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Boku no hîrô akademia (2016)
Superheroes Ain't Dead Yet, And Hero Academia Proves That To Us All
(I will be referring to the show as HeroAca because I'm a lazy sucker and can't be bothered to right Hero Academia).
I'm assuming anyone who's come here has seen the first season, so I'll be referring to events that already happened in season 1. If you haven't seen the first season yet, go watch it (and as a heads up, season 2 gets roughly 7.469x better and no I did not calculate that and yes I'm pulling numbers out of nowhere).
Story - 8/10 The thing is, HeroAca has almost two stories going on at the same time. The overarching story of "random weak nerd gets special power and becomes a hero" which, as far as things go, is pretty cliché. Not bad, but really cliché. And then we have the more intricate story - the story of the people Deku meets and how they affect him or vice verse, and then we see just how vulnerable and imperfect this society is, and not even superpowers can stop all the problems. The show is very good at not only building its own, new version of our world, but then going ahead and facing the problems and real-world issues it suffers.
Characters - 10/10 HeroAca has a pretty big cast of characters, one that only grows in season 2. Despite this, the creator of the HeroAca manga that HeroAca is based of, Kori Horikoshi, has done an excellent job of never sidelining any characters and making them helpful whenever the story allows it. Now, Season 2 doesn't have time to give everyone the spotlight, but it certainly does to a good chunk of the cast. And while not everyone is getting developed as such, they are becoming more and more lashed out as characters and obtaining their own stand out personalities. And the characters that do get developed... oh god, they develop them right. Obviously not all characters have gotten fleshed out yet, but as a manga reader I know they all will so I'm giving out the 10 rating.
Sound - 9/10 There are a lot of OSTs that are absolutely amazing and serve as brilliant accompaniment to whatever scene they're in. Most of the soundtrack can be listened to on their own, without the context of the show, and still be epic. However some of the songs don't have much variety, which does knock it down a few points. Then we have the voice actors - something I forgot to mention in my Made In Abyss review - and oh boy the voice actors are amazing. While I personally prefer sub, as I think Deku's VA expresses much more emotion, the dub is extremely solid and one of the best in a while. It's also very good at not changing really important lines which is always appreciated.
Art - 9/10 The art for this show is pretty goddamn awesome. It's a pretty new art style while still maintaining that "Japan" feel. The animation and visuals are normally very fluid and everything looks much more polished than before. The show has also drifted away from the "tell before you show" aspect that was present in the first season, with the fights allowing you to try and figure out the strategy in your head before directly explaining it to you. And while the art is nothing revolutionary it certainly deserves a 9.
Overall - 9.5/10 Here in the West, where every third film is a comic book film and a lot of superheroes are becoming over saturated or boring, HeroAca is a breath of fresh air. Not only does it perfect and put a twist on common Superhero/Shounen tropes, it also manages its wide cast very well and tells a story that turns out to be very intricate. While I admit some characters haven't gotten their turn in the spotlight yet and the repercussions of a certain few events haven't been fully explored, the show is worth a watch for anyone who wants to watch a well written shounen or a new take on the superhero genre. Or someone like me who just really wants to see superpowered teenagers punch each other silly.
Made in Abyss (2017)
Anime Of The Year So Far For Sure
(Because this is my first review I literally went and binge watched a bunch of anime reviewers to try and sound professional. My life is so sad it's not even funny.)
Sooooo... Made In Abyss. I goddamn LOVE this show. I want to make something clear right now - this is not a show for everyone. It's rated R17 for a reason, because there are some legitimately disturbing and downright gory scenes. But it's not a mindless, just-there- to-be-edgy gore, it's the kind of gore that is used to build on the atmosphere and illustrate the shows themes in a clearer light. So if you can stomach it, then this show is definitely worth a watch.
Story - 9/10 The basic premise of this show is that there is a huge pit called the Abyss, full of dangerous monsters and ancient relics. No one knows what is at the bottom, but adventurers called cave raiders go down into the abyss with hopes of finding out the secrets and origin of this mysterious structure. Our main character, Riko, is a small girl who's mother used to be a White Whistle, the highest rank of cave raider you can be. One day Riko is out cave raiding on the upper layers when she meets a amnesiac robot called Reg. After receiving a letter from her mother telling her to come to the bottom of the Abyss, she and Reg go on an adventure to try and find out the truth. While it's at first seems reasonably cliché, the story becomes more and more intricate as it goes on and gets very dark and mature. Despite all this dark tension, there is a certain sense of wonder and hope throughout the whole show that stops it from becoming a Tokyo Ghoul-esque pit of depression. (Nothing against TG but you gotta admit they lay it on a bit thick.)
Characters - 8/10 Since the show is only 13 episodes and has an incomplete ending, there hasn't been crazy amounts of character development yet. The characters all have unique personalities and are beginning to mature, but they're really only starting their "character arcs." But the reason I'm rating this category so high is because of how well the characters play off each other. Riko is the confident, obsessive, albeit sometimes cocky adventurer (although the cockiness is never overdone to the point of annoyance). Reg, while being quite powerful, is extremely nervous and has a tendency to follow everyone else's plans, which leads to some great moments when he's stuck on his own. Then we have Nanachi, a character we meet around episode 10, who is the more sceptical and knowledgeable one. These three different personalities bounce off each other and use each other to improve or change themselves.
Sound - 9.5/10 The soundtrack is perfect for this show. All the different OSTs serve as excellent accompaniments to whatever scene they're allocated, and lots of the music has a sense of wonder and mystery which is this shows strongpoint. However, while there are some stand out tracks, a lot of the OSTs don't really stand out on their own, and really only work in the context of the show. But since were only reviewing said show, I'm still going to give it a 9.5.
Art - 10/10 So, the character designs for some of the younger characters is a bit subjective. Some people like it and others wish it was more mature, to reflect on the show. I personally think it adds to the misleading nature but that's just me. Not counting those, all of the older characters look absolutely awesome, and the art for the environments and backgrounds... There are no words to describe it. It is honestly spectacular. The visuals for the fight scenes are also well animated, and there's never a point where it feels the quality has gone down. Which is impressive considering the relatively low budget the creators had to work with.
Overall - 9/10 As you probably got by how I was gushing over it like a fangirl, but I really like this show. On terms of pure enjoyment this was probably a 10 but I had to factor in the actual writing of the show as well. As I mentioned before, the story is incomplete, and the manga is currently on hiatus until 2018 so it might be a little while for season 2. (The anime covered 26 chapters and the manga only has 42). Also, the show could do without some of the sexual references, but too be fair they're few and far between, with the worst of it being in episode 2. The show is also held back by the lack of character development so far but this was still a crap ton of in to watch. There is still a few months of the year left but this is definitely the best show so far - not including sequels *cough* HeroAca S2 *cough. If your OK with seeing the odd scene of a small innocent child in immeasurable pain then your good to go.