cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/24567466 *** Peak romance!

I absolutely loved this show. I've been looking for some nice romance in the past few weeks, and this really hit the spot. It's a classic really, there's a reason this gets recommended every single time anyone asks for romance recs.

The way Lovely Complex explores insecurity is simply beautiful, the constant hesitation, the fear that you might not be enough, and the certainty that begins to come over you as you fail over and over again at achieving your goals. Your fears manifest, a confirmation that your own body, that which you were born with and cannot change, is wrong. But through all that, the persistence of the characters, the way they persevere through these tribulations, is truly inspiring.

The setting is very adolescent, and this is a love comedy so even the most emotional moments are somewhat light-hearted. I think that's good, actually, it keeps the story flowing; the show is incredibly well-paced. I said adolescent, because it is set in high school and that's what the characters life revolve around, but the themes are very mature. I mentioned the insecurity, which the main theme of the show, but many episodes also touch on what it means to be in love, to be in a committed relationship, and what sacrifices one must make to maintain healthy relationships with those they care for.

It's beautiful.

The production quality is top notch, though very much outdated. It's Toei, the animation and music are both great, and the voice acting is fantastic too. Especially Nobu-chan, Higashi Saori might just be the GOAT. I'm not even joking, this was an all time performance by her.

What do you think? *** Rating: 5/5

Watch on CrunchyRoll! Arr🏴‍☠️!!

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/11386693 *** Beautiful and emotional!

I really liked this show. I was sceptical at first... I think it's very easy for shows that surround something seemingly inconsequential (such as a high-school club) to severely overplay how much people actually care about these things. Hibike! Euphonium did this very well though, from the onset. I guess it's about managing expectations, and what the audience can expect from the characters by showing what the characters expect from each other. I really liked the set up.

I love how distinct each character is too. They have unique personalities and interests, though a bit cliché (the big silent guy, the bubbly girl, the cold beauty). The main character though was just something else. I really, really liked her! I love how she treats the people around her, it felt very human, I think this was just excellent writing. She's cold sometimes and bursting with emotion in the next scene, but it never feels out of place. We really get to explore how she sees the world and what she values in relationships, as well as how much she's willing to sacrifice in her personal life to achieve her goals. I just love Kumiko.

The animation was very good too. I guess that's to be expected from KyoAni. What I really appreciated, as someone who has played in a band for many years (trumpet), is that they didn't try to make the performances magical. A lot of sports and art anime (Haikyu!!, Blue Lock, Blue Period) depict their subject as sort of nigh-magical, with colours flying everywhere and cool names for special moves. Hibike! Euphonium leans more into realism, it doesn't try to make music seem magical, it just lets the music be magical, if that makes sense. I thought it was beautiful; in a way, it's the animation holding back, but it's just really well done.

The music of course was just fantastic. Don't have much to say on this subject in particular, it's a music anime, it has great music. I will say that I loved how much silence there was. Especially before and after an emotional performance, they just let the notes hang, letting the emotion build. Beautiful, I say!

The one criticism I have is that it's very short. It's only 13 episodes, and there's too many loose ends. I WANT MORE!!! Well, there is more of course but it's in the next season, which I haven't gotten to YET. This show is definitely worth a watch.

What do you think? *** Rating: 4/5

Watch on CrunchyRoll! Arr🏴‍☠️!!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1402187 *** Great concept, poor execution.

Everything that relates to the production value of this movie is subpar: the voice acting, the sound design, the animation... There's nothing excellent here, there's really nothing good here.

The voice acting sounds awkward at times. Japanese voice acting is known for being great, but here nearly every line feels emotionless, and the main characters sound like they're whispering very loudly instead of just talking. Which is something I can only assume is an artistic choice? I suppose it fits the theme of the movie but it sounds bad. Notably, Anzai Chika's performance as Kobayashi was actually pretty great.

The music and sound design on this thing is also not great. It sounds so quiet, so empty. Once again, this must have been by design, as it fits the theme, but it sucks! It makes the whole movie feel bland and faceless. Just because it's about a secret and escaping others doesn't mean the movie should be empty.

The animation is somewhat decent. It's not a very distinct style, and some frames look horrible. There's also some scenes with 3D animation that are very not good. Still, for the most part it's OK.

Still, this is definitely not a bad movie. It's a very interesting concept. Personally, I love time-related movies (like Tenet and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), and the idea of being able to stop time for a short duration is cool.

The relationship between the two main characters is also great, and very engaging. Murakami's whole personality, or lack thereof, really made me think... I wonder if there really are people that act this way. Personally, I related to Moritani WAY more, feeling overwhelmed and just wanting to run away. Murakami's whole ordeal felt very odd to me, but it was still very emotionally compelling. I think it was conveyed in a very nice way.

The conclusion was a bit underwhelming though, probably as a consequence of this running for only 1 hour. Still, it didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth or anything, I just wish there was more to the story. I suppose that's actually a compliment to the plot, in a way.

^{I related to Moritani's perverted tendencies too.}

What do you think? *** Rating: 3/5

Watch on Crunchyroll! Arr 🏴‍☠️!!!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/922307

> This is a spoiler-free review > *** > Let's start with the obvious: the animation is brilliant. It's MAPPA after all. The production quality on this show is very good, and leaves very little to be desired. Sure, it's not the pinnacle of modern animation, but it's more than serviceable, and it posed no issue whatsoever. > > Regardless, this show is very interesting, visually. The characters too, but mostly the environment is totally CRAZY! It's weird, and beautiful, and creepy. The flowers are just stunning, and knowing what they mean in the story just adds a special layer to such stunning visuals. > > The voice acting (sub) is great as well, but the general sound design was subpar. I felt like a lot of scenes were very silent, and not in a cool or creepy kinda way, just in a "they didn't know what to put in the background" kinda way... The OP is a TOTAL BANGER though, and it was hard to skip, honestly. > > Still, all of this isn't that big of a deal if the plot and the characters make up for it. > > But they didn't really. > > There's a varied cast with their quirky personalities and origin stories, but they're so poorly explored that that barely matters. The only characters that have any emotional weight are Gabimaru (MC) and Sagiri (MC). To be fair, these two do have very compelling backstories and cool chemistry. The rest of the cast either didn't have enough screen-time for us to truly engage with their stories, or had basically NO backstory at all. > > Gabimaru specifically is a very emotional character. His struggle with his up-bringing, with love, family, and freedom is really compelling, and so is Sagiri's struggle with human nature, sexism, and her place in the world. > > The plot is just OK. The setup is awesome, and promises a lot of action and adventure with lots of tension and high stakes, but that just ends up not being the case. We spend most of the time watching cool fight scenes. The fight scenes are very cool, sure, but where's the substance? I think a big problem is that Gabimaru is way too strong. His plot armour is just too much... > > And the ending... I mean, come on. IT'S A FUCKING JOKE! If they were gonna end the show like this, it should've just been a 24/25 episode release. I know S2 is already in the works, but this season simply felt incomplete. > > Well, the show does a lot of things right, and a few things wrong. If more time was spent developing the characters and advancing the plot this would've been way more satisfying. For that reason, I'm still looking forward to the second season. > *** > Rating: 3/5 > > Watch on Crunchyroll! > Arr 🏴‍☠️!!