Yet another dime a dozen OVA from a game no one played.
Princess Minerva is bored, so she enters a battle tournament in her disguise Cutey Mask in order to find some bodyguards to join her in her adventures much to the dismay of her actual bodyguard Blue Morris.
After uniting a boy thief, a dominatrix merchant, a cleric, a young half elf, a bounty hunter and a mercenary, Princess Minerva goes up against the evil Dynastar who kidnapped Blue Morris by mistake.
This is a prequel to the games really but nothing about this is even remotely good mostly because Minerva herself isn't even the slightest bit likeable, not that she's incapable or anything but she creates this scenario through pure selfishness, she doesn't seem the type who learns from her mistakes either, the other cast members are well balanced especially the merchant girl, really it's just the title character that's putting me off.
Dub has that early charm but Minerva puts on her Excel Saga dub voice which can be grating.
Final Verdict: Would've preferred Princess Minerva without Minerva, pity as it had enough for a decent attempt.
This one has a little bit of a complex history.
Before I dive into the plot, this anime is a spinoff from another franchise.
The anime Hit o Nerae, is about a woman trying to make her name in the movie making business hoping to be taken seriously as an adult but ends up directing a hero show instead of a detective series, another spinoff called Love Love features a romance between the writer and one of the actresses during production of said hero show which is called Cosmopolitan Prayers or Cosprayers for short and this is the anime I'm reviewing.
Koto is just a normal schoolgirl who likes Cosplaying but a bit of play acting as a miko transports her to another world, now chosen as Miko Reiya, she along with international themed Miko from European, Indian, Native American, Arabian and Chinese cultures must destroy the black towers to resurrect amaterasu, but there may be more at stake than they realise when the enemy captures their mentor.
The concept is amazing, it feels like this is what an all girls Shaman King would be like, but the execution is terrible.
First off, Scarlet is a total bitch, secondly the other girls really don't get enough screentime and they have quirky personalities to boot that really wastes their potential, thirdly the twists are poorly executed and make the characters look really stupid, and finally it squeezes everything into and absurdly short running time of eight half size episodes, there are dvd extras that expand on some episodes but unless someone has ripped them, I ain't tracking that down, not worth it.
If there was a dub it would irritate me more especially Scarlet barely being torable in Japanese.
Final Verdict: A great idea with terrible execution spunoff from a franchise that isn't even the same genre, really not good.
Something a bit more wholesome now.
Kaede Honjo is persuaded into joining a virtual mmorpg by her best friend, taking on the in game name Maple she sets about sorting all her stats and to quote the subtitle "I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense" is exactly what she does, keen to stick to that promise along with natural curiosity and an unorthodox approach to gaming mechanics, Maple soon becomes the most overpowered player in the game who can pretty much no sell any attack. Joined by her friend whose in-game name is Sally and a number of other players who form a guild with her, the poor game mods have their work cut out as Maple tears down the limits of the game world every time she logs in.
This anime is extremely laid back even if the situation looks dire, there's always a real feel that she really is just playing a game and it envokes the same feelings that games are supposed to do, unwind and relax, the experience reminds me of watching a vtuber play games; I also appreciate the absence of politics which ruined Dot Hack for me so I do appreciate Bofuri doing that.
Even with season 2, it felt like more of the same as early as episode 9 on season 1, I already feel they exhausted all the ways Maple can be overpowered, plus there's not really a plot, you are just watching cute anime girls play a video game. It's not for everyone as the genre relies on you tolerating the cuteness in the first place and Maple is hardly the type to snap and do Shonen Rage mode.
Dub is meh, sub is best experience.
Final Verdict: It's just a nice series to watch, devoid of politics, relaxed atmosphere and a protagonist too cute for her own good.
Something a bit more upbeat.
Soma dreams of being a full time chef in his family's restaurant but when his father acquires a job travelling the world, Soma is sent to Totsuki Culinary Academy where only the most elite students become the best chefs in the world, the competition is hot with everyone engaging in Shokugeki battles not much different to iron chef battles. With tournaments, hostile takeovers, the endless threat of expulsion, evil organisations and all the foodgasms on offer, Soma is in for one wild ride.
I love food, I love absurd humour, I love seeing over reactions to the taste of food, I love me a good dose of food wars, it absolutely nails the subject matter and turns every scene into an over the top shonen series.
It's always a positive to see a series so passionate about it's subject, all the food looks delicious and watching the characters orgasm over the taste is just the icing on the cake.
If I have any complaints is that later seasons tend to over complicate the plot with too many shonen elements, also the constant threat of expulsion ceases to be a threat as early as season 2, at this point, it's on season 5 and I think it's out stayed it's welcome.
Dub is fine but more effective in Japanese.
Final Verdict: Food Wars easily sucks you in with the promise of tasty orgasmic food but too much of a good thing is bad for you and you'll likely stop by season 4.
Time to rip the band aid off.
Gon Freecss desires to become a hunter in order to find his father after a former apprentice of his confirms that he's still alive, hunters are licensed individuals who are allowed to seek out beasts, treasures and other unique people, to become one, Gon must participate in a hunters exam where he meets other aspiring hunters including Killua, Kuropika and Leorio as well as the intimidating Hisoka who takes uncomfortable interest in the young hunter Gon, from there is a wild rollercoaster of action as Gon continues his quest to seek out his father, if the manga ever bloody finishes.
My biggest issue with Hunter X Hunter is investment, the franchise started in 1998 and is still going by virtue of spending roughly half that time on hiatus, the longest of which coming to an end this year after four years allegedly; in fact I've already made a bet that One Piece will finish before Hunter X Hunter, I even think Ash Ketchum will become Pokemon Master before Hunter X Hunter finishes.
I get that some of it is attributed to health but you cannot tell me that a modern day country like Japan doesn't have an effective health care system.
So I've already lost interest as I'll never be sure when another chapter comes out.
So what about the stuff that has been released?
1. Character designs are plain and forgettable.
2. The plot is so generic shonen that it fails to standout amongst it's peers.
3. When it does try to standout it looks ridiculous, I don't care if you have skyscraper hair, it's stupid.
4. All it does is tick all the boxes needed to be acceptable, it's not ambitious, it's not groundbreaking, it's neglected frequently by it's artist, it's OVERRATED!
Final Verdict: There are anime I don't like that leave bigger impressions on me than Hunter X Hunter ever did. I would've been alot more forgiving if it actually finished like it was supposed to but since it never will, it'll always be a trash anime. Hopefully a nicer review tomorrow, I've had a shit week.
