Tag: 2023

Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig- Review

Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig- Review

Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig- anime series cover art
Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig-

Finally, An Isekai For Me

Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig- (Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro / 豚のレバーは加熱しろ) likely doesn’t seem like a good anime to most people. It’s an isekai series about, you guessed it, a man who was reincarnated into a fantasy world as a pig.

But, to me, this sounded like a great premise. Why? I like pigs. They’re pretty neat. So, when I heard about this series, I thought that this was going to be good. Well, “good.” I thought it would, at the very least, be an entertaining watch. And, I actually think it was — at first.

Now, I admit that Butareba’s comedy isn’t for everyone. I saw a lot of people hating on it from the very first episode. There are plenty of sexual jokes, which are always divisive. But, I thought it mostly used these jokes in a decent way.

Jess and Pig from the anime series Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig-
Jess and Pig

Pig — we never get his real name — is a virgin loser with some depraved thoughts. The gag is that his outward appearance now reflects his inner thoughts. And, to reinforce this, Jess, the other main character, can read Pig’s thoughts. Every time he has a dirty thought, she knows.

But, the dynamic between Pig and Jess isn’t quite what you’d expect. Yes, Pig thinks some unsavory things at times. However, at the end of the day, he’s a good guy who would never do anything to harm Jess. And, Jess believes in Pig’s good heart unconditionally. She’s never worried that he might be a bad person.

Now, to me, this dynamic is sort of the first piece of evidence that this isn’t a great show. Like, if Jess reacted negatively to Pig’s dirty thoughts, that would make it better. Her not seeing issues with the things Pig thinks doesn’t make for an interesting series.

Okay, So It’s Actually Bad

Despite my high hopes for Butareba, it didn’t take very long to see that it’s bad. Pig’s and Jess’s dynamic is only the very start. That’s probably the least bad thing about it. Problematic? Sure. But, that’s not what makes the series a bad series.

The entire premise of the series is the worst part. Jess is a magical slave called a Yethma who needs to go on a one-way journey to visit the king. This is a pilgrimage all Yethma have to make — and it’s unclear if any have made the journey successfully.

Along the way, the Yethma have to survive the wilderness and hunters who kill them for bounties. And, when they finally make it to the capital, it’s unclear how to actually get inside. This is why there are no confirmed accounts of Yethma completing the pilgrimage.

Pig from the anime series Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig-
Pig

So, does this sound like a good plot to you? It has some interesting parts, like the Yethma hunters. But, overall, it’s a pretty basic story of a journey that Jess is going on simply because she’s supposed to. It’s hard to get invested into the plot at all — there’s not much to it.

The next major issue with Butareba is the animation quality. It sucks. I mean, I thought it was fine at the start of the series. But, once you get farther into it, the poor animation is hard to ignore. Later in the series, there are more action scenes. And it’s in those scenes that the animation fails.

Animation quality is a funny thing. For a lot of slice of life and drama series, it doesn’t matter that much. Good animation improves those series. But, it’s not necessary. For action anime and action scenes, the opposite is true. Good animation is necessary.

Is This Only The Beginning?

The wildest thing about Butareba is that this season might only be the beginning. This entire journey with Jess and Pig may have only been the prologue. And, I say that because of the terrible ending to the season.

Jess and Pig successfully make it to the capital and receive an audience with the king. They request that the king to turn Pig back into a human, which he accepts. But, the king can’t simply turn Pig back. He has to kill Pig, at which point Pig’s soul will return to his body in his old world.

So, yeah, at the end of the journey, Pig gets slaughtered and goes back home. If the series ended right there, that would be a bad enough ending. It pretty much erased everything that happened throughout the story and reset it to zero — but not in the Re:Zero way.

Jess from the anime series Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig-
Jess

What made the ending even worse, however, is what happens next. Pig writes a fantasy book about his time living as a pig in another world. And, some people who read it reached out to him about their own experiences in that same world.

At first, Pig thought these people were coming up with their own fan fictions based on his story. But, it then becomes clear that these people had also lived in that world for a time. And so, together, they devise a plan to send Pig back into that world so he can be with Jess.

And, I guess the other people are also going to be sent back into the fantasy world, as well. I don’t know what happens after that. But, I’ve seen art from the series where there are now multiple pigs. So, to me, that says there’s a lot more to this series.

Final Thoughts

Butareba -The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig- is a 3/10. It’s very bad and I’m not going to watch a second season if it ever gets one — probably. I might still watch it. But, I’ve been trying to hold back and not continue to watch series I know are bad.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about the perks of supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

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Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Review

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Review

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead anime series cover art
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

A Good Premise, But That’s It

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto / ゾン100~ゾンビになるまでにしたい100のこと~) is an action/comedy/horror anime. It’s also an anime from the summer of 2023 despite me not reviewing it until now.

But, what’s Zom 100 all about? It’s about a normal guy working a 9-5 job he hates when, suddenly, a zombie apocalypse breaks out. In most cases, you’d think of a zombie apocalypse as a bad thing. However, Akira Tendou was so overworked that he welcomed it.

You’re telling him he doesn’t need to return to the office? That’s music to Akira’s ears. With no work, he can now spend his days doing all the things he always wanted to do. And, that’s how we get to the second part of the title: The bucket list of things Akira wants to do before he dies.

Shizuka Mikazuki from the anime series Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Shizuka Mikazuki

As the heading of this section says, this is a good premise. A lot of people can relate to being in a career they don’t enjoy. And, that may even be more true for those working at Japanese companies. So, immediately, viewers can relate to Akira.

Also, a lot of the things Akira puts on his bucket list can lead to some exciting content. Things like jumping a motorcycle or being a superhero. However, the majority of Akira’s bucket list items tend to be less exciting than you’d expect. Even the ones that sound like they’d be good at first.

And, that’s where the major problem of the series comes in. It sets up a good premise but doesn’t follow through. I got bored about three episodes into the series. It just wasn’t delivering the kind of content I was expecting. Things like Akira changing his hairstyle aren’t interesting.

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Characters Are Very Important

For the most part, the content of Zom 100 isn’t entertaining. But, what about the characters? Even if the content isn’t that exciting, a good cast of characters can carry a series. And since this is a comedy anime, the characters are even more important.

One of my favorite comedy anime is KonoSuba. What makes KonoSuba so good are the characters and how they interact with each other. Zom 100 doesn’t even come close. The characters aren’t very interesting and their group dynamics are bland.

Let’s start with Akira. Sure, he’s relatable at first because he hates his job. But, it doesn’t take long to realize that he doesn’t have much going on aside from that. He’s a generic “good guy” who just wants to be happy and for other people to be happy. That’s nice in a real society, but boring in a show like this.

Beatrix, Shizuka, Akira, and Kenichirou from the anime series Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Beatrix, Shizuka, Akira, and Kenichirou

Akira’s best friend is Kenichirou “Kencho” Ryuuzaki. His whole thing is that he wants to be a comedian who strips on stage. That’s his entire personality and the extent of the gags featuring him. Once you realize that part of his personality wasn’t a one-time thing, he’s boring.

Shizuka Mikazuki is a little more interesting than Akira and Kencho. But, not much. Her defining personality trait is that she always prioritizes survival. Fun? She has no idea what that is. She’d much rather spend her time creating spreadsheets and doing everything “optimally.”

Beatrix Amerhauser is the best of the four main characters. Though, that could also be because she’s introduced later on in the series. She doesn’t have as much screen time as the others, so there’s less time for her to get stale. Still, I do think she’s more fun — especially her love of Japanese history.

The Final 3 Episodes

Okay, so at the start of this review, I said that this was a summer 2023 anime. If that’s the case, why am I reviewing it now? Did I not watch Zom 100 until recently? That sometimes happens if a Patron requests a review of an anime from the previous season.

But, that’s not the case here. I was actually reviewing Zom 100 episodes on a weekly basis. And then, the series went on hiatus after Episode 9. I don’t know exactly what happened and I don’t care enough to look it up. However, we can assume “production issues.”

Now, when the first episode of Zom 100 dropped, I saw a lot of talk about it online. People were excited for this series. As was the case for me, though, that excitement quickly disappeared. after a few episodes, I didn’t see much talk about it.

Beatrix Amerhauser from the anime series Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Beatrix Amerhauser

The only people who were really still talking about the series were those who hadn’t started it. There were people saying it “looked good” and that they were “waiting for it to all come out.” Well, unfortunately for them, they’d have to wait another three months for the final three episodes to air.

And, let me tell you, I think I saw a single person talk about the final three episodes coming out. In general, nobody cared. Everyone who had been watching the series lost interest a long time ago. And those who hadn’t yet watched it seemed to have given up due to the delay.

I wish I could tell you that the final three episodes made everything worth it. But, after watching the previous nine, I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. And, I was right. The final three episodes weren’t funny and instead tried to be very serious.

Final Thoughts

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a 5/10. It’s not good and not bad. It exists. And, for that reason, I doubt many people who haven’t already seen this series are going to watch it. There’s no benefit. You could watch better anime instead — or anime that are so bad that they’re funny.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about the benefits that come with supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

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Spy x Family Season 2 Review

Spy x Family Season 2 Review

Spy x Family Season 2 anime series cover art
Spy x Family Season 2

More of the Same Old Thing

Spy x Family Season 2 is not the same as Spy x Family Part 2. At least, not technically. Spy x Family Part 2 is the second cour of the first season of the anime. It follows Spy x Family.

This review is of Season 2, which follows Spy x Family Part 2. Got it? I’m sure you do. But, I know the search engine algorithms are going to struggle with that. I’ve already seen it firsthand with Mushoku Tensei. And, this is why we should get rid of this “Part 2” nonsense.

Okay, but also, Season 2 is the “same” as Part 2 because that’s how this series is. There’s no real development at any point in Spy x Family. At least, there hasn’t been, so far. That’s why I’m not interested in it anymore.

Yor, Loid, and Anya on a train from the anime series Spy x Family Season 2
Yor, Loid, and Anya on a train

Why do we need what’s effectively three seasons of the same exact thing? I wouldn’t say the plot has progressed at all. The characters definitely haven’t developed and are still pretty one-dimensional. And, the series continues to fall back on the same jokes and gags instead of trying anything new.

I thought the first season as a whole was good. The second cour definitely started to drag as I realized nothing new was happening. But, even then, the series was still novel enough to keep me mostly interested. That novelty is gone. Throughout this season, I was always dreading having to watch the next Spy x Family episode.

Now, I also want to point out that this season didn’t introduce any new characters. Well, none that seem like they’ll be recurring, supporting characters. So, it didn’t even get a novelty boost from that. Introducing a new character is an easy way to mix things up.

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Cruise Arc

This was such a bland season that I honestly don’t remember most of what happened in it. I remember that bond saved another dog from a fire. Damian & friends survived in the wilderness. And, there was the cruise arc. The cruise arc is the most prominent feature of this season.

Yor has to go on a “business trip” aboard a cruise ship. The cover is that she’s wining and dining some important people. But, in reality, she’s protecting the family of an informant as they flee the country. This means she’ll be fighting plenty of other assassins.

Anya also wants to go on the cruise, which, as you can assume, is bad for Yor. She can’t have her family there just in case something goes wrong. What if they happened to see her fighting? How would she be able to explain that away? She wouldn’t.

Yor Forger from the anime series Spy x Family Season 2
Yor Forger

Well, unfortunately for Yor, Loid decides to turn this cruise into a family vacation. Though, it’s really only a vacation for himself and Anya. Yor’s going to be working the whole time. And, while she does that, Loid and Anya are going to be enjoying themselves on the ship.

So, this arc has two pretty distinct halves. On one side, there’s a lot of Yor action content, which is good. I felt like we hadn’t been getting enough of that. And on the other side, there’s the Loid and Anya slice of life content. That’s not as interesting because it’s similar to the content we usually get.

But, I’ll admit that the fact that this arc takes place on a cruise ship is a slight bonus. Yes, all the complaints I brought up in the previous section still apply. However, at the very least, the setting of this arc is different.

How Long Can Spy x Family Last?

With the first season of the anime, Spy x Family became an international sensation. In only two years, it got three cours of TV anime and a movie. That’s a lot of animated content for one series.

The only other series that really compete with that are long-running shounen series. Think of things like One Piece. Some anime with multiple seasons get one season every two years if they’re popular. And most others have even longer breaks between seasons if they get more seasons at all.

But, is this the path Spy x Family is on a sustainable one? I don’t think so. And, there are a few things I’d like to point to to prove why this is the case. There’s the pace of the releases, the reception, and the mangaka’s feelings about the series.

Loid carrying Yor and Anya while they sleep from the anime series Spy x Family Season 2
Loid carrying Yor and Anya while they sleep

Okay, so to start off, as I said, the release pace is fast. That’s not inherently a bad thing. But, to me, it seems to be signifying how the producers view the series. Spy x Family was very popular on release. So, capitalize on that popularity while it lasts by pumping out content.

In general, sequel seasons of an anime receive higher ratings than their predecessors. That’s because people who don’t like the series drop it. So, those reviewing a sequel are more likely to be dedicated fans. We don’t see this with Spy x Family, though. Every season is rated lower than the previous one.

This implies that for most viewers, the novelty is wearing off fast.

Finally, as you may know, the Tatsuya Endou, the mangaka, doesn’t exactly like Spy x Family. It’s not the series he wanted to make. But, he knew it would be profitable. So, even the mangaka isn’t very invested.

Final Thoughts

This is going to hurt some people. But, Spy x Family Season 2 is a 5/10. It exists. It’s fine. And, on a technical level, it’s good. However, the quality of the animation and things like that don’t matter when the content itself is stale. And, that’s why I have no intention of watching the movie or any future seasons.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about what you get for supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

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The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Review

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Review

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You anime series cover art
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You

One of the Best Anime of the Year

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Kimi no Koto ga Daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo / 君のことが大大大大大好きな100人の彼女) is a really long title. So, for the rest of this review, I’ll be calling it Hyakkano for short.

If you read my article on the Top 5 Anime of 2023, you’ll know that I consider Hyakkano one of the best anime of the year. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. But, it definitely deserves the ranking I gave it.

There are many great things about Hyakkano. The two most important are that it has a lot of cute girls and that it’s genuinely funny. I’ll talk more about the cute girls later in this review. So, for now, let’s focus on the comedy of the series.

Hakari and Karane gushing over Rentarou from the anime series The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
Hakari and Karane gushing over Rentarou

I haven’t laughed at an anime as much as I laughed at Hyakkano in a very long time. Not every character is funny. But, Rentarou, Hakari, and Karane definitely are. Rentarou’s comedy tends to come from his absolute love of his girlfriends. And Hakari’s comes from her obsession with Rentarou. And Karane’s comes from her tsundere nature.

Some of the less funny characters include Shizuka and Kusuri. But, they still have their moments. For example, the way Shizuka says things can be funny. Like, how instead of saying she can’t swim, she says she’s not skilled at naval combat.

And, the funniest thing Kusuri ever did was when she created medicine for the other girlfriends. Specifically, the medicine she made for Karane was “bust-biggening medicine.” We never got to see Karane take this medicine. But, the fact that it’s what Kusuri made for her was funny on its own. Also, you know, the name “bust-biggening medicine.”

The Purest Form of Harem Anime

I’ve seen some other people mention that a new age of harem anime is upon us. In these new harem anime, there’s not one girl who ends up winning. And, there’s not some ambiguous ending in which none of the girls are chosen over the others.

Instead, every girl is the winner.

Hyakkano falls into this category. Rentarou’s harem isn’t a group of girls who are all competing for his affection. They’re all his girlfriends. He loves them all, they all love him, and they’re fine with this arrangement.

But, why? Why does Rentarou have multiple girlfriends and why are they okay with it? Don’t worry, there’s an in-universe explanation for all this. God messed up and accidentally gave Rentarou 100 soulmates. When he locks eyes with one of his soulmates, it’s all over. They’re destined to be together.

Hakari, Shizuka, and Nano at the pool from the anime series The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
Hakari, Shizuka, and Nano at the pool

Some people might not like this format of harem anime where every girl wins. But, it’s kind of ideal. No matter which girl is your favorite, you don’t have to worry about her losing. Your favorite girl will always win. But, that’s not the only benefit of this format.

Because every girl wins, it means there’s a lot more variety. We get great content for all of the girls. You don’t have to settle for just one. Let’s say that Hakari is your favorite, but you also like Karane and Nano for different reasons. You won’t miss out on that Karane and Nano content.

Now, I haven’t watched it, but I’ve heard that Girlfriend, Girlfriend also falls into this category. However, there are some major differences between that and Hyakkano. That only has four girls to choose from — this has 100. And, that’s animated like a slideshow, while this isn’t.

Ranking the First Six Girlfriends

Hyakkano Season 1 features the first six of Rentarou’s girlfriends. So, let’s rank them from best to worst.

It’s hard for me to choose a best girlfriend. But, I’m going to go with Hakari Hanazono. She’s one of the first two girlfriends of the series. She’s also one of the funniest girlfriends and has my favorite personality of the group.

In second, I’m putting Karane Inda. Depending on the day, I’d put Karane in first place. She and Hakari are that close — it’s hard for me to choose between them. Karane’s physical appearance is more my type.

Hakari and Karane are also in a relationship with each other, which only makes them even better.

Rentarou and his first six girlfriends from the anime series The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
Rentarou and his first six girlfriends

In third, I’m going with Shizuka Yoshimoto. Shizuka is one of the two tiny girls of the group. She’s not exactly what I’d look for in a girlfriend. But, she’s cute and pretty entertaining — especially during the pool episode.

Hahari Hanazono comes in fourth. Not only is she an older woman, which is a plus. But, she’s Hakari’s mother. Rentarou isn’t just dating six girls by the end of this season. Two of his girlfriends are mother and daughter. That’s pretty great.

Kusuri Yakuzen is fifth. Along with Shizuka, she’s one of the tiny girls. However, this is only one of her forms. She takes medicine to make her look this way. And if she takes reversal medicine, she goes back to her “big” form. I think the best thing about Kusuri is how she enables the other girls.

Nano Eiai is the worst of the first six girlfriends. She doesn’t really have much in the way of personality. She’s robotic and looks like a white-haired Komi-san. So, she’s not my type in any way.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Hyakkano is an 8/10. If you’re a fan of harem or rom-com anime, you need to watch this one. It’s both one of the best of the genre and one of the best of 2023. And, I’ve also heard that the author is committed to implementing all 100 girlfriends.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

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Shy Review

Shy Review

Shy anime series cover art
Shy

The Shyest Superhero

Shy (シャイ) is a new superhero anime that’s nothing like My Hero Academia. To some of you, the fact that it’s not like MHA might sound like a positive. But, it’s actually not. It’s like if you took all the good parts (the cool fight scenes) out of MHA.

Of course, a lack of cool fight scenes doesn’t make an anime bad. Most of my favorite anime are drama anime. Those usually don’t have cool fight scenes. And, Shy is a drama anime, as well. Though, it’s still not what I would call a good drama anime.

Anyway, the series is about Teru Momijiyama, a high school student in Japan who’s also a superhero. Her hero name is Shy, which I have to say is a pretty bad name. Did she name herself that? We don’t know. But, it’s an extremely accurate description of who she is.

Iko Koishikawa and Teru Momijiyama from the anime series Shy
Iko Koishikawa and Teru Momijiyama

Teru doesn’t do well in public settings. She’s not good at talking to people and doesn’t like to be the center of attention. And yet, she’s a superhero. But, it’s not like she chose to become a hero. Instead, this role was forced upon her.

Despite this, Shy is proud to be a hero. She might find wearing her hero uniform in public embarrassing. However, she’s happy that even someone like her can help others. She likes being a role model for children. This is why she wants to get stronger. She wants to be able to help and inspire more people.

There’s one little problem with Shy being a shy and weak hero, though. She’s the only hero Japan has. I guess it’s a good thing that Japan has such a low crime rate compared to some other countries. But, what if there’s a major disaster?

Every Country Gets One

Shy being Japan’s only superhero isn’t unique. It looks like every country gets a single hero. And, I shouldn’t need to point out how strange that is. I mean, even if we’re only looking at a country the size of Japan, how is one hero enough?

Throughout this first season of the series, we meet a few other heroes. Most of these heroes come from countries much larger than Japan. Spirit is Russia’s hero, Meng Long is China’s hero, and Stardust is the United State’s hero. And, then there’s Lady Black, who I believe is Germany’s hero.

Alright, let’s talk a bit about these other heroes. Lady Black is a decent hero. Her ability has to do with healing and there’s not too much more to say about her. Meng Long is similar in that he (not she) isn’t that important to the story. His ability has to do with putting people to sleep.

Pepesha "Spirit" Andreianov from the anime series Shy
Pepesha “Spirit” Andreianov

The problem I see with the heroes really shows up with Spirit and Stardust. Though, I want to say that this issue could still apply to Lady Black and Meng Long. But, to me, the issue is far more apparent with the Russian and American heroes.

So, what’s the problem? They’re caricatures of the countries they come from. Pepesha Andreianove, or Spirit, the Russian hero, is named after alcohol. She’s also an extreme alcoholic who drinks entire bottles of vodka like it’s nothing. This kind of characterization makes it hard to take the series seriously.

David Wonder Jones is the American hero Stardust. He has the best hero name. But, he too is a caricature of the US. He’s a Hollywood movie star, a rockstar, and a self-professed psychopath. Now, that’s not as offensive as the Russian being an alcoholic, but still.

Villains and Weird Framing

The heroes aren’t the only ones I have an issue with. There are also the villains, led by Stigma. We don’t know that much about Stigma at this point. He looks like a young boy and we know he wants to turn the world into a children’s paradise.

To do that, he messes with people’s hearts. And, he seems to have even created manifestations of what he finds in those hearts. For example, one of Stigma’s artificial allies is Tzveta. Tzveta is a manifestation of Pepesha’s regrets surrounding the death of her mother.

Speaking of Tzveta, I thought it was a little weird that she was so important. The second half of the season is really all about Pepesha thanks to Tzveta’s existence. Now, this is only the first season of the series. But, precisely because it’s the first season, I expected it to focus more on Shy, the protagonist.

Teru "Shy" Momijiyama from the anime series Shy
Teru “Shy” Momijiyama

Overall, Tzveta is a fine antagonist. I don’t have much of an issue with her. But, then there’s Kufufu. Kufufu is another artificial ally of Stigma. And, her whole thing is that she’s a jester. She fights via slapstick comedy — which really doesn’t fit when the series is trying to be serious.

Finally, there’s one other issue I had with this series, the weird framing. I don’t mean how the story or characters were framed. I mean how the images we saw on-screen were framed. Like, there would be random overlays that made it feel like I was watching a TikTok on Youtube.

Okay, let me try to explain. Let’s say we have a scene of Pepesha and Teru talking. We’ll see them talking in a vertical slice down the center of the screen. And, the extra space will be the same content, blurred. It’s weird.

Final Thoughts

I ended up giving Shy a 5/10. It’s perfectly average. It doesn’t do anything particularly well. I didn’t find the characters all that compelling and there were some odd directorial choices. But, it also doesn’t do anything terribly wrong. It’s not bad, but I can’t say I’d recommend it.

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Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.

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