Ebonyslayer

SPOILER ALERT since this covers some story parts. Sonny Boy was one of the anime I was curious about back when it came out last year. And now, after seeing it, I can say I enjoyed to a point. The reason being is that Sonny Boy, from what I can tell, is a deconstruction of the Isekai genre. The reason being is that the protagonist is not overpowered, didn't have a shitty past life, and even after being isekai-ed, is not trying to build a harem. Nagara is a pretty normal kid, though he is a bit of an introvert.

And even though I have heard and not read the series, it seems like the show was... See full review

To Your Eternity is a series written by the author of A Silent Voice, but she also had previous experience drawing the Mardock Scramble manga. https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=10548&orderby=year SPOILERS WARNING since this review will cover story points from the anime. Story- The story doesn't start till after the first episode. In fact the first episode can be seen as its own separate story, mainly about a boy who was abandoned by his own tribe. Its a very melancholy opening episode, one that left quite an impression on me. And to be honest, I wish the anime had ended there, cause I can't... See full review

Before covering the anime, I will start by saying that yes, I did read the manga. It was during the 2010s, but better late than never I suppose. Then again I did grow up with DBZ and Yugioh, so I think I always had a soft spot for Shounen Jump. But needless to say, Shaman King(2021) was one of the few anime to give me burnout, with me stopping at episode 10. Even after coming back to it months later and continuing only a few more episodes, my feelings have remained unchanged. Cause no matter how you look at it, the rushed pacing is what hurts Shaman King the most. Story- The story is about a young shaman... See full review

The Witcher is a series I have grown to love, ever since reading all of the novels by Sapkowski in their book release in English. As well as playing a huge chunk of the 3rd Witcher game, and watching my brother play it and the other games. Now you're probably thinking that since I'm a fan, that means I enjoyed the Netflix movie. I won't deny that there were some fun moments, but ultimately I felt disappointed. SPOILERS WARNING since this will be covering story and characters from the movie. Story- The story is how I would best describe as a fanfiction(or filler if you want to use anime terms), since the... See full review

Tokyo Revengers, one of the anime of 2021 that caused me to experience burnout, alongside Shaman King 2021, but that's a story for another time. There were some positives to the anime, but there were negatives as well. I did force myself to finish it recently, partly cause I was almost done with it. And the other in hopes that my impression would change, but ultimately it didn't. SPOILER ALERT to those reading since this review will cover major story points. Story- The story introduces Takemitchy as the protagonist, a deadbeat adult who doesn't have anything going on in his current life. Events happen, the... See full review

As some people may be familiar with, LeSean Thomas worked on a past anime for Netflix, which was Cannon Busters. But Cannon Busters felt like one of those series where the creator is just taking a bunch of ideas and pouring them into a show. And the outcome was meh at best, but surely the creator learned with his mistakes and did better with Yasuke, right? Nope, if anything this was a worse experience than Cannon Busters. SPOILERS WARNING since this review will be covering the entire anime: Story- The story begins with former samurai Yasuke being asked by Ichika to escort her daughter to a doctor because... See full review

Vifam is a mecha anime that Tomino worked on in 1983, while also juggling Aura Battler Dunbine. Considering how much Tomino was working on at the time its not surprising to hear how he would be drunk while working on Dunbine. I see Vifam as a side-project that Tomino worked on while taking a break from Gundam. If I have to be honest though, I don't think I really enjoyed Vifam that much. Story- The story focuses on the 13 children who escape their colony on a spaceship after its attacked by aliens. And from the start they make it their goal to go home to earth Over the course of the series they learn to... See full review

Yugo the Negotiator is an obscure anime that came out towards the end of 2004. The first Yugo manga was actually finished before getting an anime adaption. But at that point there were other action seinen manga in the early 2000s that were already making a name for themselves, such as Black Lagoon and Gantz. So its no surprise that it got overshadowed by those series. But at the end of the day, you're probably wondering if YTN is worth getting into. And after seeing it for myself, I have to say no unfortunately. Story- The story for the anime is comprised of two story arcs, the Pakistan arc and the... See full review

Even though Ahiru no Sora is my first basketball anime that I have completely finished, I don't think its one that has left me feeling happy. There are reasons for that of course, but the biggest one being that it has bad drama, plain and simple. SPOILERS warning since this covers all 50 episodes of the first season. Story- The story honestly had a lot of potential to it. The protagonist Sora is entering high school and he wants to win top place in the high school basketball tournament. The problem being that punks and delinquents have taken over the basketball club, and so now Sora has to convince them to... See full review

I don't think that this show was as good as it could have been. It went from being a racing anime to a battle shounen. So I think switching the genres and wasting the potential of the characters kind of hurt the show in my opinion. SPOILERS warning to readers since this review will be covering the details regarding story and characters that felt disappointing.
Story- The story deals with the Trans-America Wild Race that the characters eventually enter. Prior to that event, Kosame and Appare were sort of forced into a situation where they have to work together to win the race to get back to Japan. (But... See full review

Ah yes, occult horror anime from the 1980s. Typically I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to old anime, but how good is the story to Hengentai Mayakou Karura Mau! Nara Onryou Emaki? (Or by its literal name, Transformation Repel Evil Night Travel Karura Dances!) If I'm being honest, I don't think I enjoyed it very much, mainly for two major reasons: The director for the movie, Takaaki Ishiyama, hasn't really directed any memorable anime. Other than video game adaptions, some not so great Madhouse originals, and those Happy Science anime that help promote a religious cult. Needless to say, this director has... See full review

Story- The story is about a family that is surviving some of the biggest earthquakes in Japan. And the pacing for the first few episodes felt okay. And then a major death happens that leaves this negative impression on the story. SPOILER: And by death I mean Ayumu's father getting blown up by a buried bomb. It ended feeling like a real disappointment. I feel like a huge part of that came from (what I was told) the source material though. Director Yuasa can do some cool stuff(rapping segment), but all of that feels pointless if the material from the novel isn't handled in a way that makes sense. Shocking... See full review

I think what really got me interested in the movie was the fact that Naoki Urasawa worked on the movie. He didn't do the story or characters specifically, but he did design the characters. Which I think helped advertise the movie since its mentioned in the trailer. But you're probably wondering if the movie was good. I think it is for the most part if you go in with the right level of expectations. Story -Our narrative opens with a youngster named Tianjin being moved up to the mountains of Tibet as his mother just passed and that's where his father is. He quickly forms a bond with a golden-furred Tibetan... See full review

I feel like the author was trying to be pretty optimistic given the setting in Arte. But at the same time the themes for Arte regarding women empowerment felt heavy if I'm being honest. While I honestly agree with that, in the setting provided, that is not true. True Renaissance era life would not allow this sort of story. Unfortunately, there was less focus on the setting than on the women's power storyline. Arte was less "historical" and more "fantasy" in this sense.

The author also choose to base Arte off of a real life figure, Artemisia Gentileschi, who had a very different... See full review

Thank God I'm finished with the show. Well, what do I think of it? I think there were several problems to the point where Tomino has told Gundam fans not to watch Victory Gundam and for good reason. He was not in a healthy state of mind and was not given the freedom to do what he wanted to do. Its no surprise why he left Sunrise for the next six years. Just look at the problems: forced victimizing, incompetent characters, memory reset ending and a plethora of tension less death.

They tried to be grim but it came across as juvenile. Unlike other Gundam series where deaths and the horrors of war were... See full review

One of the anime films I saw while getting towards my milestone. This is a pretty good war movie for a number of reasons. One of them being that World War 2 is the setting while its focused on Kayoko and her family. And it makes sense cause it focuses on how the family lives their every day life as the war gets closer and closer. Story- The entire story is focused on Kayoko and her family. Basically, our main character is Kayoko, a typical little girl who'd much rather have fun and play games with her friends at school and cries a lot whenever things don't go her way. She lives with her mother, father... See full review

After over a decade since it came out, Casshern Sins still continues to leave its impact on me as a fan of anime. Even though Casshern Sins came out in 2008 in Japan, I don't think it was noticed until it was licensed and dubbed by Funimation. Then it aired in 2012 on the reborned Toonami block along with shows like Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell. I don't usually say this about anime in general, but I think the Funimation cast for Casshern Sins actually made the show even better. You can just feel Eric Vale and the other English voice-actors pouring their heart into their lines. I am making this... See full review

First off, I want to say that before seeing Sound and Fury I haven't really listened to any of Sturgill Simpson's music. Which is a shame cause I think there were some good songs to be heard in Sound and Fury. I think he meant this anime album to reflect a lot of issues going on in the world today, and hopefully this review will help determine why its worth watching. Story- Its pretty straight-forward, considering the length is more than forty minutes. The main story is focused on a samurai who is out for revenge when his men are killed by a pair of assassins. Fast-forward to the present and you can see... See full review

Ah, Eyeshield 21, the first sports manga I ever got into when I was a young teen. But how well does the anime hold up to the manga? Its okayish, however, its not without its fair share of issues. Story- The entirety of the Eyeshield 21 storyline focuses on the Deimon Devil Bats dream of making it to the Christmas Bowl, the championship match between the best high school football teams. The anime does a pretty good job of following the story of the manga. But there are a few changed details here and there, like how Monta is recruited for the Deimon Devil Bats. However, there is a lot of noticeable filler... See full review

Everyone must have at least heard of the workplace genre for anime. It gives an idea of what a person's work life is like, and that can be a new interesting experience. Story- The character Majime is the protagonist and through a number of events is recruited to work on the revised dictionary known as The Great Passage, a project that spans over thirteen years to complete. Its a pretty basic premise but the studio makes it work. There are parts where the story is a little sluggish, but the anime's intent is to be relaxing. And somewhere in all of this, they made the romantic subplot between Kaguya and... See full review

Survival horror has taken all shapes and sizes in manga and anime. One series in particular was Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, and it was done by the same studio that did Attack on Titan. It was around the half way point that Tetsuro Araki was making mistakes with the characters, such as making the antagonist into a plot device, turning a powerful female character into a damsel in distress, and rushing development with the protagonist. While parts of the first season were messy, the director was able to at least end it on a decent note. Now, after three years since the release of the first season, we have... See full review

There always comes a time where a fan of manga/anime comes across the name of a series through a popular program such as Toonami. That is how I heard of DMWL back when Toonami was getting back on its feet through the air again. I did some research and found out it was a manga to anime adaption, and knowing my history of getting into incompleted anime I decided to get into the manga first. It was awesome to know that there were some devoted translators for the manga, which covered at least 40+ chapters at the time. But once I caught up, I knew I would have to watch the anime eventually. And once I did, the... See full review

Its been on my backburner for a while now but I finally got to watching Erased. And now there's the question of what I thought about it. Story- In a nutshell, Erased is about a man named Satoru who lives a normal life and uses his time ability to help people in small ways, until tragedy strikes, and his time travel ability takes him all the way to his childhood. And for the remainder of the series he is focused on finding the child serial killer in his town. I do think the studio for the most part took short cuts with the manga adaption and its probably the reason why Satoru's powers may not get completely... See full review

I think after I saw Yuasa's work with Devilman Crybaby, I became a lot more interested with the guy's work. Even with a limited budget, the things that guy can animate for this movie are amazing. I won't lie though, this movie felt more like a mind trip than a mind game. Story- The story for the most part, is about Nishi comes into his own identity throughout the length of the movie. The movie doesn't truly pick up until the main character happens to die unexpectedly. Then the story only happens to get crazier from there. When the characters get trapped in a whale, I instantly got Pinochio vibes. This... See full review

Before this review, I just want to say that I have seen all of the old and new Dragon Ball movies, this one I think being a clear success compared to the others. The only other animated works of DB that I think were successful were the Bardock and the Trunks OVAs, and for good reason. They were focused on the character development during those story bits, and that's what allowed it to work so well. When there are parts in the series that are about fights and conflict, its anime projects like this that turn out to be a nice surprise. Story- Pretty simple and straight to the point, the dragonballs, which... See full review

Over the course of me writing this review I have also seen the Tales of Eternia, Tales of Phantasia, and also the Tales of Symphonia anime. All of which for the most part skip story bits and character development.  But Vesperia on the other hand is a different story. It is a prequel to the game its based off of, which is actually kind of rare. Makes it easier to tie the events of the movie into the game. The director and the writer kept it simple and direct, and because of this, Tales of Vesperia manages to become interesting to a degree, enough to at least enjoy the movie and maybe consider buying... See full review

This is my first review for 2019 and I'm going to do it with justice! Story- The anime's story is based on a manga that has just had its fiftieth anniversary, and is about a traveling swordsman who is on a journey to get back his body parts that were taken from him by demons. Along the way that same character becomes friends with a young boy thief named Dororo. What's really cool about this series for me though is how the plot is sort of similiar to Berserk's in a way. I think the original series has been a good influence on the anime/manga industry, like with Devilman. Animation- The animation for the... See full review

Honestly, this has to be one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen from studio Ghibli. Not to say that its a bad thing, its more like others will react very strongly to the movie if they aren't familiar with some of the Japanese mythology that is focused on tanuki in general. And now I will explain what I think the film succeeded in and what it failed in. Story- The group of tanuki are rebelling against a surburban development project that is destroying the forest. There are many different arcs of narrative that take place in the movie, but I think the story didn't flow as well as it could have been... See full review

I actually heard news that James Cameron is doing a live action for Battle Angel Alita, and I have a soft spot for sci-fi so I thought I would try out the OVAS. I did enjoy it, but at the same time I will be critical about some parts of it. Story- The story begins when Ido finds the remains of a robot and begins to repair the robot that becomes Gally. She quickly becomes accustomed to her new body and her new life. The story doesn't really begin for Gally until she decides to become a robot hunter. There are even storylines that are focused on characters that Gally knows, but I get the feeling that... See full review

My first time seeing an archery anime, and as it turns out, quite an enjoyable one! Story- The story focuses how Minato, the main character, who has fallen out of a sport he once loved, and the process he goes through to get back into archery. And at the same time, its also a journey for the archery team as they learn to overcome their problems and work together as a team. Animation- The animation feels smooth from the every day life to the shooting of an arrow as it hits its target. The design of the characters feels natural and gorgeous to look at, not in a way that feels overdesigned. Sound- From the... See full review