Before I begin, I don't hate romance anime or romance in general so take this review with a pinch of salt.
Miki was living a relatively normal life until her parents announce that they are divorcing, this happens because they met another couple on holiday and they decided to switch partners. Obviously more than a little upset and not really warming up to the other couple's son Yuu, Miki now has to deal with this unusual situation, however as the series goes on Miki starts falling for Yuu but the romance web has only just begun as ex-girlfriends, long time friends and even other couples get drawn into this large scale romance fest.
If the premise is anything to go by this will feel complete bullshit but if you watch soap operas this will be the closest anime to one along with other such titles as Ai Yori Aoshi, Maison Ikkoku and Kimagure Orange Road which sadly means it's very dated, very much 90s aesthetic.
It's not a bad series per say, the writing is at least solid and the romances are threaded together well even if it feels like a rollercoaster at times, honestly the only really terrible thing about this show is that the series had to start on such a bullshit premise, even as an adult and at the age where this sort of thing is not uncommon, I find the parent's nonchalant attitude to all this rather jarring.
Early dubbing is fine and non offensive, nothing special.
Final Verdict: A carefully woven romance story that needed such a bullshit premise just to start, it's fine if you like soap operas but alot of the modern romance anime like Toradora and Nisekoi are much better with the genre.
If you read my new top 100 you'll see a big rise for this anime, now let's find out why.
Actually a sequel to Shonan Junai Gumi, Great Teacher Onizuka is about the exploits of Eikichi Onizuka as he attempts a career in teaching, initially to pick up girls but discovers a unique passion for the job when he starts helping out his students, helped by the fact that he has a strong moral compass. When tasked with the job of being homeroom teacher to Class 3-4, a notorious group of students who bully teachers out of their jobs, it's up to Onizuka to restore the class' faith in teachers using any trick he has under his belt, no matter how absurd or how much it crosses the line.
GTO was a strong series in it's day and that still holds true now, especially for me as I never really appreciated the series until now; Onizuka is a strong character whose unconventional style of teaching is an experience to watch as he breaks down each unique problem.
To list a few.
Literally breaks down a wall with a sledgehammer in order to get a girl's family to communicate more.
Instead of punishing a student for making scandalous composite photos, Onizuka gets him to make composites of models in magazines.
Frequently saves students from suicide including the same person twice.
That's just the first few episodes.
You feel invested in what Onizuka does next and how he overcomes each student's attempt to get rid of him. If I had issues, it's more to do with certain characters, let's just say that certain motives make a couple of characters outright irredeemable, kind of expected in a show where a teacher goes up against a class of bullies but if were supposed to support them by the end they didn't do a good job in making that way.
Dub I've been told is good, but the best experience is in the sub, I also recommend the live action version as well.
Final Verdict: A strong series that really draws you into it's world, you'll wish that Onizuka was your teacher.
Our final review today ends on food.
Murata Genjirou is the Taste Emperor of the Ajiou Company, a place where Japan's best chefs train; always looking for new talent he discovers a boy named Youichi who runs a local restaurant with his mother. Upon trying Youichi's Katsu-don, Genjirou is impressed by his skills and invites him to Ajiou to be a chef but after an altercation with an Italian chef, Youichi challenges him to a cook off, beginning a path to the top of the culinary world as he battles his way through Ajiou's chefs along with rival company chefs.
This is 80s Food Wars, no joke, this is 80s Shokugeki no Soma, it's the same plot only the protagonist is younger, the food reactions don't contain visual representations of orgasms and there's far less drama but everything else is exactly the same.
But because it is essentially Food Wars in a more primitive form it also feels dated. Youichi has confidence but acts way more immature being that he's a child and with a less well defined supporting cast, the series relies heavily on how creative Youichi can get meaning he essentially has to carry the whole anime, not helped by the fact that the only subtitled version I can find is very poorly translated.
No dub either but it was pitched to Food Network only to be turned down.
Final Verdict: Very primitive by today's standards but is an interesting anime to watch when it is basically 80s Food Wars, seeing the evolution between this show, the popular Iron Chef TV show and Food Wars makes for an interesting study in the history of Food based anime.
Let's keep this up, here's another review.
Honnoji Academy is a school with a strict hierarchy of order led by a fearsome student council ruled by the iron sword of Satsuki Kiryuin.
Aiming to disrupt the order is Ryuko Matoi, a vagrant who challenges the Student Council with a large scissor blade hoping to find her father's killer especially when she learns that Satsuki has the other half of the blade. But after being defeated by Honnoji's Goku uniforms, special outfits that grant super human abilities, Ryuko ends up finding her own sentient version called a Kamui later named Senketsu that gives her the power to take down the Council and Satsuki. But her grudge may bring her closer to some unwanted truths.
Completely unrestrained from common sense and very much aware of it, Kill la Kill is a bonkers over the top action series that consistently brings delight on every viewing. It's funny, it's ridiculous and it's awesome.
Pity the story screwed itself over, my one biggest pet peeve is Satsuki, while she is argubly one of the most entertaining characters of the show, I point blank hate the idea that everything leading up to the final battle against the real final villain Ragyo, was all Satsuki's plan all along. This would've worked in a more grounded action show but Kill la Kill relies on being utterly ridiculous at all times so Satsuki acting as if she expected certain scenarios to happen is not only bull shit but breaks the story beyond repair and that is a real problem.
Dub is fantastic, you can tell the cast had fun with it.
Final Verdict: While it's ridiculous premise doesn't work with the way the plot is presented, it's still a solid action show with a great cast and plenty to enjoy.
Hopefully the start of a few reviews taking place over the remaining days of December.
Souichiro and Bob have always gone from school to school beating up anyone and everyone along the way, however upon reaching Toudou Academy, they get a rude awakening when they inevitably end up in the Juken Club after a display of strength from Maya Natsume drags Souichiro into their grudge against the Executive Council as well as unwanted affection from Maya's sister Aya. Brought back to Earth by such a battle hardened school, Souichiro joins Maya's personal war with the Executive Council after hearing Maya's backstory and the origins of the Natsume Family's more violent tendencies.
At the beginning I enjoyed the fact that I could watch a more mature fighting series that scratched the itch that just enjoyed good battles but the more the series dived into the backstory of Shin Natsume, the more disappointed I got as the backstory took up way too much of the anime runtime leaving nothing for a resolution as it never really went beyond said flashback.
It's a pity as the series has good characters and the feeling that it isn't held back from reaching it's potential by censors really helps give it a unique aesthetic. But it's need to spoon feed exposition really detracts from the well animated fight scenes and ultimately leaves the whole thing stale.
I never enjoyed the dub especially with Maya being horribly miscast, it isn't terrible but all I can hear from memory is Wendee Lee's distinctive tone.
Final Verdict: It hits it's themes of fighting well but is undermined by the need to tell us the whole backstory that sadly eats up most of the running time before it even got a chance to resolve the story. To put it simply I don't have the patience to finish the Manga when the anime couldn't even be bothered.
