Boku no Hero Academia by Shounen Jump.The premise is rather simple and classic for a battle shounen. It takes place in an academy setting with the main character trying to become a hero after being inspired by All Might (his idol hero) and others who vowed to protect their world from villains. Up to this point, there has been all sorts of battle shounen series adapted by Shounen Jump so it was time for superheroes to step up to the plate.

The main character, Izuku Midoriya is a young boy who is born without powers. As such, he is mocked by peers, especially a childhood bully named Bakugo. As evidenced from many flashbacks, he is mocked because of how useless he is while the most of his class all developed powers (or otherwise known as “Quirks”) It goes far to the point where he is even nicked named “Deku” for being useless. Although the initial story establishes Deku as a weakling, this changes after he meets All Might, a superhero who is famous in their world.

A general idea about the show is that Deku is constantly trying to prove himself and to others. Early episodes shows that he is fearlessly loyal to his friends and those he wishes to protect. This also includes Bakugo because Deku always wanted to surpass him after seeing how cool he is. Meanwhile, it’s evident that Deku has potential to become a powerful hero himself. All Might gives him the opportunity by letting Deku borrow his Quirk. After training and determination, Deku establishes himself as a newcomer to keep an eye on while Bakugo grows more jealous of his rival’s abilities. That’s also one of the interesting aspects of the show – the character relationships. Deku develops many relationships throughout the series. These include the rivalry between himself and Bakugo, the student-master relationship with All Might, and various friendships at school. Through these relationships, we see how Deku brings the best and worst out of characters. And believe me, there’s quite a lot of characters with their colorful personalities in this series.

As for the character casting, the show does a neat job at characterizing most of them. Each of them has a different personality, a different Quirk, and unique skills that makes them individually talented. Some of the more prominent characters such as Iida, Uaraka, Todoroki all get their screen time that will be memorable for fans. In the meantime, it’s important to visualize that each character also has a reason to become a hero. So in retrospect, the characters aren’t there just to push Deku’s story but also have story themselves. The downside is that the characterization is condensed for this adaptation as result of the minimal episode figures.

It would also seem inevitable that the show is inspired by other genres and Shounen Jump works. The generic Exam Arc can be easily compared to series such as Naruto although with different styles. Meanwhile, there’s the whole underdog premise with the main character trying to make a name in their world. Still, the show is definitely fun to watch as it also seems to be inspired by American comic heroes. Popular series in North America such as The Flash, Arrow, etc all have heroes and there’s some resemblance that can be taken to account for this series. All Might stands out as the poster boy, Deku is the most prominent underdog, while Bakugo is portrayed as the hardcore antihero. And of course, we can’t forget about the villains either. In contrast to the heroic resemblance of the good guys, the villains are designed to look malevolent. The show does a nice job at introducing them without shoving them down the audience’s throats. Villains such as Stain and Kurogiri looks legitimately menacing. It also invites the anime only fans to wonder about their intentions, roles, and how powerful they really are. Because really, the show is literally saturated with all sorts of powers. You name it. We got super strength, explosive punches, gravity manipulation, superhuman flight, ice and fire control, invisibility, and even a girl who can use frog-like abilities. For a world with about 80% humans capable of using supernatural powers, it comes with a cool features.

The show creatively designs its characters that matches a fair amount of consistency. Let’s face it, Kouhei Horikoshi is an underrated mangaka and his previous works weren’t considered major successes. Here, we got this show that has superheroes, action, and it just seems like every shounen fan’s wet dream. The character designs, while looks generic, is also creatively attractive. Every character has their own unique appearance and those who are heroes are equipped with a stylistic costume. The action is well choreographed as well when you see punches landing or super powers connecting as how it should. Furthermore, character expressions brings out the best of personalities whether it’s fierce (Bakugo), Charming (Urakara), or heroic (All Might). Deku’s reactions are mostly comedic although when he gets hyped up, there’s a lot to keep an eye on as well.

Indeed, the music and soundtrack of the show is a solid demonstration of his talent in this show. It is crisp, intense, and cinematic all the same time. For a battle shounen series like this, it’s important to capture every important scene and the music delivered just that – making them relevant. The OP and ED theme songs are also creatively crafted with flamboyant choreography and style. Finally, praise should also be given to the voice acting especially for All Might and Bakugo as their character personalities really shines when you listen to their voice.

So in the end, what should you expect from this show? There’s a lot and if you’re a big fan of battle shounen, then this will be a wonderful treat. From diverse character cast to the high dosage of superhero action, Boku no Hero Academia is a very fun show to watch. All in all, the show is recommendable to anyone. Whether you’re a new viewer getting into anime or a seasonal fan of shounen series, it’s a show that’s nothing short of exciting.

A post apocalyptic vision of the future where giants called Titans have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction, Attack On Titan is an interesting, realistically depicted anime. Despite an over-reliance of cliffhanger endings and a slightly lacklustre middle portion of the season, Attack On Titan is an anime that relies a lot more heavily on realistic characters and its engaging story. Unlike other anime, there isn’t much in the way of humour and the show is all the better for it, giving a good sense of urgency to the issues at hand.
The tale begins in the town of Shiganshina where we’re introduced to Eren Jaegar (Bryce Papenbrook), a young boy who wants to join the military to fight against the titans. As events unfold, the second half of the season sees the show open up with more emphasis on the world outside the massive walls that protect humanity from the titans. The story is very well constructed and despite some episodes feeling unnecessarily dragged out or feeling like filler episodes, on the whole the pacing and the episode structure works well. With the season split in half, the second part of this season changes up the art style and quickens the pacing. This change helps to bring some much needed vibrancy to the art style to avoid it becoming stale with a colour palette that stays similar through large periods of the show.

Its worth noting here too that along with some very good art is a great blend of CGI. It does stick out but the show works so well with it. Seeing the characters flying through the air or seeing the panned landscaped as the titans burst through the remains of abandoned houses are really well done and it never feels contrived or forced. For me though, I felt the second half of the season worked a lot better with this, with emphasis given to show the different regiments in the scouting division and the framing used to show endless rolling fields and trees before moving in close to the soldiers.
The characters themselves are generally well written too. With equal emphasis given to supporting characters along with Eren throughout, the unpredictable nature of characters being killed off by the titans gives a much needed sense of urgency. You genuinely don’t know if any character is safe and this is shown to devastating effect late on in the season during a tense battle in the forest with a female titan. Speaking of which, there’s a mystery woven through the latter episodes that engage the characters but not so much the audience. I won’t spoil too much but suffice to say, this was a little disappointing and too easy to figure out. Its one of the few negatives from a generally well written show.

Overall though, Attack On Titan is a very good anime. The plot is well constructed, with a quickened pace and heightened tension in the latter periods of this season. With well written characters and enough time given to develop them, the unpredictable nature of the titans killing characters off suddenly really helps build an uneasiness through large periods of this show. Its not perfect, with a disappointing mystery and a reliance on cliffhanger endings but on the whole, Attack On Titan is a very good anime and does the original manga comic justice with a great adaptation.

This is going to be a shorter review compared to some other ones that I've written since I didn't write this one in advance as compared to my other two reviews, so this is probably much more disorganized but nevertheless, I wanted to share my opinion on this so far.

Story - 8/10
The story starts off with our main protagonist Tanjiro, who one day finds his entire family killed, with his sister, Nezuko being turned into a demon. Some other stuff happens, which eventually leads to him becoming a part of the Demon Slayer Corps. This immediately establishes a goal, and kind of makes the goal probably somewhat predictable, but I could be wrong since I haven't read the original source material. Some typical shounen tropes happen with one such being a training arc, but to be honest nothing too out of the ordinary. There were some parts that felt boring and felt some stuff was dragged on a bit too long, and there's a time skip as well, but otherwise, it's a pretty solid plot and I'm excited where they'll go with this.

Art and Animation - 9/10
Adapted by the godly people at studio ufotable, I had high expectations on their artwork, and well, they delivered. The animation is crisp, clean, and fight scenes never fail to get me hyped, even if there is sometimes a bit too much talking. One thing that I absolutely love is water effects on Tanjiro's sword, they look so good, and I appreciate the visual style they're taking with this. Background art looks really nice with lots of detail put into it. 3D looks stunning, and I feel like they're one of the only studios that can really capitalize on mixing 2D and 3D animation. The only complaint that I have is that they'll have a 3D model of Tanjiro walking and it looks pretty jarring but other than that, it's great.

Sound - 10/10
The soundtrack was composed by the famous Yuki Kajira and a lesser known producer, Go Shiina, and can I just say that it sounds amazing? Each action scene that they play this soundtrack on I feel like is more memorable than the fight scene itself, yeah it's that amazing. On top of that, you have one of my personal favorite artists, LiSA, and you have a recipe for success. Both the OP and ED were sung by her, and they're also really good. If you have the time, I highly recommend you listen to the OP and ED by itself.

Character - 7/10
Tanjiro is your typical shounen protagonist, optimistic, wants to protect a lot of stuff, which normally would be a complaint, but to be honest, I can't really hate him. Along with that, his special "trait," we'll call it is also pretty unique and its executed in a great manner. Additionally, six episodes in, we're already getting some character development, as more episodes pass on, the stronger he'll eventually get. Nezuko is our other main character that has been introduced so far, and while she doesn't really get any dialogue, she's sometimes just adorable to watch, but other than that, I feel as if she's just kind of there as a plot device, but she does have her moments.

Enjoyment - 9/10
I have been enjoying this anime a lot. From the awesome visual effects to the absolutely amazing soundtrack composed by two talented people, and you have a highly enjoyable time from the beginning of the episode to the end of the episode. I'm only taking off one point because there were some moments that I personally thought were boring, and seeing that it follows a bit of the stereotypical shounen tropes kind of made me roll my eyes a bit. Still very highly enjoyable, even if this might not be for you.

I did hear about this show through a couple of television promos and my friends. After so many years, I finally got to watch Naruto and this turned out to be one of the best things I've done in my life. I have never identified with a shounen protagonist more, and even supporting characters have been written with care and brilliance. The first episode itself hit me in the feels when I realized I wasn't the only one who as a kid did stuff to get people to pay attention and care for me. This is the point where the creator Masashi Kishimoto as well as the animators teased me the start of something epic.

Naruto is an out-and-out action anime, filled with stylish martial arts fight sequences, with tones shifting occasionally between intense and lighthearted, depending on the backdrop and buildup. It still amazes me to date how one can come up with such a fantastic fight choreography and draw it with hand, and that too a number of times to deliver the right product! The music is simply out of the world and suits every bit of where it happens to play out. Especially "Orochimaru Theme", which surprised me when I heard Hindi words in it! The animation is beautiful for its time of creation, and the writing is splendid.

The characterization is what sets Naruto apart from other shounen anime and maybe even makes it the best in this category. It captures both the excitement of being a child as well as the pain of being lonely, with finesse. The tonal shifts between dramatic and humorous are beautifully done, as a result of which you'll be on a roll-coaster ride of emotions throughout the show. Plus, being jam-packed with action means Naruto also delivers some of the greatest battles ever written and drawn in the history of anime. The depth in the writing reflects in the dialogues as well, many of which end up going down in history as life-changing quotes. No doubt, the voice acting is top notch, especially for the protagonist.

Watching this show on a daily basis made me so engrossed that it really smashed my heart into a million pieces whenever I saw kid Naruto crying. It still makes me emotional to think what he had to go through when he was younger, and how strongly he rose to achieve his goal of being accepted by everyone. This has taught me so many integral life-lessons I wish I could learn as a kid, but it's never too late. One word for the fillers as well: Please don't skip them! I know that there's minimal to no manga canon story after episode 135, but the fillers provide a fantastic character development for less-used characters such as Hinata and Tenten, and are still pumped up with exciting action sequences. So watch the whole thing, all the 220 episodes, and only then you can comment how good of an anime Naruto is.