rampant thoughts

CLASSROOM OF THE ELITE — It’s one of the older light novels that’s certainly made a name for itself out there over the years. A September 2017 anime produced by Lerche studios, it’s adaptation definitely attracted the attention of many fans, but is it’s reputation worth the watch?

A psychological themed anime centred around how people hide their true colours, this show starts with a grasping, hooking start that explores the cruel truth of society — and how people would use each other to climb further up the ranks. Or so, that’s what they were trying to convey.

Classroom of the elite unifies itself with a seemingly perfect protagonist, taking place at a school where students deemed to be the core of Japan’s future would be separated and distanced from the outside world. It’s an elitist society — even within the school grounds — where students are forced to compete with each other through classes to rise to the top.

To start off, this anime’s speciality doesn’t lie in its mystery genre at all. One mistake that people constantly make is to assume that just because it’s a psychological anime, it absolutely must possess the element of unpredictability. In fact, the way this film unravels itself holds its own identity and uniqueness, and it does not lie in its surprise factor.

It’s undeniable that Classroom of the elite’s ploys and schemes are extremely predictable. However it’s uses that fact to its advantage; to be blunt, it’s speciality is to unveil the scenarios in a completely fresh perspective that leaves the viewers stunned. At least, that’s what they were trying to go for.

With it’s actual narrative, this anime lacks a clear drive and a strong tone. One can argue that this film has all it requires to raise the stakes, but the filler scenes and unnecessary dialogue clearly struggles against the precise and somber drama they were trying to create. It pulls up the thrill and the danger, then drags it down below with its condescending tone that clearly leans in favour to useless character interactions.

Another main issue is its unexplored school systems. There are so many lingering problems with the points system, and yet they ignore its issues and shove it down our throats with another arc that was meant to overshadow it. The school system itself left so many plot holes that went uncovered, like for example, the buying of test points that could’ve been more interesting if it was dug deeper down.

True, Classroom of the elite does one thing well — sticking to its said theme. It doesn’t drag out for too long even with its reiteration, and it also ventures and circles around its solid point. It’s what you would expect from a psychological anime, well, at least that was done better than Boogiepop. But there’s where it ends.

It’s not surprising why Classroom of the elite has faded throughout the years — it’s unreasonable and inconsistent with its information. Everything contradicts everything. An elite school set to groom the best of the best should at most accept students with decent grades.

However it’s evidently not the case here — we have Class D, and absolutely clueless pile of discards which I’m willing to bet that half of Japan can beat them in studies. Class C, which on the other hand, has students that clearly are there for no apparent reason; basically a bunch of delinquents except for the select few. If it really was a elite school, none of this should be occurring. But of course, plot convenience.

Instead of writing actual, concrete characters stuck in intricate problems, it decides to take the easy route out — with an idiotic, bland cast facing extremely mundane walls.

It’s a show that tries to be philosophical, but doubtlessly fails at it. We see an occasional question that again, tries to stimulate thinking, then force cut to a scene which is totally exaggerated and over-credited. It’s extremely funny how, it sets up questions and fake drama to create tension, but ultimately destroys its plot to the point where it tries to take its ‘clever’ statements and turn it into something serious.

It’s ridiculous how this apparent ‘psychological show‘ is a cover for underhanded fan service. We only get good animation when a certain Ayanokouji happens to chance upon the typical harem scenes — which I’m not going into detail because this is supposed to be spoiler-free.

But what Classroom of the elite undoubtedly falls at is with its lacking characters. Ayanokouji proves to be a static character which reveals a poor example of character exposition, dragging us viewers along trying to guess his backstory that is supposedly supposed to define his personality.

Horikita is horrible in her own way, merely used as a plot device for lacklustre writing. Yoshida fails at everything, her two-faced identity being her only trait. While she is understandable and interesting in her own way, the author instead uses her as something to create more tension that clearly isn’t working. In the end, what this show really does is make all the girls fall for our amazing, intelligent protagonist.

IN CONCLUSION, Classroom of the Elite is one of those shows that plays with trickery; making itself sound smart and intelligent by over-exaggerating every little information. Every dull detail draws an unrealistic and overwhelming reaction — to the point of hilariously failing. Oh, and don’t forget that this is simply a concealed harem anime.

ratings =

theme | 2

plot development | 4

characters | 2

overall | 4

thank you for reading through this review xx

BOOGIEPOP WA WARAWANAI — A psychological thriller questioning the sanity behind one’s thoughts and existence, this 2019 anime remake made its debut early this year with its shocking themes circling around the lives of many possessing peculiar ideals and abilities.

The original source material presented in vignettes, it’s no wonder why this show is unfolded in more of a descriptive allure that is placed in many conversations the characters have. Boogiepop wa warawanai focuses around the unusual happenings that occur in the city, where the main protagonist, Boogiepop, is a dormant entity living inside a high school girl named Touka.

This show centres mostly on the theme of change, and how the characters develop into what they are today because of their backstories. A plot that stimulates more thinking by going in circles over and over, the in-depth picture was something the light novels fashioned perfectly, yet, the uncompleted anime could only scrape the bare minimum of what the source material had initially achieved.

If you’ve delved into the original light novels, it’s only natural to realise that a psychological novel like Boogiepop wa warawanai would be extremely hard to turn into an anime. It spins off onto various seemingly unrelated stories, pacing the mysteries slowly to let the reader piece the puzzle together. An anime of mere 18 episodes would hardly be able to capture all the information at one go — without its flaws of course.

To start off, I’ve heard many say that it’s hard to follow, with the plot going back and forth at times. It differs from person to person — though for me, I feel that it’s manageable — but the classic ‘three-episode rule’ will definitely not work here. See, it begins with a small arc of its own, each episode a different perspective on the world and the characters surrounding it. There are many things that fuel the plot, but it eventually all boils down to a single theme.

Though, it’s extremely aggravating how they love to capture conversations and sometimes, little arcs leading to nowhere.

But what Boogiepop wa warawanai really fails at is to capture a long lasting impression to keep its viewers hooked. As mentioned previously, it’s more centred around flowery dialogue that stimulates thinking — and its good in its own way, if you’re the type that is interested in more grey thinking, but that’s unlikely in an audience geared towards more action. The characters (besides our main protagonists) change almost every arc, though at the end, they usually lead back to the same overarching mystery (In the light novels, at least). To someone more interested in watching unfolding action, this certainly isn’t the place.

Boogiepop wa warawanai doesn’t exactly possess a distinct pace or a confident direction. It leaves gaps in between that poses questions, which is why this narrative is cloudy and unclear. As the anime tries to be exceedingly profound at times, that’s exactly why the stories are out of sequence. Its unbearably slow, or sometimes even faster that the light novels themselves, depending on the arcs. It’s meaningful, yet boring. Interesting, yet repetitive.

It’s no wonder why this anime isn’t exactly outstanding — everything is a haze that jumbles up theories without a concrete theme for the reader to hook on. One may think this anime is about change, whilst another may feel that this anime portrays human emotions. It doesn’t at all make the viewer feel accomplished even if they had guessed the outcome.

The anime’s constant reiteration of the original points using various situations strikes some people as monotonous and repetitive, making it increasingly dull to watch. There isn’t a constant pace of action, but rather, the portrayal of how world isn’t all black-and-white. Whilst the anime is rather incomplete, it isn’t well-executed in terms of concept, but the badly done overall plot is what ruins the beauty of this anime.

But the main problem in Boogiepop wa warawanai lies within its characters. Boogiepop, despite being our protagonist, is used as more of a plot device to cease the destruction before our villains can raze the city. The anime didn’t give any time on the development of our main character — the screen time at the beginning was the longest we had — and that led to the eventual different characters leading the arcs themselves.

While many of the side characters (with the exception of some), did play out cleanly and satisfyingly, it is not to say that Boogiepop himself definitely did not. The stories that shrouded around our character should have been one that centres and circles the plot, not as another character that just swoops in to save the story before it all falls down, not as one that takes away the meaning of the story.

ALL IN ALL, despite its brilliant source material, it is extremely understandable why Boogiepop wa warawanai fails at incorporating the same elements into something beautiful. The characters come and go, the plot doesn’t add up well, and most importantly, no actual focus was given. The light novels handled it well, descriptively, but the anime certainly didn’t manage to hold the overwhelming spectrum of themes they had.

ratings =

theme | 4.5

plot development | 5

characters | 5.5

overall | 5.5

thank you so much for reading through this review xx

FAIRY TAIL — A fervent tale finally completed, the 2019 Fairy Tail final series closes with another secret to tell. Spanning over years, this now completed shounen certainly hasn’t faded out — not with its anxious fans ready to see its conclusion animated.

It’s animation undeniably improved season after season (no more moving pictures), this show definitely knows how to hype up both fans and viewers alike with its addictive arcs that pulls you in. It’s another character-driven show that revolves around the bonds and friendships Lucy makes in the guild, enticing us with the emotions this show explores. Well, it has been around for more than a few years, so Fairy Tail should be a hooking watch.

Yet, it was almost everything not. Fairy tail’s arcs become excessively predictable every single time, to the point of destroying its initially good idea for a fresh take. See, it’s just repetitive and boring at times, where characters lose sight of those former goals most of the time because ‘friendships are stronger than bonds’. There are no plot twists in any fights, despite the great underlying potential for some. That made the actual plot twists heavily foreshadowed, so we almost had nothing to look forward too.

In spite of being a shounen anime, the honest lack of strategy concerns me. It’s simply the same, reiterated cycle — relentless power-ups with no specific cause, rather, ‘I’ve trained so I’m stronger’. There’s a bottomless pit of power level you can only surpass, but this film went so far it’s laughable.

Another reason why Fairy Tail makes it such a turn-off is the sheer amount of plot armour. Fairy tail’s probably one of the shows I find heavily dosed with plot armour, and it gets worse the further you watch. It has gone beyond the point of even unredeemable, with every single episode reliant on a miraculous power-up or a boost of energy simply because ‘of the power of friendship’.

No one dies. Now, you may think I’m some weird sadist, but this anime goes so far to the edge of heartfelt drama, only to pull you back without the serious injury of a character or even the death of a character that could’ve functioned as a turning point. (You know exactly who I’m talking about.) It gets extremely irritating at times that I felt this show could’ve reached greater heights with it being pure comedy.

What I find most aggravating is with this anime’s characters. You know how bad a show handles it’s characterisation when you can’t choose a favourite character. Poor focus, underdeveloped side characters practically make up most of its wacky cast. I’ve seen bad shounen protagonists, but Fairy Tail takes it to a whole new level.

To start off, Natsu’s an underdeveloped power-freak that constantly receives most of the plot armour we see. Not only that, but throughout the entire series, he’s been used as more of a plot device to steer the fights around and well, support Lucy. Unchanging since episode one with unsupported morales, his one-defining trait is that he’s determined to protect all his guildmates. It’s exactly because of that that Natsu lacks substance — they could’ve made a character that resonates with everyone — his motives on why he feels so strongly is never acknowledged and hence, a backstory or ideal where ‘I’m never going to lose them again.’ doesn’t exist.

See, his past where Lisanna ‘died’ or when Igneel supposedly left him were great points to develop his character into one that never wants to lose his friends as he failed to protect the ones he cared for again and again. But no, we’re going to ignore that and use him as a plot device.

Lucy, on the other hand, feels extremely wasted as a character. She uses a rare form of magic — celestial magic — yet it is never seen to benefit her at any time. She’s not exactly useless, she’s just more of an initiator used to create ideas that Mashima had.

Again, her magic is where Lucy can really shine, but the plot uses that as an opportunity to use their rinse-and-repeat arcs in a poor attempt to satisfy their viewers. It poses such a great opportunity to develop her, though it functions as more of a problem to her than anything else. ‘Oh, I have this really cool idea, so I’m going to blame it on Lucy’s celestial powers just so Natsu can save her.’ Is the actual vibe I’m getting from Mashima’s storytelling.

Everyone else though, is utilised in such a way that they simply exist, yet are never even touched on. There are no other characters except for the mere handful that actually went close to developing. Even the main characters felt like filler backgrounds sometimes.

IN CONCLUSION, Fairy Tail is an anime worse than your average shounen. It details unlikely power-ups without valid backings, baseless characters, and of course, is heavily crammed with fanservice, everyone’s favourite friend. I honestly enjoyed the filler episodes more than the actual plot, as it served itself much better as a comedy film.

ratings =

world-building | 4

plot & story arcs | 2

characters | 3

overall | 3

thank you so much for reading through my extremely long review xx

SUKITTE II NA YO — The once popular 2012 romance anime now enveloped by thousands of new and upcoming shoujo films, Say ‘I love you’ explores the love life of a quiet and tormented Mei. Simple enough, yet, why doesn’t it still garner the attention it did when it first got released?

A silent girl always being judged by her classmates, this growing-up story focuses on how Mei, with the encounter of Yamato, realises the importance and the dependence of friendships. Sukitte ii na yo sets the theme right on its first episode — a mature and emotional setting, meant to entice its viewers with the thrill of a relationship that faces the ride of a rollercoaster.

Except that it was everything not. This show was clearly directed to the main topics of coping with new encounters in love and overcoming bullying, and yet, Sukitte ii na yo tossed its plot points away half the time just to insert forced drama that was evidently there to try to further advance its pacing. This show possesses a stereotypical feel — but the moment they let go of all the those themes that were propping it up, it becomes worse than your average romance anime.

Not to mention, the part which really drove people away was it’s horrible pacing. You don’t usually see these kinds of odd writing, but they still do exist; shows where the plot runs without its characters. It takes its own, exaggeratedly fast sprints forward without developing or pulling the relationship to the point of even acceptable — infuriating, because mere words like ‘fast-paced‘ is a complete understatement. There’s no build-up, just continuous action.

There is no time to introduce the characters and their backgrounds to each other, yet this anime deems it as satisfactory and continues its splurge of unnecessary drama. They barely even know each other — not their backstories or even their true personalities — but they are drawn to each other because of well, plot convenience. It’s only because she’s ‘interesting’ or he’s ‘kinder’ than others. Those aren’t even concrete reasons to develop a platonic relationship. But well, plot convenience.

The most frustrating fact is that this is supposed to be an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve seen extremely boring ones like these, though Sukitte ii na yo takes it to a new level of underdevelopment. It’s not even funny how this anime strives to develop their intimacy more than the actual characters, and by doing that, their only solution in keeping their viewers faithful is to continuously pile up drama, giving side characters their little arcs before pushing them to the background or even removing them completely.

Now, you may think that this is as bad as it gets, but in Sukitte ii na yo, the most poorly crafted organisation was with its characters. It boasts a protagonist with strong beliefs and morals — a life of being wholly independent is her only dream. It’s your typical, confident personality that flares out as her main trait — except she’s not. Broken down and completely changed by the end of the second episode, I find it extremely hard to believe that someone so careful not to be taken advantaged of would fall prey to a friendship that she could absolutely not get involved with. Walls built on years don’t just come crashing down like that.

Worse still, Yamato isn’t as great as he comes. There’s no one that caring. Yet again, that’s not a real problem — if this show wasn’t boasting that as a source of all the problems in their relationship as a couple. By the seventh episode, the drama was so false and unnecessary to the point of no return. At that juncture, I would rather watch a mini arc wholly on Aiko or Megumi as I found their untold stories way more appealing.

This show was supposed to feel emotional, yet it completely ignored the typical words where ‘characters make the story’ and threw it halfway across the field. It’s little pretentious fights felt so bottomless, not because it was portrayed unsatisfactory, but rather, because it was built solely on actions that made no sense at all. Their actions were careless and obsessive, to the point of making a supposed relatable film extremely unbelievable and confusing.

OVERALL, Sukitte ii na yo is one of those old dramas that should be left behind. It’s pacing is horrible, and the development worse. There’s nothing wrong with anime being not relatable, yet this anime is one of those that clearly wants to put its foot out there are make its viewers emotional. It’s an unredeemable work, and though the feelings were portrayed well, the setting ripped out its efforts and tore it to shreds.

ratings =

enjoyment & setting | 3

characters | 2

plot | 1.5

overall | 1.5

this is just my opinion and thank you for reading through xx