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Reviews
Shinseiki Evangelion (1995)
The iconic start of a new era.
"Neon Genesis Evangelion" is something I've always kept in mind. This is not something I take lightly. Hideaki Anno devised Evangelion during a period in his life of depression, his emotions being output into a medium that up until then was very much still considered to be exclusive to children. Evangelion changed the anime industry irreversibly into something greater. It is a cultural figurehead, it is likely you've seen a character from Evangelion beforehand, or encountered a meme taking reference from it. The show has spawned countless pieces of merchandise and unfathomable amounts of fan work. It was made by Gainax on fumes, they ran out of budget and made an ending that established the term "Gainax Ending", an ending that is not easily understood, or seems to come out of nowhere. When I talk about anime, this is one I consider to be artwork.
Wonder Egg Priority (2021)
I broke an egg, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.
Wonder Egg Priority is one of those animes that deals with topics in a way others can't. It's a narrative where the sensationalization of very sensitive topics. It's a "feel bad" show, where the horror is initially from the realism of the antagonistic Wonder Killers, all some kind of vile person who enacts horrors on the persona hatching from the eggs provided by two dummies named Acca and Ura-Acca. It starts, and is mostly a story about suicide, and how vile the people are that drive others to die. It has profound nuance, representing characters who have flaws, and it makes you empathize with them.
The Basics:
WEP is akin to a very deep MotW show, in which each episode consists of at least one of the four heroines cracking an egg, out of which appears a woman (except for in one instance, where a wonderful lad named Kaoru shows up, he's great).
Chased by a Wonder Killer, usually the breaking point that draws any of the Eggborn individuals to have died, the heroine has to kill them.
The Great Stuff (Writing):
Wonder Egg Priority is a short show, 13 episodes. It's very much one you can binge, though you may need to take some time to recuperate because it can get triggering, at some times it is extremely dark. However it is enjoyable, and it is about providing hope to victims.
The story is very blunt about what it is doing in the right way, it doesn't make everything obvious, but it makes things implied when it should be.
Characters have synergy with each other, and have distinct voices.
The Great Stuff (Art):
The animation overall is reminiscent of dreams when in the world where they fight the Wonder Killers. It looks very clean, and adds to the surreal nature in that it never has a dissonance of art style.
Character design is amazing, the characters have unique appearances without being overly dramatic and unrealistic (for anime). I was pleasantly surprised to see a character with Albinism that stood out among the others, and that she wasn't made a villain. While not being a main character, she was fun and is pretty cool.
The Not-So-Good Stuff: THE BIG SPOILERS
Episode 10 as a whole is wonderful, Kaoru is well written trans representation, he doesn't feel forced, and it's heavily implied one of the girls in the main cast, Momoe, may be trans as well. This is GOOD. I related to the implied story Momoe went through, I genuinely felt like she was a character I could put myself in.
Most of this episode is enjoyable... Until the end. At the end, a mysterious voice starts counting as it's revealed Momoe's goal of getting her friend back has been attained. She's enjoying her time, genuinely happy with her turtle pal who helped her save this friend. Then a butterfly headed girl shows up, and for no reason kills the turtle, and force feeds it to Momoe. It's never said that this needed to be done. It serves no purpose other than to make the bad guys bad.
Episode 11 is where it locks in this path. In it, Ura-Acca tells main character Ai about Frill, the mysterious voice she heard. Ura-Acca explains that he and Acca were tech wizards/scientists? Who made an AI girl to be their daughter. However at some big tech event Acca meets a woman, falls in love, and gets married. We get a scene where Frill asks Ura-Acca if he's jealous towards Acca, or towards his wife, he says he isn't, to which the AI girl responds "liar".
A little while later, Acca's wife gets pregnant. Frill one night asks Acca's wife while she's bathing if it's a daughter or son she will be having, when she replies daughter... Frill throws a hair dryer into the bath, and only by a miracle does Acca's daughter survive what apparently killed Acca's wife.
Acca and Ura-Acca raise this daughter, then one day she asks her (honorary) uncle if he'll wait for her to get older so they can get married, and thank god Ura-Acca says no. She then makes a popping sound with her mouth, the character tic that Frill has, and the next day, the daughter is dead.
Ura-Acca beats up Frill, who while an AI, is capable of emulating feelings enough to claim it hurts. Ura-Acca locks Frill up.
Eventually, she's freed, and apparently prior to this she made some friends with the heads of bugs.
Episode 12 introduces parallel worlds, and has Ai and Parallel Ai fighting Sawaki, a teacher.
Episode 13, is a 25 minute recap, and locks in parallel worlds. The only good thing that happens in the episode is the return of Kotobuki, who was interesting to have around. Otherwise it seems to throw away everything it set up for a plot where Neiru, another of the heroines, was an AI copy of her older sister ala Frill, made by Kotobuki. Kotobuki explains she's a parallel universe Kotobuki, but it appears they all are similar enough that she just integrates her place in society without any issues. Neiru goes to the dream world, and Frill basically says "hey, I'm a real girl here, wanna join me and be Pinocchio buddies together?" To which we know not how Neiru responds, only that she's trapped there. Ai doesn't answer a call from Neiru, doesn't go to save her until the end, Rika may end up dead because she's actually dismayed at the loss of Neiru, and Momoe apparently got her story arc, so it doesn't matter what happens to her. (Unfortunate, because they could've confirmed the heavy implications and made her arc about her finding acceptance in her friend regarding her identity.)
The worst thing about the last episode isn't these things, it's that it ends without any resolution, basically enforces the status quo as god, and leaves more questions than answers. Frill is either misunderstood by us as the audience in that she was just horribly abused, or she's a villain that eludes atonement. The main cast drifts apart, and Ai ends the series off with a promise to save Neiru, which we may never see.
The thing is, the ending of Wonder Egg Priority is not bad, it's worse than bad. WEP ends with disappointment and a feeling of being cheated, I bought into a story where I only have questions, where my place as a consumer is now to formulate theories which will never be confirmed regarding WEP, and where a nuanced story was traded for an attempt to create a Gainax ending that fell flat. At least a bad ending would provide resolution. I only got disappointed.
Kiru ra kiru: KILL la KILL (2013)
A review less of the show, and more of the studio.
You go to Bones when you want something that is at best slightly above average, you go to Trigger when you want something to love.
Kill la Kill is beloved, yes, but you'd be lucky to find it when the community will recommend you one of the pigeonholed recommendations (FMAB, Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, etc.). Worst of the bunch being FMAB, which is recommended by an every growing congregation of people who watch it first, and close off their minds to the greater things anime has.
Trigger by no means is obscure, it's beloved by those who give it the time of day, but it is overshadowed by others. Kill la Kill is the thing I love above all else. I'm not the typical fan of this series, I'm a woman, and as one that loves women, I guess the fanservice drew me in... But Trigger makes me happy, it is meaningful while also being light enough to avoid burnout.
If you want something actually good, watch Kill la Kill. If you want to be a milquetoast anime watcher, worship FMAB.
Steklyannaya garmonika (1968)
A meaningful commentary on greed and injustice.
The Glass Harmonica isn't something many people would deign to review, it is a surreal piece that can confound simpler minds despite the fairly obvious messages it is trying to convey.
At first, the title cards explain the meaning behind the story, that we should be wary of greed and the bourgeois, then we are told a story about a glass harmonica arriving to a town enslaved by a yellow devil. From there, it gets more and more surreal, with one of the few comprehensible things being the Yellow Devil, a man with a palm facing towards the viewer that consistently holds a gold coin.
This story is one of how greed is a powerful thing, one abused by those in power. This short film is a piece of art, one that deserves more love.
Gekijouban Made in Abyss: Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei (2020)
The Lord of Dawn
Made in Abyss is one of my favorite pieces of media, which I lovingly call an art. It is the most consistent of my favorites, lying in my personal big there, -which represents an equal footing of three anime which I consider the best at any time- since I was introduced to it by a friend.
Dawn of the Deep Soul is the formal introduction to one of, if not the most beloved character from Made in Abyss of all time, the Sovereign of Dawn, Bondrewd the Novel.
Bondrewd is also the most hated, most memed, and most remembered character. For perspective, Bondrewd showing up in a flashback made the anime for most fans.
All of this is not without reason. While one can easily fall into the pitfall of overhype burnout for Bondrewd, I advise everyone who is willing to watch Made in Abyss who has yet to: watch the movie!
Bondrewd makes this movie, which is pretty good if he wasn't included, into a masterpiece. He's a disgusting, horrible man, but he has the charisma to outcharm every celebrity on earth, and much worse... His goals are ones that you can easily see yourself falling into in the world of Made in Abyss.
Bondrewd's goal, at its base, is to create an effective way of making it so people can ascend the Abyss without any of the troublesome side effects (Death, bleeding, etc.). The way he aspires to do this is by using a simple trick he observed while fighting this out.
"Delvers hate him! Click now to find this one trick to ascending the abyss"
That would be turning yourself into a Narehate (Hollow) by sacrificing a loved one.
As the characters reside in Ido Front, we are shown how this is put into motion by Bondrewd. He adopts orphans, and he sincerely cares for them. He forms genuine bonds with these children, and he turns them into "Cartridges" which are the preserved, still alive consciousness of these children, which care for him as a father.
In the climactic scene, we see him putting this into effect. The protagonists, in a gamble to kill Bondrewd, get him to fall into the sixth layer, and as he ascends to the fifth to fight them, he starts to drop these Cartridges.
And this moment is when he finally elevated the movie to a masterpiece.
As he does this, he calls them, by name. He remembers every single child he used to survive in this attack, and the last one he uses, is Prushka, a character who was heavily being implied to joining the main crew.
This sick, twisted man, in his own way, cared for these children, and while he isn't redeemed, this immortal scientific genius taking time to learn the names of those he sacrificed, and... It's been a while since I've seen this movie, but if I remember correctly....
He says something to the tune of "These children will live on as the names by which my success is built"
And that's when I think we all realized:
Bondrewd's not bad, what he does is bad, but his intentions aren't sinister.
And after that:
This man is so charismatic, that even us outside the world have been convinced by him.
When the dust settles, and you finish this movie, the one thing that is for certain, is that the Lord of Dawn will remain in your mind as an antagonist that is as complex as the world he resides in, and that his evil actions represent a standard of the Abyss.
It's much more difficult to survive in the abyss if your morals don't descend as your body descends... Because everyone in that pit is out for themself, and nobody is going to help you, if you don't help yourself.
Made in Abyss (2017)
If this show makes you uncomfortable...
You are feeling exactly what Made in Abyss wants you to feel. If you feel a pit in your stomach, or like the anime is getting too intense, that's exactly what the intended feeling is.
Made in Abyss is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Akihito Tsukushi. It's a story about a grueling world where most people look out for their own skin, and the outlook of a child who knows nothing about what they are doing. It's a beautiful story with characters that you'll love, ones you'll hate, and ones you'll root for despite them being the exact opposite of what you should (Bondrewd).
The story of Made in Abyss is one that takes intellect to understand, it says things, but it does well with leaving some things unsaid.
Art wise, Made in Abyss is jarringly different to most of its kind, and it uses this to its advantage. Most characters shown are drawn in a cartoonish manner that seems innocent, and those who aren't are from the abyss, or deeply intwined with it. The art styles blend together, as to make the design of the characters different. Reg seems to be the exception to this rule, along with a certain character that can't be mentioned this early in the review.
With all of that out of the way, here is a brief synopsis of the core idea of Made in Abyss.
Made in Abyss takes place in a massive chasm that has yet to be entirely scouted out that resides in the middle of the town of Ortho. In the Abyss, oddities called Relics lie, which get more powerful as a delver gets lower. Relics span from a bud that lets out air, to a chrysalis which copies the consciousness of a user, allowing one to become effectively immortal. However, the deeper one gets in the Abyss, the more difficult it is to ascend. This is because of the curse of the abyss, which in the first layers simply causes nausea, but eventually leads to the risk of becoming a monster, or even death.
From the getgo, Made in Abyss starts with a magnificent concept, a world where many people risk their lives to find and sell these Relics. These people either die, or tend to become immoral beings who do unthinkable things to succeed in the Abyss. Even the most powerful delvers, the White Whistles, are not exempt to the tendency of the Abyss to corrupt those even with the most noble intentions. A good example of this is a character I mentioned earlier in this review, Bondrewd. Bondrewd, Sovereign of the Dawn, resides in the deepest layer that anyone has returned from, the end of the fifth layer, the Ido Front. Bondrewd's introduction in the anime, specifically the movie, is one that sets him up as an unnerving character who steals the show whenever he shows up. His goal, being that of creating a way that one could ascend from the sixth layer to the fifth, isn't one that is inherently evil. Instead, it's how he's found the solution to doing so. A phenomena he discovered was that someone who loves another enough can make the person, who would usually become a mindless creature, an intelligent being "blessed" by the Abyss, capable of ascending the chasm with little to no downsides. This leads him to go so far as to use his adopted daughter as a sacrifice to rest this theory, which he can do because he's effectively immortal via the Zohalic.
If Made in Abyss is trying to say one thing, it is that people will do whatever they want if they believe in a cause enough. And it's beautifully morbid how it tells us that.
If you ever want to feel like you've taken part of a masterpiece, partake of Made in Abyss.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)
A single episode worth of greatness
With the source material being the classic TTRPG Cyberpunk, one would expect it to have some sort of value.
However, Cyberpunk Edgerunners simply hung on, using the small things to survive. The game it is meant to accompany, 2077, is an entertaining game, while not without issues. However, the anime seems to hold some sort of belief that it will excel simply because of the poor reputation of the game guaranteeing it to be better, right?
I went in with high expectations, however, the first minute or so is a needless sex scene that only works to introduce the idea of Braindances, which are used mostly in the game for investigation and the like, and are canonically used for porn. Nice, subtle call back to the source, but all it did was add to a notable issue on this show, gratuitous sex and nudity. Now that's okay, you can have that stuff, but it doesn't have any qualities to redeem itself save the last episode. Some massive problems of this show are:
David Martinez... I went in expecting a vulgar, brash, jerk with a heart of gold. What we get is a stereotypical good guy. His personality is better suited for a side character, with it being solely centered on his friendship with his gang.
Lucy could've been so much better, her design was nice, but she fell into this issue of being a drag along for David, who she fell in love with for what reason? I was so hopeful that she'd find a place as maybe a female lead in a relationship with a woman. She could've had depth, been an interesting character. By episode four, her only goals in life is to go to the moon, and to love David. A bland character, they both fit well together, having nothing to their name.
Maine was an outlier, despite the awkwardly animated way he and his romantic interest were shown in the throws of passion. Why? Not because he is particularly interesting, but because his death was actually touching. He's shown as a grieving man who insanely explodes himself, believing to be burning the body of his dead lover.
Now what on earth would this have to give it four stars, is it the music? Unfortunately, the best song was the OP, which fits well despite the complaints of others. It has depth to it, but it is referencing a plot point that they can't really mess up because the game explains it, Cyberpsychosis. The animation was good for a couple moments, most of these the erotic scenes, and the budget probably went into jiggle physics. The references were fleeting, except for the one good thing this show had for it that wasn't momentary.
Adam Smasher, Boogeyman of NC. He, like me, felt obligated to kill David, probably so someone more interesting would challenge him. In the game, Smasher isn't privy to any sort of challenge, he can be killed in few hits. But in this, we get to see the Full Borg in his finest as he proceeds to decimate our ever bland protagonist, Martinez, who is obsessed with going to the top of Arasaka Tower because his mom, who died in classic anime fashion, wanted that for him. With his overpowered chrome, the ugly looking, frankly stupid Cyberskeleton, he jumps into Arasaka Tower to beat up Faraday, who tricked him and, more importantly to the juvenile David, hurt his friends. He proceeds to beat Faraday within an inch of death, and plans to torture the man before the saving grace of the show walks in, voiced by Alec Newman, Adam Smasher, who proceeds to shoot the edgerunner who decided that Faraday was more important than the dude who could kill him. That's when I got up off the couch, cheered, and grabbed the popcorn. Smasher made one thing clear, David was to die, and he was not to be given a chance. Jumping from the tower, unceremoniously killing Rebecca, and leading to a curb stomp battle in which Smasher remains true to his character. Finally, with David on his last limb, Cyberskeleton broken, he offers him a chance to become an engram of himself, a construct owned by Arasaka. This hail Mary pass that Smasher gives him leads David to laugh and tell him "How about no, buddy." To which Smasher replies by saying that it would've been entertaining, but it's time to put an end to the madness. And David dies, and the world is better off for it, the sole survivors being Lucy, and popular voice actor Matthew Mercer, who only has his reputation to save him, and the fact that he says like ten lines in the span of the show. And they just let him go his merry way as we are shown a shot of our bland female lead, Lucy, on the moon. They show David for like five seconds before realizing that it's just getting annoying by now, and it ends.
How would I improve it? I would bring in some of the game's cast, in particular Kerry Eurodyne and Claire Russell, and let them take the floor along with Rogue as they let the background character David strive to be as cool as them. Maybe give Lucy an interesting romantic interest, or maybe represent the Trans community. Give Smasher more time, and give David much less. And most of all, try to be more like the ending than the other episodes. That last episode could've made for a wonderful OVA, but it was appended to a below average anime that is far from the best in this season.
Death Note: Desu nôto (2006)
Proves its acclaim
There is a good reason it is the second most known anime, right behind naruto. It is a deeply thought provoking show, I asked myself many times "How would I use the death note if given it?". It asks the still standing question of whether justice can loose its good intentions and is it ok to kill those who have committed crimes. The beauty lies within the main character, he starts with noble intent, meant to make you believe he is a hero, and he quickly looses that and by the end is an insanely being who sees himself as a god. On the other hand we have L. A literal opposite of Light,, to the point that it is obvious they could never see eye to eye. The ending doesn't pull any punches in its moral of power being a catalyst for corruption. It deserves its place as a favorite in every corner of the world. 11/10.
DARLING in the FRANXX (2018)
Let us have a moment of silence for those who passed
Franxx is something you should see for yourself, a happy tone hides a sad ending.
Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019)
A cautionary tale about a family who messed with anime michael jackson
All jokes aside, Muzan is just so beautifully evil. Demon slayer is a tale of vengeance, a fact which is made obvious within ten minutes of the show. I went in with the belief it would be light-hearted like naruto, the only anime I had watched beforehand. What I got out of it was a beautiful testament to the idea that everyone is born good, and that even the cruelest people have regrets. The show starts with the premise of monsters killing off the world one by one and cleverly prevents them from falling prey to the classic irredeemable monster viewpoint.
Don't miss out on this masterpiece
Hataraku Maou-sama! (2013)
The Devil Is A Part Timer doesn't fail to entertain
The idea of satan working at a fast food restaurant is a stupid idea, one well executed. This memorable story will leaving you begging for more. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely should. The character dynamic between Alciel and Maou is perfect and the story does well to make ordinary tasks such as working a part time shift entertaining. Do not hesitate to watch.
The Office (2005)
Work centered comedy turned timeless classic
If you haven't heard of this show, I pity you. This is one of the best comedies you will find.