Category: Anime Review

Anime is hand-drawn and computer animation originating from Japan. In Japan and in Japanese, anime (a term derived from the English word animation), describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Outside of Japan and in English, anime is colloquial for Japanese animation and refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. Animation produced outside of Japan with a similar style to Japanese animation is referred to as anime-influenced animation.

The earliest commercial Japanese animations date to 1917. A characteristic art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of cartoonist Osamu Tezuka and spread in following decades, developing a large domestic audience. Anime is distributed theatrically, through television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the Internet. In addition to original works, anime are often adaptations of Japanese comics (manga), light novels, or video games. It is classified into numerous genres targeting various broad and niche audiences.

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Beastars Season 1

Beastars Season 1
Series: Beastars
Studio: Orange
Original Run: October 10, 2019
Genres: Coming of Age, Drama, Fantasy
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
In a civilized society of anthropomorphic animals, an uneasy tension exists between carnivores and herbivores. At Cherryton Academy, this mutual distrust peaks after a predation incident results in the death of Tem, an alpaca in the school’s drama club. Tem’s friend Legoshi, a grey wolf in the stage crew, has been an object of fear and suspicion for his whole life. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, he continues to lay low and hide his menacing traits, much to the disapproval of Louis, a red deer and the domineering star actor of the drama club.

When Louis sneaks into the auditorium to train Tem’s replacement for an upcoming play, he assigns Legoshi to lookout duty. That very night, Legoshi has a fateful encounter with Haru, a white dwarf rabbit scorned by her peers. His growing feelings for Haru, complicated by his predatory instincts, force him to confront his own true nature, the circumstances surrounding the death of his friend, and the undercurrent of violence plaguing the world around him.

My Review:

I totally missed the hype train on this one, even with glowing reviews from anime creators that I place a lot of trust in. I was unsure of 3D anime, and I wasn’t terribly interested in an anime revolving around anthropomorphic animals. I was guilty of judging this one too early, but I am so glad that I decided to give this anime a try because Beastars is a perfect example of how something different can be so worth it. My husband and I finally decided to pick this anime up after stumbling on a funny video by Jonah Scott, the voice actor for Legoshi.

Beastars is a wonderful mix of genres, a coming-of-age drama in a fantasy world with a murder mystery thrown in that starts the series off with a bang. In the world of Beastars, herbivores and carnivores co-exist in an idealistic society, carnivores eat a plant-based diet in order to maintain order, they work and go to school together. This diplomacy is surface level of course, with the constant threat of natural animal instinct taking over, horrific crime is not unusual.

I appreciated how the very real horrors of human society are viewed through a fantasy lens. This anime faces the real-world issues of racism, trafficking, murder, and society’s tendency to trample on the poor and ‘weak,’ all alongside a shocking love story in a world that can never accept the pairing. Legoshi is so heart-achingly awkward, the perfect protagonist of a coming-of-age narrative as he finds himself struggling against his conflicting feelings for a rabbit, his natural prey, and the power dynamics that exist within romantic relationships.

The 3D animation was surprisingly good, it gives the series a certain style that is instantly eye-catching and serves as a standout example of how 3D can be done right. The first season was simply phenomenal, an easy recommendation and I am extremely excited for the second season due out later this year.

“Why won’t you take responsibility for your own strength.”

Trigger Warning: Sex, Violence, Death

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Eromanga Sensei

Eromanga Sensei
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Original Run: April 9, 2017 – June 25, 2017
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Parody, Harem
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
The story centers around high school student Masamune Izumi who loves writing light novels. Having no artistic skill himself, Masamune always gets his novels illustrated by an anonymous partner using the pen name “Eromanga Sensei”, who is known for drawing questionably perverted images despite being extremely reliable. In addition to balancing his passion and school, Masamune is also stuck with taking care of his only family member—his younger step-sister Sagiri Izumi. A hikikomori by nature, Sagiri shut herself in her room for over a year and constantly bosses Masamune around despite his attempts to get her to leave her room. However, when Masamune inadvertently discovers that his anonymous partner has been Sagiri all along, their sibling relationship quickly leaps to new levels of excitement, especially when a beautiful, female, best-selling shōjo manga author enters the fray.

My Review:

I had been curious about this anime purely because Sagiri is the subject of a lot of gifs, and I went into this series knowing nothing about it other than that it was trending for a while. I watched this series to completion with my husband and honestly, I’m glad that it was a short one season, I couldn’t stand it by the end. It’s tragic really, because it actually started off alright, if questionable.

The story follows a pair of step-siblings, Masamune and Sagiri. Masamune is a high school student and burgeoning new light novel writer who dreams of someday getting an anime adaptation; Sagiri is a middle school student and popular online lewd artist named Eromanga sensei who also happens to be the illustrator for Masamune’s novels. The story parodies the light novel industry and it helped me to learn a little about it while also providing a few laughs. I also initially liked Sagiri, shy and quiet in person, but perverted and outrageous online despite not having any experience with sex; her online persona reminded me (embarrassingly) of myself when I was in middle and high school.

Unfortunately, this was about all that this series had going for it, everything else was a mess of ridiculous tropes and trivial nonsense. There is an incestuous romantic relationship between Masamune and Sagiri, which was troublesome because Sagiri is twelve years old. While the age gap between the two isn’t huge, there is a big difference in maturity between a twelve-year-old and a sixteen-year-old. Sagiri is highly sexualized, and the fact that there are people online who staunchly believe that age doesn’t matter is troubling.

There are also two other characters that are professional rivals, but it quickly devolves into an overplayed harem scenario. There was so much pandering and fan service in this series that there were entire episodes where the titular character played no role whatsoever in the episodes. The series ceased to be cute and charming, it was just drivel. It is honestly a shame, as a series about light novels has potential. Combined with an appealing art style and great animation, this series had potential that was honestly squashed by a lack of creativity.

“When I see a cute girl, I can’t help but want to see her panties!”

Trigger Warning: Sexually Explicit Content, Incest