This show doesn't take itself too seriously. The backstory of the female lead could be deeply explored in relation to how it affects her sense of self and how she handles trust in other people, to be made into an emotional tale of how a character with trauma and a tragic past learns to see more light in the world (or warmth, as the show puts it), and falls in love with the person who shows it to her. It tries to do that, in a very shallow level, but if that's what you're looking for, this show's not for you. You see, this show hasa fatal case of "anime". Put simply, it very much is "we want the hot naive maid to be with the nice mc". Typical Slice of Life stuff - going to school, summer festival, visiting the temple on new year's - with some wacky action hijinks along the way (the maid is an assassin, after all).
With that in mind, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. The show is very endearing, and the girl is very cute (you can see this show spent all its animation budget on the women lol). Sometimes you just wanna watch a silly show about a cute maid and a nice boy who like each other, and that's ok.

WOW. Simply. WOW. This is a collection of three short stories, all from the same studio but with completely different creators behind them, and every single one of them was absolutely phenomenal. All of them had a completely different and gorgeous art style, entirely different setting, music, "world rules", everything. They were all completely unique but all equally impressive. I'd be just as impressed if I had just seen one of these on its own. But seeing three masterpieces back to back like this was exceptionally enjoyable. I'd gladly be first in line to see this studio do something like this again. It said "Volume1" when the title appeared, so I'm hoping more than ever that I get to be amazed and impressed by this studio all over again in the future.

10/10

Holy... stinkin... heck... This is from the same studio that brought us Mary and the Witch's Flower. AKA one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my entire life. I don't know how many of the same people worked on this film, but this is a perfect testament as to why you should never give up creating. You may have noticed throughout my ratings that I never once give anything a 0/10. Because I personally don't believe that's right. I think the fact that a group of individuals came together and brought some sort of artistic creation to life will always be worthy of 1point of some kind. To give something a 0 is essentially the same as telling someone to stop creating. Which I would personally never feel right doing. 

I hated their first piece. But I wouldn't dare write off an entire company filled with hundreds of creatives because of a single project. Sometimes it's the timing. The budget. The restrictions from higher ups. Whatever it may be. It's never any one person's fault for how a movie or a show or a game turns out. And likewise, a movie or a show or a game is never solely one person's doing. That's why I continue to love something like Balan Wonderworld, despite the one person on that game's dev team who gained the most infamy. The rest of the team deserved to be prideful of their work on that game, and to not be blamed for that one person's actions. And they deserved to move on for it and create something new. And they did just that with Sonic Superstars. That's why I still have faith in ILCA and look forward to what they'll create in the future. Not because they disappointed me with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. But because they changed my life with their perfect work on THE iDOLM@STER Starlit Season. And this is why I'll continue to look forward to everything Studio Ponoc puts out in the future. Not because of Mary. But because of Tomorrow's Leaves. Because of Modest Heroes. And because... of The Imaginary.

This was a spectacle of complete and total childhood wonder. Everything that comes with growing up and navigating the world for the first time. All the joy, all the sorrow, all the fear, all the hope, all the endless possibilities when you believe in the power of imagination. It was sincerely beautiful and heartfelt, while not shying away from the dark and twisted elements of the story it wanted to tell. The visuals are a stunning mix of gorgeous hand drawn 2D animation with 3D lighting and shading that gives it a unique look all its own while standing alongside its distant Ghibli cousins. The music is phenomenal, with a downright AMAZING credits song that I'm STILL listening to on repeat as I'm writing this review! How in the world this wasn't nominated for an Oscar... Heck, how in the world anyone, let alone the CEO OF STINKIN DISNEY can still think that animation is meant to be "just for kids" or that animation doesn't need to be intelligent or isn't capable of telling gripping and emotional stories that can stand alongside or even surpass anything live action is BEYOND me. Absolutely wild to think that people still believe such nonsense. 

This wasn't a perfect film. There were some bits here and there that didn't entirely make sense, which I will openly admit. I don't even think things needed to be changed. Just cut those bits out and you're good to go. I'm trying not to get hung up on those few pieces that didn't quite hit as strongly as the rest of the film, but I also know that there are people who'll have their entire opinion on this film defined by those moments. Which is a shame, really. But I guess that choice is on them. If I'm being completely objective, this film is like an 8. There are some bumps in the road, but I'm sorry. I simply don't care. The parts that I loved, I REALLY loved. The parts that were great were perfect. It's one of the best works of art I've ever seen and handled a very special subject matter better than anyone else I've seen attempt a story like this before them. It's made me a fan of this studio for life and will have me looking forward to every single thing they create in the future. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for continuing to create. To dream. To imagine. And thank you... for sharing your imagination with the rest of the world. And for encouraging others to do the same.

10/10

Many fantasy-adjacent stories draw you in through carefully crafted worlds and environments, supported by well-thought-out ideas and concepts. The Eminence in Shadow is not one of these. Unapologetically self-aware, it plays every stereotype, trope, and cliche straight with so little hesitation that the viewer might completely forget this is a parody. It wears them like a badge of honor. Despite being unexceptional in every way except for the on-point music, it has entertaining moments when displaying absolute confidence in the narrative despite how ridiculous the situation is. Intentionally pretentious, woefully edgy, and expectedly predictable, watch this only if you know what you are in for.

Cross Age is a fascinating 2010s mecha anime. The reputation it had before I watched it was it's a "so bad it's good" type how cause sexual content(?). I think. No ones ever specified. Its just bad you know, people say its bad. And instead what I got was just straight up a modern day Go Nagai esque show, just unadulterated drama and edge, mostly in the flavor of prison drama, and just a kind of real tale of overcoming tragedy in a fantastical story of women riding mechs to kill dragons. Like most of the cast being women who pilot mechs is very commendable, includinga female protag. And in this type of story???? Genuinely if this was a live action story it would probably get more respect because online anime fans aren't that honest with themselves, there always has to be some backhandedness about sexual content or being genuine in positivity or optimism. It's kind of a tragedy.

And tragedy is the line that connects everything in Cross Ange.

Our heroine Ange is a princess who quickly loses that world in a blink of an eye because of her brother. And she herself isn't that great a person at first. She's full blown discriminatory against her fellow prison pilots. Yes thats right, she's a prisoner, but also the prisoners are relied upon to keep the extraterrestrial dragons at bay. I mean yes, she's also discriminatory, but a weakened racist royal is nothing compared to the prison's head prisoner/pilot with a lesbian harem who needs some action to "break in" the newbie. 

The tone initially of Cross Ange is kind of dire, the nasty world of the prison itself, and also Ange's resistance to being a pilot or working with the people "below her". Our hero isn't really a hero, and even though this is a secret society secretly defending the world, the other pilots don't feel like heroes either. Everyone just seems awful in their own way. 

But no matter who you are, you're facing some sort of struggle, but there's always the next day to look forward to and overcome challenges. 

And Ange does indeed overcome herself and the prison, as bumpy as that road is, and thats where we get to the more fun stuff, because there's more than just direness in this show. I mean, the characters pilot a cool plane mecha hybrid machine. Nana Mizuki sings the op and voices the heroine THE INSERT SONGS. YOU KNOW ITS MECHA WHEN THERES INSERT SONGS. Also, there's DRAGONS. DID I MENTION THEYRE FIGHTING DRAGONS!?!?! Oh and also sex, yeah we also got some sex and sex jokes sprinkled in there for good measure. Just the full human experience spectrum on here. 

Its amazing how Cross Ange balances direness and fantastical, raw and goofy. Cross Ange is just very genre savvy about a lot of things.

You want a cute little montage of forest survival? They got you. The hero gets sick so the rest of the crew have to take cover until theyre better? Yes sir! Prison escape. Hell yeah.

And when the secrets of the world reveals themselves, and the villain goes into motion, Cross Ange continues to exceed in being premium super robot. Ange, Villkiss, destroy this strange dystopia caused by a deluded man!

Oh yeah also its pretty clear the kids anime Shadowverse took inspiration from Cross Ange's villain. So that's SOMETHING to think about, in all the "hue hue this show is BAD" discourse, some kids in the 2020s have grown up on a variant of Cross Ange's villain. Now if that isn't meaningful impact, idk what is. 

I feel that Cross Ange would resonate most with people who've been less than fortunate. The feeling of getting by with just SOMETHING depsite whats been lost. 
Its utilized a raw and dire experience to illustrate a heroine who rises above the flawed world she was born and suffered in. It's great. 
Cross Ange is great.

[The Vision of Escaflowne] Review (No Spoiler) Hitomi Kanzaki, an ordinary Japanese girl obsessed with fortune-telling, is suddenly transported to a fantastical world after encountering Van Fanel, a prince battling a monster from another dimension. The premise—now labeled under the "isekai" genre—was groundbreaking in 1996. While modern isekai anime feels repetitive, Escaflowne remains a timeless gem. Key Strengths: The World of Gaea: A seamless blend of samurai, knights, and giant robots (Guymelefs). The lore balances technology (like dragon-powered mechs) with medieval aesthetics flawlessly.Production Quality:

Animation: Among the best even now for a TV series. Character designs range from realistic, detailed styles (e.g., Balgus, the mentor, and Dornkirk, the villainous king) to cute, big-eyed designs (e.g., Van Fanel and Hitomi Kanzaki).

Action Scenes: Polished and well-paced, with no convoluted rules. The soundtrack amplifies the intensity.

Major Flaws:
Forced Romance:
The romance subplots (especially Hitomi’s sudden crushes) feel unrealistic amid life-threatening chaos.

Third-Act Decline:

The final arc sacrifices action and logic for melodrama. Animation quality drops noticeably.

Characters like Folken (Van’s brother) suffer from jarring contradictions (e.g., claiming to "stop wars" while causing destruction).

Inconsistent Side Characters:
Merle and Princess Millerna act inconsistently, undermining their earlier depth.

Conclusion:
Escaflowne is a must-watch for its unique world, stunning visuals and action, and influence on the isekai genre—even with its messy finale.

As a quick PSA, while I did mark my review of this anime with the "mixed feelings" tag, but that doesn't mean I did not like it. I did, more or less. I don't regret spending time on watching this, but it won't be that way for everyone. Honestly, I don't think there is much to say. "Love Live: School Idol Festival" has a very simple concept that it sticks to — high school idols — without deviating too far into other themes. The story does not try to get much deeper beyond the typical cliches like the power of friendship/music, high school nostalgia, persisting despitechallenges, you can do anything you put your mind to, and so on. I will admit that at some points I found the way these ideas were presented to be a little annoying, and some of the drama felt forced. Some of the events in the story also didn't seem logical or reasonable (see the resolution of Kotori's issue at the end of the anime). But, like I said, this show is not trying to be super deep. In the end, it's simply about cute girls wanting to be idols. Just take it as it is, and it will be alright enough.

(Some of the moments ARE weird — for example, somewhat suspicious camera shots and plot setups, as well as Nozomi's whole... gimmick, but I chalked that up to the "culture" of this animation genre at the time. This show isn't trying to come off as high-brow and it most certainly isn't part of that category anyway.)

I think that this anime will be most worth watching for people with a similar experience to me — that is, people who enjoyed the songs and especially the rhythm game (may it rest in peace haha) and want to get a bit of additional information on the origin stories of the songs, as well as the personalities of the characters. I didn't engage with the SIF game's story much, so I learned about the characters a lot more by watching this anime, and I have to say, I'm a little surprised by what I found and am glad I gave this a chance. Turns out I still like Umi, Maki, and Eli a whole heck ton (criminal that they never became an official subunit), but I also like Nico a little less, care about Honoka a little bit more, and like Hanayo and especially Rin a WHOLE lot more. Kotori is cute but not very remarkable, in my opinion. (No comment on Nozomi. She's... interesting.) So in this regard, the anime is helpful. And being able to see how some of the songs came about was nice, even if some of them I'm still not a big fan of (usually due more to the singing than anything else as I don't like some of the characters' high-pitched voices).

The animation is honestly pretty alright. Even nice in some moments where the artistic team was able to pay some special attention to detail (though sometimes it looked a little uncanny, too). The 3D models are a little clunky but they work well enough to not really be an issue for me. The soundtrack (excluding the actual songs) isn't remarkable but works fine. I was not fully into some of the idol group's songs, but the discography for Mu's alone is huge and they have plenty of great songs that were not featured in this season.

Overall, this is the kind of anime that I would describe with the phrase "you get what you put into it." If you expect something ground-breaking, you will be disappointed (perhaps counter-intuitively, given what I said just now). However, if you're here for nothing much beyond a fun time and don't mind some lack of depth, then this would probably be a fine enough experience for you. Hope this helps!

An otaku and cosplayers dream is how I would describe the show if you really like my dress up darling then you will like this granted it does not the romance between the characters. It does have them a connection to each other through cosplay. I really enjoyed this watching it from nothing to a group of cosplayers having fun and doing events. There’s not really much to say it’s 20+ episodes of pure bliss and enjoyment and I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys cosplay high school romcom and that sort of genre. Also season two confirmed that’s exciting and I will be watching Overall, Iwrite 8 out of 10

Just another compilation of motives we have seen hundreds of time done worse than we seen hundreds of times. Author clearly had a checklist off all tropes he needed to hit and well he certainly did. First of all the world building is a mess - you've got the standard European-esque society with magic being nobles only -> this necessitates a standard discrimination sideplot. Except this time everybody thinks it's bad - noble families heads agree, king agrees but that doesn't matter since that is a genre trope and therefore needed. Also there is this poor village made up of criminals, except no criminals are thereand for some reasons this village made up of like 5 houses is constantly on mind of every aristocrat. 

Worse then world building are characters, chief among them the main antagonist Liz. She has the standard trope of having magic she can't control that makes everyone like her. Except we know that day one leading to an incredibly shallow character and all drama that leads from this also doesn't have any depth. She doesn't evolve a single bit trough the whole show, till the "OMG I didn't know I was manipulating everyone" realization which makes here picture perfect ideal whatever. Author could have setted her up as genuinely sinister person - and for a brief second it looked like that (episode 6) but the author was too scared to commit and it went nowhere. 

Our protagonists is just slightly better. the concept of here actually wanting to play out the role of villanes could have been refreshing. However it went essentially nowhere - she doesn't make any person dislike her (except the Liz's drug junkies, which doesn't count) and for a "evil" person she is full lot of unnecessary compassion. Probably would have helped if they decided to drop all the stuff with common folk. Or she could have done the same things not out of compassion but in order to create a more efficient exploitative system. Currently we have a protag who is "playing" as character, leading to her not being a one in a first place. 

Ending was partially spoiled in like a first episode (I cannot phantom why would the author done this since it added absolutely nothing. ) and cemented in 10th (I think). Not to mention, as is common in anime, it ended up with sequel baiting. 

Animation is simplistic tough workable, soundscape is fine.

I am about to finish my 7th re-watch, and I feel like I need to write a review: The show is a very relaxing slice of life, with some tense moments and a strong sense of progression. There are cliches, but there's no shortage of original things either (I won't be a spoiler, but some are very unusual for anime). Characters are well written, not very deep, but consistent, and their growth is always achieved with few very effective skits, which is way more difficult to do than using long (boring) narratives. The only weakness is the main art style (the one you see in covers) whichis very generic, however, there is also a stylized one (used for explanations or comedic skits) which is impressively good and gives a lot of personality to the show.

To conclude, maybe because I grew up in the countryside, maybe because as a kid I was always off building some playhouse with scraps, this anime really has a special vibe, something unique that I haven't found anywhere else.