weebonpoint

[weebonpoint]

What the fuck is up with Beastars

I'm an anime reviewer. I watch anime. I think about anime. I form opinions about anime and try to describe as clearly as possible where those opinions come from.

The pipeline fails on Beastars at step 2.

Imagine...everything.

Beastars has the potential to be anything you want it to be. More specifically, it can be about more or less any social issue, and it can be pretty much any fetish. This show will have a single scene...no, a single moment of furry foot fetish vore yaoi social commentary about the power different places in society have over each other.

Like...that's not a joke. That's literally a scene.

This isn't even my final furry form

The thing with Beastars is that it's unafraid and it commits. No one on this team ever said "wow don't you guys think this is getting a little too weird" and in fact I find it hard to believe that anyone even thought that. Some people will find Beastars weirder than others, some might not find it weird at all, but the show is written without that in any part of mind. The show talks about whatever topic it wants to talk about. Hidden behind twenty layers of furry metaphor, naturally.

And it doesn't just do it for laughs, either. It commits. Like. COMMITS. It goes full through with everything and anything it starts. It's super consistent. I was actually really surprised when things that only got mentioned briefly before came up again as deatails. The creators are fully committed to the world they've made. Maybe that's why it works better to examine dynamics like this. Because if you just put in herbivores and carnivores as a parallel to some group in our society, you're portraying something we already know using a comparison, which can hold up for a movie, but falls apart if the show runs too long. But carnivores and herbivores in Beastars aren't stand ins. They are carnivores and herbivores. And boy do you suddenly have the most interesting sociological thought experiment birthed by Japanese animation to ever---

Oh yeah. This anime is made in CG. Like, fully. It works perfectly fine.

Now if you're still wondering how I actually feel about this anime, you're exactly right! Now go watch it and see if it awakens anything in you.

Recommended for: People who have a strong opinion about Joker 2019 one way or another

Not recommended for: People who watch anime specifically because they do not want to think about society

[weebonpoint]

Drifting Dragons: Monster Hunter Airship Cuisine

So, we‘ve slain the dragon. What do we do with it now?

I have read, watched and played so much fantasy, and yet it honestly never struck me that when a dragon has been killed, you could...use it? But this is exactly the concept of Drifting Dragons: An airship that hunts dragons in the traditional sense, not primarily for protection or glory, but to use the dragons for food, oil, and pharmaceutical products.

The show is episodic fantasy with a steampunk touch. If you‘re looking for traditional dragons, wrong address: These dragons look more like gigantic floating sea slugs. The action and hunting is still just as fun though. And for once, I‘m glad they made the entire show CG animated: They clearly needed to make the dragons CG, and it would have looked so weird if the rest had been traditional. So it all works out!

But enough for facts, what is this show actually like? It‘s fun. That‘s the best word I have for it. We follow a colourful (and surprisingly large) cast of sailors through their adventures in the sky, with most plots contained within 1-3 episodes. It feels a bit like an old style adventure story: Exploring the land together, learning more about dragons, but never quite so much that it would take from their mystic atmosphere. And, to vary things up, we also learn a food one can make from dragon meat every episode. The fantasy culture around dragons is by far the most unique aspect of this show, and it gives it a fresh touch without sacrificing the classic fantasy adventure feeling.

Watch this show if you enjoy fantasy for the setting, if you like adventure, if you need a break from fanservice or childish humour, if you‘re looking for something episodic or if you just want to chill, but…not chill too much.

Don‘t watch if you want something that focuses on an overall plot, if you‘re looking for great scale conflict or big twists, if your eyes bleed when you see CG animation or if you‘re hungry.

[weebonpoint]

What makes Youjo Senki different from other Isekai

Some people may know that I could not be less excited by yet another isekai show, and for that reason, Youjo Senki/Saga of Tanya the Evil was a show I didn’t even bother touching for the longest time. After a while curiosity however took over and I gave it a shot.

Turns out that was a really good idea.

Youjo Senki has an isekai setup, but it feels almost opposite to every isekai show I’ve come in toch with so far. And I decided to take a closer look at the reasons why.

The World

Isekai is a genre in which someone gets transported or reincarnated in a different world. Usually this is a world that, y’know, has enough conflict to keep a story going and make things interesting, but overall it’s an awesome world that looks like a blast to live in. Not so in Youjo Senki.

The world in Youjo Senki absolutely sucks.

There’s war. And it’s an ugly war. We’re talking a mix of WW1 and WW2, with some magic thrown into it, that seems to mostly function as supernatural dynamite. Life sucks for everyone: Soldiers die at the front, the high ups make decisions that could cost thousands of people their lifes, and the ones back at home can only hope for their loved ones to return eventually. No human in their right mind would want to live in this world. The colours are different from your usual isekai world, they’re not so saturated, they’re more brownish-greenish and rather than fantastic, most things (including the characters) look rather realistic - no colourful hair, no cat ears etc. This is not a world you want to escape into.

Being op

Is Tanya op? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes, but.

Watching anime I have come to the conclusion that overall, there are two types of op main characters. There are Mary Sue/Gary Stu type self inserts, edgy guys who get all the girls and are fawned over and do everything with a smug grin on their face. They’re infailable. If they fail, it’s usually not even actually their fault, and really only serves to make them sadder and edgier. They’re glorified and the show serves to show us just how great they are.

Then there’s the insane people op.

These characters are op because they’re insanely good at what they do, they may hardly fail, they may even be smug, but holy shit - they are awful people. The difference is that these characters, as op as they are, are not glorified. And that makes it interesting, because rather than an edgy incarnation of Jesus getting all the chicks, we see a genius have real influence on a conflict in ways that aren’t clearly good or bad. The genius in themselves is an interesting character because of how being op affects them, and where their decisions come from. And this is true for Tanya. There’s a reason why this show is called Saga of Tanya the Evil. Tanya is...kind of horrifying, honestly. Her character isn’t glorified. In fact, I felt like the show made a real effort to portray her as cold, cruel and self absorbed - and a master of what she does.

That there is no harem around her and that we aren’t reminded constantly by side characters how great she apparently is and all helps too, I suppose.

A worthy enemy

Here’s a pro tip for y’all: Don’t insult god.

If there is one thing that can make or break an op character, it’s a worthy enemy. An enemy who is as powerful - or even more powerful - as them. It gives the show what op characters inherently lack: struggle. And in Youjo Senki, the enemy could not be more op.

Cause it’s literally god.

Or not, if you are to believe Tanya, who was an atheist in her last life and only refers to it as “Being X”. It is the being responsible for reincarnation and it doesn’t take very well to Tanya’s prior incarnation going on some kind of angsty atheist rant in his moment of death. It’s the reason why Tanya is reincarnated into this shitty world, and it manipulates this world to make life hell for Tanya. Tanya can take pretty much all the human enemies within her world (some actually do pose a threat for her, so she’s not so absurdly op already), but Being X is far out of her reach. I can’t describe just how much this adds to the show. There’s something Tanya is high key struggling with, something that’s in her way, and it’s by far the most intriguing thing about the story.

I should mention - from what I’ve heard, there’s another worthy enemy later on in the LNs that barely appears in the anime. So I’m excited to see how that is going to play out.

A few more details

I think it’s worth mentioning that the show also had some great animation, but most of all, fantastic directing. It took scenes from interesting to bone chilling and had me on the edge of my seat. Audio is used extremely well, both soundtrack and some more noise-like sounds (think dubstep-ish wubs) that are placed perfectly. There’s a lovely amount of crazy facial expressions in this show, some cool shot composition, and the show generally puts a lot more thought into symbolism and more meaningful visuals than most isekai shows.

At the end of the day, it may have the same setup as the isekai genre does, but it feels completely different. The tone is dark and gritty, the world is cynical, and the show is about as happy as a burning ammunition factory. The only waifu-like character spends a lot of time in the background and evolves to be more of a contrast to Tanya, rather than a character specifically designed for straight male viewers to fantasize about. Unless you’re counting the silly after-credits skits there is no fanservice (otherwise, there is an amazing amount of one single jiggly boob shot).

Youjo Senki took me by complete surprise and I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. I wouldn’t say everyone will like it, but rather than thinking “Do I want to watch another isekai?” think “Do I want to watch an intense, fast paced military/war story?” and if the answer is yes, by all means, watch Youjo Senki.

[weebonpoint]

Cells at Work: Love yourself.

There’s a few things to be said for this review. First, I’m a biology student, so you can imagine what it was like to watch a biology anime for me. Second, this review is going to be a little different.

See, Cells at Work is a good show. It’s good because it teaches you how the immune system works and shows you what’s going on in your blood in a well designed, fun approach with entertaining stories. I could talk about this and that and how I liked the character designs, but sometimes it ruined its emotional moments with silly comedy, and such, and such, but I think that’s somewhat secondary to the reason why this anime matters so much to me.

The anime is called Cells at Work for a reason. The cells work hard. They go through hell and back again to keep their world alive.

That world, that’s your body.

I learned the theory of it a thousand times and I always knew that there are red blood cells that bring Oxygen to other cells and that white blood cells deal with intruders and so on, I learned it at school, I learned it again in much more detail at university, but it seems so disconnected, it’s hard theory. What I’ve never seen laid out to me is how much my body works, just to keep me alive. Come storm, hell, or all evil in this world. There are millions of tiny bits of life working hard through everything thrown at them, facing every challenge in their world, for only one reason.

So I can live.

I have no clue whether that was the anime’s intention, but the further I’ve gotten I have come to believe that at the very least, the original creator had some similar idea. A reminder that so many people need so much. There are so many cells in your body, working their hardest, shying away from no challenge or evil, just so you can live. Your body is precious. Your body matters. No matter what you do, no matter how much your body is hurt, your body is trying to keep you alive. There are millions on your side. Millions of cells whose life mission is for you to live.

As lovely as all the biology you get to learn in this anime is, none of it is as important as the one main message this anime has:

Your body wants you to live.

Sometimes, we need a reminder.

[weebonpoint]

Silver Spoon: Smells like the countryside

The farm life, as unromanticized as possible.

Growing up in the land of the alps and seeing farms and stables with my own eyes, it was always very clear to me that a lot of fiction taking place on the countryside is wildly romanticized. So when I found a show that didn’t ignore the stinky smell, the hard work, the gross bits and the bad reception the farm life comes with, I already knew I was going to like it.

Farming is hard work, and a lot of it is not pretty. And this anime does not pretend it is. Instead, it goes to showcase all the aspects that come with farming, the inconveniences, the challenges, the problems, and the rewards. And all that is brought to you by cityboy(tm) Hachiken, a guy who really just wants to get away from his home, but has amazing character growth thanks to his new life on the farm. And characters are what makes this series really good. It was refreshing to find an anime that has characters that are far from being built on tropes or stereotypes. No two dimensional waifu baits.

What needs to be said about the show is that it definitely comes with some heavier bits. Discussing the moral of farming and meat production, or what can happen when things don’t go too well, the emotional troubles the main characters go through, and the less pretty side of farming. And they are all extremely well handled. The show doesn’t take place in a happy rainbows and smiles alternate universe. It’s very down to Earth. And I appreciated that.

Well done characters in a realistic show about a farm school.

[weebonpoint]

Samurai Flamenco: Let’s fucking dance

Here’s how I imagine the pitch for this anime.

“Let’s make a superpowers/sentai show!”

“Okay, what type of sentai?”

“All of them!”

“Uh...okay, what tone are we shooting for? Silly? Parody? Serious? Emotional?”

“All of them!”

People like to call Samurai Flamenco two things: A rollercoaster, and a mess. I disagree. In hindsight, it was always going towards the ending it had, and it always had a plan of where it wanted to go. It wanted to go everywhere. It wants to have all kinds of moods and tones in the show, and it wants to be all different kinds of sentai shows. Because this show is the most over the top love letter to the sentai genre ever, and it has exactly the charm you’d expect from something like that.

But if you think now, that sounds kind of chaotic - then you’re absolutely right.

An intentionally over the top plot and charming, albeit silly characters. Sentai in all its forms, at once. That’s Samurai Flamenco.

[weebonpoint]

Cowboy Bebop

Starting off an anime review blog with a timeless classic seems more than appropriate.

Cowboy Bebop is a 26 episode (plus one movie) anime about space cowboys, or more specifically: A group of bounty hunters traveling to many of the lesser charming planets in the galaxy so they can find the criminals wreaking havoc there. It’s made in 1998, but here’s the fascinating thing - today, 20 years later, anime wishes it was as good as this.

The animation is smooth, the art is good, and the soundtrack and directing has a lot of style. The writing is solid, and it has some of those little details that make it feel more progressive than anime made today. Also, Spike is an amazing protagonist - his style, his backstory, and most importantly: How his backstory plays into who he is today, finally unraveling the themes lying at the core of this show.

The anime is very episodic. Some of the episodes, in fact, feel completely detached from the rest of the show. As a result of this, the mood is inconsistent: Some of the episodes are impactful, deep, delivering their own solid story and action, and other episodes are so silly they’re borderline ridiculous. The magic is that Cowboy Bebop makes that work. What makes the show isn’t the tone or the big stories, it’s the main cast that keeps its core values no matter what. And of course, the jazz.

This is exactly the type of show that you want to watch when you want to see a classic. Solid, well done, but also familiar in the types of stories it tells.

A good show if you want a classic, something episodic, jazz, stories about bounty hunters, just a touch of philosophy, something you can watch with your family and non-anime friends.

Not so recommended if you can’t watch shows that aren’t 16:9 and full HD, or you’re looking for something that’s fresh and artsy by current standards.