I really wanted to like this anime.
Kashou and Shigure would like to welcome you to Patisserie La Soliel, a unique cafe staffed by catgirls, things seem normal for the catgirls until a stray kitten wanders into their lives after lead catgirl Chocola takes pity on her, the kitten later named Cacao joins the extended family of catgirls and adds more fun to their lives.
To get the giant cat out of the room first, how does this world function?
The Catgirls look pretty human for the most part but quite often their behaviour isn't much different to regular cats and it's shown in the ending theme that they grow at the same rate as a house cat, I really shouldn't think too hard but it is distracting, with that in mind, how old is Shigure meant to be? Her body suggests teenager but her mannerisms, her network of friends and the fact that she owns the business suggest she's closer to her thirties, just another thing to think about.
But what about the catgirls themselves?
Honestly you couldn't pick a more generic set of personalities for these catgirls.
With the exception of Vanilla who is best catgirl every personality has been done to death and doesn't stand out anymore than other anime characters of their types.
Probably the worst of the bunch is Maple and Cinnamon, Maple lacks any personality at all while Cinnamon is the only character reminding me that the Nekopara game is supposed to be a H-Game, the problem with that is that this anime is played like a straight up slice of life anime with no lewd situations, this is especially jarring when Cacao, a kitten, takes the spotlight more often than not.
Nekopara really fails to win me over as it always seems at odds with it's gaming counterpart along with one too many distractions from the world building side, thank god I've never heard a dub, it would be unwatchable.
Final Verdict: Nekopara is slow, uninspired and constantly giving me too much to question in regards to world building, I really wanted to like this but in the end, I only like Vanilla.
No one is ever ready for this anime.
In 2040, Reito is put into cryostasis in order to cure a rare disease, after five years of cryosleep, he reawakens in a very changed Earth, a virus known as the Male Killer virus wiped out the world's male population with Japan alone having only 5 males left as they were all in cryostatis during this time.
With each male having their own story, Reito is trying to locate Elisa and discover more about how the virus came to be all the while being encouraged to repopulate the Earth.
Oh boy, this is the death of harem shows right here, have you considered the idea that most harem shows don't actually behave like a harem show?
The idea of men being wiped out bar one isn't anything new in the realm of fiction, there's even variations where every male becomes a female, the problem with World's End is the motive behind the events of the virus, a group of women discover a way to reproduce without the need for men so they kill off the male population only to take humanity as a whole down with it, it's the Thanos snap scenario where no one considers the ramifications of creating such a catastrophe, such extremist views do not create the scenario that should be associated with harem anime, none of the female cast are interesting and the only three men we follow, Reito doesn't participate in breeding, Kyoji does but we barely see him, then there's Shota who ends up becoming a monster, also I don't think I see a single woman get pregnant and actually repopulate the planet, this is an anti harem anime, what makes this anime ten times worse is having gone through a real life pandemic makes the whole anime in very poor taste.
I hope it never gets dubbed either, I'd rather not imagine who they would get to voice these characters.
Final Verdict: A horrible attempt at trying to insert social commentary in a genre well known for being crass and devoid of plot, it kills any dignity the harem genre had left as the characters are dreadful, you're better off watching Kampfer, Sekirei or even Skelter Heaven, all terrible anime that are better than this.
I'm glad to find a series like this and you'll see why.
Letty is a red dragon who is a pacifist and a cowardly creature, failing in his family duty to protect an egg, he gets kicked out and forced to find a new home on his own, he comes across an elf called Dearia who specialises in architecture and real estate as well as the added title of Demon Lord who accompanies the dragon in finding the perfect home all the while secretly building up his confidence in a world of heroes constantly wanting his head.
This is an incredibly wholesome anime, Letty is a far cry from anything we've seen previously in the fantasy genre in regards to lead characters as his fish out of water story is not off the back of an isekai, throwing in situations where the world makes Letty out as a tyrant only to be shown saving a princess and becoming a father to a young eagle hatchling just makes the journey all the more fun to watch and is yet another modern title to restore some faith in a medium plagued by very mediocre offerings.
My only pet peeve is the subtitling, I'd like to think Dearia is well spoken but adding words like "cringe" and "come at me bro" reeks of Funimation adding things that are unnecessary to the setting, thankfully it's a minor thing and doesn't keep going; the dubbing is surprisingly good as casting feels like they are going for more outside talent instead of using the same group.
Final Verdict: Dragon Goes House Hunting is a wholesome comedy with a fun cast that just makes you smile the further you go into it, providing Funimation doesn't go off script.
This anime left me with much to talk about.
Chiyuki dreams of being a super model but is cursed with short height which for a model is not enough to succeed, too stubborn to give up one day walking down the Paris Runway, she runs into Ikuto, a high school student who dreams of being a designer but is too poor to attend any fashion school.
After making Chiyuki a dress that goes viral on social media, Ikuto gets scouted into the fashion world with the end goal of making it as a designer, but the world ain't so kind to dreamers as Ikuto will soon find out.
Three characters make this anime and they each have different issues.
Chiyuki doesn't really earn her victory at the end, she ultimately goes against Ikuto to prove a point which ends with Ikuto's low rank in the fashion show, I also find it strange that a model in a country where women have lower average height than western nations can't find work.
Then there's Kokoro who suffers with miracle rookie syndrome where she is handed her victory for hard work, at no point was she ever in danger of losing anything and despite hating modelling, she's a natural at it.
Ikuto suffers from what I call Princess Nine syndrome, this is named after the Princess Nine ending where there is intense emotional build up to the finale but ultimately gives no payoff, we know Ikuto will eventually get there, but losing the fashion show, turning down a fashion school to go straight into a design studio with his rival despite turning him down to keep some level of pride feels a little off considering that his turmoil was heartbreaking to watch, everyone is very mean spirited from grumpy inpatient designers to bitchy managers who bully you.
I get that you can't always go by emotion alone and no one is going to hand it to you but I felt that Kokoro and Chiyuki robbed Ikuto of the ending he deserved as it's his story not theres.
Dub is okay, everyone is pretty good in their roles.
Do I like this anime? It's fine but expect to be disappointed.
Final Verdict: An okay anime where the character you should be rooting for doesn't get the ending he deserves.
Now an example of how to make good world building with a terrible idea.
Tsugumi discovers that she can turn into a weapon prompting an enrolment into Death Weapon Meister Academy. Unlike the original Soul Eater, it is explained that not everyone attending needs to be combat ready.
The school is divided into two classes, traditional Soul Eater focussed on the EAT class Especially Advantaged Talent while this season focusses on the NOT class Normally Overcome Target.
The difference is that the NOT class are only learning to control their powers and abilities not necessarily for the goal of becoming a hero, this is also a prequel so much of the original cast are relegated to extras bar the Thompson Sisters who are still adjusting to Death City and are still being recruited by Death the Kid.
Back to Tsugumi, she meets two meisters named Meme and Anya, one is a forgetful klutz whose goldfish memory gets old really fast while the other is a tsundere runaway princess with an obsession for commoners, the bulk of the show focusses on Tsugumi trying to overcome her fears and accept the new life she now has, while the other focusses on a witch possessing town's people to cause havoc for the academy reminding you that, oh yeah, this is the Soul Eater world.
Like I said at the start, it's really good for world building, making a solid ground work for a franchise that previously left things unexplained and answers questions a fan would ask, but using a moe school girl sitcom format really makes for a painful experience until Shaula Gorgon reminds you that you are watching Soul Eater, so they had you in the first half not gonna lie.
Dub is pretty cookie cutter; Soul Eater Not at best is a prototype for the main series and at worst a self insert trashy yuri fan fiction.
Final Verdict: Only watch if you really care to know how the Soul Eater world functions outside of the stylish combat action of the original, otherwise you can find much better school girl sitcoms in other anime.
