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How much more blatant can a story’s in-built plot armor for its MC get and still continue to ride that wave? Even an antagonist could do nothing but exclaim extreme confusion when Jinwoo received the freaking author’s help at death’s door. This is so silly, but still so fun, even if the entire Jeju Island is a Chimera Ant arc knockoff.

I’m truly wondering how they will handle the rest of the cast apart from Jinwoo. S-rank hunters holding monikers such as “Humanity’s Ultimate Weapon” seem like rubble in the face of a literal unkillable meta-protected evolving creature and the ever-escalating scale of conflict that ... it feels like animating a Gacha game’s heavy powercreep. It’s quite merciless to establish the concept of Hunters in a way that keeps them from reaching new heights, while creating an MC that revolves around constant evolution. I can see a one-way street of the powerful weeded out as the powerless, and maybe this will make it an easier job for the author as it exponentially reduces the amount of characters to focus. Yes, I wonder how that will shape up in the source material.

Generic Action Fantasy Anime X may be the nth number in a row of released generic action fantasy anime in history, but it has done unto me what *Sword Art Online* did at a younger age, but now around a decade later.

Although the concept of Hunters is uninteresting due to their stagnancy and the loose constitution of their abilities and traits at the core, and although the uninteresting-ness seeps into the characters themselves, where I derive enjoyment from in *Solo Leveling* is, funnily, Jinwoo being a Gary Stu variant. That in and of itself is not even a good thing anymore in this day ... and age, but there are just things that make the reason behind an MC being a Gary Stu work. In this case, it's Jinwoo gaining abilities the more experience he acquires. Game simulations can still have my attention, huh. The story is lucky to be propped up by a skillful direction of action sequences, too.

The rising of the slope in these kinds of stories offering refreshing sensations does usually mean that, simply put, it falls off. Highlighting the beginning, and especially the peak, is easy prey to a downfall or a plateau at best. As such, this honeymoon feeling of wanting to binge and even read the source material after might wane, but as of the present, I'm delightfully enjoying the moment.

More than anything, it's Tanjiro's throat that should have had irreparable damage since the beginning. Only now have I realized how much noise his voice lines and direction create in an ear-grating manner. Suspense is forcibly built up by tense speeches, and with the magnificent action and beautiful soundtrack running alongside it, Tanjiro's over-the-top voice becomes a thick layer of hindrance to reaching great levels of enjoyment.

About the story, well yeah, it's as straightforward as it gets, as it has to be. No qualms nor praises about it. Except Nezuko's bit at the end there, it was done pretty well. It's a high quality of ... visual and auditory sentimental fishing.

Ramps up intrigue. More immersive as a drama presiding over silken web weaved by the whispers of political temptations. An anchor in the form of the character of mystery, Loulan, the paragon of bewitching in her silence and imposing deportment. Having been shrouded with fog in the previous season, the satisfaction of the unveiling doubly gains satisfaction. Season 2 begins to rise up in quality. What derails the momentum is an indescribable suspension: a fundamental something that's lacking in The Apothecary Diaries, and maybe it's related to how the story is told in animation, and the way the story is with Maomao at the center ... of it all. To date, the series remains to be a passerby to be observed for the sake of observation, not attachment.

*Brief Review-Reflections*

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Have you ever been a victim of the "One More Chapter Syndrome"? The clock's hands point at the wee hours, singling out the body's woes of having to certain consciousness past the healthiest time to sleep for a reader's costly whims to be satiated. *Semantic Error* plants bugs at my constitution and provides high entertainment; I haven't been this glued to my phone screen since God knows when. The term "binge-worthy" is apt to describe a story that engages its audience (in a repercussive manner) by hitting the right notes: characters with a strong personality and great chemistry; a setting for romance that ... leans on to the adulting stage; appropriate comedy; telling art; and visually appealing gay guys to boot! It is apt to describe *Semantic Error* as such (binge-worthy), ironic as it's a slow burn -- a slow burn handled with finesse at the process of development, and more importantly, retained diligent care by successfully making the story explosive and flamingly fun until the end. *Semantic Error* leaves no room for semantic errors in the program.

*Like trinkets that boast beauty when sat, yet lose sheen in movement*

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Thorns within the garden, poison in a meal. Conspiracy ornaments the canvas with the shadowy sensation of unease; the cryptic air of mystery lurks with shapeless daggers that form in any opportune space. Incentivizing caution, detective dramas engage through suspense. *The Apothecary Diaries* replaces tension with the superficial satisfaction of an easy guarantee, and brutely attaches/acknowledges a grand web of conspiracies not with an arachnidian aesthete's gossamer but with glue--conspicuous, not artistically seamless--such that floriography is extracted off of its essence in holding a world through the veil of subtle language. It's a largely ... missed opportunity, and now shock value hinges on grand reveals, but at the very least the show retains floral elegance and spectacles through involving more women into the plot.

Like the food taster that Maomao is, she herself is the roadblock to anything going rock bottom when she can put her cunning paws onto any incident. She puts poison on her plate and poison is magnetized to her plate to make conflict go constantly through her first. Maomao is the question, the antidote, the answer. Although she has inherited the natural geniuses of Fenshen and Lakan, was raised by the erudite Luomen, and although ひとりごと (Hitorigoto) from the Japanese title translates to "Soliloquy" for how apt it is for Maomao to soliloquy herself out of any problem, it's still a bit absurd how Maomao absorbs all manner of essential work and manages to do a better job than anyone else in the kingdom. It gives an impression that the Emperor's staff are a bunch of incompetents, influences a wondering of how the palace could have even functioned without Maomao, which is a detriment to worldbuilding.

*The Apothecary Diaries* also falls behind when it comes to visuals. Beautiful as still paintings, yet rather flat and quite dull in motion, there is not much animating feel to it, almost bordering awkward on some occasions. Jewels must shine in movement, too. The environment might be rich in detail but it's insufficient in appeal. I'd point out the fact that the final frame of the first opening (sick song btw) is the same as the poster used. I don't know which order came first, but I could smell laziness in it. That was the first time I've encountered that sort of scenario.

The surface entertainment *The Apothecary Diaries* brings makes for an understandably engaged audience; it's palatable--people love cool characters that can do pretty much anything, many points added when they dabble on deductive work or are commoners that can make a name within (or put to shame) royalty. The narrative is interesting and is able to hook you into wanting to know more. There just is a lot to be polished when it comes to how it fundamentally behaves and then how it creates and follows its trails.

*Brief Review-Reflections*

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YOASOBI's techno vibe doesn't suit *Frieren*'s medieval setting and quiet disposition. OP 1 stands out like a sore thumb so much that I'll perpetually wonder why it was chosen to be the song to welcome every episode of the anime's first half when *Frieren* is praised for placing the deliberate and intricate into the details. One thought comes to mind: *Yuusha*'s futurism contrasts milet's *Anytime Anywhere* nostalgia, a division of time between the future Frieren is journeying and the past she has come from. Although the music video can be given points for pretty fairy tale borders at times, and although it can be ... considered as catchy, being aware that this song is incorporated into *Frieren* elicits an entirely different kind of response.

*Brief Review-Reflections*

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My first ever pornhwa doesn't feel as lascivious and smutty as its label entails. *Sign*, illustrated in the charm of a clean and innocent artstyle, bubbles with fluff and horniness simultaneously—it's one of the common dreams of a gay relationship. In that sense, and in writing (moreso, in drawing) out an attractive puppy-bear in the form of Yohan, *Sign* already covers many bases to keep the readers interested.

Fleshed-out characters that resemble real human traits aside, Oh Byung is like a buzzing fly that ruins the scenery, a series of hiccups that never fails to sour entire chapters with his flawfully psychotic makeup that ... concludes horribly, incoherent and chaotic to how he was portrayed all along. He never was seen as humane, but a full-fledged product of everything morally wrong, yet he says the reason why he did all those things, including making Yohan go deaf, was because only wants to be forgiven? Sure.

Other than that, I enjoyed *Sign*'s ambience akin to a cafe—which is very meta—even when the pages brew actions wild, raw, and primal. It paints a most important picture perfect for any era in the history of mankind: the horny transcends everything, even disability.

*Brief Review-Reflections*

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Minami. Minami all the way. Ssssh--no, don't say another word. It should be Minami at the end. Minami deserves everything.

Season 2 of *Baka to Test* breaks the common curse on sequels as the weaker flagbearers of a story's previous installment by actually advancing the romance route and allowing a full-blooded chicken fight to properly commence on top of the consistent quality of the gang's shenanigans. The jokes ring with invention and style, the forces between the love triangle and the legally-bonded-couple-to-be compelling enough to root for everyone, the orientation of how scenes play out so alien from bland visualization, that watching every episode promises ... a good time with no drawback. It's been 14 years and I've heard no tell of a third season. Sobbing from this timeline devoid of hope for a continuation assuming that the anime adaptations were enough marketing agents for the source material atm.

*Brief Review-Reflections*

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*Baka to Test* clearly comes from the late 2000s to early 2010s era of anime adaptations of high school-based light novels, and there was an alarming abundance of them over the course of those years, so much so that the very tag can be a turn-off due to oversaturation. Yet the thick scent *Baka to Test* has on its back revitalized me instead due to a successful execution of that good-ol' anime humor, making me blissfully engaged with taintless nostalgia.

Although the anime functions with formulaic components, there is sufficient creativity and imaginative sparkles in making the gears turn. The snappy wits in its ... comedy never run out of steam and unique ways to be integrated into both mundane and important affairs. And when it comes to unoriginal jokes, e.g., a deathbringer of a heroine serving deceptive food, there really are cases wherein they can still work as intended. However, one too many this-girl-is-a-dangerous-cook joke tips the scales unfavorably. I'm talking about Yoshii's big sister. God, she singlehandedly added a discomforting weight on my watch experience due to the repeated incestuous quips and the "I'm a bad cook" thing that was already taken by Mizuki. I wished so strongly for her to just go back to America and be the liberated woman she is.

The inclusion AND consistent delivery of gay jokes are truly delicious spices to behold, especially since I do not really find any of them offensive. As a gay guy myself, I found it all succulent and a large contributor to my enjoyment.

*Baka to Test* excels in making fun of its characters, driving them to shamelessly embody the hilarity they're assigned to, yet on the opportune moment, bask them in the glory only "idiots" can actualize. It is an entertaining revisit to the previous eras of anime.