Anime Wrap-up #2

Hello hello! Anime Wrap-Up is a new section of this blog, directed to anime I've consumed in any way during the previous week/month. 
Let's get to it!
Today we're covering the week from January 1st to January 7th.

This little gif will show you, what we'll be talking about:

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As this wrap up might contain spoilers, they will be marked like this: this is a spoiler. Watch out for them!

C Danchi (Housing Complex C)

I have completed C Danchi in one day, liking it right away. I was eyeing it for a while, even tried to watch it a few times. But I was never in the mood for it. Now I used it for my Monthly Challenge and I couldn't stop watching. My review for this anime is already up on the site, so if you want to read more on this, go visit that page. I'll link it here.

The only thing left to add is my rating for this show. C Danshi got itself 6/10. 

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Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta (Lu Over the Wall)

Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta was the next movie I finished. To be honest, it's been on my list for so long I didn't care for it anymore. The story seemed too interesting to drop it, but I still couldn't make myself get hyped for it.
However, I put it in the dub while I packed (dorm life yay) and I found myself loving the music. The story was beautiful. Someone compared it to Ponyo (which I don't quite agree with) but it had the vibe of 'becoming who I want to be'. Our MC had no idea what to do with his life - it seemed like his future was decided for him. Well, how could you aim for stars when your world is so small?

Similar to me, he was saved by music. His friends made him join their music band called Siren, and the music they produced attracted a little mermaid Lu.
Her singing was so beautiful, the music in this anime was really amazing. 
The relationship that grew between them wasn't so simple though... But what happened and how it happened you should see for yourself. 

All I can say is that if the anime focused on music more, I would like it more... but that is because I wasn't sold on the story from the beginning. Still, it's a must see. 7/10.

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Fruits Basket: 1st Season

This week I started watching Fruits Basket: 1st Season, the version from 2019. I was an active anime fan by 2019 and I remember it hitting the charts back then. However I am a person that does not give into really popular things easily.
But I am a sucker for personification in visual media. So to read that it is about a Zodiac curse... Chef's kiss! 💗👌 Currently I am on episode 7 and I am loving it a lot. The visuals are pleasing, the characters are hitting the right spots in my heart and I am very curious to see where the story will go or what will be the main plot.
Anime that are longer than 12 episodes are a pain sometimes. Because you can tell the story will drag and that it will take a long time until they get to the main point. Similar with Parasyte: The Maxim where the story started out strong but ended weak, Fruits Basket has been a kind of boring ride so far.
We have yet to be introduced to all the characters - however, the slice of life we got is quite pleasing. I have to say I love Hana and Uo (MC's best friends), and Kyou (I love cats too) and I despise the rat boy Yuki. I just can't stand him! Ugh.
As you can see, I have a lot to say about a show I am still watching... so hopefully by the next week, I will have a review ready! (Or maybe not, as I'm trying to catch up with Fall 2023 seasonals...)

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 Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo. 
(ORESUKI: Are you the only one who loves me?)

Alongside with that, I started watching (and am only on episode 6) Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo. This is giving me a hard time though... I love anime that are breaking the 4th wall and the joke with the bench is not getting old for me. However, as funny as it is... it can be so boring as well.
Oresuki would be great if it was snappier. But the story is moving rather slow and things are starting to drag out... I plan on watching the sequel (which is a movie I believe) but at this rate I might be 80 before I do. 😄

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.hack//SIGN

I kept watching new and new stuff, bringing my total of Watching to 4. .hack//SIGN is exactly what has been missing from the two previous anime. It's snappy, it's moving quickly, there's always something going on.
That might be the only positive though... .hack has been on my list for a long time, but I can't say I'm enjoying it... It's not bad, not at all. It's good! Which is why I'm really disappointed it's not fun for me. I wish I could enjoy it more. 😔 
Nothing is lost yet, though. I am still only on episode 12. So maybe, just maybe, the characters will get deeper, story clearer and that I will get into it eventually. Sliding through a show this easily is just as bad as not being able to get through one episode...

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Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Bucket List of the Dead)

But let's go back to happy times again! Anyone remembers Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto? I started it the day it aired, it immediately became my favorite seasonal! I think it was made really well and the quality was impeccable. 

I am not into Zombies, although my anime list might say otherwise. This however was a wild ride since episode one to the finish. Somewhere around the break the studio took I added the manga to my planning list, despite not being a manga reader. I just have to see where the story goes!
The first 8 episodes I was up to date. Then the delays started and it took me a while to get into episode 9. But now I managed to finish it, swallowing the episodes whole, glued to the screen.
Zom 100 deserves a proper review, but I am not sure I will be able to write one, so let me tell you what I felt here: Zom 100 gave us an unique look to an apocalypse. We get fun, determination, new friendships and unlikely situations full of laughter. It's not horror, it's not desperation of being afraid of dying. It's exploring the new type of life, adjusting and finding happiness in freedom that apocalypse brings. Sounds insane, right? Well this whole show is insane! In the best way possible!

Zom 100 is a must watch for everyone - and those of you who will be able to watch it in one go might be luckier than we, those who had to wait. It is so worth your time.

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Sakura Trick

Hyped, I got back into my Paused anime. That would be Sakura Trick who won over Dark Gathering. Reason? It was dark and I am a chicken... So let's look at Sakura Trick - a yuri romance that gives us nothing but obnoxious kisses and kind of annoying characters.

To vent just a teeny bit, I discovered Sakura Trick around the time I was discovering myself. Wanting to discover this type of love, I watched the first few minutes and then forgot about it for years. Picking it up again was not the best decision I made but it wasn't the worst either. Sakura Trick is not a masterpiece, but it's not bad, and it isn't boring.

Following the romantic feelings of six girls, and kind of weird feelings of two more, we get to see a lot of high-schooler gay kisses. That's practically it. Although the opening credits show us every pairing kiss, by episode 9 we have yet to see them all happen.

Fresh in my memory is the scene with marriage, which I thought was really adorable and it almost made me want to have a girlfriend. It was so cute! Also the episode titled Fanservice was so fun and so smart. 😄

As an ordinary slice of life anime, there are more interesting and less interesting characters. There are girls that you'll love and girls that you won't care about. To be honest, that is the whole feeling of the anime. It's cute, but not that good.

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Temple Specials

And today, I started a lot of shows. Temple Specials are, like the name suggests, specials to the show Temple. I have to say, I didn't enjoy the original show itself that much, but this Specials killed me. The TV show was trying not to cross a line, and it was doing a good job at that - staying in lines of ecchi, not going to the lines of hentai.

Specials abandoned that and went straight up to porn without the actual intercourse.

First episode was the usual "We switched bodies!" and the second was... I don't even know how to call it. If you liked temple, you will like the specials. 2/10.

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Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou (I'm in Love with the Villainess)

Now we'll look into some of the shows that I was supposed to watch for Fall 2023, but I decided to not waste my time on anime I didn't really want to see. But something made me wanna do a speed-watch and complete the whole season this and the following week. Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou is one I tried to watch when it was airing but after the "trauma" Higeki no Genkyou to Naru Saikyou Gedou Last Boss Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu gave me, and not being able to get through the first episode, I dropped it.

However, it has dubbing. And I am speedrunning Fall 2023. 😂 So I chose this as one of the shows I want to submit into the challenge and I got through it all.
My first impression was right. It's boring to no end, and there is nothing new about it. The bad mean girl meets a nice girls that got reincarnated to her favorite game and changes her to be good and have feelings. Awww. But not really.

I like that the show addressed LGBT love - the talk about Rae's love for Claire and how Claire doesn't have to reciprocate her feelings was interesting to see. From what I know, the Japanese aren't that open about sexuality, and to hear that talk was surprising. But very welcomed!

What ruined my sympathies was the incestuous relationship... That wasn't welcomed addition to the story. And in the end, the love talk didn't mean shit either, because they ended up dating. Listen. I heard of people falling in love like this and it does not end well... But good luck, go lesbians!

And then the episode with Claire's big sister came and she fell back into being a meanie... but for what? Just to keep a face in front of her sister? Lame. I can see how people like this, I can see myself liking it 10 years ago. But to see it now, it was boring and it didn't grab my heart.

   

 [What did grab my heart was the cute little slime!]

Overall, this show was pretty average. I guess I liked the addition of Claire being "romanced" by someone else, that felt somewhat fresh. And then it fell to the generic bad romance... It didn't do much wrong, so you could enjoy it in a relaxed pace, not having to focus much. I would compare it to Maria†Holic, but more entertaining. My rating for this show is 6/10.

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Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off gives me a cartoonish vibe, rather than an anime vibe. To be honest, I have no idea why this would be an anime. Scott Pilgrim is an adaptation of Canadian comic by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I have heard about this comic before, but somehow our paths didn't cross.    

When I saw people reviewing it, I was sure someone made a mistake. This is a cartoon! ...isn't it?

Scott Pilgrim is a 10/10 show. I am only on episode 6, but I can feel, see and heart the difference. It might be produced by the Japanese, but the heart of the story just screams WESTERN STORY. And I love it.

I am an anime fan, I have been calling myself an otaku - but stories from America just hit different. Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks... it just has a different feel to it. Not the quality, no. But that vibe...

It doesn't seem fair to compare. It doesn't feel right to be compared to the anime I have been covering in this wrap up. But Scott Pilgrim is a great show, that stands out in the anime industry.

I managed to finish this show and even though it wasn't what I expected, it was brilliant. I loved all the characters, I loved the ending and I loved the visuals. Like I said, 10/10 and my new favorite!

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Good Night World

What I started but shouldn't have was Good Night World - another show I started, dropped and picked up again. Another show I should have left dropped. The show itself isn't that bad... but I can't get into it. The MC is a NEET, and NEETs can be done funny. He is obnoxious, annoying, stupid and I want to kick him in the balls. He has no job, and no desire to do anything - but he complains about the fridge being empty.

The plot of them being non-functional family in real life but being a good family in game was interesting, that made me want to pick this up. But it just didn't work the way I hoped it would.

MC has a girl interest - but his "I pushed you away because I wanted to get closer to you" was so stupid, waah waah little baby. No sympathy, no empathy. 

The amount of twists is overwhelming and it doesn't translate too well for me. Some people might like it (well, it does have the rating of 71%) but I can't seem to warm up to it.

The twist with Pico was stupid. It ruined her character.

Ichi will have to do a lot more than just this to become likeable. His brother as well.

I don't even care about their mother anymore and their father is a piece of crap.

Sorry not sorry...

By episode 12, I was so bored that I didn't care at all for the ending. It didn't make me smile, it didn't leave me curious. I'm glad it's done. 4/10.

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Top wo Nerae! GunBuster (Gunbuster)

 Yesterday I also finished the first episode of Top wo Nerae! GunBuster. This anime is old, very old. It's the mother of mecha anime. 😂 Apart from the visuals and art which I really love, the story has yet to uncover fully. Two chosen pretty girls are pilots chosen for a bigger mission. In the first episode we see Noriko fight with herself, trying to become worthy of being chosen.

We even get a glimpse of how fighting will look, and we are shocked to see that Noriko turns her monitor off and becomes stronger than with it!

GunBuster might be fun, even for a non-lover like myself. But if it will stand up to it's standard is questionable... 

    

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Odekake Kozame (Little Shark's Day Out)

Bonus: Odekake Kozame is an adorable 2 minute per episode show, that made Kana Hanazawa dub a little shark-boy that loves pineapple and enjoys singing.

This show isn't much and it might turn into Gudetama, but it is adorable and lot of people think of this as their new safe space.

So if you're not feeling well and need to have a little cry, please, watch Little Shark's Day Out!

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And that is it for this wrap-up! Thank you for joining me, talk to me in the comments and see you next week!