I had a really slow week, so it was a great week to watch anime, so I watched a lot.
Welcome to the NHK! 10/10 I've been putting this off for so long because I was afraid of how relatable it might be. It definitely was at times, it was also very heavy and dark and depressing, but it was also absolutely hilarious because of all that in the first 18 episodes or so. The Off Meeting episodes were so fucking dark and relatable for me, but it honestly only made them that much more funny overall I think. It dialed up the drama and dropped most of the humor in the last few episodes, but I thought that was a logical conclusion to everything that led up to that point. I thought the last few episodes were absolutely incredible and I honestly loved the ending. The soundtrack was phenomenal as well, it's honestly one of my favorite background soundtracks I've ever heard in an anime, and it fits the show so well. Like I said it was extremely relatable for me, and most of the time I was looking at certain characters and thinking "I may be a fuckup, but at least my life will probably never get this bad." But I have gotten close and some moments, and especially some of the things Misaki talks about in her lessons hit really close to home at times. Honestly I'm glad I watched it and liked it so much, it gave me a lot to think about in my life and it's quickly become one of my favorite shows I've ever seen.
Non Non Biyori/ and Repeat 9/10 This was so cute and heartwarming, that's almost all I can say. I picked it up to watch alongside NHK in case things got too heavy and I'm glad I did. That's not to say I really needed it during NHK, but I'm just glad I watched Non Non Biyori in general. It reminded me a lot of growing up myself out in the country, even though I mostly hated it growing up, this made me feel nostalgic about the good parts of it. The characters were all so cute, and it just made me happy the whole way through. The animation was top notch and the soundtrack and ambient background sound in general were perfect. All in all I thought it was great.
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! 8/10 I really enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. What started as cringeworthy and, sadly, relatable comedy, turned into one of the most absolutely adorable romances I've ever seen, and then turned into melodrama that I would have hated at the start of the series but since I loved these characters so much it really made me sad and anxious for a resolution. I loved the comedy, I loved the characters, I loved the romance, and I loved the ending. The soundtrack and animation were good, but nothing special. But overall I just really enjoyed the characters and story so much more than I expected and I'm really glad I watched it. I also watched the OVA Christmas episode and it was really fun and great. I've heard a lot of complaints about the second season, but I'm sure I'll watch it eventually so I can see more of these great characters I got so attached to.
Oreimo 8/10 Thanks to the answers and reccomendation of quite a few of you guys earlier this week I started watching this. Thanks, I'm glad I watched it. It was good. I’m going to stick to reviewing the first season for now. I honestly don't know why it was good, or why I kept continuing it in the beginning but I don’t mean that in a bad way because I fucking love it either way. Like I said I don't know exactly why I like it as much as I do. With Chuunibyou above, I said I didn't expect to love it but I could explain why I did end up loving it. But with Oreimo, I love it more than I expected and I can't even come up with a reason why. Hahah. I can say I liked the OP and how the visuals changed throughout the season. The soundtrack and animation were pretty good, and the characters were fairly interesting if not somewhat one track at times. And I really liked the challenges to otaku culture social commentary while also taking otaku culture to its extremes with Kirino. But the comedy wasn’t outrageously good to the point that it was what kept me going, I'm honestly not sure what invested me in the story or characters. But it had something special I can’t pinpoint and I’m glad I kept watching. So now I'll just move on to the specials and true ending.
Oreimo Specials 8.5/10 I honestly didn't like the regular ending of the first season, it felt rushed and forced to me, so I was really happy when I saw the specials were an alternate ending. I thought it was great and I was finally invested in the story with the true end. It also delivered something the first season was severely lacking in my opinion, character development. I loved seeing KuroNeko open up a bit and make me understand her more. Because of watching Chuunibyou right before this, I was pretty open to chuuni characters, but KuroNeko was kind of starting to annoy me in the first season aside from a handful of great moments (of course so was Kirino, but I think I may have a thing for tsunderes because I'm usually pretty forgiving to them). I felt the first season did try to hype KuroNeko up a bit, but never went anywhere with her character, so I'm glad that the true ending did, and it really made me like her. Even Kirino has character development in the true ending and it was pretty great. So yeah, overall the first season was a pleasant experience and had me wanting more.
Oreimo 2 9/10 Okay so this was really good. It kept most of the things I enjoyed from season one, and it may have took away some of the social commentary on otaku culture I liked, but it sort of added a different kind. It also increased the comedy a lot, continued the character development I liked from the first seasons specials, it amped up the story progression quite a lot, and added a bit more romance that was pretty great. That’s about all I want to say about this because I want to get the highly controversial ending from the second specials.
Oreimo 2 Specials – rating withheld Stayed up all night to finish season 2 and this. These episodes had the same style and humor I loved from the others, blahabahblalabahablah, I don’t even care, this review is ultimately about that ending. Okay going in to spoiler territory Oreimo 2 Specials Spoilers I’m glad I watched this series though, like really really glad. It may not be anywhere my favorite anime, but I will never forget it. It left a serious impression on me and surprisingly gave me a lot to think about, so thank you to those who convinced me to watch it.