After a full decade of staring at the cover thinking “this looks like a solid 7/10”, my intuition was proven right—not a point more, not a point less. Pretty cool show with an interesting setting.

Kings and their followers, floating swords, superpowers, a cat that turns into a girl, a straight-laced swordsman, and a mysterious white-haired boy at the center of it all...Major BSD vibes in more ways than one (welcome back, DaChuu?). There's quite a lot of characters but they’re balanced well. Now, I didn't think the story was particularly good, and I found the tonal shifts to be a bit jarring now and then, but, as I said: pretty cool show!

I liked the visuals, especially in the first few episodes, quite a bit—that blue-tinted city, the moving wallpaper in Shiro’s room… it feels a bit weird to say this, but it's the sort of aesthetics that make me feel like I'm really watching an anime from the 2010s, y'know?

The OST was one of the high points. The tracks had a really cool vibe.

It was very open-ended, but there's quite a few sequels, though I'm honestly not sure if I'll watch them or not…

So, one thing about me is that I read a fuckton of villainess manhwa. Another thing about me is that villainess manhwa usually pisses me off—see, I don't like het romance very much, and I'm always thinking something along the lines of how the heroine is a much better match than mr-crown-prince-duke-of-the-north or what have you(⁠ノ⁠｀⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻. I'm afraid someday they'll give me an aneurysm and I'll wake up as the protagonist (or side character that has like a single-digit number of lines and dies 3 chapters in, as seems to be the fashion these days) of one of them. So why do I read them all the time, you ask? Well, to look at the art, of course! I love frilly princess dresses and castles and flower gardens and fancy tea sets and shiny boxes full of jewels and if I have to lose count of how many blonde girls I've seen marry black-haired guys to be able to look at these things, then so be it.

Ok insane rant over I promise. I read some of the manhwa this donghua is based on years ago, but so it goes that I remember nothing about it. I'm pretty sure they changed quite a bit of the premise of the story, but I honestly don't care enough about it to complain—this is not a principled review. As I said, I'm here to look at pretty shiny things!

And boy were they shiny. The art is even prettier than the manhwa somehow, and it moves! It's all so beautiful and sparkly, it's like a dream—like the princess stories I loved as a child, but better. As the show went on this diminished a bit (I wonder if they were blowing the budget off on those flashy battle scenes). After each episode, I'd be in a mood to make sweets topped with fruit like the ones they had at their tea parties, which my family enjoyed quite a bit (halfway through the series, I was making the sweets a day before the new episode came out so I could eat it with them as I watched it (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）).

I’m one of the few people who chose to watch the Chinese dub(I prefer watching things in their original languages; besides, there's no way I was going to miss Hua Cheng’s VA as Lucas), and it was really lovely.

The story is nothing life-changing, but it's by no means bad. It's super cute, in fact! Watching Athanasia grow up every week was so heartwarming, I kind of felt like she was my own daughter. That ending, though...ack! I might have to come crawling back to the manhwa sometime soon(ᵕ—ᴗ—)

Pretty sure I learned what the word “fujoshi” meant because of this anime. Not like I watched it past the first episode back when it came out. Whatever. I’m back and stronger now.

Anyways! Boys that bond over liking Sanrio (and occasionally get bullied for it—damn those stupid kids, don't they get that liking Pompompurin is a sign of mature refinement?) A surprisingly dramatic first half that mellows out a little as the show goes on (the drama comes back in full force for the final episodes, though).

Maybe an odd premise but the show is pretty average slice of life/cute boys doing cute things fare, with a beautiful message about accepting yourself and who you love—who you love in this case being Sanrio mascot characters, of course. To be honest, I had way more fun than I expected. It's cute!

I kind of wish the boy’s designs were less low-key though. I guess that's kind of the point since they're supposed to be normal guys and all but color-coded hair and ties would've been so nice…!

The worst part is that it made me realize that I own zero KikiLala merch even though they're my favorites. And I Cannot buy merch because of a Sanrio show that would mean their propaganda worked (←person who bought a Kuromi plush because of Onegai My Melody)

Aimlessly rolling on mudae late at night →pull an Uesugi Kenshin catboy →omg →I recognize that idea factory artstyle →look the game’s name up →it’s a long-since EOS’d otome gacha →there’s an anime adaptation →it’s unsurprisingly super poorly rated →not like I have anything better to do

You know, being physically unable to look at a screen at all for two weeks last year really tanked my standards for what shows I consider watchable—even then, this barely scores higher than “laying on my bed staring at the ceiling”. Catboy Uesugi Kenshin seemed like a fire idea, and when I recognized Kousuke Toriumi's voice in the first episode, I decided I'd watch this show to the end no matter what. As it went, it seems he's more of a dogboy (or a werewolf, as they said), and his episode (halfway through the series) was the only watchable one. Like that episode alone is almost a six out of ten. I want to say the Masamune Date one was also decent but I fear it might just be some form of stockholm syndrome there's no way it was actually any good. Whatever. The rest of the show, well…I knew it would suck, and my expectations were met on all levels. Vampire Oda Nobunaga’s design was cool though, I'll give them that. Moral of the story: none

A reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo in a distant future of interplanetary travel and intergalactic wars that combines sci-fi technology with 1940s-esque aesthetics for a truly unique setting—and a truly unique work.

The visuals are simply out of this world. All those mesmerizing patterns and textures come together with that almost dreamlike PS2-ish CGI in a collage where something is always moving. It’s all such a feast for the eyes. The soundtrack is amazing, too!

The Count looks and sounds pretty much exactly how I pictured him in my mind when I read the novel all those years ago(down to the fangs!). The story is captivating and full of surprises even if you haven’t read the book (though it’s not like I can unread it to be sure…). Honestly, I may like it even more than the original (even though Eugénie is straight in this one…). Revenge, greed, death, hate… and love, most of all. It's kind of BL, even.

This one’s a real gem—or a king's treasure found in a cave. Now I need to go and find a way to convince everyone I know to watch it...well, as the man himself said, "Attendre et espérer!"

I'm not sure why, but I thought this was going to be set in some sort of fantasy world, or at least some not-our-world setting like Kino no Tabi, but I guess present-day Japan does make more sense.

The premise of “letters sent from the dead” lends itself well to tearjerkers, and I did cry in one…or three episodes, but for most of the time I felt like I was watching a worse version of Hell Girl.

I didn't really like the colors in Fumika’s design (or the shigofumi’s uniforms), and both this world and the next are visually quite boring, which is a shame for something where the main character has angel wings(sometimes).

The overarching plot surprised me quite a bit. The plurality aspect was really well-done, and is certainly the only good memory I'll bring away from this show. On the other hand, the conclusion the story reached in favor of continuing to support a writer’s work after he was convicted of abusing his child left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

I’ve seen gifs of this show going around various #aesthetic blogs on Tumblr for the better part of a decade, but I never knew it had humans in it until I started the first episode. I always assumed it was some pre-k show about My Melo and friends making flower garlands and having tea in a green field or something…well, it IS a kid’s show, but you know what I mean.

Some part of me feels kind of wrong calling it a mahou shoujo, but it would feel just as wrong calling it anything else. Uta-chan isn't the one fighting in the end, but the beats are still the same. Yeah, let's cut the middleman and let the plushie-like mascots duke it out between themselves.

I never cared much for My Melody(I don't like her shade of pink ┐⁠(⁠‘⁠～⁠`⁠;⁠)⁠┌) but she is. So cute. Like incredibly cute. The way she says “yaaaan” and does chores around the house and floats on that little umbrella made me want to reach my hands through the screen and grab her. She activates my Rena-hauuu-omochikaeri-instincts like no other. We are friends now. Besties, even. We're having tea at her place tomorrow. She says you're all invited.

Now, Kuromi. I never cared much about her either…but getting complimented on my Kuromi bag by random Kuromi fans on the street quickly made me appreciate her more, and that's what actually led me to watching this show. Didn't want to be a poser, y’know? (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠)

Anyway, this little imp girl is so very charming. Stubborn to a fault. Keeps a written record of every time My Melo has wronged her(most of it is her own fault, which she obviously doesn't acknowledge. Call that relatable). She's funny. She's stylish. I wanna pinch her cheeks. I had a brand-new Kuromi plushie in my arms before I was halfway through the show. She really got into my head…

Either way, I wouldn’t say this show is like, good, but I guess it’s decent for what it is. Or maybe not. There’s some good episodes and some really bad ones. I certainly don’t hate it! It did achieve the goal of “making me more of a Sanrio fan”, so that’s probably enough, right?

I was joking about how I'd love to watch an anime that's not set in Victorian England (I saw like four in a row! ^^;), so I decided to take up on my friend’s recommendation and hop on Vanitas no Carte some four years after the fact (by the way, it's the second anime set in 19th-century France I've seen this month —)

Initially, I was surprised by how “SHAFT” the direction felt, and it all made sense when I saw the director was Tomoyuki Itamura (who directed Monogatari from Nise up to Owari). At some points it's a dead tell, but most of the time the series has its own visual identity, so it doesn't end up feeling like a second Monogatari or anything.

At first I kept watching less because I was enjoying it and more because I was curious about that hook at the end of the first episode, but the story really delivers! I'm glad I kept going.

The worldbuilding is amazing, what with the formulas and crystals and malnomens and the alt-history stuff—Paris without an Eiffel tower is such a strange thing to think about…

The character designs are stunning, and the blood sucking scenes are really hot, which is probably the most important thing in a series about vampires. The fights are also pretty cool I guess.

My favorite character was Noé, I want to pinch his cheeks…! Anyways, I guess I gotta hop on the manga now…

Watched Given. I thought it was 12 episodes long, but it’s only 11. I was surprised at how fast it went by…

My main criticism of the manga was that the story wasn’t given enough room to breathe (even if that gave it a certain unique intensity). This (as I expected) isn’t the case in the anime. It’s a very different experience from reading the manga. Days repeat, scenarios are panned over, guitar riffs play in the background—it lingers, and lingers often. It gets to the point where it feels like its own, separate thing rather than an adaptation. It’s also closer—or rather, exactly aligned with my expectations of what Given would be like before I got into it. I wonder if it’s because most people got to know it from the anime? Which is to say: I feel like I finally know the “Given” I always saw people posting about.

Commenting on the music would require way more technical knowledge than what I have (which is zero), so I’ll just try to put down my general impressions. It sounds different from what I expected. The instruments feel like they’re demanding your attention, somehow? In the opening, the drums, the bass, the guitar all sound so cool (I’d even say refreshing). It is a story about music,after all. I was very curious about what “A Winter’s Song” sounded like (especially because when I was reading that part in the manga I put Asian Kung Fu Generation’s “Solanin” in the background and had the best experience of my life). The song isn’t bad, but I can’t say I like it. Despite that, the moment when Mafuyu just yells out took my breath away. There’s that intensity from the manga, achieved in a completely different way. It’s overwhelming. Only after that initial shock faded and I caught my breath was I able to cry. And that’s also how it was for Mafuyu, wasn’t it?

Kyosougiga started out as a 30-minute ONA, followed by five shorts and finally a 10-episode TV show. They’re pretty different takes on the same story, so I've broken up the review in parts.

Kyosougiga (2011): A schoolgirl with a transparent hammer goes on a wild, fast paced chase around a colorful city. FLCL vibes. Didn't understand a single word of what was said, but that didn't dampen my fun.

Kyosougiga (2012): We’ve still got some fast-paced rumbles, but they're interspersed by quieter episodes focused on telling the characters’ stories. A lot more emotional beats. Feels like the kagepro anime, somehow? I was also able to understand a lot more this time, which was nice. A magical mirror city born from a monk's drawings, a girl from an alternate dimension, a rabbit turned into a woman, a mismatched broken family trying to piece themselves together again...at this point, it was shaping up to be a pretty sweet story. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Kyosougiga (2013): At last, the final version. A lot more exposition and character development, added to the longer runtime, gives it a very different feel from the movie and the shorts, though it's closer to the latter. There's quite a bit of overlap, but not enough that I'd say to forego the shorts and just watch the show—all three are valuable experiences in their own right. It's so bright, colorful and creative, it feels like you could just walk inside the screen and get lost in that world. The story (of a family's separation and subsequent reunion or whatever it was that the narrator said), now finally told in full, is indeed very sweet. I had a smile on my face through most of it, it's such a fun watch! I miss it already…

Kaiba is a very unique show, both in story and visuals. The animation is an absolute delight to watch, with movements and character designs reminiscent of old western cartoons. It all feels very nostalgic.

The story is set in a world filled with odd technology and space travel, where memories can be stored into chips and exchanged from one body to another. Rich people enjoy immortality, while poor people resort to selling their entire bodies to make ends meet.

The first half is very episodic, following the protagonist as he travels through different planets in an attempt to recover his memories, with an overarching plot unfolding in the second half. The show is often odd, sometimes funny, and made me cry more than once. The way things wrapped up felt a bit rushed, but that doesn't take away from the story as a whole.

The soundtrack is very beautiful, with one of the most wonderful openings I have ever seen—it's like floating…

There’s something very dreamlike, almost transcendental to Kaiba—like a childhood memory of a show that couldn’t possibly exist. But it does, and what a joy it is to watch.

I was in the mood for some sports anime since it’s been a while, and this seemed like a good choice to binge in an afternoon. I was under the impression that it was a much older show(I was probably mixing it up with SKET dance?), but it’s from 2021, and the OVA released just earlier this year, which is probably why I saw an uptick of people posting about it…but I digress. As I was saying, it's pretty cute! The story is pretty formulaic, but the dynamic of the two main characters was really sweet. Visuals wise, it’s a very bright and colorful show, and the competitions were super fun to watch, even if sometimes they went so over-the-top as to be funny. I don’t think doing most of that stuff on a skateboard is possible, but what do I know…;p

Anyhow, seeing Reki and Langa have so much fun reminded me of when I got a skateboard back in middle school. It took me a while to find it under a pile of junk in the garage, but wouldn’t you know, I can still ride it just fine. I was going to say this show was fine, if nothing life-changing, but I guess it did change my life, even if just that little bit.

Between her father gambling all the family's savings and running away, and being evicted from her house, 17-year-old Nanami is down on her luck. After helping out a mysterious man at the park, she gets sent to an old, run-down temple, where a belligerent fox guy informs her she's the temple's new goddess! I've been in a shoujo kick lately, and Kamisama Hajimemashita was love at first…okay, I've known about this series’ existence since forever, so maybe second sight—

The main cast is really charming. Nanami is a great protagonist, and Tomoe is just so cute! Kurama was very funny, when he was on screen I felt like I was watching Saiki K.(...but just who is it that he reminds me of?) Mizuki is not a bad character but I feel kind of whatever about him ┐⁠(⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠)⁠┌

The ayakashi and deities had some really fun designs. I loved the Swamp Princess's big eyes…

The soundtrack had a very nostalgic feeling to it. There was nothing too impressive about the opening and ending sequences, but something about them just felt so pleasant to watch and listen to. I really liked it.

And as for the romance…ah, the romance…! Let me be dramatic for a second. I loved Nanami and Tomoe’s dynamic, they're so cute together! The emphasis given on touch and lack thereof while their relationship developed made my heart skip a beat. That ending had me melting away…ok, I'm back to normal now. Let's see how things go in season two!