Code Geass: Fukkatsu no Lelouch Review

Overall Rating 7.0 out of 10 - Flawed, but still likable standalone sequel for Code Geass

I recommend watching. 

I particularly did not want to see any sequels to Code Geass. The way it ended in Zero Requiem was a perfect conclusion. Anything further would just ruin this very close to my heart story. A perfectly complete story with nothing more to add.

However curiosity eventually got the upper hand I watched it. So that is what I think about it:

It is flawed in many ways, yet there is something that gives the same feel as the is original. May be because CC is just as good as I remembered her. She is as wonderful as ever. She always cares for him regardless, she is the best. 

May be with exception of that scene inside 2 seat knightmare, that was supposed to be a homage to the similar scene at the end of 1st season of the original. 

Because of CC this standalone sequel does somewhat warms my heart, kind of like leftover hot coals when fire got extinguished, but still: warm, 'with warmth and tenderness from the bottom of your heart'.

As for bad:

Lelouch should have lost his Geass during Zero Requiem, considering CC lost hers after nun killed her in that flashback and activated her Code of Immortality, Charles also probably lost his Geass when his code got activated. Here Lelouch has Geass just as before. He has Code of Immortality as well, they did not forgot that.

Overall Lelouch seemed more guilt ridden than he should have been. He was not the type to feel much guilt, especially by the end of R2. Nor is he as willing to enslave people as he did at the end of R2.

Also Shirley is alive, a clear retcon here. I did liked how she died in R2, kind of made her character much more likable in my eyes. Not sure what to think of that retcon.

Overall this whole new world that Lelouch created, seemed somewhat off as well. Well, they did not made any major mistakes: Suzaku is Zero, Nunnaly is Empress, UFN is world government. However it feels slightly off, as in that glass metaphor from the original.

Kind of like someone with a different vision end up building it from the ground zero that Lelouch had left at the end of Zero Requiem. 

The fact that this future world did not turned out a utopia is also kind of underwhelming.

Well overall it is not too bad of a show. It has some good moments here and there and overall fun to watch. However you can't call it a proper sequel or even an epilogue to the original. It is more of a what if kind of story.

And CC saves even this one.

Black Summoner Review

Overall Rating 7 out of 10 - Rather Simple but Good, Well Designed isekai

I recommend watching.

This is one of the better isekai. It has just a few minor flaws, but overall is very entertaining and fun to watch.

Main character is a unique take on a Warlock class from WoW. Except he is kind of a good Summoner, more of a Mage/Hunter/Warlock hybrid.

He has a harem of several cute waifu material girls. I personally like Efil but if you are into a different type then Mel, Sera or Rion will probably work for you.

Story is somewhat interesting, not as good as Tokyo Ghoul and far from any show I rank, 8 or above, but also not entirely messed up like Futoku Guild, Akiba Maid Wars or Harem in Labyrinth. It has interesting plot twists here and there to keep your entertained even if just waifu harem isekai fact is not enough for you to watch it.

Overall, it is one of the better shows of the current era. It is light, gentle, friendly and inoffensive. I can recommend it to anyone.

Tokyo Ghoul √A Review

Overall Rating 6.6 out of 10 - Good on Average: at times better at times worse

I would still recommend watching.

Sequel to the original Tokyo Ghoul that takes the story from there.

Watch the original and read my review of that one before starting with this one. There will be spoilers to the original Tokyo Ghoul

If previous one was occasionally hard to watch, but somehow left a sense of hope for further development. It was clear that author did not intent to just leave it at just that and plans to take story into a new field. Just like slavery period for Captain Blood was but a prelude to his Pirate Captainship and audacious Pirate life, which what the story was really about. Kaneki going white haired almost felt like that moment when Blood and his crew finally captured Cinco Llagas. From there they defied both Spanish, British, French and rival pirates and became legendary pirate crew of the Caribbean, who pulled off shit, others could not even dream of. 

However Tokyo Ghoul does not take story into the same direction. Ultimately Kaneki did not become like Captain Blood. While early episodes of A Root still leaves room for that kind of development, later it clearly veers off that path. In fact if conclusion to the original leaves it open ended, conclusion to A Root kind of closes off these possibilities.

Fundamentally this show enjoys wallowing in guilt. Most characters suffer from guilt and even hurt themselves out of this feeling. As well as out their desire to be normal, to be human.

Most characters are driven towards protecting someone or preserving this pseudo normal 'human' lifestyle they have. What I have called Anteiku logic and principle in my review of the original. They are ghouls, but they want to be normal humans. So they do as much as they can to keep 'normal' human life.

Out of the characters only Ayato seemed fully embraced ghoul-ness and went of to create a world for ghouls by ghouls. I thought Aogiri was like that as well. To not spoil the A Root ending I would not tell much on how Aogiri really ended up.

Generally Ayato is probably the most relatable to me character in this story. Though by the end of A Root I am not sure really.

Ideology and values aside this show is not too bad. 

Battles are engaging, though they become repetitive close to the end of A Root, they are still fresh enough in the middle.

Plot does a good job engaging curiosity. You just want to know what will happen next and keep watching. 

Thus I can at least recommend watching it once. May be. It does leave a sense of disappointment at the end.

Tokyo Ghoul Review

Overall Rating 6.4 out of 10 - Well Written Story with some irritating aspects

I would still recommend watching.

This is actually a very well written show with good battles, engaging plot twists and good pacing. If not for pacificist protagonist too obsessed with being human and overall Anteiku way of looking at things, I would have given it 8. At this stage I cannot say how much I can agree with Aogiri, may be a lot, may be not. If I was a ghoul I would support a world of ghoul supremacy, but not sure what else Aogiri stands for. I am still watching A Square sequel. 

Fortunately Tokyo Ghoul preaches and pushes its ways not as single-mindedly as say One Piece or Demon Slayer, it has more room for pluralism of judgement.

The show is interesting from psychological point of view. Ghouls live among the humans and look completely the same. However they can only eat human flesh to survive. Humans are afraid of these 'cannibal' ghouls and created an investigative agency to hunt down and exterminate them. 

This puts ghouls at a dilemma of how to go about it. Some like Anteiku eat only/mostly humans who committed suicide and overall try to blend with human society as much as possible. Others like Aogiri strive upend the human order instead and make ghouls rule. However there are many individual ghouls not affiliated with any, who just do their own things. Sometimes they clash with each other or these two organizations. 

Overall it is curious to watch, even if not a very pleasant experience at certain moments. It is as painful as Infinite Ryvius at times. Kind of hectic at others. Though unlike dry, sober and unapologetic Infinite Ryvius, Tokyo Ghoul brings in more diverse emotions into reasoning of characters. Arks not focused on Kaneki are better than the ones about him, I do not like it when people make him suffer.

It is one of these shows where I just want to know how it will ends. I want to know what will happen, kind of, no matter what. 

Generally Tokyo Ghoul kind of blends and blurs a line between entertainment and seriousness. Unlike Code Geass that handles both well, in Tokyo Ghoul it is possible to get lost in worldview and morality of this show. A little world of caution, but I will recommended it overall. You can take on Infinite Ryvius as well and compare both.

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Review

 Overall rating 6.8 out of 10 - Good with minor flaws

I recommend watching.

This show had really great potential, but only managed to scratch the surface of the problem. I can still recommend it, there is nothing better to address the economic crisis era of 10s.

This show is like a microcosm of the world created by Financial Crisis of the 2008. Half of the time it does well to depict it and the other half it falls flat on its face, as if authors not really understand economic terms and concepts well and misuse them half of the time.

That said core idea is between preservation of the old world and old order, personalized by Mikuni and his Guild and a fight for the future, personalized by Yoga. Yoga and Mikuni start out as good friends, both seem interested in saving the world. However when Yoga notices the adverse effects, Mikuni's actions have on the world, he ends up teaming up with his opponents.

There is a moral dilemma in preserving present vs creating future. Unfortunately the only future the show managed to show us is the children. That makes it too ambiguous as to what Mikuni and Yoga even fought for. How Yoga versions differs from Mikuni's in more concrete terms.

Overall I still recommend this show for everyone. It is one of its kind and defiantly worth your attention.

If economy is too complex for you I can give you another reason to watch it. Each entre of the Financial district has an asset he uses to  fight other entres. These assets are often cute waifu material girls who self-objectifying themselves.

Since I like to objectify women, I like who assets are handled in this show. So watch it for assets if for not other reason.

Arknights: Reimei Zensou Review

Overall Rating 7.0 out of 10 - Good show overall.

I recommend watching.

Half Life 2 with waifus.

There is nothing to hate about this show, which is good enough already by current standards.

Lots of waifu material girls. Amiya is cute and likable. Exusial is also not too bad. Others can swim someone else's boat more. But they all are chill. The only downside is that they are not as creatively dressed as Dolls Frontline waifus, but these bulky jackets make them practical enough. I cannot say I dislike their attires, I like them, but they could have been better.

As I mentioned before world in which it is set has Half Life 2 vibe to it. It is not the same world and plot is nothing alike, but it looks and feels much the same. Near empty ruined towns, peppered with futuristic installations and several high-tech groups fighting using ski-fi tech and flashy beam-like abilities called Arts.

Plot is not too engaging. It just goes somewhere, but never develops into anything of significance. One good trait here is that whatever fractions are doing makes logical sense and you would not feel wft most of the time. Reunion's cause makes most sense to me tbh.

Overall, I can recommend it to anyone. It is a good show overall. One regret is that it could have been better.

Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners Review

Overall rating 7.0 out of 10 - Mostly Good show with a nice story

I recommend watching.

Anime based on Cyberpunk 2077 video game. It it set in the same world, but has a separate story from the game, only few characters appear in both stories. Not only it is same techno world but story also has same melancholic/depressed feel to it.

It begins dubiously. I find it hard to relate to David. He is not a complete idiot/saint like Kanjiro to Eren, but he is still not like me. I do not share his enthusiasm, hot compare to mine temper, ethics of living for others, or following examples set by others. Fortunately these differences stopped being so pronounced as show progresses, or I just stopped paying attention to them so much.

Lucy is kind of likable. May be it was she who saved the show from me dropping it. I would not call her perfect, sometimes she is hard to deal with, but she also has lots of good qualities. 

She is melancholic but not completely depressed either. She is cynical but has dreams. 

She seems capable of understanding your feelings and relate to them. The kind of emotional support I need. We are on the same emotional wavelength I guess.

She also cares for Martinez and even willing to sacrifice her life for him. A very important quality I always value in women.

She looks cute as well. You might describe her looks sketchy, but it is good, cute, likable sketchy. Sexy.

Story overall interesting and has creative plot twists every now and then. It is also very sad overall. I would not go into too much details here as to not spoil it for you.

Overall I can recommend it for you. I is one of the better shows of this year.