Studio ENGI isn’t really known for its animation power and a lot of their work is inconsistent. It is no different in “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei”. From one glance at the anime, you can tell it doesn’t get a lot of budgets.

The character design looks a bit too generic with very little detail and plain designs. You can easily get mixed up with other generic fantasy anime. Sarasa's design looks a bit more unique, just a bit but probably due to her being the protagonist.

In terms of background details, there are very few details. Indoor scenes feel empty with very little furniture and objects populating the scene and outdoor scenes are worse with a lot of barren space with not much detail on objects that exist such as houses.

Combat has no choreography. A lot of close-up camera shot and black-screen-slashing effects. The spells didn’t actually look that good either.

My feeling about the characters in “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” is indifference. They are not offensive but at the same time, they are not doing anything to stand out too apart from Sarasa herself. The side characters have their own circumstances but none of them are well explored.

Sarasa is the protagonist of the anime. She graduated from the alchemist academy after being tutored by master alchemist Ophelia. She also has OP innate magical power which Ophelia has to give Sarasa a special necklace to suppress it. 

Sarasa got all the screen time in this anime. We see her everyday life, her backstory for a light-hearted anime is on the darker side, her merchant-like personality and best of all, her more adult and dark humour takes on things. She may not be the most memorable protagonist but she does keep things fairly entertaining.

Lorea is an employee Sarasa hired due to her coming from a merchant background and she mostly takes care of Sarasa’s atelier. For a fantasy anime, Lorea has no fighting abilities and mostly supports Sarasa from the sideline.

Iris and Kate are two adventurers that come under Sarasa’s debt and work directly for her especially for gathering materials for alchemy use or for selling. They are a comedic duo and give some comedic relief from time to time but there isn’t much going on with them and it gets fairly old after a while.

Ophelia the master alchemist, is a caring teacher for Sarasa who have some screen time in the early part of the anime but mostly become a background character later. It is a shame since she seems to have an interesting personality judging from the initial episodes.

The character interaction between Sarasa, Lorea, Iris and Kate isn’t bad. It ranges from average to decent but the best part is when Sarasa make some joke with them while keeping a straight face. Apart from that the side characters didn’t stand out at all.

Management of a Novice Alchemist

Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei

The opening song is quite decent with its catchy cute lyrics but the ending song is just a pure generic sounding song.

The background OSTs are dead average, very generic-sounding OSTs which you might have heard in countless other generic fantasy-themed anime by now. Sound effects are also average with nothing really standing out in terms of details too but at least almost all scenes that require some sound effects got them.

The voice acting is pretty decent. The voice suits the character but there are times the voice tone and emotion didn’t really go well with what is happening. I don’t blame the voice actor and actress for it since I have watched other shows where they voice the character and they did a solid job. It is probably because the studio didn’t use enough budget for doing retakes.

“Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” aka "Management of a Novice Alchemist" would be the closest thing to Atelier games if it got an anime adaption. However, the biggest difference is, Atelier games have a solid plot and story while “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” have none. I would put it in Cute Girls Doing Cute Thing genre even though officially it is not under that genre.

The story starts with protagonist Sarasa Feed whose parents are merchants but is murdered by bandits. Sarasa later learns about the world of alchemy and enrols in the alchemist academy. There she comes under the tutelage of a master alchemist Ophelia who helps her graduate. After she graduated from the academy pretty easily since Sarasa is pretty much an OP character, she got her own atelier/shop in a remote village. There she has to make her dream of becoming a master alchemist come true.

Apart from the overarching goal of becoming a master alchemist and running a successful atelier, there isn’t much plot going on in this anime. Thing run in a sorta episodic manner where random things just happen, be it gathering materials, making new items and going full capitalist mode or defending the village from monster attacks. It is a fairly peaceful show and honestly, it feels like I am watching someone play a sandbox game since there is no proper plot.

The anime also try to cover a wide range of topic from being a merchant by running a shop, inventing new stuff with alchemy, collection material, fighting monsters, etc... that it fails to get deep into any particular one. I feel like it is a missed opportunity since they could have gone deeper into alchemy stuff as they did in the episode 1 exam scene or even how to run a shop even.

If you love seeing OP protagonists wiping the floor of the enemies at a fight, you will feel right at home here. I eat OP protagonists in anime like “Cautious Hero” or “Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha” for breakfast but those anime have solid comedy or plot. Sarasa being a novice as the title of the anime suggests and her being OP feels kind of weird. Despite this, I still enjoy seeing her wipe the floor with the monsters.

I would pretty much love it if the anime got some plot, a short-term aim or go deeper into one topic but at the same time, it is not that bad. It's one of those anime where you can turn off your brain and watch, assuming you at least somewhat enjoy it. 

I would say the art & animation for Renai Flops is decent. It has it appealing point but it is not as good as studio Passione’s other work Mieruko-chan.

Character designs are quite solid for some girls. They are somewhat memorable or identifiable, especially Amelia and Mongfa’s design. While Aoi and Karin's design feel too generic for me.

For one, I like the clean overall art style with easy-on-the-eyes background art styles. Though the number of objects and items on screen is on a more minimum side, studio Passione at least makes sure whatever is on the screens is detailed enough be it background objects or items. Some scenes can feel too empty but most of the scenes are quite okay.

for a romance-comedy anime, the animations are fluid enough and are quite respectable. There are even some combat animations in some scenes where fights are involved but the majority of combat scenes are still close-up camera shot tricks. 

In Renai Flops we have our protagonist Asahi and five main girls, Amelia, Irina, Mongfa, Karin and Aoi. If I were to judge the anime on the first half of its episodes, I will be giving this section a score of 6. But due to the second half of the anime, the characters actually turn from alright to pretty solid.

Amelia is a transfer student from America and has a problem getting used to Japanese and Kanji especially. She has a cute personality and also tries her very damn best to overcome things which makes her character likeable. Of cause, let's not forget the fact that she got bullied around by some trash can robot too.

Irina is a reverse trap character who was introduced as a guy but is actually a girl. Her episode at the hot spring is really funny with how she tries to make a fake stick in the nether region using a Tengu mask. She was initially introduced as a shy character who got “bullied” by dogs a lot but her personality become more active as she was often thrown into different circumstances and also become more accepting of herself.

Mongfa may look like a typical high school teacher with a combination of mature, sexy and cute but she is actually an assassin and a very skilled one at that. Her episode is where people got killed and her backstory is pretty solid. As the episode progressed, she found a place she belongs and was able to escape her past of being a killer.

Karin is a magical girl, yes you heard that right in a sci-fi anime. However, her episode is something I really love because it makes me laugh at a lot of things such as the enemy attaching a device to make a guy’s “Excalibur” between the leg disappear or Karin’s partner's name is named after the condom brand and he ends all his sentence with “Gomu” which literally mean condom or rubber in Japanese.

Aoi doesn’t have a dedicated episode for her and that is because she plays a crucial role in the plot and advancing it. She is introduced as a typical sky megane character but she also has a lot of foreshadowing happening around her on what is to come in the second half.

Asahi falls into the typical harem ecchi protagonist trope in the first half but he becomes a solid protagonist in the second half with a lot of his personality being developed into something more complex than a harem protagonist. The second half of the anime makes him shine, from his lowest moment to standing back up to face the music head-on.

Love Flops

Renai Flops

The opening song is cheerful but it sounds super generic. The ending song fair much better. The first ending song got the same cheerful theme to it but is a bit more memorable and sounds better. The second ending song due to how the anime took a 180-degree turn also change to a more sombre song which is quite nice to listen to.

The background music did its job of filling the void and supporting the scene but can’t say I am impressed with most of them. However, there is a couple of background music that I like such as when Asahi sees the sakura tree with Aoi. Overall, it got the job done for every possible scenario the scene is trying to convey. 

The sound effects are pretty solid. There are some details to them such as when metal hits metal, the sound effect gives out a metallic ringing sound. It also handled a lot of funky comedic-sounding scenes well as well as the more digital-sounding ones.

Voice acting is fantastic for the characters and they are all voiced by experienced voice actors/actresses. Aoi is voiced by quintessential quintuplets’ Miku voice actress. Mongfa is voiced by food war’s Erina voice actress. Irina is voiced by the much beloved Rei Takahashi. You get the gist. You can expect the voice acting to be top quality.

Renai Flops is a perfect anime for detecting people who drop anime too early or people who don’t pay solid attention to what is going on when watching anime. Renai Flops is a pleasant surprise of an anime this season.

Much like other harems anime, Renai Flops have a very typical start that feels totally formulated for anime in this genre. However, all of this change with a surprise plot twist after the second half of the anime and if you are paying attention while watching the anime, you can see a lot of foreshadowing, not only in the opening music but in the anime itself.

Renai Flops is set in a futuristic world. Our protagonist Asahi Kashiwagi one by one encounters five different girls and all of them fall in love with him rather fast. The five girls move in with him in his house and each has their own dedicated episode ranging from semi-serious to comedic moments. Call me a child but I especially love Karin’s magic girl episode with all the nether region and condom jokes.

Of cause, by now you would have noticed all the over-the-top random thing that is happening every episode and that is because there is a huge plot twist that is waiting to happen in the second half of the anime. Asahi is actually in a simulation and the girls are AI with pieces of memories of his childhood friend.

Even though I somewhat guessed what might be going on and had a feeling something is not right from all the little hints the anime dropped, such as the girls having some kind of shared memory with Asahi, a missing person on the photo frame in Asahi’s room. I still fall into the comfort of the episodic comedic and mild ecchi moments some of them actually make me laugh out loud and it throws me off when the plot did a 180-degree turn. 

Some of the things that happen in the first half all come together and just make sense in the second half. The generic tropes are dialled down and the anime starts to pull all the right heartstrings to shatter my heart but at the same time give some relief before the anime ended. It is quite an emotional ride.

Yes, world-building may not be that good. Some jokes might not fit in well with the viewer. The Ecchi elements are not as strong as let's say Highschool DxD. The plot might become more predictable near the end but I can’t deny the fact that it is still a fun one-time watch anime.

PA works did a solid job with “Akiba Maid Sensou” even if the quality is not on the same level as their recent work “Paripi Koumei”. The first half of the show receives a lot of love while in the other half the quality falls off a bit.

Absolutely love the art direction PA works have taken here. Who would have thought that mixing Moe maid with the Yakuza theme in the 90s would work so well? especially the cute light-hearted scene switching to a darker scene seamlessly with the mix of colour and background usage, especially in the fight scene.

Just in the first episode alone, when Ranko was fighting a group of rival maids with a cutey song but the song is about killing. Turning the knives and guns to represent glow stick otaku used to cheer on performances is also quite a creative reference. Unfortunately, these kinds of scenes become less as the anime went on.

However, don’t get me wrong, the action scenes are still very fluid and well-animated even though gun animation might not be as good as “Lycoris Recoil”. Best of all is the scene compositions and details. The studio successfully nailed Akihabara's 90s looks and with all the maid war happening, it looks grimy.

"Akiba Maid Sensou" have a colourful cast of quite characters from the pacifist and kind protagonist Nagomi, the Cold and emotionless Ranko, the weaselly and coward Tenchou (manager) to a Panda who I initially thought is the cafe mascot but turns out that person is more than that.

Nagomi take up her role perfectly being a newbie to the maid industry and playing the clueless, naive and pacifist character. Nagomi might seem like a simple character at first but her character develops throughout the story as she experiences more of this bloody industry. I also love that the show would sometime make fun of her pacifist and naive nature (which a lot of shounen protagonists have) and show that you need concrete action, especially in a violent environment if you want to change something.

Never in my life have I seen a cowardly, weaselly person like Tenchou in this anime. I feel like I would like to bang her face a few dozen times many times but she is somehow also one of the most entertaining characters and the show would be blander without her presence.

Ranko despite her older age and emotionless behaviour, I am surprised with myself that I think she is the best character in this anime. Her gunplay is top-notch, she kills without blinking an eye but she also loves Oinky Doinky Cafe a lot and cares about her co-worker to the point she is willing to give Nagomi pacifist idea a try or is willing to sacrifice her life for her co-worker. 

As for Panda, you will have to watch the anime and find out as it will end up in deep spoiler territory. Other supporting characters like Yumechi, Zoya and Shiipon are pretty likeable too even though they don’t really have solid screen time.

Since every episode is linked to a character's back story or arc, the show takes character development quite seriously too and uses character story indirectly to build the world and make sense of the story. 

Most of the characters are given time to shine without seeming forceful too however, I also feel that Ranko took up the majority of the character's backstories since her backstories are the like a large chunk of the plot. Doing so somewhat also hurt Nagomi character development a bit.

Akiba Maid War

Maid Daikaiten (メイド大回転) by the Ton Tokoton staff

Maid no Komoriuta (冥途の子守唄) by Ranko Mannen (CV: Rina Sato)

The Pure Maid's Killer Kiss by Yumechi (CV:Minami Tanaka)

Akiba Maid Sensou

Both the opening and ending songs are absolute bangers. The opening is a 90s electronic mix using lines that maids often use in a maid cafe and turning that into a song. Absolutely unique and phenomenal piece.

The ending song is something that you might hear in a game like Yakuza or a Yakuza movie. It fits like a glove for "Akiba Maid Sensou" since the maid in this anime operates as Yakuza does.

All the background music is also well suited for the anime and the scenes, be it a sad moment or in battle. The 90s-style jazz music in action scenes is also perfect for the anime which is set in the same era. I really like that the studio pays attention to what music they use so that it won’t ruin the aesthetic. 

The voice acting of the characters is also fantastic be it the coward slimy Tenchou or Maids switching from cute to scary yakuza mode. They even hire an actual voice actor who comes from Russia to voice Zoya who happens to be a Russian character in the anime. Now that is what I call dedication.

When you hear maid in the otaku culture, what is the first thing that pops up in your mind? Is it their cute "Okaerinasaimase, goshujin-sama!" greeting? Is it the “moe moe kyun” magic spell to make your food taste better? Is it the Omurice with a special message on them? What if I told you "Akiba Maid Sensou" is about maids with deadly weapons who operate like Yakuza? That's right, I am not even joking.

The protagonist Nagomi who wants to be a cute maid decided to work for a cafe called “Oinky Doinky Cafe” which is a pig theme cafe where the maid wears a pig’s ear. Everything was fine and dandy until she was sent out to deliver mail to a rival cafe and her partner Ranko began shooting other maids with her pistol.

I was expecting a "Cute Girl Doing Cute Thing" anime when I went into "Akiba Maid Sensou". I thought the war part might represent friendly competition between maid cafes. Boy, I was wrong and it was a pleasant surprise. 

Maids in this anime operate like Yakuza with family, gun fights, tug war and death being common things. Maid cafes are competitive in Akihabara but the author turning it into actual war is a very unique and creative way of seeing it.

"Akiba Maid Sensou" is overdramatic, cheesy at times, sometimes quite ridiculous, and has no shortage of dark comedy. It sometimes doesn’t take itself seriously but damn it is entertaining to watch. Unlike the Yakuza game series, people here die for real, no pretend dead or the villain is actually a nice guy deep down.

The story run in an episodic manner where mini-arcs are going on in each episode for the characters and they are simple stories. A lot of things they are doing are for the sake of the survival of Oinky Doinky Cafe too. However, as the story progress, a bigger picture eventually reveals. Some of the plot that happens in every episode connect to each other.

I never thought this anime which is over dramatic and over the top would make me on edge every time a gunfight breaks out between Oinky Doinky Cafe and other maid cafes. Never thought I would feel the frustration or anger that the characters felt in the anime too. The show will also mess with genre cliche expectations and turn them upside down.

The world-building is great with the gradual rollout of information from the different characters' perspectives and backstories. The history of the maid industry, how the maid war started and the two giant maid families that control Akiba, etc... Everything you need to know is fed to you. They also nailed the 90s vibe down to the teeth. 

Studio Pine Jam certainly did a solid job with “Do It Yourself!!” art and animation direction. The overall art has a unique style making it look like a children's colouring book which is a perfect fit for a laid-back stress-free anime about DIY. 

The colour palettes are on the lighter side with simple colour choices but due to the multiple shots with lovely lighting, the art looks more than what it is. After watching it, I think any other moe art style might make it less suitable. 

Even though the character design themselves are not very unique, the facial expression they produce, the fluidity of their movement and how natural and charming they look make the character memorable.

The background details are solid too be it in the DIY club shed or Serufu house, they are fairly well populated with details and didn’t feel empty. True, the street and the city shots don’t have a lot going on, sometimes no background characters even but due to the artist's style choice, it somehow feels fine. I guess this is how the studio can save some cost.

The character in “Do It Yourself!!” Are half the reason why the show is fun to watch. They are pretty much in line with other Slice of Life anime so long as you don’t expect some deep dark back stories of a character.

The DIY club members in “Do It Yourself!!” are all unique oddball characters who come with their own quirks though their ability to stand out varies. Among the six members I have to say Serufu, Miku aka Purin and Juliet Queen Elizabeth VIII (Yes that is the actual name) aka Jakbo are the most fun to watch.

Serufu is the protagonist who attends Gatagata Girls’ high school. She is a charming yet clumsy character who is prone to accidents. I know what you are thinking. Isn’t it bad for her to be in a DIY club? Serufu despite her clumsiness and her being behind other DIY club members in terms of her handy work, Serufu pretty much enjoys doing DIY stuff. Not to mention Serufu is the glue that holds the club together with her sweet, kind-hearted, positive and bright personality.

Purin is a childhood friend of Serufu who attend Yuyu girls’ vocational high school. Despite her closeness with Serufu as a child, she can be seen throwing low-tone insult at Serufu on how outdated DIY is but in truth she still cares about Serufu and often help from behind the scene. A classic tsundere move. One of the best parts of the anime is Purin's low-tone insult bouncing off Serufu who is shielded by her positive attitude.

Jakbo is also a memorable character who speaks Japanese with a slight English-sounding accent and would often use English words in between. She is supposed to go to Yuyu high school but ends up in Gatagata high school due to her mixing up her enrollment. Despite her relying on tech, she is pretty much into DIY and would use tech to make DIY easier.

Other characters including Rei who is the president of the DIY and have a burning passion for DIY but she is also the less unique character. Takumi is a shy classmate of Serufu who has a somewhat weak presence and Kokoro is a girl who is like a cat and moves with ninja-like agility.

However, it doesn’t mean the less interesting characters are a waste. It is thanks to them that the flow of dialogue or event feels natural and dynamic such as when Rei found out Takumi is a fan of a certain manga and geeks out about it while taking inspiration from the manga for the DIY club.

Another cute running gag that never gets old is with Serufu’s three pets, Pochi the dog, Tama the cat and Meat the pig. Every time there is pork served for dinner, Meat would hide somewhere and tremble in fear.

Fun fact: Serufu sound like Self in Yourself and Purin sounds like Print in 3D print.

Dokidoki Idea wo Yoroshiku! by Katajou DIY-bu!!

Tsuzuku Hanashiby Serufu (CV: Konomi Inagaki) and Purin (CV: Kana Ichinose)

Do It Yourself!!

The opening song has a very catchy beginning and overall a laid-back, very chill song to listen to. The same goes for the ending, a very soft and easygoing song which didn’t sound generic in any way. You will notice that soft n easygoing songs are a recurring theme in this anime and the same can be said for the background music.

The background music is a mix of instrumental music, minimalistic feeling soft pop or jazzy music. The background music always takes the backstage. It is there to power the scene, and make the user more relaxed by hearing it but will never grab your attention away from the activity happening on the screen.

Voice acting is excellent and suitable for each and every character. Serufu’s voice actress has only a few experiences but she voices Serufu’s voice naturally, making her personality shine. 

I still think the voice actress for Jakbo is still my favourite. The voice actress has experience voicing loli characters who are not only older than they look but also how they sound and that voice makes Jakbo shine. What is more charming is her squeezing in English words frequently with inaccurate pronunciation.

If you have watched and love Cute Girls Doing Cute Thing Slice of Life anime with a niche theme surrounding it, be it guns, tanks or fishing you will be right at home with “Do It Yourself!!”. Much like other cute girls doing cute thing anime that come before “Do It Yourself!!” You can expect to learn a thing or two about the DIY hobby.

Do It Yourself!! Is set in the future where our own real world might be heading one day. Technology is heavily used such as drones doing delivery, 3D printing is widely available, and AI assistants like Google Assistant are widely adopted. Within this anime's world exist two schools. Yuyu girls’ vocational high school is on the cutting edge of technology and Gatagata Girls' high school which is a more traditional school.

Within this heavily tech-dependent world come Serufu who is a simple yet charming protagonist but is also extremely clumsy as shown by how many band-aids she got on her. She one day runs her bike into a pole while on the way to Gatagata Girls’ high school, damaging it only to be fixed by Rei who is happening to pass by. However, little does she know, it was her fainted encounter with Rei who happen to be the president of Gatagata Girls’ high school DIY club which will officially kick off the theme of this anime.

The premises of the story is very simple. Get more members for the DIY club and make things. Conflicts are mostly none serious/low risk and it is one of those anime which you can watch to de-stress. As the story went on, the difficulty level of the DIY project also rises from building a bookshelf and making pretty accessories to building a tree house.

Along the way, you the viewer will also learn a thing or two about DIY. For example, how to screw the screw straight into the wood using a power tool or using UV light to harden a gel. While knowledge giving is present, I feel like they could do it a little more often around the same rate as "Slow Loop" for example.

Once the characters are done with the project, I can totally feel that they are proud of their creation which I can somewhat relate to as someone who build my own desktop PC. Even though it is not as handwork as woodwork, I still feel proud of the desktop I build.

If I have to pick one thing that the show could do better would be to make better use of the high-tech vs low-tech, mass production vs handmade topic. But then, I totally also understand that the show might be less laid back if they do that.

The art and animation department in general is rough. The character art is drawn quite okay but without a lot of details. There are some camera angles where the character's face look a bit strange but most of the time, facial expression are fine.

The main culprit would be the background art. The background has almost no details and using the cartoon-ish filter doesn’t help either. Rooms feel empty. There is absolutely no detail on things like books, teapots, cooking pots, etc... The game console boxes Yuuri was holding in one scene, I can barely tell from the picture on the box that is it a console inside.

The characters in Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii are quite simple without much going for them since every episode is kind of a repeat of things that are happening but in a different scenario. The characters are okay for me but depending on your taste you might or might not like them. The character developments are mostly flat but there are some fun moments to be had.

Yuuri is the protagonist of the anime. I say for a kid who had lost both his parents, alone in a huge mansion by himself, he has a strong mind. I would break if I were in his place. His childlike behaviour is sorta believable, especially the way he is straightforward with his words. Children don’t really mince their words. 

Yuuri sus level of Lilith eventually drops as the anime goes on which I feel kind of defeats the purpose of the anime title. He did man up quite a bit though especially to make sure Lilith doesn’t get taken away.

Lilith is a beautiful maid who one day shows up at Yuuri’s mansion and works for him as his maid. I like Lilith's personality, she has a teasing and flirty personality but at the same time when she got countered by Yuuri, she would blush cutely. Her back story is also tragic and having felt loneliness, she understands Yuuri the best.

The interaction between Yuuri and Lilith would be the highlight of the anime even though it didn’t hit the height of other similar anime such as “Shinigami Bocchan”. The teasing and blushing do get repetitive and unoriginal pretty fast. However, a decent amount of wholesome caring or cute moments are fine.

Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii literally takes the word supporting in the supporting characters to heart. The supporting cast is just there for comedic moments or to create some mild dramas. For example, Gojouin who is Yuuri's classmate is in full fan-girl mode shipping Yuuri and Lilith. She is at the forefront to see Yuuri and Lilith's relationship only to be pulled away by her calm and collected maid Fujisaki. 

The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious

Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii

The opening starts out and end with a unique rhythm but all the middle part sound like generic J-pop. The ending isn’t any better either.

The background music matches the theme of the anime, especially the manor which looks like something out of the renaissance era. The piano and string instrumental pieces are pleasant for the ear but they are not memorable or unique.

The voice acting is solid for all the characters especially the two main ones which you will spend the majority of the time seeing. Yuuri's voice sounds like a child with a good matching voice for all his sus-ing out moments. Lilith is voiced by my favourite VA Rie. She really has mastered the teasing element and did an awesome job morphing her voice to fit Lilith's age and looks.

Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii is a simple comedy slice-of-life anime with some wholesome moments and a plot that didn’t really have an overarching goal. The anime reminds me of “Shinigami Bocchan” but Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii is the inferior version of the two.

The premises are simple. You got a young boy name Yuuri who lost his parents in a car accident and was left alone at his mansion. Due to financial issues, he has to dismiss all his maids and take care of the mansion alone while also tackling the reality of being alone. One day a beautiful maid name Lilith shows up and decided to work for Yuuri for free. 

The running gag of this anime is that Yuuri gets suspicious of Lilith and always keeps his eyes on her. When Lilith confront Yuuri and tease him, Yuuri being a child would be very upfront with his feeling and say things like “Lilith is too suspiciously beautiful” without hesitation resulting in Lilith blushing.

There might be a bit of Shota baiting here but the anime never crossed the line. There is a lot of teasing but the anime near the end shows that Yuuri doesn’t know about different kinds of love and he is not sure which kind of love he has for Lilith either. If you can look pass the Shota baiting, there are some nice wholesome moments and cute scenes. 

The anime did a decent job hiding Lilith's identity and back story until later which make the viewer on board with the “sus” moment Yuuri have on Lilith. Even though I know this is a slice-of-life anime and nothing serious or bad will happen, it still makes me wonder why Lilith is working for Yuuri.

There is also one part where my heart sank when Lilith got a letter asking her to come back to her previous workplace and when another character show up to drag her back to where she used to work. Loneliness is a harsh feeling that I had felt before and I felt bad for Yuuri if Lilith were to leave.

As for the plot, well there is no solid overarching plot or end goal. The anime runs in an episodic manner showcasing daily life, teasing, sus-ing, comedic moment and mild drama to switch things up. Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii is a one-time watch anime if you have nothing to watch. There is plenty of better slice-of-life anime out there.

The art & animation in general for Engage Kiss is pretty great from consistent character art quality and great combat effects to fluid animation for combat scenes. The art & animation may not be as good as Studio A1's recent release "Lycoris Recoil" but it is still good overall.

The character design looks lovely and the details are consistent throughout the anime. Their facial expression is also excellent be it Shuu panicking and serious face or Kisara going yandere mode. Let's not forget the insanely detailed kissing scene between Shuu and Kisara. 

Indoor scene backgrounds are by no means barren and they are fairly detailed with objects but they are not like super detail either. It is a good middle ground enough to make the scene feel less empty. The outdoor scene also has a solid amount of details be it a well-drawn skyscraper, an industrial zone or a park.

The best part of the anime would be its combat animation. Solid choreography, well-animated and fluid fight scene, stunning-looking effects for spells and attacks. The anime is sure to draw you in when looking at its fight scene. It is by no means "Demon Slayer" level combat animation but it is not some lazy combat using close-up camera tricks either. 

The characters and character interaction are the best things about Engage Kiss with all it small details in their relationship, back stories and the unique situation that Shuu and Kisara have. The characters are likeable too without them going full throttle on their initial tropes and adding in layers as the story progress.

Shuu initially gives out an impression of a broke sleaze who slept around with many girls before, but as it turns out, he has lost so much in his life and is dead set on getting revenge on the demon who killed his family. 

The story unveils more about him layer by layer and every time a layer is peeled, our view of him changes but also adds more details for Shuu. Shuu was also giving his memories to Kisara to use her power which makes it sad to watch in the later half as he turns close to a husk and even gives all the memories about an important person to Kisara just so he won’t hesitate to kill the said person.

Kisara the demon girl initially give out a vibe of a yandere but as it turns out it is just used for comedic relief and she is actually quite normal. She cares about Shuu and has a bit of obsession that comes with a normal relationship. 

Kisara give me mixed feeling at first since she is shown to be caring about Shuu but at the same time some part of their relationship feels contractual in nature such as taking memories from Shuu in return for power but all of that take bittersweet 180-degree turn near the end.

Ayano is a mature-looking girl whose initial impression is a clingy ex-girlfriend. Once again it is used for comedic relief which combined with Kisara gives birth to the hilarious scene where Kisara and Ayano are fighting the bad guy together while also trying to kill each other in the process. 

Shuu, Kisara and Ayano's relationship is quite tangled. Ayano despite being a love rival for Kisara and occasionally trying to one-up each other, Ayano still cares about Kisara and more so for Shuu that she would try and help him when possible. The banter between Ayano and Shuu is also fun to watch.

A lot of other supporting characters are mostly flat in terms of characterization but they do come with little surprises and twists. As for the villains, apart from a couple of them, the show doesn’t really make it in a way that the viewer will care about the villain's motives.	

Engage Kiss

The opening song sounds like a piece of generic rock music for me but I do like the ending song, It is cute, unique sounding and catchy.

The background music is by all mean not generic or stock feeling. Not all music is memorable but some are. That one piece of music that seems to be this anime theme song is stuck in my brain and it is quite uplifting music. The sombre scene with piano and string instruments hit right. Pre-combat scene set the suspense tone perfectly too.

Sound effects are well-detailed such as the scene at the train station having the sound of trains passing by or people walking. Scenes like characters walking in shallow water include the sound of the water. In combat, if a character grabbed or hit some objects, such objects also contribute to the sound effect. E.g. When the character grabs the chandelier, it makes its own sound effect.

Voice acting is solid with characters sounding right for their looks and personality. Solid voice acting for Kisara from her normal mode to yandere mode to cute happy girl mode to serious battle mode. Shuu and the other side characters' voice acting are no slouches either.

Engage Kiss is a battle anime with romance and comedy elements. The whole theme and the way the story goes reminds me of anime from the late 2010s like for example “Strike The Blood”.

The anime is set in an independent floating city called Bayron City where people are promised a good life but the city has demon outbreak problems and the city is doing all it can to cover it up. To fight against these demons, the city has private military companies which will bid for demon take-down contracts.

The main character Shuu is the owner of a private military company made up of himself and his partner Kisara who also happens to be a Yandere demon but fighting for Shuu. Shuu would often win the contract mostly because he low ball everyone which in turn made him constantly broke too.

The anime starts out slow and in a very tropey manner with all kinds of cliche but that was slowly changed as the story progressed and transform into a solid story in the end with a decent mystery aspect paving the road with a decent plot twist near the end. 

The characters started out as trope characters like a broke main character, a yandere girl, and a clingy ex-lover but more layers are added as we know more about their backstories. This anime is more about the character than the main story itself.	

The story throughout is fairly simple and easy to understand. However, the build-up of mystery and hidden factors of the plot and character stories keep me hooked. The romance factor which started out as a comedy is transformed into a solid romance story with some bitter-sweet moments. Even though the plot twist might not have as much wow factor, the anime wrap up neatly in a very harem anime way.

Engage Kiss is a 13 episodes anime and like most anime which try to wrap things up in short 12-13 episodes, there is room to mess things up. Engage Kiss's plot did good but was far from perfect. There are plot holes and unanswered questions with some pacing issues which in my opinion having a couple more episodes might fix it.

If I have to describe the art style of Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta, it would be clean. It is nowhere near as good or detailed as “Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru” or “Shiroi Suna no Aquatope” but it is pretty much in line with the studio's other recent Slice-of-life works like “Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun” or “Hige wo soru”.

The character designs are rather generic and bland but it also kind of makes sense since the anime is going for a more realistic tone. However, there are ways to make a character memorable while making the character less generic like “Hige wo soru” did with Sayu.

The backgrounds are better than some of the budget Slice-of-life rom-com animes. For example, "Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won't Lose" which got empty halls and rooms. The backgrounds in this anime are pretty decent in detail with rooms populated with objects such as Mizuto's room filled with books while Yume's room has a girly cute aesthetic. Outdoor scenes are also decently detailed such as the dating scene between the two protagonists.

Animations are fine or should I say standard affair. The anime is not animation heavy but the animation it have are decent both for movement and facial. There is even one pretty solid egg whisking scene.

Not everyone will like the characters in Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta and for an anime that heavily relies on its character to carry the show, it might be a deal breaker for some viewers.

Mizuto reminds me of Hachiman from OreGairu but he kind of fails to pull it off properly. He is your edgy loner protagonist who put up a front but is actually kind-hearted. He may read a lot of books but in practice, it is a different matter. He was shown to have insecurities throughout the anime but his character development stays pretty flat.

Yume used to be an insecure introvert person who struggle to make friends and find comfort in reading books. Dating Mizuto in middle school, Mizuto become a bastion for Yume until she makes more friends as she grows and moves forward while Mizuto was left behind.

Looking at Mizuto and Yume’s past, it is clear that they bonded over the love of books but a lot of their personality and quality are different. Instead of being honest about it, both sides put up a fake front like we did a lot in a relationship. We want the other to see our best quality but not our flawed side too and when those flawed sides show up, things suddenly become a deal breaker.

The present-day Mizuto and Yume are different from their past and the interaction between them is fairly fun to watch since it is half sibling-like but half couple-like interactions. After fussing at each other, the anime treats us with wholesome romantic moments which make things worthwhile. 

The anime also did a good job at showing the characters coming to terms with their feeling and their past. Especially for Yume who finds closure and takes new action with a more honest front.

Another interesting character besides the two protagonists would be Higashira who happens to be Mizuto's close friend sharing bonding once again over their love of books. I like Higashira's straight forward honest introverted personality and the random weird lines she says. I think she would be more suitable for Mizuto but the author has a different plan for her. Higashira is used as a catalyst to push Yume forward.

The other character apart from the three mentioned above would be Minami and Kawanami. Both side characters are used to fill the need of the plot. Minami as cute as she looks is your typical cheerful character who would poke their nose into everyone's business. Don’t have much to talk about Kawanami. He is that one character who is there for comedic moments.

My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex

Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta

The opening and ending songs are both cute and suitable for the anime but the opening sounds generic to me. I like the ending song way more but they are not really play-list worthy for me.

The background music sound very slice-of-life style with its piano and string instrument for chill or sombre moment and funky music for comedic moments. They are not memorable unfortunately nor good enough to be played as background music in my room.

The sound effects are pretty much standard, nothing outstanding. Voice acting is solid and sounds natural for all the characters.

Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta is essentially an incest anime but not really since the two characters are not blood-related even though I can’t help but get some “Oreimo” vibe initially.

If we are to compare with “Oreimo”, I say “Oreimo” is more on the comedy, incest side while Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta is on the romance, drama side. As for the people hoping for a spiritual successor to the spicy "Domestic Girlfriend", this isn’t it folks. 

The story follows Yume and Mizuto who used to be in a relationship when they were in middle school but broke up after a while. In a twist of fate, Mizuto’s dad remarried Yume’s mum and they are now step-siblings. The duo now have to deal with not only being step-siblings but also their lingering feeling about each other.

If you have watched plenty of rom-com anime, this anime story would not be that new to you. You have your typical day-to-day life of two characters, school events, somewhere along the line a challenger will appear to make rival in romance, etc... At least it is not boring and the character made up for it.

Comedy is not the type that will make you laugh out loud. It is more of Yume and Mizuto making a fuss at each other and trying to one-up each other. The anime then follow up with them making up, reminiscing the past on what they could have done or triggering some romantic and wholesome event.

One thing the anime did quite well is showing the relationship aspect of Yume and Mizuto’s past. It reminds me of middle school to high school time when we would fall in love, obsess with said person, get jealous and later break up for a petty reason. 

The anime makes me look back and think “What if I have done things differently”. The anime also highlights the fact that communication with your partners is important in a relationship and that it would be better to talk things out than ghosting each other.

The pacing overall is good but I do not read the LN so I have no clue what was skipped. The story did lead up to finding closure from the breakup for Yume at least and got her feeling more sorted out and honest.

The arts & animations may not be movie quality but Studio A1 bring their A game for Lycoris Recoil. It has a very clean and well-polished art style overall with great animation. On the surface, it looks like a slice-of-life anime but when the action starts, boy they are well animated.

Character designs are unique and solid, the uniform alone is recognizable and won’t get mixed up with other animes. What's more, the animator did a great job making sure the characters are cute in slice-of-life moments and badass in action sequences. 

Slow slice-of-life moments such as the cafe or the shopping date have a high amount of details not only in character animation and facial animation but also in the background details. There are a lot of cute and priceless facial expressions. The LycoReco cafe background alone is chock-full of personality. The details are only skimmed on unimportant scenes such as the classroom Chisato and Takina visit.

Let's talk about the action. Boy, it is smooth. The gun animation is super realistic be it shooting, recoil, or reloading all feels realistic but fun to watch. Nothing less was expected from an anime that consulted a shooting expert. Not only that, the action sequences are full of adrenaline rush moments which only rise in level as the anime went on.

The characters in Lycoris Recoil especially the two protagonists are the best part of the show. The development of Takina is solid without going overboard and the interaction between Takina and Chisato is so organic and nothing short of awesome. The anime did a great job showing how the two characters grow with one another.

Chisato and Takina are two characters with totally opposite personalities. They are like day and night different. Chisato is a bright, cheerful and happy-go-lucky character who does things her own way and doesn’t really care about what others think of her. She stands steadfast in her belief. She uses none lethal bullet believing that the life she got from Alan Institute is so that she can value other people's lives too.

Around mostly mature casts, Chisato’s personality stands out a lot. Her personality is very contiguous and it slowly changes and affects people around her too. You know what they said, being with positive people makes you more positive. This change is especially noticeable with Takina. 

Takina starts out as the total opposite of Chisato, she is a hardcore realist. She will shoot to kill and do anything as long as it is logical. Anything extra in life is deemed unnecessary for her. At first, Takina was puzzled about Chisato choosing not to kill and her overall personality but Takina slowly opens up to Chisato and she starts to change throughout the anime.

Takina would choose to shoot at none-lethal areas. She would enjoy her time working at LycoReco and the date with Chisato where Takina awkwardly does the fish pose or makes Chisato do the handstand in a class are some of the best highlights of her character. Takina slowly becomes Chisato's best friend and the chemistry between the two makes some of us wish we have friends like that too. 

What's funny is that instead of sharing the emotion with the actual main character Chisato, I end up following Takina’s emotions ranging from frustration, anger and happiness she felt. Takina is definitely not a generic sidekick who got inserted and got outshined by the main protagonist. The show won’t be complete without the two of them together and the organic relationship and interaction the two have.

There is also a strong cast of supporting characters like Mika who is a fatherly character with some history. Mizuki is an older sisterly type character and Walnut is a super hacker with her own fun personality. There are other characters like Fuki and Sakura from DA too which help add some drama to the anime.

The antagonists are interesting too even though Majima might resemble Joker a bit and Alan Institute is shrouded in mystery. 

Majima in my eyes isn’t a 100% evil character. He is resourceful, he is intelligent and his motive to expose the truth about DA to the public, I respect it even though he seems to be going at it the wrong way. Majima having good hearing makes for some great gun duelling scenes with Chisato's ability to predict bullet trajectory.

Lycoris Recoil

The opening song sound decent but a little bit generic for me. However, combining it with its visual, it was able to bring out the two different genre themes of Lycoris Recoil and are treated with Chisato and Takina in multiple different outfits. The ending song is nothing short of perfection. It is a more light-hearted song with a very catching tone with cute visuals accompanying it. Love it.

Background music hit the right note for its scenes and you can tell they give a lot of attention to crafting the music. From the slow drum beating sound of suspense moments to more fast pace impactful music of action sequences, the anime transits between these sequences really well. Even though I may not remember all the background music, the music does it excellent job at elevating it scene be its sombre moments, cute moment or high-speed actions. 

Combat sound effects are fantastic. Guns sound realistic with good impact. Different guns have different sounds from a pistol or pistol with a silencer to assault rifles. Bullet impact, gun ricochet, explosion, and glass shattering all sound believable. Nothing less is expected from an anime focusing on gun combat. 

The voice acting is faultless. Each and every character's voice suit their personality really well ranging from the main characters to the side characters. Even Fuki and Sakura who only show up from time to time have solid voice acting.

Don’t let the poster of Lycoris Recoil fool you. This is not just any other slice-of-life cute girl doing cute thing anime. This is a great anime with full-on high-speed action with a combination of slice-of-life elements.

First, let's talk about the premises of the story. The story is set in fictional Japan where the crime rate is at all-time low thanks to DA (Direct Attack) who work behind everyone in secret with a powerful AI mainframe and surveillance system on the city. DA also use orphan girl, train them to be armed agents  and let them handle all kind of crime and terrorist attacks.

One said girl is Chisato, a prodigy agent with the ability to predict and dodge the bullet. She works at LycoReco which is a cafe from the outside but also take on task coming from DA. Another girl is Takina who disobey the order from DA and got sent to LycoReco as punishment. There she must work with Chisato and get used to her new life.

I am surprised that this anime is worked on by lesser reputed people like authors of Ben-To or artists who worked on This Art Club Has a Problem!. This just goes to show that lesser reputed authors can also produce great work while reputed authors can also mess things up like the recent Platinum End from Death Note authors.

The story is simple and isn’t doing anything unique but it doesn’t change the fact that it is quite fun to watch not because of the plot itself but because of the character, Chisato and Takina and their story. It is the character chemistry that makes this anime shine. In fact, there are some plot points which I think could use some extra explanation or plot that were a tad bit messy.

What is amazing is that the anime merged two genres, action and slice of life together so seamlessly and naturally. Instant of going full acceleration on the action department, there are downtimes in between where Chisato and Takina can reflect on things or enjoy life as normal girls and these moments are some of the best in the slice-of-life genre. 

Moments like the sakana (fish) pose Takina did at the aquarium or the layered parfait which turn out to look like poop or the handstand meme are born from the slice of life moment of the anime which are both wholesome and funny.

Of cause that doesn’t mean the action department is lacking either, there are a lot of high-octane action moments in the story too. To top that off we have DA covering up for every incident so that the public won’t know plus hackers.

There is also a mystery factor with a secret organization called Alan Institute. Alan Institute will make you ask questions throughout the show like what the organization is about or what is their connection with Chisato or what is their end game.

Lycoris Recoil made me feel all kinds of emotions from feeling optimistic, and pure wholesome happiness to worry and anxiety near the end of the anime. It has evoked anger in me, especially on the villains while at the same time, it has made me come to terms with things and forgive the characters too.

Being an anime original and fitting the story into 13 episodes can be quite a challenge and some anime mess up the pacing of the anime but Lycoris Recoil is not one of them. The anime is paced nicely and everything wraps up quite neatly.

Asuna The Goddess of Creation Stacia 1/7 Scale figure by Aniplex may look simple at first due to her dress being white and light pink but looking closer, it is a well-detailed figure.

The dress flows beautifully with all the wavey shapes and curves. The wrinkles are realistic and even got wrinkles on her stocking where her kneel is bent. There are also wrinkles on her stomach near where the hole cutout is. A nice detailed touch. 

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