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'.

Shokugeki no Soma

Shokugeki no Soma or Food Wars is a shonen anime series about the culinary world. It brings a lot of color to this otherwise sparsely explored genre and is a must watch for you anime food lovers! This mouth watering and brilliant show has a great balance of exciting plot points, vibrant visuals and entertaining characters. It also does a great job in involving comedic elements so that it's not just an intense food anime with no other focus. Although Food Wars sounds like an innocent cooking anime, beware as it's very ecchi (suggestive sexual content). And I mean overtly ecchi moments, that can be off-putting. Since this is a culinary show let me put it this way: think of Food Wars as an Oreo Milkshake. You're blending milk, oreos, chocolate, ice cream...but bam someone throws a handful of broccoli in there! The un-necessary ecchi hits just like that broccoli (at least for me), but the rest is so on point.

The plot of Food Wars is not complicated. We follow the story of Yukihira Soma, a chef at his own family diner. Soma has no formal cooking accolades or fancy training but is an undeniably amazing cook. One day his father sends him to a prestigious cooking academy called Totsuki where only elite chefs can survive. Soma decides that he will outperform everyone at this academy but is up for quite a challenge. You get to see really entertaining story arcs about how Soma and his friends train to become better and how the existing egotistical chefs challenge them, only to realize they aren't ordinary chefs. All viewers get pulled into an expertly crafted culinary universe that's fairly educational and full of heated cook-offs. The show is also full of motivational content and unexpected reveals. My favorite aspect is that Soma has no special abilities, he gets his victories through sheer hard work and practice. A quote said by Soma's dad really gets me pumped, "people tend to dislike Soma because he wins but isn't special. Recognizing him means, realizing your own shortcomings and lack of determination."

While I have mentioned the shows ecchi natured drawbacks, I do also want to point out that the format of cooking battle after cooking battle can get tiresome. Food Wars will explain the science behind every chef's cooking, which is great, but can also cause an information overload if you're binge watching. 

    

My personal ratings are:

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

Overall recommendation: One Yukihira special. Glad you liked it! 

Shokugeki no Soma/ Food Wars can be streamed on Netflix or on Crunchyroll based on your region. You can use a VPN to watch on either platform. 

   

Tokyo Ghoul

Tokyo Ghoul is a dark action and fantasy series that took the anime world by storm when it first came out in 2014. It was unquestionably that one anime that edgy kids would watch to prove that they have, well, edge. While I agree that it had massive potential, I can't bring myself to say it's a good watch. Tokyo Ghoul let me down in the worst way possible: they built an amazing premise and interesting characters, only to destroy everything they built in the later seasons. Imagine that you've just been served a mouth-watering meal, say a delicious looking bowl of spaghetti. But just as you look away for a moment, someone comes and takes a stinking shit all over it. That's pretty much what you'll feel as you transition from season 1 to the later seasons of this anime.   

It's known in this world, that there are beings called ghouls who possess extraordinary strength and feed off the flesh of humans. As a result, the government creates an agency focused on the eradication of ghouls, and its inspectors are trained to wield special weapons. In the beginning, the plot follows a boy named Kaneki who lives a normal school life. He goes on a date with a girl way out of his league (first red flag) just to find out that she is a ghoul and attempts to eat him. By some twist of fate, they get caught up in a construction site accident, and Kaneki wakes up in a hospital with vague memories of what happened to him. It seems that the ghoul's organs were transplanted into his body by the doctors in an attempt to save him, and as a result, Kaneki has forfeit his humanity to become a ghoul. The story gets interesting when he starts to enter the secret world of ghouls and finds a way to survive without eating his friends. The dynamics of this society and interactions between ghouls make for great content coupled with gritty social ideologies, mysterious back stories and engaging fight scenes. Be warned, Tokyo Ghoul has its fair share of bloodshed, gore and death which can get borderline disturbing. All of this builds up to the ultimate question: will Kaneki choose to live as a human or a ghoul? And what are the consequences of each path. 

I'll make myself clear again, watch season one of this anime and stop then while you can. Anything after season one is a jumbled and confused mess with sloppy to careless story arcs. You'll see characters with great backstories being sidelined and even worse, randomly nonsensical story developments. I guess this is just the outcome of straying away from the manga to create a random anime story arc. 



My personal ratings are:

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

Overall recommendation: One kinky BDSM gimp mask

Tokyo Ghoul is available on Netflix and Crunchyroll in select regions, with a censored version that is less bloody as well. 

Blue Exorcist

Blue Exorcist or 'Ao no Exorcist' is an action shonen series about the age old battle between demons and priests. The anime finds its own niche in depicting a word where the church maintains order on Earth by exorcising demons and covers it up to protect normal people. It has a good art style, nice flashy battle animations and decently built characters. But here's the deal, if Blue Exorcist was a type of food, it would be toast. Nothing wrong with toast, everyone likes toast... but its just so plain. Blue Exorcist has the makings of a hot and spicy anime, but falls short in leveraging its own premise to become something exciting. And that's why while it's a decent watch, that's all it will ever be.

This toast is all about a boy called Rin Okumura and his brother Yukio. Their guardian is a priest called Fujimoto who wants them to live normal lives and loves them like a real father (pun intended). One faithful day Rin learns that he is actually the spawn of Satan, and has massive demonic powers sealed inside of him. Rin's emotional turbulence puts stress on his relationship with father Fujimoto, and before he can make amends, he witnesses Fujomoto being killed by Satan himself. Determined to get revenge, Rin goes to the True Cross school of exorcists and tries to master his own abilities, only to find that his brother is an instructor there. He faces a lot of resentment from others for being Satan's son but still tries to prove himself to his exorcist peers. It's interesting to see how these relationships develop, and it helps that the show keeps things pretty light and funny when portraying his life at True Cross. Furthermore, the anime has good action sequences with many power ups and flashy sword play, so definitely give it a watch if you usually enjoy action and humor combinations. 

One massive annoyance about Blue Exorcist is that season two resets the events that take place in the second half of season one. They just decided that they didn't like the ending and re wrote a season two, which completely changes the character's traits and relationships. Why destroy what you've already built? I could not be more irritated by how badly this was done. It also has a god awful English dub, but you shouldn't be watching dubs anyways. 

     

My personal ratings are:

Story: 3/5
Character Development: 1/5
Dialogue: 2/5
Music: 2/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall recommendation: Severe Daddy Issues 

Blue Exorcist is on Netflix and Amazon Prime in selective regions. You can use a VPN to stream it online.         

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.