Summary: Romance not better than "Boys Over Flowers", in wrapping paper with British scenery.
I wonder how many people here know "Boys Over Flowers", a mega hit romance in 1990s written by Yoko Kamio. It is still famous in asia, due to dramatization in Taiwan, Korea, China, Thailand, and Philippines. Female lead Tsukushi Makino from middle-class family enters prestigious high school, and meets high-class handsome boys. Despite harassment from them and their fans, she does not loose her smile and becomes friend with all of them in the long run.
It was nostalgic to see "Yoko Kamio presents" in intro, but it soon got disappointing as the
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Jan 1, 2026
Summary: Smart decision by Aka Akasaka not to animate boring part of original comics.
It is very common in Japanese comics industry that magazine forces a writer to extend famous ongoing work to retain readers. Many manga artists have suffered from this situation. For example, Ohba/Obata criticized Jump magazine in their Bakuman for this which they experienced while publishing Death Note. Aka Akasaka also did it in Oshi no Ko, Tokyo Blade arc. Aka also expressed in comics Vol. 22 that "stories for other characters are a bit apart from entertainment, but I'm writing them due to responsibility." Those side stories were necessary for subcharacters, but not ... 
Aug 13, 2025 Not Recommended Funny 
Summary: I believe that ethics should not matter in watching animation, but it does sometimes.
What's your opinion on characters that are designed only to be killed? Can you just enjoy in the position of a killer, or can you pity him or her if some detail comes before? Everyone will understand the difference between death of an unnamed soldier and a soldier whose name, family, and fiancé are known to the audiences. To talk about myself, CLAMP's comics RG Veda (1990~1996) - which killed all main characters except two - made me think that "in a well-written story, death of a character must impact the story ... 
Mar 23, 2024
Summary: Giving a twist on a mess does not make it good, but even worse.
Over ten years of isekai boom, we are all tired of MC's cheat ability. The original novel perhaps tried to criticize those mass-productive isekais by twisting their cliche, but it just created the worst of them. Many compared the MC's ability as that of Death Note without the note, but that was not the only thing this one lacks of. No thrill or suspense for being caught, no pierce dialogue with an enemy to justify own cause to each other, but just full of hatred and misogyny. At least, the animation made a ... 
Jan 2, 2024
Under Ninja
(Anime)
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Summary: Unnecessary back and forth in timeline, boring family-name jokes, sexual contents in unpleasing way, a total mess.
I don't even need to talk about Japanese victim mentality on their forced pacifism (If you want to know in detail, refer to "Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution" in wiki.) to classify this animation as a bad one. I have not read the original comics, so I'm not sure if all the wrongs are made by origin or by animation. It goes back and forth in timeline very often, and some scene changes happen in unexpected timing. If used properly that kind of twists may bring an extra ... 
Dec 29, 2023
Migi to Dali
(Anime)
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Summary: Nami Sano's avant-garde style has finally met perfect genre - suspense.
Nami Sano's previous work "Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto" had pros and cons. While many enjoyed Sakamoto's stylish actions, there were few including myself who felt uneasy with that bizarre movement. After successful her first full-length comics, she tried a different genre and a bit surprisingly it was suspense/mystery. And weird poses drawn by her were perfect match to twins hiding from their step-parent, such as crawling under the floor like in opening. The style is also well used to the villain for causing more tension and stress in the climax. It is really unfortunate that ... 
Dec 29, 2023
Summary: recommended only if you have not read novel.
It was one of my highly expected show this season, after Frieren, Apothecary, and Shangfron. Unlike other time slip stories, MC does not try to be good but behaves selfish to avoid beheading. However it is perfectly misunderstood by other characters to bring the best result. Narration and personified guillotine (from comicalized one) gives more fun to those situations. The show itself is funny enough, above average. However referring to original novel, animated part is only beginning and more chapters are coming. Animation rushed too much to finish it within one cour, so we're missing more serious stories ... 
Dec 27, 2023
Hametsu no Oukoku
(Anime)
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Summary: Only for those who love a lot of blood and decapitating.
Cruel scenes in Ep 1 was necessary to justify MC's cause for revenge. However continuing violence by both sides made it faded over and over. Many characters were designed just to be killed without enough contribution to the story. The antagonist's purpose and method were sounding, and having counterpart at MC's side is a good setting for finale. However, Queen concert in that context was really ridiculous. Opening and Ending was fine, but it could do nothing about the rating. Easily one of the worst this year, unless you're enjoying this kind of shows in order ... 
Nov 26, 2023
Just a typical suspense of Naoki Urasawa, wrapped with great animation. I could not choose "Not Recommended" only because it is well animated. Especially story of Gesicht was great, but it should be credited to Osamu Tezuka, not Urasawa.
I was a big fan of Naoki Urasawa since <Master Keaton>, fond of <Yawara> and <Happy>. However, from <Monster> I've been getting tired of his repeating suspense; "something horrible is coming, but don't know what." At least <Monster> was fine due to charismatic villain Johan, but <20th Century Boys> did the same thing again with charmless villain surrounded by fools, and I don't even remember the story ... 
Oct 15, 2023
Steins;Gate
(Anime)
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WARNINGS
1. Never watch this until you finish all other time-travel shows in your watchlist. They will all become mid. 2. First half is extremely boring, and second half is very stressful. Not for beginners, absolutely. Those who're new to anime would see this review because Steins;Gate is staple #2 in the Top Anime ranking. If you're planning to watch this right after your first anime Fullmetal Alchemist at #1, NEVER. This show requires a big deal of concentration and understanding, especially some experience on time-travel or parallel world genre. When you think you're ready, just do not give up even if you don't understand something in the middle. ... |
