Here is part two of the halfway seasonal review which concludes all the anime that we have watched this season (at least up until now.) If there are any shows that we didn’t see and are worth watching, please let us know!
Bonfuri
Edy: SAO is back – but instead of an edgy guy with death consequences we have cute girls playing for fun. And it’s darn cute. Maple is such a lovable dork in this show and that is all the reason you need to watch this show. She cluelessly puts all of her points into vitality that she becomes basically invincible. At first I thought this concept was just hilariously funny one time joke that can’t be sustained for a long time. But watching her interact with other players like Sally to involve strategy in her already broken play style was rather fun to watch. My only problems I have in the show are the side characters and the game itself. First, the side characters in the show are extremely bland. I don’t think any of the characters to me, other than Maple, really stood out to me in the guild (other than Sally but only because she gets a lot of screen time). Other character’s skills are all not really memorable enough and they don’t seem important enough since Sally and Maple can literally just wipe everyone easily. Second, the game itself is kind of annoying to think about if I actually start thinking about them. I mean Maple is way too broken, and if I start thinking about how this is possible in a game, I get stuck in this annoyed tangent of thoughts trying to give an explanation myself. Another annoying aspect is the skills. This might just be me, but watching Sally yell “double slash!!” or Maple yell “Hydra!!” every 5 seconds in a fight gets really annoying. The skills have no variety and seeing basically the same strategy every time tends to get really boring. But even if that is a problem, the characters are so cute that it overrides all the technical problems that I have with the show.
Darwin’s Game
Edy: Darwin’s game is great. I know a lot of people really dislike this show but I personally love it for the same reason as I love Arifureta. The main character is like a scared guy that later becomes the most edge filled badass in the world, the main female character is blonde, sexually aggressive and totally obsessed with the main guy, and best of all the show is absolutely trash in pacing, directing, and visuals. It’s not a good sign when you aren’t thrilled in a thriller, but Darwin’s game manages to do so. The way that he runs away in the first scene is so hilarious because it’s so ridiculous. Like the pace at which he runs at, the amount of time it takes, the shots that are focused on him and the crazy bear (to make it seem like it’s some manic) are all so loosely done that it’s funny. I mean look at the picture above, isn’t it absolutely hilarious?
Runway De Warrette
Jun: Not necessarily a terrible show on its own, it would have had potential to be a solid 7/10, but personally, considering how terrible of an adaptation it is compared to the anime, I can’t help but bear some hatred towards the show. First of all, the soundtrack is totally off. I understand that they’re trying to add in the electronic, hype music that is shown on actual runways, but it is so out of place in the kind of story this is. The show could have simply left the music on the scenes featuring the runway, and never touched on it. I don’t know how anyone was okay with the god awful music in this show. And probably most importantly, the clothes. Now, fashion sense is definitely subjective, and I’m sure there are plenty of people who like and dislike the mangaka’s fashion sense. But at the same time, I’m sure everyone who has read the manga, even people who don’t understand fashion and/or are not interested in it, can agree that the designs and their popularity are fleasable. But in this show…. Man, they really fucked it up. The first design that Ikuto makes for Chiyuki looks like fucking paper. The visuals, especially for the clothes, are so damn terrible. There are more things I could say about this show, but overall it’s a disappointment and a disgrace to the manga.
Hanako-kun
Edy: Hanako-Kun is probably the most aesthetically pleasing show this season. I don’t think anyone will disagree when I say all of the shots in this show are beautiful to watch. You can probably pause at any moment to get yourself a new wallpaper. The characters in Hanako-kun are all really cute too. Not just because of their designs but because of their personalities as well. So in a show like this, where it is very character centered (to drive all the legends that take place) it’s definitely a huge plus to have good background along with fun character. My only problem with this show is that the show is literally a moving manga. The way that the episodes are paneled and the shows that they use are exactly identical to the manga and flows exactly like a manga. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but in this show, I saw the show drag a little when it relied on such paneled for visual explanation. It felt a little bit lazy when the art they do normally in the show is mindblowing. But overall I’m really enjoying this show.
Ishuzoku Reviewers
Jun and Edy: Very funny it got that high on MAL, though you can get much higher with meth
Convoluted Situation 