Anime I have watched or am watching

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 8

So, the famous Full Metal Alchemist...I have already seen the original anime years ago, but I've been wanting to see Brotherhood for a loong time. It's an incredibly hyped anime and has been for years. It's a long 64 episode series, but since it is covering the full manga, it's well deserved. There isn't really any filler episodes so the plot is always progressing, sometimes with many character storylines going on at once. Well, long story short, the series didn't really live up to my expectations. It's good, but pretty basic. A very "vanilla tier" anime. The characters aren't very deep, and the story is pretty predictable. Not to say these are necessarily bad things but just how it is. It plays it safe for the most part, though there are plenty of sad moments. It's very much like a classic shounen too with the "nakama power" and "we made a promise, sticking to our morals" kind of stuff. Put simply it seems a lot like a product of its time. The story beats, comedy, dialogue, even animation style (which sometimes does look very budget) is very 2010s esque. Still, it's a cool story, and the alchemy system is still pretty interesting. I just don't feel like it did anything amazing, but that all aspects of it are just good. It's cool and I'm happy there was a happy ending. My experience may be a bit worse than other's because I took long breaks in between sets of episodes (due to the watchalong nature with a discord server), so I had a harder time remembering details and connecting things. Definitely I don't want to do a long series like this again for that! OH, but I will say I really enjoyed May! It was nice to have a cute girl around with her cute panda! A lot of the side characters were pretty interesting and it was cool to see where the story deviated from the original anime. In some ways I prefer the original actually, the villains were cool in that one and felt like it had a cooler conclusion. I kinda wanna give this a higher score for the respect buuut considering my actual enjoyment, I think this is fair.

Blue Archive

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 4

Holy Mid Archive...Not even mid I think this show was genuinely bad. Nothing happened each episode until suddenly whoops we need a climax okay kidnap this character and have everyone go to where they are and take her back. The art and animation was pretty sloppy most of the time - dull colours, no shading, lots of shots of people standing around or pans up to the cieling. It looks and feels lazy. The best parts were the opening and ending every time which actually looked animated and cooler than the actual show. The ONLY reason to watch this show is if you already like the Blue Archive characters. It feels like there is genuinely no story. I guess it's cool to see these characters on screen but personally that's not enough for me. They feel so shoehorned in sometimes, like a mandatory x lines of script for each character per episode was needed. Don't get me wrong, they ARE cute girls, and I guess they DO do cute things, but the end of every episode was so disappointing like "that's it?"...I think you need some substance there as well. If they were doing more interesting things maybe it would be excusable. Anywaayyss I think this show sucked it failed as an advertisement, although I guess there was that foot scene (censored) to get people riled up...

Dungeon Meshi

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 9

This show was actually sooo good, I really liked it. Just a delight to watch. Funny, but also very interesting but some surprisingly intricate lore - I was going to say deep/complex, but it's not like it's super advanced or anything. But it is a thought out world that makes sense. It's very well animated and feels like it was made with a lot of love and care. I always looked forward to what they were gonna cook each episode, the food always looked sooo good and made me want to cook myself!! I think it's also so interesting to see them make food out of monsters and how that would work, allows for some creative moments and recipes. The overall plot too gets serious and dark, instead of being an expected light hearted isekai slop or whatever that I thought it might be. I am genuinely so invested, these characters are great too. I love Laios and his autisitic ass, Senshi, Marcille...they feel so iconic to me already. Good stuff!! I think I'd just need a liiittle more from it to give it a 10.

Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 9

Very good show, not quite what I expected it to be. But it was pretty welcome actually. Most of the show follows a pretty episodic format, where each episode is a different problem or case that needs to be solved. There is an overarching story, but it often gets put to the side. These episodic episodes allow for some nice world and character building. By the end of it I was quite familiar with everything and liked these characters a lot. There's a lot of interesting concepts explored in these episodes and as a sci-fi enjoyer, they were just a delight to think about. A lot of the episodes are left with inconclusive answers, which seems to be the point. You're seeing things the same as this police squad, who simply go in and fix the problem without being interested in how or why it happened. Leaves some things up to interpretation too, or emphasizes just how mysterious some things are. Anyways, the overarching plot near the end was very interesting and fun too however I kind of got lost once all the philosophy and politics stuff were brought up. I didn't follow it completely, kind of went over my head but I think I got the gist of it. Something something curiosity good, evil corpos bad, technology is crazy...yeah!! Also I loooved the tachikoma they were sooo cuuute!! I want to see more of them. Anyways, I first starting watching it because it was labeled as a mecha show but it's not really at all tbh, more of just straight sci-fi, but I still liked it. The art and animation hold up really well too, I love this early 2000's hand drawn style (let's not talk about the OP tho). The fanservice sometimes is a bit funny but I can let it go. GAH THIS IS PEAK!! I'm jus hesitant to give it a 10 cuz idk maybe there were some weaker episodes and confusing plotlines...it's a big deal to give that I guess.

Classroom of the Elite

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 6.5

I completed up to season 3 but not sure if there will be more? Overall I give this a 6.5. I liked the first season and it really hooked me (maybe my sick and weak mind just really liked it at the time), but I think the charm and gimmick wore off over time. The plots get less interesting as the mystery unfolds, and what the mystery presents is a bit underwhelming. Not as exciting as what I imagined before knowing everything. It also kind of comes off as obviously cheap, production wise. There are no action scenes (except when there are), the show is mostly talking. So there isn't much to animate actually. There at least aren't a lot of ceiling spam shots though. Hmm but yeah. I think the characters are alright and interesting for the most part, but sometimes veeeryy dramatic...like, theres a girl who is so distraught because she stole a necklace for her sister a few years ago, and acts as if it is a huge stain on her past and her character as a person and she has to atone for it forever...uhhmm bruh :sob: Anyways, I also kind of dislike how the show turned into "guy solves sad girl problems" as well. Ayanokoji is just looking after all these girls apparently and they all love him. At least we can see he is obviously manipulating them and doesn't care about them, but it is still crazy how they all just seem to throw themselves at him so easily. Anyways, I think the seasons got worse over time and the last season ended kind of abruptly/weirdly...like okay...is this going to continue? There's no conclusion really. sooo yeah that's my review!!

Fruits Basket (2019)

  • Status: Stopped for now
  • Rating: ?

I started this because I love romance and I've always heard that this is a pretty good one. With such high ratings I thought this must be a show I'd like. I've watched a good chunk of episodes and while overall I enjoy it, it feels veeery teenage-girly to me. Like some peak tumblr era shit. Everything is so...nice and sanitized I guess? Very "power of friendship" kind of thing, and then you have all the cute twinky anime boys alongside that. A main protagonist girl who is very genki and not like the other girls but every guy likes her still. It seems like a slow burn romance show because so far no actual romance has happened yet, it's all characters building up to liking each other more. The jokes also feel like something that would appeal to teenage otaku me. It's hard to describe exactly what this feeling is but I think if you watch this show, it will feel very 2000s like. This is quite a long series with multiple 26 cour episode seasons so I don't know when I'll get to finishing this, for now I have dropped it for more interesting stuff!

FMA:B

  • Status: In progress
  • Rating: ?

pending

Bokurano

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 7

I liked this a lot, but the plot got kind of convoluted. The animation budget seemed to be pretty poor so it didn't look too good in a lot of cases. It was a satisfying enough show but the weird premise is never really explained...like everything that is behind it. Like that's just the way the world works here I guess. But it was entertaining and I did like it! Some parts got me really emotional. It's another one of those series that is all about growing up and shows the hardships of growing up and becoming an adult. It uses children to show these problems that everyone faces.

Eureka Seven

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 8

This show has a lot of heart. I like it. But...it is quite confusing sometimes. Even after finishing I don't quite understand the world or what's going on. But it's still a fun ride! I enjoy the blend of romance/slice of life with the mecha fighting stuff. The more political things involving Dewey and such, I didn't understand too much though. But it doesn't drag for too long. The characters are great and you really get to know them and appreciate them (even if they are assholes sometimes). Strongest point of the show probably. The first half of the show you could call "filler" perhaps, with not much happening, but with a lot of key character development episodes. The animation across the whole show is pretty great and I still love this 2D hand drawn style, it is quite impressive especially with the mecha fights and flying which can be so smooth! Anyways, yeah it's a pretty great mecha show, and now I want a Nirvash gunpla kit...

Pokemon Concierge

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 8

This show was sooo comfy! And normally when people say comfy, it also means its kinda boring, but this was just fun and wholesome. It was pretty short too! Super easy to get through. I loooved the animation style! It's so unique and every pokemon looked so hugable! It felt nostalgic for me going back to the Pokemon series after not really interacting with it at all for some time. Anyways, if you like pokemon AT ALL, give this a try! It's a super sweet little show and it's refreshing to see things from the perspective of "non main characters", it's just a chill time. Also god I wish it was that easy to get a job like this...

The Boy and the Heron

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 8.5

Really great new Miyazaki film, he's so back...The landscapes and music in this film are just GORGEOUS. The characters and great and feel like real people (I do think a lot of Ghibli films, they don't really spend time on the characters much). The film is very weird and interesting, with things changing and warping a lot with a lot of style to it. Oh and I LOVED the warawara they are soooo cute ahhh...My only issue with the film really is it definitely drags at times, especially near the beginning. It is kind of a long movie with a lot of scenes/shots of people kinda sitting around. I know it's meant to be atmospheric but it goes a little long. Some of the character designs were also kinda gross, but...I guess that's the point...Also, the plot itself is pretty confusing? Like the reason why things are happening...I can grasp it but it's pretty abstract. Anyways, this movie made me tear up as always with Ghibli so good job on that!! Yeah I liked this okay.

Gundam War in the Pocket

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 9

Also known as "Christmas Gundam". A pretty great little series. Beautiful art and animation. Pretty good pacing, but a bit slow to start. Interesting characters. It tackles war from a side you don't often see. It kind of looks at it from all perspectives really, ultimately criticizing it and the foolishness it brings. It was neat seeing that change in the main character. There's also no cyber-newtype business in this, it's very grounded which is nice. It's only really Christmas related because the final day takes place on Christmas, but I guess that's enough for it to count. I look forward to rewatching this every couple years!!

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 8

Really good series actually. I was worried about this as the previes showed kind of stiff animation and awkward voice acting. It's not amazing in the voice department, but as you keep watching you can see the animation is actually quite good in a lot of places, and the minimalist style works well. Things do move surprisingly smooth. Anyways, all that aside, the story is pretty good too. It's actually different from anything that currently exists involving Scott Pilgrim (as far as I know). It's a really interesting look at Ramona and her exes and I honestly liked her a lot here. Scott is actually barely in it lol, which I consider to be a good thing. It also felt like a perfect length, not too long or too short. Check it out if you like this IP!!

Bocchi the Rock

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating:8

Very cute show, very comfy. Not boring actually, has good pacing. Really inspires me to play guitar more and get better. Bocchi is LITERALLY ME FRFR AHHHH

Made in Abyss Season 2: The Golden City

  • Status: Compelted
  • Rating:8

What can I say, I love Made in Abyss. This season was just more of the same. I will say, I think I enjoyed it a bit less than the other season and movie though. It was good, but it focuses on one place for the whole season. Part of what I love about Made in Abyss is the adventure and exploration. The worldbuilding is amazing and I just want to see more of it. It was nice seeing the history of the Golden City, how it came to be. We get some lore and info on how people began venturing into the Abyss as well, and that was certainly interesting. This season also felt very fucked up. If you know you know I guess. More child suffering...yay...It was a neat contained story though. I'm looking forward to more, and I hope they will keep adapting this series. Also trust me all the diarrhea is VERY important to the plot of the story very necessary okay??

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

  • Status: Completed
  • Rating: 5/10

Honestly, I've been trying to watch this series for months now. It is part of the initiation in the Gundam fandom. I've been watching other Gundam series here and there, and I've seen the original Gundam series through the 3 movies. I've decided to watch this series so that I know wtf is going on in the later series, or at least have some context for them. Be warned, this is a 50 episode series, made in the 80s. It is slow, it is "ugly" (quite poor animation tbh), the characters are kind of dumb, it has a bit of that "villain of the week" feel. I've been finding it difficult to get through for these reasons. But, I will say that once you get about halfway through, it does pick up. There's definitely really interesting and nice episodes. But there is just a lot to get through. I've seen that apparently this series is important and you can't just watch the movies to skip it because you won't quite get it, so, I guess you HAVE to get through this. It's not that it's terrible, it's just not a very enjoyable watch. Definitely has major pacing issues and weird moments due to budgetary reasons likely (like, characters suddenly getting into battle all of a sudden). Watch this if you're a GUNDAM NERD and want to know everything.

UPDATE: This series is draining, totally way too long, contrived, and confusing. Characters die a lot for dumb reasons. I'm not sure what the point is a lot of the time, I don't think I could tell you what was going on in any given episode. They are just always fighting, in every episode. But it was nice sometimes. I like the art I guess. Some memorable characters for sure. Newtype powers are starting to ramp up here.