JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – RANKING OF KINGS – MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Hello my friends.

Ranking of Kings

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Slice-Of-Life

Studio: Wit Studio

Welcome to another entry of my blog.

Now. I finished early, and right now, I have the opportunity to watch an anime that really got me from the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Well… I really wanted to watch this from a very long time, but it wasn’t during the season of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards that I deciced to try.

Once more, the title says it all. As well as this adorable face.

Behold…

I must be honest first. I was not able to watch as much episodes as I wanted, but I managed to watch the first one, as well as some clips on YouTube of this fantastic anime, and hopefully, for the occasion, that will be enough to give a sincere, complete opinion about Ōsama Rankingu.

Anyway… Before I start, I must ask again the typical question, my friends.

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy.

Then, let’s ensure God save the King in Ranking of Kings.

PREMISE

Based on the manga written by Sosuke Toka, and published by Echoes and Enterbrain, Ranking of Kings (王様ランキング) tells the story of prince Bojji, the first son of the legendary King Bosse and crown prince of the namesake kingdom. Bosse is a giant that was once the strongest man on earth, in other words, a legendary hero. The problem with Bojji is that he is the opposite of his father, he is deaf, weak, and physically inferior, which is why many people inside Bosse consider him unfit for the throne. One day, Bojji meets Kage, the last surviving member of the Shadow Clan of Thieves that once ravaged the kingdom of Bosse; Kage robs Bojji, or at least he thinks, because Bojji was willingly giving his belongings to Kage. Better still, Bojji can read Kage’s lips, allowing them to communicate to each other. From that encounter, Bojji and Kage start living adventures around the Bosse Kingdom to become stronger, and becoming the greatest king ever existed.

By the way, the term «Ranking of Kings» refers to a system, in which an assembly that represent the Gods rank the monarchs based on their power and their prosperity, and the one who reaches top is endowed with the Divine Treasure Vault, a ginormous power doted with amazing treasures and divine gifts.

However, the ranking of kings is the cause of the madness of many kings.

Finally, there are judges that evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the kingdoms.

Now I am using a lot of images for the anime, I will talk about this later.

But first I must clarify that Ranking of Kings started publication on May 20, 2017 (Happy Fifth Anniversary), and as of May 2022, it has compiled thirteen volumes.

The studio that brought us Ousama Rankingu was none other than Wit Studio, which does not need presentation, especially after producing Vinland Saga, Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song.

And our top anime of the spring/autumm of 2022, along with Cloverworks.

Moreover, Ranking of Kings was released between October 21, 2021 and March 25, 2022, for a total of 23 episodes, and Bojji was awarded Best Boy at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards of 2022, beating Odokawa from Oddtaxi, or Senku Ishigami from Dr. Stone, season 2.

Finally, Ranking of Kings was written by Taku Kishimoto (Erased, Haikyu!!, Fruits Basket), and the music was composed by MAYUKO.

STORY

One of the first elements that hooked from Ranking of Kings was the one that probably most of you also noticed beforehand. The animation. In my personal opinion this animations looks so… retro. I remember, when I was a child, that there was an anime version of Tales from the Grimm Brothers, that I used to watch a lot, and when I saw Ranking of Kings, the first thing that came to my mind was the Grimm Fables.

Look.

Or we also have Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds.

Honestly, every time I think of Ranking of Kings, all these retro cartoon and anime come to my mind. It is like Sosuke Toka saw these anime as a child and decided to pay a tribute to them through Ranking of Kings. In fact, all the story feels like a fable form either Grimm Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen, the clothes, the setting, the atmosphere, the fantasy, and the morale.

I said once and I will said it again… Ranking of Kings is a beautiful fable that understands the feeling of our childhood memories, at least in my opinion. I hope I am not the only one who thinks like that.

Now, from now one, I will base the rest of my thoughts from the first episode and what I could watch so far from YouTube. I really like the introduction to the system of ranking of kings done on the first seconds.

You tell me that this is not epic!!

Also, the chemistry between Bojji and Kage feels really authentic. At the beginning you got this feeling that Bojji is extremely naive, if not dumb, for the way he addresses to Kage, giving his cloths, as if he does not really understand his position, but then, you slowly noticed that Bojji has bigger abilities and is more self-reliant than you think, as well as his heart, because not everyone in the Bosse Kingdom will do what he did for Kage. Also, there is part in which all the citizens of Bosse make fun of him because of his deafness, and he acts as stoic as possible. But then…

Bojji cries

As a matter of fact, the episode clarifies that itself.

It is really amazing.

And then, the episode goes to introduces us some of the other characters, Prince Daida, Bojji’s half-brother; Queen Hilling, Bosse’s second wife, Bebin, Daida’s mentor, Domas, Bojji’s mentor, and of course King Bosse, who will reveal his past as the story progresses.

And from there, the world-building of Ranking of Kings become wonderful.

I didn’t feel like that with a fantasy non-isekai anime of 2021 since…

CHARACTERS

Like I just said, Ranking of Kings has a lot of interesting characters that the series will take its time to introduce and develop better. But for now, I want to follow four in particular.

Queen Hilling, who presents herself as a harsh, ruthless queen consort, but then you will discover that she is more than what we see.

Daida, one of the best swordsmen of Bosse Kingdom, to the point that he defeated his own mentor. And that has, in my opinion, one of the best moments of Episode one.

And finally, both Bojji and Kage. Definitely he is an excellent main characters, because he is so well-written. He is a good reference of how a character with disability should be constructed. Introducing to the fans the main weakness, the one that our main protagonist must overcome, and then… his strengths, in an unique way that immediately establishes the identity of our lead, naturally wishing us to know more, to go with Bojji on his journey.

And finally Kage, who… kind of reminds me of Inosuke from Demon Slayer.

Both are brash, impetuous, blunt and very brutally honest, but both are loyal and protective of their friends.

Probably the characters are not as memorable and unique as in Kimetsu no Yaiba, but are really beautiful.

CONCLUSION

Ranking of Kings is very entertaining and indeed one of the best fantasy anime of 2021, along with Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation and To Your Eternity, and Bojji is one of the best male protagonists of the year. Pretty well-deserved award at Crunchyroll Anime Awards.

If you like the first episode, you will enjoy the rest of the anime. In fact, I should go and continue watching the rest. But until then, I have to say that you will enjoy as well.

But first… I want to choose a queen of my own. Who that could be? Perhaps… Lena Milizé?

After all… her name is Bloody Regina.

No!! I already choose my queen. Mona Megistus, from Genshin Impact.

And the reason is pretty obvious.

The best, cutest, most perfect derriere of Genshin Impact!!!

I said it again!!! No regrets!!!

See you next time. And thanks for stepping by.

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: STONE OCEAN – MY OWN IMPRESSIONS

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural

Studio: David Production

Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry of my blog.

After going on an adventure on a Galaxy, far, far away, with Star Wars Visions, I decided to go back to Earth to a very bizarre adventure… Well. Not really. But right now I want to write about a very funny experience that I got the last weekend, and I was about to watch the other three episodes of Spy X Family, as well as Shikimori-san, but before I realise, I was hooked on Netflix watching a really sweet anime, so I was thinking to Stand firm and watch everything to avoid another Standoff.

Yeah. That last part didn’t make too much sense.

Anyway… I adore JoJo.

Huh… I was talking about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

I remember that it was 2012, my final year of Deakin, and then, shortly before graduation, I was introduced to this series called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, about a young British man, called Jonathan Joestar, whose father adopted Dio Brando, and despite being given hips of love, Dio attempted to usurp Jonathan’s place as the head of the Joestar family and his love, Erina Pendleton; luckily Jonathan stops Dio, who turns into a vampire with a mythical object, called Stone Mask, that turns Dio into a vampire. Now, Jonathan must gather new allies and stop Dio with the help of the technique of Ripple. (波紋)

Thanks for that, Wikipedia.

All the first series got a fantastic soundtrack, including a sweet opening and the famous 1972 song, «Roundabout» by the progressive band «Yes», as ending.

By the way, this first series is called Phantom Blood, and its continuation features Erina and Jonathan’s grandson, Joseph in the 1930s, with the name of Battle Tendency. After the sweet success of the first series, David Production spawned three more anime based on the subsequent arcs of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Stardust Crusaders, Diamond is Unbreakable and Golden Wind.

And the iconic…. ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!

My point is that, as of 2022, ten years after the release of Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, I watch on Netflix the sixth series of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Stone Ocean. And, to be honest, I waited months for watching it completely. And… it was the same essence of its predecessor, yet, it manages to feel fresh.

And, since I am here, I must ask for a question:

Are you guys ok? feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy.

Now, let’s get into a Stand… with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Stone Ocean.

PREMISE

Set ten years after Golden Wind, and twelve years after Diamond is Unbreakable, Stone Ocean follows the daughter of Jotaro Kujo, Jolyne, who is sentenced to 15 years after being involved in a car accident and being framed of murder, she is sent to the Green Dolphin Street Prison. Once there, she is given a special power, called Stand, for a pendant, gift from her father. Afterwards, Jolyne is suddenly visited by Jotaro, who she barely know, who reveals her that it was a disciple of dio Brando who framed her of the murder, just where another disciple of Dio, Johngalli A. attacks them. In the battle, another Stand called Pale Snake steals both the memory disc from Jotaro, as well as his Stand Disc, Star Platinum.

Now Jolyne is determined to find the real culprit, as well as recovering the two stolen discs. Where she gathers some great allies, another inmate, called Ermes Costello, who receives a Stand from the pendant, F.F, or Foo Fighters, a water-based sentient Stand, Emporio, a young boy who was raised in Green Dolphin, and Weather Report, a Stand user with no memories of his past.

Just like the previous series of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Stone Ocean was in charge of David Production. But I must confess a secret – I thought that all the franchise was animated by MAPPA Studio.

I hope I wasn’t the only one.

Anyway. Stone Ocean has great voice seiyuu, including Fairouz Ai (One-Punch Man) as Jolyne, Mutsume Tamura (Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!!) as Ermes, and Mariya Ise (The Promised Neverland) as F.F., and of course, Daisuke Ono as Jotaro.

All the episodes of Stone Ocean were released in December 1, 2021 on Netflix. And the soundtrack, just like in Phantom Blood, is fantastic, including Distant Dreamers, from British singer Duffy.

STORY

There is one word that can describe Stone Ocean – Big!!! Everything is big in the sixth series of JoJo’s the animation is big, the action scenes are big, the backgrounds are big, and the character development are big as well.

From the beginning, we are prepared with the great colour palette for something that was going to be as entertaining as Stardust Crusaders. And form me, even though I have watched Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders, I am still amazed of how awesome the battle scenes are in Stone Ocean. All the time there is that factor of surprise and creativity that engages you into the battle. Just like its predecessors, Stone Ocean puts a lot of tension and unpredictability in all the actions scenes, from the moment Jolyne arrives to Green Dolphin, until her first encounter with Gwess. Personally my favourite moment is when Ermes and Jolyne fight F.F.

And the body the later adopts.

She is indeed one of my favourite characters.

Furthermore, Stone Ocean takes its time to develop the different Stands of the story, exploiting their presence in a colourful, incredible animation that really adopts the passion of Hirohiko Araki in his art, and despite Stardust Crusaders is one of the best stories in this sense, Stone Ocean manages to maintain the spark of JoJo’s intact.

Also, the setting of a state prison gives a lot of identity to the story.

Believe me. Stone Ocean will always surprise you.

But, sometimes, I do not know exactly where some of the designs come from. What is the author thinking in some of them?

But that’s one of the elements that you can always enjoy from Stone Ocean.

Finally, one great gift for the fans, or sweet fanservice, is the appearance of Jotaro.

If you enjoyed the last series of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, you will definitely enjoy Stone Ocean.

And the characters are cool, with incredible designs, and all of them, even the minor characters are memorable. In fact, I remember the antagonists and all of the prison guards as much as our protagonist.

Like I said, F.F. is one of my favourite characters, but I also love Ermes Costello.

Trust me. You can choose your favourite.

CONCLUSION

This is a great, fun entry of the franchise we all love. And even though you are not a great fan, you will definitely have fun with it, either for curiosity or for fan loyalty. But in whichever case, this is an anime you can’t miss, especially if you have Netflix.

So do like Jolyne – sacrifice escaping to the outside world and watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Stone Ocean.

And thanks for those who read my previous review of Star Wars: Visions, Irina. Hope you have enjoyed it.

Now. I am going back to space. Jotaro… Can I get some help?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! GALAXY!!! HERE I COME!!!!!

MY TOP WAIFUS OF 2021 – PART II (A LOT TO CHOOSE FROM)

Hello my friends.

Welcome to another entry of my blog.

Like I said the other day, I am ready to publish all the entries that I wanted to write for months. My top waifus of 2021. Thanks for those who read my Part I, and as I mentioned before, 2021 was a bigger year regarding female characters than in 2020, so that means I still have a lot of waifu that catch my heart.

Now, according to Wikipedia, waifu means A fictional character from non-live-action visual media (typically an anime, manga or video game) to whom one is attracted or whom one considers their ideal significant other.^[

I put this definition because I want to make sure that I am following correctly the definition of Waifu, because to me, I consider attractive a female character enough to be a Waifu through four simple elements.

1. Her appearance
2. Her personality
3. Her actions
4. Her contributions to the story

I know that including the definition of waifu is unnecessary, but I wanted to clarify that; now, let’s move on. This is My Top Waifu of 2021 – Part II

But first, I have a honorable mention that if I do not mention, I will explode, and that is…

MONA MEGISTUS (GENSHIN IMPACT)

Her character bio is pretty straight-forward. A young, powerful astrologist that takes up the residence in Monstadt, with exceptional water magic skills, but that is pretty modest regarding money due to her pride, for Mona refuses to use astrology for income.

I know there are a lot of powerful characters in Genshin Impact, and… I have never played the game itself.

But I have two very good reasons to mention her. The first one…

THE BEST, CUTEST, MOST PERFECT DERRIERE OF ALL GENSHIN IMPACT

Yes. I already said that. No regrets.

But also… her Japanese voice. Because I know that she is voiced by Konomi Kohara, and that is what left an impact on me. I am… a bit crazy about Mona Megistus because of that, more than with Fischl, or Klee, or Lumine herself, or even Paimon. I never expected that. But that was enough to hook me in.

But like i said, I never played Genshin Impact, so I do not know more about Mona, aside from what just wrote, and that is why she is merely an honorable… Big honorable mention.

Now… let’s go with the true waifus. Speaking of Konomi Kohara.

1. ROXY MIGURDIA (MUSHOKU TENSEI)

When our main protagonist, Rudeus Greyrat, shows great prodigy with magic, his parents, Zenith and Paul, hire a tutor for him, and that is Roxy Migurdia, a young water magician from the Migurd race that likes to travel around the world. She spends almost two years training Rudy, and both create a close friendship, and a true love for the Greyrat family.

Humm. Water, and Konomi Kohara…

Coincidence?

Okay. That’s the last time I am mentioning Mona Megistus.

In other words. Rudy is what he is, a powerful magician, thanks to Roxy. Honestly Roxy displays a great amount of wisdom, compassion and curiosity that makes her so special, along with her character design. And the fantastic job of Konomi Kohara gives more life to her, combining innocence and maturity beyond her years. No wonder she is one of the most popular characters from Mushoku Tensei.

But what makes Roxy so compelling is her sad backstory, the same one that the anime adapted extremely well. I am not going to spoilers, but trust me, the more you see the anime, the more you realise how charming Roxy is, and that is why she is one of my Top Waifu of 2021.

Speaking of witches…

2. SAYA (WANDERING WITCH: THE JOURNEY OF ELAINA)

Technically, I should not be mentioning The Journey of Elaina, for it was released in 2020, but since I started watch the anime the previous year, I am making an exception.

Anyway, Saya is a witch apprentice from a Far Land of the East. Separated from her sister, she meets Elaina on episode 2, begging the latter to train her so she can pass the magic exam. After that, we discover that Saya lied to Elaina, forcing the Ashen Witch to stay together due to her loneliness; and after some wake-up call, Elaina gives Saya her spare hat, her friendship, and the confidence to pass the exam and become a witch.

The reason why I am choosing Saya over Elaina is because I relate more with her than with the Ashen Witch, because I understand the fear of failure, and the anxiety of having to do things by yourself most of the time. Of course that does not justify most of her acts on Episode 2, but Saya is not a bad person. In fact, is one of the most human characters of Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, something that is a lot to say.

And in every episode, you see Saya’s evolution as a witch, so you feel happy for her. And… despite her awful obsession with Elaina, Saya is possibly the best character of the series, even better than Elaina and Amnesia, at least from my perspective.

So heed my words, Jougi Shiraishi-sensei… Please do a spin-off with Saya.

3. Kang Sae-byeok, a.k.a. Player 067 (Squid Game)

Kang Sae-byeok, played by HoYeon Jung, is a North Korean defector that made it to South Korea with her little brother, Kang Cheol, but her true problems only started when she arrived to Seoul, because her brother has to stay in an orphanage, her mother is still in North Korea, and the broker that she hired for getting her out betrayed her. So she participates in the Squid Game for getting a house and protect her family.

Okay. Another character we can sympathise with, because she reflects every tragedy that North Korean defectors have to go through when escaping their country, but also, most of us learnt through Kang Sae-byeok that many defectors never are accepted in South Korea. And the performance of HoYeon Jung is outstanding, to the point that you believe that Kang Sae-byeok really exists, even though she does not.

Furthermore, her relationship with the main protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, has a lot of development through the first season, from a violent girl that trust no one to someone that values friendship and understand she is not alone.

Han Mi-nyeo is also a great character, but for now, I choose Kang Sae-byeok for what she is – strong, meticulous, intelligent, perhaps a bit brash, for all that, along with how well-written she is, we have one of the best characters of all of Squid Game.

4. Jeanne (The Case Study of Vanitas)

The Hellfire Witch is a very capable fighter that had to annihilate other vampires during the Hundred Years War. Some time after the war ended, she became the bodyguard of Lucius Oriflamme, the nephew of the Chevalier of Ruthven, but after some encounters with our favourite vampire, Vanitas, she is very conflicted between killing him and loving him. Because yes…

She feels easily aroused by Vanitas’ blood.

I still need to talk about Vanitas no Carte, but I will when the time comes. Nevertheless, if there is one character that really hooked my heart, more than Vanitas himself, that is Jeanne. Because beneath her badass persona and her relentless strength, we see a sweet soul with a very tragic past that feel in love with him; and every time they are together, her chemistry is simply one of the best elements in all the story. Jeanne is strong, but also beautiful, conflicted and loyal, and for me, the moments together with Vanitas were a big surprise.

Seriously… Get married and be bloodily ever after

For me, if Jeanne made me root for VaniJeanne rather than Vanoé, she has something really special.

5. U-1196 (CELLS AT WORK: CODE BLACK)

How can I forget of U-1196?

She is a Neutrophil cell that has to fight violent germs, viruses and bacterias in a really unhealthy body that drinks and smokes, and in every fight, she puts all her strength and soul to defend the body, earning the respect and trust of her fellow Neutrophil Cells and of the Red Blood Cell known as AA2153.

She indeed is a really attractive, reliable partner. I think my description and her design was more than enough to prove that she is my waifu, in fact, she can easily surpass AE3803 as the best female character of Cells at Work! (But not the platelets), at least in my opinion.

And her uniform adds a lot of appeal, indeed.

Already I said it. No regrets.

And the reason is because she knows how to balance her badass size with her human size with both her Neutrophil sisters and with AA2153, the scenes with both of them is among the best among Code Black!!!, and with the path of the anime, you grow to know her and love her with her scenes.

Excellent balance between beauty, humanity and strength. I feel Cured because of her.

CONCLUSION

Wow!!! More wonderful waifu from the last 2021.

And yet, I still have to do the Part III, because I enjoyed a lot watching these beautiful female characters. Probably this is only my opinion, but I am surprised of how many great, or at least, decent characters that can become waifu. Or perhaps it is because I am not too demanding.

Anyway. Tell me what you think about Part II, I hope you guys like it. And stay tuned for Part III.

See you soon!

MY TOP WAIFU OF 2021 – PART 1 (FINALLY!!! AFTER SO MANY MONTHS!!!)

My Top Waifus of 2021 – Part 1

Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry of my blog.

Today, I am going to do something completely different.

What I want to do today is something I should have done four months ago, and now, since I have a bit of free time, I think I must start with these right now. For those who have read my entries for quite a long time, you know that I have another yearly tradition, and that is….

MY TOP WAIFU OF THE YEAR!!!!!

Now, since the last year we got more popular anime than in 2021, I will probably divide this section into three parts, and like last time, I will get to talk about five girls in one entry, and then five in another.

Or, on second thought… Let’s think outside the box and do six.

Having said that, let’s talk about My Top Waifu of 2021 – Part 1.

1. ERIS BOREAS GREYRAT (MUSHOKU TENSEI)

How could I NOT start with one of the most visible female protagonists of one of my favourite isekai of 2021 – Jobless Reincarnation? Don’t worry, I will include Roxy and Sylphiette eventually, but I must start big on these entries.

Eris Boreas Greyrat is the older second cousin of our main protagonist, Rudeus Greyrat, having meeting when Rudy is trying to earn money to enrol both him and Sylphiette on the Ranoa Magic Academy. And their first encounter was… very heated.

At the beginning, Eris and Rudy didn’t get along, but through Rudy;’s tutoring and resolve, she gradually starts respecting him more. And after the Mana Incident that transported both to the Demon Continent, little by little Eris grows more, from an ill-tempered girl to a brave, smart young woman… and falling in love with Rudy.

I think, during the first season of Mushoku Tensei, we are witness of so much character development, in both mind and body, in Eris Boreas. And when you see her abilities in swordsmanship, almost rivalling both her uncle, Paul Greyrat, and her master Ghislaine, you have the same expression of Rudy.

That, along her… well-endowed appearance (if you know what I mean after watching the series for too long). I personally do not consider many tsundere girls as waifu material, but in this case, I believe is fair to say that Eris Boreas has earned her place on this spot.

And one last frame before I continue.

2. SHOUKO KOMI (KOMI-SAN CAN’T COMMUNICATE)

A tagline from Komi-san can’t communicate says it all.

“An important thing to remember is, just because a person has problems communicating, doesn’t mean that person doesn’t want to communicate with others.”

Tomohito Oda

I said it once, and I will say it again. Shouko Komi is one of the most relatable characters of the manga nowadays, because she perfectly reflects a big problem that most of the people suffer on modern times – social anxiety disorder. And from the moment she meets Hitohito Tadano, we see Komi-san on her daily life trying to make 100 friends and trying to overcome her communication disorder. And her struggles are accompanied by those lovely images of her own fears.

Add that to the fact that she is a very kind, loving person, and innocent in a way, and we have a character that we want to share our days with. Furthermore, I must say that her chemistry is wonderful.

Indeed one of the most beautiful friendships in anime 2021

No wonder she was nominated as Best Girl at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, she has everything we want on a waifu, charm, kindness, beauty, class, and a flaw that we can relate with, and that, at the end of the day, she turns into a strength.

3. MAKI ZENIN (JUJUTSU KAISEN)

Yeah. I can hear all the voices that say that they want to choose Nobara Kugisaki, the Best Girl at the recent Crunchyroll Anime Awards.

But the truth is that I grew up to love Maki even more. Because I… have a weakness for the glasses.

Art by Danieri

No, but seriously, from the moment in which Maki decided to exile herself from the Zenin household, until the arc of the Kyoto Goodwill Event, Maki has proven to be one of the most capable characters from Jujutsu Kaisen, and despite being a non-sorcerer, having to rely on her glasses, Maki is indeed a capable fighter, and proving to be a good role model for Yuji, Megumi and Nobara, and of course… Yuta (But I still haven’t watched Jujutsu Kaisen 0).

Honestly Maki’s fight against Kasumi Miwa is one of my favourite.

As well as her second fight against Mai.

In conclusion, Maki has everything to become one of the best female characters of Jujutsu Kaisen – wonderful design, excellent background, awesome abilities, and a really cool attitude, A part of me has not truly recovered to what happened to her at the Shibuya incident, but she already got my heart.

Sorry guys, but If I must pick one, I will definitely pick up Maki over Nobara. Ipso facto

HOW DARE YOU?

4. VLADILENA «LENA» MILIZÉ (86 – EIGHTY SIX)

There is something, among many other things, that Mushoku Tensei and 86: Eighty-Six have in common, both have a bunch of female characters to choose from as waifu material.

Major Vladilena Milizé, a.k.a. Lena, is a Major from the Military of the Republic of San Magnolia, a Handler of a group of soldiers, in charge of piloting the Juggernauts, big mechanised weapons that fight the Legion, an army of automatised war machines from the former Empire of Giad.

But there are two horrible truths behind this. – the first one is that the government of San Magnolia is extremely supremacist, with the Alba discriminating the Colorata. The second truth is that San Magnolia forces them to fight Legion as disposable assets rather than human beings.

Unlike other Handlers, Lena firmly disagrees with this agenda, and treats the Colorata as human beings, much to the annoyance of her peers, taking her time to knowing them better and protect them at all cost. But it is not just her compassion what makes Lena so compelling, also her gorgeous character design, her high intelligence, resolve and resourcefulness to discovering the truth.

DON’T F^%K UP WITH BLOODY REGINA

One can say that Lena is unpredictable too, but that is another element that makes her so badass. Every moment with her is a delight, even during the second cour, Lena keeps an aura of awesome and kindness that makes one of the best characters of 2021. No wonder why she was nominated as Best Girl at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.

And now… some extra gallery to Lena. Hail Bloody Regina!!!

5. KYOUKO HORI (HORIMIYA)

I already talked a lot about Kyouko Hori-san, from HoriMiya, included her on my list of FIVE OF MY ANIME COUPLES.

You can check out the link here.

FIVE OF MY REALLY FAVOURITE COUPLES OF ANIME (VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL)

So this tiem I will keep it simple.

Kyouko Hori is the most beautiful and popular student at her school, but at home, she is the housekeeper, looking after her brother and keeping the house neat when her parents are out. Everything changes when another popular student, Izumi Miyamura, meets by chance at home, and… full of tattoos and piercings, completely different from the aloof, otaku-like persona that Hori-san thought Miyamura was.

Hori-san became one popular character of 2021, mostly due to her eccentric personality, but willingness to do things right; also… the fantastic work of Haruka Tomatsu voicing her really helps. And throughout the series, Hori-san and Miyamura develop a closeness that makes our hearts wamr every time we watch them together.

But… I have two reasons for putting Hori-san so low on this list.

The first one is that she treats her dad horribly. And I mean like FREAKING GARBAGE.

Sorry, couldn’;t find a decent GIF

But, to be fair, Hori-san’s dad is kind of a dickhead, so yeah. The guilt is for both parts.

The second feature that I TRULY DISLIKE from Hori-san is that she is a masochist… Out of nowhere. Seriously, at no point, I saw any evidence that Hori-san was a mascohist before episode 8. And yes, I know it is only for Miyamura, but yet, it feels really contrived.

And no. Hori-san «cute» faces don’t make it any better.

Nevertheless, Hori-san is still one of my waifu of 2021, and I must praise her for how well constructed she is. (Excluding her strange masochism).

6. AZUSA AIZAWA (SLIME TAOSHITE 300-NEN)

In our world, Azusa Aizawa was an officer worker who only existed for work, no social life, no friends, no hobbies, no dreams. NOTHING!! Only work. And she stayed over 50 days without any rest, so naturally, she ended up died for exhaustion (Or Karoshi). Immediately, she meets a beautiful goddess, and Azusa has the offer to reincarnating in another world, as an immortal witch. Azusa gleefully accepts, and since she will never die, she decides to spend the next 300 years living a peaceful, uneventful life, simply hunting slimes, for being the weakest and easiest to kill creature in her new world.

Because of this, she is quickly known as the Witch of the Highlands.

Unbeknownst to Azusa, killing slimes fully maximises her, become the most powerful witch of the world, soon, many adventurers visit her for a fight, including a red dragon, called Laika, who destroys Azusa’s house in the middle of the battle. Of course Azusa wins, and when Laika states that she will overwork herself to rebuild Azusa’s house, the latter refuses, claiming that Laika must never overlook her health, and give some time to rest and enjoy.

Wow!! What a long summary!!

Slime 300 is an anime that I truly enjoyed, and with all the comedy and adventure of it, we see how powerful, yet caring and compassionate Azusa truly is, remembering her past experiences to encourage others not to repeat her mistakes, and the passion she puts on her family, including her «daughters», Halkara the elf, Beelzebub and Flatorte, made her a character that I cherish.

And one of my waifus of 2021.

Let’s hope for the best at season 2.

CONCLUSION

WOW!!! So many waifus.

And more are to come.

Thanks for checking by my Top Waifus of 2021, Part I. I hope you guys like the list. Despite waiting for so long, I was able to work these months on it. And I think this is pretty decent.

Again. Hope you guys like it. See you soon.

AREN’T YOU FORGETTING ME???

I FINALLY CASTED MY VOTES FOR THE CRUNCHYROLL ANIME AWARDS 2021 – PART III

Hello my friends.

It is time for post the third and final part for my choices of Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2021.

BEST COMBAT

Yuji Itadori & Aoi Todo vs. Hanami from Jujutsu Kaisen

There are two reasons for this vote.

The first one is that I haven’t watched the other battles (I am not living if I refuse to watch Attack on Titan: The Final Season, part 1), except from Elma vs. Tohru, from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S, but I consider this one, from Jujutsu Kaisen, more impressive, especially because of all the hard work and effort put by Studio MAPPA.

The second reason is that, as I previously mentioned on one of my blogs, Jujutsu Kaisen indeed exceeded my expectations, especially during the choreography and the battles, in fact watching Megumi and Maki doing their combo on episode 19 was awesome!!!

So there you go. This year, Jujutsu Kaisen enchanted me again.

BEST ANTAGONIST

First vote goes to… Tomura Shigaraki, from My Hero Academia season 5

I am starting to believe that Tomura Shigaraki is this close to becoming one of the greatest antagonists of all the shonen genre, along with Orochimaru, Cell and Frieza. Every time I watch Tomura, I am more convinced that he is indeed the true successor of All For One.

And the part when Tomura’s past is revealed is really heartbreaking and disturbing at the same time. Finally, Shigaraki is one of my favourite characters of My Hero Academia, and one of the best antagonists (along with Dabi, Himiko Toga and Stain)

You got my vote.

Second vote goes to… ECHIDNA, from Re: Zero – season 2.

Just like before, Echidna has that sense of mystery, beauty and unpredictability that makes her charming. She is like some kind of Anti-Emilia, and a very popular character in my personal opinion.

And… Re: Zero is one of the best isekai of all time. So I had to give Echidna my support. And… I will finally be able to have some of her «special» tea.

BEST PROTAGONIST

Odokawa, from OddTaxi.

Of all the nominees, I think Odokawa is indeed the best, because of his calm personality, his wits, his mysterious and tragic past, and the work done by Natsuki Hanae.

And I really wanted to divide my vote between Odokawa and Ai Ohto, but at the end, I consider that Odokawa was better constructed and had a better story. It is not like I don’t like Ai Ohto.

Now… I am starting to regret not voting for her too.

And the others… I barely know about them, and since I haven’t watched Attack on Titan: The Final Season – Part I, I thought not to lie. And Bojji… I must watch Ranking of Kings.

BEST GIRL

First vote goes to… Vladilena «Lena» Milizé, from 86: Eighty-Six

Indeed, Lena is one of the best female leads of all 2021. She is an intelligent, resourceful, caring, compassive Handler of the Republic of San Magnolia, ascended to Major at a young age.

All the time she is taking the initiative, not being afraid of questioning the supremacist ideology of San Magnolia for the safety of the Spearhead Squadron, and trust me, she gets better on the upcoming volumes (I hope 86: Eighty-Six gets a second season).

Lena is like Relena Peacecraft, from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, or Kudelia Aina Bernstein from Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.

One of my favourite heroines.

Second votes goes to… Shouko Komi from Komi-San Can’t Communicate

As I said in my review of Komi-san Can’t Communicate, Shouko Komi is the heroine that I relate the most, because I suffer from anxiety, and despite Komi-san’s problem is much worse, I understand how she feels. How hard is her life because of that.

And her chemistry with Tadano-kun, her antics with Najimi, and her cool personality, and funny misunderstandings makes her so memorable. So I must vote for her, if not… I rather go to jail.

Lena and Komi-san – Two of my Top Waifu of 2021.

BEST BOY

Izumi Miyamura, from Horimiya

Ok. I also voted for Hiroshi Odokawa, but I already said what I had to say about him. And I will avoid being repetitive.

But Izumi Miyamura is a really well-constructed character, he is a reserved student that keep mostly from himself, but beneath that exterior, he is full of piercings and tattoos that goes against everything related the first impression.

And both his character development and his relationship with Hori-san is full of chemistry and cuteness that probably does not make it original enough, but it definitely makes them entertaining and memorable.

It is a shame that I haven’t watched Ranking of Kings, because I will definitely voted for Bojji (I have that homework).

ANIME OF THE YEAR…

GOES TO…

What can I say?

A good plot, solid social commentary, memorable characters, splendid animation from A-1 Pictures, and a great story about war, discrimination and child soldiers. An anime that took risks.

And yes… I am fully aware that either Attack on Titan: The Final Season or Jujutsu Kaisen – second cour will get the award, but 86: Eighty-Six really hooked in a way that it has no words, and I find myself every time reading the light novels and searching about the characters on Wikipedia.

Just like Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Iron-Blooded Orphans before, 86: Eighty-Six will remain with me and I will mentioned it a lot… at least until I fully watched Attack on Titan: The Final Season.

CONCLUSION

And there you go!!!!

My personal choices for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Another year, another group of blogs.

Some will agree with me, some will definitely have different opinions. But what is true is that 2021 gave us a lot of awesome anime, and the favourite, the ones that most of the fans love will be awarded.

I am as excited as you are, especially because i finished the tradition of giving my favourite for the awards on time.

Let’s hope for the best.

And… you know what Henrietta said to me? If Lena does not get the award, it will be my fault.

Right Henrietta?

YOU BET YOUR BEHIND IT WILL BE!!!

Hehe. She loves me.

I FINALLY CASTED MY VOTES FOR THE CRUNCHYROLL ANIME AWARDS 2021 – PART II

BEST OPENING

YOASOBI – Kaibutsu – BEASTARS – Season 2

Because… Ali made a wonderful opening for the first season with «WILD SIDE». The moment I listen the opening for season 2, I didn’t think twice… This song really deserved the best opening award.

Of course, Cry Baby from Tokyo Revengers is also fantastic, but… In my personal opinion, nothing can beat Beastars, except OddTaxi, by Skirt and PUNPEE.

Good luck. You two deserve to be the next Beastar.

BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE (JP)

FIRST VOTE Goes to… Natsuki Hanae, for Hiroshi Odokawa, from Oddtaxi.

I need to say this now. I am a huge fan of Natsuki Hanae, and in this 2021, this great seiyuu brought us some iconic roles, including Vanitas, from The Case Study of Vanitas, Tanjiro and Odokawa.

I adore Oddtaxi, is absolutely one of the best anime of 2021, and when I listen Odokawa, I couldn’t believe the seiyuu behind was Natsuki Hanae, and that proves how talented this actor is.

SECOND VOTE Goes to… Aoi Kuga, for Kumoko, from So I am A spider, So what?

The same happens with Natsuki Hanae. Even though her voice reminds of both Tanya Von Degurechaff and Azusa Aizawa, Aoi Kuga prints her own mark with Kumoko, perfectly mimicking the dynamism of the character and her personality every time Kumoko seems to break the fourth wall.

Of course, she can get a bit annoying sometimes, but that does not stop the character and heir voice actress for being so cool.

You are a Spider, So what? So we love you.

SPECIAL MENTION – BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE (Latin America)

VICTOR UGARTE as Shinji Ikari, from Neon Genesis Evangelion

In my personal opinion, from day one, and I mean as far as 1999… on one can beat Victor Ugarte as Shinji Ikari.

And I love Pepe Vilchis, but the sweet voice of Ugarte as Shinji (in both the original series and the films) is practically a milestone in Latin American anime community.

Don’t believe me? Check it by yourselves.

BEST SOUNDTRACK

FIRST VOTE goes to Hiroyuki Sawano and Kohta Yamamoto, from 86: Eighty-Six

Wonderful, to say the least. Just like you would know from Hiroyuki Sawano.

I am a bit disappointed, because I believe that Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song deserved more nominations than the ones it got. However, I was expected its soundtrack to receive a nomination. So yeah.

My second vote goes to that beautiful A.I. that wants to make people happy with her singing.

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN

Baku Kinoshita and Hiromi Nakayama – ODDTAXI

I must say that every time I saw the characters of Oddtaxi, I was imagining myself as an animator, trying to make the design of each one of these characters, and how hard it should be. Furthermore, every one of these designs perfectly gives identity, making them more memorable.

It is a shame that I didn’t watch Ranking of Kings by the time the nominations were revealed, because I would divide my vote between both series.

Also, I consider to divide my vote between Oddtaxi and Wonder Egg Priority, but I didn’t take me too much time before going to Oddtaxi.

BEST ANIMATION

Studio Bind for Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

This vote was a tough one, because I couldn’t decided between Demon Slayer: Mugen Train and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. Moreover, this category produced me a bit of cringe, for one exterior reason.

Just like Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, Mushoku Tensei deserved more nominations, being among the best freaking anime of 2021.

Particularly, because of the animation.

So yes. I finally vote Mushoku Tensei, because this fantastic isekai has a lot of competition, and we must support it, because the infamy Rudeus Greyrat inspire in some, this anime earned all its praise.

BEST DIRECTOR

Baku Kinoshita, for Oddtaxi.

Not just the animation, Oddtaxi has good storytelling, characters, great twists all over the episode, all blend together in one of the best anime of 2021.

And of course, someone had to be in charge of everything. So I voted for Baku Kinoshita for OddTaxi.

I also consider dividing my vote with Wonder Egg Priority, but then I thought that Oddtaxi has a deeper story.

So there you go.

CONCLUSION

And there you go. Part II finished.

Remember that this is only my own opinion. Everyone has the right to vote to whichever series they want. At the end of the day, the best will get the awards… I hope.

Stay tuned for the third and final part.

I FINALLY CASTED MY VOTES FOR THE CRUNCHYROLL ANIME AWARDS 2021

Hello my friends.

First and foremost… I just want to wish you Happy New Year 2022 (Well. Not that new anymore). And also a very Happy Chinese New Year for everyone. I hope that the celebrations were really that great for all of you.

Regarding myself… I want to apologise.

Because as of January 31st 2022, it has been a very complicated month for me. I have a lot of work (And a very bad misunderstanding that almost left me… traumatised to say the least). And I have been working in my new book, trying to get some pages done, at least two per day. But because I have been exhausted, and I got a severe pain in my shoulder, I was unable to advance in my blog as much as I wanted.

Everything started shortly after I published my review on Netflix’s Death Note (Well. November was pretty busy too). That is when things got very busy for me. Christmas time came, a lot of responsibilities came as well, a lot of cleaning, a lot of hot weather in Melbourne (last week was average 36 degrees), and visiting a lot of friends for the holidays, and some time off.

So. As you can see. Many events kept me away from writing and watching beautiful anime.

But worry not.

Because I have been preparing a lot of My first Impressions, and the… TOP WAIFU OF 2021. That is a tradition in my blog.

But now. I will start with another tradition. Yep. The title says it all.

Now… I want to start showing my votes for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2021. from Best Film to Best Ending. Then, the rest will come. But little by little, I have so… many things to write.

With that said… let’s START!!!!!!!

BEST FILM

In the words of Rengoku…

Well… It is Demon Slayer. What else can I say? I red the manga of the Demon Train arc, and it was… fantastic. And when I watch the movie… I was in love with both Demon Slayer and Ufotable, more than ever. The ending was heartbreaking, and seeing Akasa for the first time was a feast. Don’t get me wrong. I do not doubt that Belle can be a masterpiece, but I never watch it. The same happened with Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time. But Mugen Train is beautiful.

And my choice for Best Film of 2021.

BEST FANTASY

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation & To Your Eternity.

I have to admit that this was a really tough one. On one hand, I am starting to believe that isekai is like Scooby-Doo! You will always see many versions and proposals and it will never get old (unless we are talking about Scoob!, of course)

So I decided to spread my vote, between Mushoku Tensei and To Your Eternity. Wonder Egg Priority was also great, but, in my opinion, the two series I chose share a common strength – narrative. To Your Eternity has a very good storytelling that helps characters and story to evolve, the same happens with Mushoku Tensei, and the fantasy element is stronger than in Wonder Egg Priority. At least from my perspective.

Fingers crossed.

BEST ROMANCE

I love Beastars, but in regards of romance, Horimiya was my surprise fo 2021. Hori-san is an amazing character, as likeable as Miyamura, and seeing together was a complete feast for my eyes, and the rest of the couples were also incredibly adorable, especially Remi and Sengoku.

Again. It was a tough one, because I enjoy Komi-san (In fact, I will say it now… Both are… BETTER… WAY BETTER than Rent-A-Girlfriend as romantic comedies), bu t I still need to see more episodes of Komi-san and Tadano-kun.

Kudos for Miyamura and Hori-san. Just…

We need more headbutts!!

BEST DRAMA

86: Eighty-Six

Without a doubt, 86: Eighty-Six is one of the best anime of 2021, and a candidate for the second or third best anime produced by A-1 Pictures on the 2020s (Only beaten by Sword Art Online: Alicization and Kaguya-sama: Love is War).

For me, this anime was a big surprise, because it definitely has those vibes that you see in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing or Code Geass, including social commentary, the brutality of war, child soldiers, and big robots. But also, 86: Eighty-Six manages to have its own identity, with very well-written characters and a setting that reminds us the consequences of world wars and Why should we never, ever allow something like that to happen… ever again.

And of course… a story that gets better and better, even in the light novels. Trust me. you read the light novels of 86: Eighty-Six, and the story becomes way better.

And as much as I hate to say this – the only two competition that 86: Eighty-Six might have in this category is either Oddtaxi or Fruits Basket: The Final Season.

BEST COMEDY

I will say this straight away – I was ready to give my absolute vote to Miss Kobayashi-san Dragon Maid S. It is simply one of the best comedies of 2021, and the fact that Kyoto Animation produced this second season after the tragic fire of July, 2019 gives it more merit. But then… I got a big surprise, as big as with 86: Eighty-Six.

And that is Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan.

I was like…

Honestly. Life lessons with Uramichi is pure insanity, every moment was better than the last one. Original jokes, and very hilarious characters. So yeah.

50/50.

BEST ACTION

Triple vote – Vivy – Fluorite Eye’s Song, SSS Dynazenon and Mugen Train.

Ok. Some of you might be thinking:

«Jaime… What the hell is this?»

And yes. It is definitely a fair criticisim if you have it. But I will explain.

First…n

For Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, Wit Studio did a really good job animating the fighting scenes. Every time I watch Vivy and Elizabeth in a fight, I couldn’t resist. I really was looking forward for what will happen next. Especially in the last episodes of the series. Vivy did great here. It is a shame that it got less nominations than it deserved.

The same happened with SSSS Dynazenon. If there is anything Studio Trigger is an expert in, that is animating action, i.e. Kill la Kill, Darling in the FRANXX, SSSS Gridman, and now here. I hope it really does well.

And Demon Slayer – Mugen Train… Nothing to say. Better watch.

BEST ENDING

«Shirogane» by LiSA.

Because, as a Demon Slayer fan… How can you say No to such a beaituful song?

Every time I listen to it… I feel the whole arc of Mugen Train.

CONCLUSION

And that is it for now. I must admit that, at the beginning, I was kind of disappointed for some of the nominations. I was expecting something like Vivy being nominated as Anime of the Year, as well as To Your Eternity. And 86: Eighty-Six had less nominations too. I expected Shinei to be nominated as Best Protagonist, and…

What about Rudeus Greyrat?

And for those who are wondering why I haven’t choose any of the categories for Attack on Titan. The answer is simple… I haven’t reach The Final Season: Part I yet. I guess I will get there when I get there.

But that is for today. Stay tuned for Part II.

And now… let’s get some beautiful Uzui waifus…

And what about me?

Who?

ME!!!!

I AM PERFECT TO SHIN… MORE THAN LENA.

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – TAKT OP. DESTINY – MY OWN IMPRESSIONS

Takt Op.Destiny

Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy, Musical

Studio: MAPPA/Madhouse

Hello my friends.

Welcome to another blog entry.

Who’s up for a bit of music? No one? Please, do not talk like that, because music is a beautiful art of expression, and one of the greatest legacies of human civilization since the very beginning. Do not listen to Homer Simpson.

SINGING IS THE LOWEST FORM OF COMMUNICATION

Well, here is not about singing, it is more about music. And again, the title says it all, but a part of me is now convinced that we humans need music, because it awakens the most beautiful part of our souls, and teaches us about the best of human history, especially because of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Salieri, and others. Well, I am digressing, but I need to live a good impression, especially since I do not think I will have another chance to express what I think about music and not having a piano.

Because yes. I took piano lessons years ago.

Behold…

But before I go on, I must ask you the typcial question:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am very happy.

And now, let’s enjoy some music of the soul, and anime together. This is Takt Op. Destiny.

PREMISE

Takt Op. Destiny is the anime adaptation of a mixed media project from Bandai Namco Games and DeNA Co. Ltd that combines music and anime (Obviously). The series takes place on 2047, the world is condemned to live without music because it is plagued by the D2, monsters that hate human music and are attracted to its source, whichever it is, either by instruments or piano, and they create rampage whenever they go. The D2 are created by a meteor, called Black Night Siderites, and in order to fight them, the Symphonica International Organization created the Musicarts, girls drawn from classical music sheets and conducted by the «Harmonica Ore», a power granted to a human.

In other words, the Musicarts are like the girls from Kantai Collection, but instead of using Japanese warships from WWII to create them, the particular component is music. (Something that is more appropriate, in my opinion).

Don’t worry girls. I will takt about you eventually

Takt Asahina is a talented piano player, but as any respected genius, he prioritises music over everything. He has two very good childhood friends, Anna Schneider, and her younger sister, Cosette. One day, Cosette and Takt play piano together, but they attract a D2 that ultimately kills Cosette. Nonetheless, her pendant awakens Destiny, a Musicart that is very unstable, on the body of Cosette. And Takt becomes his Conductor. Both fight D2s together, and with the help of Anna, the pair must travel to New York to cure Destiny’s condition.

Takt Op. Destiny is available at Crunchyroll, and the animation is a joint venture done between Madhouse and MAPPA, much to my surprise.

And I will talk about this later.

This animation is beautiful, but it left me and impression that I will share with all of you

As of November 17, 2021, six episodes have been released. But I am not sure how many episodes Takt Op. Destiny will have as a whole, but honestly, honestly, I am counting that it will have at least 24 episodes (two cours).

Finally, the opening – Takt – is performed by Ryo from Supercell, while the ending – Symphonia, is beautifully performed by Mika Nakashima.

Here is a link for the intro, which I love.

And of course, the ending.

STORY

Here it comes.

Firstlty, I must say that, when I read that Takt Op.Destiny is based on a videogame, I was like…

Because, I got a pretty bad experience with BlazBlue, and that nefarious anime released on 2013, called BlazBlue: After Memory, which is basically 13 (or 12, I neither remember nor care), pure filler that tells me almost nothing about BlazBlue, or Guilty Gear for that matter, or with Akiba’s Trip: The Animation, which didn’t left me precisely a good impression. And then, I got this teaching for myself:

«There is something worse than a crappy movie because on a videogame, and that is a crappy anime based on a videogame.»

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But then, after watching the first two episodes of Takt Op.Destiny… I got hooked, with everything, the animation, the story, the pacing, the characters, and the soundtrack. This anime was beautiful in all of those aspects.

The animation… well. Do I have to say more? It is freaking MAPPA, along with awesome Madhouse. What can I say?

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

However, the very first moment I saw the trailer of Takt Op. Destiny, I swear to you that I thought the animation was done by Ufotable, due to the similarities from their work with Fate series.

Just look at the stills.

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• 

• 

After all, how can you never suspected that with such a quality?

Anyway. Then I decided to see the series, and indeed, everything left a great impression. While the first episode gave us a good impression of how powerful Takt and Destiny truly are, and some great battles scenes that you will enjoy, the second episode starts on flashback mode, revealing more about the past of Takt, Anna and Cosette. And the rhythm of the story is so balanced and pleasant it makes you see the episode once more. Of course, on episode two, there are some elements of the story, as well as other characters that you will see later on, because the story reveals little by little.

And that is something that I appreciate on these stories – Three basic elements.

1. Story
2. Characters
3. The development of both.

And that is something you see on Takt Op.Destiny.

Does this makes this anime more artsy? Not really. I would say it is more conventional, but at least the feeling of classical music is always there, and if you are a fan of the Fate adaptations done by Ufotable, or Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba for that matter, you would have any problem with this story.

CHARACTERS

I can see that the characters have a really beautiful design, and I will definitely learn more about them while i watch the other episodes.

But for now, I will center about our protagonists, Takt, Destiny and Anna. Takt is the genius who is more focuses on his art rather than in his life, or even his health, pretty basic, but the work done by Koki Uchiyama (HoriMiya), really states the identity of the character; Anna is the older sister figure who loves them, but has a hard time looking after Takt and Destiny.

And with Destiny… let’s just say that she has the same aloofness and calmness as Saber. Both are very similar.

However, one element that is must praise indeed, is her design.

It is simple, beautiful, and definitely looks like a pianist or a violinist. MAPPA and Madhouse really nailed it with the design of Destiny.

As beautiful as Vivy, from Vivy – Fluorite eye’s song.

And by the way. Why many stories have the word DESTINY on their titles? Or have characters named as such? It is not like Destiny is a bad name, or that I hate it; but many people might notice by now that it is already used everywhere like this. Anyway, I wanted to point it out, that’s all.

The characters are interesting, and I enjoyed them a lot.

CONCLUSION

Takt Op. Destiny is an anime worth of your time. It has nice characters, interesting story, enjoyable battle scenes, and fantastic soundtrack. Of course, the series is not that innovative, but it doesn’t need to be. It simply needs strong substance to entertain you, which definitely has. But the best elements are the soundtrack and the animation.

Again, if you like Ufotable, their work with Fate Series, and Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, you will absolutely enjoy this.

Right Bart?

Ok. Not for everyone. But definitely check it out.

And now… I will show it to Komi-san, I definitely can see her reaction.

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – SAIHATE NO PALADIN (THE FARAWAY PALADIN) – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Saihate No Paladin (The Faraway Paladin)

Genre: isekai, fantasy

Studio: Children’s Playground Entertainment

Hello my friends. Welcome to an other entry blog.

Now, it is a time to come back to all ways of do blogging, at least from me. And while I was receiving my second dose, I was able to use that time to watch some good anime, and have a good time, especially from this spring/winter, depending the place of the world you are in now. And one of the anime that I was curious about was one that I chose regarding the Chosen Ones (Well, not really).

And now, it is finally time to watch, since I consider I watched enough for an entry.

Behold…

SAIHATE NO PALADIN

But before I continue, I must ask you the typical questions:

Are you guys ok? Feeling happy?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy, especially since I now have a peace of mind due to the shots.

Now… let’s go in the ultimate life-changing journey… of the comfy of the bed. This is The Faraway Paladin.

PREMISE

Saihate no Paladin is another isekai story, written by Kanata Yasugino and illustrated by Yususaga Rin, and tells the story of Will, a young man who died and reincarnated in another world, like I said, an isekai. In this new world, he is raised by three undead creatures, Blood, a skeletal warrior who teaches him to use weapons in combat; Mary, a mummified priestess who teaches him daily-to-daily tasks, and to pray; and Gus, an spectral sorcerer who teaches him magic and sorcery.

After some years, Will finally reaches adulthood, and then he must make an oath to a deity of his choice, in this case, Gracefeel, the Goddess of Light. Shortly after, Will start going on this journey of life, to learn the truth of this world and of his tutors, with the help of many sweet companions, Meneldor, an elf, expert on archery and Will’s best friend, Robina, a traveling trobadour, and Antonio, a hawker and skilled negotiator.

Oh… And Will adopts the names of his tutors and a tribute, calling himself William G. Maryblood.

One interesting fact is that Saihate no Paladin was heavily influenced by another isekai anime I reviewed months ago, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. In fact, the author, Kanata Yasugino, mentioned his work and quote:

«Mushoku without ecchi».

Here is a little article explaining it.

The Faraway Paladin Was Heavily Influenced by Mushoku Tensei

To be honest, this article got my attention more than the premise itself, encouraging me to watch Saihate no Paladin in the end. But I will talk about it later.

Regarding Saihate, this adaptation is going to have only one cour – that is 12 episodes, and it is produced by a studio I swear I never heard of before – Children’s Playground Entertainment. Actually I found the name pretty funny, and it is not because it is producing an isekai story, or because I think they produce children stories. It is because I find the name a bit… unconventional. I do not know how to speak it, but half of me thinks the name is good, and the other half thinks is lame.

Sort of.

Anyway, Saihate no Paladin is available at Crunchyroll, and the opening theme – «A sacred heart» is performed by Hikaru Masau, a.k.a. Helical, and the ending is performed by Nagi Yanagi, and it has a fancy name – Shirushibi, or Mark of Fire.

Now, let’s go with…

STORY

One thing I definitely agree with the article, is that Saihate no Paladin has a lot of influence from Mushoku Tensei, and for me, that is a good thing because definitely Mushoku Tensei is one of the best anime of 2021, you watch the series, and you get the vibes immediately. Nonetheless, I caught four big differences with the work of Rifujin na Magonote and its adaptation. And I will put them here.

1. While Mushoku Tensei takes its time to make the main character, Rudeus Greyrat, grow, at least physically, Will basically becomes a 15-year-old adult in three episodes.
2. Mushoku Tensei focuses in the life of Rudeus Greyrat, in a matter of bildungsroman, Saihate no Paladin centers on a hero’s journey.
3. The plot of Mushoku Tensei is about Rudeus’s desire to life properly again, while Saihate no Paladin focuses in the mystery of the world Will was reincarnated.
4. We, as viewers, knew what kind of life Rodeus got before, but the previous life of Will remains a mystery.

Also, the fact that there are three undead creatures raising an human boy, and the truth behind that adds a lot of personality and uniqueness to the story, and despite these two episodes are not precisely of battles and war, they do not lack of action; better yet, none of them are slow. As a matter of fact, episode one has a lot of development regarding Will and his family, with all of them, and the events of those relationships are interesting enough to be convincing, and while we watch the episode, we come to know the personalities of Gus, Mary and Blood.

Gus being the grumpy, yet likeable old man; Mary being a mother figure, and Blood the builded warrior with a heart of gold. They might sound as stereotypes to many, but for me, they fit their roles pretty well.

So yeah. If you enjoy these types of story, you will like Saihate no Paladin, but for those fans of action and adventure, this might be frustrating, depending in your state.

Furthermore, another big difference between Mushoku Tensei and Saihate no Paladin is the animation, and the atmosphere. While Mushoku has rough lines and opaque colours for highlighting the realism, from my viewpoint…

Saihate no Paladin is more colourful and bright, like a hint for the vision of adventure.

But one thing is for sure. The first two episodes has a lot of mythology. because Will gets a lot of knowledge regarding the deities of this new world. Volt, the God of justice and Lightning, similar to Zeus; Mater, the Mother Goddess; and Blaze, the God of Fire and technology.

Also… very curious names.

And for those who may noticed… Saihate no Paladin does the opposite of Mushoku Tensei in terms of world-building, because while the latter develops a lot of races and ethnicities of the new world, Saihate no Paladin creates a beautiful mythology that feels similar to our world, yet believable and proper to the new world.

So yeah. Both series have their strengths that make them interesting and their own merit.

By the way, just look at the cover of the first light novel.

When I saw it, I thought we will face a pretty dark story with a lot of violence and war, like Goblin Slayer and The Rising of the Shield Hero, but then…

And I thought… Am I watching the right anime? Perhaps I miss something. This is not a bad thing, but I wanted to share it with you.

Oh well!!!

CHARACTERS

I already mentioned what I think the characters, at least the mentors, Gus being the irascible, yet likeable old man; Mary, the mysterious, but sweet mummified priestess who loves Will as her son, and Blood, the giant warrior with a heart of gold.

And now… let’s get this over with.

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AINZ-SAMA!!!

Yeah. The good ol’ Ainz Ooal Gown. I also noticed it.

Also, the presentation of Will is pretty solid, due to the glimpses of his previous life, in fact, there is a scene in which you see some keepsake, like the main character was cremated.

And overall, Will is a likeable protagonist. At first I thought he will have some deep voice, possibly played by Yuichiro Umehara (Goblin Slayer), or Yusuke Kobayashi (Re:Zero & Dr. Stone), but it sounds more like Ayumu Murase (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun), and that adds a lot of humanity to him.

My only disappointment is that the companions of Will did not appear during the first episodes. This is more my failing, of course, so I will give my time to watch more episodes.

Perhaps, I will end up liking them as well.

CONCLUSION

Saihate no Paladin ended up having a lot of cool things, the animation, the characters, the plot, the world-building, and the premise. I say it again, those who enjoyed Mushoku Tensei will have fun with this series, especially for the upcoming episodes.

In fact, I will go now and watch the rest at Crunchyroll…

HECK WITH THAT! LET’S DIE AND GET REINCARNATED, SO A SEXY DARK-SKINNED DEMONESS WILL RISE ME.

I CAN IMAGINE HER!!!

HERE I COME…

…

WOW!! This new world is not what I imagined.

But… where is my sexy dark-skinned foster mother?

Oh!!!

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – KOMI-SAN CAN’T COMMUNICATE – MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Komi-san Can’t Communicate (Komi-san wa, Komyushō Desu)

Genre: Slice-of-Life, Comedy, Romance

Studio: OLM

Hello my friends.

Welcome to another entry of my blog.

Right now. I have very good news, and that is I finally recovered from my headache, and now I am back to do a little bit of entry. To be honest, this is an anime that I wanted to do from the beginning, since the moment I saw the key visual and the premise, my interest was full on.

I know that the title says it all, but I will repeat. Behold.

But before I continue, I must continue with the typical question:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy.

Now, time to solve the biggest question in the history of humankind…

Has Komi-san or not communism?

?????????

According to Google Translate, the original title of the series, Komi-san wa, Komyushō Desu., is translated as Mr. Furumi has communism. Check these stills.

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Anyway, let’s go with the anime and the sweet story of Komi-san and Tadano-kun.

PREMISE

Shouko Komi, or Komi-san, is the personification of elegance, she has an impressive beauty, grand posse, unprecedented charm and wonderful aura, which is why, on her first day on the Itan Private High School, she becomes the indisputable queen of the school. Her cool, aloof and calm attitude earns her more points in terms of popularity, but there is a secret beneath her personality.

Komi-san has extreme social anxiety, and cannot truly communicate with any of her classmates.

The only one who notices the truth is the student that sits next to her, Hitohito Tadano, or Tadano-kun, a pretty average student.

They both become friends, and Tadano-kun promises Komi-san to help her made one hundred friends on the school. But what Tadano-kun ignores is that Itan Private High School has the craziest, most unique students of all the city.

Komi-san wa, Komyushō Desu. is written by Tomohito Oda, famous for making another series, called Digicon. Oda has published Komi-san since May, 2016, and has been comprising 23 volumes. One funny fact is that the studio animation, OLM, is the same one that animates…

Also, when I first noticed the whole of Tadano-kun, I thought that the creator of Komi-san was none other than Gosho Aoyama, the genius behind Detective Conan and Magic Kaito.

I am dead serious. Just look at his design, along with the one of Conan Edogawa

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Ok. They are not precisely similar, but you might see a bit of influence from Aoyama-sensei on the design of some of the characters of Komi-san, aside from Tadano-kun.

As of November 8, there is no confirmation of how many episodes Komi-san will have, but I honestly, honestly, hope we got 25 or 26 episodes, because I am reading the manga, and the story deserves it. You can check Myanimelist.com to confirm this last fact. Finally, while «hikareinochi», the ending theme, is beautiful, I think the opening, «Cinderella», performed by Cider Girl, is simply of the best songs of the spring of 2021.

Here is a link to the TV version:

And for the full song.

STORY

I want to start saying that Komi-san is definitely a character I can relate to entirely. For one reason, one I think I already mentioned on my previous entries.

I suffered from anxiety, and I still do. Seriously, sometimes on social situations I get very nervous, especially because of my attitude and the body language I will display, and the single thought of that is enough to make my skin crawl, especially in front of… women. And that anxiety, the same one that interferes in your daily life, it does not allow you to enjoy the present, and it fills like a rope all over your body like a python, slowly choking you and taking control of your mind.

Subconsciously telling you to leave, when you really want to stay, but don’t feel in control.

But now, I realised that what Komi-san is suffering is much complicated. Yet, I understand her sadness and loneliness. And I know I am not the only one. And that makes her one of the most relatable characters of the season.

Now, I will be focusing only in the first two episodes, which are the ones I watched so far. And I will try to be as brief as possible.

On the very first moments, we have a good introduction of both Komi-san and Tadano-kun, the episode takes its time, but without going too slow, to introduce both, their reason to go to Itai (having a normal school life for Tadano-kun, and to make friends and socialise for Komi-san); their encounter at class, and how the rest of the students are jealous of Tadano-kun for sitting next to Komi-san.

A freaking Ninja!! Honestly. Buddy. I think you should go with Boruto

And while some students are really hilarious…

…Others are plain a%(*oles.

Tadano-kun is knocked by the students at lunch time. And when he wakes up, he hears Komi-san wishing to communicate. He talks to her, but since Komi-san cannot respond, Tadano-kun suggests her to use the chalkboard, creating one of the most heartwarming scenes in anime of 2021.

Honestly, calling that scene beautiful is an understatement.

Episode one finishes with the promise of Tadano-kun helping Komi-san to make 100 friends.

And episode two, we meet our world childhood friend, Osana Najimi,

From now on, we see our beloved Komi-san trying to overcome her communication problems, facing many daily-life situations .

As a whole, I would say that the first two episodes gave me a very amazing first impression, and they perfectly adapt both the manga and the one-shot, aside from the changes of the latter. And both the rhythm and the pacing are really natural; despite both episodes only have thirty minutes, they narrate their respective stories on a fluid way, from our first encounters with both Komi-san and Tadano-kun, to the moment Komi-san walks along with Najimi.

And we got really hilarious moments of Komi-san, whose anxiety creates very funny moments of misunderstanding and sweet images, like this.

When Komi-san becomes Kenshiro

Also, the animation from OLM is better than expected. I would say that it perfectly adapts the style of Tomohito Oda, which I will classify as unique.

And Komi-san, Tadano-kun and Najimi are beautiful together as a trio…

Overall, the story of Komi-san had a powerful start. And now, what about the…

CHARACTERS

From what I saw on the trailer and the first episodes, I can see that we are going to have a lot of colourful characters from Komi-san, after all, I repeat the word that I used for describing them – Unique. However, there is really not too much to say about the rest up to this point.

But, I want to talk about two characters in particular. The first one being Najimi.

Najimi is literally «everyone’s childhood friend», because Najimi had to move from one city to another due to Najimi’s dad’s work, which is why Najimi became friends with practically everyone on the city, also Najimi is quite the opposite from Komi-san, because Najimi is quite an expert in talking to the people, befriending everyone, and Najimi has a really open personality – naughty, supportive, sincere, outspoken, everything you wanna know about Najimi.

Now, you might be wondering. Jaime… Why do you repeat Najimi a lot? Couldn’t be easier if you use pronouns?

Well. That’s the issue, because I do not know Najimi’s gender. And in the manga, sometimes Najimi addresses as a girl, and others as a boy. And that’s the intention of the author. At the beginning I thought Najimi was a trap, but now, this makes this character so much interesting.

Probably a great example of how to write a genderqueer character. I will not use LGBT in these situation, because I don’t know what Najimi’s heart desire, and Tadano-kun calls Najimi pathological dishonest.

Which reminds… Netflix on the Latin American version did something to Najimi very… questionable. But I will talk about this in part 2.

The other character I will talk about, really earned my hatred.

Ren Yamai. The leader of the cool girls, who is a lesbian and has a destructive obsession with Komi-san.

In other words, a mean popular girl who will do anything to get Komi-san for herself, even crime. Trust me. But from the moment I saw this image, I knew she was an awful character, and… It gets worse, especially from episode four.

SPOILERS – EHS SEPPANDIK ROOP TADANO-KUN.

Look, from Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, I still hate Saya’s obsession with Elaina.

But what Yamai feels and does is so despicable, so toxic, it makes root for a yuri between Saya and Elaina.

Anyone. That is all for now.

CONCLUSION

Komi-san wa, Komyushō Desu. is one of best anime of spring 2021, along with 86: Eighty-six Part II, and despite being available on Netflix, I am happy to find out more. And if you are a fan of the manga, you will definitely enjoy the anime a lot more.

Trust me, it is really awesome.

And now, there is a pending issue.

Has Komi-san communism?

The answer is… I don’t know. She does not tell me.

What she has is a lot fo beautiful pictures.

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Anyway… stay tuned for Part II.