Back to Kranst's Profile Kranst's Profile

The first part of the second season of Record of Ragnarok definitely has seen an improvement in production values. The use of 3D animation is far more desirable than the previous iteration. Unfortunately, passable animation, while an enhancement, is still not enough to overcome the lack of substance in the narrative. The matchups remain amusing, but more is needed to overcome the void left in storytelling. Like before, too many characters leave not enough room for meaningful exploration. The relevant audience members, valkyries, and remaining combatants simply exist, and basic knowledge dialogue explanations leave some characters feeling incompetent. This can be entertaining, but little else.

An entertaining premise tarnished by horrible production values. Action series often live or die depending on their animation quality. Moreover, most of these stories are narratively lacking, which delegates much of the heavy-lifting to the high-octane combat. Unfortunately, this adaptation falls into the latter, with still frames, rotating images, and artificial movement littered throughout. Furthermore, whether from the original work or anime, the writing is average at best. Characters are hardly explored, backstories feel like inserted intermissions, concepts are loosely explained, and the overarching plot feels unimportant. The music is solid, but besides the absurd, referential matchups, there is little else here that works successfully.

The third season of Oshi no Ko initially navigates more of an industry that prioritizes financial success over people, well-being, hard work, and merit. Youth are exploited for wealth, yet expected to maintain “professionalism” in a world that devalues them. The first half explores the independent strength needed to overcome such challenges. However, the second half sets the stage to tackle the overarching narrative at large, filled with backstories, reveals, and the most drama thus far. Moreover, the production continues to deliver, with outstanding animation, great music, exceptional opening and ending themes, and an hour-long finale. This is likely the best this series has been.

Self-discovery. The process of discovering your own individuality. Journal with Witch embodies the life journey of people coping with challenging circumstances through picturesque storytelling. Thematic messages come alive through symbolic settings and accompanying compositions. Rather than trying to solicit an emotional response, the writing emphasizes genuinely relatable stories and profound introspective content. This includes trials like loneliness in adolescence, navigating romance, processing grief in youth, becoming a parental guardian, communicating with those different from you, understanding people, and helping others to find solace. The sincere exploration of these realistic topics was refreshingly mature. Those who appreciate compelling narratives will find valuable lessons within its pages.

100 Meters consists of standout moments and dialogue that, while compelling conceptually, fall short of reaching outstanding narrative and emotional consistency. Overall, this is a good film. Converting running into entertainment that tackles philosophical themes while maintaining enjoyment is impressive. The unique style utilizing rotoscoping allowed for interesting perspectives and dynamic cinematography, serving as a foundation for the animation to have genuine weight and realism in movements and technique. The character writing was thoughtful, featured some memorable quotes, and taught realistic lessons. However, its unconventional approach to storytelling, frequent time skips, and introspective conclusion created minor disconnects that diminished its potential impact without further contemplation.

The second season of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End continues to push animated entertainment boundaries with exceptional production quality and rich narrative substance. One major reason for its excellence is attributed to the consistent high-quality seen in small moments throughout that create compelling episodes, characters, and thematic lessons overall. Minute details bring life to the world. It is this process that naturally results in satisfying storytelling. This adaptation thrives because it prioritizes quality over quantity, giving seemingly mundane scenes time to tell effective stories. The more time you spend journeying alongside this anime, the more you come to understand what the author wants to teach you.

Stylishly absurd and unapologetically action-heavy, Akudama Drive is an over-the-top combination of cyberpunk aesthetics, heist shenanigans, battle royale-esque combat, and pop-culture references that attempts to deliver straightforward entertainment. Fair warning, though, as fights range from fun skirmishes early to excessively violent later. This show is all gas and no brakes. It commits to the “rule of cool” completely and often abandons logic to achieve this result. Surprisingly, this anime original ambitiously tries to double-dip into deeper narrative topics and themes of civil unrest, corruption, righteousness, freedom, and hope amid despair. Sometimes this succeeds, but its exaggerated nature often works against character development and thoughtful messages.

Gnosia begins with a simple game of werewolf onboard an interstellar cruiser. The objective is to systematically vote and transfer an infected passenger into cold sleep through a series of crew meetings. This concept, despite being simplistically familiar, successfully delivers on entertaining. Furthermore, it thoughtfully incorporates new ideas, interesting twists, and narrative expansion throughout. The production makes creative and quality use of excellent 3D animation and features good pacing that trims unnecessary repetition. Though a few parts, like some aesthetically memorable but bizarre character designs and basic knowledge dialogue explanations, miss the mark. Nonetheless, the gradually expanding story and coherently satisfying mystery are worth experiencing.

Friendship or money? This theme is explored throughout Tomodachi Game. Seemingly trustworthy relationships are tested in group events that question individual values. Overall, the execution of this fundamental concept is solid, and its format encourages active audience participation when attempting to personally solve problems and decipher twists. Dialogue is well-paced, rounds are interesting, their rules are clear, and the viewer can arrive at narrative conclusions alone. However, these initial mystery aspects are prioritized more than character development. Moreover, the nature of the premise means that motivations, interactions, and conflict are heavily negative alongside edgy shock value. Nonetheless, those familiar with the genre will enjoy this.

An entertaining but relatively uninspired entry into the high-stakes game genre. Darwin’s Game does succeed in retaining your attention despite flaws. You can turn your brain off in a positive sense. It incorporates an interesting power system, has decently well-animated action, and features a double-length first episode. Unfortunately, it falters on most narrative levels. Character relationships are shallow, yet they have familial bonds despite having little to no interactions, and many situations and explanations are lacking, yet basic concepts are voiced for no reason. Finally, the adaptation was sub-par with cut material, glossed over details, and inconsistent pacing. A somewhat enjoyable, though mediocre background watch.