Introduction

This show with a Light Novel title is an Action Romance about a Soldier from a country called "The Empire" and a girl from "The Sovereignty" having many encounters with each other that made them slowly falling in love, despite the 2 countries been at war with each other for 100 years. Romeo and Juliet basically

The story is simple, a young man named Iska is one of the best soldiers from "The Empire" and is sent to missions after missions to somehow win this war. He has a goal, however, that is to make peace with the enemy country and ending the 100 years of conflict. Meanwhile, in "The Soveirngty" a girl named Aliceliese who is a princess of her country, also wants peace with the enemy. With this common ground, the 2 characters understand each other more and started getting along.

How not to create a fantasy world

The story is simple, yet the world supporting it is very lacking in any lore or information. All we know about the world of this series is that there are 2 nations fighting. 1 nation is more technologically advanced while the other relies on magic. That's it. Where are they? What are the people like? What other difference do they have? Nothing. Heck, we don't even know their fucking names. The whole magic and technology thing doesn't even matter when you look at their cities. The architectures are the same. The culture seems the same. The people seem the same. It takes out the immersion and the feeling of being a real world.

I'm not saying every Fantasy anime needs this much information. But when it's about 2 giant countries fighting over each other, then give us something to easily differentiate the 2 at a glance and to make it feel like 2 real countries that are believable. The only difference we can spot is in combat. And not when we spend half of the season out of combat

And the way it presents its world just feels cheezy. New information is added when it's convenient. It doesn't feel natural. There are no previous indicators what so ever

Characters

Most of the characters are poorly written. They barely have any screen time to developt and doesn't have any motive to fight in this war, other than they just so happen to be involved in it

They only have 1 trait about them, and then that's stuck to them for the entire series. An example of this is Iska's crew. It consists of a loli with big breast, a red-haired girl who is just there, and a guy that's trying to be the older brother type quiet type. That's the only trait they have. They feel 1 dimensional and they don't feel like real people.

And not to mention the boring dialogues they have with each other. The interaction between them just feels like they're new colleagues, mere acquaintances, despite the show telling the viewers that they're close. It doesn't feel satisfying nor entertaining.

I said most because personally, I enjoyed the fuck out of the 2 main love interests. Idk why, but when they're talking to each other they feel like an awkward couple being a tsundere and slowly understanding each other and more open towards each other. The slow progression is relaxing and feels just right for this kind of thing.

This is the only thing I like about the show. Everything else is eh

It's an action series but I honestly can't say a lot about it. It's fine. Magic vs Technology sounds cool on paper, but 80% of the technological side of things use swords. The animation, choreography... I can't say much about it, to be honest. It's fine

But yeah that's it, goodnight. I don't know what else to put as a closer

Dr. STONE reboot: Byakuya is the spin-off prequel to the Dr. Stone series. It features Byakuya Ishigami (also known as Senku's father) as the main protagonist. It's written and drawn by Boichi himself

This story takes place right after the events of when the petrifying beam hits earth, and our protagonist, along with his companions in the international space station, witness it happened and the aftermath it caused. Byakuya, along with his astronaut colleagues, is 1,000,000,000 % determined to re-start mankind no matter the cost

The story is told at a very similar pace to that of Dr. Stone. The first thing that introduced us is the goal. What are the characters trying to achieve? Next is How they will achieve it, also known as the step-by-step process where we get a 1,000,000,000 % in-depth analysis of what's going on. Next, is the result, or conclusion, This final step is the most satisfying to witness as from all that hardship we finally get some results. All of these steps are in-depth and all of them make you feel like you're apart of them.

The characters are very diverse. They have their own purposes and their special own quirks that stand out from others. Like Yakov Nikitin, the Russian who is very expressive and each shot of him has a lot of moments that could easily be remembered. And we also get an original character, That is REI. Aside from Byakuya, REI could also be interpreted as a protagonist. As some chapters only feature him. The art style makes their faces very expressive, and oh boy do they stand out. They complement the comedic side of things very well, and can easily be remembered

I think one of the selling points of this series is how emotionally attached we could get with the characters. You could relate to them at a deep level and after a few scenes, we might as well be wiping our tears at what is happening in front of us. This series expresses a lot of settings, which include hope, determination, family, and love with memorable scenes and will be remembered if you are attached to the characters. Another thing that is memorable, is the ending. After leaving with such a cliffhanger, it's practically designed for the readers to want more. And especially, for the anime-only who have not read the manga, will surely gravitate towards reading it

Truly, this spin-off doesn't miss at all when it comes to its parent series. It has the same mangaka, so you don't need to worry about the art department. It's only 9 chapters, which is a quick read. And to those who love Dr. Stone, It's definitely an experience to remember

Btw, from what I gathered there doesn't seem to be any anime spoilers, If I'm wrong someone please correct me, so yeah that's it goodnight

I'll try to keep this review spoiler-free

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! Extra: Ano Orokamono ni mo Kyakkou wo! Subarashiki kana, Mei Wakiyaku or Dust spin-off for short, is one of KonoSuba's spin-off series featuring Dust

It's written by Hirukuma , and not by the original Konosuba author, who also wrote this (title is too long)

Who is Dust? He has made a few cameos in the anime. this being one of them . His characteristics are of a scumbag. He never pays for his meals and drinks, always relying on his party or Kazuma to pay them. Willingly go to jail for food and shelter. Is a pervert. Is bad with the sword. A scam artist. and gets treated poorly by his party

from volume 1 - 4 follows a similar formula to that of the early volumes of Konosuba. Just a party discovering and exploring things, each chapter doesn't necessarily connect to the next, and usually, the end goal is only at the late part of the book.

Instead, we focus more on the world. Volume 1's settings were at Axel, so we meet new people of Axel, and generally learn more about it. Volume 2 takes place at Alcanretia. Volume 3 takes place at the same place as volume 6 of the original. and Volume 4 takes place at volume 10 of the original. Since most people only watched the anime I won't tell what those places are, but basically, like volume 1, we get to know more about the people there, and we get to see more of the impact Kazuma and co left behind.

Though these volumes may be separate from each other, two things are constant. One of them is character relationship. Through the story, the main party and the surrounding people are interacting with each other like they always do. Tyler is the strong, brave party leader who cares for his party, Keith is just like Dust but edgy, and Lynn is Dust's guardian. If someone did something horrible or noteworthy, even for the slightest of things, then they will remember it.

The other thing that is constant, is the hint to Dust's back story. From the very first chapter, we are hinted that Dust is more than he seems. That he's not the kind of person who many thought he is. Sometimes, he doesn't act like his usual self, and after a fuck ton of teasing, we get to see Dust in a new light. For the next 3 volumes, we get the Dust story arc, where multiple conflicts are based around him.

We got a grand arc where Dust becomes a better person. Whether you like him or not, it's refreshing to see his actions being different and more likable.

Other than that, we get original characters that are unique to the spin-off. Whether their quality is up to par with the rest of KonoSuba is up to you. Personally, I think they serve their purpose well

Unfortunately, I can't recommend this to people who haven't read all of the KonoSuba light novel, as the events in this are either during or after certain KonoSuba LN volumes and it makes more sense if you have read it. But yeah that's it goodnight

Fun fact: in an interview with the Orignal Konosuba author, he claimed that Dust is his favorite character in KonoSuba

There'll be spoilers beware

Otome g... Villainess isekai is about a girl who died in an accident and reincarnates as another girl in another world whose fate is to die or get exiled at an early age no matter how she goes about her life. She knows this because the world she reincarnates to is the same world as a game that she loves, and because of this she uses her knowledge to avoid death or exile and live a happy life

Sounds pretty interesting right? Welp, you wanna savor those thoughts because, at some point, that synopsis becomes useless.

The first few episodes are about the introduction to the protagonist, the characters, and the world. In each episode, we get to learn about the characters, and why they want to sleep with the protagonist so badly. It's a decent, pretty standard introduction. This whole introduction is when the characters were children, and when they became adults (or teenagers idk) also the year where the girl is said to be killed is where things started going downhill for me

When they became adults, the tension is entirely gone. The synopsis is useless. You already know she's not going to be killed, it's way too obvious. The first few episodes, where we meet all the characters, is also where she befriends them. Those same characters are what influenced the protagonist's fate, whether she dies or be exiled. So when you befriend your enemy, then no shit are you going to survive

The author realizes this obviously and gave a villain. That is the red-haired guy. Who has like 4 minutes of screen time before the reveal. I think this was supposed to be a shocking twist because then the story got really dramatic. But here's the thing. Nothing from previous encounters made me want to cheer the protagonist and the other characters to win. All I remember from that show is that the side characters want to sleep with the protagonist.. That's it. They have done nothing of the sort that makes me care for them. In fact, I don't even remember their names. So the moment where the protagonist is in a coma and everyone is worried about her and one of their friends is kidnapped. I don't give a single fuck, and that takes out all of the tension that was there, and it just feels empty

Now now, the main story doesn't have to be the focus all the time. That's why fillers and side story exists. The episodes where there wasn't much conflict serve as a way to get closer and know more about the characters. But dear god why is it that all I remember was that they want to sleep with the protagonist. I can't describe their personality, most of them I don't know what their goal is. and at every possible moment, they want to steal the protagonist from her fiancee.

Basically, the tension is non-existent, and you could say "It's a comedy slice of life". Since comedy is subjective I'm not really gonna comment besides saying "It's not funny in my opinion". And the slice of life is boring, besides maybe the first few episodes where it had some sort of tension (though very little). Look, this "review" is very subjective and the people who enjoy this show can disregard everything I said because they liked the characters, and that's fine. But yeah goodnight

PS. This really is an essay and not much of a review huh. Eh, I can post whatever I want.

There will be spoilers, so beware.

The Konosuba movie, as it is what I will be referring to, is based on the 5th volume of the original light novel, and although not in a direct way, is the sequel to the second season of the anime.

The character focus is Megumin, as in the movie we go to her village and learn more about the Crimson Demon clan

From a story point, it does a decent job at what it's trying to do. It presents a lot about the clan. The people of the clan are very expressive and tell a lot about their clan. And I think from how the movie presents it, it is an experience that would be remembered

Now, why did I give this movie a 5/10? It's simple, pacing. It might sound hard to believe, but the pacing is what made me feel conflicted about this movie.

I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. But I can't help it

I've read the light novel, all 17 volumes. And in my "humble" opinion, I prefer the light novel way more and this is somehow relevant to the review

For starters, the movie and light novel have a massive difference in terms of pacing obviously. The books were slower, things progressed at a slow, yet great pace. The movie is more fast passed, a lot faster. An example of this can be seen immediately when Kazuma and co asked Wiz for transporting them to the village immediately, and we move on to the next scene. In the books, they asked Wiz to transport them to Alcanretia, and then walked the rest of their way to the village. This journey from Alcanretia to the village is an entire chapter, where they encounter a monster and had to deal it with the usual Konosuba charm. It's more descriptive, the build-up to the joke is slower yet made sense, it shows us the humanity of Kazuma, and it's a filler. The reason why they removed this in the movie is obvious, pacing. It's a movie, you have to make things quick. Which is completely understandable.

And the removed content from the books was very large, larger than I had expected. Multiple jokes were cut. Scenes are less descriptive. Build-ups are way faster. dialogues feel faster. 2 chapters were cut. and they add a new section in the boss fight. All of these things were understandably removed or added. The new addition to the final fight was for a climactic ending. And although the changes were understandable, I can't help but think that the removed parts were what made the light novel so good in the first place.

Before you hate me, I know the movie doesn't have to follow the light novel. The movie can be it's own thing. It creates it's own charm. But to me, they failed to deliver

The books focused way more on Megumin, we learn her motives, we learn a lot of aspects about her that made Megumin Megumin. In the movie, they kinda did tell us about Megumin, but not that much compared to the books. They did, however, add a new scene, where Megumin and YunYun went to their old school. This is a nice addition, as we never learn about Megumin's school in the main series of the books.

Now, at the very end when Megumin asked Kazuma to make her learn other skills than Explosion, and leave Explosion for good, only to have Kazuma buffed it up. It was supposed to be a big moment for her, that she is in fact not that useless. Idk about you but... Isn't that scene a bit out of the blue? It may just be me, but nothing from previous encounters lead me to believe she would quit explosion for good. Again, it's because there's no time for further dialogue.

My point is that the movie is trying to be something different from the books. But it just doesn't work for me. The slower, more relaxed pacing of the books makes more sense to me. The books were way more impactful and add a lot more meaning because of how slow, yet grand the information we get is. And I know I just compare the adaptation to the original and it's a sin yes I'm sorry please forgive me ;-;

Edit: I can't spell

Side rant: The final battle sucks. The second phase especially. Like why is it even there? The original was handled way better and there was no transforming into a slime bullshit. It's funny all the way till her death and has way more of the Konosuba boss battle charm.