Anime Review : Himouto! Umaru-chan R review

Himouto! Umaru-chan R

“A cozy ride which allows us to look deep at this satisfying series.”

What is Himouto! Umaru-chan R?

Himouto! Umaru-chan R is the sequel to the commercially-succesfull, yet less appreciated series Himouto! Umaru-chan which originally premiered in 2015. The story depicts Umaru and again, her lazy outlook in life, but this time, she wants to change, as a sister and a human being.

 

So, how does it fare?

The season 2 of Umaru was announced fairly later, which 2 months after the announcement that NEW GAME was receiving a second season. This little insight proves on how much Doga Kobo values these two series, but leaning far more towards NEW GAME as the series is more critically received than Umaru, simply because NEW GAME is far better than Umaru in every aspects. While the announcement of Umaru season 2 did get many people hyped up to see the chibi Umaru wreak havoc again, few may have predicted that this could be this good. I think that not only the audiences, but also the critics, were baffled by the improvement made in the Umaru season 2, much like what NEW GAME gave us a season earlier.

We all know how this anime thrives in the eyes of it’s audience, capturing the viewer’s attention via it’s cute and chibi style of Umaru, as well as how she would approach thing in her own way, such as eating chips and cola, and make fun at things her way, which ironically what makes another half of the audience got turned off by it and makes several critics displeased by the series. Despite the status of main character is held by Umaru, the true star of the first season was Kirie and Ebina, and in this season, Umaru seeks to regain that status as a true star of the show and prove her critics wrong.

And boy, she did manage to do just that.

 

Gone was the overbearing and annoying Umaru and in comes the Umaru that knows the value of friendship, the burden of others, and knows the pain she has been causing last season, especially to her brother. In this season, Umaru looks like a former of her own self and a character reborn thanks to a well-written characterization, which allows the audience to truly endear to her as a main character.

The main comedic routines still remained within the show, but it was greatly, and I mean greatly, reduced and would turn in favor to developing the character of each cast that appeared throughout the show, particularly Umaru and Sylphinford, oh we’ll get to that later.

Umaru interacts more and more with other characters in the sequel.

Allowing her character to develop properly.

As I stated before, Umaru was like a character reborn. This is partly because of her newfound belief that she too is a human being, and wants to socialize with others properly, not just be worshipped all day by people around her just because she is too perfect at everything. The anxiety she felt when she was about to ask out all her friends to go home with her was real, something she has never felt before as she has never come to this realization, which makes her truly alive. And when she does get over her anxiety and fear, and finally asks her friend to walk home with her, the sense of accomplishment is felt to both the viewer and Umaru herself, especially that last shot where she walks home happily with her friends, although that light she continually radiates that other people saw from her completely defeats the purpose of her innocence and charm in my opinion though.

And of course, by the end of that episode, now the norm is having each episode serve at least one interaction between Umaru and friends, whether it’s watching movie, going to the amusement park, or even studying together. It has become the norm, and I enjoyed every single of their hanging out moments.

In each episode, there will be a hang-out session between Umaru and her friends.

Don’t get me wrong though, as despite this fact, Umaru is still Umaru, and she is still as lazy as a sloth. There are still several routines of her either lazing around all day, or just play video games and still lazes around. However, the show found the way on how to properly utilize it, and while it still appears on daily basis, most of them works both comedically or to further characterize Umaru. Lastly, her self-awareness of how selfish she was previously and the fact that she loves her brother so much that she cries upon his return from a long trip is the result of her development as a character which was phenomenally done.

 All in all, Umaru was like a new person, someone never seen before in the previous incarnation.

However, aside from Umaru, there is also a character who was reborn in this show. Her name is Tachibana Sylphinford. Sylphinford was used atrociously in the first season, as a person who gratuitously challenges Umaru at any given corner in hopes of being her friend, yet never succeeded at becoming her friend, simply because the writing of her character was bad. She was unlikable and jarring in her first appearance, which I branded her as a misfit if I recalled correctly, but all that immediately changes upon her appearance in the new season of this show.

She is gaining more and more time to appear and showcase her characteristics properly to the audience, while slowly building her characters that allows the audience to appeal to her. Gone was that someone who constantly boast to no end, and in comes a person who wants to enjoy her time with her friends and value the friendship she has with other. This was highlighted when she received a gift from Taihei and gladly accepted it with no disappointment or anything despite the fact that she received the same gift from her brother. Sylphinford’s development as a character totally made her stood out from her friends, and most of her flaws that we see from the first season properly explained to make us truly endear to her as a character.

Of course, let us not forget the star of the last season, Motoba Kirie. Kirie remains the strongest character in the show in my opinion, due to the fact that she gained more characterization than both Umaru and Sylphinford, and definitely Ebina, and she also gained more screen time to appear in the show. Her character was still the same, someone who could not properly get her message across yet loves her friends with everything she has. 

Her character still oozes that special aura which makes her likable, especially when she shows that she wanted to be a picture-book writer in the future, which had her base the main character of Umaru chibi form. Though it was not shown in the anime, there was an important scene of her progression as a picture book writer in the manga that was definitely must be seen to see her character as a whole. In addition to that, she improved upon Bomber, her brother, when the two of them interact with each other properly for the first time in ages. That scene was quite the sight in my opinion.

While Kirie remains a powerful character in the series.

Sylphinford has finally received the spotlight she fully deserved.

Also, as a side note, it is worth note that Kirie might have ascended to a main character status, due to her new role in the show, as well as her more frequent appearances in the show, much more than the rest of the cast, and almost on par with Umaru. And of course, given the fact that Umaru’s later appearance was just to have fun with her friends, while Kirie was being focused solely, it makes the statement I made earlier all more intriguing.

Anyway, with the three characters done, now let’s move on to Ebina Nana. Unfortunately for Ebina, this season was not kind to her. She suffered the same role that Sylphinford was trusted in the first season, as a scapegoat. Ebina was a highlight last season due to her characters and her bombastic figure, as well as her awkwardness. However, in this season, she appears less important and constantly blushes randomly and got all tongue-tied whenever there’s Taihei due to her apparent crush on Umaru’s older brother, which was repeated numerous times. In my opinion, this undermined her character’s importance to the show.

Especially when her brother’s debuted. Her brother only appeared once, and Ebina has mentioned throughout the show that she is looking for her brother, but that’s it. She makes no effort in trying to actually find her brother and that reasoning has instead become an excuse in my opinion.

Perhaps this is the case of the writers thinking that Ebina is already far more established and decided to left her out of most of the writing since she is already appealing to the audience. At any rate, it was a shame to see such a powerful and endearing character from the first season got relegated into a background figure. True enough, she had several episodes focusing on her, but that’s not enough to showcase her unique characteristics she had.

Everyone is treated in the right way, except for Ebina.

With the four main girls done, let us move on to the rest of the characters. Is this becoming character reviews? This is supposed to be a whole anime review, yet all I’ve been doing was reviewing each character. Well, what can I do? Character development was the main focus of this new season of Himouto! Umaru-chan.

Anyway, I’ll keep it short so I can talk about things other than characters.

Taihei remains largely unchanged from last season. He still constantly scolds Umaru when she gets too lazy and reminds Umaru of the things she needed to do. However, Taihei has shown more genuine feelings in this new season, largely thanks to Umaru’s newfound characteristics, which was also thanks to Taihei half of the time.

Bomber, or Takeshi Motoba, or Kirie’s brother, shows that his appearance in this show is far more important than just goof around. There are several instances in which he played a integral role in developing the character of Taihei, as well as showing her love for Kirie implicitly. Her family talk with Kirie is also a sight to behold, something I mentioned earlier. Bomber has been unfortunate that he has been showing his bad sides to Kirie most of the time, which undermines his worth to Kirie, and that scene truly reinvest Kirie’s belief to Bomber as a brother, albeit only momentarily.

Alex was okay too, if only he appears more than just once every episode. There is something hidden beneath his character. However, given his lack of promotion, there was no need to be disappointed in him.

Bomber remains a largely important, although subtlely.

And Alex is finally receiving his share in screen time, much like his sister.

The biggest disappointment has to go to Hikari Kongou, the little sister of Kanau. She was promoted in many news outlet, and even got voiced by a popular voice actress in the form of Inori Minase, which was far more popular than any of the voice actors in this show in my opinion. However, her appearance was limited, her interactions was limited, and the only thing we knew is that she loved Taihei and treated him like her big brother since her childhood, but that’s it. Her interactions might be limited, but all of those was enough to showcase her prominence in the show, though it’s just that she did not appear enough to make her mark.

She suffered the Elma-problem I mentioned in the Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon earlier. Elma appeared much later in the anime, which is episode 8, and flounders after her brilliant debut episode, as just another dragon who loves to eat. Hikari almost do Elma, though she was a little bit better, since she got a better writing by the show. I sure hope this Elma-problem doesn’t appear anymore though, as it was sad to see character as important as Elma got relegated into a background duty.

But that’s enough of talking about the characters. Let’s talk about something else.

Hikari was unusually left out in the show and had limited appearance.

The overall theme remains largely the same, big brother and little sister. This theme is even more reinforced upon the single-episode debut of Ebina’s brother, Koichiro, and thanks to that, all of the main cast is now positioned properly as a little sister. The interaction between Umaru with Taihei, and Kirie with Bomber remains the strongest brother to sister interaction in the show, as Sylphinford and Ebina’s relationship with their brother are a little bit underwhelming.

The animation remains the same, colorful and vividly animated, with each character articulates their animation properly. Still, I think the studio goes all out when animating that ending scene, where the four main character are animated in a chibi form, much like the Umaru himouto form. Despite the fact that most of them looked out of place, they all still looked cute enough and the animation was top notch.

And speaking of the ending, really love the ending song and how catchy it was. I found myself watching the ending most of the time when I finished watching an episode, something I reservedly do only to Mahoutsukai no Yome, until it was replaced, given how powerful the ending and opening song was.

The ending song is very catchy in my opinion.

Lastly, allow me to talk about voice-acting. The voice acting remains good in the show, with Aimi Tanaka continues to show that she can do great as a voice actor, despite the fact that her voice is type-casted as a young girl, or the himouto version of Umaru voice. Her ability to deliver a proper voice is still good and she sounds relaxed with her role in my opinion. Hopefully other anime will cast her as someone other than character with the voice of Umaru all over again.

While the English dub of the second season is still not here, allow me to talk about the English dub that the show had in the first season. A month earlier, I was able to watch Umaru in the English dub, and that was very unique and captivating in my opinion. Sure, some sounded a bit strange or out of place, but I must give credits to the voice of Taihei and Umaru, Adam Noble and Emily Neves. While Emily was good in her ability to switch out her voice as the perfect Umaru and the himouto Umaru, Adam Noble’s performance as a Taihei truly steals the show for me. He was sarcastically comedic in his approach and performance as Taihei, and there’s just something about his voice that sounded very entertaining to me, in my opinion. When the English dub of the second season arrived, I will definitely watch it again, hoping that the cast remain the same.

All in all, Himouto! Umaru-chan R was a major improvement, as a whole, to the first season of the show. The second season directly focused on developing each and every character in the show, with it becoming the sole objective of this show all around. Every character is given a proper development that allowed the audience to endear to, either with their newfound characteristics, or their innate ability to just make them likable. 

It could not really best the second season of NEW GAME, but it managed to achieve it’s objective well enough, and I think this is far better than the first season, far far better.

A third season is both necessary and unnecessary as the show wraps everything up in the final episode. If there’s a third season, then that’s a good thing, but if there’s not, then that’s okay.

The Good: Character-development was top notch, with each character getting their major development. Kirie remains the star of the show. Sylphinford and Umaru is characterized properly. Catchy ending song. The pace is far better than before.

The Bad: Again, the jokes are toned down in favor of character development. Ebina suffered a lot of damage in her character. Hikari did not appear enough.

Highlight Moments: Umaru crying to her brother when he finally gets back. Kirie realizing the importance of her brother. The image of all four main cast walking home together.

Final Score : 4 out of 5. Far better than the original. Hopefully, the future is bright for both Umaru and Doga Kobo for animating this show.

A splendid show, and a magnificent continuation to it's original show.

Manga review : Shin Dorabase

Shin Dorabase

“A disappointing follow-up to a rather-okay series”

What is Shin Dorabase?

A sequel to the Doraemon spin-off series Dorabase, Shin Dorabase follows the story of Tamaemon, who has an affection towards Edogawa Dora’s and idolizes Kuroemon. Unlike the first series, which follows Kuroemon as a batter, this time, Tamaemon is a pitcher with his own magic ball.

So? How does it fare?

This is the follow-up review to an earlier review I created yesterday, to follow the original Dorabase review.

Unlike the original Dorabase series, Shin Dorabase is only collected to a 4 tankoubon volume, making it the shortest of any Doraemon spin-off manga ever released (Dorabase has 23 volumes, The Doraemons has 21 volumes, and The Doraemons’ Special has 12 volumes.), but the reason why it is only released in just short 4 volumes is justified by it’s content.

Shin Dorabase is just riddled with problem everwhere. It’s like when you open the first page, the problem became apparent at that moment too. I’ll just divide it into several section later.

Spoiler alerts abound, and of course, since there is no scanlations of this anywhere so I’m afraid I can only attach so much screenshots for this review.

First, let’s talk about plot. The plot here is simple, Tamaemon, the protagonist of the story, seeks to join Edogawa Dora’s but the now-coach of Edogawa Dora’s Hyoroemon declared that he failed the test for arriving late. Then, that fire of being rejected burns and now, Tamaemon wants to defeat Edogawa Dora’s in a game of baseball, which he declared is a fun sports every now and then, which I presume must have been his catchphrase. It was simple and as usual, easy to follow, so I’m giving this a-okay.

The story introduces us to Tamagawa Dora’s, which happens to share the same first name with Tamaemon, and it’s team. To be honest, other than Tamaemon, Monjyaemon (Or was that Mojyaemon? I don’t know), Jiroemon, and Gonzaemon, no one else gets a character development. They all treated just for the sake of being there. I guess the short volume count has something to do with it, yes?

Tamaemon’s rival is Doraem- pardon me, It's not Doraemel, but Noraemon. Doraemel made so much impact when he first appeared and I always thought he was the rival of Tamaemon, mainly due to his development and growth as a character. Even Hyoroemon declared that he and Tamaemon might be the two that shake up baseball once again. Of course, his unique demeanor, and the fact that he hides his hideous face beneath a handsome-looking mask is something to be intrigued for, and when he is unmasked, he goes unhinged but eventually calms down. In my opinion, he was the best character of the series, with Jiroemon coming close second. 

Jiroemon also had this charm of hiding his face beneath a potato-sack that had a hole for him to see with one eye. Jiroemon is so perceptive that he can tell whether or not a ball is ball or strike, and it’s his ability, which each character in this series are forced to have for some reason. However, the last volume just had to force him remove him potato-sack that makes him so memorable. The author had this strange habit of introducing a mysterious character with hidden face (Remember Aimond? That badass with a cool-looking sunglasses covering his eyes?) and forces them to remove it by the end of the series. For me, that was not a cool move, instead it just removes the air of mysteriousness that character has.

And of course, with Doraemel out of the picture, we are introduced to a proper rival to Tamaemon, Noraemon, which I thought to be a last-minute introduction to the series as I believed the author wanted to go forward with Doraemel. Why? Noraemon, unlike Doraemel, is handsome and more collected, much like Shiroemon. And with Tamaemon as fiery as a furnace, the tale of Tamaemon  vs Noraemon begins, and it all feels like Kuroemon vs Shiroemon all over again, which for me is kind of bland and flat-out exhausted. I don’t know why the author scrapped that Doraemel plan of being Tamaemon’s rival, but I think it’s mainly due to the publisher’s pressure or fan demands?

Why can I say that? I mentioned above that Hyoroemon declared that he and Tamaemon are bound to shake up Edogawa Dora’s. This is said by Hyoroemon, who is the coach of the Edogawa Dora’s and by the time volume 3 catches up, the only hint that Noraemon was going to appear was that bandage next to Tamaemon’s left eye.

Oh, and I just have to talk about the number of teams appearing in this story.  The number was so low that the excitement of Tamaemon having so many rivals snuffs out by the time fourth volume kicks in. Kuromeon, back in the original series, has so much rival that we can anticipate whomever he’s going to face whenever a new volume kicks in, but this time, we can only assume that Tamaemon’s just going to face a random team each volume, before facing Edogawa Dora’s in the finale. Aside from King Fishers, which is the team that featured Doraemel, nothing else felt remarkable. Setagaya  Paamans (A reference to Perman), Sakuragaoka Espers (A reference to Esper Mami), and Bakuden Kigurumis, all of them just there for the sake of being there. And by the time the fourth volume kicks in, I was surprised to see them facing Edogawa Dora’s this early and was even shocked to see that it ends in that volume. The prospect of it having 10 more volumes are there, but I presumed that the popularity of the series just keeps falling as each chapter are published.

Well, that’s that, but what about the character design? Good heavens… All of them felt unoriginal and uncreative. Tamaemon is a mix of Chibiemon and Kuroemon, Sho (The only human character of Tamagawa Dora’s) felt like Ruru from the WABC, even Noraemon felt like he was Emoll but bar his perpetual smiler trait. Several felt original and creative, but most of them doesn’t. Who are those that original in terms of design? Of course, Jiroemon and Doraemel. There’s also Kiyoemon, a gigantic batter of the Edogawa Dora’s that felt new. But that’s it apparently.

I was surprised to see the magic balls being toned down here. After all, the pitcher is our main character. But, the welcome addition is that the batter also does not use that much different version of batting style, with Doraemel’s V batting the only distinct one. Even Noraemon, the rival to Tamaemon, only had a very long bat and just hits the ball with no ability whatsoever. That, in my opinion, is a welcome addition to the series, but of course, sets aside what a Dorabase truly is. In Dorabase, we learn that there can be so much absurd hitting styles and so many magic balls, but here, it just feels like another baseball manga, but with Dorabase rules.

Yes, the Dorabase rules still stands. The usage of 3 gadgets per game still here, but it was underutilized. The original Dorabase creatively utilized every gadget at disposal, but in here, it sometimes just mimics the original Dorabase, such as using big-light and Take-copter again, as well as Weather box, which had similar use to a Weather-spirit ring and etc. The only remarkable one was when Chokoemon uses an Anywhere Door to catch a what-would-be homerun, at the cost of being knocked out. 

So, there you have it. This series was riddled with so many problems that you can just ignore them all by speed-reading it and think nothing of critical thoughts, much like I did the first time reading it. Characters were unoriginal and dull, contents were lacking, and it was such a short adventure to be honest, and felt like it was rushed by the time it reached the ending. That inclusion of Noraemon also begs a question to be asked as well. Why didn’t the author just go with Doraemel’s direction? After all, by the time volume 3 kicks in, Doraemel’s character has been fleshed out and he was treated majestically, but dumped in favor of more cooler Noraemon.

I think only those who had purchased the original Dorabase manga and actually enjoys the content of it that can read this muddy series. This series contains so much reference to the original Dorabase that any reader without prior knowledge of the earlier series might just shook their head in confusion as to who is Kuroemon and the sort.

There was a similar series like this, titled Aoki Shinwa Mars, which is the follow-up to Kaze no Sylpheed. Aoki Shinwa Mars, unlike Shin Dorabase, does not made that much reference to Kaze no Sylpheed in it’s first volume, and began referencing them by the time volume 2 kicks in, after we have finally settled with the characters and the horse. That move was remarkable in my opinion. Settling the readers with the characters first before reintroducing characters from the past, and the characters here are mostly horses to be honest, and the only reference this series had with Kaze no Sylpheed was the titular horse of Sylpheed now being treated as a big-time horse and that’s it, with several characters from the past making a return here and there sparingly. That was a good manga to be honest.

The good : Doraemel. Lack of Magic balls and batting styles have it’s own charm.

The bad : Character don’t get developed that much. Noraemon’s inclusion felt unnecessary. Characters looks unoriginal. Lack of super baseballs might turn off some reader of original series. Shallow plot. Rushed ending. Short in volume count and did not get utilized to it’s fullest.

Highlight moment : Tamagawa Dora’s training in uninhabited island.

Final score : 1.5 out of 5. There are just so much problem here and this series is only good for those who is yearning for the follow-up to Dorabase.

Anime Review : Musaigen no Phantom World

Musaigen no Phantom World

“KyoAni frankly never learn from their mistake”

What is Musaigen?

Musaigen no PhantowWorld, or Myriad colors phantom world, as it is translated, follows the story of Haruhiko ichijou and his activity in the phantom-laden world with her friends as they try to uncover a plot.

Or so it says...

Like i said before, i am one of those people that actually ‘likes’ KyoAni works. I don’t follow their works because i heard it was good or their character are flashy, I follow and love their work because it’s KyoAni, the Japanese version of Pixar. KyoAni works always focuses on story, character development, and art, as well as their masterwork on background and camera arts. That is what I love from KyoAni.

Unfortunately, Musaigen failed to deliver. There's just something about KyoAni and their apparent attempt on creating action anime, and those tend to fail big time. I am not speaking without evidences myself though. Take a hard long look at Kyoukai no Kanata, or Beyond the Boundary, and try to see if there is anything redeemable from that anime? It failed big time and was a disappointing series, despite the fact that the main character somehow drives those who have glasses-fetish insane. There is also the case of Munto, which is a horrible anime series by the way. According to statistics shown by Myanimelist.net, it has the lowest buy-rate of any KyoAni's work. And that was one of their first attempt at creating their original project. It was disappointing and perhaps, that was the plug that made them think twice before both making action anime and creating an original anime. Though Tamako Market, another one of their original project, is fairly decent, and the follow-up movie is really phenomenal if i do say so myself.

But we're here not to talk about KyoAni in general, but regarding the Musaigen no Phantom World. So, why does i call it bad? Let's review several aspects.

Yes, the pattern of KyoAni animation is there, the camera arts, the background, the music, and etc. But, this anime failed horribly. And it even delves into something KyoAni has dared to do in the past, Fanservice, with Mai [The heroine] is the subject to all that.

Mai is a busty girl, whose boobs seems to bounce around, even while talking and loves to molest herself before doing battle and the shot seems to love her bust and waist. It is a good thing KyoAni dropped almost all of these aspect that kills this anime halfway in the series, but the damage has already been done. By that time, those who actually enjoy KyoAni work has already given up on this fanservice-laden anime [maybe] and those who loves fanservice will constantly asks “Where is the fanservice?”

Still need a better explanation for why a girl gropes herself to acquire strength

Well, despite all that, there’s still the camera arts. One example is when Kurumi is eavesdropping the gang’s conversation and the shot suddenly shifts to a nearby singular flower, this could indicate that she is happy or something else, but, then again that is the shot that makes KyoAni works a KyoAni works. The musical score does fantastic job and the background fits the series pretty well and looks pretty well-drawn.

However, the real problem is within the plot.

Needless to say, the actual plot finally started rolling in around episode 12. And what are they doing for the whole 10 episode? It’s either playing around like a slice of life comedy anime or just focusing on character development. This is not acceptable for an anime who, at it’s announcement, label  itself as an action-fantasy anime and in the back tagline, there’s even”uncover secret plot”. Those plots are actually rolling and playing for 2 entire episode, episode 12 to 13 and that is it.

And the antagonist who just appeared on two last episodes is also strange. She just appeared, stated her business and her reason for doing all of this before finally the group defeats her or so. It felt rushed and since her rushed appearance seemingly came out of nowhere, i thought most people would not feel anything toward her. In my opinion, had she appear from episode 5 or so, even if it is just on the ending or just a glimpse of her, at least we won't be surprised by her sudden reveal as the main antagonist later.

Though, a praise on the plot should be given on a simple gadget that Haruhiko obtained earlier in the series. Through all those grueling comedy episodes and good character development stories, Haruhiko can sometimes be seen fiddling with the said gadget. This shows that the series is actually trying to move forward, but is held back until the last moment.

This antagonist appears from seemingly out of nowhere.

This is the gadget that Haruhiko keeps fiddling with in several episodes. Thumbs up to the series for not forgetting this little gadget, even though it is filled with many ludicrous moment.

I’d say this should have been at least 20 to 24 episode, so there would be enough plot to satisfy the story and fills the void that is left within the last episode. Sure the episode does not end in cliffhanger, but I dare you, that’s not the end of the problem for Haruhiko and the others. Was a single strong enemy that suddenly appear is enough to conclude the series? I don’t think so.

However, there is also this problem of making 20-24 episode anime. We see here that the filler episode is their attempt to fill-in the gap that was created by the current trend of 12-13 episode anime, imagine if they are forced to create a 24 episode anime. I think it would be even more disastrous.

Musaigen is not without it’s moment though. The character development story [One for each character] is the highlight moment of the series, with Mai’s development episode, where she is finally treated as a character with several aspect of that of a mother, is the best. This just shows that KyoAni still haven’t forgotten what it’s about, developing a character. From past to present, KyoAni has flourished in the genre of Slice-of-Life and comedy, which focuses on developing a character [For example :Clannad]. Adding this to Musaigen certainly helps, although only slightly, since the reputation of Musaigen has been tarnished by the fanservice so early in the game, and the slow-moving plot that moves at a snail pace.

Then again, the character development stories help us know the character better and let us get closer to them. We know that Koito has a problem in the past that she needed to get over with, Mai is a loving character with motherly trait despite the fact that she loves to grope herself, Reina has a problem with her family and regarding Kurumi... We will get to that later. Those episode is not emotional, but it fares better than when Musaigen tries to be funny.

Mai is finally treated as a character in her focus episode. And my perception of her was better from that moment on.

Though out of every character development episode, the one I dislike is Kurumi’s one, where it focuses on her being a magical girl and averts trouble in Alice in wonderland-esque kingdom. If this ability gets carried over into an actual ability that she can use, it’s cool and helps build her as a character who can also fight, but it’s not. After the episode ends, she reverts back on using her familiar bear and seemingly forgets all her magical prowess, which is a shame.

Characters were decent enough to be called good. Haruhiko is the main character, and of course, he narrates the story. I don’t like the fact that he keeps talking when other character has clearly told him to shut up, but I think it’s his trait and I think he just loves his voice. Mai is a busty girl, who has a monetary problem and is the main fanservice target in this series. Reina is a rich-girl who is bound to her family and loves to eat. Koito is a stoic girl who uses voice as her power. And Kurumi is a loli who utilizes her bear to battle.

I don’t think I need to elaborate them like that, but I though it was needed to clarify something. These character traits seems somewhat new to me and that earns them a praise from me. If I had to pick one, it had to be either Mai or Koito due to their respective character development episode. And if I had to pick who I dislike, it’s either Ruru or Kurumi, due to their uselessness throughout the series, save for Ruru during the final episode, though i still don't like her by the time the ending of the series rolls.

The background is, as usual of KyoAni’s work, is impressive. There are a lot of color to be seen in the background but the anime doesn’t depend on the background. The musical scores are also good and fitting. However, the real-world that is combined with phantom does not sound imaginary to me at all, if not, I don’t like the concept one bit.

Summing everything up, this is not a bad series, but it is definitely not a good one, especially coming from KyoAni. KyoAni once made an action genre, Kyoukai no Kanata, and like i mentioned above how bad it is? Musaigen fares not further from it, but it’s better. It has strong characters, has strong character development and for good or for bad, has a lot of fanservice. Though the plot moves at a snail-pace and there are several extra-unneeded episodes. Hard to recommend to anyone, but if you loves character-focused episodes, don’t mind thefanservices when watching this. If not for the occasional good moment, I would’ve given the series a two star.

Still, hopefully Violet Evergarden fares much better than this and Kyoukai no Kanata. If Violet Evergarden turns out to be an action-oriented anime, which i presume will not, and it again failed, hopefully KyoAni learned their fateful lesson that they are not just cut-out for adapting an action anime. After all, what Musaigen no Phantom World is good for is not it's action.

Musaigen later becomes a hard-pill to swallow for the KyoAni lovers. It’s good, but it’s not on their regular level of awesomeness

The good : Character-focused episodes are good. Memorable characters [save for several]. The series is well-drawn and polished, all the characters looks alive, even the extras.

The Bad : Too much fanservice. Episode with no character focus or plot is a drag most of the time. Plot moves very slow and begins almost near the season finale. Predictable ending. This is a KyoAni work for god sake.

Highlight moment : Mai’s character development episode.

Last note for the review, the kiss scene between the Enigma and Haruhiko [If you didn’t count it since it was forced, then Ruru and Haruhiko] is actually the FIRST TIME EVER KyoAni has shown a kiss scene with no censor or whatsoever you call it in Haruhi [Kyon kisses Haruhi but the camera is panned away] or Clannad [Kyou kisses Tomoya in the OVA of the afterstory but the camera is panned away again]. The first time they almost done this in Free! But this is the first time they’ve finally done it, and I am disappointed. I hope they make a proper one in the future.

Personal note : I almost finished my second playthrough of Persona 5. Pardon for my lack of update last week, i shall offer no excuse. I will post the aftermath of my second playthrough of Persona 5 upon finishing it. And i have a lot of things to share about it!

FINAL SCORE : 2.5 out of 5. If not for the character development, i would have given it 2, or even 1.