300Megahertz Reviews

Weathering with You (2019)

Not what it should have been

[6/10 · 30 September 2020]

I don't know why this movie gets constantly compared to Your Name, if not for its creator, because these movies are nothing alike. Just wanted to get this out right away.

Also it is often said that the peculiar weather phenomena depicted in this movie were some insinuation to climate change. Though some characters seem to confirm that with their remarks, it doesn't quite fit the narrative in which the weather can be fixed at will by a single person. If it is an insinuation, it isn't a particularly good one.

These phenomena are never really explained. They are merely a weak plot device. And since the show focuses entirely upon Tokyo, the viewer is left wondering what the state of the rest of the world is (for example the home town of Hodoka).

The protagonist Hodoka runs away from home. This is never explained in detail, making it very difficult to identify with the protagonist or at least feel sympathy for him. It's awfully contrived, and Hodoka acts mostly without any forethought. Bad start.

Still, with the help of irresponsible strangers and by avoiding the police, he makes his way in Tokyo; and by a series of extraordinary coincidences, he meets Hina. Her background is just as bland as his and their relationship doesn't go very deep.

On that note: There are no interesting characters in this movie. They are all one dimensional with one line of history. That's just wasted potential.

In Your Name, fate was the enemy; here it is the police, apparently. The chase scenes, violence against police officers, and resistance are completely inadequate. But they needed that to create drama; in opposite to Your Name where drama comes natural. The solution of what stands between them (Hodoka and Hina), the clearing of the final obstacle, is way to simple and unsatisfying. Obviously I wouldn't like to spoiler, but I was left with: "What? It's that simple? That's all he had to do? Why then even bother going through all this trouble?"

Like I said: this movie is nothing like Your Name, but I wished it were.

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (2009–2011)

Near perfect love story

[8/10 · 27 September 2020]

Kimi ni todoke is a marvelous love story with fleshed out characters and near perfect pacing.

Unfortunately, that doesn't go for Sawako's beloved Kazehaya, as he often is an enigma. Mostly he doesn't say much, and when he says something it's rather hollow. First he is upset that Sawako distances herself from him, only to grow so distant himself. He absolutely doesn't act like you would expect from a boy in love. That irritated me a lot, especially towards the end.

Most conflicts are rather contrived, and that's okay as the show doesn't dwell on them and the characters aren't overly unreasonable as they tend to be in anime.

I absolutely love the art style, which changes to doll like animations in comedic scenes, which there are plenty.

Season 2, on the other hand, is absolutely terrible. The characters haven't grown in any way, there are so much forced and silly conflicts, Kazehaya grows dense and is really annoying, and they shouldn't have introduced more despicable characters. Also season 2 has only half as many episodes.

Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (2015–2017)

Chasing a McGuffin

[5/10 · 24 September 2020]

Season 1:

The plot, of course, doesn't make a lot of sense, but Aki's eccentrism and antics are fun to watch. Kato has no real reason to put up with them, but she does anyway, and her stoic remarks are priceless. But other than that, she lacks any real purpose other than to grow closer to Aki, and it feels somewhat forced.

Aki's other friends, Eriri and Utaha, are much more central to the actual plot, but both of them are unlikable and moody. It's not clear what Aki sees in them.

And then there is Michiru, Aki's cousin, whose only purpose is to be another girl in Aki's life. I think they overdid it with female characters.

But all in all, I had some good laughs.

Season 2:

Character development comes to a hold, Kato's screen time is much too short and meaningless, every single conversation is about the McGuffin (the video game they are working on), and there just is too much forced conflict. Aki is the typical dense protagonist. It feels annoying and the humor of season 1 is gone. The last 4 episodes feel super, super rushed, and there is no meaningful conclusion.

It also is very ironic how the protagonists condemn typical anime cliches while being typical anime cliches.

Blue Spring Ride (2014)

Super cheap and annoying

[3/10 · 24 September 2020]

Tanaka is super mean to Futaba without any reason. He is only nice when he feels like it, and even then he isn't sincere. He plays knight for her and issues hollow words of wisdom, only to avoid her again.

Futaba in turn cannot draw consequences and cannot defend herself.

Their backstory feels super engineered and cheap.

This anime draws every love drama cliche there is. But I quite like the art style.

Bloom Into You (2018)

Not quite as cheesy as the premise suggests

[8/10 · 24 September 2020]

Quite the opposite; it has much more depth than I initially thought. It is a heart warming story about finding love and unrequited love.

The plot itself might be simple, yet intriguing and has a pleasant pacing. The characters all feel fleshed out and aren't overly cliched and just unreasonable like in many other animes. Not to to say that Bloom Into You is void of cliche; but it doesn't wield it like a sword.

It's interesting seeing an anime that reminds that love doesn't work like it does in manga or anime (although it kind of does here, too, but nevermind).

Sakura Trick (2014)

What is love?

[8/10 · 23 September 2020]

Neither Haruka nor Yuu really know what love is, and yet they feel that their relationship is special, and they feel this inexplicable desire towards each other.

Saruka Trick is just a cute story about friendship and love -- and urequired love. There isn't much depth to it, and yet I love it, just because it is so cute and doesn't feel rushed.

Good Morning Call (2016–2017)

Fails spectecularly

[1/10 · 25 August 2020]

I can only stress how spectacularly bad this show is; the acting, the camera work, the post production, the plot; just all of it is completely ridiculous. It feels more like a high-school amateur film, and a bad one at that.

I probably don't need to explain that Good Morning-Call is cliched ad nauseam. Nao only seems to exist to please Hisashi, who is the obnoxious bad boy the whole school (for some bizarre reason) would die for. When he enters the school, all girl's eyes widen and are on him, and I mean that quite literally. He constantly looks down on other people and is painfully unlikeable. Nao on the other hand is naive and for some reason puts up with Hisashi's behaviour towards her, though she had much better options.

And obviously I didn't get the humour because I didn't laugh. It's just a waste of time.

Chivalry of a Failed Knight (2015)

Enjoyable Romance

[8/10 · 24 August 2020]

The relationship between Ikki and Stella is surprisingly well portrayed. The show plays with some cliches like sister love, jealousy and thick-guy-who-doesn't-get-it, but it never does so ad nauseam. I am also surprised by how natural characters react in comparison to many other animes. I found that refreshing.

The show has several subplots, which are interesting, but they also have terrible character obsolescence, meaning the characters of those subplots will never be mentioned again. There is some vague grander plot going on, but it's weak and it doesn't really get resolved.

The fight scenes are visually impressive and well choreographed.

Apart from Ikki, we don't learn much about the other characters. The biggest weakness of the show is its short length. There is also some tedious monologuing going on.

Scum's Wish (I) (2017)

The rejection of happiness

[5/10 · 24 August 2020]

The relationship of the protagonists feels very rushed, though them becoming closer over time and learn to love each other should have been the leading motive. Instead, they are doing it in the first episode. At times it feels irritating how both of them cling to childhood fantasies while doing mature stuff, to the point were I thought they actively work against their own happiness. That is especially irritating when considering that the both of them actually are a great couple. But for some bizarre reason, they just don't want it to work. But overall, it seemed like things would work out well for them, as it was hinted here and there. And they admittedly have some great moments! Moments, where I expected, "I love you," to be dropped at any moment. So there clearly are expectations building up. But then the show decides to make a U-turn, creating all sorts of artificial conflicts. Of course the good old love triangle, which we have seen ad nauseam already. But in this case, its depiction is particularly stupid. It also explores the minds of the protagonists' teachers (their crushes), though they are merely plot devices, and it should have stayed that way; loving ones' teacher is a bad cliche to begin with. The protagonists also create all sorts of unnecessary problems, like cheating and miscommunication. The resolution of it all is a joke. The last episodes just get wasted. And again, it is strongly hinted at that point that things might work out well for the protagonists' relationship, but for some bizarre reason they just decide that they shouldn't. At the end, both protagonists are exactly where they started, lonely, unhappy, plus they both lost friends.

Waiting in the Summer (2012–2014)

Painful to watch

[3/10 · 23 August 2020]

The plot makes absolutely no sense, but that by far isn't the biggest issue; the biggest issues are the characters, who grow more and more obnoxious, controlling, jealous, and passive aggressive by the episode. Also they are creepy stalkers. It's just painful to watch. Kaito, being the typical anime protagonist, can't speak his mind and is painfully passive, causing a lot of forced conflict. Also, why do shows like this tend to make plots about love triangles even more complicated by bringing even more girls into the game? It only makes it more absurd and painful to watch. Consequently, all characters are pretty bland.

Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] (2014–2015)

Painful to watch

[3/10 · 23 August 2020]

The plot is immensely stupid, the characters are all obnoxious and unlikeable, the protagonist seems to be some kind of masochist, while Rin suffers from a severe personality disorder. The concept of cooperation seems to be completely foreign in this universe, and thus there is much forced conflicted. All this gets rounded off by elaborate and tedious monologuing. Especially towards the end, the show gets tougher than any gum.

All I can give the creators credit for are the brilliant visuals and well choreographed fights. But otherwise it is painful to watch.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (2016–2018)

Gets tedious

[6/10 · 19 August 2020]

After the first few episodes, I thought to myself that this could very well be the funniest show I have ever watched. The humour was spot on, and the development of Kusuo's stoic character and the exploration of his powers (and its limitations) was creative and interesting.

Now, for Kusuo it is very important that others (especially his classmates) don't find out about his powers because that would create all sorts of problems for him. But this also somewhat ruins the show because after a while, all it is about is how Kusuo finds creative ways (by abusing his powers) to avoid his classmates, instead of just telling them that he doesn't want to hang around with them. For example, there is a girl who clearly likes him, but instead of just telling her that he isn't interested, he plays the very cruel game of just avoiding her and playing mean tricks on her.

At this point, he ist just getting obnxious, and the show gets tedious to watch as most of the episodes just feel the same. The supporting characters only fasten the demise. The initial humour is completely gone.

Rosario + Vampire (2008)

Simple and fun to watch

[7/10 · 9 August 2020]

There is no grand plot going on. In every episode Tskune and his friends have to defeat another foe and they need to work out their love triangle. The focus clearly is on the latter as the fights aren't that spectacular, though the visuals are often gorgeous.

His friends (or rather his harem) are typical naive but lovable anime girls. Only Moka (due to her importance to Tskune) has more of a personality. Tskune himself is a bit lacking as he is very weak and consequently has to be rescued by his female friends all the time; a fact that he is painfully aware of himself. He would have been way cooler if he had at least one useful skill like sword fighting; just anything instead of whining about how weak he is. His weakness is also very much at odds with his protective nature.

Though plot and characters aren't anything spectacular, there are some really beautiful and funny moments to be found, lessons about love and friendship (though nothing too deep). And 13 episodes are a good match for this format.