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.

Isekai Yakkyoku is definitely not a high-budget anime and it shows in the art & animation department. If you have seen a more recent release from Studio Diomedea such as The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent, then you can expect the same kind of animation quality which is decent and get the job done but won’t blow you away.

Character designs are a tad bit on the generic side but there are character designs that I like such as Elisabeth II. Background details are average, don’t look too detailed and don’t feel empty either.

There is not a lot of animation happening due to the nature of the anime and its plot which is mostly talking and diagnosing people. There are some cases of conflict and battle, which for an anime that is not combat focus did fairly well, especially on animating the spells. 

Isekai Yakkyoku is a story focus anime with a weaker focus on the character. The characters in Isekai Yakkyoku are super likeable even though the character development takes a baby step or is rather flat. The anime mostly follows the protagonist Farma while the rest of the character support Frama.

Isekai-ed into the body of a child name Farma with the knowledge of modern medical knowledge, the protagonist is a kind person who upholds the doctor’s oath of helping people regardless of status, race and religion. 

When he first got Isekai-ed, he give out a natural reaction with a bit of confusion and acceptance later about his situation and his new family much like how Maye did in Ascendance of a Bookworm. The only major difference is that Maye's acceptance felt more natural while Frama's one feel a bit unpolished. Nevertheless, the relationship develops with his new family, especially the sister who he sees as someone to protect in place of the sister he lost in the previous life.

Being in a high-ranking noble family, Both Farma’s parents, Bruno and Beatrice give out a more traditionalist vibe at first. It was nice to see Bruno allowing Farma to cure a very important person after a bit of protest from Farma and finally accepting the fact that Farma is way more skilled than him making him quite a father. 

Not to mention both Bruno and Beatrice support Farma when he open his own pharmacy both directly and indirectly. The way they try to disguise and visit Farma’s pharmacy when he doesn’t have any customers is quite wholesome.

The rest of the cast is mostly supporting characters used to fill the need of the plot. Charlotte is a childhood friend of Farma and has a master-servant relationship with Farma. Eleonore is Farma private tutor who at first got afraid of Farma’s ridiculous magic power and the lack of shadow but later decided to support him.

The major villain at the end is weak with very little foreshadowing and introduction done about him which makes me not care much about him or his motives. However, the anime more than make up for it with other rivals such as the stubborn nobles from the Pharmacy guild and major disease outbreaks.

Parallel World Pharmacy

Isekai Yakkyoku

The opening song even though it fit the anime’s theme, doesn’t really do it for me but the ending song, now that is a piece of good slow music that I can get behind.

Background music is not memorable but did a really good job at making sure it fits the scene and is era-appropriate with string and piano instruments. Moments like when Farma compound new medicine has mysterious magical vibe music while conflict has a more intense sounding JRPG-ish battle music.

Voice acting is solid with character sounding their age and their personality. All the voice actors and actresses including the side characters are voiced by people who have a sizable amount of experience.

If you have read a couple of my Isekai anime reviews, you would probably know that I love Isekai anime which comes with its unique twist, be it book-making, business management or country management. Isekai Yakkyoku fit into such Isekai anime with a unique premises category.

The protagonist is a 21st-century medical researcher who dies of overwork while looking for a cure for a disease on behalf of his deceased sister who happened to succumb to said disease. He was Isekai-ed with all his memories and medical knowledge into the body of Farma de Medicis who reside in what looks to be a colonial era fantasy world.

Farma is blessed with the mark of the Panactheos, the god of medicine. This allows him to diagnose disease with one of his eyes, the ability to create/destroy chemicals and cast powerful magics. The family he is now with are nobles who own the leading pharmacy school with the dad who is a famous and respected doctor.

I won’t be surprised if you draw a comparison to the Ascendance of a Bookworm since the two are kind of similar, one dealing with bookmaking in an era where books are a luxury while Isekai Yakkyoku deals with medicine in an era where medical knowledge is lacking. Though if I have to compare the two, the Bookworm anime have the upper hand due to better story writing, details, flow and character.

Some of you who have watched Drug Store in Another World might draw a comparison with it too. However, Drug Store in Another World is a laid-back slice-of-life anime which I wish goes deep on the medical side. Isekai Yakkyoku fulfilled that wish with much deeper detail in medical knowledge.

Especially now with the world facing the covid-19 pandemic, Isekai Yakkyoku drops at a perfect time when most people are medically conscious. You will learn quite a bit about medicine and procedures such as the cure for tuberculosis, the advantages of wearing a mask, the existence of bacteria and much more. At the same time, the anime struck a good balance at making sure it doesn’t go too deep that you will a PhD in medicine and also make sure the story is entertaining and engaging.

Much like Ascendance of a Bookworm, Isekai Yakkyoku is not about combat even though it does have some combat in it. The combats are decent for an anime that does not revolve around combat. Isekai Yakkyoku deals mainly with diagnosing, medicine and politic.

I like that the anime hasn’t forgotten that Farma is introducing radical changes to medicine and medical equipment which would take hundreds of years to discover naturally. It is bonded to cause a chain reaction. The changes are not praised by everyone especially stubborn close-minded noble and doctors not accepting Farma and seeking to harm him and his business.

Even though I didn’t quite like the way the major villain near the end just popped up without a lot of introduction and got destroyed rather fast, the pacing of the anime is excellent and the anime wrap up in a fairly satisfying way with a major disease outbreak event even though the story is not finished yet.

The name Studio Silver Link doesn’t really inspire quality animation. Their works are average to above average at best recently. The studio did alright for Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru. It won’t be winning any award or inspiring others or blowing people's minds but the studio got the job done just fine with decent quality, details and pleasant colour choices.

If you are familiar with the author Yamamoto's other works, you would be familiar with his art style for the characters with mega foreheads. I won’t be surprised if he has a forehead fetish but joke aside, his character designs for girls are cute and on par with his other works. The studio also did a great job following the author's art style as closely as possible.

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru doesn’t have a lot of animation or movement but when it comes to the facial expression of the character like Urushi, Maki or Takeru, the anime give us a lot of meme-able, cute or funny expressions.

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru’s characters are extremely likeable but at the same time, they are unoffensive which is to be expected from a light-hearted rom-com anime. The character development mostly stays flat but it is the interaction between them that is fun to watch.

Ayumu is a straight face kind of guy who can give a compliment to Urushi with a stone-cold face. He is a rare species in the sea of rom-com protagonists which helps him stand out. His blunt straightforward personality plus the ability to compliment like a Giga chad to make Urushi blush and give out all kinds of expressions are a treat for the audience. Some of his compliments are borderline hinting to Urushi that he like her.

At the same time, Ayumu would try hard to beat Urushi so that he can confess to her which is admirable. To top that off, he also helps Urushi with various things resulting in some nice wholesome moments which make me want to go back to my high school days.

Urushi is what you get when you do a 180-degree turn on Takagi’s personality. She easily blushes and is on the timid side. She would occasionally try to get back at Ayumu stone cold compliments only to fail spectacularly.

Takeru is a close friend of Ayumu and he is also in a similar situation as Ayumu. He has a crush on Sakurako who is a shy and quiet person. As the side couple, Takeru and Sakurako duo are a sight to see. Not only they are wholesome but also come with comedic relief such as Sakurako using hypnotism on Takeru. There are times I literally enjoy seeing this pair compared to the main pair.

Maki who is Urushi friend is also a pretty fun character. She makes the scene fun and energetic and overall the best wing-woman Urushi could ask for.

Then we have Rin, who at first act as a person who would throw a spanner between Ayumu and Urushi's relationship but later become someone who helps Ayumu out despite her own feeling. Love the fact that she instantly changes the way she addresses someone from a position of respect to a lower level if they lose to her in something, be it kendo or shogi. 	

The running joke with rom-com anime is that the main character would spend the whole 12 episodes achieving nothing. While that may be half true for this anime, at least Ayumu start out aware of his feeling and Urushi confirmed her own feeling at the end of the episode. Not to mention Ayumu's shogi skill improve a lot at the end of the anime.

When Will Ayumu Make His Move?

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

Both opening and ending songs are cute and pretty relaxing to listen to but if I have to pick one, I would pick the opening song. Not only does it fit the theme of the anime, but also super cute and sounds unique enough compare to the ending song.

The background music is also very relaxing with a lot of piano music which is a great compliment for anime of this type. They are not memorable or overly unique but really good in-the-moment type of music. Sound effects are solid from the crisp sound of a shogi wooden piece being put down on the board to the comedic moment. 

Voice actings are nicely done and did a good job portraying Ayumu stone cold face or voice for multiple ranges of facial expressions that Urushi did in the anime. What's more amazing is that Urushi’s voice actress is a newbie and she nailed the voice perfectly. The side characters also have solid voice acting and are in line with Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san’s quality.

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru runs in the same vein as Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. It is a low-risk, relaxing, drama-free, wholesome kind of rom-com anime and if you love Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san chances are you will like Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekur too.

The premises of the show is fairly simple. Ayumu who was the middle school kendo champion fell in love with Urushi and instead of joining the kendo club, he end up joining the unofficial shogi club which Urushi is the one and the only member of. From there on, Ayumu makes a vow that if he can beat Urushi at shogi fair and square, he would confess his love to her.

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru may feel like a simple palette swap or character switch of Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san at first but it comes with its own unique appeals. Unlike Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, the girl is on the receiving end now while the boy is on the giving end but it is not about teasing and more of complimenting. 

When Ayumu gives Urushi compliments, Urushi would then blush, give all kinds of facial expressions and act all cute and it is quite a sight to see. Besides the complimenting stuff, the anime also have shogi in it even though it doesn't go deep into it and its use as a plot device which I honestly wish the anime would go a bit deep into it.

The anime runs in an episodic manner just like Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. Ayumu and Urushi would interact with each other, doing high school student stuffs like recruiting new members for the club, playing shogi, sports events, helping out at school festival, etc... 

Unlike Takagi from Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Ayumi is just complimenting Urushi thus it is limited on how creative complimenting a person can go whereas in Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Takagi and Nishikata would come up with a plan to one-up each other which is absent from this anime.

The big upgrade compares to Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san is the side story that is happening between the side characters. They are more interested in Soredemo Ayumu and the romance going on there can equally rival the main duo.

The anime did a really solid job at showing the point of view of the two duos. It won't be half as engaging if we don’t know the internal emotion, thought process and motive the two characters have. Because their internal thoughts and emotion are made available to the audience, it is easier to understand the character and cheer for them.

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru may not replace or reach the height of Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san and might be on a tad bit predictable side when it comes to the story. However, if you are a fan of light-hearted, rom-com anime, you will no doubt enjoy Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru. It is still a really fun rom-com anime.  

Vermeil in Gold anime is done by Staple Entertainment studio which only has one project under their belt as of the writing of this review. I say the art and animation in general are surprisingly pretty solid for a studio without any reputation.

There are some really nice scenes which put some of the low-tier studios to shame and at the same time capture the vibe of the theme pretty well. Unfortunately, there is a huge drop in quality in the last few episodes.

The character designs are pretty solid and differentiate fairly well from other magic fantasy school-type anime. Using the virgin killer sweater on Vermeil may look like an odd choice initially but the design work and it is now stuck in my eyes.

The background arts are pretty solid with a textured filter. Places like the library and Alto’s room look decent with enough detail in the background.

General animation for movements and facial expressions is quite fine but The weakest part of the anime would be the combat animation. The camera angle feels weird in some scenes where both sides are throwing magic at east other. Spell animations could have been better too.

Characters in Vermeil in Gold are quite likeable though they are very trope heavy. We have Vermeil a demon milf, Alto a good-hearted but cannot handle girls well protagonist, Lilia a tsundere who is in love with the protagonist and so on. A lot of screen time goes to Alto and Vermeil.

I don’t really like Alto at first. He has a very harem protagonist don’t know how to handle a girl type of personality but I like that he changes later as Vermeil keeps pushing on him and he manages to grow a pair and do what has to be done. Alto also feels somewhat like a typical good naive but bland protagonist but that also changes throughout the anime.

Alto also has a solid aim that he wants to achieve and the anime doesn’t make Alto targeted by a hoard of other side girls but only by Lilia who later pretty much back off and become a side character. 

I like that the anime showcase Alto and Vermeil as the main couple and the fact that we can see some sort of progression in Alto such as being comfortable with Vermeil, his magic skill, him finding it in him to love Vermeil, becoming a selfless character and so on.

Vermeil is the best character in the anime who is not just a mommy milf but has a cocky and horny personality. She enables all the ecchi moments in the anime to happen while also being a strong character.

Vermeil has an air of mystery when she was first summoned by Alto and we know nothing about her but that change when the anime give a solid back story of her which add not only a really good character drama but also shows the less “ara ara onee-san” side and a more cute and vulnerable side of her.

Well, not a lot to say about Lilia though. She is a tsundere character who is in love with Alto and has some beef against Vermeil. She is a comedic relief character who was later pretty much got sidelined as the story moves along.

We also get to see some mildly interesting characters such as Chris who has a very powerful dragon familiar and Rex who has a dinosaur for his familiar. We also see characters from the student council but barely get to know about them. Let's just say a lot of side characters have a flat development or we barely know much about them.

We barely know much about the villains too apart from the fact that they are quite an eccentric bunch of people and they mostly work in the background. The guy who does show up near the end has a basic and typical goal of destroying the world.

Vermeil in Gold

Kinsou no Vermeil- Gakeppuchi Majutsushi wa Saikyou no Yakusai to Mahou Sekai wo Tsukisusumu

The opening song sounds good albeit a bit on the generic side but the ending song is really nice and is well suited for the theme of the anime plot, especially for Vermil's character story which is about sadness, loneliness and torments. 

Background music may not be memorable but it works well for the scenes they are played on. The background music is nice to listen to with its more instrumental wind, string and piano music.

The sound effects are pretty solid in general. The sound effects for the goofy moments are crisp and suitable for the scene. Sound effects in combat are good enough but won’t hurt to have a little bit more punching power and uniqueness.

The Voice acting is great. Almost all character voice match their character and their personality. Vermil voice might be a bit on the softer side and could have sounded more “Ara Ara” to match her looks. 

Vermeil in Gold is a none Isekai Fantasy anime which in a sense reminds me of some of the classic magic fantasy ecchi-themed anime like Zero No Tsukaima but with a less intriguing or unique story.

Our protagonist Alto is a student at a magic academy who was not able to summon a familiar was about to have to repeat a year when he found an old grimoire and try to summon something as instructed by the grimoire. He successfully summoned Vermeil, a demon but not just any demon, a sexy, hot, milf demon with calamity-level power.

Vermeil in Gold is still in the end ecchi first and story second so let's talk about that first. The ecchi in this anime compare to some of the ecchi anime in the past like Highschool DxD or Rosario to Vampire is quite mild. You won’t be seeing pantsu or oppai. Oppais are mostly covered with something like hands, hair, object or using camera tricks. What you will get is a lot of kissing scenes and innuendos.

The story is okay. It is not unique and feels very formulated as if the author look at previous similar works and copied the whole structure but forget to give its own unique soul. For new weebs who have never watched fantasy ecchi anime before, this anime story would be pretty good but for veteran weebs, it is just okay. Good enough to not make me bored.

The story move bit by bit and didn’t tell much in this season. Alto tries to hide the fact that Vermeil is a demon and tries to go about his daily life in the first few episodes but gets caught up in fights. They later got pulled into mysterious things happening around the campus like people and their familiar going berserk or an instructor going mad scientist mode without knowing who really is pulling the string until later on. The villains mostly move in the background until one of them openly shows up near the end of the anime. 

Much like the villains’ motives, the student councils are also very sus and have some hidden motive which is still largely unknown at the point of end of the season and as always we don’t know if season 2 is going to happen.

I like the theme of the anime. It is very Harry Potter like but less dark and more ecchi. The world-building is pretty average. We got to know the basic info about the magic academy, the magic measuring system and so on but it doesn’t go much deeper.

Art & Animation of Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life is pure bare bone minimum. There is very little animation and the art itself is bland and generic. 

The first episode of any anime is where the studio would spend the budget making it look nice, but in Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life, even the first episode animation with powerful spells didn’t look good. A lot of things such as spell effects, backgrounds, towns, and the monster just look bland and unpolished with very little animation.

As for the character design, if you think other Isekai Kirito clones are generic, this guy Yuuji will make you look back and think the other Kirito clones are quite decent. The dude has a low-effort outfit and barely has facial animations since he is made to be lifeless. His monsters such as the Slimes, Proud wolf (yes that is an actual name) and Dryad have better facial animation and range of emotion being conveyed.

Fights of causes are done with camera tricks and close-up shots to make it seem like a fight and to hide the fact that the animation has no choreography animations. E.g. a slime will shoot a fireball and the camera will cut to the monster with a gaping hole in its body.

The characters are equally as bad as the story with most characters having a flat to no characterization or development. To begin with, the protagonist Yuuji himself is a bland character and a lot of side characters are one-offs which are forgotten after Yuuji moved on to the next town. There is very little meaningful interaction with other characters too.

Yuuji is an uninteresting, bland and emotionless character. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of emotionless characters who are great characters and excel at making things better, be it by their action, creativity, charm, character development or having a purpose for the plot. E.g. Rei from Evangelion or Ayanokouji from Classroom of Elite. Yuuji is none of that, he is just lifeless and boring.

Side characters were no better since a lot of them are one-off character with very little personality and are forgotten soon as Yuuji move on to the next town. Important characters or villains are introduced too late into the anime and barely any effort is made on why the viewer should care about them.

As for the villains. They pop up and they die. That's about it. They barely got much backstory or explanation. The final boss shows up, he got his arse kicked within an episode by Yuuji and he is gone.

The monsters Yuuji tamed have a much brighter personality and characterization compared to everyone else in the anime. The multiple slimes despite us barely even knowing each of their names has fun personalities. Proud Wolf has a coward personality which he later managed to turn around and man up.

My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World

Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life- Dai-2 no Shokugyou wo Ete, Sekai Saikyou ni Narimashita

Both the opening and ending songs are ok but they are not doing it for me. The opening sounds generic while the ending may be cute, it is just that, cute and nothing more.

While the background music may not feel out of place for most scenes and I do like some of the rock music used in some combat scenes, I can help but notice that majority of the background music is generic-sounding tracks. They are unmemorable and could be mistaken for any other low-budget Isekai anime.

I do not notice any sound effects out of place or awkwardly missing but sound effects much like most of the background music are generic-sounding tracks and sometimes lack the “ooof” the scene needs in some combat scenes.

I can’t blame the voice actor Kobayashi-san for Yuuji’s voice since he voiced the main character in Tomodachi Game perfectly. My guess is, that it is the voice direction that the studio/director wants. Emotionless and monotone. I like the voice direction of the slimes or even the Proud wolf better than Yuuji.

From the very start, I am just going to say, “Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life” is an uninspiring Isekai anime which is even worse than some of the bad Isekai anime like “Shinka no Mi” or “Shikkakumon”.

The story...well there is no proper story, to begin with. The story starts in the middle of nowhere. Protagonist Yuuji is already a pretty strong tamer/mage with multiple slimes, a wolf and a dryad in a game-like fantasy world. The anime does explain a bit about how he got Isekai-ed but with very little effort via a 20-second flashback.

For half the anime, it felt like Yuuji is just wandering around different towns and villages doing some mundane side quests or fighting whatever enemies pop up. Despite having a bigger story of a big bad cult in the background, the anime did a bad job showing, foreshadowing and explaining to the viewer on the villain's motive. A lot of important characters, enemies and plot points are introduced too late into the anime.

At least in other Isekai power fantasy anime, we can enjoy the anime by following the protagonist from the beginning and seeing the protagonist figuring out the in and out of the world, learning new spells and trying things out. You will get no such pleasure from Tensei Kenja no Isekai Life since all those learning stages are skipped and Yuuji somehow already have a lot of powerful spell in his game like menus that pop up in front of him.

To make matter worse, there is no proper system put in place. The anime show MP going down but it doesn’t stop the protagonist from using the spell and going into negative MP and using his HP to cast more spell. Spell costs are also inconsistent. In some scenes, we will see Yuuji cast a big spell almost using all his MP while in another scene we will see him spamming powerful spells while his MP goes down slow.

The way combat is shown in this anime remove all the suspense factor that viewer might feel since we know Yuuji is just going to win somehow without struggling. Yuuji will pull out a perfect spell every time and win effortlessly without fighting his opponent in a more creative way. Plus, the spells he pulls out are boring and generic despite having access to tones of spells and combinations he can do as shown by the game-like menus in the anime multiple times.

The art and animation aspect of Tomodachi Game is hit or miss but overall quite solid and gets the job done.

The character design looks like the usual general school uniform character design and they are fairly okay detail-wise. What is handled really well is the facial expression of each character from shock to evil smirking faces. The anime won’t be half as thrilling without the character's facial expression. However, there are also some normal scenes where the character drawing quality drop even though they are close up on the camera and not far off.

The background arts are decent too with an okay amount of details. It gets the job done. The indoor scene got a decent amount of decoration in the background. The outdoor scene looks decent but then it is just trees and bushes anyway.

CG are not the best. I can tell what is done using CG but at the very least it somewhat blends into the 2D art style. What I like about the anime is the visual effect, well most of it. It is not the best but it set the tone of the anime really well such as all the dark particles coming out of Yuuichi. The black background against evil grin with picture and text effects and so on.

Characters are super interesting even though their development is not so deep. The initial impression of the character in Tomodachi Game would be generic but all of them hide some dark secret to the point I didn’t expect it. An innocent quiet girl who has sold some services for money, a rich happy-go-lucky guy who was accused of murder and so on.

New characters that are introduced also bring a new air of mystery into the plot and even one-time characters which we have only seen for a few episodes have some history about them with a solid role to play. Of cause for this season's Tomodachi Game Yuuichi takes the cake followed by his friend Tenji.

Yuuichi is the most impressive character and he is extreme. The best I can describe him is that he has a conflicting personality. One side of him tells him friends are the most important thing in the world while the other side is all about money and winning. He has no problem hurting his friends emotionally while at the same time can also show kindness and forgiveness to them.

Yuuichi is also unpredictable which makes him a great character in this anime especially when it comes to mind games. He plans everything by looking into the smallest details and accounting for all outliers and issues. Yuuichi shines after every game where he reveals his whole plan and leaves me with my mouth wide open.

Tenji on the surface look like a cool mature guy but have quite an evil mind where he wants to destroy the group friendship just to have one of the girls in the group for himself. Some of the plans he comes up with are pretty witty and he try to pull a lot of Yuuichi moves with planning thing out. However, he is nowhere near Yuuichi in the end and it is quite satisfying to watch his smirking face wiped by Yuuichi. 

Even the antagonists or opponents who are not part of Yuuichi's group are interesting and come with some nice plot twists even though they are only there for like three episodes. The opponents who show up at the third game even come with their own little neat history about their group.

Maria is a mysterious girl which the Tomodachi Game’s management sent to assist Yuuichi and Tenji in one of the games. She has a cute and innocent front but a total 180 degrees when it comes to her true personality. Let's just say I like her character and that is the only reason she is in this part of the review.

As a viewer, it is still hard to tell who is the culprit that signs up for the Tomodachi Game so far since it can be any of the five in the group. Some of them have turned to the worse of the worse person but later return to a good person again. Some of them are pointing fingers and blaming each other and we will only know the truth if the anime goes on for more seasons which I hope it does.

Tomodachi Game

Both the opening and ending songs are not only suitable for the anime theme but also very dope. Totally playlist-worthy material. 

The background music while not memorable is not some generic-sounding music and adds value to the scene they are played on. It set the atmosphere right for each scene, especially for the suspense and mind games.

Voice actors and actresses are fairly experienced but not to the point that they are super experienced and are big names. However, they did a more than a solid job at voicing the character's different states of emotion, especially for Yuuichi who has one insane voice-acting performance behind the character. 

Some people might draw Tomodachi Game in comparison to Squid Game or might even say, Tomodachi Game copied Squid Game but I just want to put it out there, Tomodachi Game manga started in 2013. Even though they may seem similar at first, Tomodachi Game is quite different both in terms of stake and aim.

The anime is about five friends who one day got kidnapped and forced to participate in a game called “Tomodachi Game”. The reason for being forced into this game is because one of them has racked up twenty million yen in debt and signed up for the game. To make matter worse, one of the five friends stole 2 million yen which is supposed to be money for the school trip.

The anime starts up slowly, but once it picks up the pace, I am just waiting for the next episode to come fast. The game starts simple to give the viewer a taste of what is more to come. Each game is designed to the max to break the friendship and trust between each person. If all of them trust each other and are in sync, everyone will get an equal reward but if one of them decided to betray, everyone else will be in trouble and the betrayer gets more reward. The game brings out the worse personality and true colour of each person. 

It is hard to talk abt Tomodachi Game without talking abt the 1000 IQ main character Yuuichi. He is probably best described as an anti-hero who also has some kindness but is also willing to do whatever he can to pass the game in the best possible way even if it means hurting his friend’s feelings. 

The best part of the story is how Yuuichi come up with some insane plan to win the game or find a way to skirt the rules or even find holes in the rules them self all while dodging bullet from friend betraying each other. And all of this, the story didn’t just make something up on the spot and they are well-planned explanations. 

Hints and foreshadowing are dropped here and there which makes me think of how Yuuichi is going to overcome the game. Let's just say I got all of them wrong and the plot revealed by the mastermind Yuuichi himself are in a way more grandiose way than I could have come up with. There are even some pleasant plot twists along the way.

The anime does have some suspense element to it, especially in the early game where Yuuichi or one of his friend got into a pinch but after a couple of games and seeing how Yuuichi resolve each game, I kind of just know at the back of my head that he will pull through. I am just intrigued to see how he will pull through. Even knowing that The last game makes me on edge because the story did a great job and made me feel like it was a lost cause.

The human psychology aspects are also handled nicely. Some people crack down under pressure while some choose to betray and cause misunderstanding between two people for personal gain, and some can’t accept the friend’s past life. 

The show did an excellent job of portraying how fragile human relationships can be. It is scary to see how friendship falls apart so fast even between group friends with a strong bond between them just because of a couple of factors. 

Art and animation for Yuusha, Yamemasu is pretty mid. It is better than Realist Hero animation for sure but it is still obvious that this is a low-budget anime. Much like Realist Hero, it is the case of “the animation is good enough to delivery the story”. 

Character designs are okay, very fantasy but not so unique or outstanding in any way. Character art quality is quite consistent but the animations are minimum and most of the time the characters are just talking anyway.

Combat animation consists of generic magic cycles and spell effects and combat is done using camera tricks and close-up shots which is okay since the anime is not about battles anyway.

Environmental background arts are pretty solid e.g. mountains, forests and castles. For some reason, some of the objects such as boxes, cups, and food are of pretty low quality and in detail in some scenes. It's almost like they put a rough sketch done by someone who just started studying art in.

Character development and characterization are pretty solid in Yuusha, Yamemasu. The bulk of the development goes into Leo but the other major characters got decent development too even if they have some common anime trope characteristics.

Leo, a hero that is artificially created by humans to defend the human realm may seem like any other overpowered character but Leo is a deeply flawed overpowered character. Leo is shackled by the program that is put into him which is to be a hero and protect the human. Starting out like an emotionless robot, he slowly gains emotion especially after meeting a certain kindhearted demon over the thousand years.

Leo got a big ego but at the same time can also show some kindness. When humans rejected him, he lost the sense of belonging and had some existential crisis going on in his head. After all, his existence is defined by one purpose, to be a hero for humans.

We feel attached to something we have been doing for a few years, why wouldn’t Leo be for something he has been doing for thousands of years. Part of him also wants to give up living since he is the only one alive from all the other artificial heroes created. Luckily he is not alone. He got help and new people who care about him at the most unexpected place, the demon queen and her comrades.

The demon queen and her four generals are not as developed as Leo but they are pretty decent and fun characters to watch and each of them has an equal amount of screen time.

Demon queen Echidna is the total opposite of what you expect from an evil demon leader. She is kind and caring about her underlings and doesn’t want to shed unnecessary blood be it humans or demons. She rejects Leo and has a grudge against him for defeating her but comes to accept Leo in the end.

Lili, a werewolf demihuman who can transform into a giant wolf and have a crush on Leo. She is very childlike and not very good at getting the job done even though her heart is in the right place. Steina is an Onee-san character who takes on a lot of duty on herself instead of sharing some of her bundle and working with others. 

Melnes, is an assassin who has a serious problem socializing. Sold into slavery before joining Echidna, he hate the humans. Edwald a muscle brain was doing a bad job training his troop and was about to give up.

All the four generals Lili, Steina, Melnes and Edwald were mismanaged and inefficient until Leo come around and help managed things better and at the same time pointed out their flaws and how to fix them for the better.

I'm Quitting Heroing

Yuusha, Yamemasu

The opening song sounds fine, it is nice to listen to but a little bit generic while the ending song is way more generic sounding. Honestly, I don’t think I will be remembering both songs a few days after finishing the anime.

Background music is adequate. It has generic fantasy or lower budget JRPG game-sounding background tracks but they suit the scene quite nicely.

Sound effects are well accounted for and I didn’t notice anything amiss even though It is the bare minimum to make sure the scene doesn’t feel strange. Sound effects for things such as background noise in an eatery and the turning of pages in a book are also accounted for.

Voice actings are quite solid and I am not really surprised since they are quite experienced voice actors and actresses in a lot of other anime, mostly as supporting roles. Character sound their age, personality and looks.

Yuusha, Yamemasu on the surface will look like a typical fantasy anime with a bit of Realist Hero sprinkled on it but if we look deeper, it is a story about a sense of belonging, existential crisis and much more.

Hero Leo, an artificially created human with one purpose, to defend the human, successfully defended the humans from the demons and defeated the four generals and the demon queen herself. Peace was restored to the human realm but without something or someone to “paint” as a villain, humanity has no use for Leo's power. Humanity got scared that Leo's power might destroy them and exiled him. Leo had no other choice but to travel to the demon queen’s castle to join them.

Early on, Yuusha, Yamemasu run in a more episodic manner where Leo disguises himself to help the four demon generals since the demon queen doesn’t accept him joining them. This is where the Realist Hero kind of stuff happen where Leo help the general sort thing out from logistic, trooping training, human resources and so on but didn't run as deep as Realist Hero. He also helps them to overcome their weak point such as not being able to rely on other, playing as a team or just plain bad at socializing.

After helping out the demons for a while, he realizes the demon queen and the generals are not evil people and that they are doing it for their demon realm survival and are trying their best to avoid blood sherd or needless killing in battle. It is almost like due to the forefather's wrongdoing, the whole demon race is stereotyped as evil. Much like in real life, many things are never truly black or white. A hero on one side might be an evil being on another and vice visa. 

Things turn around near the ending episodes where it turns into Leo coping with his existential crisis and having a sense of belonging. Of cause this doesn’t happen suddenly, there are hints and foreshadowing everywhere before this happens. Having defended humanity for thousands of years, being exiled and now purposeless, Leo tries to become a villain and make the demon queen and general into heroes. I’ll only say this much and don’t want to spoil too much but this ending part is quite emotional.

The world-building is decent but not great. The anime explained a lot of history of the human realm, the creation of artificial heroes, how the human civilization technology declined over the year and so on but done through flashbacks and back story dump from the characters.

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