Kaguya-Sama Love Is War

           

Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War or 'Kaguya-Sama Wa Kokuraswtai: Tensai Tachi No Renai Zunousen' is 2020's most popular romantic comedy, and here's why. While early scenes in the first episode feel preachy, complicated and depict characters that are designed to look distant or unrelatable; these negative aspects clear away pretty quickly. The anime recognizes those uncomfortable feelings it initially gave you and goes on to make fun of it by introducing much whimsy and idiosyncratic sub plots. What emerges is a tastefully senseless comedy that allows you to let your guard down and enjoy. 

Kagua Sama's story follows the student council president (Miyuki Shirogane) and vice-president (Kaguya Shinomiya) of Shuchiin Academy, a prestigious Japanese school. Both of them fancy the other but have twisted ideologies about the power dynamics in a relationship and refuse to be the first one to confess to the other. They deploy several nonsensical tactics to force the other into making a move but end up in a romantic stalemate every time. There are refreshing side characters, as other members of the student council, who add to the chaos and create great comedic situations. The anime also takes its 'love is war' title seriously, as each episode is divided into segments that has battle results and victors announced, which really gets you in the competitive mood. You'll want to pick sides and support your character as if your watching a sporting game, however most results leave you thinking 'eh?' and giggling to yourself. That's the essence of Kaguya-Sama: it attacks you with jokes inducing fits of laughter and when you think its over, it sneak attacks with context to make you giggle. All in all, it's a great experience and a must watch if you are a romantic comedy fan. 

Disclaimer: anyone looking for a fast paced show with a developing plot and introduction of casual relationships, stay away. By season two you'll be pulling your hair out and yelling at the screen asking for some tangible story development. So I repeat, watch Kaguya-Sama just for the laughs and leave your desire to see evolving love interests for my next romantic anime review. 

         

My personal ratings are:

Story: 2/5
Character Development: 4/5
Dialogue: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: Battle result- Kaguya Sama wins. 

Watch Kaguya-Sama Love Is War on Netflix and use a VPN if not in your region. 

 

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan or Shingeki no Kyojin is a revolutionary anime with multiple dimensions to story progression and beautiful visuals to go with it. This show is the anime equivalent of BDSM: you are beaten, broken down, built back up and eventually forced into euphoric submission. The creator Hajime Isayama is an outspoken sadist who loves to torture his fans with extremely bold plot twists and unexpected turns. He is not afraid of killing any characters off, or making astoundingly incomprehensible changes to the story. And as much as you might think that's a put off, it really isn't. In fact, I think he has come up with the most amazing story progression the anime world has seen till date. Fair caution, this anime is not for the weak willed as the dark elements and gore can get quite intense (Game of Thrones has nothing on this). 

Attack on Titan will suck you into its world -full of despair, mystery and action- and when you finally think you know what's happening, you need to think again. I can't hope to accurately capture the different aspects of this story in a brief summary, so I'll just describe the world the anime is set in. We follow the life of Eren Yeager, who lives in a civilization enclosed by tall walls. Beyond these walls lie titans, giant humanoid looking monsters that enjoy human flesh and are extremely difficult to kill. Eren is victim to a tragedy and as a result despises titans. He joins the military and trains to become a member of the Survey Corps, a body devoted to exploring the outside world and learning more about titans, to destroy them. The plot will explore several dimensions like the mentality of characters in this dystopian world, the limitations of technology, socio-economic politics, religion and hard core bloodshed. You will find yourself at the edge of your seat every episode, trying to understand what hope do these people have, what exactly are titans and what will happen next. This action-thriller will definitely keep bringing you back, craving for more answers as you explore its world.  

The anime has four seasons with the latest one set to release in December 2020. The latest season will be changing the anime's animation studio and there's a potential red flag on how the standard of visuals will be upheld. Furthermore, if I had to pick flaws in the anime itself, I think it does not cover as much as the manga does, which is not an uncommon issue in the anime world. I also think there is too much darkness and decadence being expressed in the show, which can make it too heavy on viewers.  

My personal ratings are:
Story: 5/5
Character Development: 4/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5 

Overall Recommendation: Ten casualties and just another day for the survey corps!

Attack on Titan is on Netflix, Hulu or Crunchyroll across different regions. 

Violet Evergarden

Violet Evergarden is well renowned Netflix original series that won the award for best animation in the 2019 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. This anime is a beautiful coming of age story that will definitely pull on your heart strings and make you feel for its characters. I really struggle with thinking of any criticism for Violet Evergarden, it has outstanding visuals, a complex plot, intriguing characters and makes you feel connected to its world. I think this is a prime example of new age anime pushing the conventions of vibrant story telling. Please be warned however, Violet Evergarden is like an onion: It has many delicious layers, but as you cut through them, you are likely to find yourself brought to tears. 

I love a good period anime, this one is set in a time just post the war (which war? doesn't matter). People are starting to move on from the scars left behind by the war and new businesses are booming, despite the worlds limited technology. Violet Evergarden wakes up to this unprecedented peace after a traumatic accident in which she lost her arms, only to realize she has no idea how to live in a society devoid of the battlefield. She was orphaned in the war and taken in by a kind army major who taught her how to fight and survive. She attaches herself to this major and becomes a war weapon, to be used at his disposal. Now with the war over and her beloved general missing, she has no idea how to move on with her life. Violet gets automated metal arms to replace her torn off ones (full metal violet?) and sets off to become an 'auto memory doll'. This profession requires understanding the feelings of your client and then writing a letter on their behalf to support their lack of ability to express themselves well. These letters can be between lovers, friends, businessmen or even politicians and convey the sentiment of the sender. The journey of Violet going from not being able to comprehend basic human emotions to being able to emote for others is astoundingly wonderful. You begin to root for her as she navigates society and learns how to interact with people, how to make friends. You'll stay with her on her search to understand, what does it mean to say "I love you". 

I'm not going to lie, This anime has actually made me cry, it gets you so emotionally invested and deals with the most sensitive of human feelings that you won't help getting teary eyed occasionally. Because of this, watching it can be emotionally taxing if you aren't mentally prepared. Other than this, I find no basic faults with Violet Evergarden. It stays true to its style and is a great blend of action, drama and romance.   



My personal ratings are:

Story: 4/5
Character Development: 5/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5 

Overall Recommendation: One perfectly written letter 

This is a Netflix original and should be available there in all regions. 

Weathering With You

       

Sometimes anime is made for the heart and not the mind, 'Weathering With You' is one such movie. Makoto Shinkai does it again! (that bloody genius) Even though 'Weathering With You' didn't do as commercially well as his previous movie 'Your Name', he still knocked it out of the park with 193 million dollars worldwide in box office collections. This movie will take you places and make you feel like you've had an actual experience. Forget the critics, forget trailers, forget reading reviews (except this one), just chance upon this movie and let the magic happen. 

I have an instinct when it comes to detecting good anime, if even one scene manages to make me feel enough to have the hair on my hand stand up, the anime has 'it'. While watching 'Weathering With You' (even after the first three times) I get full fledged goosebumps every 15 minutes just because of it's sheer beauty. The movie takes place in the same universe as 'Your Name' and explores an unnatural phenomenon. High schooler Hodaka runs away from home to try and make it on his own in Tokyo, and through a series of fateful events meets Hina, a girl who can change the weather when she wants to. The Tokyo depicted in this movie is one that seldom see's any sunshine because of its constant rain. Seeing this as an opportunity, they try to clear the weather for people who want to see the sun and charge them a small fee. It's all fun and games with cheery friendships across well developed characters, amazingly portrayed, until they realize that there's more to this ability and that the world holds many mysterious secrets linked to this phenomenon. Expect love, laughs, friendship, anticipation, fear and mystery all leading to excitement and one unforgettable experience- Weathering With You is an absolute must watch! Also expect brilliant music because The Radwimps whipped up a new album for this movie and it really lives up. 

I think I've made it clear that I'm in love with Makoto Shinkai's works and hence am not the right person to point out its flaws, but the main criticism 'Weathering With You' receives is that it draws too many similarities to the style of 'Your Name'. Now while I personally don't have any issues with that, many people ho came in expecting something completely new were a little let down, and I can understand why. Either ways you should watch it and decide where you stand for yourself. 
        My personal ratings are:

Story: 4/5
Character Development: 3/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 5/5 
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall recommendation: One Sunny Day

This movie holds a special place for me because it was the first anime movie to release in actual theaters in my home city (Mumbai). Its distribution rights were given to PVR pictures and it won't be found on OTT platforms for a while, you may have to rent it online or stream otherwise but still try to pay for your view if possible because I'd like to see more anime movies releasing here. 

Mob Psycho 100

Mob Psycho 100 is a diamond in the rough that doesn't look like one at first. While initial thoughts for most people will be that it's strangely animated and looks too odd to continue watching, you'll regret not continuing. This anime is pure comedic gold and its vibe begins to suit the animation style very well. If you aren't sent into a fit of laughter over how the show builds up intense situations and immediately introduces levity to defuse it, I'll change my name. Mob Psycho 100 is so refreshingly hilarious and exciting- It's the anime equivalent of getting comically punched in the stomach so hard that you can't breathe (but like, in a good way).   

I see Mob Psycho 100 drawing a few similarities to One Punch Man and I mean that in a really good way. You'll see an OP protagonist who's pretty likable and is somewhat oblivious to how ridiculously strong they are, which makes for great laughs. The story follows young Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed Mob, who's a powerful psychic despite looking like a weak school boy. Real psychic's are rare in the world which is why his master Reigen, who's about as real as Tsunade's boobs, employees Mob as an assistant (yes I meant Tsunade from Naruto and before anyone argues with me please remember that she changes her appearance using her creation rebirth, aka boob job jutsu). He pretends to be a know-it-all psychic guru, but is really just a glib con man. Mob however looks up to Reigen and actually learns to control his powers through his master's fake but somehow still relevant advice. Over time even you begin to think that Reigen is just amazing. The anime progresses to explore the limits of Mob's powers, that erupt into unstoppable carnage when he gets too emotional about something. There are many delightful side stories and supporting characters like Mob's friends and family that add flavor to this anime, which has a steady progression over two seasons and hopefully more. 

Mob Psycho 100 is unapologetically a comedy. This means that it frivolously plays around with story progression and uses any means to tie in loose ends. While that's generally entertaining, it puts me off just a little because they actually build those plot points really well. 

                    

My personal ratings are:

Story: 3/5
Character Development: 4/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: hilarious 100% outburst 

Catch Mob Psycho 100 on Cruncyroll with subscription and Netflix.