation does a stellar job yet again! Muted color palette, shiny highlights & lighting (like they’re glowing!), great fluidity in the animation (like w/ walking, running, concert scenes), effective character animation (i.e. small movements). Character art-style is a good mix of moe and realistic characteristics. Just a great looking show all around!

characters: The group dynamic of the cast (i.e. the band itself) remains strong, but there were some characters that got good development this season! The first half had an arc involving Mizore and Nozomi, whom we didn’t really know previously! The second half was more centered around Asuka, who had a great character arc! Even Kumiko had good development in this half of the show (since she was dealing w/ the situation involving her sister Mamiko as well)! It was great seeing her take action after seeing her in an observer role for most of the show prior. We also got some insight into Taki-sensei’s past, which led to a small character arc for Reina as well (even though it still involves a relationship w/ a massive age difference :T).

story: This season covers the rest of the school year right from where S1 left off. Most of the plot is related to the previously mentioned character arcs, which were all executed wonderfully. Even though the drama isn’t focused as much on the band’s competition progression / preparation this time around, we do still get to see them compete on the big stage and even reach their goal of the Nationals! The finale also brings the show to a fitting conclusion, as the third-years graduate and the band starts anew. It’s nice to see a definitive ending in an anime~

I probably enjoyed this season even more than the last one, and it’s definitely one of the best shows of this season. If you like character dramas (and/or shows about orchestral bands), you should definitely check this out!

Magical Girl Raising Project - 7.0 / 10 ( C ) unfortunately, this was one of this season’s lowlights… it’s basically a bad madoka derivative :/

animation: This is one aspect of the show that I liked (done by Studio Lerche). The art-style is very rounded and cutesy (which is fitting for a magical girl show). What is *not* fitting is how much they try to pull off “sexy” character design elements, like skimpy outfits and big boobs / clevage; it just really clashes w/ the “moe” art-style. The character designs themselves have a mix of different tropes (witch / cowgirl / dog / goth lolita / etc.) too. Animation-wise, it was a mostly standard effort (not bad, but not good either). The fight scenes could’ve used more fluidity as well. Shout-out to the ending theme by Nano, whose one of my fav anisong artists!

characters: Just like the character designs, the group of personalities here is also a mix of different tropes that are played mostly straight. There were characters I really liked personality-wise (like Top Speed, La Pucelle, and Hardgore Alice), but there were also characters I really hated (I DISLIKED THE ANGELS FROM THE MOMENT THEY FIRST SHOWED UP; THEY’RE SO MEAN-SPIRITED!!!). Mostly though, I felt indifferent about a lot of them, which made their death scenes have little to no impact on me. Their backstories mostly tend to be shown in the same episode that they kicked the bucket, which also didn’t help matters. Said backstories in question also seemed to use every tragic backstory trope in the book, which just kinda made things ridiculous. Also, both Calamity Mary and Cranberry were built up as legitimate threats over the show’s run, but were defeated rather anti-climatically (especially the latter), which was kinda lame.

story: The premise is basically Battle Royale meets magical girls, as the cast is forced to kill each other to survive. At least, that’s how it starts, but then certain characters (like Swim Swim and Calamity Mary) start killing others just for kicks. I actually didn’t mind the first four episodes too much (outside of the mean-spirited antics of Ruler’s gang): the setup wasn’t bad and the death scenes of Ruler and Nemurin were executed (*ba dum tsh*) in a somewhat-interesting way. However, after that point the gore and EDGE goes into full force, as fight scenes and deaths are shown in such a dark (& even quick) manner that they don’t have the impact that they should have. (The lone exception to this is Hardgore Alice’s death scene, and not by much. Heck, I even fist-pumped when the two angels died...) They even tack on some purely-for-shock-value stuff at the end of some of these deaths (like Sister Nana’s piss trail after her hanging, or the reveal that Top Speed was pregnant after her death.) Lastly, the final episode makes the whole ordeal feel not worth it in the end, since Fav gets what he wants out of the killing game in the end (even though he himself gets killed), and it feels like the survivors are just worse off in the end.

This show joins Daybreak Illusion in the dubious “bad madoka ripoff club.” It’s hard to say which one of the two I dislike more, since they both are bad in different ways. Either way, this show is one that I would probably advise that you skip.

Occultic;Nine - 7.5 / 10 (C+)

An interesting story that is ultimately weighed down by its ridiculously fast pacing…

animation: A-1 Pictures made this show look quite good (and interesting)! The art-style makes good used of painted background, muted colors, dynamic lighting + shadows, and fuzzy / jagged outlines on characters! Certain characters (like the murdering minor) are drawn more realistically at times too. The visual direction had some interesting angles from time to time (but also made some scenes rotated for no real reason). Also, WHY ARE RYO-TAS’s BOOBS SO BIG??? THEY’RE IMPOSSIBLE BOOBS

characters: The main cast has a good mix of personalities; I liked seeing the characters bounce off each other. Shun in particular had a fun personality (which owes a lot to his VA’s performance), and I liked Asuna’s later introduction (since she was an alive detective who could talk with the dead to an extent). Gamon (and a couple others, like Sarai) could get kinda annoying at times, since he tends to say a lot without much pause. However, they don’t get a ton of development. Gamon at least gets some backstory involving his dad, and Aria has backstory involving his dead brother (said story is kinda messed up too). I also liked how Ryo-tas was revealed to have Aveline possessing her from time to time (which made her suspicious leading up to it).

story: There’s a lot going on in this supernatural sci-fi mystery; a bunch of mysterious events (including murders and a mass drowning) lead a group of teens to uncover a big conspiracy and put a stop to it. The story is definitely hard to follow at times, since they throw lots of info at you (not to mention a lot of technobabble). It gets more interesting once the twist at the end of episode 6 occurs (as most of the main cast is revealed to be dead / ghosts), along with more reveals. There’s a lot of interesting ideas here (not to mention the story has a definitive ending), but it’s really held back by how *fast* the pacing is. Episode 1 is infamous in how fast it goes (seemingly sped-up dialogue, little pauses in-between dialogue & other scenes, etc.), but even though it gets better after that, it’s still a big issue. I actually started adjusting the playback speed to 0.9x after seeing someone else suggest that on r/anime. The final episode is kinda bittersweet, as the organization is defeated and Gamon gets to see his dad again, but Gamon seems to still be stuck in the spirit realm (and the epilogue I felt was too short).

As a fan of the Sci;Adv series, I had a good time with this one, even though it’s far from the best show this season. If you’re a fan of other shows in that series (like Steins;Gate or Robotics;Notes), you’ll find something to like here. Just remember to adjust the playback to 0.9x speed for a better time :P

Show By Rock!! # - 7.5 / 10 (C+)

Not *as* good as season 1, but I still had a good time with it!

animation: BONES did good visuals this season too, as it has the same quality and style as season one. It’s very bright and colorful (and shiny!). Animation fluidity was mostly fine, with better fluidity during most performance sequences. The CGI returns (and is of the same quality as in season one, which is a good thing), but doesn’t show up as much.

characters: The main cast is fun to watch, just like in season one (and honestly, the cast is the biggest draw to this show)! Plasmagica got a few focus episodes that helped develop them slightly more (Retoree & Cyan). ShinganCrimsonZ definitely got more focus this season, as they played a role in the Arcareafact and Bud Virgin Logic arcs, along with learning more about Rom + Shuzo’s past, along with Aion’s past! The new villain Victorious was a simple evil villain, but I didn’t think she needed a dark backstory to justify her being evil (what’s wrong with her just simply being an deity of darkness?)

story: Plot progression was very simple this season, as most episodes revolved around character arcs (or focus episodes). There was an overarching plot introduced in episode one, but it didn’t have much relevance again until the last third of the season. I enjoyed the character-based episodes, as they either showed us more fun hijinks with the crazy fun cast, or helped flesh them out a bit more. The final episode particularly saw a decline in visual quality (ex: the big collab performance that was built up over the past two episodes was shown in sub-par 2D animation) and just had weird execution overall.

If you enjoyed season one, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well! Check this series out if you like fun characters and music performances~

Shuumatsu no Izetta (aka Izetta the Last Witch) - 8.0 / 10 (B)

This was a fun & enjoyable historical fantasy fiction show! Nothing mind-blowing, but I had a good time with it~

animation: This show had good visuals overall! The art-style for the characters is very similar to what I call the “A-1 Pictures” art style (as seen in shows like SAO). I liked the painterly backgrounds and muted color palette, which presented the historical WWII setting well. Animation-wise, the fluidity is really good, especially in the early episodes. The action looks great to start, but diminishes in quality over time (even though it’s still fine by the end). However, I did like how creative the action could be at times (like using trains and spears as aerial weapons!). Bonus mention to the great opening theme song by AKINO with bless4!

characters: The cast was fine overall, but the stars of the show were definitely Finé and Izetta. Finé is a strong leading lady who doesn’t flinch in the face of terror (which is fitting for royalty like her!), and Izetta is a good fighter in her own right w/ her magic! I also liked seeing their relationship play out, even though it has some queerbait-y moments. The side characters had fun personalities, but none of them were super-standout either (though some on both Elystadt and Germania sides got a little bit of focus / screentime. A good example of this was Muller, who at least had his character arc come full circle).  

story: The premise is based in an AU World War II, where a small country gains the help of a young witch to help fight off the looming superpower threat. The first few episodes started out relatively strong, with several good action scenes showcasing the two female leads and Elystadt’s main cast. The overall quality kind of dipped after that, but there were still some good moments there. I wish Sophie being a major player was foreshadowed a bit better, and the quick love(?) arc involving Ricelt could’ve been done better (or tied into the main story more). The finale didn’t quite go back to the early-episodes quality, but it still had fun story & action beats, and wrapped things up in a conclusive way.

Even though the rest of the show didn’t *quite* live up to those first few episodes, it’s still an enjoyable, action filled time. If you enjoy fantastical historical fiction shows, you’ll find something to like here.

Udon no Kuni no Kimiro Kemari (aka Poco’s Udon World) - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

This was a really sweet show about the themes of family! It’s easy to compare it with shows like Barakamon and Sweetness & Lightning, but it forges its own identity by the end~

animation: LIDENFILMS doesn’t have a *ton* of prior work, but they did a nice job with the visuals! The art-style is quite distinct; it has pretty watercolor backgrounds and a bright color palette (it looks kinda like a storybook in a way!). The characters have rounder-than-usual eyes (especially with the kid characters) and all have long, white highlights on their hair and bodies! The animation itself isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done for a cute slice-of-life show like this one.

characters: The main cast was very down-to-earth and enjoyable to watch! The main lead Souta got some great character development over the course of the show; I enjoyed seeing him re-discover his love for his hometown and for his family (including his deceased dad). Poco was also a really cute kid; him being a tanuki allowed for some good supernatural stuff towards the end of the show. The side characters were also really good! They all had fun personalities and had good interactions with Souta and Poco (Hiroshi falling in love with Rinko comes to mind); Rinko in particular got some good development towards the end (as she had uncertainties about being a mom, and Poco helped give her confidence!). I don’t have any comments about the Gaogao-chan segments & its characters, because I skipped them every episode ^^;

story: This show follows the daily life of Souta, who just returned to his hometown after time away, and Poco, a tanuki who meets South and starts spending time with him. A lot of the story progression involves small events with the main duo, like hanging out with Mai and her kids, or spending time with Nakajima or Rinko. The story’s main core though is learning about Souta’s situation (his falling out w/ his parents + hometown, him moving to Tokyo, his leg injury, etc.) and seeing how Poco changes his perception of all of these aspects over time (with the power of cuteness, family bonding, and even some supernatural flashbacks!). The show as a whole is really adorable to watch; not to mention quite heartfelt and emotional at times! It really gets the feeling of “family” down, especially with an atypical family like this one. The final episode definitely tugs on the heartstrings, as Poco shows Souta how much his father truly loved him, and the two have to go their separate ways ;~;  

This show was definitely the most pleasant surprise of the season for me, along with being one of the season’s most underrated shows (alongside Fune wo Amu)! If you like slice-of-life shows, or enjoyed Barakamon and/or Sweetness & Lightning, you should check this one out!

Yuri!! On Ice - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

A very enjoyable sports anime about ice skating, that also features one of the best examples of an LGBT couple in all of anime!

animation: MAPPA did a really nice job with the visuals! The art-style leans a bit more towards realism, but also makes good use of cartoon-y expressions + comedic animation. (I also get a kick out of how similar Yuri K. looks to Parasyte’s Shinichi, since both shows have the same character designer :P). Animation-wise, the fluidity is definitely above-average and the figure skating routines look great as well, especially considering it’s done in all 2D animation! (There are some routines later in the show by supporting characters that sacrifice staying on-model for consistent fluidity, though).

characters: The cast as a whole is fun to watch, and has a good mix of personalities. The standout characters for me were definitely Yuri K. and Victor; I liked how both had goofy and serious sides to their personalities. Seeing their relationship develop over time (and how it helped both characters learn and grow) was one of my favorite aspects of the show, as it never failed to put a smile on my face! (It also helps that it’s one of the best-portrayed LGBT couples in anime, period!) Yurio was also a good rival, who really showed growth in his character (and his respect for Yuri and his grandpa) over time! The other supporting characters (mainly the other skaters) were also enjoyable, even though they didn’t get much focus development-wise (besides JJ, kinda). They still had fun interactions with each other and the main cast (especially in episode 10), so I still definitely liked having them around.

story: The story follows Yuri who, after reaching a low point in his career, gets his idol Victor to coach him through the next ice skating season, in order to win gold! The main story progression takes Yuri through each of the competitions leading up to the Grand Prix Finals, just like most sports anime. While the drama and suspense coming from the competitions themselves isn’t as strong (in comparison to other sports anime like Haikyuu, anyway), the routines are still really good and the feeling of competition still gets across. (Besides, the most effective serious and triumphant moments for me came from the ups and downs of Yuri and Victor’s relationship, anyways :P). The episodes also kinda felt fast-paced at times (not nearly as bad as Occultic;Nine, though); perhaps a nitpick, but it was noticable. The final episode ended things on an open-ended but good note, as Yuri falls just short of Gold (and Yurio wins!) but is determined to win next time (plus Victor decides to un-retire and the two of them do a pair skate at the end!!! Yay!!!)

This was definitely one of the season’s best shows that will surely put a smile on your face! If you like sports anime or romance shows, you should go watch this for sure!