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Mar 28, 2026
this season is an improvement upon the previous two, but still has may of the same pitfalls with regards to pacing, lack of character development, etc.
first and foremost, MAPPA have outdone themselves. this is the best the show has looked, and while that’s to be expected from the studio it is still impressive to see them continue to improve. it’s not for everyone, but as a huge fan of rotoscoping it’s great to see in a few episodes; it isn’t overdone and the scarcity of it makes it more impactful.
the show is still following the fight of the week formula, and unfortunately it
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doesn’t seem like it will move away from that any time soon. the fights are beautiful and well choreographed, the best they’ve ever been, but they feel so far removed from any actual stakes when it’s happening with a character you know next to nothing about. the character design does a lot of heavy lifting in this regard, and those designs are at their peak in this arc. there are a couple exceptions this season where we receive more character development— notably with higuruma— and it makes the back and forth with the protagonist infinitely more impactful. it would be a huge improvement if this could happen more frequently, but with the changes to the industry and the 12-24 episode season becoming the standard, this might sadly be a thing of the past for battle shounen.
tengen as a narrator is cool in theory, but this circles back to the biggest problem jjk has: it is continuously bogged down by its overcomplicated jujutsu system. “show don’t tell” is typically a flawed piece of writing advice, but this show would greatly benefit from a lot less telling. many of the abilities that were being explained this season were self evident enough that the narration felt like overkill, and having that much text on screen during fight scenes really takes away from the excitement they’re going for.
overall, the improvements made this season were minor: there are still episodes that feel dragged out to meet run time goals, there is still a lack of depth with the characters and the overall message the story is trying to tell, there is still a lack of focus on a central protagonist. but this was still the most fun the show has been so far, and if they can find a happy medium between story telling and fight scenes, it will take it from being merely fun to a truly memorable battle shounen.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 4, 2026
writing a battle shounen is challenging the longer the genre exists, and to stand out you have to have a unique battle system in place. unfortunately, jjk gets bogged down in being too unique, leading to a near constant narrating exposition dump. this may be easier to convey in the manga, but it draws away in the adaptation. another important shounen building block is interpersonal relations between its characters, and outside of a select few relationships in this series, jjk misses a lot of the marks when it comes to fleshing these out. in what may be an attempt to make up for this, season
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2 is throwing near constant fight scenes at the audience, and while visually stunning, they hold little weight on the overall outcome. many of the fights in between episodes 5 and 16 are between characters that have not built any dynamic between each other and seem to only act as vehicles to show off mappa's talent as a studio. due to the oversaturation of mappa in the action market, this is something that the general public has come to expect, and doesn't help to earn them extra points.
all this to say, thunderclap turns this around. not only are the action sequences stunning, but they begin to carry the emotional weight that was absent before. the score is fantastic throughout the series as well and of course the animation is phenomenal. a lot of the drawbacks that this season has seem to stem directly from the storytelling.
if episodes 1-5 and 16-23 could stand on their own merits, this would be closer to a 9, but as a whole the high points of the season are weighed down heavily by the remaining 11 episodes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 16, 2019
The animation, in my opinion, leaves something to be desired at times. But that may be the one of only cons I found here, so I wanted to get that out of the way first. What I considered to be lacking in that department, I thought was well made up for in the storyline and characters. The anime does honestly start a little slow, but as someone who read the manga, I stuck with it knowing it would pay off. It's not just a story about falling in love, it's a story about falling out of love, and struggling with love, and struggling with loving
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yourself. The way the characters come out is a breath of fresh air, very realistic. I think my favorite part over all was actually getting to hear the songs. The first live performance captured the exact emotion I was hoping to feel.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 24, 2019
ok so background here I've played DR1 and SDR2, and have only read synopses for the future arc LOL, but...... I really liked this anime. I see a lot of hate, but I think this is everything Danganronpa is supposed to be. it's over the top, it's ridiculous, it's incomprehensible. it's everything I love about the characters. it's like a fun addition to what I enjoyed about the games. idk who would go into a Danganronpa anime by Lerche expecting an all-out masterpiece, but I really enjoy it for what it is. of course, there's fan service, it's......Danganronpa. whatever, it's a fun ride is the
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point. don't go in expecting to have your mind blown or anything and, if you enjoyed the games, you'll probably have a good time
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 1, 2019
I don't often re-read manga, but I found myself thinking about this story again yesterday, and decided to crack it back open. As a bonus, there were three new chapters since the last time I gave it a go!
The first few volumes, containing Dear Mr. Rain and Dear Hatter focus primarily on the relationship between Satoru, a hatter, and Ryou, a young man who came to Japan to die after being involved with a seedy organization in America. The former rescues the latter, and their relationship blossoms beautifully in a unique setting that I'm not used to seeing in Manga. This was enough to make
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it a favorite for me, and this readthrough, I even changed my score from a 9 to a 10.
Now, the latter volumes, 4 and 5 so far, cover a much darker and more explicit prequel about the men Ryou worked for in America. I haven't seen a review discuss these yet, other than a brief mention, so I wanted to review the Dear Speaker series so far. At the start, we are introduced to younger versions of three men we had caught glimpses of throughout the earlier volumes; Harold, Samuel, and Tadanobu. They were raised in an orphanage together, and were forcefully separated when they started discovering the dark secrets behind the disappearances of some of their fellow orphans. So far, this arc details the struggles they each go through as they find their way back to each other over the years, and presumably, how they came to form the organization that Ryou came to join.
While these two stories are very different. I think they contrast each other beautifully. I would recommend stopping at the Dear Mr. Rain and Dear Hatter series if you are not wanting to see abuse, non-con, etc.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 25, 2019
story - 7/10
while the story may not be as gripping as other shows i've watched, i have to give credit where it is due: kyudo is a hard sport to translate into an anime or light novel. with that being said, tsurune does just enough to keep me wanting more. what stands out more so than the kyudo, is the interpersonal relationships between the team and their coaches. this is the driving force that kept me on the hook.
art - 9/10
while the art may not be pushing any wild boundaries, i found it to be very soft and pretty, it matches the tone of the
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story very well.
character - 7/10
the characters are all very kind and enjoyable. i felt like some of them could've been fleshed out better, but those closest to minato, the protagonist, shined.
enjoyment - 8/10
even though this may have been mostly a time-passer of a watch for me, it was quite enjoyable. it wasn't challenging, and it didn't necessarily make me think, but the sheer good-feelings it gave me was enough to keep me coming back
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 27, 2018
story - 9/10
the story of banana fish is good. it's a little convoluted, and a lot to deal with at times, but all-in-all, it wouldn't be the story it is without these elements. the intricate relationships between the gangs of new york, the corruption of the american government, the abuse faced by the protagonist, these all make up the world of banana fish, and make for a very compelling story.
we navigate this world from the perspective of two very different boys. one, ash lynx, an american boy only 17, and already a gang boss. the other, eiji okumura, a japanese tourist, 19.
eiji travels
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to the states as the assistant to a photographer doing a journalistic piece on american gangs, which introduces him to ash. despite ash's best efforts, eiji- and the other allies he makes along the way- becomes entangled in the gang conflict more than any of them could've imagined.
art - 9/10
the art style of banana fish is one of my favorite things about it. the overall look of the characters to me, is "cute" in a way. this is in huge contrast to the story itself. the settings and character designs themselves are beautiful when they standalone as well. bonus points for the characters' fashion sense. the only thing i could be nitpicky about here, is some of the between frames could get a little sloppy.
sound - 10/10
sound often gets overlooked, but banana fish reminded me of just how important it can be to the tone of the anime. the ops and eds are wonderful in their own right, but the score itself and the way it's interwoven into the story really add another layer.
character - 10/10
these characters are very multi-dimensional. ash is a genius, a hardened gang leader, but he is also a 17 year old boy who has been through a lot of emotional turmoil. you see this peek its way out from behind his tough facade in many ways, eg. latching onto eiji. the relationship between eiji and ash was the biggest draw to this story for me. they care about each other so much, despite their wild differences, and would do anything for the other.
enjoyment - 8/10
the parts that i enjoyed, i enjoyed greatly. however, there are some darker themes at play here with this subject matter, obviously. the abuse, the rape, the murder. these aren't what i would call enjoyable usually, and while i found most of it to be integral to the story, it could take away from the overall enjoyment.
overall - 10/10
i haven't enjoyed a new anime as much as this one in a long, long time. will be delving into the manga now
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 21, 2018
kaze ga is the anime i didn't know i was missing. i've dabbled in some sports anime here and there, but only few capture my attention enough to keep me hooked for the whole series
story - 8/10
the story itself is nothing mind blowing, pretty standard for the sports genre. something that sets this series apart is that the characters are experiencing college/apartment life, something i feel we don't get to see enough in anime. outside of that, the story follows the passionate team captain trying, and struggling, to motivate the rest of his team. i do give props to any show that can take a
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seemingly boring premise and inject so much life into it.
art - 10/10
the art has been beautiful since the start of the show, and now at the halfway mark, it is still going strong. the color palette, the character designs, the backgrounds, all gorgeous and diverse.
sound - 10/10
i feel like the sound in this show just isn't being appreciated enough! the op and ed are great in their own right, but the OST is amazing. it blends perfectly with the show, while not slipping too far into the background. yuki hayashi never disappoints
character - 10/10
even though there are 10 characters that share a pretty large amount of screen time together, they all stand out as individuals (except for maybe the twins, lol). the camaraderie between characters usually plays a big factor into what gets me into a show, and that continues to be the case here. from episode one, the banter and blooming interpersonal relationships have had their hooks in me and have only gotten deeper since
enjoyment - 10/10
started a little slow at first, but since the first 3-4 episodes, i've been having a blast watching every single week
overall - 10/10
give this show the attention it deserves!!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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