Steins;Gate

I never knew something so beautifully intricate and complex, yet absolutely engaging could exist. Steins Gate is a gem of an anime with a justified cult following because of its unique take on story telling. This sci-fi thriller is the anime equivalent of Doctor Who in terms of plot complexity, and is a delight to watch for all time travel lovers. I think watching Steins Gate is like entering a big maze: you start off excited, get worried about where it goes in the middle, and feel utmost excitement when you reach the end. Please note that this is a heavy, occasionally dark, fast paced and sometimes confusing anime that will swing between plot building and culmination like a pendulum. I don't recommend watching it unless you are in the right mindset for such a show. If you like these elements however, be ready for an absolute treat. 

Without giving much away, the story follows a scientist called Rintarou Okabe who is a quirky anarchist that loves to indulge in vague conspiracy theories and whacky scientific ideas. On a faithful day he discovers that he may have altered the flow of time using a tweaked microwave and is able to send messages through time when attaching a phone to it. His team comprising of a pervy programmer, his childhood friend and a renowned female scientist who's destiny gets all mixed up in Okabe's business, are suddenly thrown into a chaotic situation where they may have just discovered time travel. The anime has many angles to this plot: the politics behind inventing time travel, the effects it can have on the world and the stress it puts on their personal relationships. Steins Gate quickly becomes gritty and intense, showing the consequences of even the smallest actions involving time travel. As expected he show eventually introduces villains who have less than scientific motives and pose a threat to our team of protagonists. I think the anime does a great job balancing action and thriller elements with overarching character sentimentality. It creates a world you can get sucked into, coupled by a longing to know what happens next.  

My biggest issue with Steins Gate is that it can be complicated just for the sake of complexity at times. You can tell that certain plot points could have been made simpler without affecting the story, but instead still go about involved and lengthy routes that can cause frustration. 



My Personal ratings are:

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

Overall recommendation: One Future Gadget Laboratory

Steins gate is available on Netflix, crunchyroll and Hulu across different regions.  

Jujutsu Kaisen

Jujutsu Kaisen is, without a doubt, a bridge that shows us the way to the future of anime. This action Shonen series has visuals so stunning, you'll want to re watch every frame out of disbelief. With this plus Attack on Titan's final season, the production house - MAPPA basically knocked it out of the park. While the show's story itself isn't mind-blowingly special, the anime gets full points for execution and direction. You'll be so engaged by battle sequences, every droplet of sweat from a character's face becomes noticeable. Watching Jujutsu Kaisen is like watching a talented street artist spray graffiti on the wall, it just gives you an innate sense of satisfaction and amusement.   

The plot focuses on athletically gifted Yuji Itadori who inadvertently stumbles upon the hidden world of curses and supernatural phenomenon through an incident at school. To save his friends from danger, he gets himself cursed and obtains special powers, but also becomes a threat to all of humanity. In order to control his abilities, Yuji is enrolled into a school that teaches cursed techniques and is full of odd specimens. There's an interesting angle about the internal politics in the school that sway to and away from supporting Yuji across different levels of hierarchy. Jujutsu Kaisen does a great job in getting us involved with characters, battles and plot outcomes. The thrill of this anime stems from over powered character clashes, vibrant visuals and good old fashioned shonen sentimentality. 

The only negative I find with this anime is its slow story progression. I feel like episodes are too short and don't cover as much ground as I would have liked, but that being said, you can't rush great potentially long running anime.



My personal ratings are: 

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

Overall recommendation: One of sukunas fingers  

Jujutsu Kaisen in on Neflix Japan and on Crunchyroll in other regions, use a VPN to watch!

Jigoku Shojo

         

Jigoku Shojo or Hell Girl is an extremely compelling horror anime that never fails to send a chill down the viewer's spine. This horror thriller seems very docile and slow paced at first, but always gets you in the end because of its vivid dark imagery and portrayal of twisted human minds. The story is broken into many seemingly unrelated arcs that are all individually and suspensefully brought to culmination in a repetitive yet intriguing manner. I'll explain this plot device more below.

The story follows an urban legend of a cursed website. According to rumors, if someone holds a real grudge against another person, they can visit this website at midnight and request the 'Hell Girl', Enma Ai to kill their enemies. Here's where it gets interesting- if Enma and her associates from hell believe the grudge is strong enough, they will appear in front of the website user and hand them a black doll with a red string around its neck. If the string is removed, the grudge will be realized and any person the doll's owner chooses will be tortured and instantly dragged down to hell. The consequence is that the doll owner will also give up their soul and be sent to hell when they naturally die. The choice of using this double edged sword is what makes most of the show juicy. Hell Girl will explore the dark depths of human psyche and show what it takes to push a person to their limit. Each story arc is short and will get you ambivalent about the respective doll owners who range from petty and selfish individuals to helpless and victimized ones. This eerie plot bolstered by its creepy art style and sound track makes for a great pick if you love horror as a genre. 

Hell Girl does have a main overarching plot, but spends a lot of time on individual stories of people's grudges. Now because each story is unique, story progression can get a little disjointed. Think of this as a horror novel with many creepy chapters and a big finale, but you can only appreciate the finale if you put up with all the precursory chapters, some of which can be dry or monotonous. I for one, recommend sticking till the end.  



My personal ratings are: 

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

Overall Recommendation: When One Soul is Cursed, Two Graves Are Dug

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation

          Also called 'A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako's Feet' or 'Sakurako-san No Ashimoto Ni Wa Shitai Ga Umatteiru', this anime is an unusual one. It's a slow paced murder mystery and crime drama that focuses on the story told by the bones of different victims. It's an interesting and unique premise for a crime anime and has pretty intelligent plot points, however the approach will be a hit or miss for most viewers. If you don't enjoy the very first episode, don't bother continuing or expect it to pick up later because the anime will follow the same methodology, pace and vibe throughout. 

The story follows an ostentologist (bone analyst) called Sakurako and a high school boy named Shoutaro who eventually becomes her assistant as he's intrigued by her intelligence. We will be shown different crimes being solved by Sakurako, applying logical deductions to the analysis of a victim's bones and also peek into her personal psychology. She's a basic Sherlock Homes styled character with the only difference that she's female and looks just at bones as a crime solving instrument. An interesting angle added is that of Shoutaro's impression of Sakurako, who can't decide if she's a good person or an evil mastermind. The first half of Beautiful Bones has no overarching main plot, it just builds on characters and focuses on solving individual incidents which are still enjoying to watch. The second half picks up on a main plot but leaves the heavy lifting to a potential season two.  

It's funny that this anime is about bones because that's what you'll be reduced to by the time you reach the climax of any episode. This anime, while intriguing, follows a methodology to crime solving that is too lackluster and fails to hold a viewer's attention for too long. You'll find yourself casually checking your phone and glancing away so many times that you'll miss many explanations, but you won't even care as long as you get to see the story progress. Like I said before, it's going to be a hit or a miss. 

         
My personal ratings are:

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

Overall Recommendation: One Broken Femur  

This anime is available on Netflix and amazon under the name 'A Corpse is Buried Under Sakurako's Feet'.

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. 

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. 

K

The winner of the shortest anime title award is... K! This anime is beautifully chaotic and extremely fast paced. K is very much like what you'd expect from an orgy: nobody knows what's happening but you'll definitely enjoy all of it. Despite the strange story progression, you will always be engaged by the plot points and happy with their conclusions. I love the art-style, visuals and battle choreography in K, it has some real top tier stuff. It even has one of the best sound tracks in the anime world, guaranteed to get viewers pumped. A must watch for action fans; this is a story of loyalty, power, friendship and of modern day kings.      

K stands for 'King' which is a concept this anime revolves around. An ancient power allows 7 kings to exist in the world, the kings are assigned a color and abilities that they can share with their clansmen. The story will follow certain kings very closely and the relationships they have with their followers. We start with getting thrown into a turf war between the Red and Blue kings who fundamentally don't agree with each other's ideologies. Then added into the mix is a boy called Yashiro Isana who seems to be a regular school student but is suddenly targeted by other clans because a viral video has surfaced in which he claims to be the new colorless king and murders a friend of the Red king. this entire story unravels in a very engaging manner and does not fail to entertain. K is very good at captivating its audience, in fact, I challenge you to watch the first five minutes of episode one and not progress further. You'll have so many questions like, who is Yashiro? how will the conflict get settled? How do other kings fit in? and the only way to know is by diving deeper. 

Now I know that I've already described K as chaotic or confusing, but let me tell you to what extent. The anime has a unique world set up- different species exist, government/society structures are different, magic selectively is in play- but NONE of this is explained, like ever! You have to contextually figure everything out including what I've explained in the paragraph above, which tends to cross a line between intriguing and downright frustrating at times. I think that some blanks need to be filled, we as viewers can't just assume everything. 

       

My personal ratings are:

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

Overall recommendation: No blood! No Bone! No Ash!

K is on Netlix and Hulu in most regions. Use a VPN if not available in yours. 

Your Name

          Your name or 'Kimi No Na Wa' is an iconic anime movie. Not only is it the world's highest grossing anime film with box office earnings just under 358 million dollars (hot damn!), but also has won more awards than I can list here. Why is it so good you ask? Well for starters it's because the creator of Your Name, Makoto Shinkai, is an artistic and creative genius. The visuals and animation style are in a league of their own. In fact every image is so vibrant that you'll be watching with a guaranteed glimmer in your eyes and you might even shed a tear just because of its beauty. Strange thing is, if you ask me to categorize this movie in just one genre, I simply can't. Your Name has everything in it, it's the very definition of a multi-layered plot. But more than that, this one movie encapsulates everything good about anime as a medium, not because of what qualities it has, but because of how it makes you feel.

I don't want to give away much here, but I'll describe he basics of its story. We follow the lives of Taki and Mitsuha who are starkly different people. Mitsuha lives in a rural town and wants nothing but to get out of there and live a fast paced city life. Inversely, Taki lives in Tokyo and is a student struggling to find a corporate job while working part time as a waiter. They one day realize that they're connected somehow and switch bodies from time to time, just for a short period. The story continues to explore the reason for this phenomenon and how the two begin to understand each other, without really meeting. Now I know you'll think this is a sappy and overdone body switching plot, but trust me this doesn't even scratch the surface, there's so much more to it that I can't talk about without spoilers. I'll say it again, the story is genius and unexpected, just go watch it (all hail Makoto-san). Now the cherry on the top here is an absolutely amazing soundtrack done by a band called The Radwimps. They even redid all their songs in English to go with the English dub of the movie which is just some sheer dedication. I genuinely listen to at least one long from this soundtrack everyday. 

I have no criticism for Your Name. I think it has everything a great anime needs and anyone who finds faults here is just reaching for something that isn't there. I actually think I just wrote this post as an excuse to re watch the movie despite having seen it eleven times before. Just go watch it, bring your non anime watching friends along and you might convert them too (I've used Your name to convert many a person into anime lovers).
        My personal ratings are:

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

Overall Recommendation: One Casual Introduction 

You can rent or buy your name on Amazon or Google Playstore for under five dollars. If you need to stream it illegally then at least try and buy its DVD in the future when you have the money.    
      

Psycho-Pass

                     

An absolute stellar recommendation to clear away lock-down fever, Psycho-Pass is hands down the best thriller and futuristic detective series I've ever seen. It might be the only one I've seen, but that does not take away from how good this anime really is! It demonstrates a refreshing and unique story that unlike most anime has no source material like a manga or a light novel. The rare gem that is Psycho-Pass is purely an anime original series with a big budget for animation and a surprisingly good English dub (for you anime beginners). The anime introduces thought provoking concepts about the future of society and the criminal justice system, this coupled with its well crafted dialogues and expertly made fighting scenes will keep you hooked for all three seasons (arguably three point five seasons). 

The plot is beautifully intricate but not in an overwhelming manner. Psycho-Pass is set in the future where AI makes most economic and social decisions for the Japanese government. They have cracked technology that allows people to be scanned for ability to commit crimes in the future, giving the police jurisdiction to enforce people even before the crime takes place. The members of a special police task force see the seedy underbelly of this 'Utopian' society through the course of their work and we follow their new inspector Akane Tsunemori who was supposed to be an ideal citizen but surprises even AI in how she begins to perceive their society. It gets more interesting when the anime describes how police personnel are at risk of becoming criminals themselves due to their prolonged exposure to violent crime. This exciting commentary on mental health, society and criminal thinking will leave you craving for more. 

I have to look for drawbacks in this show to find them. But a biggie is that Psycho-Pass can get a little too fast paced and leave a lot of important aspects to contextual understanding. I've found myself having to rewind quite a few scenes to fully grasp everything they just threw at me.       

                   

My personal ratings are:

Story: 5/5
Character development: 4/5
Dialogue: 4/5
Music: 4/5

Overall Recommendation: Dominator Enforcement Required

Both English and Japanese dubs of Psycho-Pass are available in India on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Outside India, Amazon and Crunchy roll should also have it.