Anime Wrap-Up #8

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!

Since March was a good month, this is the second part of March's Wrap-Up! Enjoy!

These are the shows we're talking about:

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Dark Gathering

I have been watching dark gathering since July of last year. Finally, I managed to make some time and finish it during this period.

Dark Gathering seemed like an incredibly opportunity to feed my hunger for quality horror stories without being actually terrified about silly jump scares and stupid sound effects.

What can I say, anime does it better than movies nowadays. And just as I suspected, it was incredible.

School was the only reason I didn't stay caught up and why I had problems getting into it. But now, being able to binge it, it was much easier. I do recommend it to all of you.

Dark Gathering is a ghost catching story with bigger purpose - saving the soul of Yayoi's dead mother. Have you ever heard about graduate ghosts? No? Then this show has something to teach you.

The art was simple, yet the ghosts were terrifying. The story seems straightforward, yet it manages to keep it entertaining and not repetitive (like for example Hell Girl).

The characters I love - Eiko is one bad biach, Yayoi is a smart cookie and Keitaro... is there too. Ai as a supporting character is incredibly fun!

The concept of killing a god is very new and fits very well in the absurdity of what really is happening in this story. 

Only one thing I hated at first - the characters of Nankobou, Oswald and Dorothy. I thought they came out of nowhere and were just a silly distraction. But as I continued watching, I could admit that they are important to the story too and will mix things up for Yayoi and the band. 

(I heard rumors about season 2 coming out eventually so yay!) For now, Dark Gathering earned itself 9/10. Great job!

I'll never forget this line.

    

[Eiko looked really hot here-]

    

    

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Yami Shibai (Theatre of Darkness)

Seasons 4-6

I love Yami Shibai. Sure it has it's faults, mistakes and the overall quality might not be able to compare to most of the others. But it gives us a closer look to Japanese only creepypasta obsession. 

The Japanese have a scary story for everything - taxi drivers, living alone, wells, kids, necklaces... Everything.

And despite being a chicken, I totally binge watch the shit out of this show every now and then. 

This time it was seasons 4, 5 and 6 and while there is really not a continuing story we could talk about, some of the short episodes are really creepy, just like they're supposed to be.

You'd expect a bad rating. But Theatre of Darkness manages to do most of what it wants to do and if you get into you, you will understand why the art style/animation are the way they are. 6/10 for all the seasons.

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I'll/CKBC

One of the anime watching mistakes I made. I didn't find it one bit interesting, it did not give me any nudge to read the manga or want to know more. The art was okay-ish, the story didn't unfold at all and I'm glad it had dubbing or I'd go crazy. 2/10

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Hyouka: Motsubeki Mono wa

I've been saving this special for a while, but stopped putting it aside. Hyouka was a good show (mid, as the kids say). But it didn't fit in the genres or summary it gave us. Still, if you got past that, it was fun and the characters were likeable.
Hyouka has that "old-gold" feel to it. After the 90's perfection but before the modern generic animes.

This was the swimsuit episode, and the mystery they were solving was so ridiculous I can't explain why they'd think this was a good choice. 😂

Oh... it's so like Chitanda to be curious about someone having an ice cream on their face... Watch Hyouka, go for it. Kyoto animation can do no wrong.

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Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko (Pom Poko)

Pom Poko was a tough one. I am a lover of Ghibli Studio's works just like any other person. But Pom Poko was hard to go through, and not only for me.

While cutely showing the "secret life" of tanuki (racoons), it has a strong environmental message - and that's where the problem arises.

Pom Poko could do it like they did it in Mononoke - you're enjoying the story, set in an important setting without really realizing what it  was about but still having the strong urge to go on a hike and take care of the nature.

But instead they got a narrator who in long two hours explained the issues with deforestation, ruining the natural habitats and building a concrete jungle that basically kills animals.

As important as I believe the message is, the execution ruined both the message and the anime. 8/10 and for pictures, visit this post.

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Mushoku Tensei II: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

(Jobless Reincarnation Season 2)

From the begging I had a theory, that Jobless Reincarnation is good for listening or watching, but not at once. While it looks good, and the story is interesting, it does not have enough charm for me to be alert for 25 minutes an episode.

Look. This will sound bad, but stay with me.

The soundtrack? Great. The story? Fine. The art? Beautiful. The animation: Pretty neat. The characters: rotten.

Jobless Reincarnation did a fine job to introducing us to it's universe in the first cour of the first season. Then it went downhill. 
And this season was the most boring of them all. I couldn't even listen to it. Rudeus attends a special university to cure his impotence and meets a lot of new people. One of them is Sylphiette, our green-haired elf girl. At first he doesn't recognize her, because her hair is white, her eyes covered and she is presenting as a male.
But in the end, they solve Rudeus' impotence with the power of love. ♥ How cute. ♥ 
While touching the subjects of slavery, love, reincarnation, and unfair life ordeals, Jobless Reincarnation fails to address them in any other way that to using them for it's lazy plot holes. I am not saying it's awful in it's core.

And while I am interested in how this will end (because I know how it will end) I can't handle the hype this is getting and the overlooking of the issues this show has. 4/10 and if this is coming out with dub, we will take a better look at the next cour in Spring 2024 Seasonals. If not... one of these days I will watch it.

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MONSTER

This... this.... this was an... experience.

Monster. 74 episodes. While everyone calls this a masterpiece, I just... liked it. It was fine. I understand why everyone loves it, it's a great piece. The story, the twist, the ending... it was all great. While I think the journey was longer than needed and got confusing sometimes, I liked that most of the characters got a real ending and got their life back on track.
I did watch it in dub, but I don't regret it. It was easier to understand.

The art was fine, had somewhat a real feeling to it. The animation was pretty good for early 2000's. 

I can't really say anything bad about it, but I can't say anything great either. While Monster is amazing, it needs a few rewatches to get all that info in your head. 

I do recommend it though. 8/10 

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Hula Fulla Dance

Movies like this tend to make me nervous because they are too long and I don't know when to take breaks. Watching a show is different, movies are so hard to get through.

Despite those feelings, I liked it. We have a plus size main character which I thought was a great thing.

But she was making fat jokes, she didn't know her worth and she was trying to change herself for others, not for herself. That made me really sad. She could be such a model, such an idol for big girls.

But in a way, it was important. All the girls had their problems - Ohana was homesick which messed with her focus, Hiwa was awful at dancing and concentrating at the same time, Shion couldn't smile in front of a crowd and Kanna was just soo problematic.

All of them showed one - it doesn't matter how talented or skilled you are. You have your faults and you have your soft sides too. Everyone, no matter what you think, no matter how perfect they look, they have their own doubts and demons they fight.

All in all, this movie was great and did a great job at being human and telling a story about people, not just dancers. 6/10

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Ousama Ranking: Yuuki no Takarabako

(Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage)

This sequel needs more love. I've seen a lot of people shitting on this season, saying that it was the worst sequel ever and that they were disappointed.
I don't agree. We all wanted "more" and we all want "more" when we watch a good show. And this was the more. Sure, we didn't get a sequel in the right sense of word, but we got a good sequel.

Yuuki no Takarabako gave us around 30 short stories about most of the characters - either telling us about their past, filling in plot holes or just generally coming out with something to laugh about.

The art and animation were as good as the first season, the voice acting was just as good, and most of the stories really touched my heart the way the first season did.

In the end, we got a big plot twist - following Bojji's adventure which I believe was a closer look to what the movie is going to be. Can't wait! 9/10 just like the original series!

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That is is!

What anime did you enjoy the most and which the least? How was your March?