Rate the last Anime/Manga you finished out of 10

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Maison Ikkoku: 8.5/10

A great ending conclusion from Rumiko Takahashi something that Uresai Yatsura and Ranma suffered.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

4/10;

So, since episode 16 is where BSDB arc ends, I guess it’s time for me to review it… Black Star Dragon Balls arc is a competently written, competently directed, competently animated arc. Nothing stands out in everyway, the gags are passable, the characters are consistently written, but average with the expectation of two. There’s no moment that I can call out for being awesome or amazing, but there is a ton of trash I can call out for being lazy, uninspired, cynical, and terrible.

But to start with the praises; Pan is one of the best characters in Dragon Ball. She’s a tomboyish braggart who loud mouths constantly, and she wants to be treated as an adult, instead of as a kid. However, she has a heart of gold, and she wants to be treated as an adult, due to wanting to be useful, to be treated as the others equals. While Gill isn’t anything special, the fact that he and Pan are the only characters within this arc who have a relationship which develops caught me off guard, and I really appreciated it.

Imegga and everything on Earth was where this arc peaked. Imegga set the bar too high, it’s easily the most developed setting within the entire Dragon Ball Franchise on a whole (which isn’t saying much because Dragon Ball barely has world building) I honestly expected that the BSDB arc would follow a structure of setting up a conflict on a world, and the heroes have to fix the problem which allows them to understand the planet they’re on, etc.

It would’ve been repetitive after awhile, but it would’ve been a thousand times better than what we got. However, the end of this arc promised stuff more interesting than what went on in this arc.

Now the bad…

Turning Goku into a kid was a mistake if I’ve ever seen one. It was just an excuse to write him as a kid, and to cash in on nostalgia for Pre Saiyan Dragon Ball. Complete character regression and I hate it.

While Black Star Dragon Balls are a complete plot hole… They’re nowhere near as egregious as Beerus. So I guess I can give it that?

The stakes are way too high. This is meant to be a light hearted romp reminiscent of the first arc, but every time the main character’s fuck around with some gag, I’m just reminded that Earth is going to explode if they fail. Granted, if they did fail the remaining Z Fighters on Earth would just wish everyone away to a new planet, but even the show forgets about that fact.

Every time there’s a fight It’s boring. Because the GT writers pretend Goku is in danger for half the fight before he turns into SSJ and instantly ends the fight. This happens every single time, and I hate it. They should’ve bit the bullet and restricted Super Saiyan from Goku, just like they did with Instant Transmission.

The arc is trying too damn hard to recapture the charm/tone/style of the first arc.

And because of that I ask myself what even is the point of this arc? Everything it tries to do, has been done better before. Why should I bother watching the shitty and unoriginal Zunama episodes when I can read Oolong’s scenes? Written by the master of poop jokes, Toriyama. The comedy of GT is just a shadow of Toriyama’s, everything has been watered down, you won’t find a single sex joke, or a single joke about death in this entire show, you won’t even find a poop joke.

There’s no point.

 

[Flame]

Hajime no Ippo- 9.25/10

Blown away by how amazing first step was. It's nice to know there's still great series out there that I haven't seen. One of the best fighting series ever and now one of my favorites. I look forward to what else the other adaptations have to offer. It's very rare for me to put a series as a 9 or higher.

 

[Super Saiyan Overlord1007]

Kamasama Kiss S2 - 7.5/10. It started off well, but a few episodes towards the end, it kind of stagnates. The idea of Nanami recalling memories about her mother would seem like something better fit for a longer drawn out season or one of it's own. The ending felt out of left field as well, like it just ended and didn't feel like an ending like what the first season gave. The romance is alright, a little less satisfying than before, while watching I couldn't help but think: "Nanami...Tomoe kissed you out of the blue last season and said 'it was from the heart' when you two already had a contract...HOW can you think 'oh he's not into me...'. Regardless, still a fun series, I have to watch the OVAs at some point.

High School DxD S2 - 8/10. Not quite as entertaining as the first season, the action wasn't quite as good, the final battle between the two dragons wasn't as gauging as the rating game or Issei vs. Riser in the last season. The humor wasn't quite as funny, there were moments when I was laughing my butt off (that opening....THAT is how you start a season for a series like this...it was funny, hot, and surprisingly endearing a bit). At first I appreciated that this series had the MC hang around a lot of girls, but it wasn't a harem, but now it's definitely a harem and I don't really like harems. The scenes with Issei and Akeno WERE amusing, and it was amusing to see Rias jealous, but once it got to Akeno mentioning that she's starting to love Issei and declares herself a rival to Rias for him I couldn't help but groan a bit. Like the romance between Rias and Issei was fine in S1, it was a satisfying ending to S1 to see them act on their spark, it wasn't as good in S2, but still endearing (especially the beginning of S2 XD!!! The dub continued to kill it, though it's a shame that Issei's VA got replaced for being being caught with child porn, but I hope the replacement can do a decent job). Overall, it's fun, but not quite as good, here's hoping that S3 will be better.

Eureka Seven - 9.5 - 10/10. I already rated this series, but I wanted to watch it again before I started Year 2 of College, it's still a work of art and one of my all time favorite animes.

Darling in the Franxx - 8.5/10. Fairly good series, I think this series caused some controversy during the middle of it's run, but I finally got around to seeing it and this is actually the only 2018 anime I've seen this year. Regardless, I actually enjoyed it, I was curious as to WHY the cast were fighting in a war since it wasn't explained until the 2nd half, but one could argue it was more about the relationship between Hiro and Zero Two which I liked since in the beginning it was more parasitic (pun intended), but amusing with Zero Two's teasing before it became a legit romance that I enjoyed. I enjoyed the cast, they all had a personality, and I love the "True Companions" aspect that they had, they had wonderful chemistry as a group, and felt like they really did care about each other. The ending was bittersweet, but "true love never fades" is a saying I believe or it is now, and gave somewhat of an open ending while giving a satisfying conclusion for the cast.

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRains - 8/10. Don't know if I rated this, but so far after Arc-V which started off VERY well, but turned into a debacle that had the fanbase calling the series taboo, VRains is doing rather well. It does have some issues like Yusaku being a bit of Mary Sue since he's OTKing darn near everyone he faces and hasn't had much growth of a character, he's essentially Yusei with 258% more edge to him. The resident "Joey Wheeler" character of the series isn't much better since he's been running roughshod over the cast since he came into the series earlier this year. It has an interesting plot, the female lead is the most interesting female lead since Akiza, Revolver is a cool "rival" if you want to call him that. So far it's in the top 3 out of the six series so far.

 

[Flame]

Hajime no Ippo: Champion Road- 8.25/10

Hmm, a bit of recap at the start and then the fight most of the movie. The fight certainly wasn't bad, but it overall felt more of a repeat. The end especially was similar to Ippo vs Sendo. Nonetheless it was a great fight and suspensful as always. Overall good, but not as good as the series was.

Mashiba vs Kimura will be fun since Kimura is one of my favorites.

Edit: Hajime no Ippo: Mashiba vs. Kimura- 8.4/10

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Perfect Blue - 7/10

A good psychological thriller exploring the decline the entertainment industry can have one celebrities' health and the pedestal and delusions their fans can become enveloped in, not to mention Satoshi Kon doing a great job at blurring the line being reality and illusion to keep the audience alert to analyse truth from delusions. Despite this excellent presentation, however, the themes it was going for were quite a bit too basic to warrant further exploration after a while and the ending was a little too abrupt.

 

[Flame]

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion- 3.6/10

Holy freaking crap, this was way worse than the series. The ending was absolutely dreadful and far worse than the original anime. There were very few good things in this movie.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Movie) - 6/10

Good theme exploration in it's focus on ecology and the dangers of industrial expansion, as well as featuring a cool setting that acts as a combination of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and high fantasy that has far more of an effect on the overall plot than any other post-apocalyptic setting I've seen in anime. It's very comparable to Princess Mononoke with it's themes and fantastical elements, though it's more memorable cast and better blending of genres would have me rank it as superior...if the revival for a forced happy ending and the predictable ending of the protagonist being a figure of prophecy didn't reduce a fairly interesting take on environmentalism to a typical fairy tale. At least it was left to the last 5 minutes as to not hinder the movie's quality too much.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

Dr. Slump - 10/10

Pretty much the perfect Gag Manga. I do appreciate the sincerity present with it, something Toriyama really excelled with.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Haibane Renmei - 8/10

Whilst starting off slow with a bit too much slice of life scenarios when exploring it's setting, it's later episodes are brilliant in exploring themes such as the meaning of life, personal purpose, legacy and religion. Reki was a great character who embodied the majority of these themes, though it's a shame she was the only truly interesting character. At least the remainder of the cast were consistent and understandable in their actions, which is a lot more than can be said for the majority of series out there.
However, it's not a complete masterpiece. What it delivers in the exploration of themes, it lacks in terms of world concepts. For instance, we aren't given any sort of answer as to what lies beyond the wall or what happens after the day of flight. I guess this is somewhat appropriate given the series' focus on life and it's meaning, though it would've been nice to at least have some more solid grasp on at least how it's society was formed.
Nevertheless, it was a great work that I would've easily given a 9/10 to had these minor problems been resolved.

 

[Super Saiyan Overlord1007]

Maid-Sama - 5/10. This series had it's moments, the lead can be funny. I don't really like her love interest. I didn't mind the romance between them, but the male lead is the textbook example of "Gary Stu" he can literally ANYTHING and solve EVERY problem that arise. On top of being a Gary Stu, he's such a creep, stalking Misaki darn near every episode. It reminded me of Yamato from "Say I Love You", but Yamato was a genuinely good guy who came off a creep at times, but that was because he's just so kind to anyone and everyone. I didn't like how male characters in the series were portrayed, they were either creeps, idiots, douchnozzles, traps, or all of the above. The series had it's moments, but it's definitely not something I'd watch again or recommend.

Hyouka - 8/10. I really enjoyed this series, I think this is the first "mystery" genre I've seen really, and I enjoyed it. There were a lot of times where I tried to figure out some of the mysteries and was stump, and surprised to see I was wrong (I'd make a terrible detective). It reminded me a bit of Encyclopedia Brown really. The cast I found to be likeable. The lead is a bit stoic, but I like how Houtarou grows from emotionless, fun-hating guy with a grey view of the world into a SOMEWHAT more outgoing person who engages in solving mysteries partially for the fun of it, and begins to have a more colorful view of the world. The difference between his perspectives of the world are so different from beginning and end. The female lead Eru I liked, she was ADORABLE with her curiosity, airheaded, and easily distracted attitude. I like how she was the one who pulled Houtarou out of his grey introverted attitude and gave him a colorful view of the world. The 2nd male lead Satoshi I liked, and wished he could've solved some of the mysteries of the series like he wanted instead of having to rely on Houtarou to solve everything which is also a con I have with this series. Mayaka, I didn't really notice anything standout about her, but she was alright. A good anime that I'd watch again.

Fate/Night Sky - 4/10. I dropped this series 11 episodes in, I just wasn't feeling it.

 

[Flame]

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone- 6.4/10

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance- 8.2/10

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo- 6/10

 

[ahill1]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure part 1 -- 3/10

 

[Flame]

Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu- 7.2/10

 

[Super Saiyan Overlord1007]

Romeo x Juliet - 8/10. I expected difference from the original Shakespearian play, but I thought the changes were pretty cool with Juliet being one of the last surviving Capulets after the family was Uchiha'd by the Montagues, so in the present she's a vigilante not against the Montagues per se, but rather against the injustice in Neo Verona. Romeo is a bit different with him coming off as the more kind ruler archetype opposed to his father's tyrannical rule, but he doesn't seem as action oriented as he was in the play (which is a bit of a shame). Of course the two are star crossed lovers hence the name and fall in love like in the play. I enjoyed the romance and part of me was actually expecting them to live happily ever after in the end, but THIS IS Romeo and Juliet one of if not the most well known tragedies in the world of theatre, so of course they die in the end, albeit in different fashion from the play. I enjoyed their romance, I enjoyed their own separate journeys from Juliet growing from a vigilante who fights injustice and has to masquerade as a boy into a woman who fights to restore peace/fair treatment in Neo Verona and can proudly move about as a girl and Romeo growing from the next in line ruler into someone who can be a kind ruler and unify others and actually work alongside commoners as if he were one. Something I'd definitely watch again.

High School DxD S3 - 8.5/10. After last season was kind of disappointing (but still good) compared to the first, this is a stunning return to form being equally as good as the first (I can't say if I want to say it's slightly better or slightly worse than S1). I will say it was a bit rushed at times, but I still found it to be enjoyable, I was laughing more at the ecci-comedic moments more than I did in S2. I wasn't really into the Harem aspect of the anime, and I'm still not, but I do like how the Harem aspect gave some HILARIOUS moments (Issei asking Akeno out on a date in front of Rias during a battle and the ensuing argument between the two girls just made them stronger and they one shotted their opponent in a rating game who was butting in on the argument). I also liked how the Harem aspect did lead to some heartwarming moments for the group which gave a "True Companions" or family vibe of the group as a whole instead of just Issei and the girls. I thought the action was better and just as good as S1. I still think the S1 Rating game and final battle with Riser was the best action to end a season, but the S3 Rating game gave some good laughs and the Issei vs. Rias fight could've been done better and not feel rushed, but was still fun to watch. I liked the storylines with some characters like Asia and Koneko, but I will say that I wish the storyline for Koneko was explored a bit more (along with Akeno which got a few episodes and that was it). It's a bit hard for me to put in words, but I just liked S3 more than I did S2, as much as I did S1. I look forward to watching S4.

 

[Flame]

Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu- 6.8/10

 

[Super Saiyan Overlord1007]

This thread has been quiet for almost 3 weeks and in that time frame I've seen A LOT of different series.

1. My Hero Academia S2 8.5/10 - A VERY good follow up to the first season. Todoroki is probably my favorite character of the series, and Bakugo is a ginormous prick that I can't stand. I thought the vigilante/Stein arc was BRILLIANT and set up nicely for S3. I was disappointed that Izuku didn't win the Sports Festival and Bakugo won, but he's still improving. I bet he'd humble Bakugo at this point currently in the story.

2. From Me to You - 6.5/10 - I "Semi"-Dropped this series. It wasn't bad, but I felt it was too long and couldn't keep me interested. I love how it has the theme of "You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover/get to know people before you judge them" with the female lead being an outcast for her scary appearance, but in actuality is a complete cinnamon roll who just wants to have friends. The romance between her and the lead guy was nice, but I stopped watching about 16 or so episodes in. I'll finish it at some point, but not now.

3. Stigma of the Wind - 6/10. Not a bad action anime.

4. High School DxD S4 - Better than S2, but not quite as good as S1 or S3. The new animation needs some getting used to. The action is still fine, but there's more emphasis on Issei's harem (which I'm not really a fan of, even though I like the girls in the harem) and his relationship with Rias, which is the only thing that needs to be focused on.

5. Yamada and the Seven Witches - 5.5/10. It gave a few good laughs, but not something I'd watch multiple times or recommend to friends
6. School Rumble - No rating. I dropped it within 3 episodes. I'm just not feeling it, though to be honest, I wasn't in an "Anime Mood" when I began watching it.
7. The Asterisk War - 7.5/10. I Enjoyed it, I'd watch it again and look forward to watching S2.
8. The Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash - 7.5/10. I like the fantasy/knight/mage/priest(ess) genre of anime, and this is something I really enjoyed. I thought it was a bit short, though it's a first season, hopefully if we get a S2 it'll be longer since I'm sure the Light Novel has progessed enough for a longer S2.

9. My Cultivator Girlfriend - 6/10. I don't know if this is anime, it's VERY China-centric and Chinese is the main language. It's a little hard to follow, but it wasn't bad.
10. My Hero Academia S3 - Still on going, but at worst it's equally as good as S1 and 2 or probably the best so far.

11. Plastic Memories - 8/10. Finished it just a few hours ago. I really enjoyed this series, it kind of reminded of Eureka Seven and Your Lie in April (Though I will the former is a MUCH better anime, while the latter is probably equally as good as this series or slightly inferior). I like the cast and felt they were vibrant, I enjoyed the two leads and their romance and this anime had me in tears at the end. I'd definitely watch this again.

 

[SSJ2]

Ashita no Joe - 8/10

Want to read it again more critically and evaluate it again at that time.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Saint Seiya (Anime) - 6/10

The series does a good job as rule of cool in how captivating the Cloth designs and techniques are. The art is also very good in several areas such as making the main characters look noble and the female characters beautiful, with it probably being the best looking of Toei's TV anime. Moving on to actual areas of substance with the series, most of the characters are very simple in their motivations, yet most of them are distinct in their personalities and have pretty good execution.

Plot-wise, the structure gets very simple with many of the Shonen tropes that are overused today such as power of friendship, resolve boosts and general plot armour, yet it executes them at least with more class than any modern Shonen delving into such. For example, the nature of Cosmo excuses how sudden power ups work in the series and despite Athena protecting and guiding the main cast getting a bit repetitive, it makes sense due to it's ties to Greek Mythology, in which mortals were always getting through impossible tasks through the Gods' aid.

The first arc, the Sanctuary Arc, is the most iconic and probably best of the series, with it doing a good job fleshing out it's main cast and the Gold Saints, as well as providing great tension in being a race against time. Gemini Saga was also one of the best uses of a split personality villain in Shonen (or at least better than Sensui from YYH) since there was a genuine conflict between his two sides that were constantly intervening with each other and wasn't executed in a manner to excuse character inconsistency like most series would. It was disappointing that none of the main cast died despite the severity of their injuries, though considering inheriting the will and successorship of the Gold Saints was a major theme of that arc, it was excusable. Overall, I'd give the Sanctuary Arc a 6.5/10.

The Asgard Arc was the best filler arc in anime since unlike most filler, it actually managed to produce memorable and fleshed out antagonists and decent world building as well as provide a good transition into the next arc.This saved it from otherwise becoming a mediocrity since the formulaic approach was little different to the previous arc, not to mention the God Warriors were in no way a step up from the Gold Saints when the only one to surpass even the likes of Aldebaran (not even top 3 material amongst the Gold Saints) was Siegfried and a few such as Fenrir and Alberich didn't even seem to make the Saints awaken their Seventh Sense. Still, it's positive attributes made it overall a decent arc. 6/10.

The final arc of the original anime was the Poseidon Arc, which was a definite step down from the previous two. It did at least try to be less formulaic by not having it's standard opponents be in such a linear road, but that means little when the execution is still repetitive and, unlike with the two previous arcs main group of villains, the Marina Generals are for the most part a major disappointment. Kanon was good due to his role as a manipulator and Isaac was decent due to his ties to Hyoga (though mainly only to serve as character development for Hyoga), yet the rest were completely bland beyond a gimmick or two. It doesn't help that power-wise, only Kanon, Krishna, Isaac and maybe Sorrento felt that impressive, with the rest getting steamrolled pretty quickly once the Bronze Saints got serious.
It was good that the battles required more than just beating the opponent, but it didn't really matter after the first battle since the destruction of the Sea Pillars was no longer a big deal with the Libra Cloth. Having a god as the main antagonist did increase the scale and Poseidon's desire to reshape the world wasn't too hyperbolic from his perspective, though he felt very underwhelming for such a powerful god when he was overpowered twice by the combined power of the main cast (the second time in which he'd gone through a gigantic power up of his own) and after coming close to his full power he's just sealed away. It also doesn't help that the sense of tension, like the previous arc's, is nowhere near as great as Sanctuary due to having no solid grasp of how much time Athena had left. If anything, it was worse due to not even being constantly shown her physical condition prior to the end of the battle, which in both anime and manga lacked any sort of build up for the next arc (though this is expected with the anime concluding on this arc until adapting the Hades Arc over a decade later). 4/10.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Saint Seiya The Hades Chapter - Sanctuary - 5.5/10

The opening third of the Hades Arc has some of the most engaging plot lines in the series when acting as an excellent set up for the arc, increasing the tension with betrayal, death and a great scale of the threat that the previous arcs had built up to. However, things start to lose steam during the last two episodes due to the reveal that most of the internal and external conflict of the arc was just one big act, though the build up beforehand helped it not be contrived and thus still passable.
Stylistically, it can also be considered nostalgia done right with the use of the original OP/ED and osts. Aside from the CGI for a few backgrounds not blending in seamlessly (though still being 100x better than something such as Berserk 2016/17 or Ajin), the 2-D art's detail is as expected of an OVA, being highly consistent and of incredible quality, with it possibly being the best looking work Toei has ever produced (other than maybe the 1986 HnK movie). If we were offering points for just how good something looks, this would be a 9/10, but obviously plot and characters are far more important.