JitschI finished watching You & Idol PreCure today.
If I try to sum up how I feel about it, it was a season that was doing exactly what is expected of PreCure, without giving it any substance.
The villains, their goals and their motivation were under-explained.
The 3 main characters felt generic and I did not see any development, both as in personal growth and their strength as a magical girl.
Purirun and Meroron were quite one-dimensional. Meroron being possessive and mean was not called out and then she changed very suddenly.
I completely disliked how the idol aspect was handled: it felt more like they are kids playing idols, never featuring the hard parts like writing songs or practicing choreographies.
I’m glad it’s over now.
Last but not least, on New Year’s Eve we went for the classic Akira that I hadn’t seen before.
I would like to say that it looked great (I guess it was a remastered version, but the level of detail is not reached in many contemporary anime either) and the characters mostly felt quite genuine and human, morally grey, and not like stereotypes.
Nevertheless, I found the story to be a bit messy, probably because it was condensed into a movie. There are some things that were hard to understand because explanations are not really given, but it’s more on the side of making sense if you think about it enough.
I can definitely understand why this is a classic that people still hold highly.
While we are at reviews: on Christmas Eve we watched “The Boy and the Heron”
Wow was that a weird film. The first 20-30 minutes made it look like a completely different story, and I think I would have preferred if it had just stayed with the story of a boy who deals with war trauma, loss of a family member, and adjusting to a new environment.
In a way I can understand that foreign world to be symbolic of some things that happen in the real world in parallel, but generally it was taking all the time where I would have liked to see Mahito come to terms with his circumstances and his new family while dealing with them more directly.
Finished: Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill (Season 2)
I enjoyed this just as much as the first season. No high stakes, no dangerous battles, just a guy cooking. I wouldn’t have needed Dora-Chan added to the group but he wasn’t particularly annoying so it’s fine. Despite being the same / similar things over and over and quite predictable, I just enjoy seeing them cook and eat stuff.
Did you know they have some official recipes posted online (if you understand Japanese):
https://cookpad.com/jp/users/114280341
I actually applied the Gyoza recipe (I’d made Gyoza before but added some tricks to it) and maybe will use some more in the future.
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Finished: My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s
This is a case of wasted potential, and it was mostly ruined by bad pacing. Some episodes really crammed in way too much and failed to make emotional parts meaningful. I couldn’t really buy into Akira’s relationship to Amelia because it went too fast.
The story overall was interesting,
and I liked the part about Akira grappling with his identity of an assassin. But having him agonize about killing a thug villain who was shown to not do any good to anyone honestly didn’t feel like it should be a dilemma.
Given how it ended the next season could be interesting, but I don’t have a lot of faith it would be handled better.
#MyStatusAsAnAssassinObviouslyExceedsTheHeros #anime #review #JitschFinish #fall2025Anime
Finished: Ranma 1/2 (2025)
The second cour was weaker than the first. I don’t hate the “new” cast members, but it didn’t feel that creative (another person with a curse and another fiancé that Ranma doesn’t want, really? )
I am glad that Happosai got just the absolute minimum appearance. Whereas I was negatively surprised how passive Akane is in most arcs despite her fighting prowess, letting Ranma fight for her or being presented as a prize for the winner.
And I was aware that this show is more slice of life, but all the contests to win someone’s hand with battles just get old rather quickly and don’t feel that different.
I guess I don’t mind another season but I’m also not on the edge of my seat waiting for it.
Finished: My Hero Academia Final Season
I already spent a few words on it, but I can say that for me, MHA may not have been the greatest Shounen Anime of all time, but a decent one. It was good at creating likable characters and making viewers really interested in them - but especially in the last season, the approach to always involve the whole Class A felt forced, but also a bit betrayed by how much of a savior Deku had to be.
Overall, the final stretch that was split across 2 cours felt way too long and annoyed the hell out of me by always switching to a different location or throwing in a flashback just when it could have gotten interesting.
So yeah, mixed feelings and definitely also glad that it’s over.
#MyHeroAcademia #BokuNoHeroAcademia #JitschFinish #anime #review
Finished: Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!
Oh I loved this, despite its flaws, and the one and only reason is that Melphie and Aristide have just the kind of relationship that I love to see in fiction (and would encourage in real life). Them being attracted to each other for the reasons that others are wary of them is just so wholesome, and they make a really good pair too.
But I can recognize the flaws, and the main one was the slow pacing. It often felt like they just made conversations unnecessarily long, and just how many episodes did they spend going from her home to his? 😅
The animation being weak was forgivable because it was not action-heavy.
But overall, yes, I still want to see more of them.
#PassTheMonsterMeatMilady #review #anime #fall2025Anime #jitschFinish
Finished: May I Ask for One Final Thing?
Oh I loved it. Female characters who can pull punches usually get me and Scarlet is really fun to watch. It helps that she has this dynamic with Prince Julius where they are a great team but keep nagging. The series can also be really funny when it wants to.
The other characters are not as great, but many of them got enough depth to be interesting. I am not a fan of Diana but her backstory makes her understandable.
Usually I dislike when (minor) villains are one-dimensional thugs that just beg to be punched, but for some reason it worked here because everything around was kind of fun.
I’m waiting for the second season!
#MayIAskForOneFinalThing #review #fall2025Anime #anime #jitschFinish
Finished: A Gatherer’s Adventure in Isekai
As it went on it felt a bit less than a lesser version of Campfire Cooking, but it’s still not great.
The characters are an interesting bunch and I appreciate that it’s not a harem, but they don’t have a lot of depth. Same for the story - most problems can be solved with Takeru using “clean” or Bee burning stuff and that feels too simple given the problems they are facing.
The most interesting part was about the “curse” of the high elves and the explanation for it, as well as some unusual gender representations. But still no great overarching plot but too much happening to be just cozy slice of life.
I think would only watch a second season if there is nothing else…
#aGatherersAdventureInIsekai #JitschFinish #review #Anime #Fall2025Anime