Ghost in the Shell - Standalone Complex Review

Overall Rating 6.7 out of 10 - It misses more than half of the time at predicting future but has good plot.

I recommend watching.

A while ago I reviewed the original Ghost in the Shell movie. I pointed out many of its shortcomings compare to other shows about future technology and implications it will have on humanity. 

However, despite other shows doing it better, GitS was first and ended up creating a cult following, others could not muster. There are many sequel movies as well as two full double seasons of episodic series. This is the first season.

To begin with, tech. This show takes original tech of the GitS and further develops on it. That means that there are certain things that as a moment of writing this review are not yet available for humanity. At the same time certain technology that is completely ubiquitous to us is conspicuously absent in this show. For example, one can easily separate the AI that controls the robot from the physical body of the robot. AI can be uploaded, changed, updated very easily with our current tech. Yet in this movie they had to withdraw all the think tanks just because there was issue with their AI. Other things like hacking electronic eyes with no direct contact yet requiring a wire from one artificial body to another to pass information between people. Technology did not age well in this story.

On the other hand, plot is the best part of the show by far. Executives certainly loved that show and splurged on good writing team. Episodes are diverse and creatively written. Diverse cast of both main protagonists as well as episodic characters they are dealing with. There is even an overreaching plot that connects stretches several episodes and concludes closer to the end. Even if ending somewhat disappointed, I will admit I was curious to learn the truth behind Laughing Man when he was first introduced. After rather early introduction, main plot involving him takes a pause to focus on other things only to resurface at rather unexpected moments.

Characters themselves did not really endear me to them. I could hardly point to anyone I particularly liked. I did not especially dislike anyone either, but overall, they are not my type of crew, there is some subconscious rejection of them. They lack ambition and vision to build something better; they merely work humbly for the cause. Not that an agency like Section 9 needs ambitious people but still. Also, they are far too duty bound, overly subservient to superiors and seem completely lack any personal desires or motivations, they live to serve the state. That is probably why I subconsciously dislike Section 9 as this is an organisation that is ignorant and indifferent to people personal wishes and desires. They are not as free spirited or driven by internal sense of justice as Herlock crew or Black Knights from Code Geass. Neither are they try to indulge themselves in whatever pleasures they can like Lagoon Company.

Main protagonists, including Matoko and Batou, are all members of Section 9. It is an elite force of an internal security or secret police type of organisation, that fights complex crime, stops international incidents, investigate corrupt politicians and businessmen and also fights rival government agencies. It has such an inconspicuous name so that not even their colleagues in police and security know what they really do. They take secrecy very seriously there. Most of the individual episodes revolve around one or the other member of the Section flexing hard their mad skills, for the lack of better description.

Episodic antagonists are diverse, and some are rather interesting like that rich guy who surrounded themselves with robotic maids in his mansion and died long before Section 9 got to him. I wish I could live how he lived.

Laughing man himself ended up rather underwhelming. At first, he was introduced as super hacker with some over-the-top super plan for something yet to be unveiled. By the end of the show, it ended up merely about government decision to cover up effectiveness of a vaccine for political reasons and how Laughing Man wanted to expose it all this time; no, seriously.

Also, there are Catcher in the Rye references, so many that it almost wants to make this book central to the character and motivation of Laughing Man and possibly Section 9 as well. I cannot say I hate Holden Clayfield (not sure if surname correct) as some people say, but Catcher in the Rye is certainly not among my favorite books. I think it's overrated.

Overall, it is a diverse and interesting series. I can recommend you watch it at least once, for rather intriguing plot. Resolution does not leave you satisfied but premise does keep you curious and there are cool fights and too. There is also a second double season that I will probably watch at some later date.

School Rumble Review

Overall Rating 6.8 out of 10 - Nice comedy that starts strong but goes astray halfway through.

I still recommend watching at least first dozen episodes.

Recently I watched a number of shows that begin very strong but then somehow lose their touch and become near shit closer to the end. First Toji no Miko, now this. 

First few episodes were complete blast. I would not call them in the mold of Gintama as there is clear difference in tone and feel. However, they were just as funny and enjoyable as best episodes of Gintama. These episodes were centered on Tenma and her hopeless love for Karasuma. Silly and stupid things she did was really fun to watch. I called comedy a royal entertainment and as God-Emperor of the Universe will employ Tenma as court jester or personal maid.

That did not last, however. Gradually focus shifted to Harima. At first, he was just a guy who liked Tenma and did as much silly things for her as she did for Karasuma. Gradually he became a main character of sort. Episodes about him as mixed bag, some are relatively interesting, but others are meh.

The worst however are the episodes that make fun of guys or pit them against each other. Show actually has large and ever-expanding male cast, that leads it into unlikable territory. I would have dropped this show and gave it 30 if the first episode I watched was that camping trip. A few other equally bad.

Overtime even Tenma's role has changed from being a silly girl into being a spoiled one. A very unfortunate devolution. It's like there was not enough manga content for the whole 26 episodes so anime scriptwriters wrote some of their own script that interprets the characters wrongly.

When it comes to girls, the best is obviously early version of Tenma, Yakumo and Ichijou.  

Early Tenma is cute kind of stupid. Most importantly she has a lot of devotion for Karasuma and willing to do a lot for him. She is honest and driven by her love and devotion. She is not playing games or calculating if he is worth is. She is non-judgemental and non-gold-digging. In our modern world the fact that she is too stupid to sue for divorce and get half of your home is clear advantage. Generally, her innocence and stupidity are very appealing.

I do not really need to explain Yakumo as she is the obvious perfect girl. She is quiet, introverted and does not have many friends. She cleans cooks, does other chores, she is solitary and likes cats. What no to like. That said she is somewhat avoidant of most men and that can be a problem. It is good that she does not hangs out with others, but how you make her yours?

Finally, Ichijou is very humble and insecure. She is strong but does not use force against men, which is ok, I guess. Though in real live one cannot have that strength without really fucking up the way body looks. Aside from that her personality is nice, the way I like them.

On the other hand, the other three girls are annoying. Sawachika looks down on Harima but still loves him somehow. The most annoying one. The blue head pushes that blond dude away all the time and has a standoff with the Sawachika over dating field. Both are unpleasant as they look down on men, an unforgivable offence. Finally, Akira does not do much but has the kind of look that will make you avoid her.

There is also Harima's cousin with whom he lives, who is rather annoying too. Then finally that another girl Harima lived with, who later became nurse, she is somewhat better.

Overall, I would still recommend it. First 3-4 episodes are the best. First half is decent. Skip some episodes in second part. 

There is also a double second season (more 26 episodes) and third too (only a few episodes), but in view of the above I do not look forward to watching it. Will probably watch eventually, but when remains to be seen.

Assault Lily: Bouquet Review

Overall Rating 5.7 out of 10 - Flawed waifu show that barely works as intended

I can recommend watching if you have no better anime to watch

Even a talentless studio that has little idea what they are doing can sometimes produce something half-decent. 

Assault Lily is one such example. It is based on a series of anime figurines, featuring cute dress in sexy clothes with overengineered weapons, called charms. This alone carries the show. Figurine designers knew what they were doing and their girl design is indeed sexy and likable: black dresses with white frills, small puffy skirts, stockings - near maid outfits. This design is what carries the show. This show is about staring at cute girls on screen and little more.

The bad parts clearly came from the scriptwriters. Personalities of must girls are rather unlikable, too much jealousy, toughness and wickedness, too little moe. Waifu shows are all about moe, take K-On! for example, girls there so innocent, cute, silly and stupid in a cute way. Kyoani clearly knows how it's done. Here instead most girls exhibit rather unlikable personally traits instead.

They also tried to tap into lesbian dynamic too, but they did it like real lesbians where one girl plays the guy's part in a relationship. That is how yaoi is written for female audiences, lesbians written for male audiences are instead written by making both girls equally sweet and innocent.

The story in theory revolves around fighting huge, but most of the time is dedicated to girls' drama instead. It's the kind of girl's drama that is nor entertaining in any way.

The only thing that carries the show is uniform design. This barely pushes this show to above average overall. Because of that I can recommend this show for times when there are few good anime and there is nothing better to watch, like post 2012.

Toji no Miko Review

Overall Rating 6.3 out of 10 - Decent show that begins really well and ends rather lackluster.

I recommend watching.

Cute girls, Japanese culture and aesthetics, pleated skirts, stockings and swordfights. A formula of near guaranteed success. That is why I was very enthusiastic about this show. Finally, something not feminist, subverting working formulas with unworking ones and such. Pure female exploitation for male enjoyment.

Beginning did not disappoint. Several episodes in plot made such an original and creative twist, it definitely looked like a success story that can earn something around 8 out of 10. For the first quarter to 1/3 of the show, Toji no Miko kept delivering more twists and turns of this rather compelling narrative. I deliberately avoid giving details here as experiencing this as its progress is the best this show has to offer. 

Then came the big reveal that explained all that happened and why it happened. It was not only too long, as they talked several episodes straight, but also rather disappointing. It's not that core plot idea was bad it was rather creative actually. The problem is the role older generations characters played in all that.

Closer to the middle focus shifted from cute young girls to their parents and grandparents. These older people were settling scores with each other, and younger people were merely pawns in their schemes. This older generation teaches younger who is eager to learn never sit well with me and it did not so here as well. Alas, creators of the show like it far too much and spent too much time on that.

The show is officially a one double season, but in practice first 12 episodes get its own conclusion and final battle, followed by full second season that goes from there and offers an interesting boost to the story. Once again core story is solid a be it less dramatic. It's the same old generation problem that got even worse in second season as now old women directly boss young girls to do heavy lifting as they sit in comfy office chairs. 

Older generations are former sword maidens, who screwed up when they were on duty. Now managers they essentially send their kids to fix their mistakes and fight not only aradamas but also rival fraction of sword maidens who disagree on methods and principles, typical boomers. To make matter worse a number of older generation women are really detestable. Younger girls have nicer personalities on average but that too varies. Sayaka is best girl at least according to my taste.

Overall ideological bend of the show also does not sit well with me. It's all about preserving ancient ways and honoring old stuff while opposing modernity.

That said aside from the problems outlined above, it's a decent show. Diverse cast of girls will allow anyone to find one to their liking. Fights are nice with occasional surprise twists. Main antagonists are complex, compelling and interesting. On summary it floats above waterline, even if barely.

Overall, I can recommend watching it. This show has its flaws that are several episodes long at times, but it also has strong points. Middle episodes are worst as well as epilogue.

Arknights: Enshin Shomei

Overall Rating 3.0 out of 10 - Season that betrays and retcons nearly everything from the original

I do not recommend watching.

Me complaining that 2nd and 3rd seasons do not live up to the original is nothing new. Sometimes it's just a minor issues and other times it's a completely deal breaking. 

Unfortunately, 3rd season of Arknights manage to do the worst disservice to the original, changing nearly everything. It's a worse fall that even Kaiji's second season. What makes it worse is the fact that with Kaiji or Gochiusa one could have a benefit of the doubt that new creative team simply misunderstood the original work and fucked up unintentionally. With 3rd season of Arknights its clearly not the case. It was a fully intentional retcon to reframe the entire story as something altogether different.

First season of Arknights was a simple but likable waifu show, much in the mold of Kancolle or Dolls Frontline. 

In addition to a collection of many cute women for every taste out there it had a simple but compelling and relatable plot. An infection called Oripathy infect certain people, giving them special abilities called arts. Common uninfected people fear the infected and discriminate against them. 

Reunion wants revenge for the mistreatment they suffered. Rhodes instead wants to find ways for everyone live in peace somehow. Very on the zeitgeist as boomers and Gen W (early Gen X) ruined economy, betrayed Millennials and stole our future. Because of that one can relate to a Reunion's cause.

In contrast Rhodes, who is a protagonist, offers a number of nice, kind, accepting and forgiving females, something real life women clearly lacking nowadays. Rhodes is clearly a waifu garden for a discerning man. 

Amiya clearly represents (or represented) all these qualities well enough. Her presence made half of the show. Rooting for Reunion to deal with all the uninfected the other.

First season was the truest to the cause, second season had some questionable parts but was on the level. Things really went south in the third one. To begin with most of the season are flashbacks. First, we see a Rhodes past. It was transformed into a fraction that fought for power in Ursus but lost, Theresia was killed and Rhodes went on to fight Reunion instead. That was followed by flashback about Talulah, who was retconned into an altruistic idealist who was helping poor and wanted to transform Ursus until loss of her best friend made her insane. All of it became inside Ursus conspiracy.

Characters and their motivations changed too. Amiya was transformed from kind and accepting girl into an enforcer of some abstract moral; creators try so hard to sell to viewers. Other characters changed too. I already explained Talulah, but doctor, Kalt'sit and Mephisto all have changed too. Patriot got a big role with his weird and contradictory ideals about who has right to speak or fight or whatnot. He is but another vehicle for authors to sell their views to public.

Until last episode I was willing to give it somewhere between 50 and 60 but conclusion was the worst possible. It was almost as if it deliberately tried to cover the bingo card of every single trope, I hate modern fiction for: justifying abuse, suffering and hardship, absurd levels of guilt, self-punishment, self-sacrifice, false justice, illogical arguments, stopping fight instead of resolving issue, avoiding the real problems and more. Causing people suffering is not making them stronger, it's a heinous crime whose perpetrators need to be stopped, by killing them if necessary.

All in all, this is unapologetic propaganda piece that tries hard to sell viewers its views and values. The question is whom these values benefit so much they would be willing to go out of their way to hamfist them into this story. The answer is old, rich and privileged. 

Story deliberately tries to blame the victim by shifting blame from society to infected themselves. Allegedly it's not the world that treats infected unfairly but rather infected themselves who supposed to live to some higher standard none around them even bother to adhere.

Who benefit from this victim blaming message this season pushes so heavily. Obviously, the crooks themselves, people who steal your money and future now telling you to learn forgiveness and acceptance, blame yourself instead of those who wronged you.

Once again, the fiction hit close to the real life. Older generations who stole wealth of the younger ones in a Financial Crisis of 2008. Now they sit in their luxurious retirement homes paid by stolen wealth and fear consequences. Reunion reminds them of these consequences. They fear Millennials will organise like Reunion and pry back that stolen wealth from boomer's cold dead hands. 

That is why older people sponsor this blatant rewriting of the story into propaganda. It is to preserve their stolen wealth and status that wealth allows them. That is why this season is not focused on changed but on preserving status quo. They might call it de-radicalisation but it's just another lie, a hypocrisy designed to protect the stolen wealth from those from whom it was stolen. Justice is not protecting status quo. Justice is taking this wealth back, not in letting the thieves keep it. 

Our lives and our futures were stolen by boomers and Gen W (early Gen X), it's time we pry that back from their cold dead hands. They did not earn any of it, its paid for by the ever-increasing rents and ever decreasing salaries. Justice demands boomers pay for their theft, lies and other crimes.

Arknights: Enshin Shomei is a sequel that betrays the original cause of the show and twists it into toxic and unlikable tale. I do not recommend watching.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai Review

Overall Rating - 7.2 out of 10 - Smarter than average, even if dragged out show

I recommend watching.

Higurashi is what Ryukish07 was writing before he created Umineko. You may call it the Umineko prototype of sorts. However, Umineko went all out to the very bottom of Nietzschean abyss, pulling all the stops along the way and showing just how far you can take the "train of thoughts". Umineko is one of a kind "black tea" for fellow "monsters", I rate it only below Code Geass. However, you need a far above the average intelligence to fully understand it. Many fail to understand Umineko at all and thus Higurashi remains fans favorite as it is more accessible for an average intelligence. Either that or they all obsess over Keiichi, just like female heroines of this show.

Compared to Umineko, Higurashi is a much simpler show, but it still has a few clever tricks to offer. This review is of the second season. I watched the first one a while back (8 years ago) but did not review it. In the first season, girls all took turns getting jealous of Keiichi for preferring someone other than them and went on a killing spree, killing all their rivals and sometimes Keiichi as well. I might miss some details here and there.

Second season is the so called "answer" ark, where it all explained or covered up if you understand what is going on. Events of the first season are re-interpreted as caused by Hinamizawa syndrome and is said to be triggered by Miyo Takano's revenge for the treatment of her adoptive grandpa. They also show alive older Rena as a hint to the answers for the first season.

Takano as well as her backstory is rather well written. She is an interesting and realistic villain who knows how to jest, lie, pretend and use feminine charms to get something. In contrast the protagonists certainly overdo the "power of friendship" routine. At times it's worse than shonen anime. It certainly makes the anime feel drag out. Ryukishi07 was never the laconic type, but if length of Umineko was due to sheer complexity of the ideas he wanted to explain, in Higurashi it feels unjustified. 

Of course, that could also be because I just do not find the setting or characters very likable or relatable, so excessive cheering for them does not fill me with good emotions. Characters do fit the story well, but hardly likable in their own right. If I had to name a favorite it will be Rena, because she is all cute and sweet half of the time at least. That is rather unusual for anime or Japanese media, where some shows hardly even have plots and entirely carried by the cast. Compare to that this show is story driven.

Overall, however I can recommend it simply because it was written by someone much more smart than average screenwriter. It's a show that can actually give you things to think about and keep your brain entertained. A tad rare thing in our anti-intellectual era where dumbness and room temp IQ is standard, because everything should be understood even by a 5-year-old toddler to maximise profits. Though to really help your intellectual solitude I recommend Umineko and my other 10, 9 and some 8.5 shows. 

I wrote a review for Umineko, but even a review for Umineko cannot be understood with room temp IQ, much less show itself.

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Review

Overall Rating 7.0 out of 10 - Rather unusual but interesting and fun anime.

I recommend watching.

In a world where too many creators cannot replicate the usual moe formula right because of their feminist views or opposition to female sexual exploitation. we occasionally get shows that, while not trying to be moe, end up being more moe that those who try to be moe. This show is one such show.

The show is, as paradoxical as it sounds, a colourful horror. It is one of the interpretations of traditional Japanese 7 school ghosts, called wonders here. Each ghost is associated with certain area of school and will show up at certain times, like midnight of if contacted in certain way. In this case the main protagonist is one such ghosts, but you get to see others too.

Most of the time these ghosts are deadly, and this show is no exception. Some students end up dying offscreen and main protagonists try to stop that. Though it's not like a typical ghost anime where students decided to contact one of the ghosts in a attempt to show their bravery only to find out the ghost really does exist and now wants to kill then.

The protagonist ghost, Hanako aka Amane, can be contacted by knocking on one of the toilet stall doors in a female toilet on the third floor, yes, that specific. He ostensively could make someone's relationship work out or help people find love. The protagonist girl, Yashiro, who tried contacting him, ended up turned into half fish and was instead bound to him as his new assistant and toilet cleaner.

I kind of like Yashiro. The amount of air in her head is so vast, it is refreshing and spacious. You just want to fill this space with your own ideas. Much better that girls whose brains are cluttered with feminist nonsense or gold-digging and manhating ideas their parents and society taught them. Yashiro is dreamy, naive and dumb in a cute way airhead. She also has a Stockholm syndrome, a likable trait for a girl. World would be a better place if more girls were like Yashiro. 

Hanako is somewhat relatable actually. He seems like carefree at first, but actually rather sharp and capable if he puts his mind to it. He also has dark past that makes him go all groom, dark and brooding sometimes. A character with personality depth. As a ghost, he avoids his brother whom he killed when he was alive and who now also a ghost who looks just like Hanako himself. I can see some of my own traits in Hanako, particularly the alteration between, carefree mood, sharp intelligence and the dark brooding. I did not kill anyone though... however there are number of people I wish were dead, hopefully by a fortunate accident or COVID-19 infection because I do not want to bother killing them myself.

Art is nice too. Its colourful, but tasteful, without oozing ugliness that some other "colourful" shows have.

Not all is sunshine though. Side characters leave to be desired. No likable girls aside from Yashiro and no likable guys either.

On the summary however it is a solid show, not a breakthrough or a masterpiece but a fun and enjoyable experience that you might even want to rewatch one day. Solid 7.