#i actually think a lot of the r/2 fillers do quite well to expand on the characters

[cartoonrival]

i recognize that theres contention about whether filler episodes in an anime should be taken as canon or not which is why ive taken up a very simple metric for determining if they can be used in analysis or not: if i like them then theyre canon

[missnight0wl]

Believe it or not, but I still enjoy the story of HPHM – even in Y6. I mean, the Polyjuice Potion plot was really shitty, but still. And you know what? I’m not even mad about Rowan’s death. Admittedly, it’s probably mostly because I just don’t believe it was real… But in general, I don’t think it’s bad as a part of the story. Especially when you realise how it parallels Jacob and Duncan. And I don’t think that Rowan died purely to shock the audience (at least it wasn’t meant to be that way). I’m not even mad that we grew apart with Rowan in Y5, because it’s something that happens when you’re a teenager and your group of friends is expanding. What I HATE, though, is how it all was done. I hate that MC didn’t ever think why R wanted to kill one of their friends SINCE THE START OF Y5. I hate that we didn’t talk with Rowan in Y5 after our fight in the Library. I hate that we didn’t talk after they attacked us, and that we didn’t see how things turned out later between Rowan and Ben. I hate that we didn’t even mention Duncan when talking to Jacob after Rowan’s death.

Imagine something like that: you had the most amazing adventure at school, at work, or just in some other place. It was either thrilling, or funny, or whatever – simply a good story to tell at the parties etc. Therefore you (Person 1) decide to tell that story to your friend (Person 2). However, for whatever reason, that someone doesn’t quite pay attention to what you’re saying. Maybe they’re distracted by some problems, or they’re sleepy. Perhaps that’s just who they are. Still, they enjoyed the story enough that they want to tell it to Person 3 (who doesn’t know you). Unfortunately, because they don’t remember everything, they skip over some parts or even make things up to fill the holes. Perhaps they also forget to mention some detail about you that is important to fully understand the story. In the end, even though the punchline is the same as it was in the original story, Person 3 is just a bit confused because it did sound interesting, but not everything adds up. And that’s basically the problem with HPHM, especially since the second half of Y5, where Person 1 is the original writing team under Matt London, Person 2 is the current writing team, and Person 3 is us, the players. It’s a good story, but it’s written poorly.

That being said, it doesn’t have to mean that the story is doomed. I don’t think they’ll write anything, no matter how stupid it is. Because the thing is that a lot of the story was planned from the very beginning. I recall a post where London said that they knew how everything ends, what’s in the final vault etc. from the start. Then, it was only about getting there. Also, it seems like he worked on a big part of the story before he left after Y3.

He has to talk about Beatrice here because before Y5, we didn’t see much of Penny’s interest in her family.

Now, Rakepick wasn’t even introduced officially before Y4, yet, he put so much into her character that it makes him “the proudest”? I admit, if he talks about all of Rakepick’s symbolism, IT IS damn impressive. But it also means that Jam City can’t fucked up Rakepick’s story because it’s already done, and throwing it away would be plain stupid (also, if they’ll do it anyway – I’m so so sorry, Matt…). And you know, we already have examples in the game of things which makes sense in the big picture, but they were poorly executed.

New Ben. All of Y5 was for Ben about becoming braver. There should’ve been something at the end of Y5 which showed Ben that his previous efforts weren’t enough, and that’d explain his behaviour in Y6. I believe that Ben was supposed to try to sacrifice himself to protect MC (I explained it in details here), but for whatever reason, Jam City changed it. Still, Ben’s story is probably the same as it’s meant to be. We’re just missing a link which would explain his change better.

The Wizard in White. There were theories that he was expelled from Mahoutokoro as soon as he was first mentioned back in Y5. The thing is that those theories were based on the facts that he wears white robes AND that he was using incantations Fletcher didn’t understand (suggesting foreign language). In Y6, Dumbledore deduced that based only on the fact that he wears white robes – which is stupid. Even if white colour is not common in Knockturn Alley, I refuse to believe that Dumbledore would guess it so accurately without any indication that the wizard might be a foreigner.

Alanza. We needed a long time for her to reveal that Rakepick was at Castelobruxo. Why? Because the current writers weren’t listening to the original story at the part where MC finds out that Rakepick was there before coming back to Hogwarts. Still, they know that it’s important that Rakepick was there and that they need Alanza to bring it up.

All of that are examples of a good story being told by an incompetent person. But I do not believe that they will pull out who knows how stupid things “because bad writing” – at least not when it comes to the main events (I don’t believe that R could be Voldemort, for example). In fact, I have to say, I’m always a bit... irritated seeing that argument. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we shouldn’t criticize Jam City. We should! You can find quite a lot of complaints on my blog, actually. But I always try to point out why things are stupid. That’s why I use shitloads of screenshots and write essays for a thousand words. Why I keep bringing up questions which should be answered. And honestly, I don’t really know how to react to people saying that Jam City will do something stupid because it’s Jam City… I mean, if that’s what you believe – you do you. But that’s not really why I’m here. I always try to show that HPHM can still make sense.

Also, I probably wouldn’t find it very motivating to improve if I was a writer at Jam City, to be frank. Like, people have no expectations, but they keep playing, some of them keep paying, so... Why would they try harder? Their salaries are probably the same, no matter how much sense the story makes. I mean, I get that it’s frustrating when they ignore things, and it makes constructive criticism harder, but assuming in advance that we shouldn’t hope for logical solutions won’t take us anywhere either.

Long story short: even if people think it’s pointless, I’ll keep analysing the shit out of this game because I know I’ll be right about the main events in the end. Even if the way Jam City gets there will be missing many explanations, will be full of pointless fillers instead, and it won’t be half as thrilling as it could’ve been. I didn’t want to offend anyone; I just felt the need to explain myself as to why I believe that my procrastinating makes sense. I’m not sure if I succeeded, but oh well.

If you made it here, thank you for your time and attention.

[curestardust]

if you want: (copy-pasting from my previous review cause it didn’t change) well, it’s BNHA lmao / amazing animation / amazing music / shounen / superpowers and heroes / to have a good fucking time

BNHA S1 (x) BNHA S2 (x)

Going to keep this very short as I’ve said most of what I wanted in my previous 2 reviews. 

This season specifically, felt a tiny bit less satisfactory as the other 2. Not by much, and considering how much I liked the first 2 seasons it’s difficult to live up to that quality anyway.

My main problem stems from how the 2 arcs, this season shows us, are the polar opposites of each other. The first half of season 3 literally gave me about 30 heart attacks. It was really wild, full of twists and turns and despite the pressure it put on my already deteriorating mental health, it was enjoyable in a way a wild roller coaster is. As opposed to this, the second arc had basically no stakes, or at least, they paled in comparison to the arc beforehand. We also get introduced to a buttload of people who we don’t know when they will show up again or how much relevancy they’ll have in the future. As opposed to (2), the first arc, where we also got introduced to quite a lot of new characters, however we knew why they were there and how much importance they have to the story.

Well, anyway. I really enjoyed this season depsite its disjointed nature and am looking forward to season 4! WhoHOOO [8/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: Dark Fantasy / you like Fantasy but want something a bit different

Goblin Slayer was last year’s Fall Season’s second most popular original anime (according to MAL ratings at least). 

I’m going to be honest...I don’t watch isekai or medieval fantasy stuff. The tropes bore me to absolute deah: an OP and basically undefeatable main character, the same exact fantasy characters with the same exact characterizations (elves, dwarves), the same class systems etc. Every single anime in these genres look the exact same with different characters. So, I was gonna pass by Goblin Slayer as well as usual however everyone was saying how DIFFERENT it was and that you NEED to watch the first episode.

So, I gave in. Was it worth it? No. You know what makes this anime so DIFFERENT? Scroll down to the anime information. Rated: R - 17+. That’s all you need to understand what’s different about this. Still, if you wanna watch the first episode without spoilers then leave now.

Goblin Slayer is a Dark Fantasy. Dark, because it has a lot of blood, bones crunching, gore and, of course, rape. Everything dark needs rape! Oh, whatever would we do without including women getting their bodies used by ugly creatures!

So yes, that’s literally why everyone likes Goblin Slayer, cause it’s edgy. There, I said it. The first episode starts out quite normal; a group of young, inexperienced adventurers decide to go into a cave and slay some goblins. Their team consist of a male warrior, a female mage, a female priest and a female melee fighter. About halfway through is where we’re hit with the EDGE. Goblins ambush them, steal one of the girls, rape another one and tear the guy to pieces. The priestess tries to escape and then runs into some guy decked out in armour: the Goblin Slayer. 

After the ordeal is over, the Priestess joins Goblin Slayer in his adventures. Later on we’re joined by 3 new characters: a High Elf, a Dwarf and a Lizard. They say they’re some kind of ambassadors or something...but that’s never brought up again.

If you’re wondering why I’m calling them by their classes and races, that’s because they don’t have names. And I legit didn’t even notice until I just checked Wikipedia like 2 seconds ago. I guess it’s fitting cause not only do they lack names but also a personality.

The anime shows us a few nice fight scenes that usually take up 1 and a half episode. They aren’t really anything special but nice enough to watch and they keep your attention. However, between every fight there’s 1 episode of filler. Filler! In a 12 episode anime! And they’re fucking boring!

The art isn’t anything to write home about, the fight scenes are usually nice enough but everything else is painfully average. The music would be the only thing that I liked. While quite generic, they work really well with the scenes. The OP and the ED are especially nice.

And that’s the problem! The OP and the first episode are the ONLY good things about this, everything else is just dull. This anime was a solid 3/10 for almost the whole runtime but it managed to save its butt in the finale which is why my current rating is a bit higher.

If you like Dark Fantasy or are intrigued I’d suggest watching the first episode. None of the eps after come even close to that and the way it was structured it works as an OVA by itself. [4/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: supernatural background story / mild horror due to some deaths / a nice mystery with a lot of plot twists that keeps you on your toes

“Another” is a 12 episode supernatural horror mystery that aired in 2012.

Our story starts with a guy named Sakakibara who has to move to Yamamiya, the town his parents grew up in. Due to some health problems, we start out with him in the hospital where he meets a girl with an eyepatch who introduces herself as Misaki Mei. After starting his 9th year in high school a month late, he once again runs into this girl in class but no one seems to react to her presence. As time goes on, Sakakibara’s classmates’ weird behaviour makes him confused and he wonders what’s going on. “Another” follows Class 3-3′s supernatural happenings and the story surrounding it.

“Another” is a really difficult anime to talk about and I’ll get to why in a second. But first, I will delve into the 3 genres I listed above and how the anime executes them.

The supernatural element was handled in a way that I found quite refreshing. The whole anime is enveloped by supernatural happenings and a strange atmosphere. However, instead of focusing on finding out the source of the weird events and trying to stop it at its core, “Another” handles it if it’s just a fact of life in the town and for our characters. While it can be said that the supernatural elements are simply lazy tropes to create a story without having to explain it deeper, I didn’t feel the need for it to be further expanded upon.

There isn’t much to say about the horror in “Another”. I guess the creepy atmosphere would be listed under this category but besides that the only horror-ish things happening are somewhat gruesome deaths. Even then, while the ways characters die is...not pretty, there’s mostly just a shitton of blood but nothing in particular made me too uncomfortable.

Lastly, is the meat of the story and the whole reason I ended up enjoying “Another” as much as I did despite my initial thoughts. The anime starts out a bit slow with a lot of silent scenes and long drawn-out shots for the sake of the atmoshpere. I don’t like slow anime so I was worried that I’ll be bored out of my mind but thankfully the mystery saved it. I know that opinions on this plot device are a bit divided but I thoroughly enjoy plot twists. The kind that I couldn’t see coming. Not to toot my own horn or anything but a lot of media usually builds upon one, singular huge plot twist and I figure them out pretty early on so they aren’t that enjoyable when they actually happen. 

Well, “Another” very smartly leads you on with MULTIPLE plot twists. And these don’t come out of left field either. The anime drops slight hints for a lot of things and you need to follow everything and everyone pretty closely to catch all the small details.

My only problem would be with the ending which was a bit...well. It clashed with the established tone of the anime and felt a bit rushed. I understood the intention behind what happens however I think it could’ve been handled better. Some plot holes also remain by the end but the final plot twist was so HUGE, I really didn’t care at the time.

To wrap up, the technical stuff. The animation is well done with a few wonky shots and angles but nothing major. The OST itself is also pretty good, serves as a good backdrop for the scenes and does its job. The OP and the ED are probably the most disappointing musically. The OP doesn’t really fit the tone of the anime (although you get weirdly fond of it by the end) and the ED is a very generic ballad.

All in all, I enjoyed “Another” much more than I thought I would and was an intriguing ride all the way through. If you enjoy stories with uncovering mysteries, and aren’t bothered by blood and supernatural involvements, I’d suggest watching this. [8/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents